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...

19. Suspicions

"Ooooooo..." Peter groaned in pain as he tried to adjust himself in his white hospital bed. He was still stuck at the hospital, although two weeks had passed. Whoever informed him that his arm would be healed enough in two weeks was crazy. He was recently informed by a more experienced doctor that it was going to take a lot longer than that. Although he did have dinosaur DNA and thus would be able to heal a lot faster, it was still going to take a long time. That was just perfect, Peter thought as he glanced over at his arm, still in a sling. He was missing a lot of work at Raptor Dyne and Victor hadn't called him once to inform him if he even still had a job at Raptor Dyne. Peter reckoned that he did, but was still worried terribly, thinking that Victor will kill and eat him once he returned to the company. He might start seeing Peter as a liability.

"Stop moving around so much!" A nurse who was in the room at the time barked at him. "You'll only make your injury worse!"

"Sorry, ma'am..." Peter said, rolling his eyes.

The nurse didn't take too well to his attitude, but refrained from doing anything or she'll risk losing her job. She went over to his table and picked up his empty cup, which was previously filled with water. She took it and disappeared into the bathroom. Peter heard the sound of a faucet being turned on, and he knew that the nurse was refilling his cup. The nurse immediately returned after turning the faucet off and placed the cup on his table. She then proceeded in taking the scraps from his table. Peter had eaten a meal not too long ago. The same nurse had brought it in for him.

He and the nurse did not get along very well. She said that he complained too much and that he should just relax and let his arm heal. Peter had tried to get away a few times, but his broken arm prevented him from getting far. Peter felt the nurse was too naggy and annoying. He would love to tell her to shut up, but his better judgment told him that he should keep his mouth shut. He still wanted to get out of the hospital and back home. He never thought he'd miss that place so much. But here he was, two weeks cooped up in this one hospital room, hardly leaving his bed except when the doctor wanted to do something or to go to the bathroom.

"Look," The nurse said as she bent down to empty the garbage can nearby. "..I know staying here is driving you crazy. But at least consider yourself one of the lucky ones." The woman's eyes glanced over at him as she tied the small garbage can. "Some people in here have to stay here a lot longer. Months, maybe even years even. Consider yourself lucky that you don't have to stay here that long."

Peter narrowed his eyes and grumbled softly. "Yeah, I know that." He said somewhat bitterly, his teeth slightly bared. "You don't need to tell me that."

"I know." The woman said, turning around to head towards the door, garbage bag in hand. "Anyway, just try to relax. I'll be back in a couple hours with your next meal, okay?" She didn't wait for him to respond. She disappeared out of the door, shutting it behind her. Peter was now alone in the room.

Peter grumbled again. This was the only reason he didn't like the nurse leaving. There was no one around to talk to. And Zoom wasn't going to visit him today. He'd already given him a call about that. His only company now was the television hanging up on the wall. He picked up the remote and switched the TV on. It was on mute because he had muted it when talking with Zoom and just never undid it. The television flashed on and he began to flip through the channels, trying to see if there was anything good on. He was glad that he wasn't going to see anymore of that dinosaur attack on TV. He didn't need to be reminded again on how the Dino Squad defeated him, using his own size against him.

As he flipped through the channels, he heard the door knocking. He muttered something under his breath, then turned the television back off. "Come in!" He said, looking over at the door.

The door quickly opened up, and Peter's eyes narrowed at who stepped in. "Hello, Peter." The individual was none other than Kista, who had decided to stop by and give Peter a little visit. "I see you are still not feeling so well." She pointed at the cast that still bound around the man's arm.

"Don't remind me." Peter said through gritted teeth. "So what are you doing here?"

"What? I can't pay a visit to you just to see if you're feeling better?" Kista asked through a mocking tone of voice, annoying Peter so much. "Do you think I'm that cruel?"

Peter shook his head. "No, not really. But you are..rather insane."

Kista put her hands on her hips, snorting in anger. "Well excuse me for even coming here!" She said, sounding very offended.

Peter snarled under his breath and shook his head. Kista always was such a pain at times. She shows up uninvited, acting like she had every right to just waltz right on in. And when she's confronted about it, she sounds very offended, but Peter had learned to recognize her sarcasm. She doesn't feel sorry or offended. She was just being sarcastic. It was her way to annoy the people she was talking to. She did it deliberately to brush them the wrong way and make them angry. Sometimes, that woman reminded him so much of Oscura, that little brat that Victor had welcomed to Raptor Dyne some time ago.

To this day, Peter didn't understand the benefit of having two underage workers at Raptor Dyne. Both were still in their teens and they did not have any experience in most of the work they did at Raptor Dyne. Victor mostly used them for the pesky Dino Squad, although he had only recently had them do anything face-to-face. Most of the work Oscura and the other girl, Michelle, did involved going to recent dino activity areas and collecting data. Since they were dinosaurs, they could easily find evidence better than the other workers at Raptor Dyne. But other than that, Peter felt they were pretty much useless. He wondered why Victor would waste his time with them.

And he wasn't happy when he found out about Kista, who had worked at Raptor Dyne for quite some time now. He wasn't sure if she worked longer or shorter than Michelle and Oscura. Since she was older, Victor could find other jobs for her, one of her most recent jobs was tracking down two former workers of Raptor Dyne. Victor had wanted to make sure that they weren't spilling the beans on his company's secret. Peter thought this was ridiculous as well. No one was going to believe a couple of morons like those guys. So why waste the time?

"So why are you here?" Peter asked again, this time in a calmer voice so that he wouldn't make Kista act so mad again. The woman's frown disappeared, quickly replaced with a broad, sickening smile. Peter winced. He didn't like that look on her face. The blond woman started to approach him, staring at him intently.

Kista carefully wrapped her arm around Peter in a mock hug, careful to avoid his broken arm. She pulled him close. Peter struggled a little, but she just held on tighter, lowering her head and put her face close to his. "As I said..I can't just visit you because I want to?" Her voice was soft and playful, yet almost creepy at the same time. "Do I need a reason to visit you?"

"You always have a reason..." Peter muttered, pulling his head away.

Kista burst out laughing, startling Peter and making him cringe because of how close she was. She was pretty loud and it was hurting his ears having her laugh that close to him. But with her arm around him, he couldn't pull away that far. "Well, you'll be right on the button with that one, my dear friend..."

"For the last time, I am not your friend!" Peter snapped. "I am just a fellow co-worker! So stop calling me friend!"

Kista giggled and pulled her hand away. Placing her hands on her hips, she said, "My, you have a temper today. I guess you really have been here too long." She grinned broadly as she said this.

"Very funny!" Peter hissed, looking away from her. He didn't want to deal with her, not today. But he knew she was not going to leave until she did what she wanted to do.

When Kista spoke again, this time she was sounding much more serious. "The real reason I'm here is because I want to ask you something." Peter looked back at her, waiting for her to continue. Kista let out a short breath, snorting a little almost like a dinosaur would. "I need you to tell me the location of the lighthouse, the one that you were supposed to destroy. That is where Victor is sending me next."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "So that's how it is, eh? He's going to send you to do the job that I had failed at..."

Kista shook her head. "No...that is not why he's sending me. I am not going there to destroy their saltatorial lighthouse. I am being sent there to obtain something that Victor has been looking for."

"Dino DNA?" Peter smirked.

Kista responded, "No! He wants to get back his..weapons!"

Peter's smirk was wiped off his face when Kista told him this. He had heard Victor talk about his weapons a few times in the past. He would say that he had some weapons that he wanted to get back that would help him advance on his plot to transform the world. They were nothing compared to obtaining all the perfect dinosaurs, especially the Tyrannosaurus Rex, but they would still help him greatly, or so he says. Peter had thought the weapons either did not exist or that they were long gone, no hope of getting them back. But now it seems that Victor must have found the weapons, and they were at the lighthouse. Suddenly Peter's disgust at failing to destroy the lighthouse felt like a blessing. If he had succeeded, those important weapons would have been lost forever...

"The weapons...are at the lighthouse?" Peter whispered. "..so it was rather fortunate that those obnoxious children defeated me..."

"Oh by the way..." Kista suddenly interrupted him. "..just how did they defeat you? How could such puny dinos, well compared to you, defeat a large sauropod?" Kista couldn't understand why he could have been defeated. Peter was a fully grown Apatosaurus while in dino mode. How could the Dino Squad, all of which were smaller, possibly manage to defeat him?

"Do I really have to tell you?" Peter snarled.

Kista leaned in closely. "Yes..." She said, her voice sounding a little surly. "Yes you do..or do you want me to tell the nurse about your little secret...?"

Peter snorted, but he knew that Kista would not stop pestering him until he gave in and told her what she wanted to know. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he decided to tell her. But he knew that she was going to make fun of him for it, no matte how he was defeated. That's just how Kista was sometimes, when she was in this kind of mood. "They managed to make me fall down, okay? They knocked me over and I fell onto my own leg, snapping it. And with a broken leg, or arm if I was in human form, I wouldn't have been able to fight back. And they managed to get information from me by threatening me with those Chiller and Spiller weapons of theirs."

Kista tilted her head. "How could they threaten you with such weak weapons like the Chiller and the Spiller?"

This immediately confused Peter. He leaned forward a little. "What do you mean? That one african-american kid..I think the Styracosaurus kid...he told me that the weapons were dangerous..."

Kista leaned back and laughed. "Oh man, they got you good!"

"What...?" Peter was completely confused now.

"From what Victor had told me, and don't ask me how he found this out, but the Chiller and the Spiller are harmless." Kista laughed as Peter's shocked expression started to turn into anger. "Yeah, all it would have done was strip you of your dinosaur form, and make you feel a little cold. But other than that, they are harmless, nonlethal. They tricked you good!" Kista couldn't stop laughing, and this only made Peter even angrier. Peter's face was getting a deep shade of red and he was starting to look like a strawberry or cherry to Kista.

"Why that...that...irritable, pathetic little twerp!" Peter hissed. "When I get my hands on him, I'll kill him!"

Kista was amused at how Peter was reacting to this. It was funny for her to see someone realize that they have been duped, and it was funnier knowing that it took them so long to figure this out. This would have been even more amusing to Oscura had she been around. But Oscura wasn't allowed to go on any missions for at least three more days. She was suspended a few weeks ago after Victor confirmed that she had tampered with Michelle's journal. Victor punished her by biting her right hand to prevent her from writing anything for a while. The lacerations had mostly healed but were still sore. Despite being bitten, Oscura still remained a bit infatuated with the man and remained very loyal to him. And she continued to write with her hand, despite how much it was hurting her. She treated it almost like it was nothing, mostly when the wounds had sealed up. Kista wondered if biting her was a very good form of punishment for this kind of teen. Maybe there was nothing they could do to punish Oscura.

"Oh calm down..." Kista said, waving her hand at him dismissively in a way that said 'forget it, too late.', which only seemed to frustrate Peter even further. But Kista didn't have time to deal with the man's temper tantrum. She knew that Peter wasn't going to be able to get at the kids right now anyway, so him pouting about the whole thing was not going to make things any better. It was just a waste of time. "You'll get your chance later on, especially since Victor has his..."

