Just minutes away, Lt. McKintyre and her troops were leveling down hordes of Loved Ones, who charged the troops armed with knives, broken glass, boards, and rocks. They had obviously never prepared for such a massed assault on their lair before. The Loved Ones descended upon the troops and patrolmen like a thick, blubbery sea. Pink and orange ichor splashed everywhere beneath the gunfire of the troops.

"My God, it's like shooting a wall of pudding," McKintyre muttered to herself as she reduced a Loved One to glistening, gooey chunks, her assault rifle getting hot and smoky.

As the last Loved One was gunned to pieces, the attackers advanced towards the main chamber. When they got there, they were met with an unusual sight.

A headless green and pink body rolled around the floor. Two human children were trying to free their father from the unyielding grasp of a huge purple dinosaur. In the center of the room was an immense gaping pit of total darkness.

"Check your sights, I don't want anyone firing on that plum-colored lizard S.O.B until Jeremy Phillips is safely out of its way," whispered Lt. McKintyre to her troops. All the startled group could do was watch, helplessly.

Blow after blow fell upon Jeremy. He wasn't sure, but he felt he may have a serious concussion. Barney clutched him tightly against his body, in the manner of a bear hug. Jeremy tried to break free but couldn't, and his ears were filled with the Purple Beast's laughter and the terrified pleas of his children.

"Corporal," said McKintyre softly," train your sights on the back of Barney's head. Get a good clear shot at it, we can't wait. Another moment and Jeremy's as good as dead."

The corporal nodded and fixed his barrel carefully upon the back area of the dinosaur's skull.

"Fire!"

The bullet blazed and tore the back of Barney's head clear off. The jolt snapped Barney backwards, and the bloated creature released his grip from Jeremy, who fell to the floor, gasping for air. The children screamed and ran away from the sight, into the company of militia.

"Jeremy's free, focus all fire on that gutless blob!" commanded McKintyre.

Dozens of rifles, pistols, and machine guns blazed the next instant, tearing off shards of flesh and bone from the Great Beast of Purple. Jeremy frantically crawled away from the onslaught, his ears ringing with the sound of explosions, his nostrils stinging from the bitter acrid smoke that filled the air.

"Cease fire!" barked the lieutenant.

The smoke cleared slowly. McKintyre squinted. She could see nothing.

"Halverston."

"Yes sir?"

"Go check him out. Smith, Olson, Rimiski, you three cover him."

Private Halverston warily made his way to the site where the Beast of Purple had stood just a few moments before. The stout young soldier disappeared in the thick plumes of smoke. "Sir, he's dead, he's all blown to pieces and there's simply no way- ahhhhh!!!!"

The private's scream alarmed the entire squad.

"Halverston, speak to me!"

"Oh goodness, me, I appear to have killed him!" chirped an idiotic, lethargic voice from the smoke. "I like this game, though I must admit, I've an unfair advantage. Maybe it's only fair to mention, that I'm immortal and your guns won't kill me at all!"

"Don't fire yet," ordered Lt. McKintyre. She waited as the smoke and dust dissipated.

When the air cleared, she was taken back by the sight of Barney. Only a mere skeleton remained, bloodied fragments of flesh clinging to the wide frame. Yet there he stood, chuckling and staring back at her. Halverston lay by his feet, his neck broken. Suddenly, at the snap of what was left of his fingers, chunks and slabs of flesh began flinging themselves back upon the giggling carcass. As if a film wound backwards, Barney suddenly regenerated, intact and without a scratch.

"Jesus," muttered McKintyre.

"Now if you'll excuse me," said Barney, " I need to teach Jeremy a very important lesson. " Before the astonished soldiers, Barney strolled over to where Baby Bop's body lay. He whistled at her head impaled against the ceiling, and it drifted gently off the stalactite and into his hands.

"Gosh Baby Bop, you look beat! You know, I'm feeling a mite tired myself, and can use a picker-upper."

Baby Bop's eyes bulged in surprise, she certainly appeared to understand what Barney meant, and she tried to scream. Only a whispy gurgle came out of the creature's mouth, and laughing merrily, Barney squeezed the head tightly between his hands.

Brightly colored pores of energy began bursting in air, surrounding the fat bloated dinosaur. As Jeremy and the soldiers looked on, Baby Bop's head and body began to shudder spasmodically and shrivel. Within seconds they had caved in on themselves and disintegrated into dust. Barney sighed and gave a tremendous smile.

