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...

6. Desperation

"What?!" Ms. Moynihan gasped as she held the phone to her ear. It has been around twenty minutes since the Dino Squad got the information they needed from Peter. Rodger had volunteered to take Peter to the hospital. He might have been one of the bad guys, but they couldn't just leave him out here like this. Max had walked someways from the group, walking very slowly, not able to think too clearly. The information that Peter gave him shocked him, especially the last thing he had said. He had decided to call Moynihan and break the news to her.

Ms. Moynihan sounded horrified by what information Max was giving her. Caruso's parents were nearby, and hearing the urgency of her voice made their hearts race, and start to anticipate the worse. As Max relayed a bit more information, Ms. Moynihan closed her eyes and shook her head. "I..I wish I knew where that was, Max. But I never could locate it." She could hear Max groan in disappointment. She could understand his frustration. Peter could have been their lead, but all he could do was provide some information, but no precise location. "Thank you for telling me, dear boy. We'll..think of something. Mothersaurus out."

As she turned the phone off and put it back, she found herself confronted by two worried parents. "What? What did he say?" Amanda asked, her voice shaky. The husband didn't say anything, but from the way he looked at the teacher and held his wife suggested he was just as determined to find out as she was.

Ms. Moynihan wasn't sure how they were going to take the news, but to deny them the information that they so deserved would have been just cruel. They were the boy's parents and were more closely attached to Caruso than the rest of them were. Losing a child is a parent's greatest fear, but an even bigger fear is to have that child disappear and the ultimate fate for them remain unknown.

Old Professor Moynihan exhaled slowly. The parents already knew it was going to be bad news. "That was Max on the phone. They have managed to apprehend Peter and defeat him in battle. The lighthouse is safe. They have also managed to get him to reveal information on what Victor had planned for Caruso. He took Caruso into some sort of warehouse, but unfortunately not even Peter himself knows the exact location of this warehouse."

Moynihan took in a deep breath and waited for one of the parents to say something. But they kept quiet, and urged her, silently, to continue with the solemn message. "It was just as I suspected. Victor plans on subjecting Caruso through a few experimentations. Eating untested food, battling new mutantsaurs, and testing new weapons on him were what Victor had in mind."

Amanda took in a sharp gasp. "Oh no..."

Jack was just as horrified. "W-What else..? Did he say anything else?"

Professor Moynihan nodded slowly. "But I fear it won't provide much comfort. Max said that Peter told them that if Caruso did not allow himself to be subjected to those things, that if he tried to fight back, Victor would inflict bodily harm on him."

"What?!" Jack said, his eyes widened. He jumped out of his seat and took a step back, looking at Moynihan as if she had gone crazy. "He's going to beat my son?!" He could feel the anger rising up in him.

"Oh dear no...not my son.." Amanda whispered, trying hard not to cry.

"And I'm afraid that's not all..." Moynihan said, lowering her gaze. She tried to hold back a tear as she told them more. "Peter said that if the method did not break Caruso's spirit first..it was going to take his life..."

The parents reacted just as Moynihan had suspected. They were absolutely devastated. Amanda broke down crying. Images of her son torn, beaten, and bloody flooded through her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not shake them out. Jack wrapped his strong arms around his wife and held her close. He placed his chin on her hid and allowed her to cry into his chest. He was fighting back his own tears, but it wasn't just sadness he was feeling. He was also very angry. The thought of his son being hurt by some billionaire creep like Victor boiled his blood. He looked at Moynihan and wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out of his mouth. All he could do was continue to huge his wife and try to comfort her.

Moynihan felt terrible about having to tell this to them. And she felt even guiltier knowing she couldn't do anything about it. She wish she could find where Caruso was and bring him back before time ran out. She wished she could say something to the parents to completely ease their pain, but unless she could magically bring Caruso back form a place she's never been to, she would just have to face facts. Caruso's missing, he could die, and there was nothing they could do about it except try to find him. But without a clue, how were they to know where to look? And even if they found where to look, would even that be enough?

"I'm so sorry..." Joanne said to the parents. "I...wish I could have brought better news."

"Oh..it's all right." Mr. Caruso said after a moment's hesitation. "It's not your fault..."

"If it's of any condolence," Moynihan said softly in a reassuring tone, "The Dino Squad and I will do everything in our power to bring your son back. We won't rest until we have found him and brought him back, and we will make sure that Victor doesn't get away with this unpunished."

Although he was still busy comforting his wife, Jack looked up at Moynihan and smiled softly. "Thank you.."

'So...now what?' Buzz asked, still in his dinosaur form. He was glancing towards Fiona, who had detransformed just a few minutes ago and was standing by her Spino-Cycle. Rodger hadn't returned yet, and Max had not come back. They could not leave without them.

"Now..I guess we have to find another way..." Fiona said softly as she lowered herself to the ground and rested her head in her hands.

Buzz slowly shook his head, slowly feeling frustrated. They thought they had a lead. They thought they had a way to find Veloci. But it only turned out to be a dead-end. The feelings of helplessness slowly returned to the punk teenager, causing him to grit his teeth. Peter's inability to help them was bad enough, but his information he had given them was just as bad, if not worse. Buzz could not shake out the images of Caruso dead from his mind. He could see his body on the ground, torn up and bloodied. He closed his eyes tightly and tried not to shed a tear.

Fiona was no better off. She felt like screaming at herself for not being able to free Caruso earlier that day. They had all failed him. They had not succeeded in getting him away from Victor. How could this have happened to them, Fiona wondered. In all the other missions, luck seemed to have been on their side. They managed to defeat Veloci, managed to keep their identities a secret, and none of them ever got seriously hurt. Even some of their parents had found out about them being dinosaurs, and took it quite well.

But now it seemed luck had run out for them. As of late, all they've managed to do was fail. They failed to keep themselves in hiding. Victor had somehow found out about the perfect dinosaurs being teens. He had come to the school to get DNA from Caruso. The Dino Squad failed to stop that. Then the raptor had set up a trap to get Michelle close to the lighthouse. The Dino Squad fell for it. They had also left Moynihan alone in the lighthouse, and she became vulnerable to Michelle's assault, and failed to stop her from destroying the equipment, which not only exposed them on radar but also prevented them from knowing when Victor was coming. And when Victor came, intent on capturing Caruso, the Dino Squad had failed to stop it.

They had tried to set up a computer to find Caruso, but it blew up in their faces. They had managed to defeat Peter and tried to get information from him, but he knew little about the location of the secret warehouse. He did not even know which state it was in. And then there was the hand held tracker. Even if they could find it, it was no guarantee it would work well enough to track down Caruso's signature. And since Veloci now knows just how was blocking his satellites, he could easily do the same to them. He could scramble their signature and render the equipment unusable, no matter how good of a condition it was in.

'Maybe we should head back to the lighthouse when Max and Rodger get back.' Buzz said, stating the obvious. 'There's nothing more we can do here.' His sharp, yellow eyes gazed off at the distance, and briefly, he thought he could see Veloci's truck. A quick shake of the head and reexamination revealed it was just a normal red truck, probably carrying mattresses or different types of food.

"Yeah, I know..." Fiona said and then growled in frustration, digging her fingers into her scalp. "It's just...so frustrating... We were so close.. so close!" Fiona usually doesn't feel anywhere this frustrated unless she was going to that cabin with no electricity or any signs of modern civilization. She understood how much it meant to her parents, and their peanut butter cookies did stop some of Victor's mutations. But she did not understand why they had to go there every year. Revealing the fact that she was a dinosaur helping protect the world did not change her parents' mind about making her come with them. They insisted she needed to spend more time with them, regardless of her dinosaur powers. The only thing that had really changed was her sister, Terri, had grown jealous of Fiona's dinosaur powers. Fiona had recalled how Terri asked her to get dinosaur DNA for her so she could transform, but Fiona had to refuse her request. She did not want to expose her little sister to danger.

'Yeah..I know we were close.' Buzz said, his thought-speech interrupted Fiona's thinking. The large green Pteranodon was standing underneath a tree. As Buzz started to stretch his massive wings, he said, 'But what do you expect to happen? A miracle to just..fall out of the trees or something?' He forced a chuckle, but Fiona was not laughing at his cheap attempt at a joke. He was about to apologize when he felt his wings smack against the tree. A second later, something heavy and hard fell into his head, smacking him pretty good. 'Ouch..what was that..?' He looked at the ground, and changed back into a human.

Fiona chuckled a little at seeing Buzz get smacked in the head after making his lame joke. "So what was it, Neil?" She asked, calling Buzz by his real first name just to tease him a little bit. "An acorn?"

Buzz knelt down on the ground. The item fell into some thick grass. He parted the green blades until he could see the soft dirt underneath. He combed through the flora, scanning the foliage until he could see something hard and metallic glinting in the grass. He reached down, and grabbed it. It felt rectangular, and felt like it had a screen on it. Buzz pulled it out of the grass to get a better look at it. His eyes widened when he realized just what it was. Although it was covered in dirt, obscuring much of the features, there was no mistaking it. It seemed luck had turned in their favor this time.

"Fiona!" Buzz exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face. "It's...it's..."

The sense of urgency and excitement in Buzz's voice peaked Fiona's interest. She was immediately off the ground and heading towards Buzz to check out just what was so important. She noticed the general shape of the item, but thought it was something else entirely. "What, you found a miniature TV so you and Max can watch your shows?"

Buzz shook his head. "No, it's not a TV Fiona..." He slowly turned to face her, the object held tightly in his hand. He brushed off the dirt from the object, and held it up to Fiona, and when she, too, realized what it was, she placed her hand on her mouth as she gave a sharp sudden gasp. "It's the missing hand held tracker..."

They then heard something crack and snap behind them. They quickly turned around, a bit tensed up as if they thought they had to fight. But they quickly calmed down when they realized it was only Max. The jock had placed his cellphone back in his pocket, and looked pretty glum because of all the negatives that had been occurring lately. Telling Moynihan the bad news did not make him feel any better. "All right guys... let's go..." He said as he headed towards his bike. He had forgotten Rodger still hadn't returned from the hospital, and likely would not be back for another ten minutes or so.

Max glanced back at Fiona and Buzz, and gestured towards their bikes. "What are you waiting for? We have to get back to the lighthouse. There's nothing else of use for us out here."

"Umm..Max...?" Fiona spoke slowly, a smile working its way on her face. "There actually is something of interest here."

