As usual…sorry for the long wait. This chapter is nearly 6000 words, though, so no wonder I am such a slowpoke anymore. Now that our lovely characters have finally escaped from the rainy planet, they can finally begin the next phase of their adventure….

Chapter 10: Things Continue to Suck…

It was a trait common amongst the majority of sentient lifeforms, those that were organic and robotic alike, for their gratitude to fade quickly, whether after receiving the kindness of another or finding themselves safe and sound after a horrifying, near-death experience. And though Ratchet was fully aware of the fate of any who ventured into the frigid vacuum of space unprotected, that knowledge didn't make him consider flinging himself into it any less.

It all started with a rearranging of seats. The idea came into being courtesy of Nefarious, in a space that was almost too cramped for even something as trivial as an idea to fit, though the way in which he said it hinted that any gratitude on his part at being alive had vanished before he had even had a chance to feel it. Nevertheless, this suggestion, or command, take your pick, met with little argument, for it would spare Ratchet the fate of having to sit next to him for any longer than necessary, for the scientist was undeniably the worst person one could possibly be doomed to share a small space with, save for Qwark or an aggravated Kerchu.

Lawrence was climbed over several times, while Ophelia ended up in Ratchet's lap at one point and didn't seem to be in a terrible hurry to leave it. In the end, Ratchet was returned to his rightful place in the pilot's seat, while Nefarious proceeded to grumble over being pushed up against the window on the opposite side, even if that spot had been his goal throughout the entire grand display of maneuvering about like the pieces of a sliding puzzle. The unlucky fool beside him was his butler, but he was used to being in close proximity to the maniac, so the Lombax had little sympathy. That left Ophelia next to Ratchet and Clank in the last space available, her lap. And though the little robot expressed great concern that the cockpit didn't have the proper number of safety harnesses and airbags to safely accommodate this many, no one seemed the least bit concerned by this knowledge.

Safety was certainly the last thing on Ratchet's mind, as the call of space grew stronger and stronger with each minute that inched by, that he had to tighten his grip on the yoke to resist the urge to surrender to it. Then again, that may have simply been a ringing in his ears brought about by Nefarious' incessant complaining in a voice Ratchet would have very much liked to drown out by scraping his nails down a chalkboard, had one been available. When he wasn't whining about the possibility of his arm rotting off, he was grumbling over the discomfort he believed himself to be in to a greater extent than anyone else, and the Lombax began to mull over the possibility of expelling the scientist, rather than himself, into the icy embrace of space.

"So," Ophelia began, a word she had repeated nearly a dozen times thus far in her quest to take advantage of one of the rare gaps in Nefarious' peeved ramblings. Seizing her chance, she went with it, "That was a pretty wild ride back there, huh? I almost didn't think we were gonna make it."

Ratchet felt her gaze on the side of his face and was forced to glance over when she remained silent. "Uh-huh."

"Well, I'm gonna name it. Did that place have a name? Because—"

"It probably did, but I don't know what—"

"Yeah, so, it needs one. I think I'll go with…" she tapped her chin with one finger, "…Myrtle."

Ratchet arched an eyebrow at her. "Myrtle?"

"Yep. I know you like it. It's my grandma-ma's name. She used to drink water a lot because she had a dry mouth, so I think she'd like that place. When she's not getting hunted by clover or being sucked into a swirling vortex of death, of course."

"Yeah, I bet your grandma would love that her legacy to you is chronic dry-mouth," the Lombax said.

"Well, I think it is a lovely name, Ophelia," Clank said. "Your grandmother would be quite pleased."

She grinned and tickled him under the chin with one finger. "Aw, you're a sweet, little robot."

Clank giggled at the affection afforded him just as Nefarious released a loud snort, a clear sign his earlier irritability was about to resume right from where it had left off.

"You can't name a planet after a person!" the scientist said.

Ophelia turned to face her accuser with her head held high, a position that maximized her ability to stare down her nose at him in lofty disapproval. "And why not? I can name a planet whatever I want."

"Why not? Because it sounds stupid, that's why not!"

"It does not! And stop giving me the stink eye!"

