Chapter Text
"A little more to the right. Now down a bit. Steady, steady, there!" said Revvit as Skya slid the last of the cables into place for Click-Clack to tighten the bolt to hold it in place. It had been hard work but it was finally done. Since the final battle with the D-Brothers, the Trux and Tools had spent the last few days rebuilding the bridge over the chasm, the one over the tar pit, and the slide.
They had also finally cleared out the East Pass and others like it that had been blocked during the rout when the pair had driven all the Trux who lived in the crater out, resulting in the final battle between them, the Flatirons Gang, and their allies. Along with help from the rest of the many Trux and Tools in the crater the group had been able to finally restore their home to what it had once been before being forced to flee.
"Finally, I thought we'd never get this done," said Dozer, as Skya and the Reptools came off the bridge towards him, Ton-Ton, Ace, Waldo and Xee. "Considering we had to rebuild it almost from scratch that would be expected," said Revvit pointedly. "You can say that again," said Waldo dryly, as he climbed up onto Ton-Ton's bed to sit between the front spikes there next to Ace. "Who would've thought two T-Trux could cause so much damage."
"Probably because those two T-Trux were D-Structs and D-Stroy," Xee remarked. "Speaking of T-Trux, has anybody seen Ty? I haven't seen him since we collected the new cables and started putting them in to help hold the bridge up?" said Skya, looking around for said red Trux. "I have a good idea as to where he might be, follow me," said Revvit and he pointed in the direction of the tar pits. The group started forward with the Tools hanging on for the ride.
It didn't take them long to find Ty. He was at the tar pit where they had made their first build together to save Dozer from sinking into the black goo. The bridge had been one of the first things rebuilt and now spanned the whole length of the pit from one side to the other. Revvit climbed down from Ton-Ton's bed before he slowly walked up to his friend's side. "I figured that you would be here," he said as the others came to a stop a few feet away to give the two some space.
Ty closed his eyes and sighed for he knew that his best friend was right. The red T-Trux had been coming to spend time here by himself before and, since it had been finished a couple of days ago, he had been doing it more and more. Any Trux or Tools who saw him there had all agreed and decided that it would be very wise not to disturb him unless it was of the utmost importance. The reason for that was pretty obvious.
Everyone knew just how much this particular structure meant to Ty.
"I know, Rev," he replied. "It's just, having our first ever build destroyed in a single hit just like that it's just... really hard to bear." "You are not the only one, Ty. The others feel about it the same way, but it won't do you any good to continuously dwell on the past. That was one of the first things you taught us when we first came together," Revvit responded. Ty sighed once again. He knew what his best friend said was true. "I know. And you're right Rev, but it's still hard to believe."
"That goes for all of us," said Dozer, as he and the others finally approached the two friends who turned to meet them. Ty looked happier when he saw them. "I know," he answered, "and I'm really glad I met you all. Especially after everything we've been through and done together." "Same here, dude," agreed Ton-Ton. "You showed us that different Dinotrux and Reptools can live and work together in harmony, and that we can achieve great feats by doing so," agreed Revvit.
Ty smiled once again. "Thanks gang that means a lot. Really, it does," he answered. And the others smiled as well in response, happy to see him regaining his normal spirits. "Now I say we get something to eat so who's hungry?" he asked grinning "Finally, I thought you were never gonna say that," Dozer said and the group chuckled together before headeding back towards the garage.
As they did so they noticed that Ty was frowning having clearly gone into deep thought again, only this time, it wasn't about the bridge. "What's on your mind now, Ty?" asked Skya. "I'm just thinking of something that happened during the battle," he replied. "You mean when everyone was helping us in fighting D-Structs and D-Stroy?" replied Ace. "Yes. And I remember correctly during it they had an interesting choice of words to say to each other."
The Trux thought back to the battle outside the tunnel and what the red T-Trux meant soon came to mind.
FLASHBACK
The D-Brothers were an island amongst a sea of Dinotrux that surged forwards at them. Despite each having great strength they were no match for the combined strength that was being thrown against them. Just as they each fought off a Liftasaur Ty saw their opening. "We've almost got D-Structs, cornered," he said. "Dozer, left!" "On it!" the yellow Trux called as he lowered his blade and charged forward at a large boulder.
Hitting it with all his strength, he sent it flying through the air before it came crashing down between their foes as they stood close together, trying to hold off the overwhelming amount of Trux. The attack had its intended effect as the impact forced the two brothers apart. "Ton-Ton, now!" Dozer called. Others fell back to allow the blue Ankylodump to swerve round and send the rocks that were in his bed peltering into D-Structs who tried and failed to deflect them.