"What?" Max asked, snapping to attention. "What is it?" He glanced over at Buzz, who appeared to be grinning broadly. He shifted position and held up the tracker in front of him in a place where Max could clearly see it. A wave of shock swept through him, and his heart started to race. He was in disbelief as he stared at the tracker that had been missing for a few days. The only equipment that Michelle had not gotten her hands on. The only device still in tact that could be used to find their missing friend. What were the odds of them to find it way out here? Max felt his hands shaking as he approached Buzz and reached out to grab the hand held tracker. "Guys..where did you find this?"

"It fell out of a tree." Buzz said. He looked up at the tree where the tracker fell out of and rubbed the back of his head where it had struck him.

"No joking Buzz!" Max scolded. "Seriously, where did you find this?"

"He wasn't joking, Max." Fiona started to explain in a serious tone. "It really did fall out of a tree."

Buzz continued to rub his head on the area where the object had smacked him. He glanced up at the tree he had been unfortunate and yet fortunate at the same time to have been standing under. "Yeah..and my head still hurts from it landing on my head."

"Well we've got to tell Ms. Moynihan!" Max said, trying to level his excitement and keep it from overwhelming him. His hands were so shaky he was afraid he would drop the device and destroy it. "Come on, let's go!"

"But..." Buzz looked off into the distance where Rodger had ran off in. "What about Rodger? He isn't back yet." They would still need to wait a few minutes before Rodger could come back. The hospital was still a good distance away.

"Well, I'll call him on his cellphone." Fiona suggested as she pulled out her cellphone. As she opened it up, she said, "You guys can go back to the lighthouse. Rodger and I will catch up."

Max nodded. "All right... if you are sure." The jock said, nodding to the redhead before turning to his Tyranno-Cycle.

"Just don't step on the tracker, okay Maxwell?" Fiona joked as she started to dial Rodger's number. Max had ruined one of their spare trackers because he had not looked where he was going, and stepped on it with his Tyrannosaurus foot. Even though it was just an accident and Ms. Moynihan had pretty much forgotten about it, Fiona hadn't let Max forget that little blunder. "We don't want to have to clean up after your mess again."

"Oh very funny..." Max growled softly as he revved his motorcycle and sped off, not saying another word to Fiona.

"See you later Fiona." Buzz said as he got on his Ptera-Cycle. He decided not to comment on what Fiona had said to Max about stepping on the tracker. He had to admit, it was a pretty funny statement, but he was afraid that she could have jinxed them by saying something like that. Maybe Max could very well step on this tracker too. As he turned the bike on, and the engines turned on, he turned to her and said, "I really hope we don't get anymore bad luck." He revved his motorcycle and followed Max as they headed back to the lighthouse.

Fiona leaned against her Spino-Cycle, and held her phone to her ear. She could hear the ring tone, and groaned, wondering why Rodger had poor taste in ring tones. Would it kill him to get a cooler, much better sounding ring tone than a beeping sound reminiscent of a computer game? She felt relieved when she heard a click and the sound disappeared, replaced by a familiar voice. "Hello, Rodger. It's me, Fiona. Why did I call? Well it's kind of..no it's very important!" Rodger did not sound happy at first. Fiona had forgotten that Rodger does not really like to use his cellphone a lot, and only permitted people to call him if it was an emergency. He was asking Fiona if she had forgotten that. "No, I did not forget! Listen, Rodg, you're not going to believe this..." She said as she glanced back at the tree, still wondering how the tracker had gotten there in the first place. "Buzz found that missing hand held tracker!"

Fiona had to quickly pull her cellphone away when Rodger's elevated voice shouted in disbelief, and demanded to know where they had found it. "It fell out of a tree and hit Buzz in the head. ...How did it get there? I don't know!" Fiona shrugged her shoulders. "It was just..there. I don't know who..or what put it there! ...The others aren't here right now. They just left to take the tracker to Ms. Moynihan. Did we test it? No... I guess we were too excited to even make sure it still worked... I'm sorry." Fiona felt like smacking herself in the face. Why hadn't they tested the device to make sure it still worked? This discovery could just lead to another major disappointment.

"Okay, okay Rodg! I'll tell them!" Fiona said, rubbing her forehead as Rodger scolded her for negligence. "I'll see you back at the lighthouse. Bye!" She quickly said before Rodger could get another word in edgewise. She shut the phone off and put it back in her pocket. She quickly climbed onto her motorcycle, and hopped onto it. She quickly turned it on and began to head back to the lair, where the others were most likely waiting for her. She looked up at the sky, and realized it was getting dark out. She could already see the moon starting to rise, the sun was close to the horizon. She closed her eyes, and whispered as she headed off, "Caruso...we'll find you."

At first, Caruso followed Victor, although unwillingly, for fear the raptor would pull on the rope and send another wave of electricity through his body. He stayed close behind Victor, his head bowed in submission. He hadn't attempted to talk again because if he did, he would hurt himself even more. He could not bring himself to look directly at Victor. His gaze was on the ground. The corridor lead straight towards his room, so he did not need to worry about sudden turns or tripping. He slowly raised his hand and placed it on the headpiece. He felt the cold metal on his fingertips, the sharp edge cutting into him. He whimpered softly, and lowered his hand down.

He could have tried to remove the device himself, but it was well secured to his body. The headpiece was held in place with straps that went across his shoulders and waist. The device was secured so tightly that if he pushed his head forward to get a good look at the waist and shoulder straps to determine how to remove them, they would put pressure on the head piece and pull it even further downward into his skin. And he was not strong enough to break the waist and shoulder straps anyway. He would have to be in Stegosaurus mode. But that wouldn't do much good for him.

The Stegosaurus form might relieve some pressure in the head region, but it would make removing the device impossible. He had no arms in that form, and he suspected that when he transforms, his tail would be bound in some form, perhaps by the bridle itself. Caruso would need someone to remove the bridle for him, but unfortunately all his allies were still at the lighthouse probably, which no way of locating him. Caruso could only hope of holding out against the pain long enough for the others to find him.

Caruso hadn't realized that, in his pondering, his pace had slowed down, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Victor. Scowling at the boy's slowing gait, he pulled on the device lightly to get his attention. "Hurry it up. We're almost back at your cell." Victor said, narrowing his eyes. Caruso seemed to understand the meaning of that gesture and quickened his pace to catch up to Victor. Satisfied, Victor turned around and continued to advance towards the door, which was now within view.

He gazed down at the boy briefly, and turned his attention back on the path of the corridor, smirking to himself. He began to think of what he should do with Caruso tomorrow. He could tell the boy was not completely broken yet. And he did not know how long it would take before his spirit could be crushed. Victor did not always have the best patience, especially when it comes to his dream of bringing back the dinosaurs. He wanted to put some of his experiments to the test as soon as possible, but he could not do that until Caruso was finally broken and forced to obey him...or could he?

The more he thought about it, the more Victor came to realize that perhaps he did not need to fully break Caruso after all. If he could at least force him into dinosaur form, he could subject Caruso through experiments in a closed area so that he could not escape. His cell would probably have to do. It was large enough for his Stegosaurus form, he thought. He glanced down at the boy again, and looked at the bit cutting into the boy's mouth. He frowned a bit. If Caruso was going to be subjected to the experiments, he would need his strength, in other words food and water. But he doubted the boy could eat much of anything with the bit in his mouth.

"When we get into the cell, boy," Victor said to Caruso, "I'll remove the war bridle." This statement made Caruso's eyes widen a little with anticipation and relief. "But only because I know you need food and water. You'll need your strength for tomorrow, trust me, kid." He did not need to turn around and face Caruso to know the boy's expression was that of fear. There was a sense of dreadful foreboding growing up inside the young human. "Don't even think about getting too comfortable when I remove the war bridle off of you, Irwin. It's just for tonight. Tomorrow morning, at dawn, it goes back on you. You understand me?"

Caruso made no initial response. He simply stared at the floor, pondering what Victor might have in store for him the next day. A sharp pull on the rope brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at Victor. Those dark eyes stared at him, narrowed, waiting for an answer. Caruso knew he had best not keep Victor waiting unless he wanted him pulling on that rope like he had before. The young teen slowly nodded his head, keeping his head low. If he could, he would have given a verbal answer. But the bit inside forced him to use a physical response instead.

Victor smiled, his expression softening a little. "Good."

Within a few seconds, he had reached the door that lead into Caruso's chamber. Opening up the door he roughly shoved the boy into the room. Caruso landed onto the ground with a loud thud. But he didn't attempt to get back up. Instead he strained his head to look up at Victor. The reason Caruso hadn't attempted to get up was because he was resting on his good arm, and the only way he could get up was if he pushed up with his injured one. But he was still in pain from that first wound Victor inflicted on him. The bleeding had stopped, but the pain hadn't subsided. It hurt just to move the arm.

Victor narrowed his eyes, sensing this. "Pathetic creature.. You get one little cut and you act completely helpless..." He knelt down beside the boy and gripped him by his shirt collar. He leaned his face real close and spoke harshly to Caruso, "You will never last in the dinosaur world." His sharp teeth were bared as he said this.

With a swift pull, Victor yanked Caruso roughly to his feet. The teen staggered a little from the force, but managed to regain his footing quickly. He could see the open door behind Victor, and the urge to run off again came over him. But this time there was something holding him back, something to give him a reason not to run. And he was wearing it right this minute. All Caruso could do now was stare longingly at the open door, wanting to run but not being able to. Victor could see this spark of hopelessness in the kid's eyes and smiled.

Reaching out with his hands to unfasten the bridle, Victor said, "You look like you are finally starting to understand your position, Caruso boy." Caruso winced as Victor called him that. "You're not in your safe little lighthouse anymore. You are not out in the open. You are not with any of your companions. You are without your motorcycle and equipment. You are in my domain now, boy. And if you know what is good for you, you will listen to me." As he said this, he had undid the strap that held the bridle in place. He pulled the head piece off the boy, the saliva-covered bit slipping out with ease. He removed the other parts of the bridle and held them with one arm.

Caruso carefully opened his jaws and placed a finger inside. He gently pressed on one of the cuts on his tongue, ignoring the stinging pain the best he could, and pulled out his finger to take a look. The whole front tip of his pointer was coated bright red. His eyes widened in shock as he started to taste something salty inside his mouth. Without the bit inside to cover most of his tongue, he was starting to taste the blood that was seeping out of multiple small cuts inside his mouth. When he looked at the bit attached to the head piece, Caruso stifled a gasp, noticing that parts of the bit, specifically on the bottom, were coated in dark red blood.

