Ty rolled slowly forward until he was at least 10 meters or so away from the strange Trux before he spoke. "Hey there, you new in the crater?" he asked and the other trux turned to face him. His optics narrowed before he replied. "You're Ty right, I was told about you," in a voice that sounded like his own, only more serious "That's right and you are?" "Borer."

The reply was instant and in the same matter of fact tone. For some odd reason, Ty couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy by the way Borer was talking and the way the Trux's eyes had narrowed when he had come towards and told him his name.

D-Structs meanwhile was watching all this from behind the rock he and Ty had crept up behind and was watching the scene in front of him with both curiosity and interest. The new Trux looked like he could be an ally but yet, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Which normally never happened to him but it was and he couldn't pretend to feel that something was not wrong.

Then, an almost insane thought came to his mind. Should he go out there and help Ty? No! He couldn't! He and Ty were sworn enemies! He wanted the red T-Trux out of his crater! "But do you?" Sounded a voice in his head and his optics widened as a memory came back to him.


FLASHBACK

D-Structs laughed as he raced through the forest, D-Rupt close behind him. "I've got you now little brother!" he shouted as he drew closer and closer to the tail of the young male T-Trux, who continued to dodge and weave his way through the trees just out of his reach.

"No you're not!" he cried cheekily as he burst out of the trees and was just about to turn sharply to throw his older brother off of his trail when he felt something grab his tail and hold him in place and a voice rang in his audio receptors. "Got you."

He felt his tail being let go of and he turned to see the older white and black male T-Trux chuckling at his own wit. This stopped when the younger one frowned, "Not fair," D-Structs pouted. "You're always stronger than me."

To this D-Rupt gave him a trademark look that said you-asked-me-a-question-even-though-you-didn't-say-you-asked. "I'm not strong all of the time little brother," he replied firmly. "And you don't need to be either, you understand me." D-Structs nodded in reply. "Good, now remember that and never forget it. There are more things to be in the world than just being strong and getting your own way all the time."

D-Structs pondered for a moment. "But D-Stroy says that the stronger you are, the better you are?" "D-Stroy only thinks as far as his own treads," replied D-Rupt without turning. "He may be smart but there are things even he doesn't know about. Remember that."

D-Rupt rolled back through the forest with D-Structs following along beside him. "Not all of your battles can be won by force and brute strength alone," he continued, "sometimes you need others to help you." "Even if I hate them?" "Yes, even if you hate them."

The pair passed through the trees before entering a canyon, where D-Rupt turned to face his younger brother once more. "Remember what I've said little brother as it may one day come true," and with that he turned and rolled away leaving D-Structs to ponder over these thoughts.

He knew that his older brother was right. D-Stroy was certainly smart, but there were things he didn't know about which D-Rupt did. Their father, Cold Stone, had told them many times that together, they were strong, not just in body, but in mind, spirit, and heart. While he was gruff and stern at times, he did care for them as he had proven many times in the past.

Since the disappearance of the trio's mother, he had taken on the responsibility of teaching them what they needed to know to make their own way in the world. All three of them hung on his words, taking in everything they could learn for a day would come when they would need to put that knowledge and training to the test

The young white and black T-Trux was so deep in thought he didn't hear the sounds of a powerful engine approaching before quieting down as its owner came to a stop next to him. That was, until a deep voice beside him spoke. "I see you and your brother had fun." D-Structs turned round to face a massive T-Trux. His colours like his own only the white was replaced with a reddish grey.

He had large spikes on his back and tail, a large pair of spikes that were mounted above either side of his head above his eyes, along with a spiked wrecking ball that was sectioned into dodecagons which could also separate into drills. His face also had several scars running down it. His right optic was gouged, his left hand mangled, and yet, he carried himself with dignity. As if he had no more than a slight cold. He knew who this Trux was, his father.

Deciding a response was needed he spoke. "We did," he replied before he fell silent again. Cold Stone frowned, seeing his son lower his head. "Is something wrong?" he asked carefully. D-Structs looked up at him for a moment before turning his gaze back down to the ground. "D-Rupt said that I don't need to be strong and fierce all the time. Is that true?" His father stared at him before he chuckled, a deep baritone sound that rumbled his frame. "Of course it is," he replied. "Not all battles can be won by brute force, some are won by working together and-" he stopped and his optics started to narrow.

For a fleeting moment D-Structs thought he had done something wrong. What his father said next was, "Who told you that?" he asked, his voice taking on a disgruntled tone that matched the look on his face. D-Structs gulped. "D-D-D-Stroy," he finally said looking down. Cold Stone sighed, "I've told him," he said quietly but loud enough for his son to hear.

