VELCOME TO PART THREE OF… FOUR? FIVE? GOTTA CHECK MY TIMELINE FIRST. PROBABLY FOUR.

ARGH SCHOOL STARTED AND I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!

That being said, please forgive the length of this chapter. And also, VERY IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE END.

WARNING: This chapter contains abuse, mad scientist experiments, mentions of death and suicide, and a distraught smol child named Max.

letsgetiton.

I don't own Dinosaur King. Nope.

Zoe looks forward at Goma walks into her cell, wheeling in a cart of supplies. She doesn't react. Goma smirks.

"Good. The potion hasn't worn out. I suppose I'll have to thank my assistant later." He muses. "Give me your arm."

Zoe complies. Goma grabs a scalpel and drags it across her wrist lightly enough so it wouldn't cut.

"I've done some research on human anatomy and psychology. If I remember correctly, cutting open this area may lead to death. Apparently, some humans do it to themselves when depressed or overly upset about something. How absurd." He mutters to himself.

Goma smirks at Zoe. "Don't worry though, puppet." He sneers. "I'll spare you. After all, I still need you alive."

He pulls Zoe's arm closer and makes an incision on her upper arm, Zoe flinches and jerks away, whimpering.

"Hmm… So the potion only suppresses emotion. Reactions to things happening around and to her still remain." Goma grabs a worn notebook and jots a few notes down before tossing it back into the cart, turning his attention back to Zoe.

"I wonder if you reply to commands…" he mutters. "Stand up."

Zoe complies emotionlessly.

"Sit."

Zoe does so.

Goma's eyes narrow. "Does she reply to simple questions…?" he asks himself. "Girl."

Zoe turns her attention to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. My arm stings a little." Her voice is hoarse, but monotonous. Goma smirks.

"Good. She does what she's asked and answers to me. She's retained her intelligence after all." Goma writes more in his notebook before grabbing a scalpel.

"Now to see how much pain she can handle…"

"Rifele?! RIFELE?!"

"Ugh, what?! I was in the middle of a really good map when-"

"Zoe's gone!"

"What?" the lizard's tone switches like a light.

"We were fighting Goma and he brainwashed her or something!"

"HE DID WHAT?!"

This was the first time either of the boys had heard the lizard yell like that, and it honestly scared them. No ordinary lizard's voice could get so low and distorted.

"He attacked her with a poisoned card, or something like that…"

Max blinks and before he and Rex know it, they're at the cave again.

The lizard scurries up to them. "What happened?" he demands.

"We were fighting Goma, and he used a move. We've seen him use it before, but this one was different!" Max explains, hyperventilating.

"How?"

"Before it just brought on temporary paralysis, but now… it out Zoe in a trance." Rex answered.

The lizard muttered something under his breath and turned to the stone.

"This is bad… He wants to find out more about them…" he said.

"Them?" Rex inquires.

"The crystals. Your mystic forms."

"Mystic forms? You mean, the forms we use when we use the crystals?"

"Yes…" Rifele growls, or as much as he can for a lizard. "I don't know… Rex, do you have your crystal?"

The blonde nods, pulling it out of his pocket.

The lizard grabs it and directs him to the left side of the room, holding out his hand toward the right. Ace's card appears.

"Sacrifice." Said Rifele.

"Uh…"

"A drop of blood is enough, just tell me!"

"Okay, I'll do that."

"Max, you too."

Max flinches. "Wait, what?"

"I never got your sacrifice."

"O-Oh… I'll do what Rex is doing, then."

Both of them walk over to the cavern wall. Rex drags his finger down the jagged rock hard, wincing as the skin breaks. Max does the same.

Two drops of blood fall at the same time, glowing and disappearing as soon as they hit the ground. Ace's card vanishes and Rex collapses onto the floor, Max rushing over.

"What now?" the brunette asks, his voice tight.

"I don't know… We don't have many options."

"W-What do you mean, you don't know?! We don't have time for this!" Max was fuming at this point.

"Max."

The teen and the lizard startle.

"The Pterosaur?" asks Rex.

"Yes. Listen, you three. We do not have much time."

"What is it, Divina?" asks Rifele.

"I am well aware of what has happened to Zoe. However, you cannot focus on that right now. It is important to find the rest of the crystals first."

"What?! No, I can't just-" Max starts.

"Max, I know you want to rescue her right now, but it is imperative that you find the crystals first. If Goma gets his hands on them, we are doomed."

"You're just going to abandon her?!" the brunette shouts incredulously. "I can't believe you!"

"Zoe can take care of herself. Have a little faith in her."

