Blood, Tears & Broken hearts

by C-Puff

COMPLETE sequel 'Nuts, ratchets, sprockets & bolts' once again A Ratchet & Clank fic featuring Sprocket. I'm not writing another RatchetSprocket fic since I don't want this to turn into a soap opera. written when I was 17. More sueness but not AS bad.

Name:             Blood tears & broken hearts

Disclaimer:     I own NOTHING except Sprocket, Andre, and Squee, The planet Stochan, The NLFA, Granite, kentucky & anything else that isn't featured in the game.

Note:               This takes place some weeks after the first fic. In this fic Drek still hasn't been defeated.

"WHAT?!!!"

Chairman Drek screamed in outrage.

The poor surviving guard was quivering.

He had been unfortunate enough to have to retell the whole sorrowful tail of how one of Drek's most reinforced bases was destroyed by the same Lombax they were trying to Lure there & capture

"I DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO MAKE THIS PLAN WORK & SOME DAFFODILE OF A SOLDIER GOES & BLABS TO THE ENEMY!!! I WON'T HAVE IT!! WON'T HAVE IT!!!!!" boiling in uncontrollable rage Drek pulled out a blaster from his belt. "Some-one will pay! Operation kidnap would've been faultless!! SOME ONE WILL PAY!!!" He swished the phaser over his head & pulled the trigger as it came face to face with the bewildered guard...

Drek put the phaser away. "Squee! Get some-one to clean up this mess!" He said to his second in command, indicating what remained of the now ex-guard.

"Yes sir. Immediately sir." the creature called 'Squee' smiled.

Squee was a strange individual. Not even the same species as Drek, he followed the man religiously & obeyed his orders without question.

Squee was a Testuyian from the planet Testuya. He was a lizard like creature. Warm blooded yes, but with a shiny scaly skin, dry as a rock & a dark brick-red color. He had slitted yellow eyes & a long thin black tongue that was silkier than any other. Surviving through lies & deception he had made it to Drek's side as his secretary & second in command. He was also the one who helped Drek think up plans & schemes in the worst situations.

He smiled now as he saw the current situation had evolved into of these. The wheels in his head were already turning.

"You know sir..." He said as his slippery tongue worked expertly in its flattering.

"...You say you want some-one to pay...why not let it be some-one worthy of the boys attention?"

Drek turned sharply to the creature. "Haven't you been listening?! I just SAID Operation 'Kidnap' was a bust! You think I'm dumb enough to try the same stunt twice?!"

The Testuya didn't blink. He merely smiled wider.

"I never intended to suggest kidnap sir...Maybe it's time we take more extreme measures. Something that will truly hurt the boy. After all, there are far worse fates than death. Perhaps if we play our cards right we could really cause some mental Damage..."

Drek cocked an eyebrow, not sure he was following. "What exactly are you suggesting Squee?"

Squee's eyes flashed malevolently "We spill blood sir...We spill blood..."

"Hey look! That might be him!" Clank said pointing over Ratchet's shoulder. The Lombax turned to see a boy looking far too official for his age. He was looking about him desperately. He had a mop of golden blonde hair that stuck out in odd angles creating a sort of frame around his face. He looked more or less human despite the fact that his skin was an aquay blue color. He was wearing a sort of suit that looked a size or two too big for him. He was carrying an orange & Black back-pack whose only reason for being there seemed that it could clash with the rest of his acquire.

"Are you sure? He looks kinda young!" Ratchet commented.

"Well so do you!" Clank said matter-of-factly.

Ratchet took the point & started making towards the boy.

"Hiya!" He said raising a hand to show he was friendly. The boy was startled by them nonetheless but half smiled when he saw who spoke...

"H...H...Hello." He said. He had a cheerful voice, but at the moment he seemed rather nervous about something.

"Are you the owner of the hardware store near here?" Ratchet asked once he had gotten near enough to the boy. He unclasped Clank from the little robot's perch on his back.

"Kinda..." The boy said sounding relieved.

"Well we hear you have a anti-matter gun up for grabs & we were wondering if we could take a look at it." Ratchet said.

"Oh yeah That! Well you can take a look at it sure if only I could get back to my shop, actually it's my father's shop. But you see because of all these dumb Yobas around I can't get home. I haven't even got a stick on me. "

Ratchet gave Clank a skew look. Clank shrugged. He & Ratchet had done escorts before but they always had something to gain in return. This time proved to be no different.

"Hey I know! I see you've got yourself a weapon there...!"

"Tool..." Ratchet mumbled instinctively. The boy didn't catch it though.

" ...So you can help me get back to my Dad's shop! & In return I'll let you have the anti-matter gun! After all, My Dad ain't gonna use it for anything & It'll be a cold day in June before my mom lets me get my hands on it! Whaddya say?"

"Do we have a choice?" Clank muttered. Ratchet ignored him.

"Sure!" He said instead. "Which way?"

The boy pointed into a direction & they were off through the twisting alleys of the Metropolis slums. Ratchet had long ago learnt that the best weapons would be sold on the black market in the bad parts of a town or planet. The quest for a new & powerful weapon had bought him & Clank here, as they needed a better weapon than those they currently carried. Oh sure the Devastator was great, but it wasn't efficient for close range fire & sometimes you need something powerful you can just shoot over your shoulder while flooring it across a terrain, as for the R.Y.N.O. It was rather heavy & Ratchet couldn't exactly flip as well as he should while carrying it.

The slums of Metropolis had recently been plagued by an infestation of Yobas, Strange bird like creature with very tiny sharp teeth in their beak like mouths. Roughly the size of Clank (0.73 Meters if you want to be exact!) they had large claws on their feet & were lightening quick runners. They couldn't fly as their wings were very short & pathetic. But with savage brutality & a taste for trouble they could really annoy you & in a pack they were deadly killers. Ratchet used his wrench for them. They weren't that dangerous but they were swarming the path towards the boy's shop. Just another day for the duo.

On the peaceful planet of Eudora, in the middle of one of the older forests (The ones that have managed to survive Drek) The Lombax girl, Sprocket, was busy hanging up her laundry. She was wearing her usual skirt with the purple turtleneck underneath it. She was humming to herself in a carefree way. Little had happened in the past few weeks & it seemed like life was continuing on with little happening in the world. The only thing that really changed is she now watched her info-bot everyday at 6 PM to see what the latest news on the criminal duo, Ratchet & Clank was. She also hadn't been feeling too well lately, she seemed to have caught a stomach bug or something. But she didn't let it slow her down, it didn't seem like such a big deal after all. She finished hanging up her laundry & picked up a sharp axe as she strolled off into the forest to collect firewood. She wandered into the place she knew so well, picking up dry sticks & chopping pieces of wood loose from fallen trees. She didn't bother knocking trees down, they were too big to even nick & there was plenty of wood on the ground. She prided herself upon being a person who didn't destroy her own back yard. She put her collection of twigs down as she started to hack at a fallen log. She was singing to herself as the axe chopped noisily at the wood. It was because of this that she did not hear the rustle of bushes behind her.

...

Ratchet & Clank were making good time taking the nervous youth back to his father's shop. Whacking at the small Yobas as soon as they dared to step close enough. A while later on they seemed to get the message & stopped following the trio. Sometimes a few of the bolder ones still tried their luck but were soon convinced that staying away was a good plan. So it didn't take too long before they finally reached the boy's home.

"Thanks a bunch!" He said as soon as his father stopped his half-hearted scolding for wandering off.  "Really, I wish I could do more for you!"

"Just the anti-matter gun will be fine thank you." Clank said smiling with the satisfaction of a job well done.

"Are you sure? I'd be happy to do anything else for you!"

"No nothing. We're quite happy, Right Ratchet?" Ratchet didn't answer. "Right Ratchet?!"

When he didn't answer the second time Clank turned to see what was the matter. Ratchet was leaning against the doorframe. He was busy nodding off. The poor boy hadn't had any real sleep of late.

"RATCHET!" Clank yelled as loud as he could without making a noise.

Ratchet was so shaken by this he nearly fell over. "WHAT?!" He said disgruntled as he tried to recollect his shattered composure.

Clank shook his head. He turned back to the blue boy who was chortling behind his hand. "I think we might appreciate a place to sleep for the night."

Clank woke up & stretched himself.  Being a robot he didn't need much time to recharge. Ratchet was still asleep however. With a lack of something better to do Clank watched him as his chest slowly rose & fell in a way that Fascinated Clank (The little guy's a robot & doesn't breathe)

Nothing seemed to get that guy down. Clank was often in awe of Ratchet's carefree ways & lack of common sense. Ratchet always seemed to be happy whatever he was doing. Clank had only seen him sad once, a few months ago on Eudora. But that seemed like ancient history now. The only thing which made Clank sure the whole episode hadn't been a dream was the way Ratchet sometimes sat & stared at the stars when they weren't busy on a mission, trying to see which planets are which, the ones he looked the most for was Veldin (His home), Metropolis (The seller of the best merchandise) & Eudora, the forest planet.

Clank yawned & lay back down. He wondered what lay in store for them tomorrow…

"We have apprehended the girl Sir…" Squee said from his shady corner.

"Brilliant…Now, how do we go about getting rid of her?" Drek said rubbing his chin trying to come up with the most creative/messy way of disposing of some one.

"I'm afraid she took out 3 or 4 guards when they caught her, she had an axe about her person." Squee went on carelessly. One bad detail in a success wouldn't get a big reaction...

"Oh well…to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs." Drek said giving a shrug & unconsciously proving Squee's point.

Drek went back to trying to find an interesting way to murder some one.

After a few minutes he still hadn't made up his mind.

"I just can't decide! If she were just a pawn it would've been easy to just do away with her. But she caused so much trouble her self! I want her to suffer as well!"

He was starting to get annoyed. He paced some more before he snapped at Squee. "Well?! Don't you have anything?!!"

Squee was busy paging thru a newspaper. He stopped on a particular page.

"Hmm…the sports section…" He mumbled to himself.

"Oh I give up!" Drek said as he started to pace again.

"…Chocobo racing's looking good…" Squee went on absent-mindedly.

"Hmm!" Drek grumbled.

Squee turned the page & said with mild interest. "Seems the NLFA's paying large sums of money at the moment…"

Squee smiled & looked up, waiting for this news to sink in. The chairman soon caught the message & turned with an equally malevolent grin at Squee.

"She does seem very fit!" He said rubbing his chin, enjoying the thought.

"Top dollar I'd expect!" Squee nodded, pretending he wasn't too interested.

Drek sniggered. "Yes…that seems quite fitting!"

"Should I write a letter too Moomba sir?" He asked although he already knew the answer.

"Right away Squee. & Make it sound good." Drek said.

The Testuya scurried off & Drek was left alone in his office. He ran the plan over in his head again. He laughed to himself & found himself wishing the girl was a good survivor. Her survival may be a worse sentence now than any creative slaughter.

Squee was writing furiously on the paper. He had already written to the chairman of the NFLA & was now writing the next letter, which was to go the boy Ratchet. The problem however was that he had no-idea of how to get it to the boy. The Lombax had a very annoying Planet-hopping habit, which made it rather hard to track him. He knew Ratchet drove a purple Blarg fighter but by some cruel twist of fate it was new when it was swiped & hadn't been registered into their database yet, so that Idea crashed & burned. He pondered this as he sealed the envelope with his sickeningly thin black tongue. Finally he came up with a way to detect the boy, but it meant breaking a few rules. But then…He was a bad guy, Bad guys never played by the rules.

The next morning on Metropolis Ratchet was rudely shaken awake.

"Wha wha What?" He said in confusion as he tumbled out of bed shortly followed by his duvet.

The worried face of the Shop owner was looking down at him. Ratchet wasn't too pleased.

"What's up?" He however asked politely, after all, the man did put them up for the night.

"It's Andre!" The man said stepping back now that Ratchet was awake. Ratchet raised an eyebrow to show he didn't have the foggiest clue what the man was talking about.

"Andre, My son!" The man said, rather anxiously. "He's always running off somewhere & disappearing! I Know this is probably asking too much but…well…you were so kind in bringing him home yesterday…I was hoping…"

Ratchet sighed. "Alright alright you don't have to draw me a picture, I get the idea."

He stretched & yawned, briefly exposing his sharp, needle like teeth. Those fangs gave the shop-owner shivers, He wouldn't want to get on the boy's bad side that's for sure.

Ratchet scratched the back of his neck & scanned the floor, as if looking for something.

"Where's Clank?" He asked.

The man raised an eyebrow to show he didn't have the foggiest clue what Ratchet was talking about.

"Clank, The little robot that was with me!" Ratchet said rather annoyed as he made his way past the shop-owner & out of the room.

"Oh yeah! He's around here somewhere…but I don't think you'll need him for something this sma…"

" 'EY! " Ratchet said turning around abruptly to face the man. "I go NOWHERE without Clank!"

The man could sense he hit a nerve. The boy seemed very offended by his statement & Somehow, he felt ashamed.

"Sorry," He said shrugging lamely.

Ratchet gave a single nod to show he would let it slide this time but the guy better watch his tongue. He pocketed his wrench that he'd left lying next to the bed & strolled carefree out of the room. The man (Who's name was Maylee BTW)'s home was actually just an extension of his shop, which took up most of the house & Maylee's life. Bits of twisted metal & things hung on walls, swarmed shelves & littered any open space on the floor. Tools would often find themselves in between the cutlery & laundry. Everything had a place without actually having ever been put away. It was clear the family didn't bother with neatness that much. Even Maylee's wife didn't seem to pay much attention to the upkeep, which astounded Ratchet since he knew that if HIS mother had seen the house she would've passed out. But personally Ratchet loved it. He felt more at home in this house than he did…at home… The bedrooms were like small studies, littered with computers, software, spare parts & empty cool drink cans all arranged in a way that would've impressed the guys who had made Stonehenge. As for the littered clothes & food papers, Ratchet had a nagging suspicion that the equipment had gotten so use to them that they would stop working if the sweet papers & chip packets were ever removed.

He strolled idly into the room that in some way had been labeled as the kitchen, if only for the fact that there was more cutlery than tools in it. Mrs. Maylee was busy stirring something over a stove, Ratchet couldn't make out if she was cooking or doing the laundry.

"Oh you're up!" She said when she saw him. Mrs. Maylee was the kind of person who you felt you knew your whole life without ever having met her. She was the bossy, nosy, over protective, lick-the-handkerchief-to-clean-your-face mother you never had (Or wanted)

"Yes M'm." Ratchet said out of character.

"Would you believe that Andre of mine! The minutes I turn my back he's off doing who knows what in the middle of this terrible neighborhood! I've told him a hundred times to tell me where he's going but so think he ever listens?!  If it wasn't for people like you who are kind enough to return runaway sons I don't know what we mothers would do! Honestly, I tell you! I Slave & brake my back & this is the thanks I…Blah blah blah blah blah.."

Ratchet shifted nervously from one foot to the other wondering if this woman ever would stop. He politely stayed quiet however.

A 'Psst!' got his attention & he saw a Clank peeking around the doorframe, frantically signaling towards him. Ratchet gave Mrs. Maylee a nervous glance, she hadn't stopped her avalanche of words yet & by the looks of it she never would.

"'Scuse me Ma'm, But I think me & my friend should go find him if you're so upset." He said, once again Bashfully (This woman reminded him of his aunt, & around Ratchet's aunt you'd BETTER act bashful! Ratchet had this imprinted in his mind so long it came naturally)

"Oh would you dear?! I'd be ever so grateful! I'm not sure if I'll be able to repay you or not but I'm sure we'd do anything!"

Ratchet nodded before he scrambled out of the kitchen after Clank.

"Well…you certainly needed some rest!" Clank said as Ratchet practically tripped over him trying to get away.

"Huh? Why d'you say that?!" Ratchet said as he followed Clank into what was supposedly the living room (if the house had been big enough to have one)

"Well you slept like a log for one thing…" Clank said counting on his fingers. "& You only woke up now for another…"

"Actually I was woken" Ratchet said matter-of-factly. "You hear about the Boy…er…Andre isn't it?"

