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...

11. Loss

"Moynihan, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Fiona urged again, sounding more serious than the last time. This time she gripped Moynihan's arm, intent on not letting go until she got an answer. "You keep spacing out. What are you thinking about?"

"I-It's nothing..." Moynihan lied, stammering a little.

Fiona narrowed her eyes. "Moynihan..." She said in a suspicious voice.

"It's nothing that you need to be concerned with right now." Moynihan quickly said, looking away. "I'll..tell you about it later... Now please let me go."

"All right then..." Fiona said slowly, releasing Moynihan's arm. She continued to stare at the old woman suspiciously. What was Moynihan hiding from her?

Suddenly they heard the sound of a door opening. They tensed up and were on full alert, scanning the area for signs of danger. They realized a little when they heard Michelle's voice calling out to them. "Come on! This is the place!" Her voice was loud and yet at the same time a little quiet. She spoke up loud enough to be heard but quiet enough so that her voice didn't reverberate against the walls, which may make her voice travel further than she wanted and have an unwanted listener. When the Dino Squad caught up to her, Michelle was standing in the doorway, waiting for them. She looked up towards the ceiling, looking for anything suspicious. She then looked left to right, trying to see if there were any tell tale signs of traps. Satisfied that there were none, she moved in as quickly as she could.

She knew the Dino Squad were right behind her, so she continued on. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a silver plate. She recognized it as the food plate that she had given him at one point early on in the capture. She shook off the feeling of guilt and continued to walk towards the center of the room. There was a large cage, rusty with metallic bars glinting in the light in the large room. She recognized the figure inside the cage. Caruso was still in dino mode and was still not awake from the attack from Victor. Victor severely hurt him with the war bridle but what actually knocked him out was a blow to the head. There was blood dripping from the dinosaur's skull, just above his eye. Victor had used his sickle claw to cut a deep wound on the head. It was not deep enough to kill but it was enough to knock him out. Michelle grimaced at the sight and did her best to ignore the smell. Even in human form, this scent was unbearable. And, even though it was no longer necessary, Victor had left the war bridle on Caruso.

Hearing footsteps, Michelle went to work quickly. She transformed into her Guanlong Wucaii form and lifted up her right paw. She placed a talon in the keyhole and started to pick at it desperately. She had forgotten to mention that Caruso may have been in a cage. If she didn't do something soon, they may have to break him out themselves, which would have created a lot of noise and would surely attract Victor and the others. And inside this room, with only one exit, they would be as good as caught.

"Where did she go?" She heard Rodger ask. How could they have gotten lost? They weren't that far behind her. Maybe they took a wrong turn? How could they have done that? Michelle decided it was best not to ask questions. Maybe they were just surveying the area a bit.

"She went in there!" She heard Max answer. She heard the footsteps become louder and louder until she heard another cry from Max. "She's over by that cage!"

The Dino Squad rushed into the room. As soon as they stepped in, they were overwhelmed with a strong scent that was both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. The room gave them an eerie chill up their spines. It had an ominous feel to it even though they didn't know exactly why. In the middle of this gloomy room they saw Michelle in dino mode. She had her claw in something. It appeared to be a lock of sorts, and she was picking at it furiously. As soon as it gave a click, Michelle turned her head over to the Dino Squad to give one final message.

'You can take it from there.' And then Michelle turned and darted off, running through the door. Her faint footfalls could still be heard and they grew fainter and fainter until they became nonexistent, mixing into the silence completely.

The cage door swung wide open. As they drew closer to it, they could see there was clearly an occupant inside. It was a large purplish blue Stegosaurus they immediately recognized as their missing friend, Irwin Caruso. Without hesitation, they rushed towards the cage, smiles on their faces, and some had tears come from their eyes, not due to sadness but to happiness. Finally, after all this time, they were finally reunited with their friend.

"Caruso!" Fiona shouted to the Stegosaurus. "Come on, get out of the cage!" But the Stegosaurus gave no response, not so much as a single movement. She frowned a bit and tried again. "Caruso! Come on!" She shouted a bit louder this time.

Max decided to try. "Caruso! Look if you're still mad at me, I'm sorry! But can we discuss this later? I don't know how much time we have left to get you out!" But the large dinosaur before him didn't say anything back.

Rodger frowned a bit. "Something is not right..."

As the teenagers drew closer to the cage, they tried their best to ignore the horrible smell. It seemed stronger here than it was in the other parts of the room. From where they were positioned, Caruso had his back turned to them. His tail hung limply outside of the cage and it was clear he was on his side. They could see a few injuries on him but nothing that seemed too serious at first. Then they started to walk around, heading towards the front. And as they did so, they realized Caruso was far from fine. They saw something strapped around his waist and torso. And on one of his front legs they could see remnants of a long deep cut that must have cut a major blood vessel. The skin still looked like it was caked with dried up blood.

As they neared the head, they noticed more and more cuts on him. And they took notice of burn marks as well, areas of skin that were charred black. And on his face, they could see a bridle, lined with spikes, digging into his skin and mouth. Caruso's mouth was wide open and blood was pouring from the multiple cuts he had. His tongue was hanging out and they could see how badly lacerated it was. On his skull they took notice of another long deep cut, blood dripping from it like a leaky faucet. Caruso's eyes were shut softly, as though he was just asleep. His head and neck were curved backwards in a pose very similar to many dinosaur fossils discovered. It was known as the death pose. But Caruso's position wasn't that extreme. The head was curved back but his neck didn't appear to be broken.

"He's unconscious..." Rodger stated, staring in shock at the injuries that were concentrated on Caruso's head. "No wonder he isn't answering."

"Then..we'll just have to wake him up." Buzz said, grimacing a little at the sight of the blood coming from the multiple wounds. That was probably a good sign. Blood coagulates after death and can't flow, so if Caruso was still bleeding it meant they might still have a chance at saving him.

Standing several feet away from the cage was Moynihan. She hadn't dared get closer. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust at the scent all around her. But she wasn't fooled. She knew where it was coming from. It was concentrated all around Caruso's large body. And the more she breathed in, the worse she felt. Her stomach knotted up with emotion and her hands started to tremble. The scent she was detecting was death. And it was coming from Caruso. She watched, heart broken, as the children started to try to wake Caruso up. But she knew it would all be in vain. Her head lowered, and she tried her best to fight back her tears. She had to remain strong for them. She just had to.

She closed her eyes tightly and stifled a cry as she watched the children continue to try to awaken their friend, whom they still believed was just in a deep sleep. But they didn't know any better. They didn't recognize the scent of death... Why hadn't they moved faster? Why hadn't she just let them come to Boston when they first suggested the idea? Why did she have to hold them back? She stared at Caruso's unmoving body, feeling horrible about initially wanting to wait until the morning before they came after him. What a horrible mistake that would have been...

"CARUSO!" Rodger shouted, using his huge lungs to amplify his voice. He shouted rather close to Caruso's ears, if Stegosaurs even had ears that is. He knew that, when a person fell asleep, their ears still remained on alert, so if Caruso was sleeping, shouting loud enough should jolt him awake. He waited a few seconds and got no response from Caruso, which further puzzled him and he was starting to become worried.

And he wasn't the only one. Max started to shake a little as he realized Rodger's shouting hadn't done anything to wake Caruso. "Why..isn't he waking up?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe he's really tired?" Fiona suggested, hoping to lighten the mood up a little. "Maybe he hadn't slept since he was caught and just decided to take a nap..."

Buzz looked at Irwin and narrowed his eyes. If that was the case, then Caruso must be a very heavy sleeper. Doesn't he realize that he's now scaring him by doing this? What if Caruso was doing this on purpose. Buzz felt anger rise up as he started to think that Caruso was awake and was just doing this to scare them. Irwin did sometimes have a bad habit of frightening them when it was not necessary, like when he had gotten him paranoid about mutantsaurs during the camping trip. But then again, when he had gotten caught in the tree, he didn't try to pin it on Caruso. He blamed himself for allowing himself to get worked up enough to get tangled in a tree.

Buzz took a few steps forward, standing right next to Caruso's head. Eyes and body glowing, he shifted into his Pteranodon form. He opened his wings wide as if he were going to take off. He threw his head and long neck back and inhaled deeply, inflating his chest like he had to scare of the rat mutants. He suddenly thrust his head forward, jaws split wide open. A loud, ear piercing shriek echoed from his vocal cords and long jagged jaws. The sound caused Moynihan and the other teenagers to cover their ears as if it was hurting them. Buzz kept up the shriek for a few more seconds before he ran out of air and coughed a little. His wings relaxed on the ground and, with his tongue hanging out, he panted a little. But Caruso didn't flinch.

Buzz's eyes widened as he shifted back. "It..didn't work?" He said in disbelief. Either Caruso was a heavier sleeper than they originally thought or something was very wrong.

"Geeze..." Fiona said, rubbing her ear. "Warn us the next time you're going to do that, okay?"

"Why did you do that anyway?" Rodger asked, smacking his head a bit to try to get the ringing sound out of his head.

"I thought he would wake up..." Buzz never took his eyes off the motionless Stegosaurus in the cage.

"It never would have worked." They heard Moynihan say behind them. "Nothing you do will work." As she spoke, the Dino Squad looked at one another, confused. Moynihan sounded downright heartbroken and devastated. She sounded as if she had lost all hope about this situation. This wasn't like her. She wasn't the type to just give up like that. What was wrong with her. When they turned towards her, they noticed she had dared not get so close. She hung back, keeping several feet between her and Caruso. She seemed almost afraid to get any closer.

"Moynihan..what's wrong?" Fiona asked carefully, reaching out towards the old woman but hesitating. Her hand was shaking a little as she thought of all kinds of bad news the woman could give them.

"Come on, Ms. M..." Max said, gesturing towards Caruso. "We have to get him to a hospital...don't we?" He knew if the wounds were not treated soon, they would get infected.

"These wounds are pretty bad." Rodger visually inspected the wounds on Caruso's face, shaking his head slowly. He didn't understand why Victor felt the need to do this. To control him? What good was controlling someone if they are too injured to do what is expected of them?

Moynihan closed her eyes and hung her head. She slowly shook her head. "A hospital would do no good..." She looked up at the Dino Squad. They all looked at her, confused, unsure, and scared at the same time. She looked away, trying to hide her tears. "Oh can't you scent it...? ...he's gone..."

As she said this, there was a collective gasp from the group. One by one, the teens looked at each other, and then back at Moynihan. Their eyes were wide with fear and shock, and they looked at their mentor, hoping to find some consolance in her eyes, hoping that she was going to say that she was wrong. But none of that came. There was no comfort. There was no doubt. There was only a horrible truth. But they were not willing to accept it yet. It was too early to declare Caruso to be gone. And they had come too far now to admit defeat. Their frightened looks were soon replaced with looks of determination. Moynihan didn't see their faces, but she sensed they were still confident. She admired them for their unwillingness to give up. But in the end, they will only be crushed. She didn't want them to get their hopes up.

