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...

9. Closer

Victor narrowed his eyes as he watched the little boy sobbing on the ground. It was such a pathetic sight. But he had grown used to seeing things like this since he became in charge of Raptor Dyne. Some of his other minions reacted in this manner due to extreme fear. Humans were so weak, he thought. All he would have to do is show his teeth and they cower like frightened vermin. But could he really blame them? After all, a human had no natural defenses against a large predator like a Velociraptor.

Growing tired of watching Caruso cry, Victor took a step forward and gently nudged him with his foot. "Stop your crying and get up, Caruso." He demanded. Much to his delight, the boy complied without hesitation, immediately climbing to his feet and looked at him for further direction. But tears still streamed down his face. "Come with me." Without hesitation, Caruso began to follow Victor in an obedient manner. He kept his head low, his eyes downcast. The tears slowly stopped flowing and his face started to dry up. He couldn't cry anymore.

"You brought this on yourself you know." Victor said as he led Caruso back towards the box with the mutantsaur inside. "You should have done this in the first place, submitted to my authority without question. Perhaps then I wouldn't have had to inflict pain on you." Caruso winced. "It's your own fault. You had to be such a hot shot didn't you? If you hadn't tested my patience and tried to escape, this would not have happened." Victor slowly shook his head as he placed his hand on the lock that held the creature inside. "You were lucky I didn't end up killing you."

Victor transformed a fingernail into a talon and picked the lock on the box. After he heard it click, he pulled the lock down and then twisted it to one side. Carefully he pulled it off. Slowly the door creaked open, and the mole mutant slowly approached, growling and hissing softly. Victor turned to Caruso. "Transform and fight." He commanded.

'She's getting away!' Rodger shouted angrily as he made a sharp turn to where he briefly spotted Michelle.

They had been chasing Michelle for about five minutes now. While in reality it wasn't a very long time, to them it seemed like an eternity. Several times already they lost Michelle only to have her reappear, much to their luck, briefly and they gave chase again. They had left the city now and were in a park. Just which one they weren't sure of. They were in a more open area now but Michelle's dark skin helped her blend in to the shadows more easily, and there were still bushes and trees for her to hide in.

They didn't understand fully why she would run out here. She didn't have as many hiding places as she did before, and it was a little easier for Buzz to maneuver in the skies without the skyscrapers and narrow alleyways in his path. And what confused them a bit more was the fact that not once during the chase had Michelle attempted to attack. This didn't seem like the Michelle they had become acquainted with back at the lighthouse, where she didn't really hesitate to attack. Something has frightened Michelle, they could tell.

But the Dino Squad didn't really care, at this point, what had frightened Michelle. A couple even believed she wasn't scared at all, and was probably just trying to trick them into thinking she was. They could not come up with a reason for Michelle to want them to believe that other than to let their guard down. But despite lack of evidence, they stuck strongly to their opinions due to their hatred for this girl. This was apparent with both Rodger and Buzz. Max thought he might have to confront these two to keep them from doing anything drastic once they caught up with Michelle. He knew they couldn't sink to her level.

From the skies, Buzz spotted Michelle running towards what appeared to be a huge building. The building was still a good distance away. Buzz narrowed his yellow eyes. Why would Michelle bother running to that particular building? There was really nothing overly special about it, looking all run down and such. Probably just a hiding spot, he thought. He made a sharp turn in the air and dove down to get closer to his friends.

'She's heading over there.' Buzz said, pointing his heard towards the run down building. 'To that large building over there.'

Max took one look at the distant building and blinked a few times. It didn't seem to make sense to him. In appearance, the building didn't seem to be anything special. There was no indication of Victor anywhere in this vicinity. He couldn't even scent Victor. And the building didn't seem like it could easily withstand a T-Rex attack. Why would Michelle hide in there? 'In there? Why?'

'Who cares why? Let's just go after her!' Rodger yelled.

'But what if it's a trap?' Fiona asked softly, her voice sounding a little bit cautious. 'I don't know if we should...'

'But if we let her escape, we may never have another chance to find Caruso!' Rodger turned his head to Fiona, eyes narrowed dangerously. 'I don't know about you, but I'm not about to risk losing this chance!'

'I don't want to lose this chance either, but...' Fiona trailed off, unsure with how to continue her sentence.

'But what?' Rodger asked bitterly.

Fiona sighed. '..I don't want to lose anymore of my friends.' She said softly, slowing her pace slightly.

'How are you...' Rodger's voice trailed off.

Fiona narrowed her eyes slightly. 'What if Veloci catches one of you guys? What if he catches all of us?' She turned her head away. 'I..I don't know how I'll be able to handle losing another one of you guys to those..monsters.'

Upon hearing that, Rodger's expression softened. He started to feel guilty about how he had acted towards her. 'I..I'm sorry.'

Straight ahead, Michelle continued her relatively slow pace, well slow for a Guanlong Wucaii that is. Leading the Dino Squad to the hideout and making it look like an accident was more difficult than she had thought. She wondered if it was her black skin and all the foliage around. But it seemed to take more effort to keep the Dino Squad seeing her than it was to hide from them. She was thankful that Oscura wasn't around. She would have seen through this plan almost right away and report her to Victor. Taking a quick glance behind her to see the distant forms of the other dinosaurs, she started to wonder where Oscura was. She was supposed to be trying to capture the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Spinosaurus. Perhaps they had won the fight against her.

Michelle mentally shrugged it off. It wasn't really of her concern. If she didn't show up back at Raptor Dyne and Dr. Veloci asks her about her partner, she could just say that she lost contact with Oscura. Victor wouldn't be happy, but what was he to do? He can always send out a search party, look for her himself, or she'll show up eventually. This wasn't the first time she had disappeared on a mission. It happened once before and she returned with no apparent injury. While Oscura did claim she didn't disappear on purpose, she never did state the reason for her absence. This made Michelle a bit suspicious of her, and it was pretty much downhill ever since.

Michelle gritted her teeth. She knew Oscura has it out for her. She knew Oscura would do whatever she could to get her into trouble and fired, or even killed. Keeping this little trick from Oscura was not going to be easy. She was very observant and was not easily fooled. She had attempted to lie to Oscura a few times. She just laughed it off and told her she wasn't fooling anyone. She began to wonder how she was going to fool her this time. Because now if Oscura sees through her lies, she'll get into trouble with Victor, big trouble.

Suddenly her foot got caught in something. She cried out as she slammed against the ground, hitting her dinosaur chin pretty hard. She hissed and looked behind her. There was a tree root that had grown out of the ground. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and had got her foot caught in it. She narrowed her eyes and started to pull her leg out. But it was stuck in there pretty good. She quickly changed back into a human and grabbed on the branch and pulled even harder. But the root wouldn't give way. She started to feel her heart race when she saw the Dino Squad gaining up to her and fast.

"Oh no..." Michelle said to herself. "Not now..."

She pressed her free foot against the tree root and started to push while trying to pull her leg in the opposite direction. But it was almost like someone had tied a rope around her ankle and it was one or two sizes too small. She pushed on the root as she could with her hands, but they slipped. She yelped as she felt the bark scrape against her hands. She quickly examined them and was relieved to see no blood was drawn.

She looked back at the Dino Squad. Her eyes widened. They were close enough to see that she was stuck now and had nowhere to go. She transformed her head and bit down on the thick root. Growling and snarling, she gnawed at it the best that she could with her sharp teeth. She moved her lower jaw forward and back in a sawing motion, and she could feel the root start to snap a little. She glanced over and knew she didn't have much time before the Dino Squad would be upon her. She quickened her pace, hoping she'd get free before they came close enough to grab her.

'I see her!' Buzz shouted as he rose up a little higher in the air. 'It looks like her foot is stuck. She has nowhere to go. We got her!' Without hesitating, Buzz dove down to the ground. As his feet were about to touch the grass, he shifted back into human form and made a dash towards where he had seen Michelle. It looked like she was almost free and he wasn't about to let her get away.

'Well that is good news.' Rodger commented. After he saw Buzz change back, he looked up at their leader. 'Should we change back too?'

Max closed his eyes to think about this. He, Rodger, and Fiona had stopped in their tracks. He knew Buzz will be able to apprehend Michelle without their help for now. Max wasn't entirely sure on which course of action that they should take. He wanted to get information from Michelle, and it could probably be easier to do that in human form. If they looked too threatening, they could frighten her too much and she wouldn't tell them anything. On the other hand, if they go over in human form, Michelle could transform, break free, and attack one of them before they could have a good chance at defending themselves.

Should they remain in human form and have a better chance at getting information as well as getting attacked? Or should they stay in dino mode and be safer but have a harder time getting information? It was going to be a tough decision. But he knew he had to make the decision that would be in Caruso's best interest. He had to keep in mind that Caruso was the reason they were here. If he made the wrong decision, they could lose him..forever. Max winced mentally at that thought. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to speak to Caruso about how harshly he had acted.

Why had he snapped like that? Was he under too much pressure? Had he really meant what he said, about getting tired of his behavior in general? It was heart-wrenching for Max to think about what he had told Caruso just the previous day. It was uncalled for and he wouldn't blame Caruso if he hated him for it. He could only hope that, if..no..when they rescue Caruso, that he would forgive him.

Unable to come up with a decision himself, Max turned to Rodger and Fiona. 'What do you guys think would be best?' He felt a little weird doing this. He had grown too used to giving the orders himself. But then again, in the other times, none of them were captured by Veloci.

It didn't take much thought for Rodger to decide what he wanted to do. 'Stay in dino mode. If we let our guard down, she could get away!'

Fiona turned her gaze towards the Styracosaurus. 'But if we stay in dino mode, wouldn't that more easily scare her off?'

'So what?' Rodger rolled his eyes. 'She deserves it after what she did!'

'But what about Caruso?' Fiona growled. 'I thought we were here to rescue him, not capture Michelle.'