He looked down at D-Structs once again. "You go get some ore, you're probably hungry after all that," he said. Cold Stone turned to look further down the canyon, "I, meanwhile, need to have a talk with your brother," he growled the last word as he was talking about something he hated. D-Structs looked at him with anxious optics. "He's still my brother," he said, his voice bordering on the verge of pleading.

Cold Stone sighed. "Alright, I'll let him off the hook, but if he does more of this you'll tell me, alright?" D-Structs nodded and his father looked happy. "Good, now go get something to eat. And remember, not all battles are won by strength alone. Remember that."

END OF FLASHBACK


"Remember that," those words rang in D-Structs mind continuously as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. "Well, welcome to the crater then," said Ty, smiling. "Anything me and my friends could do for you?" he added "Yes," said Borer. "What?" "Leave!" It was this single stated word that, unbeknownst to both T-Trux, would change everything they knew forever. "That's the one thing we can't do," said Ty, his optics narrowing in suspicion. "You're not being asked, you're being told Ty!" the Trux snarled venomously. "Actually I think you were ask-" Ty got no further as Borer lowered his blade and charged him.

He had barely enough time to move out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit. "RRRRGH!" growled Borer as he halted and turned around. "Now I'm telling!" yelled Ty. The red T-Trux let out his trademark roar and swung himself around hitting his attacker in the middle with his wrecking ball sending the latter crashing against some rocks that were nearby.

"You'll have to try harder than that to move me Ty!" roared Borer, before he once again rushed at the former, his optics moving to narrow slits. He hit Ty hard causing the red T-Trux to skid along the ground before he stopped himself. "Is that all you got?" asked Ty sarcastically. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

That was when something hit him from behind and he skidded along the ground in a spin before stopping. Looking up he saw his new attacker. It was a dark silver grey T-Trux with a build similar to that of his own, but his head bore resemblance to that of D-Structs. He was as big as the white and black T-Trux with grey spikes on his back, tail, large forearms with claw-like fingers and a large wrecking ball with a spike at the bottom, intersected into octagon shapes unlike Ty's one. Borer smirked as he too saw the new arrival, "I was wondering when you would turn up Arkren," he said slyly.

The grey T-Trux also smirked "I'm never one to miss a fight," he replied. "Cheap shot," sneered Ty, ",and it's gonna cost ya." "I think it's you who will be costing when we're finished." The two Trux advanced forward menacingly. "And there's a lot more where that came from!" Arken yelled before he charged at Ty. The red T-Trux swung his tail but Arkren simply dodged and slammed into him. Both were soon locked in power struggle, the heads smashed together each pushing trying to gain an advantage on the other.

Ty was finally able to bash the grey T-Trux's head up and slam him with his tail but was unable to avoid Borer charging into him once more from the side. This was followed up by a blow from Arkren which sent the red T-Trux crashing into a large rock. But before he could do anything more, something came out of nowhere, grabbed the T-Trux by the tail and swung him around until he smashed into some rocks. Ty's optics widened when he saw who it was that had helped him.

It was D-Structs.

"I said it once and I'll say it now, didn't know you cared," he said as he moved to rejoin the fight. "And also like before, I never said that I was doing this for you builder," his rival retorted, though the red T-Trux thought it wasn't as sharply as he had said it before during their battle with the Dreadtrux. Arken had recovered now and joined Borer's side. A shape moved in the shadows and another trux joined them. It was smaller than the other two, it's head would have been below Ty's shoulder. Two horns adorned its forehead like that of a Dozeratops and a powerful looking mouth.

Borer glared at him. "You took your time," he growled. The new Trux glanced down at him "Doesn't matter," he replied which made the other growl before turning to gaze at the two T-Truxs in front of them. "This isn't over Ty!" Borer growled as they backed slowly away from the two. "You don't know what you've let yourselves in for!" he continued, "you as well D-Structs! You could have been an ally but you will be destroyed along with the rest of the fools who live in this crater."

With that the rogue Trux rolled quickly away and out of sight leaving Ty and D-Structs where they were. Silenced followed before the pair looked at each other before rolling slowly away from the slide and back in the direction Ty had come. They were silent for a while before Ty decided to speak up, though he wasn't expecting an answer of any kind. "Thanks for saving me back there, really." D-Structs only grunted in reply.

The red T-Trux thought for a moment before going, "I wonder if Borer, Arken and that other Trux had anything to do with what's been going on with Skya and Ace. They've been acting distant lately." "I don't know and I don't care," came the growled reply and D-Structs rolled away in the direction of his lair leaving Ty, who was in a state of suspense, to continue on to the garage, little knowing that the events of that night would forever change the lives of himself, D-Structs, his friends and all those in crater.