The Dino Squad were not entirely sure what to make of Moynihan's announcement. It had frightened them, and somehow made them more determined. They were angry at first. They couldn't believe their teacher, who had always given them encouragement before, would say something like this. They thought it was some sort of sick joke. But how could it be? Moynihan was not the type to play jokes. She must truly believe Caruso was dead. But how could she know that? None of them had even tried to check for vital signs. And they could feel heat coming from Caruso's body. He couldn't be dead, could he?

The silence was unsettling for everyone in the room. Buzz looked down at his feet, shuffling them nervously. Thoughts were racing through his mind. What if Moynihan was right? Caruso had not even responded to his Pteranodon shriek, and he was quite loud as a Pteranodon. And Caruso wasn't that light of a sleeper. He was the first in the group to come to the realization that Moynihan was probably right. He looked back at Caruso. He had been awfully still since they got there. With all this commotion, shouldn't he have stirred at least once? He hadn't moved even a centimeter. Buzz grimaced a little as he stared at the bridle on Caruso's head. It seemed a bit loosely fitting now, but still dug into his head. He would love to remove it, but it was just too big, and with the way it was hooked up, he feared he'd hurt the boy more if he tried to remove it.

The bridle didn't go unnoticed by everyone else either. They could see it plain as day, but shared Buzz's fear of hurting Caruso more if they tried to take it off. Rodger could see a few sparks emitting from the bridle. He knew that this meant that the bridle was electrified. He gripped his neck gently and rubbed it as he imagined how painful it must be to wear that thing. There would be pain from the spikes, and additional pain from electricity coursing through the nerves, sending them into overdrive. The pain would be unbearable. Rodger had seen a lot of cruel inventions from books he'd rented from the library, but nothing could compare to this. Rodger clenched a fist tightly, shaking it a little as he thought back to when Caruso was taken, wishing he could have stopped it somehow.

Fiona tried her best not to shed a tear. She was still in doubt of Caruso being gone, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was true. She reached out towards Caruso, but then pulled her hand back, fearful of touching him. It hurt her emotionally to see Caruso like this, all cut up and bloody and wearing some cruel contraption. She knew Victor was a dark person and that he was capable of doing horrible things. She knew that he probably dined on his own men and would like to get his claws into any human that he sees do to his extreme hatred of them. But she never would have thought that he would be this cold-hearted. She gasped as she saw the way the bridle cut into the corner of his mouth, and she once again looked at his tongue, lopped on the ground. There were multiple cuts on it, one so deep it looked like it almost cut the tongue in half.

Max just looked at the large body in disbelief. No, Caruso could not be dead, he thought. Caruso was just too confident and tough to be taken down that easily. Caruso was a formidable fighter, he admitted. He couldn't have been taken down this quickly and this easily. Caruso had only been missing for at least a day at most. How could he have been so broken this quickly? What could have reduced him to this? But he knew the answer. Veloci is what reduced Caruso to this state. The cuts were unmistakable. If they weren't from the bridle, they were from Victor himself. Max's eyes scanned over the Stegosaur's body, his mind taking in information on the severity of the wounds, making him fully realize the gravity of the situation. His eyes stuck onto the head piece of the bridle. He saw how it cut into Caruso's mouth, how the inside of his mouth was coated in blood. Max closed his eyes as he recalled what he had said to Caruso that day, feeling a sharp pang of guilt in his stomach.

Moynihan worked up the courage to look back at her remaining students. They were staring at Caruso longingly, probably waiting for him to move, to twitch, anything to prove her wrong. But she knew it was never to be. The scent of death still hung strongly in the air, making her wrinkle her nose, trying to keep the bad smell out. As she looked back at Caruso, Michelle's hurtful words came back to her. She had failed them. Moynihan knew she was responsible for the safety of these kids and she had failed them miserably. She couldn't save Caruso. She had let him down. She made little attempt to even find him, and for what? A twisted leg? She closed her eyes, wishing she could comfort the children but not sure how to do so.

When she opened them up again, she saw Max standing in front of her, staring at her in the face. His expression looked almost like anger, but she could see pain in his eyes, and disbelief as well. Max looked like he wanted to grab her and shake her for saying such a horrible thing. But he held back, although his hands were trembling with agitation. Moynihan took a step back, unable to think of anything to say to the boy.

"...are you sure?" Max asked solemnly, almost muttering under his breath. "Are you sure he's..gone?" Moynihan opened up her mouth to say something, but words were failing her. She remained quiet, offering no more than a gesture to confirm what she said. She made no attempt to doubt herself. Max's eyes narrowed a little. "How can you say that? After all we've been through to find him, how could you say that he's dead?!"

"I..." Moynihan sighed, feeling horrible. She silently wished she hadn't said anything, and yet at the same time, she felt a little morbidly happy, for if she had kept quiet, she would have had to endure the pain of seeing their hopes crushed. She didn't want them to go through what she did sixty five million years ago. It was just too painful for her back then, and she knew these children would have taken it even harder. Humans were always more closely connected to each other than dinosaurs. Their bonds were stronger and she could feel that. "I'm sorry..." It was all she could manage to say.

Fiona's eyes widened as she sensed the tension building up. She quickly moved herself towards the two and stood between them to separate them before things got worse. She glanced over at Moynihan and then over towards Max. She held out her hands to give distance between the two. There was no look of anger on her face, just a mixture of concern and shock. Her attention was focused on Max. "Max..please, don't..." She wanted to comfort him, but feared if she got too close he would shove her away due to his current emotional state.

"Don't what?" Max asked her bitterly, teeth gritted a little.

Fiona snapped her head back, a little surprised at Max's behavior. But one look into his eyes told her he was not truly angry with anyone in particular. She wanted to reach out towards him, to give him a hug and comfort him. But she refrained herself from doing so. "Please..don't upset Moynihan..." Fiona asked him. "Please..don't make things worse than they already are..."

"I just..." Max broke his gaze away from Fiona, feeling terrible for the way he was acting. "I just don't want to believe it...I'm sorry.."

"It might not even be true..." Fiona answered, trying to cheer Max up. "Maybe Moynihan is wrong."

Max slowly shook his head. "I don't know about that..." He said, defeat starting to weigh him down, his hope disappearing as fast as it came.

Moynihan didn't know what to say to the kids at this point. She wanted to say something to them to make them feel better. She wanted to tell them that she was wrong. She wanted to tell them Caruso would wake up at any moment. But how could she lie to them like that? If she did something like that, she would be outright betraying them. She didn't want to break their trust. And it was hurting her to see them like this. She tried to come up with something to say, anything, but there was only one thing she could say and it was not going to be of any consolance. "I'm sorry, Fiona...but I fear I am not wrong, even though I wish terribly that I was."

Fiona looked at the old woman in disbelief. "No..it can't be true... There has to be something.." She said, stammering a little.

Joanne slowly shook her head, adjusting her glasses a little. "I wish, but no... I've been a Velociraptor for a long time, Fiona. I have hunted countless times. I have become all too familiar with this scent. It is only present when an organism has..expired."

"No!" Fiona shouted in response. "It has to be something else... I...!"

"There is no other smell like it." Moynihan said solemnly, her eyes closed. "Trust me, Fiona, I wish it were something else, but... I am afraid that is not the case."

"No..." Fiona whispered, feeling her strength to hold her tears back weaken up.

Rump walked over towards the Stegosaur. His ears perked up a little, recognizing who the dinosaur was. He pressed his nose against the dinosaur and sniffed a few times. He snorted in disguist as he inhaled the horrible smell. He sniffed again, grimacing a little, ears folding back a bit. He whimpered a little, sensing something was wrong. He barked a few times, pressing his front paws against the purple body. When that didn't work, he ran around towards the front, towards Caruso's head. He sniffed at the bridle and growled softly, as if he knew it was hurting Caruso. He attempted to bite it, but he felt himself being lifted into the air. Rump whimpered and growled, reaching out towards the bridle with his paws.

"No, little guy..." Rump looked up to see Buzz staring down at him. The young teen had scooped Rump up off the ground and held him against his chest. "You'll only make it worse..." Rump struggled a little and was tempted to go dino. But a look from Buzz made him think otherwise, and he relaxed in Buzz's arms. "Poor Rump..." He said under his breath as he stroked the dog's head.

"Poor Caruso..." Fiona approached the Stegosaurus, her eyes glued on the bridle. She reached out towards it, but stopped herself. She didn't know how to take it off. She couldn't see where the thing hooked together. Feeling defeated, she looked over to Moynihan for help, her eyes wide and pleading. "What should we do?" She asked.

"There's nothing we can do..." Moynihan said, her eyes filled with sorrow. They had an unusual shine to them, caused by tears that now filled her eyes, but she tried not to shed them. "We're too late..."

Rodger shook his head in denial. "No..no... It can't be too late." He glanced over at Caruso. He didn't want to give up on him like this. His breathing started to become quicker as he raced through his mind, trying to find something, anything. He was always the clever one, wasn't he? He was the one who usually could think of a plan. But now his mind was numb. He couldn't think of anything and his brain was starting to hurt from trying to come up with something. He gripped his head, gritting his teeth. Why couldn't he think of anything?

"Shouldn't we..." Max said, looking over at Caruso with uncertainty. "..check his pulse or something?" He wanted to make some kind of suggestion that may bring out some hope. Moynihan might have smelled something that made her think Caruso was dead, but what if he wasn't? They would have to check his vital signs first, namely heart rate and breathing.

Rodger's face lit up a bit. He looked around the group, hands held out, palms facing each other, trying to emphasize what he was saying. "Y-Yeah, we can do that! Great idea, Max! Someone could feel for his pulse and the other could check his breathing."

"But..." Buzz frowned a bit. "How could we feel his pulse through that thick skin of his?"

Fiona elbowed him to get his attention. "You can just listen for his heart beat..."

"Oh yeah..." Buzz said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

"Well, let's do it." Max said, heading towards Caruso. Following close behind him was Rodger. Max had decided, mentally, that he was going to check for breathing. Rodger head towards the large ribcage. Max approached the head, grimacing again at the bridle digging into his skin. He wished he could take it off, but like everyone else in this room, he didn't know how to. He looked over, trying to see Rodger, but Caruso's large chest was in the way. Rodger was behind Caruso's large front legs, getting ready to rest his head on him to try to hear the thunderous heart beat.

