I like plot twists! :D

Chapter 4: A Family Betrayed

"So he knows. Somehow I knew it wouldn't take him long to find out. Rex always manages to find things out one way or another." Allo said.

"Yea, but how did he even catch wind of me even having it in the first place? It's not like anyone in the Great Valley even knows about you anyway save for the select few trustee's I know can handle the secret." Fireclaw replied.

Allo and Fireclaw were sitting in the control room of Lavadome drinking a cup of Reptillonian coffee. Fireclaw had no idea that Ghenghis Rex knew of his newly discovered ability, and now he knows he's going to exploit it in any way he can.

"Perhaps someone had come into contact with him before. Rex usually scouts areas of interest in order to plan something out, even if it fails." Allo said.

"That's my theory on it. Honestly though, even if somehow anyone had come into contact with Rex within that short timeframe of not even 18 hours, if I'm not mistaken, it just seems all too odd that it would just happen by chance. I just can't figure out how exactly he had such an early jump on it!" Fireclaw replied with a hint of frustration.

"You were saying something about the 'sharptooth' attack. Maybe that has something to do with it." Allo said. Suddenly Fireclaw felt some life return to him.

"Allo you could be onto something. Come to think of it, there wasn't a very large amount of sharpt- I'm sorry, Tyrannosaurs in the valley at the time to begin with. It's as if they were hoping to be killed off, maybe their expense was to try and prove that something even more interesting was going on, in my case splitting one's head open by dropping onto it. That just doesn't happen naturally. This sword's been the cause of it, yet now it feels as if it's a part of me." Fireclaw stated.

"Then what if he used that attack as a decoy? He knew you'd attack, even I would expect you to. You have the potential, and judging by everything you've explained thusfar I'd say you really don't hold back." Allo replied.

Teryx entered the room holding a small black box. The look on her face gave the impression that whatever was in it was definetely not a holiday gift.

"This just came in. I'm not sure what's in it, but the note left on it isn't very comforting either." Teryx said before handing the box to Fireclaw.

"I can only imagine." He said.

Fireclaw cut the small string the box was tied with with his claw. Upon removing the top, he could see a small, green crystal. At first he thought it was an emerald until he looked more closely. The inside was swirling, as if it was smoking on the inside but couldn't escape the confines of the stone. He twirled it in his fingers, closely examining it to see if he could recognize any physical features that would hint towards anything he'd seen before.

"Teryx, where's that note? This is interesting." Fireclaw said.

Teryx handed Fireclaw the note, it read: "He who wields the blade will know it's purpose. Use it wisely, for it's power is sensitive."

"Hmm. I've never seen something like this before. To be honest, I don't believe I've ever seen anything like this at all. Hell, I don't even know what it's used for in the first place, what do they expect me to do, just magically use it like I'm an expert or something?" Fireclaw said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Maybe we can run some tests on it to see if we can get it's mineral composition. Maybe we can see what it's made of then." Teryx suggested. Everyone agreed it would be the best decision.

Back at the Great Valley word had gotten around about the attack on Pterano. At first, Fireclaw was to blame, but thankfully the sonic listening device that Chomper had set up had been set to record as well. Once he'd played back the speech Pterano gave, everyone had begun to see a darker, more malevolent side of Pterano. Interestingly enough, he was also missing from the valley around the same time that everyone wanted answers from him. Chomper wasn't the least bit suspicious of the whole situation, and had no reason to be once he'd known Ghengis Rex had been there before. The Great Valley had been in an uproar all morning, with no sign of calming down, and even hunting parties were beginning to form as a result of Pterano's treachury.

"Well Petrie, I hate to tell you this, but I think your uncle's betrayed the Great Valley yet again, as expected." Chomper said to Petrie, sounding very matter-of-fact about it.

"I thought he was good!" Petrie said between sobs.

"Where is he now? Hiding like a coward?" Cera chided.

"Actually he's probably not. I have an idea of what he's doing right now, and if I'm right, well, he's going to die." Chomper replied. Bad move.

"You'll never kill Pterano! I won't let you!" Petrie screamed at Chomper between sobs before attempting to pound his forehead.

"Petrie, you can stop now, it's not really doing anything." Chomper said.

"Chomper, you have to understand, Pterano is part of his family. He's not willing to let someone, especially you or Fireclaw knowing what he can do try to kill him." Littlefoot said in Petrie's defense.