When Pounder opened his eyes he wondered if he had. Slowly he raised his head and looked around feeling the cool air of the night flowing against his body in a soothing way as he raised himself up. He looked around, he was still in the valley he had arrived at two days prior after he had gone his separate way from the others. Then he remembered something else. The Dreadtrux.

It had knocked him out and Ty and his friends had tried to stop him. For the first time in his life he felt something that he had never felt before. Guilt. That he had not listened to the red T-Trux and his friends. He quickly pounded the ground beneath him the sound of it echoing around and bouncing off the walls of the valley in which he was in. The main thing was at least his hammer was still working because without it, he was practically defenceless against anything that wanted a piece of him.

He looked around examining his surroundings and he saw an enormous tunnel in the side of one of the rock walls and he guessed that it had been made by the Dreadtrux so he decided to get out of the valley and go back to the crater. Something, he wasn't sure what, was telling him to go back there and see Ty.

So trusting to his luck, which hadn't been too good up till then, he braced himself up for the effort, and set off into the tunnel turning on his beams as he did so he could see better in the inky blackness. Soon he was out of the rock tunnel and into the open expanse that lay outside it. He went slowly on until he came upon the rocks that lay in front of the other side of the bridge out of the crater.

Here he paused for a moment. Would the bridge even be down? If the Dreadtrux had come this way then the group would have most surely raised the bridge and left it there. Then he heard a loud but softened Thump! He slowly moved round the rocks until at last he could see the bridge and to his amazement it was down. But why? Ty and his friends wouldn't have been so foolish as to leave their own front door wide open, he knew that. Then he saw a Trux he had never seen before with two horns on its head appear from the shadows next to the bridge support.

He was about to go forward when he saw two shapes detach themselves from the shadows and move across the bridge, one looked like a Dozeratops but with no horns and the other was a T-Trux. What they were doing he did not know for they were soon out of his sight. But what he did know, however, was that he had a golden opportunity to get back into the crater and he wasn't going to lose it.

So without looking left or right for any sign of the other Trux in Ty's group, or any Trux in particular, he drove forward quickly. Pounder was about to cross the bridge only to collide with someone coming from his right and was knocked sideways with the force of the collision and shook his head to redeem himself from the dizziness so he could see what or who it was and when he did he was surprised who he saw.

To say Splitter had been angry when he had gone his own way from the others would have been an understatement. He was furious and his blades were going triple time fueled by his rage. By the time he had found a group of six trees he was absolutely steaming and quickly cut them down in rapid succession. After his fury had subsided however his mind cleared and he slowly came back to his senses and looked around him. He looked first at the downed trees then slowly turned to face back the way he had come. A large outcrop of rocks could be seen visible in the distance.

Beyond those rocks he knew lay the crater. The one place which he had sworn never to go back to. His mind flashed back to when he had first been defeated by Ty and his friends. They had offered to be his friends and help him find ore without hurting anyone, most of all the woodland Reptools whose homes he had threatened. Instead, his seriously dented pride had taken over and he had left in a state of fury that he could only barely control. Later on, D-Structs had offered him the chance of revenge against the group.

Fine chance that had been. All it had done in the end was get him kicked out of the crater along with Blayde, Pounder and D-Structs as well as the T-Trux's annoying Scraptool. But then again, maybe if he had accepted Ty's offer, he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. His mind was made up, he would go back to the crater and try to have a change of attitude, it would be hard, but not impossible.

"Well, it'll be better than this place," he said to himself and set off into the night. Splitter went as fast as he could, for he didn't want to be caught in what would most likely be him sneaking back into the crater after being banished from it. He was going so fast that as he rounded the rock outcrop to see that the bridge was down which was just fine with him.

His excitement vanished however when he crashed into someone coming in the other direction. He was knocked back a few meters and shook his head to overcome the shock of the blow. When he did he looked up and saw a Trux he never thought he would see again. It was Pounder, and said Trux was looking at him in equal astonishment.

For a moment silence prevailed before; "Guess minds think alike I suppose," Splitter said and Pounder nodded his head in agreement and made some clicking noises. They looked at the bridge before they both took deep breaths and moved forward. Together they rolled over the bridge, hoping that they wouldn't be spotted by anyone. But someone was watching them, and they too were interested in the crater. For what purpose, no one knew, but whoever it was seemed quite determined to do whatever they were going to do.

