-Chapter Three: Not As Planned-
They arrived in the Vela Sector not to long ago. Flying to their destination; Clank attempted to contact the Hollow with no luck. He'd tried for the last past half hour.
Ratchet leaned over him. "Any luck, Clank?"
"No, not at all." Clank tried again, but no reply followed. "I am starting to worry Ratchet; they should have picked up by now."
"Yeah, I know." Ratchet took his eyes off Clank and looked back into space keeping his eyes wide open for any signs of danger. "But whatever is happening down there, it can't be good."
His mind started to wander again. It had been four months since he last was here.
Since he met General Azimuth...
Never did Ratchet think once of returning to Molonoth Fields, nor had he ever planned to. Perhaps the universe does have a cruel sense of humor after all...
Ratchet thought nothing more about his death, and just having it roll around in his mind didn't help matters.
"Azimuth is on your mind again, is he?"
The small voice frightened the lombax. "Huh?!" Getting his mind back together, he looked down to Clank. "Oh, well, no, not really." He knew trying to hide his emotions was a futile endeavour. Clank, one way or another would see right through him.
Ratchet sighed. "Um, yeah."
All Clank could do was frown.
A small beeping sound was heard and with a small press of a button or two, the ship's holoscreen turned on. It was Talwyn.
"Hey, you guys able to get any reply?"
"No luck, you Tal?"
"Still no answer, I'm starting to wonder what's happening down there."
"Well, we'll know soon enough, Aphelion?!"
"Yes, Ratchet?"
"Get a reading of the area to see if there's any abnormal activity..."
"Scanning now…"
On one of the moons in the sector, Nefarious was pondering to himself about his next move as he leaned his back to his ship. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of engines, however. He narrowed his eyes out into space of the disturbance.
In his peripheral, he spotted both Talwyn's ship and Aphelion. His calm state turned into anger. He made a fist.
"Ratchet," he said under his breath as he watched the ships flying to Torren IV. He quickly hopped back into the pilot seat and flew off, following them to the planet…
Aphelion landed her ship next to the entrance of The Hollow with Talwyn parking next to her. They both quickly got out and grabbed their gear.
"You guys ready?"
Both Talwyn and Clank nodded as the little robot jumped onto the Lombax's back
The door was already wide open with no one guarding it. Not a good sign.
They entered and once inside the first thing that caught their eyes was an unpleasant one...
The place was lifeless, quiet, and whoever was here left a gruesome mess behind. There were motionless bodies strewn all over the ground. Most if not all were still intact, coated in blood and strewn in puddles of it. Equipment was vandalized, if not on fire then burnt to ashes. And the machines that were still standing were riddled with bullet holes...
There was nothing but silence between them. It felt as though they stepped into a horror vid-film. Ratchet took a few steps, bewildered by what was around him.
"Wha-what happened here?"
Clank got off of Ratchet's back and walked up to one of the Vullard's corpses. He took his pulse to see if there was any sign of life. He shook his head and turned back over to the others. "Who do you think did this?"
"I don't know pal…"
Ratchet thought back to that recording they saw before coming here…
'Pathetic creature!'
That voice. It sounded like someone he had encountered when he had travelled the Breegus sector in search of Clank. No, it couldn't be? Why would he have interest in The Hollow?
"Ratchet?"
"Huh?" He looked over at Talwyn.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, I was just thinking, that's all." Ratchet looked around again in an unsure manner before turning back to his friends. "We should search the area, I'm sure there has to be at least one survivor."
"Ratchet!"
A screech came from behind him causing Ratchet's ears to twitch. Yet another voice he hadn't heard for a while.
He turned right around, shocked to see who it was…
"Nefarious?" Ratchet was stunned to see him still alive. "I thought you were dead?"
"And I almost was, no thanks to you!" He hovered over them high above the ground thanks to his jet boots as he glared Ratchet down; eyes twitching from the anger building up.
"I guess you were lucky." Ratchet scanned Nefarious' body, taking notice of the condition it was in. His wounds were the least of their worries though. What he was doing here in the first place, now that's a different story.
"I can see you've been through some rough times. So where's Lawrence?" he said sarcastically. "Did he ditch you, or is he out doing your dirty work again?"
"That is none of your business! Besides, I don't even want to hear that name again. Not after what he, and you, put me though."
"So, I'm guessing the former?"
Talwyn and Clank looked over at the mad doctor. "Dr. Nefarious? Why did you attack The Hollow? I am sure it is something to do with an evil plan of yours."
"Say what now?" Confused, he took a good look around before gearing his eyes back to Clank. "I didn't do this, I just got here!"
