This time, Hayden would do it. For sure. During her travels with Captain Marvel she’d experienced a few means of teleportation -- Zeta tubes, Shazam mumbo jumbo, and a smattering of other magical means of movement. But, still, she had never [i]seen[/i] it, the moment of transposition. The interiors of the Zeta tubes were always too bright for her to watch as they transported; and the lion’s share of the other means would apparently melt a mere mortal’s brain into clam chowder upon simple observation. 

It was one of the things on Hayden’s bucket list, the one she started with scratches on the floor of her former cage, and one that only swelled as her experiences broadened. A list of perfect places and staggering sights -- to see the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, to visit Dinosaur Island, to witness the very [i]moment[/i] of instant transport. What would it look like? Conor and Julian’s device smacked of opportunity, to see it before her very eyes… Eyes that were starting to itch.

She kept them open, regardless, as Julian rattled off the teleporter specs and how many teraflops or whozit-whatsits it had. The squad lineup passed her by as she focused on keeping her eyelids peeled back, demanding her saurid eyes didn’t miss the magical moment of transition. There’d be time to see who she was deployed with at the bank, certainly.

Her eyes begged for relief. A quick blink to quell the budding tears in her eyes… Maybe she could chance it, just one. Julian had a way of going on, and on, and on…

Hayden closed her eyes and opened them somewhere else.

“[i]Damnit.[/i]” Dino-Man squeezed his gloved fists. Another chance to see something otherworldly, gone. And Julian had sent the fossilized crime-fighter to the [i]Precinct[/i], away from the real action. Dino-Man made a mental note to turn all of Julian’s tools into a deluge of diminutive dromiceiomimus and make him chase them around the penthouse. But that would have to wait. There were hostages to save, and he could tell the other team was already getting into action.

The impressions from his network of paper dinosaurs were already washing over him, the scent of adrenaline and the faintest copper tang of blood -- the enemy’s, Hayden hoped.

[color=plum]“Someone take out the gunmen”[/color], Gabi said, cracking Hayden’s focus, [color=plum] “I’ve got the big guy.”[/color]

“I can handle a few peashooters, leave ‘em to me! I got this!” Hayden yelled. Hopefully the others would go help Gabi and leave him to his own devices, except for Roy, perhaps. A colorful distraction that wasn’t half bad on the eyes couldn’t hurt…

Besides, Gabi might need the backup. Since he didn’t have the ability, Dino-Man didn’t quite understand it himself, but the scaling on superstrength was [i]weird[/i]. Red was one of the biggest, toughest guys Hayden had ever met, but Gabi could probably punt him like a football -- and who’s to say this goon couldn’t do the same to her? Gabi was a tough cookie, but the prospect of seeing that cookie crumble set her stomach into further dis-ease.

Hayden approached a pair of desks on the bullpen floor of tanned and rusted metal. Whether they were fused together at production or from years of wear and heat was anyone’s guess, but right now they were exactly what he needed.

Dino-Man placed his palms on the metal and concentrated. Something big and brawny, as muscular as Red but as durable as Johnny’s armor. Something that could eat lead and keep going ahead. The dinosaur’s form began to coalesce as sweat beaded beneath Hayden’s mask.

The desks groaned as they twisted and changed, metal scrunching itself into an armored plate with dull, bony spikes protruding around the sides. The surface of the plate lurched forward, defining a snout and a face as the remaining metal folded itself into a chest cavity.

And there it was, a full metal triceratops. Hayden’s hair was damp in his mask, pressed tight against his skull. He ignored the beads of sweat beginning to leak down his face and out the suit’s orifices as he mounted the steel saurid. The triceratops let out an acknowledging bleat as Hayden sidled closer to its head. By sitting far enough ahead, and crouching just a little, he could protect his whole body from the bullets behind the shield of the dino.

“Dial 1-800-DINO-MAN if you need more backup!” he shouted after Gabi. He dug his heels into the triceratops’ sides, “c’mon, boy, we have some fools to foil!”