Crater of the Dead

Chapter 1 - Marooned

It was all over. They had fallen off of the bridge, and they felt like they weighed tons as they plummeted into a misty chasm of nothingness. But they soon discovered that there was an end, and they came crashing down into a raging river that showed no mercy.

Each of them were thrown and battered against fast currents and sharp rocks, and none of them suffered more damage than Ty. With him being the biggest Trux, he was a much bigger target that sank deeper than the others. He was losing air, his vision was becoming hazy, and he could just barely make out a large rock with a sharp point as he was pushed closer and closer until…

His head collided with the sharp point, as it dug into his skull and created a large crack in his chassis and his right eye. Partial vision quickly became the least of Ty's problems, though, as he felt his conscious slip and the water around him darkened with his own oil and blood.

Ty's good eye rolled back as his mind faded away, and he could do nothing as he went still and was carried away by the current.


Ty felt something uncomfortable and gritty underneath him, as he was being dragged out of the water. His ears rang loudly, and the vision in his right eye was completely useless now.

"Ty…Ty, get up!" a voice shouted when the ringing started to subside, and it sounded like Skya. Ty wanted to respond, but his entire body was racked with intense pain, especially his head. All he could do was listen to the frightened voices of his friends.

"What's wrong with him, Rev-Dude?!"

"I am not entirely sure, Ton-Ton. He has a sizeable fracture on his skull, and it could get infected if it is not treated soon."

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's fix him and figure out a way back home already!"

"But we don't have the parts ta treat him."

"Ace is right. All we can do now is make sure he stays hydrated and let him rest."

The others reluctantly took Revvit's advice, as they stared down at Ty in silent fear. They had no idea what happened to him before they were marooned, but whatever had happened left their friend and leader lying in a motionless heap of raspy breathing.


Ty stirred when a sharp pain entered his torso, specifically his stomach. His internal organs growled intensely when he tried to lift his head from the sand; his vision and hearing were much clearer, and he could hear the faint sound of soft waves hitting the shore—but that was it.

There were no other engines, no scuffles or battle cries, and no other voices. Ty slowly looked around, and found that he was completely alone and that night had fallen. He might have marveled at how the moonlight sparkled on the sand, but the pain in his stomach quickly reminded him of its presence with another gurgle.

Ty arched his back in an attempt to ease the pain, but to no avail; he started breathing heavily when he felt like his insides would soon be spilled against his own will, and his vision started to get fuzzy again. His pupil started to enlarge until it nearly blackened his entire good eye, and what was left of his vision was now nothing but a blanket of red.

But amidst the red colors were the occasional blue, green and white colors, and they all showed him the one thing he craved: Food. And Ty's prayers were answered when three large masses suddenly burst out from a nearby cave, followed by a group of much smaller beings. His instincts told him to go after the smaller creatures first, and he could do nothing to fight his hunger.

Meanwhile, the other Trux and the Reptools had barely managed to escape a pack of Scraptors after venturing into a cave in hopes of finding a way back home. Even if it was a chance for them to go back to the crater, there was no way they were going back in with the Scraptors flooding out and blocking their way.

"Try keeping your mouth shut the next ya think about jinxing us, Dozer!" Skya snapped at the said Dozeratops.

"How about I shut your mouth?!" Dozer shouted back.

"Now is not the time to be fighting each other! We must fight the real enemy here!" Revvit scolded in annoyance.

But just when the Trux were about to lunge at the Scraptors, a ferocious roar echoed throughout the air and shook everyone's chassis. They thought that they recognized the roar, but Ty had never made such a powerful noise before. Sure enough, it was none other than the red T-Trux himself, as he came barreling towards the Scraptors at top speed.

And as Ty sped past the others, Revvit caught a quick glimpse of the enlarged pupil in Ty's left eye when the latter turned towards them for a mere second. And as soon as they saw Ty, the Scraptors shrieked in terror and retreated back into the cave, but Ty kept pursuing them.

"What's he doin'?! He can't take them all on at once!" Ton-Ton exclaimed in fear.

"Then let's not wait around and let him hog all the fun! C'mon!" Skya demanded before going back into the cave, and the others were following close behind.

