Chapter 2 - Protect the Egg
The journey back to the Flatirons was silent and tense, as Ty took the lead and never spoke or even looked back at his friends. The others occasionally exchanged awkward or concerned glances, wondering how they should try to reassure the distressed T-Trux.
When they finally reached their home, Ty said nothing as he headed for his cave, most likely to store the egg somewhere safe. It was then that Revvit dismounted his ride on Skya, which he took to avoid an awkward ride on Ty, and volunteered to follow him inside and talk with him.
Revvit waited as Ty began searching the cave for the perfect nook or cranny to keep the egg safe and warm, and he eventually found a small divot near the rock that he used to support his head when sleeping. Ty figured it would be the perfect spot he would be able to keep a close eye on the egg, even while resting. But the divot wasn't deep enough, so he smashed his wrecking ball into the ground to expand it.
Ty then placed the egg softly on the ground outside of the divot, and rushed outside in search of something. Revvit cocked his head in curiosity, but remained still. A few moments later, Ty returned with large palm tree leaves clasped between his jaws, and he quickly went to work on padding them down into the divot.
Once he was sure it was soft enough, Ty grabbed the egg in his jaws once more and carefully placed it in the divot, giving it one last loving nuzzle before lifting his head after a job well done.
"I know you think I'm distressed—and I kinda am—but I'm fine, Rev. I promise," Ty broke the silence, finally turning to look at his best friend.
"I just wanted to be sure you did not need any help, but you seem to be doing quite well on your own so far," Revvit stated while approaching the nest, and examining it in amazement, "It is nothing compared to a female T-Trux's design for a nest, but considering you are a male, this is quite impressive."
"I'll try to take that as a compliment," Ty added flatly, but then looked back at the egg in fear, "So—you said it'll hatch in a couple of weeks?"
"If my calculations are correct, then yes. But do not worry. We will all be here to help you protect it until it is born, and we will still be here for you both long after."
Ty knew he could count on his friends, but he swore he felt a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders, "Thanks, Rev. That means a lot to me."
Revvit smiled and nodded, "You are quite welcome."
"But, Rev…um…?"
"What's wrong?"
"What if…what if I can't do it? What if I can't be the father they'll deserve?"
"Ty, throughout all of my years of knowing you, I have learned three very important traits about you," Revvit began firmly, "One: You are strong. Two: You are determined. And three: You always do the right thing. The fact that you defied your kind's natural laws to ensure this child's survival proves that you are already the best parent it could ask for."
"Y-You really think so?" Ty questioned, his voice breaking as tears of joy formed in his eyes from Revvit's moving words.
Revvit nodded, "I know so."
As the sun began to set over the barren wasteland where Lyra's lifeless body continued to rust away, a group of Scraptools scurried up to the female T-Trux. The leader of the group, a Scraptool with hammer prongs protruding from her head, stepped forward and examined Lyra's lover half.
"Where is it?!" she snapped when she couldn't find her desired objective, whipping her head around to glare daggers at her cronies.
"I-It was here this morning, I-I swear!" one of the minions stammered in response.
"You idiot! That egg was supposed to be our dinner, and you lost it?! I outta eat you instead!"
Just as the leader towered over the minion who spoke first, but another crony suddenly spoke up before she could do any damage.
"Hey, Boss! Look over here!" they called, causing the leader to freeze in mid-attack, and she growled at the useless crony before seeing what the other one wanted.
He pointed a finger and waved it in front of them, referring to the large tracks in the dirt, "Something bigger must've beat us to it."
"Then we'll just follow them, and take back what's rightfully ours," the leader seethed through clenched teeth.
Ty wanted to stay up and watch the egg all night, but he felt the weight of fatigue pull him down as he rested his head on his support rock. He could still watch the egg, but his eyes quickly became too droopy to keep them open.
Even though Revvit reassured him that nothing bad would happen and fell asleep on his shelf, Ty just couldn't shake the feeling that the egg would be in great danger immediately after he closed his eyes. But the harder he tried to stay awake, the more uncomfortable he became.
Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a few minutes, Ty swore to himself before yawning, and finally closed his eyes.
But as if he couldn't be more right, multiple set of tiny eye lights popped out from behind the walls of the cave entrance. After waiting a few minutes to make sure Ty really was asleep, the Scraptools who searched Lyra's body for the egg quietly entered the cave.
The leader approached the egg first, but waited for her scout to ensure that it was the egg he spotted when it was still lodged Lyra's valve. After it was confirmed that it was the correct egg, a couple of other Scraptools started to help the leader shove the egg out of the nest.
But just when they started to move, they froze when they heard Ty grunt and snort in his sleep. They refused to move and turned off their headlights in case Ty woke up, but his eyes remained shut and he went still again. They turned their light back on and began to push again, but one of the look-outs was glancing up at Ty in fearful realization.
"W-Wait a sec, guys. What if this is Ty's egg? He'll totally crush us if he finds out we stole his egg," the look-out stated in fear.
"Oh, please. Everyone knows male T-Trux don't take care of their own kids," one of the other Scraptools scoffed.
"And he'll only crush us if he finds out we stole it," another added with a grin.
"'If'—if is good," the look-out agreed while nodding.
"And either way, if this egg is important to Ty, stealing it's the perfect way to get my revenge on him for trying to blow me up with Superchargers," the leader chuckled darkly, as she and the others started to roll the egg out of the cave.
The Scraptools had long disappeared with the egg before Ty woke with a gasp, realizing he had slept longer than he planned. He blinked rapidly and shook the grogginess from his head, and instantly looked down to check on the egg.
