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...

20. Changed

Moynihan sat in one of the smallest rooms in the Mothersaurus Submarine. She wanted to get away from the other students so that she could think about what has been happening with her lately. She's been doing this several times, whenever she gets the chance, even during school. She really wanted to find out what was wrong with her. Now that Caruso has been treated and will make a recovery soon, Moynihan could now focus on the second problem: why she had been acting so aggressive and strange lately.

Why was she acting like this? She wasn't being provoked. She was no longer under much stress since the danger had passed and the computers were up and running again. Victor hadn't tried to attack for weeks, although she still thought it was a trap of sorts, a way to get them to let their guard down. She wasn't going to let that happen. She started to wonder if her increase in aggressiveness was the result of Victor trying to psyche her out. Maybe nothing bad was going to happen at all. Maybe there wasn't anything 'unforgettable' that would occur to her and the Dino Squad. Victor could have just told her that to make her feel paranoid and all this behavior was just all inside her mind.

Moynihan narrowed her eyes. That didn't make any sense though. How could her being paranoid account for how she started to feel disgusted about eating vegetables? How could that make her crave meat, and raw meat from the refrigerator to be exact? As far as she was concerned, there was no way that stress or nervous feelings could be responsible for such change in behavior. Something else was causing it, but she couldn't figure out what. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to think as hard as she could, trying to remember as much of what happened as she could.

Could Michelle have anything to do with this? Michelle was the last person she had encountered that wasn't on the Dino Squad team before her behavior had started to change. Could that girl have done something to her while taking them to Caruso? Moynihan recalled when Michelle had run off, telling everyone else to run as well because of some knockout gas that was being pumped into the room. Moynihan narrowed her eyes a little. She couldn't think of why Victor would use knockout gas in the hallways as that didn't seem like his style. He was more of a 'capture in cages' or 'invisible barriers' than trying to knock them out. Then again, his robot that he had built did have knockout gas, so maybe it wasn't so far-fetched after all.

Still, she wondered if Michelle was actually setting up a trap for them. Maybe the chemical was some kind of neurotoxin that affected the neurological system, wreaking havoc and causing its victims to go haywire. Moynihan, however, shook her head, quickly dismissing that theory. It just didn't add up. If the chemical was indeed a neurotoxin, then why weren't the children effected as well? She had no choice but to accept that Michelle was telling the truth. It was not any kind of poisonous gas; it was just ether which would have done nothing more than knock them out. So Michelle had nothing to do with what was going on with her.

But then that leaves only her students, as they were the only other people she had recently came in contact with before her behavior started to alter so drastically. She didn't want to believe that her own students had something to do with this, but who else was there? Moynihan wouldn't dare believe that they would do this to her on purpose. They could have been unwitting pawns in one of Victor's schemes perhaps. Or maybe they were forced into it by Victor. She shook her head rapidly, shouting 'no' multiple times inside her head. She was with them most of the time after Caruso was kidnapped. There was no way that they could have been captured within that amount of time and threatened. Just no way!

While this made her sigh with relief, it also brought about a pang of fear. If it wasn't Michelle or any of her students, what was causing her to act so differently and how did it all happen to begin with? She couldn't think of anything that they had done that would have triggered such a change. There was nothing out-of-the-ordinary about the rescue, or anything else in the warehouse, at least nothing she wasn't expecting. She didn't expect Michelle to help them, but she had already ruled Michelle out as a suspect. There was just nothing that Michelle did back there that would link her to what was happening to her.

Moyhinan looked towards the door. She knew that her students would be expecting her to return soon. She had been away for a couple hours now. She started to wonder how Caruso was doing. He should be awake by now. She hoped that he was not trying to move around too much. She didn't want him to hurt himself. Moynihan was glad that the operation seemed to be a complete success. Stitching up the wound on his tongue was a good idea and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. While it would probably cause Caruso a lot of pain, it would keep the wound from reopening again and allow it to heal. Caruso just has to refrain from talking as much as he could in order to let that particular wound to heal. But that was going to be easier said than done. This was Caruso after all.

Thinking about Caruso brought back feelings of apprehension to the old woman. While she had done her best to try to reassure her students that things will hopefully work in their favor, she couldn't help but fear that things will go very wrong for them again, very soon. She still wasn't sure if Victor was going to come back to get Caruso or not. If she concluded that he wouldn't, then he could catch her by surprise and they wouldn't be able to stop him in time from taking Caruso away from them again. But if she prepared herself and the students, then there could be a chance that Victor would not try to kidnap Caruso again, and all that training and preparing would have been for nothing. Still, Moynihan knew that they couldn't take any chances; they had to be prepared.

She looked down towards the ground, staring at her feet. She was sitting down in a small chair in the room. This is usually where she would run some of her diagnostic tests regarding the status of the ship. There were drawers full of off-white paper on one side of the room. On top of the desk that the drawers were attached to, there were different types of equipment, some of which are scanners, that monitor the ship and let her know if anything was going wrong. She had located this room in a secure location because she didn't want her students coming in here. She wanted them to stay away from this room, and it wasn't the scanners that were the reason why she didn't want them in here.

And as she moved her eyes slowly to another part of the room, her eyes caught the very thing that made her apprehensive about letting the children in this room: a photograph of her and Victor from about forty years ago, not long after they had first emerged and adapted to human life.

Moynihan walked over, and slowly picked up the picture frame. She didn't know why she was keeping this photo other than for old time's sake. She looked at the picture, nothing how happy she and Victor used to be together. In the photograph, they were wearing different clothing than they were today. Moynihan was young, taller, and still had her dark hair. Victor looked the same physically. Even after forty years, he still managed to look so young and, as much as she hated to admit it, handsome. In the picture, the two were sort of hugging, their arms over each other's shoulders as they grinned at the camera. Moynihan felt a single tear roll down her face and she felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth. What had happened to those days? What had happened to cause her and Victor to hate each other so much now?

She slowly closed her eyes and wiped away the single tear. She knew that they had seperated because it was the only thing that they could have done. Their views on what to do with Earth and the humans were so vastly different, and neither side was willing to compromise. Moynihan wanted the planet to stay as it is and allow the humans to live. She believed the humans would soon see the error in their ways and stop with what they were doing. She also wanted Earth to evolve overtime naturally, to allow life to change as it should, without the aide of some outside technology. But Victor, on the other hand, was the opposite. He wanted the Earth to return back to the way it was sixty-five million years ago. He wanted to artificially transform all lifeforms, to force them to deviate from the natural order, to reverse all evolution, to return to their original prehistoric forms. And he saw no place on Earth for humans. He wanted to either transform them or to kill them off. Moynihan knew that he didn't care which just so long as he didn't have to look at another 'ugly hairless monkey' ever again.

She slowly sat the photograph back on the small, brown desk that it originally sat on. She took in a slow deep breath. She might as well get up now and go find the Dino Squad. They were going to be in Sick Bay so it was not going to be hard to get back to them. She slowly got up from her seat and made her way towards the door. She gripped the knob and slowly turned it. As she walked out of the room, she quickly turned around. Reaching in, she flipped the switch and the lights went out completely, enveloping the room in darkness. She slowly closed the door, and quickly locked it with a key she had brought with.

Moynihan then made her way down the long corridor. Up head, she could see a narrow flight of stairs. She quickly went over to it and made her way down the steps. The steps were a little narrow. She wasn't surprised. The submarine was built when she was younger and thinner. But she still managed to get down the steps anyway. It wasn't that difficult. After she stepped off the stairs, she looked up, trying to find one of the signs that pointed to different rooms. She knew there should be one for the Sick Bay here somewhere. She had seen it when she was walking through here a few hours ago. The sign couldn't have just disappeared.

Looking all around, she finally managed to spot a long, glowing sign that hung from the wall. Smiling faintly, she looked up to see where the Sick Bay was. This was a huge submarine and it was a little easy to get lost, even though she had built this sub herself. But she quickly realized something was not right. To her horror, she realized that she couldn't read the sign. The letters did look exactly the same, but she couldn't decipher them in her mind. Her heart started to pound rapidly. This was exactly what happened to her when she was pouring Rump's food. It was happening again!

Moynihan backed up quickly, trying to think of what could be going on with her. Why couldn't she read the sign? It was still written in plain English! She should be able to read it! But for some reason, it looked like nothing more than chicken scratches to her! But that isn't the biggest shock that she was about to experience. As she tried in vain to read the sign, she felt herself becoming angrier and angrier. She gripped her head tightly, digging her nails into her skin, trying in vain to understand the letters written on the sign. She tried so hard to remember what those letters meant and what words they were forming. But the more she couldn't figure it out, the more frustrated and angry she was getting. She could feel her head starting to pound in pain as she tried to hard to remember.

When she reopened up her eyes, she looked up and still she could not read the sign. She screamed in frustration, but not loud enough for the kids to hear her. She didn't want them to see her like this, so frustrated and confused, so unlike herself. She tugged and pulled at her hair, ignoring the searing pain she was feeling when she did so. She was pulling so hard she thought the hair was going to be ripped right from its roots. She managed to stop herself, and she released her grip on her gray hair and lowered them to her side. She glanced down, and was horrified at what she saw.

Her hands had completely transformed into her raptor hands! It wasn't just a change in coloration or the talons peaking through the skin. They were completely transformed. Every bone, every muscle, every vein in the hand had transformed back into what it was when she was a Velociraptor sixty-five million years ago. She felt her hands begin to shake as she stared at this sight. She wasn't even thinking about transforming. It just sort of happened to her when she got so angry. She never felt so afraid before in her life. The only time she was even more afraid was when Victor tried to kill her thirty years go.

She tried to change her hands back, but they didn't seem to want to listen to her. They remained as they were: cold, scaly, green Velociraptor hands, armed with long, sharp talons. She slowly closed them tightly, feeling the sharp talons dig into her skin. Tears of fear slowly flowed from her eyes, her teeth gritted and bared in fear. Unable to hold it in much longer, she pulled her head back and let out a loud scream that reverberated throughout the Mothersaurus Submarine.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

* * *

The sound immediately got the Dino Squad's attention. Their heads lifted up swiftly and they looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. But they didn't take off right away. They glanced back at Caruso, who was still laying in bed. He was still awake, but still looked very tired. They couldn't have him running along with him and they couldn't just leave him all alone. Fiona agreed to stay with him while the others went to check what that sound was. The scream sounded so familiar, but it was one that they had never really heard before themselves, not like this or with that much emotion and intensity. Fiona proceeded to sit down in a chair beside Caruso, holding his hand, while the others rushed towards the sound.

They couldn't be sure of the exact location because of all the echoing. But Rodger made a guess of where the sound most likely came from and he said that they should start there first. They made their way down one of the corridors in the large sub, looking around for any signs of an intruder, even though one is very unlikely on a submarine that was invisible to radar. Following Rodger's lead, the Dino Squad eventually reached one of the far sections of the submarine. They could see a catwalk right above them and the lighting was a little dimmer here than it was in regions of the ship that they were just in. The Dino Squad stopped and looked around, hoping that they wouldn't get lost. They had never been in this part of the submarine before. Moynihan had never let them back here. They hoped that she wouldn't be upset if she found them back here.