"I'll stop giving you the 'stink eye' once you stop being a twit!"

"I'll never stop!"

"No, I'm sure you won't!"

"Ratchet," Clank began, but he was forced to repeat himself when he could scarcely be heard over the ensuing argument, "Ratchet, I believe now would be a good time to enter the coordinates we found in the crashed ship. They should allow us to find out where our mystery thief was headed before his ship was stolen."

"Good thinking, bud-" Ratchet gasped as Ophelia elbowed him in the ribs. His ears drew back as he turned to glare at her, but she seemed far more concerned with aiming an accusatory finger in Nefarious' direction than heeding the glint in the Lombax's eyes.

"Ratchet, did you hear what this guy just said? Tell him I am a natural redhead! Tell him!"

"Your hair doesn't match your eyebrows, which means you dyed it!" Nefarious said, who had somehow managed to stand at an awkward angle in the small space and was using Lawrence to keep from falling over.

"It does not! And what do you know about hair, baldy—"

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "Hey, children, why don't we stop squabbling! I'm entering the coordinates we found on…on Planet…Myrtle," he grimaced as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth, "so we can find out where Nefarious' kidnapper was heading. I don't know how long it'll take to get there, but I'd really like it if all of you could just shut up!"

"You shut up!" was the scientist's retort, and Ratchet refrained from speaking further. It was like arguing with a child.

Now that the supervillain had gotten the last word in, that seemed to be the end of it, more or less. Nefarious would complain periodically about an increasing ache in his arm or the unfairness that a genius like him could still suffer from occasional coughing and sneezing, while Ophelia dug about for snacks and found an old Qwarkbar under the seat Ratchet didn't recall losing. In fact, the only person he knew to eat the junk was the one the treat was named after, and that idiot hadn't been in the ship for a good year now. Not since Ratchet was forced to fly Qwark to the hair stylist (ironic, considering the Lombax often pondered whether or not the superhero was bald beneath that spandex cap of his) after he had totaled his star cruiser swerving to avoid a cloud.

An hour passed, and several more, and a good amount of elbowing and squirming began, but it didn't last, for just as Ratchet was thinking a preemptive scolding was in order, Clank hushed them all in order to direct their attention out the windscreen.

"The stars are gone," the little robot said.

The mere statement alone was sufficient to make the fur on the back of Ratchet's neck prickle, but it wasn't until the Lombax blinked once, twice, and his vision had confirmed his friend's words as truth, that his blood chilled. There wasn't so much as the pinprick of a distant star to mar the blackness surrounding them. Never before had Ratchet seen such emptiness, as unblemished by any sort of irregularity as the night sky of Kerwan under the neon lights of the shopping district.

It came as no surprise to anyone that Nefarious was the first to speak up. "You sure you didn't screw up the coordinates, squishy?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. They were headed in this direction, so there must be something out here," the Lombax said.

They continued forward in silence, though Ratchet was hardly certain they were even moving at all when there was absolutely nothing to mark their progress by, save for Aphelion's claims that the distance between them and their destination was decreasing, and he began to wonder if she was mistaken. For once, he almost wished someone would speak, anyone, but he, too, felt reluctant to break the noiseless hours in order to point this out. There was something wrong about this place. Space was empty, but never this empty.

"Hey, Lombax."

Ratchet sighed. "What is it now, Nefarious?"

"We're heading towards a black hole. What else could have swallowed up all the stars?"

"Yeah, I really doubt it," Ratchet said, though he detected a quiver in his voice he hoped no one else noticed. "I mean, if it had sucked up all the stars, how come it hasn't gotten us yet?"

"You better hope it hasn't," was the scientist's reply, "because otherwise, we would have entered the event horizon hours ago, and I don't think even your fancy Lombax ship could escape from that." Nefarious shook his head. "Of course, something this powerful would've burned itself out eventually."

Ratchet stared at him. "So…we're fine, then."

"No, you twit! It's probably still there, just smaller. And it will be impossible to see because there's no longer any light for it to draw to itself."

"So…we're not fine."

