Scars

by DarkHououmon

Ever since their formation, the Dino Squad have always managed to keep Veloci in the dark about their secret. But what would happen if he did find out? And what if he was far more capable than they initially thought? Despite what fairy tales may say, the bad guys don't always lose...

3. Caught

A couple hours passed by, slowly, almost painfully. Rump lay on the couch with bandages around the cuts in his side. A wet cloth was placed on his head to keep a newly formed fever from going up too high. Buzz sat by his side, slowly stroking his fur to comfort the poor dog. Moynihan was still on the couch, her ankle tightly wrapped up. Due to the bad swelling, Rodger recommended she not put pressure on that foot for a while. It wasn't like she could anyway. While she was glad she didn't have a broken leg again, the sprain was pretty bad.

The swelling had gotten a little worse because she had attempted to walk shortly after giving the bad news to the Dino Squad team about Victor being able to find them now. She could only take one step before she knelt down in pain. Her foot couldn't stand much pressure be put on it. With an ankle like this, she won't be able to walk for a while. She hoped that her leg would be better very soon. Rodger had offered to stay with her for the night if her foot wasn't better by nightfall. He had already called his parents about it and they gave him permission. Of course he had to come up with a convincing reason to let him stay, and he couldn't tell them about the dinosaur attack. So he made up a lie about how Moynihan tripped down the stairs because she was a bit clumsy.

Moynihan's other injuries, although mild, were treated. There was a small thin cloth wrapped around her neck. While the cuts weren't that deep, they could still get infected. The cut in her side was also bandaged up. There was some redness on it, but the bleeding had stopped at least. She reached down and gingerly touched her foot. She winced; even the slightest pressure caused her pain. She felt embarrassed that she couldn't stop Michelle, even though she was the stronger of the two dinosaurs.

Nearby, Caruso was pacing across the floor. Despite his friends telling him to calm down, he couldn't get the thoughts of getting back at Michelle out of his mind. And he was also upset that his friends did not listen to him. Perhaps if they had, maybe this would not have happened. Thoughts raced across Caruso's mind, and eventually gave him a headache. He groaned a little and finally sat down on the opposite couch from Joanne. He rubbed his forehead gently, his eyes closed.

Fiona was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Moynihan was originally going to make it, but since she can't walk, Fiona decided to step in. She fumbled through the cabinets, trying to see what Moynihan kept. Ms. Moynihan hadn't gone shopping yet; the selection was rather limited. She didn't know exactly what the others' tastes were, so she could only take a guess as to what she should make. She wished she had asked everyone what they wanted.

She knelt down and opened up one of the bottom cabinets. She pulled out a rather large box and read the name and description. Chicken Pie, it said. It was rather large, and looked as if it could feed six people. She turned the box around to read the instructions. She smiled a bit. The food wouldn't take that long to make. Just about twenty minutes. She hoped the others can wait that much longer before they eat. She tore open the box and prepared to make the food.

Back in the living room, Max, sitting in the chair where Moynihan would usually do her knitting, raised up the remote to try to turn on the television set. But the TV screen remained black. Frustrated, he opened up the back of the remote to see if it needed new batteries. But the batteries inside were in perfect condition, and there was nothing wrong with the remote. He placed the remote control down and walked over the TV itself. They had been sitting in silence for the past couple hours, and he wanted to try to lighten the mood with some TV.

He knelt in front of the TV and pressed the power button, but all he heard was a click. There was no slight whirring sound of the TV turning out, no static sound coming from the screen, no light shining, nothing. He became confused. He looked behind the TV to make sure it was plugged in. To his shock, the TV was still plugged into the outlet, and just like with the controller, there was nothing physically wrong with the cord, or the television set itself.

Max turned to Moynihan. "Did you forget to pay the electric bill?" He asked her, pointing at the TV. "There's nothing wrong with that TV, but it won't turn on."

"Dude, how can you think of TV at a time like this?" Buzz scolded him, frowning with disapproval. He was surprised Max could think of TV after their base was attacked.

"Hey I'm just trying to..." Max trailed off and became silent. He suddenly felt a little guilty. Perhaps Buzz was right. Perhaps television just isn't something they should concern themselves with right now. He lowered his head slightly, and gave a low sigh. "I'm sorry, Ms. M."

"Don't be." Joanne said gently, giving him a soft smile. She couldn't blame Max for wanting to clear these bad thoughts from his head. It wasn't good to feel so stressed out for too long. She attempted to get up again, but Max quickly rushed over and stopped her by putting his hands firmly on her shoulders and gently pushing her back down.

"You shouldn't be getting up, remember?" Max asked her, his eyes narrowed slightly with concern.

"Oh don't worry about me." Moynihan chuckled through the pain she was feeling in her leg. "I heal faster than humans. I'll be fine by nightfall."

Buzz asked, "But what about what Rodger said? He isn't so sure your leg will be better by nightfall. It is swollen up pretty badly."

But Joanne still felt somewhat optimistic, despite what Rodger Blair had told her. Sprained ankles didn't take long to heal, so she was confident that she would be on her feet long before night came. Although there was one worrying thought in her mind. Rodger had pointed out that if the sprain had been a mild, non-threatening one, it would have healed by now, as she had been with the injury for about ten hours.

But instead of healing, the leg just swelled up more. She wondered if it was because she fell down the steps, or because of her age, at least in human years. In dinosaur years she was still rather young. Dinosaurs could live for at least two hundred years, although humans obviously don't know this. This was another reason Victor saw dinosaurs to be superior. He was rather unimpressed by mankind's short longevity, and sometimes used that as a reason for why dinosaurs should be the masters of the Earth once more.

"I'll be fine." Moynihan assured him. "Don't worry."

"Moynihan." She heard Max ask. She turned her head to face him. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but... is there any reason why the TV won't work?" Max did feel a bit guilty about asking her after Buzz's short scolding. He wasn't sure why he felt that way though. Buzz never got to him like this before. Perhaps it was more or less due to the fact they never faced a situation like this before. Max couldn't shake off the feeling that Victor was now watching them, waiting to plot his next move, and they wouldn't be able to plan a counterattack until it was too late.

"Oh I don't mind at all." Joanne smiled, chuckling lightly. She struggled to sit herself up a little, as she was slouching a little in the couch. "I honestly do not know why the television is not working. I suspect that Michelle must have cut the cable cord while on her little rampage upstairs."

"I don't know why we don't just go find Michelle ourselves." Caruso muttered, even though he already knew finding Michelle was going to be a very difficult task without any monitoring equipment. He crossed his legs as he sat up and put his chin on his hands.

"Caruso, without the equipment, how are we going to find her?" Max asked him somewhat firmly. "And what if this is a trap? What if she wants us to find her and she'll lead us to Veloci?" Boy did this sound familiar to everyone.

"Didn't I say something similar not too long ago?" Caruso asked accusingly. "If you guys had listened to me then, this wouldn't have..."

"Don't blame this all on us!" Max snapped.

"And who am I supposed to blame?!" Caruso barked, lifting his head up to glare at Maxwell. "I can't blame myself! I'm the one who realized she was a threat! You people were the ones who wouldn't listen to me! And now look what happened!"

Max bared his teeth, his hand forming a fist. Buzz grimaced, knowing this was not going to end well. Moynihan remained silent, unsure of what she should do. Normally she would know, but right now, her mind was almost empty, and she couldn't think of one thing to say to prevent the boys from fighting.

"We aren't the ones to blame, Caruso!" Max insisted, feeling as though he wanted to strangle Caruso for his attitude. He desperately tried to control his anger.

Caruso gritted his teeth in frustration. "Yeah well you guys were the ones who ignored my warnings, so in a way you helped cause this happen..." He had muttered this, hoping Max didn't hear him. But unfortunately, Max HAD heard him.

Max, now visibly shaking with anger, was trying to calm himself down, but failed to do so, and what he said next he would soon learn to regret. "Well maybe if you weren't such an immature brat who cared only about his stupid hair and getting famous, maybe I would take you more seriously!" He snapped at the blue-haired boy sitting down in front of him. Max allowed himself to release all this pent up anger he's held against Caruso for quite sometime.

The room fell silent. Moynihan could hardly believe what she just heard. Max had always been the more responsible one in the group, and had never lost his temper before. He would usually be the one to try to settle down a situation. Sure he may have gotten upset in the past, but he had never really yelled like this before, nor had he intentionally insulted anyone like that.

Buzz was in shock as well. He blinked a few times, unsure on how to process what he just saw and heard. He had never known Max to get to this upset. He slowly shook his head, sighing softly as he petted Rump on the head. "Dude...that was harsh..." He spoke up, loud and clear enough for Max to hear him.

But Maxwell was still angry, still having a bit more anger to release. He quickly turned around, his hands still tightly clenched into fists. Buzz nearly gasped at the sight of the angry jock. He couldn't understand how Caruso's attitude could get him this angry. He didn't believe it was even possible for Max to snap at Caruso. He always seemed so tolerate of the boy's behavior, although he did disapprove whenever Caruso tried to do something just so he could get famous.

"Yeah well he deserved it! Caruso needs a wake up call!" Max snapped, continuing his short but fueled rant. "I'm sick of his selfish ways! I'm sick of his attitude! I'm sick of him seeking fame! I'm sick of him talking about his so-called perfect hair! I..." He stopped when he felt a large strong hand on his shoulder.

"That's enough." Rodger said, frowning a bit at Max. "I think you've said more than you should have..." He gestured towards where Caruso was sitting.

Caruso's eyes had widened up all the way, and his jaws had dropped open from the sheer shock of Max's words. He had been scolded many times in the past for his behavior, but this time, this time was different. Max had gone much farther than just simply reprimanding him. He had outright INSULTED him. Caruso felt a pain in his stomach as he swallowed, trying to mentally digest what had just occurred. He took a slightly shaky breath, and spoke softly, "Stupid hair..? Immature brat...?" He finally looked away from Max, and stared at the blank TV.

Max's frown slowly faded away as he eventually realized what he had just said. As the realization hit, a strong pang of guilt hit him in the gut. How could he have said that to Caruso? How could he talk about his friend in such a harsh manner? Max growled softly to himself, and put his face in his hand for a few seconds, and he took a step towards Caruso. "Caruso I..."

"What? You haven't said enough?" Caruso said with a slight bitterness in his voice and turned his head to look at Maxwell in the eyes.

