Chapter 2: Invasion!

Clank ran into Ratchet and Mariah's room in a panic. "Ratchet! Ratchet, you must wake up!"

In response, the Lombax bolted upright. He had learned from the past that if Clank sounded urgent, it was a serious matter. "What is it? What's the problem, Clank?"

"The planet is being invaded," Clank informed his friend.

"What!"

"Huh? What's the problem?" Mariah asked drowsily, woken by her bond-mate's sudden outburst.

"We're under attack!"

She was up in an instant. She tried to get out of bed, but couldn't. In the night, her tail had knotted with Ratchet's…again. She sighed in exasperation, unknotted their tails, and opened her closet. The two Lombaxes quickly changed into their armor and grabbed their weapons from the rack; Ratchet's, a wrench; Mariah's, a raritanium staff. Then they ran outside to see what was going on.

From what they saw in the immediate area, all seemed quiet. Taking a look farther in to the city, though, they saw that Clank had been correct. A large ship hovered over the city like a menacing storm. Smaller ships spread throughout the main part of the city; drones marched along the streets, enslaving most of the residents and killing those who resisted.

Ratchet looked to his friend for the odds. Clank provided them as if it was something he did for a living (which, honestly, he kind of did). "There is a 3.8947 billion to one chance of the three of us getting through the city alive at this time. Ratchet, there are too many of them, and only three of us. We cannot possibly go against these odds."

"For once, I agree with you, Clank," Ratchet said, eying the soldiers. "We'd better get to Aphelion and get off the planet."

"Ratchet…" Mariah looked at him, worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Mariah," he said, looking at her. He held her hand gently and pulled her back into the house, with Clank following behind. "We'll take the tunnels." The three of them ran through the house, down the stairs, and through the living room.

A loud bang suddenly came from the door and the two Lombaxes stopped dead in their tracks. "Residents, you are ordered to exit you home and come peacefully. If you do not, we will break down the door and take you by force."

Mariah stood there, frozen by fear. She stared at the door as it shattered and about a dozen robots entered their home. Ratchet grabbed her hand, and the two of them ran down the hall where Clank was waiting for them. The robots, of course, were hot in pursuit. Ratchet gripped his wrench tighter as they stopped at the end of the hall. He turned to face the drones and said, "Mariah, get the door open. I'll hold them off."

"Be careful," she said hurriedly as she opened a panel next to the mirror. She arranged the wires properly and tried to remember the code.

Ratchet, meanwhile, had already destroyed about six of the robots, but more of them kept coming. He couldn't hold them off forever, especially in such a small space. "Mariah…" he began apprehensively.

"Got it!" She entered an eight-digit code and heard a chime that confirmed it. The mirror moved to reveal a secret passage. "All right, Ratchet, it's open!"

Ratchet hit one final drone before grabbing Mariah's hand and pulling her down through the tunnel. She kept pace with him, but Clank was falling behind. "Ratchet!" He exclaimed as the robots blasted through the mirror. Ratchet stopped, looked behind them, and grabbed Clank just as a robot was about to grab him. He clipped Clank on his back, took hold of Mariah's hand again, and they continued down the endless tunnel.

"Ratchet, the labyrinth!" Mariah exclaimed.

"Yes, I know," he said, his mind racing. "That's exactly how we'll get rid of them."

"But…what about the traps?"

"Exactly!" Mariah's eyes widened at her mate's words; she knew what he was doing, but it was very, very dangerous. "Just trust me on this." Mariah nodded, thinking he was nuts, but still going with it.

In only a few minutes, they entered the underground maze, with the robots following closely. They headed straight for only a few seconds before turning sharply to the right. Ratchet made an effort to trip the first trap, which blocked the path behind them.

It crushed a few of their pursuers, but most of them found their way over the rocks and continued the chase. Ratchet glanced behind him, then turned left, then took a right turn.

This led them to a short hallway with blades swinging back and forth. "Ready…Now!" They breezed through it easy enough, seeing as they had had plenty of practice with that same exact trap before. The androids were not so lucky, though. At least a dozen of them were destroyed by the swinging blades. After that, they got smarter and flew above the blades.

The two Lombaxes hurried along, trying to stay ahead of their pursuers as they continued to turn at random corners and evade the age-old traps: fire pits, quick sand, poison darts, rock slides, and so on. Finally, the trio came to the final trap; the walls began to close in on them.

"Damn!" Ratchet exclaimed. "We took a wrong turn!"

"I don't even remember this trap!" Mariah said.

Metallic laughter came from the deep shadows. "That is because this one is new."

Ok, did I leave a sufficient cliffhanger?

I've finally found my old fanfictions for both Sonic the Hedgehog and Ratchet and Clank, so I'll be posting some non-crossover stories! I think my crossovers are better though.

Anyway, laters, peace, whatever y'all like to hear.

Oh, and R & R (whatever that means)