On the Dark Horse, the alarms rang out and the Pit Crew ran to the controls as Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter climbed into the back of the Big Guy. As he turned his systems on, Jo's face appeared on one of the screens.

"Looks like it's Hapar. It appears that he's attacking downtown. I wonder what he's after now?" she said.

"He's probably still upset over losing Tera and his subsequent defeat several days ago. Whatever the reason, I've still got to stop him."

"Good luck Dwayne."

Without another word, the hangar bay doors opened and he roared the Big Guy into the sky

00000

"It's been some time now Big Guy. Let's take it out here and now. You will return my soldier back to me for Tera is mine to control," he cried at them.

"We'll duke it out but not here. I say let's go at it north of here. It's a forest area where no one has to get hurt," Big Guy replied.

"As long as I get to destroy you, I will agree to your terms," agreed Hapar.

As they made their way there, a field of trees started to appear beneath them and they started to fight. The guns popped out of Big Guy's arms and bullets flew towards Hapar but he managed to jump out of the way. Dwayne tried several different tactics but the alien was dodging everything that he knew. He gritted his teeth as he was slowly running out of ideas

"Good-bye forever, Big Guy," he said, laughing as he lunged at the robot. "I have been waiting for this since the moment we first met."

From inside, Dwayne put on a horrified look as Hapar kicked a hole through the hull. Hapar's foot hit one of the many gears, trapping Dwayne's leg badly. The lieutenant groaned as the pain coursed through his leg and he instantly knew that it was broken. The sweat started to pour down his face as he slowly reached for one of the switches

"Hunter to base, I'm in trouble here," he stammered.

The general's face appeared on a screen and he could see the distress that the lieutenant was going through.

"I'll send help immediately and better send the boy robot back. No sense the both of you getting captured," he ordered.

Dwayne nodded, knowing that this was one part of the job he dreaded

"Kid, get out of here. There's no sense for the two of us to get caught," Big Guy told Rusty.

"But Big Guy..." Rusty started to protest.

"Go!" ordered Big Guy.

Rusty flew away from the scene, frequently glancing over his shoulder as he did so. With the boy robot out of the way, Hapar lunged at Big Guy again. This time, he hit the power core, causing the power to drain from all the systems. As Big Guy fell to the ground, it caused Dwayne's upper body to fall forward, his leg twisting around and he screamed out in pain. Hapar looked at the fallen robot and snickered.

"Now that he's out of the way, let's go reclaim our lost soldier," he said.

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Lieutenant Hunter pulled his leg free and climbed out of the hatch. He stood up only to fall back down again in intense pain. He breathed heavily as he slowly crawled over to a nearby tree. Once there, he closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

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"Where is our soldier's position now?" asked Hapar.

"Position is uncertain but we can no doubt find her soon with the scanners," replied Jewel. "She is nearby."

"Go out and split up. You'll cover more ground that way. The feline will keep an eye on the scanners," ordered Hapar.

Jewel nodded in response before calling for some to join her and they immediately left.

00000

"Dwayne, come in! Dwayne!" Garth cried out.

The Pit Crew were horrified as they stared at the

The three looked at each other sadly. Within minutes, the Pit Crew, Thorton and Doctor Slate were with each other's company, hoping for any ideas as to where the lieutenant currently was located.

"He did give me a distress signal not too long before I got in contact with you three. We have to find him before anybody else does," Thorton told the Pit Crew. "Unless you find him, I'll have to call him missing in action."

"Is everybody ready?" asked Slate.

The others nodded.

00000

Hunter groaned and opened his eyes. He bolted up and found himself in a cave. He heard faint humming from somewhere close by and he tried to stand up. He fell back down in pain and tried to remember everything that happened. He put a hand over his eyes as the memories came flowing back.

"Don't try to move. Your leg is severely broken," came a voice.

Hunter recognized the voice as he took his hand away. He saw Tera walking towards him on all fours.

"A pterodactyl walking on all fours? I simply don't believe it," he mumbled.

"If you need anything, just ask," she said.

He shook his head and looked at his leg. There was a wooden splint on it, tied on with rope. HE was amazed that a creature like what was standing before him even remotely knew first aid

"My name is Tera, what's yours?" she introduced.

"Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter," he replied, holding out his hand.

What she did next amazed him. She brought out an arm from the support of her wing and took his hand. Now she looked like a bird with arms, only a reptile instead. He noticed a hard white streak on her arm. She noticed him staring and ended up taking out her other arm as well to show him.

"Oh, that's the bone for support in my wings," she said.

"How on Earth...?" he started.

She didn't say a word as she replaced her arms back into her wings. Cautiously

"I've got a question for you; how did you get here in the first place? I mean, those aliens came just after you showed up," he asked.

"How did I get here?" she repeated, starting to laugh. "You're asking me how I got here?"

