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...

32. Battle

Fiona looked over and when she saw what Rodger had, she let out a shriek of horror and shock. Caruso was pinned to the ground by Kista, her foot pushing up against his shoulder, claws digging in deep. 'CARUSO!' Fiona shouted.

'Well well well..looks like we meet again..' Kista grinned, pushing her foot as hard as she could against Caruso's body, and then twisting her foot to cause him more pain. Caruso bellowed in pain as he felt the claws dig into his thick skin. 'You want to save your precious boyfriend? I'd like to see you try...' Her eyes narrowed in delight, anticipating Fiona's inevitable attack.

Max suddenly roared in pain. Something had landed on his back and was tearing at his skin. Max ran all over the place, rocking his body violently from side to side in an attempt to dislodge whatever it was off of his back. Max ran up to the building and hit against it as hard as he could. He felt whatever it was on his back slide off. Max quickly turned to face his opponent. He realized that his attacker was Victor, whose mouth was covered in blood and there was also blood dripping from his claws. Victor let out a horrible hiss as he glared up at Max. His eyes trailed up, looking for a specific target. Once he found his target, Victor leaped into the air quickly, ramming Max in the chest with the top of his head. The sudden force caused Max to fall onto his back.

Narrowing his eyes, Victor quickly aimed for his target: Max's throat. Slender jaws clamped down tightly on the base of the neck, digging in deeply. Max's eyes widened and he started to kick his feet wildly in the air. With his puny arms, he started to slash at Victor, but his hands kept on missing him. Victor seemed to chuckle, although it was hard to tell in dino mode, and he proceeded to bite harder. Knowing that Buzz was too busy with Oscura and Moynihan right now to help him, Max realized he had to get himself out of his mess. Pushing his head forward, slowly, he pressed his lower jaw against the front of his neck, trying to see Victor. He could see him, but not very good. But he didn't need a good sighting of Victor to know where he was. Max opened up his massive jaws and leaned as much as he could and snatched Victor.

The red raptor screeched in pain, feeling the teeth of the T-Rex crush down on his head and neck. Victor tried to slash Max's head, but the T-Rex refused to let go. Max slowly climbed up to his feet, Victor still in his jaws. Mustering up as much strength as he could, Max tossed Victor into the ground. Victor smashed into the hard floor, rolling across it like he were a rag doll. Max shook his head and looked down, trying to assess his new injury. It was bleeding, but no worse than the injuries Moynihan gave him on his stomach. Max then turned his attention to Victor and took a step forward, letting out a huge roar that seemed to vibrate through the ground. Victor roared in response and raced toward Max again.

Oscura swished her tail rapidly from side to side. Standing next to her was Moynihan. Thanks to Victor, Moynihan was not fighting against her, but rather, with her. In unison, the two started to circle Buzz, who had landed on the ground after being knocked down by Oscura herself, who had snuck up behind him, but had missed the opportunity to bite him. Buzz eyed them carefully, not afraid to show him his sharp beak as she let out several bird-like screeches at them. Buzz had his wings spread wide open in an attempt to make himself look larger than he actually was. But Oscura and Moynihan weren't falling for his little trick. They knew that, despite Buzz's attempts, he was the physically weakest of the group and likely the easiest to take down.

Kicking at the ground, Oscura raced forward, opening her small jaws as wide as they could go, and aimed for Buzz's wing. Reacting quickly, Buzz took into the air, letting Oscura bite nothing but air and crash into the ground. As if on cue, Moynihan raced forward as well. Buzz braced for the attack, opening his jaws slightly as he prepared to bite Moynihan if he needed to. But at the last second, Moynihan quickly changed course, taking Buzz completely by surprise. Now at his side, Moynihan jumped up and sank her teeth into the boy's leg. Buzz screeched in pain as he was suddenly pulled back into the ground, on his back. Before he could get up, Moynihan placed her foot on his chested and pressed firmly down, giving the boy some difficulty in breathing.

Buzz suddenly felt his head being twisted to the side and pushed into the ground by another foot. He didn't need to look to know that it was Oscura, who was baring her teeth at him in a dinosaur's version of an evil smile. 'You think you have won, don't you?' Buzz asked coldly, not bothering to look up at Oscura.

'Well of course. Because I have won..' Oscura lowered her head, putting her jaws close to the Pteranodon's head. Slowly, she opened her jaws, allowing her hot breath to hit Buzz's face.

In reaction, Buzz closed his eyes tightly and snorted. 'At least take some breath mints, okay? Your breath stinks!' He said without hesitation.

Oscura narrowed her eyes and pushed her foot even harder against Buzz's head. Buzz let out a cry of pain as he felt the small but very sharp claws cutting into his skin. 'You better watch it...You're in no position to be making insults.' With that, Oscura lowered her head a little further and opened her jaws. She was getting prepared to give him a bite, knowing there was no way Buzz could escape now. Not even his friends could save him. From what Oscura remembered, they were busy with the other opponents in the area.

Suddenly, there was a blur of black in Oscura's vision, and then something large and warm slammed against her. She crashed into Moynihan as well, and the three rolled across the floor. Moynihan landed on her back and stayed there for several seconds before climbing up to her feet. Oscura was on her stomach. She slowly raised her long neck and shook it slowly. She looked over to see who had crashed into her. She noticed Michelle was laying next to her, head turned away from her, on her side. Oscura hissed in anger and quickly got up. 'You?! Look at what you've done! You ruined my chance to kill one of those brats!'

Michelle's eyes slowly opened up and she craned her head up at Oscura. 'I'm sorry. But the ground is so slippery now.. I lost my footing..'

Oscura's eyes narrowed. 'Slippery? A likely story, I...' Then she looked down and realized Michelle was right. The ground was suddenly moist and slippery. But how? Then she looked up and realized why the concrete was wet. Dark clouds had swirled overhead at some point during the fight. Thunder roared throughout the skies and lightning flashed, illuminating the clouds. Rain poured heavily to the ground, and already there were puddles of water formed on the concrete ground. 'Oh great..a storm...' Oscura muttered to herself. She noticed just how wet her body was and quickly shook herself like a dog, getting the water off of her body.

Michelle smirked slightly. 'I told you I lost my footing.'

'Oh shut up.' Oscura snapped at her. 'You still ruined my chance to kill!'

Michelle slowly shook her head. 'Even if I hadn't slipped... That Styracosaurus boy there would have stopped you anyway.'

'What are you talking about?' Oscura asked. Michelle pointed a claw behind her. Oscura looked over and saw Rodger charging towards them, his head lowered so that his brow horns were poised to slice into her red-skinned body. Oscura quickly dodged out of the way and leaped into the air, landing on Rodger's back. Before she could deliver a bite, however, Rodger managed to buck her off.

Kista and Fiona circled each other, Caruso having backed far away from Kista after Fiona managed to free him. Kista grinned a dinosaurian smile, her mouth partway open as she hissed a few times. Fiona kept her eyes on the white dinosaur, getting ready to attack again at any moment. Kista towered over her, looking far more muscular than she was. And if she got bit by those jaws, it might as well be too late. They looked like they could deal more damage than Max's jaws. Kista lowered her head slightly and let out a roar, hoping to intimidate Fiona. The yellow dinosaur took a few steps back, but kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. She wasn't going to run away. She eyed Caruso again, knowing that he was the reason she was fighting. She couldn't allow this assassin to kill him!

While Kista was keeping Fiona busy, Victor looked over, noticing that Caruso wasn't looking this way. This was a good opportunity for him to try to weaken Caruso. He looked up at Max, who was coming at him with open jaws. His eyes narrowed. First, he'd have to deal with this pesky T-Rex. Victor moved out of the way just in time. Max's jaws snapped shut and Victor could feel a wave of hot breath hit his tail as he jumped out of the way, landing a couple feet from Max. Victor quickly turned around and jumped in the air. Max noticed this and narrowed his eyes, turning to the side and swatting Victor down with his tail. Victor skidded across the hard floor and quickly got back up. He glared at Victor, and then turned his attention towards Caruso. If he can just slip past Max, he may just have the opportunity that he needed to take care of the Stegosaurus.

Victor suddenly charged at Max, splitting his jaws wide open as if he was going to bite. Max roared and waited for Victor to meet him. He was more than ready to sink his teeth into the evil raptor's body. But at the last second, Victor suddenly turned, and Max missed his opportunity to attack him. Max was confused at first. Why had Victor completely bypassed him? Was he blind or just plain stupid? When Max looked behind him, he realized, in horror, the reason for Victor's sudden change in course. He was running straight for Caruso! The Stegosaurus's head was turned towards the fight between Kista and Fiona. He had no idea there was a Velociraptor heading straight for him.

'Caruso!' Max hollered, his mouth open in shock. 'Victor's coming right for you! Look out!'

Caruso turned his head over and his eyes widened in horror. All he could see of Victor was his wide open mouth and razor sharp claws. Instinctively, Caruso quickly turned to his side, wielding his spiked tail. Victor just kept on coming, his eyes glued on a certain, vulnerable spot on the Stegosaurus. Confident that he would be able to reach the spot before Caruso could react, Victor leaped straight in to the air. He brought forward one of his large sickle claws, aiming straight for the Stegosaurus's fleshy side, along his huge ribcage. Caruso let out a bellow, swinging his tail from side to side, gathering up strength. When Victor reached a certain distance, Caruso took a chance and struck out. His long tail slammed against Victor, one of his spikes making a direct hit with the raptor's side. Victor screeched in pain as the spike dug deep in his side, blood pouring out. He slammed into the ground and rolled away. He lifted up his head and snarled at Caruso, who let out another bellow at him, raising his tail straight in the air.

'It seems you have forgotten how to respect your superiors.' Victor said, slowly climbing up to his feet, albeit slightly shaky. There was a small hole in his side where the spike had been driven in, blood flowing steadily from it. But Victor ignored it, raising his claws threateningly at Caruso. 'I should have killed you when I had you in my custody!' He charged at Irwin again.

Caruso narrowed his eyes. 'And I should have done this while I was in your custody!' With that, he stood up on his hind legs. When Victor reached the correct distance, Caruso came crashing down, knocking the raptor onto his side and pinning him down with one of his front feet. Victor cried out in pain as he felt the weight of the massive animal slam against him. He was lucky that only a couple ribs were broken. But despite the pain, Victor still refused to give up. He opened his jaws and bit down on Caruso's leg, slicing into his skin. Caruso cried out in pain and lifted his foot off of Victor.

But Victor refused to let go of the boy's foot. He hung on tightly with his jaws tearing into the boy's leg, his hand claws also digging in deep, helping him to retain his grip on the boy. Caruso continued to cry out in pain, trying to shake his foot free from the raptor's mouth. Victor only let go when he felt something grab onto his tail. He looked behind him to see Max grabbing on his tail again. Suddenly, he was tossed away, but he had already did what he came over there to do. As Victor stood back up, he glanced over at Caruso. He smirked darkly. It was just as he had hoped for. Caruso's now bloody leg had a hard time supporting the boy's weight and was being held slightly off the ground. With an injury like that, Kista would be able to kill him no problem.

