The Dino Squad took a few steps back except for Buzz, who remained where he was, the claws on his hands unsheathing as well. He growled softly as he walked towards Michelle. The two teenagers locked eyes on one another. Buzz was determined to win this fight, if a fight should come. He was not going to allow Michelle to get the upper hand. He remembered how he was able to beat her in the online game. If he could do it there, why not in the real world? Because he didn't utilize the tricks he pulled in the game, that's why. If he could utilize them now, maybe he'd have a chance.
The teenagers, teeth bared and eyes glowing, began to circle each other like two lions ready to duel with one another. The Dino Squad took a few more steps back to give them fighting room. They dare not intervene. They knew this was Buzz's fight and that he wanted to fight alone. Michelle lowered her head and hissed, trying to intimidate Buzz. But the punk kid wasn't falling for it. In response, he opened up his arms, the wing membrane quickly growing to full length. He was making himself appear larger and more menacing. Eyes widened, Michelle gasped and took a step back. But she quickly recovered and proceeded to circle Buzz like a predator, and he did likewise.
Watching this unfold nervously, Fiona looked to Moynihan for reassurance. "Do you think he'll stand a chance? He was beaten last time..."
Moynihan placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "If he believes he can win, he will." But she, herself, was wondering the same thing. Would Buzz win the fight this time? Only time will tell. The battle was about to start.
Baring their teeth at one another, the two teens suddenly leaped at each other. Bringing their arms forward and jaws opening wide, they clashed into each other, slashing at each other, dodging the other's blows. Michelle didn't know why she was doing this. This isn't what she wanted. But what could she do? She felt provoked and her dinosaur side accepted the challenge. She felt a little jealous of these kids. They seemed to have more control over their dinosaur form while she and Oscura had all but succumbed to some of the dinosaurian instincts. Her eyes widened as Buzz attempted to bite her arm. She dodged out of the way and then shoved him in the back when she got the chance.
Buzz slammed into the ground, down but not out. He immediately jumped back onto his feat and charged at Michelle, this time making his target. He grabbed onto her and pulled her onto the ground and pinned her. Michelle kicked her legs wildly, desperately trying to kick him in the stomach. Buzz gripped both her arms and held them firmly in place. He lowered his head so that his face was very close to hers. Michelle struggled for several more seconds before pausing, the two of them breathing heavily.
"It didn't have to be like this, you know." Michelle said, trying to get Buzz off of her, desperately kicking at the air. "If you had just submitted to us earlier, you would have been taken somewhere and you would have gotten your friend back when..."
"When what?!" Buzz grabbed Michelle by the front of her shirt and lifted her up and then slammed her into the ground. Michelle's eyes closed tightly as she grunted painfully. "When your leader is through putting him through so much pain and torture?!" He slammed her into the ground again, visibly shaking in anger.
The Dino Squad watched on in horror. They weren't horrified by what was happening to Michelle exactly. It was the way Buzz was acting. He'd never acted this violent before. But then he had never been given a reason to do so. Back when he was being taunted by the bullies, he was tempted to go dino, but he'd only wanted to scare them. They taunted him yes. They tried to get him to change yes. But they never threatened his life or the life of any of his friends.
Fiona took a step back so that Moynihan was now standing closer to the battle than she was. Her hand was to her mouth as she watched the battle unfold in front of her. "This isn't like him..." She said, not believing what she was seeing. "Not like him at all..."
Moynihan narrowed her eyes, thinking the same thing. She hadn't trained her students to behave like this. They had only wanted to get information. And this wasn't the way to do it. Frowning in disappointment, she stepped forward, placing a hand on Rodger's shoulder and gently pushing him aside. "Buzz! Stop it! We must not waste time fighting!"
Buzz lifted up his head and stared at his mentor. "But, Professor Moynihan, she...!"
"No buts, Buzz! Get off of her!" Moynihan ordered, then quickly added. "Maybe you should let me handle it. I handled her partner just fine."
Buzz groaned in disappointment and frustration, but complied. But as soon as he loosened his grip on Michelle, she retaliated. She slashed him on the shoulder and he cried out in pain. As he slammed into the ground, Michelle quickly got back up and ran backwards a little bit to give herself some room. Buzz glanced at the blood seeping from the claw marks on his shoulders. He placed his hand gently on his shoulder, wincing at the stinging pain he felt. He pulled his hand back and saw redness on his head. He looked back at the claw marks and noticed they were very close to his neck. Eyes glowing, he snarled at Michelle.
"You scoundrel! You tried to have me killed!" Buzz clamored.
"No! I was just defending myself!" Michelle tried to explained.
"Liar!" Buzz shouted back.
Buzz got up off the ground and, forgetting what Moynihan had told him, charged at Michelle. Michelle yelped in surprise and managed to get out of the way just in time. She would have attacked him from behind again, but Buzz grew wise to her sneak attack. Buzz whirled around and grabbed Michelle's arm and threw her into the wall. Shaking her head, she fought back, dashing towards Buzz and the two interlocked their fingers as they tried to shove each other into the ground. Moynihan frowned and slowly shook her head. And all the Dino Squad could do during the fight was watch.
"I can't believe this... I just can't believe it." Amanda paced uneasily in a constant line in front of her husband. The couple were still at the lighthouse. While the kids were gone, Jack had worked on Moynihan's ankle. Being a football player for years, he had learned a thing or two about how to treat minor injuries such as sprained ankles. Once he was finished with mending her leg, he had given her some strong pain killers. They had worked wonders for him in the past and felt she could use them too. Within a short period of time, she felt well enough to go after the kids.
Amanda and Jack had volunteered to go with, but Joanne had turned them down. She insisted that it was her responsibility to protect the kids, and promised them she'd bring them home safe and sound. When Amanda said that she shouldn't go alone, Moynihan said that Rump was going to go with her. She had asked the young couple to keep an eye on the lighthouse in case Victor decided to come back. She had also wanted them there to make sure the light was still working. It was dark and sometimes ships come by this way.
Amanda felt frustrated that Joanne wouldn't let them go with her. She might have been their mentor, but she was a parent. She felt she had every right to go. It wasn't just Joanne's responsibility. It was hers as well. Irwin was her son for crying out loud! If anyone should be risking their life to save him, it should be her! Jack frowned softly, feeling concerned for his wife. He hated seeing her like this. He felt the same frustration, though, when Moynihan wouldn't let them come with. He did think that it was for the best, but he didn't completely understand why she wouldn't want their help. But there was nothing he could do about it now except try to comfort his wife. He placed an arm around her.
"Amanda, dear?" Jack spoke softly, stopping her in her tracks. He gently pulled her close to him. "Are you all right?" He knew that was a stupid question. He'd already know the answer. But he just wanted to comfort her, to try and make her feel better.
Amanda glared at her husband and roughly shoved him away. "No, I'm not okay! Our baby's out there, going through who knows what kind of torture, and we can't even do anything about it! That stupid teacher wouldn't let us come, so all we can do is sit in this stupid lighthouse, watching the time tick by, and having no idea what's going on! All we can do is sit here and wait for them to come back!"
"Amanda, we..." Jack started to say, but was interrupted by his wife.
"Oh shut up! What have you done to help?! The only help you gave was trying to set up that computer! Oh a fine job you did on that! If it weren't for you, we would have found Irwin a lot sooner! This is all your fault!" Amanda snarled, jabbing a finger at her husband.
Jack was stunned, at a loss of words. He took a step back. "Amanda..." He spoke softly.
The woman suddenly realized what she just said, and closed her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Jack.. I didn't mean it..." Amanda started to cry, feeling both depressed about their son's possible state and ashamed that she had put the blame on her husband. She understood that it was no one's fault, but she couldn't help but find someone to blame, someone she could direct her anger towards.
"Shhh..." Jack gently wrapped his arms around his wife's shaking body. "It's okay..."
Amanda buried her head into his shoulder. "It...It just isn't fair.. Why Irwin?" She asked him even though he'd have no answer for her. "Why our little boy?"
Jack was at a loss of words. What was he going to say? What could he possibly say that could make her feel better? He hugged her tighter, feeling her tears stain his shirt. All Amanda needed right now was comfort, someone to let her know she wasn't in this alone. He placed his chin on top of her head and sighed deeply. "Everything will be all right..you'll see..." He said, trying to sound confident. But not even he was sure in his own words. What if he was wrong?
"I-I-I sure h-hope so..." Amanda managed to choke out between sobs. "I just want our son back..." Amanda opened her eyes a little and glanced back at the door. She expected that, any second, the Dino Squad would come through the door. She was hoping that they were going to say that he was all right, that he was going to live. But part of her couldn't help but fear that they will only bring her bad news. What if they got there too late and he was already dead? She closed her eyes tightly again and turned away. Jack looked at her sympathetically.
"Yeah..." Jack replied. "Me too."
Peter groaned in pain. He was in a hospital room, laying in a bed. A white sheet was laid over him to try and keep him warm in the slightly chilly room. He had white bandages wrapped around his torso and chest where his ribs were broken and one of his arms, the right one, was in a cast and held up in the air by a sling. He closed his eyes and started to think about what had just happened to him and what he was going to do now. He couldn't go back to Victor, not now. And he felt a tinge of fear at the thought of returning. What if Victor ate him for failing him?
No, that couldn't happen, could it? He had called Victor up and told him what happened. Victor had assured him he thought of a second plan in case this one had failed. He had thanked him for the information and even told him to come back to Raptor Dyne once his arm had healed. For a second, Peter had thought Victor had genuinely cared about him, but knew this wasn't the case. Victor was only interested in seeing him heal so that he could come back to work to either give him his punishment or make him work on another project with him.
Why had he joined up with Victor? Sometimes Peter almost forgets his true motive for joining up with Victor. It was simply for a chance at revenge. But was it really worth all this? Had he taken the right path? Victor had taken him in. He had given him a job, and had given him a chance to get back at the other company for what they did to him. If it had not been for Victor, Peter would probably be homeless now, unable to support anyone, let alone himself. He did owe a lot to Victor and working for him was his way of paying him back. He had even allowed the man to inject dinosaur DNA into him, thus making him one of his men. Victor trusted him.