He had little time to react except give an angry yell before Skya, Garby and Ton-Ton slammed into him. "This is all your fault, brother," D-Stroy growled out, as he fought off Prong and Heft. "My fault?" D-Structs barked back as he headbutted Garby while Skya latched onto his tail and pulled it round to prevent him from hitting Ton-Ton who slammed into his side. "You've always been weak!" D-Stroy shot back, finally shoving off his attackers while his brother growled rabidly in response.
Ton-Ton left out a yell as he charged at D-Stroy only for the T-Trux to flip him away with his horns. "No, you don't!" Sky cried, latching her hook around his left horn just as he was about to lunge forward at Jaffa, Prong and Heft grunting as she pulled him away from his targets. D-Structs wasn't having an easier time as Flynt fired a jet of water making him choke before letting out a grunt as a Craneosaur slammed into his flank sending him spinning right into a head lock with Ty.
"Ty!" Revvit called from a position on a rock near the two T-Trux making them both look round at him. "We must start to drive them towards the tunnel." In that one single moment D-Structs saw his chance for escape. Like a snake his tail shot out and the claw clamped down on the Reptool. "Revvit!" Ty cried as his opponent dragged his best friend off the rock as he let out a yell of fright.
With a powerful thrust the white and black T-Trux forced Ty back with a loud grunt as Dozer, and other Trux came over to support him. "Stay where you are," he demanded, "or you'll never see your bug again." He shook his tail to secure his prisoner who had tried to squeeze out between the pincers of the claw. Dozer lowered his blade in readiness to charge.
"Dozer! No!" Ty ordered. He knew they couldn't risk Revvit's life. Dozer reluctantly raised his blade as he, Ty, and those gathered with them parted to allow their foe to pass between them. D-Stroy, who was being held by Heft and Garby, watched his brother go and immediately shoved them away from him. "Out of my way," he growled darkly, using his hand to wipe away a back spike that was lodged in his left tread housing.
"Not him." Those two words by D-Structs halted D-Stroy before he could even move and caused him to look up with what was clearly surprise written on his face at the statement. "He's all yours," his brother replied as he continued to pass through the gathered Trux before they once again began to close in on D-Stroy. "Smart as you are, brother," D-Structs said, causing his brother to cast his gaze upon him, "you've forgotten one important thing - I don't share."
END OF FLASHBACK
"That sentence about his strength was probably why D-Structs did not want his brother to share his freedom," said Revvit. "H-h-he never shares remember, he's always said that about himself," said Click-Clack. "Click-Clack is right. Besides the last thing you want to do is call D-Structs weak," said Ty. "We, of all Trux and Tools, should know that," he added firmly. "Something we all know he's far from being," agreed Ace. She added after a short pause. "I hope."
"I just hope that they never come back," said Waldo. "Well if they do, and that's a pretty big if at this point, all they're going to get is dents, and a lot of 'em," said Skya, with her usual grim determination. "Well if they do meet again, they'll most likely want to tear each other apart piece by piece rather than work together after what happened at the tunnel," Ty stated firmly. "I wonder where they are now?" said Ace, wonderingly.
"Hopefully far away from the crater," said Waldo. "I hope you are right Waldo, I hope you are right," agreed Revvit. "After we eat who's up for a game of Patunk, I'm sure we've improved our aim since last time," Ty suggested. "Sounds good to me," replied Skya. "Good? Sounds awesome!" Ton-Ton yelled excitedly and everyone laughed as they continued on their way back towards the garage.
Waldo was quite near the truth about the two T-Trux being far away from the crater. D-Structs and Skrap-It had been on the move for three days only stopping for meals and water if they could find any if they were lucky, for there was little to none of such resources in the Outlands. However since there were just two of them splitting what they found was relatively easy.
Skrap-It, to his great surprise, had even found himself allowed to eat alongside and ride on his master's tread like Revvit did with Ty. While he found it very enjoyable though he had decided it would be very, no, extremely wise not to ask why as he didn't want to shatter the fragile trust that they had started to develop between them.
Their journey had been uneventful with no attacks made by Scraptors, Scrapadactyls or anything that might attempt to try and take them apart. At first they had travelled across a large stretch of flats with massive spikes of dark rock sticking up out of the ground at sharp angles for some time. Now, however, they had reached a large expanse of sand and rock which was, day by day of travelling, becoming more and more made of sand. The beginnings of a desert.
Of course that didn't really specify their location in the slightest.
It wasn't just an increase of sand that was occurring however, the temperature was also steadily rising as they went along. It was because of this that Skrap-It was slowly starting to have doubts about the white and black T-Trux's welfare. He knew from examining his master's inner workings that T-Trux had one of the most powerful engines among Dinotrux along with Dozeratops, Cementasaurs, Dreadtrux and more.
