Chapter 1

To Clean a Fossil

"Vivosaur Island, an island resort run by the Richmond Foundation. The first place in the world to discover the technology for the revival of dinosaurs in the forms of vivosaurs. As such the inhabitants of the island have enjoyed a premium on battle related entertainment and tourism revenue. Similarly, fighters brave enough to climb up the ranks can very well be paid wealthy sums to help in the setup of similar fossil parks, now that Richmond has decided to make the technology public if not still patented. These people become known as Fossil Fighters, the higher class fighters being known, respected, and feared worldwide. Their sole purpose is the excavation and revival of powerful vivosaurs so that they can continue over taking other fighters on the battle field." The boy repeated to himself as a single vessel skirted along deep azure waves, the sunlight beaming down to make the water shimmer.

The captain from his position laughed, sizing up the red headed child. He could barely be 14, maybe even a year or two younger. "Someone is mighty fired up. I'll bet you can hardly wait to get there. Let me guess, you're on your way to the island to become a Fossil Fighter ain't ya? I've seen that twinkle in your eye before! But it says a lot about you, lad. It takes bravery to go all the way to Vivosaur Island, especially on your own. Most people at least have a good friend or family member along for the ride," Captain said with a kind smile. The boy turned to the captain, sure enough the glitter in his eyes was all that needed to be said for him. It was a fire, nearly as bright as the color of his hair. His two blue orbs were trained on the captain with a look of steely determination as he gave a confident nod.

"I'm Captain Travers. What's your name, young man?" The captain asked with a look of curiosity.

"Blaze," the boy replied with a smile that was nearly as brilliant as his eyes. The confidence and strength that shown in his deep blue orbs was brilliant enough to blind the unwary.

The captain laughed. "They call you Blaze? I honestly couldn't imagine a name more fittin' for ye. It's perfect, a great name, I can already picture a famous Fossil Fighter named Blaze. I can see it in you, something about you is a lot stronger than the average fighter I find on my boat, you're goin' far kid!"

The two went quiet again for a couple of moment before Captain Travers caught Blaze off guard with a curious question. "So tell me, which do you like better, carnivores or herbivores?"

The boy pondered for a moment. "Typically I would tell you omnivores, but if I had to pick between the two then I'd have to go with carnivores for certain."

"Do you like the big, strong one or the small and quick kind," the captain returned.

"Oh hands down the big and strong guys. Just because they're big and strong doesn't mean they have to be slow. Because of a little incident, a story I'll maybe tell you another time, my sister got a vivosaur. Big and strong kind, but boy is the bugger quick on his feet!" Blaze said with all the enthusiasm of a starry eyed child.

The captain couldn't hold back a large and shaking laugh. "Alright them, which of these two do you like better? The fiery king, the Tyrannosaurs, or Tarbosaurs, the purple-skinned jaws of death!"

"T-rex all the way," Blaze said with a glint of embers in his eyes.

"I'll remember that. The tyrannosaurus fan, Blaze. Ah! Looks like we're about to arrive at Vivosaur Island. I'll tell you what; I'm technically retiring as a captain. Finally earned enough to settle down. But the sea is in my veins, I could never actually leave it. If you ever need someone to take you some place I can get you there faster and be here sooner than any of the other sailors. Just tell Beth you're one of mine, she'll get it," the man said with a gentle smile.

With goodbyes said and done with, the red head jumped off the boat, his feet once again touching solid ground. The boy, so reminiscent of flame, had never before been so happy to see concrete. Just as Blaze was quietly celebrating his return to land a pair of women walked up to him with great big smiles.

"Welcome to Vivosaur Island, where the dinosaurs of ages past lie asleep as fossils in the ground," the woman that spoke wore a deep blue skirt and dress shirt. Her under shirt was a bright yellow, which together honestly didn't look too bad combined with the soft, light brown shading on her hair, almost light enough to be a sandy color.

The second woman who spoke wore a similar outfit, but her colors happened to be magenta and teal. Once again however they didn't look eye bleedingly horrendous when paired with the light pink russet shading of her flowing locks. "Yes, welcome!"