But was this truly worth it all? He glanced up at his arm. For a moment, he began to doubt himself and the decisions he had made. If he hadn't been with Victor, he might not have gotten himself into this situation. He might not have broken his arm and ended up in the hospital. They told him the arm wouldn't heal for weeks, which was typical of broken bones. And he'd already become a public enemy when he strode through the highway like that. He wasn't sure if he'd accidentally killed anybody on his way to the lighthouse.
Peter narrowed his eyes as he thought of the lighthouse. No, it wasn't because of his decision to join Victor that he was in this mess. It was because of the Dino Squad. They were the ones who tripped him and caused him to fall down, thus breaking his leg. This was their doing. It felt like an insult when one of them dropped him off here. They said it was just because they don't want to kill him, but he believed it was because they wanted to hurt his pride. An enemy being helped by the same enemy that hurt him? What an insult!
He looked over at the IV fluid pouch hanging near him. A needle was attached to his arm, inside a vein, nourishing his body as he laid on the white bed. He looked up at the TV and picked up the black remote. Holding it up towards the TV, hoping it would calm his nerves, and pressed a button. With a flicker, the TV turned on, the light starting to illuminate the dark room since the lights were out. There weren't many channels in this hospital, but they at least had the weather channel. For some reason the weather channel had always seemed to calm him. Maybe it was the music or the blue and white coloration in the background. Unfortunately the remote the hospital provided had no numeric pad. Instead he had to press Channel Up and Channel Down in order to switch stations.
As he started to change the channel to get to the weather station, he caught a glimpse of something big and gray on one of the news stations. His eyes widened and he quickly switched it back. There was a red banner across the bottom that read 'Dinosaur Attacks Highway'. Apparently some people had video cameras and managed to get the footage to the newscasters. The footage being displayed included several shots of a large Apatosaurus stomping into the ground, attacking that father and son, and knocking back a car or so. There were a couple glimpses of the lighthouse in the shots as well, but the main focus was the huge gray dinosaur.
And while the footage was being displayed, a few news reporters got on and began to discuss the situation. There was some debate on whether or not this was real, some kind of cruel prank, or the work of terrorists. One of them believed that this dinosaur was real and was transported here from the past. He began talking about the end of the world and such, which drove the other reporters nuts. One suspected the Apatosaurus was a robot and being controlled by some terrorist and yet another believes that it was just special effects for some movie and the creators were just having fun. None of them could reach a conclusion although they all expressed concern for the public's safety. They deemed this creature, whatever it was, to be a menace and to be avoided at all costs if it was seen again. The higher authorities would handle the creature should it appear again and get to the bottom of this.
Clenching the remote tightly, Peter seethed through his teeth, trying to keep himself calm. Getting angry right now probably wasn't a good idea. He still has to heal and that will take time. He lifted up the remote and pressed the button roughly, shutting the TV off. He tossed the remote away in anger, nearly knocking over the glass of water next to his bed. Great, now this was all over the news and everyone in the city was bound to have heard of it. The only good news is that know one except Victor and his fellow co-workers knew it was him. The bad news is that now he can't risk transforming into a dinosaur again because the police will be on his tail.
Peter wasn't the only one who had seen the news. He hadn't heard the footsteps approaching his room. He hadn't heard the door open up. He only took notice when someone flipped the switch on and suddenly the room was lit up. Peter flinched and covered his eyes, which have adjusted to the darkness in the room. He turned his head angrily towards the door. "Hey! Be careful, I..." He stopped when he realized who it was. "Zoom O'Donnell? What are you doing here?"
"What?" Asked the man leaning against the door frame. "Can't I visit an old friend?" He chuckled and walked into the room. The man wore a light beige shirt that buttoned up the middle of the front. He wore rectangle-shaped glasses that sat on his face. His hair was slightly curly and blond in coloration. On his chin was a small and short blond goatee. He also wore light blue jeans and around his shoulder he carried a brown bag which carried his equipment along with more personal belongings.
"Well..yes.. but..." Peter rubbed the back of his head with his unbroken left arm. "I just didn't expect to see you here is all."
Zoom smiled at that and looked up at the television. While the screen was black now, he had already seen the news and had seen the dinosaur that was rampaging the streets. He chuckled a few times, arms folded. He shook his head and turned over at Peter, a sly smile on his face. "You really put up a show."
Peter smiled back, not fully realizing what Zoom had just said. "Yeah I guess I..." Then it dawned on him. "What?!" He looked at his old friend in shock. "You knew I was the Apatosaurus?!" He exclaimed.
At this statement, Zoom threw his head back and laughed as if this was just some big joke. Wiping a way a tear that came from his eye during the laughter, he walked a little closer to his friend, not taking his eyes off of him. "You know you can't keep a secret from me, Peter, old pal." When he reached the side of Peter's bed, he continued, "I have my ways."
Peter cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Oh yeah? What kind of ways?"
"Magical." Zoom said, laughing at his own joke. Peter, on the other hand, didn't seem to find anything funny about what he had just said. Zoom's laughter died down quickly. "Okay, not really. I was riding by when I saw you transform. You almost squashed me!" He frowned.
Peter gasped in horror. "I did? I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" He began to scan Zoom's body with his eyes and tried to find anything wrong with him. A bruise, a scratch, anything, but found nothing.
Zoom's frown faded into a smile. "Oh of course not! I got out of the way just in time." His face turned serious again. He pulled out a chair that was close by and sat down on it. He folded his arms once again, looking just slightly miffed. "Peter..why didn't you tell me you could turn into a dinosaur?" He didn't know why Peter never told him.
Peter frowned and turned away. "It was my first time... And Victor told me not to tell anyone outside the team."
Upon the mention of Victor, Zoom's expression turned to anger. He remembered how Victor had turned him down when the photo he tried to give to him was switched because of some crazy punk child. Victor never would let him hear his side of the story. The billionaire found it hard to believe any child could be smart enough to pull that kind of trick without anyone noticing. And Victor himself had not even seen any of the children in the area and didn't believe they could have been wandering about otherwise he would have seen them.
"Victor?" Zoom asked calmly. "You work for Victor?" A nod came from Peter. "Man, it really has been a long time since we last talked."
Peter smiled. "Yeah it has. Just a couple years."
"So...let me guess. Victor is a dinosaur too?" Zoom asked out of the blue.
Peter's eyes widened. "How did you know?"
Zoom chortled. "Call it a lucky guess. So...does he try to hunt down those dinosaurs that have been appearing all over the news?" Peter nodded again. "I'm not surprised. A dinosaur hunting dinosaurs. Makes perfect sense...I suppose..." From the sound of his voice, Zoom was trying to accept this new information but was having a hard time believing it.
"Look..I wasn't supposed to tell anyone else this but..." Peter felt reluctant to spill to beans to his friend. He had no ties in with Raptor Dyne. He was just a photographer who had a bad run-in with Victor in the past. "...Victor is really a Velociraptor. Yeah, it sounds crazy doesn't it? But it's true. And he has this crazy idea of trying to bring back the reign of the dinosaurs. He's obsessed with ending mankind and letting the superior dinosaurs rule the planet once more."
Zoom took a step backwards. "What?!" He gasped. "Why would you work for someone like that?"
"...It has good pay." Peter said, smiling a little. Zoom didn't see the humor in it and Peter's smile dropped. "And he invited me to join the dominant species. He promised me power."
Zoom closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. He was still in denial of what his friend had been doing these past few years. The Peter he had known wouldn't have succumbed to this. He would not have joined a madman like Victor. But then again, Zoom did start to believe that, if he were in Peter's shoes when Victor offered the job, he would have said yes too. Zoom would have been in it for the money. He would do anything for money, including allowing a celebrity to get hurt. He recalled how he had let a dolphin prop fall onto that celebrity, Kristy, just so he could get a good shot to get a lot of money for. He might have succeeded too if it weren't for that darn dinosaur that had shown up. That was odd, though, as he thought about it. How did a Spinosaurus get in so quickly and without breaking down any of the walls?
Peter gave a sigh. "Look, I'm..sorry I didn't tell you any of this sooner. I would have, but Dr. Veloci is very strict on who is allowed to know and who isn't. He isn't ready for the world to know the truth. He wants to keep it a secret."
Zoom asked, "Why? Something like this won't stay a secret for very long I can guarantee you."
"He doesn't want the authorities after him." Peter explained. "Think about it. If everyone knew he was a Velociraptor, he would be hunted down and his mission will fail. Everyone who worked for him will be arrested and prosecuted."
Zoom nodded, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...good point."
"And things are only made more complicated by this Dino Squad that keeps interfering with the plans!" Peter quickly realized he had said too much and covered his mouth, hoping his friend hadn't heard him. "I mean..."
This had caught Zoom's interest. He leaned in closer to his friend. "Dino Squad? Who is the..what are the... Dino Squad?" He asked awkwardly, trying to find the right words to say, trying to find the right way to word the sentences. "Are they the dinosaurs I've been seeing on the news? Those five?"
Knowing that he couldn't convince Zoom otherwise, Peter gave in. "Yeah... They had interfered with a lot of plans in the past. There have been times that the plan almost works, and then they appear and prevent it from succeeding. They have at first fascinated Victor and later angered him. He wants to capture them." Peter was happy that he was in the hospital now. Victor couldn't watch him inside this room. "And recently we discovered that these dinosaurs were really children with the power to transform into dinosaurs at will."
"Kids?" O'Donnell blinked in confusion. "Those five dinosaurs are really children?"
"Teenagers most likely." Peter explained. "From Kittery High."
Zoom's eyes widened. "Kittery High?" He suddenly had a suspicion that he had met these kids before.
"Yes. We discovered the identity of the Stegosaurus to be Irwin Caruso." Peter responded. "And chances are the other four dinosaurs are teenagers that are students at Kittery High."
Now that Zoom thought about it, the times he had seen the dinosaurs he had seen some teenagers in particular close by. And it was the same anywhere he had seen these dinosaurs. He had not encountered them many times. He could only remember three times he had seen the dinosaurs. And each time he saw the same five teenagers nearby as well. Was it a coincidence? Or were they and the dinosaurs one and the same?