'Caruso!' Max cried out as he rushed to his friend's side. He took one look at the wound on Caruso's foot and his eyes widened in horror. 'Are you okay?! Can you walk?'

Caruso groaned and tried to put his foot on the ground. But when he applied too much pressure, he let out a loud roar of pain, quickly lifting the foot back in the air. 'AAAAH! IT HURTS TOO MUCH!' He screamed, closing his eyes tightly, letting tears flow down his dinosaur face.

For a moment, Max didn't know what to do. He noticed there was some grassy areas around this place and then remembered the park that was nearby. He would have had Caruso run over there, but with an injured foot, that wasn't an option. But then he realized something. This was a front leg, which was an arm in human form. 'Caruso, change back!'

'What?' Caruso lifted up his head. 'But..but what about...?'

'I'll carry you! Don't worry! Just change back!' Max commanded, lowering his head and front body.

Caruso nodded his head. He closed his eyes and changed back into human form. The relief of being able to walk on his two uninjured leg felt good, but his injured limb, now an arm, was still in excruciating pain. He held his arm close to his body, afraid to move it or touch it. Blood completely covered it, making it nearly impossible to see the deep lacerations that went across it. Caruso walked up to Max and reached up with his good arm and tried to climb on. But he couldn't get a grip with the use of just one arm. Realizing this, Max took a step back and lowered his head a little more. He pushed his head underneath Caruso, allowing him to roll onto his back. Caruso quickly wrapped his good arm around Max's neck and held as tightly as he could.

Max let out a loud roar to get the others' attention. When he saw that Fiona, Rodger, and Buzz were looking at him, he gave out an order. 'Guys! Follow me!' With that, he charged towards the Boston Common, careful not to go too fast because he didn't want to accidentally knock Caruso off of his back. Buzz took to the air and flew as fast as he could to catch up. Fiona and Rodger looked at each other, not knowing why Max decided to retreat. But realizing Caruso was in danger, they quickly followed Max.

* * *

Oscura growled in frustration. How dare they run away from her now! How dare they! 'Look at those cowards! They've given up already! Look at them run!' She said in disgust. She was so close to getting rid of one of them, so close! 'They're so...so.. I can't even say it!'

Michelle wanted to sigh in relief, but she kept herself from doing so. She looked over at Victor. There was something she didn't understand. She thought Victor wanted to use the mutantsaurs to attack with, but the whole time, Victor had kept the mutantsaurs back, instead preferring to influence Moynihan into attacking. She wasn't complaining, but it didn't make sense to her. 'Sir? Why didn't you use the mutantsaurs too? To attack?'

Victor narrowed his eyes. If Michelle didn't know any better, she'd say that there was an evil smile spreading across the dinosaur's face. 'Because, Ms. Brown, I was hoping they were going to run into the Boston Common.'

'What? Why?' Michelle asked him.

'It's quite simple. The mud will make it more difficult for them to run, even more difficult than here. They'll be easier to catch, and much more vulnerable to attacks.' Victor said darkly.

'Wait... You knew they were going to run off?' Oscura asked, looking at him in confusion. 'I thought you wanted to kill them off right then.'

'Well if it came to that, yes I would have wanted it, Ms. Witter. But...' Victor didn't take his eyes off the direction the 'perfect dinosaurs' had run off to. He didn't need to see them. He could track them by smell if he wanted to, but he knew where they were going, so even that wasn't necessary. '..this will make things more interesting. I would like to see them try to fight when the very ground beneath them slips and slides when they try to step on it...'

Kista walked up to the Velociraptor. 'But, sir, didn't you try to walk on mud once and kept falling down, even in dino mode? How could this work to our advantage? Wouldn't we be slipping as well?'

'Yes.' Victor said, not sounding one bit concerned about this particular drawback. Kista couldn't really understand why unless Victor was going by the logic that if he can't do it, then this enemies can't, and that puts them on even grounds. Victor looked up at Kista. 'I have injured one of Irwin's front legs, so he'll be..a bit less of a challenge for you. You should have an easier time killing him now.'

Kista narrowed his eyes. 'Now why would you do that? I would have wanted him to at least try to fight back.'

'Oh trust me...He'll try to fight back all right.' Victor said, remembering how hard it was for him to break Caruso's spirit before. 'He will fight back.'

'Shall we chase them, then?' Oscura asked, sounding a little impatient. Victor could tell that she really wanted to go after the Dino Squad. He gave a single nod. 'Yes! Now I can make them pay!'

'Pay? For what?' Michelle jokingly said, giving Oscura a sneer. 'If anything, they are going to want to get even with you.'

'Oh you be quiet! They probably think the same about you.' Oscura said. Michelle flinched at that statement, but didn't say anything.

'So are you actually going to bring the mutantsaurs this time?' Kista asked as she lifted up her head in the direction where the Dino Squad had disappeared into. While she couldn't see them, their scent hung strongly in the air.

Victor nodded his head. He then looked over at Michelle. 'Michelle, you, Kista, and Oscura go head off those pesky teenagers. Make sure they do not go beyond the Boston common.' Then he looked over at Moynihan and narrowed his eyes. Moynihan snarled and snapped her jaws at the air, but when she locked her red eyes onto Victor's own eyes, her expression softened a little and she lowered her head in submissiveness. 'You, come along with me...' Victor said. Although Joanne did physically try to resist the command, she found herself obeying him anyway. Moynihan walked up to Victor and stood next to him. Although she was clearly calmer, her fangs were bared, making Michelle, who was the closest one to her, feel uneasy. Victor then lifted his muzzle towards the sky. 'Go, you three. Now. I will catch up to you as soon as I can. I will bring Moynihan and the three mutantsaurs with me. Together, we will overpower the Dino Squad and crush them!'

* * *

'It's so hard to run on this mud..!' Rodger complained. He was doing his best to run as fast as he could, but his feet would constantly sink down into the mud. In human form, it wouldn't be too difficult, but he was in dino mode now and weighed probably a couple tons. Every time he stepped down into the mud, he would sink considerably, his foot getting stuck and a few times, he almost tripped onto the ground. After pulling out his foot yet again, covered in slick mud, Rodger glanced up at Max. 'Are you sure it was a good idea to come this way?'

Max had coping better than Rodger was. He had hollow bones and was considerably lighter, at least compared to Rodger. His feet were also better suited for the mud. His toes were slightly splayed, giving him more traction and evening out his weight slightly. It was like he was wearing skies. He turned his head slightly to the side to indicate he was addressing Rodger. 'Sure I'm sure! Think about it. Would Victor and the others be crazy enough to try to fight us in mud? They would have just as much trouble as us, and Veloci isn't the type who would take a chance. I'm sure they just gave up and decided not to follow us.'

Rodger narrowed his eyes. 'Somehow, I don't think that's what's going on, Maxwell. I really think coming here was a bad idea.'

'And what makes you think that, Rodger?' Max asked as he kept on running. They were probably a quarter of the way in the Boston Common and still no sign of Victor or the others. Max had specifically chosen to run through here in hopes of evading Victor and the others. He didn't think they would be crazy enough to follow them. But had he judged incorrectly?

'You fool!' Rodger snapped. If he had teeth, they would be bared now. 'Don't you get it? We would have the hardest time in the mud because of our own size! Victor himself would have a bit of an easier time coping! If anything, we put ourselves at a disadvantage here. If they caught up to us, they would have the edge... Well except Kista of course. She is larger than you are... But you get my point, Max..do you?'

Max bared his teeth in anxiety. He hadn't thought about that. It seemed he did make a mistake. Coming out here would likely make things worse for them. True, the mud would slow down some of the enemies, but it wouldn't have much of an effect on Oscura, who was the one Max was most concerned about because of her infectious bite. The mud would give her the edge and give her enough time to run up to them and bite down on one of their legs and infect them before they could do anything. And they were too far from the lighthouse. They wouldn't be able to make it back in time. 'I..I'm sorry Rodger. I didn't realize...'

'Well it's too late now! Do you have any ideas on what we should do, Max? I mean, if Victor and the others show up to stop us?' Asked Rodger, who was trying to keep his mind more focused on getting out of here alive rather than focusing it on scolding Max for his mistake. It wasn't going to get them anywhere if he did that.

* * *

Terri fumbled through one of the cabinets, trying to find something she had nearly forgotten about. Her parents watched her, a little confused. They had asked her what she was looking for, but she wouldn't tell them. She insisted that they wait and find out. Terri was looking for the tracker disc that she had used to find the Dino Squad on the day she was banned from, and then reinstated into, the lighthouse. She wasn't sure if they would be of any use now, provided that Victor didn't do something to render them useless or anything. But what other choice did she have? It was the only way she could think of now to find Fiona and the others.

After a few minutes, Terri finally found what she was looking for. It was a small disc that she needed to access the tracking program on one of the computers. It wasn't located on the top level with the other equipment. It was located on the bottom level. Until recently, that computer had been out of order, which is why the Dino Squad hadn't tried using that to track down Caruso when he had gone missing. Terri immediately ran towards the spiral staircase. Although still confused, the two pairs of parents quickly followed the girl.

Another couple minutes passed by, and Terri ran up to the computer. Before she could put the disc in, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled, and looked up to see her father, a confused look still on his face. "Yes, father? What is it?"

"You still haven't told us what you are trying to do." Bryant said, his eyebrow cocked slightly.

Terri pushed the disc into the computer and began typing at the keyboard to activate the program. "I'm trying to activate the scanner so we can find Fiona and the others."

"With a disc?" Bryant asked.

"No, with a program." Terri said. Then she narrowed her eyes, feeling concerned about her fears that the program might not work. "I just hope it works..."

"Will this find Irwin, too?" Amanda asked, walking up close behind, but keeping her distance. "I mean, will it tell us where he is?"

Terri nodded her head. "It'll tell us where they all are." After a few minutes of waiting, the program loaded up. All Terri had to do was wait until the computer gave her the results of the program, which shouldn't be too long as it is pretty fast. While the computer was loading the results, she and the parents were waiting, watching, hoping that the program worked. When they finally showed up, solid orange images of the kids in their dino modes were displayed, and then a green colored map showed up, a group of five blips blinking, clustered together. Terri narrowed her eyes, and then she gasped, recognizing where they were. "Oh my.."

"What is it dear?" Nevina asked. "Where are they?"

Terri gulped and then said, "They're in Boston...close to Raptor Dyne."

"What?!" Amanda gasped, putting her hands to her mouth in horror.

Jack put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder, and then glanced down at Terri. From the look on the girl's face, he could tell that she was not mistaken. "But why would they go there? It doesn't make sense..."

"..not unless they were taken there." Terri said, frowning slightly. "That's the only thing that makes sense. One or more of them must have been captured and taken the Raptor Dyne and the others followed." She lowered her gaze. "Or they were all captured..."

"We have to do something!" Amanda said, looking at her husband. "We can't just let those monsters..."

"I know, dear..I know.. But what can we do? We would probably just make things worse." Jack said.

"How can you say that?! Aren't you willing to at least try?" Amanda asked, her voice sounding more hysterical by the second. "If we just sit here and do nothing, who knows what Veloci might be doing to them!"

"I understand your fears. Believe me, I do." Terri spoke up as she continued to look at the scans, trying to find some ray of hope. "But your husband is right. There isn't much we can do if we approach directly."