Max hesitated a few seconds, feeling a bit unnerved by Caruso's almost cold stare. He had never seen this look before. It felt almost foreign, as Caruso never stared at him, or anyone, like this before. "I-I... I'm sorry." Max told him gently. "I shouldn't have said those things. I'm so sorry."

Caruso's gaze softened up as well, but he was still upset with Max. He simply looked away, sighing a bit before getting up off the couch. He started to walk towards the door. "I'm..going out for some fresh air." He said before disappearing outside. As soon as he was outside, Buzz gave a slight glare at Max. He never would have thought he would see the day when Max would snap like this, let alone say such terrible things to one of his own friends.

"Smooth move, Maxwell." Buzz said, folding his arms angrily. "I can't believe you said those things to him..."

"Neither can I." Moynihan chimed in, stating her disapproval as well. "Just what came over you, Max?"

"I..I don't know..." Max answered, his shoulders slumped a little. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead with one of his hands. "I really don't know..I just..saw red and snapped." Ms. Moynihan slowly shook her head.

Joanne looked at Buzz. "Buzz, can you go out and check on Caruso? Perhaps get him to come back inside?" As Buzz left to get Caruso, she turned her gaze to the jock standing in front of her. "And as for you, come here."

"What is it?" Max asked her tentatively. He already could tell he was in trouble.

Joanne gave him a small frown. "We need to talk."

Not too far from the lighthouse, a red truck was approaching. At a glance from afar, nothing particularly special could be noted, but upon closer examination, this truck had the signature dinosaur jaws that Victor's vehicle had. The truck was traveling along the road that would eventually lead up to the lighthouse. They would get there relatively soon, in possibly five to ten minutes. The truck was carrying a rather large cage, and housed the dinosaur helicopter.

Inside one part of the truck, Victor sat down on his chair, a computer in front of him. The screen was glowing, and their destination was flashing rapidly. Victor could tell they were getting close. The flashing would speed up when they got close to their destination. And he had seen the lighthouse before, so he knew where it was. He punched in a few more keys before turning around to greet Oscura and Michelle, who were standing in the room with him.

Victor smiled at Michelle and Oscura. He had received the good news from Michelle. The plan had been a success. All the monitoring equipment had been destroyed. The Dino Squad had no way of detecting his arrival. There was still the slight worry that they would have a hand-held tracker. But he couldn't worry about that now. This may be his only chance at catching one of these so called perfect dinosaurs.

He was also pleased with Oscura. After all, if it weren't for her and her poisonous Troodon saliva, Michelle may not have gotten in at all. She put on quite the convincing act, and did a great job in fooling the Dino Squad into thinking Michelle was actually in any danger at all. There is one thing that Victor forgot to ask about, something that the two girls failed to report to him. "Did you get the tracking devise on Caruso specifically?" Victor asked Michelle.

"Yes, sir." Michelle said dutifully, clasping her hands together almost like a villain would when they are plotting or scheming about something. "The device is on his hand. The device is fully functional and should turn on when you activate it."

Victor grinned and then turned back to his computer. "At long last, I am finally one step closer into bringing back the dinosaurs! Finally mankind's time is drawing to a close! And little Caruso is going to help me not only bring the dinosaurs back to their rightful place as rulers of this planet, but he will also help me bring Joanne back to me!"

As Victor continued with his speech, Oscura and Michelle looked at each other, both clearly annoyed by Victor, but they dare not say anything to him. They knew what he was capable of. It is not wise to anger a six foot tall Velociraptor who had sickle shaped talons that could rip out their stomachs in a single blow.

"I still wonder why he must do this all the..." Oscura muttered a bit loudly, but her mouth was quickly covered by Michelle's hand.

"Shhh! You want him to hear?" Michelle scolded the younger girl.

"Don't want me to hear what...?" They froze as they heard Victor speak to them. They turned their heads to see Victor was out of his seat and standing about a foot away from them. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and his eyes had a slight glow to them. But he hadn't taken an aggressive posture, and he wasn't baring his teeth.

"Oh nothing..nothing.." Michelle quickly said, hoping to calm Victor down in case he was angry with them.

"I don't think it was nothing." Victor Veloci said, eyes narrowing further as he brought out a hand, now transformed into a Velociraptor's hand, the sharp claws gleaming in the light. "I heard you two speaking, and I know what you said. We Velociraptors have excellent hearing you know.." He enclosed his hand around Oscura's neck, and, effortlessly, lifted her off the ground before shoving her a bit roughly against the wall of the truck. "Don't you two ever backtalk me like that again, you hear me?!"

"But we didn't backtalk you.." Oscura protested, struggling a little in Victor's grasp. "Back talking is when someone responds in a rude and disrespectful manner, and I wasn't responding to anything you were saying..."

Victor narrowed his eyes a bit more before releasing Oscura. "All right then..." He hadn't known why he nearly lost his temper. He was probably just a bit worried, since these two were the only perfect dinosaurs on his side. Since he found out about the Dino Squad, he'd been fearful they would try to convert Oscura and Michelle, turn them against him. Yeah that must be the reason. He was just overly worried that's all.

Oscura slowly rose to her feet, rubbing her throat. Michelle slowly approached her. While the two didn't particularly get along, Michelle did sometimes sympathize with Oscura whatever she got hurt physically. "Are you all right?"

The black-haired seventeen year old scoffed a bit, though she was still rubbing the skin on her neck where Victor had grabbed her. "Well of course I'm all right." Oscura chuckled, slowly eyeing Victor from her position. "Is it just me, or does Dr. Veloci look kinda..cute when he's mad?" Michelle's eyes widened, and she smacked herself in the face at this comment. Victor overheard the comment himself, and was trying his best not to turn around and say something.

Victor focused his attention on getting at the lighthouse without getting spotted. The element of surprise would be the key factor in their success. While their radar systems were disabled, they could still spot them along the road. Knowing that they were getting close, Victor grabbed a switch and pulled it down, which activated the stealth mode of his truck. It became encased in an invisible forcefield which made it completely transparent, as well as everything on the inside. As he released the handle, they were only a couple minutes away from their destination...

Caruso sat down just outside of the lighthouse, in indian style on the grass, his back against the wall of the large building. His head rested on his hands, and he gave a long heavy sigh. His mind kept replaying the incident that had just occurred inside the house over and over again. Max's word did cut into him, not just because of the words he said, but because he was his friend, and he still said those things. Caruso looked over at the horizon. He hadn't really planned on just taking off. He didn't want to worry the guys, and with no way to track, they wouldn't know where he was.

Caruso began to ponder if Max was right. Maybe if he did act more like how they did, they would take him more seriously. He quickly shook the thought out of his mind. There was really nothing wrong with wanting to become famous, was there? A lot of people seek fame and fortune, not just him. He recalled another individual like himself, O'Ryan, who he had at one time called in so he could see his friends as dinosaurs. He quickly regretted ever being a fan of O'Ryan after how the man treated him, and how he had thrown him, a young teen, at a T-Rex just so he could get a great shot of the large animal.

He did not consider him as bad as O'Ryan. Sure, he is sometimes desperate for fame, but he would never go forth with his plans if it meant risking injury to his friends. In the end, he ended up destroying O'Ryan's footage as revenge. He smiled a little at the memory. It was kind of ironic how that obsessive man seemed to quickly forget the incident when Max prank called him about a dinosaur sighting.

Max... Caruso's smile quickly faded as he thought of that particular boy. Oh why was he letting this eat away at him? Max just lost his temper. He didn't really mean anything he had said...or had he? The boy did apologize for what he said, so why was the pain still there? Perhaps the words had stung more than he had thought initially. He thought about going back inside. He had the strangest sensation that he wasn't alone, that something was coming. He quickly stood up.

The door opened up, catching his attention. Buzz peeked out the door, and quickly found him. He gave a small nervous smile. "Hey... are you feeling all right?" The spiky-haired kid asked as he stepped out, and closed the door behind him.

"Oh...hi Buzz...I'm..fine.." Caruso said almost absentmindedly, turning his head away. "What brings you out here?"

"Ms. Moynihan sent me to check on you." Buzz explained as he approached Caruso. He could tell Caruso was not himself, with the way he just seemed so...distant. Caruso was a social person who craved attention and loved to talk. Max's words must have hurt him more than originally believed. Caruso would not even make eye contact. "Why..don't you come back inside?" Buzz asked after a couple seconds of silence. "We can talk this over."

"Are you sure Max would want me back in there?" Caruso asked somewhat darkly.

"Forget what he said." Buzz said, reaching out to place a hand on Caruso's shoulder. "He didn't know what he was saying. Now come back inside, okay? Moynihan would like to speak with you."

Caruso stared at his green-haired friend for a couple seconds, as if he wasn't sure what to do. He glanced back at the door, sighing once again. There was something that was preventing him from going back inside. Maybe he was fearful that Max would yell at him again. It was understandable. But maybe he was just getting worked up over nothing. Max seemed pretty sincere in his apology, and his expression did say that he had never meant to say those things to him.

"I...I'm not sure." Caruso finally said, turning his head away once more. "I mean...sure Max has gotten upset with me in the past. I know that..but this time..it was different. He insulted me, Buzz..."

Buzz frowned slightly. He had to admit himself that he wasn't too thrilled with how Max treated Caruso just now. Max had never lost his temper like that before, and it pained Buzz to see him just snap under pressure like that. He did understand that Max being upset with the situation and Caruso's attitude causing him to become more sensitive. But he thought Max was strong enough to control himself if he felt his feelings of anger were spiraling out of control. But after this, he realized he had been wrong.

Buzz nodded. "Yeah, I know it hurts, Caruso." The punk teen said sympathetically. "But you have to understand, you can't just run from situations like this."

Caruso frowned. "I am not running." The blue-haired teen responded, a bitter tone in his voice. Buzz opened up his mouth to speak, but Caruso wasn't done talking yet. "And he's..." He gave a sigh. "He's not the only one who said something he didn't mean..." Caruso remembered what he had said in the lighthouse, a statement he knows Max heard but he wasn't sure if the others had heard him. Now thinking about it, he wasn't sure if he could really blame Max for becoming upset with him.

"I didn't hear you say anything." Buzz said, his left eyebrow cocked up a bit. "All I've seen is Max suddenly snapping at you as though you provoked him." Buzz ran his hand through his green mohawk. "Just what did you say to him, anyway?"

