Some of you who have read "Brotherhood of The Seed" and "The Path of Heaven" may be wondering why I'm doing this. Well, I've looked back at those stories, and wasn't really pleased with how they've turned out so far. There were too many protagonists, too many side-stories, too many cooks spoiling the soup basically. I may even take the stories off and archive them so people can focus more on this one.

I wanted to start over from scratch, using a couple of things I've used in the past, and tweaking them a little. I outlined this story in advance, so I don't go off into too many tangents. I also must warn you that this one is going to be much more brutal and gory, so younger readers beware.

This one mainly uses characters from Kamen Riders Agito and ZO, as well as LBT characters. There's also just a hint of The Incredible Hulk in it. I own none of the rights to these characters, and have no intention of making money off this story.

Enjoy!

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Shorty called out suddenly, bolting up from his sleep as he panted quickly from where he had just been sleeping a moment ago. This prompted a response from Bron, who was also awakened by the sound.

"Shorty?" he groggily called his adopted son's name. "What's wrong?"

Shorty sighed and just shook his head. "Nothing…"

"Bad dreams again?" Bron asked him, sympathetically.

Shorty just nodded slowly in response.

"You sure you don't wanna talk about them?"

Shorty slowly looked up into his eyes. "I wouldn't know what to tell you if I tried. I can't understand what they're about at all…all I know is I keep seeing this…thing. Whatever it is, it's the scariest thing I've ever encountered."

"Well, you know it's not real, whatever it is…" Bron answered him, reassuringly. "So take it out of your mind…and try to think about something else, something pleasant, so you'll sleep."

Shorty nodded slowly, and settled back down into his sleeping spot. He took Bron's advice, and started thinking about anything that was pleasant…not an easy task for someone who never had an easy life, never knew his mother or father…until he met Bron.

That was it…he focused on Bron, and the subsequent meeting with his son, Littlefoot, as well as all of his friends. He smiled as he began to drift off once more, thinking of one of the few comforts he had in this world…few, but plenty for him, as he hoped he would be meeting them all again soon.

But as his nightmares would foretell, that simply wasn't in the cards for him…

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It was daytime now. In the meadow, among the other longnecks, a lone adult female walked slowly apart from the others. She moved past a few older longnecks, seemingly in search of one in particular. She looked to her left and right, before seeing a familiar face, helping himself to some tree-stars.

"Heya Shorty…" She smiled as she approached the teen longneck.

"Hm?" he looked up for a moment, and then smiled. "Oh…hey Mika."

"You wouldn't happen to know where Bron is right now, do you?" She asked him, innocently.

"Hmmm…" Shorty thought to himself as he chewed. "I think he's over near that pond, right behind those trees to the right of you." He motioned in the right direction with his head.

"Thanks, Shorty." Mika smiled to him as she walked off, leaving him to eat.

Shorty slowly began to think to himself as he ate…she had been seeing Bron quite a bit ever since she first joined up with the herd at his permission. He then wondered what Bron thought of her coming to see him so much. Usually he didn't like to be bothered too much by someone he didn't really like…could it be? Was Bron developing a kind of fondness for this female?

He didn't have much more time to think on this, however, as he suddenly heard one of the other longnecks shout "Redclaw! Redclaw!"

Shorty shot straight to attention, as the older, but still dangerous T-rex, and his two raptor allies, came rushing into the meadow, snarling and roaring. His body bore a few scars from past fights in the recent years, and his teeth were a little dirty, but still as sharp as ever, his two friends terrorizing the other longnecks.

Shorty acted quickly, not wanting Bron to have to face Redclaw right now, as he ran straight out into his path. "Hey! Remember me, bonehead?" He yelled, making the T-Rex remember his past encounters with him and his great valley friends in the past.

Redclaw took one look at Shorty, and snarled loudly, roaring as he took off after the young longneck that dared to insult him. Shorty ran far ahead of him on all fours, trying to find a way to lose him for the moment.