"Dear, do you think there is a way to help them from the sidelines?" Nevina asked. She glanced over Terri's shoulders to look at the scans. But she wasn't as skilled at computers as her daughter and most of the stuff, to her, looked like gibberish.

Terri frowned slightly. "Well, that could be a possible course of action. If Raptor Dyne has any type of weapon-based security..."

"Like turrets? Guns? Cannons?" Bryant asked.

Terri shook her head. "It would have to be something that wouldn't make as much noise..." Terri typed away at the keyboard, trying to zoom in on Raptor Dyne. She wasn't sure if she would get a close enough view though. At any moment, Victor's defense mechanisms could kick in and completely cut her off. "If Victor used something like a cannon or turret, even a gun, that would make too much noise. Victor wouldn't want something like that; it would draw attention. He would have to use a weapon that was both silent and deadly."

"Silent and deadly?" Amanda asked. She looked up at her husband again. "Do you know of any such weapons, Jack?" All the man could do was shrug his shoulders. He wasn't sure himself of what weapon Terri thinks Victor might be using. Any weapon he could come up with involved sound, and a lot of it.

"What kind of weapons do you think he'd use?" Nevina asked her daughter.

"The only thing that would make sense to me is lasers." Terri explained. "They can be quiet, and they can pack a lot of power. Veloci likely has some laser equipment around Raptor Dyne, although it likely only activates when someone gets too close to the building, or even tries to break in. If that is what he uses, then I could try to hack into that and..." She stopped herself, suddenly remembering something important. Her expression changed to horror.

Noticing this, Nevina placed a hand on Terri's shoulder. "What is it, Terri?"

"I just realized something..." Terri said, her eyes wide with fear. How could she have forgotten this already? "The last time I hacked into Veloci's mainframe, he caused the lighthouse's computers to go offline and a computerized car to go haywire, nearly killing me." Her parents gasped in horror and Caruso's parents look at her in shock. "And if I hack in again...his firewall could, once again, wreak havoc, and endanger all of us..."

Growling in frustration, Amanda jerked herself free of her husband's grasp and stormed towards Terri. She grabbed onto the chair, which could swivel, and turned the chair around so that Terri was facing her. Amanda leaned in closely, putting her face very close to Terri's. The young teen's eyes widened in fear, feeling rather uncomfortable with how close Amanda was to her. Amanda suddenly seized Terri by her shoulders and started to shake her. "I don't care how dangerous it is! I don't care how long it takes you to hack into that computer! You are going to do it, and you are going to find out where my son is! Do you hear me?!"

Shocked by his wife's behavior, Jack immediately rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her and started to pull her away from Terri. After forcing Amanda to let go of Terri, he quickly turned her around, his hands gripping Amanda's arms tightly. "What did you think you were doing?!"

"I was...just trying to get her to find Irwin..." Amanda said, her tone softer than it was before.

"By shaking her? Are you crazy?" Jack said, narrowing his eyes. "You could have hurt her! And besides, she's doing the best that she can. You can't force her to work harder than she already is!"

"I..." Amanda lowered her gaze. "I know that..I just..couldn't help it..."

"I understand, Mrs. Caruso.." Terri said after she recovered from the initial shock of being shaken up by the woman. She rubbed one of her shoulders, both of which were slightly sore from Amanda gripping them so hard. Terri wasn't too pleased with how the woman had reacted, but she understood why she did that. Amanda was just worried about her son, like any true mother would be. She couldn't totally blame Amanda for her actions. "And understand this. I am trying my best here. I promise that I will try to find your son, as well as the others, but you must allow me to work. Shaking me and yelling at me is not going to make me work any faster."

Amanda felt slightly embarrassed for how she had been acting. "I know..."

* * *

'GET THEM! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!' Oscura commanded. She was standing on a slightly raised bump on a hill, surveying the scene below her briefly. The Dino Squad were trying to fight the best that they could. But they were having great difficulty because of the mud that was causing them to sink deep into the mud. Their only opponent for the moment was Kista, who was having fun running circles around them. She was sinking herself, but she was more experienced in fighting in mud since she was a sixty-five million year old dinosaur like Victor was. Max was fairing well, but he couldn't fight very well with Caruso on his back. Fiona tried to fill in for him, but she wasn't as physically strong, and she was constantly knocked into the ground because the mud was slowing her down.

Seeing a possible chance to target Rodger, Oscura dashed down. She ran across the mud, barely sinking in due to her small size. When she reached Rodger, she let out a horrible screech and jumped up towards his back. Rodger heard the screech and turned over to face her. The mud hindered him greatly and he barely had enough time to whack Oscura away with his horns. Oscura skidded across the floor and landed on her side. She looked up and saw Buzz glared down at her. He quickly struck forward, clamping his long beak on the base of her neck. Oscura screeched in pain as she felt the sharp beak cut into her skin like it was a giant pair of scissors. She snapped her jaws wildly at the air, trying to bite Buzz's head. But she couldn't reach him.

Buzz lifted her up into their air and opened up his wings. He took up into the air, flying up high past the trees. Oscura glanced down at the ground below, but felt little fear. She had a feeling of what Buzz was going to do and she was going to make sure that, if she was going down, he was going to come down with her. She started to kick wildly in the air, trying to hit her small sickle claw against Buzz's stomach. When that didn't work, she lifted up her hands and slashed forward. One of her hands made contact with Buzz's head and she dug her three claws into him as deeply as she could go. Buzz tried not to scream, but his grip on her was getting weak. This was the opportunity Oscura was waiting for. She quickly wriggled out of his mouth, wrapping her dinosaur arms around his neck, digging her claws into his skin for traction. She then proceeded to kick at his underside and wings with her foot claws, particularly her sickle claws. Several long, though slightly shallow, cuts appeared on Buzz's chest and stomach, and a few small tears appeared o his wing membranes.

Buzz let out a horrible scream of pain. He looked down at Oscura, eyes wide with fear. She was in perfect striking distance to sink her teeth in. He couldn't permit her to bite him. He glanced down at the ground and realized it was his only chance. Not wanting to give Oscura the chance to bite him, he dove towards the ground. The sudden rush of air surprised Oscura and she held on tighter to Buzz so that she wouldn't fall off. Buzz narrowed his eyes, focusing on his target: the mud. He closed his eyes and prepared for impact. At the last second, he pulled up slightly so he wouldn't hit his head against the ground. He then smacked the underside of his body against the mud with as much force as he could. The sudden impact knocked the wind out of him and he immediately opened his mouth to catch his breath. The sudden pain of the impact against his chest nearly caused him to cry out, but he held his tongue. Oscura, on the other hand, let out a screech of pain as she felt the force of Buzz's body hitting her against the ground. Even thought it was mud, it still caused her pain and she released Buzz.

'That's...what...you...get...for...messing...with...the...Buzzinator...' Buzz said, panting heavily as he tried to regain his breath. He immediately got up off of Oscura.

Oscura was laying on her back, her legs and arms hanging almost limply in the air. But her eyes were open, the glowing still there, and she hissed angrily as she glared up at Buzz. 'That..was..just luck.. Don't think you can do it..again..'

'Don't have to. After that, I don't think you'd be stupid enough to try that again.' Buzz said, glaring back at her.

'You don't know me...' Oscura hissed. 'I will kill you for this..' She tried to get up, but she groaned in pain. Her back had taken quite a blow. Her spine wasn't broken, but it was very sore, hurting her if she tried to move. Despite the pain, she managed to get up onto her feet. She stammered on slightly, almost falling back down into the mud.

'If you have the chance to even fight back, that is.' Buzz said, watching Oscura in mild amusement.

'Don't underestimate me, boy!' Oscura hissed. She took a step forward, but a shot of pain from her back nearly caused her to fall back down. Yet she still managed to keep her footing, which slightly surprised Buzz. But he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't going to allow a little bit of pain stop her from trying to attack him. 'I will get you for this..Even if it won't be today..I will make you and your pathetic friends pay for this!' Oscura lifted her head up in the air in an almost proud manner. An evil smirk spread across her face. 'You shall rue the day that you crossed paths with us!'

Buzz narrowed his eyes. 'Bring it on, shrimp!'

Oscura brought up her claws, hissing angrily. 'Say that again in my face if you dare!' She snapped, drool dripping from her jaws.

As Buzz faced off with Oscura, Max was trying to get away from the scene. He had to find some place where he could leave Caruso without worry of him getting hurt. But there was no place around here like that, except for the warehouse where they originally found him. But Max felt uncomfortable going back there and he knew that Caruso would be scared out of his mind if he went anywhere near the warehouse. He had to think of another way. He looked around and saw what looked to be a body of water. He narrowed his eyes. How strange, Max thought to himself. He didn't recall that being there before. He wondered if it was caused by the rain, or if someone in Boston decided to make a small pool in the Boston Common. Yeah, that was probably what it was. Water seems to attract people sometimes, especially during the hot summer months. At least, that's what Max himself had witnessed.

As Max tried to make a break for it in between to closely packed trees, he felt a tremendous force on his side. He let out a roar as he found himself toppling down onto this side. Caruso screamed as he was thrown across the floor, rolling across the mud before he finally stopped, slamming against a tree. He groaned in pain and opened up his eyes. He saw Kista standing over Max, lowering her head towards him, licking her scaly lips. She put a foot on his neck, keeping his head pinned down. Max scrambled with his feet and finally managed to deliver a kick. Kista screeched in pain as she felt the green dinosaur's claws scrape against her leg. She took a step back, but she wasn't completely deterred. Instead of running off, she came back towards Max again, this time, clamping her jaws on his leg. As Max roared in agony and tried to free himself, Kista pulled him back and then threw him a cross the forest floor like a rag doll. She then turned her attention towards the unguarded dark-haired boy.

'You're mine...' Kista said as she charged towards Caruso. The boy screamed in fright and, despite his injury, quickly transformed into a Stegosaurus. He tried to keep a good footing on the ground with just three perfectly good legs. He managed to strike Kista away with a single swipe of his tail. Then he turned and started to run away, heading the direction of the small body of water that Max had spotted earlier. He thought that he might be able to lose her scent once he was in the water. Kista shook her head and watched him as he ran. She growled. 'Don't think running is going to save you from me, kid!' She announced, chasing after him.

Max slowly got up to his feet and shook his massive head. He looked around to see where Kista had gone. He was horrified to see that she was chasing after Caruso, who was fairing rather poorly due to his injured front leg. 'Caruso!' Max called out, starting to run off towards him. Then a flash of brown filled his field of vision, and he found himself knocked back onto the ground. As he looked up to see what had hit him, he found himself staring at a mutantsaur, and from the looks of it, it was a bear. Max got back onto his feet and let out a roar at the bear mutantsaur. But the creature responded with a roar of its own, almost overpowering Max's own roar. Then it reared up onto its hind legs, standing roughly the same height as Max, and then swat him across the ground with a single swipe of its muscular forelimb.