"Oh really?!" Ratchet snapped. "We know what you're capable of Nefarious, there's no reason to hide it!"
"I'm serious! I never even noticed this until your dimwitted friend said something!"
Ratchet growled at him. In spite of the scene seeming within the realm of Nefarious's capabilities, he seemed to be telling the truth It wasn't like him to act like nothing happened, or for him to cover up his evil deeds for that matter. He had way too much pride in his work for him to be ashamed of it.
Besides, Nefarious's method of killing was cleaner than outright beating his victim to a bloody pulp and leaving the resulting mess out in the open It at least would be left somewhat spotless.
However, that left another question. If Nefarious didn't do this, then what suspect was left?
"So maybe this isn't your handiwork. But who else could have done this?"
"Andyou think I know?!" He could argue with him about it all day, but that would just be a distraction. Something Nefarious did not have time for right now. "I wish I did kill you back at my station, but I'll make sure I do now." His eyes twitched and his voice became louder preparing to throw an attack. "For making my life a living-"
Before anything else could come out of Nefarious' mouth, everyone was thrown to the ground from the impact of an exposition that came to them off guard. It was a powerful one too. Its radius spanning so far it totaled the pre-existing damage to the area.
Ratchet slowly got up and he followed to help his friends immediately after..
Nefarious was still laying on the ground as he mumbled to himself, annoyed that he was interrupted from killing his arch-nemesis. He shifted his eyes the other way; seeing a shadow in the flames that the assault caused. He knew right away who it was just from looking at his silhouette, not at all pleased to see him again after working with him for so long...
"Ratchet…"
That deep voice made the lombax's ears jump as a shiver went down his spine. The accent sounded just like the one he heard on the holo-recording before they came here. He then turned around, eyes widened from the shock of seeing his old friend.
"…Once again you fall into my raid." Vorselon walked out of the flames with his armor unscratched, hands behind his back as he gave a small smile; greeting his enemy. "Been a long time, hasn't?"
"Vorselon," Ratchet gave him a fuming glare. "I knew that voice was familiar."
Clank turned a perplexed stare onto Vorselon before looking back at Ratchet. "Did he not challenge you after we left the Clock?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to catch up with Talwyn. Thinking twice about that decision now."
"What's the matter, young lombax? Aren't you thrilled to see your old friend: Lord Vorselon?" He followed his sentence with a small laugh, grinning.
"Argh, Vorselon!" Nefarious slowly got up, infuriated as he screamed at the Terraklon who had broken up his encounter. "Stay out of this! I was here first, so why don't you get lost so I can finish the-"
The mercenary charged his palm and released a ball of dark matter onto Nefarious, causing him to go flying into a wall. It didn't take too long to get up and crawl right out, as he rubbed his head while his right eye rolled around in its socket, dizzy.
"Ow."
The power from Vorselon's hand slowly died out as his teeth grinded with irritation.
"Obnoxious piece of tin! I am no longer your under your employ, so I will not hesitate to kill you if I must!"
Now that he wasout of the way Vorselon composed himself as he turned back over to Ratchet. He cleared his voice as he let the robot fall to the back of his mind. "Now, where was I? Ah yes." An evil smirk graced the mercenary's face once again as he slithered around the Lombax. Both their eyes locked in angry sneers.
"I was patiently awaiting your arrival at my ship all those months ago. You couldn't imagine how disappointed I was that you declined my invitation. And without so much as an RSVP to inform me you wouldn't come."
"I can hardly say that 'Father's Accountant' thing was very enticing. In hindsight maybe I should have wouldn't have happened otherwise."
"Maybe so lombax, but let's not get off track here. I-"
"Damn it, you moron!" Nefarious yelled once more as he stumbled to his feet, "Stop interfering! Hecaused more trouble for me, so move your-"
"Silence!" Vorselon shocked him with the electricity coming from his hand, knocking Nefarious back down. The robot did nothing but mumble in anger.
Clank stared up at Vorselon. "Lord Vorselon, why did you attack the Hollow? There is no reason for you to kill so many innocent Vullards! Unless someone has hired you...?"
"That isn't anything that concerns you, small one, because you will not live long enough to know such a thing! Once I am finished with you and all."
Ratchet just rolled his eyes as he growled, "We have no time for this, Vorselon!"
"Oh, is that so?" He aimed his eye over to Talwyn, then back to Ratchet. "We'll see about that." He poofed away and teleported over to next thing she knew she was braced against the wall; trapped by an electric barrier that covered her from head to toe. It happened so fast she didn't even have time to fight back.
Vorselon started up a pulse from his hand as he held it in front of Talwyn's face.
"Maybe if I take this girl's head, you will reconsider?"