"Has his what..on what?" Peter interrupted her, his eyes narrowed almost dangerously. He was still feeling very bitter about having been tricked by some kid so easily. He should have seen through the kid's lies! He should have realized that he was just fooling him into spilling the information that he wanted! He hoped that Kista was going to tell him that Victor has a job opening involving something to do with the Dino Squad. He wanted another chance to get them, to get even for what they did.

"Well Victor does still have an interest in that Caruso kid..." Kista said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "Although I can't really imagine why..."

Peter's expression relaxed a little. "The Caruso kid?" He asked, recognizing the name immediately. "He wants him back?" He winced when he realized what kind of innuendo was in that statement. But Kista didn't seem to react much to it at all other than folding her arms up. "And you don't know why he wants him back? Does he wants you to capture him or something?"

Kista shook her head. "No..he doesn't want me to recapture him. He wants me to do..." She paused for a moment, hesitating slightly in telling Peter what Victor wanted her to do. She wondered if it was really any of his business. He might have worked for Raptor Dyne, but Victor had given her this assignment specifically. No, Peter didn't really need to know anything. He would find out on his own, though. She was sure of that. "...do something else. You don't really need to know what."

"What? Why?!" Peter growled.

Kista reached forward and playfully pinched his cheek like a grandmother might do to a cute child. Peter growled again and tried to pull away, but that just made Kista grip his face harder. "Because you are still out of commission. It would be useless for me to tell you. And I just know that you are going to go nuts with the information and tell someone and then we'll all get into trouble." She didn't get angry as she said this. Instead, she seemed to get happier and a little creepier.

"No I would not!" Peter protested, starting to sound almost like a bratty little child. Kista just sat there and ignored him. Getting angrier, Peter said, "Listen to me you...!" His voice was suddenly muffled when Kista clamped her hand tightly around his mouth, squeezing so much that she was digging her finger nails into his skin, causing him some pain. His eyes widened and he looked up at her in shock and fear, although not to the same degree that Zoom had showed to her before.

"Now listen here, you prodigious behemoth! You had better get me those directions that I had asked for within the next few minutes, or I'll rip your face off so bad that it will take the doctor's years to put your face back on!" Kista hissed through her teeth, bared like an angered wolf. She was getting tired of listening to Peter's complaints. She had wasted enough time as it is. She had to get down to that lighthouse very soon, although not before getting permission to go down there in the first place. Victor had told her not to make it seem suspicious. She would have to figure out some way to get in, and she couldn't use Michelle and Oscura's idea again. They wouldn't fall for it.

Peter tried to jerk his head back, but Kista's grip on his face was firm and unmoving. He tried to move her arm away, but she was a lot stronger than many would have anticipated, and he was incapable of moving her arm away, no matter how much human strength he put into his pushes and pulls. He could not transform in this bed, not without risk of exposing himself to hospital members. He could only look up at Kista in fear as she glared down at him, her eyes narrowed and filled with anger, much like how Victor's eyes sometimes are when he's really upset.

"Now..." Kista leaned in closely, almost pushing her head against Peter's. "..are you going to tell me where the lighthouse is, or am I going to have to..." Peter's eyes widened further and he shook his head rapidly. He mumbled something, but with her hand over his mouth, she couldn't understand him completely. But it sounded like he was just saying 'no' over and over again. Grinning in satisfaction, she removed her hand from his face. "That's a good boy." She leaned back a little. "Now..talk!"

* * *

"Okay, I think the flowers had enough water." Mrs. Corel, an old woman that lived next door to the Flagstaff's family, said as she walked along a stone path. She wear a black outfit, covered in colorful stains that were from the paints she had previously used up in her attic. She was painting another picture of a dinosaur, this one of Caruso's dino mode. She was making it as a gift for Caruso and was hoping to give it to him soon. She had heard about what had happened from Ms. Moynihan, whom she had become good friends with. After seeing a green raptor years ago, she was starting to think she really was crazy. Meeting Moynihan helped her realize that she was not crazy and it made her feel better.

When they first met, she and Joanne had a nice long woman chat in the kitchen while the members of the Dino Squad helped fix up her house. She had told Joanne about how she had spotted her in raptor mode running around in the outskirts of the city. This surprised the old woman as she was certain that she was being very careful not to show any human her true form. She was apparently wrong. This started to worry her a little. She wondered who else had seen her in dino mode. She explained to Mrs. Corel that she was probably just going for a stroll. She dare not mention the horrible truth about what she was really doing at this time. This was before she had parted ways with Veloci.

Moynihan had apologized for putting Corel through so much grief, being mistreated and made fun of because of her seeing a dinosaur. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like to lose practically all of her friends over one statement, and forcing oneself to hide away from everyone, to avoid people at all costs and having no one to talk to. That must have been devastating for Corel and Moynihan had felt responsible for it. But Mrs. Corel had shown no ill feelings towards the woman or acting as if she held a grudge. She was just very happy to finally meet her after all these years.

"Okay, Mrs. Corel." Terri said as she put down the pail of water by her feet. She was kneeling down when she was watering the plants, so she rose up to her feet and brushed herself off.

She had remained a recluse for so many years because of people who didn't understand her. She just simply refused to see many people and came off as cold and even very weird. But meeting Terri, Fiona's sister, helped her even more. She remembered how much she hated Terri at first, and her friends. But Terri helped her realize that her own actions were not helping anyone change their viewpoint of her. She was actually helping them believe what they did, and she felt bad about it. She knew she would have been a little nicer to the kids beforehand. Maybe then they would not have judged her so harshly.

Terri seemed to enjoy coming to her house a lot more often now. Mrs. Corel had not expected anyone, especially a youthful teenager, to even want to visit an old hag like herself. But the young girl seemed to enjoy her company far more than her friends. Terri would come by a lot to help out with chores and yard work in general. She seemed to love her garden and it always seemed to cheer her up whenever she was in a down mood. But a few weeks ago, it didn't have this same effect. The poor kid remained depressed during the job, and that's when the old woman pulled her aside to have a word with her.

That's when Terri told Mrs. Corel about what had happened. She explained how her sister had come out with a torn up shoulder and how Caruso was captured by Veloci and put through so much pain and torture and agony for no reason at all other than to gain control of him. She also explained about Michelle and Oscura, two dino-morphing teens who were working for Veloci. She warned Corel about them, and the old woman said that she would keep an eye out for those two trouble-makers. The old woman felt bad for Terri, who seemed very stressed about what had happened and was worrying about what would happen next. Mrs. Corel wasn't sure what she could do other than try to cheer everyone up. She had promised to pain them all a nice dinosaur picture to help lighten the mood. They gladly accepted.

Seeing how Terri was looking absolutely exhausted from the hard work she was doing, Corel walked a few steps towards her and said, "You look tired. Do you want to come inside and rest for a while, Terri?"

Terri wiped the brow of her face, feeling the moisture stick to her skin as she did so. The sun was shining down on her and it was pretty humid and hot today. She turned to Corel and gladly accepted her offer. "Yeah..if that's okay with you."

"Sure, it's no problem at all!" Corel said with a smile on her face. Suddenly a shocked look appeared on her face, giving out an audible gasp. Before Terri could react, the old woman seized her by the arm and quickly dragged her back into the house, wasting as little time as possible. As soon as they were inside, she slammed the door behind them and looked out the left window, scanning the area cautiously.

Taken aback by what just happened, Terri didn't bother saying anything. She immediately went to the right window instead, and looked out the window. She wasn't sure what Mrs. Corel had seen, but whatever it was, it had to be important enough to drag her into the house unexpectedly. She put a hand over her head, and she looked left to right. But she wasn't able to see anything. She started to feel confused. Surely Corel wouldn't drag her into this house without warning without reason, would she? Something had to have been out there, but what?

"Mrs. Corel...what did you see?" Terri asked nervously, not taking her eyes off the street through the glass. She felt a presence behind her. Looking up, she saw that it was Mrs. Corel. The old woman motioned her to come over to the left window. When they got there, she pointed towards the left side of the window. Terri pressed her face against the window to try to get a good look.

"It's them again." Mrs. Corel said with a bitterness to her voice that she hadn't used in so long.

"Who..?" Terri asked as she strained to see what the woman was talking about. Before she asked again, something moved in the corner of her eyes. She quickly looked over. She wasn't fast enough, but she was certain she saw a black and gray blur flash by before it completely disappeared down the street further. She only knew one kind of thing that was black and gray and would be moving down thes treet quickly. "Veloci's men!" She hissed in surprise. One thing was confusing her. Why were they moving around the neighborhood during the day? Wouldn't that be a little reckless?

But then again, it might not seem too far-fetched to people unaware of the truth. Most people saw Victor as a hero of humanity. Terri chuckled bitterly to herself. That was a joke! Terri then started to wonder if the creeps had gone into their house. Her heart started to race. She wasn't sure if her sister was home, but she knew her parents were. Did those creeps just run into her house to get her parents? She felt the urge to run home and see what happened. But something stopped her. It wasn't denial or any emotion. It was a strong grip from the old woman, who seemed to sense what she was going to do and was going to prevent her from going through with it. Terri glared softly at the old woman, but didn't try to get away. Instead, she only looked at Corel, a mixture of anger and confusion on her face.

Mrs. Corel slowly shook her head. "Don't go running out there. If they spot you, they'll think you've spotted them and they might try to nab you."

"With all these people around?" Terri said, incredulous. "I don't think they're that stupid..."

Mrs. Corel narrowed her eyes. "You'll be amazed at what some people are capable of in such places." She turned towards the kitchen and started to make her way over there. "Let's give your folks a call and see if they're all right, okay?"

Terri hesitated, and then nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She followed Mrs. Corel in the kitchen. By the time she had gotten in there, the old painter had already dialed the number and had the phone pushed against her ear.

Corel tapped her foot against the wooden planks of her floor as she waited for the phone to pick up. After about a minute of waiting and getting nothing but the answering machine, Corel's face furrowed with concern. Something wasn't right. The folks were home. She had seen their car as clear as day when she looked out the window. Unless they were tied up with something, at the same time, and unable to reach the phone, there was something seriously wrong. She hung up the phone and looked at Terri, who eyed her fearfully.

Mrs. Corel shook her head. "I'm sorry, Terri..They wouldn't pick up the phone."

"Something is very wrong..there's gotta be!" Terri said, sounding very afraid. "We have to go over there and see what's going on!" She tried running out the door again, but Mrs. Corel grabbed her by the arm again and pulled her back.