The supervillain clutched his oversized head in both hands. "Do you really not get it? Let's just turn back before we get pulled apart into a trillion tiny pieces! Then, maybe I need to enter the coordinates this time so you stop messing it up!"

"I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself! And what do you know anyway? Don't you make Lawrence fly you everywhere?"

For once, the supervillain was at a loss for words, if only temporarily, and his silence was only broken when he uttered a simple, "No…"

"Really? You don't sound too sure about that."

"Let's just turn—"

"Let's not!" Ratchet said and settled back into his seat with a grin. To properly deal with a supervillain, you didn't always need overpowered weapons and ingenious battle plans. Sometimes, you just needed to be able to yell louder.

They all jumped in their seats when an even louder voice filled the cramped space. "Oh, my gosh, you guys!" Ophelia said as her gaze darted about in a panic. "Did you see that?"

"What? What is it?" Ratchet asked.

She thrust out one arm to point, and Ratchet's eyes widened as he, along with everyone else, strained to see just what had her so mortified.

"What? I don't-I don't see any-" he was cut off by the sound of sniggering and turned back to Ophelia with narrowing eyes as she snorted and chuckled into her hand with quaking shoulders. "That wasn't funny!"

"Ophelia," Clank began, "you must not startle us like that. What if we truly are in danger one of these days, and we do not take you seriously?"

"This is why squishies are morons," was the only contribution to the conversation Nefarious could muster up, though his voice lacked any real conviction. In fact, the intensity at which he continued to stare into the darkness outside suggested his focus was on something else.

"Oh, come on, you're all a bunch of babies!" Ophelia said. "I thought you were supposed to be brave!" She began to giggle once more, only for her fit to come to an end when she laced her fingers together. "But, seriously, though. How would we know if we ran into one?"

"When we die," Nefarious said, deadpan.

Lawrence sighed. "If only."

Ratchet threw his hands into the air. "You know what, enough of this talk! There is no black hole!"

"Why not?" the scientist asked. "You're an expert on black holes now?"

"Are you?"

"More than you, I'm sure."

"You two are certainly getting somewhere with this conversation," Lawrence said and covered his mouth in the parody of a yawn.

Ratchet's jaw clamped shut before he could continue the argument any further. You knew the situation was getting serious when your nemesis' sidekick was the only one making sense anymore. "Let's just stop talking, okay?" the Lombax began as he rubbed his temple with one hand. "As much as I'd love to see you get sucked into a black hole, Nefarious—"

"You wanna repeat that, squishy?"

"-I just don't think I'm going to have such luck, so—"

"Ratchet, I believe Dr. Nefarious is right," Clank said.

"You see, fellow robots get it!"

"You're not a robot anymore!"

"Ratchet," Clank repeated and pointed out the windscreen.

They all turned as one to follow the small robot's gaze, and the sight that met them made Ratchet's heart skip a beat. For the first time in hours, something had broken the otherwise monotonous blackness that had encompassed them, a stray comet spiraling about a distant pinpoint so slowly that it appeared frozen in time. Its tail looped several times about itself as it was stretched impossibly long and thin as its very molecules were stripped by the massive force of the object that could only be witnessed, but not seen.

"That's how you see a black hole…" Ophelia turned to Nefarious. "I believed you all along."

Ratchet brought Aphelion to a halt, and they all watched in the heavy silence that followed the dying comet's final moments, though these moments did not end within their viewing of it, as if even time itself had been lengthened and slowed at the black hole's center. Once he could stand the sight no longer, he steered the ship back the way they had come without a hint of protest.

No one spoke for the longest time, and in that silence, Ratchet's thoughts meandered without meaning to back to distant days spent on Veldin, when he would stare up at the night sky and point out the shooting stars to no one but himself. Sometimes he would imagine the places the comet had been, and where it was going, as if it was an ancient and all-knowing traveler rather than a mindless hunk of space rock.

That comet, he would tell the night sky as he adjusted the arms he had folded beneath his head, had surely wandered to the most distant corners of the universe by now and had seen things in its millennium-long existence that mortal space travelers would require a thousand lifetimes to match. And then he would nod to himself and vow to be the only person to ever travel the universe as well as the comets could. No, he would do better. Just as soon as he finished his ship, he would see all that there was to see.

