Being a predator, the sight of blood and gore hardly affected Veloci. He had grown used to it from multiple kills he had made millions of years ago. Not even the smell really bothered him that much. He glanced at the other humans who were at the scene, looking in horror at the receptionist woman's torn and ripped body. A few even looked like they were going to throw up. Veloci had many reasons for considering humans a weak species and this was one of them.

He hardly made an expression as he stared at the body somewhat coldly. He was the only one there who would dare get close enough to the body. Dr. Axel hung back, but unlike the other humans, she didn't seem alarmed by the kill. There was something about her that made her different from other humans in general. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Veloci moved closer to the body. The woman was leaning forward, her head on the desk twisted to one side. Her throat had been ripped out and he could see the trachea underneath. Her left arm and right leg had been ripped clean off and the bone, muscle, and tendons underneath were exposed. He could see chew marks where the attacker, obviously an animal, had bitten. Her remaining right and left leg were still badly damaged, cut up in multiple places and some skin and flesh removed. There was a lot of blood around the area. And when he glanced at the ground, sure enough, there were some bloody footprints which quickly faded as they headed down the hallway.

"Very unusual." He said softly, narrowing his eyes. He continued to look at the body as one of the men started to leave, presumably to report the murder to the police.

There were some things about this kill that bothered him. The first one was why no one heard the attack. Humans had weak senses, but they weren't that weak. Surely someone should have heard this woman screaming for her life or the sound of the animal attacking. The roaring, the screaming, the banging, there's no way no one would have heard that unless the animal somehow killed in silence.

Another thing that bothered him was why the body wasn't consumed. Judging from the wounds, the attacker had to be rather large, perhaps larger than himself, and was obviously a carnivore. He couldn't fathom why it hadn't tried to eat the body and instead fled. During whatever struggle the woman had put up, it would have used up some calories and would have wanted to replenish them.

The last thing that troubled him were the footprints themselves. He would have expected the animal to have attacked and killed the woman and then ran out of the building, or wander Raptor Dyne aimlessly. But the footprints were headed down the direction where the nearest elevator was. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but he couldn't shake the fact that the nearest elevator happened to be the same one Axel had arrived in a while ago.

Frowning, he looked over at Dr. Axel. "I'll ask you this again, Axel, and this time answer me truthfully. Did you or did you not see some creature wandering in Raptor Dyne?"

"I already told you." Dr. Axel responded. "I didn't see a thing. I came in, spoke to the receptionist, then came down to talk to you."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Veloci asked.

Axel walked up to him. "Yes. I'm quite sure."

Veloci looked back at the woman. Though he wasn't showing it, he was shocked that such an attack happened in his own building without him knowing about it. He had gone through great lengths to keeping it well protected, mainly for public image reasons. He wanted the building to seem like a welcoming place for new recruits.

Veloci turned his attention to Axel again. "What did you and the receptionist say to one another?"

Axel blinked, not understanding why he'd ask that question. "Well I came in and said I wanted to see you. She wanted to know if I had an appointment with you. I said no but that you wanted to see me anyway. She did let me go, though she didn't seem happy about letting me go in without an appointment."

Veloci narrowed his eyes. "That's strange... The receptionist knows I don't allow anyone to see me in Raptor Dyne without an appointment. And she's always obeyed that rule before."

Axel shrugged his shoulders. "I guess she decided to break that rule just this once."

"I guess..." Veloci said softly.

Axel might be correct. Maybe the receptionist had broken the rule today. But that didn't make that much sense. The receptionist was very strict about rules and he hadn't known her to break them before. There was something strange about Axel's story. But then again, Axel hadn't always been completely truthful to him, though none of the few lies she told him were that bad. And it didn't matter that much anyway if she had lied this time or not. It wasn't going to bring him closer to the killer.

Dr. Axel moved towards the body, looking at the different wounds. She shook her head slowly. "Whatever attacked her sure did a number on her."

"I can see that." Veloci said.

Axel looked up at the nearby clock. She stretched her arms and said, "Well I had better get going. My boss wanted me to check in on him sometime today. I best do that now and get it over with."

Before Axel could walk away, Veloci called out to her. "Wait! I still want to schedule a meeting with you."

"Really? I thought you told me everything." Axel asked.

"Yes, but our meeting was interrupted. I still want to discuss this with you further." Veloci said, adjusting his tie a little. "How about coming over tomorrow this afternoon? You can come in anytime past noon, though preferably before evening."