Just as Max was starting to get back onto his feet again, he felt a horrible pain in his back. Something had clamped down onto him and was biting extremely hard. It couldn't be Kista; he could still see her chasing after Caruso. And it wasn't Victor; his jaws weren't strong enough to cause this much pain. Max tried to turn his head over to see what was attacking him, but all he saw was dark-colored skin, a mixture of dark brown and gray. Max felt a weight pushing him into the ground. His knees buckled forward as he became unable to support himself anymore. He let out a roar, a call of help.

Although he was still having great difficulty, Rodger managed to rush towards Max as quickly as he could. The creature on Max's back was a wolverine mutantsaur. This worried Rodger. He was familiar with how tenacious wolverines can be and they have pretty nasty bites. And with a bear mutantsaur nearby, Rodger knew that he had to help Max, otherwise he was a goner. As soon as Rodger got close enough, he seized the mutantsaur's foot with his powerful beak. The mutantsaur screeched in pain, releasing Max. It then turned its attention on the Styracosaurus. Because it was standing on its hind legs, the mutantsaur towered over Rodger. Hissing, it placed its paws above Rodger's head, and then came down quickly. The impact caused Rodger's head to hit into the ground, but also caused Rodger to apply more pressure to the leg. The mutantsaur screamed in pain and tried to jerk its leg free. Using his strong neck, Rodger threw the mutantsaur away, watching it crash into the ground.

Fiona noticed the Caruso was missing and was about to go look for him, but something flashed in her field of vision, so fast that she couldn't figure out what it was at first. Then something suddenly crashed into her, causing her to lose her footing. When she got back up to her feet, she looked to see what had attacked her. A cheetah mutantsaur stood before her, its tail swishing from side to side as it let out a hiss at her. The cheetahsaur was keeping a distance from her, as if it sensed that a Spinosaurus was likely physically stronger than it was. But judging from the way the cheetahsaur was baring its teeth at her, Fiona knew that it still wanted to fight her. But Fiona didn't have time for this. She lifted up her head and could caught Caruso's scent, mixed in with Kista's. Eyes widening in horror and fearing the worst, Fiona took off in that direction. But the cheetahsaur followed her. To her shock, the cheetahsaur was able to keep pace with her, even getting slightly ahead of her. The cheetahsaur eyed her with the corner of its eyes and started to move close to her until it was only about a foot away. Fiona didn't try to attack the mutantsaur; she was more worried about getting to Caruso in time. Besides, how bad could a cheetahsaur be?

Suddenly, the cheetahsaur attacked, snapping its jaws close to her. Fiona immediately moved away, barely dodging the long, sharp canines that extended far behind the lower jaw. The cheetahsaur hissed and tried to attack again. Fiona managed to dodge again, but she was confused. Wouldn't cheetahs normally be afraid of confrontation? Fiona never heard of cheetahs fighting another predator before, unless it was another cheetah. But then she realized that Victor might be behind this. With him driving the mutantsaur's mind, the cheetahsaur would be forced to do things it normally wouldn't do. But even though it was a mutantsaur, it likely still retained the fragile body of a real cheetah. She could even see the creature's ribs. This wasn't a creature built for combat. Fiona decided to make her move.

Fiona lunged towards the mutantsaur, not giving it a chance to react. She clamped her long snout onto the cheetahsaur's back. The cheetahsaur hissed in pain and struggled to get free. It lifted up a paw and struck at Fiona, striking her against the side of her neck. Fiona released her grip on the cheetah mutant to roar in pain. Then the cheetahsaur opened up its jaws and tried to bite her side, but Fiona managed to get out of the way in time. She bit down onto the cheetahsaur again, this time biting into its tail. She pulled the cheetahsaur along the ground, then lifted it into the air and threw it to the side. She watched it briefly as it crashed into the ground, but then turned away and ran back in the direction she was originally headed. She had to get to Caruso in time. She couldn't let Kista get her filthy paws on him!

* * *

Michelle was watching the scene from a safe distance. She couldn't bring herself to attack the Dino Squad. Yet she knew that if Kista, Oscura, or even worse, Victor, saw her hanging back, they would realize that she had betrayed them. She would have to do something to make it look like she was loyal to them. But how would she be able to do that without the Dino Squad themselves getting suspicious of her? She glanced over and saw Kista running at Caruso and was gaining up on him quickly. Her eyes widened as she eyed the bloody leg, which was causing Caruso to limp frequently, making his pace painfully slow. If he didn't quicken his pace, Kista was going to get her claws onto him. How was she going to be able to help without causing suspicion from either side?

Michelle heard a loud screech above her. She craned her head up and saw Buzz, who looked like he was carrying something in his claws. When she narrowed her eyes to get a better look, she saw that it was Oscura. Seconds later, Buzz released his grip on the Troodon. Michelle watched, amused, as Oscura fell into the water below, in front of where Caruso and Kista were running. Water splashed high into the air as Oscura struggled to get her head above the water. She spit out water and shook her head. She looked up towards Buzz and screeched loudly. Michelle recognized that particular screech and chuckled. Oscura was getting frustrated.

Michelle glanced up at Buzz again. He was now looking at her, but wasn't making a move towards her. Michelle narrowed her eyes softly. She didn't know if it would work or not, but if she could try to convince Buzz of some kind of plan, she could keep her cover and assist in helping Caruso. She took a step back and lowered her head slightly, trying to make herself appear submissive to Buzz. She didn't worry about Oscura or Kista seeing her; they weren't looking in this direction. 'Buzz! I have an idea, but I want to make sure you knew first!'

Buzz tilted his head to one side, opening his mouth partly in a dinosaurian smirk. He didn't completely believe her, but she was just one dinosaur. So it wouldn't really hurt to give her a chance. 'Oh really? And what is this plan of yours and why did you want to tell me?'

'To make sure I don't raise suspicions.' Michelle explained. 'If I get found out..well you don't want to know what would happen. Anyway, here is the plan..' Michelle started to explain the plan to Buzz.

* * *

Terri rummaged through one of the cabinets and grabbed a couple Chillers and Spillers. She then tossed them towards her parents and Caruso's parents. Although they didn't know what she was doing, they caught the weapons anyway, eyeing them with curiosity. After a couple seconds, Nevina and Bryant recognized the weapons as the same ones they had seen the Dino Squad use when they had first told Fiona that they had suspected she was a dinosaur. However, Amanda and Jack had no idea what the weapons were. They inspected the weapons in curiosity, wondering what kind of functionality that they would have.

"What are these weapons for?" Jack asked, holding the weapon out towards Bryant.

"They're Chillers and Spillers, at least I think that's what my daughter calls them." Bryant explained. He looked over at Terri. "Isn't that right?"

Terri nodded her head. "Chillers and Spillers. My sister and her friends use them to de-ooze mutantsaurs and returns them to their natural state."

"But..what kind of power do these pack?" Amanda asked, glancing down at the weapon in her hands. "I mean, they couldn't just be used for that.."

"That's all they're used for." Terri said.

"Then what is the point in using them?" Amanda asked. She frowned at the weapon. What is the use bringing it along? They were better of using sticks and rocks rather than something that could only detransform monsters. "What good are they going to be in helping us get to the kids?"

"Yeah, I have to admit..she does have a point." Jack said, nodding towards his wife and then looking back over at Terri and her parents. "How can you guys expect us to use these..useless weapons as a way of fighting Victor and his minions? So we give them a little chill...What good will that do us?"

"Plenty if you know a thing or two about reptiles." Terri explained, lifting up her pointer finger as she explained the situation to Jack and Amanda. "Reptiles are cold-blooded, and so are dinosaurs. Their body temperatures will drop if introduced to cold, and if they get too cold, they will fall asleep and go dormant. Even longer will result in death." Terri lifted up her own Chiller and continued, "If we shoot Victor with one of these long enough, he will go dormant himself. Even he is vulnerable to the Chiller's effects. No cold-blooded reptile can withstand the cold for very long."

"But what about his human form?" Jack asked.

"And aren't most of his minions humans anyway?" Amanda chimed in.

"True. Very true." Terri nodded her head. She had thought of this before, and she figured out a way that it could still work. "But even humans are vulnerable to the Chiller's power. Provided, we won't go dormant like the dinosaurs, but the cold can slow us down. Shoot Victor's men, or Victor himself, in human form, and the cold will cause them to slow down, making them easier targets, although the effects won't last very long."

"And what are we going to do?" Amanda asked. "I mean, if we do slow them down...what are we going to do? Whack them in the head with these weapons?"

"You could do that." Terri said. "Or you could just punch them."

"And what good are the Spillers? What do they do? Spit up something on their skin or what?" Amanda glanced at the Spiller. The name suggested that the weapon was designed to shoot something, perhaps coat its target in some kind of sticky or slippery material.

"Well..no.." Terri then picked up a Spiller. "I know what its name sounds like, but it's not really something that spews out anything. It's a vacuum cleaner of sorts..sucking up primordial ooze for safe storage. At least, that's what Fiona said to me. That's what Moynihan told her."

"And what good will that do us?" Jack asked. "How will it be of any help?"

Terri narrowed her eyes slightly, holding onto both a Chiller and a Spiller. "They will help us defend ourselves against any mutantsaurs that Victor might have at Raptor Dyne, that's what."

* * *

Caruso yelped in pain when he accidentally put pressure on his injured leg. He stopped where he was, almost forgetting about Kista, who was fast closing in on him. He lifted up his leg carefully and inspected it, trying to see if he had done more damage. Before he could start running again, he felt something slam against his side. Then a horrible pain enveloped his neck as he felt something clamp around it. He felt something hot and wet start to drip down his neck, but his mind wasn't focused on that. He was still flying across the air, something still grabbing onto him with tremendous force and he couldn't shake himself free. He didn't need to look to know that it was Kista who was grabbing onto him. He could feel her hot breath against his neck as well as hear it.

When Caruso finally hit land, he got onto his feet. Although having only three good legs, he managed to regain his balance relatively quickly. He glared up at Kista and bellowed, striking her with his tail. But Kista refused to leg go, despite the obvious pain she was in. She clamped down harder onto his neck, threatening to snap it in half. Caruso pulled back, trying to shake free of the hybrid's grasp. Kista responded by pulling back on him. Kista didn't realize that she was heading straight for the water. She took another step, and felt herself nearly loose her grip. She found herself sliding backwards into cold water. Caruso was dragged in with her and nearly knocked her over as he fell in. The two dinosaurs shuddered, almost immediately feeling their core body temps dropping swiftly. Kista decided to use the cold water to her advantage. Using as much strength as she could muster, she shoved Caruso's head below the water, hitting it against the muddy bottom.

Caruso's eyes widened in horror as he tried to get up. He kicked his feet against the muddy bottom, but he couldn't get any traction. He ended up constantly slipping his feet along the muddy bottom. He jerked his head left and right, trying to get his head above water to get a breath of fresh air. He felt his lungs start to burn as they were slowly deprived of oxygen. He tried his best not to breathe in because he knew he would only make things worse if he did that, although instinct would soon overpower him, which would force him to take a breath. Caruso looked up at Kista. He knew that she was going to need to breathe as well. How long would she be able to stand being underneath the water? Caruso's struggles started to weaken a little due to the cold water. Kista's grip had also slightly loosened, likely due to the cold water effecting her. But that didn't matter to Caruso; his weakened body still couldn't shake off Kista.