The first one spoke again. "This is Vivosaur Harbor, Vivosaur Island's only port. New people arrive every day. Some are just fans of dinosaurs, but some are new Fossil Fighters in the making!"

The woman in magenta and teal took over again. "We work here as support staff for the Fossil Fighters. I'm Sue, and my coworker here is Beth."

Beth once again took her turn to speak. "To become a Fossil Fighter, you'll need to visit the Fossil Center and talk to Dr. Diggins. To get to the Fossil Center just go right up this path, straight ahead. You can't miss it."

The way the two had spoken back to back made it seem so rehearsed, but the way the two smiled at Blaze with easy and relaxed expressions spoke volumes to how much they actually liked their jobs. Yes, they most likely said this hundreds of times in a single day, but they both seemed to genuinely enjoy what they were doing, if they didn't then they wouldn't be able to do it so easily.

Blaze's attention was however ripped right from the pair as a man wandered across the street up ahead, muttering to himself. He had dark skin, covered by a pure white lab coat. His cyan locks fell over his face, shadowing similarly cyan eyes. "Scattered isn't he?" Blaze asked as the two women also turned his direction. Beth's face instantly fell into a look of annoyance, but an annoyance that was resigned like she already knew whatever was going on was inevitable. Sue on the other hand outright flinched. The man continued to mutter as he ended up coming near the trio. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes as if he'd realized something.

"Excuse me, Dr. Diggins," Beth spoke up. Her voice was sharp, edged with annoyance that couldn't be put into words. Perhaps she also dealt with this every day. "May I assume you're here to take our newest recruit to the Fossil Center?" Though she phrased it like a question her tone was strained and her words came off harsh, much more like a demand. Sue looked away as if she was seeing a train wreak right before her eyes.

Dr. Diggins looked at Blaze for only a second; the look of scattered confusion was obvious, before he turned back to Beth. "What?! Oh, a new recruit? Of course! Always happy to show a new Fighter the ropes! Let me just… Change this here… And maybe move that there? What was I supposed to do then? What am I supposed to do now? Oh never mind! I'll see you later," the Doctor said before sprinting off at a speed too quick and far too sudden for Beth to respond. There was a moment of dazed confusion in the eyes of the support staff before she managed to turn back to Blaze, schooling her expression.

"That was the head of the Fossil Center, Dr. Diggins," she said with a heavy sigh.

"Often occurrence?" Blaze asked with an empathetic smile.

"Oh yes, far too often if you ask anyone on staff. But he truly is an amazing man. Scattered as he is, he's usually trying to do ten things at once. Of course a couple things here or there get a bit lost before they make it in one of his ears. He'll be responsible for issuing you your Fighter's License. Good luck with that…" Beth said.

"I'll take you to the Fossil Center," Sue said. Her face was a lot more sympathetic, a small smile and a nervous knitting of her eyebrows implied she was embarrassed for the inconvenience, even if it wasn't her fault. Sue led the red head down the street until they were outside the center. "Here we are. I'm always on duty at the waterfront, so if you have any questions, come and ask me anytime. It would be my pleasure to assist in any way I can." The woman walked away, leaving Blaze to him own devices more or less.

Upon entering another woman spoke up. This time the colors were purple and green, her hair almost a greenish blonde. Strange color, not unpleasant, but certainly strange. "Welcome to the Fossil Center, I'm Wendy! If there's anything I can help you with today, please let me know." She said with chipper smile.

Blaze walked over to the counter, returning the look with a giant smile of his own. "Hi there, I'm Blaze. I was hoping I could register to become a Fossil Fighter?"

"Dr. Diggins just returned a little while ago, but has unfortunately wandered off again. It might be a while before he returns or someone finds him. You might want to go over to the hotel and check in while you wait. It's right next door. I'll see you in a little while," Wendy said with a look that was somewhere between Beth's and Sue's. Sympathy, but also deeply rooted annoyance.

Blaze in turned gave her a look of sympathy, knowing exactly how she felt. "People wandering off is just great, isn't it? My sister used to get herself in trouble doing that a lot, I completely understand." The boy gave a slight dip of his head before turning on his heels and darting out of the building. Once outside he was assailed by a scream.