Buzz, Fiona, and Joanne stayed back, waiting for them to get the results. Rump whimpered a little, his eyes glued on the large body and his ears were down. Buzz comforted him by stroking the back of his neck, scratching behind his ears once in a while. Fiona stood close to Moynihan and gazed down at her. In her eyes, she could see both despair and desperation. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the old woman. And she could sympathize with her as well. They were all going through the same thing. Wanting to comfort her, she placed a hand on Moynihan's shoulder. The old woman looked up at her, a tear already appearing. And Fiona noticed that, if she looked hard enough, she could see Moynihan's hands shaking.

"Moynihan..." Fiona started to say, but she wasn't sure what else to tell the woman. She closed her mouth and closed her eyes, sighing. She wanted to say something to make her feel better, but words were failing her. She began to get frustrated with herself. After all Moynihan did to help her, why couldn't she say just one thing to her to make her feel better? As she saw another tear form in the woman's eyes, Fiona felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It was hurting her to see her teacher like this. In all the times she's worked for her, both as a student and a mutant fighting team member, she had never seen Moynihan cry, not even a tear. This wasn't like her.

"I appreciate you trying to help me," Joanne said softly, offering a small, weak smile. "But I fear that it won't ease my guilt. This is all my fault..."

Fiona slowly shook her head. "No..no it's not your fault. How could you say a thing like that?"

Moynihan tried her best not to cry in front of Fiona. But it proved too difficult for her and before she knew it, more tears streamed down her face. "Because..it's true..." Fiona didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort Moynihan, so she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. She allowed the woman to let it all out. It still scared her that Moynihan, usually always so unflappable, would break down like this. But she could not just tell her not to cry. That would be wrong. Everyone needs a good cry, don't they?

Max moved a little closer to Caruso's head, heading towards the open jaws. He swallowed in anticipation. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but he didn't want to quit, not now. The closer he got to the open mouth, the faster his heart was racing. Once he reached the nose, he knelt down, gently placing his hand on Caruso's head, just behind the eyes. He moved his other head towards the front of the snout. If Caruso was still alive, he should be able to feel hot breath against his palm. He held his hand in front of the open mouth, just above the tongue. He waited, hoping, praying. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would feel something. But he felt his hopes crush as he did not feel anything. His eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. He couldn't feel even the faintest of breathing. This couldn't be possible. Caruso couldn't be...

"Rodger? You hear anything?" Max called over, hoping the african-american would have better luck.

Rodger placed his hands on Caruso's side and then pressed his ear up against the skin. He tried to listen as best as he could. He pressed as hard as he could against the side, knowing the thick skin would probably muffle the sound of the heart beat. But with a big animal like this, it should be pretty easy to hear a heart beat, or so he had believed. After several seconds, he couldn't make out a heart beat. He started to feel a little panicked, but didn't jump to conclusions just yet. Caruso's heart beat was probably very slow. So he pressed his ear further against the ribcage, struggling to hear even the faintest of heart beats. A minute passed by, then another, and another, and he could not hear anything.

Closing his eyes solemnly, he said, "...there's no heartbeat."

"No..." Max whispered, not wanting to believe it. "No...it can't be true. No."

Rodger tried his best to keep a straight face. But as he inhaled, there was a shake to it as he tried to stifle a cry. "I've been listening for several minutes, Max. There's..nothing...absolutely nothing at all..."

"But..what about his thick skin? What if the heart beats are being muffled?" Max asked.

Rodger slowly shook his head. "A Stegosaurus's heart is massive. Even with a thick skin, the size would make the heart beat loud enough to be heard."

"But what if they are slow?" Max was feeling desperate. He wanted to find a way to lift Rodger's spirits. "If they were slow, then wouldn't the sound..."

Rodger held up his hand to stop Max from talking. "For the heart beats to be so slow that they could not be heard..." He gulped nervously. "..he's too far gone."

The others watched the two talk to each other. They could not hear what they were saying. But judging from their expressions and gestures, they knew they had bad news. Fiona pressed her fingertips against her lips in anticipation. Buzz clenched his teeth, holding Rump closer. Joanne stared, unblinking, at the two teens and waited for them to deliver the news. Rump looked up at Buzz, sensing he was feeling upset. To try to console him, he licked Buzz's face and whined.

Rodger and Max stood up and turned to face the others. They could see their expressions. They were prepared for the worst. To confirm their worst fears, the two bowed their heads and slowly shook them. They didn't want to look at their friends' faces when they did this. They didn't want to see their sorrowful looks. It would just make them feel worse.

"No..." Buzz whispered, taking a step back. He had a feeling this was going to be the news, but he still hoped that it would prove to be wrong. Now he felt a wave of painful emotions overcome him. It took almost all of his strength not to drop down onto his knees. He had considered Caruso to be one of his closest friends. To think that he might not see him ever again, it was something he didn't want to think about.

Fiona shook her head in denial. "I-It can't be true.." She whispered. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she fought to hold them back, trying to remain strong. She looked down at Moynihan, hoping that she could provide some comfort. But she knew she was not going to get any from her. Moynihan was the first to realize the terrible truth. Moynihan looked at her sympathetically, wiping away a tear. But she did not say anything. Fiona looked away towards Caruso. "Oh, Caruso..."

Moynihan looked at Caruso and felt even worse that her fears were just confirmed. If there was ever a time that she wished that she was wrong, this was it. She wanted Max and Rodger to prove her wrong, but they didn't. They couldn't hear a heart beat and they couldn't detect any breathing. Caruso was either dead or too far gone for any kind of help. If only they could have gone faster... Why had she slowed them down at the lighthouse? When they proposed the idea of going to Boston, why didn't she just let them go to begin with? She shouldn't have tried to stop them. She had taken away precious time from them to find Caruso. If they had gotten here just a little earlier, maybe they could have saved him.

"Come on..." Joanne spoke up to get the kids' attention. "..let's go. We...must inform Caruso's parents what happened." It was going to be very hard for her, and all of them, to tell the couple that their son was killed. She silently wished she didn't have to do this, but at the same time she knew that Caruso's parents had every right to know what happened.

Max looked left and right, shaking his head in denial. "No..no we can't just..." He looked down at Caruso, staring at his unmoving dinosaurian face. He bit his lip. The thought of leaving Caruso's body here to rot made him sick. "..we can't just leave him here."

"Maxwell... dear boy..." Moynihan said. "There's nothing we can do. He's..he's... gone..." Moynihan didn't like the idea of leaving Caruso's body here. But what else could they do? Unless Caruso changed back, somehow, they would have no choice. They would draw too much attention if they tried to carry a Stegosaur body all the way back to Kittery Point in Maine. "We...really do not... have a choice."

Max shook his head again, a look of fear on his face. Slowly he frowned and walked over to Moynihan. He didn't know what was coming over him. He just suddenly felt so angry with Moynihan, even though this wasn't her fault. As Moynihan saw him approach, her eyes widened a bit. For the first time, she actually felt afraid by his presence. She started to walk backwards, wanting to get away from the situation. She felt her back press up against a cold wall. Max backed her up, his frown furrowing deeper. He gripped her arms a bit roughly, pushing her a little harder against the wall. "Yes, we do have a choice..." He told her through clenched teeth. "There's always a choice..."

Moynihan shook her head. "I'm sorry... but there is no choice here. The second choice is nonexistent. There's never going to be another choice." She cried out in pain when Max gripped her arms tighter, his fingernails digging into her, and pulled her forward only to slam her hard against the wall again. Her head was thrown back and hit the wall pretty hard, but not hard enough to make her lose consciousness.

"Max..please, stop this..." Moynihan begged, eyes wide with shock. She never dreamed she would be assaulted like this by one of her own students, let alone a member of the Dino Squad. But Max didn't stop. He refused to let her go, despite the fact that he really wanted to. But he couldn't stop himself. His emotions were taking over. Wanting to release the built up tension that he could feel in his fingertips, he released his grip on one of his arms, formed a fist, and pulled his arm back. Without warning, he delivered a punch. It landed square on Moynihan's jaws. Her head was thrown to the side, and she cried out in pain as a bruise quickly formed just below the corner of her lip.

"Max!" Fiona gasped in horror. She couldn't believe Max would do something like this to Ms. Moynihan. "What are you doing?!" She reached out to try to stop the fight, but she felt Buzz grip her wrist and hold her back.

But Max ignored her completely. He continued to pin Moynihan against the wall, eyes filled with mixed emotions. "You're lying!" Max shouted at Moynihan, tears starting to stream down his face. When he shouted again, his voice was weaker. "You've just..got to be lying..." His grip weakened until he released Moynihan. As the old woman rubbed the sore marks on her arms, Max dropped down onto his knees, staring at the ground with a distant look in his eyes. "It's got to be some sick lie..." He inhaled sharply as more tears trinkled down his face. He could feel his nose start to stuff up as the tears went into his nostrils.

"Max..." Moynihan whispered, kneeling down in front of him. She reached out towards him and gently cupped his chin. "It's going to be all right in the end...you'll see. Please don't cry..."

Realizing what he had just done, Max started to shake uncontrollably. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to.. I don't know what came over me."

"Shh..." Moynihan pressed a finger against his lip, silencing him. "It's all right..." Despite the pain in her arms and mouth, she pulled the young boy into an embrace to comfort him. It was all she could do. "Let it all out..." She whispered to him and she could feel her shirt start to dampen from the boy's tears.

Down in the corridor, Michelle hurried to get out of there. She wanted to get as far away from the room as possible. She wanted to get back to Raptor Dyne as soon as possible. She just couldn't face her boss. Victor was probably going to be wondering what took her so long. It wasn't supposed to take her this long to lure the Dino Squad there. And on top of that, she was supposed to lure them with Oscura. But she had chased Oscura off. If she told Victor about it, he was not going to be pleased with her. And knowing Oscura, she was most definitely going to tell.

If she could just get back to Raptor Dyne, she might be in the clear. There might be a chance that Victor would forget about what Oscura said and let her off the hook. That would only buy her time though. Oscura might remind Victor the next day. Michelle would have to make it up to him somehow. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but she would think of something soon.

As Michelle turned a corner, near where one of the exits was, she saw a flash of red. Eyes widening, she screamed and halted to a stop before she crashed into the figure standing in front of her. She took a few steps back, slowly craning her head up to see how she almost ran into. When she saw who it was, she stifled a scream and took a step back. "Dr. Veloci, sir..!" She cried out.

Victor folded up his arms, shaking his head disapprovingly at her. His lips were curled slightly back, not in anger, but annoyance and disappointment. "I'm disappointed in you, Ms. Brown." It seemed to almost upset him that one of his most trusted henchmen would do something like this. Oscura had told him what Michelle had done and, frankly, it both upset him and angered him.

Michelle looked around nervously. Trying to sound innocent, she grinned a bit and asked, "What are you talking about?" As she asked that, she saw movement in the corner of her eyes. She looked over and saw Oscura leaning against the wall with an arrogant smirk on her face. "Oscura..." She whispered, realizing that Oscura had went and pretty much turned her in, and turned back to Victor.