"Yes I did." Clank replied. "But I'm not sure if we should waste time on him, we still haven't inspected the planet Azuma & there are supposed illegal activities there."

"What? Go off & leave a cry for help?! Clank that isn't like you!" Ratchet said, his ears erect as if he didn't hear properly.

"It's not that…" Clank said twiddling his thumbs. "It's just….this place makes me feel uncomfortable…these people are…strange if you will."

Ratchet burst into laughter as the irony of the situation set in. Clank wasn't use to abnormally normal people because he'd never been AROUND abnormally normal people! The only real person Clank knew really well was Ratchet. Ratchet & of course…

Anyway.

"Clank they're perfectly normal! I can actually relate to them!"

"But what about the daughter?" Clank said looking around as if expecting her to materialize as he mentions of her.

Ratchet gave him an odd look. "Daughter?"

"Young thing, just a little taller than I am. She's always giving me sideway stares." Clank pulled a face

"I haven't seen any daughter." Ratchet said staring at Clank blankly.

"Oh no, She runs away whenever you come into the room." Clank said.

"She LIKES me?" Ratchet said laughing at the idea of a small girl idolizing him.

"No, I just said she runs AWAY when you come into the room. Don't you listen?"

"That means she likes me"

Clank thought about this. "So…She runs away because she likes you?"

Ratchet nodded.

If I could right down Clank's expression I certainly would but I'm afraid it's impossible He was so confuzzled.

"But…but When we were on Eudora Sprocket never…" Clank started but regretted saying it almost immediately.

The look that crossed Ratchet's face was heart wrenching. Clank quickly changed the subject.

"Well let us go see to that Andre boy. The longer we sit here chatting the more trouble he is likely to get himself in."

Ratchet smiled & got up. "Good idea buddy…Good idea…"

Sprocket cursed herself. "Damn!" She said "Damn damn damn!"

Why did this always happen to her? She absolutely hated the idea of being the pathetic & weak 'damsel in distress'. She could easily handle herself if only she had kept herself in shape! But no! She had to go around collecting apples & firewood just waiting for some idiot to come along & make her life a misery!

The all terrain vehicle that was driving her over the rocky, unseen landscape towards her new 'home' was extremely shaky & she often found herself falling on top of the large Elite guard that was keeping an eye on her. He didn't seem to mind much though, but Sprocket certainly did! She wasn't told where she was being taken but she had a hunch it wasn't Disneyland! Escape was defiantly out of the question as they had restrained her with chains around her wrists & ankles. She had tried to pickpocket the guard for keys, but with her hands tied she couldn't do it without getting caught. Her fur bristled along her spine, as she got more & more annoyed with her situation.

After a few minutes the terrain vehicle stopped causing her to fall over for the umpteenth time. Sprocket was pushed & shoved out of the van-like vehicle & into the cold frigid air. She took a look around to try & see what planet she might be on.

It was a very dank place. Mostly made of moors & fields, but not like the ones she was use to. The grasses on these were long & sticky & would chew up your legs if you tried to walk thru them without protection (Which, incidentally, She didn't have) Bushes & small shrubs that shot up here & there mainly consisted of poisonous berries & scratchy branches. Nettles & thistles made an appearance whereever they could, standing ready to nip at any passing heels. On the whole, the land seemed so wild & bracken that it would be impossible to go in & come out again in one piece.

The guard gave her a shove, telling her to start walking.

"OW! Hey watch it!" She snapped.

He raised the butt of his gun to tell her she'd better shut up. Sprocket pulled a face but she kept quiet. They walked only a few meters before a large structure came into view. It was huge, bigger than anything Sprocket had seen before! It was dome shaped, like a shell with no turtle. It was dirty with bird crap & other things that Sprocket didn't want to know about all over it. Next to it was a large open area that was obviously suppose to serve as a parking area.

"If this is a strip bar I swear ta God…" Sprocket started to say but the guard gave her a warning look & she stopped.

They walked up to what would probably be labeled as the servant's entrance. The guard pushed a few buttons on the pad next to it. After a few minutes the door opened.

What was standing in the doorway was…well, Sprocket assumed it must be a man because, to quote Terry Pratchet 'Walruses don't where brightly checkered suits' He smiled at the guard & the driver when he saw them.

"Ah! Mr. O'Conner! Sir Drek informed me of your coming! He said you have something that would interest me!" He said. His voice was alarmingly loud & somewhat annoying.

The driver smiled. "Sure do. Take a look at this!"

He pushed Sprocket forwards.

"HEY!" She snapped at him.

The man scratched his bristly moustache.

"My my my! What do we have here?" He said bending down to see eye to eye with Sprocket. She gave him a dirty look.

"Hmm." The man said circling around her. Sprocket never took her eyes off him. His eyes scanned her tail, her backbone, the ears, her legs & arms. She felt as if he was undressing her with his eyes. She promised herself if he made one wrong move she'd kick him squarely in the jaw.

"Seems pretty good!" the man said after a while.

He took hold of one of her wrists. She instinctively pulled it away briskly. The guard gave her a shove.

"Pretty feisty, that's good, shows promise!" The man grinned as her took her wrists again. He inspected her hands.

"Claws out." He said

"Do what he says!" The driver commanded Sprocket before she could retort.

She grumbled but extracted her claws as she was asked. The man inspected them too see how long, sharp & strong they were.

"Teeth!" The man said. The guard raised his gun

"Yeah yeah yeah! I know I know!" Sprocket said growling at him.

After the man had checked each fang in terms of length & sharpness. He took a step back to see her as a whole.

"How old are you girl?" He asked.

"I'm 16! What's it to you?!" Sprocket spat.

The man nodded. He seemed to like the fact that Sprocket was very aggressive.

"Any family?"

"Up yours!" She said but the guard had anticipated her response smacked her upside the face with his hand. He pulled her up again & pushed her forward forcing her to answer. She stared daggers at him but answered the man.

"As a matter of fact no!"

He gave her a quizzical look. She glared back at him, blood trickling from the side of her mouth.

After a while he laughed & rubbed his hands together.

"Well you've just been approved girl! We'll just have to do something about that hair!" He said

"WHAT?!" Sprocket yelled. "What the hell??!! I want some answers here! Where the hell am I?! Who the hell are you?! & What the hell was all that about?!"

The man's eyes furrowed in a way that almost scared Sprocket, she didn't show it though.

"Firstly, I am Mr. Boreka, I am the chairman here, You are on the planet Stochan & lastly you have to be inspected to make sure you are fit enough to qualify for my association!"

"& What, pray tell, is your association?" She said challengingly

The man leaned forward with a malicious grin that, despite all her efforts to stop herself, made Sprocket quiver.

"They didn't tell you? Well then I suppose it's up to me as usual. Welcome to the NLFA…"

Sprocket's eyes widened as the magnitude of the words hit her…

Drek was busy paging thru the files of God-knows-what on his desk when Squee entered. Drek looked up briefly from his work. When he saw it was his second in command he pushed the papers aside causing them to fall off the desk.

"Ah! Mr. Squee.."

"Evening sir," Squee said (Although how he could tell if it was evening is beyond me)

"How is our planning coming?" Drek asked,

"It's all going perfectly! The girl's been sent to The NFLA on Stochan & I've just got word from Captain O'Conner that she's been excepted."

Drek nodded. "Good good, & the boy?"

Squee's grin widened. "Ah yes, Well he proved to be a little more elusive. I was forced to hack into the M.G.P.A to get hold of his location."

Drek's smile faded a little. "You know that using that program is illegal if you're not part of the National Population-Scan Organization."

"Yes sir I know…but I used my personal Compute system to hack in so that it won't be traced back to you or any part of your organization."

Drek seemed to accept this.

"Now all we need to do is wait…It's obvious once the boy learns of her *ahem* "Demise" He will undoubtedly come here for revenge, Then we shall have him & that meddling Escapee robot in our clutches!" The mere thought got Drek excited…He just wished he could see the boy's face when he hears the news! He pushed a button on his intercom & ordered some Champaign.

There weren't any Yobas on the street today…& for good reason. It was market day…or rather; it was the day people came out to openly sell black market goods. All kinds of different species had come out of hiding to get their hands on anything either useful or valuable & if they're lucky, both.

Ratchet & Clank strolled idly thru the stalls. Clank often had to pull Ratchet away from a table that contained some or other weird mechanical gizmos.

They looked basically everywhere for Andre but he seemed to be quite good at hiding.

"Man this is such a drag!"

"Yes I must say it is quite monotonous, however, we did give Mrs. Maylee our word that we would find him so there is little more we can do than to keep looking until we find him."

Ratchet rolled his eyes, even though he knew Clank was right.

They carried on disgruntled. Ratchet didn't need to have his wrench out. The streets were busy & the usual beasties that plagued them weren't anywhere to be seen. Besides, the rough bullies who had come out of hiding to buy brass knuckles will leave a guy alone if you ignore them & Ratchet couldn't picture Andre as the sort of boy who challenges gangsters to duels. He sighed for what seemed to be the 100th time.

Soon the two of them were sitting on the steps leading into some slum building that seemed to be a restaurant. The sun was already sitting high in the sky. Ratchet had bought himself a gatsby to munch on while he tried to think of anywhere they hadn't looked.

(A gatsby is a South African traditional dish. It's like a corn dog but it's about the size of a log. & Instead of a sausage in the middle it has little pieces of fish, French fries, a few vegetables, Ketchup & mustard. It's served warm & you can buy Cross-sections at the local food stalls)

"I really can't think of anywhere else…" he said as he dropped mustard down his front. Clank gave him a disapproving look, such as a mother might give her messy toddler.

"This planet is huge! Well of course all planets are but we're talking Metropolis over here! The chances of us finding him in a city this size is zero to nothing!"

Clank shook his head. "I am sure he will turn up eventually." He said calmly.

Ratchet pulled a face. "Oh yeah right Clank! Like he's gonna appear right in front of us & say..."

"Hi Ratchet!"

The two of them turned around to see the young Andre hurrying over. He was wearing a baggy T-shirt today with long baggy jeans. He was carrying some packages under one arm. Once he reached them he sat down as well.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked casually.

"Would you believe looking for you?" Ratchet said stuffing what remained of the gatsby in his mouth.

Andre didn't seem to need an explanation. He rolled his eyes.

" My mom sent ya didn't she?"

Ratchet nodded thru his mouthful.

"Well that's one way of putting it." Clank said trying not to look at Ratchet's losing battle. Ratchet gulped down the last of his food almost choking himself.

"Whad'ya mean?" Andre asked.

Ratchet gave Clank a warning glance but the robot ignored it.

"Ratchet here finds it pretty hard to say 'No' to your mother!" Clank said grinning from 'ear' to 'ear'. Andre seemed to find this amusing.

"Really?"

"Yes. He seems to go dumb every time she speaks to him." Clank went on.

"Clllnnnnk!" Ratchet said thru clenched teeth. Andre laughed.

"Why?"

Ratchet was startled as this question was addressed at him. He scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh...Well…She kinda reminds me of my mom, & with a woman like that you BETTER do what she says or other wise there's a promise of tears before bedtime!" He grinned sheepishly, but to his relief Andre replied

"I heard that!"

The 3 of them sat chatting for a few more minutes before Andre suddenly said

"Hey! We're here canning ourselves while my mom's probably having a hernia wondering where we are! & I tell ya we better get home QUICK unless we want a lecture!"

Ratchet nodded.

Clank, although oblivious to what a mother was like when she was mad, decided that He didn't want to find out & nodded as well.

Andre picked up his parcels & the 3 of them started making for the store. Clank gave the parcels Andre was carrying an inquisitive look.

"What is that?" He asked pointing at them.

Andre gave the parcel a look himself.

"Oh this! Aw it's just the mail. Some idiot at the office went around Saying my Dad doesn't like Drek & was mouthing him off or something so now no mail man wants to come to our house incase he's caught in some kind of cross fire."

Ratchet shook his head. "Some people!" He said

They carried on walking & talking about this & that. Ratchet had to admit he liked Andre. He was like a very relaxed, laid back version of Ratchet himself. Andre was very kind if not a little nervous sometimes. He had a pleasant smile & seemed to think the only reason the Galaxy really existed was to prove the fact that there are places out there that are less fortunate than the place he lived. He didn't seem to mind the place he lived any-way. In fact Andre didn't seem to mind anything. He seemed to be happy with what little he had. Cheerful & carefree…Ratchet could hardly remember the time when he had been the same. The only big difference between him & Andre was the fact that Andre didn't seem to mind having his feet planted firmly on a planet. But then he lived on Metropolis & there was always SOMETHING happening there!

Ratchet sighed & dropped that line of thought. He put his hands behind his head as he started to hum/whistle a song.

After a while he started singing a word or two just for the sake of it.

"..This is a song for the lonely when you're dreams won't come true…"

Clank gave Ratchet a side ways glance & smiled to himself. He didn't even need to GUESS what (Or who) Ratchet was thinking about at the moment.

"…Can you hear this prayer? There's some-one there for you…"

Andre seemed to pick the vibe up as well.

"Any-one in particular?" He asked

"Huh?" Ratchet snapped out of his daydream

"That song."

Ratchet felt his cheeks heat up. "It's just a song"

"You were DEFINAITLY singing about some-one in particular. I can tell! Aw C'mon! Who's gonna speak to me I mean really! The dorky blue boy! C'mon!"

Clank chuckled. "You had better tell him or he might Implode."

"Alright alright Geez!" Ratchet sighed.

After a few moment's silence He said

"A few weeks ago we were on Eudora."

"Is it nice there?"

"VERY pretty!" Ratchet smiled. "Anyway, We were there & we were gonna destroy some or other base that was cutting down the trees to use in Drek's power station or something."

"Oh yeah! I remember hearing something about it on an info-bot."

"Will you let me finish?"

"Oh, Sorry."

"Anyway, So we were there when little buzz-poppin'-whistle here got kidnapped."

"Thanks to you." Clank interjected.

"Shut up! Anyway, So I was wondering thru the forest when I… (& At this point Ratchet felt his face go red)...Met this…Girl..."

"Oh HO! This is getting good!" Andre said his ever-present smile widening. Clank chuckled. He had the most annoying Chuckle Ratchet had ever heard.

"So She helped me rescue Bucket-butt over here, we blew up the base &...yeah..." He shrugged.

"That's not the whole story." Clank said smiling cheekily.

"What else happened?" Andre said turning to Clank expectantly.

"Hey now! Wait a minute!" Ratchet said but it was obvious his opinion didn't matter one bolt & he was out of the conversation.

"Well," Clank went on "If you had seen the 2 of them together for just a little while you would swear they were brother & sister. They fight over every little thing that came along. But if you spend enough time with them you would realize there's defiantly more between them."

Ratchet felt the blood rush to his face for the third time.

The rest of the way home Clank recalled the whole story of what had happened on Eudora with a little more detail, Ratchet mumbling comments under his breath & Andre giggling basically the whole way thru. Andre was a good listener.

When Clank finished the story, Andre was quiet for a while before he turned to Ratchet & asked

"D'you think you'll ever see her again?"

Ratchet stared at the sky for a few minutes before replying.

"Yeah…some day…" He turned back to Andre "You got a girl?"

Andre canned himself laughing. "ME?! No! A girl wouldn't come within 20 meters of me!'

Ratchet smiled to himself. The truth was probably Andre would turn grape purple if a girl said as much as 'Hi' to him.

The shop came into view as they turned the corner. Andre, Ratchet & Clank had definitely taken their time with their little outing; the sun was starting to set.

They walked thru the open-air shop & entered the house thru the backdoor. The minute they were inside Mrs. Maylee swooped down on them like some kind of demented bat.

"THERE you are! Do you have any-idea what time it is?! What were you thinking running off & on MARKET day!! You know that's when all the ruffians are out to buy who knows what! Good thing this young gentleman has enough sense to bring you home! It did take long though didn't it? Probably the poor dear was out all day looking for you in every nook & Cranny!" She turned to Ratchet & wiped his face with a handkerchief (Which had been licked) behind her, Clank's shoulders shook with the effort of not bursting out into laughter. Mrs. Maylee turned back To Andre.