This meant that they had a fairly complex cooling system to send coolant to the engine if it got above its regular temperature. But since he wasn't a Reptool this posed a problem, so in short his master's engine wasn't in the best condition it could be in and the rising heat was certainly not helping matters. This thought and others like them were going round and round in the Scraptool's head as he plodded on.
D-Structs meanwhile was having doubts of his own. While living in the crater he had felt protected as he knew the territory very well, but here in the Outlands, where he was beyond the familiar sights and sounds of his former home, something had slowly started to creep its way into the back of his mind. Something that he had not felt in a very, very, very long time.
Uneasiness.
He had really only felt this feeling once before after he had been separated from D-Stroy that fateful night when he had led the attack on the Hydrodons in the canyon. Looking back on it now he had long since realised how foolish it had been and that his brother had been right and that they should have used the plan they had used for the Rollodons.
Neither of them had the slightest clue where they exactly were and they weren't sure if this desert had an ending, and even if it did, where was it? They didn't even know how long they had been traveling through what seemed to be an endless ocean of sand and constantly rising temperature for what felt like hours. If there was one thing D-Structs had purely hated about Skrap-It from the beginning, it was his constant urge to speak, whether his master actually listened to him or not.
That the Scraptool simply couldn't shut up, no matter how dangerous the situation they found themselves in, and would always have something to say. The other reason D-Structs was so annoyed by this is simple; he was kind of Trux used to peace and quiet without anyone to disturb him, ever. It was at that moment that the white and black T-Trux realized something important.
He wasn't just used to complete silence, he was also used to pure loneliness, being on his own, without anyone around, without anyone who cared for him, without someone who would miss him once his engine shut down. It was also then that he remembered why he had brought Skrap-It on this journey with him in the first place; he stopped thinking and continued listening to Tool's voice and hum of his engine as he continued to roll through the warm sand.
Too warm actually, as D-Structs immediately became aware of the severity of their situation - they desperately needed three things, some ore, shelter, perhaps, and, most importantly, water, and lots of it, if the sounds his engine were making was anything to go by. Skrap-It, as you already know, had been having near enough those exact same thoughts, but was only giving serious thought to them at that moment in time.
He was about to bring the topic up when, as per his usual clumsiness, lost his balance and fell near D-Stucts's right. As he got back up, he accidentally touched the metal housing which protected his treads' inner workings while he was getting up. A very big mistake. "Aaah!" Skrap-It screamed when the hot metal suddenly burnt his foot. The Tool had accidentally touched one of the larva vents during the battle in the volcano with Revvit.
While that wasn't as hot as his master's tread housing, he knew that it was only a sign of things to come. It also drove him one important notion in the Scraptools' mind. They, mainly D-Structs, needed water, shelter, and repairs, now, if they, he, were going to have any chance of staying on the move. He also realised that D-Structs had began to quietly pant, lowering his head so much, he could almost look directly into Skrap-It's eyes.
Said Scraptool was trying to figure out what to do, he knew they didn't have much time, that D-Structs didn't have much time. Said T-Trux had almost forgotten about the Tool due to the heat, he only did so when he realised that Skrap-It hadn't said anything until he had scorched his foot, or maybe it was the Trux just hadn't heard him. When their eyes did meet they both thought the same thing at the same time. This can't possibly get any worse.
And how wrong they were.
A series of loud, piercing screeches made them freeze in their tracks. They knew what that meant. The two slowly looked round and quickly identified their opponents. A pack of Desert Scraptors, roughly eleven strong to be exact, were approaching the Scraptool and, in their rabid minds, almost weak, defenseless T-Trux from all sides at once, the pair were completely surrounded.
"Um, what do we do now kkkkt?" Skrap-It asked nervously, knowing that they were mostly doomed and that his "friend" probably won't answer him. They didn't stand a chance against an entire pack, especially not while D-Structs' condition was slowly deteriorating with each passing minute. What was even worse was that he was most likely nearing the verge of overheating.
They couldn't run, the Scraptors had been smart enough to prevent that right away by surrounding them."We fight," Skrap-It heard D-Structs speak loud enough for him to hear in answer to his question as if it was blatantly obvious. "Fight kkt!? But you're..! We're...!" The Scraptool couldn't think of anything else to say at that moment. "How are we supposed to fight our way out of this?" Skrap-It repeated this question well over ten times in this head and there was no possible answer.
While he was doing so, he had a strong feeling that D-Structs was wondering the same thing as he was. The T-Trux's eyes seemed half-opened to anyone who cared to look but to him, it looked more like that they were half-closed. It was pretty obvious that D-Structs's engine wasn't any better, in conditions such as they were in now, the process was slow, component by component would overheat and simply stop working.