He darted past a few trees, trying to hide behind them…no good, as Redclaw spotted him right away. He ran past a few more trees, and hopped over some rocks in what looked like a big quarry. He looked back and saw Redclaw hopping easily over the same big rocks, as he continued his pursuit into the rocky area.

Shorty ran around what he thought would be a quick corner leading him back to the forest…instead finding a big rock wall right in front of him. He was cornered, and about to be confronted and eaten by the angry Redclaw…he had to think quickly…he then tried to run away from the wall as fast as he could.

He then felt a big pair of jaws SLAM down onto his back.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Shorty screamed, as Redclaw had managed to grab a hold of him in his teeth. He lifted Shorty off the ground, and tried to chomp down hard to finish him…discovering that he was having a hard time of it for some reason.

That bite, Redclaw would discover, had set something off inside of Shorty…something very bizarre. His eyes had suddenly changed completely red, blood red. His teeth started to get sharper as his muscles began to bulge and grow under his flesh. It grew so much, that the force ended up breaking off two of Redclaws teeth, making the T-Rex growl in pain as he finally dropped Shorty.

The young longneck continued to growl and shake his head all around, as his overall form changed…he painfully raised himself onto his hindlegs as his forelegs slowly took the shape of arms…immense green arms with sharp claws at the end of each finger. His tail stayed intact as he then looked up to the sky, slender horns growing out of his forehead and resting back on his head as he roared out to the sky in a shrill, menacing voice.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Redclaw now looked down to see something…quite different from the usual longneck. His face (for the most part) and his skin color were intact, but were now part of a strong, glistening wet body, the new creature a biomechanical horror, with traces of metal in his body that weren't quite evident…yet.

The creature roared at Redclaw, who gladly returned the roar. This thing was still smaller than he was…what possible damage could he do?

The answer to that quickly came, when the creature suddenly sprung off the ground on his powerful legs, and grabbed onto Redclaw's muzzle with his arms, growling as he bit into the flesh, drawing blood.

Redclaw roared out in pain, shaking his head violently. The creature simply stayed latched on, not being shaken off at all as he chomped down for as long as he pleased. Redclaw finally found the rock wall, and threw his head against it, bashing the creature into it. The creature finally let go, and growled as it dropped onto the ground.

Redclaw took advantage as he lunged down, forcing the creature to block with his left arm as he chomped down onto it…again, having trouble tearing the limb from the body.

The creature roared again, in frustration, as slits suddenly opened up in his wrists. Two long steel blades shot out of these openings, as the creature then brought the right blade under Redclaws head…and promptly shoved it in straight up, impaling him through the lower jaw.

Redclaw almost screamed as he roared in pain, pulling back as the creature withdrew the blade, stained with blood. He then roared out in frustration, his bloody maw moving down to chomp at the creature again. This time, the creature grabbed his muzzle with his left arm, and powerfully slammed his head against the rock wall with it. He then quickly lunged over with his right arm at the ready, and roared as he plunged the blade right into Redclaw's left eye.

Blood gushed out of where the eye had been, as Redclaw shrieked in agony, roaring and shaking his head around some more as the creature pulled out the blade and walked back. The now visually impaired T-Rex stumbled along the quarry, as he knew he was defeated now, using his one good eye to find a way out of the area.

The creature was now slowly calming down, as he then collapsed back on all fours, and felt his body slowly begin to reverse the dramatic change that he had experienced, his form shaking and grunting. In a matter of seconds he was Shorty once again.

"Shorty?" He heard Bron's voice calling to him now, as the Male Longneck entered the area, not knowing what had just occurred. "Shorty, what's going on? Are you ok? Where's Redclaw?"

"He's gone…" Shorty simply responded, standing back up fully.

"Well what happened?" Bron asked as he looked around the quarry. "There's an awful lot of blood around here…"

"Yeah, he hurt himself pretty good this time." Shorty smiled a bit, trying to keep a brave face. "I got him to trip on a big rock over there, and he smashed his face into the wall over there…I think a sharp rock got him right in the eye."

