(A/N: Once again sorry for the delay. Yeah I know, you guys are probably sick of me saying that. After this chapter and one more for Desolation, I will put both stories on hold to give me more time to work on my fancomic and to finish up the alimon comic I've been neglecting. However Desolation and OOTS2 will not be cancelled. I just can't work on so many things at once.)

Part II: The Plan

Donovan chuckled softly to himself as he and Tree-star began to circle each other, eyes locked onto each other, watching every movement the other was making. Donovan could tell something was different about this Tree-star. Normally she would try to avoid fighting, but this time she seemed more than willing to. Could her exilement have hardened her? Could she not be the Tree-star he had once known? Donovan looked at Stone. The gray alimon seemed also different. He didn't have that jokester look to him anymore, and he looked more serious than he did when he still ran the Rock Ranger pack.

Donovan's gaze shifted back to Tree-star, lips curled in an evil grin. "Well well well...it looks like I'm not the only one who had changed. Tell me... what went through your minds when you turned your backs on the Rock Rangers? Heheheheh... Did you also grow weary of this whole pathetic ancestor business? Did you decide to, as Fire put it, take our rightful place as king of beasts?"

Tree-star opened her mouth in shock, then quickly shook it off and snarled. Stone felt his feathers raise up in anger as Donovan spoke these words. "How dare you... You know perfectly well why we left!" Tree-star said, hissing in Donovan's direction. "You were there when it happened! We told you to keep the pack in shape while we were gone! We TRUSTED you!"

Donovan licked his lips. "Oh please, you expect me to carry all that burden to watch against such a weak pack? I left to join the Darkarians. I had a lot more..fun..."

Stone dug his claws into the ground, shaking like a leaf. This was not the first time he had been betrayed by someone he had cared about, by someone whom he thought cared about him. When he was just a cubbie, he felt the bitter sting of betrayal and wasn't the same ever since then. Now it is happened again. Hot tears streamed down his face. He recalled how he had saved Donovan from Fire countless times when they were cubbies. How could Donovan just turn on him like this, after all they had been through?

Donovan noticed Stone's pain and laughed. "Oh what's the matter, Stoney boy? You recalling old times? The fun we used to have together?" He lifted a paw, and flexed the talons that grew out of it. "Well you might as well forget them! They're old news to me! The past doesn't matter anymore, only the future!"

These words stung Stone's heart even more. The elderly alimon clutched his chest as the pain shot through him. His heart started to race, creating a nausiated feeling inside of him. He almost felt like throwing up. "How could you... You brother tried to kill you, and you are siding with him?" Stone opened up his blood-shot eyes, giving a deathglare at Donovan. "I saved you from Fire and you are now trying to kill me? Where is the logic in that?"

Donovan swung his tail from side to side, tilting an eyebrow slightly. "Oh my, what a temper..." He shakes his head. "As I told you, I don't care about our past anymore. Forget all those memories of us as good buddies, Stone, because they are of no use anymore." He grinned. "I've already supressed most of mine..."

Tree-star roared and charged a few inches forward. "Now that's enough Donovan! Why don't we settle this right now? Let's go right now, mono y mono! I'll show you what happens when you betray the Rock Rangers!"

"Wow..Tree-star's got guts..." Tanner commented. The light red alimon, along with Rex, Chomper, and the kids, had stepped back to give the alimons room to fight. Tanner had never known Tree-star to be of the fighting time. He didn't know this side of her even existed. It would be interesting in seeing how this turned out.

As Rex sat down, cross-legged, to watch the alimon battle, he felt a couple of paws set on him. He looked down, and noticed Marsh and Brook looking up at him. Rex felt a pang of guilt sweeping through him. In the brief chaos, he had forgotten all about them. He took the little ones in his arms and set them on his lap.

Brook reared up, pressing his paws against Rex's chest. "Hey..are you Rex...?" He asked with a soft voice.

The dracovol slowly nodded his head. "Yes..I am."

Marsh rubbed against her brother's body as she strained to look at Rex in the face. "Our father told us a lot about you."

Rex smiled softly. "Oh yeah?"

Marsh grinned. "Yep! He told us how he found you as a little egg, all by yourself, and how you guys became like brothers. You had all kinds of fun in the Great Valley. I get you miss those days, huh?"

The dracovol smiled even more. "Yes, sometimes I do." He looked up at the sky. "It feels like yesterday..."

"And then you left the Great Valley, and met Yu and Chomper." Brook said as he looked up at Chomper.