Michelle and Buzz watched the scene in horror. They realized they had only a few minutes to make this plan work, or Caruso was going to die. Thinking fast, Michelle started to screech up at Buzz to make it look like she was trying to initiate a fight so Kista wouldn't get suspicious. Buzz, realizing the plan had begun, screeched back at her. Michelle rushed towards the water, Buzz staying directly above her. The idea was to make it look like Michelle was being chased by Buzz and not paying much attention to her surroundings. Buzz didn't know why he agreed to do this. But Michelle did help them escape Victor, so perhaps she would actually be helping this time as well. Once Michelle had reached the water, she tried to act like she had fallen in. She was able to swim and kept her head above the water. On cue, Buzz dove down towards her in a mock attack. He snapped the air directly above her and flew back into the air.

Michelle glanced over at Kista. She knew Kista probably couldn't see her, with her head being underwater and Caruso's body being in the way. She started to swim towards Kista until she was directly beside the only portion that was still above water: her back and tail. Michelle looked up at Buzz and screeched again, then she dove underneath the water. Kista noticed her this time, her glowing eyes turning to face her. Michelle looked at her, her expression hardening slightly, trying to act like Kista was doing something wrong. But it was all a ploy to make sure she didn't see Buzz flying above her. Buzz had a brighter color and thus might be easier for Kista to spot, even if it was just a blur. 'Why are you staring at me like that?'

'Why are you down here? Can't you see I'm busy?' Kista asked, tightening her grip on Caruso.

Michelle glanced over at Caruso. His eyes were now closed in pain and he had given up trying to struggle. 'Yes I can see that. What are you trying to do? Drown him?'

'Yes. Why?' Kista asked. 'Do you have a problem with that?'

Michelle wanted to say yes, but she stifled herself. 'Well no..but wouldn't you drown too? I mean, you're underwater just like he is...'

'I can lift my head above the water at any moment!' Kista snapped.

'And then Caruso would get away.' Michelle added, smirking slightly. 'Anyway, if you must know, one of the Dino Squad kids chased me into here.'

'Well you better get out soon. Your body temperature is dropping dangerously low.' Kista said. She pointed her tail in the direction of the shore. 'Go there and warm yourself up. Victor won't be pleased that you let yourself fall for such an obvious trap.'

Michelle chuckled lightly. If only Kista knew of the trap that she had landed herself in, Michelle thought as she turned in the direction and started to swim for the shore. She glanced back at Kista only briefly before heading off again. 'All right then, Kista. I'll meet you back on the shore!'

'Whatever..' Kista muttered, rolling her eyes. Suddenly she saw something flash in front of her eyes. She could have sworn it was green, but she was not able to make out any other details. She thought it was nothing at first, but she was proven wrong a split second later. Something sharp sliced across her back in a single stroke. She released Caruso immediately and lifted her head in the air, letting out a huge roar of pain before turning her attention on her attacker. Buzz squawked at her several times, hovering just out of sight. Kista bared her teeth in frustration and she snapped her jaws in the air, trying to get rid of the pesky Pteranodon.

Suddenly free from Kista's grasp, Caruso's eyes snapped open and he suddenly found the strength to drag himself out of the water. His lungs were still burning, and he was still trying to resist taking in a breath. He looked up at the shore and went for the lowest point of entry. He managed to lift his head out of the water and he took in a deep, sharp breath. But he still felt too weak to drag himself completely out of the water. He collapsed onto the shore, his head dangerously close to the water. He looked over at Buzz and managed a weak chuckle. 'Thank you, Buzz...' Caruso said before he closed his eyes.

* * *

Fiona picked up the cheetahsaur, which she had just defeated, and tossed it aside. The creature hit its head against a tree trunk and slumped to the ground, unmoving. It was still breathing, but it was completely unconscious. Fiona glared at it before turning her attention back to where she had seen Kista chase Caruso. Her eyes widened as she saw Caruso, just barely, laying on the ground near the water. 'CARUSO!' She called out and raced towards him. Within about a minute, she reached him. Caruso was still mostly submerged in the water, his head still very close to the water. Fiona nudged Caruso gently on the head, but he remained unresponsive. Thinking fast, Fiona grabbed Caruso's plates with her hands and started to drag him out of the water. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Buzz battling Kista, keeping the white dinosaur's attention while she got Caruso to safety.

Once she got Caruso onto dry land, she tried to nudge him again, gently knocking his head up and down to try to awaken him. But, although he was breathing, Caruso still wouldn't wake up. Fiona started to call out to him again. 'CARUSO! WAKE UP! PLEASE!' With no response still, Fiona placed her long head on Caruso's body, trying to hear a heart beat. She could feel her own heart racing as she did this, wondering if she was going to relive what happened at the warehouse all over again. But luckily, although it was faint due to Caruso's thick body, she could hear a faint heart beat. She lifted up her head again and continued to look at Caruso, wondering why he wasn't getting up. She looked back over at the water and quickly realized what it was.

Fiona had felt the water when she had grabbed Caruso to drag him out. It was icy cold and it nearly made her shudder. Caruso looked like he had been in the water for an extended period of time. If this was true, then Caruso was simply dormant because his body temp had dropped really low. While this relieved her, making her realize that Caruso was fine, it also worried her. Caruso was now a much easier target than before and if Victor, Kista, or Oscura realized he was out cold, they would surely target him excessively until they had successfully killed him. Not able to think of anything else, Fiona did the same thing that she and the others did when Rodger had been knocked out: she breathed hot breath onto Caruso in an attempt to warm him up enough for him to open his eyes.

After a couple minutes of breathing on the Stegosaurus, Caruso's eyes slowly fluttered open. He looked up at Fiona, who was glancing at him with a big dinosaur grin on her face. Caruso attempted to smile back, but was too tired to even try. He lifted his head up weakly, but quickly lowered it back to the ground. He was tired, oh so very tired. He could barely register in his mind what was going on around him. He got so tired that he couldn't recognize Fiona, and quickly mistook her for someone else. 'Can't this wait until tomorrow, mother..? I'm so tired...' He slowly closed his eyes again.

But Fiona wasn't going to allow him to fall back asleep, not after what had happened. She immediately seized him and started to shake him rapidly. 'Don't you dare fall back asleep, Irwin Caruso! Do you hear me?! Wake up!'

Caruso groaned in frustration. 'What's the matter, mom..? I told you I'll wake up in a few minutes..' His voice, even though it was mental due to his dinosaur form, was slightly slurred and it seemed to take a bit of an extra effort for him to talk.

Fiona gently bumped his head with her long muzzle. 'Caruso! It's me, Fiona!'

'F-Fiona..? When did you get in my room...?' Caruso asked, sounding very confused.

'Caruso! We're in the Boston Common! And if you don't get up now, Victor is going to kill you!' Fiona shouted at him in desperation, hoping she would get through to him.

Upon hearing Victor's name, Caruso's eyes snapped open wide and he suddenly remembered where he was. He struggled to get onto his feet, putting his weight down even on the leg that was injured in a desperate attempt to get himself moving again. He looked over at Fiona. 'Where..where is Victor? Is he coming?'

Fiona looked up. 'I..I don't know. I don't see him.'

'But I thought you said he was going to attack..' Caruso started to say.

Fiona looked back at him. 'And he would have if he saw you laying on the ground like that.' She lowered her head and gently nudged him, trying to get him to move. 'Come on, let's get away from the water. It's too dangerous. I...' Suddenly Fiona let out a horrible screech and backed away.

Caruso's eyes widened. 'Fiona! What's wrong? Fiona!'

Fiona twisted her body around, frantically trying to knock it off of her body. Caruso quickly saw that it was Moynihan. Fiona couldn't see who it was and was shaking her body violently from side to side, trying to knock off her attacker. Moynihan was clinging onto her side, digging her claws in deep so she wouldn't be knocked off so easily. Thinking fast, Caruso ran forward and aimed for the nearest target: Moynihan's tail. He bit down hard, causing the raptor to scream in pain. He managed to yank Joanne off of Fiona and then tossed her away. While Moynihan skidded across the ground, landing very close to the water, Caruso turned his attention onto Fiona.

'Are you okay, Fiona?' Caruso asked, his voice filled with worry.

'Y-Yes..I'm fine. Thank you..' Fiona stammered briefly, but quickly regained her footing. She looked over at Moynihan, who was back onto her feet, hissing at them. Now was a good time than anything to try to put her plan into motion. She looked over at Caruso. 'So..are you ready, Caruso? Or should I just do this alone?'

'Do what?' Caruso asked.

'To bring back Moynihan of course.' Replied Fiona. 'Like what I had talked about earlier, with Rodger and you.'

Caruso's eyes widened when he realized what Fiona was implying. 'No! You can't! It's too dangerous!'

Fiona took a step towards Moynihan and opened her jaws, roaring at her. 'We don't have any other choice, Caruso! If we don't bring her back..'

'But what if she really hurts you?' Caruso asked. He eyed the bloody gashes on Fiona's side and flinched. 'She already did damage...'

'I'll be fine, Caruso. But if you're so worried, why don't you help me?' Fiona asked, keeping her eye contact on Moynihan. Hissing hideously, Moynihan leaped in the air, mouth agape. She snapped her jaws shut close to Fiona. The Spinosaurus screeched at her and quickly struck her down with her long tail.

Caruso run forward towards where Moynihan hit the ground. He immediately grabbed her leg by his jaws and dragged her backwards. He then lifted her up into the air and flung her to the side. Moynihan rolled across the floor and this time stayed down, her eyes closed. Caruso tilted his head, looking confused. He glanced up at Fiona, hoping that she would have some kind of answer. But Fiona just glanced back at him, looking as confused as he was. The two cautiously approached the prone raptor, taking very careful steps towards her. Fiona lowered her body and Caruso lowered his head slightly. Moynihan remained still, but they could tell she was breathing. Her eyes were closed softly and her mouth partway open, tongue hanging out. A couple more steps and there was still no movement. They began to wonder if Moynihan had been knocked out.

When Fiona stepped in front of Caruso, getting within about a foot or two from Moynihan, something happened without warning. Moynihan's eyes snapped open, an intense red glow shining from the eyes. She turned her head up towards Fiona, her eyes locking onto the most vulnerable, nearest target: Fiona's neck. About a second later, Moynihan leaped into the air. It all happened so fast that Fiona had no time to react. She found herself being pushed into the forest floor, a pair of jaws clamped tightly around her throat. Fiona opened her jaws and let out a screech of pain. She tried to get back up, but felt Moynihan push one of her feet firmly on her body, pinning her down. Moynihan clamped down harder on her neck, tasting Fiona's blood in her mouth.

'FIONA!' Caruso immediately rushed towards Fiona to try to help her. But Fiona screeched at him, causing him to stop in his tracks, looking at her in confusion. Why would she stop him like that? Didn't she want the help? 'Fiona..what are you doing..? Why are you stopping me?'

'Trust me, Caruso...I know what I'm doing..' Fiona told him.

Caruso slowly nodded his head. He could hear a tinge of fear in Fiona's voice. He could tell that she was scared. But she was still brave enough to resist asking for him. 'Fiona...I hope you are telling the truth...' He eyed Moynihan nervously and took a step back.