"Talwyn!" Ratchet shouted. He started to snarl as he gave Vorselon a fierce look. "Let. Her. Go! She didn't do anything to you!"
"Well maybe if you fight me, I'll reconsider it." His pulse grew stronger as he grabbed her chin with his other hand. "She does mean something to you, doesn't she? It would be a - shame to end her life in such a way.." He laughed softly as he looked back at his furry friend.
Talwyn struggled to get loose with little luck. "Get your hands off of me cyclops or-!"
"Or what? I have no qualm with you, but continue to persist and I'll ensure you join your friend. Do you think it's really worth that fate?"
"Vorselon," Ratchet whispered his name, his hand tightening into a fist. "Fine, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." He raised his wrench up in the air, preparing for battle.
The mercenary let go of Talwyn and let the power of his hand die out as he walked over to Ratchet. "Now, that's more like it." With a snap of a finger, he released Talwyn and she fell to the ground before he returned his sight to his foe. "Allow me to inform you that my new suit is far more powerful than my last! It has been constructed with the most advanced technology and most resilient defense systems in existence! You should be honoured to be among the first to test it out, not to mention how glad I am to get to use a space rat like you as my guinea pig." Excitement caused his head to wriggle in its tank as dark matter powered up again in both of his hands. "Prepare for terror unlike any you have ever known!"
Ratchet and Clank stood side by side, both with raised eyebrows, as the enemy encroached. Clank looked especially confused as he asked, "Is he always this dramatic?"
"Yeah, it's kinda his schtick." His gaze left his friend's and was aimed back at Vorselon. "Ok Vorselon, lets finish this once and for-"
He threw a huge ball of matter at them before Ratchet could even finish, causing Clank and him to jump out of the way in opposite directions.. After the leap, they both looked at each other, and back at Vorselon.
"Well, that's, um, new…"
"I see you like it so far." As the hand powered back up, he threw another assault on his targets. Ratchet barely got back up before noticing the projectile coming at him.
"Uh-oh." Ratchet quickly rolled out of the way as he took out his Constructo Pistol, trying to aim it at his foe.
Vorselon used a holographic shield to block Ratchet's attack, as it deflected off of it. "Is that all you got?" He let out a laugh as the bullets started to fly back over to the lombax.
Ratchet once again hurdled out of the way from the unexpected attack dropping his gun in the progress.
"Crap."
He hid behind a wall and tried to plan a way to get back on the offensive but he couldn't find an opening.
"How did he get this upgrade?"
Vorselon slammed his hand onto the ground below him, causing a huge shockwave. A crack began to form and trailed to the lombax. Ratchet tried to hold his balance but the impact overpowered him.
"Ratchet, be careful!" Talwyn shouted. She looked over at Vorselon, as he let the power from his hands die down.
The merc took notice of his foe's legs stuck in the cracks, causing the lombax to struggle to get back up. 'The perfect time to finish the job.'
"You seem to be having a bit of trouble there, lombax." Vorselon slithered to his enemy as he grabbed him by the neck. "Here, let me help you!"
Ratchet tired to gasp for air from his enemy's clutch as he just watched Vorselon power up his hand again. His foe cracked an evil smirk. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day!"
Nefarious was already back on foot, running as he formed a fist. "Oh no you don't! I'm the one who's going to kill him!" Before he could swing at him, the Terraklon took notice, hearing his voice at the last second.
"What do you want no- oh cra-!"
The mad robot hit the light in the center of Vorselon's suit. The mercenary lost his grip on Ratchet and clawed frantically at the light. He stumbled backward, unbalancing Nefarious and causing the robot to fall flat on his face. He eyed his suit helplessly as sparks sprayed out from the damage. It didn't take long for everything to start going haywire. Vorselon struggled to retain control of his mechanical body as it spasmed violently out of his control.
"You piece of junk, look at what you've done!"
A spark then shot up into the air, causing a huge greenish wormhole to appear. Vorselon's eye widened. The wind tried to pull him in as he attempted to resist.
Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn looked up at the portal. "What is that thing?!" the lombax shouted, covering his face with his arm from the airstream.
Failing to hold back, Vorselon was pulled in. "This is far from over, lombax!"
The wormhole was tugging on the others, trying to pull them in to follow after the mercenary. Ratchet quickly grabbed Talwyn's hand and insisted, "Everyone hold hands! We don't want to be separated if we fall into that thing!" Talwyn followed Ratchet's instructions and reached out to grab Clank. The tiny robot clung to a pole to fight the wormhole's pull.