'I know that, Fiona.' Rodger pawed the Earth with his foot, looking like he was ready to charge towards where Buzz ran off to. 'And Caruso is exactly the reason why we should remain in dino mode. If Michelle tries to get away, we'll have an easier time catching her.'

'Good point, but I still don't know...' Fiona began to explain.

Max shifted his gaze from Fiona to Rodger multiple times as he listened to them debate on what to do. He let out a soft sigh. He knew he would be given the burden of a final decision once again, something that he normally wasn't too bothered by. But the other times it wasn't a life and death situation. He knew all it would take is one wrong decision and they're finished. So which decision would increase their chances of catching Michelle and making her talk? The only other choice that they could make that would give them any progress is to allow Fiona and Rodger to remain in dino mode or change back into a human rather than all three of them doing it. Max narrowed his eyes. It was the only choice that could bring forth some progress.

'Well excuse me, princess!' Rodger retorted, breaking Max's concentration.

Max snorted through his nostrils. 'That's enough you two!' He snapped, taking a few massive steps forward and getting in between Rodger and Fiona. What had gotten into these two today? They had never fought like this before. 'Anyway, you two, if it makes you feel better, why don't we go over there in whichever form we feel most comfortable in. Would that satisfy you two?'

Fiona and Rodger stared at each other for several seconds before sharply turning away from one another and saying in unison, 'Fine.'

Max sighed. 'Okay then. Stop acting like children and follow me.' He ordered.

'We aren't...!' Rodger started to stay but quickly stopped himself. He looked up at Fiona, trying to forget his anger, and gave her a nod. Rodger started to run up ahead of Max and Fiona, but was forced to slow down when he nearly ran into Max. The Tyrannosaurus Rex gave a disapproving shake of the head, and shifted back into human form. Rodger stared down at the jock, eyes narrowed. 'Why aren't you letting me go first? If anything, I should be the first one there to make sure she doesn't do anything to...'

"Rodger, Buzz is there." Rolf Maxwell tried to explain. "I don't think she'll be going anywhere for a while."

'How can you be so certain?' Rodger asked, lowering his head a little to be more eye level with the leader.

"I'm not." Max admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "What I am certain of is if you just rush in while in dino mode, you could make Michelle struggle faster and then she'll get free and get away. We don't want that to happen now do we?"

'Well I...' Rodger started.

'Let's just go.' Fiona said, interrupting the two boys. She was getting tired of debating on what they should do. Without hesitation, she changed back into a human and rushed passed Max and Rodger towards where Michelle was still trapped. She didn't know, herself, why she and Rodger spent a good amount of precious time arguing. They should have known better. She could only hope their stupid argument hadn't delayed them too much.

Despite not being part of any sports related extracurricular activities at school, Fiona was a good distance in front of Max. She had a longer stride, something she acquired from using the Spinosaurus form so many times. The T-Rex might be a powerful predator, but it wasn't very fast compared to a Spinosaurus. Fiona looked behind her and could see Max trying his best to catch up with her. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help but smirk in an almost playful tone.

"Aww..am I moving too fast for you, Maxwell?" She asked him.

"Just focus on getting to Michelle before she gets her foot free!" Max ordered, huffing and puffing as he tried to move faster. It didn't take him long to gain enough speed to be almost side by side with Fiona.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Fiona told him and turned her head. She squinted her eyes. She could make out Buzz's form standing over another one. She smiled a little. They still had time. As she got closer, she could see that Buzz had grabbed onto Michelle's arm and held a firm grip on her. Michelle was clearly trying to pull away, but suddenly winced and stopped. Fiona didn't know why at first, but when she squinted her eyes further, she could see a little red. Her eyes widened a bit. Was that blood she saw?

Max saw this as well and flinched a little. He wondered why Buzz felt the need to hurt her. It wasn't like she had anywhere to do. It wasn't like he couldn't blame Buzz though. Yet he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Michelle. Pteranodon claws were no laughing matter. Next to the Velociraptor claws, they were the most merciless set of talons he'd never come across. Although it was an accident, he had suffered under Buzz's claws once before, when they were dealing with some mutated skunks. He had accidentally got in Buzz's path when he went to slash them. Buzz ended up hitting Max on the face. Luckily the gashes healed with no signs of scarring, but it did give Max a healthy respect for flying reptiles.

His thoughts were interrupted by the pounding of Rodger's monstrous feet behind them. Many times Max had forgotten just how heavy the Styracosaurs really were. Every footfall felt like a massive tremor to a human such as himself. He glanced behind him. Rodger was, sure enough, still in dino mode. He understood why Rodger wanted to remain in dino mode, but he wondered if Rodger understood the consequences that might occur due to that choice. But then again, there were consequences for choosing to turn back into human form, so he wasn't the one to talk.

Michelle stared at the claws digging into her arm and looked up at her captor in fear. Buzz returned the glance with a cold stare. Michelle started to pull on her leg to try to get free, but her effort was met with a tightening grip on the arm. She stifled a yelp and immediately stopped pulling her leg. She stared at the remaining Dino Squad heading her way. Two of them had also changed back into human form while the final one remained in dino mode. Michelle hung her head as she thought about what might happen to her now.

She started to feel angry. She wasn't sure if it was at herself or at the Dino Squad. She was so close to getting her foot free. If it weren't for Buzz, she would have gotten away in time and be able to lead them to the warehouse. But he had tackled her and pinned her down. He had threatened her, frightened her to the point where she tried to jerk back only to get her foot even more stuck than it was before. To ensure she wouldn't run away, Buzz had gripped her arm in a rather rough manner. He had made it clear to her that she wasn't going to get away this time and that he was going to make sure of that. When she tried to talk to him, he snapped at her, explaining to her why he should listen to her after she'd hurt him with her lies and deception.

Michelle flinched as he had told her that. Buzz had regarded her as a monster because of what she had helped put them through. While she felt hurt by what he had said, she knew he was right. It was her fault they were in this situation in the first place. And nothing she could say would justify her actions. Caruso had helped her realize that.

As the Dino Squad drew nearer, Buzz gave Michelle an almost evil smile. "You have no where to go now." He told her. He felt a mixture of joy, satisfaction, and eagerness well up inside of him. Finally, after all this time, they were going to rescue Caruso. "As soon as my friends get here, you're in for it."

Michelle's eyes widened as she looked from Buzz to the advancing Dino Squad ahead. "Please! I..I'm just trying to help! I.." She tried to beg, feeling desperate. She didn't think it was going to work but it was worth a try anyway.

Buzz snarled and jerked her arm roughly, pulling her a little closer to him as he replied to her. "Liar!" He said coldly to her, talking through clenched teeth. "All you ever did was lie! Why should I believe you now?"

"Because I'm being serious this time!" Michelle tried to explain to him. "I want to help you find Caruso!"

Buzz bared his Pteranodon teeth. "Do you take me for a fool?"

Michelle opened up her mouth to reply, but words failed her. What exactly could she say to him? Anything she had to say he would misinterpret as a trap. She truly did want to help them, but not like this. It would be too apparent for Victor, she knew. It wouldn't take him long to realize that she had helped them. Even if it was unwilling, Victor would probably still go haywire on her. He would question her competence and possibly have her fired. No..in this case, it was probably going to be death.

After witnessing Michelle's inability to answer back, he narrowed his eyes further. "I thought so." He then heard the sound of a twig snap and immediately turned his head. He smiled a little as he saw Max and Fiona only a few yards away. He lifted up his arm and waved at them, signaling them to come closer.

While Buzz was temporarily distracted, Michelle narrowed her eyes, realizing it was now or never. If she wanted her plan to succeed, she must get away. She glanced down at her foot, wondering just how she was going to break free. She then took notice of something she hadn't seen before about this root. One part of it was thinner and weaker than the rest. She wondered if this was due to the strain she had put on it through her struggles. Nevertheless, if she could only break that weak point, she would be free. During the precious seconds she had left, she bit down onto the root. Almost immediately, she heard shouts from the Dino Squad.

"Oh no! Stop her!" Fiona shouted, quickening her pace.

"Buzz!" Max warned the punk teen. "She's almost free!"

Buzz immediately turned towards Michelle. "Oh no you don't..!" He lowered his free hand to try to stop Michelle, but he reacted too late. He heard the sound of the vine snapping. As soon as her leg was free, Michelle roughly shoved Buzz into the ground. She transformed back into a Guanlong Wucaii and leaped over him and dashed in a new direction. "No!" He shouted angrily as he picked himself off the ground.

"Hurry!" Max ordered the others. "Before she gets too far!" Frustration quickly set in. How many more times were they going to suffer close calls like this? How long will they have to endure the pain of broken hope before they actually get to Caruso?

'Buzz!' Rodger scolded as he got closer and realized Michelle had gotten away. The others had already left, chasing after Michelle. They didn't notice that Rodger and Buzz had stopped in their tracks and were yelling at each other. Rodger was infuriated that Buzz didn't grab Michelle when he had the chance. Sure he was on the ground, but he could have grabbed her by the ankle or something. And now they had yet another chase on their hands. 'Why didn't you grab her?!' He bellowed angrily, glaring down at Buzz.

Buzz growled and gripped the nose horn on Rodger's head. Why was Rodger blaming him for this? It wasn't like he hadn't tried! "Well excuse me for being knocked on the ground! And what exactly did you do? Hung out in the back until she would get free?!"

'I was running as fast as I could!' Rodger cried. 'And you could have still grabbed her! She was right there!'

Buzz pressed his head between Rodger's eyes. "Don't be putting the blame on me! I tried my best!"

Rodger snarled, eyes narrowed. 'And your best wasn't good enough!'

"Stop this ridiculous bickering, you two!" They heard someone shout behind them. They immediately took a few steps away from each other and turned their heads. Standing there, with her arms folded, was Ms. Moynihan. At her feet stood Rump. While he was not human, he seemed to almost understand the gravity of the situation and had his ears lowered as he stared up at Buzz and Rodger. Moynihan shook her head disapprovingly at her two students. She had expected better behavior from them, especially during a crisis such as this. "Why are you wasting time putting the blame on one another? How is that going to solve anything?"