Fiona turned her attention to Moynihan. She could barely see her out of the corner of her eyes, but she didn't need to see Moynihan to know that she was there. She could feel her holding her down, could feel the raptor's teeth sink into her neck. Fiona opened her mouth again, this time to take in a deeper breath. She was suddenly having a more difficult time breathing. But she refused to call for help. She had to get this done and over with. It was her only chance. 'Moynihan...Moynihan please..if you can hear me..stop!' She called out to her, her voice laced with a desperate tone. Moynihan didn't stop and instead let out a hiss in response. Fiona's eyes widened slightly. 'Moynihan! Don't do this! Please..don't kill me...' She tried again. But she wasn't getting through to Moynihan. Fiona felt her heart race. Could she have made a mistake?

Caruso sensed that Fiona needed help and decided to giver her some support. He took a step towards Moynihan. The raptor noticed him and hissed, but kept her grip on Fiona. 'Moynihan, listen to her. Listen to me.. Don't do this. This isn't who you are. This isn't what you are... Please stop this..' He begged her.

Fiona glanced up at Moynihan and tried again. 'You're our mentor..our teacher.. You're like a parent to us. Moynihan, please..don't let Victor control you anymore.' Fiona thought that they were getting through to Moynihan. The green raptor's expression softened up, slightly but it was still noticeable. But the raptor continued to bite hard on her neck. 'I know you're stronger than this Moynihan. Please..'

'Don't kill her..please..' Caruso begged Moynihan, trying to hide his tears. 'Don't give into Victor's whim. Don't let him make you do this. I know you, Ms. Moynihan. This isn't what you would want to do.. So please..just stop..' He closed his eyes and lowered his head. 'We..we love you...' Moynihan's expression softened even more and her gasp on Fiona loosened just slightly. But she still wasn't budging and continued to emit horrible hisses from deep within her throat. Caruso lowered his head in defeat. 'It's..it's no use, Fiona.. She's not going to respond...'

Fiona's eyes widened as Caruso said that. She looked at Moynihan. She thought that, when Moynihan was slowly loosening her grip on her, she would be free and Moynihan would be back to normal. But Moynihan still continued to bite her and she hadn't even attempted to change back. And to her horror, Moynihan's eyes were still a bloodshot red. She started to whimper slightly. What had she gotten herself into? Rodger was right and she should have listened to him. Feeling her hope of getting Moynihan slip through her claws, Fiona started to struggle. 'Caruso..help me! Caruso!' Moynihan suddenly tightened her grip on her and Fiona let out a scream of pain.

'NO!' Caruso rushed forward. He quickly turned to his side and lifted his massive tail, spikes poised to strike. He struck forward, smacking Moynihan hard on her side. The green raptor screeched as the spikes drove into her side, blood spewing from the wounds, and she slammed into the ground a couple feet away. Caruso immediately turned his attention to Fiona, putting his snout gently against her head. 'Fiona? Are you all right? Can you stand up?' He asked her in a concerned tone of voice.

Fiona groaned, baring her teeth slightly in pain. She started to push herself up by her long arms. But she immediately fell back down again, screeching as she did so. Caruso's eyes widened and he shook his head in denial. Fiona looked up at him. 'I..I don't think I can. I think Moynihan did more damage to me than I thought..'

'No...You're going to be okay..' Caruso said, shaking his head. He immediately put his head against hers again, careful not to hit the part that Moynihan had bitten.

Moynihan watched the scene with great interest. Her raptor mind hadn't seen anything like this before. A Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus, two dinosaurs that should be enemies, actually making nice to each other, and could even be in...love? Moynihan couldn't comprehend the concept of love and she couldn't begin to understand why a predator and its prey would show each other affection instead of trying to kill each other out of the name of survival. She took a few steps towards the two, raising her claws to show her intent on trying to kill them both. She could tell the Spinosaurus was weakened. If she had only hung onto her longer, she would have succeeded in killing her. She would target the Spinosaurus first and then go for the Stegosaurus. What big prizes, and they would last her for a long time. She wouldn't go hungry for weeks.

She tried to take another step towards them, but something was stopping her. Something was conflicted with her original thoughts and her original driving force. Part of her mind was urging her to attack, further assisted by some unknown force, the same one that drove her to attack them to begin with. But now a new feeling started to overwhelm her mind. She couldn't recognize what this feeling was, but it was driving her crazy. She took a step back and let out a couple screeches at the air, looking very confused. Her eyes widened slightly as the emotion grew stronger inside of her. She looked at the Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus. If she didn't know any better, she would have believed she had seen these two before, and that these two were of some great significance to her. But what could that be?

Taking another step back, Moynihan shook her head. Her eyes were still glowing red, but the color had faded. It was faint, but it still dimmed a bit. She let out a couple more screeches to no one in particular. She tried to get herself to attack the Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus, but something inside of her was telling her not to. Some part of her didn't want to hurt these two dinosaurs. But why was that? Food was food wasn't it? Why would she stop herself from trying get two potential meals right in front of her? And yet the feelings persisted. Moynihan finally grabbed her head with her two hands, digging her claws deep into her skin, letting blood trickle from it. Why was she feeling like this? Why?

'I..I think she's weakening..' Said Fiona. She lifted up her head weakly and stared out over at Moynihan.

Caruso stood protectively in front of her, holding up his tail in case he needed to attack. 'I won't let her come near you..' He said in a low voice, narrowing his eyes.

'W-Wait, Caruso.. I don't think she's going to attack..' Fiona said.

'I'm not taking chances.' Caruso said sternly, standing firmly on the ground.

'Caruso..' Fiona said softly. But Caruso didn't respond, keeping his attention on Moynihan. Fiona sighed and laid her head back on the ground. She started to feel a little better. Being a dinosaur, she did heal relatively quicker in dino mode than in human form. But she still wasn't well enough to fight. She glanced over at Moynihan, who continued to show signs of confusion and self doubt. Fiona closed her eyes. 'Come on, Moynihan.. you can do it...'

Moynihan shook her head again, struggling to take a step forward, but fighting with herself. She felt another emotion well up inside of her. She bared her teeth and snapped wildly at the air, almost as if she were attacking some strange, invisible being. She had removed the hands from her head, letting them tremble against her body. Her legs were wobbly, shaking so much that she was finding it increasingly difficult to stand. A few seconds later, she fell forward, but quickly caught herself using one of her legs. She glanced back at the Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus. There was still something about them that seemed all too familiar. The predator opened her jaws, but no sound came out. She clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes. What was it about these two that was stopping her? What was it about their scent, their sight, everything about them, that was preventing her from having them for a meal? She clenched her head again, hearing a voice inside of her, telling her to kill them. As she hesitated, the voice persisted. It wouldn't go away, told her it wouldn't until she obeyed its every word.

Yet another side of her kept her standing back. Another voice, so different from the other, was telling her she should stop, that this isn't the way things were supposed to be. Moynihan couldn't help but be confused. As with any natural animal, anything that deviated from what she knew by instinct or from what her parents taught her seemed strange and foreign to her, something almost incomprehensible. It was trying to tug at her memories, ones that she had long since forgotten. Moynihan's mind was suddenly clouded by multiple images of things she wasn't able to comprehend, to recognize. Her eyes widened in fright and she took a step back, gazing up towards the sky as if she were seeing something. Her body trembled, frightened by the images that were clouding her mind. Then suddenly, something happened.

Moynihan's eyes shifted slowly to orange. Then a few seconds later, the orange eyes changed into their normal yellow color. Moynihan's expression softened up, and she looked at Caruso and Fiona, suddenly recognizing who they were.

'Moynihan...?' Fiona asked hopefully, lifting her head slightly off the ground.

'Is it you, Moynihan?' Caruso asked cautiously, waiting to see what would happen.

'...Fiona...?' Moynihan said at long last. She stared at Fiona for a few seconds and then locked her eyes onto the Stegosaurus. '...Caruso...?' She shook her head slowly, eyes closed with her muzzle pointed towards the ground. 'What's happened..to me..? I've got this pounding headache...' She looked at Fiona again and noticed something odd about her neck. She frowned slightly and nearly gasped when she realized that Fiona was bleeding from her neck. She quickly looked over at Caruso and saw that he, too, was bleeding, his injury being on one of his front legs. She then tasted something in her mouth and felt something running in her claws. She didn't need to look to know what it was. It was blood. Shaking in fright, Moynihan's eyes widened in horror. 'No...'

Fiona struggled to get up, but fell back down again. She groaned in frustration. Caruso looked at her worriedly, concerned that she wasn't able to get back up. Fiona looked over at Moynihan, who was staring at her, horror struck. Fiona's expression softened and she changed back into human form. She pushed herself off the ground with her arms as far as she could go. "Moynihan..." She whispered softly.

Next to her, Caruso also changed back into human form. He held his injured arm close to his chest. He knelt down next to Fiona and placed his uninjured arm around her shoulder carefully. "F-Fiona..a-are you okay..?" He asked her. Fiona looked up at him and nodded, smiling slightly at him. Caruso returned the faint smile and glanced over at Moynihan.

Joanne couldn't believe what she had just done, and what she almost did. She looked at her blood stained claws, trembling terribly. She slowly shook her head in denial. How could this have happened? How could she have let her animal side gain control of her? She took a step back, wanting to run away from that place. She didn't think she could face the Dino Squad, not after what she had done. She lowered her head, realizing she had become exactly what Victor wanted her to be: a full-fledged dinosaur. She looked back at Fiona and Caruso. She saw how worried Caruso was for Fiona, who looked like she was in bad shape. Moynihan changed, slowly, back into her human form. She stood there, a few feet away, trembling as she watched the kids. Her face was horror stricken, eyes completely wide. Finally, she raced towards them. "Fiona! Caruso!" She called out to them. When she reached them, she knelt down by them. "Oh my..I'm so sorry, you two..I'm so sorry..I-I couldn't control myself..." She could feel tears starting to from in her eyes.

Fiona held herself up with just one arm while she used the other to wrap around Moynihan and hug her the best that she could. "It's..it's okay, Ms. Moynihan...It's okay..."

"No...it's not okay.. I..I almost killed you..." Moynihan whispered. She let a few tears stream down her face as she stared at Fiona. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around the girl and held her close, crying softly. "What have I done...? Oh, what have I done...?" She whispered softly, her voice strained and shaky.

Fiona remained stunned for a couple seconds. She then hugged Moynihan back, though her grip was slightly weaker. "Don't blame yourself for this, Ms. Moynihan. It was Victor who made you do this..."

"Y-Yeah.." Caruso moved closer to Moynihan and put his arms around both her and Fiona, keeping his head lifted up in the air. "I-If anyone is to b-blame..it's him..."

But Moynihan continued to blame herself for what had happened. Despite what Fiona and Caruso were telling her, she knew, deep down, it was still her fault. She should have been able to stop herself. She should have been able to keep Victor from taking control of her. But instead she was weak, unable to keep her dinosaur side under control. And she had become the very animal Victor wanted her to be. How could she forgive herself for that? "My fault...all my fault.." Fiona and Caruso just looked at her sympathetically and continued to hug her, hoping she'd settle down soon.