And while he had indeed left Veldin, just as he had promised himself he would, he found with equal parts awe and trepidation that the universe was far more vast a place than he had ever dreamed of. He would never see it all. He would never even come close.

For the comet to perish in such a manner, like a butterfly caught in a spider's web… The universe would always be a harsh, cruel place. There was no changing that.

"So, that got us nowhere," Ratchet said at last, receiving nods in response spawned more from pure reflex rather than answer. "What other leads do we have?"

Clank put a hand to his chin. "Well, there is always those whom this mystery person stole from, Zordoom Prison and, if my guess is correct, Big Al."

"Al?" Ratchet asked. "What makes you think he stole from Al?"

"You see," the little robot began, "this person obviously had a device that was capable of turning Dr. Nefarious back into an organic, and the only one I can think of who was able to invent such a device was Big Al after Metropolis was attacked with the Biobliterator. Perhaps we could question one or both of them to see if they know anything useful concerning the theft of their prison transport or anti-biobliteration ray, respectively."

"Well, 'stole' is a pretty strong word," Ophelia said. "Maybe they planned on giving all that stuff back."

"Did you plan on returning those tools to the Vullards?" Ratchet asked.

She scratched one ear. "Well…if they had asked for them…"

The Lombax crossed his arms as he considered his options. "So…Zordoom Prison or Big Al, right, Clank?"

"Yes, Ratchet, that is correct."

Ratchet shrugged. "Well, this is definitely one of the easiest decisions I've made in a long time. Kerwan it is, then."

Ratchet's grip on the ship's yoke tightened at the repetition of the same question he had been hearing over and over again for the last hour. While it often began differently, the end result was always, inevitably, the same.

"Ratchet? Hey, Ratchet?"

Ratchet's ears drooped. "What is it, Ophelia? If you're planning on asking me—"

"But, Ratchet, where are we going again? And how long is it going to take? My back end's sore already, and I haven't brushed my teeth in…weeks." She looked from side to side. "Does anyone have a toothbrush I could borrow?" There were no volunteers.

Ratchet gritted his teeth. It's going to spread again. He knew it. "How many times do we have to go over this? We're going to Kerwan—"

"You're taking me to Magmos if you know what's good for you, squishy!" Yep, he knew it.

"-to ask Al if he has any information on the person who stole his anti…anti-bio…ah, forget it! And if you don't want to come along, I completely understand. The rescue mission's over now, so I-I can drop you off anywhere you'd like, just name it. Anywhere."

"I don't need to be here, either," Nefarious said, "if you'd just take me to Magmos!"

"Sir," Lawrence began, "if you want something, you really should be more direct about it."

"But, I do want to stay," Ophelia said. "I want to find the person who toted Mr. Nefarious away."

"It's not Mr. Nefarious, it's Doctor, you moron! And take the hint and leave already! I don't want you here, either!"

"I-I didn't say…I didn't say I didn't want her here," Ratchet said. It was true. He didn't say it….

"Then, I'm saying it!"

"Why are you always so angry!" Ophelia said.

With no other option available to him, Ratchet brought Aphelion to a sudden stop, proving Clank's theory correct that their situation wasn't the safest when everyone was thrown forward into the windscreen, everyone, that is, save the Lombax, who had braced himself in anticipation of this very thing.

With silence restored, he turned a stern gaze upon his comrades. At least, the ones who couldn't behave themselves. "Ophelia, please don't try to stab me again, but there is really no need for you to come with us. These kinds of things often have a way of getting dangerous, and I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself into."

"And as for you, Nefarious," the Lombax's voice lowered, "you got me stranded on a hostile planet in the middle of nowhere, where I was rained on and nearly got sucked into a whirlpool made of clouds. The only reason I'm looking for the person who attacked you is because they could be dangerous. But, I'm not about to be your chauffeur, and I'm also not about to let you out of my sight, where you can try to do whatever new craziness you can think up. So we have two options." Ratchet raised two fingers before him. "We can either go to Metropolis and talk to Big Al, or we can go to Zordoom Prison and question the guards on the theft of their ship. And to be honest, I think the latter will be happier to see you. It's your choice. Just don't say Magmos to me one more time, or I'm leaving all of you on the next asteroid I find. Well? What'll it be?"

