Yesterday Morning, Ty's Cave, Some Time After Ty Woke Up…

Scratch was starting to wake up. As his senses came back to reality, he noticed he didn't feel any metal underneath him. Sure enough, looking down, he was no longer on Ty's tread cover. He was on the ground next to the entrance of the cave. Ty must of carefully set him down then went out to get breakfast.

At least, Scratch ASSUMED it was morning and Ty was getting breakfast. It was getting really irritating how he couldn't talk or ask a SINGLE THING about where he was, what he ate, how much he ate, and how he could even have any senses, being made of metal. Especially touch. That one should be impossible. As soon as he becomes able to speak English, that's the first question he would ever ask Ty.

Speaking of which, Ty should be back from his ore run soon, so maybe he could get some extra sleep before he got up. He certainly couldn't leave while he was alone. So he tried to settle down, but as he drifted off, there was a rumble in the ground. Scratch immediately stiffened. What was that? Another more violent shake. Was it an earthquake? Was a giant meteor hitting the ground? Either way, he needed to get out of here and find Ty to follow his instructions.

Scratch made his way out the cave and sped towards the water, a good place to look out for Ty, when a huge rock crashed in front of him. It didn't hit him, but it was close enough to make him go flying back into the wall. Once his head stopped spinning, Scratch examined the rock and saw this wasn't an ordinary rock. It was black and burnt to a crisp. As he looked up, more burning rocks were flying out from behind his current wall. Combined with the glowing orange and yellow liquid coming from there as well, he realized where it was coming from.

A volcano. And if the noises were anything to go by, it was dangerously close. Suddenly he remembered what the woman had said the day before.

"Tomorrow, you'll be experiencing a crazy event that will force you to flee this place."

THIS must be the crazy event that the woman was talking about. Now he HAD to find Ty. The question was, where was he?

Scratch's answer came from a familiar voice desperately calling his name.

"SCRAAAAAAAAAAAATCH!"

It was definitely Ty. And it sounded like it was coming from straight ahead down the valley. So there was only one thing to do left.

Rev up and run.

Following what he had been taught yesterday, Scratch managed to smoothly gain speed and make his way through the valley. It wasn't as easy as it looked though, as rock kept pouring down from behind him. He had to keep looking around to make sure he could change direction depending on where the next rock was coming down.

As he rolled away from the inferno, he looked to his right and noticed a bunch of dinotrux, which had long necks. Ty said they were "craneosaurs". As they also sped away from the volcano, Scratch noticed one of the smaller craneosaurs had tripped over onto its side, and there was a piece of rock flying right at it.

He didn't hesitate to take action. He sped over to the craneosaur at full speed, leaning his head down and just like an action movie, he grabbed the craneosaur by its neck and carried it away JUST as the rock crashed down.

Taking a sharp left, with the young craneosaur not sure whether to be amazed or scared at his savior, Scratch drove towards the other craneosaurs. One of them turned their head and noticed what was going on behind them. He yelled, "Look! What is that scraptor doing?!", and the others turned and saw the two.

The larger craneosaurs didn't know what to do. Should they help the little one? Should they run? Everything was happening with so much confusion they didn't know.

Scratch knew he couldn't just drive up alongside them either, and tried to figure out how to re-unite the dinotrux in his mouth with his… family? Friends? Species? Yeah, let's go with Species. As he looked, he saw one of those rock ramps jutting out of the ground and got a stupid idea. He quickened his speed and raced up the rock. He kept an eye on the other dinotrux, because if this was to work, his timing had to be perfect.

Thankfully it was. He raced up and off the ramp, flying above the other craneosaurs watching him. He then promptly released the smaller craneosaur and watched as one of the larger craneosaurs released his hook-tongue out of his mouth and caught him. That was the last thing Scratch saw of them as he looked down and realized he had forgotten to account for one last thing in his plan.

His landing.

He landed on the hard ground at full force and went unconscious as his body eventually skidded to a halt.