Caruso slowly opened his jaws to speak. He ignored the pain he was feeling as he moved his tongue. "Why...should I...listen to...you?" Every time he spoke a word, he could feel a sharp pain wave through his mouth. It was like he was eating broken glass for dinner.

"Why...?" Victor asked this as though he was surprised Caruso even thought of asking this. "Take a good look around you, boy." He said, looking around the area himself. An arrogant smile spread across his face. "You're trapped. You have no where to run, nowhere to hide."

"I...was trapped..by you before... I escaped..." Caruso spoke defiantly. Even after enduring the bridle, he still had some courage left in him. "In..in fact.. all of us did..."

"You speak of the time when I had captured all five of you?" Victor inquired, getting a nod from Caruso as a response. He frowned softly. The memory of that brought feelings of frustration to Victor. He had caught all five of the perfect dinosaurs right then and there. He could have brought them back to the lab for testing. They could not have gone anywhere. Even in dino mode, they would not have been strong enough to break open the bars and set themselves free. And in human form they wouldn't have been small enough to get through the spaces of the bars.

Victor could not think of what possessed him not to be suspicious of the students that had somehow gotten into the cage. Why had he not tested their DNA? His only answer to that was, at this time, Victor couldn't really believe that any human would have the intelligence needed to master the dinosaur form and the art of transforming so easily. And he so determined to insure that these kids would not sue him to even think about questioning them. Just what were they doing way out there? He had wondered this a bit after the encounter, but he knew the answer now.

Victor narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yes of course you escaped, boy. But that was only because you had your friends to back you up." He took a quick look around the room before returning his gaze to the injured teenager. "You're all alone now. There's no one here to save you. This is no fairy tale, little Caruso." He took a step closer. Instinctively, Caruso took a step back, half-expecting Victor to strike out at him with his sickle claw again. "This is real life..." His free hand and arm glowed and were replaced with his raptor limb. He raised it up, the claws extended, to prove his point. Caruso immediately took a step back without really thinking about it.

Satisfied the boy seemed to understand his situation better, Victor pulled out his communicator and contacted one of his followers that was in the warehouse. As he began to speak to him, Caruso walked over to what appeared to be a long flat boulder stationed near the corner of the room. He slowly sat down on it and rested his head on the palms of his hands. He winced as the sharp pain shot through his injured arm, but it quickly subsided. His gaze was to the ground, his eyes a bit vacant. He was not sure what to think anymore. He was doing his best to remain brave and defiant. He did not want Victor to taste victory in 'taming' him.

But, although he hated to admit it, Victor did have a good point. Caruso was all alone in this warehouse. He didn't have anyone to help him. He had no one to discuss any escape plans with. Everyone was against him here. If he had stepped foot outside the room, it surely would not take long before he would run into one of Veloci's men and be brought back here. He could go dino and try to break out of the room, but the walls were made of a thick metal. Not even Max would be able to break through it, so there was no way he could.

As Victor continued to speak with whoever it was he had just contacted, Caruso slowly closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. Perhaps he should just give into Victor's will. Maybe he should just surrender to avoid being hurt again. Maybe Victor would consider releasing him when his usefulness had expired. Yes, that's it. He should just give himself up, allow Victor to do whatever he pleased with him, and then release him, and then Caruso could go find his friends...

No! No, what was he thinking?! He shouldn't think like that! Caruso shook his head to bring himself back to his senses. He formed fists with his hands as he glared at Victor with determination. He shouldn't give himself up to this monster. He would have to bide his time yes. If he waited until the right moment to strike, maybe he would have a new chance at escape. All he would have to do was wait until tomorrow when he believed Victor would take him out into another part of the warehouse to endure the first experiments, and make his move then.

If he pretended that he was giving in, he could get close enough to Victor to land a blow, the element of surprise with him. It was a risky idea, Caruso knew. He would only have one shot at it. After that, Victor surely would not fall for the same thing again. Caruso would have to make sure the first shot counted. He did not want to think of what would happen to him if this plan failed...

"Caruso," Irwin heard Victor call out to him. "I have some important business to attend to. I am going to leave the door open so one of my men can come in to give you something to eat and drink. Don't even think of trying to escape. I have all my men in this warehouse on guard and patrolling all the corridors and rooms of this building. If you even set foot outside the door, someone will know and catch you. You understand me, human?"

Caruso simply nodded his head. "Y-Yes..."

"Good... And one more thing," Victor said as he turned to face the door. "If I find out that you have walked outside your cell even after listening to my warning..." He showed Caruso his raptor-like hand once again, raised in a slashing position. "I may have to give you a more urgent reason to stay put..."

"All right..." Caruso managed to say, his anger quickly replaced with fear as he stared wide-eyed at the sharp claws. Although these claws did not look as dangerous as the sickle claws on Victor's dinosaur feet, Caruso still trembled at the sight of them. These claws were designed for grasping and holding prey. If Victor gripped him with these claws, he would not be able to escape without hurting himself. The claws would scrape along him, making several long cuts. "I...I won't try to escape..."

"Wise choice." Victor stepped out of the room. He took another glance at Caruso. "Someone will be here shortly. After you are done, I suggest you go to sleep and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow, you will endure your first experiment. I'll be nice this time and use a mild experiment this time. But don't think I will go soft on you again after that." Victor didn't bother to tell Caruso that this mild experiment would still have him screaming in pain. But it was like a light tap on the shoulder compared to another experiment he had planned for the boy.

"Finally it's over!" Oscura said as she stretched her arms. The lights in the room flickered back on. Many employees scooted their chairs back and stood up, stretching their stiff limbs after sitting for a few hours watching movies. Oscura had not really liked any of the movies that were playing. But the room had become so crowded that she was not able to squeeze herself out. She had to give a few warning hisses to some employees because they were pushing her up against the wall. Just how the room went from a few individuals enjoying a movie to a room as tightly packed as a sardine can was beyond her.

People slowly began to leave the room, and Oscura felt herself relax as more and more room became available. She went back to her chair and sat down when enough room was freed. Still remaining in her seat next to Oscura's was Michelle. She was watching the other people as they walked out of the room. But taking a glance at the look in Michelle's eyes told Oscura that this girl was not thinking about anything involving the people in the room or the movies that were on. Her mind was wandering somewhere else. It would appear something was troubling her, and Oscura did not even need to ask what it was.

"You're thinking about him again aren't you?" Oscura asked, a little bit of a growl emerging as she finished the sentence. She had always considered Michelle to be the weaker of the pair. But she was becoming even softer since Caruso's capture. There was something about that boy that was changing her partner, making her weaker. And Oscura was not liking it. When she got no response, she hissed, "Will you stop thinking about that Caruso kid for once?!"

This sudden outburst quickly snapped Michelle back to reality. She looked over at her partner with wide eyes for a few seconds before contorting her face into a snarl, her dinosaurian teeth bared. "I was not thinking about him, okay?!" She snapped, defending herself. "So why don't you just drop the subject?!"

Oscura tilted her head, the same glare still plastered across her face. "I'm growing sick of this, Michelle. Ever since we captured the kid, you have grown soft!" She quickly got up from her seat and pointed her finger accusingly at the brunette. "Admit it, you traitor!" She shouted at her without really thinking of her choice of words all that well. "You're so concerned about this Caruso kid that you are willing to betray us just for his benefit!"

Michelle's eyes widened at the words traitor and betray. Her mind reeled back to the strange dream she had. She still shuddered at the quotes Oscura had quoted in the dream. Her thoughts brought back a statement Oscura had said in the dream. She had mentioned something about Victor being worried that she would betray them. After she woke up, she dismissed it as a dream. She didn't really see any reason why Victor would suspect her betraying them. He had never acted in any particular way to make her believe he was suspicious of her. She herself had never given him a reason to believe she would turn on him.

But hearing Oscura restate this make her rethink the dream. Was it just a coincidence? Or was the dream a message of things to come? Was it a warning of sorts? Maybe Victor had noticed her behavior changing, and had linked it to Caruso's capture. If he was now a bit suspicious of her, he will probably keep a closer watch on her now. Maybe he will have someone follow her around, or even put a tracker on her...

No...no he wouldn't go that far, Michelle thought. Or would he? Maybe he had assigned Oscura to keep an eye on her, to monitor her behavior and to report to him if she saw anything suspicious. Maybe that's why Oscura had been on her case a bit more frequently today. This was not the first time she had brought up Caruso with her, not the first time she's scolded her for allowing her thoughts to drift back to him. Michelle narrowed her eyes further, becoming a bit agitated at this thought. The last thing she wanted was this Troodon girl to be shadowing her everywhere.

"No! I won't admit it!" Michelle shouted, slamming a fist onto the table swiftly and loudly. "First of all, I have not grown soft! Second of all, I am no traitor! And finally, I don't give a darn what happens to Caruso! So stop acting like I care about him!" After yelling, she tried to calm herself down through slow breaths, but Oscura was not going to give her the opportunity to let her anger die down.

Oscura's narrowed eyes widened in shock, and she snapped her head back, teeth bared, another behavior she adopted from her Troodon self. As she did so, she let out a 'Hah!' kind of sound. She took a step back, and drool started to dribble down the corner of her mouth. Michelle recognized this behavior. Oscura usually only did this when she was so angry that she would rather bite than talk. Usually when this happened, she would try to calm Oscura down to avoid a fierce fight, but this time she just stared at her, her own dinosaur teeth bared.

"Who are you to order me around?!" Oscura yelled. She pulled an arm outward, and up, like a raptor would, and showed her claws to Michelle. "You have no authority over me! You do not have the right to order me around, Michelle!" She wasn't afraid to attack Michelle, and she knew Michelle knew that too.

"And if I recall correctly, you do not have the authority to order me around either, Oscura!" Michelle yelled back, her eyes beginning to glow. She could feel the anger rising up in her.

"Whatever." Oscura rolled her eyes slowly. "That does not mean I cannot question you when you start to daydream about your Stegosaurus boyfriend!"

Now it was Michelle's turn to have saliva streaming from the corner of her lips. She also adopted this behavior from the Guanlong Wucaii, but used it less frequently. She usually had better control of her temper compared to Oscura, and only used it when she was extremely angry. And Oscura was rubbing her the wrong way today, and she was not going to stop. Michelle's body started to shake visibly as she tried desperately to control the anger. But it kept gnawing at her stomach and insides. Now she could see no other outlet except...