"Really! I slave all day & you go off & have fun? I have no son! Do you ever stop to think how blah blah blah blah blah blah…"

The lecture went on for quite a few minutes before it was interrupted by a growl from Ratchet's stomach. Mrs. Maylee responded by running towards the kitchen yelling something about Supper & how Ratchet would probably drop dead right there from starvation if she didn't feed him at least a ton of food.

Ratchet was Glad to see her go, She was over bearing, though he doubt he could've been any gladder than Andre. Even Clank seemed to feel the electricity in the air when the hurricane was blowing in full force.

Mr. Maylee came over as soon as the coast was clear.

"Hey Boy! Any mail today?" He asked cheerfully, as if Andre's absence was no big deal. Ratchet figured the only reason he'd been shaken awake that morning was because the poor man couldn't take any more of Mrs. Maylee's complaining.

"Yeah.! Quite a few letters & stuff!" Andre handed the parcels & whatnot to his father.

The man walked over to a desk. (There were so many in the house Ratchet wondered if the place was actually a spawning ground of some-sort). Mr. Maylee went about tearing at the paper of one of the bigger parcels. Naturally inquisitive Ratchet peered over his shoulder to see what it was. Clank took a peek too. When the thing came out of its cocooning of brown paper Clank wasn't sure if it was a mangled umbrella or some sort of weird exotic plant. Ratchet however practically pounced on it.

"A king's Scalpel-knife 550?!! Do you know how hard it is to get one of those?! You basically have to pass a written, Physical & oral exam to even acquire for one!!!!"

"You do?" Andre asked giving Ratchet a strange look. Mr. Maylee laughed.

"The kid knows his stuff!"

"Well I should! I'm a mechanic you know!" Ratchet said this as some one would tell you their brother was the king of England.

"No kidding?" Mr. Maylee said, apparently as impressed as Ratchet had wanted him to be. He picked up the letters & envelopes, flipping thru them as Ratchet fiddled with the scalpel-knife as if it were some kind of Treasure.

"Bill…Bill…bill…bill…letter from Marge…bill…bill….Hey!" He stopped at an official looking letter. "Bizarre!"

"What's up Pops?" Andre asked, tearing his eyes away from Ratchet's fascination with the seemingly uninteresting doo-hickey.

"There's a letter for you here Ratchet!" The man said handing the lombax the letter.

"What?! How does any-one even know where I am?!" Ratchet asked, obviously shaken. He didn't like the idea of people being able to track him. It made him feel uneasy. He took the letter & turned it over & over.

"There's no return address. Who could it be from…?"

"Whom…" Clank corrected him

Sprocket hit the ground hard as she was thrown into the pit. The barred door closed behind her with a loud 'Klang'. He pushed herself up & wiped the dust off her face & brushed off her dress. She turned around to see where she had been dumped. The room was very large & very dark & very dank.

"Out of the frying pan & into the freezer!" She said rubbing her arms to try & keep herself warm. The fact that the back of her neck was now open, seeing as her hair had been cropped, didn't exactly help either.

The floor was just a large concrete surface with sand. The only light was coming from a small fire in the middle of the room. There was no furniture in the room at all, but there was a large horde of eyes ranging from green to gray that turned to watch her as she was thrown into the cell. They glowed eerily in the dark.

Ratchet's eyes were slightly glowing in the poor light. The sun had set on Metropolis & Mrs. Maylee had insisted they stay another night & Ratchet hadn't dared to object, not that he really wanted too anyway, another full night's sleep was a privilege he didn't have often. So now he was in the room that had been labeled 'his'. Clank was sitting on the bed that seemed to consist mainly of lumps & duvet, the kind of bed that had 'sink holes' in certain places. He was lying on his 'stomach' watching Ratchet with some interest as the Lombax was swiveling his wrench in his hand, trying out new techniques in slow motion. He tried to do a tricky combo at one stage but the wrench fumbled & he dropped it. He swore quietly as he picked it up.

"Methinks you should concentrate on one attack & perfect it before you move on to another one." Clank said from his spot on the bed.

" Methinks I'd do better if you'd stop watching me!" Ratchet said.

But Clank noticed that Ratchet was now concentrating on a swing technique alone. The robot smiled to himself.

The door opened (Or rather the crack that it already had widened.) & Andre walked in.

"Hey what's up?" Ratchet said trying out the swing again.

"Did your mother forgive you yet?" Clank asked

Andre plopped down on the bed causing it to sag.

"Well she's still giving me dirty looks but she ain't saying anything, meaning either she's forgiven me or she isn't speaking to me."

Ratchet rolled his eyes as he tried his swing a little faster this time.

"The reason I really came here is because I was wondering who the letter was from." Andre said conversationally.

"Ratchet hasn't opened it yet" Said Clank grimacing.

Andre gave Ratchet an expecting look.

"Alright alright! I'll open it!" Ratchet said picking the envelope up from the bedside cabinet where he'd put it down.

He slit the official looking envelope open & took out its contents. It was a single sheet of paper.

He stood scanning the paper silently, wrench still in hand.

"Well?" Andre asked, he hated to be kept in suspense.

Ratchet stopped, blinked & read the letter again.

"Well? What is?" Andre asked, curiosity pouring from his ears.

But Clank had noticed something Andre hadn't. Ratchet's expression was doing that amazing crashing thing that glaciers do so well in summer.

"Ratchet, What's wrong?" He asked carefully.

Ratchet didn't answer...He scanned the paper a third time…the wrench dropped to the floor…

There was a cry from the bedroom that Andre had just slipped into. Mr. Maylee dropped one of the plates he was helping his wife clean & ran into the room.

The scene that played before the blue skinned man's eyes is a little hard to describe. The young Lombax, Ratchet was busy slamming his fist against a wall. The small robot was busy begging him to stop & Andre was just sitting there staring at him in mute shock.

"SON OF A BITCH…!!!"

The man rushed forward & grabbed the boy's arm before he could slam it against the wall again. Ratchet struggled.

"No! No! Leave me alone!!"

The man spun him around & pushed him against the wall.

"Calm down Boy before you hurt yourself!!" The man said sternly.

Ratchet stopped & stared at the man, breathing hard. He stood still for a few minutes before he collapsed on to the floor in a fit of tears. Mr. Maylee had no clue about what was going on. He turned around to look at the small Robot who was pushing past him to get to his friend, He turned to his son. Andre pointed at the letter Ratchet had been reading. Mr. Maylee reached over & picked it up. It was real official looking with a computer signature at the bottom & a small logo on the personalized stationary. It read as follows;

Dear Mr. Ratchet

We regret to inform you that a one, Miss Sprocket, has expired.

Her death was unfortunate, due to a Drek organized assassination. The cause of death was due to blood loss from a wound to the head. As The afore mentioned Miss Sprocket has no known relatives we have sent the message to you as our notes clearly stated that you were in contact with the young lady for quite a while & may be considered as a close family friend. We send you our sincere sympathies. Good day

Henry Stibbons

M.G.P.A. Inc.

Mr. Maylee put the note down & looked down to where Clank was fruitlessly trying to calm Ratchet down. Mr. Maylee bent down next to him & placed a hand on the weeping boy's back.

"It's Ok kid…"

Ratchet had calmed down a bit by now but was still sobbing uncontrollably.

Clank pulled desperately at Mr. Maylee's sleeve, he was almost as upset as Ratchet.

"Sir… what is the matter with him?"

Mr. Maylee looked down at the small robot. He sighed & shook his head.

What had been left of the day had been absolute Hell for Clank. After Ratchet finally stopped crying the boy refused to talk. He kept quiet & didn't say a single word to Mr. Maylee, Andre or even Clank. The little robot was worried beyond belief. He had never seen Ratchet like this, & it was nerve wracking. Mr. Maylee had told him to just give the boy some time alone. Ratchet seemed to back up this idea by keeping to his room & closing the door. Andre had very kindly let Clank stay in his room for the night. Clank was now sitting on the edge of what was to be called a bed, which had been made for him. He couldn't sleep…He watched the shimmering sky-line of buildings thru the window of the only upstairs room which was at one stage an attic (considering everything that cluttered the room it sorta still was)

Clank gave a sigh as things wove thru his mind.

"Can't sleep huh?" Came a voice.

Clank looked up. Andre's blue face framed by his golden-blonde hair that was forever sticking up looked back at him.

Clank shook his head.

"Yeah me neither…" Said Andre sitting up. He was still wearing the vest he had worn that day & the baggy jeans. His dark green eyes shone as they reflected the city's lights coming from the window. Clank sighed yet again.

"Andre..?" He asked

Andre turned to look at him

"Why…why do these things happen?" Clank asked…he didn't think Andre would have the answer but he had to ask some one just for the sake of getting it off his chest.

Andre thought for a moment before he said;

" I guess these things happen because…there's only 2 things it can do to you…"

Clank kept quiet as Andre went on.

"They either destroy us…or make us stronger…" He turned back to Clank. "I suppose we all will go thru it at some stage of our lives…"

"Either destroy…or make us stronger…" Clank repeated. "But what if it destroys Ratchet?"

Andre shook his head. "I don't think it will…He's a strong guy, stronger than I'll ever be. He'll carry on, somehow I know he'll carry on."

There was a pause as Clank stared out the window for a few minutes more.

"I don't know…" He finally said. "He really loved her…"

Ratchet wiped his eyes & flipped the pillow over so he could lie his head down on the dry side. He had put the radio on just for his fingers to do something. He had stopped at some or other station after getting tired of fiddling with the dial. Some or other guy was talking aimlessly about laundry detergent or something. After a while of endless yapping a song started to play. Ratchet knew it, he had heard it before. It wasn't one he liked. He didn't like it because he could never understand what it was really about…but he knew now. As the words slowly wove themselves in & around the room & it's contents, fresh tears formed in Ratchet's eyes & rolled down his cheeks.

I'm not over you

I can't let you go

Facing Sleepless Nights alone

Feeling so lonely I can't get you

Off my mind

Turning back the hands of time

Bringing back each special moment I spent with you

I'm still living here in dreams of yesterday

Chasing visions of your love

Lonely light

I Miss you here tonight

To, Touch you, kiss you

Want to feel all your Loving

Lonely heart

I wanna be by your side

I'm missing you

Deep inside my heart

You will always be

My one & only one for me

Just thinking of you, tears are falling from my eyes

It's so hard to say goodbye

I gotta find a way to keep love applied

I still love you

& All I'm going thru

Please don't leave me in Vain

Lonely Night

& Wishing all this time

To bring you back here

In my arms once again

Lonely heart

Hold me like you did before

I'm missing you

Lonely light

I Miss you here tonight

To, Touch you, kiss you

Wanna feel all your Loving

Lonely heart

I wanna be by your side

I'm missing you

I'm missing you…

As the song slowly faded away Ratchet shut his eyes tight…He stayed like this for a very long time before he opened them again. He sat up & wiped his eyes clean. He sat thinking for a moment. Then he pushed himself up & walked over to the pile of junk that passed itself off as a computer & pushed the 'on' button…

Matrix reflected in the Lombax's eyes as he scanned page after page. Ratchet sat back a minute & stared at the screen. He rubbed his hand that he had pounded the wall with. His gloves & helmet were lying on the table beside his bed. He stared furiously at the screen. He ran a hand thru the tuft of tanned-colored hair on his head before he started to type again. He wiped an arm across the tabletop to try & find something like a mouse. He found it & clicked a few things, his brow furrowed. Finally, The computer bleeped at him. He chewed on his lower lip as he started to fiddle with the keyboard yet again. There were a few flashes on the screen before the words =ACCESS DENIED= came up. Ratchet thought for a minute. He then started typing with a new fury. After a few clicks & pressing of buttons the screen flashed the words =ACCESS APROVED= & after that a logo piped up along with the message =WELCOME TO M.G.P.A. HEADQUARTERS: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY=

"Authorized personnel huh?" Ratchet said clicking away.

"We'll just see about that."

The O.G.P.E… The Official Galaxy Population count Enterprises. Why exactly the company wanted the details of all peoples in the Galaxy Ratchet didn't know. He knew the thing was personal & hacking into the system (Like he was now) To try & get information on an individual was a major offence. On the other hand he was Ratchet, the mechanic who's stolen at least 3 different ships, who knows how many Gadgets, broken uncountable entries & is now one of the most wanted outlaws in the Galaxy. A job like this was just a feather in his cap.

He went straight to the search section. He typed in the following information for the fields required.

Name: Sprocket

Species: Lombax

Planet of origin: Veldin

Current Abode: Eudora

Age: 16

Marital Status:

Here Ratchet paused…He knew what he wanted to put down but his fingers didn't want to obey him. Finally he gave up & wrote…

'Single'

He pushed the search button.

The screen went blank as numbers & letters danced across the screen, searching thru the O.G.P.C. Files. Ratchet dug his fingers into the counter, causing deep grooves as he unintentionally extracted his claws in aggravation.

Finally the computer beeped to show it had finished…Ratchet sat forward & read the following information:

Name: Miss Sprocket O'Hara

Species: Full blood Lombax

Planet of Origin: Veldin

Current abode: Eudora

Age: 16 (Veldin years)

Marital status: Single

Kin: none

Blood Type: AB

Current Location: Stochan

Current Occupation: Member of the NLFA

Status: Current

The last word reflected in Ratchet's eyes. Current…not Expired…Current…

Ratchet felt tears well up yet again as he started breathing heavily in relief. He didn't know what to do with himself! He read thru the information again just to make sure he hadn't been mistaken. He hadn't! It was set right in front of him! His Sprocket wasn't dead! After reading it for the third time just for the relief of it when he then noticed the 'Current location'. He suddenly got serious.

He sat back & thought for a bit. He looked out the window…

It had become quite late, Most of the lights had gone off & every-one in the house was sleeping but him. His ship had been moved to the house for the time they were staying there (Mrs. Maylee had insisted).

He got up. He picked up his gloves, helmet & Wrench from the table & started walking quickly in the direction of Andre's room.

Andre's door flew open. Clank sat up, startled out of his sleep. Andre promptly fell out of bed.

"Clank! We're leaving!" Ratchet said & marched out the room again.

"Leaving?" Clank repeated. He hopped after Ratchet who was slipping on his gloves.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Andre said grabbing a red shirt of the ground.

Clank ran beside Ratchet. "What is going on? Where are we going?"

"We have to leave. Now." Ratchet said clipping the upside-down triangle pendant on his braces & fixing on the Persuader.

"You aren't answering my questions!" Clank said frustrated. He had to jog to keep up. Andre was stumbling after them trying to disentangle himself from his bed covers, not fall down the stairs & put on his shirt at the same time.

"I'll tell you on the way." Ratchet said clipping his helmet on, He kept his Wrench in his hand.

"Ratchet you're impossible!" Clank complained.

"No I'm not I'm just in a hurry!"

"Hang on!" Andre called. As he kicked of the last blanket, pulled his shirt on (Backwards) & grabbed his sneakers from under a table.

Ratchet & Clank turned to look at him. He dug up a piece of paper & an old worn out red crayon encrusted with lint. Andre scribbled something on the paper with it & planted it on the table.

"Ok! We can go now!" He said Grinning widely

"What do you mean 'We'?" Ratchet asked. Andre walked up to him & prodded him in the chest.

"Listen! Ever since I was 4 I've wanted to get off this miserable slum of a home called my life! You think I give a damn about rivets & nuts & ratchets?! No offence… & now Here I meet you two who are about to go off to who knows WHAT sort of danger & I'm gonna be stuck behind getting crap from my mom because I'm 2 blocks away from home?! Fat chance! You aren't leaving me! I'm Coming with! Ya hear?!"

"Absolutely not!" Clank said

"Ok!" Ratchet said. Clank gave him an unbelieving look. Andre punched the air & hurried after Ratchet.

"Wait a minute Wait a minute!" Clank said jogging behind the two of them.

"Ratchet we can't let him come along!" He protested.

"Why not?" Ratchet asked

"Yeah! Why not?!" Andre added, bliss pouring from his ears

"He's just a boy!"