By now, Ratchet was breathing heavily, and even Nefarious was at a loss for words. It was only after a brief staring contest that the scientist responded with a mumbled, "Metropolis, apparently…"

"What was that, I didn't quite hear you—"

"Metropolis! If you're going to throw a tantrum over it, I guess it's Metropolis!"

Ratchet settled back into his seat as a satisfied grin spread across his feline features. "Good choice. Then let's keep going."

They started forward again, and while the Lombax could feel the stares of his companions on the side of his face, he compensated with a severe stare at the windscreen that no one dared interrupt. Once it was clear he would yell no more, muted mumblings began, but they progressed no further than that, until several more hours had passed, and Ophelia, always the curious one, dared a question.

"Hey, Ratchet?"

"Yeah?"

"You sure this…Al will know anything?"

Ratchet shrugged. "I don't know. But, it's the only lead we have. Aside from Zordoom."

"As if there aren't plenty of authorities waiting to get their hands on me in Metropolis," Nefarious told the window. "I hope you're not setting me up, Lombax."

Ratchet glanced over to find a questioning look on Ophelia's face, as if she was wondering the very same thing. He had no choice. The guy was a criminal. "Well, I don't make a habit of backstabbing people." He tried to look away, but was forced to turn back when Ophelia spoke up once again.

"Uh, Ratchet?"

"What? What do you want now?"

"I…I know this place, uh…it's pretty much in the direction we're heading, I think. The natives there have some pretty good witch-doctoring skills, and I think Dr. Furious—"

"Nefarious!"

"-needs to pay them a visit. You know, before he loses a limb to a painful case of gangrene or whatever he's got."

"Why do people keep saying that?" Nefarious asked.

"Just wishful thinking, I suppose," Lawrence said under his breath.

"I-I really don't think we have time for that," Ratchet said. "We really need to get back to Kerwan, and—"

"What's the rush?" Ophelia asked. "It won't take long, and they're really good. They worked wonders on my warts."

The Lombax cringed, his expression souring further when Nefarious spoke up again. "Absolutely not! I'm not going to any voodoo-witchcraft doctors!"

"They slap the word 'doctor' onto just about everything these days, don't they, sir?" Lawrence said, twiddling his thumbs.

"At least someone's on my side for once!"

Ophelia crossed her arms and tried to do the same with her legs until she nearly knocked Clank from her lap in the process. "That's fine, if you're all right with only having one arm. I mean, what's it matter when prosthetics are almost as good as the real thing?"

The Lombax almost thought he heard Nefarious whimper at this statement. "And why are you so concerned about this?" Ratchet asked.

She shrugged. "I guess I'm just concerned for a fellow," she glanced over in the scientist's direction with a smirk, "'squishy'. I've seen infections like that spread, and it's not a pretty sight."

Ratchet considered her with half-lidded eyes, and the two of them shared a steady stare before he turned away with a shrug. "I guess I just don't share the same concern as you."

"You do as she says, Lombax!" Nefarious said with a very obvious tremble in his voice. "I'd rather keep all my body parts intact!"

"Well, you should've thought of that before you decided to pick on a plant."

"The stupid thing started it!"

"If I may," Lawrence began, "I'd like to remind you just how…disagreeable my employer has been up until this point, and how much worse his mood can get. If he loses an arm, I mean."

Nefarious groaned and clutched his face with both hands. "How many times do I have to tell you twits to stop talking like that!" After a brief pause, he added with a growl, "And I really didn't like your tone just now, Lawrence!"

"My apologies, sir. I have failed to mention that, in all other circumstances, working with you has been a treat."

The doctor sniffed. "Why, of course."

Ratchet hung his head. "I guess we're gonna have to make a stop, aren't we?"