As a drop of saliva landed on the table, Michelle wiped her mouth, and said, "Why you..." Her talons grew from the tips of her fingers as she slowly got up from her seat. Oscura looked at her with a puzzled look, unsure of what she was going to do. Deciding to answer Oscura's question before she asked it, Michelle hissed, "I'll show you..." With that, she lunged forward, and slammed against Oscura. The raven-haired teen was knocked backwards and tripped over a chair and landed on her back.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Oscura jumped back up and gripped Michelle's shoulders, digging her talons into the skin. She avoided biting Michelle simply because she did not want to get into trouble with Dr. Veloci for poisoning a fellow Raptor Dyne employee. Her claws would do just fine for the fight. She attempted to push Michelle onto the ground, but the other girl held her ground. She winced in pain as she felt the claws dig into her shoulders, and she could see a bit of blood come through. Michelle attempted to defend herself by swinging her arms around Oscura's body and shoving her claws into Oscura's back.

Oscura stifled a scream, and tried to ignore the pain as she continued to slash into Michelle's shoulders and tried to push her down. Michelle did likewise, baring her teeth close to Oscura's face and vice versa. The two avoided biting each other however, preferring to stick to their claws rather than their teeth. They kept pushing into one another, and eventually both began to give out, dropping to their knees. At first glance one would think they were trying to comfort each other. But one look at the blood seeping from each teenager would quickly debunk that theory.

The fight was not an attempt to kill each other. It closely resembled a dominance fight that Veloci had told them about once. He explained that Velociraptors fought for dominance not through biting, but through clawing and demonstration of strength. If Oscura and Michelle were going to agree upon which one of them would have the higher authority, they would do so through this dominance fight.

Suddenly they both released each other, and got up off the ground. They took a few steps back, their eyes glued on each other. They transformed into their respective dinosaur forms and began to walk around each other, watching the other, trying to find a weakness. They bobbed their bodies and heads up and down in a bird-like manner, their hands raised upward, the claws facing forward threateningly. They continued to circle each other in the room, careful not to trip over any chairs or the table. Their eyes glowed intensely as they both anticipated the other one to attack first, anticipated that soon the other would sink their teeth in.

After a few minutes of this behavior, Oscura decided to make the first move. The red Troodon jumped into the air, extending her forearms outward to take a hold of Michelle. But the black Guanlong Wucaii anticipated this and quickly moved herself out of the way. When Oscura was close enough, she pulled her black paw upward and delivered a blow onto the Troodon's back, knocking her onto the ground belly-first.

Oscura shook her long neck and head before climbing to her feet and letting out a screech, bits of saliva flying everywhere. She held out her arms as if to hug, and approached Michelle slowly, letting out several bird-like squawks to try to intimidate Michelle. The Guanlong, however, remained unfazed. She returned the calls with sounds that were more ferocious than a Troodon could dish out. The Guanlong calls were more guttural, like a lion's, and sounded more threatening. The Troodon seemed to sense this, and stopped advancing for a moment. Then, quickly, she raised one of her long legs and struck at Michelle with one of her diminutive sickle claws.

Thinking fast, Michelle held up one of her feet and, using her long dewclaw, gripped the red-skinned leg and tossed Oscura aside. The Troodon crashed into the ground, and once again scrambled to her feet. She hissed at the Guanlong, and raced in to attack again. The Guanlong lowered her head in anticipation, her teeth bared. Her arms were also held outward in attack mode, bracing for the assault the Troodon was going to deliver.

The two collided with each other, and began to wrestling each other across the floor, becoming a blur of colors, claws, hisses, and growls. They dug their claws into each other, slashing away at any available skin they came in contact with. They kicked and slashed as they fought to pin the other one to the ground. They snapped at each other frequently, but deliberately missing, instead just trying to intimidate the other. They knocked over a few chairs and even almost knocked over the table as they continued to grapple each other.

Eventually, Michelle managed to pin Oscura onto her side. The Troodon struggled to get free, but Michelle's bodyweight kept her down. She held Oscura firmly by sitting on top of her and using her forepaws to push her into the ground. The Troodon snapped at the air, hissed and growled, and kicked her feet violently, trying in desperation to land a blow onto the Guanlong Wucaii. But the black dinosaur ignored any wound inflicted on her at this point, and simply lowered her head close to Oscura's and hissed.

In anger, Oscura snapped her jaws in Michelle's direction, causing the Guanlong to jerk her head backwards to avoid the bite. 'Let go of me!' She demanded, snapping her jaws once again, releasing another squawk.

'Only if you surrender.' Michelle answered.

'Never!' Oscura squirmed under Michelle's bodyweight. 'Just release me at once!'

Michelle shook her crested head. 'I am sorry, Oscura.' She said, although she did not really feel sorry. 'I cannot release you until you surrender. That is the rule of the dominance fight.'

Oscura let out a loud screech of agitation and struggled more violently and desperately. She did not want to admit defeat to this..this weakling. Oscura was frustrated that the rules would not allow her to bite. If she did she would be disqualified. She did not know and did not understand why Victor's kind didn't allow biting. It could easily turn the tide in the fight. With her infectious bite, she could easily defeat Michelle.

But the fight was to be interrupted. As Oscura struggled on the floor, the door knob jiggled, and the two dinosaurs snapped their heads over and could see a figure on the other side. Not wanting to be caught in the act of fighting, they quickly changed back into their human selves, and brushed themselves off. Unfortunately they could not hide the blood that was starting to stain their clothes now. And they did not have time to cover it up. The door swung open, and a figure dressed in black and wearing a helmet stepped in. It was one of Veloci's men.

"Hey," the man said as he walked into the room. "I got a message from Dr. Veloci." He took notice of the blood stains, and snapped his head back in shock. "What the heck happened to you two?"

"Nothing..nothing." Michelle said quickly. "So what does Veloci want us for?"

Time had ticked by slowly in the lighthouse. Jack looked over at the clock nearby. While not much time had passed, it had seemed like an eternity. Like Moynihan and his wife, he was sitting patiently, awaiting for the children to return. It had been sometime since they got a phone call from one of the children, and there was no good news they could bring to them. Jack leaned in the chair, his elbows on the table. He stared blankly at the table, refusing to look at his wife, sitting behind him on the furniture because he couldn't stand seeing her this way. Amanda hadn't said much in the past several minutes, and her tears couldn't stop flowing, despite comforting statements from Jack and Joanne.

Jack eyed the door slowly, almost expecting it to open up and see the Dino Squad return empty-handed. But no one was coming, and he didn't expect them to return anytime soon. He started to think of what a normal day this had started out as. His son had woken up earlier today to get ready for a meeting. Because of his vain personality, Irwin took great care in his appearance, and always took a bath in the morning. He wouldn't go outside until he looked perfect, at least in his eyes. Jack sometimes felt Irwin took too much pride in his appearance, but he felt it was a bit better than someone who could care less about their appearance and not clean themselves up that often.

He recalled how Irwin said he had to get to the lighthouse for some special training. It wasn't supposed to last all day. When his wife was doing the dishes, Irwin was due back any minute. They hadn't realized, then, that something was very very wrong. Sure, his wife did suspect something was wrong, but she wouldn't have believed, in her wildest dreams, that this is what had happened. Jack started regretting letting his son go out today. He wished he had forced him to stay home. Maybe then this would not have happened...

But then, maybe one of the other kids would have gotten captured. He flinched a bit, realizing that he would have unintentionally wished his son's fate on one of the other kids. He couldn't do that. As much as he loved Irwin, he also would not have wanted the other kids to get captured either. That would have been unfair on his part. And he didn't blame the other kids either. After all, they did do their best to save his son. While they failed, they still put up a great fight. Jack placed his head on his arms, folded on the table, and sighed softly. He was suddenly feeling a painful gnawing in his stomach as he thought about how they had blown their chances at finding Irwin because they had forgotten to put in the fan in the monitor. But then, even if it had been able to turn on, would it have worked? Would they have been able to find Veloci or would their signal have been blocked?

Deciding to take his mind off of what happened, Jack Caruso pushed his seat out from the table and stood up. He turned towards Moynihan, who had gotten back to her knitting, although she was doing it very slowly. Jack suspected it was because she was thinking about what happened today, and was feeling guilty she wasn't a better help. He eyed her ankle, which still looked red, but a bit better than it was earlier. Her cane was set next to her chair for easy grabbing. He strode over to her slowly, and sat down on the couch his wife was on. Amanda, however, was too distracted by her feelings of loss to notice him next to her.

Ms. Moynihan sensed someone looking at her, set down her knitting stuff, and looked up to see Jack staring at her. She tried to offer a small smile, but couldn't bring herself to do so, considering the circumstances. "Yes?" She asked, already knowing Jack was going to ask her something judging from the look in his eyes.

"Ms. M... I was just wondering.." Jack said slowly, sounding unsure of how to say it. Moynihan didn't say anything, instead slightly tilting her head, awaiting for him to continue. Jack gulped. He wasn't sure if this was a great time to ask this, or if Moynihan would have been offended by the question. But he wouldn't really know until he'd ask it. "Out of curiosity, just what were things like between you and..Victor before you two, well, split ways?"

Ms. Moynihan's eyes widened at that question, and she quickly looked at the floor, looking rather troubled. Jack took a step back, already feeling guilty about asking the question in the first place. Moynihan didn't say anything, only kept her gaze on the floor, looking at her ankle that Victor had broken thirty years ago. Her gaze was filled with some anger as she stared at it, but there was a mix of other feelings, such as sadness and betrayal. She could feel those bitter feelings inside of her all over again. Her mind backtracked to the days when she and Victor were partners, and how all that changed all because of difference in opinions. She often wondered why she ever considered Victor a good friend. If she had known the monster he was going to become...

"Dear, why did you ask her that?" Amanda asked her husband, finally snapping herself back to reality just as she heard her husband ask Joanne such a personal question. And judging from her reaction, it was a rather troubling question at that.

Jack looked away, regretting asking in the first place. "I-I'm sorry... I..."

"It's all right..." Joanne raised her hand up, though the pained look was still on her face. "I'm not angry with you asking me that, Jack. It's just...painful sometimes for me to think of how things used to be between me and Victor." She glanced down at the necklace she wore around her neck, and fingered the claw-shaped piece that lay center on her chest. It had originally been a gift from Victor himself, but she had made some modifications to it. "Time does not heal all wounds, I'm afraid."

"Was that from Victor?" Jack asked carefully, eyeing the necklace.