If they were the same, then maybe this could be his chance at revenge. He didn't really have a good reason to get revenge on the kids, but he didn't really care. Maybe he could offer his services to Victor. "I think I know who the other kids are."
"I've seen them." Peter said. "I know what they look like."
Zoom tilted his head. "Oh you do? All of them?"
Peter suddenly winced as he felt a pain shoot up his leg. How could he possibly forget those kids after this happened to him? Through bared teeth, he said through his pain, "Yes! Do you think I'd forget the ones who broke my leg?!"
Zoom's eyes widened a bit. "You mean those kids were the ones who did this to you?" The photographer asked, nervously feeling the strap on his shoulder.
Peter nodded once. "Yeah...they did. They tripped me and caused me to break my leg. Then they threatened me if I didn't tell them what they wanted..." He covered his mouth, realizing too late that he had said too much. He'd already revealed enough information. He didn't want to drag his friend into this situation.
"Information?" Zoom cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of information would a couple of brats like them want?"
Peter turned his head away and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. But I'm not allowed to reveal that information."
"Why not?" Zoom asked.
"You're not part of the team. That's why." Peter answered him without looking back. He heard the scratching sound of the chair being scooted a little closer. But he didn't look back. He half wished that the photographer would get up and walk away and leave him alone. Zoom shouldn't get involved in this. It is too dangerous for a simple photographer. What hope would he have against dinosaurs?
Zoom smiled softly and leaned back in his chair. "If that's all that it takes then..count me in."
Eyes wide with fear and shock, Peter whirled around fast, but still careful due to his broken arm, and stared at Zoom in disbelief. Was he joking? For a few seconds, Peter couldn't find the words to say. He constantly stammered as he struggled to say something, anything. But only gibberish came out. Zoom tilted his head a little in confusion at his friend's stammering. He had thought Peter would be happy to hear he wanted to help him.
"What's wrong? I thought you would be glad I wanted to join you." Zoom asked, frowning slightly but not in an angry way.
Peter finally found his voice. "W-Well..y-yeah I am..but..."
"But what?" Zoom asked.
"Well...it's just that..." Peter stammered. "I-It is too dangerous for you. I mean..you are a photographer and, no offense intended, but I don't think a photographer stands a chance at capturing dinosaurs and...quite frankly, I don't know if you'll be able to handle working under Victor's control. It ain't easy and there's the constant threat of being eaten."
"If I can survive being threatened by guards and celebrities as well as being nearly attacked by a Spinosaurus," Zoom said with confidence, "I'm sure I can survive threats from a Velociraptor. I mean, how bad could it be?"
"Zoom..." Peter said in a serious tone, eyes narrowed a little. "Many of the workers have disappeared when they had disappointed Victor greatly. While some were simply dismissed, others were eaten. I've seen it too." He shuddered at the thought. He could still hear the bones cracking and the meat being ripped off the bone.
Zoom's smile faded and he looked towards the ground. He started to reconsider his idea of joining with Victor. He did feel confident enough that he would be able to avoid getting eaten. He still wanted a chance at revenge. But would it be worth it? Those kids...was it worth it to try and go after them? They were young and naive. Maybe it wouldn't be fair to punish them. His eyes narrowed. But they did ruin his chance at getting thousands of dollars. But that kid...why had he wanted the photograph back? So what if Kristy's reputation at stake? So what if one person is hurt? He didn't understand why the boy cared so much about someone he knew so little about.
And of course those brats had hurt his best friend. He and Peter had been friends since middle school. They had went to the same classes together and they helped each other with their subjects. Even then, Zoom had displayed his cockiness and his willingness to hurt others for money. He'd been doing it for years. It was how he was raised. He was taught that good guys always finish last. The thought of a group of juvenile idiots hurting his childhood friend was enough to make him seethe. And the fact they had gotten in his way in the past only made him angrier. He wanted revenge and he had an idea on how to do it.
"I'm sorry, Peter, but I made up my mind." Zoom said as he got up from his seat. He started to reach into his bag, searching for one particular object.
"What are you doing, Zoom?" Peter asked, trying to sit up with his unbroken arm.
Zoom pulled out his cellphone. "What do you think?" He popped it open. "I'm going to call Victor. I'm going to offer my services."
Peter's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"
Zoom looked at the number pad on his phone and then frowned softly. "You're right..I can't." He turned to Peter. "What is his cellphone number?"
"Victor doesn't like to be disturbed and..." Peter tried to say but was cut off by Zoom.
"I don't care." Zoom said. "Just give me his phone number...please. I have an idea that he might be interested. I know I am."
"What idea?" Peter asked carefully, unsure if he truly wanted to know what Zoom had in mind.
"A way to get even with the kids." Zoom grinned deviously. "You and I already want revenge on them, am I right?"
"Yes but...a simple prank, Victor's not going to be interested in that." Peter tried to explain. "He's interested in capturing them."
Zoom chuckled in a slightly dark tone. "That's what I am talking about! Should I elaborate?" Peter nodded a couple times slowly. But the expression on his face told Zoom he is going to need some convincing. And Peter was sometimes difficult to convince completely. Zoom smiled. He could use the challenge. "You already know that I'm a professional photographer and that I edit all my shots to..spice them up. They are convincing except to those with a sharp eye for detail." He set his cellphone on the table and reached in to grab his camera and held it with pride. "This camera has done wonders for me. It gives me clear shots of anything I want and I can edit them just like that."
Peter still wasn't convinced. "So you can edit a few pictures. How is that going to impress Victor?"
"I'm getting to that." Zoom was a little annoyed at being interrupted like that. But he shrugged it off. He turned his attention back to his camera. "With this, I have been able to fool people into thinking that Kristy girl was something she was not. It was very easy too. Just a few minor tweaks..." He traced the outline of the lens with a finger. He remembered how some teacher had walked up to him and broke it. She said it was an accident, but he believed it was on purpose. He pondered if she was the kids' leader. "So if I can edit people, why can't I edit dinosaurs?" He saw Peter's eyes widened with interest. "For example, I could very easily make it look like those dinosaurs caused certain disasters that have happened."
"But...except for that incident that I caused," Peter tried to explain, "There hasn't been anything significant enough to..."
"Then we can create some." Zoom said slyly. "Maybe plant a bomb or two..nothing big, just enough to cause some damage, and frame the dinosaurs for it."
"And then what? Have the police chase after them?" Peter asked.
"Precisely." Zoom responded.
"But...Victor wants them. He doesn't want some stupid cop to track down 'his' dinosaurs." Peter explained. "I don't think that plan will work."
"Oh it will." Zoom said in a voice full of confidence and arrogance. "If Victor tells the police to turn the perfect dinosaurs over to him."
"That's..." Peter began to say, but trailed off, a little unwilling to finish the sentence for fear of upsetting his friend.
"...stupid? Not exactly. Victor's a billionaire right? A powerful business man. I'm sure he would be able to strike some sort of deal with the cops. After all..." Zoom leaned in a bit. "..money is the most powerful thing on this planet, is it not?"
Peter sighed. Zoom had him right there. Money was powerful and he had heard of police doing certain things just because someone paid them too. It was common in crime, or so he has heard. "You have a good point there..." He said finally, not sure what else to say to convince his friend otherwise. His plan just might work anyway.
Zoom nodded. "So...will you give me his phone number now?" He asked, looking at his friend expectantly. Why should he refuse to do it now after he was apparently convinced by his plan?
Peter lowered his head in defeat. "Fine..I'll give it to you." He said reluctantly. He told Zoom Victor's cellphone number. After he did that, he added one more thing. "Don't call him right now. It's still early and Victor is probably asleep."
Zoom closed his cellphone and put it away. "Thanks for the number. And what guest? You mean one of the kids?" Peter nodded. "So he caught one of them already? Which one?"
"The Stegosaurus. Caruso." Peter told him. "He's being held at a hide out near Boston."
"What of the green-haired kid?" Zoom asked with particular interest. "I have a bone to pick with him."
"Why?" Peter asked.
"It's..personal." Zoom said softly. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."
"I see..." Peter said softly. He looked down. "Well anyway, Victor wanted Caruso for some experiments, in case you are wondering. He is subjected Caruso to different types of weapons and mutantsaurs."
"Mutantsaurs?" Zoom O'Donnell asked curiously. "What are mutantsaurs?"
"They're dinosaur mutants." Peter explained. "You might have seen some. They have a dinosaur-like appearance, although many of them still have some resemblance to a modern day animal. Victor has mutated a lot of animals with his primordial ooze." Seeing Zoom's confused expression, Peter continued, "It's a glowing orange slime-like substance that mutants animal and plant life upon contact. It doesn't hurt and the change happens almost instantly. So far he has yet to perfect it and most of the experiments turn out to be just mutations, not the pure thing."
"And what of those dinosaurs?" Zoom asked. "They don't look like any kind of mutation. They looked like completely dinos. How did Victor manage to get that?"
"That's just it..." Peter said, shaking his head slowly. "We don't know. It's even a mystery how I was able to get a full dinosaur form. That batch is long gone and Victor and no one else can't remember what was exactly in it. And Victor hasn't come up with a reason for why those five teens were able to get pure dinosaur forms instead of just mutants."
"I see..." Zoom said, scratching his goatee thoughtfully.
"Although he does believe he knows why they have control over their dinosaur forms and be able to change in and out at will, just like he can." Peter said, trying to lean up again but not being able to completely support himself with one arm. "He believes that Joanne Moynihan had given them that ability."
"Joanne Moynihan? Who is that?" Zoom asked.
"She's apparently a teacher at Kittery Point. Victor believes she discovered that the kids were contaminated with dinosaur DNA and had helped them."
Zoom narrowed his eyes slightly. "I think we have met... She destroyed my other expensive camera."
"I'm...sorry to hear that." Peter said, trying to sound sympathetic, although he personally didn't care about that camera. Zoom had a few more just like it. "Anyway, Victor and Joanne were..are both Velociraptors I should say, who had developed new abilities during their sixty-five million year old slumber. Victor had not only acquired the ability to turn into a human; he had also gained the ability to transfer the ability of self-control to another. To explain, he can, just by touching someone infected with dinosaur DNA, give them the ability to control that form. He believes Moynihan had gotten that same ability."