Ophelia bounced in her seat, the movement nearly enough to knock Clank from her lap. "Woo hoo, I can introduce you to more of my friends!"

"Yay," was the Lombax's lukewarm response. "Why do I never get to make any of the decisions around here?"

"Do not worry, Ratchet," Clank said once he had managed to right himself. "I assure you, Kerwan is not going anywhere."

"Yeah, and neither are we. Okay, Ophelia, where to?" Sometimes, being cast as Clank's chauffeur in Secret Agent Clank was a lot more accurate than he cared to admit.

The planet Ophelia had in mind, much to Ratchet's dismay, turned out to be "right where she left it", leaving him to wonder how she had managed to pinpoint its location in the impossibly large reaches of space with such ease when he often misplaced the remote to the holoscreen. His mind had begun to wander to a questionable level of suspicion as to its sentience after later finding it in the strangest of places.

And as little as he could believe that he was actually stuck flying his greatest nemesis to the doctor, this thought competed with a desperate wish that their destination was a barren desert or some frostbitten hunk of ice. The first thing that set his teeth on edge was the obvious verdant green of the place, a detail that was readily apparent even when it was still but a rather large marble ahead of them, and he chomped down on his lower lip as their rapid approach revealed it to be a planet covered in massive trees. He really didn't think he could stand the sight of plants right now.

At least there wasn't a hint of rain to be seen, the sky dotted with naught but a few puffs here and there that were beginning to turn orange with the earliest waning of a sun preparing to set, and Ophelia directed him to descend through a particular spot in the canopy that she assured him hid something more solid beneath. It turned out she was right, and he set Aphelion down upon the branch of an enormous tree one hundred feet in diameter, at least.

The glass dome of the cockpit slid back, Ophelia again the first to leap free, just as she had upon their arrival on her officially dubbed "Planet Myrtle", though she apologized profusely afterward for knocking Clank from her lap in such an abrupt manner. They all followed her lead, though in a manner far more cautious than she, with Nefarious being the last to set foot outside.

"It's so good to be home again!" Ophelia stretched her arms over her head in a long stretch as Ratchet turned his attention to the canopy high above.

"Home?" he asked. "I thought you lived with those Vullards."

"Yeah, and I live here some of the time, too. I've got lots of homes. Actually—"

"No one cares about that!" Nefarious said as he marched over with little concern for the great height at which they resided. "How could there possibly be any doctors here?"

"You'd be surprised. Just a moment." She cupped her hands over her mouth and proceeded to screech and caw like a cacophony of various bird calls all rolled into one. They stared in stunned silence, and Nefarious sidled up beside Ratchet with a strange covertness, his arms tucked behind his back in feigned innocence.

"No one would have to find out if you decided to just leave this wacko here," the scientist said. "I certainly wouldn't say anything."

As appealing as that sounded, however, he supposed he should at least give her a chance first. Ratchet lifted one finger. "Uh, Ophelia? Ophel-hey, Ophelia, are you sure this is…doing whatever you think it's supposed to be doing?"

Just like that, she stopped and turned back to him with her eyebrows lifted high upon her brow, her expression possessing a sophisticated composure no one had any right to have after screeching like a Florana swamp owl trying to impersonate a Zanifarian sparrow. "Patience, my furry lummox."

"It's Lombax."

"And you, too, Dr. Noggin."

"One of these days, I'm going to smack you, squishy."

"As long as I get to hit you back- Oh, hey, there they are!" Ophelia flung her arms open wide and began to head for the approaching wave of brown and grey striped fur summoned by her call. Sections of the mass would pop free at random intervals to reveal individual members of a tribe of rodent-like creatures just over Clank's height, adorned in simple clothing of long, woven pine needles dyed with what was quite possibly berry juice.

Ratchet began to laugh, harder than he had in a long time, and his mirth only grew in intensity when he took notice of the horrified expression on the villain's face beside him, until he was slapping his leg and fighting very hard to stay upright.

"No! You've got to be joking!" Nefarious said as he stumbled backwards a few steps. "I didn't come here to be treated by a bunch of bipedal squirrels!"