Nefarious had his arms and legs wrapped tightly against a pole as he glared nervously at the portal. The wind was no match for him!.. despite his legs' grip loosening. His arms followed suit but he dug his fingers into the post, anchoring him before he could be sucked away. Suddenly the force grew stronger and his hands were ripped away from the post as he was pulled towards the wormhole. He let out a high pitched shriek as he was helplessly pulled inside.
The others just watched Nefarious being pulled in as they tried hard enough to not suffer the same fate. But Clank's hand slipped and everyone yelled as they entered the vortex…
They all kept their grip on each other; trying not to let go.
"Hold on," Ratchet yelled, "We can't risk getting separated!"
Ratchet's hand was starting to slip from Talwyn's.
"Ratchet, I don't know how much longer I can hold on!"
The current was too strong, forcing Ratchet to let go; losing the team as he screamed out their names.
"Ratchet!" Clank shouted after seeing his friend being blown off course. There was then a black hole at the end of the tunnel, going through…
As the channel ended, Ratchet fell out with a yelp landing on the ground below him...
"Oof."
He rubbed his head as he slowly got up before picking up his wrench. He found himself to be on a beach. The sand was a dark red but the ocean a light blue so clear that he could see tiny fish swim by.
"Where am I?"
He scratched his head in confusion, wondering what that thing he'd just traveled through could have possibly been.
"Clank, Talwyn?!"
The Lombax yelled out their names hoping for a response. After a few moments he shouted out again. With no reply and a good look around, he knew they weren't anywhere nearby.
"Just great…"
Ratchet then heard some mumbling behind him.
"Augh, I got sand in my gears."
Ratchet turned around, raising an eyebrow.
There was Nefarious, banging his head as he tried to get rid of the sand that plagued him when he fell down himself. After getting most of it out though the crack in his canister, he turned his head, still annoyed, and there he saw the Lombax a few feet away from him. He gave him a long but odd stare, yet after a few blinks he finally figured out who it was...
"You," Nefarious swiftly got up and ran as he yelled pointing his finger at the direction of the Lombax. "This is your fault!"
Ratchet stared up at Nefarious, with one of his ears hanging down and the other raised up. "My fault? Hey, you're the one that caused Vorselon's suit to go haywire!"
"Well, if you didn't come to the Hollow, none of this would have happened!"
"Hey, you're the one that followed us, so it's your fault!"
"No, it's yours!"
"No, it's yours!"
"No! You caused all of this!"
"No Nefarious, you-" After pausing, Ratchet shook his head noticing how childish this argument was as he palmed his face. "Why am I even arguing with you? Listen; there is no point in blaming each other right now. You see where we are, right?"
"We don't even know where we are, you moron!" Nefarious tired to hold in his anger, which was not an easy task. Failing to control his emotions, he just lifted his arms into the air over Ratchet. "I can't believe this!" And popped right out was his right arm landing on the sand below him. One of Nefarious' opticals got smaller, while the other was bigger as he looked down.. Ratchet couldn't help but let out a small snicker.
"Stop laughing! This is not funny!" Nefarious glared Ratchet down and then back to his arm. He mumbled to himself as he picked it back up, trying to get it back in his socket. It went back in, until it fell out again. He picked it up once more, but it kept falling out. His anger got the best of him as he started to force it in violently. "Get in, damn it!" After a good few tries, he finally got it in place. He moved his arm up and down to make sure everything was in order.
"That's better."
He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms.
After he finished laughing, Ratchet looked back up to Nefarious as he sighed. "Well, as much as I hate to say it, we're going to need to help each other out."
"Come again?" Nefarious raised an eyebrow at his arch-nemesis. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Sadly, not. Wish I was. We've got to figure out where we are, and I have to find my friends. Trust me Nefarious; the last thing I want is to be stuck with you."
"I was hoping you were." Nefarious waved his hands with a small laugh. "There is no way, and I mean, no way, I am going to work alongside you!" He started to walk in the opposite direction as Ratchet watched him leave...
"Where are you going?"
"Away from you, I don't want to be around a Squishie like yourself." He continued to stride, not bothering to give the Lombax a look.
"You wouldn't last one day out here," Ratchet yelled mockingly across the beach. "You always had Lawrence around catering to you; How do you expect to have any luck surviving on your own!"
"Pff, I can take care of myself!"
"Right, we'll see about that."
Nefarious mumbled as he entered a jungle. Ratchet watched him leave before turning the other way.
"He'll be back …"
As the mad robot strolled through the tropical forest, he started to rant angrily to himself.
"I can't believe this. I'm stuck on a planet, not knowing where I am and now I'm stranded here. This day can't get any wor-"
His arm popped out of place once again, earning itself a frustrated glare and a twitching left eye. He rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Just my luck."