Moynihan slowly nodded her head. She glanced back down at the necklace, drawing in a breath as she stared at the necklace once more. She only kept it around for sentimental reasons. She longed for who Victor was before he became obsessed with wiping humans off the face of the Earth, who he was before he grew too powerful and before he began experimenting with DNA to change life back to how it was sixty-five million years ago. Victor hadn't always been this way. He had always hated humans yes, but he wasn't always so determined to change things back. He wasn't always such a...monster.

"This was a gift Victor gave me..for our anniversary." Joanne said softly.

"Anniversary..for what?" Amanda asked before she could stop herself.

"Wedding anniversary." Joanne stated softly, looking up and staring at Jack and Amanda as she said this. Their reactions were just as she expected. They looked horrified, and moved back a little. She could not blame them. They knew she was once partners with Victor, but she had never told anyone, not even the Dino Squad, that they were once mates. Sixty-five million years ago, they never did have any children, no eggs to call their own, and when they awoke after their long hibernation, they became too busy with trying to fit in rather than starting a family.

"You never told us that you and Victor were...husband and wife." Jack said, trying his best not to sound so frightened.

"You needn't be afraid, Mr. Caruso." Joanne assured him. "As I told your son before, I parted ways with Veloci long ago."

"But..." Amanda spoke up. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Ms. Moynihan lowered her head slightly. "I..was afraid of what you would think of me. I never told anyone this because I didn't know if they would trust me anymore." She closed her eyes for a few seconds then reopened up, looking at Jack and Amanda in the eyes. "For over thirty years, I have concealed the truth of my past from everyone. Your son and his friends were the first people I had confided in, the first people I spoke the truth with. It was a risky move, and I had feared they wouldn't trust me again after that. To my relief, they accepted me for who I was now, and still trusted me."

Jack nodded once, and raised a finger up. "So..if they trusted you, why didn't you tell them then?"

"It was too early. I did not think they were ready to hear it." Moynihan responded.

"And what about now?" Jack asked, his finger still raised up, although he wasn't pointing accusingly at Moynihan. "It's been a couple years now, Prof. Moynihan. Don't you think it's about time you told them? Why still keep it a secret?"

Moynihan looked away, feeling uneasy to answer that question. "Frankly, this isn't the only secret I've kept from them..." She quickly realized what she said, and swiftly added, "But time for that will come later." She could tell that Caruso's parents were going to inquire her on her previous statement, and she hoped that saying that she'll talk about it later will satisfy them and they won't ask her further. She decided to go back to Jack's original question. "So you want to know what things were like before Victor and I parted ways?"

Just then, the phone started to ring, interrupting Jack's response. Moynihan looked over at it, along with Caruso's parents, and felt nervous to pick it up. It was probably Max again, bringing more bad news. The phone rang again as Moynihan's fingers trembled above the receiver, hesitating to pick it up. If it was more bad news, she didn't know if she could bear to give the news to Caruso's parents, further shattering their spirits. But regardless if it was bad news or not, if it was the Dino Squad, she couldn't simply ignore the call. What kind of mentor and tutor would she be if she did that?

Hesitatingly, Joanne wrapped her fingers around the receiver and picked it up. She held it to her ear and said, "Hello...?" The nervousness in her voice was apparent, and she waited for the few nanoseconds it would take to get a response. She was expecting to hear Max's voice, or Fiona's, Rodger's, or Buzz's. But the voice on the other end was neither of the kids, and yet it was someone she recognized right away. A scowl appeared on her face, one unfamiliar to Caruso's parents, or even the Dino Squad. "Victor..." She hissed. "What do you want?"

She could hear that cold laughter on the other end, and she flinched. It bared a striking resemblance to the laughter she had received after he'd broken her leg. She felt a sharp pain in her heart as she felt the memories flowing back to her. After Victor was done laughing, he began to talk to Moynihan, his voice in a mocking and sneering tone. Moynihan gritted her teeth as Victor began to taunt her about her not being able to find Caruso, and had asked her how her leg was doing. "That is none of your business!" She growled. "And what have you done with Caruso?!"

Again Moynihan could hear that dark laughter. It took all her might not to throw the phone to the floor in anger. "I do not see what is so funny, Victor! You have committed a very serious offense! ...What offense? Kidnapping a child of course!" Victor had always had the belief that just because he was very powerful and high-ranking it automatically meant he was also above the law, and could do whatever he wanted. The only time he would abide by the law was if it was to save himself some trouble. "Why did you bother calling me anyway, Victor? To taunt me?"

Surprisingly, Victor hadn't initially called her just to taunt her. He had something else in mind. He told her he'd called to give her a warning. Her angered expression turned into shock as Victor began to tell her that Caruso was in pretty bad shape and if she and her Dino Squad friends did not hurry up, it may be too late. After that, Victor bid her farewell and hung up. "Wait!" She yelled, but it was too late. The phone clicked, and she got the dial tone.

"What...what was that?" Jack asked carefully. He knew Moynihan had just gotten off the phone with Victor, and judging from her angered and shocked expressions, it was a none too pleasant conversation either.

Moynihan hesitated for a few seconds before looking at Jack and his wife. All signs of anger and shock were erased, and now replaced with sorrow and concern. "Victor had called me...to inform me that Caruso was in bad shape..and that he may not last for long, and that we should hurry up and find him if we care about him."

"...what..." Amanda managed to say, choking back tears. "What exactly did he mean by.. bad shape..? What has he done to him?!" She asked, starting to sound a little hysterical. She tried to calm down as she felt her husband's comforting hands on her shoulders.

"What did Victor do to him?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"He..didn't say." Moynihan replied uneasily. "The only thing he mentioned to me regarding what he's done to him is that he might need a hospital stay." This gave all three of them very clear and obvious ideas on what Victor had done. It must be linked to what Peter had told them earlier. He had told them that Caruso might die from what Victor was doing to him unless he surrendered to him quickly. And it was like Victor had called them to confirm this.

"Our poor baby..." Amanda whispered, hugging her husband tightly. Jack wrapped his arms around her and tried, once again, to calm her down. Moynihan looked at them sadly, unable to say anything to make them feel better. She silently wished for something to happen to turn the tides. She would like to get some good news out of all this mess. She was starting to feel as lost and confused as she was when Victor left her defenseless after breaking her leg. He had won that day, in their final battle, and now it seems like he would win again, this time at the price of a human life.

Moynihan closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair as she allowed her thoughts to flow through her mind. "We need a miracle now..." She spoke softly as to not disturb the couple. She slowly gazed down at her knitting material on her lap, and sighed. She didn't have the will left to bring herself to continue, and picked up the material and set it aside.

Just then, she and the couple looked up as they heard the sound of motorcycle engines getting closer to the lighthouse. They knew it had to be the children, finally returning from their battle with Peter. Normally Moynihan would feel relaxed, as in the past whenever the children returned from a mission, they'd bring good news, and talk about how they managed to outsmart Victor and his men, and freed any animals that were mutated. But now she had an almost overwhelming feeling of tension, her heart pained as she thought about worse case scenarios.

She gazed over at Caruso's parents on the couch. They looked just as troubled as she was, although she could tell the father was still trying to be strong. She didn't think they would want to go ask the kids if there was anything they left out in their previous report. That was her job anyway. "I'll...go greet them." Moynihan said softly.

She grabbed the cane next to her seat, and tried to get out of the chair. She planted her right foot first on the ground, and then carefully the left. As she started to feel pain in her ankle, she quickly applied more pressure and tried to support more of her weight on the cane As best as she could, she elevated her left foot slightly, which alleviated most of the pain. Wobbling slightly, she took a step forward, and cautiously brought her left leg forward, and repeated the process of putting more pressure on the cane than on her leg. Progress was slow, but she was inching her way towards the door.

Moynihan found herself continuously staring at the floor, keeping a sharp eye for anything she could accidentally trip over. She could hear her cane scraping along the floor as she continued to use it as a third leg. She winced as she kept moving her left leg forward, and could almost hear the bones crack as she thought about what Victor had done to her that fateful day. She eyed the staircase nearby nervously, shuddering as she remembered how Michelle had callously tossed her down the stairs. Moynihan felt lucky she had survived such a fall with little injury other than a cut or two and a twisted ankle. Judging just how far she had fallen and given her apparent age, she could have easily died.

Now her thoughts were on Michelle once more. She began to wonder why she would want to work for Victor in the first place. Was she not aware of Victor's temperament? Was she not aware of Victor's ultimate goal? Perhaps she was. Moynihan had considered that Michelle was unaware of what Victor really had planned, and perhaps was lied to, tricked into thinking the Dino Squad was the enemy. But judging from how she threw her, an old woman, down the stairs without hesitation, and how she had destroyed the monitors simply to make them more vulnerable, Moynihan started to wonder if Michelle had, like all of other Veloci's followers, given into or accepted his dream, his ultimate goal of wiping out humanity.

Surely, that red Troodon, Oscura, had fully accepted this plan. Max had described to her how viciously Oscura had attacked, and didn't wait for a second to deliver a blow. This seemed a little different from Michelle. It was true that she did not hesitate to toss her, and she did apply pressure to a weak point. But Michelle did not seem to have the same level of ferocity as Oscura did, and did not seem interested in fighting, just completing her mission. Michelle appeared to be the type of person who would rather get the job done quickly and leave with little confrontation. Oscura, on the other hand, seemed the type to want to cause pain, and cared little of getting much accomplished other than agony.

Ms. Moynihan frowned as she thought about this. If she calculated correctly, they would have more to fear from Oscura than from Michelle, even though Michelle's dinosaur form was larger, simply due to a more aggressive attitude. Surely, Oscura was a more loyal follower than Michelle. Personality wise, she was a lot like Victor, although perhaps even more dangerous. Moynihan was almost horrified as Max relayed to her what had happened. She hadn't even known Victor to be this vicious. At least under Victor's control, Raptor Dyne, at least for now, tries to keep a low profile and avoid certain situations if it risks getting them exposed. But if they were ran under Oscura, she feared that there would be a lot more attacks, and given the sheer number of people Victor has under his control...

Joanne Moynihan was only a few feet from the door when she could see the silhouettes of a couple teenagers walking up to the door. As she saw the door knob turning, she expected to see a couple exhausted and depressed teens to walk in to try to come up with another plan. But instead she got something quite different, and unexpected.

The first person who walked in was Max. He looked very happy about something, and had a big grin on his face. Rodger came in next, and looked no less cheerier. Then came Fiona, and she was in the same mood as well. Moynihan was a little confused. Not too long ago they sounded depressed, hopeless, almost lost. Now all of they sudden they looked almost happy. Just what had happened to change their mood so quickly?