Rex chuckled. "What HASN'T he told you?"

"Well...he said that you just disappeared one day. He would sometimes cry at night, calling out your name." Marsh said. "I felt bad for him. He acted like he didn't know where you were, as if you just disappeared off the face of the earth." She sighed. "But when we asked him, he would tell us to go off to play or something. He'd never tell us what happened."

Rex the Dracovol sighed sadly. The guilt he felt years ago for the choice he made was slowly rising back up in him again. "And for good reason..."

"Are you going to tell us?" Marsh and Brook inquired.

"I-I'm sorry, no. You'll find out when you're older. You're too young to learn now." Rex said softly, his wings drooping down slightly.

Chomper loomed over everyone as he stared at Tree-star and Donovan, who were still circling each other. The large sharptooth watched this, and began to recall incidents of 5 years ago. Just like Rex, he too began to feel guilty. He recalled how easily he let that darn Fire character control him, how Gris had so easily tricked him as a younster, posing as Slasher.

Slasher...

Chomper had wondered, not too long ago, what really happened to that sharptooth. He was curious to find out what the real Slasher was like. He no longer shared ill-will against the olive-skinned sharptooth. When Ruby used to live in the Great Valley, he, as a youngster, experienced first-hand what life for a sharptooth was like in situations harsher than the ones he and his parents faced.

The olive-skinned sharptooth was probably just starving and desperate for food. But he also understood his parents' reactiosn to Slasher. The island was so small, it just could not support a third large sharptooth. Slasher had to be driven out.

But where is he now? Did he drown? Was he washed ashore? Was he ripped apart by sharks?

The final idea, Chomper regretted thinking. He began to recall the horrible sight of seeing his T-Rex parents ripped to shreds by swimming sharpteeth when he was still so young. He wondered if the whole thing was a set-up by the Darkarians. It was too much of a coincidence for Gris to be in the right place at the right time...

"You thinking about something, Chomper?" Tanner asked, staring up at the blue sharptooth. "You were really zoning out there."

"Oh..yeah..." Chomper said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"So..when are you going to land the first strike, Tree-star?" Donovan smirked. "I'll let you strike first. Let's see if you are brave enough to strike an old friend..."

The green alimon growled. "If you think you are going to psyche me out, then you can just forget it!"

"Are you afraid?" Donovan sneered.

"No!" Tree-star shouted back.

"Then..prove it." He dared her.

She bared her teeth, lowered her haunches, tensed up her muscles, and then sprang forward, her claws and teeth ready to rip into Donovan's black skin and flesh as though he were prey. A loud roar filled the air, and the sound of teeth and claws clashing with skin filled the witnesses' ears. Then the sickening sound of flesh being ripped was heard as Tree-star began to tear away at Donovan. She landed on his back, her claws digging in deep so he would have a hard time throwing him off. Her jaws were clamped around his shoulders, blood seeping out.

Donovan, surprised by the attack, roared and reared up and slammed back down, hoping to knock Tree-star off of him. The female flew off, and tumbled onto the ground. Taking this momentary advantage, the black alimon lunged forward and gripped Tree-star by the throat and began shaking her. He quickly let go as four talons slashed him across the face, close to the eyes. Tree-star bit down on Donovan's muzzle, her fangs ripping away at the sensitive area. Donovan began to pull away, edging Tree-star little by little.

To defend himself, Donovan lifted a paw and slashed across the side of Tree-star's right front leg. The pain was enough to force Tree-star to open her mouth as she screamed. Donovan slammed against her, and knocked her down. He then jumped onto her and gripped her head with his left paw.

"I told you you couldn't best me in a fight, Tree-star." He laughed as she watched her struggle and squirm beneath him. "I've had years of experience behind me. I led the Rock Ranger's troops. You...you hardly ever fought. With such little experience, how did you think you were a match for me?" Donovan jeered.

"Do you always gloat?" Tree-star asked him.

"What's it to you?" Donovan replied.

"Well, if you paid closer attention, you would notice you aren't so bright in fights yourself." Tree-star grinned.

"Wha..." The former Rock Ranger quickly turned to see what she meant, but it was too late for him to react. Tree-star had placed one of her hind legs directly onto his stomach. She applied pressure and the claws seeped in. Donovan let out a blood-curdling scream as the female delivered a deep gash across his belly, deep into the skin. White hot paind seered through him as blood flowed out like a waterfall. He got off of her, and slowly backed away. "You...you..."

Tree-star quickly got up, and smiled at him. "Not bad for a rookie, eh?"