Before he was able to pick it up, a small wolf-like creature got to it first holding it within his mouth as it wagged it's tail before turning back around.
"Argh," Nefarious marched up to the animal as he made a fist. "Give. That. Back!" He held his hand out, waving it as he asked. The dog shook its head as he continued to chew on his arm.
"Give me that, you stupid Squishie!" He took the hand of his arm, trying to pull it out of its month. After struggling for a while, he forced it out, causing him to be pushed to the soil. He got back up as the wolf glared at him.
"Brainless organic." He kicked it out of the way as it whimpered. It got back up and glared back to Nefarious, growling before running off.
"That's right! Run away!" He followed up his yell with a laugh, putting his arm back in its socket. "One point for the robots, zero for the Squishies." Walking again, he cheerfully closed his eyes, humming, arms behind his back. However his jolly mood was interrupted after hearing a snarl.
"Huh?" He opened his eyes and saw that there was a bigger creature beside the little one. His pupils constricted. "Umm, didn't think it had a mother." He looked around frightened before looking back with a small nervous chuckle. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"
Saliva flew into the robot's face as it roared. Nefarious looked back with a twitch of fear coming from one of his eyes. It wasn't too long until he ran back to the beach screaming as the two wolves watched him...
Ratchet was still strolling down the beach when he heard a shriek behind him. He turned around with Nefarious colliding into him as he ran, causing them to both fall onto the sand. The lombax shook his head, and there was Nefarious who was now on top of him.
Ratchet, not amused, just rolled his eyes from the robot. "For some reason, I knew you would be running back."
Nefarious's eyes twitched, refusing to look at him. "Shut up." They both got up, with Nefarious pushing the sand off of him, as Ratchet did the same for himself.
"Well, I guess we should get going. C'mon rust bucket." He waved his hand, telling him to stay close as Nefarious followed crossing his arms and mumbling to himself...
Talwyn opened her eyes. Her sight was still dim but enough to see the world around her. The first things that caught her eye were the lush plants of the jungle; with the sun breaking through the leafs. She slowly got herself back on her feet and called out her friends' names.
She scanned the area, worried.
'No response at all.'
She then spotted Clank lying on the earth.
"Clank!" She ran up to him and gave him a light shake after noticing his optics closed, hoping he was still functional. "Clank, are you alright?!"
Clank opened his eyes after hearing his name before looking up to the young girl. "Yes, I am fine Talwyn." The small robot got up as he noticed his surroundings. "Where are we?"
"I don't know Clank. We'll figure that out later though. Did you see Ratchet?"
"No, I did not see him ever since we landed here; but I am sure Ratchet is fine even though I am just as worried." They both looked up to the sky, and saw the sun setting below them.
"Yeah but right now we should set up camp. It'll be dark soon.
"I agree." Clank thought about the other two who went through the portal. "We should also keep a lookout for Doctor Nefarious and Lord Vorselon. If they went through the wormhole as well, they could not be very far."
"Right." Talwyn took one last look around before turning back to her robot companion. "Anyways, I'll go get some thing in the morning though; we've gotta search for Ratchet. It'd probably be a good idea to try and figure out where we are too. I doubt he's that far..."
'Just stay safe Ratchet…'
It was already dusk, Ratchet still had no luck finding the others. It was hard to make out their settings as it was due to the darkness, but the path was bright enough for the time being. Nefarious kept on following until he heard a squish sound below him. He looked down, and saw his feet covered in mud.
"Ew, ew, get it off!" Nefarious swiftly picked a leaf off its branch and tried to get the mud off with Ratchet doing nothing but rolling his eyes. "This is why I always hated biology." Mumbling, he turned back over to the lombax who was now laughing at his behavior. "Stop laughing!"
Ratchet shook his head. "This is why I said earlier you wouldn't last a day out here." He started to move again as he watched Nefarious getting the remains of the muck cleaned off. However, he lost his balance falling straight into the mud.
Ratchet cracked up again. He couldn't help but find amusement in Nefarious's antics. It was a rare sight to see the Doctor so vulnerable. For all his intelligence and talents; he was lost without Lawrence or anyone else who catered to his needs whether Nefarious saw that or not.
But for some odd reason, he felt a bit bad for the guy. Seeing him like this was kinda sad when he thought about it; ya know, being a feared supervillain. Though he didn't feel that bad…
'When am I going to get rid of this guy?'
Nefarious was still trying to get the rest of the mud off until he spotted Ratchet moving away. "Hey, don't leave me here!"
"Well, you better hurry up then." Ratchet smiled with a small chuckle. Once the doctor fully got up, he slipped back into the sludge once again as he was raging deep inside himself...
