Chapter 3 is here! This takes place upon arrival at Cranial City. On with the chapter!

Chapter 3

*Molly's POV*

The ride to the Caliosteo Islands was mostly silent. And that's not just because I was mute. It was because the pilot threatened to tell Joe about our fight if we didn't calm down. That wouldn't have been good for us.

We finally landed in Cranial City. Lexie left me behind as she ran to Wildwest Tower's elevator. I managed to catch up just before the elevator took off, much to Lexie's dismay.

Joe seemed happy to see us both, though Lexie didn't seem too happy to see him. Although it may have just been because I was there.

He told us to go look around Rainbow Canyon, since that was where the troublemakers were last seen. When we arrived at the dig site, we immediately saw some people freak out, type a code into a keypad, and run through a door that opened up and closed behind them.

"Darn it!" Lexie shouted. Luckily, I have way above average sight, so I saw what the code was. I ran to the door with Lexie not far behind, and entered the code, opening the door. But before we could walk in, someone walked out. I saw a familiar face and realized it was Todd. I walked over to him and tried to shake his hand, only for him to swat it away.

I got out my notepad and used it to ask what was wrong.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Lexie Knight, and this is Melissa" Lexie said.

Damn her… I thought. Would it hurt her to call me Molly? "We're here to stop the evil psychopaths and find the Patrol Team. I know you're part of it, and Joe is worried about you."

"So…" he said. "Joe sent you after us? And what 'Patrol Team' are you talking about? I think you've got the wrong guy, so if you intruders don't want to be vivosaur food, I suggest you leave."

"Okay, shrimp, what the hell is your problem?" Lexie asked him. She turned to me. "What the hell is his problem?" I just shrugged.

"Fine…" he said. "I guess you're choosing to be vivosaur food…"

He threw three medals. The vivosaurs he chose made me realize we weren't dealing with Todd anymore. Something was wrong with him. He always used air-types, and Stego was always on his team, whether it was super evolved or not. Now he had three water-types, all rank 20. He had Equinas, Paki, and the worst vivosaur in the world: Mapo.

If I could have screamed, I would have. Instead, I ran and hid behind a rock. Todd laughed at this.

"What's wrong?" he asked tauntingly. "Afraid of a few water-types?" I actually nodded, which was a huge mistake. "Well, I guess you're my opponent!"

The Mapo stepped towards me and roared. It started charging towards me. I passed out from fear as a flashback flooded my mind.

*Flashback*

I was walking around in a small forest. I was 11 years old. I heard a loud roar and turned to see what it was, only for a wild Mapo to charge at me. It slammed into me head-first, the horn-like structure on its head stabbing into my face, and knocked me about 30 feet away. It walked over to me as I tried to stand up and stomped on my arm, shattering it and pinning me down. It leaned down and grabbed my head in its mouth, swung me around, and threw me into a tree, knocking me out. I woke up in a hospital three weeks later with metal plates in my arm, some of which actually stuck out of it. I had a large scar on my face where the Mapo had almost blinded me. My vivosaurs told me that my Teffla had rescued me. She had broken the Mapo's neck and carried me to the hospital in her mouth. I was lucky to be alive, let alone still have my arm and my sight. Ever since that day, Mapos have terrified me and I've been somewhat afraid of most water-types.

*End of flashback*

"Melissa?" asked a voice that sounded angry and irritated...with a hint of worry. (Maybe she wasn't a complete bitch.). "Melissa, are you alright?"

I opened my eyes to see Todd kneeling down next to me and trying to wake me up, and Lexie standing behind him, fidgeting and tapping her foot, trying to look impatient. She was clearly somewhat worried, though...

"Well, at least she's alive…" Todd said. "What happened?"

I took out my notepad and wrote a message to them.

"I fainted when I saw the Mapo." Todd read aloud. "I had a horrible flashback."

"Why?" Lexie asked. I wrote another message.

"I was attacked by a wild one when I was 11" Todd read.

"Wait, what?!" Lexie shouted. "How did you even survive that, mutie?!"

I gave them another note.

"I almost didn't." Todd read. "My Teffla rescued me. It's why I have the plates in my arm and a scar over my left eye."

I gave a note to Todd, which was supposed to be private, but he read it out loud anyways. "Why did you suddenly switch sides?"

"I somehow managed to get him to regain his senses by defeating his vivosaurs." Lexie said. "I had to take out the Paki by myself, though…"

I was surprised at this comment, but I was skeptical.

"Actually, she's serious." Todd said. "She beat Paki with her bare hands. She's pretty damn tough…"

Upon hearing the confirmation from Todd, I had no choice but to believe it. How she pulled it off, I didn't know, but I didn't ask.

I stood up with a little help from the others and we headed back to Cranial City. Joe was glad to see all three of us, especially Todd. He was impressed by the story of what happened, but he was worried for me after hearing that I fainted when I saw the Mapo. He had the same reaction as Lexie after hearing the story of why it happened.

The three of us went home for the day. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better. Though I couldn't help but wonder why Todd read the notes out loud instead of Lexie reading them, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind for now.

That's chapter 3! Keep reading and reviewing!