"Kids..." Moynihan began to say, but before she could ask them what had happened, the final student came walking in, and in his hands, he held something that caused Moynihan to draw in a sharp breath. "Is that what I think it is?" There, within Buzz's arms, was the missing tracking device that Rodger had lost a few days ago. It still looked like it was in working condition, and had gone unnoticed by Michelle. While she could feel the excitement building up inside of her, she had to remain calm, and not get her hopes up. Something could still go wrong.

"Isn't it great, Ms. M?" Fiona said cheerfully. Moynihan wished she could share her enthusiasm, but they had gotten nothing that bad luck lately. Fiona frowned slightly at Moynihan's lack of rejoice. "Hey..is something wrong?"

"Yeah." Max said, noticing it too. "I thought you would be very happy."

"Oh believe me, dear boy," Moynihan assured him, "I am. It's just that I don't want you kids to get your hopes up. Even if we get that device to work, it could still have its signal blocked." If Victor truly believed that all tracking equipment was destroyed, he probably wouldn't bother trying to block out signals at this point. But he could easily have set up a satellite to emit a scramble signal for the lighthouse to prevent them from being able to properly use their equipment. He could easily have set up a beacon like the one the lighthouse had to hide his location as well.

"Blocked...?" Max said, a puzzled look on his face. "But the only one I know who has any kind of equipment that could scramble signals was you, Ms. Moynihan." The only other person Max could think of that could have the technology to block signals was Victor, but Moynihan had never mentioned this to them in the past. She had never warned them that if Victor pinpointed the location of the scrambling, that he could block out that signal. "...Victor can't block signals, can he?" He said, feeling his excitement die down.

"I'm afraid so, dear." Moynihan said sadly, feeling guilty about having to tell them this.

But Fiona wasn't about to let the situation turn hopeless again. "Come on you guys. At least it's something isn't it? It's better than having nothing to go by."

"Fiona's right, yo." Rodger said as he walked up to Buzz. "Despite what we've been through, we can't let ourselves lose hope. Come on, we'll get our big break soon, won't we?" He held out a hand towards Buzz. "Do you mind?" He asked, indicating the device in the punk teen's hands. Buzz shook his head slowly and handed over the device so Rodger could look it over.

"Just don't lose it this time, all right?" Buzz said in a teasing kind of tone. "Because if you do, I swear I'll..." He stopped himself when he received a glare from Fiona.

Rodger glared at him softly, but didn't have the time to deal with him now. "I won't, Buzz, okay?" Rodger held the device in his hands as he headed towards where Mr. Caruso and his wife were, and sat down on another couch.

Max looked over at Moynihan and concernedly said, "Ms. M, what are you doing up? You shouldn't be standing with a twisted ankled." He didn't know why Moynihan had decided to get up on her feet, especially when her ankle was still pretty swollen. She would end up only hurting her ankle even further doing this. Max attempted to grab a hold of the old woman to help her walk back to the chair, but Moynihan lifted up a hand, stopping him.

"I'm fine, Maxwell." Joanne said quickly as she slowly turned around to head back to her recliner. She was moving painfully slow, and Max bit his lip as he expected her to fall down and this time actually breaking the ankle. But to his relief, Joanne managed to reach her chair and lowered herself into it, and set her cane beside the piece of furniture. She felt relieved as there was no longer any pressure being applied to her sore ankle.

"Why were you standing up, Ms. Moynihan?" Max asked as he headed towards her. "You could have gotten hurt." He didn't know why he was telling this to Moynihan. He wasn't her father. It was not his place to tell her what to do. She was the mentor, he was the student. He had no authority over her, and he knew it. But that doesn't change the fact that he does care about her, as well as his other teammates. He regards them as close friends, and would do anything to protect them from harm. Although he doesn't always prevail. He winced as he thought about Caruso, and how close he was to saving him, yet failed in the end.

"I feel fine, Max." Moynihan assured him, although Max could see she was rubbing her ankle.

"You don't look fine." Max pointed out, eyeing her ankle.

Before Moynihan could respond, Jack spoke up, looking at Rodger and the device he held in his hands. "What is that?" He asked, pointing at the equipment Rodger was tweaking with.

As the large-bodied student pushed a few buttons to see if the item was still functioning, he looked up briefly and looked at Jack. "It's a hand-held tracker." Rodger said, briefly holding it out so that the man and his wife could get a good look.

"A...handheld tracker?" Amanda asked softly. She wasn't too big on technology, so she didn't know what Rodger was talking about. She eyed the device curiously, although a confused look was in her eyes. The device looked a little like a GPS she's seen once before, but was configured differently.

The remaining Dino Squad had walked into the room to join the others, each one taking a seat, and eyes staying on Rodger. The african-american didn't like this kind of attention, as it distracts him from his work. He tolerates it to a certain degree, but given the circumstances, he was feeling even more pressured than before. He could feel sweat forming on his forehead, and he wiped it with his hand. He didn't know why he was so sweaty already. He had hardly touched the device. Maybe he was just too cautionary, worried that he might slip up and destroy the tracker by mistake. He continued to tweak with it, pushing a few buttons and seeing if the screen would light up. When it didn't, he opened up the back of it to see if the battery needed changing.

As Rodger pulled the battery out from the compartment, he noticed it looked a little worn. His brow furrowed. This could explain why the device wasn't turning on. He looked up at Ms. Moynihan. "Do you have any batteries laying around?" He said in a serious tone, holding up the useless battery in his thick palm.

"Why yes. Over there." Moynihan answered, pointing at a cupboard that sat in the living room. "In the bottom shelf."

Rodger nodded and set the tracker down. As he got up to go towards the cupboard, he looked sternly at Buzz. "Do not touch it, okay?" He had believed that Buzz would mess around with the tracker to get it to work himself. But he was probably just being paranoid...

The punk teen frowned a little. "Don't worry, I won't." Buzz said in a grumpy tone. He was becoming a little frustrated with Rodger. What was he so mad about? Why would Buzz even want to mess around with the tracker, especially when they needed it to find Caruso? Buzz shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. Rodger was probably just worried, just like they all were. It's been almost a full day, and Caruso was still missing, and they had no idea where he was yet. He glanced down at the device, looking at the black screen, visualizing a bright green screen that it would normally have when in use. He thought about how the device would pick up Caruso's signature, and they would be able to find him, and rescue him from that monster of a dinosaur, Victor.

Amanda was still eyeing the device with a confused look on her face. She turned to her husband, and saw he seemed to have a new hope shine in his eyes as he stared at the device. She tugged at his shirt, bringing his attention from the tracker to herself. "Jack...what is it?" She asked, motioning towards the tracker.

Jack gave her a comforting smile, and placed his hands on her shoulders, preparing to give her a big hug. He seemed happy about something, so filled with new hope. Amanda knew this could only mean he had good news for her, the first good news she would have heard all day. "Dear, that's a hand-held tracker." He explained, pointing at the device. "It's...it's going to help us find our son."

Amanda felt an overwhelming joy fill her up inside. "Oh Jack..." She said softly in a happy tone. She wrapped her arms around her husband and squeezed tightly. This was the best news she has heard all day. Finally, a way to find her son. Poor Caruso, she thought. He must be very scared right now, all alone trapped with a madman. She silently promised to herself that when she gets her son back, she would make Victor pay.

Ms. Moynihan leaned back in her recliner as she watched Caruso's parents regain hope. While she is happy they have a new reason to hope, she herself couldn't bring herself to share the same enthusiasm. She knew something could still go terribly wrong. She would have spoken up to the couple, and tell them to not get their hopes up. But she didn't want to ruin the moment. It made her feel better to see the Dino Squad and Caruso's parents in higher spirits.

Rodger opened up the bottom cabinet door and began to rummage through it. He could see different materials scattered all over the place. There was a bit of dust collecting on the edges. It seemed Ms. Moynihan hadn't dusted it in a while. This surprised Rodger only a little bit. Moynihan wasn't the type of person to leave things dirty, but considering she has more important things to worry about, a little dusty cupboard isn't going to hurt anyone.

Inside the cabinet were a few trays laid out, although none of them were labeled. Rodger glared a little. He grabbed one of the trays and pulled it out, but found it to be filled with nothing but small balls of yarn. He pushed it back in. He grabbed the second tray and pulled it out. This one had a bunch of different sized needles. He groaned softly, wishing Moynihan and mentioned she kept some of her knitting equipment in here. He was expecting more technical things to be in here. He grabbed the third tray and slowly pulled it out, expecting to find more knitting stuff. But instead he found the batteries. He smiled softly. Inside the tray were a couple packets of different sized batteries. He reached in and grabbed one of the packets and took it out.. He shut the cabinet door tightly, and made his way back to the hand-held tracker.

He made his way towards the couch where he had left the hand-held tracker. He found it still laying in place where he had left it. He felt pleased that Buzz listened to him this time and left the device alone. The last thing he needed was Buzz messing around with it and accidentally break it before it was fixed. He said nothing, though, as he sat back down and began to replace the batteries.

Buzz looked over Rodger's shoulder, trying to see if the device was working. "Hey is it on yet?"

"No Buzz." Rodger said with an annoyed tone. "And it won't unless I change the batteries, which I haven't done yet."

"Gee, sorry. I was just asking..." Buzz muttered, scooting a little bit away from Rodger to give him space.

"Now guys, don't start." Fiona warned them with a low tone of voice. She was worried that the tension between Buzz and Rodger would cause a mistake to occur. She understood why they were tense though. Rodger was usually felt pressured when everyone was relying on him to get something done, especially when that something meant the difference between life and death. And of all of them, Buzz was the closest to Caruso in friendship.

It was a little funny, Fiona thought. Buzz and Caruso seemed like opposites, and yet they got along great, although they had their fair share of disagreements. But she knew that Buzz and Rodger acting this way wasn't going to make the situation better. Despite both having a reason, she knew this behavior wasn't to be tolerated. She glanced over at Moynihan, and noticed a small frown on her face.

"Fiona is right." Moynihan spoke up, waving a finger in a disciplinary manner as she scolded the two boys. "That attitude is not going to do any of us any favors."

"I'm sorry, Ms. M." Buzz said, lowering his head.

However Rodger didn't respond. His eyes were widened, and his lips were pulling back into a smile. His hands were so shaky it was difficult for him to not drop the device in his hands. The monitor was glowing green, and he could see the circle, and the line that swung around it, like a radar would. There was a low beeping sound, although no target was appearing. He lifted up his head and looked at the anxious group of people, waiting for him to deliver the news.