* * *

Victor arrived on the scene. He was hoping to see Moynihan driving her teeth into the children. He was no longer sending her messages through his mind. He figured that he had sent enough to force Moynihan to do his bidding. He smirked to himself as the thought of being rid of two of the children brought him hope. After these children were all disposed of, he would have no more opposition and his progress to transforming the planet would go much faster. And with the children's dinosaur DNA, he saw only a year or more of living like a human before his primordial ooze would be perfected. And once it was perfected, he would spread it across the planet, transforming everything, including the humans if any of them were able to come in contact with it. And for the humans that didn't survive, Victor was certain the dinosaurs would be able to take care of them. Then the planet would belong to the dinosaurs once again!

When Victor looked to see what damage Moynihan was causing, he was shocked to see something completely different. Moynihan had some how regained her human mind. She was in her human form, on her knees, hugging the two teenagers. Victor didn't know how it was possible, but it had happened. Moynihan had found a way to break free of his mind control and transformed back. He stood there, staring at this scene for several seconds. Unable to accept defeat, not after getting this close to winning, Victor's eyes glowed yellow. He bared his long, sharp teeth, mouth slightly open. He lifted up his claws slightly, flexing his arm muscles. He pulled his head back in a curved shape, his lips curling upward. He was not going to allow the children to get away this time. He was not going let himself lose, not after how close he came! He charged forward, mouth agape.

HHHRRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSS!

The three were startled by the horrible hiss and looked over to see who it was. Victor was charging straight at them, his mouth split open wide. Moynihan, Fiona, and Caruso looked on in shock as Victor leaped into the air, bringing his foot claws forward to strike them. But before he could make contact with them, something snatched him in the air. Shaking his head from side to side in fury, Victor's eyes looked up to see Buzz, who had grabbed him by his shoulders, digging his talons into his scaly skin. Victor hissed angrily and snapped at Buzz's feet. Narrowing his eyes, Buzz responded by gripping the raptor tighter and then throwing him into the ground as hard as he could. He let out a screech and dove after him while he was still on the ground. His long, sharp beak was poised to strike Victor along his side. But at the last second, Victor reached forward and grabbed Buzz by the neck, pulling him down.

'You're not going to mess up my plans, you stupid bird!' Victor hissed as he clamped his jaws on Buzz's shoulder. The Pteranodon let out a screech of pain and struggled to get free, but Victor would not let go.

Moynihan, Caruso, and Fiona released each other and immediately got to their feet, although Fiona's footing was still a little shaky. They watched in horror as Buzz's shoulder was ripped open by the Velociraptor's sharp teeth. Narrowing her eyes, not wanting the students to pay for what she believed to be her fault, Moynihan rushed forward, eyes glowing. For a brief moment, she changed back into her Velociraptor form and sank her teeth into Victor's leg. The red raptor howled in pain, releasing Buzz. When she saw the Pteranodon had gotten away, Moynihan clamped as hard as she could on the leg without breaking the bone and dragged Victor backwards. She mustered up as much strength as she could and threw Victor to the side, letting his body slam hard against a tree trunk.

Moynihan looked back at the children and changed back into human form. "Run, kids! Get out of here!"

"We can't just leave you.." Fiona said, taking a step forward. "We want to help you.."

"No!" Moynihan called out to her. She looked at Fiona's neck. The bleeding had slowed down, but she could still see fresh blood dripping from the wounds she knew that she had caused herself. "You're hurt, Fiona! I'm not going to..."

"We're all hurt but we're still fighting!" Fiona yelled back. "And do you know why? Because it's the right thing to do! Even if you don't want me to, I am going to help you!" She transformed into a Spinosaurus and rushed towards Moynihan.

Caruso nodded his head slowly. "S-Same here.." He changed back into a Stegosaurus and ran forward. Although his leg still hurt him, he was now able to withstand the pain well enough to put his weight on the injured leg.

Moynihan stood there, speechless. She wasn't sure what to say. It touched her that her students were still willing to fight for her, despite what she did and despite the danger they were already in. Even though both Caruso and Fiona were injured, they were still willing to fight. They didn't want her to fight Victor all by herself. "Children..." She whispered softly. Then she heard something behind her. She turned around, but it was too late. She suddenly found herself pushed being knocked down.

Victor stood over her, still in raptor mode. He lowered his head, putting his snout close to her face. 'You're such a fool! You should have listened to me! You should have listened to me years ago!' He opened his jaws slowly, drool dripping from his jaws. 'If you had stayed with me, if you had continued to help me bring back the rightful heir to the planet, the dinosaurs, maybe you would still have a chance to survive!' With that, he raised his hand, claws poised to strike her.

'No!' Fiona ran as fast she could. When Victor was within striking distance, she clamped her jaws around his body tightly and pulled him into the air. She tried to toss him away, but Victor managed to land a blow with his hands on her face. Three long gashes appeared on the side of her muzzle and she screeched in pain, releasing Victor.

'I can see Joanne's foolishness has spread to you, too.' Victor said coldly, shaking his head. 'Humans are such foolish creatures. I guess it's like an infestation...' With that, he suddenly let out a roar and jumped into the air, aiming his jaws straight for Fiona's neck, smelling the blood trickling down her neck.

'Leave her alone' Caruso dashed towards Victor, forgetting about his fears of the red Velociraptor. He intercepted Victor, placed himself between Fiona and the raging raptor. Caruso cried out in pain as Victor clamped down onto his neck and knocked him into the ground. He started to struggle to get up, but it was short-lived. Victor was suddenly yanked from him and lifted high into the air. Caruso watched as Fiona threw Victor away, slamming him into the ground. Caruso got back onto his feet. He wondered how much more of a beating Victor could take before he would finally call it quits. But not surprisingly, Victor was back in an attack posture, hissing at them angrily. 'You're outnumbered here!' He stood by Fiona. 'Why don't you give up?'

Victor chortled. 'Give up? Give up?!' He let out a series of horrible sounds that Moynihan was able to interpret as dark laughter. 'It is you who must give up! And it is you who is outnumbered! Take a look over there.' He pointed a claw in one direction. The trio looked over to see what Victor was talking about and their eyes widened.

Coming their way were Kista and Oscura. They were moving a little slower due to the cold water that they were both in. But they were recovering fast, quicker than Caruso had. They stood next to Victor, ready to attack. Caruso frowned slightly. Victor had said that they were outnumbered, but he only saw two dinosaurs ready to fight with Victor. That would make three total and thus they were evenly matched in numbers. But then he looked over and noticed there was someone else approaching. Or in this case, something else. The cheetahsaur that Fiona had been fighting earlier arrived onto the scene. It stood next to the dinosaurs. Despite it being a cheetah, it was driven by Victor to be ready for an attack. It hissed at Moynihan, Caruso, and Fiona.

As if things couldn't get back enough, the ground shook as the final contender approached the battle scene. Fiona had to crane her head up to see the face of the final opponent. She had a hard time believing it. How could he have recovered so quickly? With that broken arm, he should have been out of commission for a much longer time. Even with his dinosaur side speeding up the healing process, he still shouldn't be in any condition to fight. And yet here was Peter, in his Apatosaurus form, storming towards them. He swing his tail from side to side, knocking down a couple trees as he did so. It didn't take long for the trio to notice he was limping, holding his broken leg off the ground. Yet unlike before, he was able to support and move around on just three legs. Regardless of how he was able to do it, it was still bad news for the team. They could barely manage him before. How will they succeed now?

Caruso looked up at the Apatosaurus in fear. 'Who is that?'

'That's the dinosaur that was going to destroy the lighthouse!' Fiona told him, not taking her eyes off the gray-skinned beast. 'He nearly defeated us, but we managed to win. He's the one who first gave us some kind of hint as to what Victor had done with you.'

Peter narrowed his eyes and lowered his long neck, placing his small head close to Fiona's face. 'I only gave you pipsqueaks information because your friend tricked me!' He then lifted his head up and looked around. 'Where is he..?' He asked darkly. Fiona narrowed her eyes, keeping herself quiet. 'Where is he?!' He asked again, this time in a louder voice.

'I am not telling you!' Fiona said defiantly.

'Tell me, or I'll...!' Peter took a step forward, baring his teeth.

'Peter!' Kista said, her eyes slightly wide in shock. 'What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in dino mode with that kind of injury.' She eyed the foot that was still lifted off the ground. 'Why don't you go and relax? Let us take care of business.'

Peter shook his head stubbornly. 'No. I am not going to allow these brats to get away again. I will have my revenge!'

'And your revenge will get yourself killed...' Oscura muttered, shaking her head as she stared up at the Apatosaurus. What an idiot, she thought to herself. But it wasn't her concern. Right now, her main focus was to help Victor kill Caruso and Fiona. But what about the old woman? What did Victor want with her? 'Sir? What about Moynihan? Do you want us to kill her too?'

Victor glanced at Moynihan. She hadn't changed back to raptor form, but Victor guessed that it would only be a matter of time before she would transform to defend herself. Right now, she was just glaring at him hatefully. Words echoed back to Victor's mind, something that Moynihan had stated the last time he had her in his custody. She had told him that she never wanted to see his scaly face again. He chuckled. Moynihan should have known better. She should know that she would not have been able to hide from him forever. Now here they were, standing face-to-face, prepared to engage in the final showdown. His mind control chemical had lost its hold on her, but no matter. He could always whip up a stronger batch.

Victor then turned his attention to Oscura. 'Let her live. She is still of some use to me...'

* * *

'Max!' Rodger called out. He charged forward, driving his nose horn into the side of the wolverine mutantsaur. It screeched in pain, but then turned its attention on him. It struck Rodger across the face, nearly blinding him. Rodger bellowed in pain and tossed the wolverinesaur away.

Suddenly the bear mutantsaur attacked him from behind. Rodger was lifted off the ground and tossed across the floor like a rag doll from a single blow of the creature's paw. He crashed into a nearby tree. It suddenly snapped in two, and Rodger bellowed again as he found himself trapped under the thick tree. He struggled to get up and watched in horror as the bearsaur started to make its way towards him, mouth open wide for the attack. Just then, a loud screech caught the bearsaur's attention and it looked up to see a green flying creature coming straight at it.

'Leave him alone!' Buzz brought out his talons in front of him and struck the bearsaur across the head, knocking it to the ground. He circled around and dove at the bearsaur again, this time landing a blow across its shoulders, leaving several cuts across the skin. Buzz then turned his attention to Rodger and landed nearby. 'Rodger! Are you okay?!'

Rodger struggled to get up, but the weight of the tree kept him pinned down. 'Do I look like I'm okay?!' He snapped at Buzz.

Neil flinched and took a step back. 'I'm sorry, dude.. I'm just worried about you.'

Rodger closed his eyes tightly, clenching his beak. 'If you're so worried about me, help me get this tree off of me!'

'I'm on it!' Buzz took to the air and landed behind Rodger. He looked at the tree, slightly impressed with how big it was. He placed his wings against the tree and started to lift up as best as he could. Rodger helped him, pushing his back as far up as he could go. But even with their combined strength, the tree was not budging an inch. Buzz realized they were going to need Max's help. He turned his attention towards Max, who was busy trying to keep the mutantsaurs at bay. 'Max! We could really use your help right now!'