This made him weaker and weaker until his engine shut itself down to protect itself from tearing itself apart. The Tool couldn't keep his eyes off the painful sight, after everything they had been through, this is how it would end, with them being torn to pieces. Here and now, after D-Structs had finally accepted his friendship after so long. Everything was supposed to be better now, perfect actually.
No!
D-Structs always got both himself and him out of their troubles in the end, he would do so this time as well. But unlike those other times, Skrap-It was the only one who could help now. The Scraptors were closing in on them now, the aura of dread that had slowly begun to form in the air was turning thicker and thicker as they did so. What am I gonna do! the Tool tried to think while Scraptors advanced, snarling.
What am I- Skrap-It noticed something that immediately stopped the flow of his thoughts. Despite being in pain, D-Structs had raised his head and body back up, reaching to his full height before staring down at their soon-to-be attackers with a furious look, the one he wore during every battle. Even now he looked threatening and almost as fierce as he always did.
Even the Scraptors were surprised. So much so that they actually stopped closing in. The white and black T-Trux concentrated hard, he knew his best and only chance was to try to scare them off. He only prayed that he was capable of frightening off a pack this big, actually, he hoped that he was capable of that while he was like this. D-Structs summoned all strength that he had left in his frames and it left his body in one powerful, fearsome, awe inspiring roar.
The Scraptool was pretty sure that the ground started shaking because of the force that it contained. Like before, Skrap-It was, understandably, and as usual amazed at such a display. He was well aware of D-Structs's strength and great power this T-Trux possessed, he had been on the receiving end of it more times then he could count but this, this was simply astonishing, heck, it was simply incredible.
It had also helped him to understand something else that was equally, if not more important. It was one of the biggest reasons D-Structs hated Ty so much. The white and black T-Trux was stronger, bigger, fiercer, and, on certain occasions, a far better fighter than his red counterpart but never once had he someone who had his back, and it was that simple reason, is why he had lost both the fight against the Flatirons Gang and the crater.
Back in the present, it had seemed that D-Structs had done it. As a result of his roar, all of the Scraptors a few steps back away from them, three of them had run off instantly before the roar had even died away. The remaining eight others were still staring at the T-Trux and Scraptool, despite the fierce warning display and looking slightly scared, they held their positions. After all, they still had an advantage in numbers.
Skrap-It then chose that moment to have one of his unfortunate moments of preemptive celebration at the thought that that was it. That the affair was over. He was so sure that in a few seconds the rest of the pack would flee also. "You did it, we're kkkkkttt saved!" exclaimed happily, shocked but also immensely relieved despite everything that had happened in the past few minutes.
D-Structs heard his friend already celebrating but he knew this wasn't over yet. It was far, far from being even remotely close to that. The white and black T-Trux was doing his best not to look as weak as he felt. He knew the fatal consequences that would happen if he lowered his guard. The second he showed their attackers how defenseless he was, they would attack.
And as much as he hated to admit he knew that he could not fight his way out of this. His head was slowly lowering once again, but he could barely find the strength to lift it up again. For some reason, his parts didn't want to obey his will anymore. He could only guess that the components which controlled them must have already seized up from the heat stopped working.
His head fell back to the height of his treads. That was more than enough assurance for the Scraptors that their target was dreadfully weak. Finally, the one closest to the pair jumped on D-Structs's side but T-Trux quickly managed to shake it off. One thought ran through his mind. He would make sure that their attempts at scrapping him would be the hardest thing these creatures did and they would pay for it.
The white and black T-Trux refused to give up as long as he still could move. But trouble was, that might not be the case for long. When the Scraptors finally did attack, Skrap-It felt a strong urge to hide and leave D-Structs to fight, as he would always do. But there was nowhere that he could possibly hide from them. For miles around them it was only sand, sand, and more sand.
Not even the tiniest rock, which could serve as a possible place of shelter, was in sight. He had decided to try and move away from D-Structs for starters, as he always did when they got into a fight but he didn't make more than five steps, which, incidentally, wasn't much, before a Scraptor appeared in front of him, seemingly out of nowhere. The situation then became starkly clear in the Tool's head.
I have nowhere to hide, I can't run, but then what can I do?! he kept asking himself when suddenly the savage scrapper who stood in front of him vanished. It only took him a few seconds to quickly realise what had happened to it. D-Structs had happened. The T-Trux had saved his Scraptool friend. But now he was the one that was being swarmed by all of the Scraptors at the same time in an attempt to disorientate him.