"Waaaaaaah! I can't stop! Out of the way!" A girl cried. Blaze's eyes locked on to the woman running in his direction, her speed was way too fast for her to stop herself. The boy jumped back slightly. He reached out his arms and with a strength that was superior to her speed, was able to stall her.

"Hey, hey! You okay?" He asked with a frown as the girl nearly slammed into the ground. She would have if Blaze hadn't pulled her towards him, bringing her closer to steady her and help her regain her footing. Carefully he let go of her after he made complete sure that nothing was injured or broken and she was able to properly stand.

"I'm so sorry…" the girl said. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"Not at all, you could have honestly ran straight into me and you still would have gotten more hurt than I would have. But, if I may be so bold as to ask, why were you running that fast?" Blaze said. He tilted his head to the side in his confusion.

"I was running to try and get in shape, you know? Anyway, I must have gone too fast, 'cause I couldn't slow down! I'm really sorry," she said with a slight frown.

"No worries, just be more careful next time. Bye, bye," Blaze said with a slight wave, he turned away towards the direction of the hotel and broke into a sprint.

The girl watched him go for a moment. "So cool," she said with a slight glitter in her eyes.

Blaze walked into the hotel wondering how he was going to find his room, only to be greeted by a man that was obviously the manager. "Welcome to the Relic Hotel, where we provide quality lodging for aspiring Fossil Fighters! We've been expecting you, Blaze. Right this way please," the manager said with the upmost respect. It was curious; this man didn't even know who Blaze was. All he knew is that Blaze was able to pay a month's stay up front. Was that really all it took to make people not ask questions? "This elevator will take you to your room. It's the last one on the left. Please enjoy your stay," with that the man bowed his head and once again Blaze was left on his own.

The boy stepped into the elevator, waiting for a moment. The door closed and then his body was being dragged upwards. It was kind of funny to think; in some parts of the world kids his age were just starting high school. In others his 12 year old sister was trying her hand at the preliminaries to one of the first Fossil Fighting competitions in the world, one that in spite of the fact it wouldn't be opening for four years already had to start its preliminary matches thanks to the sheer amount of people that were trying to enter. And here Blaze was, on the island where it all started.

When he got to his room it was plain. Bed, patio, shelf, desk. Nothing more, but he didn't need anything more, so it didn't make much of a difference. He would have dropped off his stuff or something, but he didn't bring anything that he couldn't keep on his person. The only thing of importance he really had was a simple cord necklace that hung around his throat. At the bottom was the fang of a dinosaur, or half of it at least. He and his sister had never figured out what the dinosaur it came from was, but it had been their good luck charm and she'd taken the other half with her.

After getting himself acquainted with his living conditions Blaze turned back to the door, taking the elevator and heading outside. Maybe Diggins would be back in the Fossil Center now. When he walked inside Wendy confirmed his suspicious. She recognized Blaze immediately; she told him that he was the only person on the island with hair of such a bright red. He was even more recognizable than one girl on the island that wore all pink. Even her hair and eyes were pink.

"If you ever meet that girl, be careful. She's a bit excitable and tends to drag others into things with her," Wendy cautioned.

Blaze simply rolled his eyes. "How bad can one person be? Anyway, thank you for telling me about Dr. Diggins return, Wendy. I'm going to go see him now."

Wendy waved goodbye and Blaze headed for the back room, the clean room according to her. "Dr. Diggins. A pleasure to finally get to meet you!"

"Oh! Hi there. Blaze, right? Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Dr. Diggins, the director and head researcher for the Fossil Center. Good to meet you properly. Sorry for my, earlier behavior. This place keeps me a real busy, you know? Anyway Blaze, fossil hunting is all kinds of fun. I shoulder know, it's my life's work after all." The researcher said with a warm smile.

"Do I know. Fossil fighting has always been my biggest passion," Blaze's look turned warm and reminiscent as his mind wandered to a story that was obviously best told over a long conversation with something hot to drink.

