Up On The Cliffs, After Returning To The Valley…

Ripper, AI scraptor and Scottish scraptor looked down from the top of the cliffs at the group of dinotrux. More specifically, the familiar grey scraptor sitting slightly away from the group and occasionally looking up at them.

Ripper looked back scornfully. "I don't know what in buggery that scraptor is playing, but I'll be showing him no mercy if he can't cough up a good excuse."

AI scraptor noticed Scratch was motioning towards the nearby lake. "The scraptor has made an indication. Objective location for talking to the new guy is, lake of water."

Ripper looked towards the lake then looked back. They would have to wait until the dinotrux were asleep before talking to the scraptor.

But when they did and when he was… Well, let's just say he won't hesitate to take him out if necessary.

Ripper gave the order. "Tell me when the dinotrux are asleep then meet me at the lake. Be ready to kill."

"Aye Ripper."

"Affirmative Ripper."

Nightfall In The Valley, Near A Cave In The Cliffs…

"And HERE is where I'll be sleeping." Said Ty, indicating to the cave. "Care to join me Revvit?"

The reptool looked inside the dark cave. "Sure. At least the scrapadactyls can't get me in there."

"Great! So, where will you guys be sleeping?" Ty asked, turning to the other dinotrux.

"I'll be in those trees over there. Helps me camouflage myself so it's not obvious where I am." Skya replied.

"Fair enough. Ton-Ton?"

"Dude, I've got a GREAT sleeping strategy. I cover myself in rocks, then if someone tries to get me, BOOM! I throw the rocks around me at them and scare them away! It's awesome."

"Ha, nice. Dozer?"

"About the same. I try to sleep with my blade over my head. Then I can doze out and away if needed."

"Sounds good."

In all this, Scratch was still lost in his own thoughts. In about an hour or so he would have to make his way to the lake and confront the scraptors. It was unavoidable, seeing how he noticed a scraptor on the cliff above him. No doubt he would be confronting Ripper too. God help him…

Ty turned to his scraptor friend. He was looking a little down. "Scratch?"

Once he realized Ty was talking to him, the scraptor turned to him.

"How about you Scratch? You going to bunk with someone or sleep on your own?"

Scratch gave this some thought, looking at the dinotrux. If he survived tonight, maybe he should sleep with someone else. He still didn't fully understand this world, so protection would be good. The question then is, who to sleep with?

Dozer, no thanks. Scratch still didn't like him and Dozer didn't trust him, so that's out.

Ton-Ton would be interesting, plus he could use his dump bed as cover, but sleeping under rocks? Maybe not.

Ty now has Revvit, so he should just leave the sleep teams to two. After all, threes a crowd, right?

That just left Skya. Yeah, that would work. The idea of tree camouflage and her watchful height sounds good. Plus, it would be like sleeping with mother, which would make it more comfortable. Cause hey, Skya was kind of like a motherly figure.

So with that, Scratch went over Skya and leaned on her, indicating his decision. She looked a little scared and uncertain about it.

"Uh, no thanks?" She said backing away from him a bit. The other dinotrux looked at Skya with weird expressions. "What? I don't want to sleep right next to a scraptor."

"Skya, trust me. He won't harm you." Ty assured. "Just let him bunk with you."

Skya still looked a little freaked out by Scratch, but in the end just sighed. "Alright. But if I'm missing my parts tomorrow I'm blaming you."

"Noted. Alright then. Everyone get some shut eye. We've got a long day of training ahead of us tomorrow." Ty said, and everyone departed to their sleeping quarters.

Some Time Later, Switching Between Scratch And Revvit POVs…

Once he was sure Skya was asleep, Scratch silently rolled out of the forest of trees. He looked around the clearing. Nearby was Ton-Ton and Dozer sleeping under their rocks. It seemed that no one but him was awake.

So he carefully went past the dinotrux and made his way towards the lake. Let's get this over with…

Once he was sure Ty was asleep, Revvit carefully made his way off him and silently rolled out of the cave. Ducking down behind a rock, he watched the group of trees on the distance. He should be leaving any…

Sure enough, he saw Scratch carefully leave the trees and make his way to the lake. Now it was time to find out what was going on.

After following Scratch, Revvit ducked behind a nearby tree and watched Scratch grab a drink. As he did, three scraptors approached their position. Scratch turned to one of them and made a silent roar. Then one of them, a scraptor with red paint on it, started roaring back. They were talking to each other!