Caruso gulped. He was hesitant in telling Buzz. After all he could easily have a similar reaction as Max had back in the lighthouse. But if he didn't tell Buzz, he would probably just feel worse. He knew that talking to someone about it is a good way of feeling better, and that holding it it for so long can cause problems."I...I said that you guys had helped Michelle cause this when you refused to listen to my warning." He rubbed his head as he was saying this. "I-I didn't really mean to say it. It just..slipped out."

"Dude..." Buzz said sternly but gently. "It wasn't any of our faults. We could not have predicted this would happen. If we had listened to your warning, Caruso, I'm sure Michelle would have thought of another way to get into the lighthouse. From what I've witnessed on that online dinosaur game, she is really good at sneak attacks and improvising. I was just lucky to have beaten her in that game." He tried to offer a comforting smile. "You did your best. At least you tried. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah...I guess so." Caruso said silently, his gaze fixated on the ground.

"Come on...let's get back inside." Buzz said calmly, gripping Caruso's arm and started to pull him towards the door to the lighthouse. Caruso pulled his arm back, which confused Buzz. He persisted, gripping Caruso's arm again, tighter this time. "We shouldn't worry the others."

Just then, Caruso started to hear something. It was faint at first, but gradually, the sound was becoming louder. It sounded like it was coming from a large vehicle. He could almost hear tires rolling across the surface of the ground. The boy turned his head towards the horizon once more, in the opposite direction of the water that crashed just below the cliff the lighthouse was resting. He stood his ground, and attempted to free his arm from Buzz. But the grip was tight.

So instead, Caruso began to pull Buzz backwards towards him. He was about the same build as Neil Buzmati, so he might have a chance in getting him away from the door. If whatever he was hearing was important, Buzz and the others should know about it. And if whatever was coming happened to be danger, he knew he couldn't fight it alone. He would need some help, and Buzz was the only person outside with him at the time.

Buzz felt himself being pulled back and away from the door. "Whoa!" He cried as he nearly lost his balance while being pulled backwards. He quickly released Irwin and turned around. "Dude, what's the big deal? Why did you pull me back like that?"

Caruso put a finger to his lips and blew, making a "Shhhh!" sound. He pointed slowly in the direction he was hearing the sound. "I think I hear something, coming from that direction." He spoke softly, gazing a bit cautiously in that direction, but not acting genuinely scared. It was more of being concerned. It was probably nothing, though.

"Caruso..there's nothing there." Buzz explained. He was becoming a little confused. "I don't hear anything either..."

Caruso gritted his teeth. "That's because you aren't listening close enough!" The blue-haired teen said in an urgent tone. "Listen very closely! I hear something approaching the lighthouse!"

"I don't get what you..." The sound was becoming louder now. And Buzz's ears were finally picking it up. Spending so much time listening to loud punk music in his room and, sometimes, playing video games with the volume turned so high had started to affect his hearing. This would explain why Caruso had heard the sounds before he had, why it taken Buzz longer to pick up the sounds. His hearing wasn't that much different, but it still took him a few seconds longer than Caruso to realize something was approaching the lighthouse. He snapped his head in the same direction the other boy had first heard the sounds. "Who could possibly want to come out this far?"

"I think I have an idea of whom." Caruso said in a serious tone. His mind replayed what Moynihan had told him a few hours earlier. There could only be one person, in his mind, that would show any interest at all in the lighthouse, only one person who would want to travel this far for anything. Well only one person he could think of that wasn't the Dino Squad, Rump, or Moynihan. "Michelle must be leading Veloci here. Veloci's coming to the lighthouse!"

"What?!" Buzz gasped. Before he could say anything, he caught a glimpse of something approaching the lighthouse. While his hearing was not as sharp as Caruso's, video gaming has done something else for him. It made him more aware of his surroundings. And he could see something, faint, but growing larger, heading towards the lighthouse. He squinted to get a good look, and he could see something glowing. "Is that...?" He pointed. It was hard for him to explain what it looked like. It was almost like a cloud with a bluish white tinge to it.

Caruso now noticed it too. He grimaced a bit. He had seen this before. Victor's invisible forcefield had a flaw in it. While most of the time it did remain invisible, once in a while, for a certain length of time, it would give off some kind of bluish glow, and that's exactly what he and Buzz were seeing now. Now there could be no more doubts in their mind. "Victor Veloci! We've got to warn the guys!" He said urgently, then turning swiftly to the door, Buzz not far behind.

Back inside the lighthouse, Fiona hadn't come from the kitchen yet. The food was still cooking, and she was unaware of what had happened downstairs. Rodger had went upstairs to try and find some more medicine to help with the swelling in Moynihan's leg. In the living room, Rump had fallen asleep on the couch, once in a while kicking a leg as he dreamed. Max sat on the same couch as Moynihan. The old woman was speaking to him about the incident that had just took place. His head was slightly bowed, but he kept eye contact with his mentor. Ms. Moynihan's eyes were narrowed, and it was clear she was angry. But she spoke in a gentle calm voice, and she didn't attempt to raise it.

"So do you understand what I am telling you, Maxwell?" Joanne asked, her hand gently gripping Max's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am. I..understand." Max responded softly. He turned his head away. He was starting to feel even more guilty. Moynihan had just given him a lecture on anger management and how he shouldn't take it out on his friends. He was feeling even worse about what he had said to Caruso. "I apologize..."

Professor Moynihan shook her head. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." She turned her gaze towards the door.

"I already apologized to him." Max said.

"You still need to talk to him." Moynihan told him. "You two won't feel better until you settle things together. I'm sure Caruso knew you hadn't meant those things, but it would make him feel better to hear you tell him that yourself."

"You're right..I..." Max started to say before something loud caught his and Moynihan's attention. They heard the door knob wobble and turn, and as they turned, they saw the door slamming open. The sound was so loud that Rump woke up from his sleep and looked around as if someone was attacking. In a matter of seconds, Caruso and Buzz rushed inside. Their eyes were wide, and they rushed inside. Something was definitely wrong. "Caruso! Buzz! What's the matter?" Max asked, quickly rising from the couch.

"Victor!" Caruso said urgently, pointing a finger towards the outside of the building. "Victor is coming here!"

"We heard his truck!" Buzz added on.

Moynihan was so shocked she almost tried to stand up, but quickly remembered the injury on her ankle. If it truly was Victor coming, she would have no way to defend herself. Even transforming wouldn't change the condition in her leg. "Vic is heading here?" She asked, but sensing she already knew the answer. "After all these years, he's finally found my hideout..." It was hard for her to completely accept this. She had gone through much to make sure Victor would never find her again.

"Thanks to Michelle yes." Caruso said, nodding his head slowly. There was a sense of anger to the edge of his voice as he said that.

Max took in a sharp gasp as he heard this news and then turned to Moynihan. "What are we going to do?" He asked her, sounding alarmed by the situation. They had never really faced off with Victor before. They had always used stealth to escape, and there had been few battles, if they could even be called that. The only time Max himself faced off with Victor was when he used his head to throw Vic into the snow during the winter.

But to actually fight him... Despite their encounters, the group still didn't have much of a clue on just what Victor was truly capable of, and they didn't know just how well he could fight. But considering that he and Moynihan had been facing off for a long time and she STILL hasn't been able to stop him for good, he's probably a more powerful being than they were led to believe. And to make matters worse, Victor had numbers on his side. He had so many humans working for him, that for every one they defeated, two or three more could show up to take their place. It was like trying to battle with an ant colony that grew to the size of humans.

Joanne sighed. "We have no choice... We have to fight Victor. We cannot allow him to destroy the lighthouse." The old woman said, putting pressure on her foot to see if she can stand up. A sharp pain went up her leg and she quickly lifted the pressure off her foot, and the pain quickly ceased. "Ooo..." She moaned. Her leg hadn't gotten any better. She needed more anti-inflammatory medicine.

"But what if he's not after the lighthouse?" Buzz asked her. Sure, destroying the lighthouse would be a major setback, but if Victor wanted to stop the Dino Squad once and for all, he would do something else. "What if he's coming here..for us? I mean what's to stop him now? He's tried to capture us before."

"And we always broke out." Caruso explained. He and Buzz were both captured by Veloci in the past. "And when we took off, he gave up the chase."

"Yeah but, Caruso," Maxwell said to the blue-haired teen, "That was because Veloci did not know where our lair was. We could turn back into human and head to the lighthouse, and Victor would be left in the dark. But now, he knows where our lair is. Even if we manage to escape, he knows where our lair is, and can still come after us. This time, there's no where we can run."

They heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Fiona soon arrived down, a smile on her face. She rubbed her hands together using a cloth, cleaning up some food that got on her hands. "Hey guys, breakfast is rea-" She quickly stopped, her smile evaporating as she saw the concerned looks on their faces. "Hey..what's wrong?" She asked as she placed the cloth down.

No sooner had she asked that did Rodger show up as well with a bottle of medicine and a surgical cloth in his hands. He made his way towards Moynihan and knelt down by her. Then realizing the looks on everyone's faces, he asked, "Yo..what's the matter?" He asked as he put some of the medicine on the cloth and began to remove the cloth that had been on Moynihan's leg for the past couple hours.

Max frowned. "Victor's coming here." The jock said quickly, adjusting his green jacket. "He knows we are here."

"What?! Are you sure?!" Rodger asked, so surprised he nearly dropped the bottle out of his hands and spilling it all over the floor. As it started to slip from his hands, he had quickly caught it with a firm grip.

"So soon?! But I thought..." Fiona started to say. But she trailed off and wasn't sure how to complete her sentence.

"Thought what?" Joanne spoke up once more. She pushed her glasses against her face as she continued to speak. "Did you think he would hesitate on an opportunity like this? I've known Vic for a very long time, and he is not the type of person who would waste any time when something like this arises, oh no." Moynihan explained to her students. "He surely knows of Michelle's success in her mission, and he must know the lighthouse is where we've been hiding. He knows we have been weakened. What's to keep him from coming here and attacking when he knows he has the upper hand?"

Joanne winced a little as she felt Rodger put some pressure on her injured ankle. He was applying some medicine directly to the skin. He then took the new, clean cloth and began wrapping it around the leg tightly. The medicine was very cold and, though surprised the elderly woman at first, felt very soothing to the hot, swollen ankle. When Rodger finished tying the cloth, she offered him a small smile. "Thank you, Rodg."

"What are you going to do?" Rodger asked as he stood back up. The african-american eyed the window cautiously, expecting to see Victor showing up any second. "With that ankle, you can't possibly go out there and face Victor. He would surely detect that you were hurt and go after you first. You're an easy target, Ms. M."