Moving forward, they stopped again, hearing some kind of sound. It sounded like scraping, and the very sound sent chills down their spines. It was like someone was taking their nails and scratching the chalkboard of a classroom. That sound would send chills down almost anyone's spines who had to listen to it. They came to a section that split off in two ways. Both areas looked empty, and they couldn't see anything except for a sign or two telling them where certain places were. They listened to the sound again, and this time they could hear where it was coming from. It was coming from the right, so they quickly moved in that direction. They didn't have to go far to see what was making the sound, and the sight made the kids stop in their tracks in fear and shock.

There, standing not too far from them, perhaps about ten feet, was their teacher. She was standing, but not straight up. She was hunched over a little, similar to how she would stand in raptor mode, but not to the same extreme degree. Moynihan's hands were completely transformed into raptor hands, although the rest of her arms remained human. Her teeth were bared and they could see her sharp, pointed teeth that she would have in Velociraptor form. Her eyes were narrowed, glowing intensely and they could see the slit pupils associated with dinosaurs. She had her claws pressed into the hard metallic wall of the corridor, and she was pulling her claws down. The scraping sound was heard once again, making the students cover their ears.

"What is she doing?!" Buzz hissed under his breath, his hands still firmly pressed against his ears.

"I think she's... AAAH!" Rodger pressed his hands against his face as tight as he could, but the horrible scraping sound was still getting through. "...sharpening her claws... Predators like lions do the same thing!"

"But why would she need to sharpen her claws for?" Max asked.

"I dunno..I..." Rodger stopped himself, looking forward, his eyes wide with fear.

Moynihan was looking straight at them. She was no longer scowling, but her eyes remained narrowed, still glowing a bright yellowish color. Her claws remained firmly planted in the wall, the muscles in her arms tensing up so much that the students could see her muscle tone. It made them cringe because they never realized just how muscular Moynihan actually was. Even if it was probably her dino half that they were seeing, it was still a scary sight for them.

Moynihan started to pant, as if she had completely exhausted herself from doing something for too long. Her gaze was glued on her students, but while her mouth was open she refused to say anything. She only stared at them, like a carnivore would stare at potential prey to see if it was worthwhile to chase after it. Moynihan may have been acting differently, but she was still somewhat aware of her surroundings. Recognizing her students, she felt her heart start to beat a little faster than before. She was wondering why they were here, of all places and of all times. She became fearful she was going to hurt them, or frighten them with what she was doing. She wanted them to get away, to leave this place. She didn't want them to see her like this.

Max swallowed hard, but he forced himself to walk towards Moynihan. He could tell something was really troubling her. Despite the vicious glare in her eyes, she looked afraid, lost, and confused. As he got within three feet from her, he started to reach out towards her, wanting to try to calm her down. "Professor Moynihan... What happened? What's wrong with you?" Moynihan didn't respond. Instead, she did something that no one would have expected. When Max's hand got too close, she gritted her teeth and lifted up one hand. She arched the fingers so that the claws were far apart and pointed downward. She then pulled her hand back and struck out towards Max, aiming to slash his arm.

Max screamed in surprise and immediately pulled his hand away. He made it just in time. The hand slashed by his arm, missing by a few centimeters, and struck the wall with a good amount of force. A loud scraping sound could be heard as the claws slashed into the metal, creating several long, very shallow scratches on the surface of the wall. Max stared at the scratches in horror, realizing what kind of damage that it could have done if it had struck him in the arm. He then looked back at Moynihan, his eyes wide with fear. "Moynihan...why did you do that...?" He managed to say, trying to keep himself from trembling.

Moynihan just slowly panted once again, her eyes remaining narrowed. But when she spoke, her voice was not filled with anger, but instead fear and shock. "You should not have come here..."

Buzz shuddered. "I'll say..."

"What's wrong with you?" Rodger asked. Both he and Buzz were also in complete shock at what Moynihan had just tried to do to Max.

Moynihan turned her head away and stared into the wall almost blankly. She looked like she was trying to fight some primal, powerful urge. It was like their fear was doing something to her, awakening a side of her that she never wanted to show to anyone. The students took a step backward, wondering what was going to happen next. "Just get away...please... I-I..I don't want to hurt you..."

"H-Hurt us..?" Buzz spoke softly, gripping his hands together in fear.

But despite being frightened, Max continued to try to reach out to Moynihan. He moved his hand towards her again, this time being more cautious so that he didn't get close enough for the woman to attack him again, if she would try again that is. "Ms. M..what is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this...?" But Moynihan didn't answer him. Her teeth were bared at him menacingly, but her eyes were now wide with fear. She looked as if she was either afraid of him touching her, or of herself attacking the jock. "Moynihan...please...I just want to help you..."

"M-Max..." Moynihan's voice was darkened a little, and there was a hint of a growling hiss to her voice. This frightened the three teens. Moynihan hadn't spoken like this before. Something was very wrong with her, as if seeing her sharpening her claws wasn't enough evidence. Moynihan seemed to struggle to back away, trying to put as much space between her and Max as possible. But as she walked backwards, the Dino Squad noticed her feet were extremely shaky and wobbly, as if it was taking all of her strength just to take a step backwards. Gritting her teeth so tightly that it felt her teeth were going to crack. "G-Get away from me...please..."

"What do you mean?" Rodger asked, looking both confused and afraid at the same time. "Why do you want us to get away from you?"

"Yeah..we won't leave you." Buzz said, despite how afraid he currently was feeling.

Moynihan shut her eyes tightly, gripping her head tightly with her hands. The claws dug into her skin, and the kids started seeing blood trinkling from her scalp. "Just get away...b-before it's too late..." Her voice was so hoarse now it was hard to hear her let alone understand her. But the kids could tell just from the tone of her voice that she wanted them away from her. But why?

Max wasn't about to give up. Taking in a deep breath and trying to let go of his fear as best as he could, the jock took a step forward, reaching his hand out ever closer to Moynihan. "Moynihan...I..."

But he wasn't able to finish his sentence. In that instant, Moynihan finally couldn't control herself anymore. She suddenly lunged towards Rolf, her mouth agape as her drool splattered all over the ground. Her hands were facing forward, the claws curved downward. Max's eyes widened in fear and he tried to respond, but the old woman was much faster. He grunted in pain as he felt himself being shoved onto his back, his head smacking against against the hard floor. When he opened up his eyes, before him lay a scary scene: Moynihan looming over him, eyes glowing bright yellow, and her teeth bared. She lowered her head towards him, growling fiercely.

Buzz and Rodger gasped in horror and they rushed forward to help their friend. Buzz grabbed onto Max's shoulders while Rodger went behind the crazed old woman. He wrapped his arms around her body, pinning her arms against her side. Moynihan struggled in his grasp, but Rodger refused to let go. He started to pull her back, getting her off of Max. As Moynihan was pulled off of the boy, Buzz pulled Max away from Moynihan. Once they were seperated, Buzz released Max and then looked at him with a worried expression on his face. He quickly looked over the jock, making sure that there were no visible injuries. Max was visibly shaken by what had just happened, but he didn't have any physical injuries on him, much to Buzz's relief.

"Max..are you okay?" Buzz still wanted to be sure that Max was all right.

"Y-Yes...I'm okay..." Max said, his voice a little shaky. His eyes were still glued on Moynihan, who continued to glare at him with rage-filled dino eyes.

Rodger pulled Moynihan further back. He then swung her around and pushed her up against the wall, using his large body to keep her from getting to his two friends. Moynihan struggled violently in his grasp, kicking once in a while towards him and digging her claws into his arms to make him let her go. But despite the pain, Rodger kept pushing her into the wall, trying to restrain her until she drained her energy on her own. Buzz and Max watched this scene play out with fear-filled eyes. They were worried that the situation was going to get much worse. The next few minutes were tense, with Rodger holding Moynihan as tightly as he could. Moynihan continued to fight back, although she has not yet attempted to bite the boy.

"Moynihan!" Rodger hissed, squeezing Moynihan's arms roughly, but not hard enough to hurt her much. "Stop it now!" Moynihan kept on struggling, and Rodger narrowed his eyes angrily. He put his face very close to hers and then shouted as loud as he could. "STOP IT!"

The loudness of Rodger's voice caused Moynihan to finally snap out of the trance she was just in. She slowly calmed down, her expression quickly softening. She stopped fighting against Rodger and started becoming aware of her surroundings again. Her eyes, teeth, and hands changed back to normal, and she looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening. She quickly realized she was being pinned by Rodger and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Max on the floor with Buzz, looking up at her in fear. Heart racing, she quickly realized what had probably just happened here.

"K-Kids..." Moynihan said softly, a look of terror spreading on her face. "I-I am so sorry..."

"What's happened to you? Why are you acting like this?" Rodger asked her. His voice was still firm, but he sounded calmer than he did earlier. He didn't release his grip on the woman, but he did loosen his grip up a little when he was sure that Moynihan's mysterious and scary episode was all over now. "I've...we've never seen you do something like this before."

Moynihan slowly bowed her head. "I don't know what's wrong with me... I just saw red and..." She looked up, staring at Max. What she had said reminded her of what Max said weeks earlier. Max had lost his temper and had later stated that he saw red, just like what she said just seconds ago. She closed her eyes and looked away. So this is what Max had felt afterward when he had done something wrong. The past was repeating itself, but this time it was her to had repeated it, not Max or any of the kids. "I'm so sorry..."

* * *

Fiona let out a soft sigh, wondering what had happened back there. She also wondered when Max, Rodger, and Buzz were going to get back. They were gone for about ten or fifteen minutes now. They had to go to McFinn's place soon and pick up Rump. They couldn't bring Rump with them on the ship. As much as they cared about him, that dog could have inadvertently caused damage to the ship and they would have gotten stranded or even worse. So they left Rump in McFinn's care for a few hours. The former bully didn't seem to mind, although he was a little apprehensive about watching Rump at first.

Fiona glanced over at Caruso, her eyes narrowed slightly in concern. Despite his best efforts, Caruso had slipped back into unconsciousness. While she was disappointed and worried about him, she felt a little relieved. Caruso did need some more rest anyway, and if he was asleep, that meant he wasn't going to be trying to talk for a while. That was good; his tongue still needed time to heal. She suspected that it wouldn't completely heal for a few days or weeks perhaps.

She leaned forward, getting a little closer to the boy. Fiona reached down towards him, pressing her hand against his cheek, caressing it gently. Caruso groaned quietly and turned his head slightly. He opened up his eyes briefly, making Fiona freeze a little. But when the boy slowly closed them, she sighed with relief. She was fearful that she woke him up. "That's it..just sleep, Caruso..." Fiona whispered as she leaned in closer and planted a quick kiss on his forehead, just like what Moynihan did with her back at the warehouse. "I...I love you..."