"Sorry about that, Baby Bop, but I thought a little extra life-force couldn't hurt at the moment," quipped Barney, shaking the excess dust off of his paws. "Boy do I feel sttuupppeenndddoouuusss!" he shouted in glee.

Jeremy stared at the fat bloated Beast of Purple in awe. He was so taken by the fantastic sight he couldn't move. The very next moment Barney grasped him by the collar and heaved him into the air with murderous strength and speed.

"Let's resume our flying lesson, shall we, Jeremy?"

Jeremy hit the ground, hard. He felt his chest heave and realized that some of his ribs were cracked. A sharp shooting pain shot through his upper chest. His hands instinctively pressed upon the area, whereupon he discovered that he had landed on an object in his pocket. He pulled it out. It was the curious shard Maca'hzar had given him a few nights before. Smooth and marbled on one side, rough and rippled on the inside. He remembered the words the weathered Loved One had spoken to him, that gave the clue for the shard's purpose . . . .

"The mother shall break the cradle."

Jeremy had barely a moment to think upon this when Barney picked the man up by his heels and flung him through the air again. The force of the fall sent waves of pain through Jeremy's body, and he realized he hadn't much longer.

"Lieutenant, can't we do anything to help him?" asked a patrolman.

"I don't know, I really don't know!" snapped McKintyre. She was exasperated at the futility of the situation. Chances were that the Purple Demon was unstoppable. The idea made her cold and frightened inside. "It's between them," she mumbled.

"Gosh, Jeremy, you sure are a slow learner. I'd think you'd be flying high and mighty, like a bluebird of happiness. Let's try to make you fly just one more time." The purple dinosaur began shuffling towards the injured man.

Jeremy began crawling towards the deep shaft in the center of the cavern area. Maca'hzar had called it a Dimensional Chamber, was it this that would help him destroy Barney? The stocky reptile's footsteps were closing in.

"Dad! Dad! Get away from there! He's on you!" shrieked Stacy, as she and Mark struggled to help their father. The two children were held back by several soldiers.

Jeremy clutched the shard between his scraped fingers. He'd seen something like this before. If only he could remember where from. He looked up into the dead, evil gaze of Barney. The creature leant towards him, prepared to fling him through the air again, but stopped.

Barney had noticed the shard.

"Where did you get that?" he bellowed. "Give that here, give it to me!"

Jeremy paused. Whatever the shard was, it scared Barney. Did it have some power over Barney? Was it connected with his primordial origin? Then the realization flashed across Jeremy's wracked mind. He immediately knew what it was.

It was a piece of eggshell. A dinosaur eggshell, petrified and preserved.

Barney flung himself upon Jeremy, the sheer weight causing Jeremy to cry out in intense agony. The Purple Destroyer of Worlds clutched and clawed for the shard, yet Jeremy held on with all of his might. The two beings wrestled near the mouth of the shaft. McKintyre and several of the patrolmen carefully aimed their weapons at Barney, firing in a desperate hope of immobilizing the fat, frantic dinosaur. While their aim held true, Barney fought on in a horrid frenzy. Jeremy was almost dead.

Something about the chamber, Maca'hzar hinted at its powers before. Barney feared the shard, what could it do? Jeremy, in a final, random act of desperation, fought his arm free of the Purple Beast, and flung the shard down the shaft.

Barney's eyes bulged in raw, stark, terror. "Noooooooo!!!"

The plum-colored lizard released Jeremy and dove into the shaft, in a hopeless effort to reclaim the shard. The chubby, repulsive beast plunged into the darkness, his scream echoing into eternity.

"Get him away from there, quick!" barked Lt. McKintyre. "Evans, call for a medic down here now!"

Several olive-clad soldiers ran to Jeremy's aid. The poor man was broken and bleeding, almost near dementia. One soldier felt his pulse and checked his eyes. "He's stable, but barely. Need to get him outta here quick, Lieutenant!"

Jeremy looked about him in dazed confusion. Strangers, surrounding him and barking orders left and right. In the distance, Stacy and Mark, crying and calling him. He thought that he saw Fran and Bill coming around a distant barricade, but then he felt the earth surge under him and suddenly the air turned sickly and violent again, and he prayed that soon the world would return to normal . . . .

"What the hell's going on?" yelled a private. The whole cavern began shaking. Stalactites began falling from the roof, and McKintyre noticed the shaft. Something was coming up it like a locomotive. Fast and powerful.

An explosion shattered the atmosphere, sending everyone off of their feet. Blinding, flashing light flickered throughout the cavern. As people began recovering their senses, they became immediately aware of another being in the cavern area. It was huge, and caused the ground to tremor below its feet.