Scratch's Landing Spot, Unknown To Him, 2 Hours After His Crash…

"C'mon you two! We've got scrap to collect."

"Yeah yeah. Don't get your capacitors in a flux."

"I'm NOT. I just want to get this done quickly. The dark clouds will be clearing up soon, and once that happens the Scrapadactyls will be able to scour the area."

"Whatever."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No! It's just-"

"Hey laddies! Look over there!"

"Huh? Is that a scraptor?"

"I tink so. Let's go check on him."

…

"Well?"

"Ye's breathin at least. Tat's a sign."

"It's a good thing the Scrapadactyls didn't find him first. He would've be taken apart without mercy."

"No kidding."

"Are you sure he's a scraptor?"

"It looks like a scraptor."

"It CAN'T be. Look at his colour."

"And his arms."

"And his tail."

"But he's got our body. Wouldn't that make him one of us?"

"I honestly don't know."

…

"So, do we take him apart or back to our scrapyard?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, he IS technically still a scraptor even if he is different, but you KNOW how Ripper feels about strangers."

"I guess."

"We don't know though. Ripper might let him stay if this guy could convince him he'll be useful to us."

"Hmm… I vote we take him to the scrapyard. Once he wakes up, we'll ask him what he is and if he'll work with us. If he agrees, we'll take him to Ripper. If he doesn't, or if he can't understand us, we scrap him."

"I'm down for that."

"Agreed."

"It's settled then. Help me lift him up onto my back."

Unknown Location, 5 Hours After Scratch's Crash…

Scratch's body was hurting.

That was the first thing he felt when he woke up. His vision was still blurry, but he remembered what had happened.

"Uhg. What was I thinking? Better yet, what was I NOT thinking? Mental note, next time you come up with a plan, fucking THINK IT THROUGH Scratch."

As his vision cleared, he realized he was trying to fall upwards, but something was stopping him. This made him alert and look around. He was what looked like a dumping ground for metal. There were metal parts EVERYWHERE. There were even mountains of scraps piling up. He himself was hanging by his tail, tied to a metal pole sticking out of one of these scrap mountain with a chain, one end looped around the pole, the other around the metal between his tail and his body.

He looked up, or down in the worlds case, and saw multiple creatures. Some were chatting, some were moving around with pieces of scrap in their mouths, the rest were fighting, whether it be each other or for scrap.

As he looked closer at one of the creatures, he saw they the same shape as him, but with dangly hook hands and either roller skate or treaded feet. They were scraptors. And seeing that there was scrap everywhere, that meant he was in their territory.

Once he got over the mental shock of where he was and what he was surrounded by, his immediate thought was to get away from them and somehow find Ty. The problem was there were a LOT of them, so there was no point in trying to escape and sneak out. The only other thing he could try to do is talk to them. Ty said they kill other dinotrux for scrap, especially if they were or were near death, so if they brought them here, that must mean they want him for something. Right?

Again, it was the only option, so it was worth a try. And since Ty couldn't understand him, that must mean these guys would. Worth a try. At least if he dies he can blame that woman before he does.

"I understand you think I'm a jerk for bringing you here, but remember, you chose to come here."

Speak of the devil. "I came here because I wanted to learn about teamwork and friendship, not be captured by dinosaur androids."

"Of course. That will come in time. But for now, these… I guess you could call them 'Detours' are to help you learn about the world and how to use your body."

"You said I would get my voice back eventually. Why couldn't I ask about the world and me then and just get to the lessons?"

"It would be best if you learned them right away. Otherwise, how would you know how to move around? Also, what would've happened to you if you joined this group and you DIDN'T know they were bad guys until it was too late?"

"I… guess you have a point. But another question, you told me that a crazy event would happen, but you never told me what it would be. Why?"

"Well, what's the fun of going to another world to have an experience when you already know what it's going to be?"

Scratch never thought of it like that. Very philosophical. It would still have been nice for the woman to warn him so he could take the precautions not to DIE, but there was no point in arguing now. There was just one more thing he needed to know.