"Awww...isn't that sweet?" Fiona's head suddenly jerked up when someone from behind her spoke to her. She quickly turned around to see who it was, tensed up in preparation for a fight. But she quickly relaxed when she realized it was just Rodger, a sly smile plastered on his face. "I always knew you two would end up together someday."

"Oh Rodger it's just you, I...wait what?" Fiona looked at Rodger in shock. He knew that they were probably going to be together, her and Caruso? How could he possibly know that? Neither she nor Caruso had ever acted like they liked each other like this before. There was no way Rodger could have known that they could end up together, unless he was some kind of psychic or something. "How could you possibly know that? I mean, we only recently started to..."

Rodger's smile tugged further against one of the corners of his lips, making his smile appear lop-sided. "You can call it..." He was suddenly interrupted when he heard the footsteps of other people coming into the room. He and Fiona looked over to see Max and Buzz slowly walk into the room, a solemn look on their faces. Rodger's smile disappeared as well because he knew what they were upset about. "How is she?" He asked carefully.

Fiona looked at Rodger, a confused look on her face. She knew that he wasn't talking about her. There was nothing wrong with her. But there was only one other person he could have been talking about. There was only one other female among the group and that was Ms. Moynihan. Gruesome images came flooding to her mind when she remembered the last time that Moynihan was in trouble. They had found her at the bottom of the steps, looking as still as a stone and they almost thought she was dead. Although she ended up being alive and suffered no fatal injuries, the memory of seeing the old woman laying so still like that remained fresh in Fiona's mind and it frightened her.

"What happened?" Fiona asked, gripping Rodger's thick arm tightly. He looked down at her. "What happened to Moynihan? Is she all right?" Rodger narrowed his eyes slightly, but not in anger. He was just confused as to how to tell Fiona what happened. "Please..tell me what happened..."

"She went nuts." Came Rodger's reply.

Fiona's eyes widened. "...what?"

"You heard me." Rodger said almost coldly. "She went nuts." Fiona shook her head slowly and then looked towards Max and Buzz for some kind of comfort. But their eyes and expressions offered none.

"Fiona..." Max said, his voice very low. "She tried to hurt me... She tried to dig her claws into me..." The tone of Max's voice told Fiona that he was definitely being serious and that this wasn't some kind of sick joke. "She lunged at me, pushed me into the ground... If Rodger and Buzz hadn't stopped her, she would have..." He stopped himself. He didn't know exactly what Moynihan would have done to him, but he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to know.

"It was like she couldn't control herself anymore. All the time she was staring at us so menacingly..she also looked so helpless..." Buzz said, recalling what had happened. "She wanted us to get away from her..she was trying to protect us.. She couldn't control herself..." Buzz closed his eyes and lowered his head in sadness. He could only imagine how Moynihan must be feeling right now. "I never seen her so frightened and so confused in my life..."

Fiona was having a hard time believing what the boys had just told her. Moynihan had just lost control of herself and had tried to actually hurt one of her own students. What was wrong with her? This wasn't the Moynihan she knew! This only confirmed their suspicions from before that something was very wrong. And now things were getting much worse. Before, she would simply yell at them, though it was still a frightening experience. Now she was trying to actually hurt them, slashing at them with her claws or maybe even biting them with her sharp raptor teeth. Moynihan was becoming more and more aggressive and now it was getting to the point where she was becoming too dangerous just to be around.

Fiona started to wonder how this would effect them from this point on. What was Moynihan going to do? Her temper is becoming harder and harder to control. And now she was probably starting to see her students as enemies, or even as prey. Would she try to skip out on school so that she wouldn't hurt anyone? Were they going to have a substitute teacher to temporarily take her place? And how long was this going to keep happening? When are things going to start getting better? Fiona closed her eyes and sighed softly. They had all believed that this would have been over after a few weeks. They had thought that Moynihan was only reacting out of extreme stress. But now it's becoming increasingly obvious that it wasn't stress causing the problem. Something else must be causing it, but what?

Before Fiona could say anything else, she and her friends could hear the soft footsteps of the only other person in the ship at the time. They turned over and they could see Professor Moynihan slowly walking into the room. She didn't dare look at them in the eyes. Her head was lowered in shame, feeling horrible about what had happened earlier. She had obviously found her cane as she was now using it to support her weight a little because of her bad leg. Moynihan slowly made her way towards Caruso, walking in a wide circle so that she could avoid walking too close to the other students. They eyed her cautiously as she reached her hand towards Caruso. They wondered what she was about to do.

Moynihan spoke, though her voice seemed detached and lost, as if she was confused. "He seems to be doing a little better now." Normally she would have been happy, but not this time.

Gulping and hoping to avoid bringing up the issue that had just happened, Fiona asked, "When do you...think he'll wake up again? He slipped back into unconsciousness and..."

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "I do not know when he'll wake up again. Just..give him some time and he'll wake up on his own. He did that the first time." Her tone sounded so monotone, plain, and emotionless, making the students flinch a little. She noticed this out of the corner of her eyes and she let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry.. It's just that..."

Max interrupted her abruptly. "Are you...still upset about what happened?"

Moynihan turned to face the boy, looking slightly shocked at what he had just said. "Well aren't you? I tried to hurt you, Maxwell... I tried to hurt you... Isn't that the least bit unsettling with you? It is with me." Her voice had a slight tinge of anger to it as she spoke. "It never should have happened... Oh, what is wrong with me...?" She looked away again.

Max flinched at the tone of the old woman's voice. He couldn't tell if she was angry with him or with herself. He gathered up his courage and took a few steps towards Moynihan. Although memories of what had happened were still fresh on his mind, he continued to move closer to Moynihan. She didn't look directly at him, but he could tell she could see him from the corner of her eyes, and she was starting to grit her teeth in anticipation. She was worried that she was going to hurt him again, Max though as he continued to get close to the old teacher. He didn't really blame her for what happened. It wasn't hurt, and he was sure of it. He didn't want her to continue feeling guilty about what had happened back there.

Once he got up to her, Max put a single arm around Moynihan in an attempt to comfort her. He quickly noticed her continuing to flinch, but he didn't release his grip on her. He wanted to let her know that he wasn't upset with her and that she could try to not to let what happened bother her so much. But he knew that no one was going to let this incident go so easily. How could anyone forget what had just happened? "Don't beat yourself up over this, Ms. M... It wasn't your fault, I'm sure of it. Please...try not to let this get to you."

Moynihan looked back at the boy, feeling a little touched by what he had told her, but still couldn't help but feel very guilty about what she almost did to him. She felt a little confused by his attempting to comfort her. How could he even look at her as if nothing had happened, after she almost badly hurt him? How can he say it wasn't her fault when she was the one who was baring her teeth at him? Moynihan felt a few tears escape her eyes, and she wiped them with a single finger. She froze for a few seconds, looking to see if her hand had changed again, and then lowered it to her side. "I appreciate your words of reassurance, Maxwell. Really I do. But...but I cannot agree with you..that it isn't my fault. How could it not be my fault? I'm the one who..."

"I know it wasn't your fault..." Max interrupted her again, holding onto her a little tighter. "..because I could see it in your eyes. When you were glaring down at me...I could see it.. It wasn't you doing those terrible things. It was something else, and you couldn't control yourself." He then frowned softly, sudden worry rising up inside of him. "But my question is..who is really pulling the strings here?"

Moynihan looked to the ground, averting her gaze from Max. She didn't have an answer for him, and she didn't know what they should do now. "I..I don't know, dear boy. I don't know."

"I bet Michelle has something to do with this..." Buzz said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. He truly believed that Michelle had done something to Moynihan to make her act this way. Other than the Dino Squad, she was the last person Moynihan had come into contact with before she started acting strangely. Surely Michelle had done something before she left to have caused this to happen. It wouldn't surprise him. That jerk would probably do anything just to make their lives more miserable.

"Yeah..." Rodger nodded his head. "It would make sense. She must have done something when she was leading us to Caruso.. She must have!" He glanced from one team member to another, addressing them all as he spoke. "It would be just like her. All she had ever done since we met her was cause trouble! So it makes perfect sense for her to be involved with what is happening to Ms. M!"

"Guys..." Max spoke up, his eyes narrowed as well. "..we don't have any proof. There is no evidence linking Michelle to what has happened to Moynihan. I don't think we should be jumping to conclusions already."

Rodger and Buzz shot a glare at Max. It was Rodger who spoke. "So are you saying that she is actually innocent?" He felt a little disgusted that Max would even think of defending someone like Michelle, who would probably just lead them to another trap to capture one of them if they dare give her the chance to do so. They both had learned not to trust her, and they hoped that their team mates wouldn't fall for her trickery again.

Max shook his head. "No. I'm just saying that, before going after her, we should have some kind of evidence to back up our claims." He said, trying to be as calm as possible. "We can't just waltz up to someone, capture them, and take them in for questioning without some kind of proof, even if that person happens to be someone like Michelle, or Oscura."

Buzz grumbled softly, still glaring at the jock. "They wouldn't do the same for us..."

"If we act like them, we become them." Max blurted out firmly, staring at both Rodger and Buzz as he spoke to let them know he was addressing them specifically. It was true, after all, that if Buzz and Rodger started acting like how they think Michelle and Oscura would act, then they would not be any better than they were. They would have stooped down to their level and would be just as bad as they were. And Max knew that Rodger and Buzz did not want to be like Oscura or Michelle.

Buzz and Rodger's eyes widened quickly when Max told them this. They started to fill up with both anger and shock. They weren't sure whether or not if they were angry at Max for saying that to them, or if they were angry at themselves for allowing themselves to start to stoop down to their enemies' levels. They wanted to show that they were better than they were. But if they acted like them, how could they possibly be any better? But at the same time, they both did mean well and they wondered if Max truly understood this, especially Buzz. The punk knew that Max hadn't suffered in the same way he had. Max hadn't been so viciously tricked on the same online game twice. He hadn't been duped by someone who looked like she could have made a good ally, only later to turn out to be their worst nightmare. And that trickery almost cost them a team member, a friend.

Rodger lowered his gaze, starting to feel a little ashamed at what he was saying. He felt terrible for accusing Max of possibly siding with Michelle. He knew Max would never do such a thing, not after what happened. And he knew Max was right. As much as he hated Michelle, he couldn't just go up and accuse her of something that she probably didn't do if he didn't have any kind of evidence to back himself up with. Michelle could turn out to be quite innocent in what is happening, but he had his doubts on that. Rodger had a hard time believing that Michelle would help them, even if she was forced to, without doing something in return, a retaliation of sorts. The only things she really did were piss them off and fought Buzz, although Rodger had to admit, it did seem like she was provoked and was just defending herself. Still, that didn't excuse her of her guilt in his mind. In his eyes, Michelle was still the enemy.