As she awaited for her answer, Ms. Moynihan started to wonder where Oscura had run off too. She had managed to get the better of the Troodon and had forced her to talk through tickling. She didn't know how she managed to pull that off without actually causing harm, but it worked. She got Oscura to tell her what she wanted to know. When she went to find the others, Rump had ran in her direction. He must have ran from the others at some point. He was barking at her, trying to get her attention. When she had followed him, she ended up here, where Rodger and Buzz were arguing. Needless to say, she was disappointed in them. She had briefly caught a glimpse of Fiona and Max running after a third figure, Michelle no doubt.

'Well, Ms. M...we...I...' Rodger tried to say, but he couldn't come up with an excuse for his and Buzz's behavior. Feeling ashamed, he lowered his head. 'I'm sorry.' He didn't know what was wrong with him today. Maybe he was just edgy because they are so close to finding Caruso and he was worried they will fail yet again.

"Yeah...I'm sorry too." Buzz said, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner. "I don't know what came over me." He then took notice of something. "Hey..how are you walking again?"

"Never mind that now." Moynihan said, holding up a hand. They didn't have much time to waste. "I'll tell you later. Right now we have more important things to discuss." She took a few steps closer. "I just spoke to Oscura."

"Who?" Buzz asked, confused.

"Michelle's partner." Moynihan explained. Rodger and Buzz scowled as she told them that. They remembered Oscura now, all too well. "I got her to tell me where Caruso is being hidden."

'What?! How?' Rodger was shocked. He didn't think anything could make that Troodon talk. He thought she would be too stubborn to say anything.

"I have my..ways." Joanne replied in an almost sly voice, smiling softly. But that quickly changed into a frown. "She wouldn't tell me exactly which room, but she says there's a warehouse nearby."

"Yeah I saw!" Buzz said, pointing where Max and Fiona had taken off to. "I saw a warehouse over there! That's where Michelle was going!" Then memories started to flood back to him. His eyes widened sharply as he finally remembered what he forgot about the Boston Common. "That's what I forgot! Out here, they were going to build a Super Walmart, but the project was canceled. The building was never taken down though. It would be large enough to hold a Stegosaurus!"

'Why didn't you say something before?' Rodger asked urgently at this new information. 'If we had known earlier, we could have...'

"I just forgot. I'm sorry!" Buzz shouted apologetically, holding up his hands.

'How could you have forgotten?! I...' Rodger started to scold Buzz, but immediately stepped down when he saw Moynihan glaring at him.

"We have to catch up with the others." Moynihan told them. Time was of the essence. She knew that well, and she knew the others understood too. But even if they got there in time, would they be able to find Caruso and free him before Victor found them?

"Come back here!" Fiona shouted as Michelle was within earshot. The black dinosaur looked back at her, but ignored the command. Instead she just started to run faster. Fiona let out a groan of frustration. Why was she even bothering to try? Michelle would never listen to her. And why should she? She wasn't under their orders. She was under Victor's. Upon thinking of that name, Fiona's stomach tensed in emotional pain. What had he done to Caruso?

"Look, if you slow down and just tell us what we need to know," Max tried to negotiate with Michelle, "we promise we won't hurt you!"

Michelle gave him a sideways glance, staring at him with her golden eyes. 'Yeah right. Do you take me for a fool?' She asked in an almost cold voice. 'If you want me to talk, you have to catch me first!' She turned away from him and made another turn, nearly slipping on the ground as she did so. She was still heading towards the warehouse, but had made plenty of turns to try to lead Max and Fiona towards a weak point in the building. There was one section that didn't have a security monitor. She knew that's where the Dino Squad would have to enter if they wanted a better chance at rescuing their friend with the least amount of initial resistance.

"You're only making this harder on yourself!" Max shouted at her.

'If you're so interested in me, why don't you just go dino already and attack me?' Michelle asked darkly as she leaped forward to gain more distance between her and the pursuing teenagers.

Panting heavily, Fiona managed to say, "Do you really want to tempt us?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

'Umm..yes.' Michelle chuckled in a dinosaurian way to disguise her nervousness. She was starting to feel relieved when they came within yards of the building. She increased her speed, making her way towards the unsecured door. 'And besides, you slowpokes don't stand a chance at saving you weak little friend.'

Fiona's eyes glowed. "You've asked for it."

"Fiona, don't..!" Max tried to warn her, but it was too late.

Fiona's legs started to lengthen a little, changing from their human flesh color into a more yellowish shade. The muscles started to increase in size and bulked up. There was a dramatic increase in her speed, and within seconds she had covered the same amount of distance that would normally take her about twice as long. She was now only a few feet behind Michelle. She held out her arms to prepare to grab her as she tensed up her legs to jump.

Sensing the impending danger, Michelle, who had finally reached the door into the large warehouse, shifted back into her human form. As she looked behind her, Fiona had started to leap at her. She could make out the sharp Spinosaurus claws on the ends of her fingertips. Michelle's eyes widened and she quickly opened up the door as fast as she could and stepped inside. Quickly and without thinking, she slammed the door shut. There was a loud thud as Fiona slammed against it, hitting her head pretty hard on the cold metal. She fell to the ground.

Michelle placed her hand on her chest, feeling her racing heart pump heavily. She took in a few breaths, taking a mental note on how close of a call that was. She then tried to calm herself down as much as she could and made her way down the dirty hallway that lay before her. She had done her job. All she had to do was wait. But before she got that far, she nearly bumped into another figure. She growled softly. "Why hello Oscura..."

"Hello, Michelle..." Oscura said back. Her arms were folded and she was learning against the wall. "What brings you here? Didn't you catch those two pesky teenagers?" She asked, looking behind Michelle as if she expected her to be bringing prisoners. She was a little disappointed that Michelle was alone.

Michelle shook her head, looking behind her. "No, but they're right behind me." She said without realizing it. "They must've followed me." When she realized her mistake, it was too late. She had spilled the beans. She glanced back at Oscura for a reaction. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up a little. She hoped that Oscura wouldn't catch on.

"Oh did they now?" Oscura said, cocking an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be surprised. They would have gotten here anyway with or without your help." She was still annoyed at how easily Moynihan had gotten the information from her. Who would have guessed that tickling could be such a persuasive tool? She thought about using that method one of these days, even though it didn't suit her personality.

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked, worrying that Oscura was going to turn her over to Victor. Had she seen her deliberately lead them to the warehouse? Had she followed her and witnessed her actions?

Oscura turned her back to Michelle and began to walk away. But she did answer Michelle's question. "That darn Moynihan forced me to reveal the location. I was just about to relay the information to Victor." She turned her head a little to give Michelle a sideways glance. "Did you want to accompany me?"

Gulping, but not wanting to give herself away, Michelle nodded once. "Okay." With that, the two girls disappeared down the corridor to find Victor and tell him of the news. They both knew that Victor wasn't going to like it. Michelle was the only one worried though. Oscura wouldn't really care how the man reacted. She would just comment, behind his back, that he looked cute. She sometimes wished she were a little older. She thought she and Victor would make a cute couple.

The warehouse looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were so many paths. It was hard to believe this was to be a Super Walmart at one point. But then again, Victor had purchased the building. Perhaps he had put up the walls and such. No, he wouldn't do that. He would hire people to do it for him. There many different signs put up everywhere. They were mostly warning signs about trespassing and the penalties of doing such a thing. There would be warnings of weaponry, but Victor had known that putting up such signs would get him unwanted attention.

It took about five minutes for Michelle and Oscura to reach another hallway that would lead to where Victor had Caruso. Throughout it all, neither of them had spoken a word. There was an eerie silence that hung in the air. The only sounds they could really hear were the faint screams that were obviously coming from Caruso in Stegosaurus mode. They could also hear the sound of him slamming against the ground. Michelle winced as she heard this, but hid it from Oscura. She decided to try to start up a conversation.

"So what happened to you?" Michelle asked, wanting to break the silence. She needed something to distract herself from the screaming. It was making her grow uneasy with every step. "Just how did Moynihan defeat you? And how come you weren't able to take down the other two Dino Squad members?" Losing wasn't something Oscura liked, and she knew this was going to be a touchy subject. She mentally prepared herself for what Oscura was going to tell her.

Oscura clenched a fist and gritted her teeth. But she stopped herself from slapping Michelle for asking such a question. "I'd rather not discuss it." She hissed through clenched teeth as the two teens continued to walk forward. It wasn't just because she was angry she lost. It was also very embarrassed about the whole ordeal. To be defeated by tickling of all things? Michelle would never let her live it down.

"Well gee, sorry." Michelle growled softly, rolling her eyes. "You don't need to get all nippy about it. You're such a..." She stopped when Oscura gripped her neck tightly. She gagged a little at how tight the other girl was gripping her. She stopped struggling and looked at Oscura, eyes slightly wide but showing no real signs of fear. The two had immediately stopped walking.

"Watch your tongue." The black-haired teen warned. Her fingernails grew into sharp talons. Michelle could feel the prickling sensation of the claws against her skin. "Or I just might...slip." As she said that, she dug her claws a little more into her neck, nearly breaking the skin and drawing blood.

"My my...aren't you the grouchy one." Michelle said half heartedly as she tried to assert a more dominant position by gripping Oscura's hand tightly and pulling her hand away. She stifled a yelp as she felt the claws scratch her a little. She gripped Oscura's other hand and held it together with the other hand. Oscura pulled to try to get free. But Michelle held the hands firmly together, not letting Oscura to break free. "Calm down already!"

"I'll calm down when you let me go!" Oscura hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Stop struggling and I will!" Michelle demanded. "As your leader, I.."

"Leader?!" Oscura spat venomously. "Since when were you my leader?! I told this before and I shall tell you again. You have no control over me! I listen to no one!" With one strong pull, she freed herself from Michelle's grip. She walked a few steps forward, glanced at Michelle with an icy glare, and continued on her way.

