Author's Note: Good Lord, this chapter took me forever, probably cuz it's just random talk and no action. My bad.
Enjoy this chapter; the next one will have a kickass fight scene. Huzzah!
CHAPTER 2: READY FOR ACTION
"Hello, Cap'n," a ranger greeted.
"…hey," Ratchet responded flatly.
The lombax strolled into the Starship Phoenix's cafeteria, his ears no longer wearing the earmuffs. He had been to the Bridge and was told by a ranger that Qwark and the rest of the Q-Force were having their lunch break.
The L-Force had repaired his ship, despite Ratchet's polite protests; he didn't want to trouble them, and simply requested calling a ranger dropship via the L-Force's radio. But, they were persistent. On the way back to the Phoenix, the lombax contacted Clank to tell him to wait a little bit longer; he hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to meet his little robot friend.
Ratchet's eyes scanned the many tables full of Phoenix employees, searching for Qwark to tell him how his 'mission' went. Within seconds, he spotted the table the Q-Force was occupying.
Skidd was about to finish a story he was telling his team-mates. "So I was all like, 'Dude!' and he went, 'No way!', but then both of us were all, "Duuuuuuuuuude'." He took a bite from his sandwich, and spoke with fragments of ham falling out, "Cool, huh?"
"Very……insightful, Skidd," Al responded, obviously put off by Skidd's eating habits. He reached for his lunch, only to touch a bare plastic plate. The sound of munching caused him to look to the side, where Skrunch was currently wolfing down the techno genius' burger. "Confound it! I may be a cybrog, but I still require my nutrients!"
Skrunch shrugged, and gestured regurgitating the food back out by poking his uvula.
"On second thought," the organic part of Al's face twisted in disgust, "I'm not hungry anymore."
"So," Qwark pondered, head resting on his hand, "how do you think Ratchet's doing?"
"He'z probably fighting throo de base with his silly toys!" Helga blurted. "That li'l weiner needz to learn to fight with hiz bare fists!!!" she swung her fist around for emphasis.
"Probably," Qwark replied. He suddenly brightened when he noticed, "Ratchet! So pleasant to see you back so soon," he smiled at the lombax across the table and asked, "how come you're back so early? Al says you'd only have the job 25 percent done so far."
"24.6 percent, to be precise," Al said nerdishly, shaking his calculator.
Qwark rested his head on the back of his hands and leaned forward, "So, what happened?"
Ratchet took a deep breath and started, "A few seconds after I stepped out of my ship, the base suddenly exploded."
"Wicked," Skidd commented.
"Yeah--Then, I saw this big, blue ship coming towards me." He gave Qwark an honest look, "It looked a little like your shuttle."
"Oh really?" Qwark inclined his masked head to the side. Skrunch mimicked the motion, atop the man's shoulder.
Ratchet nodded, "Five people walked out of the ship. They claimed to be members of some sort of superhero group."
"Odd," Al commented, polishing his glasses with a piece of cloth, "another group of heroes?"
"Pfft," Helga spat, "copycats!"
"They had a leader," Ratchet went on. He was rubbing his forehead with his fingers, "What was his name….?"
Qwark was looking at the lombax intently, awaiting the name of the leader of the unknown group. There was a twitch in his eye that gave the impression that he didn't want to hear a certain name. The man was beginning to sweat, and Ratchet was the only one who hadn't noticed.
"Let's see," Ratchet counted on his fingers, "there was W3RM….Lee…Meg…..Cletus….and….."
The fact that Ratchet couldn't remember the name of a person he had met just a few minutes ago was as tantalising to him as it was to Qwark.
"Oh!" his ears perked up as he raised a gloved finger, "He was called Captain Lepton!"
Qwark's eyes widened, "You have GOT to be kidding me!!!"
"Y'know 'im, dude?" Skidd inquired.
Qwark leaned all the way over the table. Skrunch fell off his perch with the sudden movement. Qwark looked the lombax right in the eye and said, "Please tell me that wasn't his name."
Ratchet gave Qwark a curious look. He shook his head, "Nope; that's what he said his name was."
Qwark stood back. "Was he about this high?" he flattened his hand at eye-level.
Ratchet nodded, "Yup."
"Blue tights and dimple chin???"
"Uh-huh. But why do you--?"
"Did he have a big 'L' on his chest?"
"Yessssss," Ratchet responded irritably. "What's the problem?"
"It can't be," Qwark placed both hands on his head. "It shouldn't….."
Al stood up slowly, "What's the matter, Captain?"
"Joo having sum kind ov seizure, or sumting?" Helga placed her hands on her hips demandingly.
Qwark did what any other superhero would do in such a situation. He got down on his knees, spread his arms out wide, looked up towards the heavens, and screamed loudly.
"NOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"
Somewhere across the galaxy…
"……….. Huh? Did you hear something, Lawrence?"
"No, I didn't hear anything, sir."
The rest of the Phoenix staff stared at Qwark for three seconds, before continuing with whatever they were doing.
"What is your problem, Qwark??" Ratchet hissed. "You nearly made my ear drums cave in!"