Meanwhile Ty had arrived back at the garage just as dawn was coming up and he headed to the Ore Station where Dozer, Ton-Ton, Revvit, Waldo and Click-Clack were having breakfast. They turned round when they heard him approaching. "There you are Ty. We were wondering where you were," said Revvit. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to roll around a bit and I met a new Trux, his name was Borer," Ty explained. "Hmm sounds like he was a Borhinosaurus, they're a relative of the Dozeratops but I have never seen one before. It must have been his tracks we found, was he friendly?" asked Revvit, his curiosity taking over. "If he was they certainly didn't show it," the red T-Trux replied

"What do you mean "they"? Was there more than one? Did you fight them?" asked Dozer, "Yes, a trux and another," Ty answered. "And I think you mean "we" Dozer," was the reply that he got. "Good to know dude," said Ton-Ton as he came over before realisation dawned on him as Ty's words sank in. "Wait what do you mean "we"?" he asked, "I mean that D-Structs helped me..." "WHAT!" everyone yelled together. "I mean it, I don't know why but I'm kind of glad he did. I probably wouldn't be telling you otherwise.

The others silently agreed to this, "Hey, have any of you dudes seen Skya and Ace? Haven't seen them all mornin'," said Ton-Ton changing the subject. "I was going to say the same thing. Ace never came back to the garage," added Waldo "Y-you d-don't think something happened to them do you?" Click-Clack asked worriedly, looking around. "This is Skya and Ace we're talking about, they can handle themselves," said Ty. "I hope," he added and once more the others silently agreed.

Whilst this was going on, D-Structs had arrived back at his lair where he found Skrap-It putting a large ball of ore onto an already large pile. He turned around when he heard his master's engine sounds echo out through the cave. He immediately moved away from the ore pile and walked over to the white and black T-Trux "Hey D-Structs, kkkkkt I've got breakfast ready just how you kkkt like it."

He waited for the usual growl or grunt of annoyance, but what he got instead was, "Later Skrap-It. Later," which surprised him as his master normally ate the second it was ready. Slowly Skrap-It walked over to where D-Structs stood, staring at the far wall, as if he was looking at something that was far away. His engine relaxing to a slow comforting rate, "Are you okay?" the scraptool asked as he cautiously came closer and closer to the metal giant in front of him.

Still earning no reply he made a bolder move and climbed up onto his master's left tread. Again he still got no response. D-Structs was thinking about what he had done. He had helped Ty. Even he couldn't believe it. Whether it was the memory of what his brother had said he didn't know, but it had to be something.

Suddenly he felt feet on his head and he looked up to see Skrap-It sitting above his left eye. The Scraptool had been with him ever since they had met. While their relationship had been extremely turbulent the Scraptool had always stuck by his side.

"Skrap-It, I betrayed myself," the white and black T-Trux said at last, not looking up at his minion. "Without a kkkt doubt," the Scraptool replied before he realised what he had heard and said."Err how?" he asked, curiously. "To take something you want, you need force," said D-Structs in a strange distant voice. "But to maintain it you need... kindness. Oh, what have I done Skrap-It."

Not waiting for the Scraptool to get down from his head, D-Structs moved towards the pile of ore. Lowering his head he allowed the Tool to jump off before they began eating together, something Skrap-It thought would never ever happen.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Borer was in a whirlwind of rage as he smashed through a rock, then another, and another, and another. Arken and the other trux watched on as the Borhinosaurus stopped, panting heavily after venting out his fury. "You done?" Arken asked sarcastically as Borer turned round to face them. "I'm fine," he snapped. "I'll get even with those T-Truxs if it's the last thing I ever do!" he roared to the sky.

He turned to his associates, optics narrowed. "Alright you two listen up, we need to get back and report to Savage about what's going on, the sooner we launch an attack on this scrapforsaken place the better. Now, I want you and Naver to-'' Unknown to the three Trux, a bright red female Ankylodump was listening to every word they said. She had been in fact looking for ore for her breakfast, but had heard Borer smashing up the rocks and, growing steadily curious, had gotten closer to investigate.

She had been listening for a few minutes before she accidentally nudged a loose piece of rock which clattered to the ground. All three trux looked up as though they had been stung by washer wasps but saw nothing. Arken narrowed his optics but said nothing and they went back to talking. The red Ankylodump moved slowly forward once again to hear what they were talking about. Suddenly the face of Arken appeared right in front of her and she let out a scream before turning around and driving away as fast as she could. As she did so she heard a yell of "Stop her!" come from behind her.