"That's…"

"Max." Rex says. "The Pterosaur is right, we can't focus on that right now. Zoe's strong; she can handle it."

"What if he's hurting her right now?! What if she's injured? Or worse, what if she's dying?!"

"That will not happen."

"How do you know that?!" Max retorts.

"Goma wants to know more about your mystic forms and the crystals. The only way he could do that is to observe the crystals' use first hand. And for that, Zoe has to be well. He can't risk injuring her or else he may jeopardize his results." Rifele explains. "He knows this is the only chance he'll get to gather information about the mystic form."

"Correct. Therefore, we can safely assume that Zoe is fine. As soon as we find the remainder of the crystals, we can retrieve Zoe."

Max's fists clench before he turns to the mouth of the tunnel leading to the chamber. His eyes burn a bright yellow.

"Where's the next crystal?"

"I don't get it, I thought you said you were going to replace us with her! Why are you experimenting on her?!"

Goma continues to read over his notes, but answers Sheer. "I want to find out more about her powers and the effects they have over her. But don't get me wrong, Sheer. I'm still going to recruit her."

He closes his notebook and stands, starting to pace around the room.

"The potion I have her is magic based. That girl is simply a body; her mind is trapped." Goma explains, more to himself than to Sheer. "My experiments on her are as follows: I'll compare her blood from her normal form to her form when she's using the stone's power. Her mystic form. After that, I want to see if she reacts to magic in her normal form. Then I want to see how strong she is in her mystic form, and if she acts any differently when she's in it. No doubt she'll struggle a bit. The potion will probably lose some effectiveness then, as her mind becomes stronger under the influence of the dinosaurs."

"I thought you said she can't come into contact with her dinosaur now." Says Sheer.

"She can't, but she can still use her stone. And when she uses it and goes into her mystic form, she won't be able to contact her dinosaur, either. However, the primal instinct of the dinosaurs will remain. And that will strengthen her mind." Goma replies. "She'll probably become more rebellious in nature, and she probably won't hesitate to finish anyone off, like before. Her mind won't break free, though. And she won't show any emotions. In layman's terms, I've locked away her conscience and made her a ruthless warrior."

Sheer starts to sweat nervously at the thought. That was something she'd rather not be involved in.

"I'll probably pit her against one of you three."

Oh, shoot.

"Or all three of you."

Double shoot.

"Once that's done, I only have one more thing to test. And that's how effective the potion really is." Goma continues. "I doubt I can do anything to spite her and cause her mind to break free, but I want to be sure. So I'm going to do a number of things to see how far I can push her before it does break free."

"How long does the potion last?"

"My assistant has made it to where it will last a full two weeks on one dose. And he's made six doses, so we should be fine."

Goma smirks. "Once I'm done with all my experiments, then it'll be time to recruit her." He eyes Sheer. "She will answer only to me, understand?"

Goma's expression is apathetic, but his eyes are dark, commanding obedience. Sheer gulps. She's seen what happens to those that defy him. It was terrifying, to say the least. The woman nods quickly. Goma smirks.

"Good." He praises. "Go check on the girl, and give her some food and water. I've got work to do."

Sheer salutes and walks out of the room, Goma noticing how she practically bolts for the door once she's close. He chuckles.

"Weakling."

Okay, first things first.

I have a feeling someone's going to make some remark about how the whole suicide mention was a huge understatement and insensitive to those that have gone through things like that. Well, I just want to say that the reason Goma puts it so lightheartedly is because he has very little regard for life, and therefore doesn't truly comprehend the gravity of things like that. He IS s genocidal maniac, after all.

Okay, moving on to things regarding EVERYONE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR A BIT,

As I said above, school started for me. That being said, it will be VERY VERY hard to keep up with the whole one chapter every two weeks schedule I've been maintaining. DO NOT WORRY, I DO NOT PLAN ON PUTTING THIS STORY ON HIATUS. However, I will say that the update schedule will definitely change, at least until summer comes along again. What I'm probably going to do is update at the end of the month, posting one or two chapters at the same time. In other words, instead of spacing out chapters, I'll just post a lot at the end of the month. The same goes for my Elusion of the Despondent series. I understand some people won't like that, but it's really the best option I've got, besides putting this on hiatus until winter break starts. I'm really sorry if it's an inconvenience to you. But this is the best I can do for now.

Well, anyway, I've got some more stuff to do before school starts getting out of hand and my life is ruined. Hopefully I'll get a lot done for you guys. And hopefully you'll understand.

Fortunately, the next chapter is well on its way so it may be uploaded next weekend. If not, it'll be uploaded at the end of October in a 3 chapter update! Yay!

Sayonara~!