Fiona watched the scene unfold in front of her as she remained seated at Caruso's side. She quickly glanced over to see if he had woken up. She sighed softly when she saw that his eyes were still closed, and his head was still lopped to one side. It didn't seem like he had moved at all since he fell back asleep. She felt somewhat relieved. She didn't think that Irwin would want to hear them talking about one of the very people responsible for the terrible pain that he had been, and still was, in for the past couple weeks. She then glanced back at them. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Buzz and Rodger. They both started to look like they were feeling bad for what they said. On one hand, she knew Max was right in that they shouldn't jump to conclusions. But on the other hand, Michelle was still the enemy and it helps to be extra cautious, especially now when all this stuff was happening to them. She hoped that the situation calms down soon.

Moynihan also watched the scene play out in front of her, although she was feeling more nervous and apprehensive about it. But her mind was mostly on what Max was telling her a few minutes ago. She was feeling a little shocked and somewhat happy that Max was still willing to give her a chance, and she was even more surprised that he didn't at all blame her for what had happened. Part of her did want to hug him and thank him for not turning his back on her. But the other part was afraid to even touch him. She wanted to swat him away from her side and get away from the kids before she turned on them again. They weren't safe around her anymore. She could sense that. But she didn't know why Max wasn't picking up on this. She tried to kill him! How could he still trust her after that?

Wanting to break the uneasy silence that had fallen onto the room, Max took in a deep breath. He wanted to say something he felt a leader should say in this situation. After all, he was the leader of the Dino Squad. The only one who 'ranked' higher than he did was Moynihan. She was the one who usually trains hem. Though after this change of behavior, he wondered if training would be put off for a while. "Look, I know we are all upset about what has been happening lately. But we have to look on the brighter side, guys. We have to keep hoping that things will get better. Keep an optimistic look! Don't give up hope!" He looked at everyone in the room one at a time, including Caruso who was still unconscious. Everyone listened to him intently, their eyes glued on him. Max felt a sense of pride and a feeling of importance rise up inside of him and he spoke some more. "As long as we have hope, there's nothing Victor and his goons can take from us! As long as we have hope, we can make a stand, and make sure they pay for what they did to us! Standing as one, we can make sure Victor never dares shows his face around here again!"

* * *

On the outskirts of Kittery Point, Michelle was walking alone, at the side of the room, looking forward. She could see the lighthouse from where she was. It wasn't too far away, and she could easily reach it on foot. But she decided to stay by the trees and such, keeping her distance away. She didn't dare transform into a dinosaur, believing that the Dino Squad would be able to detect her. She was certain that they had some kind of equipment up now anyway. Even if they didn't, she couldn't take the chance. They wouldn't find her if she was in human form. So she remained where she was, staring out at the lighthouse, trying to think of what she should do.

Part of her wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible. She felt frightened and unsure about being so close to the lighthouse after being away from it for a couple weeks. And after how she had witnessed the Dino Squad's reaction to her, and after how she had upset them back at the warehouse, she didn't think they'd want her to be anywhere near the lighthouse. If they saw her now, they'd probably rush over and grab her or chase her away. She clenched her teeth tightly, feeling a little scared at the moment. The only sense of security she got was that, if they did spot her now, she could go dino and run away and she would have a head start on them. She could probably slip away before they even find her.

"Why do I have to do this?" Michelle asked herself, lowering her head. Victor wanted her, Oscura, or any member of the Raptor Dyne organization to kill Caruso on sight. As much as she didn't want to do it, if she didn't do it and Victor found out, he was going to get very angry at her, even more so than he had back at the warehouse. "I..I need to do something...anything..." She closed her eyes tightly and tried to think as hard as she could, trying to come up with a solution to save herself and the Dino Squad too.

But what could she possibly hope to do? The Dino Squad didn't trust her. There was no way that they would believe her if she tried to warn them against Victor's plot. And if she gets caught doing this, she herself would get into a lot of trouble. She growled in frustration, trying to think of something that she could do. She stared out at the lighthouse, taking a step forward. She considered going over there and begging for forgiveness and offering her services. She flinched. That didn't seem to be like a very good idea. It could backfire on her. Either she would only end up as a prisoner for the Dino Squad, who might use her for ransom or something, or Victor would find out what happened and would punish her, even kill her.

She would have to come up with a decision soon. Victor had only let her and Oscura leave the lighthouse for a few hours. If she stayed here for too long, Victor would become suspicious. And when she would come back, he might stop her and ask her to tell him where she was and he might be able to tell if she was lying or not. She also didn't know when the Dino Squad were going to leave the lighthouse. If she stayed there too long, the Dino Squad might emerge from the lighthouse to go somewhere, and they might spot her on the way back. And if they spot her, she would have to move as fast as she could so that they don't capture her.

Before she had time to make another move or think about any other problems that she might encounter, Michelle heard the sound of a car engine behind her. Quickly diving behind some of the trees, she looked out from behind the tree carefully, and saw a familiar large yellow vehicle. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was. "The Dino Squad!" She gasped in shock. They weren't at the lighthouse at all! They must have left sometime ago. She gulped and tried to calm her breathing. She realized that if she had gone to the lighthouse, she would have been trapped. The Dino Squad would have returned, found her, and made escape impossible. She would then be right where they wanted her, trapped and helpless.

Michelle tried to keep herself as hidden as possible as she watched the Dino SUV drive by, eyeing it cautiously as she prepared herself for a sudden attack. But as the vehicle drove by without slowing down, she suspected that they didn't see her at all. She sighed with relief and wiped her brow. She then moved past a few trees and looked out ahead to see the Dino SUV making its way towards the lighthouse. After a few minutes, the Dino SUV had pulled up into the driveway of the lighthouse. She narrowed her eyes and she could make out small figures walking out of the vehicle. She recognized them as the teenagers she came into contact with a few weeks ago.

She watched them as they walked up into the lighthouse, one by one, and vanished from sight. But one of them stayed behind. She couldn't recognize who it was at first, but whoever it was remained standing on the top of the staircase that lead to one of the entrances of the lighthouse. She squinted her eyes further, putting a flattened palm above her eyes to try to get a better look. When she got a glimpse of green hair, she gasped and took a step back. That was all she needed to recognize who it was: Neil Buzmati.

She wanted to turn and run away from there, but she remained frozen where she stood. Michelle looked up at him, eyes widened in fear and anxiety. Her legs tensed up, preparing to bolt away if she needed to. But Buzz didn't seem to move from where he stood, and eventually, he turned and walked through the door and disappeared into the lighthouse. Michelle sighed in relief, almost falling to the ground when she relaxed very quickly. But she couldn't stop worrying as one question popped into her mind. Did Buzz see her standing there among the foliage?

Michelle decided not to wait any longer to find out. Taking a few steps backwards, she quickly turned and ran away from the lighthouse, down the grove of the trees that lined the road. She looked back for a few seconds, worried that she would see the Dino Squad any second. But they did not come. She turned her head to face where she was going, but she did it a little too late. Her foot caught onto a raised bump in the ground. Yelping, she slammed into the ground. Hissing in pain, she put her hands beside herself and pushed herself up.

Climbing to her feet, Michelle brushed the dirt and grime that had clung to her shirt when she had fallen forward. She then started to make her way down along the road, this time walking at a much slower pace to avoid falling down again. That was a silly move, Michelle thought as she continued to walk along the side of the road, careful to stay hidden where possible. She then stopped in her tracks. She didn't get very far, maybe a few feet. She turned around and looked back at the spot where she was at. It looked a little familiar. When she took a closer look at it, she realized the place was a lot like the place where the Dino Squad had 'saved' her from Oscura. It wasn't the exact location, but it was pretty close.

Overwhelming feelings of guilt and anger towards herself rose up. She closed her eyes, trying to forget how she had so wrongly tricked the Dino Squad that day. Michelle quickly turned her head away and continued to make her way down the road. She didn't have much time left to back to Raptor Dyne. She would worry about warning the Dino Squad later, perhaps in a place where they could not go dino on her. And she knew just where to find them. "I'll pay them a little visit..."

* * *

In the lighthouse, the Dino Squad were sitting in the living room. With the cable repaired and working again, they could now get the television on. Maxwell had turned on the television set to see what was playing at the time. He tried his best to avoid anything that was too intense or scary. He didn't want to upset his friends further, so he tried to find something that was more humorous than scary. He wanted to help them get their mind off of things, especially Caruso, who was now fully awake from the procedure Moynihan performed on him at the Mothersaurus Submarine. When Max had suggested watching a little TV when they got back, Caruso had asked him not to put on anything that was too intense. And the others had agreed with him.

This task was going to prove difficult, however. As Max flipped through the channels that Moynihan had, the only things that seem to be showing up were news based programs either about recent events regarding dinosaur sightings or politics or other worldly problems, or they would be scary movies that either had monsters of an unimaginable nature or a cruel person going off killing people, which seemed to remind Caruso about Victor because when he saw the brief preview, he yelped and cringed back. Max continued to search through the stations, but the only thing that was coming on that seemed the least scary was a cartoon, probably one of Buzz's favorites. Sighing and seeing no other option, Max switched that station on. The show seemed to involve some cute anthro animals teaching kids about lessons like friendship, trust, sharing, and playing.

Upon seeing the show that Max had put on, Fiona wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Max, why did you have to put this show on? I hate this show!" Fiona sometimes has to put up with the show when she has to babysit her little sister, who seemed to love the show, although she hasn't watched it recently. Fiona had to see the show so many times that, as much as she hated to admit it, she knew the opening theme song by heart and it drove her insane. "Isn't there something else you can put on?" She groaned.

Max shook his head. "I'm sorry, Fi, but this is the only thing on right now that won't scare Caruso or upset any of us."

"It's upsetting me with its annoying music and equally annoying characters!" Fiona retorted.

Rodger chuckled a little when he heard this. Fiona was not someone he'd expect to hate a show like this. This is the same person who thought Rump was cute even in dino mode. And she was the same person who suggested saving the dog in the first place. It didn't seem to make sense to him for Fiona to dislike a show about cute, talking animals. "But Fiona, I thought you would like a show like this. You gotta admit, the characters are kinda cute. I thought you liked cute characters."

"I do!" Fiona snapped, glaring at Rodger. "What makes you think I don't?"

"Well, you don't like those characters." Rodger pointed at the screen, which was now displaying a two-legged pink dog with blue spots talking with a bright orange cat with red under belly, also two-legged. "And anyway, what about Rump? You think he's kinda cute, don't you? Do you hate him too?" As he said this, Rump's ears twitched and he quickly looked up at Rodger. On the way back, the Dino Squad had picked up Rump from McFinn, who, surprisingly, stated that Rump wasn't any trouble at all.

"That's different!" Fiona snapped, pointing a finger at Rump, who put his ears back as if he did something wrong. "Rump doesn't spend half the day singing and dancing about morals and try to drill them into your head!"