A few hours later; the sun set for good and there was no longer a viable path. Nefarious sat down on a rock still covered in mud mumbling angrily to himself. Ratchet was trying to get a fire started and finally had success. He picked up a long stick beside him and put it over the flame, lighting the way. "There, that should do it."
"I hope we find your friends soon. That way, we can go our own ways again." Nefarious didn't even bother to look at him as he spoke.
"Heh, well can't say I disagree. I'd have ditched you earlier but you came running back like a coward before I got the chance."
The robot just eyed him weirdly. "I can take care of myself."
"Oh yeah," The lombax said bluntly. "That's why you came screaming out of the jungle after being chased by whatever animal you pissed off."
"He took my arm! What was I supposed to do?!"
"I think you could have lived without it."
Nefarious snarled at the comment, trying to hold in his irritation. "If it wasn't for my own survival, I would have torn those ears off that stupid head of yours."
"That sounds pretty dark, don't ya think?"
"Maybe it'll teach you some respect."
Ratchet got up and started moving. "If you plan on staying with me, you better get your servos running. I'm not waiting on you."
Nefarious followed. After a few steps, Ratchet heard a sound coming from the bushes. He shook his head not thinking much of it. He started to walk again, until he heard the same noise this time causing his ears to pop up.
"Nefarious, did you hear that?" He asked, not looking at him while he posed the question.
Nefarious just rolled his eyes as he gave him a cynical tone. "No, I didn't hear anything."
"Well, ok then." Both of them started to walk, but paused again after hearing it again. "Are you sure you didn't hear that?"
"If it makes you feel better, I think I may have heard something."
"Well, what did it sound like?"
"Something coming from the bushes, is that what you heard?"
"Yeah, something along those lines," As Ratchet and Nefarious turned around to face one another, they heard it again but louder. Moving closer to each other, Ratchet took out his wrench, on the defense. Nefarious started to shiver a bit, hiding behind the lombax for protection.
Then it stopped. Ratchet let his guard down with Nefarious still hiding behind him. "Well, I guess it wasn't anything baaaAH-" A bunch of lion like creatures came jumping out, with both of them yelling when taken by surprise.
"Oh crap!" Ratchet quickly hit one with his wrench hoping it was enough for it to go away. One of them leaped on top of him, causing him to lose hold of the flame as it rolled over into a puddle of water; washing the fire out.
Nefarious kicked a few of them, hoping they would be scared as well. "Get away you dim-witted Squishies!" A bunch of them piled up on him as he tried to get them off, landing him on the soil.
Ratchet whacked a few more, but unexpectedly, one of them scratched his face, leaving a small cut on his left cheek. "Damn it!"
More of them started to gang up on them. Nervously, he turned over to the robot. "Um, how are you holding out?"
He screamed out to Ratchet while still fighting them off. "What does it look like, you twit?!" He hit another with his arm.
Butterflies started to build up in Ratchet's stomach as more arrived. As they were about to pounce...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots terrified them as they started to back off before finally running away. Both Ratchet and Nefarious looked over to where they heard the gunfire.
"Wow. That was lucky."
A flashlight was aimed in Ratchet's face as he covered his eyes from the bright glow. Walking out of the scrubs was a young girl with light tan fur and four darker tanned stripes on her face, two on each side. Her appearance gave off of an wolf and cat hybrid.
After pushing her brown hair out of the way, she put her firearm back in her pouch and then laid her now free hand on the side of her hip.
"Y'all know you shouldn't be out here in the middle of the night." She said in her slight southern sounding accent. "You're lucky I got here in time, otherwise you'd have been supper." She then glared at the lombax with her grayish blue eyes.
"You don't seem like you're from around here, am I right?"
Ratchet looked back at Nefarious still getting up before turning back at the girl. "We aren't. We don't even know where we are, we just… landed here."
"This has been one heck of a day." Nefarious was busy brushing the dirt off his body that he didn't even look over to the others as he spoke, "Didn't think I would have been saved by two Squishies, neither."
"Squishies?" She remarked at the funny sounding word before finally taking notice of Nefarious. Her eyes widen from the sight of him...
The doctor then looked over at her, puzzled at her expression. "What?"
The young girl started to walk in circles around him, which did nothing but make Nefarious more or less creeped out. So much it took good restraint to not attack her. "Um, Ratchet, can you tell your new friend to stop being creepy…"
She finished her scan and backed away a few steps. After a few blinks, she finally broke her silence...
"Oh. my. gosh," She yelled, full of glee. "This is so cool!"
After her response, both Nefarious and Ratchet looked at each other, perplexed by what was going on…
The young girl invited them back to her place for shelter, which Ratchet gladly accepted. Nefarious however...