"You have some explaining to do..." Victor said, eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you'd better have a good excuse.. for your sake..." There was a dangerous undertone to that last statement, emphasized by a slight glowing of the eyes. He intended on getting her to tell him the truth. Her punishment, if any was necessary, would be decided upon afterward.

Michelle flinched as he said that. "Yeah..I hope so too." She whispered to herself. Not wanting to keep Victor waiting, she quickly thought of an excuse to tell him to explain why she did what she did. Hopefully he would decide not to issue any sort of punishment afterward. As she started to explain, she briefly wondered how the Dino Squad were doing and if they had gotten out all right.

"I-It's no use..." Buzz whispered, loud enough for the others to hear him. "He's too far gone..."

"We have to keep trying!" Fiona responded, kneeling close to Caruso.

"But..." Buzz's voice trailed off.

Buzz was standing next to Moynihan. In front of him were Fiona, Max, and Rodger. After Max had recovered from his very short lived temper tantrum, he was still in denial, as was everyone else, including Moynihan. Believing that they might have overlooked something or had not tried hard enough, he went over to Caruso and tried to wake him up. He shouted, yelled, and roared as loud as he could. He had felt his lungs feel like they were on fire, but he continued anyway. The others had joined in, except Moynihan, Buzz, and Rump that is. The room was filled with so much noise that Buzz expected Victor to beat down the door at any second.

Despite the trio's persistent efforts, none of them were able to get a reaction from Caruso. Their hearts started to ache more and more as their attempts continued to fail. The longer Caruso remained prone on the ground, the faster the trio came to realize that their efforts may have been futile, all in vain, all for nothing. All their attempts to find Caruso, it only led to this, shattered hope and a terrible loss. As the trio continued with their efforts, slowing down as more time went by, memories came back to them. They started to remember some of the things they had said to Caruso, and began to regret how they had treated him. They wished they could take it all back. They wished they could do something to make it up to Caruso. But as they soon slowed down to a stop, they realized that this was not to be.

"...maybe Buzz is right. Maybe...maybe it is too late." Rodger spoke softly after finally giving up. "We've gave it our all..."

"No...I refuse to believe he's dead." Max said through gritted teeth. "We just aren't trying hard enough. There has to be something we hadn't tried yet..something..." He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Fiona staring at him sympathetically. She didn't speak a word, but in her eyes, he could tell that she wanted to comfort him. But there was something about her eyes that looked familiar to him. The way her eyes looked, it reminded him of how Moynihan was looking at him before he punched her. A pang of guilt came over him as he wondered what had possessed him to do that. The old teacher had forgiven him, but that did little to ease his guilt.

"Max..." Buzz finally worked up the courage to get a little closer to Max since he snapped. He still felt a little afraid of the jock after he had punched Moynihan seemingly without remorse. It was of some comfort knowing that Max apologized for what he did, but what if he did it again? Buzz didn't know just how emotionally stable Max currently was. This was one of the reasons he had stayed back while the others moved towards Caruso. The other reason was that he was starting to believe there was no hope left, that nothing he could do would change anything. As the jock turned towards him, Neil said, "You've tried almost everything to wake him up. What else is there left to try?"

"I..." Max said, but couldn't come up with an answer. He could only look away, not wanting to look at Buzz in the eyes. He didn't want him to see his newly formed tears. They stung his face, already red from the other tears he had shed. He felt embarrassed. A guy wasn't supposed to cry, weren't they? A guy was supposed to be strong. They were supposed to be stable. They were supposed to do the comforting. The memory of him breaking down and an old woman comforting him made him feel like a little child.

"Max is right." Max turned to see Fiona, still standing next to him, defending him. She sounded so confident, even more so than he was sounding right now. Fiona always seemed to be one of the most level headed of the group. She displayed good leadership qualities. Even though he was also a good leader, he couldn't help but be jealous of her. "There has to be a chance...even a slight chance... Caruso's tougher than this. He couldn't have been..."

As she said that, a familiar sound caught everyone's attention. A glow filled the corners of their eyes and they quickly looked over to see what was happening. The large Stegosaur body was engulfed in the familiar bluish glow associated to detransforming. The sounds of molecules and cells quickly shifting filled the air, and quickly, almost suddenly, the body shrunk back down, revealing the human form of Caruso. Caruso remained on his side, mouth still open. His eyes were closed softly, as if he were just sleeping. They could see where some of his clothes were torn from Veloci's assaults, especially on his arm. There was several places coated in some blood from his injuries and his hair was messed up, ripped and torn from the bridle that he was still wearing. The injuries on his face became more clear, especially on his forehead where the massive blow was dealt. The war bridle seemed to fight even tighter on him now, although that seemed implausible. The bit that was still in his mouth cut in deeper now, producing more blood flow.

A strange and happy feeling began to fill everyone's minds, everyone but Moynihan. They were elated to see the transformation take place. They were familiar that transforming took mental power. They would have to focus hard enough on their dinosaur or human form to switch to and from them. This was why they never transformed at night when they were in a deep sleep. For Caruso to transform, he must have had some consciousness left, enough to change back. And to be conscious, he must be still alive. But they didn't know if he would last very long. With those injuries, he might be completely gone soon. They would have to act fast and get him back to the lighthouse to treat his injuries.

Without thinking, Max started to move towards Caruso. "Come on...let's take him back." He said, quickly taking charge of the situation. "He won't last long with those injuries."

Buzz and Rodger nodded towards Max and started to make their way towards Caruso. They knew they would have to be careful when they carried him. They didn't want to injure him further. While they were all happy to see that Caruso might be alive after all, they didn't show it and remained as serious as possible. Something could still go very wrong and they would have to be prepared. But as they got close to Caruso's body, they felt something pull them back physically. Someone gripped them by the collars of their shirts and roughly pull them back. They turned to see who had pulled them back and were surprised to see Moynihan, still gripping their shirts.

"Moynihan...?" Buzz whispered, feeling very confused.

"What are you doing?" Rodger managed to pull himself free and turn around all the way to face his mentor. "Why are you holding us back?"

Moynihan slowly closed her eyes. She quickly released Buzz, not realizing just how hard she was holding him and Rodger. She wasn't sure how to tell them how she felt. She felt afraid, uncertain, and suspicious. She felt like she needed to protect them from suffering what she did before the mass extinction. She would never wish this fate upon anyone for it had taken her years to recover from it. When she saw Caruso transform back, she didn't feel quite as elated. Instead she felt concerned that the children would misinterpret it, and to her fear, they had.

"Please..don't touch him.." Joanne managed to say, not looking at the two in the eyes.

"...what? Why?" Buzz asked, feeling the urge to run towards Caruso despite what she was telling him. Why wouldn't Moynihan want him to touch Caruso? To pick him up, he or whoever was going to do it would have to. They couldn't just drag him on the floor by rope. "How are we going to..."

"It's too late." Moynihan whispered, loud enough for the boys to hear her.

"W-What..?" Moynihan heard Fiona say behind her. She quickly turned around to face the teenager. Fiona's expression was perplexed and confused, but not genuinely sad. She hadn't fully registered or understood what Moynihan was talking about. All she knew was that Caruso might be alive. There was no way he could change back if he was dead, wasn't there? "What do you mean it's too late?" She looked towards Caruso's unmoving bloody body. "He can't detransform if..."

Moynihan cut her off abruptly by raising a hand to silence her. "I know how you might think that, dear Fiona..." She said with a sense of understanding, but there was a tinge of sadness in her voice as well. She didn't want to tell Fiona this, but she knew she would have no choice. She looked around her and saw that Fiona was not the only one looking at her. Buzz and Rodger had moved in a little closer to listen to what she had to say. Max had also walked back towards them, looking confused as to why no one was following him towards Caruso. "But I'm afraid that detransformation only..confirms my fears."

Fiona gulped, dreading what Moynihan was going to say next. Part of her wanted to make the old woman stop talking, but the other wanted to know what Moynihan had suspected. "What do you mean...?"

"What..fear..? How does this confirm it?" Max asked, sounding slightly agitated again.

Moynihan swallowed hard, shaking a little from fear of having to reveal the information. She looked down at the ground, not wanting to bear the pain of looking at her students' faces. Could she really do this to them? Could she really break this terrible information to them and completely demolish all hope? "I-I..should have told you this before." She said with regret. "The primordial ooze does not last long without a host. In a sense it's 'alive', and immediately bonds with living tissue. Without that living tissue, the primordial ooze 'dies'. Once it does that, the individual reverts back to their original form."

Upon hearing this news, an uncomfortable silence settled upon the little group. Had they hard her right? Did she just say what they thought she said? They looked back at Caruso, this new information slowly being digested into their minds. Almost immediately, they began to deny it at first. They couldn't stand the thought of their best friend dying like this. They didn't want to believe that there was no hope left. This had to be a mistake. It just had to! Caruso can't die like this. This was not how their rescue plan was supposed to go. Any moment now, they were going to wake up from this terrible nightmare. But no matter how many times they would pinch themselves, they remained awake. This was either a very surreal dream or this was reality. Yet, in the back of their minds, they knew that, no matter what they did, this was one dream they will never wake up from.

Fiona gripped Moynihan's shirt and pulled her close. She did not hold the same angry expression on her face that Max had. Instead she had a more pained look of disbelief. Her eyes were wide with fear. She shook her head in denial. "..It's not true..." She whispered. "Please..tell me it's not true.." Tears threatened to stream down her face as she found it more difficult to hold them back. "Tell me it's not so..."

"I'm sorry... But I can't..." Moynihan closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Fiona, pulling her close. Fiona didn't fight back at first, just letting the woman hold onto her. She could hear sniffling from Moynihan, who was trying to hold back her tears but failing to do so. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered as she tried to console Fiona. She wished there was something more she could do.

Fiona shook her head in both despair and denial. "No..." Suddenly she shoved Moynihan away. The startled woman stammered back a few inches, looking at Fiona with a shocked expression. Fiona didn't stand there for very long. She quickly turned around and started to dash towards Caruso. "Caruso!" She felt herself being pulled back. She glared at Moynihan, who had gripped onto her arm. "Let me go! He needs help!" She shouted, pulling her arm roughly away only to be gripped again.

"Fiona!" Moynihan tried to explain. "It's too late!"

"It's not too late! There's still time!" Fiona said, completely denying Moynihan's claim. "We just need to hurry!"

Moynihan tried to pull Fiona back, tried to stop her. "Don't touch him!" She shouted with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Don't go near him! Please..." She begged, choking back a sob. "Please...I don't want you to be more hurt than you already are... please..." But her begs fell on deaf ears. With one final pull, Fiona broke free from her grasp. All Moynihan and the boys could do was watch as the distressed tomboy rushed towards the still form on the ground, calling out his name in vain, hoping he would respond.