"Don't worry about me." Joanne Moynihan replied. She forced a laugh. "I'll be all right."

"So what exactly should we do?" Fiona motioned towards the door. "Victor will be here any second."

Moynihan carefully grabbed her necklace, and looked at the small object that was attached to it. She thought about telling them about a secret storage in the lighthouse where she kept her heavy-duty weaponry. This could give them the upperhand. But these weapons were too dangerous for them, she believed. They required training. If used incorrectly, the results could be disastrous. No, she couldn't risk it. She let go of the claw-shaped object and sighed. She looked up at her students. She knew this day would come, the day that they would actually have to fight Victor Veloci, not just foul his plans.

"As I stated before, we...you might fight Veloci. There's no getting out of it this time." Moynihan explained. "You must be cautious. Victor can be very clever. If he is coming here for a specific reason, he knows how to turn the battle in his favor and get what he wants."

"So...how do we defeat him?" Max asked her.

Moynihan looked up at him, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Remember what you've learned from you previous encounters with mutants, and from what I've taught you in training. They will help you in this battle." She thought she had finished, but then something else came to mind. "And remember..." The teens waited for her to finish her sentence. "Apart, you may not stand a chance against Victor. But stand as one, and you may be able to drive him away."

Victor's truck approached the lighthouse, and slowed down as it got within a few feet of the lighthouse. The truck was driven carefully around to the back of the lighthouse where Victor felt would help them avoid being detected right away, in case they looked out the windows. The door opened up, and the drivers stepped out. In a few seconds, Victor also stepped out of the vehicle, and he glared at the lighthouse. "So this is where you have been hiding, Joanne." He walked up to the lighthouse and placed his hand on its surface. He saw a glint in the corner of his eye and he turned to see the water below him. He glared out at the water in front of him. "I should have known you would pick a location such as this.. where you can help these dirty apes all the time..."

In anger, Victor slammed his foot against the lighthouse. He winced and pulled his foot back. "Stupid weak creatures..." He cursed under his breath. "I cannot wait until my plan comes full circle, so that I may not need to use this wretched body again.." He glanced at the drivers. "Get back in the truck." He glared at the white and red building. "I'll handle this myself."

"Hey..what about us?" Victor heard voices from behind him, and he groaned softly. He turned around to face the two teenaged perfect dinosaurs. The one that had spoken was Oscura. The raven-haired girl folded her arms in an almost impatient manner. "Michelle and I helped arrange this. Aren't we going to get to help you capture this Caruso kid? After all, you could easily be outnumbered. At least with us you'd have a better chance."

"I don't need any help." Victor insisted. "I know what I am doing." He held up a small device in his hand. "All I need to do is flush them out, and when I get close enough to Caruso, I'll turn this on, which will activate the tracker on his hand, and it will stun him, and allow my men to take him away."

"And what if they try to free him?" Michelle noted. "They could easily chew through the ropes in dino mode."

"Hmm..." Victor thought to himself. They did have a point there. Even if he could get Caruso within his grasp like he had before during that darn football game, they could still free him just like they did before. He could fend them off himself, but going at it alone seemed too risky. And he may not get a chance like this again. If this attack fails, they'll be on alert, and it'll be harder to get access to the lighthouse without somehow alerting them, and harder still to catch them off guard.

Perhaps his odds could improve if he let Michelle and Oscura join in. They were young, yes, but they had potential. Michelle has already managed to wound Ms. Moynihan and Oscura had inflicted an infectious bite to one of the team members. While they did not have the forms of large dinosaurs like the Dino Squad did, they were more agile. Their smaller forms allowed them to maneuver quickly, so they could easily dodge any attack, and perhaps even manipulating them in some way with their swift movements.

"All right then, you can help me." Victor told them finally after he analyzed that his chances of getting Caruso away from the Dino Squad were much higher with Michelle and Oscura's help than it was without them.

"YES!" Oscura shouted, jumping straight up like an excited little kid in a new candy store.

Michelle quickly moved away from Oscura, feeling a bit embarrassed by the younger teen's behavior. "Geeze...calm down will ya? You don't want them to hear you, do you?" She said angrily, cautiously eyeing the lighthouse. She was afraid that Oscura's outburst may have alerted the Dino Squad to their presence.

"Well sorry." Oscura snapped back bitterly. She turned to Victor, her expression now softened and calm. "So what should we do? What's the plan?"

"Confusion." Veloci said, his eyes starting to glow. "Use your agility to confuse the group, and keep them occupied long enough for me to single out Caruso and get him away from the others."

"..that's all?" Oscura's arms fell to her side and she let out a groan of disappointment. "I was hoping for something more!"

Michelle nudged her hard in the arm with her elbow. "Shut it! So..sir, is there anything else you want us to do while we're out there doing the distracting?" She asked.

"Yes there is." Victor said as he headed back to his dino-truck for something. "Don't bite Caruso with that infectious mouth of yours, Oscura. I want him to be in perfect condition when we get him back to my lab..."

They then became frozen in their place when they heard the lighthouse door squeak as it slowly opened up. Victor disappeared behind his truck to wait to make his move. He gave a nod of approval to Michelle and Oscura, letting them know they can move in to perform their part of the mission. Oscura ran along the right side of the building while Michelle took the left side. They crept slowly along the edge of the building, flat against its cold surface.

They each took their place at either side of the lighthouse, and waited for the Dino Squad to walk out of the door. They didn't have to wait too long. Only a few seconds after the door had opened up, a jock, presumably the leader of the team, stepped outside and took a good look around, even checking the left and right sides of the building. However, he did not see Michelle and Oscura hiding. And as the jock left the building, four more teens appeared behind him. Three other males and only one of them was a female.

"I don't see anything out here." Buzz commented as they walked out onto the huge front yard of the lighthouse.

"You can't always rely on just your eyes, man." Rodger said, smiling a bit.

Max turned to Fiona, who was their resident bloodhoundasaurus. Making a gesture towards her, he asked, "Fiona, do you mind..?"

Fiona gave a nod, understanding what he was going to ask her. She didn't know why he didn't do it himself though. A Tyrannosaurus had a more sensitive snout than she did, or at least that's what she had believed herself. Her symbol glowed, and her body began to shift as a result. Her legs became longer, thinner and yet muscular. Her mouth elongated and sharp teeth began to replace her human teeth. A huge brown sail emerged from her back, and her hands grew sharp hooked claws. Then a tail stretched out, nearly as long as her body.

She turned her head up in the air, and began sucking it in through her nostrils. She repeated this a few times, collecting the scents that hung in the air around her. She lowered her head, and her eyes narrowed further, the glow slightly intensifying in her eyes. She gave a soft growl as she constantly shifted her gaze left and right.

"Fiona, what is it?" Max asked, tensing up to prepare for a fight with whoever was there.

'I smell Veloci's truck. It smells like its right behind the lighthouse.' Fiona said using her thoughts. 'And I also smell Michelle and...someone else, maybe her Troodon partner, standing at the sides of the lighthouse. It's an ambush!' She said, sounding alarmed. She quickly moved away from the building and turned to face it, letting out a roar. She wasn't about to be attacked from the sides or from behind.

Immediately, the Dino Squad turned to face the newfound danger. Max and Rodger turned to face the right side of the building. Caruso and Buzz turned to face the left side of the building. They quickly transformed into their dinosaur selves before the enemy could come out and attack them while they were still human. No sooner that they transformed did Michelle and Oscura jump out from their hiding places, each wearing a mischievous smile on their faces. They did not look genuinely evil; but rather they looked more like they just wanted to have some fun, and decided to mess with them. But looks can be deceiving. The Dino Squad prepared themselves. Veloci must not be far behind.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Oscura asked mockingly as she began to walk in a continued small circle in front of Max and Rodger. She looked up at the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Styracosaurus without fear. She instead only scoffed, and made a small chuckle. "Such big bad boys aren't ya? You've been naughty... You need to be taught a lesson!"

Her symbol glowed and she quickly shifted into a red and pink Troodon. As Max tried to sink his teeth into her, the Troodon quickly ducked down, and he missed. Screeching, she attempted a bite, but was knocked away by Rodger's charge. She rolled across the ground a little, but quickly got back up.

Michelle however just remained still. She glanced at the Pteranodon and Stegosaurus that stood in front of her. She took note that the Stegosaurus was Caruso. She would have to make a move that wouldn't cause any serious harm to Caruso. "So are either of you going to make a move?" She asked tauntingly. She smirked at the green Pteranodon. "What about you, you flying rat?" Buzz snapped his head back as he opened his tooth-filled beak in anger. Without thinking he lunged forward, his beak wide open to attack Michelle.

But this is exactly what Michelle had wanted him to do. She grinned as she quickly side stepped Buzz. The green Pteranodon squealed as his beak struck into the ground, causing him to become stuck. Taking advantage of this situation, she shifted into her Guanlong Wucaii form and lunged onto his back. She bit into his back and began to tear at his flesh. Buzz yanked his beak free and lifted up his head and let out a loud screech of pain. Despite his pain, Michelle didn't let go of Buzz's back, instead biting with more ferocity.

'Buzz!' Caruso cried and he charged forward. His massive tail raised up and swung down. The spikes and tail slammed against Michelle's body, causing the black raptor-like dinosaur to scramble onto the ground, landing on her back. Caruso charged forward again, raising up on the ground to slam his body weight onto the Guanlong. Michelle quickly dodged, and all Caruso ended up hitting was dirt and grass. But instead of attacking him, Michelle went back to Buzz, and slashed at him with one of her paws.

Buzz quickly opened up his wings and jumped into the air. Michelle's claws only slashed through air. She missed him by a couple inches. She looked up, snarling in frustration. She jumped up, and tried to snap her jaws into Buzz's tail. But it always seemed to be out of reach for her. She once again felt herself being knocked away by Caruso's tail. She scrambled back to her feet and shrieked at him, but did not try to attack. She had to follow Victor's wishes and leave him unharmed.

'This is going to be fun eh?' Oscura joked as she squared off against Max and Rodger.

'You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.' Rodger said, lowering his head. The sunlight glinted off of the sharp edges of the horns.

'Either leave now, or suffer the consequences.' Max said as he opened up his massive jaws, revealing his six inch teeth, powered by the huge muscles in his jaws. He and Rodger were hoping to avoid waisting energy on the Troodon by trying to scare it away.

