I do not own Ratchet, Clank, nor any of the mentioned weapons and/or robotic upgrades.

Given all the signs, Ratchet should have known it was a bad idea.

Clank told him it was a bad idea. The manual told him it was a bad idea. Heck, even common sense told him it was a bad idea – but when had Ratchet ever listened to that?

There was a saying, somewhere, that went 'Curiosity killed the cat'. Ratchet had no idea if he qualified as a cat or not, but he had the tail, fur and ears of one and that was probably good enough for the saying to activate on him. He'd been curious.

Far, far too curious.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he'd said rhetorically as he aimed the weapon at his target.

At least, he'd thought it was rhetorical. He hadn't expected – or wanted – to get an answer the way he had.

Now, as he stood gaping at the rampaging monster smashing it's way across Veldin, he had to admit that this was, by far, one of the worst things that could have happened.

Clank tilted his head and put his hand to his chin. "We should probably do something about this," he noted.

Ratchet just gaped some more.

"Since we do have the reputation of protecting the galaxy, you know," Clank continued. "And the longer we stand here, the more damage that creature will do."

Ratchet continued to gape.

"I feel it is necessary to remind you that I am not well equipped to deal with a monster of this magnitude on my own," Clank said, now slightly annoyed at the lack of response he was getting. "This is a situation that requires both our effort."

The only indication he received from Ratchet was a slight twitch in his left ear. Otherwise, the Lombax seemed content to continue in his shocked statue impression.

Clank narrowed his optical processors, reached out a hand, and slapped Ratchet across the face.

"GAH!" Ratchet yelped, stumbling backwards while one hand automatically felt to see if anything had been broken. "Okay, okay! I hear you."

"Really," Clank commented. "I was under an otherwise impression."

"Yeah... heh... sorry," Ratchet said awkwardly, stealing another glance at the destructive beast. Said beast seemed to be currently... grazing on the buildings?

"I'll just... go grab my wrench," the Lombax decided, and disappeared into the garage. He returned a few seconds later with the desired tool, and as he ran past, swung Clank into the robot's customary position on his back.

"Ratchet," Clank said, activating his helicopter blades. "Before we go, I would like to say something."

"What is it?"

"The next time you are curious, please do not decide to test it."

"It was a valid question!"

Clank twisted around and gave Ratchet a very unamused glare. "You used the Sheepinator on a sheep, Ratchet. Tell me, what did you think was going to happen?"

Inspired by the new Ratchet and Clank game, in which one of the loading screens said, "Use the Sheepinator against a sheep to create a dangerous paradoxsplosion."

Basically, my imagination took this statement and ran with it.

Hope you enjoyed!

Changeling