Little Tsu: Ok, this is gonna be slow till I finish up a few stories, which I really SHOULD get around ta finishin' instead of bloody comin' up with more new STORIES! Anywho, this is...sorta maybe a test run. I've done a few Fossil Fighters stories before, but none from the latest game, Frontiers, which I absolutely love. In any case, the oc in this story is named Masa, but she's not the same Masa as from the previous stories with her Nychus partner, Raze. Instead, this is actually, the female main character, but I named her Masa in my game. Also, "Nibbles", who I named Raze, isn' actually in this. Instead, my favorite & most used Vivosaur is in his place, which you'll jus' have ta read ta find out who & what he

Side note: I had NO idea what ta call this story so sorry for the possibly lame title.x.x"

A Rival's Denial

Ch: 1

The more she really began to think about this, the more Masa was coming to realize this miiight have been a bad idea...

...Ok, scratch that. This had been a totally reckless and insane idea on her part, but she had a perfectly good reason for it!

She had absolutely thought she could handle exploring the terrain of Starry Falls on her own without any of her Paleo Pals.

After all, she had had her totally kick ass Vivosaurs with her. It was fool proof!

...Ok, so maybe it wasn't totally fool proof and all, but hey!

How did she know that that Lythro would go completely insane and smash right into her Turf Shredder? It completely blindsided her and sent her Bone Buggy spinning out of control!

...Which actually brings Masa to her current predicament...

Sighing softly to herself, the young teen Warden sat there upon the roof of her out of commission Bone Buggy; its dark blue paint job well hidden within the darkness of the small cave she had been spun right into...Which one would suppose that was actually rather lucky of her. Otherwise, she thinks that Lythro would be having her for a snack right about now...

"...I wonder if anyone's out there looking for me?"

A loud, fierce roar just outside of the small cave was heard in practical response towards her question causing Masa to grumble under her breath as she glanced off to the side.

"I didn't mean you..."

A low, rumbling hiss was heard right next to her KO'd Turf Shredder, causing her to glance down. When she did, the sapphire haired teen sighed once more and managed to form a faint smile onto her features. All of her Vivosaurs that she had revived were all within the database of her Buggy and with it out of commission, she couldn't bring any of them out.

Well,...not that she really needed to anyways.

Looking up at her from his position in the grass and dirt mixtured ground was a V-Raptor that was laying, curled up there much like a dog would. Of course, he was much more like that of a wolf if one were to really compare the purple Vivosaur as such. In fact, he wasn't even that much bigger in height than one even though his length was around six feet.

In any case, the small Vivosaur that was currently below the girl had been the very one that she had brought with her for protection; the one she had at the forefront other than her other main Vivosaur, Spino. Yes, he was weaker and much smaller in comparison, but Vayne had been with her for quite a while and to be perfectly honest, he was actually her most favorite and closest out of every Vivosaur she had ever revived since becoming a Warden. She always preferred to have him remain out with her since he was small enough and he was more than able to keep up with her Turf Shredder's speed. That's where his specialty really resided.

The sound of a crash resounded within the cave from outside, causing both to drift their gazes towards the entrance. Apparently that Lythro still hadn't given up yet on trying to get to them. It was smashing into the cave's outer walls around the entrance in an attempt to widen it. After all, the entrance to the cave wasn't all that big; just big enough for Masa's Bone Buggy to have spun into it length ways, though the cave was a decent bit more spacious once inside. Luckily, the entrance though, was so small or that Lythro would've been snacking on their flesh by now...

Grumbling under her breath, Masa sighed once more before thrusting herself off the roof of her Turf Shredder and landing on the ground below. Plopping herself down into the grass and dirt, she closed her amethyst eyes gently and leaned her back and head against the large off-road tires of her Buggy. As she did though, she soon felt a sudden pressure upon her layed out legs, causing her to open her eyes back up and glance down. Even through the darkness, she was able to faintly see her companion thanks to the stars and moon that bathed the area in a faint light so that it, at least, wasn't pitch black out. Smiling softly, Masa lifted a hand and rested it upon her V-Raptor's head that layed there within her lap as if to provide her with some form of comfort. "Thanks Vayne...We'll be fine boy. Hopefully that distress signal I sent out just before our Buggy went kaput will have gotten back to America's HQ...Normally, I would've tried to get myself out of this mess on my own, but..."