Giving up any semblance of dignity he might have still maintained, the Lombax fell onto his back end when standing had become too difficult for him. "I'm sorry," he began, "it's just-it's just been a rough month, and now you've brought us to a tribe of, well," he jabbed a thumb in the scientist's direction, "what he said."

By now, Ophelia had nearly become lost amidst the jumble of furry creatures who were pouncing on her in excitement just as she was pulling close any she could get her hands on to snuggle with them in obvious bliss. Pausing with one of the fluffy tree-dwellers clutched in her arms, she turned back to them in confusion.

"They're not squirrels," she said. "They're Sciridai. And they may be cute, but they're wise. You judged me before you had any right to, and where did that get you?"

Yes, and his first impressions of her had been completely accurate. Ladies and gentleman of the court, we have exhibit A.

His laughter at last brought under control, Ratchet's grin transformed itself into something more akin to a smirk. "Well, if you say they're wise, I'll just have to take your word for it." He pushed himself to his feet and brushed off his pants. "We'll see you later, Nefarious," he added with a wave in the scientist's direction.

"No! I'm not going anywhere!" the doctor said, and he attempted to retreat back into the ship's cockpit, but Ophelia had already extricated herself from the horde of walking cotton balls to march towards him with dire purpose. Before he could get very far, she snatched him by his injured arm to drag him back in the direction of the Sciridai.

"You may be a supervillain, but you'll treat my family with respect. The Sciridai have been around for longer than most other races, and they can teach even a so-called 'genius' like you a thing or two."

"Ouch! Let go of me, you twit!"

But, for all his struggling, this only caused her to hold on tighter, and Ratchet had to withhold a chuckle over the fact that his nemesis showed so little an ability to escape from a girl dressed like a walking recycle bin. Any laughter he had thought to utter died within his throat, however, when Clank nudged his leg, and his gaze landed upon a wizened, old Scirida shuffling out from the group. She stopped before the odd pair, her hunched form balanced on a cane adorned with the shells of old nuts that clacked together when she struck the end of it upon the ground.

Even at this distance, Ratchet flinched when her gaze shot upwards, her features sharp with high cheekbones and hard, dark eyes. Even Nefarious went still under her scrutiny.

She raised a hand, her thin fingers twisted into claws with age, and when she spoke, her voice was hoarse and low. "You have done many terrible things, oh, disfigured one."

Nefarious jerked his arm free from Ophelia's grip. "Excuse me? How is that any of your business, you—"

His outrage was cut short when Ophelia punched him in the arm, and he clutched tight his injured limb with a murderous twinge in his gaze.

"Why you—"

"Quiet." The aged Scirida spoke but one word, but it was enough to seize the attention of everyone there, and keep it, as she swept her gaze across them all. "You all have very far to go, and not all of you will make it to the end. But then again, what I see contradicts itself. That is the problem with days that haven't come yet." She turned back to Nefarious. "Despite your heart, we cannot turn anyone in need away, no matter how wicked." She lifted a hand to him. "Come." And then the fingers curled back into a fist, and she turned away, the knowledge that her words would be obeyed a certainty.

Ophelia linked an arm through the scientist's, an act that was clearly not welcome, however, when he made several attempts to pull free, but as before, she didn't relent. "You heard the lady. Do as you're told, or I'll whack you again."

The scientist was tugged forward as the Sciridai surrounded them on all sides to escort their guests after their elder. "No, really, I-I actually feel perfectly fine now! Just let me-Lawrence!"

"Well, I'd best be going," the robotic butler began with a sigh. "Watch your step. I'm sure it's a rather long way down."

"You know, something tells me you don't really mean that," Ratchet said.

"However did you guess? Ta-ta," Lawrence said with a lukewarm wave of his fingers, and then he headed off in the direction of his employer's fading shrieks.

Such a long chapter. It was rather fun to edit, as far as editing goes, at least, and I fixed some rather major mistakes, so that was satisfying. And on a random note, my spellcheck no longer thinks supervillain is a misspelling. Weird.

Anyway, please review, my dear organic lifeforms, as you wait for the eventual addition of chapter 11!