In the morning Dina received a message on the Paleopager that a new dig site had opened up on Cranial Island and helicopter flights there were open. Todd had already gone on ahead, so she would be going with either a stranger or by herself. She wasn't sure which sounded worse. She ended up riding alone, but her vivosaurs kept her company so she couldn't really complain.

Dina was greeted by Terry, the Staff Leader of Cranial City when she stepped off the helicopter, who told her about the upgrades to the VMM before heading off.

She spotted Professor Scatterly and walked over to him, signing a quick greeting.

"Good heavens if it isn't Dina!" The professor grinned. He showed her around for a bit before taking her to his museum. She looked over at the Calio Slablets. There were two empty spaces, one in between the first and third and a fourth one at the end where she figured the last two would go once found. The professor wished her luck and Dina headed out to the new dig site.

The entrance to the volcanic dig site was a very high up and narrow path. With each step she tested the ground in front of her, terrified that she would fall or the ground would crumble if she took one wrong step. Once she reached a wider area she was able to relax. She spotted Todd and rushed over to him.

"Hey, Dina," he greeted her with a huge grin on his face. "I was hoping you'd catch up. Now we can explore this dig site together!"

"I knew you were here by the way the air suddenly filled with high-pitched squeals of delight." Dina already had a pretty good clue as to who was speaking from the accent and the way Mayrah was growling in her mind.

[Hello, Rupert,] she greeted as she turned to the prodigy. Behind him floated a purple robot.

"You here to dig?" Todd asked him, voice dripping with venom.

"Please, do not sully me with such accusations," Rupert scoffed, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "My vivosaurs are already skilled enough to win Round 3 with little trouble. No, I simply came here to run some field tests on a new product. This is Di66-r, an automated excavation took recently developed by FossilDig, Inc." He stepped aside and held his head high in pride. The robot floated towards Dina.

"Good day, sir or madam," it greeted. "I am Di66-R."

"This robot contains built-in sonar and has the ability to locate and excavate fossil rocks automatically," Rupert explained. "It is an important product for our company, which is why my father asked me to perform the field test. The sales potential of Di66-R is almost limitless. When fighters see what it can do-" He broke off as sparks flew off the robot and it started sputtering and twitching.

"That doesn't look good," Todd sniggered. Dina elbowed him in the side as Rupert examined the robot.

"Oh, what now?" He muttered. He yelped as the robot knocked him to the ground and took off. "That idiot robot just ran off with my Dino Medals!" Dina rushed over and helped Rupert back to his feet. He winced and almost fell over again. She held him up, but there was clearly something wrong.

"Hey, don't try to move!" Todd rushed to his side as well and made him sit back down. "You took a real pounding there."

"Don't you see?" Rupert hissed as he tried to get back up, cringing slightly. "If Di66-R starts randomly battling strangers with my vivosaurs, there will be chaos! The reputation of my father's company would be stained forever! I have to…I must…"

[I'll stop it,] Dina signed, kneeling down in front of him. Rupert shook his head, face pale.

"You can't! You won't be able to-"

[Don't worry about what I can and can't do, Rupert,] She interrupted him. [I can handle this. You're clearly injured and you won't be doing yourself any favors by making it worse. Besides, how do you expect to stop it without any Dino Medals anyway?]

Rupert looked up at Todd, as if expecting him to intervene and talk some sense into Dina. Todd shook his head and shrugged.

"Once she's decided on something you can't stop her," he said. "Don't worry, Dina, I'll stay here with Rupert to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. You chase down that robot!"

"Fine, but be careful," Rupert sighed. "My team is no pushover."

[Neither is mine.] Dina smiled and hurried away. Or at least, tried to. The giant bridge over a chasm made her freeze up for a moment.

"Is she okay?" Rupert asked. Todd looked over at her and frowned.

"Dina's not the biggest fan of heights," he explained. "At least, not since that Allo almost made us fall off cliff."

"An Allosaurus did what!?" Rupert exclaimed in horror. Todd ignored him.

