The night had fallen over a part of the land further away from Shorty…a field of festering swamps filled with all manner of insects and tiny reptiles, all scavenging for food, as steam rose from the murky waters.

The tranquility of the evening in this swamp was soon interrupted, by the sight of a strange glow, which had suddenly come over one deep section of this swamp. An odd buzzing noise came from the area as well, as the water began to bubble a bit.

Frogs and insects that were in the area quickly scattered, as the form of a big-clawed hand suddenly rose from the water. It reached over and grabbed a rock, as a second hand rose as well, grabbing another rock as the body these hands were attached to pulled itself up.

The form of a grotesque, menacing creature soon made its full appearance, water and mud sliding off his body as he breathed audibly in a deep, menacing voice. He looked reptilian…but he looked insectoid as well, the species indistinguishable from anything on this planet. His bony tail swished from left to right as he observed his surroundings.

Two large purple eyes gazed out in the distance, as a short, reptilian muzzle protruded slightly from his face. Something else seemed to protrude from the lips of the creature, which turned out to be two insect-like mandibles, currently closed together. The glowing red tip of what looked like a laser weapon suddenly pushed out from his forehead, before going back in slowly.

The new creature just breathed, as he looked ahead, his own purple eyes staying still as they blinked gray from inside the lenses. He then used circuits in its biomechanical brain to send a message:

TALOS ONLINE

REQUESTING INSTRUCTIONS…

He stood still as a computerized display came up within its eyes, showing the form of what looked like a longneck drawn in computerized vector graphics.

EXPERIMENT #923

PLANET: EARTH

LOCATION: CURRENTLY UNKNOWN

SUBJECT STATUS: PHASE ONE COMPLETE. MATURATION ACHIEVED.

ORDERS: EXPERIMENT MEETS STANDARDS OF QUALITY. LOCATE, AND SUBDUE ON SITE.

With that, Talos then growled, opening his maw, as the two mandibles attached to the sides spread out, the sound an unholy and frightening roar coming out. More creatures spread in the area to make way for this being, as he began to tromp through the muddy waters.

His large, clawed feet splashed strongly with each step, as he made his way out of the swamp slowly, taking his time as he breathed in an ever-present soft, growling noise.

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Shorty carefully stepped onto the hot, rocky ground below him, the area below him glowing a bright red as he cautiously made his way through.

He had decided that he was going to find the one area that was close to the "Big Water"…a place that Littlefoot had told him about so many times before. He remembered the island, the reuniting with Chomper, even when they met their older friend Elsie, who had helped them back to the mainland.

It sounded like a good source for food, and there probably weren't many other dinosaurs around at the moment. There was no way he was going to attempt entering the great valley, and expose everyone to his…little problem.

There was only one catch to his travel plan…the only way to get to the Big Water from where his former herd had gone, was to cut directly through the mountains that burned. It was risky, but considering what he had just been through, it was no worse than the risk of what might happen if he tried to go back to the herd and reason with them.

Shorty walked through a naturally formed bridge of sorts, made of dark rocks. The lava bubbled below him as he carefully walked through the part that curved downward, smoke rising near him in a few spots. He strained his eyes, trying to get a good look at what lie ahead.

It wasn't too encouraging, as he looked up to see a collection of big rocks sitting on a big pool of lava, with more rocky land straight across from it. He tried to locate another way around, but there was none available to him from this position. The only way across was to carefully hop from rock to rock, he determined.

He measured the distance with one of his front feet from the end of the bridge to the rock. He determined it was jumpable with a nod, and carefully readied himself. He sprung off his feet and landed on the first rock, stumbling just a little.

Shorty took a moment to steady his body, before measuring distance to the next close rock. He found a jumpable rock, took a deep breath, and leapt.

The landing was near flawless this time, as he only needed a second afterward to steady himself. He found one other rock, a little further away, but close to the other side. He was confident he could make the jump, however.

He took another moment, looked at the rock, and took another deep breath…before jumping much further than he had previously.

He sailed onto the rock with more grace than usual, before discovering that this last rock wasn't quite stable on the lava. It shifted a bit as he landed, making lava rush up around him. He acted quickly and jumped towards the other side, but not before some hot lava came into contact with his tail.