"I'll get you..." Donovan hissed. "I swear! I'll KILL you for this..."

"How pathetic..." Donovan looked up to see a pair of glowing red eyes attached to a long necked dinosaur. It was Littlefoot, or Fire in this case. The fully grown longneck loomed over the area almost ominously. Marsh and Brook both hid behind Rex, who stood in front of them protectively. "How could my own brother fall for such a simple trick?"

"I can assure you, Fire, it won't happen again..." Donovan began.

"No..no it won't. Because of it does, I will personally use this longneck form to crush your pathetic body!" The longneck shouted, making Donovan cringe in fear. "Now go back home and get those wounds treated..."

"And what are you going to do?" Donovan asked.

The Fire-possessed Littlefoot looked over at the young longnecks, hiding behind Rex. He had wanted to take Brook away. He knew Brook had a lot more potential to him than he realized himself. But he had been interrupted... Now he was possessing a large longneck, who would be of no use to him when the time came... He had to get the child back... But not now, not while these dinosaurs could clearly see him, and could stop him. He would have to possess someone else.

And he knew just who.

"I'll leave them be...for now." He responded. As he turned to walk away, he glared at the group. "But believe me, I won't be ignoring you next time..."

As Donovan and the possessed Littlefoot walked away, Tree-star walked over to her mate, and nuzzled against him. Stone rested his head on hers. Suddenly Tree-star reared back, shrieking in pain. Alarmed Stone backed up a bit. "Tree-star? Tree-star what is it?"

"Get it off! Get it off!" Tree-star shouted, thrashing around, trying to get the creature that was tearing up her back off of her. Tanner spotted the attacker. It looked to be like a small alimon, but he couldn't get a good look at it. He immediately thought Darkarian and rushed forward.

"Get off of her!" He shouted as he gripped the intruder in his jaws and tossed it aside. He bared his teeth, panting hard as the attacker glared up at him. Suddenly their expressions softened, recognition taking over.

"Black Ember?" Tanner gaped.

"Tanner?" Black Ember was equally surprised. She then noticed Tree-star and the blood. Guilt shot up in her. "Tree-star... Stone... I thought you were dead..."

Black Ember was a dwarf alimon, standing only about 2 or 3 ft tall. But despite her small stature, she was quite fierce in battle, and had a temper that rivalled that of Fire's, although she had better control over it. She was also Fire and Donovan's sister. She had become a rogue many years ago, but still returned to add the Rock Rangers once in a while, or just for a visit.

"How could you attack me like that...?" Tree-star asked softly.

"I..I did not recognize you." Black Ember said. "You and Stone..you look so different from the last time I saw you..and you don't carry the same scent anymore."

"What are you doing here?" Stone asked, trying to sound as authority-like as possible.

"I was informed of a rogue alimon that was attacking these parts. I thought Tree-star was that alimon..." The dwarf alimon sat down. "But I had been mistaken."

"No... the rogue alimon is Donovan." Stone announced. "He betrayed us..."

Black Ember's eyes widened. "Donovan...?" She just couldn't believe it. Donovan may have been harsh, but he was never the type to just turn on his own pack like that. What could have happened?

Tanner stepped forward. "No..it's not Donovan that had been attacking the valley earlier." Tanner looked at the ground, recalling what happened when Stone saved him. "The rogue alimon is my twin, Rennat. He looks just like me..but several shades darker."

"Your..twin...?" Black Ember asked, feeling somewhat confused. She, like all the other Rock Rangers, thought Tanner was an only child. He never mentioned anything about having a sibling.

Tanner nodded. "Yes. He was created with my DNA by one of Gris's followers not long after Gris himself was killed. They used some kind of magic to bring Rennat into existance. In a way, you could say he's my brother."

"Your brother?"

"Yes. He's like me in many ways, although much darker and more sinister." Tanner said.

"But...if you knew about him the whole time..why didn't you say anything?" Chomper asked, walking forward. "If you had told us, we..."

"It would not have changed a thing!" Tanner shouted. "It wouldn't have changed a thing..."

Rex looked nervously at the scene before him. "So...now what do we do?"

Tanner glared sternly at Rex. "We have to locate Rennat and kill him..before it's too late."

"Why?"

"He is one of the keys to releasing a being into this world even more dangerous than Fire." Tanner said.

(A/N There we go, another chapter. And please, don't PM me just to ask me when I'll update. Telling me to update won't make me update any sooner. Just be patient, and I'll update when I can.)