"So am I."

"Yes but…you've been places! He hasn't!"

"When I met you I had never been of my Planet before either."

"Yes but he has a Mother!"

"All the more reason to get outta here."

Clank gave up. It was fruitless to argue with Ratchet when he got determined.

Outside the moons were shining brightly. Ratchet didn't give them time to admire the view though. He told them to get in. Clank jumped in, Andre fell into the backseat & Ratchet climbed into the driving seat. Clank reluctantly activated the 'on' switch & the ship started to hum. It lifted off the ground before shooting off into the sky in a blinding orange light.

Andre was squealing like a schoolgirl on drugs in the back seat. Clank turned to Ratchet Grumpily.

"Now Can you tell us exactly where we are off to, Why we have to do it in the middle of the night & What you have planned?" He said over Andre's delight. The blue-faced boy popped up next to Clank.

"Yeah! Where're we goin'?!"

"Stochan." Ratchet said shifting into a different speed.

"YAY!! …Where's that?" Andre asked. Clank ignored him.

"That place isn't exactly the most respectable place in the Galaxy you know."

"Doesn't Matter, that's where we're going." Ratchet said bluntly.

"& What exactly are we going to do there?" Clank asked, He really should've gotten more sleep, He was grumpy.

"We're going to the NLFA." Ratchet said

Clank was quiet for a few moments. He really wanted to ask a question but before he could Andre did it for him.

"What's the NLFA?"

Ratchet sighed.

"The NLFA is an illegal game that's very popular & brutal. It consists of Lombaxs. NLFA Stands for 'the National Lombax Fighting Association.' Have you ever heard of 'Dog fights'?"

They both nodded.

"Basically the same thing. A fight between 2 Lombaxs, both not equipped with any weapons what so ever.  Their wrists & ankles are chained together & they're thrown into a pit where the fight using kicks, flips, teeth & claws. The aim is to either Kill or get killed. The last Lombax still breathing at the end of a match is the winner & gets to tear some-one else up on another day. You also get things called tournaments where you have several fights in a row, the last one standing after a series of fights, no intermissions, get the cup & will probably be too weak after the ordeal & get ripped in the next fight He or She is in." Ratchet shook his head. "It's like a living hell, if you refuse to fight you get killed, & in order to survive you have to abandon all common sense & humanity & kill your opponent without mercy, & pray you live for another day of the same thing all over again."

Andre & Clank goggled at Ratchet, transfixed by the story.

"How d'you know all this?" Andre asked.

"All Lombaxs know about it, it's common knowledge." Ratchet said shrugging

"But why don't you TELL some-one for crying out loud?!" Andre said smacking the seat in Exasperation.

"No-one believes us. We never do anything big in the galaxy, we're a pretty laid back race, we leave the galaxy alone…& as far as the galaxy knows it leaves us alone. We aren't as big in the galaxy as other races, particularly the races who run these fights. There's an ugly but probably true rumor saying that the Galaxy knows perfectly well about these fights but don't do anything because, when it comes down to it, who would you rather have on your side? A bunch of rag-tag Lombaxions or the very large & powerful kingpins?"

"But what about Moral?!!" Andre said gritting his teeth.

"Moral has nothing to do with it." Ratchet replied giving the wheel a turn.

"What a dumb thing to say" Andre said sitting back & sulking.

Clank rubbed his 'chin' in thought for a moment before saying;

"Why are we going there exactly?" he said.

He could just see Ratchet planning to free all the Lombaxions & whatever.

Ratchet kept quiet for a moment. He sighed knowing he would have to say it some time or another.

"Sprocket's there…"

There was a moment's silence. Finally Clank said. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sprocket's there." Ratchet said again not looking at the robot.

"Eh heh…" Clank said. He gave Andre a sideways look. Andre shrugged.

"Ratchet." Clank said carefully "Why do you think Sprocket's there?"

Clank was startled when Ratchet chuckled.

'I see where you're getting at!" Ratchet said. " 'Poor old Ratchet, the boy's obviously cracked' well I tell ya I'm not! I know what I'm talking about!"

He pressed harder on the accelerator.

"I know She's there! & I'm not just going on an impulse! She's there!"

"How do you know?!" Andre asked leaning forward again.

"I saw it on OGPE." Ratchet answered.

"I thought you had to be an employee to access the files." Andre said

"You do, I hacked in using one of your dad's computers."

"You WHAT??!!" Andre was turning an interesting shade of green

"Are you INSANE? Do you know how much trouble we could get into?!"

Ratchet turned to look at him. "As I recall it, you were the one who wanted to go on an adventure with us. You wanna win a game of chess, you gotta make a few sacrifices."

"But it's ILLEGAL!" Andre said dismayed.

"So are we! We're outlaws remember? Oh! You are too by the way!"

"Me?! WHY?!"

"Well you're helping us & now you're traveling with us."

"I can't be an outlaw!! What will my parents say?!! I won't be able to take a step out my door without getting pounded by Drek supporters!!" Andre said chewing his nails.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better we'll say we abducted you. That way we have more on our records & yours stays clean. That work for you?"

Andre thought about this. "Yeah that could work. Ok."

"There you are then, problem solved!" Ratchet said

"I warned you not to come with." Clank muttered but they ignored him.

The Planet Stochan slowly came up to meet them. A dark, dusty moss color, covered mainly by bitter cold moors & valleys. Andre, with his talent for making a long story short, summarized its whole look into.

"Wow! It looks Miserable!"

"I must admit I have seen cheerier places." Clank agreed.

Ratchet didn't say anything.

They entered the planet's atmosphere.

The one good thing about this place was the fact that it was easy to find an open strip of land. Ratchet didn't even bother to hide his ship, he simply parked it in the parking lot, however this could be considered hiding, as there were many different ships in the parking lot already. The cockpit opened & the three of them jumped out.

"What do you propose we do Ratchet?" Clank asked.

"I say we go in as spectators to get a feel for the building's interior. That way when we leave we will more or less know where what is. Once we got that down we can come back outside as if we were just interested in watching & were now going home, once outside we can decide on our next course of action."

Clank boggled at Ratchet. Ratchet caught his eye & shrugged.

"What?"

"You actually had a plan!" Clank said in disbelief.

"So?" Ratchet asked.

"I'll go notify the authorities!" Andre said turning & started to run off in a direction.

"Now cut that out!" Ratchet said getting annoyed.

"Sorry Sir, Couldn't resist." Clank said trying to see just how annoyed He could get Ratchet. Andre wasn't being a good influence.

"I TOLD you, Don't Call me SIR!" Ratchet yelled

"Should we call you 'Ma'am'?" Andre asked popping up behind the Blarg fighter.

"NO!" Ratchet yelled going red.

Clank & Andre needed to lean against the ship they were laughing so hard.

"Are we going to do this or not?!" Ratchet asked, his ears drooping out sideways the way they always did when he was annoyed.

"He's right, we should get serious." Clank said recognizing the edge in Ratchet's voice that predicted trouble.

Andre nodded.

They took one step before Ratchet gave out a yelp & sprung onto one of the ship's wings.

"What's up? I thought we were going?" Andre asked.

"It's this terrain!" Ratchet said rubbing his foot. "It's all thorny & scratching!"

"Oh Come on Ratchet don't make a scene. You are acting as if you have never felt grass before." Clank scolded.

"You think it's that simple?! Look at Andre's pants!"

Clank & Andre followed Ratchet's pointing finger. He was right, the bottom of Andre's baggy pants were ripped & shredded from the short run he had done.

"Oh! My mom's gonna kill me!" Andre complained.

"I'm sorry Ratchet, I didn't notice." Clank said.

"No problem" Ratchet said pressing the big blue button on his glove. He got to the 'Gadget' menu & activated the Magna-boots. They morphed into position. Ratchet jumped down from the ship's wing.

"Hey! Nice!" Andre commented

"Thanks"

"Are we here to save Sprocket or to swap fashion tips?" Clank asked irritably.

"Alright alright we're coming!" Ratchet said.

They started making towards the large domed building, towering in front of them like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Inside the dome it was hot & steamy. It was filled to the brim with very large men & woman of all kinds & different races. Squeezing, pushing & trying to place bets. The trio wove as inconspicuously as they could in between the crowd.

"Oops. Sorry. Excuse me. Pardon. Coming thru. Sorry."

After pushing & shoving they finally took refuge in between the large stands of chairs in an 'alleyway'.

"Man I never dreamed this place would be so packed!" Ratchet said wiping his brow.

"I'm not really sure I like this place." Andre said peeking out at the crowd of people.

"It'll be fine, they're here for the show. Besides, the only reason punch-ups ever happen here is because of bets going haywire. We aren't betting so we'll be out of trouble." Ratchet reassured them.

"You mean WE'LL be out of trouble." Clank said.

"Huh? Wha'd'ya mean?" Ratchet asked looking down at Clank.

"Don't act like you don't know what I am talking about." Clank said

"I don't follow." Ratchet said.

"Oh cut out the act Ratchet!" Andre said turning to face him. "You think we don't realize the risk you're putting yourself in?! Clank & me are as safe as the rest of the crowd but you know very well you aren't! I don't expect Lombaxions are welcomed here, at least not as spectators!"

Ratchet sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't figure out that part."

He smiled. "But don't worry, I'll be fine. I've got my wrench, my speed & my buddies with me! They wouldn't dare come close as long as you're with me!"

"Yes! They take one step near you & I'll take care of them!" Clank said sarcastically throwing small punches.

Andre packed out laughing.

The crowd took its seat as music filled the dome, indicating the games were about to start. Andre & Clank had talked Ratchet into staying in the alleyway where it was the least crowded. They could see pretty well from here, plus the only people sitting here were the people who couldn't afford to pay for seats.

The Pit lay before them. A large round circle with high walls around it in the center of the dome. The ground that covered the bottom of the pit was very coarse & hard, it was probably grounded down Cement rather than actual sand. If you fell too hard on it, it could give you a nasty friction burn. The crowd was yelling for the show to start.

"Watch out." Ratchet warned. "This isn't gonna be the prettiest thing you'll have seen."

The other 2 nodded.

Two doors opened at the bottom of the pit. The crowd went berserk with cheers & screams of excitement.

Out of the doors there stepped 2 lombaxions, presumably around the same age stretch as Ratchet. One was a boy one was a girl.

The boy was very tall & very thin, but from the looks of his arms & legs he must've been very strong. His wrists were shackled together by a large black chain. He was wearing nothing but a pair of ripped & shredded cream-colored shorts. He had large, dark green eyes. His coloring was a very dusty yellow with long thin, Tan colored stripes all along his back, legs, tail, and ears & even on his cheeks. He had a large chunk of his left ear missing.

He growled at the girl on the opposite end of the pit.

She had blonde hair that was shaved short besides the long 'rat-tail' that hung down to her ankles. She was wearing a very skimpy & torn bikini-like outfit that was a moss green color. Her fur was a bright red/orange. She had fat chocolate brown stripes covering her back & arms, her legs, face Ears & tail were plain though.

She answered the boy's growls with a hiss.

A bell near the roof somewhere went off & the crowd went wild.

The two lombaxs started circling each other, but keeping a distance of 8 feet, which in self-defense would've been the death-line. They exchanged several snarls, hisses & bark-like meows.

Clank watched in fascination. He'd never seen Ratchet making any of these inhuman sounds (Besides a slight growl once). It astounded him. It brought on the uncomfortable feeling that these creatures were in fact animalistic in nature rather than as civilized as he always expected them to be.

His thoughts were broken when the boy (Who they called 'Rock') launched himself at the girl named 'Spitfire'. Rock looked like he would pull her apart with his developed arms. Spitfire looked very thin & strong too but she seemed more like an ordinary Lombax girl.

But this was proven wrong as She jumped out of the way with such speed that for 1 or 2 seconds Andre swore he saw 2 of her.

From her new position she jumped onto her hands & starting spinning like a top, whacking rock with her feet repeatedly.

He was finally knocked out of the crossfire. A red stream shot out from his mouth.

He picked himself up & wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist. Spitfire jumped back onto her feet as she waited for him to get up. She then charged at him, her elbow raised as to knock him in the jaw. He dodged her & brought his own elbow down onto her back.

She screamed in rage & pain as she twisted around & swiped at him. She ripped his cheek open with her claws.

Things sped up after that.

The next few minutes were just a flurry of swipes, kicks, scratches & bites.

Spitfire sunk her incisors into the back of Rock's neck. He threw his hands over his shoulders, grabbed her by her 'Rat-tail' & flung her onto the ground. He grabbed one of her arms & twisted it causing it to snap. She screamed & kicked him in the jaw, breaking it. He grabbed her around the middle & ripped her sides open! She swept around & dug her claws into his stomach. He bit one of her ears & ripped a chunk out of it, causing a spray of blood to soak everything around them. She gave a pull with her claws & made deep gashes into his stomach, she repeatedly slashed at it. But Rock didn't seem to notice the pain at all. He grabbed at her shoulder blades & pressed down hard, causing blood to flow down her back.

She spun around to face him but because he had a strong grip on her shoulders he tore her top off.

The crowd went bananas.

Enraged she threw herself on top of him & started wrestling him to the ground. He flipped her over & pinned her down hard.

Things just went on & on. I will not go into detail about some of the REALLY violent scenes because this isn't an R rated fanfic.

Spitfire lay on the ground wounded severely. The rock pulled her to her feet forcing her to carry on fighting. He pulled her up to his face. He grimaced. She whimpered. The Rock pulled one of his hands back, claws extracted, ready to finish her off, but she was quicker.

She lunged forward in a sudden burst of energy & sunk her teeth deep into his neck. The Rock screamed out in pain. Spitfire jumped sideways, ripping out the boy's throat with a sickening tearing sound. The Rock half screamed in absolute agony. This changed into a gargling shriek as blood poured down his chest &sprayed from his mouth. He fell over & hit the ground hard, landing in a pool of Crimson. He lay tensed for a few more minutes before he fell limp. Spitfire stood panting, watching him, as if daring him to get up. When it was clear he was dead she threw her arms into the air & yelled out in triumph!

The crowd jumped to their feet, screaming either in delight of a hundred won, or rage at a lost bet.

Spitfire staggered & slowly left the pit, once the crowd couldn't see her anymore she fell over…she lay in the dirt crying her eyes out. The tears made long streaks down her face, washing away the blood that every inch of her body was soaked in. She raised her head upwards for a few moments before she fell over for the last time…

"Ok, " Ratchet said as soon as it became quiet enough to hear each other again.

"As far as I can see there's a door behind the seats over there that should lead to the set of cells & that one on the opposite end should lead the second tunnel leading to the cells. I think we…Andre?"

Andre was a very light, sky blue color, indicating he was pale. He was shaking.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet asked.

Andre spun around & ran as fast as he could.

"Hey wait!!" Ratchet said running after him, Clank in hot pursuit.

Andre ran out of the dome into the brisk night air of Stochan. Ratchet ran after him.

"Andre! Andre!!" He yelled. "Andre STOP!"

Andre stopped in his tracks. Ratchet ran up beside him. A little way behind him Clank was trying to catch up.

"Are you Ok…?" Ratchet asked.

Andre stared at the ground as if trying to burn a hole in it. His shoulders shook uncontrollably as he cried. His cheeks had turned a dark purple.

Ratchet' ears dropped a little.

"I..never knew.." Andre choked. He closed his eyes tightly.

"Andre…" Ratchet put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"How can any-one TREAT people like that? How can any-one treat ANYTHING like that?" He sobbed.

"It's the way of the world…the weaker species always get crushed by the more powerful, money-hungry ones." Ratchet said soothingly.

"I hate them! I HATE them!!" Andre yelled in rage.

"So do we" Ratchet said. "But there's very little we can do…we are only Lombax…"

"I won't STAND for it!!" Andre said, his sadness turning into anger. He straightened himself up.

"Andre?" Ratchet gave him a questioning stare.

"Maybe there's not much you can do, but I'm going to bloody well try!" He turned to Ratchet, his face full of determination.