"Just by touching them? How? That seems far fetched." Zoom said, eyes narrowed in disbelief. "How could he possibly do that?"
"I don't know, but it worked before." Peter said. "Victor had helped two teens control their dinosaur form. Before you say anything, they aren't any of the five teens I mentioned before. They're different. Victor found them and recruited them."
Zoom stared at Peter for a few seconds before slamming his face with the palm of his hand. "So...let me get this straight." He said, trying to sound calm. But in reality he was a bit frustrated and in disbelief. "There has been eight people who had gotten complete dinosaur forms. There's you, those five teenagers, and now two more. Am I right?" He asked Peter, who responded with a nod. "Okay, so, how is it that Victor still hasn't perfected this primordial ooze?"
"He needed a DNA sample, so he had been hunting those five particular dinosaurs and..." Peter said.
"And..why didn't he just use you? Or those two new recruits of his?" Zoom said, arms lifted in the air to emphasize his disbelief. "That would have been a lot easier than chasing down five big dinosaurs, wouldn't it?"
Peter slowly shook his head. "Victor didn't know they were teenagers for quite some time. The entire team actually, not just Victor, thought they were full blown dinosaurs that just had a habit of being able to disappear and move fast. Victor only recently discovered they were teenagers."
"Still, he could have used your DNA or those two recruits you mentioned earlier. Why hadn't he thought of doing that? I thought Victor was supposed to be brilliant. But so far, no offense, he's turning out to be very...ignorant." Zoom said, not looking very impressed with what he's heard of Victor now. "I apologize if I'm upsetting you." He noticed that Peter didn't look particularly happy with him and felt a little guilty about saying what he had.
"No..." Peter said after a few moments of silence. "It's okay. You are right. There are times when Victor doesn't seem too bright."
"Oh? Like when?" Zoom asked.
"Like the time he caught all five of the dinosaurs but was was tricked into letting them go." Peter explained, recalling what he had heard from Victor and from the recent discoveries. "Victor had some of his men go after the dinosaurs and, well..." He scratched the back of his head as he leaned back down into his hospital bed. "I'm not entirely sure of all the details. But apparently they had managed to catch all the dinosaurs in that cage. But when Victor arrived, there were only teenagers. It didn't dawn on him at the time that those teens were dinosaurs. And he let them go."
Zoom shook his head. "So he wasn't able to put two and two together huh? That's sad..." He had second thoughts on joining Victor now. If he couldn't even see through a simple trick like that, how could he trust him to get anything right? Well he did manage to capture one of the teens. That's it though. Just one. "It seems like he can't do anything right."
"Well it was only a few times. And many of his plans would have worked if it weren't for this Dino Squad showing up all the time." Peter attempted to defend Victor. "And so far this current plan, from my understanding, is turning out pretty well. He tricked Moynihan into revealing her location using her own trick. He put forth a plan that allowed one of his two dinosaur recruits into the lair and destroy their equipment so that, when he would take Caruso the next day, they wouldn't be able to find him. And when the Dino Squad found a new tracking equipment and Victor realized they would be coming to Boston, he set up a trap for them there, from what he had told me."
Zoom nodded his head, smiling a bit, impressed. Maybe Victor wasn't completely stupid after all. He really thought ahead with that plan. He anticipated they would try to search for Caruso and took care of their equipment before he'd capture Caruso. And when the plan was nearly ruined when the kids found a tracking device, he turned it into his advantage and had a trap set up for the kids for when they got to Boston. That was impressive, very impressive. Maybe Victor could be a big help after all.
"Hmm..interesting." Zoom said thoughtfully. He then looked down at a new watch he had gotten. He gasped as he saw the time. "I'm late!" He never specified just what he was late for, though. He placed the cellphone back in the bag and started towards the door. He glanced back at his bed-ridden friend. "See you later, buddy. And thanks for the number! I'll give Victor a call when I get back to my apartment."
"All right then." Peter raised up his arm to wave goodbye. "You're welcome. Goodbye. Oh and good luck!" With that, Zoom disappeared out of the door, shutting it behind him. Peter was once again alone in the room. He sighed, and turned the television back on. "Maybe there'll be something good on this time."
Unbenownst to him, outside his room in the hallway, someone was listening in on him. It was Kista, the same woman who was talking to Donald and Michael earlier that night. When Zoom came out of the room, she quickly hid behind the door so he wouldn't see her. She didn't know completely why Victor wanted her to see Peter. She knew that he wanted her to inform him of some new details and that he also wanted information from him. But she didn't see the point in this little mission. She was growing agitated. When Victor had told her about the Dino Squad her interest was peaked, and she felt further teased as she heard Zoom and Peter talking about them. Though honestly she was not expecting Zoom. Heck, she wasn't even expected him to offer his services, let alone try to call Victor himself. She smirked slyly to herself. Why should she care anyway? It was his funeral. It's not her fault he doesn't know Victor doesn't like getting interrupted at important times.
She was about to turn the knob on the door when she heard, or rather, felt her cellphone vibrating. She had the sound off and the vibrator on. It annoys her sometimes when she's trying to do something, such as now. But it pays off several times because the muffled sound hides her position. Had it run, the ring tone would have surely been heard by Peter and he would be on alert. For her job, she must keep the element of surprise, to only let other see her when she wants them to see her. If she failed in that, well..she didn't want to think about it.
Groaning softly, she pulled out her cellphone and looked at who was calling. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't recognize the number. But judging from the area code, it looked like someone from Maine. Thinking nothing of it, she shrugged and opened up the cell phone and spoke into the device. "Hello?" A voice on the other line, sounding masculine, seemed desperate and was different things that didn't make much sense to Kista. She narrowed her eyes. "I think you have the wrong phone number." The person on the other side asked what her name was. She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter what my name is. The thing is I have some important things to discuss with a co-worker of mine and our boss, Dr. Veloci, won't tolerate..."
She had to plug her other ear as the person on the other end suddenly, out of nowhere, started screaming at her. She had to stifle a yelp of pain as her ears started to ring even after the person stopped yelling. "What is your problem?" Kista said as she recovered her voice. "I did nothing wrong!" Then it became clear to her as the man continued to speak, more calmly but still in a harsh tone. "Oh..so you're the little brat's father." She said in a taunting tone, chuckling. "Well you'll probably be glad to know that I am taking no part in whatever fate your son will face or has already faced. But..." Kista was in a rather evil mood in that moment. "...that may change later on." With that, before the man could yell back at her, she shut the phone and reached for the door knob. She intended on having a word with Peter, just as Victor had instructed her.
Back at the lighthouse, Jack slammed the phone back onto his hook. He used such force he thought he nearly broke it. His wife was standing next to him, hand on his shoulder. It took him a few minutes before he had settled down enough to look at her. But his face was still etched in anger and pain. Amanda moved her hand away from him, afraid that she was just making him angrier.
Amanda was growing increasingly worried as the minutes passed by and no one returned to the lighthouse. Jack had tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't settle down until she was sure Irwin was safe. But there was no way to know that unless they called up someone on the team and ask them. That was a huge risk however. If they called at the wrong time, like when they were fighting or something, it could be disastrous. But Amanda felt it was worth the risk to at least know Irwin might be all right. Jack eventually gave in and tried to call Moynihan. But he had somehow gotten the wrong number.
"Jack...? What's wrong? What did she say?" Amanda asked cautiously.
"Oh it was a she all right..." Jack seethed. "But it sure wasn't Professor Moynihan..."
"Then..who could it have been?" Amanda pondered, thinking to herself. They had gotten Moynihan's number and it wasn't like her husband to dial incorrectly.
"I don't know." Jack replied, still angry. "But whoever it was, they claimed to be working for Victor." This caught Amanda's attention, who immediately snapped her head in his direction. "She also claimed to be not responsible for whatever happens to our son, but..." He sighed. "..she also said that this could change...her being responsible that is, for whatever else may come."
Amanda placed her hand against her mouth and gasped. "Oh Jack..." She wanted to hug him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She glanced back at the paper, eyes narrowed. Could Moynihan have given them the wrong number on purpose? And if so, why? What purpose would there have been? What kind of motive would she have had? She had never given her a reason for her to doubt her in the past and she seemed genuinely concerned about Irwin's capture. No, Moynihan could not have done this on purpose. It just didn't add up.
She picked up the piece of paper that had the numbers written down. She took a careful look at the one for Moynihan's cell phone. She noticed something that neither of them did before. There was some sort of black smudge over two of the numbers. They looked like eraser shavings. She dusted them away carefully with her fingers and looked at the number again. Her eyes widened as it became apparent what happened. The smudge marks had disguised two of the numbers as something else. And those two small changes were enough for them to get someone different entirely when they would dial that number.
"Jack, you had dialed the wrong number." Amanda told him, still holding up the paper in her hand.
"Thank you for stating the obvious." Jack replied somewhat bitterly.
"Do you want to try again?" Amanda held the paper towards him, this time with the correct number.
Jack looked at the paper and frowned. He closed his eyes and turned away. He slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry..no. I don't want to take the chance of being wrong again. What if I accidentally call Dr. Veloci next?"
Amanda put the paper down and reached out towards her husband. Her hand gently caressed his face. "What should we do then?"
Jack looked at her and placed his large hand on hers. "Exactly what we were doing before." He gently squeezed her hand. "We wait."
Michelle grunted in pain as she slammed against the wall of the hallway. She slid down onto the floor, eyes closed tightly in pain. Buzz had just slammed her against the wall by grabbing her arm and throwing her. The fight had gone on for about five to ten minutes, or maybe it had not. She couldn't remember how long they were fighting exactly. But it was fierce. She had to admit it. Buzz was stronger than she had originally thought. He had started to use some of the stuff he used in the online game against her such as luring her to a certain place and letting her trip herself. She admitted that was clever but still got up to fight.
She had grown tired of fighting. She was starting to wear out and as she looked over her injuries, many of which were bleeding mildly, she wasn't sure how much longer she would last in the fight. And her strength was starting to fail her. As she struggled to her feet, she only slipped back down. She groaned lightly and looked up. Buzz was standing over her, piercing glowing eyes staring down at her, waiting for her to make her next move.