The brown-haired girl frowned. "And what of Victor? Don't you listen to him?" Michelle asked.

Without hesitation, Oscura whirled around to face the brunette. "That's different!"

"And now?" Michelle asked, folding her arms. "How is it any different? Is it because he's the leader of this entire organization." Oscura gave a single nod. "I don't think that is the reason you listen to him. Oh no. I can see it in your eyes. You could care less if he was the leader. You'd listen to him anyway. And you want to know why?" She walked forward and stood next to Oscura. The black-haired girl waited for her to respond. "It's because you have a crush on him."

"W-What?!" Oscura stammered a little, as if she were surprised.

"Why are you so surprised?" Michelle glanced over at the younger teenager. "It's very obvious. You've shown signs in the past that you like Victor. You cannot deny it, now can you?" When Oscura couldn't think of a response, Michelle gave a single nod. "I thought so."

Finally, after a few more seconds of silence, Oscura brought herself to say something. "Just shut up and let us warn Victor of the Dino Squad."

"Fiona!" Max rushed to his friend's side and knelt down. He grabbed her hand gently and helped her up off the ground. He could see a little blood on her mouth but other than that he couldn't see any real damage. But nonetheless he wanted to make sure she was all right. "You okay?"

As Fiona stumbled onto her feet, she shot a glare at Max, who flinched and took a step back. "I just slammed into a door of steel, Max!" She shouted angrily. "Of course I'm not okay!" She raised a hand to gingerly rub her nose and mouth where she could feel the most pain. She started to wonder if she was going to have a nosebleed soon. When she looked back at Max, she noticed he had a shamed look on his face and he had turned from her to absentmindedly look through the tiny window that was on the door. Giving off a small sigh, Fiona let her sudden anger melt away. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Max."

Max gave a nod to signal that he forgave her, but he was still troubled. He lowered his gaze. "I don't know what's happening to us, Fiona. Some of us have gotten..bitter. Why? Is it because of what happened to Caruso?" He didn't wait for Fiona to answer before he continued. "Maybe it's fear. The fear of failure. Maybe that's why we're so edgy lately."

Fiona blinked in surprise at what Max just said. Well it wasn't what he said that surprised her. It was the way he said it. Max didn't normally talk in this manner. It sounded more like how a psychiatric would talk, not how a leader would sound. But she understood what he meant and agreed with him. "Yeah, it's probably that. I mean after the past failures of finding Caruso..." Her voice trailed off before she could finish. She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"You don't need to say it." Max assured her, sensing her hesitation.

Fiona nodded, and didn't say anymore. She went over to the door and, just as Max had before, looked inside it. It was very dark inside. The lights were probably out. She couldn't make out anything. She tried to find Michelle, but she had disappeared. Probably wandered further into the building, she assumed. It wouldn't do her any good though. She and Max would search this entire building until she'd have no choice but run back out into the open. There were only so many hiding places a one level building could provide before she'd quickly run out of options.

Max turned around as he heard faint voices in the distance. He placed his broad hand over his eyes to try to get a better look. He quickly recognized the approaching figures of the rest of the Dino Squad, minus Caruso of course. He could see Buzz and Rodger running towards them, panting quite heavily. Max smiled and walked towards them, along with Fiona, to greet them. Once they were close enough to each other, Buzz and Rodger stopped to take a breather. They placed their hands on their thighs and bent over, their heads lowered as they breathed heavily to try to catch their breath. It seemed they had run a good distance. This confused Max at first until he remembered that they were already running beforehand. Buzz and Rodger probably hadn't regained their strength yet from the earlier chase.

Before Max and Fiona could say anything, they saw someone else approaching. Using her cane to aide her, Moynihan walked up the hill. There was a slight limp, but it was not very apparent and it didn't slow her down much. Right beside her was Rump. The small white dog ran around her playfully, panting. He noticed the other children and bolted towards Max and Fiona. He circled around them happily before finally calming down in Fiona's arms, who had picked him up.

"Ms. Moynihan!" Max asked as he approached her. "Are you okay? Did that Troodon hurt you?" He felt guilty about having to leave her alone with that monster. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't forgive himself.

Ms. Moynihan shook her head. "No, I handled her quite all right by myself. I may be old, but I'm no pushover, dear boy." She said gently, smiling.

Having finally found his voice, Buzz said, "Ms. M got that Troodon to talk. She found out Caruso's being held in that warehouse!" He lifted a shaky finger to point at the large building where Max and Fiona had seen Michelle run inside.

Rodger nodded, finally catching his breath. "Ms. Moynihan says we should look inside."

"What?" Max asked as he turned to face the building. "He's in there? Are you sure?"

"Well," Moynihan said softly, "not entirely..."

"You're not sure?" Max asked, sounding a little bit surprised. "Then why do you want us to..." He tried to say, but was cut off.

"Dear, do you want to pass up the chance of possibly locating Caruso at last?" Joanne asked softly, making Max grow silent. "I know you children have been met with harsh disappointments recently, but what if we pass up this chance just because we think it might lead to another disappointment, we may never see Caruso again. Life is full of risks, Max."

"And didn't you teach us to avoid risks if at all possible?" Max asked.

Joanne nodded solemnly. "Yes. But I also taught you was that sometimes you must take a risk to get a worthwhile result. Sometimes you have to face the danger to save yourself and those that you love and care about."

As Moynihan told him this, a strange feeling started to well up inside of him. Max slowly realized that Moynihan was right. He glanced back at the warehouse, his eyes narrowed. What if that Troodon was speaking the truth? Could Caruso really be in there? But if they were wrong, the consequences could be huge. He frowned further as he thought about that. Oh the risks were enormous. He acknowledged that. They could lose their freedom, or even their very lives, if the Troodon's statement of Caruso being held in there was just a trick and the whole thing was a trap. But the only way they were going to find out was to go inside and have a look for themselves.

His thoughts were interrupted by Fiona, who had been just as skeptical as Max was a few moments ago. "But what if it's a trap?" This is what Max had feared as well. "If we get caught, then how will we save Caruso?"

Moynihan walked over to Fiona and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rump lifted up his head and sniffed the hand a couple times before giving it a big wet lick. Moynihan chuckled and pulled her hand away. "Dear Fiona, it's worth a look, isn't it?"

"I suppose, but.." But Fiona was suddenly interrupted by a horrible sound that jolted everyone else into alertness.

OOOOOOAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAAA!

It was a scream, no a bellow, no wait, a mixture of the two. And they seemed to come from both the same place, and yet two different places. But how was this possible? As another scream and bellow rang out, it slowly dawned on Fiona what it was. The bellow was a vocalization, but the scream was through the thoughts. Both were filled with pain and agony. It didn't take her and the others long to realize just who it was.

"CARUSO!" They shouted in unison.

Another scream emitted from Caruso's mouth as he crashed into the ground, having been knocked back by the mutantsaur. He shook his head, quite surprised that the blind mole was that powerful. He bared his teeth weakly at it and, upon Victor's orders, charged at the mutantsaur again. The mutantsaur took a few sniffs and growled softly. It turned to its side and struck Caruso with its tail. Despite having no club, it was still strong enough to knock a full grown Stegosaurus back a few feet. Once again climbing up onto his feet, Caruso wondered how this creature could be strong enough to do that. Just what had Victor put into it?

Shrugging it off, he went in for another attack. This time he grew wise to the mole's turning behavior and immediately veered off to the left when it did that. Now face to face with the mole, Caruso managed to bite down onto the mole's neck. Despite the searing pain surging through his gums and tongue, he lifted up the mole mutant and, with a jerk of the neck, he tossed the mutantsaur away. The mole mutant crashed into the ground, but quickly regained its footing. It snarled viciously at Caruso and charged towards him.

Just how much more abuse could this mole get? Caruso was sure it would have been deterred by now. They've been going at it for what felt like hours, though in reality it was just about twenty to thirty minutes. This wasn't the first time he'd grabbed the creature by the neck. Caruso didn't really know why he even did that at first. He had never done something that violent to another living creature. He licked his teeth carefully, tasting the blood on them. But it wasn't his blood. It was the creature's. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. What was he becoming? Since this battle started, he had started to become more and more aggressive. It wasn't anything dramatic. It was a steady increase. The longer he fought, the more apparent the changes were becoming.

He eyed the mole mutant as it started to circle at him, staring at him with that eyeless face. Was it this mole that was making him start to act so strangely, so differently? He narrowed his eyes and growled softly, feeling the adrenaline rise up inside of him. The mole seemed ready to fight. It lunged at Caruso. Bellowing loudly, Caruso reared up onto his hind legs and slammed back down. He caught the mole by its back. The heavy dinosaur slammed the mole into the ground. There was a few cracks where Caruso's weigh broke the ribs of the mole. The mole screeched loudly in pain and tried to get back up only to fall back down.

A strange urge started to overcome him. He could feel it burning inside, coursing through his veins. It was like his human mind was being sucked away and only a bloodthirsty monster remained behind. He shook his head several times, trying to snap back to his senses. But each jerk of the head only increased this feeling. His eyes opened wide as his vision seemed to change. He stopped registering certain information as if his brain stopped caring about them. And his eyes started to focus more on the creature that stood before him. He was starting to feel more like a predator, and no matter how hard his human mind tried to regain control, he just wasn't able to stop this urge that was growing inside of him.

Caruso's eyes glowed. He didn't notice it, but they were now of a different shade. They started to take on a more orange color rather than the gold-yellow that they usually were. He stared at the mole in a rather strange way. It was almost as if he was hungry and this was his meal even though he was an herbivore. He took a step towards the injured mole and then hesitated. He turned his head towards Victor as if he was looking for direction. Victor gave a single nod. Caruso turned his attention back towards the mole. Without hesitation, he bit down onto the mole's neck. The creature struggled frantically as Caruso twisted the neck. There was a loud snap, and the creature become limp. It was over.