"Really now? Then you much have a story like mine," Diggins said with a similar look. Apparently his story was a little shorter as he seemed to launch into it. "I've been interested in fossils since I was a little boy. I broke my mother's favorite teacup and tried to hide it by burying it in the garden. A few shovel scoops of dirt later, I found a strange rock. I stopped digging to get a closer look at it, lo and behold it turned out to be a stegosaurus fossil. I was so excited I forgot what I was doing in the first place. I ran right back inside to show my mother. I got the scolding of a life time when I explained what I'd been doing, but I was too happy to care. That stegosaurus fossil is still my most prized possession," the researcher concluded with a laugh.

"Then why not revive it?" Blaze asked.

"Ah, it's a bit incomplete. Only a bone or two and not of the head variety. Which would of course lead to complications. You need the head to revive the vivosaur and then the rest of the parts are split into body, arms, and legs. The fossil I found doesn't really fit fully into any of these. Even if it did, I don't think I'd want to revive it. I just kind of like having it around. Oh, but that's enough about me. We've managed to get real off track. Let's get back to why you're here, shall we?" Diggins said, turning to the machine in the back and leading Blaze there with a practiced kind of ease.

"As a fossil fighter you search for fossils, dig them up, and then use them to revive dinosaurs in the form of powerful vivosaurs. Keep reviving stronger and stronger vivosaurs and you might hit Master Fighter. Of course you'll have to be careful. We don't know everything we can about vivosaurs yet, there's still a lot we're discovering every day. And fighting with such powerful beasts can be dangerous. You'll bring the fossils you dig up here to clean and revive. Cleaning is one of the most important parts as the better something is cleaned the more powerful it becomes. If you can't get 50 points or above in a cleaning then you can't revive the fossil. It would cause problems with their ability to function, it's better for both them and us. Most people don't do well on their first try, and very few fighters are able to clean about 70 with any true consistency," the doctor explained as Blaze watched a worker in the background flicking a drill across a rock.

"That seems like a low average given how many fighters are on the island. Certainly someone would be good at cleaning fossils?" Blaze asked.

"Oh yes, there are the few here or there that have a talent for it. But most people aren't born archeologists the way that some are. They don't know how to be gentle enough to keep from breaking the bone. A lot of the people that come here to be fighters aren't trained for that kind of thing. Of course people get better with time, but damages happen. You have to actually have practiced skill to clean a fossil well. Why don't you give it a try and see what I mean. I'll even let you keep the vivosaur if you clean it well enough," the cyan haired man said before walking over to a cabinet of sorts. Pulling out a large brown rock he set it down before Blaze, handing him a hammer and drill.

Blaze looked down at the fossil rock, picking up the hammer first. A long time ago when his sister got her first vivosaur she had been given a sonar out of the kindness of strangers hearts. With it she was able to start finding and cleaning fossils. She'd taken to it like an old expert. He never got to clean any but he was able to watch her often, so he tried to remember what she'd do. Chip away the first two outer layers with the hammer, being careful to hit close enough to the last spot that it would continue cleaning, but also being careful enough that you didn't hit bone. Once it was the last layer of soft dirt move on to the drill. Never let it linger in one place too long, skim over the remaining dirt quickly, don't hit the bone. Once you've gotten as much as you can blow away the dust and start hitting the small spots that remain. Good, Dr. Diggins had chosen something with strong bones as the starting fossil, which made things easier.

When Blaze was done he took a step back, his eyes turning upwards to Dr. Diggins. Diggins' eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. "100 percent without the slightest failure, on your very first try."

"My sister was able to start long before I was. We came from an island that was pretty big on fossil fighting. The people there have been doing it for a long time. As soon as she got her first Vivosaur out of sheer luck they started throwing her everything else she'd need. I used to get to watch her clean fossil a lot. Like she'd always say, 'if you know where to hit your hammer the stone isn't that hard'. I think there's truth in those words," the boy said with a slight shrug.

"Well… as worried as I am about giving you such a powerful vivosaur straight out of the gate, you've honestly earned it. There's nothing more I can teach you. Let's go revive your new fossil," Diggins said.

Putting the head fossil into the machine, Blaze watched though the viewing panel as the head disintegrated. It turned into particles of swirling light. Slowly from the feet up a giant creature appeared. It had dark grey skin with a green underbelly. Lining its back and head were massive spikes. "Wow," Blaze breathed as he watched the creature. On the screen was some stats and other nonsense. What drew his eyes was the name. "Spinax". It disappeared and out of the machine popped a tiny medal. Just as Blaze was about to reach out for the medal, Diggins grabbed for his hand.