"Maybe the Galaxy knows about this activity & maybe they keep their eyes closed to it, but if they don't want to see the reality I'll have to MAKE them see! Ratchet, when we save your girlfriend, & we WILL save your girlfriend & every-other creature kept in this place, I am going to go do everything humanly possible to make the Galaxy get rid of this sport! Even if they chain me up & hack off my limbs one by one! I will not rest till this is nothing but a paragraph in a history book!"

Ratchet was stunned for a few moments, & then he smiled at Andre. He looked up at the sky for a few moments. "Hopefully there are more people like you out there…"

The night sky over Stochan seemed much larger than on the other planets. Ratchet was sitting on one of his ship's wings, staring at the vastness of space. Andre clambered up & sat next to him. The teenaged boy stared at Ratchet for a few moments. Ratchet tore his gaze from the sky & turned to Andre. He was seeing his friend in a whole new light after the incident after the fight. Andre did seem to have a fighter's spirit buried in him.

"Why do you do that?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Stare at the sky like that. You do it all the time."

Ratchet smiled. "Habit I guess…Ever since I was a kitten I've been dreaming of leaving my planet & becoming a big space hero. I've been doing it for so long. Now I usually just do it because it…reminds me of home…" He raised an eyebrow at Andre. "Does that make sense?"

Andre nodded. "In a weird cookey way it does…"

Ratchet slapped his knees & got up. "Well, we'd better get started!"

He activated his magna boots & jumped off the wing, Andre followed.

"Hey Clank! Let's go!" Ratchet called to the ship's cockpit.

Clank's head popped up out & he jumped down as well.

The three of them made in the direction back to the dome. But this time the place had no parked ships & crowd fighting to get in. Now it was dark & spooky. Ratchet pulled out his Wrench. Clank jumped up & strapped himself to Ratchet's back. Andre tapped Ratchet on the back.

"Hey Ratchet." He whispered. "Do you think I should have a weapon too? Ya know, to back you up or whatever."

"Yeah sure…" Ratchet whispered back. "Why are we whispering?"

"I have no idea." Andre said.

Ratchet shook his head & fiddled around with his glove. He flipped thru his weapons, trying to find one that would fit Andre. He stopped at the Walloper. He activated it. The large metal boxing glove morphed into his hand & curled up to his shoulder.

"What is it?" Andre asked eyeing it quizzically.

"It's the Walloper 3000. It's like a power charged metal boxing glove." Ratchet said. He pressed a button on the side of it. The large glove folded in on itself until it was a rather thick Bangle. He pulled it off & clipped it onto Andre's wrist.

"To activate it you pressed this." Ratchet said pointing to a small green button.

"Once it's activated the button will turn red & pressing it again will turn it back into a Wrist rap."

Andre nodded. "That's pretty simple, but how does it work?"

Ratchet shrugged. "You just throw a punch. Try it."

Andre raised his arm.

"Whoa whoa whoa! THAT way!" Ratchet said backing away. Form his position on Ratchet's back Clank giggled.

Andre threw a punch & was basically pulled a mile forward by the glove's force.

"Geez Lewees!" Andre looked at the walloper with new respect.

"We should really start moving." Clank said.

"Yeah yeah yeah!" Ratchet said.

They walked up to the doors of the large dome. Ratchet pulled out his Trespasser.

He fidgeted with the lock for only a second or two before it opened.

"You are getting good at that." Clank commented.

"I'm a bad boy!" Ratchet agreed.

They walked into the empty hole of a stadium. Ratchet went in followed by a nervous Andre.

They retracted their steps to where they had been standing while the fight had been going. Ratchet unclasped Clank & looked around trying to see where he had seen the back entrance. He looked down into the pit.

"I bet this place is way bigger than just the cells & the dome." He said. "My guess is there's a whole maze of tunnels underneath us. Meaning there's probably high security."

"D'you think so?" Andre asked.

Andre noticed Ratchet was watching Clank who was looking around, the small red light on his head pulsing.

"No he's right." Clank said relaxing. "This place is crawling with high tech security systems, there are some pretty nasty guard robots as well."

"Really?" Andre asked but Ratchet ignored him

"What Sister board?"

"XP18"

"What a coincidence!" Ratchet said smiling. "Maybe you'll see some-one you know!"

"Watch it!" Clank said sourly.

Andre just gave them both a quizzical look.

"The best way to deactivate a squadron of Version 766 Guard robots is to send a pulse of static thru the building." Clank went on.

"Can you do that?" Andre asked Ratchet.

'He can't. But I know how." Clank said.

"Hey wait a minute!" Ratchet said. "Excuse Mr. Static pulse! But wouldn't that deactivate you as well?!"

Clank shrugged. "There is a possibility."

"In that case no way!" Ratchet said.

"Well what else do you propose we do?" Clank said rather annoyed.

"I don't know…" Ratchet said. He sighed & sat down. "I don't know…"

There was a moment's silence. This was broken by Andre.

"Wait a minute! Clank, is there anyway to send the pulse without it affecting you?"

Ratchet turned to look at them. Clank thought for a minute.

"I believe so. If I am connected to the main system directly it shouldn't affect me. But I would need some-one to connect me up."

"I'll go!" Ratchet said getting up.

"No I'LL go!" Andre said.

"But…"

"Listen Ratchet, you gotta be the one who gets Sprocket & the others out of here. They'll listen to you."

"Another thing, how are we suppose to get them off this planet?!" Ratchet said exasperated.

"I saw a very large, if not worn out cargo ship around the back of the building." Clank said. "I say we get every-one over there. They will be able to evacuate to a safe location from there. But in order for us to do that we are going to have to shut down the security system."

Ratchet struggled, trying to find more ammunition for his argument, but found there was nothing he could say. Clank smiled.

"Do not worry so much. I'll be fine. I will instruct Andre in what to do. He may not be a mechanic but I trust him."

At last Ratchet gave in & nodded. He then turned to Andre.

"One wire out of place & you'll be turning blue for a different reason!" He said warningly.

Andre nodded. "Defiantly!"

With this said Andre started to walk off in the direction Clank had said the main control room to be.

Clank was staring at Ratchet with a stern expression.

"What? What did I do now?"

"It is not what you did, it is what you are not going to do!" The robot sighed. "You keep yourself safe. Do you hear me?"

Ratchet was rather taken aback. He nodded. "Sure Clank…"

Clank gave him one of his green stares before he turned & trotted on after Andre.

Ratchet gave his head a disbelieving shake before he jumped down into the pit & started to make for one of the large doors where the prisoners had come from.

Ratchet stuck his wrench in between the door & the wall & forced the large door open. He had to, there was no invinco-lock to be found. He figured the people who work here have some or other way of opening it. Once the sad, dented remains of the door had been pushed aside Ratchet climbed in thru the opening he had made. On the other side of the door was a long passageway. Ratchet waited for a few minutes here. He sat down & started fiddling with his glove. Suddenly the pop-up screen crackled & static took over for a few seconds before it came back on.

"Good work Buddy!" Ratchet said deactivating his glove. He started walking down the passage, wrench in hand.

"I just hope you haven't fried yourself in the process…"

He walked along the snaking passageway. Not much came up & he didn't find anything to use his wrench for. He turned a sharp corner & tripped.

He got up & rubbed his head, He turned to see what he had stumbled over.

He was so shocked by the sight of a large guard robot. He instinctively grabbed for his wrench & stood ready. It took him a few seconds to realize the large thing was in shutdown. He lowered his wrench. He stood there for a few minutes, trying to get his heart to stop trying to punch its way out of his chest. He turned around & walked along the passage some more. He soon reached a fork.

"Why do they always do this?" he asked irritably to the universe in general.

Usually in situations like this he'd check his info-bot, the tough thing was he didn't HAVE an info-bot for this place. Damn!

He closed his eyes…

He sniffed the air….

There was no mistaking the smell of a lombax. It was like a signature that burnt itself into your nasal cavity. However the only ones whose senses were sharp enough to pick it up were the lombaxions themselves. Ratchet never knew exactly why they were able to do this, but right now he wasn't complaining.

His other senses shut down, as he smelt the air.

There weren't any windows down here, which was just as good, not even the faintest breeze. The only activity had been from the robots, but robots had no smell, save for a slight coldness to the air.

The shutdown of the security had been a mercy. Time stood still. Nothing moved. Not a single ripple of disturbance in the still air. Vision was a mere shadowy presence compared to the lombax's power of smell. It was like a charcoal sketch of a world open for the scents to paint their glorious colors over.

Ratchet edged a little to the right.

The smell wavered in the air, on the edge of his nasal skill. The curling, billowing traces suggested movement at the end of the passage…

'To the right? Is that where you are?'

His nose raced, trying to form distinguishable shapes from the patterns that hung in the passage like dead smoke…

'Right…to the right then…'

He opened his eyes & took the passage on the right.

He walked on, letting his nose guide him thru the intricate maze of passages.

The smell was getting stronger.

He finally got to a very large steel door. But it was fixed with a very strange lock. The passages towards this door had been dank, dark & very old fashioned. But this lock looked like it was ancient. Rusted & twisted. But it was also very easy to break. No cracking of codes or nothing. Just get something big & heavy in between it & the latch of the door & crack it like a nut.

He could here sounds on the other side of the door. He just hoped they were friendly, but if they weren't, he'd be ready for them.

He gave his wrench a steady pull, causing the lock to disintegrate into a mess of metal & springs. Ratchet lifted the latch & jumped up to grip the very large door handle; it was made for security robots, not Lombaxions. With a little effort he was finally able to pull the large door open. He dropped to the ground once he had a big enough crack to fit thru.

He squeezed thru the crack & into the dark room.

Ratchet shivered. The fur along his spine bristled. He looked around the room. It was large. Very very large. It was dark & it was wet. There were no windows, the only light came from a small fire in the center of the room. There was no furniture to be seen anywhere.

A sea of eyes turned to look at him, ranging from bright green to a bluey-gray. Each pair belonged to a different Lombax.

Some of them got up.

Ratchet could feel their eyes boring into him. He swallowed.

He took a step forwards. A large male jumped into his path & started to growl at him, defending the others.

"Hey hey hey! Calm down!" Ratchet said raising his arms. He noticed he was still holding the wrench. The other Lombax was following its movements with his only eye; the other one was shut & had a large scar across it.

"Ok look, I'll put it down." Ratchet said. He knelt & put his tool on the concrete floor.

"Who are you?!!" The man spat. He was much older than Ratchet & a few inches bigger as well. He was a dark gray color with black stripes. His ears were ripped so badly the drooped at the ends. He had a bandage around the end of his tail. His arms & open chest supported a hundred different scars. He was wearing long pants of a murky khaki color. They were ripped at the knees & at the ends. He made Ratchet nervous.

"I'm Ratchet." He said.

"Why are you here?! You have not been accepted into the NLFA! You have no guard escort & you broke into 'The Hole'! What's your business here?!"

Ratchet gulped. "I..I'm here because I'm looking for some one. She doesn't belong here!"

The Lombax stared at him for a few seconds. His eye was almost the same shade of gray as his coat. He got up from his crouching position & into a standing one. The transformation was mind wrenching.

"You mean you are here by choice?" He asked unbelievingly.

Ratchet shook his head. "I am here because some-one I care about is in this hell-hole! I am here because she doesn't deserve to be punished like this!" he paused.

He looked past this towering male to the other faces.

They were all very thin & almost all of them had scars or bite marks of some sort. They were huddled around the small fire trying to keep warm. Some of the males had their arms around the females, some of the older ones around the younger ones, some of them tending to their wounds, some of them tending to other's wounds, some of them no older than 5…

"…None of you deserve to be punished like this…" He said.

Some of the lombaxions turned to each other.

The male standing in front of him put his head to one side.

"…Ratchet…I've heard about you…" He broke into something that could have been a smile if his face wasn't so tattooed by grief & pain. "I have heard of you."

Ratchet smiled. Suddenly he remembered why he was here.

"I'm looking for some-one!" he said for what seemed like the 18th time.

"If you're looking for today's contestant, Spitfire, I'm afraid you've wasted your time."

Ratchet shook his head. "No, Not Spitfire. I'm looking for a girl called Sprocket."

The Lombaxion gave a sigh. "I do not know of any-one by that name & I know every-one here."

Ratchet felt like a ton of bricks had just hit him.

"She's gotta be here!" He yelled. He wasn't arguing.

"She's GOTTA to be here!!"  He could feel he was starting to panic. Was what Drek said true? Had Drek purposefully altered G.P.C.E. knowing Ratchet would come looking for her? What was the point?! Ratchet could feel his breath getting hot.

The male could see the boy's distress. He though for a bit

"But I suppose you are saying her name was 'Sprocket' before she came here, am I right?"

Ratchet turned to him & nodded. He wasn't sure what the man was getting at but he decided now wasn't the time to argue.

"We are given 'show names' when we come here. Many of us cannot even remember our real names. I am known as Granite." Said Granite. "But if you could describe her I am sure I will be able to identify her for you."

Some of the other lombaxions behind Granite were whispering to each other. One or 2 of them had gotten up & started moving towards Ratchet, curiously. Ratchet quickly wiped his eyes clean with the back of his hand before they came too close to get a good look at him.

"Well…" Ratchet said turning back to Granite. He wondered where to begin. He could write a book describing Sprocket but he knew none of the things he would write would help in this situation. He would have to be ruthlessly brief.

"She's about this high & She has long brown hair that hangs in strings to about her waist & She has green eyes like me & she's more or less the same coloring &…what's the matter?"

Granite's expression had turned slightly pained.

"Do you know her?" Ratchet asked now hoping that the answer would be 'no'. Nothing good could come from an expression like that.

He was out of luck though.

"Yes…I know her…Her name here is 'Zatara'."

"Well?! Where is she?!" Ratchet said getting anxious all over again.

"Here…I'll show you…" Granite signaled Ratchet to follow him.

The made their way thru the small clusters of Lombaxions who moved aside for them, whispering behind their hands & staring at Ratchet. He wished they would shut up.

They came to a back wall where there was a small place that Ratchet hadn't noticed before.

Here, against the wall, was 1 or 2 very thin, dirty blankets, piled on top of one another to try & make some sort of bed. & There, twisted in the remains of something that may have been a sheet at one stage, was Sprocket…

She was asleep at the moment; He hair had been cut cruelly short to her shoulders until it met in a '^' at the back of her neck. She was as thin as a rake & was shivering slightly in the cold, cold room. She was dirty with muck & grime. Ratchet stared at her, unbelievingly. If he didn't see her chest rising & falling he would swear she was dead. He felt tears starting to run down his cheeks. He quickly brushed them away.

"What happened to her?" He asked Granite

"What happens to every-one at one stage or another when they come here?" Granite asked shrugging.

Ratchet sighed. "Thank you for taking so good care of her…"

"We had to…" granite said simply. "We hate it every time one of us gets sent to their doom, but usually there's little we can do. But when we have 2 lives at stake & not only 1 we have to do whatever's possible."

Ratchet was a little puzzled. He turned to Granite. "2 lives…?"

Granite didn't have time to answer, Sprocket stirred.

Ratchet turned to her holding his breath. She opened her eyes & stretched slightly. She then turned & looked at him at him.

Her eyes furrowed. Then widened.

"Ratchet..?" She asked softly.

Ratchet was too choked up to say anything; he just nodded as his tears soaked the blankets.

Sprocket's eyes flooded instantly & she pushed herself upright & flung her arms around him. He pressed her tightly against him & kissed her hair & shoulders many times as he shook with each of her sobs. Ratchet pulled her even tighter towards him. He just didn't know what else to do. His arms felt drained of blood as his face felt as if it was on fire as endless streams of tears streamed down his face & dropped onto her.

She sobbed uncontrollably. Ratchet pushed her back so that he could see her face.

Her tears had washed away the dirt on her cheeks leaving 2 brownish-gold streaks of wet fur. But all he wanted to see was her eyes. Those eyes he had pictured in his mind every single day that they had been apart. But nothing could do those eyes justice. They sparkled & shimmered in all their green glory. Leaves of a forest bathing in summer's air, The Sea on a spring morning, the night sky of autumn, a blade of grass peeking up from winter's snow banks. Ratchet was lost in their serenity.