"It's too risky to go over there now." Mrs. Corel said, slowly glancing out the door to the kitchen, where she could see the door to the outside rather clearly. Her eyes slowly narrowed. As much as she wanted to take action, she knew that she couldn't. She was too old to be fighting bad guys, and Terri was just too young, and she didn't have a dinosaur form like her older sister did. She hoped the girl's parents were okay, but at this time, she just wasn't sure if it was safe to go next door. While it is possible that everything is all right, things could be much worse than they thought. Perhaps those fiends had tied them up and if they were to come in to try and rescue them, the creeps would kill the couple rather quickly. She suspected Veloci's men were just as nasty as Veloci himself was.

"Then what do you expect us to do? Just sit here and wait until those creeps come by again and make sure they aren't carrying black body bags with them?!" Terri said, starting to sound a little hysterical. This wasn't how she would normally act, but the fact that this was her family changed everything. It was personal, and she loved her family dearly. She would want to protect them if she could. Who wouldn't, really? "Look, we can't just..."

Mrs. Corel pressed a finger against the girl's lips, silencing her immediately. "Look, Terri, I'm not suggesting just abandoning them, especially if they really are in danger."

"Then what are you suggesting?" Terri asked when she pulled away from Mrs. Corel. She wasn't sure what Mrs. Corel was suggesting. The only options that she could see available was either going outside and going next door to see if everything was all right, or just sitting back and waiting to see if everything was going to be okay.

Mrs. Corel proceeded to dial another number. "Calling someone who can help." She said, giving a reassuring smile to Terri.

* * *

"I still don't know why he had to do this to me. I mean, what was the point? All I was trying to do was help him from making a huge mistake!" Oscura muttered under her breath as she sat a chair in a large room. While she was eating some food that she had on an old plate, this was not the cafeteria. Rather, this was a large room that was normally not in use. This is where she preferred eating her meals. She didn't think she should have to put up with eating with other people, whom she often referred to was slobs or pigs when they eat their food. She calmly sliced a piece of beef off the steak that she was eating and slowly chewed it, careful not to have any part of the steak drip onto her shirt. For someone obsessed with violence, she can be a very clean eater, when she wanted to be.

Normally, she would dine in this room alone. But this time around, she had a little 'guest', some company that decided to follow her in here. But for what reason, she wasn't sure. She and this particular individual did not exactly get along very well. Heck, she was even plotting to kill this person. But she would have to wait. Good things come to those who wait, she thought to herself. Her eyes slowly lifted up to gaze coldly at the other person while she chewed her food slowly, intently. On the other side of the table was Michelle, the person who decided to follow her in this room. Michelle returned the glare, but only for a few seconds. She proceeded to eat her food, but at the normal rate. Despite Oscura's obvious malicious intentions, Michelle was not terrified of her, believing she could handle the insane Troodon. One of the reasons she was eating with Oscura, though, was she just wanted to rub her punishment in her face. Michelle had heard what happened, and was glad that Victor chose to believe her and not Oscura.

Oscura had insisted that she hadn't tampered with the journals. She claimed to have been on another floor, working on something else. But Victor could see right through her lies. For one thing, he had already talked to some of the workers that were on the floor that Oscura said that she was on, and none of the workers claims to have even seen her. She did not show up on any of the security cameras mounted in different parts of that particular floor. While there were no cameras in the area that Oscura had snuck into, a giveaway that she had tampered with the journal is her scent. Victor could smell Oscura's distinctive scent right on the paper and knew there's no way that scent could have been faked. And Michelle didn't carry that kind of scent, leaving only Oscura.

After some more interrogation, Oscura Witter finally confessed to have tampered with Michelle's journal, writing in lies about what Michelle supposedly did, including talking behind Victor's back. Victor was not at all pleased with what Oscura had done, and was also disappointed as he had not expected such behavior from one of the few dino-transformers he had known about, the only humans that he felt even the faintest kinship with, since they have dino blood in them just like he does. Despite being punished, though, Oscura's behavior did not change. She had even attempted to tamper with the journal again, but this time someone stopped her. Another employee had spotted her go into the room and had managed to grab her before she wrote anything down.

Michelle eyed the injured hand that Oscura was holding her fork with and couldn't help but smile smugly, almost arrogantly. She was confident that Oscura would not be able to get her into trouble, and she turned out to be correct. Because of what she did, it was Oscura who had lost some of Victor's trust, not Michelle herself. Victor had put her on probation and she was forbidden in certain parts of the building, including his laboratory. This frustrated Oscura, but she took it all in stride, much to Michelle's annoyance. She had hoped that Oscura would start to change her attitude after having her hand shredded by Victor and being suspended from parts of the building. But instead Oscura acted like it was just a minor setback. Still, the satisfactory of seeing Oscura eat her own words was priceless.

Placing a fork, spearing through pieces of lettuce and sliced carrots, into her mouth and starting to chew the food and then swallow, Michelle leaned over the table a little. If there was no table, they would probably be lunging at each other right now. The table was the only thing that separated her from Oscura. "You really thought you had me, didn't you?" Michelle said, grinning broadly. "Heh, you really thought you set up the perfect plan. But it backfired on you, didn't it?"

Oscura's eyes narrowed dangerously, her lips curling back into a snarl even though she still had the fork in her mouth, feeling her teeth press against the cold hard steel. "Shut up..." She said, hissing through her teeth and the steel.

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Michelle said arrogantly. She leaned back into her seat, placing her own fork on the now empty plate sitting before her. "You thought you could have gotten me killed. But it was you who suffered the consequences."

"Oh just you wait..." Oscura threatened. "I am not finished yet. I'll find a way to expose to Victor the traitor that you really are!"

Michelle leaned her head back and laughed, irritating Oscura. She then leaned forward on the table, placing her hands around the middle and pulling herself so close that she was almost on top of the table itself. "That's a laugh! After what you did, do you really think Victor is going to trust anything you say?!" Oscura only responded with an anger-filled stare. Michelle smirked at this and said, "You know he won't believe another thing that you say, don't you? You know that there is nothing you can do to get your way now...You know.."

Not able to take another word from this girl, Oscura reached forward and clamped her hand around Michelle's throat, holding tightly but not enough to really hurt her that much. This caused Michelle to shut her mouth and cease speaking, staring at the younger girl in shock. Oscura pulled her closer, almost making her fall onto the table. Leaning very close to her, Oscura said, "Shut up why don't you?! You think you're all that! You think that you have beaten me! You think that just because I've compromised the trust of our leader that I won't be able to do away with you or anyone else that I wanted!" She allowed her talons to extend from the digits, digging lightly into Michelle's skin to cause her a little bit of pain. "Well guess what, sister?! YOU AREWRONG!" With that, she shoved Michelle away, causing the teen to topple backwards in her chair. Michelle fell backward and so did the chair, and she grunted in pain as she hit the ground.

Michelle groaned in pain again, rubbing her head carefully. She had hit her head pretty hard and she could feel a small bump forming where the blow had struck her. She hoped it would not bruise up that much. She looked up at Oscura, who looked down at her, smiling in satisfaction at seeing her in pain and in a vulnerable position. Michelle felt her heart start to race. She was on her back, her most vulnerable position. She knew Oscura could react quickly and if she wanted to make a killing blow, there was nothing holding her back. It wouldn't be that hard to drive claws into soft skin...

"I could just kill you right now if I wanted to..." Oscura said, eyes narrowing as her evil smile broadened. Michelle's eyes widened in fear and she turned her head away, waiting for the blow. This caused Oscura to laugh bitterly and evilly. Michelle's demeanor melted away very fast when she was put in real danger. Oscura scoffed at her. Michelle was weaker than Victor was aware of. There was no room for such a pathetic person such as her to be part of Raptor Dyne. Michelle was just as pathetic as Caruso was. As much as she wanted to kill Michelle, she decided to let her go this time. Just seeing her cower in fear was good enough for her. She turned away and sat back onto her seat.

Bewildered, Michelle slowly struggled up to her feet. She stared at Oscura, confused. She wondered why the raven-haired girl gave up the opportunity to kill her. No one was around to witness it. And the doors were shut, so no one outside the room would hear them. Oscura could probably have killed her swiftly, too fast for her to even make a scream. What had stopped her? What had held her back? Michelle wanted to ask Oscura this, but she thought better of it. Maybe she shouldn't temp her. Instead, Michelle proceeded to pulling her chair back up and sat back down in it.

"Just consider yourself lucky that I did not kill you, Michelle." Oscura warned, showing Michelle her razor sharp teeth. "Next time you might not be so lucky, do you understand?"

"Crystal." Michelle responded in a low, muttering voice.

Satisfied, Oscura leaned back her chair. She picked up her small glass, filled with some kind of flavored drink, and drank from it slowly. She decided to bring something else up with Michelle. She was bored and she wondered how Michelle would react knowing that Victor wanted to get Caruso again. She had overheard him talk about it anyway. Whether or not he'll go through with it remains to be seen. Still, regardless if she knows or not, one thing Oscura was certain of is Michelle's protesting against going after Caruso again. She would come up with some lame excuse like how he wasn't of use to Raptor Dyne anymore and how his friends would protect him more ferociously than before. But Oscura knew the real reason. She had grown to like the kid and she was trying to protect him.

Setting her glass onto the table, Oscura leaned forward, clasping her hands together in a mischievous way. This made Michelle look at her in such a way that it made Oscura laugh. Michelle knew that she was up to something. She knew her too well sometimes. "So have you heard the news. Ms. Brown...?"

Michelle winced at how Oscura was calling her so formally. It was unsettling and not something Oscura would normally do. But she responded anyway. "You mean about Zoom joining the team? Yes I heard about that..."

"No no no!" Oscura said quickly, waving her hands in front of her quickly. "Not that!" She narrowed her eyes, her hands held out in front of her, palms facing towards Michelle. "About that one kid that used to be our little prisoner? That...what was his name again...? Oh yes, Caruso!"

Michelle tilted her head. She was not liking where this was going. "Yes of course I remember him.. How could I ever forget him?" She said as she rubbed one of her shoulders where Buzz had grabbed her so roughly. She was surprised that she hadn't gotten any nightmares of Buzz. He was a really scary guy when he was angry.

Oscura grinned evilly. "We're going after him again."

That statement nearly made Michelle jump from her seat. She looked at Oscura as if she had gone crazy. "What?!" Michelle gasped, gripping the table with both hands tightly. "That doesn't make any sense! I mean, we already got what we wanted from the boy didn't we? What is the point on capturing him again?"

Oscura shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Oh I don't know really... Victor just seems keen on getting him back."

"But...why?" Michelle raised her hands in the air. "Does he want to upset the Dino Squad to the point where they unleash their fury on him?!"

Oscura chuckled at Michelle's concern. The Dino Squad? Unleashing their fury on Victor Veloci? What a laugh! Those pathetic fools were not even fit enough to fight her, a Troodon. What chance would they stand against a fully grown Velociraptor? "You know, you worry so much that it makes me laugh, Michelle." Michelle glared at her. "Don't give me that look. You know it's true." Oscura hissed. "Despite how things turned out, you were still worried that Victor was going to punish you when I edited your little journal, weren't you?"

Michelle scoffed. "Yeah right! I was never afraid!" She said defensively. "It is you who should have been afraid, trying to fool an old raptor like Victor. What, you think he was born yesterday?"