Rodger chuckled again and then leaned back into the couch, folding his hands and arms behind his back. "Well that's just too bad. Cause it looks like this is what we are going to watch. Just try to relax, okay?"

Fiona grumbled something under her breath, but gave in. "Oh all right..." With that, she turned to the television set and reluctantly began watching the very show that Terri used to drive her insane with.

As she thought of Terri, she remembered how she had gotten a phone call earlier while still on the ship. Mrs. Corel had called Moynihan to be more specific, who had, in turn, given the phone to Fiona. Once Fiona was on the phone, Mrs. Corel had handed the phone to Terri so the two sisters could talk to each other about what was happening. Fiona was instantly worried when she heard Terri talking in a fast-paced tone of voice, telling her about how she saw two of Veloci's men running through the neighborhood. At first, Fiona was just as worried as she was, especially when she explained that the men could have gotten into their house. But they were both soon very relieved when they heard Mrs. Corel yelling in the background, stating that she just saw their parents walking out of the house, completely unharmed.

But even though the danger had passed, that did not dismiss the fact that Veloci's men were in the area. Fiona frowned, eyes narrowed. The last time Victor's goons were in the area, they unleashed a giant, mutant spider onto Mrs. Corel's house. She wondered what they were up to this time. She wasn't sure if they were going to unleash another mutantsaur, if they were simply patrolling, or if there was another reason that they were in her neighborhood. But no matter what it was, she knew one thing; they must have been up to no good.

Fiona nearly bolted out of her seat when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She quickly looked up to see who it was. "Oh Caruso..It's only you." She said, sighing in relief, hand on her chest to calm her speeding heart. "You startled me." While Caruso did not speak a word for fear of getting hurt, the expression on his face told Fiona that he felt bad for scaring her like that. She could also tell that he looked concerned. He must have seen her in distress as she was thinking about Veloci's men that had appeared near her house. "It's..it's nothing really..." Fiona said, giving Caruso a look that was as sincere as she could make it. "Nothing to be concerned about anyway."

"Are you sure about that?" Max spoke up, looking over his shoulder. "You seemed a little stressed ever since you got that phone call." The very mention of the phone call made Fiona visibly flinch, and Max knew right away that he was onto something. Turning over so he didn't have to crane his neck so heard, he looked at Fiona in the eyes and said, "What happened, Fiona? Did..did something happen to your family?" Again another flinch, but Fiona didn't say anything. "That's it isn't it... Something happened in the neighborhood, didn't it? Come on Fiona...you can tell us."

Fiona looked towards the ground, and she felt Caruso's hand gently squeeze her shoulder as a way to reassure her that she could speak to them about this. She offered a weak smile to her friends, who were all, with the exception of Moynihan who was out of the room, were looking at her sympathetically. "I had gotten a phone call from Mrs. Corel and my little sister. They said they spotted Veloci's men in the neighborhood again, and they thought my parents were trouble." There was a collection of gasps in the room and Fiona quickly added, "But my parents are fine. They didn't go after them."

"I wonder why Veloci would send his men into the neighborhood..." Max pondered. "It's not like he knows where we live or anything. Maybe it was just a coincidence?"

Rodger shook his head. "Somehow, I doubt that, Maxwell. What are the odds of Victor randomly sending his men to our neighborhood?"

Oh yeah?" Buzz challenged Rodger. "What about the time that they mutated a spider in Mrs. Corel's yard? She is one of Fiona's neighbors, isn't she? And yet Veloci didn't know we were human at the time." Buzz silently wished that this were still a fact, that Victor didn't know they were human. But after how he must have witnessed them, particularly Caruso, transform, that would leave no doubt in Victor's mind that his 'perfect dinosaurs' were indeed humans.

Rodger lifted a finger to protest, but nothing came out of his mouth. His finger slowly lowered when he realized Buzz was right. "I had forgotten about that... Sorry."

Max frowned deeply. "Veloci must be up to something. Why else would he send his men out anywhere? Where ever his men are..."

"...trouble will follow soon." Fiona finished his sentence for him, nodding her head. "That's exactly what I thought too."

Upon seeing Caruso's face contort into fearfulness, Buzz cleared his throat loud enough for the others to hear him. When he got their attention, he said, "Guys..maybe we shouldn't be talking about...him... right now." With that, he made a few quick jerks of the head to Caruso, indicating that he was thinking about his welfare. The others caught on to what Buzz was saying and quickly shut their mouths, lowering their heads in shame, upset that they had forgotten Caruso was in the room with them.

Trying to think of something else to talk about, Fiona said, "So..what do you guys have planned for the weekend?" She wasn't sure if this was the place or the time to be asking such a question, but it was the only topic she could think of that she didn't think would upset Caruso or intimidate the others. She could have asked about Moynihan, but she quickly declined, remembering what had happened on the Mothersaurus Submarine.

Buzz turned his eyes upward, but his head remained where it was. He was thinking about his answer, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He then finally returned his gaze to Fiona. "Well...I was hoping to challenge Caruso to another online battle on that dinosaur game Rodger had created." As he said this, he slowly turned his gaze to Irwin. "..that is..if that's all right with you, Caruso." Without hesitation, Caruso managed to smile weakly and nodded his head, although it didn't have much enthusiasm to it. Nonetheless, Buzz was glad that Caruso had accepted his challenge. Maybe the game could help ease the boy's mind.

Fiona smiled, feeling happy that at least something was returning to normal. Buzz was probably one of the closest to Caruso in terms of friendship. So seeing Buzz challenge Caruso to another online battle, like he would have if this had never happened, if they were living their lives like they normally did since they got their powers, made Fiona feel a little better about what was going on. If it weren't for the still-visible scars on Caruso's face, she would have thought that all those horrible things had never happened in the first place, for a brief moment.

"I have a football game tomorrow." Said Max, smiling as best as he could in spite of how he was really feeling. "We're to face off against..that other school... What was its name?" The name of the school was escaping his mind, and he growled lowly in frustration as he tried in vain to remember that one name.

Rodger, who wasn't big on sports, just simply shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't know the name of the school, Max. But may I ask one thing?"

"Sure." Replied Max.

Rodger smiled slyly and leaned in a little towards Max with a look on his face that Max didn't like too much. "How can you have a game if it's on the weekend? Isn't the school closed on Saturdays?"

Realizing his mistake, Rolf slapped himself in the face. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten about that. Rodger was right. There was no way a school game would be held on a weekend day. The weekend is when most students are relaxing from a long week of school work. Why would they give up their weekend for a game? Max frowned slightly at that. What kind of stupid question was that? There were plenty of people he can think of that would play a football game on the weekend. It was one of America's favorite past times, wasn't it?

"Sorry about that." Max said quickly, realizing he had gone silent on the dark-skinned computer geek. Rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner, he continued, "You are right. It couldn't be on the weekend. I guess I got it mixed up."

Rodger chuckled and gently elbowed Max. "Hey, maybe you're getting too old to remember very well, eh?" He said in a joking manner, hoping to put everyone in good spirits.

Although still feeling a little stupid, Max managed to laugh and patting Rodger on the back. "Yeah, maybe you're right!" After calming himself down, Max asked, "So what about you, Rodg? What do you plan to do this weekend?"

Rodger thought about this for a moment before replying, "Hmm...I'm not sure. I could work on a prototype for a new weapon, well since that..." He was about to bring up Victor, but he quickly stopped himself, remembering Buzz's warning, and swiftly said, "..I think we might be needing it soon. Or I could start to upgrade the dinosaur motorcycles, maybe give them more features or something."

Fiona frowned playfully. "Hey genius, if you're going to do that, make sure to tell me about it first so I can help you."

Rodger tilted his head, pretending that he didn't know what the girl was talking about. "And why is that?"

"Well..I don't exactly trust you working on the cycles by yourself." Fiona said with a slight smirk, indicating that she meant it as a joke. She wasn't being serious, and she knew that Rodger knew that as well.

Before anyone could get another word in, they were interrupted by Moynihan, who had quietly walked into the room and had listened to part of their conversation. "You kids enjoying yourselves?" Moynihan asked, nearly startling everyone in the room. A few of them, including Max, gave out a startled cry. Moynihan winced and took a step back. She hadn't meant to frighten them like that. When everyone regained their bearings, Moynihan lowered her head slightly. "I apologize, kids. I didn't might to startle you like that."

"I-It's quite all right.." Max said, rubbing the side of his head as if he were feeling humiliated at being startled so easily like that. "I didn't mean to be so startled myself."

Buzz smirked at him. "You scream like a girl." He immediately regretted saying that when Max lifted his arm up to strike him. Buzz immediately shielded himself and shouted, "I'm sorry!" Max's hand froze in place and his expression softened, but the jock kept his arm raised, poised to strike at Buzz.

Caruso watched this scene, a new sense of horror rising up inside of him. His eyes widened as far as they could go, exposing the red veins near the best of the eyes. He wanted to stand up and run, but something, possibly fear, kept him frozen right where he was. The scene playing out before him was so familiar, way too familiar to him. It was very similar to what he had gone through when he was Victor's prisoner. Victor had subdued him in similar, though more vicious, manners. He had cowered the same way that Buzz currently was, although Caruso was probably much more desperate since Victor was a worse threat than his own friends. Even though Caruso knew that this wasn't that serious of a situation and that it wasn't even directed towards him, Caruso couldn't help but see himself and Victor in Buzz and Max's places. Memories, horrible memories, came flooding into his mind and he shut his eyes tightly, allowing a few tears of fear stream down his face.

He couldn't control the fear that was now enveloping him, taking control. He started to shake visibly as if he were freezing to death. As he gritted his teeth, they slowly changed into the Stegosaur teeth that he adorned while in dino mode. His skin had a very slight bluish purple tinge to it now, as if he was going to transform any second. Saliva dripped from his jaws as he continued to clench his teeth, and he growled softly, gripping his head tightly, his fingernails digging into his scalp. Caruso fought desperately for control, to make himself stop, but the fear was already taking a hold of him, already making him panic just like he had the day he was rescued and brought into the lighthouse. He reopened his eyes, which still retained their normal appearance, and looked around the room. All eyes were now on him.

Fiona reached out towards him, her eyes wide open in shock. "Caruso? Caruso! What's wrong?" But Caruso could only continue to growl and hiss. He wasn't looking at any one in particular, but he was staring to get that wild, unrecognizing look in his eyes like he had before. Fiona knew that this wasn't good news, and she wanted to snap him out of it quickly, before it was too late. "Caruso, please, don't let the fear take control of you! Remember where you are! Remember us! We're your friends!"

Caruso looked around the room, his eyes still widened with fear. His heart was starting to quicken, feeling like it was going to burst open inside of him. He immediately got up out of the seat he was currently in, and looked around the room again, his arms spread out like he was either going to attack or run away. The recognition that was once in his eyes had all but faded away, although they still remained normal-looking. He started to bare his sharp teeth at his friends, and they realized that they had failed to stop him from going into this state of mind. Their only chance now was to try to calm him down as quickly as possible before he hurt himself or someone else, like he had before.