"I thought you were dead…" He spluttered

Sprocket's eyes shimmered. "& You still came for me?"

He pulled her against himself gently. "I had to…I made a promise…"

Ratchet looked up at Granite, He noticed that every Lombaxion in the room was busy staring at them, enchanted.

Ratchet wiped his face trying to regain his composure. After he got his eyes clean enough to be able to see again he let go of Sprocket & stood up.

"I only came here to rescue Sproc..er…Zatara. But I can't abandon you now that I've seen you…" He looked from face to face. These people had not lost as much as he thought they had. They still had humanity, they still had hope, they still had compassion…they still had love. "I'm getting you out of here…"

He turned to Granite who was staring at him in disbelief.

"..ALL of you…"

The alarm siren was blaring in the main corridor. Red lights were flashing every-where. Ratchet turned a corner, wrench raised. When no one attacked him he signaled behind him. Granite appeared carrying Sprocket, & Behind him was every-one else.

"Come on! Just ignore the noise & move! The security guards will probably be reactivated any minute now! Just follow me & Granite!" Ratchet shouted over his shoulder. He turned to Granite who was running next to him.

"You have any clue where to go?" He asked. "I'm suppose to head to some-or other cargo ship, only I have NO clue where it is!"

"When I was brought here," Granite said. "I saw a big cargo ship. I just pray they haven't gotten rid of it, I've been here a very long time & I dunno if it's still here!"

"If these guys are anything like Drek then they won't waste money on safer equipment. Do you know where it would be?" Ratchet said

"The back, the staff's launching pad!" Granite answered.

Ratchet ran around another corner, ready to bash anything on the other side.

& When he ran smack into André He nearly did!

"Whoa! Whoa! It's me!" the blue boy said throwing his arms in defense.

"Andre! You Ok?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah I'm fine! But we gotta get outta here! Now! That pulse we sent out is beginning to wear off! I already had to get rid of 2 guards!" Andre said indicating the Walloper wristband he was wearing.

"How's Clank?!" Ratchet blurted out before he could stop himself.

"I'm absolutely fine & waiting for you to move your backside!" Came a voice from somewhere below.

Ratchet looked down to see the small robot looking up at him.

"Glad to see ya buddy!" Ratchet smiled.

"Listen can we save this for when we have safely evacuated the premises?" Clank said as Ratchet picked him up & clasped him on.

"Sure! Ok people it's all right! It's just my friends!" Ratchet called around the corner.

Granite appeared cautiously.

"It's Ok, really. They were the ones who shut down the security system for me! But we gotta keep on moving!" Ratchet urged.

Granite looked at the small robot & then at the young, aqua skinned boy & seemed to accept the fact that they didn't exactly look like extras in a Captain Qwark special.

He nodded.

Ratchet grabbed Andre by the arm & they were on there way again.

Running thru the passages, it soon became clear that the security system had been reactivated. At first Ratchet had only one or two guards to deal with who were easily gotten rid of with his wrench, but soon they were coming in clusters. Andre seemed to have gotten use to the Walloper quite quickly & was taking care of the guards that became too much for Ratchet with amateur skill. But as they progressed along towards the back door towards the staff's launching pads things were getting crowded.

Spinning into a doorway leading off into the appropriate direction the group encounter a rather big group of guards. Ratchet started taking care of the ones closest while Andre & some of the more capable Lombaxions took out the others. The Lombaxions had long strong legs & they used them almost as expertly as Ratchet used his wrench. Ratchet could see many of them were a lot stronger & faster than him.

He brought the wrench in a hammer-slam down upon a guard who was starting to get uncomfortably close. He heard a yelp of pain from behind him. He turned round to see Andre clutching at his cheek that had a nasty cut across it. It was then Ratchet realized how inexperienced Andre was at fighting. He wasn't paying attention to the guard who had done the damage. Instead he was clutching his cheek in pain. Ratchet pulled his wrench back & tossed it into its comet-strike, hitting the guard squarely in the head before it returned to his hand. Andre turned to Ratchet & smiled 'Thank you'. Ratchet waved a hand telling Andre to 'stop being an idiot & keep fighting'.

When all of the guards were either shut down or lying in a million pieces on the floor, Ratchet turned to the others, panting. He knew what had to be done, but he didn't like it.

Andre came next to him. The slash across his cheek wasn't deep but was still bleeding a bright violet.

"Come on Ratchet! We gotta keep on moving right?" He urged.

Ratchet nodded. "Yeah but I think we should switch strategies."

He put his fingers in his mouth & whistled to get every-one's attention.

"Hey guys! I think we should do this a different way." He said once every-one had quieted.

"Many of us are strong enough to look after ourselves but some of us are either injured, too young, too old or inexperienced! I suggest we split up in smaller groups. Grouping capable fighters & the weaker ones evenly together so that we can all get to the ship safely."

There was a murmur of agreement from the general public.

"Let's split into 2 groups. Half of you come with me, the other half with Granite. That Ok?"

Again nods & murmurs.

"Ok great!" Ratchet said.

The group began splitting into their 2 groups & Ratchet was quite happy to see they were spreading themselves out evenly. Once he was sure they had gotten the idea he turned to Andre. He unclasped Clank.

"Do I stay with you?" Andre asked.

"No you do not stay with me." Ratchet said. "I want you & Clank to go to ahead of us in my ship & try & find us a safe place to land."

"What?! But…!" Andre began but Clank interrupted him.

"Which planet?"

Ratchet scratched his chin.

"Excuse me?! Hello!!" Andre yelled getting annoyed.

"I think Eudora would be a good place don't you?" Ratchet said ignoring the boy.

"Yes I suppose so, but it is a long way away. If the gentleman you call 'Granite' saw the same ship I did, it is a model Q50. They aren't prided at being the fastest ships there are. It should take you a good few days before you get there." Clank said

"So we're gonna have to sit around on ewdorra until you show up some day?!" Andre said trying to get a word in edgeways.

"Can you think of any better place for these people to stay?" Ratchet asked.

Clank shook his head. "No, Eudora is a very quiet planet & well covered in forests, good for hiding in. It is not an area of constant happenings of sort but it is not so insignificant as to be disposable."

"Excuse me but am I Disposable?!!" Andre was turning purple

"So then, Eudora it is!" Ratchet said. "Let's meet at Sprocket's house."

Clank nodded but his face was a picture of worry. Ratchet noticed this.

"What's the matter? You think it'll be watched?"

Clank shook his head again. "No it's not that. It's just that…" He couldn't decide how to say it. But Ratchet knew his friend too well for that to be a problem.

"Hey, It's ok. I'll be fine." He bent down & whispered to the robot. "Just keep an eye on little boy blue for me Ok?"

Clank smiled & nodded. Ratchet got up from his crouching position.

"Ok then! See ya on Eudora!" He said.

Clank gave a half wave as he started to run back into the direction of the car park, pulling a disgruntled Andre in tow.

Ratchet & the lombaxions who had decided to stick with him kept on moving. The number of guards kept growing & Ratchet soon found himself relying on the other lombaxions as much as they were relying on him. In a rather extended period of time they reached the launching pad.

"Ok! Go every-one go! I'll bring up the rear!" He said as they started to break into a run.

'I really hope they still have that ship!' Ratchet thought to himself

But Luck was a lady tonight & he noticed the large, rather beat up cargo ship parked near the back. The lombaxions were getting ecstatic, as they could taste freedom, something some of them had never experienced.

Ratchet found himself getting quite exited as well. 'We're gonna make it! We're gonna get outta here!' He thought to himself as a wide smile started dancing across his face.

Ratchet turned & saw the second group coming out of a different passage lead by Granite who was still carrying Sprocket. But unlike his group they weren't looking too happy. & Ratchet soon found out why.

A large group of soldiers was on their tail, running them down & firing phasers at them. Ratchet moved in quickly! He ran over to them & started swatting the large robots left & right while trying to dodge bullets at the same time.

Whack! Slam! Thump!

He moved with expert agility & speed, ducking & weaving between the guards' legs. But it felt strange not having the familiar weight on his back commentating on all the things he was doing wrong.

A cry from Granite caused him to stop for a few seconds as he turned to see what was up.

Granite was calling & waving to Ratchet, signaling that all the lombaxions were in the ship & ready for launch, Ratchet also noticed behind Granite a young female stuffing a handful of bolts into a man in a uniform's hands. Ratchet figured him to be the driver.

Ratchet buried his wrench into a guard who was trying to take a chance while Ratchet was distracted.

Once the large can fell to the ground Ratchet started to run for the ship. Plasma charges were setting off all around him in large blue pulses.

A large hand grabbed him around the waist, but like cats, Lombaxions should've been classified as liquid rather than Mammals & Ratchet practically oozed himself out of the guard's grip, however his brown breeches ripped as the guard tried to hold him back by them, causing the persuader to go flying into a direction. Ratchet was tempted to run after it but knew there wasn't time

He carried on running towards Granite who was holding Sprocket in one arm & waving to him with the other, the female Lombaxion who he had seen paying the driver was standing in the ship's doorway watching him, half impatient, half worried.

He pressed forward.

A bullet screeched past his shoulder. It missed him.

But the next one didn't…

Ratchet let out an agonizing screech as the ball of plasma hit him squarely in the back between the shoulder blades. The smell of scorched fur filled his nostrils as he fell over & slammed into the hard concrete ground. Ratchet yelped but went about trying to push himself up & carry on towards the ship. But the pain was obscuring his vision & it felt like some one had just planted a pound of nitrogen on his back. He looked up, seeing a large guard standing over him grimacing. He planted a foot onto Ratchet's back causing a brand new jolt of pain to shoot thru him. The guard raised his gun, ready to fire.

A gray blur came out of nowhere & kicked the guard in its jaw, denting the metal. It then landed beside Ratchet. It grabbed him by the arm & swung him onto its back. Only when it starting running towards the ship did Ratchet notice it was Granite.

Granite made a running leap & rolled into the ship as it began to rise off the launching pad. Bullets ricocheted off its steel walls as they guards tried to get a clean shot. But the door closed behind the two of them & the guards were left on the ground, cursing at them & shooting fruitlessly.

Ratchet panted as he lay on the cold steel floor of the ship, it was slightly trembling as it ascended into the night sky. He wasn't sure if he had any breath to say it but he had to ask.

"Spr…Sprocket's…OK?"

"She's fine" Granite reassured him. He took Ratchet & gently lifted him up to inspect the boy's back.

The patch where the bullet had hit was burnt & it was bleeding rather badly but Granite, who had spent almost all his life in injury, could see it wasn't life threatening. It would make the boy's next few days uncomfortable though.

"You're a lucky one Boy…You're gonna be ok." He said. He took hold of the end of his long pants & ripped off a strip. He tied this around Ratchet's waist as a makeshift bandage.

"Sprocket…" Ratchet repeated, still trying to catch his breath.

"Alright, this way." Granite said lifting him up.

He half supported, half carried Ratchet across the large hull of the ship. The lombaxions were regrouping into family units, hugging & crying with relief, amazement & the realization that they were rocketing towards a new future, free of bloodshed & fighting.

Granite took Ratchet too a corner where some of the lombaxions who had been injured before & during the escape were being taken care of. Sprocket was leaning against a wall & an elderly lady was handing her something to drink out of one of the many crates lying around. She looked up as Granite approached. Seeing Ratchet she dropped her mug, causing it to shatter.

"Oh my gosh what happened?!" She said as Granite helped Ratchet down next to her. She immediately started to pull him against her. He put a reassuring hand on one of her cheeks. "I'm alright…" He said softly.

She stared at him for a few minutes before she curled herself up against him & started to cry once again. He gently stroked her back as he put his other arm around her.

"It's ok…I'm here now…& everything's gonna be alright…"

Granite smiled, as things seemed to be starting to go the way they should. He turned to the old lady.

"Take care of these two, will ya Bernie?" He asked.

The lady, known as Bernadette, nodded good-naturedly.

Granite gave a single nod to her & started making towards the driver to give orders on where to go & what to do.

Ratchet sat in the corner with his arms tightly folded around Sprocket. For once…for just once…He didn't want to be the leader. Right now, all he wanted was to sit here with his Sprocket. To hold her, & know that she's really there, & that Drek's words of pain were just empty echoes & lies that he'd never have to believe as long as she lay in his arms…They fell asleep like that, as the large ship slowly soared thru space, like some lost ark, heading for a new dawn.

Clank hadn't been kidding about the speed of the ship. 2 days later they were still going. Granite had decided it to be in the group's best interest not to stop unless absolutely necessary. Ratchet & Sprocket were getting stronger. Bernie's care to Ratchet's wound & some good nurturing & feeding seemed to be the best cure. Sprocket was easier, simply being out of the 'hell hole' as it was starting to be called, seemed to be a great help, & Ratchet's presence also seemed to feed her energy. Bernie decided it was probably some sort of karma thing, which was weird since usually she didn't believe in jazz like that.

At the moment Sprocket was lying against Ratchet as he teased a strand of her hair between his fingers.

"Hey."

Ratchet looked up as Granite sat down.

"How are you two?" He asked

Ratchet gave a nod. "It's goin ok"

Granite stared at Ratchet for some time before he laughed & shook his head.

"I…I have no-idea how to thank you…I mean…all this…"

Ratchet waved it aside "Skip it. It's what I do. Besides, you saved me from big & ugly back there. We're even."

Granite smiled. He knew that no matter how much he argued his side Ratchet would never want anything in return for the rescue. He sighed & got up again.

"Well, we're almost there, you two just take it easy. Especially you Zatara."

Sprocket nodded. As Granite left Ratchet turned to her.

"Zatara? Sound tough." He said

"It means 'driftwood'." She said

They both laughed.

The sleek Blarg fighter landed on the white landscape of Eudora's winter. After it stopped & it's humming died the cockpit flew open. Clank hopped out followed shortly by Andre.

"I still don't see why…" Andre began

"Look, I have told you a hundred times, Ratchet has his reasons." Clank said, getting sick of being asked the same question all the way from Stochan. He knew very well why Ratchet had sent him & Andre ahead. He didn't want Andre to come to harm & needed Clank to look after him. He walked on until the familiar hill came into view. He & the sulking Andre walked to the top of it. Sprocket's little hut came into view. It hadn't been looked after & was in a state of disarray but looked just as cheery & welcoming as he remembered it. He turned & looked out over the landscape. Black pine & white snow stretched as far as the eye could see ahead of him.

"Haven't been here in a while eh?" Andre asked staring at Clank with a cheeky grin.

Clank gave him a disapproving look.

"I must say I've never seen anything like it myself." Andre said staring at the landscape himself. "It sure is pretty"

He stared for a few minutes before he started shivering.

"You're cold." Clank said as a way of observation. "We should go inside & get comfortable. Ratchet & the others shouldn't be here for a few days so we can get things started so long." He pulled Andre inside.

Ratchet had been sleeping for quite some time. He rolled over in his sleep when a sudden jolt of the ship made him wake up. He looked around, rubbing his eyes. Sprocket had also been woken up & she was looking around with a rather startled look on her face.

"What was that?" She asked as if she expected him to know.

Ratchet shook his head & got up. Another jolt shook the ship & nearly threw him off his feet.

He steadied himself on the side of the ship where pipes where running along. The rag-tag group of Lombaxs was also looking around trying to figure out what was going on. They looked scared. A few of the younger ones who didn't have friends & family to tend to made to the front of the ship where the driver was to be found. Ratchet could see Granite up front.

Ratchet pushed himself off of the wall's support & stumbled his way over. The ship was rocking violently back & forth & vibrated so hard he was scared it might fall into a million pieces. Another jolt, much stronger this time. Ratchet fell forward & Grabbed onto the back of the driver's seat. He peered over the Driver's right shoulder. The Driver's left shoulder was already occupied by Granite.

"What's going on?!" Ratchet asked as the ship jerked violently from side to side.

"Blarg!" Granite spat peering out the windshield at the sleek purple ships, the same make Ratchet had, that were circling them & mercilessly firing rockets at them. A red light on the Ship's dashboard had started bleeping indicating Damage. They hadn't taken too many hits however, otherwise the ship's alarm system would've been blaring.