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" The girl walked around the robot, grabbing his left hand. "I've never seen an android this advanced before! This AI, this kind of model, this is amazing!"
Nefarious's eye twitched from this girl's pestering and he turned over to Ratchet sitting on the couch, cracking up in amusement with the robot being examined.
"What's so funny, long ears?"
Ratchet then looked back over at Nefarious, still amused. "Oh, nothing Nefarious."
The robot looked back at the girl, still examining his body. He finally had enough…
Nefarious hands just fumed of dark matter, taking the girl by surprise as she took a huge leap back. "That's it, I'm done playing the passive role here! Touch me again and I-!"
The lombax then got serious as he jumped off the couch. "Tone it down Nefarious!"
"Tone it down?! This Squishie has been examining me like a lab rat for the last past hour and you're telling me to tone it down?!"
"Yeah, and you made your point; but if you lay a single hand on her Nefarious; you'll have more than her to worry about, trust me!"
Nefarious's eye twitched, but he complied and let the power from his hands die out. "Fine, but I have very little patience, just so the both of you know." Nefarious stomped across the room.
The girl still hadn't gotten over the fact that this weird robot almost killed her but she tried her best to get back to her senses. "I-I'm sorry. I got a little carried away there I guess. I've just never seen anything like you before."
Nefarious didn't bother to reply other than waving the comment off not thinking anything of it.
The girl finally got herself together before looking over to Ratchet, seeing the slash on his face. "Oh, let me get you patch for that," She walked over to a drawer and took out a small first aid kit and started digging for what she was looking for.. "So, I never got your name?"
"I'm Ratchet, and that cheap machine over there is Nefarious." Nefarious briefly glared at him from that remark but then went back to mumbling.
She let out a small laugh. "Ah. Well, my name is Jens." She finally found the size band-aid needed and closed the box. "Nice to meet you." Jens walked back over to the lombax, handing him the patch. "I hope that helps."
"Yeah, it'll do fine." Ratchet took the patch, looking back at Jens while putting it on. "Also thanks for the rescue. we needed the help."
Jens put on a small smile, "My pleasure." She then looked back over to Nefarious, tapping his feet while not looking at the others. "So, he yours?"
"You can say that."
"And Is he always like this?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Heh." She walked up to him, tapping him with her elbow, well aware she was playing with fire. "C'mon Nef, cheer up. Why do you always hate all the time? Put that frown upside down!"
Nefarious' eyes once again twitched as he got up, snarling.
"Look here you Squishie little brat, I'm having a bad day as it is!" Jens smile turned into a frown as he yelled.
"I'm stuck here with my arch-nemesis who knows where, which we may not get home at this rate, and I would have annihilated him by now if it wasn't for my own survival! And now, I have to deal with the likes of a 'little miss robot molester' here who should be lucky I haven't killed her by now if it wasn't for him over there," He tilted his head pointing to Ratchet, "So pray you stay on my good side since the last thing you want is to become a Squishie carcass..."
"Trust me pal, no one wants to hang out with you neither," Ratchet added.
Jens pouted while looking over to Ratchet. "Well, someone has a gear up his-"
"GAH, you annoying unplea-" And a zap later...
"Next up is Orion Gasto coming to bat. He takes the swing. Strike one!"
Jens stared at Nefarious as she watched his gears moving stationary in one place. "Heh, I missed this game…"
Ratchet eyed him. "That's… weird. That's not what usually comes out of him in this state."
"Strike two! The pitcher throws the ball and-HOLY COW LOOK AT THAT BALL GO!"
Ratchet shook his head as he walked up to the robot, palm in face and full of disbelief. "I can't believe I'm going to be stuck with this guy," He whispered to himself before raising his hand above him…
"And it's going, going and GONE! IT'S A HOME RUN!-"
A hard whack later, Nefarious went back to functioning correctly…
"-sant child!" Even with no lungs, he was breathing heavy and his hands made a gripping motion in the thought of strangling her. "You sure I'm not allowed to kill her?!"
"I'm sure Nefarious."
"ARG!" He stomped off again in frustration.
Jens forced herself to smile. "Don't be so angry all the time Nef, it's bad for your health." Jens leaned over to Ratchet. "Didn't tell me he doubled as a radio."
Nefarious glanced at her weirdly, not knowing what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"
"...wait, so you have no clue that…?"
"No clue about what?!"
Ratchet sighed before giving Nefarious a small pat on the back. "A glitch you had since-whenever you had it. You freeze up all the time and play radio singles." The lombax walked over to the couch, jumping back on it. "Your butler often had to smack you in the head to get you working again."
Nefarious remained still for a second or two.