Revvit silently gasped, eyes bulging. Why was Scratch talking to other scraptors? He didn't want to believe that Scratch was actually conspiring against them, but why was he secretly talking to the scraptors in the area?

Once he had reached the lake, Scratch decided to grab one last drink. If he was going out, he was going to feel refreshed doing so. As he did, he heard the tread of three scraptors approaching. Here we go…

He turned to them. One had red marks, so that was definitely Ripper, and the other two were probably AI and Scottish scraptor, the two he left behind when he first found Ty. So he was outnumbered and they were ready to chase him down. Great. Just great.

"Pleasure seeing you again, Ripper." Scratch said, playing it cool.

Ripper just scolded. "The feeling is not mutual. You've got explaining to do, so hop to it."

Scratch sighed. "Alright, but just let me finish my explanation."

Ripper crossed his dangly arms.

"You see, before I came across you guys, I became friends with a T-Trux called Ty. He helped me get around, got me food and let me sleep with him. But after the volcano decimated the valley, we got split up, then I came across you. At the cliffs, I met up again, and I've been hanging out with him and other dinotrux that are working together to make the valley safe from D-Structs, another T-Trux. So now I'm stuck with them AND you." Scratch took a breath.

Ripper stood there a moment, taking everything in. Finally, he talked. "A truly fascinating story, I admit. However, I cannot allow it." At his signal, Ripper got AI and Scottish scraptor to grab Scratch and hold him down. "Scraptors do not make friends with dinotrux. We take them apart so we can have their scraps. So for your actions, I'm afraid I'll have to take YOU apart. Can't have any of my followers setting a bad example." Ripper said, readying his equipment.

Scratch had to think of something fast to not get scraped. Then he had it. "Who says you can't get scrap from dinotrux who are your friends?"

This made Ripper stop and look at him confused. "Say what?"

"You saw an anklodump in that circle when you found me, right? Well he lost a piece of himself and it would have stayed off him if the reptool which they've also made friends with hadn't put it back on."

Ripper looked at him oddly. "Uh huh. So wh-"

"And that's not all." Scratch interrupted. "When they played football earlier, the strain was making pieces of them come off. Again, the reptool was putting them back on. Just the fact they're throwing around their weight is producing more fresh scrap then your scraptor herd could ever find."

Ripper actually started to think about what Scratch was saying.

"You want proof? Give me time until tomorrow night. I'll bring fresh scrap I find to you each night and I'll bring more than your other scraptors. It won't even be mine, it'll be yours. If I do that, you have no reason you take me apart. Deal?"

Ripper was doubtful. "How do I know you won't try to get away? Or that you won't get your friends to protect you or destroy us?"

Scratch already had an answer. "1, I wouldn't know where to go, 2, I can't speak their language, and 3, most of them don't trust me enough already. If they saw me with another scraptor like I was socializing with them, or they saw daily scraptors trying to kill me, they would get suspicious. Besides, after your threats tonight, I just KNOW you'll find a way to kill me, one way or another. So why take the chance."

Ripper had his head hanging in thought. "Hmm… Fine." AI and Scottish scraptor got off Scratch. "But I better see results or it's your head."

"You can count on me Ripper."

Ripper turned and the other 2 scraptors followed. The three of them zoomed away.

Once he was gone, Scratch sat down, head hung. "Yeah. You can count on me. Uhg…"

"Don't be discouraged my friend. You're doing very well."

"I guess. It's been a while. Where have you been?"

"I've always been watching my friend. I've mainly been observing your behavior and taking notes."

"Oh yeah? Did you take the note about me SEEING RED?!"

"I will admit, I was also surprised when I saw that. It must be something the world itself implanted into you, because I certainly didn't."

"(Sigh). I guess. No point trying to argue with you. Is mother enjoying the show?"

"Your mother AND father are watching concerned. They've also been taking about your past and decisions leading up to now."

"Sounds fun. At least this new body has been helping me be useful."

"Oh trust me my friend, you've always had those abilities. Anyway, reptool at 6 O'Clock."

"Wait, what?"

"Scratch?" Came a familiar voice.

Rewind Time A Bit…

Revvit watched the whole scene from behind his rock. He couldn't understand them, but judging from the other scraptors holding Scratch down and the red painted scraptor getting ready to kill him, it would seem that they don't get along. But after Scratch made more conversation, theoretically, the red painted scraptor stopped revving his gear, let him go and went away. What was that about?