Victor folded his arms as he watched this. He was both impressed and disappointed at the same time. The mole wasn't strong enough to withstand attacks from a Stegosaurus, although it did prove to be a determined fighter and didn't back down despite being constantly knocked away. But this experiment did yield some interesting results. After exposing Caruso to the chemical, he had noticed what he was hoping for: an increased aggression. He still need to perfect this formula though. Or maybe he just need to add larger doses for a more desired effect.

Caruso's eyes suddenly changed back into the normal gold-yellow. He tasted fur, blood, and flesh in his mouth. He slowly gazed down and saw that he was holding a dead mutant in his jaws. Eyes widening in horror, he quickly let go and took several steps back. He gazed at the dead animal that lay before him. The head and neck were bent too far in an odd angle. The jaws were wide open as if it were screaming in pain. If it had eyes, they would be bulging wide with pain. Caruso started to shake a little. 'What did I just do..?' He asked himself, taking one more step back, trying to settle himself down.

"You've made your first kill." Victor said callously. When he noticed Caruso shaking, he frowned slightly. "Oh get over it! It's just one dead body! I've seen hundreds of them. They're hardly something to get worked up over." He said as if it were nothing. Of course he wouldn't be affected by it. He was a Velociraptor.

'But..but I'm not a carnivore..' Caruso stammered, feeling sick as he could taste the animal's blood in his mouth. He would try to spit it out, but the bridle made it too painful. As much as it sickened him, he had no choice but to swallow the blood. He shuddered as he did so, and silently wished for some water to get rid of the horrible taste in his mouth.

"What's the matter, little Caruso?" Victor sneered as he walked over to Caruso and placed his hand on the boy's dinosaur head. "Can't handle a little blood?" He chuckled as he patted the boy's head a few times. He turned and walked away.

Caruso whirled his head to face Victor. 'My mouth is full of my own blood, you...!' Caruso had suddenly felt that same urge he had previously. It was short lived though, and when it went away, he stopped his sentence before he could finish the last few words. It was lucky for him that he did. Otherwise, Victor would hurt him again. He immediately averted eye contact from Victor and lowered his head in submission.

Victor turned his head, the faintest hint of a smile on his face. "You were lucky you stopped yourself when you did. Because one more disrespectful word out of you, and I would have.."

'What?' Caruso asked in an emotionless way. 'Shock me?'

Victor chuckled, holding up a finger. "Oh no. I had something else in mind." He turned around so his back was facing Caruso. He held his hands together, tapping each fingertip with another in a scheming way. "It would be a shame if something happened to your friends."

Caruso's eyes widened in horror. 'What do you plan on doing to them?'

"It's not what I'm going to do to them." Victor turned to face Caruso. He pointed an accusing finger at the blue-purple Stegosaurus. "It's what YOU are going to to do to them."

'What?!' Caruso took a step back, shaking his head in denial. 'Why would I want to hurt them?'

Victor opened up his mouth to respond, but was abruptly cut short from a shout from behind him. "VICTOR!" Victor tensed up at the volume of the scream. Caruso tried to his best not to smirk or chuckle. Victor rubbed one of his ears before turning towards the door, which had been closed when Victor released the mole mutantsaur for Caruso to do battle with. He could hear someone pounding on the other side. No, there were two people. Only one was pounding on the door. He groaned. He knew who it had to be. Only one of his minions acted like this.

Placing a hand on the door and leaning forward slightly, Victor said in an annoyed voice, "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"But Victor!" Came the voice. "I need to talk to you! It's urgent! It's about the Dino Squad! They're here!"

Both Victor and Caruso widened their eyes, but for completely different reasons. For Caruso, it gave him a newfound reason to hope. A smile started to stretch across his cut up mouth. So they really were searching for him after all. He didn't know how they did it, but he felt relieved that his friends were finally able to find him. Now maybe the nightmare was going to be over. 'My friends...' He said softly. 'They've come for me...'

But Victor on the other hand wasn't quite as pleased. Even though he was silent at first, it was obvious he was angry. He was starting to shake, furiously clenching a fist and pounding it on the door. The Dino Squad weren't supposed to find this hideout! While Caruso's statement only increased his anger, he decided not to take it out on him. After all, he couldn't see why it would be Caruso's fault the Dino Squad found this particular hideout. He pushed the door open furiously, slamming it against the wall of the hallway. Oscura and Michelle, who were on the other side, both yelped in surprise and took a step back. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" He screamed at them. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE THEM!"

"Yes I know!" Oscura was the first to recover from the initial shock. "I tried my best!"

"And so did I!" Michelle interjected. "They were more formidable than I thought!"

"What are you talking about?! They're only humans!" Victor hissed. He couldn't believe these two could mess up this task. The Dino Squad were separated were they not? That's what his scouts had told him. "And they were apart! How could you have lost?!"

Oscura wrinkled her nose in a disgusted way. "Well it wasn't my fault!" She yelled back. "I almost had two of them! They weren't so tough! I would have had them too if it weren't for Moynihan!"

"MOYNIHAN?!" Victor roared, causing the two girls before him to back away. Michelle cringed but Oscura remained standing up straight. "MOYNIHAN IS HERE?!" The room became silent.

While Victor was hoping to get an encounter with Moynihan, this is not how he had envisioned it. This is not how he wanted it to happen. He was hoping to catch her alone and do what he wanted with her. He never would have expected her to come here, and with the remaining Dino Squad at that. The last he checked, Moynihan's ankle was too hurt to walk on, let alone travel all the way over here. Come to think of it, just how did she get here at all? She wasn't spotted by any of his scouts. Humans... He hissed softly. They never were all that reliable. They were so irresponsible. He would need to get better scouts. Dinosaurs would do a much better job than humans. Heck, they can do anything better than a human.

He glanced at Caruso and narrowed his eyes. It seemed he probably wouldn't get a chance to finish his experiments with him. He wanted to say something to the boy, but he stopped himself. He once again reminded himself that getting angry at Caruso would be fruitless. Caruso had nothing to do with this. He turned back to Michelle and Oscura. He was very disappointed in their performance. They were able to handle the Dino Squad just fine in their last fight. So what went wrong now?

Oh well, he thought. There was no use crying over spilled milk. There was nothing he could do to change it. The question was how can he make use of this new turn of events? He frowned a little more as he went into deep thought. He already had the boy, and now he had Moynihan and the four other 'perfect dinosaurs' possibly inside the building at this very moment. He would have to come up with a new plan and fast. It was highly unlikely he could do anything to Moynihan without the others protecting her and ruining that plan. And he had his doubts he'll be able to use Caruso. It takes a while for the chemical to take effect. There wouldn't be enough time. By the time the chemical would take effect, it would be too late. The Dino Squad would have prepared themselves.

What was he going to do now? He was becoming a bit frustrated. But he had to remain calm. He was a clever Velociraptor. He'd come up with the solution sooner or later. He glanced back at Caruso. He wondered if he should allow the Dino Squad to find him and then ambush them then. No..that wouldn't work. None of his men are competent enough to handle five dinosaurs, and he doubt Michelle and Oscura would be able to handle the job, not after how they failed with their initial objective. Should he send out some of his men to drive the dinosaurs into a single location? No. If they couldn't handle a simple task like infecting domestic animals with ooze, then how could they possibly carry out a more extreme task like this? Victor closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead as he tried his best to calm down.

Sensing Victor's frustration, Oscura took a step towards him. "What are you so worried about?" She asked without thinking about it. "So they're all here. What's the big deal?"

Michelle elbowed her harshly. "Shh! Do you want to aggravate him further?" She whispered to Oscura.

"So what?" Oscura shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like this can't be easily worked into his favor..." She stopped when she felt a strong, scaly hand grip her throat. She grunted in pain and struggled a little as she felt herself being lifted off the ground and towards Victor.

"It can be worked into my favor?" Victor asked.

"..Y-Yes.." Oscura managed to say.

Victor released his grip on her and folded his arms. "Explain." He demanded. He wondered what Oscura had in mind. Despite the way he was acting, he was feeling rather enthusiastic about hearing one of her plans. He admitted that, at times, Oscura could be more cunning than he was. That was an attribute he rarely saw in humans.

Oscura didn't respond right away. She rubbed her throat gently in the area Victor had squeezed her. She didn't understand why he felt the need to do that. But still, why should she care? She'd do the same thing to someone else if given the chance. She eyed Michelle for a brief second, silently wishing she could do something to her. If it weren't for these fighting restraints...

"Certainly." Oscura said when she heard Victor growl at her to get her to talk to him. "Well you got Caruso, right?" A nod from Victor. "And you are a predator, right?" Another nod from Victor. "Well the answer is quite obvious. Use him as bait. Knock him out and put him somewhere where the Dino Squad would find him and catch them that way. And if you're worried about doing this fast enough, I've a solution for that. Calls. Hunters use them to lure big game like deer into a certain spot. You have recorded some audio clips of Caruso haven't you?"

Victor nodded his head once. "As well as visual clips for study. Why?"

Oscura smirked. "Perfect... You could use those to lure the Dino Squad anywhere you want to. You could make them go off course, or lead them towards Caruso when you are ready for them. They're so weak-minded. They'll easily fall for it, especially since it concerns their precious little friend here." She grinned evilly at Caruso. Caruso's eyes widened and cringed at Oscura's cold stare, and Oscura smiled as she watched him shiver.

Victor narrowed his eyes and thought about it. Oscura's idea did seem plausible, and it did entice the predator side to him. He had, after all, used a similar tactic back in the glory days of the dinosaurs. But it brought back unwanted memories of Moynihan. She'd been the one to teach him that trick after all. And yet he didn't want to completely dismiss Oscura's idea. Luring them to different parts of the warehouse with Caruso's torture clips, why hadn't he thought of that before? But there was still a problem. How was he to be sure that they wouldn't see through the trap? And if they got to Caruso, would he be ready to capture them? No, there had to be something else he could use this plan for. Then the idea struck him.