"How do I meet up with Ty again? He was the only one I could trust in this world so far."

"So I saw. You two hit it off pretty well. I can promise, you WILL meet up with him again. Just go with your plan and do what these scraptors want you to do. Once-

"Hang on, hang on. So your saying these scraptors will understand me?"

"Yes. You are a feral dino, they are feral dino, it will work."

"Ok good. Continue."

"Ahem, right. Just do what these scraptors want you to do. Once an escape opens up, you'll know when to execute it."

"Any hints at all?"

"Hmm, I guess I can give you one. Your form needs ore to work, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, look for food in places they won't try to reach. Speaking of which, that's all I can say. I must go and get food for me and your mother."

"My mother? Wait! Is she ok?"

"Yes. She is frustrated with me of course, but she is fine. I'll be taking care of her while you're in the world I've sent you to."

"Sigh, alright. I don't really want to talk to her right now anyone, since she's the one who caused this in the first place. Just tell her, from me, "I'll be fine mother. I'll show you not all the world is trying to destroy me.", will you?"

"Of course my friend. I will. Good luck to you."

"Thanks."

With that mental conversation done, Scratch looked around to find a scraptor to talk to. There was one right below, back to him. "Well, here it goes."

"So…" He started. The other scraptor flinched and turned to him. Scratch did his best to keep his cool. "… Is this how you treat all your guests before you kill them?"

The scraptor got up. "Nope. You're a special case. When did you wake up?" He had a gruff, crackly voice.

Despite being told that scraptors were hostile and something to be feared, Scratch had to admit, it felt good to finally have his first normal conversation with something since he came to this world. "A few minutes ago. It's a little disorienting up here. Can I ask questions now?"

The scraptor eyed him suspiciously. "Only if you promise to not try anything if we release you."

"Deal."

"Alright. One second." The scraptor beneath Scratch turned to the scraptors nearby, calling out "Hey!" All the scraptors in the area turned to the noise. "I need someone to get the new guy down and keep an eye on him." Two scraptors immediately stepped forward.

"Allow us." The two girl sounding scraptors said in unison. They swung their hook hands up to the pole Scratch was tied to, lifted themselves up and began using their mouths to fiddle with the chain. While waiting, Scratch saw the scraptor he talked to before was looking back at him expectantly, so he started asking questions.

"So, where am i?"

"The scrapyard of Ripper."

"Ripper?"

The scraptor nodded his head towards one of the scraptors. Unlike the other scraptors, he had red markings on his body. "Our current leader of the scrapyard. I'm going to assume your new around here and tell you something. When a scrapyard is built, the scraptor who assumes its dominance gets to have a name, the scrapyard named after it and any scrap they want in the scrapyard."

"And if another scraptor defeats him, the entitlements are passed onto the latter?"

"Exactly."

"Ok, that makes sense. Next, how did I get here?"

"If your referring to your location, three scraptors Ripper made scouts. They were sent to investigate the recently destroyed valley nearby to collect quick and easy scrap."

"The one destroyed by a volcano?"

The scraptor nodded. "The same. They said they found you laying unconscious on the ground and took you back here. If you're talking about right now, they tied you up to keep you from running when you woke up."

"Why?"

The scraptor looked up confused. "Uhh, again, we figured you would run away when-"

"No, no. I mean, why did they take me here? Why didn't they kill me?"

"Ah, right. Well, you may look different, but your still a scraptor. And we don't kill our brethren unless we have to. The thing is, since you're an outsider and too different from the rest of us, we need to make sure you'll be loyal to our land. If you're not, your too much a dinotrux and we'll have to scrap you anyway."

Scratch, somehow, gulped. "Is that… what you mean by me being a special case?"

"That's right. So you better be good if you want to stay in one piece."

"Of course. I don't have anywhere else to go anyway."

"Good, good. Ripper will want to speak with you when you get down. Just proclaim your loyalty to him and this territory, and you're in."