Oscura's smile disappeared and she frowned. "Now it is you who should be afraid, my dear..." Oscura said in a threatening manner. "For I heard Victor has a new assignment for you, and if you fail...well..let's just say the consequences are not worth disobeying Victor over."

"Assignment...?" Michelle asked. "Why didn't he tell me about this?"

"Oh he was." Oscura said, turning her head to one said and waving a hand at her in an almost dismissive way. She then looked at her with an evilly playful look on her face. "I just figured I'd be... nice... and tell you before he did, so that you knew..."

"Well that's awfully nice of you." Michelle said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. Shaking her head a few times, she gave Oscura a scrutinizing look and said, "So what is this new assignment Victor has put me on?"

Oscura glared softly and then looked away. "Hmm..maybe I should not tell you know." She gave the girl a sideways glance. "It would ruin the surprise..." She said in an enticing, mysterious way, hoping to intrigue Michelle, get her attention. And it worked.

Michelle leaned in. She wanted to know about her assignment. Oscura had brought it up and now she wanted her to spill the beans. Why would Oscura bring it up if she was not going to tell her anyway? Part of Michelle told her that this was a trap of sorts. But the other side was itching to know what assignment she got. She could try and repair the trust with Victor by proving to him that she was on his side. That would make him leave her alone for a while. Perhaps Oscura could get an assignment too so she could get Victor trust her. Michelle winced at that thought. Perhaps it was not a good idea to allow Oscura the chance to redeem herself with Victor. Things could get far worse.

"And why won't you tell me?" Michelle asked.

"Maybe you don't need to know." Oscura said, smiling softly. "Besides...you wouldn't like it."

Michelle's eyes slowly widened. She was suddenly not sure if she really wanted to know. "..oh really...?"

Oscura nodded. "Yes. It has to do with the Dino Squad..oops!" She said in a mocking way, acting surprised. She had her hand over her mouth as if she was shocked by what she said. "I said too much, didn't I?"

Michelle nodded. "Yes you did. What of the Dino Squad?"

Oscura smirked as she watched Michelle's reactions to what she was saying. Oscura was lying through her teeth and Michelle was falling for it! She knew she could say just about anything at this point so long as it was convincing. If she said something that seemed too far-fetched, Michelle might catch onto her. She would have to tell her something that she would be expecting Victor to say. And she knew just what she was going to say to Michelle. The only thing that would be left to do afterward is to see how Victor responds to what Michelle was going to try to do.

"I don't remember exactly..." Oscura said, sounding as innocent as she could. "..but I do believe that Victor wanted you to capture..or kill.. at least one of the Dino Squad members, other than Caruso himself."

Michelle narrowed her eyes slightly. She wasn't sure if she should be believing Oscura. After all, the girl was out to kill her. She could very well be lying about this just to try to get her into trouble. There was a chance that she was telling the truth, but that was very slim. Still there was a chance, and if Oscura turned out to be telling the truth, then Victor might get mad at her for not fulfilling the mission. But if her hunch is right, and it most likely is, Oscura is only telling her this to try and stir up some trouble. If she were to fall for it, she could end up in bigger trouble than before. And this time she would not be able to convince Victor it was Oscura's fault, for there was no witnesses around and no way to tie Oscura in with the incident.

If she was to avoid a dangerous conflict later, she could just pretend to believe Oscura. If she did that, Oscura would think that she was going to go through with it. But if Oscura did know that Michelle did not believe her, she might try harder to convince her, come up with something else, or come up with another plan to do away with her. Oscura was not always the straight forward one. She could easily take out Michelle with a bite of her Troodon teeth, for sure, but she wanted to make Michelle suffer a lot first. She didn't simply want to just kill her off; she wanted to make her suffering as slow and as painful as possible before delivering the final blow.

"Oh really?" Michelle said, trying to sound as surprised as possible. She leaned back in her chair, clasping her hands together. She tried to make herself sound as curious as possible, giving as little indication as possible that she was suspicious of Oscura's claims. "And just where does Victor expect me to find them?"

"At the lighthouse, of course." Oscura said, smirking. "Or you could find them at the school... You've been at the school already, haven't you?"

"Yes, on a spying mission." Michelle said.

"I bet that went so well..." Oscura smirked, leaning forward. "..didn't it?"

Feeling a little threatened, Michelle moved her head back, baring her teeth nervously. "Oh shut up, why don't you?" She said to Oscura, who only broadened her smile. Michelle didn't like thinking about that day. That was the only day that Buzz was ever nice to her, face-to-face. He was nice to her before that, on the online game. She sighed deeply as she thought about what happened. It was almost fun playing with him. She recalled how it took a while for her to realize that he was the person she was fighting against. She never would have known that. She just wanted to have some fun. But she knew Buzz was going to accuse her of using that to let his guard down.

She understood why Buzz hated her so much. She had fooled them all. She had pretended to be such a nice person. She had partially gained some of their trust. She noticed that perhaps the one who trusted her the most was Buzz. That was why he acted the way he did around her in their last confrontations. He must have been so hurt at what she had done, so devastated to learn that he had been fooled, that just seeing her filled him with rage. Michelle felt terrible about what she did, but knew that convincing Buzz that she was sorry was not only difficult, it was almost impossible. He probably not not let her get near him without trying to bite her head off.

If it were up to her, she would completely avoid the Dino Squad from now on so that the kids would not have to feel so angry anymore. If it were up to her, she never would have broken into the lighthouse, destroyed their computer equipment, and she would not have thrown Moynihan down the stairs. If she could have made the decision, she would have left. If she knew that her actions would have lead up to this, she never would have gone through with it. But it was either follow Victor's orders, or be considered a traitor and be chased out or, even worse, killed and eaten. She shuddered at the thought of him biting into her neck to break it. That was probably going to be her fate one day if she was not careful.

"So...you understand what you are supposed to do?" Oscura asked.

Michelle broke away from her train of thought. "Of course." She absentmindedly responded.

Oscura smirked evilly. "Good." Oscura glanced down on her plate. She still had some steak left that she did not finish. Transforming her head into a Troodon's, she siezed the piece of meat in her jaws and chomped onto it, shredding it into small pieces before she swallowed the pieces whole. Juice flowed down her neck as she did so.

Michelle grimaced. Oscura was not exactly being a polite eater now. "I hope you plan on wiping off your face, Oscura."

In response to that, Oscura, without changing back, lifts up a napkin and wipes the juice from her chin and neck and set it back on the table. 'That satisfy you?' She asked in a sarcastic tone. She didn't wait for Michelle to reply. Licking her lips to get the last bit of steak juice off of her scaly lips, she decided to thought-speak to Michelle some more. 'Anyway, if you have any doubts on what I just told you, why don't you ask Victor yourself? He'll tell you the same thing.'

"And if he doesn't...?" Michelle inquired, her eyes slightly narrowed. "What am I supposed to do if it turns out that you were wrong?"

Oscura stopped for a moment to think about this. It was foolish of her to suggest the idea of talking to Victor. That would have already ruined her plans. Why did she even think of suggesting that? Now she started to feel stupid and realized that she was starting to slip, make mistakes. She looked at Michelle. Not wanting her to believe that she was realizing the mistakes she was making, Oscura decided to quickly cover it up the best that she could. 'On second thought, maybe it's best that you do not ask. Victor might get upset with having to repeat his orders twice in a row.'

Michelle snarled. "But Victor hadn't even given me the orders yet. So why would he get upset with me asking?" She sounded and acted mad, but she was really laughing inside. Oscura was starting to lose some of her edge, some of her cunningness. She was making mistakes and slipping up easily. She started to put forth a plan to get her into trouble, but she had just ruined it herself. Oscura had made the mistake of suggesting that Michelle go talk to Victor, who would have informed her that he never made such plans of sending her out after the Dino Squad. Not only that, but Oscura had said that Victor would get upset with her asking about the mission twice when in reality Victor had never even mentioned this idea to her. Oscura would have to try harder than this to get her way, that's for sure.

Oscura snapped her head back at Michelle's question and snarled in anger and frustration. She had just made another huge mistake. Of course Victor would not get upset. He never even told Michelle, or herself, anything about going after the Dino Squad! Oscura could try to recover again, but anything she came up with didn't make any sense. She could feel her hands shaking in rage. This plan could have worked out so perfectly if she didn't open up her big mouth! Michelle's probably already onto her now. As much as Oscura did not always like to admit it, Michelle was pretty smart at times and quick to catch onto things. After hearing two mistakes, she probably would have realized that she was just setting her up for trouble.

Growling and hissing in frustration, Oscura gave up. There was no use in trying to continue to convince Michelle into going after the Dino Squad. 'All right fine..I admit it! I made all that stuff up!'

Michelle's eyes widened a little. But they quickly returned to normal as a sly smile spread across her face. "I knew that..."

Oscura was slightly surrprised, but not too taken aback. 'You knew? How?'

"Easy." Michelle responded, the smile still on her face. "I hate you. You hate me. You would do anything to get me out of the picture. So it would make sense for you to come up with these lies in order to trick me into doing something Victor didn't want me to do. So when Victor found out, I could not tell him you did it because there is nothing linking you to the incident. Thus I would have been punished." She was sounding a little like Sherlock Holmes as she explained all this to Oscura. "That would have made you very happy, woudn't it Oscura? Well tough luck! You will have to do much better than that to get me!"

'Oh don't worry...' Oscura's Troodon eyes narrowed into slits. 'I will be sure to try harder... Your day will come. I can guarantee you that...'

"And why don't you try finishing me off now? Why wait?" Michelle asked, shrugging her shoulders. "No one is around to witness anything."

'Tempting, really...' Oscura said, a dinosaurian smile spreading across her jaws. 'But I must decline..What is the fun of finishing you off quickly..when I can have you suffer instead?'

Michelle chuckled bitterly. That was typical Oscura all right. She always wanted to do things the long way. She usually liked to make things last. "Of course... You probably would want to slash me open with those talons of yours and pour salt and lemon juice into it, wouldn't you?" She winced as she said that, wondering if she had accidentally given Oscura some ideas of torture.

Oscura smirked at the suggestion. She would love to do that to Michelle if given the chance. But she was thinking of something that could be much worse than that. 'Perhaps..though I was thinking of something more..agonizing...much more painful...' She bared her teeth in a dinosaurian smile, drool dripping from the jaws.

"Uh huh." Michelle just rolled her eyes. "You really are something, aren't you, Oscura? You are unafraid of telling me that you want to kill me, and yet you try to come up with these plans to get rid of me without me knowing it. And here I thought you were smarter than Caruso..." She winced when she said that. She didn't really mean it. It just sort of slipped out.

Oscura let out a loud, screeching hiss, forcing Michelle to cover her ears. 'I AM SMARTER THAN CARUSO!' She bellowed, the voice almost painfully echoing in the back of Michelle's mind.