'Oooo... I'm shaking, I'm shaking.' Oscura said mockingly, holding up her paws like a human would when they were scared. 'You two are too big and slow to catch me. I could go inside the lighthouse and kill off your precious mentor faster than you can detransform and get inside to stop me!'

'That's it..you're going down!' Rodger shouted as he dashed forward, his head lowered. Oscura chuckled, and waited for the right moment to dodge. Just then, just as Oscura was about to dodge, a set of golden jaws clamped down around her. Rodger stopped his charge just in time. Oscura let out a loud screech as she tried to squirm out of the crocodile jaws. But the grip was like a vice.

'Don't you ever talk that way about my friends, you little witch!' Fiona seethed as she tightened her grip on the squirming Troodon in her jaws. Oscura could not get a good bite on her, and with the way Fiona was holding her, she had a tough time getting a good angle to slash her. 'You mess with one of us, you mess with us all!'

Michelle managed to dodge Caruso's next attack, and when she glanced up she noticed her partner was in trouble. 'Oscura!' She ran over to Fiona, which Caruso charging right behind her. She calculated that Caruso would not have enough time to stop himself if he got too close to Fiona. And she couldn't risk attacking Fiona while she had her partner in her jaws. While her plan was still just as risky, she thought it was less risky than biting Fiona herself.

She slowed down a little so Caruso could catch up to her. As she felt Caruso's Stegosaurus jaws snap at her, she sped up a little. She could feel the dinosaur's hot breath on her back as she made her way to Fiona. She quickly dashed underneath Fiona. Just as anticipated, Caruso couldn't stop in time, and slammed into Fiona. The two dinosaurs roared as they slammed into the ground, Caruso on top of Fiona. The Spinosaurus's jaws opened up wide, and Oscura managed to get herself free.

'Why you... I'll make you pay for that!' Oscura snarled as she slammed her jaws shut around Fiona's long snout. Her teeth worked into the golden scales, saliva, filled with bacteria, seeped into the small cuts. Fiona pulled her head free and roared, but she knew it was too late. It wouldn't take long for the effects of the bacteria to settle in. To defend herself, she used her head as a weapon, slamming it into Oscura and knocking the red Troodon onto her side.

As the battle was going on, none of the dinosaurs had noticed Victor was slowly creeping forward, careful to remain hidden in the shadows. He could easily go inside the lighthouse to get Moynihan, but today he was only after one prize, and that was Caruso. He gripped the device tightly in his hand as he came closer. Behind him, his truck had moved a bit closer to the side of the building, closer to where the battle was now taking place. His men were on stand-by, ready to launch the net to grab Caruso when Victor gave the command.

He quickly spotted Caruso getting off of the yellow Spinosaurus. He didn't look injured at all, just a bit dirty and shaky from the collision. Victor's mouth curled up into a smile. He lifted up the device and pointed it straight at Caruso. He had to make sure he had a clear shot. The transmitter was designed the work only a couple times before burning out completely. The electricity would not cause any serious damage to him, but would cause some pain and loss of muscle control. As he got a little closer, and as the battle continued, he eventually got a clear shot of Caruso. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, he quickly pressed the button, transmitting a signal to the item on Caruso's hand.

Caruso felt something tingly on his foot. He immediately stopped, and lifted up his leg. He tried to see the underneath of his foot, but Stegosaurus wrists cannot turn the way human hands could. He could not see the underneath to see what was making that feeling. 'What's going on?' Then the tingling got worse, and more painful. Sparks shot out from underneath his foot. Then large electrical currents began to run through his body, electrical energy dancing over his Stegosaurus form, visible to even human eyes. Caruso roared in pain as his body started to spasm and he fell to the ground, immobilized.

Victor quickly pulled out something from his pocket and shouted into it. "Now! Net him!"

It didn't take long for the others to notice what had just happened. Max's dinosaur eyes widened with fear as he saw the massive red truck heading towards his friend. 'CARUSO! GET UP!' He shouted the warning to Caruso, but the Stegosaurus did not move. 'CARUSO!' Max rushed forward, as well as the others, except Fiona who was now on the ground, feeling sick from the Troodon bite. Max used his tail to wrap around Caruso's body and tried to pull him to safety. But he had to quickly retract his tail when he felt Michelle biting into him.

'Not so fast big boy.' Michelle said, almost smirking, her teeth drawing some blood from Max's green tail. Max lifted up his tail and began slamming it into the ground. Eventually he managed to dislodge Michelle from his tail, and she fell to the ground. 'Oh have it your way.' She said in a disappointed yet mocking tone.

The red truck was getting closer. The top opened up, and a large claw, almost like the kind used for construction purposes, emerged.

CREEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

The large claw loomed above the dinosaurs, and began to lower, preparing to encase Caruso in it. Max roared and bit down on the large claw and attempted to rip it off. Buzz flew over head, diving in front of the claw several times to make it miss its mark. Rodger rammed against the side of the trick where the claw was attached, trying to turn it over. The claw tried to wrench itself free of Max's powerful jaws, but the Tyrannosaurus was relentless. He tightened his grip, and could have sworn he heard the metal of the claw begin to break.

Rodger managed to drive his horns into the truck, and tried to lift the vehicle up, but a sharp pain on his back forced him to let go. He began to buck a little, like an old wild horse. He charged a couple of times, trying to force whatever was on him off of him. 'Yo, who's on my back?!' He asked angrily as he raised up his frilled head to try and see who was on him.

'Heheheheh. You're not to tough now are you?' He heard a masculine voice say. Rodger's eyes widened a little. He had never heard this voice before. It just sounded so unfamiliar to him. But as he listened to the voice more closely, it didn't take long for him to realize that it was Victor who was on his back. Immediately Rodger reared up on his hind legs for as long as he could, hoping to make Victor slide off of him.

'Get off of my back!' Rodger demanded as he slammed back into the ground with a heavy thud. He was answered by the feeling of his skin being torn and ripped. Veloci dug his sharp teeth deep into Rodger's skin, his sickle claws stuck deep inside his sides. Blood oozed out, running down the gray dinosaur's side. Rodger bellowed in agony.

'Oh no..Rodger!' Buzz dove down and brought his talons forward. He aimed straight for Victor Veloci, who was clinging to his friend's back. He shrieked loudly as his claws hit their mark. Long sharp talons slashed across Veloci's back, creating small but bleeding wounds along his back. Victor was knocked off of Rodger and landed on the ground. Buzz flew a certain distance away before sharply turning back and swooping back down at Victor. This time his beak was going to be used as a weapon. He aimed his sharp mouth at the Velociraptor below him. He moved his wings closer to him to make the dive go faster.

'What a naughty bird!' Oscura jumped in front of Veloci to protect him from Buzz's assault. 'You need your wings clipped!' She announced as Buzz got close enough for her to jump up and latch onto. She gripped onto him by what would appear to be a dinosaur hug. But there was nothing friendly about this hug. Her sharp claws scraped into his back, her foot talons tearing into his wing, attempting to render him flightless. She quickly snapped her jaws around his right shoulder. She bit hard into his shoulder, hard enough that she could taste his salty blood seep into her mouth.

Buzz howled painfully, and as Oscura let him go, he had no time to react and he ended up crashing against the lighthouse. He fell down, and his head lolled to one side. 'Man... what a rush...' He muttered softly in his head before struggling to get back onto his feet.

Oscura turned to the big T-Rex that was attacking the claw. She narrowed her eyes. If they did not get Caruso out soon they might as well forget the entire mission. She didn't need to worry about Rodger. He was still on the ground in pain from the wounds inflicted by Veloci. While he did not have a poisonous bite, it would take some time to recover from the wounds Rodger just received. He won't die from them though. She had already given her infectious bite to Fiona, who was already on the ground, and Buzz. And there was only one dinosaur still standing that could stop them, and that was the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Max was too preoccupied with the claw to realize that Oscura was coming up from behind, or that he was the only one left still standing. He grunted and growled as he tugged the claw harder and harder, threatening to rip it straight off. He took a step backwards, and managed to pull the claw and the truck about a foot from their original position. He was about to make a powerful twist to rip off the claw when he suddenly felt a pain on his calf. He immediately released the claw, lifting his massive head in the air and roaring. The claw re-stabilized itself and went back to grabbing Caruso.

Oscura clung tightly onto Max's muscular leg and slashed as deep as she could with her talons, and delivered a bite on an open wound she had made. Max's eyes widened as she recalled Moynihan's warning of the Troodon bite. He quickly stomped his foot down, creating an aftershock strong enough to knock Oscura off of him. But instead of going after her, his attention quickly shifted when he heard a cry for help from Caruso. 'Help me...' Caruso was in trouble. He could feel it. He knew he must help him and fast.

Max turned around to see the claw had already enclosed around Caruso's immobile body. The Stegosaur's eyes stared at him, wide-eyed, almost helpless. He had struggled to move but could only manage weak movements from the limbs. His long tail hand limply on the side of the claw, dangling almost uselessly. 'Caruso!' The green Tyrannosaurus Rex thundered toward Caruso and lunged his jaws forward to try and grab onto the claw again. This time, Veloci's men became wise, and lifted the claw higher than Max could jump. 'No! Caruso!'

Upon hearing Max's pleas, Rodger, Fiona, and Buzz slowly climbed to their feet. They were weakened, two were infected, and they were feeling exhausted. But when they heard that Caruso was still in danger, they summoned up whatever energy they had left and staggered over to Max to lend a helping hand. Buzz, although disoriented from the bite, managed to grab Caruso's tail and began to fly backwards, beating his large wings to create a gust of wind against the claw. Fiona raised her muzzle up as high as she could, allowing Buzz to wrap his tail around her snout. Fiona then started to pull backwards, assisting Buzz in pulling Caruso away from the claw.

Fiona then wrapped her own tail around Rodger's own snout. The powerful Styracosaurus summoned up what energy he had to spare and started to pull Fiona back. Finally Max stepped up, raising his tail and wrapping it as tightly as he could around Rodger's tail. Rodger responded by tightening the grip, allowing Max to pull forward, as he was facing the opposite direction as the others. It was quite a sight. Four dinosaurs working together to free a fifth dinosaur, hanging onto eachother and pulling with all their might.

Victor's men tried to pull backwards to wrench Caruso away from the others. But their truck kept getting pulled forward. The tires screeched as they tried to drive in reverse. Smoke and dirt and dust got kicked up in the air, creating a thin cloud that slightly obscured the view. Further and further the truck was pulled. A cracking sound indicated that the claw was being strained behind its maximum strength. All it would take is one final massive pull from the four dinosaurs and the claw could be ripped off completely and Veloci's truck sent flying in the air.