Michelle stared back, baring her teeth in defense, thinking Buzz was going to attack her any second now. She tried again to get up, but Buzz hissed loudly, showing his claws to her. She gasped and pushed her back against the wall in an attempt to get away, although it would be useless. And much to her displeasure, the remaining Dino Squad seemed to have sensed the fight was over. They came over to assist Buzz. They circled around her, blocking any escape path. Michelle looked around her, desperately trying to find some way to get away from there. She felt her heart racing and it was going so fast she almost thought it was going to explode.
"Give it up." Buzz said, sensing who had won this fight. "It's over."
Michelle darted her eyes left and right, scanning the environment around her. But it didn't take her long to realize she was indeed trapped. She could go dino, but there wasn't a lot of room in the hallway and it could probably hinder her escape even further. Not to mention it would probably cause the Dino Squad to believe she really was against them and that wouldn't do her, or Caruso, any favors. She sighed in defeat and lowered her head, eyes closed.
"...all right. I give up." Without looking up, Michelle asked, "..what do you want from me?"
Buzz was about to speak up when he felt someone pull him back gently. He turned to see it was Moynihan. While she was happy the fight was over, she glared softly at Buzz, disappointed that he had continued the fight even when told not to. Michelle did provoke him, but she looked like she reacted out of fear, not true malicious intent. And despite Michelle being the enemy, Joanne couldn't blame her. Buzz had reacted rather harshly when there was no need to.
Moynihan took a step forward, now being the one closer to Michelle. She glanced down at the young teen on the ground. Trying her best not to sound menacing, she asked carefully, "Will you take us to Caruso?"
Michelle flinched a little. She knew this question was going to come up. And while she wanted to help, after the fight with Buzz, she started to have some second thoughts. "I don't know... If Dr. Veloci found out, he'd..."
"Don't worry about Dr. Veloci." Moynihan said. "And if you take us to our friend, we'll let you go."
"And if I refuse?" Michelle asked, eyes narrowed slightly.
"You become our prisoner!" Buzz declared. Michelle's eyes widened in fear.
Max jabbed Buzz in the ribs with his elbow. "Buzz!" He hissed at him. "Stop it!"
"No, you won't become our prisoner." Moynihan told Michelle, who seemed to relax a little. "But we cannot guarantee what Victor may or may not do..." Moynihan did have ideas on what Victor might do to Michelle and she didn't want to go into details about it. She hoped this little scare would convince Michelle to help them. And if she cooperated, Moynihan planned on keeping her end of the deal and letting her go free.
Michelle's eyes widened at the thought of Victor Veloci. The others took notice, but thought nothing of it. A couple thought it was just a trick to get them to feel sorry for her. Michelle looked to the ground, thinking this over a little. She had two choices now and she didn't have long to make up her mind. She could refuse to help and try to escape, which may only end badly and get her into a worse situation. Her option was to help them. This, however, could also lead to trouble. She didn't know where Oscura was. She could be anywhere and she could see her leading the Dino Squad to Caruso. And she wondered what Victor might think. Then something crossed her mind. Didn't Victor want them to find Caruso anyway? Michelle grew a little fearful. Could she go through with helping them when, in the end, it could lead to their downfall?
She mentally shook her head. She wondered why she was caring so much lately. Not so long ago, she wouldn't have cared less what happened to them. She wondered if it was because of Caruso and what was happening to him. Yes, that had to be it. She had told herself that in the past. Caruso seemed to remind herself of what happened to her before. She had kept it a secret from the Dino Squad, but she had endured something similar to Caruso at the hands of Veloci. But it was a more gentle and mild form and it was simply to test her obedience, to give Veloci no reason to believe she might turn on him. But regardless, it was still harsh.
After about a minute of silence, and realizing she was starting to agitate a few of the Dino Squad members with her silence, she exhaled and said, "..all right. I'll help you." She struggled to her feet. The Dino Squad moved out of her way to let her walk out in front of them. But they never took their eyes off of her. She started to walk down one of the hallways. She glanced over her shoulder and said, "It's this way. Follow me and be quiet. This place is crawling with Victor's men and if you want to find your friend, you mustn't be spotted."
"No duh. We aren't stupid. We don't need you telling us that." Buzz muttered under his breath as he and the others started to follow Michelle.
"No tricks." Rodger warned her. "If we find out you are steering us wrong...well you don't want to know what will happen." His eyes glowed as he said that. He wasn't sure if any of them would actually do anything to really hurt her, but perhaps some fear would motivate the girl to not try any tricks.
Michelle nodded and proceeded to lead the Dino Squad down the corridor. The Dino Squad remained behind her, keeping their eyes on her in case she tried to get away. Michelle was becoming a bit nervous but tried her best to hide it by acting a little brave and bold. "What I don't get is why do you even need me to lead you?" She said before she could stop herself. "Why can't you find your precious friend on your own?"
"That is not any of your business." Fiona growled.
"And why would you want to know anyway?" Max asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he kept up the pace. "I thought you didn't care about Caruso."
"I don't!" Michelle snapped angrily, feeling a little agitated. Max was starting to remind her of Oscura. He wasn't as harsh, she admitted to herself, but he seemed to be implying the same thing as Oscura did before. "I was only asking because I thought you were his friends."
"We are his friends!" Buzz snapped. Why must Michelle tempt him like this? If she kept this up, he could lose his temper again and attack.
"Look, we don't know our way around here." Moynihan spoke up, sensing the tension building up amongst the group and the enemy. She decided to step in before something else happened. She didn't want another fight to occur, not right now. They've come so close to finding Caruso. They couldn't afford to have anymore mishaps. That would only slow them down, and she knew time was of the essence. "If we searched on our own, we might not find Caruso in time. We just want him back." Moynihan did her best to sound calm, hoping that it would help alleviate some of the tension building up.
Michelle chuckled a little. She glanced back at Moynihan as they continued to walk. She wondered how Moynihan was able to walk again so fast after falling down those stairs. She was even more surprised that there were little injuries on her. The leg hardly looked swollen anymore and the old woman wasn't wincing as she walked on it. She took notice of the cane, something she'd overlooked until now. She wondered if it was because she was still in some pain or if it was because of the old injury Victor had given her thirty years ago, or so he had said.
She didn't understand why yet, but she felt a little agitated that she was being forced in doing this. Yes, she did tell herself she would lead them to their friend. But this is not how she wanted to do it. She felt more like a prisoner than a helper. She was expecting them to capture her any second and interrogate her further, to reveal things she shouldn't have. She was already pushing it by helping them find Caruso. And even this she wasn't so sure about because of the trap Victor had set up for them. Different things went through her mind simultaneously, trying to find a solution. What could she do to make them go faster without making it look suspicious?
An idea came to her, but she was not going to like it. And the Dino Squad weren't going to like it either. But it was the only thing she could think of to try to quicken the pace so they'd get to Caruso faster. If she was lucky, she'd get them there before the trap was complete. Maybe they would even see the trap being set up so they could avoid it. But she couldn't be entirely sure. She didn't know exactly what kind of trap it was going to be.
Michelle smirked darkly as her eyes locked onto Moynihan's ankle. "How's the leg?" She asked slyly, almost like she was implying something. She knew Moynihan was a bit sensitive about that leg, especially after how Victor broke it when he defeated her years ago. How could anyone forget something like that?
Moynihan's eyes widened a bit at the question. Why did Michelle ask something like that? It wasn't relevant to what was going on. Of course, Michelle was the one who hurt her leg to begin with. She wasn't the first. But she had thrown her down the stairs a couple days ago. She didn't understand why Michelle had done that. She didn't think anyone could be that cruel. But she was proven wrong in that instance. The pain of slamming against those stairs, the cracking sound of her ankle being twisted, crashing on the floor, it was all still fresh in her mind. Moynihan's eyes narrowed as her anger back then started to return. She was doing exactly what she didn't want the children to do, but she had a hard time stopping herself.
Moynihan managed to suppress her anger enough so that her only reaction to what Michelle said was a single sentence, "You dare mention that...?" It was worded as a question but she ended up saying it more like a threat. Joanne noticed Michelle flinched as she said that but she didn't stop just yet. "It is not wise to provoke the enemy when you are outnumbered six to one, don't you know?"
"Oh I know." Michelle said, trying to sound a little sarcastic. "But I didn't think anything of it because, with an injury like that," She pointed at Moynihan's leg. "...I don't see how you are much of a threat. And if you have taught your tricks to these kids, then I hate to say it, they aren't much of a threat either." She knew she was probably going too far with what she was saying, especially after how she was defeated in battle by Buzz. To say they weren't a threat was a big understatement. "What did you teach them anyway? How to run and hide like a coward? How to back down from a fight they were actually winning?" She grinned deviously as she said that, although inside she was feeling sickened. She was starting to sound more like Oscura.
"How dare you say that!" Fiona snapped, trying to resist the urge to chase after Michelle. "You have no idea what you are talking about!"
Buzz stepped in, quickening his pace a little as he prepared to lunge at Michelle in case she said anything else to provoke them. "And what do you mean we aren't much of a threat? I defeated you!"
"Yeah? So?" Michelle smirked. "It was just dumb luck."
Buzz started to run toward Michelle but was held back by Max. Max frowned at Buzz and shook his head, showing that he disapproved of him trying to go after Michelle. He had already done enough damage to her as it is. He need not do anything more. Sensing that Michelle was just setting up a front to try to fool them, Max remained calm. He did his best to not allow the words to effect him. Being a leader, he had to act more responsible and mature. He kept this in mind as he turned his attention onto Michelle.
"Let's not fight again, okay?" Max asked her calmly. "We just want our friend back, so let's just get it over with. We don't have much time left. He could be..."
"Dead?" Michelle cut him off. "Good. He can die here for all I care. He was nothing but a nuisance."
Max was cut a bit off guard by that statement but nonetheless kept his cool. He didn't want to make the same mistake Buzz had made earlier. He didn't want to lose his temper and chase away what was probably their only chance at finding Caruso. If Michelle was trying to provoke him, it was not going to work. It would take a lot more. "He is still our friend and we still care about him. If you ever had a friend, you should understand that."
