When I returned to the beach to meet up with everyone, Gian and Suneo were already grilling. Shizuka seemed back to normal, though she kept glancing at me shyly.
As we sat around the campfire enjoying our Cretaceous vacation, a series of massive tremors suddenly shook the ground. Shizuka was the first to notice. "Everyone be quiet and listen carefully," she said.
We all fell silent. The tremors grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, the trees behind us parted to reveal an enormous eye. We turned to see a house-sized Tyrannosaurus rex looming over us, drawn by the firelight.
The T. rex bared its massive teeth, clearly intending to devour us in one bite. Everyone screamed and scrambled backwards - except for me. Without hesitation, I pulled Shizuka into my arms, shielding her with my body as I faced the dinosaur, ready to unleash my powers if needed.
Shizuka clung to me, crying "Help, Nobita!" I knew this was my chance to be her hero. Holding her tight, I said soothingly, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Doraemon's voice quavered as he said, "D-don't panic everyone. Wild animals are afraid of fire."
"A-Are dinosaurs really afraid of fire?" Gian asked skeptically, trembling.
Whether it would work or not, I had to try. Keeping Shizuka safely behind me, I grabbed a large burning log from the fire and waved it at the T. rex, trying to drive it away.
Maybe the flames singed it, or maybe it just wasn't that hungry - but the T. rex gave us one last look before turning and lumbering away. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Shizuka threw her arms around me, sobbing. "That was so scary, Nobita!"
The old "hero saves the damsel" trick works every time. My likeability must be skyrocketing!
I gently rubbed her back, murmuring, "It's okay now. I've got you."
Just as Suneo was about to make a run for the time machine, Doraemon's face fell.
"The time machine is broken," he said gravely. "I think it happened during the masked man's attack."
"You mean...we can't go home?" Suneo asked, his voice shaking.
"What kind of joke is this?!" Gian exploded. "Making us ride in this piece of junk!"
"You have to take responsibility!" Suneo yelled angrily.
Shizuka clung to me even tighter, her voice panicked. "Oh no, what are we going to do if we can't get back?"
I just kept stroking her soft back, saying nothing. Then Doraemon explained that only the spatial movement function was broken.
"If it's just the spatial part, can't we still use the time travel to get back to our era?" I asked.
"We can," Doraemon replied, "but we'd have to bring the time machine back to the exact spot we left from - our house in Tokyo, in Nobita's room, in the correct position in his drawer."
Everyone's hearts sank even further. How could we possibly do that from prehistoric North America?
I knew this was coming, so I skipped the pointless arguments and suggested the correct solution from the original story: "We could use the Take-copter to fly back to Japan. We can fly for four hours, then rest. We can cover long distances that way over an extended period. Plus, Japan and North America were still connected by land back then, so we'll have places to rest along the way."
Doraemon pondered this, then brightened. "That could work! It would take a long time, but we could even walk if we had to."
Everyone perked up at this news.
I knew this part of the plot was beginning. Though the journey would be difficult, there wouldn't be any real danger. I could even use the time to practice my Psychic. My swordsmanship was already mastered, but my other abilities still needed work.
This would be a perfect opportunity to train and grow stronger. And if we did run into any real threats, I could always unleash my full power and eliminate them. No need to hold back against villains, after all.
As we began preparing for our long journey home, I couldn't help but smile. Shizuka was still holding onto me, and I had no intention of letting her go anytime soon. This adventure was about to get very interesting indeed.