Victor glanced towards Caruso, a conniving smile on his face. The boy didn't like the way he was being looked at and started to back up. 'No... no.. please no..' He begged. But Victor continued to walk towards him, backing the Stegosaurus up in a corner. Caruso's eyes widened as Victor transformed his hands and showed him his claws.

"What do you plan on doing, sir?" Michelle asked carefully, trying to hide the fact that she felt sorry for the kid.

"Setting up a trap for Joanne..." Victor replied. He gripped the rope that attached to Caruso's bridle and raised his other hand, claws glinting in the light. It was the last thing Caruso would see before a blinding pain overwhelmed him, more intense than any he's felt before...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The scream echoed throughout the warehouse. It reverberated through the walls and anyone who was standing on the ground could feel the vibrations. The scream snapped many of Veloci's men into alertness. They cautiously looked around, but saw nothing. They stood there confused for a while, and then went back to work. The scream went unnoticed by no one, especially the Dino Squad, who were making their way down one of the corridors.

Upon hearing the scream, the Dino Squad stopped, standing stiff and rigid as the meaning of that scream started to sink in, especially Moynihan. Could they already be too late? Moynihan frowned softly. No they couldn't be too late. She had grown accustomed to death screams in her life as a Velociraptor and that wasn't what she heard. But the situation was still dire. She heard a whine behind her. Rump was trotting behind the Dino Squad, his ears lowered as if he knew something was wrong. Moynihan looked at him sympathetically. The poor little fellow didn't understand what was going on.

"What was that..?" Buzz asked, looking around nervously as he waited for the horrible scream to come back. He had a feeling of what it was, but was too afraid to admit it. And what if that was a trap set up by Victor?

"That was Caruso!" Fiona shouted, sounding horrified. "He's in pain! We've got to find him!"

"But what if it's a trap?" Rodger asked, just as nervous as Buzz was.

"But what if it's not?" Fiona asked, sounding determined.

"What if it is?" Rodger asked again. "If it's a trap, do you really want to wander all the way over just to..."

"Enough you two." Moynihan stepped between the two, giving them both a disapproving look. "Now isn't the time for you two to be fighting. There are more urgent things at hand, don't you know?"

Rodger and Fiona lowered their heads. "We're sorry, Ms. M."

It was difficult for Max to watch this. This was not how they were supposed to be. In the past, they were able to work together without problem. He couldn't recall a large number of times when they continued to argue with one another when a more important objective was at hand. Now it seemed like they all had their own ideas on what to do. They didn't seem like they were all on the right page. And even the presence of Moynihan didn't help ease the tension that had formed in the group. Whatever happened to the team?

Because he was the leader, Max felt responsible. He hadn't tried hard enough to keep the remaining team together. And he couldn't help but feel this entire incident was all his fault. He had lost his temper with Caruso. And he was supposed to be the leader too! What kind of leader would allow his emotions to take over? Maybe he didn't deserve to be leader... No! He couldn't think like that! The others needed him! They still turn to him for his leadership. And wasn't it the leader's job to always keep an optimistic outlook?

But his thoughts went back to the last time he saw Caruso. He hadn't done a very good job keeping an optimistic outlook then, now had he? No, he made the situation worse. He closed his eyes tightly and strongly wished that he could undo what he'd already done.

Fiona noticed Max's distress and gently nudged him. When he opened his eyes and looked at her, she gave him a concerned look. "Hey Max? Are you okay?"

Max nodded his head and said, "Yes, I'm okay."

Fiona narrowed her eyes slightly. She had a hard time believing him. He certainly wasn't acting like he was okay just a few moments before. Why was he lying to her? Wasn't he the one who had told Caruso, back when he wanted to audition that television show, how lying would only get him in trouble? She remembered what he had said about the tangled web. It bothered Fiona to think that Caruso would be so insecure at the time that he would lie to them. And now that same uncomfortable feeling was coming back because now Max was lying to her.

"Max...please don't lie to me." Joanne asked him calmly.

"I'm not..." Max started to say but stopped himself as he looked around the room. Not only was Fiona staring at him suspiciously, everyone else was as well. They all either had a slight frown on their face or a sympathetic look, as if they understood why he felt the need to fib.

"We're your friends, remember?" Rodger said. "You don't need to lie to us."

"I know." Max said. "It's just..." But before he could finish his sentence, he was caught off guard by another loud scream. This one sounded much closer and much more urgent than the last one. Max could feel his heart start to race. "Caruso!"

Then another scream came, even closer than the last one. But what was scaring the Dino Squad the most was that the screams seem to be coming from everywhere. They couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. The screams were echoing off the walls several times, masking their general origin. They looked swiftly from left to right, trying to find some hint on where they should go, but had no luck in deciding.

"This isn't fair!" Buzz complained, glaring as he looked in several directions, trying to find a path to take. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Victor designed this place to be like a maze, it seems." Moynihan said thoughtfully. "I had suspected as much. He must have known that there was a slight chance that an enemy would find this place." This didn't surprise her too much. Victor was rather cunning and had pulled this kind of thing before with prey, leading them into a twisted maze consisting of rock and trees. The prey wouldn't know where to go, but Victor had studied that area from top to bottom and knew the best places for ambush.

"So do you know which way to go?" Rodger asked hopefully.

Moynihan shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I've never been here before. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Great, so basically we're like mice trapped in a maze, huh?" Buzz said dishearteningly. "We could wander in here for days and never..." He managed to stop himself before he depressed the others.

Moynihan nodded her head solemnly. After that, the group couldn't bring themselves to continue searching for fear they'll choose the wrong path. The hallway because silent as the group looked at each other, trying to find words to say but only drawing a blank. The path they were in now split off at two ways. Both new paths looked identical save for the one on the left that had a blinking light bulb hanging somewhere in the hallway. But only one path would lead them to Caruso. And as the screams continued, they only grew more and more confused as to where the source was coming from.

What a rather frustrating time for them, Max thought. He looked around and thought briefly why the alarms hadn't gone off. Michelle knew they were here, so why hadn't she warned Victor of their presence? That didn't make a lot of sense. She worked for Victor and was loyal to him as was Oscura. What possible reason could she have for not reporting them to Victor right away? What motivation could she have to not sound the alarm? As he thought about this, he started to feel a little panicky. Any second he expected the security system to go off, set off by Michelle, and Victor's men bursting through all the doors to get them. And this time, they couldn't pretend they weren't the 'perfect dinosaurs' anymore. Victor knew the truth about them now, and surely so would his own men. But then again, not all of them were very bright.

But perhaps there was a reason why Michelle didn't sound the alarm. Perhaps she hadn't really forgotten. Perhaps she had planned this. Max's eyes widened. If Michelle had planned this, then that meant that...

The next few seconds happened so fast it was a blur to everyone else, but for Max it felt like it lasted several minutes. He heard a warning shout from Moynihan, and then a snarl, suddenly a loud screech. He turned to see the red Troodon, Oscura, dashing towards him at high speed. Eyes widened, Max quickly dodged out of the way. The Troodon had already leaped, her jaws wide open. As she neared him while he leaped himself, she snapped her jaws shut. Her teeth snagged on the bottom of his jacket. Max quickly delivered a kick to her dinosaur shin, causing her to cry out in pain, thus releasing him from her grasp. As Oscura fell onto the ground, her mouth, dripping with drool, remained wide open. Saliva sprayed across the air, most of it landing on the ground although a few drops got onto Max's jacket. As the two regained their footing, Max noticed the saliva, grimaced, and quickly wiped it off. All this had occurred in a matter of about five to six seconds.

Oscura shifted back into human form and stared at the group standing before her. She had one hand in her pocket. The Dino Squad had their ideas on what it could be, but right now their focus was on Oscura herself. They could worry about her little toy later. The initial reaction from the Dino Squad was shock. They weren't surprised to see her. No, they were expecting her. What shocked them was how she was able to sneak up on them like that in this building. Unlike the alleyway, there wasn't a lot of places to hide. But the shock quickly melted away to anger.

"Oscura..." Moynihan said angrily.

"Moynihan..." Oscura replied coolly.

"What are you doing here?" Fiona asked, seething as she remembered how Oscura toyed with her back in the alleyway.

Oscura laughed as she replied, "Well now, I could ask you the same question, Fiona."

Rodger took a step forward. "What do you want? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"

Oscura grinned darkly. "No I haven't. Sorry." She said in a sarcastic way. However, before any one else could say something, Oscura held up a hand to silence them. "With all joking set aside, I was sent here to show you something." As she said that, she started to search her pocket for something.

"Don't bother with it." Buzz said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh but you'll be quite interested in seeing what I have in here for you and your friends, Mr. Mohawk." Buzz growled at that name.

"There isn't anything you could show us that would interest us!" Max shouted, still angry with how she had treated Fiona earlier. All this monster was going to do was slow them down.

"Oh?" Oscura asked slyly as she pulled out what looked to be a small sphere. "Not even this?" She held it out to them. The sphere was black in color with a small red button that protruded from the top of the ball. She pressed the button down, and the ball hummed to life. There was a slight glow to it. "This is one of Victor's inventions, although it performs the same function as a common household item." She laughed as the Dino Squad braced themselves for an attack. "Relax, you idiots. It's not a weapon."

"Not unless you throw it at someone." Buzz said, half joking and half being serious.

Oscura narrowed her eyes, looking more serious than she usually does. "Don't be so smart."

The black sphere suddenly shot out a beam of light against the wall. It started to take the form of a rectangle. From there it grew in size. The light was radiating a golden yellow color. It continued to grow until the top and bottom of the rectangular light reached the floor and the ceiling of the hallway. Then another beam of light shot out, one that was more clear and at the same time streaming with colorful light. It overlapped the golden yellow rectangle light. Suddenly blurry images zipped past the screen. As the image slowly came into focus, it became quickly obvious what it was.

Oscura grinned, growling softly. "You still going to tell me this doesn't interest you?"