"Okay then. I'll see you around then." Axel said as she made her way out of the building.

sss

"You did what?!" Moynihan shouted angrily, slamming her cane into the ground hard once. Her narrowed eyes were locked on Buzz, who was cowering in fear from her. Under the table nearby lay Rump, whimpering.

The Dino Squad had recently arrived at the lighthouse. When she noticed some of them looked as if they had new injuries, she was concerned and asked what had happened. When Buzz revealed he had killed an alimon they had encountered, she got very angry and had started to advance toward him. The others hung back, fearful of what she might do to them.

Buzz's eyes were downcast. "I-I'm sorry... I-I-I didn't mean to..."

But Moynihan was still angry with him. She slammed her cane again, causing Buzz to wince. She had now backed him up against the wall and he had nowhere to go. "I would have expect better from you, Mr. Buzmati! Now because of your reckless actions, we may have made enemies with these creatures, enemies, which I may add, we are not prepared to fight and know little about!"

"I know that...and I'm sorry!" Buzz cried, frantically looking for an escape route.

"That isn't going to help us now!" Moynihan yelled, lifting her cane and pointing the pointed end at Buzz. "Why did you have to be so foolish and kill that alimon?! Why didn't you think your actions through before you decided to rip its stomach open?!"

As she yelled at him, Buzz noticed something very familiar. Moynihan's eyes were starting to glow. "Moynihan..." He whispered fearfully.

Suddenly, Max, Rodger, and Caruso rushed forward. Caruso and Max each grabbed one of Moynihan's arms while Rodger wrapped his arms around her body. They then pulled her away from Buzz, allowing him to move away. Moynihan struggled in their grasp, but they held on tight. They were frightened to let her go.

"Let me go!" Moynihan commanded, her eyes still retaining the glow.

"No! Not until you calm down!" Rodger told her, tightening his grip slightly.

"You have to relax, Moynihan! You're acting too aggressively!" Caruso said.

Max said, "And you're being too hard on Buzz! It was just an accident! Buzz didn't mean to kill the alimon! He already feels bad enough as it is. You are only making it worse by yelling at him like that!"

Slowly, Moynihan's eyes returned to normal. Her angry expression faded away. She stopped her struggling and started to relax. The trio continued to hold onto her for a few more moments, making sure she had calmed down completely. Slowly, cautiously, they released her and took a few steps back. Moynihan looked over at Buzz and noticed how scared he looked from her outburst. She felt a pang of guilt in her heart.

"Oh Buzz, I'm sorry about the way I acted. I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I'm not sure what came over me." Moynihan said apologetically. Buzz offered her a small smile, which she did return. "But that doesn't change the seriousness of the matter. By killing that alimon, we may need to prepare for a retaliation from this alimon's pack. We don't know how many there are. There could be a few. There could be a ton. We'll have to prepare for the worst."

"Maybe we have nothing to worry about." Michelle said. She was sitting on the couch, feeling mostly better after being given medicine for the troodon bite. "Maybe these alimons don't know where the lighthouse is or where any of you live."

Caruso shook his head solemnly. He had a slightly frightened expression on his face. "The alimon we recently encountered confirmed they know a lot more about us than we think. They may know where we all live."

"Did the alimon tell you what it knew?" Michelle inquired.

Caruso shook his head. "No, not really. But that's not the point. My point is they could know anything about us. They might only know small details of us or they might know a lot more."

"My question is how do they know all this?" Fiona asked, frowning a bit. "I mean, how could they know so much about us, but we know almost nothing of them? How come we haven't heard of them until recently? Where had they been hiding all this time?"

"All excellent questions.." Moynihan commented. "And I'm sure we'll get the answers in due time. But for now, we will have to exercise more caution. Be wary of any alimon you see. Fight only if there is no option left. Defend yourselves and your families and your friends. And tell no one about this. I can't stress enough the importance of avoiding causing a public-wide panic. That will create more harm than good."

Max nodded his head slowly. "We understand." He let out a soft sigh and glanced away, his mind lost in thought. He couldn't understand why that white alimon had attacked him so suddenly. All he wanted to do was introduce himself to him.

Rodger walked up to him. "Now do you agree we should avoid any future contact with these alimons?"