Skrap-It's mind then became crystal clear as he understood what he had to do. He had to fight. Almost with thinking what he was doing, he jumped on one of many Scraptors attached to D-Structs tread housing. He climbed onto his head and struck it directly in the eye with his tail hammer, causing the Scraptor to screech in pain and fall off. Unfortunately, the Tool forgot to jump off the Scraptor so he fell onto the sand as well.
Seeing the Scraptool's brief, if somewhat foolish attempt at courage, D-Structs, completely surprising himself for the first time in a long while, felt inspired and managed to shake the few remaining attackers off of him and two more of the predators ran away. The Scraptool began to think they would actually be able to fight off all of their attackers and make it out in one piece. Out of the eight that rushed had them, only five now remained.
Unfortunately, it was then that the worst happened. Suddenly, there came a loud hissing sound from D-Structs's engine, Skrap-It turned in time to see steam start to seep from his friend's coolant system. At the sight of the steam, the Scraptors had drawn back a few paces, expecting a new trick. But now they had regrouped and slowly advanced. All of them were ready to pull the unconscious T-Trux and the devastated Scraptool apart.
At that moment, nothing mattered to Skrap-It anymore. He had accepted his fate and was now ready to let them do whatever they wanted. He didn't care what would happen to him. The Tool placed his head next to the vent on D-Structs's tread housing and listened as hard as he could for any signs that would prevent him from fearing the worst even though he was already starting to think it. Like before, the white and black T-Trux was still alarmingly hot to the touch.
Then Skrap-It noticed something that brought hope back into his whirlwind of despair. Pressing his head close to the vent he could feel weak, but steady vibrations flowing out to him. "His engine... It kktt, it still works!" Skrap-It whispered in shock and his hopes suddenly returned- "Aaah!" He screamed when Scraptor suddenly jumped up next to him. D-Structs's engine was still functioning true, but it wouldn't work forever and they were still surrounded by Scraptors.
"We're still kktt doomed anyway kkkttt!" Skrap-It started screaming desperately, he felt powerless, unable to do anything. Since he had met D-Structs he had always been continuously trying to prove to the white and black T-Trux how useful he could be to him. He, and later his older brother had been right in treating him like a greedy, futile, cowardly fool, he was completely and utterly useless.
Now, to cap it all, the Scraptool was incapable of helping his friend when he needed it the most. The Scraptors slowly closed in on them, soon, they would be all over both D-Structs and him. "No." A grim, fanatical determination filled his systems and overtook his mind. "You're not scrapping him today kkkttt! Not before you scrap me!" Skrap-It had nothing left to lose, he would defend his friend, the way D-Structs defended him. No matter the cost.
He managed to get two of the Scraptors off of D-Structs by jamming their treads before one of them grabbed him while another of the creatures was getting ready to pull him apart. Skrap-it decided to look away, he closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. The Scraptor's jaws were creeping closer and closer to the Tool's face when he heard something that made the Scraptor that was holding him open its jaws and drop him.
Unfortunately for him, his head collided heavily with the white and black T-Trux's tread housing on the way down. His eyelids flickered rapidly as he struggled to stay awake. The last thing he saw before he blacked out entirely was a large dark shape envelop one of the Scraptors before throwing it away followed by smacking another in the opposite direction. At last the force of the impact overcame him and he fainted dead away.
D-Structs was likewise. He had expended the final reserves of his strength in the battle and could see a black wave steadily rising to cover his vision. Desperately, he tried in vain to prevent himself from being drowned in it but it was a fruitless endeavour. The white and black T-Trux then heard the roar at the same time as Skrap-It, but was unable to identify who it belonged to. And yet... there was something familiar about it.
It was something that he just couldn't place. Like he had heard it somewhere before. Long ago, when had been young. In those days, he hadn't been alone. It was this lone thought which stayed in his mind before, like his companion beside him, fell away in an exhaustive unconsicousness. Had either of them managed to regain their bearings and seen who their rescuer was, they would have been in for a tremendous shock.
Having dealt with the Scraptors, their "rescuer" roared one more time to send them on their way before turning to face the pair. The female T-Trux, for that was who had come to their rescue, immediately became alarmed when she saw that duo were both unconscious and unresponsive. "Oh no!" Three smaller figures, a Scraptool, Junktool and Reptool appeared from the lower side of a dune close by at this exclamation.
They immediately scarpared across to the side of their larger companion. The Reptool immediately darted forward towards D-Structs while the Scraptool went to Skrap-It's side and the Junktool stopped beside their Dinotrux friend as they moved closer to the former, concern in her eyes. "Are... Are they...?" she could not bring herself to say what they feared to be the worst.