Max took a brave step forward, getting as close as he could to Caruso without frightening him off or provoking him to attack. Instead of yelling at him, Max decided to speak calmly to Caruso, hoping it would help him relax easier. "Caruso, relax. It's me, Rolf Maxwell, remember? We're friends, you and I. We're all friends. Try to remember, Caruso..please. We aren't going to hurt you..." With that, he took another brave step forward, and reached out towards him. But he immediately snapped his hand back when Caruso snapped at it, attempting to tear up his hand with his teeth. Max looked at Caruso with a shocked look on his face, but he didn't give up. "Please..try to remember, Caruso. We're not your enemy."

But Caruso didn't seem to be in a listening mood. He bent his body forward slightly, similar to a Velociraptor, and held his hands out in front of him, the fingers now arched forward as if he was going to slash. Even though Caruso didn't have the claws showing yet, Max predicted that, if provoked enough, Caruso would unsheathe the thick yet sharp Stegosaurus claws. And sure enough, when Max took a step forward, Caruso had done just that. Out of each fingertip jutted out a thick claw, each tipped with a sharp end. Caruso raised one hand high up, threatening to strike down Max if he got any closer.

"Caruso!" Fiona shouted, which got Caruso's attention. Following Max's example, she started to speak gently towards him. "It's me, Fiona. Don't you recognize me? Don't you recognize anyone in this room? Caruso, we're your friends. We've been friends for a couple years. You are no longer Victor's prisoner. You're home now, back with your friends and family. Please..try to relax yourself. Try to settle down. Please Caruso..I don't want you to get hurt..." She begged him, hoping some of her words would get through to Caruso.

But unfortunately, they didn't. Caruso only snorted in response and let out a loud hiss while his eyes changed, glowing intense yellow, all the while a low rumbling growl escaping his throat. The remaining Dino Squad, and Moynihan as well, took a step back. Rump growled softly, but when Caruso gave him a fierce, sharp-toothed growl, Rump ran away a couple feet, but he quickly turned around and barked at Caruso, but remained right where he was. All the while, his ears remained flat against this skull as if he felt threatened by Caruso's presence. It was like he sensed that something was about to happen.

And something did happen, so quickly, so suddenly, that none of the Dino Squad members had time to react to it.

Caruso's eyes glowed brightly, so illuminated they were that they could no longer see his pupils clearly, but they could make out that they were now slit-like. A gasp of fear escaped some of their throats. They had a feeling what was going to happen next. Taking heed to Caruso's warning growls and hisses, they moved away from him swiftly, giving him as much room as possible. Within a few seconds from what the eyes had started glowing, Caruso's skin rapidly turned a darker shade of purplish blue. His hair changed to red and it spiked down his back, rapidly forming his spinal plates. He dropped down onto all fours, a massive tail, armed with spikes, swishing forward, from side to side. Caruso's face, now elongated, let out a massive bellow, and he slapped his tail on the ground, causing the lighthouse to shake from the massive blow.

A few of the Dino Squad members struggled to keep their footing, but some weren't so lucky and they found themselves slamming against the hardwood floor beneath them, some of them getting bruises almost right away. They quickly regained their bearings, and looked in horror at the now fully transformed Caruso standing in the middle of the room, talking up more than half the space, forcing the other occupants to back up near the corners and walls of the room. And they couldn't leave the room so easily; the Stegosaurus form of Caruso blocked almost all exits and the ones that were visible would be difficult to reach with Caruso's sharp-toothed mouth and spiked tail posing a threat.

Caruso raised his head again, jaws wide open as he let out another loud bellow, and he swung his tail to one side, aimed directly at Moynihan. The old woman managed to dodge just in time, the tail sailing over her head just inches away. The tail continued to move in that direction, and it slammed against the wall, shaking the lighthouse again. When Caruso pulled the tail back, the Dino Squad flinched and covered their ears as they heard the spikes scraping along the wall, like someone scratching a chalkboard with their long fingernails.

Instinct told the Dino Squad to transform and defend themselves against this large and powerful threat, but their hearts told them to stay put. They couldn't attack their best friend, even if he was attacking them. They just could not. The team remained stationed where they were, watching as Caruso slammed his tail down again and again, stomping his foot onto the ground as if he was going to charge, letting out loud, threatening roars. And as he roared, his massive teeth were exposed, looking like imposing threats to the smaller, human target. The sight of them made Fiona flinch. They were the same teeth that had shredded her shoulder a few weeks again. She gingerly touched the area as she remembered that day. But despite her fear, like everyone else, she remained standing.

It seemed like Caruso was trying to scare them off. If he truly thought that they were Victor, or some kind of threat, like he had the last time, he would surely either attack them or try to scare them. Slamming his tail, stomping his feet, and roaring yet not attacking seemed to be a clear sign that he was trying to provoke them into running and getting away from him. If they got too close to him, those massive jaws would come down and bite into them or that muscular tail would strike them down, perhaps killing them on impact.

The team didn't want to leave Caruso. They didn't want to leave him alone in this state of mind. Even the old woman, Moynihan, was staying put, standing her ground even in the face of the imposing threat of a large, mad Stegosaurus in the confines of her own lighthouse. She seemed just as intent on staying put as the others were. Inspired by Moynihan's bravery, the team remained where they were, not moving forward or backward. Even if they wanted to leave, they couldn't. Caruso's massive bulk was preventing them from escaping. All they could do was stand their ground and hope that Caruso would come to his senses and stop attacking them.

Irwin bellowed again, looking irritated that the team wasn't trying to get away. Feeling as though he was being threatened, he took a step forward, his massive front foot just missing the furniture, and reached out with his neck towards Rodger, who, because of his larger size, looked like an easier target for him. Eyes glowing brighter than before, Caruso snapped his jaws down, the two mandibles coming into contact with one another just inches away from Rodger's face. The teen had managed to move back just far enough to be out of the Stegosaur's reach, but he was still terrified of having those teeth being that close to him.

"Rodger!" Buzz shouted without stopping himself. "Caruso! No!" He realized quickly how big of a mistake this was. Caruso turned his head over to the punk, glowing eyes now focused on him. Before Buzz could say anything, he found himself sprawling on the ground to avoid Caruso's jaws clamping down in his direction.

Fiona and Max tried to move in to help their friends, but Caruso's tail swung in their direction, causing them to fall onto the ground to avoid the tail as it smashed into the wall, leaving long, deep scratches in it. Before they could get up, the tail had quickly positioned itself above them. The only bright side of this was that the tail couldn't twist around so that the spikes were facing toward them. But the tail itself, solid with muscle, was just as dangerous as the spikes. If they didn't move out of the way quickly enough, they would be crushed under the weight of the tail.

As the tail came down towards them, Fiona and Max both felt someone grab them by the arm and roughly pulled them out of the way just in time as the tail crashed into the ground, shaking the floor underneath them. The two teens looked over to see who had rescued them. They were momentarily stunned, and then Max shouted, "Moynihan!" His voice was full of shock. Moynihan had made it over to them just in time, despite being a good few feet away from them, and had mustered enough strength to pull them out of the way, saving them from Caruso's tail.

"Don't thank me yet!" Moynihan shouted. The old woman had gritted her teeth in fear and anticipation. "We are not out of the woods yet!" As she said this, the tail had been raised again, this time in her direction. Moving quickly, she managed to dodge the tail yet again, but it was a close one.

"How are we going to stop him?!" Buzz shouted, although softer than he had before, remembering what happened the last time he had shouted. "We can't go dino in here now! There's not a lot of room!"

"And we can't get out of here either." Fiona noted. "Caruso's blocking our path."

Rodger narrowed his eyes. "There has to be a way out of this, guys. There has to be a way to get through to Caruso."

"You've got to calm him down." Came Moynihan's voice. The woman managed to make it over to the kids, now supporting her weight on her cane. "That's the only way to get him to stop."

"But..how can we calm him down if he keeps attacking us?" Max asked, nervous eyes shifting towards the massive Stegosaurus, roaring in a mixture of fear and anger. "I don't think any of us can get close enough to him without him biting at his or hitting us with that tail of his."

Before anyone had any time to get another word in, Caruso bellowed again and turned his massive body around until he could strike at the teens with his long, thick tail. He slammed his tail as close as he could to the teens, who had, once again, quickly dodged out of the way before the tail could make contact with them. Snorting in frustration, Caruso tried to strike at them again, but he only missed again. The teenagers were too small of a target, and were too quick for him to strike at, which was unusual considering the small space of the room compared to having him inside of it. Nonetheless, he didn't back down so easily. Turning around to face them, he started to walk quickly forward, hoping to corner one of them so he could attack since he obviously couldn't drive them away.

Moving and turning as quickly as he could, Caruso managed to corner Rodger against the wall, blocking any chance of escape by being so close to that Rodger wouldn't be able to dodge out of the way without being struck by Caruso's clawed feet. Rodger backed up as far as he could go, only to trip on something and fall down onto his back. Looking up, he saw the humongous Stegosaurus staring down at him, mouth open with saliva dripping at both sides. Eyes widening, all Rodger could do was look away and wait for the impact.

"Rodger!" Buzz cried out in horror. Without thinking, he ran towards his fallen friend just as Caruso was lunging forward with his jaws. Despite his puny size compared to Rodger, he managed to pull Rodger up and out of the way. But Buzz couldn't react in time before Caruso's jaws came down upon him, snatching him by the right arm and then lifting him up into the air. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Buzz screamed, blood oozing from the wound.

"Buzz!" Rodger cried, shocked by what was happening. He started feeling guilty about putting Buzz in danger like that simply by being trapped. He wanted to try to help Buzz, but thought better of just rushing in head on without a plan. He might make the situation worse for Buzz, and that's the last thing Buzz needed, especially with such powerful jaws on his arm. Caruso wasn't biting hard enough to crack the bone, but he was still doing some damage.

"What can we do?" Fiona asked, watching the scene helplessly. Buzz was struggling in Caruso's grasp. He was pushing against the large snout with his free hand, but he couldn't seem to get the Stegosaurus to let go of him. Instead, Caruso's bite seemed to increase a little more, causing more blood to spill over across his arm and dripped onto the floor.

"We have to do something. Fast!" Max said, taking a step forward, but he was stopped when Moynihan put her arm out in front of him, causing him to halt where he was standing. "Ms. Moynihan?"

"Not so fast, Max." Moynihan said sternly. "You cannot just rush in there without thinking."

"Moynihan, I..." Max started.

"What if you get hurt? What if Buzz gets hurt even more than he already is?" Moynihan asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What will you do then?"

"But if we don't do something, Buzz is going to..." Max stopped himself, not wanting to continue his sentence. He looked nervously over at Buzz, who was still struggling in Caruso's massive jaws.