The images being displayed caused the Dino Squad's hearts to stop, filling their bodies with intense fear. Subconsciously they took a step back, wishing what they weren't seeing wasn't real. They wished it was just some sort of sick illusion in an attempt to break them. The images flashing across the wall were of their friend, Caruso. They were seeing much of the torment he had been through. They saw him being slammed back by the mole mutant. They saw him being attacked by Victor himself. They saw him suffering under the influence of the hideous human bridle. Fiona had to stifle a gasp when she saw several images of Caruso being electrocuted by the bridle. And the blood, there was so much blood, and so many injuries.

They could hear his screams of fear and pain as the scenes flashed by quickly. Watching him suffer on this was taking a toll on their hearts and minds. But they found it difficult to tear their eyes from the scenes. They saw how Caruso kept resisting Victor and paying the price for it, and how, in the end, he eventually broke. Moynihan could feel a tear try to escape as she saw the young teenager finally submit to Victor, looking so helpless on the ground. It angered her when Victor started to taunt him a little. She closed her eyes tightly. This reminded her so much of what happened about thirty years ago, when she and Victor split paths.

Max's eyes were wide with horror as he saw just what Caruso had been through while he was here with Victor. At first, his reaction was to shake his head in denial. This had to be some sort of trick. But the more he saw, the more he became convinced that it was reality. A dark voice in his head started to taunt him, telling him he got his wish. Caruso would probably never brag again. But he shook his head, telling himself this isn't what he wanted. This isn't how he wanted things to happen. He looked at the others. They were just as horrified as he was. But not just horrified. They were furious too, and so was he. They knew Victor was dangerous, that he would stoop low enough to kill. But they had no idea that he would be cruel enough to subject Caruso to excruciating pain for no reason.

"Caruso!" Fiona finally shouted, breaking the tense silence among the group. Oscura had shut off the sphere and was looking at the group smugly. Fiona locked eyes onto the raven-haired girl and growled. "What have you monsters done to him..?"

"But you've already seen what we've done to him." Oscura said, smirking. "It wasn't anything he didn't deserve."

"Why you...!" Fiona started to charge towards Oscura only to be held back by Max. "Let me go!" She shouted, struggling wildly in his grasp. "She was asking for it!"

"That's exactly what she wants us to do." Max said, trying to stay calm even though he was just as angry as Fiona was. "If we stoop to her level, then we would be no better than she was." With that, he looked up at Oscura and glared at her. Oh the things he wished he could do to her right now...

"You better listen to your leader." Oscura mocked, folding her arms. It was clear she didn't take Max too seriously as a leader. In fact she thought he was a joke, almost. She considered Victor an example of what a true leader should be like, someone who strikes fear in the hearts of his or her workers.

Max winced. The way she had said leader, it sounded more like an insult. He decided to ignore that comment and took a step forward. Trying to look as confident as he could, he asked, "Where are you hiding Caruso?" His voice had a slight menacing tone to it, even though he didn't think Oscura could be scared to do anything.

Buzz stepped forward now. "You want to make this harder on yourself?" He warned. "If you are looking for a fight..."

"You got one with us." Rodger finished, eyes narrowed.

"Now guys..." Max started to say, but was interrupted by Oscura's sudden outburst of laughter. It sounded so chilling it caused the group to shudder. They had never heard such a cold laugh, not even from Victor himself.

"Even if I were to tell you where your precious friend was," Oscura said, "There's a slim chance Caruso would even want to see you." When the group standing before her looked shocked, she grinned. "He believed you abandoned him. So he abandoned you."

Moynihan's eyes widened a little. Something sounded suspicious about that statement. It didn't seem like Caruso to just give up on them like that. And he certainly wouldn't just abandon all hopes of being rescued, would he? He had been with the Dino Squad long enough to know that, if he was in trouble, they would do anything to help him. Moynihan began to suspect that perhaps this was a trap of sorts. What would Oscura benefit from telling the Dino Squad this? There was one thing she could think of: breaking the fighting spirits. If the Dino Squad were too shocked at the thought of their friend giving up hope in them, they might not have the will to fight back. Her eyes widened a little further. They would be easy targets for Victor and his men.

"Don't listen to her!" Moynihan spoke up, catching the attention of the kids standing near her. Oscura cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the old woman was going to say. And she knew she wasn't the only one in this area who was wondering this. "She's lying! She's just trying to get you kids to lose your fighting spirit so that she and Victor can easily capture you! Don't listen to her!" Oscura narrowed her eyes. The woman had seen through her plan. Clever Velociraptor she was, but sooner or later, Oscura would know how to break even her.

"Too smart." Oscura said, slightly disgruntled. "Did you have to ruin the fun?"

"Fun?!" Moynihan snapped, turning her head quickly to stare at the insane teen. "You call this fun?"

Oscura chuckled and sneered. "Why, of course! What could be more fun than toying with others? Watching them suffer at my words, or even my hands. Nothing could be more joyful than that! Why do you think I joined Victor, you old woman?" Oscura transformed one of her hands and flexed the hand, looking at the way her talons hooked forward, smiling it satisfaction at their sharpness. "Compassion is such a weakness. Only the strong, brutal ones are meant to rule. Those who don't fall under this category are meant to be slaves to be used and abused, even killed. They have no place in this world other than in a cage or in chains." She gave the group an eerie look. "Your friend had two choices. He could have submitted honorably and he would have gotten better treatment. Who knows? He might have even converted and be saved. Or he could resist and suffer the consequences. Judging from what I had shown you, you know which path he took." She grinned evilly, her voice full of sadism and malicious intentions.

Clenching a shaking fist, Joanne Moynihan was slowly starting to lose control of her anger. The idea of anyone being like this was mind boggling to her, and it was horrific as well. She was right to believe that Oscura's rule would be even more dangerous than having Victor rule. She had been shown how cruel Victor could be, but she knew that Victor was not the type to go to the same extreme as what Oscura would be interested in.

Noticing Moynihan's anger, Oscura decided to further antagonize the old woman. "What's the matter? You can't handle the truth? Are you going to cry?" She asked in a mocking way, scratching her chin in an almost thoughtful way, yet at the same time it looked a bit threatening.

"Oh shut up, you...!" The next word that came out of Joanne's mouth shocked everyone in the room, but for different reasons. The word was foreign to human language. It was a word Moynihan had learned before the extinction event. She had been scolded in the past for using it. The Dino Squad didn't know that it meant exactly. But from the way she had used it, they knew it wouldn't have been pleasant. It felt a little scary for them to see Moynihan react this way. It just seemed so out of her character. But then, none of them had ever done anything that would have pushed her over the edge.

Oscura on the other hand jerked her head back in surprise. She knew full well what the strange word had meant. But she shook off her initial surprise and grinned from ear to ear. "Well well well... looks like the old woman still has some bite left in her." She teased.

"Don't mock me." Moynihan threatened. "I already defeated you once."

Oscura placed a hand on her chest and gave a weird look at Moynihan. "Defeated? Me? That's a laugh!" Oscura closed her eyes and chuckled for a few seconds. She slowly opened them up again and glared at Moynihan. "Tickling me to death is not a real defeat, you idiotic fool. I thought a Velociraptor would know that. I guess you really are as stupid as the humans you ally yourself with." At this remark, Moynihan snapped her head back, teeth bared slightly in an unsure manner.

Getting fed up with Oscura, Fiona slammed a fist into the palm of her hands. If this girl wanted a fight, she'd be happy to oblige. She's been hoping to get even with Oscura. And what better way than a rematch? "If it's a fight you're looking for, I'll be more than happy to volunteer."

"Oh really? I wouldn't mind a little...match with you, sweetheart. But let's hope you do better than the last time." Oscura laughed.

"You better hope, for your sake, that I don't do better!" Fiona threatened, trying to move forward to attack her but once again being held back by Max.

"Oooo..scary!" Oscura remarked sarcastically.

"You better be scared!" Fiona threatened, her eyes starting to glow. She wondered why Max wouldn't release her and let her go after Oscura. Was it because he was afraid she was going to get hurt? No, that couldn't be it. It didn't seem like him. He was probably hoping to get Oscura to lead them to Caruso. Fat chance, she thought. The only way she felt they were going to find Caruso was to search for him themselves. But she realized that if they did it that way, they risk running out of time. Perhaps it was best to get information straight from the horse's mouth. But then what if she lies to them?

Oscura laughed coldly. "I'm shaking in my shoes!" She wondered how long this interesting scene was going to last. How long would it take for one of them to actually strike her? She kept her eyes on Fiona. She made a silent bet in her mind that this is the girl who was going to attack first. She sneered, almost taunting Fiona to make a move against her.

"You better stop it, or I'll...!" Max threatened.

"Or you'll what, you incompetent leader?" Oscura glanced over at the jock. "You going to give me a timeout?" Max growled at her, but she just shrugged it off. "You're weak, just like Caruso."

"Oscura, THAT'S ENOUGH!" A voice rang out before anyone could react. Oscura looked over to see who it was. When she got enough visual information, she hissed softly in anger and disappointment. The figure ignored this and simply walked forward. Most of their body was concealed in the shadows. But the voice alone revealed who it was.

"It's you..." Oscura growled angrily. Just great, she thought. She has arrived. Of all the times for her to arrive, it had to be now, didn't it?

The figure stepped out into the light and almost instantly the Dino Squad reacted, tensing up. It was Michelle. The brunette didn't make a threatening move towards them. She seemed focused on her partner, Oscura. She walked towards her without setting eyes on the other people in the hallway. Except for Moynihan and Max, they took a defensive stance. They didn't care if she wasn't making a move towards them. They knew what happened the last time when Michelle and Oscura were in the same area together. The worst affected was Buzz. He was shaking visibly with rage when he set eyes on the curly haired girl walking in front of them. It was taking all his will power to not rush forward and slash at her.