"AAAAH!" Shorty yelled in pain as he landed on the other side and tumbled onto his back. The pain in his tail was incredible as it smoked, making him yell out in agony and frustration…it also soon made his eyes turn red.

The change was quick this time, as Shorty reared up onto his hind legs, his front legs shifting into his arms as his sharp teeth returned, and his body bulked up, becoming that of the creature once more.

"GRAAAAHHH!" The creature growled wildly, quickly extracting the blades on his wrists. He slashed at the air a few times, before quickly realizing there was nothing for him to fight, or kill.

He turned and observed his surroundings as he growled, the adrenaline still rushing through him. Somehow, he began to remember…remember that he was heading somewhere…as if the thoughts of his other self were reaching him, through some kind of instinct.

The creature turned to the direction Shorty had been heading towards, and growled as he retracted the blades into his arms. He then used his strong legs to make an INCREDIBLE leap into the air, covering many, many meters with a single jump.

By the time the creature landed, he had already nearly left the area of the mountains that burned, his knees bent as he squatted. Without looking back, he jumped into high into the sky once more, almost vanishing into the dark clouds.

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Bron stood at the edge of the land his herd occupied, looking out into the distance. Ever since Shorty was run out, he could think of nothing other than where his adopted son might be…and what he was getting himself into.

He had wanted nothing more than to chastise his herd for what they had done…but he also didn't want to stir up any potential dissent, especially not over something that he, himself, could not completely understand.

"You could just go out and look for him…" He suddenly heard a voice call out from behind him. He turned to see Mika walking towards him. "There are plenty of other longnecks here who could watch over everything in your place."

Bron slowly shook his head. "No…I can't." He lowered his head slowly. "Don't get me wrong, I really want to…but if I abandon my leadership of this herd to find someone they're afraid of right now, I'll be shunned just like him…and I don't want to do that to him, to Littlefoot, or to you."

Mika nodded slowly, looking to him sympathetically. "Maybe someday, everyone's fears will diminish, he'll come back, and they'll all be prepared to accept him."

Bron sighed a bit, remembering the manner in which Shorty was expelled, but nodded slowly. "Well…it's always good to hope, I suppose." He then looked out to the distance once more.

"The cold times aren't far off now…" He spoke softly. "I hope he can find some way to survive out there."

Mika nodded softly. "I'm sure he will, Bron…" She leaned over and nuzzled him, comfortingly.

Bron returned the gesture, before remembering he still had a herd to lead. He took one last look at the distance, before turning his back, and moving on.

"Take care, Shorty…"

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Talos tromped slowly along the ground, the swamp now far behind him as he made even more local life forms scatter at his presence. He took his time as breathed lowly and softly, knowing that patience was the key to locating this experiment.

He stood still, taking a minute to look around in the forest he was now in. He sensed something that had been moving and following him for quite some time, standing perfectly still, and prepared.

He wasn't shocked at all, as a raptor suddenly leapt at him from the trees. He then reached out, and grabbed the creature by the throat before it could fully strike.

The raptor hissed and slashed at him with its claws, as Talos just tilted his head and scanned the creature with his purple eyes.

ORGANISM ID: INDEGENOUS TERRAN CREATURE: VELOCIRAPTOR

COMMAND: SCAN FOR ATYPICAL DNA

SCANNING…

SCAN RESULT: NEGATIVE

Talos then growled as he easily tossed the raptor aside. The dinosaur got back on its feet and hissed at him, not wanting to lose its target. Talos sensed the hostility, as he simply turned and fired the laser beam from his forehead.

The raptor had little time to react, as the shot quickly ripped through its forehead, splattering blood and its brains on the grass and rocks behind it. The raptor then collapsed onto the ground, lifeless, with a big gaping hole through the head, as a few small mammals came out to examine the corpse.

Talos was already walking away from the scene; the killing of no consequence to him, as finding the experiment was his only goal.

Moments later, his search would end, as something suddenly jumped out into the air, within his view. He quickly captured the image of the leaping creature, before scanning it in his head.

COMMAND: SCAN IMAGE FOR ATYPICAL DNA

SCANNING…

SCAN RESULT: ATYPICAL DNA DETECTED. IMAGE CONFIRMED AS EXPERIMENT #923

ORDERS: SUBDUE AND CAPTURE. DO NOT DESTROY.