Victor was not about to let this one get away. He jumped onto his truck and began to walk effortlessly along the thin path that connected to the metallic claw. He hunched himself low and raised his tail in the air to keep himself balanced. He crept closer to where Caruso was now hooked up. He stepped onto the claw, his talons separated from Caruso's skin by just the claw itself. He could see that the Pteranodon's talons were gripped tightly on Caruso's tail. Hissing softly, Victor went over the edge of the claw, and transformed his Velociraptor hands into a fusion, human hands to help him grip, and still had the sharp talons to dig into the metal. This reduced his chances of falling.

Buzz's feet were within close range. He stretched his leg as far as it could go, the sickle claw extending just a bit beyond the legs. Victor suspected that, even though he knows he's there, Buzz will probably not let go, being more concerned over Caruso than his own safety. This made humans weak, Victor believed. They ignore their own safety for the sake of another. This is the mistake Buzz was making and he was about to pay the price for it. 'I will not let go!' He heard Buzz say, confirming his suspicions.

'You are not about to ruin my plans, Pteranodon!' Victor snarled as he flexed his foot. 'Your friend belongs to me now!' And with that final statement, before Buzz could make a remark, Victor kicked his foot toward Buzz's green-skinned legs. The sickle claw cut deep into both of the Pteranodon's legs, blood spewing out, the claw scraping against something solid, the bone. Buzz reared his head back and screamed as he accidentally released Caruso. With the pulling force gone, the four dinosaurs tumbled across the ground, landing on one another. Victor's truck spun a ways backwards, almost going over the edge of the lighthouse. But the tires activated just in time and it screeched to a halt.

Max quickly stood back up, and he could see Caruso being lowered into Veloci's truck. His glowing eyes widened in horror. 'NO!' The others had just exhausted the last bit of their strength, and lay on the ground. They were still conscious, but now too weak to stand up. The bite is now starting to effect Max as he felt himself becoming even weaker. He tried to shake it off and ran towards the truck, prepared to rip it open if he had to. 'I won't let you take him!' He announced as he opened up his jaws, his tongue hanging out as he exposed his massive teeth. 'Never!'

He managed to grip onto the claw again and tried to pull backwards, but he didn't hang in for too long. Michelle had leapt onto the claw. Her smaller size allowed her to make more massive leaps, comparative to size anyway, than the larger dinosaurs. She did not make any hesitations in her movements. She leapt from the claw onto Max's large head. The T-Rex had very short arms, so she had the upperhand now. She slashed at the Dino Squad teen's eyes, and caused Max to let go of the claw and stumble backwards. A few small bleeding claws were now across his eyes. They weren't serious, though, and he could still see regardless of the blood seeping through. He tried to throw Michelle in the air and snap at her, but the black Guanlong quickly jumped off and landed on the ground.

Michelle slipped and fell down, but swiftly recovered and made a dash towards the red truck. 'Oscura! Let's go!' She shouted to her Troodon partner as they made their way to the truck. The red Troodon followed closely behind her. The door to the vehicle opened up, and the two teens jumped inside. Following close behind was Victor. The Velociraptor jumped inside, then peered out of the door. He shifted back into his human self, and just smirked as the T-Rex tried to run for them.

"Don't worry! You'll soon be joining your friend here!" Victor called out as the door closed, and he quickly activated the camouflage. The truck quickly swerved around the back of the lighthouse to the front, and started to head back to the road to transport Caruso to the laboratory.

'NO! NO!' Max, terrified, his heart racing, began to give chase, trying to follow the sound of the truck. He didn't care who saw him. He didn't care if he was breaking the rules by going out in public like that. All he cared about was freeing Caruso. He believed he was starting to catch up to the truck, the smell of metal strong in his nasal cavity, but then the bacteria from the Troodon bite started to kick in. He realized that he had sped up the process by running and exerting so much energy. His heart had pumped faster and spread the poison through his body much more quickly now. 'No..no not now...' He muttered as he started to slow down, a fever starting to kick in.

His vision began to blur, and he started to lose focus on what he was doing. He opened his jaws in a heavy pant, and he slowed to a stop. He felt himself fall down as the fever got rapidly worse. His chin slammed into the Earth, and a dust cloud was kicked up. 'Caruso...' The last thing his weary eyes saw was a bluish glow from Veloci's truck speeding off along the road, and disappearing into the distance...

Caruso struggled to his feet. He was still in his Stegosaurus form, and he'd been placed inside a huge cage, held together by strong, durable bars. He staggered a little as he put his full weight on his thick sturdy limbs. He managed to raise his head up to look around. He was in the back of the truck, though it wasn't dark, to his surprise. He looked around, and he could see a door, obviously leading to where Veloci generally resides during the trips. Caruso looked up and saw why the room wasn't dark; there was a light in the middle of the ceiling. It blinked a few times once in a while, but otherwise kept on shining.

'I wonder if I can break this open...' Caruso thought, trying to raise his tail in the air. But his tail quickly fell back down, and he suddenly lost the strength in his legs. His body fell back to the ground, and he shook a little. The electric shock must have drained him of his power more than he thought. He managed to raise his head up a little when he heard the door open up.

"Enjoying your new accommodations, Stegosaurus?" Victor asked slyly as he entered the room. He made his way towards the cage, his eyes locked onto Caruso's. The raptor in disguise was smiling triumphantly. He had gotten what he came to the lighthouse for. He got his prize: Caruso. As he came closer, he noticed the glare in the Stegosaur's eyes. "What? You don't like it?" He asked, pretending to sound concerned. He chuckled. "Well too bad, because you're going to be here for a long time..."

Caruso bared his teeth. But that didn't frighten Victor too much, since Stegosauruses were vegetarian and did not use their teeth for tearing flesh. As Victor laughed at his failed attempt to intimidate, Caruso just scoffed and turned his head away. His thoughts went back to his friends, the Dino Squad. Without equipment, would they be able to find him in time? On top of that, would they even find him at all? He knew Victor was going to take him back to his laboratory, but he nor the others knew where that was. They knew where his public building was, but not his secret hideout where he conducts his experiments. Maybe Moynihan does, that idea just came to Caruso's mind. If she could monitor Victor, she would know where Victor was. Caruso smiled at this. Perhaps there was some hope yet.

"I highly doubt your friends will find you." Caruso swung his head towards Victor, his glowing yellow eyes narrowed. Victor stood in front of the cage now, only inches away from the steel bars. All he would need was wait for the right moment, and he could grab Victor with his jaws. "Their monitoring equipment is gone, and they don't know where I'm taking you." Victor took a step closer, and Caruso took this opportunity to lung forward and snap his jaws at Victor's arm. But it seems Victor was expecting this. He quickly jumped backwards, and all Caruso managed to snatch was air.

Victor, the pseudo-man, couldn't help but laugh. "Such a bold attempt, Stegosaurus. But you should really relax.. You're going to need all the strength you have for what I have in store for you..." He trailed off, almost as though he was pondering what he was going to say next. When he did finally finish his sentence, Caruso could have sworn he felt his heart stop. "...Irwin Caruso."

'How...how did you...' Caruso said with his thoughts, backing up a bit in the cage. It wasn't out of genuine fear. It was out of the shock of Victor knowing his name, his first AND last night at that. Then it hit him. Of course, he should know how Victor found out. He recalled how Victor slashed him just a couple days ago, and had called him by his full name back then.

"Why don't you change back?" Veloci asked him, completely ignoring Caruso's unfinished question. "Are you claustrophobic? If you are I suggest you change back. There would be more room for you to move around." He said in a taunting voice.

Caruso responded with a deep growl. 'Shut up...'

Victor's eyes mutated, eyelids moving sideways instead of up and down. A strange glow surrounded them, and he reached into his pocket. He held up the device he used to operate the tracker still stuck to Caruso's foot. "You best behave, human. Or I'll make you behave."

'Yeah right...' Caruso proclaimed, rolling his eyes. 'Why would I take orders from you?'

Victor chuckled. "Trust me.." The Velociraptor-human responded, a sly smile on his face. "I know how to break humans..."

Although Caruso pretended not to be fazed by Victor's words, deep down he did feel some concern. He had no idea what Victor was going to do with him exactly, but Moynihan gave him a pretty good idea. She had warned the Dino Squad that if Victor found out just what they were, and caught them, they would be subjected to several of Vic's experiments. Caruso lowered his head and looked away, and tried to avoid looking at Victor as he thought back on his friends. He felt a quick and brief sharp pain as he thought of how they were not able to free him.

He secretly wished his friends would find him soon, though. He believed in them, and he trusted them. They've overcome Veloci before. He felt confident that they would find him in time. But one thought tugged at the back of his mind, a thought he didn't like thinking about. What if they don't? What if they never find him? No, no, he had to wipe those thoughts out of his head. Of course they'll find him. The good guys always win! Didn't they?

Caruso's attention turned back to the door when he heard it open up again. Victor turned to see who was coming inside. Instead of a human, a small red and orange dinosaur stepped inside. Caruso roared at the newcomer, recognizing her on the spot. It was Oscura, still in dino mode. She slinked through the door and she trotted slowly but unhesitatingly towards Victor Veloci. The large round eyes glowed as they glanced at the prisoner in the cage, then back at Veloci.

'What shall Michelle and I do now?' Oscura asked him, her head bowed a little to show respect.

"Nothing, for now." Victor responded. "We've got what we came here for." He turned his head to stare back at the purplish blue Stegosaurus standing inside the cage. He shook his head as he noted mentally that the child refused to change back, despite the small cage size. But he did not go through this mission unprepared. He had predicted that Caruso would resist his commands, so he formulated a plan that would make Caruso obey him. And it wasn't going to be much fun for the boy. "However...in a little while I would like you or Michelle to come in here and remove the boy's tracker."

'Tracker..?' Caruso thought in his mind, almost forgetting that Oscura and Victor could hear his thoughts now too. He gazed down at his paw, the one where the pain originated from before he was immobilized by the electrical shock.

"Oh you don't know?" Victor asked with a sneer. "You've had a tracker on your foot, or hand, whatever. The point is, that tracker lead me right up to you, boy, and that tracker is what enabled your capture." He seemed to sense Caruso's confusion. "Confused? Don't know how it got on you? Oh I'm sorry." He said in an unapologetic tone. "Michelle put it on you when she shook your hand."