McKintyre was the first to get a sharp, distinct look at it. It stood over twenty feet tall, upon two thick, powerful legs with immense talons. It's overall coloration was a mottled grey and green, and it rolled a large, muscular tail behind it. It's head was reptilian, with piercing yellow eyes and jagged long teeth. The brash lieutenant recognized what it was, but couldn't believe it was here.

It was a damned dinosaur. A tyrannosaurus rex.

The soldiers and Jeremy backed away from the gargantuan creature. Through the blinding light, one could see the dinosaur clutched something in its mouth. At first Jeremy thought it was a small hippopotamus or ox. But upon a closer look, he realized that he was wrong. The hapless prey was Barney.

The fat purple dinosaur screamed in terror and pain. Flailing wildly with his chubby arms, Barney pounded on the tyrannosaur's snout. If this bothered the dinosaur, it didn't show any sign of it. In fact, it clasped its teeth deeper into Barney's plump purple flesh, spraying ichor and steam into the damp cavern air. Barney's face wore an expression of incredible anguish and horror, an expression that unsettled Jeremy. As he watched, Barney ceased pounding on the tyrannosaur's snout and struggled to free himself from its jaws. This only enraged the dinosaur, and it shook Barney violently, tearing skin and bone from the plump reptile's body.

"Help me, oh please, someone help me!!!" shrieked Barney. "Stop it Mother, stop it!!!"

No one moved to help Barney. The crowd watched, enraptured in the ghastly spectacle before them. The tyrannosaur eyed its demonic spawn trapped helplessly in its titanic maw, feeling its hot blood cascade down its throat. She gained an unusual satisfaction from watching it thrash and struggle, and deep within her bestial mentality, she knew it was good. Another moment she pressed her upper teeth into its soft belly, disemboweling it. She guzzled the steamy intestines and watched the purple reptile cringe and shudder in shock. It was a slow, painful kill.

Even if there was something Jeremy or the soldiers could do to help Barney, it was too late now. The tyrannosaur began grinding him slowly and thoroughly with unforgiving might, and as the Beast of Purple began sinking under her razor-like teeth, he sobbed weakly, thick tears streaming down his face.

"... I love ... you, you love ... me ... we're ... a ... oh ... mother ... how ... could you .......... mother ...."

Moments later the mighty dinosaur roared in triumph, bloody purple strings of flesh and entrails dangling from its teeth. Suddenly there was a crack of lightning and the tyrannosaur and its prey were gone.

The crowd stared in confusion and awestruck silence. A team of medics came running into the chamber, and began administering aid to Jeremy. He was cold and sweaty, his eyes bloodshot and dilated. One of the doctors applied injected a clear solution into the broken man's arm.

"C'mon, Jeremy, pull through for us here," he said. Suddenly he saw Jeremy's lips move and he bent over to hear him. Upon hearing the patient's words, he sat upright with a puzzled look on his face. He signaled the remaining medics to take Jeremy back up to the surface and the team hastily carried Jeremy out of the cavern.

Lieutenant McKintyre walked over to the doctor. "Doc, why the strange look? What did he say?"

The doctor looked back at her. "I'm really not sure, lieutenant. Unless my ear's going out, would've sworn he said, 'cradle broken'".

Epilogue

Jeremy Phillips suffered multiple injuries, internal and external, and when he arrived at the hospital, the surgeon made no promises. The next five hours he and his team worked to save the man's life, as Fran, Lana, the children, and Bill watched in unbearable suspense. Pints of blood were ushered in, and finally the surgeon appeared from the operating room. Chances were good Jeremy would pull through.

The story of Jeremy's ordeal with the Beast of Purple spread worldwide. Many had seen the horrid broadcast emitted from Barney's subterranean studio, and it was unlikely the bloated dinosaur would ever make a comeback again. Letters and flowers arrived from all sections of the globe to Jeremy's hospital room, and he was never short of visitors.

Lana came in and visited her husband frequently, as did Fran. Jeremy often asked about Stacy and Mark, Lana said that treatment had just begun and it would be about a week before the children could come and visit their father. The kids had been severly traumatized by the entire ordeal and would be in therapy for quite some time. The news didn't bother Jeremy, he knew it could have been a lot worse. And he knew they loved him, which helped him sleep at night.

Fran was doing all right, she didn't think there was any need for therapy on her part. She had her housework and boyfriend to keep her occupied, just the thought that the squalid Purple Demon had met his end made her well. Once Jeremy was out of the hospital, she promised him dinner at her apartment.