Ty felt his oil run cold when he noticed that it was gone, and frantically began to search the cave. But after failing to find it anywhere else, he shouted Revvit's name to wake the sleeping Reptool.
"Ty? …What's wrong?" Revvit asked groggily.
"The egg's gone!" Ty exclaimed as he grabbed his head with his claws, and started breathing rapidly in pure terror.
"What?! What happened to it?!"
"I don't know! I thought you knew!"
"I do not! We must find it fast!"
As soon as Revvit jumped onto his head, Ty raced out of the cave and roared at the top of his lungs, waking up the rest of his friends in an instant. They quickly followed him out to the middle of the clearing, and asked him what was wrong.
"The egg's disappeared! We gotta find it!" Ty explained with a shout.
"Whoa, calm down! We'll find it. We just need to look for tracks or something," Skya added firmly, and raised her neck to look around for any signs of tracks, "I think I see something. It looks like a long line through the dirt, and it just keeps going."
"As if something was rolled on top of it. That must be the egg!" Revvit quickly pointed out, and Skya led them to the long line in the ground to follow it.
All of them were greatly concerned for the egg's well-being, but none of them were traveling faster than Ty. He was always in the lead, but never before had he shown such determination accompanied by fires of rage in his eyes.
It wasn't long before they all realized that the trail was leading right back to Lyra's dead body, which quickly raised suspicion and confusion. When they arrived at the location of Lyra's body, they easily noticed the egg was sitting on top of her back. And although the egg was still in one piece, it didn't take them long to notice some Scraptools trying to break the egg while the rest were scrapping Lyra's body.
Once again, Ty was effortlessly the most angered by this, as he glared daggers and growled deeply at the Scraptools.
"Knock-Itt," Ty hissed as though the name was poisonous.
"Well, well, well! If it ain't Ty and his pathetic friends. This egg belong to you?" Knock-Itt questioned mockingly while pointing at the egg.
"You don't need to know anything. Now, give it back!" Skya yelled demandingly.
"Or what? Ya gonna kill me?"
Ty narrowed his eyes in a deathly scowl, "That's just about the half of it."
Knock-Itt merely scoffed, "Good luck, T-Trux! Come any closer, and Skrugg here's gonna smash it ta pieces."
To prove her point, the said most powerful Scraptool in her gang climbed up onto Lyra's body, and threateningly banged his hammer close to the egg. Despite his undying rage, Ty didn't want to risk his egg getting destroyed, so he held his arms out as a signal to tell the others to back off.
"That's better. Now, personally, I'd like ta savor a meal like this, so why don't you just run along home and we'll call it a day?" Knock-Itt asked nonchalantly.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Dozer growled while lowering his blade.
"That's not what I wanted to hear, and that's too bad. I was looking forward to a gourmet omelet, but I guess I'll have ta settle for scrambled!"
"Think again, Knock-Itt!" Revvit shouted from behind, as he had snuck up to them while Ty kept them distracted, and jumped up to knock Skrugg down with all of his might.
"How dare you try and stop me?!" Knock-Itt screeched while lunging at Revvit, sending the two tumbling to the ground.
Ty took this as an opportunity to rescue the egg, and rushed to grab it with his jaws. Unfortunately, most of the Scraptools tried to surround the egg and stop Ty, but he wouldn't let that stop him. He scared most of them off by roaring down at them, and grabbed the remaining few in his jaws to toss them away with all of his might.
That only left Knock-Itt, who was still wrestling with Revvit. But when the latter noticed Ty approaching, he sprayed Knock-Itt in the face with the air pump in his tail and ran away. After wiping her eyes, she barely had any time to react when Ty suddenly picked her up in his jaws and threw her directly into the air above him. As she came back down, he used his wrecking ball to intercept her and sent her flying back into a nearby boulder.
The impact was strong enough to leave a large dent and multiple cracks in the boulder, and Knock-Itt was clearly dazed as her eyes rolled around in their sockets. But Ty wasn't finished with her yet. He slowly approached the Scraptool and growled down at her, and she finally began to fear the T-Trux when her vision cleared and she could see the intention of murder in his eyes.
Ty wasted no time in pressing a tread down on Knock-Itt to prevent her from escaping, and made sure to only apply enough for to hurt her instead of crush her. The others all stared in awe, for they had never seen Ty so angered and willing to destroy another creature. But as Knock-Itt closed her eyes and waited for her inevitable death, Ty slowly lowered his head instead of crushing her.
"Never come back," Ty instructed slowly, to which Knock-Itt merely nodded and whimpered in response. He finally lifted his tread, allowing the Scraptool to limp away.
"Ty?" Revvit was first to speak, and the said T-Trux soon turned to face them, his expression having softened to a more serene look.
"How's the egg?" was all Ty said.
Revvit shook his head to forget about what Ty could have done to Knock-Itt and quickly approached the egg to inspect it.
"There are a few small scratches, but the armor should have kept the hatchling safe," Revvit informed.
"Good," Ty sighed as he went to pick up the egg, but stopped to look at his friends, "Thanks for coming to help me, guys."
"No problem," Dozer simply stated.
"Why wouldn't we help?" Skya added softly.
"Yeah, we weren't gonna let anybody hurt your kid!" Ton-Ton reassuringly pointed out.
Ty smiled at how lucky he was to have such supportive friends, and trusted that his child would be much safer if he simply asked them for help. With that thought, Ty picked up the egg and they headed back home to protect it together.
Note to self: Never get between Papa Ty and his egg.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!