He silently wished he never participated in the online game with her. He should have just turned the game off. He should have just allowed Caruso to get on the computer after him. He shouldn't have gotten that extra time playing that game. What further aggravated him is that he had fallen for a similar trap not very long ago, when Rodger had first set up the online game. He had thought he met a new online friend, but it was only Victor Veloci. Buzz couldn't believe just how foolish he was. He couldn't see the warning signs. He eventually disregarded the safety rules and revealed what state he lived in. But how was he to know that Victor would be able to lure him out with that information?

He had been tricked into going into an empty house. He didn't know if anyone actually lived there, or even how Victor knew of it. Perhaps he had been there before. Maybe it was his private quarters or something. No, that couldn't be it. Victor's headquarters was back in Boston. Why in the world would he have a place of solitude that far away from his workplace? And on that subject, why should he even care? Buzz didn't have fond feelings of that house because Victor had nearly trapped him inside. He had managed to escape, but he was driven into a shed and eventually flushed out when Victor used his feet to destroy it. Buzz was captured not long after that point and nearly became Victor's guinea pig in his experiments. Luckily, his friends showed up and freed him.

Buzz was paranoid that Victor had seen him transform or at least sensed it. After that, he thought they were going to see increased attacks from Victor. He thought he was going to search throughout the entire state of Maine. If Victor had found out they were humans, he would have changed his strategy in trying to find his 'perfect dinosaurs'. He might have come out with a new chemical that would expose them for what they are. And if he knew they were human, he would bring out more sophisticated traps that could easily capture them. This never happened afterward, Buzz had breathed a sigh of relief.

But he couldn't do that anymore. Victor knew now they were humans. He had gone to their lighthouse with Michelle and Oscura and managed to take Caruso away from them. Even though he and his two dinosaur minions were outnumbered, they had defeated them. They had succeeded while the Dino Squad had failed. Buzz felt a pang of guilt as he remembered how he had gotten a hold of Caruso and tried to save him with the aide of the others and then Victor showed up and slashed his legs. Buzz winced, still feeling the pain from when the sickle claw made contact with his skin and flesh.

Buzz stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He immediately stopped shaking and looked over to see who it was. "What do you want, Max?" He asked half-heartedly.

"Are you all right?" Max asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Buzz answered.

"You were shaking." Max told him. "Is something wrong?"

Buzz looked away, not sure if he should answer. He hadn't really answered Rodger when he had asked him the same thing. He wondered if he should respond the same way as he had with Rodger or if he should give an answer this time. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rodger approach Max and pull Max a little aways from him.

"He had done this before." Rodger said. "He wouldn't tell me what the problem was. I suggest not pressuring him."

Max looked back at Buzz. "Buzz..." He started, but stopped himself. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Buzz looked up. He sighed softly. "I suppose I should tell you. You see..." He stopped, unsure of exactly how to say what he wanted to say. He was having a difficult time wording it. He groaned in frustration as he had a harder and harder time to bring himself to continue. Just how was he going to tell them?

He found relief and disappointment when Moynihan stepped in. "Buzz, you do not have to tell us now if you don't want to." She offered a gentle smile.

Buzz smiled back. "I know. But, Ms. M, I do want to tell you guys. It's just..I can't think of how to word it."

"Then wait. The words will come to you eventually." Moynihan said.

"Well well well..." The moment was suddenly interrupted as Oscura spoke up. She placed her hands on her hips and gave a creepy smile. "Isn't this such a sweet moment?" She said in a disgusted manner, as if the very idea of affection was foreign and strange to her. "How pathetic." She wrinkled her nose and snarled, partially baring her teeth. She instantly received a slap on the head. "Ow! What did you do that for?" She asked angrily, looking towards Michelle.

Michelle's arm remained raised, motioned to strike the dark-haired teeth again if she said anything else stupid or uncalled for. She was told to leave the building. Victor had told her that Oscura was going to handle things. But Michelle knew the girl would only cause trouble, so she hung back and followed Oscura as she snuck up on the group. She felt strange doing this, defending her own enemy after they had cornered her back in the alleyway and chased her here. Although the chase sequence was her idea and she had deliberately caused it to happen. "For being a fool!" She said, answering her partner's question.

"Excuse me? Foolish? They're the ones who are foolish!" Oscura pointed an accusing finger at the group. "To get worked up over nothing..." Okay so it wasn't nothing. They were worried about Caruso. She knew that. But to allow their feelings to get the better of them, she saw that as weakness. "They are getting angry just because their friend is in trouble."

Michelle narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Do not mock the enemy." She warned. "It will not work."

"Why would I need mockery to work?" Oscura chuckled darkly. "They're weak enough as it is, crying over one lost little friend!"

Sensing the tension from the Dino Squad at that insult, Michelle struck Oscura again to get her to shut up before she could say anything else. "They are not weak!" She yelled at her partner. She gripped Oscura's arm and pulled the girl towards her. "Valuing life is not weakness!" She pressed her forehead against Oscura's. She was so close that Oscura looked like nothing more than a blur, her eyes no longer able to focus on a single face. "And disregarding it is not strength!" She backed up and let go of Oscura, who just looked at her as if she couldn't believe she had said those things.

Oscura gently rubbed the small reddish area on her cheek where Michelle had slapped her. "You're just as weak as they are."

"I'll show you weak." Michelle raised her arm again, and this time Oscura backed up. This was probably the first time Michelle could recall seeing Oscura react in what was probably genuine fear of her. She immediately lowered her arm, feeling somewhat satisfied. "Why don't you leave?" She suggested. "I'll take things from here. It is clear you are too violent for this task."

"Oh, but can't I tease them some more?" Oscura asked in a tone that was a mix between pleading and mocking.

Michelle shook her head. "No..."

Oscura laughed. It was like she thought that statement was some funny joke. In her almost joyful laughter, she said, "You never let me have any fun!" Her laugher died down to chuckling, and then calmed down to soft chortling. When she finally stopped, she folded her arms and glared at Michelle, a look of disappointment and disapproval on her face. "Seriously..." She said. "You never do..."

Michelle rolled her eyes. Oscura was pouting like a little child. Just goes to show that some people might mature physically, but they do not mature mentally. Oscura was a prime example of that immaturity. "Oh cry me a river." She said mockingly. "You have your fun with me all the time." She winced as she said that. Taken out of context, that would be the most disturbing thing she ever said to Oscura.

"Hmmph!" Oscura snorted and turned her back to Michelle. "I'll comply..this time. But only because I have more important things to do anyway." She turned her head towards Michelle. "But mark my words, Michelle. I'll get back at you for this."

"Bring it..." Michelle threatened as she watched Oscura disappear into the darkness. When Oscura was out of sight, her expression immediately softened and she turned her head towards the Dino Squad members. She knew she wasn't a welcome sight for them, but she somewhat believed that they would feel more comfortable with her than Oscura. After all, she was the least violent of the two.

"We meet again." Michelle said, trying to start up some sort of conversation, although she knew it was not going to be a pleasant one. "Why are you here? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Save your lame attempts!" Buzz was the first one to speak up. He pointed an accusing finger at Michelle. "We aren't going to fall for them!"

"Fall for what?" Michelle asked innocently, smirking softly.

"Don't give me that look! You know what I'm talking about!" Buzz growled. He started to jab the finger he was pointing at Michelle in the air aggressively, as if he felt she didn't get his point the first time around.

Michelle flinched a bit, but remained standing where she was. This was going to prove a bit more difficult than she originally thought. But she would beat herself up if she expected them to accept her help right away. She would have been such a fool. She shifted her gaze across the room, catching glances from each person in the hallway. All of them had frowns on their faces. They were all staring at her. She felt a little nervous, but didn't allow it to overtake her."Oh I know what you're talking about." Michelle kept a straight face, holding her head high almost to mock him. "The question is, do you really know what you are talking about? Or is your brain as narrow as your mohawk?"

"You little lying creep!" Buzz raised an arm to punch Michelle. "How dare you!"

This time, no one stepped in to stop him. Either they wanted to see her get hurt or they were afraid to step in this time. Michelle suspected it was a mixture of both. More likely, they probably just wanted to see her suffer a little for her actions. The fist came lightning fast, but she moved with ease out of the way. Buzz's fist made contact with the cold hard wall. His eyes widened and he yelped in pain, pulling his hand back. As he shook it a few times, he looked up to see another fist. Michelle punched him in the throat. He gagged as he fell back on to the ground. Immediately Max and Rodger knelt down, looking concerned as they gripped each arm.

"Buzz!" Rodger cried.

"Ooh..." Buzz groaned in pain.

"Are you all right?" Max asked. He and Rodger gently pulled Buzz up to his feet, letting him use their bodies to support his weight.

Buzz glared at him as he yanked his arms from him and Rodger. "Of course I'm fine!" He seethed deep breaths through his teeth as he shifted his gaze towards Michelle. "But I know someone who won't be for very long..." He rubbed his jaw where Michelle had punched him, which had already started to bruise up a bit and become sore.

Michelle looked at Buzz in shock, as if she hadn't meant to strike him that hard. She took one look at her fist, then back at Buzz. Slowly she lowered her arm. She turned her back to them, something that may prove a mistake very quickly, and said, "Look, I don't have time to play with you right now." She gave them a sideways glance. "If I were you, I'd get out of here before Victor arrives. Just go back the way you came." Michelle started to walk away.

"No! We came here to free Caruso and we won't leave until we have him!" Max exclaimed.

Michelle stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened a bit, and she looked back at Max. "So you are willing to risk getting captured all for one person?"

"Well yes! That's what friends do!" Max told her in a partially confused tone. Why should his statement have confused her?

"But you probably don't understand, do you?" She heard Buzz say coldly. "You probably don't have any friends."

Michelle widened her eyes and gasped silently at that statement. The hallway became completely silent except for the sounds of heavy breathing from herself and the soft breathing from the others around her. She took a couple steps back as if that one statement had inflicted some physical damage to her, had weakened her. But what would Buzz know? He doesn't know anything about her social life! She narrowed her eyes dangerously. How dare he make a judgment on her like that! How dare he question her ability to know what a friendship is!