"Doesn't matter Littlefoot. You've already dealt with him once, you know his history, and nothing's changed even after all these years. To be honest I should've let Fireclaw blow his head off, at least then it would've saved us all the trouble we're having now!" Chomper replied in a cocky tone. This only pissed Petrie off even more.

"Chomper, it is not right that he has to die though, it is not." Ducky said.

"Ducky, do you know what treason means? It means betrayal. The punishment, and the only punishment for treason is death." Chomper replied. Petrie was crying so hard he was on the verge fainting.

"I'm not trying to come off negatively, but if you really want to stop Fireclaw, I'm not going to intervene. I'm only saying that once you get involved, for one you're not getting out just as easily, and another thing, you may end up in a worse situation than if you just leave this alone. Petrie, there's no point in worrying about Pterano now. He's going to die, no matter what." Chomper said. Everyone looked at him like he'd just commited a murder after he spoke to Petrie. Petrie continued to pound his forehead out of anger.

"Chomper that has to be easily the most messed up thing you've ever said." Littlefoot said, totally straight-faced.

"Do you even have a heart anymore, Chomper?" Cera asked.

"This is why I avoided bringing this up with you. I knew this would happen. I only told you so you didn't make the grown-ups mad by asking, because they're not in a good mood either. It was the least I could do." Chomper said, now showing some emotion other than the implied hatred.

"It's ok Chomper. It's just happening so fast, one second we can trust Pterano, the next second he's up for execution." Littlefoot said.

The radio that Chomper had clipped onto a utility belt began to beep.

"I have to take this. Listen, don't get involved. It's not the way to handle this." Chomper advised before walking away.

"Chomper to Lavadome, what's going on?" Chomper said.

"Chomper, it's Fireclaw, listen, be on the lookout for an unknown flyer. He's coming in hot from the north and has Tyranno written all over him. I think he's a new one, but still, you know what to do. I'll be there in approximately fifteen minutes max." Fireclaw relayed.

"Alright, will do. Armed or not?" Chomper asked.

"Armed. He could be carrying a weapon of some sort." Fireclaw replied.

Chomper looked up in the sky, not seeing anything. Chomper was on high alert, and took off in a dead sprint towards the already growing angry hivemind of mobbing dinosaurs to relay the message.

"Attention! There's an unknown flyer coming from the north! Be on the lookout, he could have a weapon! Any suspicious air activity is to be reported to myself or Grandpa Longneck immediately! It could signal an attack, be on high alert!" Chomper shouted. Everyone payed close attention, and looked towards the air. Suddenly the topics changed to theories on who it could be and what to do if they saw it. Chomper ran for the same cave he took the RPG out of recently in the last sharptooth attach and armed himself with a high-powered rifle equipped with a scope sensitive to any movements. He wanted to get the best shot he could if need be, and to take the target down in one shot if possible. After loading a full magazine of five high impact ballistics rounds, he walked back out to callibrate his sights.

Littlefoot and Cera were sitting by a small watering hole discussing the alert that Chomper signalled earlier.

"A mysterious flyer? You don't think this could be..." Littlefoot said.

"I hate to admit it Littlefoot but this very well could be Pterano. I hope I'm wrong, because he could be out for revenge." Cera replied.

"Something's not right here. Perhaps Fireclaw was right about Pterano after all." Littlefoot replied.

"You heard the conversation? Littlefoot, your grandpa said- "

"I don't care what he said! There are lives at stake! This is the time when you have to bend a few rules for the benefit of others, Cera! Pterano has killed in the past, nearly killed Ducky, and who's to say he won't try it again! Fireclaw has power, and guess who wants it!" Littlefoot nearly yelled in Cera's face.

"I guess you're right. What else did you hear, or see for that matter?" Cera asked curiously.

"Well, right before Fireclaw slammed Pterano against the ground and a bunch of trees, he said something about betrayal. Could Pterano have actually betrayed us?" Littlefoot said.

A gunshot cut their conversation short. Littlefoot and Cera turned behind them to see Chomper standing on a hilltop test firing the rifle. He took another shot, the loud bang and the percussion hurting their ears just as much as the last. Everyone hated when Fireclaw or Chomper tested weapons because they were always so loud. The recoil from the rifle nearly sent Chomper flying. The gun's barrel kicked straight into the air, leaving Chomper to lower it back down slowly due to the force of the recoil against his shoulder. They saw him pull the bolt back and load another round in, anticipating yet another nearly deafening blast.