Rodger couldn't hold back his cheerful chuckle. He opened up his mouth, and gave the news they all wanted to hear. "It works! The tracker works!"

As night had started to fall onto the city of Boston, the tall skyscrapers as well as the streetlights were still illuminated. In spite of the darkness casting its shadow over the land, the bright lights still made the city seem like it was still in daytime. The amount of cars hadn't diminished and neither had the number of people walking the streets, into and outside buildings. The air was filled with the sounds of engines revving and screeching. The roads became a blur of light, further illuminating the city in contrast to the darkness surrounding the outer skirts of Boston. Some of the stores were closed, the inside as black as it can get. Many more, though, were still bustling with life. Such buildings included many of the restaurants that resided in the city.

Outside one such building, a bright red car pulled up along the sidewalk. Two tall figures, both male, stepped out, and looked up at the building they parked in front of. The building had a large sign hanging above the entrance that read 'Burton's Grill'. As one man headed towards the entrance, the other stayed behind for a few moments to put in a quarter into the parking meter. They hadn't planned on staying too long, and they couldn't anyway unless they wanted their car towed. And at the moment they did not have the money to spare to pay such a fine.

The second man walked through the doors to rejoin his companion, who was standing close by what appeared to be a podium with a young woman standing behind it. A clipboard with paper attached to it rested on top. A pen that was wired to the table was carefully held in her hand, the point close to the paper. She appeared to be writing down something down, although the pen and her hand weren't moving. She kept her eyes on the first man, briefly looking over to see the other man coming up from behind the first guy.

"Is he with you?" She asked politely, pointing the pen in direction of the second young man.

The first man gave a nod. "Yes, madame. He is."

The woman nodded in return, and pressed the pen against the paper as she started to write down the name of the first man. Across the first line of the paper, she wrote down 'Donald Simmons'. She then looked up, feeling a little embarrassed she didn't ask this earlier. "What is the name of your friend?"

The second man took a step forward, now standing right next to Donald. "That would be Michael Conner."

"Thank you." The young lady responded as she wrote down 'Michael Conner' on the paper.

Michael and Donald were around the same height, although Michael was a little taller. They both looked very similar to each other, with the same color hair and same style they kept it in. But despite their similarities in appearance, they weren't related. They were, instead, close friends since childhood. Michael was dressed up in a nice black shirt with a tie. Looking at Donald, he could have sworn he read his mind, as Donald was dressed in a similar fashion, although the white and black were switched around.

The two had just gotten off of work. Their workplace was nearby, in an electronics store. It was not as fancy as their previous job, but it sufficed them. They had decided to stop by Burtons Grill to get something to eat after a hard day at work. It was amazing how many customers they were getting. It seemed like as soon as one customer left, about two or three more would take their place. It was driving Michael insane, although Donald seemed to be able to tolerate it well, or at least better than Michael was.

The pair had originally worked for Victor Veloci, and had been for about a year. They were receiving great pay, although the hours were a little unusual, and took some time to get used to. They recalled having to wear those unusual outfits, full body suits with odd-looking helmets. Victor had assured them it was for safety reasons, although they both believed he was lying about that. Maybe it was so that Victor could easily identify whom was working for him. Donald had briefly complained about the suit because it was making him feel like he was overheating, but it didn't take long for Victor to convince him to keep wearing it, and Donald hadn't said anything about it since.

Working with Victor was a unique, although very stressful, experience. They had no idea just what they were in for when Victor selected them to join him at his true work station, with all the mutants he kept stored in large cylinders and that prehistoric feel in the room. It did take Michael and Donald sometime to get used to the fact that their employer was a sixty-five million year old Velociraptor. And it wasn't any better knowing that Victor would rip them apart if they revealed this to anyone. But despite him being a Velociraptor, working with him, in general, wasn't too different than what they were used to.

Although there was one difference. Victor had revealed to them, quite early on, that he despised humans and that he only tolerated their presence because he needed them. As much as it was painful for Victor to do so, he had to admit that if he wanted to achieve his goal, he needed the humans and their technology. Although Michael and Donald were terrified for the first few days, afraid that Victor was going to go raptor on them and kill them, they got used to the idea of working for a dinosaur, and become a bit more relaxed around Victor. But they never let their guard down and were careful to try not to disappoint Victor.

They did fine at first, achieving their goals and their assignments as they were told. But then in one mission they had started to mess up. And it was the last mission they would endure with Victor. Victor had developed another new mutant formula, and had wanted to test it out on some animals in a pet store. He needed to know if he was getting closer to perfecting his experimental DNA. He had assigned Donald and Michael in the task of contaminating every last one. He had given them each a bottle filled with the formula, disguised as anti-lice spray.

They had gotten to the store just as a couple teenagers were walking out. The male teen was pushing a cart with five different animals. Under Veloci's orders, they were supposed to contaminate all the animals. However, after they were finished spraying the first customer's animals, they had started to feel hungry. So they left the shop to go to a fastfood restaurant to get something to eat. They had originally planned on going back to the store to spray more of the animals, but by the time they were finished with their food and talking about things, the whole thing had slipped their mind. They didn't remember until sometime after they got back to Raptor Dyne.

They thought that maybe Victor wouldn't notice that not many animals were mutating, but they knew they would have to confess the truth eventually. Victor had several scans going on that would pick up the mutations as they occur. And sure enough, when Victor saw that only three mutant outbreaks were occurring, he grew suspicious. When he questioned Donald about this, he told him that they only contaminated the pets of one customer and then took a lunch break.

This did not take too well with Victor. The Velociraptor was so angry that he reverted back to his dinosaur form and advanced on him. Donald promised he and Michael would do better and be more responsible. Victor agreed to give them another chance, but threatened to eat them if they failed him again. After that Michael and Donald, although frightened, tried their best to act better and try to impress Victor.

Later on in the night, they had gone to the local nursing home where the final mutantsaur had been spotted. Upon arrival they noticed that one of the perfect dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, was there, appearing to be apprehending what appeared to be a mutant goldfish. Michael and Donald find it difficult to remember exactly how the events played out, but they had somehow shot Victor with the tar trap and net instead of the T-Rex. And as they dragged it towards the truck they were excited because they felt like they were in for a raise for capturing a perfect dinosaur. But they quickly realized they had bagged Victor instead, much to their horror. As Victor began to vent his anger at them they took off running. As they disappeared, they could hear Victor yelling at them that they were fired.

Finding another job after that wasn't easy, and it didn't help that they kept having nightmares about Victor coming over and eating them. He had sounded so serious when he told them this too. Maybe he wasn't being serious about it. But he was still a carnivore, and was fully capable of doing so. And seeing how he was larger and stronger than a human, he could easily have his way with anyone. Donald had thought about spreading word about Victor in an attempt to protect others from him, but Michael had opposed it. He warned his companion that if word gets out, Victor could easily locate them and kill them.

"Will you follow me?" The woman asked them as she stepped down from the podium. She began to lead the two young men towards their chair.

The restaurant was lit up by large, rectangular lights that hung low from the ceiling. The carpet was a nice light tan color. There were round, amber-colored tables with black seats. And there were olive colored leather seats attached to a section of wall, and an amber table set in the middle. Several pictures were hung along the wall, which was painted a pale yellow. The air was nice and cool, and as they breathed it in it felt clean too in contrast to the dirty city air. The young men were led to one of the olive leather seats. As they sat down, the woman gave them each a menu and walked off to tend to other customers.

"So what do you plan on ordering, Donald?" Michael asked his friend as he opened up his menu to see the selections.

"Oh the usual." Donald responded, yawning a little. "That sesame tuna they have."

Michael rolled his eyes. "You always get that one!"

Donald chuckled as he turned the menu to take a look at desserts and drinks. "Well I can't help it if that's my favorite meal they got here."

Michael gazed out the window nearby. He could see a few people walking by, and so many cars zooming along the road. He took in a long sigh. He wondered how long this sight would last. He knew that if Victor's dream was achieved, all this city life would be a thing of the past. All of it would be destroyed or abandoned, and the cities would crumble down. Although Michael had once agreed to Victor's vision because he believed it would do the planet some good, he had started to regret thinking like that. While it was true that humans were damaging the planet, he did not think condemning everyone to death was the right way to go.

Donald noticed where his friend was looking, and he too began to have that same feeling of guilt overcome him. To think that he was going to help Victor destroy this city, as well as many others, was mind-boggling. He felt so filthy being associated with Victor, and he tried to hide the fact that he had worked for him.

"I still can't believe he were going to help Victor destroy all this." Donald spoke up, catching the attention of his companion. "I mean the guy wanted to take it all away from us. He wanted to erase it all."

Michael nodded as he returned his gaze back to the menu. "Well at least it's all in the past now." He said.

"Is it?" Donald raised an eyebrow. "What if he actually succeeds? What are we going to do?" He raised a hand to emphasize his statements. "I mean no one is going to believe us if we try to warn them. I mean seriously, who would believe that a man who is really a Velociraptor is plotting the very downfall of mankind?"

"Well people have believed stranger things." Michael responded.

"Yeah that's true..." Donald admitted.

There were so many things people used to believe in, no matter how bizarre they seemed. There was the whole moon being made out of cheese thing, the world being flat, and lemmings committing suicide. Old wives tales were still believed today despite scientific evidence that disproved much of them. It was amazing what people will believe based on so little fact. Really, spiders making giant hairdos their home? Bats being blind? Earwigs crawling inside the head to lay their eggs? All these weird stories that people would believe without a second thought.

There were other things people used to believe in as well, such as giant humans existing at one time, and all sorts of mythological creatures as well, such as griffins, hydras, and of course the famous dragons. These, however, had some logical evidence. The ancient people had uncovered the bones of many extinct animals, but had misinterpreted them as something else entirely. They thought the skull of a mammoth was the skull of a cyclops, and the skeleton of a Protoceratops as the remains of a powerful griffin. It was easy to understand the misinterpretations however. How were they to know any better? How were they to comprehend what they had actually found?

Times have changed however, and scientific advances had revealed the truth behind these skeletal remains. But although they are now proven to be nothing more than a myth, there were some people who truly believed these creatures existed at one time. There was even a program trying to prove that dragons exist, and had even gone into detail on how they could have lived and what could have wiped them out. Donald had laughed this off, dismissing it as absurd, although Michael was a little more willing to listen.

The woman came back and stood next to their table. "Okay are you two gentlemen ready to order now?"

Snapping back from his thoughts, Donald nodded. "Yes. I would like to have the sesame-crusted tuna."