Bill checked on Jeremy twice a day, and updated him on the development of "Chester Owl and Friends". They found a suiting candidate to take the part, and recording would begin in just two weeks. Would Jeremy like to be the first guest of the new season? Jeremy laughed and told Bill to get home, he'd consider the offer.

It was on the night before Jeremy's release when he awoke in the middle of the night, to discover his window had been pried open. The curtains billowed in the room, and he became aware of an unearthly presence beside him. His hand clutched for the signal button that would alert the evening nurse, but it was gone. When a scaly, taloned hand rested upon his shoulder, Jeremy gasped.

"Jeremy Phillips, I took you for a human of stronger nerve."

The startled man breathed a sigh of relief. It was Maca'hzar.

"God, man, do you have to make that kind of entrance?"

"Only to remain undiscovered, my friend." The Loved One turned on a small table light, illuminating his distinguished reptilian features. He gazed a steely stare into Jeremy's eyes, his slivered black eyes shrinking to thin crescents in the bright glow of the light. He smiled, revealing a row of yellow, jagged teeth.

"If it wasn't for you, Maca'hzar, we'd all be dead," whispered Jeremy. "Barney would've started another age of conquest."

"Perhaps," replied the gaunt, sinewy creature. "As I am of his flesh and blood, my sorcery would've been ineffective against him. A human, pure of soul and resilience, would prove his ultimate undoing. In that light, Jeremy Phillips, I owe gratitude to you."

"What's going to become of you?" asked Jeremy.

"I will leave this world and travel among the planes," replied Maca'hzar, cradling his jewel encrusted staff. "I have no need of this world for the moment. I will return time and time again, to check on you and several others."

"Others? Like who?"

"The one you call Fran."

Jeremy hesitated. "My sister? What ever for, I didn't think you had any particular concern for her."

"I hold a great deal of concern for her, Jeremy Phillips. Largely why I sought to help you, so you could protect her from the Purple One's devices." He saw that Jeremy was confused. He scrunched his scaly brow. "Jeremy, do you remember the nurseries? What they did to those young human females during the time known as the Purple Holocaust?"

Jeremy remembered. Young girls, upon hitting the early stages of maturity, were impregnated by the Beast of Purple, later to give birth to the dreaded gibbering creatures largely referred to as the Loved Ones. The birth was violent and usually fatal, as the infants tended to claw their way out of the mother's stomach upon the beginning contractions. But he failed to see how this would connect Maca'hzar to his sister.

"Jeremy," said the hoary Loved One, "I always wondered if you would be ready for this knowledge. By the time your sister had hit her maturity, Barney had devised a new way to breed his servants. The old process was wasteful, he was losing potential mothers one to every Loved One born. He sought out new ways to spawn his kin, and turned to the abandoned technologies of your former world. Fran Phillips was the first one he used the knowledge on. Her body and mind had begun the essential maturity, and it wasn't long before the Beast of Purple encountered success. A Loved One embryo was conceived, outside the womb with no risk to either parent . . . ."

"A test-tube baby," said Jeremy. "God Maca'hzar, you mean to tell me you're Fran's-"

"It is best that she not know," replied the scaly acolyte. "The egg was extracted from her while she slept. Within seven months the gestation had been complete. But by this time, you had destroyed Barney's first incarnation and the rage he and his servants felt for you was directed upon me. Child of the Great Liberator's sister. They spared my life only to curse and humiliate me. But in time they realized I was above them in intelligence and power, where upon I was cast out to live the rest of my days, alone. Whence upon I developed my powers."

The two beings sat in silence. Jeremy didn't know what to say. Maca'hzar smiled at the human, and lowered his staff.

"We may meet again, Jeremy Phillips," said the Loved One. "Whether or not we do, I will leave this with you. It is yours forever, to remember the trials you've endured." He clasped a smooth, egg-shaped dome of amethyst atop the staff and twisted it off the head of the heavy stick. He placed it into Jeremy's hands and stared into the young man's eyes. "You watch over her, and live well."

Moments later Maca'hzar climbed out of the window and disappeared into the gentle stillness of the night.

Jeremy looked down at the amethyst jewel he held. It was beautiful. He raised it up to the light and suddenly winced. There was an object encased in the center, somewhat stocky and reptilian. Upon a closer look he saw that it was a purple dinosaur, frozen in an expression of agony and terror. Its mouth was wide open, screaming a silent scream, forever . . . .

finis