Michelle blinked as he said that. At first, she was not sure exactly how to respond. She was drawing a blank and she felt herself running out of ideas. If she could not even anger the leader, what hope was there of her getting them to where Caruso was faster? She'd have to get them to chase her, but she had to make it look more like an accident rather than on purpose. If they saw she was doing this on purpose to get them to chase her, they might become suspicious and not follow her. Instead they'd take another path and probably increase their chances of getting caught.
It was difficult to keep this act up, but she felt she had no choice. Sneering the best she could, she said, "Oh you were his friend? Funny, I never would have guessed, not after how Caruso told me, in a fit of anger over..something I forget, but he said that you insulted him in a rather..harsh way I might add. I thought friends didn't do that. But I suppose I could be wrong. I have been wrong before. But tell me, boy, how did it feel?" She turned her head away and continued to walk, slowly and deliberately. "How did it feel insulting your friend like that? Mocking what he liked about himself and his interests? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy seeing him squirm, leader boy? Did you?"
Michelle realized too late that she had gone way too far with what she'd just said to Max. Within seconds after taunting him like that, she felt something hard slam against her cheek bone. She staggered back, holding her jaw gently where a bruise was starting to form. She turned over to see Max standing very close to her, his hand raised, a fist formed tightly. At first he looked shocked. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to snap. For a brief moment, he felt guilt. But it was quickly overwhelmed by another emotion: anger. Instead of relaxing his arm, he raised it up a little higher and took a step forward. Michelle instinctively took a step back to get more distance from him.
Michelle noticed the others weren't amused as well, although she wasn't surprised. Buzz and Rodger both looked like they wanted to kill her. She flinched, feeling a chill go up her spine as she stared into their cold glares. She glanced over at Fiona. Fiona's expression was a little softer, but her teeth were bared as she stood next to Max as if she was preparing to back up him in case he said anything. Moynihan stood the furthest back now, and didn't seem to have a look of anger on her face. But just by looking in her eyes, Michelle could almost sense that Moynihan was upset. She wasn't sure if it was mostly at her or with Max.
Max was contemplating what to do next. Part of him wanted to punch Michelle again. She had opened up an old wound and was striving to make it worse. He felt a little betrayed that Caruso had told their own enemies what had happened, but he probably had a good reason. He must have. He was their friend after all. And it angered him to hear someone like Michelle taunting him about what he'd already apologized for. He hadn't meant to snap at Caruso that day and he wished he could take it back. But it was in the past now and all he could do was try to let it go. There was no use in hanging onto what happened in the past. There wasn't anything he could do to change it.
The other part of him wanted to back down. As much as he hated Michelle, he couldn't stoop down to her level and attack out of spite. If he did, he would be no better than she was. Michelle had given him a few reasons not to become like that, the biggest one was when she tossed Moynihan down the stairs. Max felt a sharp pain as he recalled that day. They came in on what seemed to be a normal day, only to have their good moods shattered by finding Moynihan at the bottom of the steps, wounded. And Rump was hurt as well. Max glanced at the dog, who was on the ground now, sniffing around. Max was thankful for the training lessons Fiona put the dog through. At least he stays in one spot now. The wounds on Rump's body had sealed up and the dog looked a lot better than he had before. He still couldn't believe Michelle would attack Rump like that. She could have killed him.
But then why should she care? Michelle worked for Victor. She and Oscura were under his control. As far as he is concerned, all of Veloci's men are trained to be merciless and deceitful. There is probably no one in that company who is trustworthy, no one who wouldn't kill if they were paid enough. It sickened him to think that anyone would be interested in killing off innocent civilians and experimenting on animals just for profit. Max wondered how many animals were tortured, how many animals were sacrificed before Victor found out how to transform their bodies without hurting them and without side effects. How this madman had gotten away with this for so many years is a mystery to him even to this day.
Glaring at Michelle, arm raised up still, he said, "To even bring that up... you must be either really brave, or really stupid." He lowered his arm, forcing it to relax. But the muscles in his arm remained a little tense. "Just consider yourself lucky that I am not like you."
Michelle narrowed her eyes and turned away. She removed her hand from her cheek and started on her way again. "Of course you are not like me. You seem to be honest all the time. You aren't afraid to speak your mind. That I can tell from you." Her claws unsheathed, but not in a threatening way. She merely looked at them, seeing a faint glimpse of her face in them. "You also seem less aggressive. I take it you must have excellent control of your anger, am I right?" She asked in a taunting way. The way she had said 'control of your anger' got to Max. The muscles in his arm tensed up tightly, and he was fighting the urge to take action again. Michelle took notice of this and chuckled. "I knew it. How could I have even thought that? You don't have control of your anger. Your friend is proof of that."
"Will you stop bringing that up?!" This time it was Rodger who stepped in. The african-american didn't like to see any of his friends being messed with like this. It was hurting him to see Max having to endure this kind of personal and psychological taunting from someone as deceitful as Michelle. "Haven't you caused enough damage already?"
"Oh let me think about that. No." Michelle said within a few seconds, not putting much thought in her answer. She brandished a claw on her pointer finger and extended it towards Rodger. "And you, I've heard about you. You don't have as much control of your anger, now do you?"
"I beg your pardon.." Rodger started.
"There are some things your friend told me about you guys during his stay here. I guess he didn't mean to reveal them, but perhaps he was just too angry to care. Who knows?" Michelle shrugged, a broad, mischievous smile stretching on her face. "But I am sure you recall the time when you pulled a few pranks on your friends. I recall you cut your precious friend's hair and pretty much broke him."
Rodger's eyes widened at that statement and he took a step back. He didn't know why Caruso would have told her that. He thought they had agreed to never bring it up again. Caruso sure didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it anymore. It really did devastate him and Rodger felt horrible about it, especially since he didn't really feel guilty about it until after the pranks were over. He didn't realize just how hurtful they really were and how much it would really hurt him after the fun had worn down. He was grateful that his friends were very forgiving, but those pranks did strain their friendship a little for a while.
He was especially upset at what he had done to Caruso. Caruso valued his hair greatly and took great pride to making it look nice. And Rodger had almost ruined that for him. After the incident, he had gotten rid of that stupid prank hat he'd given to the blue-haired boy. He had thought they both put this incident behind him. Rodger hadn't really thought much of it as of late until Michelle said something about it just now. Why was she doing this? Why was she taunting them like this? She was outnumbered! Didn't she know that if she kept this up, she was going to get hurt?
"So you found your voice." Michelle grinned, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face the Dino Squad. She ignored their angry looks and said, "Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault that you lost your temper like that, Styraco Boy. What I'd like to know is this: even if you do find your friend..wold he want to go back with you?" She turned her back to them again. "After all, for all I know, he might not even want to see you all again. Maybe he'd rather stay here and join us..or even be killed." She chuckled darkly after saying that and started to walk away to continue leading them.
The Dino Squad stood there in silence, their mouths agape at what Michelle said. At first they felt pain at the thought that Caruso might not even want to see them anymore. They had said things to him in the past, or even did some things, that he wasn't very happy about. He even nearly left the team a few times as a result of that. But then they started to feel angry. That wouldn't be like Caruso. He might have been upset with them in the past, but he still cared about them. He wouldn't just turn his back on them like that. They wondered what they should do now. They knew they should just keep following Michelle and ignore whatever she tells them unless it is of the up most importance, such as Victor or one of his men coming this way. But they felt the urge to do something about what she was saying, but so far no one was making a move to do so.
After what seemed almost like hours, someone took a step towards Michelle. It was Fiona. She almost didn't want to do this. She had already gotten into a cat fight with Oscura. And now really wasn't a good time for fighting. But Michelle's hurtful words were starting to get to her and the rest of the team. Michelle was probably trying to make them nervous, to shatter their confidence so that, even if they get to Caruso, they might be too afraid to try to help him, that they might think they were too weak to do anything. And Caruso might end up dying as a result. Fiona felt a pain in her heart as she thought of finding Caruso on the ground, dead, in a pool of his own blood. She prayed silently that it wouldn't come to that.
"Now you listen here." Fiona said with confidence. She pointed a finger at Michelle in a disciplinary manner. "I don't know where you are coming off, making fun of my friends like that. Are you really that cold-hearted?" She wasn't sure if she wanted Michelle to answer that question. She probably already knew the answer. "Why are you even doing this? Are you trying to tempt us? Do you want us to hurt you?" She wasn't sure if Michelle was being very brave and bold, perhaps to hide a possibility that she might be scared, or if she really just didn't care what consequence came her way.
"Ooo..I'm shaking." Michelle taunted, although in a less taunting way than before. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you? A foolish Spinosaurus such as yourself who can't even win against a puny dinosaur such as myself? If you can't even hold me down, what hope do you have against Victor? You weakling.."
"You're really asking for it..." Fiona seethed through her teeth, feeling tempted to tear out Michelle's throat at that point. But she knew she'd have to hold back unless she didn't mind getting charges for man slaughter.
"I am?" Michelle asked curiously. She tilted her head a bit. "That's funny. I thought it was you who was asking for it. Coming here, that is, in an area with plenty of Victor's guards all around. You sacrificing yourselves to Victor now? You going to let him experiment on you?" She grinned. "You must be willing to do that...after all, you understood the risks in coming here. Yes I understand that you came to save your friend. But you must have known that, if this mission of yours fails..you're staying with us."
"We'll make sure it works." Max said, standing close enough to press his finger against Michelle's upper chest, near the beginning of her throat. "By making sure you lead us to the right place. If you do so much as lead us astray or try to run away from us, you'll find yourself on the ground again and this time I cannot guarantee that none of us will hold back. Do you understand me?"
Michelle turned her head away, a slight scowl on her face. "Oh I understand all right..." She said softly, seemingly understanding at first. But then she continued in a deeper tone, voice laced with anger. "I understand that you and your pathetic Dino Squad team are no different than Victor is. You act a lot like him. There's no difference, that I can see, between working for Victor and working for you. You are no better than he is. I almost feel sorry for your friend. Even if he gets out of here alive, he has to look forward to going back to you guys, who may be just as bad as Victor..even worse than he is."