Max looked over at him. Slowly he frowned and nodded his head. "Yes."

sss

The large cavern filled with alimons was unusually quiet. The mulicolored animals had their heads turned facing one of the entrances to the area. High above them, their leaders, covered in shadows, were watching in anticipation. A white and green male alimon was walking in from an entrance slowly. His head was low to the ground. As he got into the light of the cavern, the alimons could see why. He was dragging a body with him. As he dragged the dead female further into the cavern, the alimons around him had different reactions, most of them growls and hisses.

On the high ledge, a pair of red eyes widened in shock. The male alimon lowered his head slightly and said, "Tamal, what happened to her?!"

The green and white alimon, Tamal, released the body and looked up. "Staka was killed by the Dino Squad!" The alimons around him started chatting excitedly, some expressing anger while others were simply shocked. "I heard screaming and went to investigate and when I got there, I found her dead and three of the Dino Squad members fleeing the scene! There's no doubt they killed her!"

Within a flash, the male that had spoken earlier suddenly jumped from the ledge. Tamal backed up as a dark blue and grey alimon landed in front of him, teeth bared. "Staka was one of our best scouts! She was also a capable fighter.. how could she lose to those weaklings?!"

"I don't know." Tamal said, looking confused himself. "But it doesn't matter how she was killed."

"You're right..it doesn't.." The male hissed. He lifted his head up high. "We all agreed we wouldn't attack the Dino Squad until they got in the way. Well today, they took the life of one of our own! As we were all taught, mess with one of us, you mess with all of us! The Dino Squad just opened themselves a can of worms!" Many of the alimons expressed their agreements.

"Rorra, are you sure it is wise to declare war on these children?" The white male high on the ledge was looking down at him, his red eyes narrowed.

Rorra, the grey and dark blue alimon, glared up at the white alimon. "Oh spare me your petty talk! The Dino Squad have made their move! They have gotten in our way! Time of biding our time is over! We knew from the start these kids were going to be trouble, so let's strike them now while they are still weak and kill them all!"

The white male jumped from the ledge as well. Now in the light, it was revealed he was almost solid white except for his grey paws. He smiled softly as he moved in closer to Rorra. He lifted a paw and struck him down easily. Rorra hissed in pain as the white male stood over him in a dominant posture. "In case you forgot, while you may have one of the highest authorities in this pack, keep in mind I have the highest authority of all and I can veto any decision you make! Understand?"

Rorra hissed. "Yes..."

The white male smiled. "Good." He got off of Rorra, then turned to address the rest of the pack. "I understand many of you are angered the Dino Squad had killed one of our own people. But I assure you attacking them at full force now will be a huge mistake. We can't waste all our efforts into wiping out a group of teenagers. Don't forget we have other targets of high priority, not just these teenagers." The alimons seemed to settle down. The white male smirked. "But rest assured the Dino Squad won't be getting away from this so easily..."

sss

Two days later, Moynihan and the Dino Squad arrived in Illinois, having taken their bio-fueled airplane there. Moynihan had insisted on seeing an old friend of hers who worked at a school there. She wanted to bring them along not just to introduce them to him, but also to have them help relay some important information to her friend. Although seemingly just a teacher like she was, she said her friend was more capable than he appeared and also knew about the primordial ooze and Veloci's plans, but keeps it a secret so he wouldn't lose his job. The Dino Squad weren't entirely sure what to expect from this guy, but trusted Moynihan.

They entered a medium-sized, one-floor school located in the southern end of Illinois. Moynihan led them down the hallway. A bunch of students, most of them younger than any of her students, were wandering the halls, chattering with each other, others looking at them with great interest. It didn't take long for Moynihan to find the room she had been looking for. There was a plague on the door that read 'Mr. Stone'. She knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Said a voice from behind the door. Moynihan opened it and stepped inside. Near the door was a desk and sitting at it was a middle-aged man with grey hair and grey shirt with a white tie. The man looked shocked. "Ms. Moynihan! I never thought I'd see you pay me a visit again." He said.

"Yes, it has been a long time. I apologize." Moynihan said. "But you know how things are..."

"Yes, yes I know." Mr. Stone said, sounding pleasantly surprised by the visit. He moved his head a little and saw a glimpse of something behind the woman. "And these are your students I presume? Come in, come in!" Slowly, the seven students walked into the room.

"Hello, Mr. Stone." Max said, greeting him. He was about to say something else, but was distracted by the noise of the students in the room.

Noticing this, Mr. Stone held up his hand and said, "I'm letting you students go onto the playground early today." The young students exited the room excitedly, pushing past the Dino Squad. Once they were gone, Stone turned his attention to Moynihan. His expression turned serious. "Now why did you come here? I know you wouldn't come all the way to Illinois just to pay me a visit. Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Ms. Moynihan nodded her head. "Right you are. I don't suppose you've seen the news haven't you? Of what's been going on in Maine?"