The dinosaur's eyes widened and he roared again, this time angry at himself for being so gullible. He had let himself fall right into their trap. He fell for Michelle's dirty little trick. He should never have stopped to speak to Michelle. He should have just kept on riding along home. Then, a feeling of guilt suddenly enveloped him somewhat, as he realized maybe he was the reason Veloci found the lighthouse. If he followed the signal, he could have found the lighthouse easily, and with no monitoring equipment to register his approach, Veloci could get to the lighthouse undetected and nab him.

'I can't believe it.. How could I have been stupid?!' Caruso cursed to himself, and only felt angrier when Victor and Oscura laughed at him.

"Oh don't blame yourself for being stupid, Caruso. Blame your species." Victor remarked.

'How dare you...' Caruso muttered softly. He backed up against the cage, and charged forward, and slammed his full body weight against the cage. Victor and Oscura were shocked to see that in just one blow, Caruso managed to create a bad dent in the cage. They feared that if he were to slam into it again, he could break the cage open and escape. They would need to find someway to control him to prevent him from ramming the cages. He may not have seemed like much of a threat trapped inside the cage, but Stegosaurs were powerful creatures. They would be in real danger if he managed to break free.

As Caruso backed up for his next charge, Veloci quickly pressed the button on his remote, sending another painful shock wave of electrical energy coursing through Caruso's body. The dinosaur reared his head back and roared in pain and then collapsed onto his side, moaning softly. He twitched a little, and finally went limp. He hadn't been knocked out; he just couldn't move again. It was like being hit by a tazer gun.

Seeing Caruso laying there, looking so helpless, gave Victor an idea. He would go forward with his original plan of controlling Caruso but make some modifications. Electricity seemed to be the ideal component he could use to help break Caruso's spirit and force him into submission. He had told himself to only use that as a last resort, though. He didn't want to damage the Stegosaurus body Caruso possessed. If he could convince Caruso to obey him early on, he could avoid using the device he had planned.

But if the boy continued to resist, then he would have no choice but to use it on him. He would need to be careful however because the last thing he wanted to do was inflict major, irreversible damage to the Stegosaurus. But what to do with the boy when Victor was done with him? Victor had thought about this. He really didn't want to simply kill Caruso off. He had perfect dino DNA after all. He would still make a valuable addition to the new dawn of the dinosaurs. But surely, the boy would never embrace his dinosaur heritage, even after experiencing the glory of being a dinosaur. He was still a human. The pathetic human mind could never embrace the dinosaur's superior mind.

Of course there were exceptions. Both Oscura and Michelle, so he believed, thought more like dinosaurs than humans. Victor was working out a way to prevent anyone from turning back into humans once his plan becomes complete. He did not want to risk allowing any humans to exist in his new dinosaur reign. He did not want to pollute the new paradise with lowly creatures such as humans. Once he perfect his DNA he must ensure that not only plants and animals are infected, but all the humans as well. He was hoping to do this with his cloud plan from before, but a more revised version.

He turned his attention back to Oscura, and nodded his head, gesturing towards Caruso. "Remove the tracker. I don't need it anymore."

'But sir, what if he tries to...' Oscura said urgently, gazing over at Caruso with a watchful eye. 'He could..'

"He won't get out. I can assure you that." Victor said as he made his way towards the door. "Even if he manages to get out of the cage, he won't be able to leave the room."

'But...' Oscura objected, but quickly shut her yap when Victor's eyes shifted to black with a glowing yellow iris. She cringed back and bowed her head again. 'Y-Yes sir. I'll get right on it.' As Victor smiled and left the room, Oscura made her way towards the cage. She reached inside the cage cautiously, in case Caruso got his movement back. She lifted up one of his paws and inspected it. 'Now where did she put that tracker..?' She placed the foot back down when she found nothing. She lifted up the second front paw, rubbing her claws gently along the underneath of it, until she managed to locate it. Gripping it as tightly as she could with her talons, she pulled it out and tossed it aside.

While it did not hurt putting it on originally, for some reason, Caruso felt pain as Oscura pulled the tracker out of his paw. If he weren't still immobilized by the shock, he would be screaming right now. He did manage to lift up his head, though, to get a better look at Oscura. His eyes narrowed, filled with hatred for the Troodon. 'J-Just wait...until I... get out...out of..this cage...' He managed to say through the pain he was already in. He knew he could take her on single-handedly. He didn't need help to defeat a weak Troodon like her. All he needed to do was strike her with his tail with full force. It shouldn't be that difficult. Then again, despite her small size, he had noticed that none of his team could seriously injure Oscura. She was just too fast.

'Oh you aren't getting out of the cage, little boy.' Oscura sneered. Even though Caruso was still weak, she still kept her distance from the cage. 'And if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to Dr. Vic's orders. Otherwise..you don't wanna know what's gonna happen to ya.'

Just then the door opened up again, this time Michelle, in her human form, stepped inside. Upon seeing her, Caruso's eyes glowed more intensely and he tried to struggle to his feet, only to fail. Michelle shook her head at Caruso's meek attempt. "Looks like you remember me." She told the Stegosaurus. Unlike Victor and Oscura, she held no sneering smile, but a face of stone. She was not in the mood for laughter right now. They still have to reach their destination before they can safely say the mission was a success. Something could easily go wrong while transporting Irwin to the doctor's lab.

'What is it that you want?' Oscura asked, turning her head slightly to the side and baring her teeth.

"I'm just here to check up on our little...guest." Michelle said, the faintest of a smirk on her face.

'Uhhh...okay...' Oscura said, tilting her head. 'But I don't think it really matters how he's doing.'

"I never asked you for your opinion, now did I?" Michelle barked at the Troodon. She ignored the Troodon's angry hiss and walked towards Caruso's cage. Without fear, she placed her hands around two of the bars Caruso had dented, and peered inside. She could see Caruso glaring at her like any caged animal would. "Why are you still in dino mode? You'd probably feel more comfortable if you change back."

'Oh shut up will you?' Caruso snapped. 'You tricked me!'

"And is that a surprise?" Michelle said, her hands on her hips, speaking in a 'I told you so' kind of voice. "I sensed that you knew of my...our little trap. Why does it shock you so to discover I planted the tracker on you?" This was merely a guess. She did not know if Victor told him or not. But either way, Caruso ought to know now. "So I ask you again, why don't you just change back?"

Caruso snarled as a response, but did not answer her question. He merely turned his head away like a pouting child would. Michelle groaned and shook her head. Caruso was a bit more stubborn than she thought, then again she had helped capture him. He probably just didn't want to listen to his captors. That was logical, she believed.

Oscura chuckled, and picked at her teeth with her talons. 'Maybe he doesn't want to talk because, maybe he's too stupid to answer.'

She was quickly startled by a roar coming from the cage. Caruso was back on his feet now, although shaky. He looked as though he was going to charge again, as he was backing up once more. Oscura's eyes widened in shock, realizing what he was about to do. Michelle looked just as surprised. 'I am not stupid!' He declared as he kicked at the floor of the cage, trying to build up momentum.

"Oh now you've done it." Michelle said bitterly to Oscura. "He's gonna get out of the cage!" She looked at Caruso with her eyes widened up more. She did not think the dent could withstand a blow like the one a Stegosaurus could deliver, especially one driven by anger.

Oscura shifted back into her human self, running her fingers through her dark-colored hair. She let her expression of shock slowly disappear. "Oh you need not worry. He cannot break out of the cage. Not in his condition anyway."

As if on cue, before Caruso could muster up the energy he needed for the charge, he felt weak again, and he collapsed onto his side once more. The electrical shock had taken away more of his strength this time. He knew it would take some time to fully recover from it. Maybe that's why Victor was so confident he would not get out with the tracker removed. Victor was an intelligent being, Caruso hated to admit it, but it was true. Victor must have calculated that two massive electrical shocks would weaken him up enough that he wouldn't fully recover until sometime after they reached their destination.

'I hate you...' Caruso managed to say at Oscura before shutting his eyes.

Oscura shook her head in disappointment. "What a waist of energy. And here I thought he would be tougher than this. But I guess I was getting my hopes up."

"Why would you want him to be tougher?" Michelle asked as the two walked to the door.

"For the challenge." Oscura smirked. "It's more fun to break someone if they fight back."

"Well I am sure Caruso here is not going down without a fight. But even so, you aren't going to have your way with him." She winced as she realized the innuendo she had accidentally attached to that last sentence. "Err.. you know what I mean. Anyway, Victor just told me he doesn't want you or me breaking Caruso. He's already had a plan worked out, and he claims to have made many humans submit to him before. That's how he was able to create this organization."

"Oh poo..what a disappointment." Oscura muttered. "But wait, how is he going to break someone who can defend himself?"

Michelle smirked as she walked out the door, Oscura in tow. "Oh don't you worry. He has..ways..." She then shut the door, leaving Caruso all alone in the cage.

When he sensed that no one was around, Caruso's eyes opened up a crack, looked around briefly, then opened up all the way. He hadn't been knocked out earlier. He was just pretending to. He was hoping that if he pretended to be knocked out, they would leave him alone quicker. The plan had worked. But he knew it wouldn't be too long before someone came in the back to check on him, probably to make sure he was recovering and was still inside the cage.

He finally decided to take Victor and Michelle's advice, as much as he hated to, and shifted back into a human. He felt a wave of relief rush through him as he finally had more elbow room. He was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic while in Stegosaurus form. He took another look around the room. For the first time he could see a window, but it was closed by bars from the outside. He wouldn't be able to slip through.

"Well this is just great.. I'm stuck on Veloci's truck, heading to who-knows-where, and I have no way of telling the guys where I am!" He snapped to no one. As the feelings of despair, worry that he might never see his friends again, started to seep through slightly, he slowly sank to down onto the floor, and stared at the ground. He gave a soft sigh, and he looked up at the window, where he could see the sky. "Please, guys..hurry." He said before leaning against the cage bars, and closing his eyes.

Back at the lighthouse, Max had the unfortunate and grim task of informing Moynihan that Caruso had been captured. Moynihan was very horrified, and scared, and so was everyone else. The situation seemed to grow more desperate now. Caruso did not have his cellphone with him, so there was no way for him to call them up and tell them where he was. And with no way to track him, they could not find him. Rodger had suggested tracking by smell, but Moynihan claimed it would not work, stating that Veloci's truck's emissions disappeared quickly, along with the scent.