Once he couldn't see them, he saw Scratch sit down, head hung. Revvit had seen him down, but this seemed… different. Scratchs mind seemed to wonder. After watching him, Revvit decided to reveal himself.

"Scratch?"

Scratch jumped, turned, and saw the reptools glow-in-the-dark eyes. Realizing his meeting was exposed, he had a conundrum of what to do. Before he decided, Revvit saw his hesitation and quickly said "Uh, I won't the others what I saw. I don't understand it completely and I don't want to jump to conclusions, so don't worry." At that, Scratch breathed in relief.

There was a moment of silence between the two, as Scratch sat back down on the ground. Revvit was getting worried. Scratch looked really shaken up. Whatever was happening, he was worried about it, and was probably in danger. And seeing how he was doing this in secrecy, it was something the others couldn't find out, or he would REALLY be in trouble.

Again though, he was unable to speak english, so it was impossible to ask him about it. And Revvit didn't know enough about scraptor anatomy to help him. I mean, NO ONE know anything about scraptor anatomy, seeing how no one has been brave enough to kill one and look inside it.

Maybe Scratch would let him poke around inside him to look, maybe the crew would find a way to cope. Whatever the case, it was getting late and he needed to get some sleep. So Revvit turned to head back to Ty, but before he did, he said one last thing to Scratch.

"Hey Scratch…" The scraptor turned to him. "Listen, I am a reptool of my word. I promised Ty I would keep an eye on you and that I would help you if I can. I know your freaked out by… whatever is going on, and that you want to speak english. I'm not sure exactly how I would do that, I would have to get inside you to find out, and I don't know if you even trust me. So, after tonight, once you're ready and can trust me, just let me know, and I'll take a look. Ok?"

Scratch continued to look at Revvit, thinking about what he said. Revvit was about to head back, thinking Scratch needed time to think, when he was picked up and brought to the scraptors chest. His arms were around the reptools body.

Once he realized Scratch was trying to hug him, Revvit did his best to put his reptool claws around his friends metal body. They sat in silence for a moment, before Scratch put Revvit back down, and the reptool finally headed back to Tys cave.

Scratch himself got up to make his way back to the trees where Skya was. Feeling were swarming around inside him.

Fear, because the scraptors were counting on him.

Sadness, because he couldn't communicate properly with his new friends.

Homesick, because he missed his world.

But strangely enough, he felt something he hadn't really felt since coming here.

Comfort, because Ty, Ton-Ton and now Revvit were showing genuine worry and sympathy for him.

Three friends. Three whole friends he could feel like he could actually trust. Not classmates, not relatives, friends.

All he could hope now was that things would get better as he stayed here. And seeing how he had those three by his side… well, let's just say he was feeling a lot more confident about his decision to come here then he did a couple of days ago.

And so as this crazy day comes to a close, many question from characters and viewers of this story alike come to mind. Will Skya and Dozer eventually be able to trust their strange companion? How will the crew react to Scratchs mysterious entrance to the planet? Moreover, where he actually came from and the fact he's hanging with other scraptors? What's the story behind his form and dangerous "Predator Mode"? Will he escape the scraptor clan with his parts intact? Will Revvit find a way to help him speak english? Why is this fanfic called what it's called? Is it because Scratchs abilities of Spatial Awareness and Out-Of-The-Box thinking will turn him into something he never thought possible? Most of all, what happened to Joshs Mother that caused her to become so protective of him that caused all this in the first place?

All these questions and more will be answered in my interpretation of Dinotrux Season 1 with Scratch, coming whenever I decide to get the time to write the chapters while battling depression, anxiety, school and social problems. And seeing how I'm have autism, asperger's and panic disorder… well, let's just say it won't be easy.

Until next chapter, thank you SO MUCH for reading, escpecially Matthew Gemm, Andrea Massocco, Kingdom Infinity, Chandria the Snowy Owl and zero fullbuster for the support and kind words to this story thus far, and please, have an absolutely AWESOME rest of the day.

P.S. I'm going to be making a Crossover story called Dimension Depression in the future. It should give you an idea of the mental turmoil I'm going though right now. Check back on my profile regularly if you're interested to read it once it comes out. Warning: It WILL be full of tears :'(

P.P.S. Seriously you five, thank you for all the great reviews you've posted to my chapters. Be sure to tell me if there's anything you'd be interested in seeing in this series.