Scratching the inside of one ear with a single finger, Michelle looked at Oscura with a single, glowing eye. She was starting to get angry enough to want to transform into her full dinosaur self. She did her best, however, to hold the urge back. "Then start acting like it!"

Oscura snapped her head back again, saliva dripping onto the table as she growled angrily, clenching her Troodon teeth, snapping them together in a threatening manner. Despite flashing her teeth and growling deeply, Michelle remained unfazed, glaring back at her with those glowing yellow eyes. Oscura felt the urge to transform right then and there and teach Michelle a lesson. What does she know about acting smart anyway? She knew nothing about what it was like to be a real fighter! She didn't know the glory of demeaning her opponents, to make them suffer for thinking they could take her on! She had no idea!

'Why you...you think you're so smart, don't you?' Oscura's teeth continued to flash and Michelle had a good, clear shot of the serrated edges that covered both sides of the teeth. 'If I can get my teeth into you, you will find out just how smart you really are!'

"Then why don't you try...?" Michelle said as she challenged Oscura. She slowly got up out of her seat, holding her arms out on either side like a raptor would when it was attacking. The sharp talons of her Guanlong hands poked through her human fingers in a threatening manner. "How about it, Oscura? You and me. One on one. Mono y mono."

Oscura, tempted by the offer, got up out of her own seat. She slowly bobbed her head up on down, tilting it from side to side as if she was analyzing Michelle to see what way would be the best way to attack her. If she wanted to fight Michelle, now was the best time than any other to do so. Michelle was right of course. Oscura could get away with killing her. No one was around to witness it. But when she took a step forward, about to make the first move, she stopped. She narrowed her eyes further. This is probably exactly what Michelle was hoping for. Smirking slightly, she lowered her hand, which she had started to raise to strike Michelle. 'Nice try...'

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked, slightly confused.

'You were trying to get me to attack you so that the scent of blood would attract Victor.' Oscura responded, the smirk still on her face. 'Well guess what? It ain't going to work!'

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked, the glow in her eyes dying down completely when the hope of a fight diminished. "I only suggested it because I thought that you wanted the chance to kill me. Isn't that what you want? I know it is. You've told me yourself." Despite how calm she was sounding, Michelle was actually very afraid. She could feel her heart starting to race and she could feel her forehead and hands becoming damp with sweat.

'Oh I'm sure..That is what you say..' Oscura said, turning around to face the door. 'But I know you... I know what you are trying to do...' She gave Michelle a sideways glance, her glowing yellow eye looking like it was seeing right through her. 'I know you are afraid...' Michelle's eyes widened slightly at this, but she remained as calm as she could. 'I can hear your heart racing.. Oh how it is racing.. You are afraid of me, aren't you?' Oscura chuckled in a dinosaurian way, her laughs sounding more like hisses and grunts than actual laughter. 'You're more like a mouse, aren't you? I could attack you right now, and you'd run away. You don't wanna get bitten by my mouth, now do you?' Oscura taunted, pulling her lips back to show Michelle her teeth and gums.

Michelle growled. She was not going to be deterred like this. She was not going to let Oscura freak her out like that. She was not going to back down. She was not going to run away. She stood her ground. As Oscura turned her head back and headed towards the door, Michelle quickly moved forward, stepping in front of Oscura and blocking her path completely. Oscura took a few steps back, growling in frustration but not lashing out at Michelle. The two remained standing in front of the door, glaring at each other with their own pair of glowing dinosaur eyes. Both looked like they wanted to attack each other, but they just remained standing there instead. They were holding back, waiting to see what the other was going to do.

'Why are you blocking my path...?' Oscura finally asked after several seconds of tense silence.

"You know very well why!" Michelle snapped, baring her sharp Guanlong Wucaii teeth although her head was not transformed. "You're the one who threatened me first! If you want a fight, let's just do it now and get it over with! But you know who is going to win..." Michelle lowered her head like she would if she was in dino mode when she was about to attack. "Me."

Oscura pulled her head back and laughed. 'You? Beat me? Don't make me laugh, Michelle.' She glared at Michelle, continuing to bare her Troodon teeth at her. 'You were just lucky that time.'

"I was not! I won because I was the better fighter!" Michelle insisted.

'Sure you were...' Oscura smirked, taking a step forward and lowering her head as if to challenge Michelle. But she did not make another move towards her.

Before any of them could make another move, they heard the sound of the door knob turning. Oscura immediately changed her head back to normal and Michelle withdrew her claws. They backed up away from the door to make room for whoever was going to come on inside. Even if neither would admit it, they were both worried that it was one of Victor's men who did not know the truth of the company. If it was one of them, then rumors, maybe even panic would spread through the company, and Victor was going to be upset with both of them.

But upon seeing who it really was, both of the girls relaxed. It was only Victor, probably coming into the room to eat something. He carried nothing in his hands, however, and from the way he was looking at the girls, he was looking for them for quite sometime.

"Dr. Veloci..." Michelle started, but stopped herself when Victor held up a hand. He didn't seem interested in having a very long talk.

"Save it. I am just here to give you and Oscura both assignments. And before you say anything, no you don't have to work together." Victor said. "You two can work on this separately. Besides, after what Oscura did..." He eyed Oscura somewhat suspiciously. "..I don't think I can trust you two together for very long anymore."

Michelle smirked at Oscura briefly, who returned the gaze with a harsh glare. They both knew just how right Victor was in keeping them separated. They would definitely be at each other's throats if they were left alone again. They almost attacked each other in this room because they were alone, they were both agitated, and they both wanted to fight each other. But it was for two different reasons. Michelle wanted to fight to defend herself. Oscura wanted to fight to rid herself of Michelle. Now the only thing that was keeping them from going at it with each other was Victor standing right there. If they did so much as claw at each other, he would step in between them and prevent them from fighting each other.

Michelle turned her attention back to Veloci, who was scowling at her. She winced. She wondered if he saw the way she and Oscura were looking at one another. He might have sensed that they wanted to attack each other. Hoping to change the subject quickly before it was brought up, she said, "So..what assignment did you have in mind for us, ..sir..?" Her voice almost squeaked because of how nervous she was feeling.

Victor narrowed his eyes slightly. "You two can approach this however you want..." He took a step forward. As he did so, both Oscura and Michelle moved out of the way to make room for him. "You two are to keep an eye out for the Dino Squad. When you find them..single out Caruso...get him alone, and I don't care how you do it..but..." He paused for a few moments, waiting to see how the two were reacting. Michelle kept a straight face, but seemed interested to know what he wanted them to do. Oscura was leaning in, clearly more interested than Michelle was, perhaps even too eager. "..kill him."

Oscura's wicked smile returned, broadened across her face and she chuckled. While this was not exactly the lie she had told Michelle, it was pretty close. This would not have the same effect as she was hoping for, but it could still make her plan work. She glanced over at Michelle, who looked slightly shocked, but she knew that the girl was horrified by this assignment. Oscura knew that Michelle cared about Caruso and wouldn't harm him. She would most likely disobey orders and just let him go. That kind of disobedience would probably anger Victor and he would punish her severely. He already nearly killed Michelle with a bite to the shoulder. Oscura couldn't want to see what he would do to her this time, if Michelle were to disobey that is.

Michelle did her best not to seem too shocked by this new assignment. She didn't want to give Victor a reason to become suspicious of her. She was glad that he decided to give her another chance and, for the most part, trusted her again. But she started to wonder if it was worth it in gaining his trust back. If she did something to give him a reason to doubt her, he could give her a harsher punishment, perhaps even kill her if he felt she was a lost cause. She was becoming a little confused, wondering why Victor would assign them to go after Caruso. What good was he to them now? Victor had already tested some weapons on him. He had him fight against mutantsaurs. And he also obtained a blood sample from him, although a very small amount. Then she recalled that he had just said he wanted him dead. That confused her even more. Why did Victor want to kill Caruso? That didn't make any sense to her. She thought Victor would want him alive, since he has perfect dinosaur DNA.

"You...want us to kill him...?" Michelle asked carefully, almost hoping that she had heard wrong and Victor just wanted them to capture Caruso. But she was sourly disappointed when Victor had quickly proven her wrong when he gave a firm nod of the head, no hesitation at all. "...why do you want us to kill him? I mean, the kid has perfect Stegosaurus DNA. Why do you want to kill..."

"Because he knows too much!" Victor snapped, hissing through his teeth.

"He..knows too much?" Michelle said softly, sounding very confused. What could Caruso possibly know that would make Victor want to kill him? What did he see or hear that Victor found out about that would jeopardize any mission? She knew that Victor must be serious in killing this boy. Victor never considers killing a human unless that human has become a major threat to his plans in general. For him to consider killing Caruso, he had to have, at least to him, a very good reason. But for the life of her, she could not think of what it could be.

And for once it seemed that Oscura Witter agreed with her, much to Michelle's surprise.

"What could that little runt possibly do to you?" Oscura asked, raising her hands up in the air. "While I'm all for the idea of killing him, there is one thing that bothers me, just a tad." She moved her pointer finger and thumb close together to give emphasize to her 'just a tad' statement. "Why the sudden decision to kill him? What made you believe that you needed to kill him? What could he possibly know that you think he would tell the other pathetic kids about and ruin whatever plans that you have?"

Victor narrowed his eyes. Then they suddenly glowed, indicating that he was probably becoming a little agitated. Worried, both girls took a few steps back. They were now at least three or four feet away from Victor, who was still in human form. They almost expected him to transform into a raptor right then and there and tear into them because of the way he was looking at them. They weren't sure what was wrong with him. He usually doesn't glare at his employers like this when he was giving an assignment. The only time he would usually get annoyed was if he was in a hurry, and this time he wasn't acting like he had to be anywhere anytime soon. He might get upset if he had to repeat the assignment, but this was the first time he's told them anything about this, so it couldn't possibly be that.

Victor let out a soft sigh, allowing his eyes to return to their human shape. He wasn't sure if he should tell the girls why he wanted Caruso to die. He was concerned that one of them might spill the beans, whether it be intentionally or unintentionally. For Michelle, he was worried that she would get captured and be forced to spill the information. That is what he believed happened back at the warehouse. They cornered her and forced her to lead the way. That almost ruined the plan because the Dino Squad did not pass through the rooms that they should have first. But the plan still went into motion because some of the experimental chemical that he had used on Caruso still lingered on his body, and the Dino Squad came into close range with him. The fact that the chemical smelled like death did concern him a little. He thought it would drive them away, but to his luck, it did not.

But for Oscura, he was more worried she would just blurt it out to gloat or to frighten them. Oscura was a very eager individual, willing to do almost anything to simply cause pain to another. She seemed to get joy from that, Victor couldn't understand it completely. He understood the joy of gaining dominance over one person, or possibly getting rid of a threat. But Oscura was much different in that she gets joy no matter what it is. She does not care about getting rid of a possible threat or gaining dominance, even if she might claim she does. She just cares about causing pain for the heck of it. She was a very violent person, which concerned Victor. Her violence was the reason he had been willing to let her on the team in the first place. But her violence, one day, could get her into big trouble. And, as much as he hated to admit it, he's the one who was going to have to help her out of that situation, if it came at all.