"He's weak from exhaustion and his inner workings have been heavily damaged from the heat and what appear to be many months of damage," the Reptool replied gravely. They glanced down at their Scraptool friend who was tending to Skrap-It. He glanced up at them and met their gazes. "He's fine. A nasty bump on the head, probably from when he fell against this one's tread housing when you appeared," he said, glancing up at their larger companion.
The T-Trux sighed. "I see." They turned to the Reptool. "Can he be repaired?" she asked, trying to keep her expression guarded. "With time and new parts, he will be as good as new," the Reptool replied. "But right now we need to get them both out of here and into some shade," added the Junktool. "Though how we're getting him back safely is the main question we currently need to answer."
"I believe that's where we come in," came a voice from above them. The quartet looked up and saw two female Pteracopters slowly descending down towards them before landing on the desert floor. They were both larger than Prop-Top and her squad, standing on the ground they were at least a full head taller then any of the four and, unlike them, had a much darker grey, almost black paint job.
Their crests were also different. The first one had a diagonal dark purple one with a white stripe. It was like Navs' one but it was only half the thickness of his. She also had an aura about her that spoke of her untold strength and commanding personality. Her companion was of a similar disposition but looked a little younger and a bit kinder than her elder counterpart.
Her crest was like Prop-Top's but was a dark green with a lighter stripe of the same colour and was more triangular and aerodynamic in shape. Needless to say, when she saw the size of D-Structs, her eyes nearly popped out. "Look at him!" she exclaimed. "He's nearly as tall as you!" she added to the female T-Trux. "Yes, thank you, sis, we noticed that," her fellow 'copter deadpanned, causing the other to look sheepish and chuckle nervously as a result.
Their companions all rolled their eyes simultaneously, this wasn't the first time they had witnessed such moments between the two siblings. Shaking her head, their Trux friend got them back on track. "I suggest you two get hooked up and fly on ahead, he needs shade and repairs, we'll meet you both back at the cave." The two Pteracopters both nodded before activating their engines and taking to the air.
While they did so, the three Tools climbed up onto D-Structs' back and began directing them into position until they were hovering directly over him. The sisters then lowered their hook clamps which, guided by the trio, were fixed securely to the sides of the white and black T-Trux's engine compartment. Then, with infinite slowness and the utmost carefulness, the pair gently took up the strain.
Soon, and after the Tools had jumped back down to the ground and climbed onto their Trux friend for the ride back, carrying Skrap-It with them, and with their precious cargo swaying gently beneath them, they rose into the sky. After making sure that things were properly secured they watched as the strange sight of the two siblings with D-Structs hanging below, flew off into the distance.
The female T-Trux shook her head before following off after them, making sure to keep the two in sight just in case the worst decided to happen. Eventually, they arrived, or in the copter's case landed, near a set of giant rocks. To any outside Trux or Tool that was exactly what they looked like. In reality, however, if anyone were to chance a look at them much, much closer, they would have seen that they were anything but.
A cave entrance was cleverly concealed between them with a series of large, carefully painted pieces of scrap placed at intervals which prevented any prying eyes from seeing the very entryway itself. The copters turned their rotors upwards and slowly lowered themselves and their "passenger" down. They waited until the others arrived and, after making sure that he was safely down, landed on the ground themselves.
None of them needed their headlights for the way was already lit by two long rows of lightning bitbug lanterns at regular intervals hanging from the roof. The tunnel sloped down which showed that most of it was underground which, for D-Struct's sake, meant that the temperature would be lower than it already was. It had, of course, already lowered substantially as they had made their way out of the worst of the small desert.
They then faced the arduous task of getting him inside. In the end, that fell to the female T-Trux who, grabbing hold of his tail with her own, slowly and, with the constant surveyance of Scraptool and Reptool, the Junktool had gone on ahead to make sure that things were ready for them to repair him. The tunnel didn't slope downwards at that sharply an angle but it was still a bit of an operation for her with the weight of an unconscious Trux at her back.
Soon though, the tunnel levelled out and more and more could be seen jutting off in different directions, also lit by lines of lightning bitbug lanterns. Eventually, they arrived at a massive cavern that was lit by four huge lanterns that were far bigger than the smaller ones in the tunnels. In one of the far corners was a large pile of ore of various kinds while in the other, a large underground pool formed a source of water for the occupants.
Up against the back wall were several sets of large wooden platforms and shelves that stood on thick legs which were reinforced with metal for added strength so as to support the weight of the Tools as they walked around on them and climbed the various ladders to reach different heights of access. Small bins had been cut into the rock as a way to store bits, nuts, bolts, and other assortments needed for repairs.