"Come on, Dina," he called to his friend. "Just focus! You can do it, just keep your eyes ahead of you and don't think about the bridge breaking!"

"I don't think that's helping her, you twat," Rupert smacked Todd on the leg. "I think you're making it worse, actually. Dina, if you don't stop that robot I will personally come after you and give you a five hour lecture about it!" Dina glanced back at the two and forced a smile before moving forward.

She tried to avoid looking at the waterfalls of lava flowing around her and tried to ignore how thin the land bridge she was standing on seemed to be. Rupert seemed to have set up a full team of neutral vivosaurs on the robot, so she sent Mayrah out as the lead. Mayrah went after the Tophis first, slamming her foot down on its tail. The Krypto bit into Mayrah, dragging her away from the Tophis. Mayrah shot a Wind Blast to the Brachio since it was the closest vivosaur to her. The Brachio held its ground and glared at her. The Tophis sank its fangs into Mayrah as she defeated the Brachio. Riptide slammed into the Tophis, knocking it off Mayrah. The Tophis, however, was determined to take her out. It and the Krypto both bit down on her. Mayrah took the Tophis out with a critical hit before the Krypto sent her back into her Dino Medal.

Riptide took her place in the lead and rammed into the Krypto, hitting it with a critical. The Krypto fell to the ground, shaking it like an earthquake before turning back into a medal. Dina was knocked off balance by the shaking and she fell, grabbing onto the ledge. She tried to pull herself back up, but she was too exhausted from the Fossil Battle to do anything but hold on.

"Dina!" She heard Todd and Rupert call out to her as they raced up the path. Rupert was there first, grabbing onto her and pulling her back up to safety. She clung to him, burying her face in his chest and beginning to sob, her body trembling in terror. Todd knelt beside her, his eyes wide.

"What were you thinking!?" Rupert scolded her. "This is exactly why I told you not to go! I could have dealt with this myself!"

"No, you couldn't," Todd huffed. "And knock it off, will you? She almost died! And she's so terrified she's crying! She doesn't need you yelling at her!" Rupert's shoulders slumped and he slowly stood up, pulling Dina with him. She refused to let go of him, still shaking far too much to stand on her own. Rupert held her up, looking over at the robot.

"Still, I suppose you did save my father's company from complete financial ruin," he sighed. "When we launch Di66-R, I shall see to it that you receive the very first one." Dina looked up at him and shook her head.

"That thing almost killed her!" Todd snapped. "Why would she want it!?" Rupert cast him a glare.

"This is what field tests are for," he said. "With proper modifications, it will never do such a thing again."

"And you know what, it's highly unlikely she'll get into another car wreck like the one she was in when she was a kid but that doesn't make her any less scared of cars-" Todd immediately shut his mouth and turned away, face pale. Rupert frowned and turned back to her.

"Car wreck? Is that how you…?" When Dina didn't answer he shook his head. "Nevermind. You will accept one, won't you?" Dina shook her head in response. She refused to let go of Rupert, so signing wasn't an option at the moment. Rupert gently pulled her farther from the edge just in case.

"Why not? I know this was probably a terrifying experience but…" His frown deepened.

"For a smart guy, you're really kind of dumb, you know that?" Todd blurted. "'Probably'!? Again, she almost died!" Peak burst out laughing and Mayrah scolded him. Rupert glared at Todd, but glanced down at Dina before saying anything. When she didn't sign anything to Todd, he decided that it wasn't worth arguing with the boy.

"We should get back," He said to her. "My leg's beginning to ache again and I don't know if you want to stay here after what just happened. You're probably exhausted."

"I know I am," Todd yawned.

"I wasn't talking to you," Rupert spat at him. Dina gently tugged Rupert's sleeve to get his attention. She mouthed a quick 'let's go back to the city' to him. He nodded, beginning to lead her away.

"Keep your eyes on me," he told her as they headed down the narrow paths. "I won't let you fall, I promise. I caught you last time, didn't I?" Todd followed them, muttering under his breath and mocking Rupert quietly.