Dwayne looked at her strangely as she continued with her hysterical laughter.

"Did I miss something here?" he asked.

"Lieutenant, I didn't come here, I was - already here when they arrived," she told him, trying to calm down.

The look of shock that appeared on the lieutenant's face.

00000

The plane flew over the forest. Jo kept her eyes

"See anything yet?" asked Garth, who was flying.

"Nothing yet. No, wait! I see the Big Guy!" replied Jo.

As Garth landed the plane, Mack, Jo and Slate were all eager to climb out and find out what exactly happened that caused the Big Guy to crash. As soon as they hit land, they hurried over to the fallen robot. The blonde knelt beside the mechanical creature and rapped on the hatch.

"Alright Dwayne, you can come out now," Jo said.

When no answer came, they carefully opened it to find noone there. Their hearts dropped as they searched the area, but couldn't seem to find him anywhere. After a while, they took the robot back to the Dark Horse where they met up with the general.

"Did you find Lieutenant Hunter?" he asked.

"No, we haven't yet. He was nowhere near where the Big Guy landed," Slate told him. "We have to find him before information gets into the wrong hands."

00000

"Already here? That's clearly not possible," Dwayne told Tera.

"Let me tell you something Lieutenant, it is possible. I was human once, just like you but now I'm a freak, a mutant," she replied.

"A human? Please, tell me what happened," pleaded Dwayne.

"Alright. It was back in my graduating year of high school. I had a great life; good marks and great friends. One night in January, I was sleeping in bed and was abducted by aliens. But these were no ordinary aliens. They put me through torture and they conducted several experiments on me. It's them who turned me into this. I found out later they were conquering aliens, desiring more planets in their empire. They choose one member of the population to lead them into the coming battle for them," she explained.

"What happened next?" he wondered.

"Once I got home, life was very different. I thought a few days had passed but instead a few months went by instead. I knew something was wrong the first night home. I turned into this. I kept hiding from everybody when it happened. I couldn't stand to be seen by my peers or elders. Didn't want to frighten them and make them scorn me. After several days, two aliens from the same planet as my abductors came to me. They explained to me why I was like this. My mutation was always out of control so they gave me this necklace to keep it under control," she sadly explained, holding it out to show him. "With it, I can safely change back and forth."

"You have to wear it continuously?" he asked.

She nodded, showing it to him when two figures walked up to them. Dwayne Hunter immediately recognized them from the battle several days before.

"Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, we were wondering when you would be here," Justin said.

"You're back!" Tera cried cheerfully.

"But we're not staying for long. We're going to find out what Hapar and his crew were planning. It might take us a few days and we have to leave here tonight," Jennifer told her.

"Stay here and protect him. You know why and if anything happens while we're gone, you know where to go," Justin whispered to her.

Tera nodded as they left the cave. It was well after nightfall already and Dwayne yawned.

"Could you tell me if you become human often?" he asked, obviously tired.

"Sure I do. All the time," she replied, laying down beside him.

He shivered as Tera put one of her wings over him to keep him warm and they fell asleep.

00000

"What do you think happened?" asked Slate.

"Looking at this hole, and the damage inside, I'd say the lieutenant might've gotten hurt during this call and I say seriously," Mack replied.

Slate appeared very worried.

"If he's hurt, shouldn't we find him as soon as possible so we can tend to his wounds?" she demanded.

"Not yet we can't. It's too dark. At least not until morning," replied Jo. "I can only hope

00000

A few days later, Tera was just outside the cave picking some apples for Dwayne, who was inside taking a nap. His friends had not come anywhere near the cave yet and she didn't want to move him just yet. She walked up to him with a few apples and laid two beside him.

"Hey, what's happening?" he asked.

"It's them. They're close. Too close. We have to leave immediately. Come on, get on my back," she said, moving over to Dwayne.

He slowly got on her back with help from her. Tera snuck out of the cave and disappeared into the forest trees.

00000

Back at the Dark Horse, they got the signal that there was trouble. Garth climbed into the cockpit of the Big Guy and quickly made his way to the shoreline, where he met up with the boy robot.

"Oh no, it's Hapar again," Rusty said. "Let's double team him Big Guy."

Rusty let out his nuclear protons while Big Guy shot rockets at him.

"I've taken you out before, I'll do it again," he cried, dodging out of the way.

Suddenly, he was knocked off course. Rusty and Big Guy watched as Tera hovered before them.

"It's nice to finally meet you Tera. I've heard so much about you. I am Jewel," she said.

"Well, I've never heard of you and I'm not so sure I want to know you. You're one of them. You helped Hapar. I might like to know you more but I don't know if I can trust you," Tera snorted at her.

"Tera, I'm hurt," Jewel said sarcastically .

The robots came up beside Tera, who appeared to be very angry as Jewel brought up Hapar.