Several large repair bays were marked by these structures which had small tunnels which were also carved out of the rock that interconnected them with the top most platforms to allow for easy access. With the help of the Pteracopter sisters, the female T-Trux maneuvered D-Structs around before pushing him into one of these aforementioned bays so that the Tools could begin work on him.
As she did so, three more Reptools emerged from where they were storing some more parts. Their eyes widened at the sight of the white and black T-Trux and unfamiliar Scraptool being brought in before they scurried over to show they were ready to help. The moment he stopped moving they immediately started climbing over him along with the trio who had been with the three female Trux to check what needed to be repaired and replaced.
Several minutes passed before they all finally emerged and returned to the top of the platform on his left side. "Well?" asked the female. "How bad is he?" The sextet all exchanged glances in a worrying silence before the first Reptool spoke up. "To be honest, not good," he replied whilst shaking his head in addition. "Fired coolant system, busted spark plugs, dust particles jamming up his inner workings, damage from numerous impacts, crude welding-"
"And even more concerning is that we found metal fatigue starting to form on his hydraulics from nearly constant use and battling," interrupted the Junktool. His sentence made a shiver run through the three Trux. They all knew perfectly well what he was talking about. Metal fatigue were two words no Dinotrux or Tool never wanted to hear. The equivalent of a terminal illness to you or me, metal fatigue is an accumulation of cracks caused by excessive strain.
The only effective treatment known was a complete replacement of the damaged parts in question which was both extensive, and time-consuming. To make matters all the more complicated, fatigue-ridden Trux often ran the risk of becoming unable to move under their own power afterwards. The risks were very well known. Adding to that, the chances of such an operation, as already mentioned, were extremely high.
Further complicating matters were the facts that one, if left untreated the infection would spread and eventually destroy the victims' workings from the inside out, two, render them completely immobile if they decided to, again, as already mentioned, and third, that taking either decision was known to cause immediate splits among others when word of it got around. Some would press the infected to take the operation while others respected their choice to simply live with it.
Had D-Structs been awake, he probably would have gone for the former option, considering the fact that he would never go to Ty and his friends as he had always avoided them like the plague. Well, he avoided them unless certain circumstances forced him into contact with them. Once when he had lost his tail, when he had been forced to team up with Ty in order to get rid of the female Dreadtrux when they had first encountered her.
"Is there any hope?" the second of the Pteracopter's asked, worry creeping into her voice. Despite being a bit of a hot head at times, she cared deeply for her sister, friends and all those who came under their care. The Tools all looked at each other for a moment before the Scraptool answered her. "I would normally say that there is always hope," he replied. "But in this case, all we can do is try our best and await the outcome."
"Then get to work at once," ordered the female T-Trux, urgency in her voice. "And if there is anything you need, just let us know." The Junktool jumped onto the white and black T-Trux's left hand tread housing and spoke without looking up as he began fiddling with something she couldn't see. "A new set of freshly forged hydraulic casts would definitely be welcome for starters," he replied.
"And some quiet as well," the second of the three Reptool's added, shooting a look at the two copter sisters who looked at each other before they both looked away to different sides of the cavern, trying, unsuccessfully, to make it appear that they themselves were not the objectives of such an expression. "Come on you two," said their Trux friend as she rolled towards the tunnel they had come in by, after allowing the two remaining Reptools to jump on for the ride.
"We've got a lot of work to do." "What the Scraptool?" asked the second one, looking up at her. "He'll be fine," their Scraptool replied. "The only damage he's received from this whole ordeal is a bad bump on the head. I've no doubt that he'll be sore when he eventually does come around but that's really it." "Well, at least that's one less thing that we have to worry about," said the first Pteracopter sister.
The trio rolled, or in the case of the latter two, walked out of the cavern as the sounds of clanking, screwing, hammering and others associated with maintenance work and repairs echoing out behind them. Their faces were set in grim determination at the task ahead of them. Fixing D-Structs was going to be a tough and delicate challenge, but it was a challenge that they would face head on.
Their destination was down one of the many side tunnels. Shortly, a red glow started to appear at the end of it and, eventually, the quintet emerged into another massive cavern, only this one had a large larva pool against the other wall. A series of stone troughs could be seen containing water that were used to cool down the newly forged parts. Several stone slabs lay on the ground, some with shapes carved out into their tops while others remained blank.
These were the molds that were cut by the Tools before molten scrap metal was poured in to make the new part that was needed. This also applied to nuts, bolts, screws, hinges, bits, and many other bits and bobs. It was a complex operation but the results were well worth the heat and dust that came with it. A loud yawn coming from a corner got their attention and they turned to see a Trux waking up from a nap he had been taking and stretched his arms while yawning.