"Got it."

Eventually, the chain around the pipe was untied and Scratch fell onto the ground. The chain around his tail was untied shortly afterwards. He then followed the scraptor he'd been talking to towards Ripper.

"Hey boss." The scraptor said. Ripper looked over and saw then. "Our new friend here says he'll join our group."

"Ah! Is that so?" Ripper replied. He made eye contact with Scratch. 'Ello there fresh meat!" He had a thick, almost comical British accent. "Let me make this simple for you. Everybody here but me is the dogsbody, all right? So you do whatever I say until your knackered, and if you get argy-bargy or say you can't be arsed, I won't hesitate to have you buggered by the end of the day, right'eo?"

… Ok. NOW it was comical.

Regardless, Scratch nodded his head. "Jolly good. Now, before we put you to work, let's if your as the bees knees as you look." Ripper pointed to a scraptor standing nearby. "Chase him down to the opening, catch him and bring him to me."

The scraptor looked surprised. "Say whaaaaaaat?"

Ripper ignored him. "Fail, you'll be punished. Succeed, I'll send you and some other scraptors out for your first hunt."

"You got it Sir."

"Ah ah ah. Refer to me Ripper, so you remember who your leader is."

"Of course… Ripper."

Scratch turned around and saw the scraptor Ripper had pointed to was already running away. He immediately took chase.

The scraptor drove through a rocky canyon. When emerged, it opened out into desert. He tried to get away, but as it turned out, Scratch was faster than normal scraptors and was gaining fast. Once close enough, Scratch got alongside the fleeing scraptor and gave him a good push. The latter fell over in a heap, and before he could get back up, Scratch had already 180d and grabbed his tail with his sharp clamp.

The scraptor didn't give up so easily though. He threw Scratch with his tail away from him and tried to run back to camp. But Scratch managed to compose himself and fire his claws at his runner, catching him in the back. He then pulled his chain back to him, lifted the squirming scraptor to his head and clamped around his neck.

At this point he saw Ripper and the other scraptors come out of the canyon to watch the show. And just by seeing how into it they were, watching everything with keen looks, they were impressed.

Scratch had to admit, even HE was impressed by his skills. He had never really taken any martial arts lessons or done any parkour. He just went to the gym with his mother for an hour or two. So in his world, he wasn't really athletic.

Here, he was strong enough to pull other scraptors towards him, fast enough to catch up to one and agile enough to actually catch one.

It HAD to be this body. Its programing made him think and do like scraptors think and do, and the enhanced body made him better than other scraptors. So even though he wasn't TOO agile, because if he was he wouldn't be falling as often as he is, he was still pretty damn cool.

In any case, with his target prey for practice caught, Scratch managed to take him back to the watching Ripper, throwing him into the ground.

"Blimy! I'm impressed. Looks like you just earned yourself your first hunt." Ripper turned to the others, making eye contact with 2 other scraptors. "Alright you two. Take the new guy to the nearby valley and help find him some scrap. If anyone gets in your way, you know what to do."

"Of course Ripper." They were the creepy girl scraptors. They turned and waited for Scratch. Then a thought comes to his mind.

"Just before I do Ripper, I'm just wondering, do you scraptors eat anything?"

"Mostly rust from decaying metal in our scrapyard. It keeps us going. Why?"

"I work differently. I have to eat ore to keep myself running. So if I'm going to go hunting, I'll have to find myself some ore while I'm out. Just letting you know."

Ripper nodded. "Gotcha lad. I'll keep that in mind."

Scratch nodded back, turned to the girl scraptors, and followed them to the valley.

About 6 Hours Later, Nightfall…

"And over here is where you will be sleeping."

Scratch looked at the spot the sports announcer and commentator sounding scraptor (god that's a mouthful, let's just call him the sport scraptor) was nodding towards. It was near the entrance to the scrapyard. He and the two girl scraptors dropped the scrap they had collected earlier onto the spot.