'Can't it wait?' Max struck down the wolverine mutantsaur with his tail. 'I am kind of busy right now!'

'But it's Rodger! He needs help! He's stuck!' Buzz called out to him.

'Rodger?' Max took a moment to look over to see what Buzz was talking about. Max was shocked to see his best friend pinned under a tree. And judging from Rodger's expression, he was having trouble breathing too. 'Rodger!' Max turned his attention to the mutantsaurs and roared at them. There was no way he could help Rodger with these two mutantsaurs in his way. He would have to disable them as quickly as he could. The wolverine mutantsaur leaped into the air, trying to snap its jaws around his neck. Max was able to avoid the attack, though just barely, and then clamped his mouth onto the creature's leg. The wolverinesaur howled in pain as it struggled to get free. Max closed his jaws as tightly as he could and there was a sickening cracking sound.

CRACK!

Down the wolverinesaur fell, one of its hind legs broken, bent at an odd angle. Max was certain that this particular mutantsaur would not be a threat any longer. He then turned his attention to the bearsaur. The creature hissed at him and went down on all fours, charging him at full speed. Max narrowed his eyes. He only had one chance at this. Once the bear mutantsaur got within striking distance, Max immediately moved to the side, letting the bear mutantsaur pass him. Once Max saw the target that he wanted, he immediately turned his body around and clamped down, sinking his teeth into the tail of the mutantsaur. He clamped down as hard as he could, hearing a cracking sound as the tail was snapped. The bearsaur screeched in pain and turned around and tried to bite the Tyrannosaurus Rex. But Max reacted too quickly, lifting the mutantsaur up by its broken tail and slamming it into the ground several times. Finally he tossed the mutantsaur aside, its head slamming against a tree. It twitched a few times, and then closed its eyes.

Max snorted and then turned his attention back to Rodger. He quickly ran to his friend's side, and stared at him for a few seconds. Then he looked at the tree. It was pretty large, and was too wide for him to grab with his mouth. But that was not going to be a problem. He could just use his head and push it off of him. He nodded to Buzz and Rodger. Then he got into position next to Buzz. The Pteranodon put his wings onto the trunk again. Rodger prepared to push upward the best that he could with his legs and back. And Max put his massive head underneath the tree. 'On the count of three. One, two, THREE!' Using as much strength as they could muster, the three pushed on the tree trunk. It was heavy, even with Max's help. But after a couple seconds, the tree budged. A few more seconds of pushing and Rodger could feel it sliding off his back. Finally, the three were able to push the tree completely off of Rodger's back.

Rodger breathed a sigh of relief as he was suddenly able to breathe again. 'What a relief...'

Max narrowed his eyes. 'But it's not over yet. We still have to deal with Veloci.'

Rodger struggled to his feet. 'Yes, I know that. Buzz, let's go.' When no answer came, Rodger looked around. 'Buzz? Where are you?' He finally found Buzz. He was standing in front of the wolverine mutantsaur, although he was keeping his distance so the creature couldn't attack him. Rodger tilted his head to the side. Why was Buzz standing so close to the creature? 'Buzz? What are you doing?' He asked as he and Max approached the Pteranodon.

Max noticed Buzz's horror-stricken face and became concerned. 'Buzz? What is it?'

Buzz's eyes were glued on the wolverinesaur, his body trembling slightly. 'It's..It's my father..' He said in a low tone of voice. 'That's him...It has to be..'

'What...?' Max glanced down at the mutantsaur. After a few seconds, he slowly shook his head in denial. 'No, that can't be him.. Veloci doesn't mutate humans..'

'Did you forget what he said to me?' Buzz asked, glaring at Max.

'No, but..' Max started to say.

Buzz shook his head. 'But nothing, Max. I recognize my father anywhere..' He stared back at the cheetahsaur, who was hissing at him although its eyes were wide open, as if it were afraid. 'When I look into those eyes..I see my father.' Buzz said softly. He wanted to take a step closer to the cheetahsaur. He wanted to find someway to change his father back. But something told him that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. 'I wish..I wish there was something that we could do..'

Rodger looked up at Max. 'We could try to de-ooze him.'

Max lowered his head. 'That would be an option, but I fear that Veloci might have used a more powerful ooze. I don't think we can change him back..' He said sorrowfully. He looked at Buzz sympathetically. Max had not lost any members of his family to Victor's ooze, but he could understand how Buzz was feeling. It was hard to lose someone that one cared about. Even if Buzz's father wasn't really dead, he might as well be gone. Whatever was left of his mind has been warped, transformed by the primordial ooze. The Drew Buzmati that Buzz once knew was no longer around. Then an idea came to his mind. 'Perhaps Ms. Moynihan can help.. I mean after this is all over.'

'Perhaps..' Rodger started to say. But before he could say anything else, a loud roar caught his attention. He immediately looked over. 'What was that?!' Then he saw it. Although he had to squint his eyes so he could see it, he could make out the forms of Fiona and Caruso battling against Oscura and Kista. He could also see Victor, who was still in raptor mode, and he also saw Moynihan. Rodger felt a wave of relief when he saw that she was in human form now, which means that Victor's hold on her must have been broken. But he realized this was no time to celebrate. Moynihan was being cornered by Victor. Rodger couldn't think of why she wasn't transforming unless she was afraid of being controlled by Victor yet again. 'The others need our help!' Rodger shouted.

Max looked over and opened his mouth in shock at what he saw. How could he have missed this? 'Moynihan! Caruso! Fiona!' He cried before charging towards the scene. The others followed close behind him, Rodger by his side and Buzz flying in the air.

Buzz glanced down at his father briefly. 'I'm sorry, dad...' He then turned his attention towards the battle that was going on not too far away.

* * *

'I'll kill you right now!' Kista charged into Fiona, pushing her hard against the tree. Fiona let out a yelp of pain, her muzzle pointed towards the sky. Kista clamped her jaws firmly on Fiona's shoulder, cutting in deeply. Fiona slashed out at Kista with one of her hands, succeeding a couple blows across the white dinosaur's neck and chest. But Kista just ignored the pain and bit down harder, threatening to rip a huge chunk of flesh from Fiona. 'I was considering killing you quickly, but I changed my mind..' Suddenly Kista released Fiona and then quickly bit down onto her arm. She pulled Fiona onto the ground and placed a massive foot on her side. Then she pulled back, threatening to rip Fiona's arm straight from its socket. Fiona howled in pain.

'Fiona! No!' Caruso rushed over to try to help her, but suddenly a large, gray leg blocked his path. Caruso slowly craned his head up, eyes widening in fear as he stared at the massive bulk he knew was Peter. He was so big that he couldn't even see Peter's head. Peter had to lower his long head to look Caruso in the face, his eyes narrowed. Caruso took a few steps back, intimidated by the dinosaur's huge size. But realizing that Fiona was in danger, Caruso glared and bared his teeth. He let out a bellow and lifted up his head. 'Get out of my way!'

Peter grinned slightly. 'And how are you going to get me out of your way, pipsqueak?' He asked in a sarcastic tone of voice. Although it was hard for him to move around on just three legs, he still managed to move a little closer to Caruso without too much trouble. He kept his head low, close to Caruso's head as if he wasn't afraid of Caruso trying to bite him. So what if the boy bit him? It's not like it is going to cause any real damage. This is what Peter was thinking. If the boy dared to bite him, he could easily strike him down with his massive bulk or long tail. Caruso continued to glare at him, but took another step back, his expression softening slightly. Peter just smirked. 'I didn't think so..'

Suddenly Caruso charged forward, slamming his body against Peter's uninjured leg with as much force as he could muster. Caruso nearly bit his tongue as he tried not to cry in pain when he felt several of his plates nearly break under such force. Peter pulled his head back and let out a heavy bellow of agony as he felt the plates cutting into him, leaving deep, though bloodless, marks. Peter stammered back, nearly losing his balance. But he managed to regain his footing and now he glared at the Stegosaurus with hate-filled eyes. He let out a roar that shook the ground and lifted up his tail. Caruso's eyes widened as he watched the tail coming towards him at high speed. He tried to dodge it, but he was too late. The tail slammed into him, causing him to fly across the floor.

Fiona saw this and called out to him. 'Caruso! No!' She tried to get free, but she cried in pain as Kista pushed her harder into the ground. Her large talons dug deep into her skin and the dinosaur's weight was making it harder for her to breathe. Fiona was suddenly reminded of when Moynihan had her pinned down like this. But this time, she wasn't going to get out so easily. She lifted up her head and looked over at Kista. At this position, she was helpless to do anything, except try to land a blow with her feet. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Fiona pulled her leg back, claws poised to strike Kista. She tightened up her muscles, getting ready to strike. Suddenly, she struck out forward, kicking Kista on the leg. Her foot claws slashed across the leg, blood spewing from the cuts.

Kista's eyes widened in pain, but she refused to scream. That is exactly what the little brat wanted her to do. She wasn't going to allow her to get away, not without a 'trophy' from her. 'You've just made a very big mistake..' She said as she started to clamp down harder onto Fiona's arm. 'Now not only will you lose this arm, but you'll also lose something else...' Fiona's eyes widened, horrified that her kick did not force Kista to let go of her. She closed her eyes and just waited.

But the blow never came.

'Leave her alone!' Max's voice rang out, causing Fiona to open her eyes. She lifted up her head to see what was going on. At her angle, it was hard to tell, but she was certain that she saw a green form rushing towards Kista. The white dinosaur didn't have much time to react when she felt something clamp down onto her neck. This time, Kista did let go, realizing that her own life was in jeopardy now. She tried to snap at Max, but he just lifted her off the ground slightly and tossed her into the ground. Kista hit the ground with a loud thud. But Max wasn't over yet. He immediately rushed to Kista's side and pressed his massive foot on the side of her neck. Kista hissed and snapped at him, but wasn't able to land a bite. Max lowered his head slightly. 'Stay away from my friends, you monster!'

Kista hissed, narrowing her eyes. 'You are not the boss of me, you waggling little shank!' Kista told him, struggling on the ground. She kicked her legs into the air, trying to kick at Max. But the T-Rex was smart enough to keep his distance away from her. At that kind of response, he pushed his foot harder onto the white dinosaur's neck. Kista opened up her jaws in shock, eyes wide. She struggled to take a breath, but Max had pushed pretty hard on her neck. She could feel her wind pipe being constricted to the point where it was nearly impossible to take a breath.

'Just remember, you're bringing this upon yourself..' Max said, narrowing his eyes. He didn't really want to kill Kista. He didn't want to stoop down to her level. But if it means protecting his friends, he knew he must do it. Kista was far too dangerous to be taken lightly. He lowered his head, prepared to bite her. But then a horrible pain erupted from his leg. Several small sharp teeth clamped down. Max howled in pain and staggered back from Kista. As the white dinosaur got back onto her feet, Max looked to see who had bitten him and he gasped in horror.

Oscura had wrapped her arms around his leg, using her claws to provide some traction as she sank her teeth deep into his leg. 'I've got you now!' She said. Before Max could do anything, she immediately released him and jumped back. She didn't need to do anything else. She had already bitten the boy. Now all she had to do was wait.