He was dark green in color, and, at first glance, resembled a T-Trux. However, he was slightly smaller and skinnier. His head was more triangular than rectangular in shape with a small pair of horns jutting out from his brow. His clawed hands were also longer and larger in proportion to his body than the females' or D-Struct's were. His tail, rather than a wrecking ball, drill, claw or hook, consisted of a series of intertwined metal tubes, endeding with what appeared to be an injector.
Furthermore, his paintwork was covered in soot and ash making him look extremely grubby with only a few flecks of his original colour showing through the layers of grim that were covering him. Moreover he had not even buffed out the numerous scratches and nicks marring his frame, leaving him to look a bit more battle-hardened next to the female T-Trux's own relatively untarnished paint job. All in all, it made him cut a much more intimidating figure.
"Nice to see you're awake, Forge. Though I'm still surprised how you can sleep in here considering how hot it can get," said the first Pteracopter sister. The Trux she had addressed with this name simply chuckled at this statment. "The only reason you two don't spend as much time down here as we do is because you have to worry about your inner workings," he replied, his voice coarse and rough from working in his current location.
"Very funny," the Pteracopter shot back while her sibling was keep her beak tight shut whilst trying desperately not to laugh out loud but was only successful in being able to stifle the brunt of it while letting out a few snickers at the banter between her older sister and their friend. This wasn't even the first time they had gone at each other, not even the eighth but every time they did so it was still extremely amusing.
"Anyways," said Forge, turning to the T-Trux. "What brings you down here? Something important no doubt." She nodded. "Very important," was her reply. "We found a T-Trux and a Scraptool in the Treacherous Barrens, they were being attacked by Desert Scraptors until we saw them off. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done to the both of them," she added gravely.
The other Trux frowned. "How bad are they?" he asked. "The Scraptool only suffered a bang on the head, he'll come around soon," said the first Pteractopter. "His friend on the other hand, well, I'll spare you the full list, but his worst injury is an emerging case of metal fatigue." Forge drew in a sharp breath before wincing heavily, he was clearly well aware of what those words meant and the consequences that they entailed.
"How bad is it?" "From what we can tell it is an early stage of the disease," replied one of the Reptools, as he and his companion jumped off the T-Trux and onto the stone slab that was the closest to her. "If we can repair the damaged part now, then we can successfully treat him before it gets worse." "Well, it's not like he really has much of a say in the matter," the other Reptool replied.
Forge nodded before half turning around and called out to the back of the cave. "Slammer," he called. There was no reply. "Oh, where is she?" he grumbled before raising his voice into bordering that of a roar. "Slammer!" A low growl followed by a clanking noise, which grew louder and louder as their owner approached. From out of the darkness of the back of the cavern came a female Poundersaurolophus.
She was skinny, battle-scarred, and grizzled, dark orange eyes, a broad, somewhat flattened face, bony haunches, and a long, dull, patchy, and scratch filled fur. Her arms looked torn and ragged, and she had cracked and blackened teeth that had clearly seen better days. Even her hammer wasn't spared, a long scar ran down the front of it while the yellow ring that was characteristic with her species was only a few specks and scrapes of remaining paint.
More to the point, she did not look happy at being yelled at. "Do you have to call so loud," she grumbled, glaring up at Forge as she came up to the group. "Well excuse me for disturbing your beauty sleep," he replied sarcastically. "Not that it does you much good anyway. Besides, I'm not the Trux who's half deaf." The female Pounder got right up in his face, eyes narrowed to such fine points that they looked like rain drops.
"Care to repeat that?" she asked in a dangerously calm tone that could cut through steel whilst hinting at a volcano that was about to erupt. The other simply rolled his eyes, clearly unfazed by the threat, having heard it many times before. "You know what I mean, Slammer," he replied. "Now get yourself into position, we've got hydraulic casts to make, one of our new arrivals has metal fatigue."
Hearing this brought an immediate change in her demeanour from menacing to a quiet listener, ready to carry out whatever order she was given, as, quite clearly, she knew as well what was being talked about and what needed to be done to prevent it. "Help the Tools get everything ready, I'll join you in a moment." Giving only a single nod in return and without a word, the female Poundersaurolophus and the two Reptools headed over to another separate cavern and disappeared from sight.
Whilst they did so, Forge turned back to the female T-Trux, his face holding a grim expression. "We'll do what we can," he replied. "For now, all you can do is tend to the wounds you and the others can heal, and wait for us to finish working. We'll come up to you when we're done with making the new casts." "Very well." That was all she said before she and the two sisters turned and headed out of the cave and back to where D-Structs, Skrap-It and the rest of the Tools were.
A single thought was running through her head over and over again, continuously as they made their way along the passage.
I won't fail him again. Not after being given this second chance.