"All right." The woman said as she wrote the information down on a piece of paper. She looked at Michael. "And you?"

"The calamari please." Michael said as he set his menu down.

"And anything to drink?" The woman asked politely.

"Just some water." Michael said without looking at her directly.

"Same here." Donald said, holding up his menu, his eyes still scanning through the desserts section. He didn't really have much of a sweet tooth today. He just liked looking at the desserts section. For some reason just the sight of it made him feel better, usually. But not today...

That was all the woman needed to know. Without hesitation, she said in a very polite tone of voice, "Your meals should be ready in about twenty minutes. Is there anything else you would like to order?"

Michael slowly shook his head. "No thank you." He handed his menu to the woman.

As the woman grabbed the menu and held it under one of her arms, she turned to Donald to await his answer. She decided to give him a couple minutes. She could tell he was still looking through. She wasn't allowed to take the menus away if a customer was still looking through them.

When Donald finally spotted something he wanted, he looked up at the woman. As he started to tell the woman what he wanted, they did not notice that they were being watched.

Outside, on top of a tall building right across the street, a feminine figure stood in the darkness. She had long hair that flowed as the wind blew in her face. She wore what appeared to be a beautiful golden blouse with a bright white skirt. She wore a few gold rings around her left wrist, and she had high-heals on, colored a silvery way. Her golden blouse had a few blue stripes on it, along the sleeves and across the waist. While it was unusual, it still looked good on her.

Her long hair was a pale blond, almost as pale as it can get. It was tied into a ponytail, and dangled across her right shoulder. In her hands, gloved in dark-colored leather like Fiona's, she held a pair of binoculars as she kept an eye on the two young men inside Burtons Grill. She growled softly to herself. Although they never met face to face, she knew who they were. As she leaned over the edge of the building to get a better look, she let herself go deep in her thoughts.

She didn't know why she was spying on these two men. She didn't normally bother herself with such things. Spying was not something she normally did. While she was hired to keep an eye on these two men for a while, she was never told whom was hiring her, and what they wanted her to do other than spy on the two subjects. She was not even told why she was doing this. This frustrated her. If there was no reason to motivate her, why should she even bother doing this? It wasn't like her "employer" is going to know if she left her post or anything.

But being the responsible woman that she was, she remained on the rooftop, mentally noting what the men were doing. Despite how close she was too the edge, she was unusually calm, as if she felt she had nothing to fear. She continued to look through the binoculars, quickly growing bored since nothing interesting was going on. She didn't see the point in this. These men were nothing that special. They weren't that rich. They weren't criminals. They didn't have some breakthrough miracle. They weren't celebrities. They were just normal, ordinary, everyday gentlemen.

But regardless, she continued to do her job, spying on them. She was informed to call her employer if the two men did anything suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary. She didn't know what they had meant by that, but she felt that she'd recognize something suspicious when she sees it, or if she was close enough, hears it. But she couldn't think of anything that these men could say that would be so unusual that they would have to be spied on so often. There were enough weirdo humans in the world anyway. What was a few more?

After a few more minutes, the woman groaned angrily. There was still nothing interesting going on. Perhaps she needed to be inside the building, listening in on their conversation. Yeah, she would probably get something good from there. She turned around and headed back to the stairs, preparing to go into Burtons Grill to pay these two men a visit. She opened up her mouth to speak her first words in what seemed to be hours. "If I cannot see anything interesting, maybe I will hear something interesting."

Within a short time span, she managed to get out of the building, and stared straight across the street. The two men had chosen a seat near a window, much to her delight. She could clearly see them, even from her position, chatting with one another. Michael and Donald seemed to have finished their orders, and the woman that was catering to them was no where in sight. She probably walked away to confirm their orders and tend to other customers, the woman thought. She smirked softly. Maybe this meant she could get close enough to them without arousing suspicion. She shook that thought of her head. There was nothing elaborate about it. Anyone could easily walk in and choose a seat near these young men. The only hard part was listening in without them realizing what she is doing.

She reached into her pocket, and felt around for a small device she had stuffed into it. A small recorder in the shape of a pen. Very deceitful little object, it allowed her to secretly record conversations without being noticed. Clipping the pen on the pocket of her blouse, she took a step forward, looking left and then right to make sure the roads were clear. Once she was sure it was safe, she crossed the street, and headed for the doors. She pushed them open, and went up to the same podium as the young men did, although another person greeted her. It was a young man, looking to be about five years older than the other person. The blond hesitated for a second, then opened up her mouth to speak.

"Table for one, please." She asked, trying to sound as politely as possible. As she prepared herself, she couldn't help but gaze towards the two young men.

"Would you like a seat over there?" The man asked her, noticing her staring at some particular seats.

The woman nodded once. "Yes, I would like that."

Time seemed to fly fast. Before either men realized it, their dinner was fully prepared, and a waitress came by to hand over their plates. She had also brought them their drinks, and apologized for not bringing them sooner. Neither men seemed that upset, and immediately began to eat. The smell of calamari and tuna filled their nostrils, making them drool even as they ate. After taking a few bites of their food, they grabbed their glasses of water and drank, washing down the food.

After consuming several bites of his tuna, Donald picked up a napkin and wiped his lip of the sauce that clung to his skin. "I still wonder though..." He said without really thinking about it.

"Wonder about what?" Michael asked, his mouth full of calamari bits. He quickly swallowed it.

"Remember that day Victor fired us?" Donald asked warily, looking around to see if anyone was listening in on him.

"Yes, what about it?" Michael did remember that day rather well. It still sent chills down his spine whenever he thought about it.

"Did you think he meant it," Donald asked nervously, "I mean when he said he was going to have us for his lunch break?"

Michael gulped, feeling a little angry that his friend had brought this up during dinner. The young man glanced down at his plate, and started to visualize the calamari being parts of him, and imagined Victor chowing down on them. The very thought made a chill shudder throughout his body. He tried to take another bite, but disturbing thoughts kept flowing through his head. He eventually had to drop the fork onto the table, and rubbed his temples.

Michael groaned, "I don't know, okay?" He closed his eyes. "Let's not talk about it over dinner, okay?"

"I'm sorry." Donald looked down at his tuna, suddenly getting the same sick feeling. He pushed the tuna bits around a little with his fork before placing it down on the table. "I was just..." But his voice trailed off when he heard the sound of something clicking. His head perked up, and he looked for the source of the sound. He quickly found it. It was coming from a pen held by what appeared to be another customer. A beautiful blond who was sitting in the seat next to them.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, the woman noticed that one of the men had noticed her. But it didn't really matter now. She had already heard enough. She finally knew why these men were of such interest. They must have worked for Victor Veloci. How else would they know about him threatening to eat his employees? And why else would they be so afraid of him? Anyone who knew about Victor, at least well enough, would know he was really a Velociraptor. A rather intimidating being, she had to admit, that could strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest men. And for good reason too.

She began to wonder just what else they knew about Victor. She thought about asking them directly, but scratched that idea. It would probably arouse suspicion. The young men might not even trust her if they found out she knew about Victor. Maybe they would think she was his second-in-command or something and accuse her of collecting private information so that Victor could find them much faster and tear them apart. She chuckled at the idea. She had a feeling Vic had more important things to worry about then a couple young men like these, such as trying to capture dinosaurs that seem to appear out of nowhere, and disappear into nothingness.

But since now both men seemed to notice her there, she thought what's the harm in talking to them. They do not know what she is actually doing there. She tried her best to hide her smirk, and turned around to face the men, acting as if she was oblivious to what they were talking about. "Hello there." She said softly. "Is there a reason you are looking at me?" She asked innocently.

"I'm sorry." Donald said apologetically. "We didn't mean to stare at you, did we?"

After a couple seconds of silent gawking at the woman, Michael shook his head quickly. "Yeah, sorry about that." He said quickly.

The woman giggled softly. "Oh it is quite all right. I get it a lot." She quickly glanced at her pen to ensure she was still gripping it tight enough to record the dialog. She also glanced back at the men to ensure that they weren't eyeing the pen suspiciously. They weren't. Instead they were staring at her, probably entranced by her appearance. She almost smiled slyly at this, but stopped herself, knowing it would arouse suspicion in the two guys.

"So what is your name?" Michael asked after a few minutes of silence. The awkward silence of the room was starting to bother him a bit.

"My name?" The woman said slyly. She grinned at him and Donald. "Why don't you guys tell me your names first?"

"My name is Michael." Michael said.

"And I am Donald." Donald said.

"And I am...Kista." The woman said, placing her head on her hand while her elbow rested on the table. The woman, named Kista, stared at the young men in an almost seductive way in order to mask her true intentions. She felt men were too gullible, easily swayed by a beautiful woman like herself, unable to detect any possible dangers. This is why she agreed to track men; they were more prone to danger than women. "I could not help but overhear..." She said as innocently as she could, "..but did you guys happen to mention..Victor?"

Mentioning Victor's name could have proven to be a mistake. But neither men seemed to be suspicious of her. She had almost forgotten how powerful and well known Victor actually was. It would not be unheard of to hear about Victor and his work, especially since there were a lot of articles published on his bioengineering work, minus the mutantsaurs of course. As long as she did not mention anything about mutations or dinosaurs, she would probably be safe.

Michael and Donald looked at each other as the woman had brought up Victor. It was not unusual for people to know about Victor, at least know about the man he had pretended to be all these years. They felt that this woman had probably either met Victor while he was visiting some place checking on his mutants, or read about him in one of the many articles published about him. But if this woman had heard them talking about Victor, just how much had she heard?

"Oh, well..Victor was.." Donald said, fumbling to hold his fork in his hand. But he had a hard time bringing himself to finish his sentence, almost dreading that someone was spying on him and would shoot him if he mentioned he worked for Victor.

Michael noticed his companion's edginess and decided to finish his sentence for him. "Victor used to be our employer."

Kista pretended to sound shocked, and it looked really convincing as well. She took in a sharp gasp and leaned back, her feminine hand on her chest. "No way, really? That's amazing!"

Michael chuckled softly, not able to share her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I suppose..."

"What did you do?" Kista asked, leaning forward to make herself appear curious and interested in what he wanted to say. Well she was interested and curious, but not for the reason the man probably thought.

"We...I... would rather not talk about it." Michael said, rubbing the back of his head.

Kista's smile vanished from her face. "Ohh..." She said, trying to sound understanding. "I guess he wasn't such a great man to work with, eh?"

Donald frowned a bit. "You don't know the half of it..."