"Caruso!" Fiona shouted one last time as she reached Caruso's side. Her running slowed quickly into a walk. Her expression was pain-filled and her eyes were glossy from the tears filling them up. As she walked by his side, her voice lowered into a pained, soft speaking voice. "Caruso..." She whispered, a slight crack to it as she tried not to cry. She felt herself fall into her knees next to the young teen that she had grown so attached to since the incident at the tide pool. She reached out towards Caruso's face with a shaky hand. She wanted to touch his face, but she pulled her hand back as she looked at the bridle that dug into his skin. Her lip quivered as she said, "No..." She pushed her hands underneath his unmoving body, pulling Caruso up off the ground and into her arms. She stared into his face as she gently cradled him. "Oh no...please..." She said, choking back a sob. "No..."

Moynihan couldn't stand seeing Fiona like this. She could feel Fiona's pain, and she felt a sharp pain in her heart as she watched the girl try to wake up Caruso. It hurt her even more knowing that nothing Fiona will do will change a thing. She looked away from the heartbreaking scene, many tears staining her face. "Oh Fiona..." She murmured, sniffling a bit. "Why didn't you listen...?"

Fiona's hand found its way onto the headpiece, feeling the cold metal as a sharp pain dug into her stomach. This horrible contraption, she couldn't begin to imagine what it must have put Caruso through. Without thinking, she transformed her hand and used her large claws to cut through the terrible device. "I'm going to get this off of you, Caruso..." She said to him as if she was expecting a reply. As she cut the final strap, the straps holding the headpiece to his body loosened up. A few more cuts and Fiona managed to get the body piece off, revealing red marks on his skin where the straps pressed into him.

Fiona gently gripped the head piece with one hand. Very carefully, she pulled on it, sliding it off of Caruso's head. When she got it off, she tossed it away in disgust, angry with what it had done to Caruso. She turned her attention back towards Caruso. Slowly, she touched his face, pressing her hand against his cheek. "Caruso...?" She tried again, hoping that he might hear her this time. "Caruso...please...wake up..." She begged him, stroking his hair. "We're here now... We've come to save you, just like I promised..." But she didn't get a response from Caruso. His eyes remained closed and he didn't move an inch. "No..."

Swallowing her own fear, Moynihan slowly walked over towards Fiona. She tried her best to ignore the smell radiating from his body. She knelt down right behind them and remained still for several seconds, unsure of what to do. Eventually she wrapped her arms around Fiona again, hugging her tightly but gently. This time, Fiona did not try to struggle and she didn't push Moynihan away. Instead, she gave into her emotions. She started sobbing as she pressed her cheek against Caruso's head. Moynihan continued to hug the convulsing, heartbroken Fiona as she let it out. Hearing Fiona cry like this was only making her feel even more guilty and renewed a sense of protectiveness for the remaining kids.

Rump whined loudly as he listened to Fiona cry. Sitting down on his haunches, he lifted his head towards the ceiling and let out a long, haunting howl, a throwback to his distance ancestor, the wolf. As his howl slowly faded, he felt himself being picked up. He turned to see Max holding him. In an attempt to comfort the jock, Rump licked his face a few times. Max smiled a little, but that smile quickly faded as he looked towards where Caruso was being held by Fiona.

Max had a hard time accepting what had just happened. They arrive here, ready to get Caruso out as soon as possible. Then they find out that he might be dead, and then he changes back into his human form. But Moynihan claimed that it only proved that he was dead. This was all almost too much for Max to handle. He closed his eyes as his guilt came over him once again. Seeing Caruso like this, seeing those cuts on his body and face, it reminded him so much of what he had said to Caruso not so long ago. He had outright said that he was sick of the teen, especially his fame-seeking habits. Max swallowed hard as he remembered just how hard Caruso had taken that insult. He looked..defeated if that sounded right. He was so emotionally distressed that he hardly made a strong reaction.

He wished he could apologize. It was what he wanted to do the most when they would find Caruso. But now that they were here, he finds that he is too late. There's no time left to apologize, no time for anything. Caruso would never know just how sorry he truly was, and this tore through Max's very soul. He was trying his best not to cry again. His face was still red where the tears stained him and it stung a little. But his efforts were in vain as another tear escaped and stained his already sore cheek. Holding Rump with one arm, he traced the tear from his face with a single finger.

"I can't imagine...the pain he must have been through.." Max had managed to say, his voice choking as he fought back a sob. "And..we weren't able to stop it..." He found it harder and harder to hold back his tears. As he fought back his tears, he failed to notice Rodger walking up towards him from behind. "I'm sorry Caruso...I'm so sorry..." He whispered, closing his eyes and covering his face with his free hand. He nearly jumped when he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"Are..you all right?" Rodger asked carefully, even though he could clearly tell what was wrong.

Max was silent for a few seconds and then glared at Rodger, almost like he was furious with Rodger for asking that. He felt like punching the guy. He was fighting the urge to wretch himself away from him. But he couldn't get his legs to move. Instead he stood there frozen, glaring at Rodger. He started to shake a little and Rump started to feel uncomfortable, sensing the teen's growing anger. He struggled to get out of Max's arm and when he managed to get free, he trotted towards Buzz. Seeing how Rump reacted to his swift change of emotion and noticing Rodger's growing concern, Max slowly relaxed and slumped his shoulders. He couldn't take out his frustration on Rodger. That would only make things worse.

"It's just that..." Max exhaled slowly. "I never got a chance to apologize..."

Rodger tried to comfort Max with a smile. "I'm sure he knew you were sorry..."

"But it's not just that..." Max said, turning away to look at Caruso. "We took so long to get here... What if he thinks we abandoned him on purpose? What if he died believing we did not care?"

Rodger was taken aback by this statement. This didn't sound like the Max he knew. And it certainly didn't sound like something Caruso might believe. "Why do you think that? I don't believe Caruso would believe such a thing. I mean, he knew we cared about him..."

Max frowned a little. "Did he? After what we said and done to him... did he really believe we cared about it?"

"Now listen here, it was you who said all those things to..." Rodger said, attempting to defend himself.

"Rodger..we are all guilty." Max said in a serious tone, eyes narrowing slightly.

"How are we all..." Rodger started to say before he realized just what Max had meant. "Oh..."

In a way, they were all guilty of doing something that really upset Caruso. Usually, under normal circumstances, they would just brush it off as if it were no big deal. All friendships had their quirks, didn't they? All friends would have problems with one another. It was normal. But they never would have believed just how much these seemingly meaningless things would effect them after Caruso had died. They never expected it to happen this fast. Caruso was so young. He didn't deserve this. As memories flashed through his mind, one in particular stood out. It was the time when he had cut Caruso's hair without his permission. He had wanted to forget about that. He remembered how upset Caruso was. And Rodger had only made it worse by purposely exposing his bad haircut in front of the entire classroom.

Rodger slowly shook his head. What was he thinking? Was he so caught up in the idea of revenge that he would ignore the emotional warning signs? He had laughed so much after seeing Caruso run away like that. But now, thinking back, it only brought him pain for two reasons. The first one being that Caruso was in emotional distress. The second one was that he had found the entire situation very amusing. He hadn't taken Caruso's feelings into consideration. All he had cared about was getting revenge over something that could have been settled had he just talked to them. Rodger felt like beating himself up. Why hadn't he done that in the first place?

Another incident that came to Rodger's mind was during the football game. Caruso had wanted to win a football game and he wanted to do it through cheating. He had wanted to use his dinosaur powers to win, and this was something that everyone else had strongly opposed. They had all believed that he only wanted to do it simply for fame. That seemed to be a strong motivation for Caruso. If it involved fame and fortune, he'd be willing to do almost anything. He was even willing to expose himself on national television because of this dream. But it was only later that they had found out the real reason for Caruso cheating. It wasn't for himself. He was only doing it so that he would please his parents. He was afraid of letting them down. He didn't want to do that, so he decided to cheat to win the game to make his parents proud of him.

Rodger recalled that the group didn't feel too guilty afterwards. Caruso wasn't upset and he had decided to stay on the team anyway. But now, things felt a little different. Rodger felt even worse, and he couldn't shake off that feeling, even though Caruso didn't harbor any ill feelings towards him. Or did he? He started to feel a little concerned, just like Max. What if Caruso had believed they abandoned him on purpose? Caruso was only missing for about a day, but with what he had gone through here, time must have seemed to take an eternity to pass by. He probably lost hope very quickly and had died believing that they didn't care about him. This wasn't true of course, but did Caruso know that? Rodger closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't help but feel responsible.

He had tried to create a computer to locate Caruso, and he had failed miserably. The computer died almost instantly and he almost set the lighthouse on fire. He had failed and of all the times for it to happen too...

"You're not the only one who believes they had failed Caruso." Rodger said to Max.

"Darn it!" They heard Buzz shout. They quickly looked over at the teen. Buzz had slammed his fist onto the hard ground. He flinched in pain but didn't pull his hand away. Rump had backed up a bit, but remained close, albeit confused. Buzz dropped onto his knees, shaking in anger. His eyes were closed so tightly it looked like he would rip his eyelids off. Grinding his teeth, he hissed, "Stupid Veloci! Why did he have to do this?! How could anybody be this cruel?!" He took in a few shaky breaths as Max and Rodger watched him, unsure of what to say. Buzz didn't pay attention to them. He was caught up in his own grief. "Caruso...he was just a kid! Do you hear me, Veloci?! HE WAS JUST A KID!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, uncaring if anyone, be it friend or foe, heard him. After the shout, he opened up his eyes, letting the tears flow from them as he slowly stopped shaking.

Max turned away for a few seconds, feeling the pain and distress in Buzz's voice. But he couldn't keep his gaze away from the punk-loving teenager. Without saying a word to Rodger, he made his way towards Buzz. When he reached him, he knelt down behind him and tried to comfort him. He placed a hand carefully on the teen's shoulders. He wasn't sure how Buzz might react. At most, he expected him to shove him away. But instead, Buzz simply looked up at him. He made no attempt to push him away. Max looked to the ground, struggling to find the words to say.

When he finally found the words to say, he opened up his mouth slowly, but even then hesitated a little. "Don't worry, Buzz... Victor will not get away with this. Caruso's death will not be in vain." Max spoke loudly with confidence. "I can promise you that, if that makes you feel better." Buzz didn't respond, but offered a small smile of gratitude. It helped him feel better knowing he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"He'll pay..." Rodger said, now standing close behind the other two males. He had followed Max over and heard what he told Buzz. Rodger felt his own desire for revenge rise up inside of him. He wanted to let out this terrible feeling and now he had a target. They had been blaming themselves for something that had happened in the past. It wasn't their fault Caruso was dead. It was Victor's. He was the cold-blooded killer who murdered Caruso without a second's thought. "Mark my words.. Victor will pay for what he did!"