"I had a glitch all this time?!" He put his hands on his head. "Why does no one tell me these things?!"
"Probably because Lawrence got amusement out of it."
"We don't speak about him, you got that?!" As his eyes shuddered a bit, his arm fell out again, and he glared down at it. He rolled his eyes and picked it up, trying to get it back into his socket.
Jens saw he was struggling and ran up to him. "I'll fix that!" Taking out a roll of duct tape from her pocket, she wrapped it around his arm attempting to connect it to his body not taking into account the fact that the roll was still dangling down…
"There ya go." She gave him a cheesy smile.
Nefarious glared at his "repaired" arm, and then back at her.
"I just only met you, and I'm already starting to hate you."
"You mean you didn't already?." After her blunt remark, looked over at the clock and stretched out her arms with a yawn. "Well guys, I'm going to hit the hay. You could crash here for the night if you want, not that you have anywhere to go at the moment."
Ratchet gave a nod, "Thanks Jens."
Jens pointed to a small room. "You guys can both use that little bedroom. Used to be my father's." She shrugged. "I don't have any other room to keep you guys from each other but I guess one of you could sleep on the couch." Her finger pointed to Nefarious, "Unless he doesn't sleep?"
"Most likely won't with both of you here. For all I know I'll wake up with missing parts."
Jens let out a light chuckle as she walked over to her room. "Just do me one favor, try not to kill each other. I gather you two don't have the best relationship."
"Aren't worried that he'll get you killed or something?" Ratchet asked with a finger jabbed in Nefarious's direction.
"He seems to know the ground rules. Anyways, g'night.."
And she left, leaving the two alone in the seating area. "Dibs on the bed by the way…"
Vorselon opened his eye half way slowly, lying on the sand near the ocean. He tried getting up, but his tentacles weren't working properly, likely due to the damage caused to it back at the Hollow. They still functioned enough to get his other half off the soil at least.
He touched the top of his tank and looked up, seeing a crack coming from the top reaching down to eye level. The ectowater inside keeping him alive had a murky green tone as well and he was unaware of the source. The rest of his mechanical body still had sparks spraying out and whatever damage that he remembered gaining. He growled in anger. "Worthless piece of scrap metal…" He remembered Nefarious damaging his suit and ruining his mission, as well as his chances of killing that 'wretched space rat' he hated so much.
Catching his eyeball was green blood drooling from the side of his mouth, causing his eye to widen from it. "Damn it…"
He crawled away from the water onto the dry sand, dialing a few buttons on the back on his left hand. Putting his palm face up, a hologram of a woman popped up.
"Empress Lania."
She looked over at Vorselon, not amused. "What is it now, Flint?" Lania rolled her eyes before taking notice of the shape of his body. "And what happened to you?"
He kneeled down respectfully, discarding her question about the damage. "My lady, I'm sorry to inform you, but the mission didn't, well, go as planned."
Just staring into her eyes, he could see the rage build up. "What do you mean it didn't go as planned?"
He looked back at her nervously, not wanting to tell her the bad news. "Let's just say there was some…well, interference."
"What do you mean by interference?!" She yelled at him at top of her lungs. "What did you screw up this time, Flint?!"
"W-well," Vorselon shivered in fear, knowing how she was when in this state. "Th-there were some old friends of mine that came to The Hollow. I did- didn't expect them there, and they caused my suit to go haywire, a-and-"
"I'm guessing by old friends, you're referring some people that caused you problems in the past."
"Well, yes." He played with his fingers while speaking to her with a small smile, feeling worried what she was going to say next. "And, well, I'm now stuck in another dimension, and-"
"What do you mean by that?!" She screamed even louder than before. "Augh, can you do anything right?!" She started to relax, taking deep breaths. "Well, are they stuck in this dimension you are now trapped in?"
"I would assume so."
"Then kill them."
Vorselon started to look around; knowing he most likely won't have the capability for the task. "B-but my lady, my suit is badly damaged. I don't think I will be able to-"
"Don't give me that Flint! You put yourself in this mess; you will have to fix your mess!" She composed herself again, now giving him an intimate tone. "Besides sweetie, you don't want me to leave you all alone on that beach, now do you?"
Vorselon shook his head, giving a puppy-dog eye pout as he whimpered "No…"
"Good. Then do what I say, and don't call back until you do so! Lania out!"
As the hologram shut down, Vorselon sat in silence. "Yes, my lady." He snarled with the anger that filled him, slamming his fists down on the soil.
"When I find them, I will make sure I kill that wretched space rat, and that filthy robot, nice, slowly and painfully." Flint then laughed, lightly grinning, finding himself delight in the idea of doing so…
-End Chapter Three-