When Masa trailed off at this, Vayne lifted his head and gazed at his human partner. She didn't have to complete what she was saying for him to understand what she meant by it. If she had had her Spino, Barik at the forefront instead, the massive reptile could've easily tore through the Lythro and gotten themselves out of this predicament. However, with his partner's Buggy out of commission, she wasn't able to summon out Spino, drive, or even radio in for help in case that split second distress call didn't go through in time before everything became shot. As of now, they were trapped in a cave within the Whirling Rapids area of Starry Falls and neither knew for how long either.

"...Lets just hope that Sean takes pity on us and doesn't send out Leon for our search and rescue..."

At hearing that sudden added comment to their current situation, Vayne couldn't help but snicker lightly to himself. It wasn't that his human and that Leon human with the Ptera didn't get along. Actually, the two worked better together than they did with almost any other Warden. It was the fact that the male between the two would never let Masa hear the end of it if he was the one to come save her. Leon felt a close bond, but also a strong rivalry with Masa so Vayne knew that the human would rub it in her face that he had to come save her from a blunder she actually made this time, which almost never happened. His partner was usually more strategic and hardly ever made any mistakes so he knew she was sure to get not only a lecture about going off on her own, but also be embarrassed over what happened.

...It didn't help that his human just might possibly...have a weakness for the Leon human too...

"Vayne, I know what you're thinking and that's so not true. I do not...like Leon that way."

...Masa definitely did...

As another hour seemed to slip on by them, something finally drew their attention once more outside the cave as they woke from their half rest. The roars and tremors outside of the cave had ceased and instead, the thunderous footsteps seemed to echo from a distance along with what distinctly sounded like the rev of an engine and a screeching cry. It was the cry though, that had followed after the Lythro's roar, that had caused Masa to suddenly bristle up in slowly escalating unease. As the minutes passed, the roars and cries finally ceased and the rumble of an engine gradually approached closer to their location. It was then that the sight of another Turf Shredder, this one purple, appeared in the entrance of the cave they were in. The headlights lowered in brightness so that it was now a soft glow to bath the inside of the cave in instead of a blinding light that hurt their eyes. It was only when the owner of the Bone Buggy stepped out of it, that the gradually increasing unease now turned into flat out horror as leaping onto the ground and stepping towards them was none other than Leon...

"Well, well...Look at the mess you've gotten yourself into Masa. I thought you could get yourself out of anything?" The smirk that fell onto his features as his arms crossed over his chest while he stood there just feet away from herself and Vayne said pretty much everything that didn't...need to be said...

Leon was absolutely loving this...

"Just...shut up and give me the new engine I need..."

"I didn't hear 'please'..."

Masa's right eye twitched faintly at this as she glowered at the slightly older purple haired Warden. "...Please...stop looking like you wanna gloat and gimme the new engine!"

A chuckle escaped Leon at that before he finally decided to give Masa a break just this once and made his way back to his own Turf Shredder. Upon having the shot engine replaced with the new one he brought with him for Masa's Buggy, the two Wardens quickly made their way back to the entrance with their Vivosaurs...

Upon finally arriving back at the American HQ, the teens clambered down out of their Buggys while the V-Raptor waited on the ground for his companion; his tail shifting side to side slightly in a manner that would make one think it was wagging.

Sean had been outside with his little sister, waiting for them to return and of course the blond haired young man really gave poor Masa a scolding for the reckless stunt she had pulled that could've very well costed her her life. However, once he finished scolding and yelling at her, the older man suddenly hugged her as he nestled his face down into her sapphire hair; his tone softening in that moment. "...I'm so totally relieved that you're alright, Masa...Please don't scare me like that again." Pulling away from the stunned teen, he casted her a weak smile before heading back to go inside and up to his office again with Becky, leaving the two teen Wardens to themselves.

Watching as Sean left, Leon kept a stoic, if not slightly annoyed, expression to his features before turning his gaze onto the slightly younger girl before him with his hands resting in his pants pockets. Save for Vayne, the two of them were pretty much alone now. "You idiot...What were you thinking, going out there on your own like that? You could've gotten yourself badly hurt or even worse. You could've gotten yourself killed!" His annoyed or egotistical facade over this was no longer up. Instead, what showed now, was unrestrained anger. However, there was something else there hidden within his extremely sharp stormy blue grey eyes...Was that...

...fear...?