"If I ever get my hands on him..I'll..." Buzz gripped at the ground with his fingernails. He was still on his knees. "..rip him apart! I'll kill him!" He shouted and then clenched his teeth together. "I'll kill him..."

"Make him suffer the pain that we did when we lost Caruso." Max hissed. "Make him suffer every once of pain he inflicted onto our friend!"

Fiona shuddered as she listened to what the boys were saying. She had gently set Caruso's body on the ground and turned around and hugged Moynihan back. She had so many things on her mind right now. And the way the others were acting wasn't making herself feel any better. In fact, it was frightening her. Right now, she wasn't interested in revenge. She was in too much pain to be thinking about ways to go after Victor. She understood why the boys were upset and why they would want to seek revenge, but it was still frightening to see them like this. It was so unlike them to talk like this about anyone, and she hadn't seem them act this way before either. This combined with the thought of losing Caruso was making her mind an emotional wreck.

Continuing to hug Moynihan, Fiona whispered, "Why are they acted like this...? They're scaring me..."

Moynihan gently stroked Fiona's red hair. "They're just upset dear... We all are."

Fiona got quiet after Moynihan said that. She knew the old woman was right. Caruso's death was taking a toll on all of them. She began to contemplate why she was feeling like this. She hadn't expected Caruso's death to have this kind of impact on her. She did care about him and regarded him as one of her closest friends. But with his death came a wave of new, unexpected feelings. She remembered how she was feeling when she held him in her arms. He still felt warm, but only just slightly. Feeling his core body temperature drop like that made her heart ache more the longer she held him. She was struggling to prevent herself from crying. She wasn't the type to allow herself to cry so quickly. But this...this was just too much for her. She couldn't hide her emotions. Fiona then started to ask herself one question. Did she regard Caruso as more than just a friend?

She didn't think too much of him at first, before the tide pool incident. To her, he was just another vain show-off who tries to impress other people, but had a selfish motivation in doing so. He hardly seemed interested in developing genuine relationships. He seemed more like the person to use people and then throw them away when he was done with them. If it had been her choice, she never would have bothered to get to know him. But after the tide pool incident, and they gained dinosaur forms, she was suddenly thrown onto a team with him, along with three other people she didn't think highly of at the time. She thought she would be driven crazy knowing they know had to work as a team on a regular basis.

But the longer she worked with them, the quicker she grew to realize that these people weren't as bad as she thought they were. Their battles had not only made them a better team, but it also helped them understand each other better. And as a result they grew close, both as a team and as friends. It wasn't until now did Fiona realize she had grown especially close to Caruso. She didn't always show it, but she seemed to have developed a special attachment to Caruso. Was it love? Fiona shook her head at the thought. She wasn't interested in love, so why would she even think about developing a crush on Caruso? It just seemed...absurd and awkward. He was a friend, that's all! Or was he...?

Fiona tightened her grip on Moynihan a little bit. She wanted to stop thinking about what happened, but how could anyone ignore the loss of a loved one, especially when they were right at their feet? Fiona wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Caruso couldn't possibly die! There was just no way.. It was impossible!

Fiona finally managed to say something after being lost in deep thought for a few minutes. "W-Why...?" She choked, breathing in shaky, sharp gasps of air. "Why did he have to die...?" She sniffled, tears starting to stuff up her nose. But she didn't care. "I..I never got a chance to..." She couldn't deny it anymore. "..tell him how much I..loved him..." She started to cry a little harder.

Moynihan sighed sadly. She gently stroked Fiona's hair again to try to calm her down. It hurt her to see the girl like this. "Shhhh..." She whispered, trying to get Fiona to stop crying. "It's all right...shhh..." She then, not knowing what else to do to cheer Fiona up, gently planted a small kiss on her forehead, like how a mother would do to her child. Fiona didn't object.

"This...this is all my fault..." Fiona muttered under her breath, silently cursing herself. "I should have gone faster... I'm a Spinosaurus... I should have been able to move faster.." She gritted her teeth, clinging a little tighter into Moynihan to the point where she was unintentionally driving her nails into her. "All my fault..."

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "It's not your fault Fiona... Don't blame yourself." She whispered, slowly rubbing her face against Fiona's in another attempt to comfort her. "If it's anyone's fault... It's mine." She said regretfully.

Fiona's eyes snapped open and she moved her head back to look up at the teacher. Moynihan had a look of shame on her face and she could see a tiny glint under Moynihan's eyes where tears of guilt were starting to form. Fiona slowly shook her head, her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "No..." She said, wiping away her own tears. "No. It's not your fault, Ms. Moynihan.. How could it be your fault? You tried your best... You didn't mean for this to happen..."

"And my best was not good enough..." Moynihan said glumly. She released one of her arms from Fiona and put her face in her hand. "It wasn't good enough..." She let her tears fall down her face, not bothering to wipe them away. She ignore the increasing difficulty she was having to breathe through her nose and continued to blame herself. She didn't know who else to blame. She was the one who was in charge of these kids. She was the one who should have been able to protect them. She had failed them and she couldn't clear her mind of this fact. "It's all my fault... I'm so stupid! Why didn't I see this coming...? Oh..I should have seen the warning signs... I should have done something earlier..."

Fiona's lower lip quivered a little as she listened to what Moynihan was saying. "Oh Moynihan...please, don't blame yourself..." She tried to comfort Moynihan by snuggling up against her. But she feared it wouldn't be good enough. She listened to the old woman start to cry. Fiona looked over her shoulder towards the boys and gave them an almost frightened, helpless look. She wanted them to come over and help her calm the old woman down.

The boys stared back at Fiona, a look of sympathy and guilt on their faces. They could sympathize with Fiona and Moynihan and what they were going through right now. But at the same time they couldn't help but feel guilty. They had heard Fiona say how they were frightening her with the way they were acting. They immediately grew quiet after hearing her say that, mentally scolding themselves for allowing their anger to get the better of them. They were so desperate in releasing their anger that they had forgotten to take others' feelings into account. And the expression that Fiona was giving them was only making them feel worse. They tried to think of something that they could do to make them all feel better.

After staring at the heart wrenching scene before them, Max started to make his way towards them. Buzz and Rodger slowly followed, Rump running by their heels. As they reached Moynihan and Fiona, they dropped down onto the ground, forming a small circle around them. Moynihan hadn't noticed that they were there, but Fiona did. It took her a few seconds to find something to say to the boys.

"..what are we going to do..?" Fiona whispered under her breath, looking at Moynihan with concern. It frightened her to see Moynihan blame herself like this. It just wasn't like her. "I'm so worried about her..."

Max was the first one of the boys to give an answer. "Ms. Moynihan... you shouldn't blame yourself. Trust me..I know..that it is like..." He closed his eyes slowly, placing a hand on his forehead, rubbing his forehead a little. "...to blame yourself when something goes wrong... It doesn't work, believe me... It only makes things worse." He was speaking from experience. When he was blaming himself earlier, he knew that he was only making himself feel worse. He wasn't doing himself or anyone else any favors.

Moynihan didn't bother looking at the boy when she gave her response. "No...it is my fault." She didn't know why she was refusing to listen to Maxwell's advice. She wanted so much to do so, but her own guilt was pulling her back. She felt the urge to continue blaming herself, to continue beating herself up even though she knew it was upsetting the children. "I..I don't deserve to be your mentor... I let you all down..."

"Moynihan!" Max gasped, frightened and a little shocked that Moynihan didn't listen to a word he was telling her. "Please..stop it!" He said with a strong sense of urgency in his voice.

"It's not going to do any of us any favors..." Rodger said, trying to sound a bit calmer than Max did. "Please...stop this..."

"It hurts us to see you like this." Buzz said softly.

Rump's ears lowered down a bit further as he walked over to Moynihan. He gently nudged her with his nose before whining a little. He curled up next to her, moving as close as he could to the old woman in a desperate attempt to try and cheer her up.

"Even Rump knows you shouldn't be blaming yourself for this." Max said, gesturing towards the small white dog.

Moynihan managed to find her voice long enough to say in a shaky voice, "I-I know...It's just that I..." But her voice trailed off after that.

"It's just that..what...?" Fiona asked carefully, releasing her grip on Moynihan and leaned back to look at her in the face. "What's wrong, Ms. M?" She placed a hand on her shoulder when the teacher didn't say anything and turned her head away. Fiona frowned with concern. The look on Moynihan's face held not only depression, but something else. It looked almost like..familiarity... "..did something happen?" Fiona whispered under her breath, just audible enough for the teacher to hear her.

At first, Moynihan didn't respond. Seeing Caruso on the floor like this brought back many painful memories of her past. She had long hoped to forget about them and move on. Now she was brought back into that painful state thanks to this. She slowly looked over at Fiona and the other kids one by one. They looked at her sympathetically, and moved in a little closer. She exhaled slowly, feeling bad that she was only making them feel worse.

"I'm..sorry.. I'm not sure if.." Joanne started to say, unsure if she should tell them her story. She didn't want to hurt them even more mentally.

"It's okay..." Max spoke softly, kneeling down next to Moynihan. "You can tell us anything... Did something happen to you?"

Moynihan looked away, eyes closed. "Yes..something like this did happen to me before..." The kids' eyes widened as she admitted this.

"What...?" Fiona whispered softly. She gently placed an arm around Moynihan to try and console her. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"What happened?" Buzz asked.

"I didn't tell you what happened..." Moynihan said sadly. "..because I didn't want to hurt you. You kids are young...too young to be heartbroken with this... That's why I wish I tried so much harder to..protect you all... I didn't want you all to suffer the same pain as I did when I was still a Velociraptor." She wiped away a tear. "I had told myself I wouldn't let anyone else I care about suffer that fate. But I failed to uphold my promise..."

"What happened...?" Rodger asked, repeating Buzz's question for him.

"Yeah...you can tell us..." Fiona said.

Joanne Moynihan hesitated for a while. She looked at each of the kids' faces. They were looking at her expectantly. They really wanted her to tell them the story. She couldn't understand why. Wouldn't they just make themselves feel worse by listening to her story? No..she would make them feel worse by telling them the story. But then she remembered that humans were largely motivated by love and compassion, one of the reasons she had turned against Victor. The kids knew they might make themselves feel worse, but they weren't thinking about themselves right now. They were thinking about her, the teacher, and they only wanted to make her feel better.