"Be a darling and get me on her back," Hapar quietly asked her.

Jewel dropped Hapar on Tera's back, who started to scream.

"Help me, please!" she cried.

The Big Guy immediately knocked Hapar off Tera's back before he could do anything. Hapar fell to the ground only to meet Justin and Jennifer.

"Hello Hapar. Having fun?" asked Justin.

"I warn you right now Hapar. If you ever try and hurt my baby again, I assure you will die a slow and painful death," warned Jennifer.

"I will get her back. Just watch. I created her and I control her, not you. She will obey me," Hapar told them before running away.

Jewel picked him up and they headed back to the ship.

"Tera, come here girl," Justin called to her.

The pterodactyl flew down and he rubbed her beak as the Big Guy and Rusty landed on the ground.

"Oooh, cool," Rusty said as Mack, Jo, and Doctor Slate ran up to them.

"Why are you here?" asked Slate.

"We're here to help Tera. She may not show it that much but she needs help," replied Justin, holding Tera's head close to his chest.

"How did a prehistoric creature survive this long?" Rusty quietly asked Slate.

"I'm not sure," Slate quietly replied. 'But I'm more worried about Lieutenant Hunter.'

"Kid, let's get back to base. We'll be of more help to them there," Big Guy told Rusty.

The boy robot nodded and followed. Slate looked sad as did Mack and Jo. Soon, they heard footsteps. Jo looked to see Jennifer with Lieutenant Hunter.

"Just to let you know, Tera's the result of a devestating experiment," Jennifer told them.

Jennifer helped the lieutenant to the ground as Slate ran over to them.

"Are you alright Liuetenant?" she frantically asked.

"I'll be fine," he replied, rubbing his leg.

"We'll head back now," Jo told them.

Jo and Mack headed back to the Dark Horse in the plane. Justin looked at Tera with sad eyes.

"Now listen and listen carefully Tera. I want you to go back to New Tronic City and do whatever you were planning to do before they came. Keep an eye out for Lieutenant Hunter. You know he's one of the two the prophecy speaks of. Don't let anything happen to him and don't worry about Hapar. He doesn't know your real name. All that he knows he irrelevant," Justin ordered quietly.

"Yes master. Now get the lieutenant on my back and we'll get going," she replied.

Both Dwayne and Erica climbed on Tera's back and she took them to Quark where an ambulance arrived for the lieutenant.

Doctor Slate and Tera stood on the roof after the ambulance left.

"I would like to know more about you. For instance, why are you here?" Doctor Slate said to Tera.

Tera shook her head as she turned away from the doctor.

"Maybe another time Doctor. Right now, best wishes on the lieutenant getting better. I'll be back," she replied.

She flapped her wings and flew off onto the sunset.

'She is so secretive. Reminds me of a certain lieutenant,' Slate thought to herself before heading inside.

00000

A couple of hours later, Dwayne was asleep in his hospital bed when two figures walked up to him. He slighty opened his eyes to find Darlene and Jeffy were standing there.

"Hello Dwayne. Welcome back. Once I was contacted and heard you were missing, I was devastated. Jeffy and I came immediately until you were found and recovered some," explained Darlene.

"Well, I'm glad both of you came," Dwayne replied with a small smile.

"They told us you had a broken leg. When you came in, you were also a bit malnourished and dehydrated," she said with obvious relief. "They said your worst injury was the leg."

"If I'm not mistaken, wasn't that my only injury?" he replied.

She thought for a minute as Jeffy decided to climb onto the hospital bed. She couldn't help but smile

"You're right, it was!" she said. "Right now, we're happy that you're safe. You really had us worried."

"Well, I'm glad I'm alright too," he told her as she took his hand.

"We'll be back in the morning to see how you're doing," she said.

The tears began to form in her eyes and Dwayne reached up wipe away a few of the errant trails down her face.

"Uncle Dwayne, when will you get out of here?" asked Jeffy.

"When they let me Jeffy, when they let me," replied Dwayne, laughing.

After a few more minutes. Darlene ushered her young son out of the room as Doctor Slate and Jo walked inside.

"Feeling fine?" asked the doctor.

Dwayne nodded and Slate gave a sigh of relief.

"I was finally talking to Czarina today. She's going to visit tomorrow. She was busy for the past few days and only heard about you from me when I talked to her," Jo said.

"Maybe she has something to do with that pterodactyl that saved my life," Dwayne joked as he yawned. "But no, it's impossible. It's strange though. I almost thought that I knew Tera."

"Who knows?" replied Jo.

He fell asleep as the two left the room. A figure stood outside the his room on the windowsill, looking before disappearing into the night sky.

00000

Meanwhile, somewhere else in town, Czarina looked up at the bright full moon in the night sky, the tears in her eyes.

'Why does it have to be like this?' she asked herself, covering her face with her hands.

TBC...