Unable to control himself, Max grabbed Michelle by her shirt and slammed her into the ground. He heard Moynihan shout something urgent to him, but he wouldn't listen to her. His mind was focused on Michelle. "Take that back!"
Michelle struggled in his grasp as she responded, "Never!"
"Take it back!" Max demanded again, sharp teeth starting to protrude from his mouth. He was hoping to intimidate her into apologizing.
"No!" Michelle said sternly, looking very intent on not apologizing for what she had said about the group. She wasn't falling for his intimidation attempt. She'd seen worse, particularly from Victor. Max screamed in anger and lifted up his fist to punch her, completely forgetting about controlling his temper. Michelle's eyes widened in shock and she braced for the attack.
"Max..." Moynihan's voice was finally heard as she walked up to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. We do not have time for fighting." She told him gently but firmly.
Max closed his eyes. He didn't want to disappoint his mentor. And if he had gone through with attacking the girl, he would have made the same mistake Buzz had. He would have proven Michelle right. He didn't want to do that. Groaning in frustration, he released Michelle and got up off the ground. "I'm sorry, Moynihan."
Moynihan nodded. "I know you are, dear boy." She turned her head towards Michelle and frowned. "And as for you..." Michelle looked up. "What is wrong with you? All we want is Caruso back and we had promised to let you go if you did. Why must you keep doing this? Just how old are you?"
"I'm eighteen..." Michelle growled. "What's it to you?"
Moynihan gripped Michelle's arm and pulled her off the ground. As Michelle regained her footing and brushed herself off, Moynihan placed one hand on her hips and held the other one up, the pointer finger in Michelle's direction. "Then act like it!"
Michelle glowered at Moynihan. "You aren't my mother, so stop acting like it!"
"I am still your teacher!" Moynihan said. She had almost forgotten about that. Michelle had joined her classroom, which made her the girl's teacher. Whether Michelle liked it or not, she still had some authority over her.
"Some teacher." Michelle rolled her eyes. "As a teacher you are responsible for your students. You are responsible for their safety, are you not? But instead, you allowed all this to happen. You didn't succeed in keeping your students safe from my boss! You're nothing but a failure!"
"Don't talk to Moynihan like that!" Fiona yelled.
"And why not?" Michelle sneered. "You know it's true."
"You're wrong!" Fiona responded. "Moynihan isn't a failure!"
Michelle cocked an eyebrow. "Oh she isn't? Then how come Caruso's with Victor? How come you guys are here now? Hmm?" She folded up her arms and waited for an answer.
A silence fell upon the group. Each teen looked at each other, trying to find some sort of answer they could give. They wanted to defend their mentor, to prove Michelle wrong. But so far, none of them could come up with a good answer. A few tried to answer, but nothing came out of their mouths. Their minds had drawn up a blank. They didn't want to accept it, but Michelle was right. As much as it hurt them to admit it to themselves, Moynihan had failed them. They knew she tried her best, but she still failed. One by one, the kids looked at Moynihan. They said nothing to her, but their eyes and expressions told enough. Moynihan looked at them, reading their faces and feeling disappointed that none of them were defending her. But how could she blame them? She did fail. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.
Michelle watched this scene play out, feeling guilty about what she said. Her expression softened up and she looked to the ground. She had really hit a sore spot there. She had only meant to anger them a little. She didn't mean to crush their spirits like that. She hadn't told this to anyone yet, but when she faced Moynihan back at the lighthouse, she was a little afraid. The woman could still turn into a Velociraptor and had she succeeded, she might not have succeeded. She had only won because she had attacked Moynihan while she was still in human form. Michelle's eyes widened a little as she thought of that. Perhaps she was the one who was weak. Maybe she was the coward that Moynihan said she was after she grabbed her ankle. She winced at that memory. She had deliberately went for Moynihan's weak spot just to win. Moynihan was probably a more competent of a fighter than she was.
Michelle exhaled and hung her head. She decided to give up trying to get the group to chase her. She had already said enough to hurt the group and she knew she'd gone too far. If she said anything else, she'd risk severing their friendship. She didn't want to do that. After more silence had passed, she decided to break it. Hoping to get their minds on something else, she said, "Look...just forget what I said... You've wasted enough time as it is. I don't know how much longer Caruso will last, so..."
She felt herself being yanked forward. She gasped as she came face to face with Buzz. His piercing eyes bore into her, and she could see the faintest hint of a yellow glow. "You just won't stop will you?!" He stated through gritted teeth. "You just keep at it and keep at it until..." He stopped himself, unsure if he should continue. He found his rage lowering down and he didn't want to make the situation worse.
Michelle gulped, her face showing the slightest hint of fear. "Until...what?"
"Just forget it." Buzz closed his eyes tightly and shoved Michelle onto the ground. "Someone like you wouldn't understand."
Michelle flinched a little and got up off the ground. She stared at the Dino Squad for a few seconds and looked away, feeling a bit ashamed about this. She contemplated briefly about just leaving and letting them find their friend themselves. She'd probably just make them more nervous. Maybe Oscura was right about her. If she couldn't be cut out for leadership, how could she be cut out to even lead a small group somewhere? She'd just slip up somehow. And she had already done some psychological damage. She noticed the kids were avoiding eye contact with their teacher. She hoped that they would heal over time.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rodger asked, trying to sound calm though his voice gave himself away. The edge of his voice clearly had that feeling of anger and it worried Michelle. She expected him to attack her at any second.
And sure enough, he did. He grabbed her roughly by the arms and shoved her up against the wall. She could feel his fingernails digging into her skin and she flinched at the pain. But the eyes she stared into showed no mercy towards her. "Are you going to take us to Caruso or not?" He asked through clenched teeth, trying to sound calmer than he really was.
"I..." Michelle started to say.
"And let me tell you something." Michelle was cut off as Rodger jabbed a finger in her direction, inches away from her face. She could see a glint of white as a claw was starting to grow through the fingertip. Eyes widening a little in apprehension, she stared at Rodger, cringing a little as his eyes started to glow. "If you ever say anything like that again, or if you even think about leading us into a trap, I will personally tear you apart..."
Michelle moved her head back, mouth agape. Did the african-american kid just threaten her with death? She realized that he had, and her heart started to race. It took her a few seconds to find her voice after that brief scare. "A-All right then..." She said nervously. Rodger was a big teenager. She didn't want to think about what he could do to her with those huge arms.
Fiona came over and stood by Rodger's side. His arms were still gripping onto Michelle and anyone looking close enough could see just how deeply his fingernails were digging into her skin. Fiona glared at Michelle, and Michelle was thankful that it was not she who was gripping her. Spinosaurus claws were a lot sharper than Styracosaurus claws and Fiona would probably not hold back at getting them deep into her skin just to prove her point. Michelle watched and waited to see what Fiona would do to her.
Fiona took a step forward. Michelle couldn't bear to look at her in the eyes and lowered her gaze. The redhead frowned and reached out with her hand. Much like what Oscura had done to her, she gripped Michelle's lower jaw and lifted it up to make the girl look at her. "You had best heed his warning. He's not the only one who would like to get his claws into you." To emphasize her statement, she extended her claws, poking the skin but not breaking it. "You get the idea?"
Michelle gulped, fighting the urge to rip her face away, and nodded. "Y-Yes..." She wondered why Moynihan was keeping quiet this time. She wasn't really expecting anyone to defend her. But Moynihan, just moments ago, seemed so intent on keeping a fight from breaking out. But now she wasn't even looking in this direction. Michelle looked at her sympathetically and wished she hadn't called the woman a failure.
Fiona released her grip and took a step back. She was satisfied that her threat had done the trick, although she knew that Rodger's threat had shaken up Michelle as well. She just wanted to be sure that Michelle had gotten the message. She didn't really approve of the idea of ripping the girl to shreds, however, even if she deserved it. She didn't want herself and her friends to be turned into monsters. And that is exactly what they would become if they went through with the threat. "Good..." She said to Michelle. "Now lead." She pointed down the corridor they were currently walking in and Rodger released Michelle.
Michelle started to back away a little, fearful that another member of the Dino Squad would assault her. After seeing no one make a move towards her, she tried to relax and turned around. She continued on her way with the Dino Squad in tow close behind her. She tried to shake off her anxiety. This would be all over once they got to Caruso. Once she had led them to him, she would leave and she wouldn't have to worry about them again. Or would she?
For the next few minutes, the group, led by Michelle, continued down the hallways. The place was like a maze. If it wasn't for Michelle, they wouldn't have known which way to go. They would easily get lost in this place even though it was smaller than most of the malls they've been to. Most of the corridors were dark in color, almost black. And there was a weird metallic scent hanging in the air. It was occasionally mixed with the scent of chemicals and other things the kids could not identify. Some of the lights did not work and a few others kept blinking several times, making it difficult to navigate in different areas of the building.
All around them, they noticed there was an almost total lack of windows. Seeing a faintest hint of a window underneath a dark gray slab suggested that Victor probably covered up many of the windows to prevent people from looking inside. That was quite clever of him, they had to admit. That was one of the mysteries of their enemy. He had shown, especially recently, that he can be quite clever and devious. But other times, he didn't seem to be so bright. The raptor has not yet perfected his primordial ooze and yet he had been able to create the right formula to get an Apatosaurus, not to mention the Dino Squad themselves. Perhaps Victor was a stupid genius who could either make a big mistake or a clever plan.
The Dino Squad soon came up a door that was wide open. They looked at Michelle to see if this was the right room. She looked back and shook her head and urged them to move quickly. When the group passed by the open door, they quickly realized why she wanted them to hurry. The room was filled with experimental tanks accompanied by some of Victor's henchmen. The tanks contained failed experiments, floating in suspended animation. The men had their backs turned towards the door, but the kids weren't sure how long that was going to last. They quickened their pace so that they wouldn't be seen. Once they were passed, Buzz glared towards Michelle.
"Why didn't you just shut the door?" Buzz asked her, keeping his voice low so that the men back in the room would not hear him. "Wouldn't it have been easier?"
"No. They would have noticed." Michelle explained. "And they would have come to open up the door and would easily of spotted us. It wasn't worth the risk."