"Now you be careful Blaze! When vivosaurs are cleaned at a high level they sometimes take on a mind of their own. I've heard of them being dangerous and rebellious, and those are the words of higher level fighters. No one, and I mean no one, has ever cleaned a fossil to 100 before. You are the first on this entire island as far as I know. Which makes me uncertain as to what will happen when you pick up that dino medal," Diggins said with a warry look on his features.

"What do you mean?" the boy asked as he now also eyed the medal warily.

"I've heard of a sort of, bonding process that happens when a fighter revives something above 70. I've also heard about it from fighters that use all the body parts. It's this kind of bonding that causes small and basic thoughts to leak between fighter and vivosaur, it's what helps people to battle and control such astounding beasts. Even then, it's only with certain people. But I'm not sure what might happen between a fighter and such a high class vivosaur," the word high class was enough to give Blaze's ego a kick in the pants. Was he not high class enough for it?

"Those certain people are called Empaths, at least where I'm from they are. They're a lot more common and a lot better at cleaning fossils over there. Most get up to the 90's. One has to be an Empath Fighter to understand their vivosaurs, but only 10 are born every year. Every 100 years there's a special one born, but they're also usually born sick and die early," Blaze said.

"Empath Fighters? I've never heard of that before. You'll have to tell me about what you know. But for now, I'd like to watch this and make sure nothing goes wrong. Go ahead, take the Dino Medal. It's your now.

Blaze reached out with a shaking hand, as his fingers wrapped around the cool medal he could hear wind cries whistling in his ears, sharp and high pitched gales that screamed all around him. Not so much even in his ears, but in his mind. It was a ferocious and panicked kind of sensation, one that screamed and cried and begged for understanding. Blaze was about to be lost in the sensation, he quickly grabbed hold of himself. "Enough!" The silent echoing command brought a complete stop to the wind storm, the air going still and stale.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened to me?" The voice questioned as Blaze tried to get a hold on himself.

"I'm a friend. You… died a long time ago. There are no more dinosaurs. But we revived you, we are humans. And I'm here to protect you and make sure you become as strong as you can be. Together we are going to fight," Blaze replied internally. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Diggins starting at him with complete wonder and curiosity, the poor man had no clue what was going on. It just looked like Blaze had spaced out staring at the medal.

"Fight? I like to fight!" The statement was accompanied by a giant roar that shook Blaze's bones and made him feel weak. A small smile slipped onto his face.

"That's great Zephyr, because we're going to be the best fighters in the land." Blaze's reply was slightly exhausted. This was something he was going to have to get used to still. It was draining.

"Zephyr?" The vivosaur questioned.

"One of the Greek wind gods, it's your new name. Do you like it?" the new fighter questioned. His only response was the great beast giving another fierce roar and falling silent. Blaze snapped out of his trance turning to Diggins. "Alright, I'm done."

"And everything went fine? You know, you look okay. I'll grill you on the details later. You must be getting impatient so let's take that vivosaur to the Fossil Stadium for a test. If you pass the test, you'll qualify for your Fighter's License. I should tell you that most people don't pass their first time, but a lot of people also don't clean a fossil right their first try either," Blaze nodded with a smile as the doctor left to meet him at the stadium. There was a whisper in his ears, a quiet but quick breeze that spoke of Zephyr's growing excitement.

"Alright Zephyr, let's go knock their socks off with your grand debut!" Blaze said. His feet pounded the ground as he bounded outside and made a b line for the Fossil Stadium.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Alright, to anyone that may be reading this, yes, Fossil Fighters is a very old and nearly "dead" fandom. Especially with how many people were turned off by the newest game. But recently I rebought these older games since they were a big part of my childhood, decided to replay them, and then decided to write a story while doing it since I was too young when they first came out.

After I'm done with this story I will be writing one based off of Champions.

I hope that there's at least one person reading this story, and to that one person if you actually exist, please enjoy. If you do, maybe throw me a comment. Those things are an author's life's blood.