"I second that," Al was poking his remaining ear to make sure that it still worked.
"Captain Lepton and I used to go to school together," Qwark suddenly told, calming down and taking his seat. It was story time.
Skidd rested his head on his right hand, and looked left at the green-suited man. Helga and Al leaned forward with interest. Skrunch took a seat atop Qwark's shoulder again. Ratchet stood between Al and Helga, and folded his arms impatiently, listening half-heartedly to Qwark's story.
Qwark spoke with anger in his tone. His eyes narrowed in what seemed to be an envious glare. "Lepton always had it out for me," he spat with a clenched fist. "He would constantly to do better than me in everything, simply to spite me. English, gym, biology, bullying Young Dr. Nefarious--you name it; he did it."
"Did he have a reason?" asked Al.
Qwark furrowed his brow, "He never told me. When I asked him why he did it, he told me that he had no idea what I was talking about. But I knew he was bluffing. I could see it in his eye that he had some kind of problem with me." He rolled his eyes. "To this day, I never knew why, but I think he was jealous of me, or something."
"He was definitely envious of you, Qwark!" Al exclaimed with a frown. "Why else would he do such a horrible thing?!"
"Dude," Skidd said, "chill. It's not like he stole Qwark's Nintendo."
"He'z just a li'l coward!" Helga cackled, with a swish of her massive gut.
"AND," Qwark raised his voice to gather everyone's attention, "now, he's back; with his own group of superheroes!" he slammed both fists on the tabletop. "Ratchet, did he give his group a name?"
Ratchet nodded, "The L-Force."
"WHAT?!" the Q-Force members (including Skrunch) exclaimed with widened eyes.
"No fair, man! That's our name! Not cool!"
"How der dey!"
"How dare they! Copyright infringement, confound it!!!"
"Ack! Aaakkk!!!"
"Figures," Qwark muttered, "Lepton wasn't very original. Always copying my ideas for science projects…and," he tugged his mask, "my fashion sense!"
"Well, that's too bad," Ratchet commented with an uninterested look. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he turned to leave, "I'm gonna meet Clank."
The lombax started walking, but stopped when he noticed an unusual number of rangers and Phoenix personnel gathered round the cafeteria's biggest holovid.
"What's going on…?" Ratchet wondered. Even the Q-Force was taking an interest, its members having put their anguish on hold.
Darla Gratch stood on screen, microphone in hand. She was standing to the far left of the screen, giving the viewers a perfect sight of the bank behind her.
"This is Darla Gratch reporting live from the Capital City on Planet Marcadia," her image stated flatly. "We have just learned that a villain by the name of Russell is robbing the bank behind me," she gestured at the building. "Camera footage has shown him bursting in through the roof, knocking out every guard, and making his way to the bank's vault. He has also tied up several hostages, and it can be assumed that he will kill one of them if he feels he needs to."
The hum of people whispering to each other echoed around the cafeteria.
"The authorities are present and ready," the camera followed her as she brought several armed Marcadian police ready for action. "Hopefully, they will dispatch Russell before it's too late."
She walked back in front of the bank.
"We'll bring you more coverage soon. Darla Gratch. Channel 64 News," and she signed off.
More mutterings from the Phoenix sounded. All eyes fell on Ratchet.
The lombax's shoulders and ears drooped in a sigh, "Ughhh, duty calls."
He was about to leave, when a large hand was planted on his shoulder. His eyes looked up the green latex, and made contact with Qwark's narrowed eyes.
"No," Qwark intoned, "we'll go."
Ratchet raised an eyebrow, brushing off Qwark's hand from his shoulder, "Excuse me?"
"I said we'll go," Qwark repeated more forcefully, referring to Al, Skidd, Helga, Skrunch, and himself. "We," he jabbed a thumb at himself, "are going to Planet Marcadia to stop Russell."
Al blinked curiously, "We are?"
"Go on, Ratchet," Qwark waved the lombax off nonchalantly. "Go and visit Clank. I'm sure your little friend is getting impatient waiting for you."
"But--" Ratchet began to protest.
"Relax," Qwark asserted. "You're talking to Captain Qwark." He leaned in close so Ratchet could see the determined look on his face, "I can handle this. Trust me."
Ratchet took a deep breath, "Okay, Qwark. I'll organize some rangers for backup. If you need my help, you know my frequency." And he left the cafeteria.
The people began to disperse; all except for the Q-Force.
"Captain!" Al exclaimed hysterically. "What have you done?!"
"We can't fight, Russell, man!" Skidd said with a frown. "I've seen pictures of that guy; not a pretty site!"
"Arr choo insane, Qvark?!" Helga shouted.
"Ooo-ooohh, aakk AAAACK!" Skrunch shook an angry fist.
Qwark quietened them down with a soft raise of his hands. "Haven't you forgotten all the training we've been undergoing recently?!" he gestured with side-spread arms. "Al!" he pointed at the technician, "you've upgraded your bionic parts for attacks, haven't you?"
"Well," Al blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I have perfected my new jetpack recently."
"And what about you, Skidd?' Qwark said to the green border. "You're the best hoverboarder in the galaxy!"