"Our best chance is to let himself wear out on his own." Moynihan explained, giving a sideways glance to where Buzz was still being held up by Caruso. "Once Caruso calms down, he'll revert back to his human form."

Rodger narrowed his eyes angrily at the old woman. She was acting as if Buzz was not in any danger at all! How can she talk like this, so calmly, when another of their friends is going to be badly injured, and by one of their own?! Rodger was tempted to grasp the woman by her shirt and shake her like how Max had back at the warehouse. But he let his better judgment take over him and he stopped himself, knowing he was only going to make the problem worse than it already was.

"How can you say that?" Rodger managed to say, his voice low and darkened. "How can you just sit back there and watch this go on?! What about Buzz? If we don't do something soon he's going to...be in a very bad situation." Rodger was doing his best to control his anger, but he couldn't stop himself from shaking visibly in anger. "I thought you didn't want Buzz to be injured further than he already is! If we don't do something, wouldn't that go against what you want, Moynihan?! Don't you want to save Buzz?!"

But Moynihan didn't listen to him. Instead, she just walked out in front of the other teenagers, getting a little close to the large, insane Stegosaurus. Despite the blood that was flowing from Buzz's arm, and despite the screams of pain coming from his mouth, Moynihan remained perfectly still and calm, staring at the scene as if it didn't really matter to her. While Caruso was focusing his attention on Buzz, Moynihan kept edging a little closer, careful not to get Caruso's attention on her. Within a few minutes, she was close enough to him that she could reach out and touch his skin from where she was currently standing. She didn't have much time, so she quickly did what she wanted to do.

Moynihan reached out towards the Stegosaurus and gently placed one hand on his board neck. Caruso's eyes widened slightly at the touch, but his attention was still on Buzz, who was looking at him fearfully, not noticing that Moynihan was right there. Moynihan gently stroked the neck, trying to induce a calming effect on the crazed dinosaur. As she kept stroking it, she did start noticing a change in behavior in Caruso. His eyes started to droop a little, even though he wasn't really tired. He kept his eyes open, but he couldn't keep them open all the way. His weight started to shift a little, and his body slowly swayed from side to side as if he were fighting to stay standing up. His head lowered a little, and, slowly, released the pressure from his jaws, and Buzz was able to wrench his arm free.

Caruso's eyes now focused on Moynihan. He slowly bared his teeth, growling and hissing at her, but Moynihan remained standing where she was, feet firmly planted on the ground. Caruso lowered himself on the ground. He had been rearing up for the past few moments, which was how he was able to hold Buzz up in the air like he had. He moved a little closer to her, mouth opening up although he was acting less aggressive than he had been a few minutes ago. When he got close enough, Moynihan slowly moved her hand up to Caruso's scaly cheek and started to gently stroke that spot now. Caruso's eyes widened again and, like before, seemed to relax a little, but he was still advancing on her. He slowly opened up his jaws, intent on biting her, but Moynihan didn't move from the spot.

"Moynihan!" Max shouted. "He's going to bite you! Get out of the way!"

"Max...!" Moynihan glared at him before quickly looking back at Caruso. The shout from Max had startled Caruso and he was swaying his head from side to side, trying to avoid Moynihan's touch as if it was hurting him. Moynihan moved a little closer and managed to place her hand on the top of his head, away from the wound she had previously treated on the ship. She gently rubbed her thumb just below his left eye. This was one of the most sensitive spots on a Stegosaurus and a gentle rub like this would feel good and induce a calming effect. "Shhhh..." She whispered softly, trying to make herself sound as less threatening as possible.

To everyone's amazement, Caruso started to relax even more. His head lowered a little and he stopped baring his teeth. His tail was lowering to the ground as well. But his eyes still remained glowing, and Moynihan and the others feared this was only a temporary effect and that he would go back to his crazed state any second. Moynihan looked over her shoulder, staring at the kids behind her who were watching the scene with expressions of shock and worry. "Speak to him." Joanne said in a voice loud enough for them to hear but soft enough as to not startle Irwin. "Talk to him softly. Try to calm him."

Fiona was the first one to try talking to Caruso. "Caruso..." She made sure her voice was as quiet as it could be without the words becoming too inaudible for anyone to understand what she was saying. "..Caruso it's me..Fiona. Please..relax. Don't act this way, please. You're...you're hurting us..."

"Yeah..." Max joined in. "Don't be like this, Caruso. This isn't some prison.. This is a safe place. No one can hurt you here... You have to believe me... No one's going to hurt you again. Please, calm down."

Not sure of what to say, Buzz said the first thing that came into his mind. "Breathe deep. Think calming thoughts. Think about the gentle wind. Think about calming colors swirling in your mind. Think about a..."

Rodger cut him off, giving him a weird look. "Where did you come up with that?"

Buzz grinned nervously. "I..I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders.

Rodger just shook his head, looking at Buzz as though he were crazy. Then he turned his attention on Caruso. "Just try to relax, Caruso. Don't let your fears get to you. Don't allow them to make you afraid. Let go of your fears."

Hearing the soft voices of his friends and feeling Moynihan's gentle touch on his head, Caruso calmed down even further. He slowly lay down on his haunches, tail flat on the ground. His head was still raised up, but he wasn't looking at anyone in particular. His eyes were still glowing, but the intensity was gradually decreasing as time passed. As his friends continued to talk in a soft tone toward him, he felt his heart slow down back to its normal speed. He blinked a few times as he felt Moynihan continue to stroke that area. When he reopened them another time, the glow had rapidly disappeared. Letting out a long sigh, Caruso allowed a blue glow overtake him. Moynihan took a few steps back as the form shrunk down to human size and shape. After it disappeared, Caruso seemed to regain his senses, and he looked around, eyes not focusing and dazed.

"Wh-what happened?" Caruso asked, rubbing his head as if he had been struck there. Even though he wasn't supposed to talk, he managed to do so without much pain, probably due to being too confused to notice the pain. "I felt like I had eaten a bowl of jalapeños for breakfast..."

"Well..." Max started to say, but stopped himself when he saw Caruso's eyes go wide with fear. Max braced himself, prepared to defend himself if Caruso were to go nuts yet again.

"Wha..." Caruso felt around his mouth. It tasted very strange. It had a salty and metallic taste to it. That didn't seem right. He sensed that there was some kind of fluid in his mouth. Whatever it was, it seemed to have stained his teeth as he could taste the strange flavor on his incisors as well. He salivated a little and then spit on his hand. He looked horrified to see traces of blood in his mouth. Since Moynihan had just sewn up the cuts, he knew that it couldn't be the wounds inside of his own mouth. The only other way to get blood in his mouth was if he... "Is everyone all right?!" He quickly said, and then winced, feeling a sharp pain on his tongue. The feeling had come back.

"We're fine, Caruso." Fiona assured him, reaching one hand out to try to comfort the boy. But Caruso swat it away, although not very roughly. Nonetheless, Fiona still gave him a hurt look.

"How can you..say that?" Caruso said carefully, slowly. "What...what happened...? Who..did..I bite?" No one answered him. Feeling a little frustrated, Caruso quickly scanned the room, darting them all around until he could find the source of the blood. He didn't have many places to look. His eyes finally came to rest upon Buzz. It didn't take him long to realize that the boy's arm was shredded, blood still gushing from the deep lacerations. Caruso quickly put his hand to his mouth. "Oh no..Buzz!"

Buzz chuckled half-heartedly, glancing down at his arm. "I-It's no big deal really.. It can be washed, cleaned, and bandaged. It'll heal. Not a big deal. Don't worry about it." He was doing his best to try and prevent Caruso from beating himself up over this. As upset as Buzz was at what Caruso had done to him, he couldn't really blame the guy. He wasn't under his complete control. He didn't know what he was doing. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Irwin." He added playfully, trying to see if calling him by his first name would awaken some part of the Caruso that he knew.

But it didn't seem to work. Caruso was still shuddering at the thought of hurting yet another of his best friends. He had already shredded Fiona's shoulder. Now he had ripped up Buzz's arm. Who was next? Was he going to wake up and find that he had killed his own parents? Was he going to come to and realized he had murdered Moynihan? He shook his head, gripping it tightly, wanting to convince himself that this was all just a dream. But he quickly realized it wasn't. This was reality. "What's..what's wrong with me...?" He said softly. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

Moynihan stared back down at him, her face softened with a look of sympathy. "Caruso...this isn't your fault. Don't be so hard on yourself." She placed her other hand on Caruso's other shoulder. "No one here hates you for what you've done. You couldn't control yourself. But I promise you, things will get better. You will see." Caruso just stared back at the old woman, unsure of what to say. He felt touched by Moynihan's words and was happy that she and the others didn't seem to harbor any ill will towards him. But he still couldn't help but feel guilty about what he did, and he was still very afraid, not just for his friends' safety, but his own. He still felt that fear of Victor coming after him rise up inside, and it was making him even more terrified than before.

Shaking uncontrollably, Caruso latched onto Moynihan, wrapping his arms around her and holding her as tight as he could without suffocating her. "I'm sorry!" He shouted as he felt his tears stream down his face.

Moynihan was momentarily stunned by the sudden hug, but put her arms around the shaking boy and held him gently. "There, there..." She whispered calmly to him as he continued to cry into her shoulder. "Let it all out..."

* * *

"And just where have you been?" Victor asked, his head lowered as he stared down at Michelle standing before him. He had his arms folded up tightly and he was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for the girl to answer him. She had arrived back at Raptor Dyne a few minutes ago, and thus she was late by about an hour. He didn't know why it would take her so long to get back here. Victor had told Michelle that she'd better have a good excuse for being late. If she didn't, she would sufferer the consequences.

Michelle had her head bowed. She didn't think she could look Victor straight in the eyes now, especially with the way he was scowling at her. She also didn't know what to say to him. She couldn't tell him that she was at the lighthouse. If she revealed that, he would have asked her why she was there in the first place, and why she hadn't tried to kill Caruso. She could say that he wasn't there when she arrived, but she knew Victor's next question would have been why she hadn't stayed there, laying in wait, and attacked when he did come to the lighthouse. So there was no way out of it if she told him the truth.

Victor wasn't alone. Standing next to him was Oscura. Michelle needn't look up to know that she was smirking at her. She could picture Oscura with a big, evil grin on her face, smiling at her with satisfaction. This was a moment that she was waiting for, when Michelle would get into trouble with Victor yet again. Michelle heard a faint sound, and know that Oscura was chuckling lightly, rubbing her hands together as she eagerly waited to see how the scene would play out. The only thing that made Michelle comfortable about the scene was that Victor would not allow Oscura to attack her. So she could be confident that Oscura wasn't going to take another step towards her.

Circling the ground with a single foot in an apprehensive manner, Michelle finally looked up at her boss, not wanting to make him anymore impatient and angry than he already probably was. She bit her lip nervously and swallowed hard. She opened up her mouth and finally began to speak. "W-Well sir... I-I-I was.. I was just... um..." She looked left and right, trying to come up with an answer. She looked back up at Victor, who's eyes had narrowed dangerously thin and she could see the faint hint of a glow, a warning sign that he was growing impatient. "I was just taking a stroll around town." Michelle finally said, making Victor's eyes cock a little in curiosity. "Y-Yeah..I was just walking around town, trying to find the Dino Squad."