"What do they want?!" Ratchet said gritting his teeth. Why did the Blarg always show up at the worst moments?

"The Boss back at the Hole probably told Chairman Drek the bunch of us got away! The Boss & Drek are big buddies! Also, & I hope you don't mind me saying this, but they've probably figured you're here as well! They probably figure that they could take you out along with the rest of the trash! Get it?" Granite turned to Ratchet to see if he was following on.

Ratchet's ears picked up.

"Of course! It was probably Drek that sent Sprocket to the NLFA in the first place!" He thumped the dashboard with a fist.

"Am I blind?! It's so obvious!!"

"Me Ship can't take no more hits!" The driver said panicky. He was shaking like a leaf.

The ship's alarm system went off. Red lights started flashing all along the roof as the siren screamed in their ears.

"Shit!" Granite stared at the flashing lights. "What do we do now?!" He asked Ratchet. But Ratchet was peering out the window at the stars & the upcoming planet.

"That's Eudora! That's Eudora!" He yelled pointing. "Just get us there! We just gotta get there that's all!"

"I can't do it!" the driver screamed back. "I can't drive this stupid thing with bullets raining on me!"

"Look it's just a few more miles! Just a few more miles!" Granite urged him on as soon as he figured out what was happening.

"We just need to get to Eudora! We can make it! We'll make it!' Ratchet pushed the driver on.

"You Crazy!" the driver said turning to Ratchet all of a sudden. "You out of your mind!! You wanna get to this ruddy planet then YOU drive!!! Ima Outta here!!" With this he jumped out of the driver's seat & ran over to the only Escape pod much to Ratchet & Granite's astonishment. Ratchet snapped out of it & floored it after him but was too late. The man sealed the door behind him & shot off into space, leaving the Lombaxions defenseless & driverless. Ratchet stared in disbelief after the only escape pod, as the siren's blared even louder & yet another tremor violently shook the ancient ship.

Snow had fallen on Eudora that afternoon, but now the skies were clear. Andre was sitting on one of the purple Blarg Fighter's wings staring at the star-studded sky.

He sighed.

They had been waiting 4 days for the Stochan Cargo ship to arrive but so far they hadn't had seen hide nor seek of it. Every night Andre would be where he is now, watching for it, & every night would pass without a single glimpse of the large vessel.

They had been watching Sprocket's info-bot for news but the only thing that had been reported on was that a large group of Lombaxions had escaped from the NLFA & had stolen a company vehicle; they had rumors that they were being lead by the notorious Ratchet. The news reporters seemed to be in 2 minds about this. Many of them weren't sure if this was a crime or a good thing. It didn't look like they had heard of the NLFA before. This had given Andre some hope. He still hadn't given up the idea of trying to stop the illegal sport somehow.

He had noticed how the continuing absence of the ship was annoying Clank more than it was annoying him. Clank felt sorry for him. He knew Clank could worry a lot at times. The worse part was that there wasn't any way to contact Ratchet or the ship, so the two of them had had to rely on the info-bot & news reports.

Andre kicked a small lump of snow off of the ship. He turned back to the sky. The inky blackness seemed endless.

He suddenly noticed something. Or rather, thought he noticed something.

He stood up on the ship & screwed up his eyes trying to see better. Had he just imagined it?

He quickly opened his eyes wide again.

"Hey Clank! Clank!" he called to the hut.

Clank came out carrying a poker for the fire.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked anxiously.

"Come look at this!" Andre called pointing at the sky.

Clank trotted over & boosted himself onto the ship with his thruster. He looked up at the place where Andre was pointing.

Small flickers & tiny flashes could be seen more or less directly above them.

"What D'you think that is?" Andre asked. Looking up at it. It was like watching a really far away lightning storm without any clouds.

"I can not be sure but it looks like some sort of space battle is taking place up there." Clank said thoughtfully.

As these words' meaning finally set in, Andre & Clank looked at each other for a few minutes before the basically flew off the ship & into the hut to turn on the info-bot.

"DAMMIT!" Ratchet spun around & ran back towards the driver's seat Where Granite was still standing. He jumped over the chair's back & grabbed hold of the steering wheel.

"That's just great! PERFECT!"

He swore as he gave the wheel a quick turn to the right, trying to dodge the bullets that were still hitting them. The ship was shaking constantly now & dust was falling from the ceiling as if warning that the roof was about to collapse.

Sprocket jogged up to him & the others that had clustered around.

"What now?!" She asked as she grabbed hold of the chair to try & steady herself. She had seen the driver taken off & knew that Ratchet was the one who would probably be first at the wheel.

"We run like hell & try not to get shot into a million pieces!" Ratchet said giving the wheel another hard turn.

"Brilliant strategy!" Granite said rolling his eyes.

"We don't really have much of a choice do we?!" Ratchet yelled back over the noise of the sirens & the shrieks of some of the lombaxs every time the ship lurched.

Sprocket grabbed hold of the dashboard & pulled open the glove compartment. She started scratching around, trying to find something. She soon pulled out the manual & flipped thru it, snapping the glove compartment shut again with her foot.

"This crate doesn't have any weapons on it does it?!" Ratchet yelled as another bullet sent a shiver thru the ship.

"No!" Sprocket said. "But it does have another 2 escape pods!"

She pushed the book in front of him & pointed at a paragraph.

"They're behind a sealed door at the back of the ship! They're intended for Hostages trying to escape, which is why you can't see them! You need a combination to get in but I'm sure we'll be able to persuade the door to open for us with a few well placed smacks!"

Ratchet thought about this. "Will the escape pods be big enough for every-one?!"

Sprocket flipped a few pages. "It says here the escape pods seat 10 each!"

"That's alright then!" Granite said taking a look at the manual himself. "There are only about 35 of us & we're not exactly using them for sight seeing! We'll be able to squeeze every-one in!"

"Only one problem!" Ratchet said swinging the steering wheel left & right.

"& What's that?" Sprocket asked grabbing hold of Granite to stop herself from toppling all over the boy next to her.

"The Eudora chairman won't let us all just land! I was planning of contacting him before we landed to ask permission for landing such a big craft but It isn't as if I'm gonna politely ask him while people are trying to kill us at the same time!!" Ratchet bit down on his bottom lip trying to think of something to do.

"Well can't we land & THEN ask if we're aloud to stay?!" Granite asked.

Ratchet shook his head. "It doesn't work like that! & Even if I wanted to contact him now I can't! We need to be in a specific zone to get the signal to him!"

He hit the dashboard with his free fist again. "Worthless piece of junk!!"

"Is there any-one we CAN get the signal too at this position?!" Granite asked looking out the window as if trying to see some one waving, ready to pick up their transmission.

"Sprocket, who's waves are around this part of the Planet?!" Ratchet asked turning to look at her.

She rubbed her chin trying to think. She looked out the window at her planet trying to see where exactly they were.

"Only TV & radio waves around here!" She said.

"Damn!" Ratchet cursed. He gave the dashboard another filthy look, tempted to hit it again.

Sprocket was still rubbing her chin trying to think of something. She suddenly brightened.

"Does any-one know the local time?!" She asked smiling.

Andre & Clank were sitting in front of Sprocket's info-bot staring transfixed at the screen. The Channel 2 news was busy blaring in front of them. Darla Gratch was talking about the disturbance above Eudora's atmosphere.

"…There seems to be some activity above the Atmosphere at this time. We not entirely sure as to what exactly is happening but we are trying our best to discover what is in fact going on up there." She stopped for a minute & listened to her radio in her ear.

"We have just received word that it seems a Blarg attack is taking place on an unarmed vehicle. It seems that the vehicle was about to land on the Planet before it was ambushed. We are still trying to get an identification on the ship." Again she listened to her radio.

" We have just been informed that it is in fact a Stochan Cargo vehicle that is under attack &…"

Andre & Clank shifted their positions uneasily. Andre felt as if his tongue had turned to a piece of leather. It was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He turned to look at Clank Who looked as worried as he felt. The little beacon on the robot's head was slightly pulsing. He didn't seem to be scanning anything though.

Andre bit down onto his thumb & turned back to the news report.

"…Can now confirm that this is in fact the cargo vehicle that was stolen on Stochan by the lombaxions escaping from NLFA, or rather, The National Lombax Fighting Association. This group specializes in the illegal sport of Lombax Fighting. Interpol has only recently learned of its activities."

"Yeah I'll bet!" Andre gritted his teeth

"Sssh!" Clank hissed.

The news reporter carried on.

"We have been informed that the Eudora Chairman is currently trying to get a communication link to the ship, however it seems that it's communicators are very out of date & they are not in a favorable position to…"

The screen crackled.

Clank leaned forward & tried adjusting the infobot but it didn't help.

"What's going on?!" Andre asked exasperatedly.

Clank tapped the screen with a 'tink tink tink'

"I think the fault is with them." He said. He continued to fiddle with the infobot however.

Darla came back into focus, seen from a different angle due to a camera change.

"We appear to be having some Technical difficulties. Something appears to be interfering with our signal."

Suddenly some one who was supposedly working on the other camera came into view.

"What are you doing?!" Darla screeched when she noticed "You're interfering with the shot!"

"Miss Gratch! We appear to be picking up a signal!" The young man said

"What sort of Signal?!" She spat at him.

She put a hand to her tiny microphone in her ear.

"I have just received word from Joe that we are picking up signals from the ship at this moment in time. We will try & patch them thru to you the viewer"

"Ratchet's using the TV as an intercom?!" Andre said moving closer to the screen

"I suppose it's the only frequency he's able to tap into." Clank said looking quite panicky himself.

The news report switched to where a male robot, probably the same version as Darla Gratch, was sitting behind a desk. A small video window had appeared behind him. It was busy showing static but every now & then a red coloring would show & a few broken words could be heard. Clank & Andre sat transfixed to the screen.

The small window was starting to show more & more of whatever was on the other side.

The reporter named Joe was busy explaining to the general public what was going on & giving a summary of what was going on the people who had just turned on their sets.

Suddenly the video screen came thru clearly & the sound, although a bit scratchy, could be understood.

Ratchet could be seen in the window. He was gripping the steering wheel of the spacecraft as if it was a lifeline. He was sweating bullets by the looks of it.

"It's Ratchet!" Andre nearly wet himself

"Shut up!" Clank snapped, uncharacteristically.

Ratchet's voice was yelling a he tried to talk over the blaring sirens that could also be heard. Every now & then the whole ship shuddered, causing the screen to buzz static.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Stochan Carrier Requesting an audience with the Eudora Chairman! Repeat, Requesting an Audience with the Eudora Chairman! Is any-one there?!!"

The reporter seemed quite startled, but as it became apparent the only person who was able to answer him was Joe He replied.

"This is Joe Kumei of Channel 2 news. Who are you & what do you need of the chairman?"

The ship shook violently again causing a few brief moments of Static.

"This is Ratchet! I've got a bunch of Passengers here! We're under attack by the Blarg! We are un-armed! We want to contact the chairman in order to request permission to land!"

" 'Request permission to land?!' Since when has Ratchet ever bothered with formalities?!" Clank was gripping the pillow he was sitting on tightly.

Joe continued. "Ratchet? The outlaw? Why would our Chairman grant you permission to land on Planet Eudora?"

It was pretty obvious Ratchet was getting peeved.

"Are you crazy?!! If we can't land on the planet we're all gonna die!! All the innocent people here are gonna die!!!"

"Tis doesn loog goo!" Andre said, still biting down onto his thumb.

"Yes but why would he let an outlaw & a handful of refugees…"

"Refugees?! Are you kidding?!! We gotta land NOW! Our ship's falling apart!" As if to prove the point the ship shook dangerously yet again. Shrieks could be heard in the background.

A man, probably a member of the camera crew, leaned into view & whispered something into Joe's ear. He nodded & turned back to Ratchet.

"It appears the chairman would like to speak to you himself, I'm patching you thru."

The Infobot screen divided into 2 sections, one showing the chairman of Eudora & the other Ratchet.

The chairman looked at the audience with a severe expression of disgust, Andre presumed he was looking at a screen where he could see Ratchet. Next to him, Clank was gritting his teeth…if he had had any.

"I am the chairman of Planet Eudora. Why do you wish to speak with me Captain Ratchet?"

Ratchet was getting hot under the collar but tried to keep himself polite.

"Sir! I have on board with me the Lombaxs who have escaped from Planet Stochan! We are currently under attack from Blarg Fighters! We request that you grant us permission to land on Eudora!"

The chairman frowned at the screen. He stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes as if thinking it over. Ratchet was trying his best to keep his cool, as every shudder that ran thru the ship got stronger & stronger. Finally the chairman turned back to him.

He shook his head.

"I'm sorry Captain Ratchet. But I cannot grant you permission to land on my planet."

Ratchet was clearly flabbergasted. He wasn't the only one.

"WHAT?! WHY THE HELL NOT?!!" Andre yelled at the chairman on the screen.

Clank just silently stared at the screen, looking gray in the face (If you catch my meaning)

"Why not?!" Ratchet said, looking like he was sure he'd heard wrong.

The chairman shook his head.

Ratchet wasn't just boiling with anger now, he also looked quite afraid. This made Clank even more scared than he already was.

"There are Old folks! Woman! CHILDREN on this ship!!! If you don't grant us permission we're all gonna DIE!!" Ratchet was obviously shaking, although if it was because of Anger, fear, Or the shudders constantly going thru the ship, Clank & Andre couldn't tell.

"I would gladly have granted them permission to land here Captain. But seeing as you are with them I cannot. As Chairman I cannot permit Outlaws & criminals to land on my Planet. I am sorry" The chairman did look sorry. He seemed rather torn between what to do. However it was clear he had made up his mind.

"This isn't happening! This can't be happening!!" Andre was pulling at his hair. He was shivering all over.

But Clank was staring at Ratchet with a look of pure horror.

"No Ratchet. Don't." he said quietly.

Ratchet could be seen on the screen. He seemed to be thinking hard about something.

"No! Don't!" Clank sat upright as it seemed Ratchet had made up his mind about something. He turned back to the screen. He had a rather pained expression.

"Don't do it!!" Clank yelled but it wasn't any use.

"What if…what if I promised that I'd stay behind?"

Ratchet could see that the chairman was seriously considering it. He elaborated just to get his message across.

"Every Lombax on the ship gets permission to land on Eudora & claim Sanctuary there except me. I stay with the ship."

Ratchet stared hard at the chairman, his emerald green eyes sincere.

The chairman looked at him thoughtfully.

"& Say you have a change of heart & decide to land on my planet anyway?"

Ratchet had anticipated this question.

"You have every right to arrest me & hand me over to the Blarg."

The chairman eyed him questioningly.

Ratchet gritted his teeth. "I swear it. If you get your hands on me I won't fight you."

The chairman was quiet for a few more minutes before he nodded.

"Very well then Captain Ratchet. As you have agreed to not disrupt my planet I Grant your friends permission for landing & settling on Planet Eudora."

Ratchet broke into a smile. He gave a nod.

"Thank you Chairman."

"HE'S NOT SERIOUS! HE CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!" Andre was screaming at the top of his lungs as the news broadcast flipped back to Joe & he babbled on about how amazing this outcome was.

"He Wouldn't really do that would he?!" Andre rounded on Clank.

Clank didn't say anything. He couldn't.

He knew very well that Ratchet would do something like this in a flash.

The small window showing the interior of the Cargo ship was still in the right hand corner of the screen. Clank could see Ratchet rounding up all the lombaxs to the back of the ship.

Static buzzed across the screen. Then again... then again… & then the picture was lost. The communicator damaged too badly on the ship to continue the transmission.

Clank jumped up as soon as the picture was lost & ran outside, Andre right on his heels.

Clank scrambled onto the Purple Blarg fighter. He stared up at the sky to where lights could still be seen flashing back & forth. They were hard to see but the huge, looming cargo ship was impossible to miss.

Dawn's pale light had come.

As soon as he was cut off from the chairman Ratchet sprung up from his seat.

