Heh, here's one of the more interesting chapters, in my own opinion. From this point on, I'll be trying to make them longer. Hope you guys enjoy. ;D
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. (Too lazy to be more specific)
"I'm picking up a pirate vessel within-" Aphelion's warning was cut off by the very subject she was attempting to talk about.
"Yarr!" Hic! Clank was not at all surprised when the image of a very familiar pirate appeared on the holo-screen; the sighting was exactly what had drawn him here, after all.
That didn't mean that he wanted to meet up with the bucaneers, though.
"Surrender your vessel or be-" Rusty Pete tilted his head to the side and squinted, before abandoning the piratical threat. "Oh, it be you, little one..." He substituted, sounding rather dejected; so it was rather unnerving when his whole demenor brightened up.
"You will not be letting us go, will you?" Clank asked, not really expecting an affirmative.
Pete didn't dissappoint, as he crushed that hope with a cheerful: "Nome! Yer tuh board the ship; Cap'n'll be wantin' tuh talk tuh ya."
Clank sighed, but obliged, Aphelion landing on the large deck of this peculiar ship. Rusty Pete was waiting there, arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently.
"CAP'N!" Several loud crashes followed the call, accompanied by light footfalls.
"Oi! Cap'n! You'll ne'er guess who we-" Hic! "foun'!"
An exasperated voice answered, from far to the left. "Sorry Pete, I was chasing Willy away from the supply cupboard." There was a short pause, leaving Clank stunned, while the captain presumably replayed Pete's call in his mind.
"Pete..." he began angrily. "You've been hitting the grog again, haven't you?"
Finally, the two robots turned to the source of the voice; Clank barely heard Pete's upbeat "Yessum, cap'n!" as he stared.
Of all the places to find the lombax, why was Ratchet here? And to think, he'd been searching half way across the Solana galaxy, only to find the his companion by accident... Sure, he was dressed a bit oddly; dark pants, a white longsleve shirt, and a blue vest, aviator's cap replaced by a visor-less helmet, but there was no mistaking the him...
Though it was a bit distressing that said lombax had yet to say anything to him...
Ratchet glanced at the smaller bot, then crossed his arms over his chest, giving Pete a dry look.
"You're right, Pete. I won't ever guess." He said, too pleasantly for the conversation to end well. "Now who in the name of blarg is he?"
Pete glanced, sympathetically, at Ratchet. "Still nothin' eh Cap'n? Ah well, we'll figure somethin' out..."
Hesitantly, Clank spoke up. "I...do not understand. What is going on here?" Even as he asked, something in the back of his CPU clicked.
"I suppose now that you're our new cap'n you'll be needin' one of them gimmicky pirate names...'The Dread Pirate Ratchet', perhaps?"
"Woah, I'm your new captain?"
"Aye. 'Tis the code, sir."
Ratchet shrugged, not bothering to unfold his arms. "The crew found me back on Hoven a couple months ago. Couldn't remember anything, but they knew me; said I was their captain, at any rate." He nodded his head in Pete's direction. The pirate didn't seem to notice though, his thoughts were probably elsewhere. "Pete here's been trying to help me remember things properly. Needless to say, it hasn't worked."
Clank nodded absently, mind still racing. It got to the point where he almost missed the "I suppose I knew you?" from the lombax.
"Yes...we were friends..." He replied, not yet totally with it, but he was able to catch the nearly inaudible: "I...hate to ask..."
Curious, the robot looked up at his friend.
"Could you...help me out?" Ratchet asked, clearly embarrassed by asking something like that.
Though he had not been expecting something of this sort from the ever prideful lombax, Clank wasn't about to turn him down.
"Of course" He replied, smiling slightly, "Could you take me to your communications room?"
Ratchet nodded, leading the way through a labrynith of- what looked like- wooden cabins. Like the type that those prehistoric pirates used to use when they were confined to their own planets. In fact, the entire ship looked like...a ship. A straight-from-the-water ship. It was either a stroke of genius or insanity; and with the inventor of 'Stunderwear' as the captain of this ship (and having been preceded by a psychotic grog-swilling robot), Clank couldn't be sure which.
"Sooo..." The lombax stalled for a moment, before getting to the point. "I know this is gonna be weird but...what's your name?"
The robot smiled. "You once dubbed me 'Clank'. I cannot remember my serial number because I have always gone by the name you gave me." The way he said it, he sounded proud of the fact, puzzling Ratchet, but the lombax decided to roll with it.
They passed acouple more cabins in silence.
"...'Clank', huh?"
Several moments later, Pete found himself quite alone on the deck. Why was he here, again? What was he doing? And- most importantly- where was the grog?
Epic end to the chapter, huh? It just struck me as very Pete-like. Dunno why, I just love Rusty Pete's character.
Hope you enjoyed it- I'll try to get number five up soon!