"All right..." Moynihan said, giving in. "I'll tell you..." She drew in a deep breath and began to tell her story as the children leaned in a bit to listen to her tale. "It happened when I was just an adolescent Velociraptor. My pack was..well it wasn't very big, but it wasn't very small either. My mother was the leader of the pack. I never knew my father...which didn't bother me too much at the time.. Velociraptors don't have the same level of compassion as you humans do. Anyway, one day we started to move to another location. Prey in our region was getting rather low and, following our instincts, we followed a migrating herd of ceratopsians, which were our favorite, if not most dangerous, prey. But along the way, we were suddenly...cut off by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Max gulped as she said that. "Oh..." He managed to say, rubbing his throat nervously. He was not liking where this was going.

Moynihan continued, "The Tyrannosaurus Rex stood directly in our path. We didn't understand why it was doing this. We were not its favorite prey and more suitable targets were close by, the Triceratops. We tried to find an alternate path around the big creature and escape, but the T-Rex made its intentions clear. It wasn't interested in hunting the Triceratops. It wanted to hunt us. It roared in our faces and started to give chase. Being smaller, our first instinct was to turn around and run. We had nothing to guard so we would not gain anything by attacking. We managed to escape the gaping jaws of that T-Rex. I had taken another path, between tall thick grass. I continued to run before I realized that no one in my family was following me. I quickly turned and ran back the other way to see they were."

"I thought Velociraptors couldn't love..." Buzz muttered under his breath, thinking about Victor.

"Shhh!" Fiona elbowed him.

Moynihan nodded towards Buzz. "I never said we couldn't love.. I just said we don't have attachments quite like yours. You see, we have to live life like everyday was our last day. We had to quickly move on and not allow our emotions to get in the way. But sometimes..some of us.. have emotional bonding stronger than normal, at least for Velociraptors." She then decided to continue on with the story. "Anyway, I saw them running away from the T-Rex. He had ignored me, since I was in an area where it could not see me well, and went after my family, who were still out in the open. I wanted to do something to help them, to distract the T-Rex. But...alas, I couldn't react quickly enough. The Tyrannosaur was leading them straight into a trap, and I was too far to warn them. They were heading towards a thick growth of trees, and waiting between an opening was a second T-Rex. By the time my family knew what was about to happen, it was too late. The second Tyrannosaurus burst throw the trees. Before my family could react, it was already upon them with its jaws."

"Oh man..." Rodger said, looking to the ground as he listened to what the woman was saying. "You lost your entire family..to that T-Rex ambush?"

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "No...not everyone. Out of the ten that made up our pack, about three of them managed to escape the T-Rexes. I managed to reach them in time and lead them away from the T-Rexes. While I was a Velociraptor at the time, the event did mentally scar me and the survivors... I was in denial for days, or maybe weeks. My two sisters and grandmother, the only ones who survived the slaughter other than myself, recovered much quicker and were trying their best to keep the remaining pack alive. They saw my emotional distraught as a set back and were considering kicking me out. Now before you say anything, that was the way things were dealt with back then. Dinosaurs couldn't afford letting emotions control them for too long. If a dinosaur remains emotionally distraught for an extended period of time, they're often driven away for the group's sake. Dinosaurs under the control of negative emotions often attract predators, or make hunting more difficult." Moynihan took in a deep breath before continuing, "However I wasn't driven away. Instead, another dinosaur joined the pack, and he brought me out of my depression."

"Oh really? Who was that?" Max asked.

"..Victor Veloci..." Moynihan said hesitatingly. As the kids looked at her in shock, he nodded slowly. "Yeah..I know... He was..so different back then. But that's probably because 'hairless monkeys' weren't running the planet back then. He quickly became my...mate with my grandmother's approval. Victor had become the leader of the pack and, with his help, we quickly grew in strength."

"..if this story is supposed to be sad, then why..." Fiona asked, sounding confused.

"This story doesn't sound like something that would hurt us.." Max said. The T-Rexes killing her family did sound sad, but as Moynihan continued, it only seemed to get better and better. Then he realized something. There must have been more to the tale. "...Did something else happen?"

Moynihan slowly nodded her head. "I am afraid so, dear. Not long after Victor joined, there was..another incident with the T-Rexes. The very same that attacked my family only weeks prior. They had tracked us down to our den where we were sleeping. Victor woke me up and started to nudge me away, towards a back entrance. I didn't understand why at first, but then I saw a bloody mess where one of my sisters used to be. A massive green body filled my vision and I could just make out my grandmother being attacked when Victor pushed me away and we were outside. Victor and I took off, making sure we were heading downwind so that the Tyrannosaurs could not track us down by scent. It took until we had run for a very long time before the gravity of the situation started to weigh me down."

"Oh man..." Fiona whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

"I know you are dear..but you should not be sorry. You weren't there when it happened.." Moynihan wiped away her tears as the terrible memories came back to her. They were even painful knowing Victor was a part of them. He had seemed so caring back then. The thought of him betraying her in the way that he had made her heart ache. Sometimes, she recalls the love she used to share with him when he was her mate. He would have made a caring fatherly figure if that meteorite hadn't struck the planet only a couple years later. For all that time, it had been just her and Victor and together, they outwitted the other predators as well as their prey. They had made such a great team. Sometimes she wondered why they had split apart.

Moynihan was suddenly surprised when she felt Fiona hug her tightly again. She slowly smiled and wrapped her arms around her. Then she felt the other kids hug her as well. Moynihan couldn't keep her smile down. It did make her feel better knowing that they cared and wanted to help her and each other recover from the past..and the present. Moynihan looked over at Caruso. Her eyes watered as she thought about what he had been through and the pain he had suffered. "I'm sorry Caruso...I'm so very sorry..." She looked away, letting her tears fall.

Upon mentioning Caruso's name, Fiona's eyes watered. "Caruso..." She hugged Moynihan tighter, pressing her face against her shoulder as she started to cry again. The mention of their deceased friend's name caused anger and an increased desire for revenge to rise up in the boys. But they dare not say anything. They didn't want to upset Moynihan and Fiona even further. But they made a silent promise to each other. When they find Victor, they will kill him. They will kill him for killing their best friend. He was not going to get away with this.

Kista raised up an arm and started knocking at the door to Zoom's apartment room. She had spoken with Peter and completed her mission, if she could even call it that. Peter seemed surprised at some of the details, but overall he kept a straight face. When Kista had questioned him about Zoom, claiming to have seen him walking down the hallway when she was about to enter his room, Peter explained the situation to her and what Zoom could offer to Victor's cause. But even though he was trying to be supportive of his friend, Peter sounded slightly reluctant, as if he didn't completely agree to Zoom's plan. Kista asked Peter where Zoom lived so she could speak to him in person and, after a few moments' hesitation, he gave her his address.

Although she had overheard much of the conversation back at the hospital, she was still skeptical on whether or not Zoom could be of any real help. So he exposes them to the public. Big deal. How was that going to benefit Victor? If anything, it would make things even worse for him. Everyone would be after the dinosaurs then.

She immediately snapped back into attentiveness when she heard the door knob turn and open up. Zoom took one look at her and frowned. "Hello..." He said suspiciously. "...who are you?"

Kista cleared her voice and placed a hand on her chest. "Greetings. My name is Kista Bakar. I had spoken to Peter and I..."

"..why were you in that hospital room?" Zoom said, eyes narrowed. "You don't even know Peter..."

"Says you." Kista said vainly, rolling her eyes. "I've worked with Peter before."

Zoom's frown slowly faded. The mention of Victor caught his attention and it made him reconsider what he was about to tell this woman. "You..work for Victor?" He asked carefully.

Kista slowly nodded, pushing away her blond hair from her face. "Why...yes I do in fact." She gently shoved him out of the way as she walked into his apartment room and looked around. "Heh..nice place you have here. I think I'll make myself at home." She strode over towards a chair and sat down on it. She noticed she was sitting at the man's computer desk and took note of the expensive machinery sitting down, hooked up. On the monitor, it displayed a clear head shot of a tan Spinosaurus. "Fancy computer you have here." She said, lifting up a finger to press one of the keys.

Zoom's eyes widened and he held out his hand as he dashed towards the computer desk. "No! Don't press that button! You'll..." But it was too late. Kista pressed the key just hard enough to activate its command. The picture that was on display immediately disappeared. "...delete the picture..." He groaned.

Kista pretended to be shocked, placing her hand towards her mouth. "Oh dear, I'm sorry." She said sarcastically. "My finger slipped! I guess I must have butter fingers." She shrugged innocently, grinning towards Zoom, who was rubbing his forehead with frustration.

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to find that picture...?" Zoom asked in a dangerous tone. "And you just..deleted it, just like that! Now it's going to take me forever to find the other pictures!" He rubbed his head roughly, scratching at his scalp with his fingers as he struggled to keep his temper under control. "Why are you even here anyway? Came to delete all my hard work?"

Kista chuckled as she got up from the seat. "You are such a baby." She teased him, pressing a finger tip against the underside of his chin. "Do you always throw a little temper tantrum whenever someone plays with your toys?" She chuckled and turned and walked away a little to give the man some space. She turned around, hands behind her back in an almost innocent manner. "In all seriousness, I was simply curious to know how you could..benefit Victor with whatever plan you had."

"Really?" Zoom said, rubbing his chin with his hand where Kista had touched him. "Didn't Peter tell you?"

Kista nodded her head once. "Yes, he did mention it. But...I'm not so sure how it would help..." She leaned in a bit. "Do you care to explain?"

"W-Well I..." Zoom stammered, trying to come up with an answer for the blond woman standing before him. But try as he might, he just could not come up with a good answer. It wasn't really the answer that was the problem. He just couldn't think of a way to word it without it sounding stupid or silly.

Kista smirked arrogantly, folding up her arms. Seeing Zoom struggling to answer like this was amusing her. "Tsk tsk tsk... you poor little benevolent imbecile..." She teased. "You can't think of anything to say can you?"

Zoom shot a look of shock at her. "What..did you just say?"

"You can't think of anything to say." Kista repeated herself, slowly shaking her head. "Which doesn't surprise me since..."

"No!" Zoom cut her off, waving his hands frantically in front of his body. "I didn't mean that! What did you just call me...?" He asked, narrowing his eyes a little. He placed his hands on his hips and waited for Kista to answer him.

"A poor little benevolent imbecile." Kista smirked almost playfully.

Zoom's initial reaction was anger. He was really not liking Kista right now. Who was she to go and insult him like that? Did she not know who he was? Then his emotion slowly melted into confusion at what Kista had just said. It made little to no sense at all. "...you do realize that didn't make any sense at all.. right?" He asked her cautiously.

Kista burst into laughter. "Of course it doesn't make sense to you. You aren't gifted with my superior intellect." She said, brushing her hair back with one hand.