Bron winced a bit as he heard this, but nodded. "Well…serves the bastard right." He chuckled a little. "Come on back, Shorty…the rest of us already chased off his two fast-biter cronies…and Mika just found some sweet bubbles too."

"Oh nice…" Shorty smiled. "I'll be right with you…"

Bron nodded softly and walked off…leaving Shorty to contemplate what had just occurred. He looked down over himself with genuine fear and distress in his eyes.

"What…the hell…just happened…" He said out loud, before thinking to himself. "That can't have been real….but I see all this blood from what I did…" He then sighed to himself as he began to walk off.

"I just hope I can keep control of whatever it was, so Bron never sees it…"

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Later that day, just as the sun was setting, Shorty, Bron, and Mika, were all enjoying some food. Shorty looked at the two, who were smiling at each other every so often, and couldn't help but ask at this point.

"Hey Mika?" He spoke up. "Sorry if I'm being nosy…but I noticed you've been hanging around with Bron and me a lot lately"

Bron just ate, as Mika chuckled a little and tilted her head. "What's wrong with that? Does it get on your nerves?"

"Oh, no, no…" Shorty shook his head slowly. "I was just wondering…Why only us? I don't really see you with too many others in the herd."

Mika looked over to Bron, wondering what to say. Bron just swallowed his food, and took over from there, looking down at his adopted son.

"Shorty…I guess we sort of left you out of the loop on this, but…well, Mika and I have developed a bit of a…fondness for each other ever since she joined us."

Shorty had to think about this for a second, but the realization came to him like a light going on his head. "I see…" He immediately thought of something else. "Are you making plans to tell Littlefoot about you and her soon? I think he's got a right to know."

"That is the hardest part of all this." Bron nodded slowly. "I guess I have been hesitating a bit…I mean, he loved his mother, and he never even met me for years. I can't imagine this is going to sit well with him. And I haven't even considered his grandparents…her parents."

"You should still tell them…" Shorty spoke again before eating a few more leaves.

"He's right." Mika nodded slowly. "As uncomfortable they may be with this at first, they'll really resent you if you hide this all from them."

Shorty continued to eat…until he suddenly felt something…something off…

He slowly raised his head, as the uneasy continued to fill him. He didn't know what was causing it…but it was there…and it seemed to be telling him something.

"Shorty…" Bron looked down at him. "What's up?"

Shorty just stood there, paying attention to this new sensation…it seemed to be telling him that there was something near him…something malevolent…and it was approaching…right…behind him.

"SHORTY!" Bron suddenly shouted, spotting it just in time. Shorty moved quickly out of the way as the two raptors, Redclaw's cronies, lunged towards him at the same time, narrowly missing.

Bron and Mika both quickly backed away, looking down and seeing that the raptors had no interest in either of them…they wanted the one that had attacked their leader…that had injured and humiliated him. Redclaw was ripe with Shorty's scent when they found him stumbling around in the forest, and were able to use that to find the longneck. They looked at each other, puzzled as to how this teen longneck could do that to their ally…but the scent was an exact match, so they continued to approach him.

"Please…" Shorty shook his head as he backed away. "Please don't attack me…" he said what he did, not out of fear for his life, but because of what he knew would happen now if he became as enraged as he did when Redclaw bit down on him.

Bron immediately took action, and swung out his tail to take down the raptors. He only managed to hit one, knocking it across the meadow, as the other one was able to stay in pursuit of Shorty.

Shorty continued to run, looking back and seeing the raptor quickly catching up, as he tried to find a place to hide…any place at all. He wasn't having much luck with it.

His time ran out, and no other longneck in the area was able to catch the raptor, as it suddenly sprung into the air, and caught Shorty in its claws, rolling with him into some bushes as it attempted to finish him off.

"SHORTY! NO!" Bron shouted again, looking on with a very concerned Mika at his side. The other raptor quickly got up, and ran over to the sight of the rustling bushes. It hoped that its partner had saved some of the longneck for its own dinner.