But in the end, he decided to take the risk to tell them. They were still his employers after all and since they had dinosaur DNA, he figured that they could be trusted with such sensitive information. They both know very well what would happen if they were to disobey him as well. Victor had made sure every member of Raptor Dyne that was helping him transform the planet knew extremely well what would happen if they were to step out of line. No one dared to challenge him, and it made him laugh. These humans had numbers on their side. He was only one raptor while there were probably thousands of humans working for him, and he knew this. Yet just because he's a Velociraptor, the humans feel helpless, and they cower like the vermin they really are. Victor scoffed. Humans were so pathetic. He still couldn't believe they became the dominant species of Earth. Well, that was going to change soon enough, he thought.

"...It's because he knows..the cure." Victor said, his voice deepened, darkened, almost mysterious. The two girls looked at each other, then back at Victor, who just smiled back, a little pleased in seeing that they were confused yet clearly interested in what he was saying. "I had tested a chemical on Caruso before, and he knows how to stop it, because I stopped it myself, sometime after he recovered from the initial shock of it, before Oscura here came in and told me about the Dino Squad being in the warehouse. He might not remember now because of what he went through, but sooner or later, he'll remember..." Victor's eyes narrowed. "Then he'll tell his friends..and I cannot let that happen..."

"...what chemical?" Michelle asked carefully. She wasn't sure what Victor was talking about.

"I do not recall you saying that you were working on a chemical, Dr. Veloci." Oscura said, sounding very interested and somewhat surprised. "What does it do?"

Victor smiled, the lips pulled up to reveal his teeth, which had changed into raptor teeth. "Let me explain..."

* * *

"Ooooo..." Caruso moaned as he slowly opened up his eyes. His vision was dark, almost black, and he was unable to see for a few seconds. He rapidly blinked his eyes, slowly turning his head left to right, and reopened his eyes. Colors and light started to come through, but his vision was very blurry and he couldn't make out anything except for a few moving shapes. He started to hear voices, but they sounded very far away and they seemed to echo so much that he couldn't understand what they were saying. He couldn't remember what had happened or how he got here in the first place. He doesn't even remember falling asleep. But he was too tired and confused to be frightened. He didn't even flinch when he felt something press against his forehead.

"Caruso...? Caruso...?" He heard the voice say. He recognized it as a young feminine's voice, and slowly, the name of the person came to his mind: Fiona Flagstaff. Despite how concerned and urgent she sounded, he couldn't bring himself to say anything back to her. He only moaned again, and slowly closed his eyes again. His head leaned to one side, and he fluttered his eyes open again. The room was starting to take shape, and memories were slowly flowing back to him. But he still remained too confused and out of it to say anything. It didn't help that he wanted to go back to sleep, but something was driving him to stay awake.

Fiona gently stroked Caruso's hair as she watched him struggle to remain conscious. The procedure was completed. Moynihan was able to treat the wound inside his mouth. She had also proceeded to treat some of the wounds on his head as well. His head was covered in surgical bandages after Moynihan had cleaned some of the wounds and applied medicine to them. She was not able to bandage his tongue with the traditional bandages, so she had to settle with doing something she would only do in case of emergency. She stitched up the gash. She didn't think she did a good job, and had warned the kids that Caruso might go crazy because of the possible pain he would feel. Despite this dire warning, however, Caruso remained unrestrained on the table. They figured that his own grogginess would keep him from trying to run away.

Caruso had been asleep for about an hour now, and Fiona was starting to wonder when he was going to wake up. The others had left into another room to discuss what they should do. Moynihan went off alone somewhere. Fiona didn't know where she was or when she was going to get back. She sighed softly. She wished someone was in here with her. She wasn't sure what to do when Caruso woke up completely, nor did she know what to say to him if he had any difficult questions for her, though she couldn't think of what difficult questions he could possibly have for her.

About ten minutes ago, her other teammates were in the room, waiting for Caruso to wake up. Moynihan had already left. She only said she wanted to be alone for a while, but when asked why, she refused to answer. They didn't question her and just let her leave. The others were trying to stay until Caruso woke up. They were going to see how he was feeling. But they wanted to discuss some things and they didn't want Caruso to hear them in case he woke up. They didn't want to frighten him, and in his current state, that's the last thing they wanted to do. So they left. They did try to get Fiona to come back them, but she refused, stating that someone had to stay behind and look after Caruso when he woke up. They couldn't just leave him all by himself.

It was difficult for Fiona to stay in the room alone with Caruso, even though it was only for ten minutes until he finally woke up. The silence was tense for her, and every time she looked at his face, she remembered how they found him in the warehouse, and she also remembered the conflicting feelings she was experiencing inside of her, confusing her. She gritted her teeth nervously as she looked at him, slowly coming to. She knew he couldn't see her that well, even though he was looking directly at her. His eyes would wander around the room, and he continued to moan. His eyes constantly opened and closed, and he looked like he was trying to regain his bearings.

Part of her wanted to talk to him right then about her feelings she had for him. Now was a good time than any other. She was alone; the others were in another room and could not hear her at all. But she hesitated. This was probably not a good time to talk to him, she thought to herself. Caruso was still very out of it. If she told him how she felt, he would probably not be able to understand her and wouldn't know what she was talking about. He might even forget it later on. She would probably have to wait until she was fully awake before she tried to tell him anything. And by then, the others probably would have came back anyway. She narrowed her eyes slightly. She would get her chance, but she would have to wait. Now wasn't a good time.

She decided to try to talk to him again. Maybe he would be able to respond to her now. Maybe he had woken up a little more. Fiona leaned in a little close to him and said, "Caruso...? You awake now?"

Caruso slowly turned his head towards her, his eyes only partway open. He opened up his mouth to speak. "Y...y..yes..." Although his voice was very slurred, sounding very tired and groggy, Fiona was able to make out what he was saying, and she smiled in relief, glad to see that he was becoming more alert. "W-w...What happened..?" He managed to say, and flinched slightly. Fiona froze, realizing that having the stitches put in might cause pain. She remembered Moynihan's warning, and started to feel terrible.

"Please..don't talk.. " Fiona lifted a finger, causing Caruso to slowly shut his mouth. She was glad that he was alert enough to know what that gesture meant. "Moynihan treated some of your wounds, Caruso. She bandaged the ones on your face, well the ones that were bleeding again that is. She then stitched up the wound on your tongue, and she warned it might be very painful." Due to his grogginess, Caruso couldn't react much to what Fiona told him other than his eyes widening up a little. "I'll just ask you yes or no questions, okay?" She sensed that he might want to try to communicate with her somehow. And he couldn't do that by talking, and he was probably too weak to use a pen or pencil. "Nod your head for yes, shake your head for no. Do you understand?"

Caruso slowly nodded his head after a few seconds. It took him a while to really respond to her. He was a little sluggish, most likely due to just waking up after a miniature operation. He was sleeping for quite a while and his brain hadn't fully awakened yet. He felt like he had stayed up for several days and it was a chore just trying to stay awake. But he didn't want to go back to sleep. He wanted to stay awake. He wanted to know more about what happened, and he did want to talk with Fiona. There was something he had wanted to talk to her about, but now was a bad time. He was too confused and groggy from the minor surgery to talk about much of anything.

"Do you feel tired?" Fiona asked. She decided to go for an easy question that wouldn't take much brain power to answer. She didn't want to overwhelm him with anything too complicated. A single nod from the boy answered her question. She already knew the answer to that question though. It was obvious the boy was very sleepy. "Yeah...I would be too if I were asleep for about an hour or so after being tranquilized. And if you are wondering how you are in human form now, I don't know. Moynihan did something and..I dunno." Moynihan did do something to change him back, but none of the other kids could see what she did, and neither could Fiona. This was something else that Moynihan refused to talk about other than telling them that it was a trick she learned to defend herself against Victor. She wouldn't tell them how to perform it themselves though. She said it was too risky.

"Are you feeling any better now?" Fiona asked. Caruso took his time answering this question. Fiona understood that he probably needed to assess himself a little to know if he was feeling any better or any worse. He probably wouldn't be able to give an accurate answer, though, because he was very tired and probably wasn't feeling all the pain he will feel when he's completely awake. Caruso slowly moved his tongue, trying to assess the intensity of the pain. He flinched and stifled a cry of pain before positioning his tongue back down to let the pain subside. Although very groggy, he managed to slowly touch his face and gently applied pressure, trying to see if he could feel anything. He immediately moved his hand away when he felt some pain there as well. He looked up at Fiona and slowly shook his head. Fiona sighed and smiled weakly at him. "You'll feel better soon... I promise." She whispered.

Caruso smiled groggily back at her, and slowly closed his eyes again. He was still very tired and as much as he wanted to stay awake, he couldn't fight his fatigue and was slowly slipping back into unconsciousness again. "Caruso?" Fiona asked, sounding concerned. She reached down and gently caressed his cheek. "Hey..don't go to sleep. Wake up." She told him, hoping that he would react. Fortunately, he did, slowly opening his eyes back up and letting out an exhausted moan. "I know you're tired, Caruso, but you have to stay awake...please..." She didn't like to beg, but she couldn't help it. She was a little worried that he would fall back asleep and not wake up for many more hours. As long as he wasn't moving around much, she didn't see any harm in him staying awake as much as he could. She then asked him something without really thinking of it. "Do you think I could...speak to you privately later on?"

Caruso's eyes slightly widened and he looked up at her with a mildly shocked expression. Fiona sensed that he was wondering why she wasn't talking to him now. "The reason I'm asking is because..well...you're tired, and I'd rather talk to you about this when you're more..awake. I hope that's all right with you." Caruso blinked a few times, trying to become more alert but the overpowering fatigue was still wearing him done. Nonetheless, he was able to respond with a simple nod, which made Fiona smile at him. "Thanks." She said, moving her hand from his cheek to his hair and gently stroked it, running her fingers through his hair. Caruso seemed to like it, as he was smiling softly.

"Is he awake?" A masculine voice asked, causing Fiona to jolt in shock, though Caruso didn't make much of a response. She looked over and saw Max walking in. The jock noticed that he surprised Fiona and immediately held up his hands and apologized. "I'm so sorry, Fi!" Max said, grinning nervously. "I didn't mean to surprise you like that."

"Oh, it's okay..." Fiona responded. She looked down and realized her hand was still on Caruso's head. Looking over at Max, she wondered if he had noticed this. Feeling a little embarrassed, she was about to pull her hand away, but she gazed down at Caruso. The boy seemed to be enjoying this and it was making him a little more alert. "I can explain..." Fiona said to Max, trying her best to stop the blush that she felt forming on her face when the jock suddenly took notice of where her hand was.