He turned to the 2 shining girls. "Thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it. But next time, we'll be going after your scrap. Gotta maintain our image after all." They replied, and rolled away from him.

Scratch looked on after them. According to those two, scraptors have their own piles of scrap. The higher the scrap they have, the more bragging rights they get. Guess that makes sense.

Behind him, the gruff scraptor came up with ore in his mouth and dropped it next to Scratch. "Ripper said you needed this to function."

Scratch turned to him. "Yeah. Thanks." The scraptor nodded and went away.

"You better eat quickly then get some sleep. When the sun starts to rise in the east, you and the rest of the scraptors will be put to work again by Ripper."

"Alright, sure."

With that, Scratch ate his dinner, curled up next to his scrap pile and let himself drift off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Back On Earth, The Strange Womans Shop…

The blonde haired woman examined the purple apple carefully, feeling, smelling and licking it. It seemed to be safe.

"So, you're sure that eating this apple will stop me from eating foods I like?"

The strange woman grinned at her. "Yes my dear. Simply eat the apple then the food you wish to give up then you will not be capable of eating it anymore for one month. Just try to eat it slowly so that the apple lasts. I promise, your diet will be a success."

The blonde woman looked oddly at her. "This sounds like a plot device for a Disney movie."

"Where do you think I got the inspiration from?" The strange woman laughed.

"Yeah… Sure. Ha." The woman shifted towards the door. "Well, thanks for the help. Bye." She forced a smile and left the shop.

The strange woman left the shop herself and made her way towards the nearby indoor marketplace. Some people looked strangely at her appearance, but she took no notice of them.

At the marketplace she got a variety of fruit. Especially grapes. As she was collecting, a man came up to her in interest. "Hello."

She looked at him. "Good evening."

"Are you the owner of that new shop that recently opened?"

"That is me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, my wife and son disappeared yesterday when I came up to talk to her. I asked around and apparently they were last seen walking inside your shop."

"Ah yes. Poor Josh and his mother Cristie. You must be Drake, his farther."

"Well, yes. So do you-?"

"Indeed I do. Follow me. I am going back with supplies. I'll explain the situation as we go."

Elsewhere, In The Shops Back Room…

Cristie walked around, stretching her legs as best she could being stuck inside an invisible bubble. At this point she had accepted that she wouldn't be escaping this woman's grasp. If she tried to run, the woman would catch her. If she told someone about this, they'd think she was crazy. If she killed the woman for revenge, Josh might never come back.

But there was always one thought that kept coming to her head.

How would her husband react when he heard what happened?

Turns out she didn't have to wonder for long, as she saw the woman enter the room. Cristie's husband was right behind her.

As the woman put the fruits she had picked up into a nearby fruit basket, putting the grapes on top, Drake walked up his wife and sighed.

"Honey… We need to talk."

Next Morning, Back At The Scrapyard…

Scratch was awakened by a tapping on his head clamp. Opening his eyes, he saw one of the other scraptors tapping him with his tread. The voice that followed sounded like an AI voice for a computer. How strangely ironic.

"Wake up process, required. Please make contact with Ripper immediately."

Scratch got up and looked around for Ripper, but couldn't find him. "Ok. Do you know where he is?"

"The current location of Ripper is 10 meters in that direction." The AI scraptor used its clamp to point to one of the huge scrap piles. Ripper must be behind that.

"Alright, thanks." Scratch said, and made his way behind the pile. Sure enough, there was Ripper talking to one of the other scraptors. "Hey Ripper, you looking for me?"

He turned to face yesterday's new recruit. "Ah yes, there you are. I woke up this morning and remembered that you need ore to function. So what I'm going to do is send you and 2 others for scrap at that valley nearby so you can eat. Got it?"

"Sure thing Ripper." And later that day, he, AI scraptor and a Scottish scraptor were on their way.