Talos growled loudly, its mandibles spreading with its mouth once more, as it readied the laser blaster on its forehead, waiting…

Shorty leapt from out of the trees, still in the form of the creature as he looked down at his next landing spot…only to feel something strike him hard on the side.

The creature growled out in pain as he fell short of his landing. He tumbled down through the trees, landing hard on his front.

Talos immediately made his move after firing his head laser, and performed his own impressive jump in order to reach where the creature had fallen. He landed with an impressive thump on his two feet, as some downed leaves flew up around him.

The creature grunted and pulled himself up a little, finding a bleeding wound on his side. The flow of greenish blood didn't last long, though, as he felt his accelerated healing coming into play, the wound soon closing up.

He then looked over to see Talos slowly advancing on him, the gaze of his purple eyes fixated on his form. He got up and roared in anger as he extracted his blades once more, launching himself towards his attacker.

Talos was not an ordinary sharptooth, however, as the creature would soon find out. He reached out and grabbed his right arm, stepping aside to avoid the blades masterfully. He then leaned in and thumped the creature hard in the stomach with his right fist, before throwing him into a small pond nearby.

The creature splashed and tumbled along the shallow water as he was thrown into it, dazed as he was on his stomach, his head right over a rock jutting up from the surface. He turned his head a bit, just as Talos tromped over to him in the water, and stomped on his head, driving his cheek right into the sharp edge.

The creature almost screeched in pain as the rock punctured him. He pulled back as greenish blood spurted from his cheek, before the wound began to quickly heal once more.

At this moment, Talos reached down and grabbed the creature by the throat, slowly lifting him up and growling loudly in his deep voice. He tightened his grip, trying to make him lose consciousness so he'd be all ready for the next phase.

The creature choked loudly and flailed at Talos, his mouth wide open as he tried to find a way to hurt him. He slashed at his arm, causing some of Talos' own greenish blood to ooze out, but Talos was unfazed, still keeping a firm hold.

The creature sputtered and choked a little more, slowly feeling himself losing consciousness…

Then, something suddenly came down from the sky, and got right into Talos' face. It looked like wasp, but it was a little bit larger, and it had a metal stinger on its tail end.

It jabbed Talos multiple times in the head, causing Talos to try and swipe at it with his free hand. This made him begin to loosen his grip on the creature, not a whole lot, but enough to make a difference.

The creature regained full consciousness, and was able to angle himself in just the right way. He then brought up his right arm, and jammed the blade right into Talos' belly.

More green blood leaked out as Talos growled loudly, and in pain. The creature then pulled the blade out, and used his right foot to kick Talos in the chest, sending him backwards into the shallow water.

The creature then angrily picked up a boulder nearby with tremendous strength. He walked over to where Talos was lying, dazed, and roared out one last time. He then brought the boulder down hard on top of his head face first.

Water splashed as the boulder slammed down onto the attacker's head, crushing it audibly as green blood mixed with the water now. Talos' arms and legs flailed wildly, before settling down and trembling, then going still.

The creature panted steadily now, as all the exertion had tired him. He walked to the edge of the pond and collapsed onto his side, slowly changing back into what he once was…

Shorty panted even harder now, coughing a bit, as he still felt the pressure from Talos' chokehold. He looked to his left and right, remembering only bits and pieces of what had happened for the moment. He looked at the apparently dead monster before him, marveling at what he had just managed to do with his own hands.

He then heard a buzzing noise, as he looked up and saw the same large wasp from before. It landed a few feet from him, and looked him straight into the eyes.

"You need to get out of here…" he suddenly heard a female voice speak.

"Who said that?" Shorty quickly jerked his head around, alarmed.

"There's no time to explain right now…" he heard the voice again. "That creature wants to do very bad things to you."

"But…" Shorty looked over at the downed Talos. "It's dead. I killed it."

"I'm afraid not." The voice spoke again, as he saw Talos' hand tremble a little. "You have only stalled him."

Shorty blinked at the quivering hand, as he then saw the wasp suddenly turn and take off. "Follow me! Come quickly!"

He then nodded and got back up quickly. The idea of following a wasp was strange, but at the same time, he wanted to be nowhere near this thing when he got back up.

The wasp was now flying towards a very misty area, as Shorty followed it, and disappeared into the trees…safe, for now.