But Max held up a hand once again, an understanding smile creeping onto his face. "No need to explain, Fiona. I know what's going on." Max said as he made his way towards Fiona. The girl had already explained to him and the others about her fledgling feelings for Caruso when she said that she wanted to stay behind with him, so he didn't find it odd that she was caressing his hair. Caruso himself had also said that he thought he had feelings for Fiona in the school cafeteria. It probably made him feel a little better as well as it was a nice distraction from the pain he was probably going through right now. He had to admit to himself, though, that he was feeling a little jealous. He had sort of liked Fiona as more than just a friend for a while. Even though it wasn't a huge crush or anything, it still hurt him slightly to see her take interest in Caruso. But they were both his best friends, so he was happy for them anyway.

Fiona looked at Max, a little confused. She started to lift her hand, but hesitated, giving Caruso a sideways glance. She couldn't see his face, but she guessed that he might start complaining if she moved her hand away. She gulped and said, "You...you know what's going on?"

Max nodded once. He hated seeing Fiona like this, so not like herself. She was usually not like this. What happened to the Fiona he knew? The Fiona that was always so confident? The Fiona that always seemed to know what to do? "Yes..of course! I'm your friend. Of course I know what's going on. I can see it just as plainly as you can."

"And...what's going on?" Fiona asked, tilting her head curiously to one side slightly. She was curious to hear his answer.

"You're trying to comfort Caruso." Max said, glancing over at Caruso. He could see the boy was awake, for the most part, as his eyes were open. But he could tell the boy was also still very tired as he looked like he was trying his best to stay awake and he wasn't reacting much to anything, except Fiona of course. He seemed to respond the most to her, probably because she was the closest thing to him other than a wall and the bed. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. That's a very sweet thing to do."

"I know..but..." Fiona started to say, but she quickly stopped herself. She wasn't sure if she should be talking about this in front of Caruso.

"But what?" Max asked. Fiona didn't reply to him. She instead looked at him, her eyes slightly wide with concern and perhaps even fear. She then moved them slowly over to Caruso, and she closed her eyes herself, letting out a soft breath of air. Max quickly understood what she was trying to tell him and nodded his head in understanding. "Oh..I see..." He had almost forgotten that Irwin was awake now and could hear everything they were saying. He suspected that Fiona was not yet ready to tell him how she felt. And he wasn't sure if Caruso was ready either. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Fiona said. "I just...I don't know..."

"...you're not ready." Max said in a low voice, hoping that Irwin couldn't hear him. "...is that it..?"

Fiona looked up at Max and nodded her head. She then looked back at Caruso, seeing if he was reacting to what was going on. He didn't react, however. He instead was just looking up at the ceiling, looking a little confused. It was like he didn't know what he was looking at. Fiona was starting to get a little worried. She thought that he would be becoming more alert as time passed. While this was the case, he was starting to become a little confused and she didn't know why. She thought that his grogginess would have started to subside. Moynihan hadn't used any strong tranquilizer on him; only the Chiller. The effects shouldn't have lasted this long, should they...?

"..don't you think it's strange..?" Fiona asked Max absentmindedly.

"Hmm? What?" Max inquired, cocking one eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Fi?"

"Caruso." Fiona said, moving her hand down so that she was now touching his cheek gently. She was being extra careful not to cause him pain as she was moving her hand along a couple wounds that Moynihan had just treated not so long ago. "Shouldn't he be more awake now? He's still very groggy, and it's not like Moynihan used a strong tranquilizer on him or anything. Just the Chiller." She moved her hand upwards a little more, reaching her fingers as far as they could go and gently started to lightly scratch the skin behind the boy's ear. She didn't know why she was doing this, something that she would normally only do with Rump. But something compelled her to do so, and Caruso wasn't complaining. "I didn't think the Chiller would take this long to have its effects wear off, do you? I mean, when Rodger went dormant, he woke up almost immediately after he was warmed up..."

"But Rodger wasn't shot with the Chiller." Max pointed out. "And don't forget. Ms. M had to continuously spray him, even during the procedure, to ensure that he would stay asleep long enough for her to finish up. All that chilling effect probably would take longer to wear off. Maybe that's why Caruso still isn't fully awake, even though he should be by now." He was honestly not sure if this was correct or not, but it did make sense to him.

Fiona frowned lightly, turning her head to look at the floor. "Hmm..I had forgotten all about that..."

Before any of them could say anything else, they heard the footprints of their friends returning into the room. They looked over, seeing Rodger and Buzz walk in, both wearing a solemn look on their faces. Their eyes were shifting from Max and Fiona, then to Caruso, then back again. They didn't have to say anything for Max and Fiona to know that they were interested in knowing how Caruso was doing. They also looked like they felt bad for leaving him like that, even if it was for only about an hour and Fiona was with him the whole time. They did look a little relieved that Caruso was awake, though. That was a positive sign.

Before Rodger or Buzz could say anything, or ask any questions, Max spoke up, pretty much saying what they were going to ask for in the first place. Max held up his hand and looked at them and said in a serious tone of voice, "Caruso's doing fine. He just woke up though, so he's a little groggy."

"A little?" Fiona asked, narrowing her eyes a little. "He is having a hard time staying awake. He keeps closing and opening his eyes, as if he had been asleep all day and can't get himself to wake up."

Max decided to ignore Fiona, much to her disgust, but she didn't say anything about it. Max kept his attention on Buzz and Rodger, who were still walking towards them but very slowly and cautiously. They didn't say anything as they walked right up to them and stood next to Max and Fiona, their attention still on Caruso. It looked like they were trying to figure out something else to say, but couldn't think of anything. Even though they both knew that Caruso was doing fine, they couldn't help but still be worried. Perhaps something could go very wrong and Caruso could... no! They shouldn't think like that! Caruso made it this far and he was making a pretty good recovery. He wasn't going to die now, not after all the progress he's made! He just couldn't!

Still, they couldn't help but remained worried. They weren't sure of Victor's status, what he was going to do next. They hadn't heard anything from him over the past two weeks and it was scaring them. They didn't know what he was up to, and since he knew they could hack into his system and see what he's doing and even reroute it like Rodger had to distract Victor long enough for the Dino Squad to reach the designated areas before he did, there was little chance they could keep much of an eye on him anymore. Heck, he himself could hack into their system and mess around with it, though luckily he hasn't tried that yet. They weren't sure if it was because he didn't know how to do it, if he wasn't interested, or if he was just waiting for the right moment to try it out.

But what was frightening them just as much regarding Victor Veloci, especially Caruso, was whether or not he was going to come back for Caruso. They weren't entirely sure if Victor would risk trying to capture him again because he knew that they would fight back even harder now. It wouldn't be easy to pull off the same stunt. But they were convinced that, given the chance, Victor would try to re-obtain Caruso and continue experimenting on him and torturing him. The Dino Squad would be sure that didn't happen, but they were still worried that Victor would catch them off guard one day and take Caruso or someone else away. The insane Velociraptor has been silent for quite some time and they can't figure out when his next move will be. Victor is not the type to give up so it wasn't like he just decided to quit. No, he was waiting for something, biding his time. They had to be ready, no matter what.

But as they thought of Victor, someone else came back into their memory, well two people actually. They remembered Michelle and Oscura. They were part of the raid at the lighthouse that resulted in Caruso being kidnapped by Victor Veloci. They started to worry about them. Even if Victor didn't come to the lighthouse, Oscura and Michelle could, and even on their own, they were vicious fighters. Michelle could use her smaller size to move faster than they could, and thus was a much harder target to hit. Oscura was even smaller in size and swifter, but that's not what made her more dangerous. She had a mouth full of bacteria and when she bit down, she would inject this into their system, making them very sick.

Even when Rodger and Buzz fought against Michelle when her partner wasn't around, they still performed poorly and were both easily defeated. Michelle's smaller size enabled her to be more agile and swift than they were, particularly Rodger. Buzz was faster and more lightweight, but he still wasn't able to dodge Michelle's attacks. He was surprised that she didn't shred his wings. She had the opportunity, but she decided not to do it. For Rodger, she beat him by using her speed to tire him out and then attacking him. But even though she could have killed him and Buzz, she didn't. But if Fiona and Max hadn't come in to help them, she probably would have ended up killing them anyway.

Hoping to break the uneasy silence that had fell onto the group, Buzz asked, "So..do you think he can make it to school tomorrow?"

Max narrowed his eyes a little as he gazed down at Caruso laying on the same white bed that he was laying in when he got infected with the dangerous mutant virus. Thinking of that virus, he had to shudder in fear. Fiona had made a very good point. With all the ice melting and such, the virus could easily spread to different parts of the wound. Both humans and animals would be infected and perhaps die from it because there's no cure for it other than what Moynihan has, and he wasn't sure if she still had any left. And he was sure that, if Victor discovered it, he would use it against humans. He silently hoped that Victor did not discover the ancient mutant virus.

Max slowly shook his head. "I'm not sure if he can make it, guys. He's still very weak from having the Chiller sprayed all over him. And with those stitches in him, he might be in too much pain to go to school anyway."

"Max has a point." Rodger chimed in. "While it is important that Caruso returns to school as soon as possible, after that minor surgery he might be too weak to go tomorrow. And it is just a Friday so he'll have a three day recovery time. On Monday, I'm sure he'll be well enough to go back to school."

"And what if he isn't?" Buzz asked nervously. "What if he remains sick even after those three days are up..?"

"I really hope that isn't the case..." Fiona whispered, sharing Buzz's fears. "I really hope that you are wrong on this one, Buzz."

"I hope I'm wrong too..." Buzz nodded his head, agreeing with Fiona. This was one time that he hoped that he wasn't right. And he was sure that the others, not just Fiona, would agree with him on that.

"I'm sure things will be just fine." Rodger said, trying to give everyone a reassuring smile.

"I hope so." Buzz said softly. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Caruso. To see Caruso in this state was very painful for him. He could only hope that, very soon, it'll be all over and everything will be back to the way it was before. Then he flinched slightly, feeling a sharp pain in his heart. He realized that things could never be the same again. Caruso would probably have changed forever because of this. The team would never be the same. And the entire battle against Victor would never be the same again.

* * *

"I must be crazy..." Zoom said to himself as he lifted up his hand, formed into a tight fist.

The man was standing in front of the home of O'Ryan. As much as Zoom hated to come here for personal reasons, he felt that he could use O'Ryan's help. No one else was as interested in getting dinosaur footage than O'Ryan himself was. The selfish newscaster wold do anything to get a good dinosaur story, even if it might lying in front of millions of people. Zoom had seen much of the guy's work on TV and he was impressed. He wasn't impressed with the special effects; they were old hat, very cheap, easy to tell that they were fake. He was impressed with O'Ryan's persistence and eageriness in getting real dinosaurs on the show. And that made him the perfect man for the job that he was going to offer.