"Why?" Victor asked, the glare returning to his face. "I thought I told you that you weren't supposed to go after them unless I..."

Forgetting her manners, Michelle quickly interrupted him. "But you wanted Caruso dead, did you not? I thought you told us that we were supposed to kill him on sight."

Victor pulled his head back and nodded once, feeling somewhat impressed that Michelle had remembered that order. Smiling, he said, "Yes, that's right, Michelle. I did say that. I'm surprised that you would remember that, especially since I only..." He stopped himself, and took a deep sigh. He decided to just drop it. No point in dwelling on it now. He cleared his throat and then said, "Anyway, you're dismissed." He turned his back, and Oscura looked at him like he was crazy.

"But..." Oscura said, gesturing towards Michelle. The brunette stared back at her, smiling softly. "Shouldn't she get punished?" She hissed. "She disobeyed you! She was late in coming back to Raptor Dyne!"

Victor looked at Oscura. "She said she was looking to kill Caruso, which is exactly what I had ordered everyone in Raptor Dyne to do. She was just doing her job."

Oscura growled softly. "But she was still late. She should be punished for it!" She turned to look up at Victor, the harsh glare softening so that she wouldn't provoke him."Shouldn't she...?" Oscura finally said after several seconds of silence. Her voice was soft and somewhat puzzled.

Victor shook his head. "No. Technically, she didn't do anything wrong."

Oscura, finally giving up, lowered her head in a pouting manner. "Oh..." She sounded very disappointed, and then she turned and walked away, leaving Michelle and Victor alone in the room. The pair watched her leave, opening and closing the door.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Victor turned back to Michelle. The girl saw the way he was looking her, all serious and stern. She quickly straightened her back, stiffening up in fear. The way he was looking at her suggested that he was still upset with her about something. Victor slowly shook his head again, never taking his eye off the girl. "Sometimes, I wonder why you and Oscura can't just learn to work together. I thought all you filthy monkeys knew how to work together."

Michelle winced at this statement. "I'm..I'm sorry, sir. I-I don't know why either. We just..hate each other."

"I've seen humans who hate each other even more get along much better than you and Oscura are." Victor said, eyes narrowing slightly. "So how is it that you two can't do the same thing? And don't tell me that you don't know."

Michelle Brown gulped. "I-I really don't know why..I guess we just..get on each other's nerves too much." Michelle scratched the back of her head. It was like she didn't know herself why she and Oscura Witter hardly ever got along. It was like this since day one, although it wasn't as severe back then because they didn't know each other too well. "I try to tolerate her, Dr. Veloci. I really do..and I'm sure she tries to tolerate me. But she and I...we just don't mix well together." She looked down. "I'm sorry."

Victor nodded his head, trying his best to understand the situation. He wanted to make sure that the two have less conflicts with one another. He thought, at first, that he could find someway to make them get along better. But now he sees that this was no longer an option. He thought of another solution that would work, and hopefully reduce the chances of the two running into one another. The last thing that he wanted or needed was two of his own workers constantly going head-to-head with one another. That would only complicate things.

"Well," Victor said, relaxing his arms by his side, "..I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll assign Oscura to someone else and she'll become their partner instead." He lowered his head a little to look Michelle straight in the eyes. "Would that be all right with you?" Victor tried to sound as sympathetic as he could, but this was something he wasn't used to. In the raptor world, there was hardly such a thing as sympathy. He often wondered how humans could stand being this nice to each other. It was nothing but weakness in his eyes.

Michelle tried to smile, but she couldn't help but still feel concerned about what will happen in the future. Even if Oscura was separated from her, there was no way that would keep them apart for long. She knew Oscura was smart. She would find a way. "In all honesty, sir, I'm not sure if..."

Just then, the door swung open again. Michelle and Victor, quickly stopping their chatter, and turned over to see who it was. Victor wasn't expecting anyone and neither was Michelle. So they wondered who could be coming up there at this time. As the door opened up, stepping inside was a tall, somewhat slender yet still muscular man. It wasn't Peter; he was still in the hospital. And it wasn't Zoom; this man had dark brown hair, short but not too short. He were a light orange shirt, a business suit somewhat similar to Victor's. His pants, so long they hung slightly over his feet, were a light beige color, almost the same shade as the orange. He sported a small, light brown beard on his chin, but no mustache. He stood roughly Victor's height, but was just slightly shorter. His eyes were a deep brown, matching the color of his hair.

"Ah!" Victor said, smiling slightly as the man walked into the room. Judging from his tone of voice, Michelle suspected that Victor was indeed expecting this man to come see him. But for what? She kept quiet, and watched the two as they stood about five feet apart, staring at one another. "Drew Buzmati! I've been expecting you!"

Drew nodded his head and spoke in a deep voice. "Yes..I'm sure you have been."

Michelle's eyes widened as she heard the name. She wondered if this could be Buzz's father. She stared at the man, grateful that he wasn't looking in her direction. The man did bear a slight resemblance to Buzz, but she couldn't get over the fact that she just found out that Buzz's father probably works for Victor. She bit her lip. This could be bad news for the Dino Squad. She took a step back, but she couldn't tear her gaze from the man. She was curious, and wanted to know what this man was going to do. Why did Victor want him? Did he know his son was a transformer just like she and Victor both were?

"So what did you want me for?" Drew asked, leaning slightly in one direction, balancing himself with his leg and arm, which was planted firmly at his side. "Wait don't tell me! You want me to unleash more ooze, isn't that right?" Drew smirked, chuckling lightly. "You should know that, after years of working with you, that I could read you like a book. Whenever you call me in here, it's usually because you want me to dispatch some more ooze."

Victor nodded his head. The man was absolutely correct. Drew was one of the humans he had entrusted in dumping his ooze when he gave the order. Some of his workers had asked him why he would just waste all that ooze and why he would just dump it carelessly out into nature. Victor had said that any changes the ooze could have done could be reversed with his perfected ooze when he is able to duplicate it properly and effortlessly. Plus, he didn't really care what kind of mutations the ooze caused, especially since a perfected ooze could change all that. Although not everyone agreed with him, the issue was never brought up again and most of his workers kept quiet about it, even among each other.

"Yes.." Victor said. "That is usually what I call you in here for, but..not today." He shook his head. "Not this time."

Drew cocked an eyebrow curiously. If that isn't want Victor wanted, what was? "Oh really? And do you mind telling me just what you do want?"

Victor smirked. "Are you familiar with the Dino Squad, Mr. Buzmati?"

"The Dino Squad?" Drew inquired. "What do you mean? You mean those dinosaurs that people have kept seeing and reporting over the years?" Victor nodded his head. "Well yes, I know of them. I had a close encounter once myself, a few months ago. Nuisances they are." When he saw Victor narrow his eyes at him, Drew realized that he had offended Victor. He started to feel stupid. Victor was a dinosaur after all, so of course he would be upset. "I-I mean just for now..because most of the world is still different." He stammered nervously. "I'm sure they won't be once things have changed back to the-the way you want it, sir."

Victor's frown vanished and was replaced with an evil smile. He was slightly impressed with how the man had saved himself from facing a very angry Velociraptor. Humans often didn't like to upset someone that they knew could kill them very easily. This was another sign of weakness. Humans sometimes act all tough. But deep down, they were nothing but spineless cowards. Victor had considered just killing them off, thinking humans weren't worthy of transformation. But he felt reluctant to do this, mainly because of how long it would take. Transforming them would be faster. He didn't need to test ooze on humans; he already knew that it worked. And judging from how the football players reacted when they were oozed, they wouldn't even remember they were humans. They would act like dinosaurs.

"That is correct." Victor said finally. "They are out of place here, the dinosaurs. But once the pathetic human monkeys are...taken care of..." He hesitated as he said that. "...I can bring back the rightful owners of this planet: the dinosaurs!"

Drew just rolled his eyes a little, completely unaffected by what Victor had just said. He had heard this speech before, countless times. So have the other members of Raptor Dyne. It was driving some of them insane. But no one would dare speak out against him. They were too afraid of what Victor would do to them if they said anything about his habit of talking about his desire to bring back the dinosaurs. Drew would say something himself, usually being one of the braver humans that worked with Victor, but he decided it would be in his better judgment to keep quiet about it. So all he did was nodded at Victor's statement, as if to confirm it.

The man then sensed that someone was staring at him, and it wasn't Victor. Curious, Drew turned his head to one side. There was nobody there. He then looked to the other side. This was the first time he had seen Michelle, and the sight of her confused him. Why hadn't he noticed her before? Surely he would have noticed a teenager working for Victor. Yet another thought bothered him. Why was there a teenager at Raptor Dyne? That didn't make much sense. Drew had assumed that Victor mostly wanted youthful humans to work for him, since they would live longer than the older humans would, and they were often presenting new ideas, some of which would suit Victor's needs. It made some sense to hire a teenager as they would live even longer, but they were no experts. Surely Victor wouldn't be stupid enough to go to one of them for advise.

"Victor..." Drew finally said. "..why is there a teenager here?" He pointed at Michelle to indicate her.

"Oh?" Victor looked down at Michelle. "You mean Michelle?" He looked back up at Drew. "She's been here for a couple years now, I believe. You haven't noticed her until today?"

Drew shook his head, starting to feel like an idiot. "No, sir. I haven't."

"And I suppose you don't know of Oscura either, eh?" Victor added.

Drew was incredulous. "There's another?!"

Victor nodded his head. "Yes. I have two teenagers working for me. Why does that shock you, Drew?"

Drew scratched the top of his head, looking confused and frustrated. He couldn't think of any reason for Victor to hire not one, but two teenagers. It was like the guy had lost his mind! This kind of job was not suited for teenagers. Jobs like this required the help of mature adults, not some annoying teenaged punks and their whiny little attitudes! "W-Well it's just that..." He glanced from Michelle back over to Veloci. "She's just a teenager. What good would she and this...this Oscura do for Raptor Dyne? They don't have any experience. They probably didn't even graduate from high school yet, let alone gone to college...!"

Victor chuckled lightly, finding this situation a little humorous. The laugh frightened Michelle, who backed away from him, but it only confused Drew. "You have a lot to learn, Drew. Oh a lot you must learn..." Victor moved his hand to indicate Michelle's current position. "She and Oscura both have a specific..quality...that I an impressed with and that's why they've been hired."

Frowning, Drew folded up his arms. "And what trait might that be?" He wanted to see proof of this 'incredible trait' before he becomes convinced that hiring these two teenagers was a good idea.

Victor turned to Michelle and nodded once at her. "Show him." Was all that he had said to her before turning back to Drew, wanting to see his reaction to what the girl could do.