Biting her bottom lip suddenly at this, Masa tilted her head down and off to the side as she gazed at the ground. "...I thought that Vayne and I could handle it on our own...We were actually doing just fine too, but...then that Lythro blindsided my Turf Shredder so suddenly that I didn't have time to react. Next thing we knew after I sent that split second distress signal, was that we were trapped inside that cave with the Lythro trying to get at us and my Buggy out of commission..." Shaking her head lightly, she sighed lightly in defeat as she drifted her bright amethyst gaze over towards her precious V-Raptor and spoke even more softly this time to where she wasn't even sure if Leon would've heard her or not. "...I couldn't bring myself to risk my Vayne to fight it without the boosters from my Buggy..."

Leon had heard that last bit, however, as a defeated sigh escaped his lips. "Damn it, Masa, just..." Gritting his teeth in frustration, he rested a hand upon his waist and raised the other to brush back and forth along his spiked up purple hair; his eyes closed tightly shut. "Don't...do that...ever again, got it?" Opening his eyes once more, he shot an irritated look towards the Warden that was still looking away from him. Frowning at this, he stomped over towards her to close the distance and reached out as he firmly grasped onto her upper right arm, which effectively jolted her at the contact and jerked her gaze back up at him in startlement. "I know you're tough and strategic, Masa, but don't you dare go off on your own like that again."

"But the other Wardens have..."

"Damn it, forget about the other Wardens! They can do whatever they want in their lives and go about their missions and business! I don't care what they do! All you need besides your own Vivosaurs at your side is me, got it?! Me!"

At being told this, Masa's gaze couldn't have gotten any wider than they already were even if she had tried. Had she really just heard right? Leon wanted her to only have him come along with her on all her missions and trips to the Dig Sites? As she tried to wrap her mind around this new bit of information, she suddenly found herself yelping as she was pushed over from behind, effectively knocking herself right into Leon as they stumbled, though the older teen managed to catch her and at least break her fall as they landed on the ground below with a thud.

Groaning softly at this, Masa slowly tried to push herself up a bit from where she layed, but when she shifted her palm to prop herself up, she felt it pressing down against something firm and warm as well as slightly moving. Blinking slightly towards this, she lifted her head up to see what was going on, but then suddenly tensed up when she found herself locking gazes with Leon, whose face was mere inches below her own; his own eyes widened slightly in shock at the position they were in as Masa laid there half way on top of him and her right leg overlapping his own. "L-L-Leon! I'm so sorry! I-"

Before she could finish that frantic apology and attempt to push herself back up onto her feet so that she was no longer on top him, her eyes became filled with shock once more as a gasp escaped her lips that were suddenly covered by something soft and warm. As it quickly clicked in her mind on what was going on, Masa's head began to spin and become fuzzy as she realized that Leon was actually kissing her...Eyes slowly becoming heavy lidded before finally closing, she surprisingly found herself leaning into the kiss as she returned it while one of Leon's hands cupped the back of her neck and the other around her waist to bring her that much closer to him.

After a moment or so, Masa finally managed to get her wits about herself and broke the kiss. However, as she gazed down at him while they both lightly panted for breath, they both realized fully on just what they had been doing and with who, causing them to quickly pull away from each other and scrambling up onto their feet once more. Staring at one another with faint confusion despite the apparent heated look that was most likely within both of the teens' gaze still from the passionate, if not shocking, moment they had just shared, Masa found herself blushing and squirming slightly under his gaze in a way that she had never felt before while Leon was trying to figure out just what the hell to say after something like that.

"Th-That was um..."

"...It was just the heat of the moment."

"Y-Yeah. I-It's not like it meant anything, r-right Leon?"

"O-Oh definitely. I mean, you just recently had a dangerous experience and I was angry with ya towards your total recklessness."

"And V-Vayne knocking us over d-didn't really help either..."

"Uh yeah...So um..."

"S-See you around when another mission is given?"

"Oh yeah...So uh...see you then, partner."

With that, the two rivals quickly parted ways and hurried off; Leon to his room for the remainder of the night and Masa, along with Vayne, returning back to Fossil Park Asia...

To be continued.

Little Tsu: Ok, so that was it. This chap actually had a sliiightly different endin' ta it, but I redid it ta make a bit more sense towards the title and also, hopefully, towards Leon's overall personality since in the game, it's kinda obvious that he feels more than a rivalry with the female main, but that he's in utter denial of it.