Stone replied, "I believe so. There's been murders going on there last I checked. And no one has figured out what it was yet."

"That's what we've come to talk to you about." Moynihan moved closer over to Stone. "I wanted to know if you have seen any strange going on in this area. I haven't seen any reports of these strange murders taking place in Illinois, but I wanted a second opinion. Have you come across any bodies here? Or have you encountered any strange creatures?"

Stone frowned, thinking for a moment. "No I can't say I have see anything strange. The only murders around here are the usual. Nothing like what's being reported in Maine." He leaned back in his chair. "And of these strange creatures, what are you talking about?"

Max took a step forward. "Are you aware of the new dinosaur species that's been discovered?" Stone nodded his head once. "Well we've come to believe that the murders are being committed by these animals."

Mr. Stone blinked. "But how is that possible? Those animals must be millions of years old."

"I understand your disbelief, but we've seen them with our own eyes. And we've seen how violent they can be." Max said. "We've encountered a few of them. They call themselves alimons."

Mr. Stone's eyes widened at this. He seemed to take a sudden interest. He leaned forward on his desk. "Alimons you say?" He seemed to be in disbelief, almost as if he had heard the name before. He hesitated momentarily and then asked something that took everyone by surprise. "Did they have a distinctive scar on one of their shoulders?"

Flabbergasted, Fiona said, "Y-Yes.. how did you know that?"

"You hadn't even seen them.." Rodger said, sounding equally shocked. "There's no way you could have known."

Mr. Stone closed his eyes. "I have my ways, but unfortunately I can't tell you about it now." He reopened them and looked at the students and their teacher. He seemed to understand their shock of him knowing about the scar if he had never seen any of these creatures before. "I assure you everything will make sense in due time. Right now what's important is not how I know about the scar, but how you plan on dealing with these alimon creatures."

Trying to get over his initial shock, Max said quickly, "I did try to introduce myself to one, white in color with some light blue, but he attacked me, and then tried to attack Michelle."

Michelle nodded her head. "It's true. He tried to attack me because I was weak at the time. He almost would have, too, had Rodger and Buzz not knock him away in time."

Mr. Stone nodded his head slowly. He didn't sound surprised by any of this. "Is there anything else you can tell me about these creatures you encountered?"

"Well they were aggressive and arrogant." Buzz commented.

"Yeah, they didn't seem to take us seriously as opponents." Terri said. "One of them had even commented that Veloci would be no match for them."

"Which I don't see how, considering the guy has a lot of resources at his disposal." Rodger pointed out. "And he has a lot of men working for him. If those alimons went up against him, they would probably get captured really quickly."

Mr. Stone shook his head, his eyes closed briefly. "I don't think so. It's very likely that Veloci can try to capture them, only to have it quickly backfire on him. He would be a fool to try to capture one of them, let alone a group of them." He looked at the team and said, "Do yourselves a favor and avoid them at all costs. Trust me, you don't want to get entangled with them."

The Dino Squad were still stunned by Mr. Stone's knowledge of the creatures. They suspected that he had an encounter with them himself sometime earlier. Perhaps the creatures appeared in Illinois first, but didn't cause a big enough riot to make the papers. They realized that Stone probably had encountered them several times before they started showing up in Maine. If Stone really did know about the alimons, perhaps he could be more of a help than they initially thought.

Caruso frowned slightly. "I'm afraid it's a little too late to take your advice."

Mr. Stone looked up at Caruso. "What do you mean?"

Buzz hesitated, then glanced to the ground. "I...accidentally killed one..."

Mr. Stone's eyes flew open. "You did what?!" He immediately got up from his seat and stormed towards Buzz. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him roughly. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Moynihan quickly moved in and pushed Mr. Stone away from Buzz. "Mr. Stone!" She said, her voice full of shock and disappointment. "I would've expected better behavior from you!"

Mr. Stone sighed softly. "Yes, I know that." He cleared his throat and frowned deeply. "Still, this is a very serious matter."

Moynihan nodded. "Yes I do realize that, and so do my students. There's nothing we can do now to change what Buzz did. And even though it was just an accident, we are all fully aware we will live to regret it."

Stone shook his head slowly, his voice growing darker. "Oh no..you aren't going to live to regret it. You're not going to live period..."