"Don't forget skyboarder, dude!" Skidd pointed.
"And Helga," Qwark mused towards the obese woman. "Besides your," he grinned, "plentiful seductiveness, you're quite strong with those arms of yours, no?"
"Quite true," Helga flexed her robotic arms.
"And Skrunch," Qwark finally pointed at the monkey, "who's gonna stand on my shoulder, like in that videogame?"
The one-eyed monkey grinned.
"See?" Qwark gave everyone an urging look. "The Q-Force can definitely beat this 'Russell', whoever he is." He rubbed his chin in thought, "Perhaps, this act of heroism could show Lepton that I am a good hero, and convince him and move to another galaxy…."
"Alright, Qwark," Al saluted with extreme gusto, "I'm ready to accompany on your mission."
"Same here, dude!" Skidd smirked and gave the 'rock on' sign. "I'm with ya all the way!"
"I am in!" Helga repeatedly fisted her palm. "Let's teach that Russell a lesson!"
"Oo-oohh!" Skrunch gave a thumb's up.
Qwark grinned heroically, and exclaimed, "SUIT UP!!!!"
The Q-Force members collectively exited the cafeteria and then split up towards their own respected quarters.
Al removed his old lab coat and green undershirt. He made his way to a silver cupboard, opened it, and pulled out his Q-Force attire.
He proceeded to slip into his black and yellow jumpsuit. The right sleeve had been removed to make room for his robotic arm. After strapping on his boots, he wrapped a bulky utility belt around his fat waist.
He smirked, "Ready for action."
Skidd tossed his white shirt, blue shorts, and sandals aside. He rummaged through piles of magazines, old pizza, and random clothes, until he found his Q-Force garb.
Skidd changed into his red and black jumpsuit, and tugged his gloves in place. He clicked his utility belt around his waist, and positioned his red visor on his head. Lastly, he crawled under his bed, and emerged with the latest hoverboard; a Z-9000. The board had a strap, which he used to hang the device from his back.
He smirked, "Go time."
Having removed her casual clothes, Helga found her old latex costume hanging from a coat rack.
Helga dressed herself in her black, blue, and orange Q-Force suit. Then, she plastered an eye mask over her solid blue eyes.
Her white face smirked, "Time to bust sum hedz!"
In his large, banana-ridden cage, Skrunch's one eye blinked happily at the perfectly-shaped tights hanging in front of him.
The primate slipped into the costume that was reminiscent of Qwark's, minus the legs.
He smirked, "Hee-hee!" turned around, jumped down a chute…
…came out the other end, and landed on Qwark's left shoulder. The superhero had positioned himself at the right angle, in front of the chute.
"I was already suited up," he said to himself. He looked at this monkey, "Ready?"
Skrunch gave him the 'Okay' sign.
They left the room.
The Q-Force members re-grouped in the Phoenix's main hanger. Some dropships were stationed near the exit. Rangers stood near the vessels, awaiting the order to move out.
"To the shuttle!" Qwark exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the green ship a few yards away.
"I call shotgun!" Skidd said with a jump.
The Q-Force broke into a sprint, with Qwark, Skidd and Skrunch at the front, and Al and Helga far behind. Qwark produced a remote control from his utility belt, and pressed the single button. The ramp at the rear of the shuttle opened and lowered, and everyone filed in.
Qwark took the driver's seat up front. Skrunch took his right shoulder. Skidd road in the front passenger seat. Al sat in the rear-right, and Helga sat in the rear-left.
Qwark pressed a button and brought up a computer screen. The screen divided into four, and brought up the images of four different rangers within their dropships.
"This is Captain Qwark," the big-chinned man stated in a forced clear voice. "I'm giving you the all-clear to move out. Follow my shuttle to Marcadia, and then we will proceed to the bank."
"Which one?" the ranger in the top-right screen asked.
"Hmm?" Qwark raised an eyebrow.
"Which bank are we gonna go to? The Capital City has fifty-seven banks, sir."
The other rangers nodded in agreement.
"…….ermmm," Qwark faulted. He looked behind him, and whispered, "Which bank?"
"Bank Number Thirty-Two," Al declared with a raised finger. "I noticed it in the background when Darla was giving us the report."
"Bank Number Thirty-Two!" Qwark uttered to the screen.
"Right-o."
"Roger that."
"Acknowledged."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
The screen fazed out, and Qwark flipped a switch. The door-ramp closed behind them, as the shuttle began to rise. It then flew through the Phoenix's opening, and through the protective shield. It was flanked by four dropships.
Ratchet had also given the Phoenix the command to set a course for Marcadia, so the trip would be shorter.
"Russell," Al said with a sneer, "say your prayers!"
"Acck-ackck! AAACK!!"
"He's gonna get owned, dudes! By us!"
"We'll tvist him like a wet noodle!"
Qwark gripped the joystick tightly. His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. "I'll show you, Lepton," it was so soft, not even he could hear it. "You and your stupid group."
Author's Note: Well, that's it for Chapter 2. Sorry it took so long. I kind of lost interest for a few days. Oh well. As I said before, the next chapter will have a kickass fight scene.