Buzz looked at his surroundings and shuddered. It was getting increasingly dark as they headed down. He could see that there was a faint light near the end, suggesting some of the light bulbs were working. Eager to get out of the darkness, he quickened his pace again. "Let's just go."
As the group continued on their way, Michelle nearly stopped in her tracks. She had this strangest feeling that something just wasn't right. There was something in the air that was bothering her. She looked all around her cautiously, eyes nervously darting from one place to the other, trying to figure out what was wrong. The team behind her were probably eyeing her cautiously, thinking she was waiting for some sort of signal. But it was something else that got Michelle worried. Since they had passed the room only a moment ago, she had this strangest feeling that someone had spotted them. But if they had, then why didn't they sound the alarm? Something was rather off about that. Perhaps no one spotted her, but then why was she getting this sick feeling in her stomach? No, something has to be wrong. Her dinosaur side was telling her that. And her dinosaur side hadn't been wrong before.
She took a few sniffs. She caught the familiar metallic smell, but there was another scent that was coming up. She wrinkled her nose. Whatever it was, it was a bad smell. It wasn't the scent of death, much to her relief, but it still seemed to be bad news. She stopped walking, confusing the Dino Squad as she held out her arm for them to stop. She looked up at the ceiling. Along the corridors there were vents. They were usually open and often used to flush out different chemical smells so that the rooms didn't stink as badly as they would if these vents didn't exist. And sure enough the vent straight above them was open. But the scent that was coming out was almost unfamiliar to her.
"What's wrong?" Max asked her. But Michelle ignored him. Her eyes were glued on the vent above them, her eyes narrowing, focusing. What was that smell that was coming through? She sniffed again, hoping to recognize it at some point. But her human nose just wasn't efficient enough. To try to get a better idea, Michelle temporarily transformed her head and lifted her long black snout in the air. She scented the air again, taking in as much air molecules as she could in a single breath. She suddenly recognized the scent. Eyes widening in fear, she quickly changed her head back.
"Run!" Michelle shouted, making a run for it. "It's ether! Someone is flushing it through the ventilation system! It'll knock you out!"
The Dino Squad hesitated at first. They looked up at the ventilation shaft just above them. They wondered if Michelle was speaking the truth. It could be that this was a trick. But what if it wasn't? Could they really risk it? They looked at each other and towards where Michelle was running. She had stopped after running a couple yards. She looked back at them and motioned with her hand rapidly, urging them to get going. Not wanting to take the chance, the group ran as fast as they could. As they caught up with Michelle, she started to run with them, keeping in front. She urged them to follow her down one particular path, well lit compared to the other hallways they were in. As they reached it, she stopped and let the group run past her. She turned around and next to her was a red button. She immediately pressed it, causing a shaft to come down, completely cutting off their path back that way.
"Why did you do that?" Max asked, pointing at the red button on the wall.
"To keep the ether from coming through." Michelle explained and walked passed the teens. She ignored their suspicious looks and gestured forward. "Well let's go. We have to pick up the pace now. It won't take long for Victor to realize there's been an 'accidental' gas leak."
"Or maybe it wasn't an accident..." Buzz muttered.
"Shhh!" Max scolded him. "Don't start something up again."
"I'm not..." Buzz said, defending himself.
"Look," Michelle said, looking over her shoulder and looked directly at Buzz, "If you have something to say to me, punk, save it until later, unless you do not value your friend's life." She looked away and continued on her way, keeping her distance from the group but not going too far.
Buzz narrowed his eyes. "I do care about him!"
Michelle was grinning but Buzz could not see it because she was looking away from him. "Then prove it by shutting up and letting me lead you to the little weakling." She said.
Buzz clenched a fist, shaking. "How dare you..." He started to move forward, arm raised for an attack. But Michelle sensed his agitation and started to move quicker. If Buzz wanted to attack her, he'd have to move a lot faster. And Buzz did just that. His pace quickened so that he was now speed walking, getting close to running. Out of fear, especially after how he had defeated her, she dashed forward a couple of feet and stopped almost abruptly since she didn't want to lose the Dino Squad. Buzz had a very faint smile of satisfaction on his face. "Yes you better run..." He warned her, eyes narrowed dangerously as she glanced back at him with fear filled eyes.
Max placed a hand on Buzz's shoulder. The punk kid turned towards the jock, the same glare on his face, although he softened it up a little. He could sense that Maxwell was disappointed in him. He could read his expression. The eyes were slightly narrowed and his mouth was curved downward into a frown. Before Max even said a word, Buzz knew what he was going to ask. "Buzz..do you want to find Caruso?"
Buzz wanted to turn his head away, but Max's stare kept him fixated on him. He didn't understand why. Maybe it was fear that Max would read his mind, or that Max would be able to tell he was lying if he turned away. "Yes...of course I do. He's..my best friend..."
Max nodded, understanding. They all regarded Caruso as a good friend. He did have some problems, but they all still cared about him. Max understood the pain that Buzz was probably going through right now. Max wasn't at all happy about what Michelle had said either. But he could tell that, with the way Buzz and some others were acting, Michelle might end up running off. And if she disappeared, then they won't find Caruso in time. As much as he hated to admit it, Michelle was their only chance left.
"Then please..." Max said softly. "...don't scare off our only chance at finding him." He gestured towards Michelle with a jerk of the head. "If you chase her off, then we may never see Caruso again..."
Buzz looked back at Michelle, glaring at her harshly as she stared back. She didn't move from her spot, although her look of fear was gone, replaced with a calmer expression. He then looked back at Max, who slowly shook his head. Neil though carefully about what Max had just said to him. Reluctantly, he gave in and slumped his shoulders. His eyes closed and he lowered his head. "Fine..." He said. "I won't say anything else. Would that make you happy?"
Max winced at the bitterness of the question and took a step back. He finally nodded after several seconds. "..Yes..it would..."
Several more minutes passed by. The Dino Squad didn't understand why it was taking so long to get to where Caruso was. They knew the building was big, but it couldn't be that big, could it? It felt like they have been walking around for about fifteen minutes already. And this place didn't seem to have any stairs either. Some were suspecting that Michelle was leading them into a trap. But after the threats she was given, it was a bit unlikely she would try such a thing. She was in plain sight after all, so if she were going to try to signal anyone, they would see it.
Michelle was, however, keeping a good distance from the group. Even though she had heard Max make Buzz stop, she remained a bit fearful of letting them get too close. If one of them had gotten too close to her, she'd quicken her pace a little until she was satisfied with the distance between them. The problem was, which she didn't realize, that she was a little too far from them. They could see her just fine, but with the huge gap between them, they could more easily become separated, especially after what happened earlier with the ether, if there ever was any ether that is. Fiona looked behind her, feeling a little concerned that someone might be following them, although she could not see or hear anything suspicious.
As they continued on their short trek, Moynihan lagged behind a little. Michelle's words still stung in her mind. The girl probably had not meant it to hurt her that much, but it had. Moynihan started to doubt herself a little. Maybe there was a little truth in what Michelle had said before. Moynihan was the kids' teacher and she was indeed responsible for them while she was with them. She had even promised Caruso's parents that they would return safely, even though she had doubted herself a bit back then. Why was this happening now? She had done such a good job before, or so she believed. She kept her cool and had helped avert many different problems. The team had always relied on her advice, and they had always trusted her word.
But what about now? Did they still shared the same opinion of her as before? Was she still doing a good job? Moynihan couldn't help but believe it was all her fault this was happening. She found it rather strange that these happenings were occurring very close to the time when Victor had tried to scan the lighthouse. Was there a connection? She had shaken the idea off before. She didn't find anything to find suspicious about it back then, but she had overlooked something. She had overlooked the fact that the scanning might have been a trap in itself.
Suddenly a wave of guilt overcame her as she thought more and more about that incident. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Oh why hadn't she realized it? She tried to hide her face from the kids as she felt a few tears stream down her face. This whole thing was her fault. What would the kids think of her after they found out? If she had only had the computer off at the time, if only she had gotten the radar up in time, if only...
"Moynihan?" She heard Fiona say. "Are you all right?"
Moynihan turned her head towards Fiona Flagstaff, who was eyeing her with a concerned look on her face. Moynihan rubbed her eyes and smiled weakly. "Oh..I'm fine.." She managed to say. "Just had something in my eyes."
"Are you sure?" Fiona asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Moynihan gently pushed the hand away and nodded. "Yes..I am sure."
But she was lying through her teeth and she knew it. And it only made her feel worse. She wasn't sure if she could bring herself to reveal this new information, but sooner or later, she would have to. When Victor had scanned the lighthouse, he wasn't doing it to see what was in the lighthouse. He was doing it to see where the jamming signals were coming from. Victor must have been able to piece together whatever evidence he had found. He must have made a connection between the jammings and the dinosaurs showing up. And he must have seen the lighthouse. She knew he did. After the football game Caruso had used his dinosaur abilities in secretly, when they were in the lighthouse, Moynihan had glanced out the window briefly and had seen Victor, off in the distance, just standing there. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she watched him, but was satisfied when he lost interest and left. He hadn't even tried to come inside. But she had a feeling it would have been only a matter of time before Victor sees a connection with the lighthouse.
When she had jammed his signal that time, he must have made the final connection. Moynihan winced at the memory as it flowed through her mind. He had been testing her. He was waiting for her to make a big mistake and she had that day. That's how he knew about the lighthouse being her lair. Michelle hadn't led Victor there as they had all initially believed. That was a lie Michelle probably made up to mask how Victor had really discovered the true meaning of the lighthouse. It was Moynihan herself where Victor must have discovered the truth, wasn't it? It wasn't because of what Michelle or Oscura had told him.
But that wasn't the only thing that had to have happened for this to occur. There was also that football game. She knew, she was positive that Victor had spoken with one of the students there. A few people had seen, very briefly, Caruso transform. But it happened so fast that many of them dismissed it while others only remembered vague details. But Victor was more cunning than any of her students realized. They had thwarted him time and time again, but that was only because he believed them to be ordinary dinosaurs. Now that he knew they were humans, thwarting him was going to become an even greater challenge than before.