They made it back to Cranial City, but Dina was still clinging to Rupert. He sighed and picked her up.

"I'll take her to her room. You do whatever you want." He started to walk away. Todd let out a cry of protest and chased after him.

"Hey, she's my friend!" He tried to block Rupert's path, but the prodigy easily walked around him.

"And I saved her from falling to her death because you were too slow," he reminded Todd. "Besides, it's me she's clinging to, not you." Todd puffed out his cheeks in anger.

"Dina, tell him!" He looked to his friend for a little help, but Dina wasn't in the mindset to answer. Todd finally gave up and walked away, glaring at Rupert.

~...~

"Will you tell me why you don't want a Di66-R?" He asked as he gently set her down on her bed, wrapping the blanket around her. Dina stared at him blankly for a moment before she began to sign an answer.

[It's a lot more fun if we dug up the fossils ourselves,] she explained. [We feel closer to our vivosaurs if we dig them up and revive them all on our own. Yes, your robot will make it easier, but it will also take away the fun of it all and the bond a Fighter will have with their Vivosaur might not be as strong.]

Rupert remained quiet as he processed what she said.

"It's fun…?" He murmured. He shook his head. "I'd better leave you to rest. Good bye, Dina. Thank you for the help."

[Thank you for saving me,] she replied. [I'm sorry for almost falling like that.] Rupert stared at her, bewildered.

"Wh-why are you apologizing for that?" he sputtered. "If anything that's my fault. Just get some rest. You clearly need it."

[Are you alright?] She asked, avoiding his first question. He glanced down at his leg and nodded.

"It was just a little twisted," he said quickly. "It feels much better now. Good bye." He headed out of her room and to his own. Dina lay down, resting her head on the pillow.

I guess Rupert really does have a heart, Riptide stated. That was very sweet of him to help you.

He's just a little reserved, Dina thought back to him. I'll break him out of his shell eventually.

The next morning she woke and headed outside. She overheard a couple of people talking about how the Mammoth Vision video screen had been stolen and frown.

If it's not one thing it's another, Mayrah sighed in annoyance. Honestly this whole competition is more trouble than it's worth, I'm telling you. Dear, I know you've vowed to defeat Rupert, but technically yesterday you did so why don't we just drop out and go home?

Except that wasn't him I was fighting, Dina pointed out.Todd won't let me quit. He'd pitch a fit if I tried. Besides, that wasn't Rupert's real team; his Raja and Mapo weren't on it. Rupert's not the kind of Fighter to use three vivosaurs of the same element on his team. That was probably just a test team for the robot to use.

The Mammoth Vision appeared in front of everyone and a man with a skull for a face showed up on it. He told them he was going to destroy the Cup and had started by blocking the path to the dig site. Dina wasn't able to hear everything because the people around her were chatting with one another a little too loudly.

Todd rushed to Dina's side, skidding to a halt.

"Did you see that, Dina!?" He gasped for breath. "It was Don Boneyard, the leader of the BareBones Brigade! Those guys are the biggest, baddest crime syndicate around! What the heck is going on here!?"

[I'm pretty sure he just announced he's going to stop the Cup,] Dina replied. [and he's sealed off the dig site. We have to go there and break that rock.]

"You really think you can do it?" Todd's eyes widened. "But-I mean-what about yesterday? You had a panic attack! You almost died! What if the BareBones Brigade…? I-I can't...I don't think I could-"

[Before your stomach starts hurting; I'm going alone anyway,] She signed. [Don't worry, I can handle myself. Yesterday doesn't mean anything now. Yes, I'm still scared, but I can't just stand by and do nothing. I'm going and you can't stop me.]

She immediately took off running. Todd shouted at her to come back, but she refused to listen.

Dina, what are you doing? Riptide asked. I really don't think it's a good idea to do this.

Something weird is going on here, Dina replied. And I'm getting to the bottom of it. Even if it kills me.