"What's going on?!" Granite yelled over the noise.

"Every-body gets into the escape pods!" Ratchet yelled back.

Granite didn't probe him further.

He called above the terrified crowd to get their attention.

"Alright every-one! SHUT UP! Listen! We're making a break for it! We got 2 escape pods in the back! Get yourselves into 2 groups & pile in! It's gonna be cramped but it can't be helped! Move it!"

They didn't need telling twice. As they started running towards the hidden doors Ratchet bounded ahead of them. Once he reached the concealed door he ran his fingers up & down the wall, feeling for a weak spot. But with the ship shaking constantly now & the sirens blaring in his ears & flames sprouting up more or less everywhere He gave it up & just hacked at the door with his wrench.

The door was strong & turned out hard to force open. For a few minutes Ratchet wished he hadn't given Andre his Walloper 3000. Bit after some extreme effort he was able to wedge his wrench into a small gap between the 2 doors. Tensing himself he Gave the wrench a very strong pull. That was all it took. The metal screamed under the pressure & opened up. The doors to the actual escape pod were facing him now. He wasn't too sure about what to do here. He couldn't break them down for obvious reasons. Hurtling thru space with your door open might cause health problems such as death. But luck was on his side.

A small red 'eye' opened. It briefly shone onto him before closing again.

= CARBON BASED LIFE-FORM DETECTED & APROVED= the female voice sang.

The doors opened.

Ratchet didn't wait for every-one to start getting in once he was sure the doors were opening. He ran to the other side of the ship opposite the first escape pod & attacked the second set of concealed doors.

With some coaxing from his wrench the doors bent in on themselves & showed the second set of doors leading to the second escape pod. Once again the red eye opened & scanned him. Once again the female voice chimed its acceptance & once again the doors started to open. Ratchet started to pile in the rest of the lombaxs. Once every last one of them were in he did the hardest thing he ever had to do.

He turned to Sprocket… & lied to her.

"C'mon! Get in I'll be right behind you!"

She stared at him with her big green eyes unblinkingly. She shook her head.

"No, You won't be."

He blinked at her. He was the worst lair in Galactic history.

"Wh..Why do you say that?"

Her forehead furrowed.

"Don't play games. I noticed it the minute you got off from your little 'meeting' with the chairman! You're not planning on going at all!"

Ratchet opened his mouth to try again but knew that, even if he could, Sprocket wasn't going to buy the lie. He looked at the floor instead.

"I…"

"Listen we don't have time for this!" She ran over to the escape pod & activated the device that sent it off.

"Hey! What Are you…?!" A voice called from inside.

"Sorry Granite. 'Preciate you looking after me, but it's time I start looking after myself!"

The doors to the escape pod closed & after it the emergency air lock doors activated (Ratchet did smash the other doors to pieces)

Sprocket turned back to Ratchet who looked like his pet budgie had just been eaten.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!!" He yelled. "THAT WAS YOUR RIDE THAT JUST LEFT!!!"

Sprocket had venom in her gaze.

"YOU'RE the insane one! If you think for one second that I'm leaving you here to face whatever comes next alone!!"

"Nothing's COMING NEXT!!! That's the whole Goddamn POINT!!!" He retaliated

They were both shaking with rage.

"We're gonna die!!! You realize that?! WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!" Ratchet spat.

"Well at least we won't die ALONE!" She yelled & then, to Ratchet's horror, burst into tears.

He put his hands on her shaking shoulders & pulled her against him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't…I didn't mean to yell…"

"I just don't want to loose you…" She sobbed.

Ratchet lifted her face to look at her.

"You will NEVER loose me…"

"Look!" Andre yelled pointing upwards. He had no need to, They were both watching the sky anyway.

2 small dots could be seen rocketing away from the large cargo ship.

They became clearer as they moved closer to the planet. The escape pods were descending rapidly. As they came closer large white parachutes opened from them & they floated down to the ground like large demented dandelion seeds.

The interior of the large cargo ship was being torn apart. The whole star craft was jerking around violently & most of it was ablaze. Smoke had filled every nook & cranny. The metallic plating of the inside was falling apart & wires were dangling from the roof everywhere. Outside the tail of the ship exploded into flame & the ship started to fall from the sky.

In the corner of one of the decks Ratchet & Sprocket were closely huddled together, arms laced.

They could feel the ship as it started going down.

Ratchet gripped Sprocket tighter & waited for the inevitable.

He looked around the battered room as things started to slide forward as the ship tilted.

He sighed & closed his eyes again.

After a few moments they shot open & he looked up.

He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before! He patted Sprocket to get her attention.

The roar of the ship was deafening & nothing else could be heard but the ringing in their ears.

Ratchet pointed at the wall he had noticed. Sprocket turned to look at it. It was another door. Not an escape pod one, but to a small craft used to move you between a ship & a space station.

It was small & useless in all other aspects, but to the two of them it was hope.

Ratchet helped Sprocket to her feet & they staggered over to it as fast as they could.

Every-one knew that flying the small craft further than a kilometer from the ship was either crazy or had a really big death wish. Ratchet knew this better than any one. But he also knew that Driving recklessly was one of his great talents, all that would be different here was having the craft do it for him.

He & Sprocket got into the craft & immediately buckled their seat belts.

Ratchet closed his eyes, clenched his teeth & prayed as he pulled the lever sending the vessel shooting away from the ship. & Then everything was flame

The ship was falling closer & closer.

There was a flash & then the sky went black.

A massive fireball shot out of the ship & engulfed it.

It seemed to grow with every heartbeat. As smoke bellowed from it Shrapnel shot in every direction as the roar of flames blotted out every other sound.

At least almost every other sound.

Ratchet's name could clearly be heard being yelled over the noise.

Black greasy streaks ran down his face as Clank's whole world burnt away in front of him in a raging inferno.

Andre speechlessly watched as the skeletal structure that was once the large cargo ship fell slowly to the ground, leaving a Smokey streak behind it.

Granite stood transfixed as the ship slowly came hurtling out of the sky towards the ground. It wasn't going to hit any of the group of lombaxs but most of them were watching it as if it was their hope crashing down. The ship was making a strange whistling noise as it thundered downwards, smacking all branches in its way.

Finally it met up with the ground.

For a few seconds it looked as if it was standing still. A ripple seemed to flow away from the ship as if a drop had just fallen in a basin of water. It was almost as if it slightly sucked all things towards it, & then throw all of it outwards all at once. Wind shot out from it in every direction as flame, smoke dust & rubble filled the air around it in a perfect dome. Granite pulled his arm against his face to shield himself.

When the effects of the blow were over he opened his eyes again.

What lay before him was a small crater covered in scorched earth. Every piece of debris was on fire & what wasn't was engulfed with brown smoke. The smell of burning oil filled his nostrils. The clattering of the flames seemed to be the only sound audible, apart from a strange sound coming from what seemed a far way away.

'Click clack click clack'

 It sounded slightly metallic & whatever it was it was getting nearer. Granite turned to see what it was.

He could see the slight shine of the little robot's head as he & the blue-skinned Metropolis boy came running into view.

"Oh no…." Granite hung his head & sighed. He wasn't up for this.

Clank & Andre soon came closer, both of them looking as if the sky had just fallen, which, in a way, it had.

Clank ran right up to Granite & grabbed hold of as much pants as he could reach.

"He is with you isn't he?! He MUST be with you!" His shoulders were shaking & granite could see very clearly (Although he wasn't sure he believed it) that small oily tears had been running down the robots face.

He took a breath to try & start explaining, but let it go again as he had nothing to say. All he managed was 'Tch'.

Clank stared at him disbelievingly. He closed his eyes & leaned his head against the Lombax's leg.

Granite stared at him, wishing he could say something to make the robot feel better. He looked at Andre as if begging for help.

Andre's cheeks were light lavender & his green eyes were slightly red, but he wasn't looking at Granite at the moment. He was staring up at the sky with a slightly puzzled expression. Granite cocked his head to one side.

He turned to see what Andre was staring at.

In the sky he could see something hurtling towards the ground at break-neck speed.

"What on Veldin?" He muttered to himself. He screwed up his eyes to try & see if he could make out exactly what it was falling this time.

He gave Clank a nudge. "Hey lil' guy, can you make out what that is?"

Clank looked up half-heartedly.

He quickly spotted the black dot. He focused his eyes trying to get a better view. When this failed He tried Infrared. He tried almost all of his vision abilities but even switching to wire frame didn't help him make out what exactly was falling.

A growl from an engine caught his attention.

Clank lowered his gaze to the Eudora horizon to see a small 'all-terrain' hovercraft coming towards them.

They stood back as it parked itself & a very disgruntled Chairman & his commander in charge of planetary security came running towards them, also staring at the indistinguishable object.

"How Dare he?! How DARE he?!" The chairman was shouting.

"I Promise you sir! I'll have my best men here ready to pump him full of plasma!" The commander said grinning maliciously.

They came to a stop next to Granite & continued to glare at the object.

"You know what it is?" Granite asked giving the chairman & his commander a sideways glance.

The chairman turned sharply towards him.

"Yes I do actually! & After he PROMISED not to set foot on my planet too! I swear that stubborn space-pirate will PAY! He gave me his word after all! As soon as that Nefarious Ratchet Lands I'll have him in irons if the crash doesn't kill him!"

"Ratchet?!" Clank practically broke his neck he spun around so fast.

"YES! That scoundrel of a Lombax! He…!"

"Ratchet is on that ship?!"

"Look I just SAID…"

But Clank wasn't listening any more. He, Andre & Granite had turned their full attention on the craft as it zigzagged towards Terra Firma.

The Craft hit the ground at an angle & bounced, hard. It spun uncontrollable & hit the ground again, tearing off most of it's exterior. It bounced a second time & flipped itself over, crashing into a piece of debris from the cargo ship causing its engine to burst into flame.

Clank came running towards the ship as fast as his metallic legs could carry him. He slid slightly on the small crater's wall & landed with a thud in the burnt dust before getting up & running forward again. Andre was trying hard to catch up along with the others. Clank however could be very fast when he wanted too & was soon leaving them behind & out of sight.

The small crashed vessel came into sight, & a sorry sight it was. It had clearly not been designed for any use besides a boarding vessel. Its protective metal plating was all but gone & several large pieces of its tail & wings had been torn off. Clank ran faster.

"Ratchet! Ratchet!!"

He stopped.

Out of the smoke a silhouette was coming into focus. It was moving slowly & awkwardly. In one hand it was carrying a wrench.

Clank caught his breath (If he had had any) Ratchet wasn't hurt was he?

Slowly the figure came into focus. It turned out to be 2 figures.

Ratchet & Sprocket were both looking like they'd just been to Hell & back, but judging from their expressions they had enjoyed it & brought back some postcards.

They were covered in dirt, soot, scorched fur & oil. Ratchet had lost his breeches & had a piece of khaki cloth tied around his waist in a makeshift bandage. He was limping slightly & was covered in small cuts & bruises. He had an arm around Sprocket who was laying her head against his chest. Her dress looked like it was likely to fall off any minute it was ripped in so many places. They were both smiling at each other reflectively; they'd cheated death yet again.

Ratchet caught site of Clank. He waved his arm above his head.

Clank stood still a few seconds longer before he found himself inexplicably hurtling towards Ratchet.

He flung his arms around the only part of the boy he could reach (His legs) & held on with a vice grip.

He wasn't sure whether to crush Ratchet's legs with a hug for being alive or to pummel his brains out for making him worry that much. But when ratchet grabbed hold of him & pulled him up onto his shoulder Clank decided that, just perhaps, he could forgive the boy this time round. After all, who knew if he would be able to do it next time? But then that's what friends do isn't it? They forgive each other. Clank was just overjoyed that there was still some one to forgive. As long as he was there, Clank would forgive him for murder. As long as he was there.

"Come on Come on! We can't let him slip away!"

The Commander urged them onwards. "I'm not letting that outlaw get away!"

The Commander, Chairman, Andre & Granite were running as fast as they could in the direction of the boarding vessel.

"He Won't REALLY arrests him will he?" Andre puffed to Granite.

"I'm afraid he has every right to!" Granite huffed back.

Andre mumbled some curse words.

They came to the vessel. A quick inspection (IE looking around very quickly) They couldn't find Ratchet, Sprocket or Clank.

"They must be at that Sprocket girl's hut!" The commander shouted. He was getting quite juiced up on adrenaline.

They ran back in the direction of Sprocket's house.

After scrambling up the hill they came to the small leather hut. The sleek purple ship still standing next to it.

"Inside! Look inside!" They ran towards the rag that served as a door.

"They're not in here Chairman!" The commander shouted.

"That's because they're out here. Granite said smiling slightly.

Spinning around The four men saw the purple blarg ship start to take off.

"Here now! THEY CAN'T DO THAT!" The commander shouted going red in the face.

"Can or can't their doing it." Andre said.

The ship stopped rising. Hovering in place the cockpit flew open & a brownish gold head covered in soot popped out.

"Sorry! Can't stay! Got a lot of stuff to do what with people wanting to arrest us & stuff! Let's do lunch some time!" Ratchet gave a half wave as the cockpit closed again. Sprocket popped up behind him along with Clank. She gave them the peace sign as Clank waved like a delirious Lunatic.

"They can't leave! They can't leave!!" The commander shouted.

"I think they can" Andre said casually.

"Hm? What do you mean boy?" The chairman said turning to him.

"When you two made the pact Ratchet said that if you got your hands on him he wouldn't fight you." Andre shrugged.

"Speak sense you stupid boy!" the commander spat exasperatedly. "He set foot on the planet! The pact was…!"

"…That if we CAUGHT him he wouldn't fight us." The chairman said rubbing his chin.

He smiled slightly. "My my, How could I overlook such an obvious loop hole?"

Andre shrugged. "Every-one makes mistakes sir."

"But… but…!" The commander spluttered but no one was listening to him.

"You're pretty sharp boy." The chairman said eyeing Andre. "Politics could use some-one like you."

He looked back at the ship. "Yes sir we certainly could."

Andre smiled. He turned to the purple ship as it built up power. The boosters were glowing white as the blarg fighter shivered. & Then, in a flash of light & a blast of wind, it rocketed off into oblivion.

When you're standing on the edge of nowhere
There's only one way up
So your heart's got to go there
Through the darkest night
See the light shine bright
When hero's fall, in love or war
They live forever

This is a song - for the lonely
Can you hear me tonight
For the broken hearted, battle scared I'll
Be by your side
And this is a song - for the lonely
When your dreams won't come true
Can you hear this prayer
'Coz someone's there for you

We'll love don't need a reason
She can pick you up
Or leave you bleeding
I've seen a strong man cry
I know the reason why
We all forgive, we all forget
We just keep believing

This is a song - for the lonely
Can you hear me tonight
For the broken hearted, battle scared I'll
Be by your side
And this is a song - for the lonely
When your dreams won't come true
Can you hear this prayer
'Coz someone's there for you

So let it find you
Wherever you may go
I'm right beside you
You don't have to look no more
You don't have to look no more, oh no

This is a song - for the lonely
Can you hear me tonight
For the broken hearted, battle scared I'll
Be by your side
And this is a song - for the lonely
When your dreams won't come true
Can you hear this prayer
'Coz someone's there for you

It's gonna be alright
It's gonna be alright
It's gonna be alright

This is a song
A song for the lonely
And that's not you only
Through the darkest night
You're gonna see the light

Love don't need a reason
Just to leave you bleeding

Can you hear this prayer
Someone's there

This is a song - for the lonely
Can you hear me tonight
For the broken hearted, battle scared
I'll be by your side
And this is a song
for the lonely

Special thanx to: Ahem! =clears throat= Switch for introducing me to the game, Demz for RE-introducing me to the game, My Bro for being stupid & immature when I needed him to, Elizabeth for just being Elizabeth, Ratchet for being fuzzy, Clank for being adorable, Insomniac Inc. for creating a great game, Insomniac inc. for creating a SEQUEL, My mom for helping me buy a PS2, Cher for writing her 'song for the lonely' song & finally to caffeine & lack of a life.