Some Hours Later, The Nearby Valley…

As the three scraptors looked around the edges of the valley on top of cliffs to see if the scrapadactyls missed anything, Scratch suddenly got a strong diff of something. It smelled like ore. And it was coming from the cliff they were on.

"Hold up guys, I smell breakfast." He said. The other scraptors turned to him.

"Well ye need to hurry up laddie. Ripper is not one ye want to keep waiting."

"Of course." Scratch replied, looking down the cliff they were on. The other two scraptors came up and followed his gaze.

At the bottom of the cliff were a bunch of craneosaurs talking among each other. On the wall of the cliff they were standing on was a rock jutting out. On that rock was a collection of ore. Perfect. Like the woman said, "look for food in places they won't try to reach", so all he had to do was get down there and he would be free from the scraptors. Hopefully.

Turning his back to cliff, Scratch closed his hand into the tough rock and extended his chain as he went parasailing down the rocky cliff. Once he had reached the rocky platform, he opened his hands and reeled them into his box arms.

"Oi laddie! Will ye be able to get back up?" One of the scraptors asked.

"Trust me dude, these chains fire further than you realize!" Scratch yelled back. Bad idea. He turned and ate some of the ore pile, but then realized a craneosaur had heard him and was looking right at him.

"Ahhhhh! Scraptor!" It screamed to the others. They made their way over and extended their necks to see it.

"Are you sure it's a scraptor?"

"Of course it is! Look at its shape!"

"But look at its arms!"

"And its tail!"

"Leave it alone! Let it eat our ore!"

"Are you kidding? That's OUR ore!"

"What do we do?!"

Suddenly the barrage of comments and questions was interrupted by a loud ROAR. The craneosaurs stiffened up.

"Alert! A T-Trux is near our current position! Evacuate immediately!" Said one of the scraptors above. The craneosaurs heard the noise and saw the other scraptors. They were getting REALLY freaked out now.

As for Scratch, he realized what the scraptor had said. A T-Trux. Could it be Ty?

"What are ye waiting for laddie? Get your ass outta there!" The other scraptor was saying.

Another roar. This time closer. Screw it.

Scratch pulled his head back, took a deep probably charging up voice box breath, and made his own ROAR. Everyone around him was looking in shock.

"Did that scraptor just ROAR back to D-Structs?!"

"Dude?! What the hell are you doing?!"

One of the craneosaurs turned to another. "Skya! Find out what's going on!"

"Got it!" She said, making a beeline for the noise.

There was another roar. Once again, Scratch roared back.

"Have you lost ye god-Danny mind laddie?!"

Scratch looked up to the two scraptors still on the cliff. "It's something you wouldn't understand alright? Just get outta here! Tell Ripper I'll meet back up with him this afternoon!"

Another roar. And… another one? Dispute the confusion, Scratch roared back"

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I promise I'll tell you! Just go!" The two scraptors on the cliff looked at him suspiciously then rolled away quickly. Scratch looked back to where the noises were coming from. Another roar. Another reply. Then… Nothing. There was nothing.

Scratch sighed. He had missed his opportunity. Why was he trying to roar anyway? Why didn't he get down from this rock and run after the noise? God he was stupid sometimes.

Dejected, he went back to eating his ore. As he ate he wondered if he would tell the truth to Ripper when he got back to the scrapyard. Cause there was no doubt the other two scraptors would tell him what happened. How the hell could explain what he jus-

Right then, he heard a voice say his name. "Hey Scratch." Was that…

He looked down from his platform.

It was Ty. And there was someone, or something on his head.

God-Dammit! I wanted to complete the fan-fic for the first episode in this chapter, but there's SO MUCH thought process and tension to be had and so many ideas and decisions to do, so I HAVE to end it here. Oh well.

Thank you so much for reading, and have a great rest of the day.

P.S. If someone could make or link me to a script of the actual Dinotrux episodes, that would make the dialogue that comes from the show get into fanfic a LOT faster.

P.P.S. If someone else could help me make the accents i'm putting in this story even better, that would be great.