Buzz suggested calling the police and telling them about what happened, but this idea was turned down as well. Victor was a powerful man and could easily discourage police from tagging along with the use of money. It was really difficult to get any authorities to after a man as rich and powerful as Dr. Victor Veloci. And it would be difficult to convince some people that he had committed such a crime. There were people who trusted Victor so much it nearly crossed the border line of naivety.

Fiona had made another suggestion. Perhaps Buzz could fly over and try to find Victor's truck. That sounded like a wonderful idea, but Ms. Moynihan had to reject it as well, stating that Victor would detect Buzz before he found the truck. Victor could either slip away, or capture Buzz as well. Buzz suggested that he could just fly up really high so Victor wouldn't see him, but his idea was shot down when Joanne revealed that Victor's tracking range was immense, being able to detect dinosaurs from almost anywhere in the world. If he turned dino now, anywhere, Victor would know about it.

The kids were inside the lighthouse, sitting on the furniture. Moynihan had managed to open up the door and had seen the children outside, all knocked out in dino mode. Rump had ignored his illness when he saw the children in what appeared to be danger, and ran outside, barking like mad. He had managed to wake up the Dino Squad, who quickly shifted back into humans. While weak and injured, Rump managed to keep them going by constantly barking at them, and nudging them with his nose. A few times he'd even nip them. The little dog was smarter than they had thought. They owed him for helping them get inside the lighthouse.

Moynihan ignored her pain again as she had made her way back to the couch, knowing that the children were safe inside the lighthouse. Rodger and Max were able to get medicine for themselves and Buzz and Fiona. Working as a team, they managed to treat each other's wounds and bandage each other up. The ones bitten by the Troodon were given the medicine to counterattack its effects. Now the children were sitting in the living room, wondering, desperately, what they should do now.

"Arrgh! I can't believe it!" Max said bitterly, clenching his hand tightly with his fingers. "How could I have let him get away with Caruso?! How?!" He dug his fingernail so deep in the skin he could have sworn it broke through.

"Now now, Maxwell..." Moynihan said gently. "It was not your fault."

"Yeah dude.." Buzz said a little quietly. He was feeling guilty as well. "We all failed... and just when Caruso needed us the most."

Max felt a little better, knowing that the others felt they were responsible as well. It made him feel relieved that he did not have to share the guilt all alone. He released the pressure he was applying with his fingers to his head, bringing his hands back down to his sides. He sighed sadly, thinking about what Moynihan had told them earlier. "So you're saying there's..no way to track down Caruso?"

"I..I am sorry. No.." Joanne bowed her head, feeling really bad about this whole situation. She wished she could be of more help.

"So..what? That's it? You're just going to give up?" Rodger asked, feeling a little angry. "This is not like you, Ms. M."

"I agree with Rodger." Fiona chimed in. "You aren't a person I would imagine giving up."

"I never said anything about giving up." Joanne told the children. She felt a little surprised that they would think she gave up that easily. There was still a way to find Caruso, but it would take sometime and patience. She could only hope they would get it ready in time, before it was too late for Caruso.

Fiona looked at the team's old-aged mentor. What was she talking about? She had rejected all their ideas, and pretty much stated how hopeless it was to find Caruso. How was that not giving up? "What do you mean? I thought you..."

"Oh dear child, you should know me better than that." Joanne chuckled lightly. "You are right; I'm not the kind of person who'd give up. There's still a chance at finding Caruso."

Max jumped out of his seat at this statement. Eager to make up for his mistake of letting Caruso getting captured, which he still blames himself for, he quickly said, "What? What is it? Tell me, and I'll do it!" His enthusiasm to get Caruso back was shared by the others, who awaited eagerly for Moynihan to lay out her plan on finding him.

Ms. Moynihan sighed and shook her head. "I regret to inform you that this plan will take a while. I do not know how long, and I do not know if we'll find Caruso in time. But it's the only plan that I am sure has any chance at success." She felt guilty as the children's hopes felt like they were dying down. Here they thought they had a way to get Caruso back quickly, only to be disappointed by the fact that this new plan will take time, perhaps days. She turned to the mechanics of the team, Rodger and Fiona. "Rodger. Fiona. I need you two to work on creating a new tracking computer. I don't have much money, but I am willing to give you some money to help pay for some computer parts."

"You want us..to build a computer?" Fiona asked, sounding rather surprised. But at the same time, she was kind of expecting this. Moynihan did need new tracking equipment after all. But still, could a couple of high school students like her and Rodger be able to pull off a task such as this?

"Gee.. I'm not sure if we can do that, Ms. Moynihan." Rodger said, rubbing the back of his head with his large hand. "We've never done it before."

Moynihan chuckled. "Don't be so modest you two." The old woman told them, smiling calmly, with a sense of confidence. "I have great faith in the two of you. You have both shown remarkable intelligence and abilities during your time as the Dino Squad. Fiona, you upgraded the motorcycles many times, adding new abilities to them that even I would not have thought of before. And Rodger, you've built so many inventions in the past that I lost count. I am confident that the two of you can work together and create a computer to help us find Caruso." She said. She did not hesitate in anything she said, and she spoke with such a strong, unwavering voice, that Fiona and Rodger could feel a little pressured. She truly believed in them.

"I...we..." Rodger said, not sure the words to say.

"We won't let you down." Fiona said, smiling as best as she could in this situation.

Ms. Moynihan nodded, smiling with confidence. "I am sure that you won't."

Buzz stared at the black TV screen, giving a soft yet audible sigh. He stared at the remote, knowing it doesn't matter where it sits now. The cable to the TV was still out, but the phones still worked. Moynihan decided not to fix the cable for now. They had a more urgent situation at hand now. The cable could wait. While Buzz understood why, he felt a little aggravated that he could not watch his favorite show, which was on right now.

Television would help him relax. He secretly wished that the hand held tracker, which had been lost somewhere in the lighthouse a couple days ago and never found, had a portable TV on it. That would make him feel better. He was starting to feel a bit uneasy with it being so quiet in the lighthouse. He groaned again, muttering, "Man, I wish the television was working. My favorite show is on." His wish was not shared by the others though as they gave him a soft glare.

"How can you think of television at a time like this?" Max said, restraining his anger as much as he could.

"We should be thinking of Caruso right now, not petty little interests!" Fiona scolded him as she folded her arms.

"I'm sorry." Buzz said, not looking at any of them. "It just...helps relax me, helps calm me down in bad situations. And with what happened..." His voice trailed off.

"We're all worried, Buzz." Max said, feeling his friend's pain. "But watching television won't help. We should be focused on getting our friend back." As Buzz gave a single nod, a more uncomfortable thought came over Max. There was something they had forgotten to consider. What were they going to tell Caruso's parents? Unless they found Caruso before the end of the day, they would surely be suspicious. Rodger had permission to stay at the lighthouse because he called. They could say that Caruso decided to stay as well, but then his parents may want confirmation from their son, either verbally or face to face.

Poor Mr. And Mrs. Caruso, they would be devastated to find out their only son was kidnapped by a deranged raptor. They were among the few 'outsiders' who knew of their secret. They were fully aware of the Dino Squad's existence, and their son's ability to change into a Stegosaurus. They were reluctant to allow their son continue fighting the mutants, but seeing how he was not a kid anymore, and that he had friends by his side, they allowed him to stay with the Dino Squad.

But what were they going to think now, knowing that Caruso had been captured and the Dino Squad was there, and failed to save him? It was going to be painful to tell them, but they had to. They were Caruso's parents; they had the right to know where their son was. Maybe they could have any ideas on how to track him down quicker. Max gazed at Moynihan, and she could tell, by the look in his eyes, that he had a troubling thought in mind, a question he wanted to ask but felt almost reluctant to do so.

"Max, what is it?" Moynihan asked, sitting up quickly.

Max gave a sigh, and looked at the floor. He felt all the more guilty thinking about what happened and the fact that someone would have to tell the truth to the missing boy's parents. "It's..It's just that..." He never felt this lost since he first acquired his T-Rex form. "Who is going to tell Caruso's parents?"

This question eerily silenced everyone in the room. They slowly looked at each other, expecting the other to say something, but would only keep quiet. The others had a hard time answering Max's question. They knew that they had to tell them sooner or later, but who would be stuck with the unfortunate task of breaking the news to them? Surely, none of them were willing to have such a grim task. It would make them feel even worse about not being able to save Caruso from Veloci. But they would feel even worse if they kept his kidnapping a secret until one of Caruso's parents called them up and asked them where their son was.

Ms. Moynihan finally broke the silence. She reached out towards Fiona, who was the nearest to her. "I will tell them. Can I borrow your cellphone, Fiona Flagstaff?" She asked, calling Fiona by her first and last name. Fiona reached into her pocket and handed the phone to her teacher, feeling a bit unsure about this, but knowing it was necessary, no matter how painful it was going to be. Ms. Moynihan dialed up Caruso's house, and as she heard the phone ringing, she felt her heart racing.

Jack Caruso, Irwin's father, was sitting in the kitchen, at the table, reading the newspaper. He had just finished eating lunch, and decided to read the sports page. He would normally read the page with his son, Irwin, who had shown some interest in sports since he was young. But today, with Irwin being at Moynihan's lighthouse, he had to read the paper alone. But he didn't mind. Irwin was due back any minute now anyway. His wife, Amanda, had prepared Irwin's lunch for when he came home. It was sitting in the refrigerator in a paper bag.

Amanda Caruso, Irwin's mother, was at the sink, washing the dishes. There wasn't that many, so her chore would be done relatively soon. She was feeling concerned about Irwin. She felt he would have been home by now. Her husband assured her that Caruso would be back very soon. She hoped that he was right, and that she was just getting a bit worked up over nothing. But it was not a comforting thought knowing that Victor was a Velociraptor and that Irwin was battling against his mutantsaurs.

"Jack..." She spoke up.

"Hmm...what is it, dear?" Jack lowered the paper down and peered over it.

"Do you suppose Irwin's on his way home now?" Amanda asked, holding a plate close to her chest as she dried it with a towel.

Jack chuckled, and got out of his seat. He went to his wife, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Oh stop worrying so much, honey. I'm sure he'll come through that door any minute now." She gave him an uncertain look. "Oh come on, he's a capable young man, and he's proven that with the Dino Squad. He can take care of himself."

"I..hope you're right." Amanda said, setting the plate on the rack and turning to face her husband. "I just can't shake this feeling that maybe something has happened."