Owen was not happy with the arrangement Liam had forced upon him. The raptor was currently sitting on his shoulders, determined to get a free ride out of his new protector. He would start bouncing up and down chaotically whenever he thought he saw Lily. Six times, he pointed at a vaguely stegoceratops-shaped hunk of metal. Once, he pointed at a chair.

"Well, it's dark out," he said defensively, "How am I supposed to tell the difference between Lily and furniture?"

"Aren't raptors supposed to have night vision?" Owen sassed.

Liam sighed dramatically.

"Okay, fine. Cards on the table: I might be part human."

"Both of your parents are human. That's a fact."

"Same goes for Lily. But she's still kind of a dinosaur."

"What's your point?"

"I'm a raptor. A good raptor."

Owen rolled his eyes.

"Alright, but you should know that Claire is actually a dinosaur."

"Didn't she change?"

"Yes, but on the inside, she's still a stegoceratops. I think she always was . . ."

Without warning, Liam leaned forward and pointed excitedly.

"THERE! THERE SHE IS! Oh, wait. It's just a human."

Owen's face lit up.

"That human is Claire!"

He ran towards her. When she saw him coming, she smiled.

"Owen! You're okay!"

He wrapped his arms around her, letting his face become tangled in her hair.

"I'm fine. Are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

"I'm great. Who's the raptor?"

"It's Liam."

"Can we trust him?"

Owen's lower lip twitched.

"Um . . . yeah. He's the one who saved Lily from a snake way back when. Don't you remember that?"

She hesitated before answering.

"Um . . . Yeah."

Owen nodded.

"Alright. Have you seen Lily?"

"No. I think I know where to look for her, though. Follow me."

Owen did as he was told, but it wasn't long before he started to wonder where Claire was taking him. As a matter of fact, he was a little wary of her "intuition". He wasn't sure he trusted her vague sense that Lily was nearby. Hell, he wasn't sure he trusted anything she said right now. She wasn't acting suspicious, per se, but there was something unusual about her demeanor. He examined her gait with a furrowed brow, twisting his mouth uncertainly.

"Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we going this way?"

"To find Lily."

"Are you sure she's around here?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Owen gave Liam a side glance. He didn't seem to notice anything odd.

"You know, there's something different about you," Owen ventured.

"Yeah. I'm human now," Claire joked.

Owen frowned.

"Not that."

Claire shrugged without looking back at him.

"Well, I have no idea what it is."

Owen lifted his eyebrows casually.

"Okay then. We'd better hurry up. Today is Lily's birthday, after all. I'm sure she won't want us to miss it. Eighteen is a big milestone."

Owen clamped his hand around Liam's mouth before he could interject.

"You're right," Claire said.

Owen stopped walking.

"Actually, I'm not," he said flatly, "Lily isn't turning eighteen."

Claire gulped and turned around slowly.

"I . . . Yeah, I didn't hear you the first time."

"How old is she?"

"What?"

"How old is our daughter, Claire?"

She stumbled backwards.

"Um . . . See, the thing is . . ."

Suddenly, she reached behind her back and pulled out a revolver.

"Alright, you caught me. I'm not Claire."

Liam squeaked in fear.

"Owen, use the flare gun."

He frowned.

"I think it's a little late for that, kid."

The fake Claire flicked her weapon sharply.

"Alright. Hands up. You're coming with me."

"Who are you?" Owen hissed.

"I don't have to answer that."

Owen looked over her shoulder and hummed.

"Alright. But there's something you should know . . ."

"What?"

"I was stalling."

Like a bolt of green lightning, Delta pounced upon the fake Claire and pinned her to the ground. She yanked the gun out of her hand and tossed it to Owen. He caught it and pointed it at the imposter.

"Nice move, Delta. I take it you made up with Barry?"

"We did a lot of things. He's with Echo. I was going to bring you back, but this seems more important."

Owen cocked the handgun and pointed it at the fake Claire's temple.

"Talk."

She gulped.

"I'm Shmlaire Shmearing, the clone. I was created by Biosyn using the genome of Claire Dearing. They didn't think there was any use for me because I came out part Swedish."

"Swedish?" Owen echoed.

"Yes. It means I'm from Sweden."

Owen rolled his eyes.

"I know. Tell me why you're here."

She whimpered.

"Tesseract Goop has been working with Biosyn to capture Claire Dearing. She's really interested in owning her, but I swear I don't know why. She also has a crystal ball and a magic wand for some reason. I think she got it from the bull."

"Bull?" Owen echoed.

"Yes, it's like cow, only-"

Owen slapped his forehead.

"I know what bulls are. But why is he so important?"

"Because he runs the Beneath. He has access to powerful magic, and he's working against the one they call Ellie."

Liam gave a little jump at the mention of his mother.

"He's trying to take this world from her," Shmlaire continued, "Last I heard, she intervened to save Lily's life. That means her deal with the bull is null and void. He's keeping June's soul, but he still wants to conquer Ellie's realm, even though the trade is no longer valid. She tried to challenge these terms because he was the one who caused the train to derail-"

Owen held up his hand.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah. That thing that attacked us wasn't a bull."

"I know. It was a projection."

"Projection?"

She didn't reply.

"Aren't you gonna explain?" Owen demanded.

"You yelled at me the last two times . . ."

Owen waved his gun, causing her to flinch.

"Alright! Fine!" she snapped, "He made a demonic projection that can drag mortals into the Beneath. Happy? Look, the basic gist of the situation is that Tesseract Goop is working with a supernatural force and a large corporation to imprison Claire Dearing. There are Biosyn mercenaries nearby, but from what I've heard, Ellie is on her way to fight them with an army of her own."

Liam frowned.

"Shit. What if she finds me?"

"Then you'll go home," Owen said tersely, "Now how can we be sure that this information is accurate?"

Shmlaire shrugged.

"I honestly don't want to be a part of this. If you win this battle, I can be free."

Owen narrowed his eyes.

"A likely story. All this talk of magic bulls makes me wonder if you're being completely honest."

She gave him a solemn look.

"Owen, this story is far more complex than you could ever imagine. The conspiracy extends further than you know."

"Further or farther?"

"Both."

Owen sighed.

"Alright. Delta, do you think you can bring this imposter back to Barry while I look for Claire?"

She gave him a little salute.

"I'm on it."

Owen nodded and handed her the flare gun, keeping the revolver for himself.

"Liam, go with her."

His jaw dropped.

"But-"

"Now. You're in enough trouble already."

He pouted and slunk away bitterly. Delta gave Owen a quick bow before pushing Shmlaire forward and taking the lead. Owen watched them leave, then looked down at the gun he was holding. He never thought he'd be forced to carry another weapon after the incident so many years ago. With a deep sigh, he put it in his back pocket.

"I'm not sure I understand what's happening, but it sounds like something really big is about to go down."