Zoom didn't care what Victor had told him. Victor felt that the plan was too risky and would risk exposing Raptor Dyne and the perfect dinosaurs. Even though he could have used that as an opportunity to look like a hero in humanity's eyes and gain their trust even more, Victor felt it could have backfired should evidence be traced back to Raptor Dyne. Victor had worked too long and too hard to gain acceptance from the human race so he could manipulate them like he was in Raptor Dyne. And he wasn't about to let a silly stunt like Zoom's plan ruin all that. He had warned Zoom not to go forward with the plan until he gave the okay. But Zoom, being impatient, didn't want to wait and decided to go O'Ryan now. He was sure O'Ryan would be very interested in the job, and why wouldn't he be?

But still, Zoom couldn't help but think he was insane for trying enlist this guy's help. He has gotten some bad rap over the years for his dinosaur claims. No one really believed him. Everyone knew he was a fake. There was nothing believable about his claims or his show. And as for his own photos, Zoom knew that some people were already seeing through his edits and clever changes. With the two factors added in, Zoom wondered if there was even a point in going forward with the plan to frighten people into trying to hunt the Dino Squad. The bomb part of the plan might have been cut out completely to avoid issues that may ensue later on, but the plan was still risky. If the dinosaurs were killed, Victor would not be able to get the perfect dino DNA that he needed.

Zoom still didn't know why he decided to join Victor in the first place. The madman wanted to destroy all of humanity after all. Zoom might have been selfish, interested in getting insanely good photographs even at the expense of others, but he wasn't interested in seeing humanity die off as a species. He didn't want dinosaurs to return to the planet and take it over once again. The only reason he can remember as to why he joined Victor in the first place was just to get the opportunity of revenge on the Dino Squad. He closed his eyes and started to think. Was getting revenge really worth this?

Zoom O'Donnell took in a deep breath and gently knocked on the door, making sure he was being loud enough for whoever was inside to hear him. He stood there, waiting for a few seconds for the door to open up. But when no one came, Zoom knocked again, and he waited on the door step. Still no answer, so he resorted to using the doorbell. As he pressed it, a loud ring could be heard, reverberating throughout the entire household. Zoom winced, surprised at how loud it was. If this didn't get O'Ryan's attention, he wasn't sure what will.

Ringing the doorbell had a better effect than knocking did. Within approximately thirty seconds or more, the door knob turned and opened up to reveal O'Ryan. The man's eyes were narrowed almost dangerously and he didn't look too happy to be bothered by anything. He recognized Zoom, but didn't say anything other than, "What do you want?" His voice sounded cold, making Zoom shudder at the sound of it. But he quickly regained his composure, telling himself that O'Ryan couldn't be as scary as Victor or Kista. He wasn't a...

"Allow me to introduce myself..." Zoom said, holding out his hand to shake the guy's hand. "My name is Zoom O'Donnell and I am pleased to finally meet you, Mr. O'Ryan." But O'Ryan didn't shake his hand in return. He just looked at his hand, frowned, and then looked back up at Zoom. Realizing that O'Ryan wasn't going to shake his hand, Zoom smiled nervously and quickly lowered his hand. "Well...can I..speak to you?" He asked nervously, hoping O'Ryan was in a talking mood.

O'Ryan leaned against the door, still glaring at Zoom. He had heard about Zoom before and has seen some of his work. This was the man who posted up fake photographs to fool the masses. He was surprised at how many people would fall for these cheap edits. Then again, he had to admit, Zoom did do a better job at scheming than he ever did. Almost no one ever believed him while many people are fooled by O'Donnell's pictures. O'Ryan felt a small smile creep onto his face. Maybe this man would have of some use to him. "What is it you want to talk to me about, hmm...?" He asked in a somewhat eerie voice, leaning a little bit forward towards Zoom.

"Well...I wanted to make a proposal." Zoom said as he lifted up a finger. He took a step forward, hoping O'Ryan would move out of the way and let him inside. But O'Ryan kept on standing there, continuing to stare at him in a scrutinizing manner. Zoom gulped and took a step back. "..well are you familiar with the..um... dinosaurs...?"

O'Ryan's eyes widened a little. Maybe this guy did know about the dinosaurs after all! Maybe he would be of some use after all. He grinned more broadly and said, "Well yes...I'm sure you've seen my program, showing all those dinosaurs on television..."

"Except they were fake." Zoom interjected. "It's kind of easy to tell that..."

"Don't remind me." O'Ryan warned, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Zoom immediately regretted saying what he had and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought that..."

O'Ryan's frown immediately disappeared and the creepy smile returned onto his mouth. "Oh that's okay..." He tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow a little bit. The smile spread even further on his face, his lips pulling back so much Zoom thought he could see the man's teeth. "So what about dinosaurs? Why do you bring up that topic?" He didn't say anything more, waiting for Zoom to respond. O'Ryan was hoping that Zoom was going to mention something about kids who can transform into dinosaurs. If he did, then he would definitely think that Zoom would be useful for something. Perhaps he could even be his new cameraman.

"Well..you probably aren't going to believe me..." Zoom said, smiling apprehensively.

O'Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why don't you just try me? You might be pretty darn surprised..."

Zoom said, "Yeah..well.. This has something to do with kids who can turn into dinosaurs..." He had recalled that O'Ryan did claim to have footage of someone turning into a T-Rex, but he still wasn't sure if the man really believed today that what he had seen was real. He wasn't sure if O'Ryan had started to think that he was just seeing things, and that's why he was a little nervous to tell him this. He thought O'Ryan would think he was nuts.

"Turn into dinosaurs you say?" O'Ryan tilted his head, a little curious but didn't show any signs of shock or disbelief, much to Zoom's relief.

Zoom nodded his head. "Yes, that's what I said. Kids who can turn into dinosaurs and back at will." He took a step forward again. "I know it's a little hard to believe, but it's true... I've seen it for myself." Zoom shuddered when he thought about the transformations he had witnessed. It was scary seeing some human mutate into a monster. And he wasn't sure if it was scarier or not that they retained their human intellect when they transformed.

O'Ryan grinned almost evilly, sending chills down Zoom's spine. This was one scary guy, he thought. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go to O'Ryan for help, even though he also held a grudge against the Dino Squad. But it was too late; O'Ryan knew what Zoom wanted and it seemed that he already had made up his mind. There was no turning back now. "Well yes of course I know it's true... I've seen a kid transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex myself." His eyes narrowed. "But then some stupid kid came along and destroyed my camera. He was probably the T-Rex's little friend..."

Zoom nodded and said, "Yes..so I've heard. They were both members of the Dino Squad."

O'Ryan looked at Zoom with a slightly shocked expression. "Dino Squad?"

Zoom nodded his head once again. "Yes. The Dino Squad. They're a group of five teenagers who can turn into dinosaurs whenever they want. I have heard that you head an encounter with them, and I was right..." Zoom allowed a smile to creep onto his face. "..and I have a bone to pick with those kids myself..."

O'Ryan smirked. "Oh really? What did they do to you? Destroy your precious cameras?" He jokingly said, pointing at the bag that Zoom was carrying around his shoulders. "I heard you are really attached to your equipment."

"No! They stole my CD!" Zoom snapped, closing his eyes tightly as he recalled what happened. He would never forgive that punk kid for making him seem like a fool in front of Victor, or anyone. He had something great, something that could have made him a very rich man. But it was stolen from him by those darn kids! Oh they'll pay...dearly!

O'Ryan narrowed his eyes. "A CD?" He was feeling a little disappointed. He was hoping for something more interesting. "Is that all? What's so great about a CD? You have some of your shopping lists on it or something?" If it was just a picture, then perhaps he had wasted precious time standing out here with Zoom O'Donnell. What as the point of getting worked up over a picture anyway? What could there be gained from it? Nothing, O'Ryan thought. Absolutely nothing.

"It wasn't just a CD!" Zoom barked at him, forgetting his manners and letting his anger and frustration take over. He rushed forward and grabbed the slightly larger man by his shirt and pulled him towards himself. O'Ryan just stared at Zoom, not flinching. "It had a very important picture in it! If I could have kept that picture, I would have been a millionaire!"

O'Ryan turned his head to once side, but still kept his eyes on Zoom. "And just what kind of picture is this? It has to be very important for you to go nuts over it."

Zoom gritted his teeth, grinding them so hard that he thought that they were going to break. He didn't know why he was getting so angry already. He tried to stop himself, but it was too late. He had to release his anger and he was going to do it on O'Ryan, whether he wanted to or not. He shook O'Ryan a few times rather roughly, and even managed to slightly surprise the larger man. But O'Ryan continued to look at him fearlessly, as if he wasn't fazed by anything Zoom could do to him. Zoom started to yell at him. "IT WAS IMPORTANT! IT HAD A PHOTOGRAPH OF A PTERANODON WITH A GIRL'S HEAD ON IT! I WAS GOING TO SELL IT TO DR. VELOCI BUT SOME PUNK FROM THE DINO SQUAD STOPPED ME! AND HE WAS THE VERY ONE WHO SOLD THE PHOTOGRAPH TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE!" He stopped yelling and started to calm himself down through quick, hoarse breaths.

O'Ryan remained calm and quiet as Zoom unleashed his temper on the man in the form of screaming. When he was finished, all O'Ryan did was scratch the inside of his ear as if the sound had barely effected him. He had seen worse before, especially from himself when he gets angry. So he wasn't at all bothered by Zoom's yells. But something the guy said did catch his attention. It wasn't about the photograph itself, but exactly who sold it to him. He wondered if they could find out who this person was, and if they did, they could find the Dino Squad. He gripped Zoom's hands roughly and quickly, and easily, pried them off of him. He then pushed Zoom lightly, just enough to make him step back a few inches away from him. Zoom looked at him in surprise and seemed to immediately regret yelling at him. O'Ryan just smirked.

"So you think that if we find out the name of the kid..." O'Ryan thought, scratching his chin as he spoke. "..we could find the rest of them?" Zoom's eyes widened in shock. He was not expecting O'Ryan to come up with a plan that quickly, and Zoom himself hadn't thought of that, using the punk teen to try and find the others. It did make sense, and it could perhaps work. He did get a very good look at the kid anyway, and he still has the e-mail from the kid. Maybe he could inform Victor and see if he could trace the e-mail's signal back to the computer of its origin. "Don't you think that idea could work out, Zoom O'Donnell?" O'Ryan's smiled evilly.

"Oh..uh...sure?" Zoom answered, a little nervous by how O'Ryan was smiling at him. Then again, he was smiling a similar way just a few minutes ago. He cleared his throat and held out his hand towards O'Ryan again, hoping that the man wasn't upset with him yelling at him just seconds ago. "So..what do you say? Do you want to help me find those brats and make them pay?" He tried to offer an equally evil smile of his own, but every time he stared into O'Ryan's narrowed eyes, he faltered and his smile quickly disappeared. To his surprise, O'Ryan reached forward and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly, and gently moved it up and down.

"Sure thing...I'll help you." O'Ryan said, his dark smile still on his face. He then pulled his lips back and bared his teeth in an evil grin. He then roughly pulled O'Donnell towards him so that he couldn't escape his grasp. "But first, let me tell you how things are going to work..."