"Come back here!" roared Borer as he, Arkren and Naver blasted through a rock after the female Ankylodump who went as fast as she could to get away from them, regretting that she had even gotten close to hear what they had been saying. She tore around rock only for Arken to smash it with his tail, fragments of it flying everywhere.

Suddenly she rounded a corner into a canyon only to come face to face with a sheer rock wall forming a dead end. She quickly whirled round in time to see that her pursuers had also rounded the corner and were grinning maliciously at her. "End of the road sweetie," growled Borer as the trio came closer and closer... BANG! This made them whip round to see a male Sawmetradon and Poundersaurolophus standing behind them, glaring daggers at the three through narrowed optics.

D-Structs and Skrap-It were finishing off the last of the ore pile for breakfast in a companionable silence. Skrap-It wasn't sure where this side of his master had come from but he wasn't going to deny he liked it a lot. BANG! The sound rang out, echoing through the cave making both of them start and look up for they both knew what that sound was.

"Skrap-It, get on now!" D-Structs growled and the scraptool obediently jumped onto the T-Trux's right tread before he sped out of the cave as fast as he could. At the Ore Station Ty and others had also heard the sound and were racing towards it. Garby had joined them by that time and soon, the group of five were racing towards the source of the noise which they knew very well what it was coming from. "How'd that Pounder dude get back in the crater?!" asked Ton-Ton as they raced on.

"I don't know, but I think we're gonna find out!" replied Ty as they came upon the large rock from which the sounds of battle could be heard. Quiet suddenly Ty, who was at the front, had to slam his brakes on when he almost collided with D-Structs who was coming the other way. What surprised them even more was the fact that Skrap-It was sitting on the large T-Trux's head.

They too looked surprised to see Ty and the Trux as much as they did. Before they could argue they heard the whirr of multiple blades from round the corner. "Was that Splitter?!" asked Dozer incredulously. "We're gonna find out!" said Ty as the group, along with D-Structs and Skrap-It rolling alongside Ty and Revvit, rounded the rock they saw an incredible sight.

There were Splitter and Pounder going at it with three other Trux which were Borer, Arken and the third Trux, who were instantly recognised by Ty and D-Structs from last night. "Three on two! We win!" growled Borer as he rammed into Splitter who stood protectively in front of a red female Ankylodump who was stuck under a pile of rocks.

"Back away from the dump evil dudes!" yelled Ton-Ton drawing the three Trux's attention to the group. Borer's eyes narrowed as he saw the two T-Truxs, "I think you mean, eleven on three we win!" said Ty confidently as he rolled forward with the other trux supporting him from behind.

Slowly the three trux moved round the group, and with Ty, D-Structs, Dozer, Ton-Ton and Splitter keeping an eye on them, while Garby and Pounder (surprisingly) worked to extract the trapped Ankylodump, who quickly introduced herself as Rose, from the fallen rocks before joining the Trux in front of them. "This is far from over!" snarled Borer before he and the other two Trux raced away "We better follow them and make sure they get out of the crater, come on everyone!" declared Ty and with that they chased after the trio.

As they neared the bridge they heard the crash of metal against metal, and as the massive structure came into sight they saw that the trio were fighting another Trux that they had never seen before. He was almost as big as D-Structs, but was a lime green and had more, but smaller spikes on his back with a more rounded head and a massive four pincer claw tail, much bigger than the one the white and black T-Trux was using.

One of his treads was hanging loose, and he was doing his best to hold his own against the three Trux. But when they saw the group coming they raced across the bridge and disappeared behind the rocks on the other side. "Okay everyone, let's raise the bridge so they can't get back in!" Ty rushed forward and grabbed a cable and immediately started pulling as hard as he could, the others doing the same thing along with the green Trux who also helped out as best he could.

When they were done they paused to catch their breath after the rush of action they had endured. Deciding to see what their newest visitor wanted they turned to him, for it was indeed a him, and he too was panting before meeting their questioning looks. "Thank you, all of you. You saved my treads well, tread more like," he said, his voice sounding like Ty's, warm with an underlining seriousness. "You're welcome." said Ty. Just then Dozer spoke up. "Ok, now we've rescued you, can someone please tell me... what the heck is going on here!" he yelled.

"I think that's everyone's question too," agreed Garby, "Same here," chipped in Rose, "I'd rather not be running for my life constantly." The green Trux looked from one of them to the other before replying. "You all deserve an explanation, and I will be glad to give it though, what I am in the mood for right now, is a repair," he said looking at his broken tread. "Well, lucky for you, I know a great repair guy," Ty said looking up at Revvit who was perched on his head. After the tools had temporarily secured the Trux's broken tread together with vines and, being supported by Ty, they set off back to the garage.