As they went back into the cave, they heard Ty's grunts and roars echo off of the cave walls, along with the frequent cries of agony from the Scraptors. They realized that whatever Ty was doing to defeat them, it must be working. They didn't want to wait to find out what it was, though, so they sped up and followed the echoes.

Eventually, they came into a chamber that was full of countless tunnels that branched off in many different directions, but they could hear Ty's engine revving close by. And it was a good thing that they couldn't find Ty at first because the maze kept them from seeing a horrific sight; while Ty was still in his enraged and hungry state, he had caught an unlucky Scraptor.

He held the limp body of the scavenger in his jaws, as the upper half was already sliding down his gullet. Ty tilted his head back to swallow the rest of the Scraptor, and it finally disappeared down his throat just before the others rounded a corner and found him.

"Ty! Thank goodness you are ok!" Revvit cheered at the sight of his best friend.

The red T-Trux tensed up when he heard his best friend's voice, and his pupil suddenly started to shrink back to its normal size. Ty breathed heavily while shaking his head, and then finally turned towards the others.

"Rev…guys…you're all ok?" Ty spoke, his voice meek and raspy.

"Thanks ta you, we are," Dozer answered.

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone take on a pack of Scraptors on their own like that—well, we didn't actually see it, but you obviously did it," Ton-Ton rambled on in amazement.

"Wait…what did I do?" Ty asked in shock.

"What do ya mean, what did you do?" Skya repeated with a chuckle, "Have ya got short-term memory loss or something? You just took down a bunch of Scraptors by yourself. That's pretty badass."

Ty's eyes widened in horror. From what little memories he could recall of his "episode," he couldn't remember killing any Scraptors. And if what his friends are saying is true, then he must have done something horrible and unbelievable to have beaten them on his own. And until he found out just what he did, he wasn't going to let his friends find out.

"R-Right…I was just doing what I could to protect you guys," Ty lied.

"And you did it well. But perhaps you should rest now. If you continue to irritate that fracture on your head, it will become too infected to repair," Revvit regretfully informed, and jumped up onto Ty's head to prove his point. The Reptool then gently prodded the wound, to which Ty instantly winced and hissed in pain.

"Huh…hadn't noticed that was there," Ty seethed through clenched teeth.

"But now that we've taken care of our Scraptor problem, how're we gonna solve our gettin'-back-home problem?" Dozer cut in.

"Climbin' the cliffs and goin' through this cave didn't work, so I'd say it's back over the ocean we go," Ace replied firmly.

"And I think that is quite possible. If we were to build some sort of floatation device that is strong enough to withstand all of our combined weight-."

There was an awkward pause when Revvit suddenly stopped mid-explanation to let Ty finish his sentence like the two always did for each other. But this time, Ty seemed to be spacing out too much to notice.

"Hello? Earth ta Ty?" Skya sang before banging her hook against Ty's head to get his attention, which effortlessly worked.

"Huh?! What?! …Oh, sorry…my stomach just…really hurts right now…I can't stop thinkin' about food," Ty explained nervously, much to Revvit's confusion and curiosity. The said Reptool squinted while looking into Ty's good eye, and noticed that his pupil was starting to enlarge again, but not by much.

If enlarged pupils were any indication, then Ty's condition could only be getting worse. They had to get off of this island, and fast.

"Alright, Trux! I will be taking Ty's place so that he may rest, so let's Trux it up!" Revvit proudly announced, and everyone immediately went to work on gathering supplies for a raft.

But before Skya drove off, Revvit jumped up onto her and climbed up her neck.

"Could I ask a favor of you, Skya?" Revvit questioned.

"Sure. What's up?" Skya happily replied.

"I am worried about Ty—he is acting a little strange. Do you think you could keep a close eye on him, and inform me immediately if you notice anything else that is off?"

"Ok, but I don't see what the problem is. He's just a little disoriented from the fall, and that huge crack in his noggin. I'm sure he'll be fine, Rev."

Revvit wanted to believe Skya, but something about Ty still rubbed him the wrong way. And the image of the hunger and rage in Ty's eyes when he was chasing the Scraptors haunted Revvit's mind.


Ooh, I'm already getting chills, and I just started writing this. Trust me, if you're into suspense and lots of violence, I bet you'll love this.

Also, if you go check out the link to my DeviantArt gallery on my profile, you can find my drawing of Zombie Ty.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!