It then suddenly stopped as it heard a loud "GRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" followed by the pained squealing of the attacking raptor…seconds later, the lifeless, bloody body of the raptor flew out from the bushes and landed right in front of its partner, its throat and belly slashed wide open.

Everyone watching was frozen in horror now, as the creature slowly stepped out from behind the bushes, the blades on its wrists already out as they dripped with blood. He then eyed the other raptor, and held out its fists, roaring angrily into the air.

The raptor wanted to run at first, but it then looked at the broken body of its longtime friend, and roared back, wanting revenge. It then leapt at the creature, its own claws fully extracted as it came down and slashed at him.

The creature moved quickly, the claws cutting a bit into his body as some greenish blood leaked out. It didn't bother him though, as he knocked the raptor away with a hard sidekick to the jaw.

The raptor flew a few feet along the ground, before it got back up and growled at him again. The creature then roared back at him, and showed off its own jumping abilities, leaping high into the air on his strong legs.

The raptor didn't have time to get out of the way, as the creature pounced right onto it, and sunk his sharp teeth right into its shoulder. The raptor squealed and growled as blood seeped out from the wound.

The creature then let go with his powerful jaws, through with playing as he readied the blade on his right arm, and waited for the raptor to get back onto its feet. The raptor struggled a bit, bleeding profusely from the shoulder as it quickly tried to think of a new maneuver.

Before it could even get a thought moving, however, the creature reared back and swung hard with his blade…decapitating the predator.

Bron watched in shock with everyone else, as the raptor's headless body slumped forward onto the ground, the blood now staining the grass as the creature looked up to the sky, and roared out victoriously.

It was in that moment, that Bron suddenly saw something familiar in those crimson eyes.

"Shorty…"

The creature heard him speak, as he looked over to him…quickly remembering himself. Within a matter of seconds, he calmed down and changed, becoming his original self right there, in front of his whole herd, who had gathered to watch the gruesome scene. Shorty slowly lowered his head, in shame.

"Shorty…" Bron spoke again, trying to make sense out of this whole mess. "How…"

"How could you let such a dangerous thing live with us?" One of the longnecks suddenly spoke up, interrupting him.

"Now wait just a minute…" Bron tried to calm things down, but to no avail.

"You saw how he bit that sharptooth! You saw his teeth!" Another longneck spoke up. "What's to stop him from doing that to one of us, huh? What if he gets a craving?"

"Please…" Shorty spoke with a distressed look on his face. "I don't know how it happened, really!" Bron once again tried to speak up, but once again was interrupted. The hysteria was too much for even him to control.

"Get out of here!" Another longneck spoke out, making Shorty back off as he got right in his face. "We don't want you in this herd anymore!"

"Please…" Shorty begged as he backed off. "I'll be good, really…just give me a chance…"

"Get out!" One other longneck yelled, smacking him across the meadow with his powerful tail.

Shorty landed hard as he looked up at the angry herd that had just shunned him…he felt the anger growing in him again, and the creature inside him once more trying to surface…but that anger was soon overcome by guilt and sadness this time…

Tears had begun to well up in Shorty's eyes as he turned and ran from the herd.

"Shorty! Wait!" Mika called out to him, as Bron still tried to calm everyone else down…but it was too late.

The night sky had now come out over the land, as Shorty made his way into the wilderness alone. He stopped for a moment and lowered his head. More tears flowed as the realization hit him…he was now without Bron, the only one who had ever shown any caring and love towards him…and he knew he could never see his friends again…not like this.

But Shorty was never the type to cry about something forever. He knew that this thing, whatever it was, was his new reality…and like it or not, he had to come to grips with it…learn to deal with it, in his own way.

He soon regained his composure, and looked up over the world he would now travel, alone. With that, he took a drink of water from a nearby pond, and slowly walked away…away from the life he had known until this point, and back into a life of solitude

He had done it before…he could do it again. He could do it forever if he had to…