Zoom snapped his head back, stunned. She couldn't be serious, could she? She couldn't possibly be that stupid, or could she? Zoom placed his hand on his face. Just what was Victor thinking when he hired this lunatic? But he couldn't focus too much on this little thing. He had something else to worry about. Kista wanted to know what services he could provide Victor and he might as well tell her. Despite her idiocy, she has ties with Victor and might be able to convince the billionaire to allow him to join the team.

"About my plan... hmm.. before I tell you..." Zoom moved in a little closer to Kista. He attempted to try and use his charm to convince Kista to say yes. "Do you think you can convince Victor to...let me join his gang, sweet cheeks?" He grinned softly, adjusting his glasses. As Kista leaned up against the wall to try and get away from him, Zoom placed his hand against the wall and leaned against it, continuing to give Kista a somewhat creepy grin. "If you say yes, maybe we could...get together sometime. Maybe dinner and a movie..."

Kista scowled at him and shoved him away somewhat roughly. "You scoundrel! Is that the way you treat all the ladies? Despicable!" She started to walk towards the door, a disgusted look spread across her face. "If you're going to act like this, then maybe you are not fit to be a part of Victor's team." She reached towards the door, intent on leaving the apartment and heading back home. She couldn't believe Peter had sent her here. The next time she saw him, she was going to have a word with him. But as she reached for the door handle, something stopped her. She began to reconsider her decision leaving. A small smile came on her face as she started to think that maybe Zoom does have potential after all. She looked over her shoulder slowly. "On second thought... maybe you could be of some use..."

With that, she turned around and walked back towards the blond man. She circled him a little, similar to a vulture would when it found a dead carcass. As she circled him, Zoom started to feel uncomfortable. Kista was starting to creep him out. Maybe this was why Victor had hired her. He probably shouldn't underestimate her again. Idiot or no idiot, she was intimidating, especially with the way she was looking at him. It was almost a look of hunger. Despite the fact that she was just another human, a woman to be exact, he couldn't help but feel a cold chill shoot up his spine as the woman grinned at him. He backed up against the wall and Kista got as close as she could to him without making physical contact with him.

"So..what about this..plan of yours?" Kista asked, her face close to Zoom's. "Do you care..to share, mister?"

"W-Well..." Zoom started to explain nervously. "You already know that I wanted to..expose the Dino Squad, right...?"

"And how could that benefit Victor?" Kista asked.

"Well..think about it." Zoom rubbing his hands together, managing to get away from Kista and walk away a little. "If the kids are exposed for what they really are, then everyone will be after them, especially if the kids are made to look like the bad guys. And if everyone is after them, with how rich Victor is, perhaps he could convince these people to catch the children, and offer a reward to whoever succeeds." He had thought this over as he sat down in his silent apartment. It sounded like a good plan to him. But he still wondered what Victor would think of it.

Kista's eyes turned up towards the ceilng and thought about what Zoom said. His plan sounded ridiculous at first. Just as she thought before, it would raise complications. It could expose Victor for what he really was and ruin the plan. Victor had worked too long and too hard to have his plans ruined just like that. But when she thought more about this idea of Zoom's, she started to realize it might actually be beneficial after all. Victor could be made into a hero of sorts. If Victor offered to destroy these nuisance dinosaurs, then the public would trust him more. Yes...it just might work. As crazy as it sounded to her, it could work.

Kista looked into Zoom's eyes and smiled somewhat darkly. "You know... you might not be as stupid as I thought you were..."

Zoom grinned and stood proudly. "Why thank you, ma'am. I appreciate..." Then he slowly realized what she was implying. Folding his arms, he scoffed, "Hey...!"

"But there is one thing I'd like to know." Kista leaned against the wall, her arms folded as well. "Just how are you going to pull it off? You know the public will expect more than pretty pictures to convince them of anything." She held out one hand. "And just how can you prove to the public, one hundred percent, that these kids are the dinosaurs, one and the same?"

"Well there is O'Ryan..." Zoom noted, raising a finger. "He is a..."

"Lunatic and disgraces the dinosaur name." Kista growled angrily. She had heard about O'Ryan and had checked out his program. But she ended up feeling cheated and felt angry after watching it because O'Ryan fakes almost everything, including the dinosaurs, and tells all kinds of lies to distort the truth and try, in vain, to fool people into thinking he was filming actual dinosaurs. But any one with half a brain could tell he was lying. "How could he possible help?"

"He and his cameraman are really good with camera's..." Zoom started to say. But he was cut off by Kista.

"Oh I'm sure they are..." Kista rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Thanks for that newsflash."

"Just listen to me!" Zoom growled, resisting the temptation to dig at his scalp as he tried to speak with this woman. Just what was her deal anyway? "Anyway, he could help capture footage of the dinosaurs. And he could bring the footage to me and I can edit it. With my photographs and his footage, we could prove to the public that these dinosaurs that have been spotted multiple times are, in fact, teenagers."

Kista scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting plan, but... why would O'Ryan want to help you?"

"From what I have heard," Zoom explained. "O'Ryan is angry about some kids ruining his footage, from which he claimed to have had a kid transforming into a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Kista cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? He had a run in with the Dino Squad I presume?"

Zoom's eyes narrowed angrily as Kista mentioned the Dino Squad. "Yes..." He hissed under his breath. "And O'Ryan ain't the only one who wants a bone to pick with those brats. That punk kid will pay for humiliating me..." He clenched his fists tightly, shaking in anger. "He'll pay dearly..."

Kista giggled, her hand covering her mouth. "You're letting yourself get worked up over a child? How pathetic are you?"

Zoom's eyes narrowed angrily. "He ruined my work and...!"

Kista cocked an eyebrow and folded up her arms. "Excuse me? Your work?" She tried her best not to laugh. "From what I recall, you used someone else's photograph for your purposes. How does that count as your work?"

Zoom was startled that Kista knew about how he had gotten a photograph from someone else, that it wasn't his own photograph. He wanted to ask her how she knew, but then he thought better of it. She'd probably go on a rant or something. "Never mind that." He said, sitting back down in his chair and pulling himself towards the computer. "Now if you excuse me, I've got some work to do."

"Don't you want to see Victor?" Kista asked out of the blue, walking towards Zoom. The blond man swerved his chair over and looked at her in shock. The photographer was obviously not expecting her to offer him to meet with Victor personally. He thought he would have had to make a phone call to do that. Maybe he didn't need to ask for Victor's number after all. "I take it you are interested, right? Well hold on there, Speedy." She held up her hand, confusing Zoom at first. "Have you..set up an appointment...?"

"So I needed the number after all..." Zoom whispered under his breath, feeling somewhat disappointed. Then he spoke up, loud enough for Kista to hear, and said, "So do I need to call him now or..."

"You can call him now..if you want." Kista walked backwards a couple inches. "But you might want to be careful. Victor hates being disrupted from something..important." She grinned, looking almost mischievous.

Zoom rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure..whatever." He turned his chair towards the computer screen. The screen was black. He had turned the computer off a few minutes ago since he was not using it. He pulled out his cellphone and the piece of paper where he wrote Victor's number. He decided to call now before other things would come up and make him forget about calling Victor. But as he started to dial the number, something hard and solid struck him in the back. Zoom's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open as pain briefly registered. Then his eyes rolled back and the eyelids closed. He crumbled onto the desk, unconscious.

Standing behind him was Kista, who was gripping the photographer's camera in her hands. She grinned almost sinisterly towards the man. "Enjoy your sleep, my friend." She said as she set down his camera and strode over towards the prone shape in the chair. She playfully stroked his hair as her smile broadened almost evilly."When you wake up, you'll get your chance to speak with Victor..."

The room had remained silent for several minutes. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of breathing and the occasional, distant footstep. But the footsteps never grew louder, instead only becoming more and more faint until they could be heard no more. The kids were surprised that no one has come to investigate this room, or they would be if their minds were not on something else already. Caruso's death had been hard on them all, and Moynihan's dark story didn't make them feel any better either. A dark cloud had descended upon their minds and it didn't seem like it would clear up anytime soon. How could they recover quickly from something as awful as this?

The scent of death become a little stronger, but despite that, the kids hadn't moved far from Caruso's side. They remained at least a foot from him and tolerated the horrible smile his body was emitting. They didn't feel comfortable leaving him like that, and in this place too. He was their best friend. They wanted to do something, but what could they do? Nothing they do would bring Caruso back. And they all knew that, too. Mixed, mostly dark thoughts clouded their minds. They were devastated that they lost a best friend. They were angry that they couldn't get to him faster. They were vengeful, wanting to get back at Victor for what he'd done. But would it be worth it? Getting revenge on Victor might make them all feel better, but it wouldn't bring Caruso back.

Max contemplated this as he rubbed his forehead with one hand. He looked around the room. No one has spoken a word since Moynihan told her sad story. Fiona hadn't left Moynihan's side. The tomboy was holding onto her, her eyes closed as tears flowed from them. Moynihan and Fiona were trying to comfort each other, hugging each other to try and help the other to calm down. Max slowly turned his head towards Buzz. Buzz was staring blankly at the ground, his fingers fumbling with something, probably a small rock. Buzz was looking at his reflecting, thinking about when they all went to the tide pool that day. He closed his eyes and looked away.

Max then looked over at Rodger, who was staring at Caruso with a look of regret on his face. Max slowly got up to his feet and walked over towards the african-american, wanting to start a conversation with someone to end the silence. He sat down next to Rodger, but averted his eyes from Caruso. He couldn't bear to see Caruso like this, a shadow of his former self. And every time he looked at him now, he could only see Caruso's look of absolute shock when he scolded him so harshly not so long ago. That cold look he gave to Max, the way he spoke to him, that was permanently etched in Max's brain, and he could feel his stomach knot up in pain at the thought.

"Rodger..." Max spoke softly. Rodger looked up at Max, his eyes somewhat puffy and red, suggesting he'd been crying. Max couldn't think of what else to say. So he placed his hand on Rodger's shoulder to try and comfort him. Rodger just looked away.

"I couldn't stop myself..." Rodger mumbled under his breath.

"What...?" Max asked, leaning in a little to try and hear what Rodger was saying.

"Why didn't I stop myself..? Why did I keep on laughing...? Why didn't I get enough...?" Rodger continued to mumble, staring out into space as though he was lost in his own little world.

Max said, "Rodg..what's wrong..?"

"I'm a terrible person..." Rodger mumbled, somewhat louder than what he was saying before.

Max gripped the large teen by his shoulders and started to shake him. "Rodger, snap out of it! You're scaring me!"

Rodger quickly shook his head, blinking rapidly and his eyes opening up wide as though he'd been awakened from a bad dream or a horrible nightmare. He breathed in deeply and quickly, sounding like he was hyperventilating. He looked all around, as if he was regaining his senses of where he was. He looked over at Max and could see just how worried the jock was about him. Feeling guilty, he rubbed the back of his head nervously and said, "I'm..sorry about that."