"You know Chomper, if you want to be loud, you can always do that outside the valley too!" Cera yelled to him sarcastically.

"THink that's going to do anything Cera? Rifles are usually supposed to be loud!" Chomper yelled back.

Chomper fired the rifle one last time into a tree trunk just to tease Cera with the noise. She could never understand how he or Fireclaw could fire guns without ear protection.

At Lavadome, Fireclaw, Allo's nephew Ryker, also of Allosaur descent and Dimetro were working on an experimental weapon they called the E.P.C., or ElectroPulse Cannon. It's a weapon designed to deliver a high-powered focused beam of electromagnetic energy, creating a straight lightning beam and enabling them to punch through nearly any armor using extreme heat and electrical energy if it was made of metal or if contact with flesh was made. Fireclaw was first up to test fire it. He held the cannon over his shoulder like a heavy missile launcher, aimed out into a small field where they usually conducted explosives tests and fired. A loud thunderous boom punched through the air, generating a sonic shockwave as the beam was focued out of the revolving kinetic dynamo head. The cannon kicked straight upward, leaving Fireclaw a bit disoriented after pulling the trigger. The targeting sight which was sticking off to the left side hit him in the eye when he fired it, breaking skin just above his eyebrow. The shell casing for the high voltage EMP battery flew almost ten yards back from where Fireclaw was standing.

"Damn, that was a bit much, don't you think?" Fireclaw asked aloud.

"That was the most impressive test we've done all day. I have a recoil supressor as well, but I didn't believe you could fire this without it." Dimetro replied back. Suddenly Fireclaw looked a bit angry.

"So I didn't have to take this eyepiece to the face?" He asked back, pointing to the optical sight that recoiled straight into his eye.

"We needed to gauge the amount of recoil coming off of the barrel of the gun when you fired it. We do that for statistics reasons, really. It's just so that we can make weapons that don't even need recoil stoppers later on down the road." Ryker said. Ryker was watching a small computer station set up off to the side to monitor accuracy, recoil, loudness, and target and environmental damage as well.

"Well you got your stats, now can we fire this with something to keep my face from being assaulted again?" Fireclaw called back.

Suddenly a red siren light came on over one of the light posts set out on the firing range. Whenever these come on, things are never good. The last time was during a supposed bombing raid which ultimately never happened.

Fireclaw kicked in the control room door. This was a normal thing for him whenever there was an emergency.

"Damnit Fireclaw! Must you always kick in sliding doors?" Allo yelled at him.

"Well then why the hell are the lights on? What's going on?" Fireclaw said nearly out of breath.

"Aside from getting a new door, I've got something you wanna see." Allo replied.

"Ok, let me see it. Is it the results from the scan you were running on that weird smoky gem?" Fireclaw asked.

"Worse. I think you'll get a kick out of this."

Allo pulled up a recorded video conversation between him and Ghenghis Rex. It was mostly arguing and Rex's narcisim, but then something caught Allo's eye. He hadn't remembered Rex ever having a Pterosaur as a Tyranno. He noticed that it also looked like someone he'd seen before. As Allo fast-fowarded through the conversation, just around twenty minutes in was when he saw it. Fireclaw's eyes widened.

"What. The. Hell." was all Fireclaw could even mutter.

"Fireclaw, does he look familiar? Didn't we see him last time we went to the Great Valley? Actually, better question, isn't that your air corps commander?" Allo asked.

"I knew it. Allo, I hate to say this, but you're right. Does he have a name?" Fireclaw asked.

"Other than Pterano, Terrible-Dactyl. New recruit as of I believe three hours ago. He was apparently unconsious after a beating you gave him." Allo replied.

"How the hell did you find this out?"

"Ghenghis Rex explained everything as if he was trying to brag about it. He's really got it in him to attempt to go against us, but now more specifically you because of that sword. I'd practice if I were you, he's working on a project we managed to intercept called 'Tyranno-X'. I don't know what it is, but whatever it will be it doesn't sound like something we want to encounter." Allo said.

"Then this is how it ends, Pterano. Better watch yourself, because this time I will kill you."