Shell Shock Writers:
Rating: PG-RG
Warnings: Ratchet/Azimuth. Violence.
Disclaimer: We value our lives too much to even dare think about claiming Ratchet and Alister as our own. We borrow them for an RP, so don't worry. [Put the Wargroks back into your cage!]
Summary: Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in a cold, dark place without a clue where one is. Sadly, that's what's happened to us. What's even better, we have monsters and weird encounters to endure as well. And then there's them…
Lucky, right? If I ever get out of here, I will need some therapy sessions.
Chapter 36
Ratchet kept both his hands occupied, the one by holding his wrench, the other by pressing it against his waist. Otherwise he would have rubbed his upper arms – not in cold, although he felt chills running through his body as he looked around.
"I feel like in a cage," he whispered to Alister.
"Don't worry," the elder replied. He looked around the room to detect any indicator as to where the Shapeshifters were, but he found none. "We will get out of this, and if I'm right, Nefarious is more than willing to break a few… rules."
"That's what I fear. I have no illusions the Shapeshifters will use this chance to break a rule in kind then – and they certainly won't hold back while doing so.
"Come on. Where are they?"
"Right behind you."
Fingers laid on their shoulders and yanked them backwards. Giggling filled their minds and echoed in their helmets -
No need to give them a chance to take them out in the first second, though. Azimuth reached for Ratchet's weapon reel on the back of his belt and took out the Constructo Pistol, ramming it into the Jealous' face and shooting through it.
"Take cover, Ratchet!" Before long he stuck the mouth of the pistol into the other Shapeshifter's face, shooting at point blank.
Ratchet's face was a mask of restrained fury and determination as he deployed two Constructo bombs. Rather than just throwing them at either the Shapeshifters or the ground, he released two dormant Plasma Beast pods and attached the bombs at their sides. They growled as they sensed enemies nearby, and burrowed themselves into the ground, taking the bombs with them – but at the same time, the enemies had moved as well.
"Damn it!" Azimuth pedaled backwards, keeping the Constructo gun pointed. He would not take any chances; not with these enemies. "Ratchet, move the other way!"
"You too!" Damn it, one of them had already camouflaged itself again. He saw only the Shapeshifter whom Alister had shot into the mouth. Ratchet risked a quick glance if the second appeared on his radar to see nothing, when a light, metallic sound made him jump around.
"Hello there, precious," Behind him, a guard appeared, arm formed as a gun. A manic grin was on its lips as it aimed for Ratchet's legs. "You will be mine."
"No." The tell-tale vibration under his feet appeared, and he took a step back. The Shapeshifter pulled the trigger; Gelatonium exploded in the next moment, covering the area as a roar rose. The hole in the Plasma Beast's middle hardly deterred it, instantly jumping the Shapeshifter after it had broken free from its pod.
The Beast bit, but the Jealous shook it off idly. The grin on its lips was manic as it rushed forward, grabbing Ratchet at his chin. "You are so darling," it whispered into his mind. "I want you all to myself-"
A loud bang sounded – and the Shapeshifter's head was blown off. The other guard lowered its hand, a malicious grin on its lips. "I don't think so."
I don't know if I should be disgusted or glad. Maybe both. Ratchet shoved off the headless Shapeshifter before jumping to the side to get more room. It tumbled back as it head reformed, only to come close to the Constructo bomb which had dropped to the ground as the Plasma Stalker had emerged.
BOOM.
The bomb did not hit its target. Instead a shield had been formed before it, effectively taking all the damage. Giggling sounded as the shield switched back into its real form – the second guard who had just attacked its own companion. A thankful smile was on the saved Shapeshifter's lips, leaning foreheads against each other for a moment.
"What the…" Azimuth stared at them, for a second forgetting to simply attack them. "Why-"
"I shot because my partner forgot a promise we made. I had to refresh the memories." For a second their attention was drawn to each other as the Shapeshifter touched the other at its cheek. "Do you remember now?" "Yes."
"We always share."
Both vanished from their sight, letting no sound betray their actions.
"Oh crap." Wonderful, these two were working together.
Azimuth's mind was brooding rapidly. What should they do? Well, first off they had to stay in motion. He signaled Ratchet to move from his spot; as he moved, he laid down bombs he had modified to remain dormant at both his and Ratchet's presence. If they emerged, those Shapeshifters would at least get one hell of a fire.
Hopefully this would work, if the recent demonstration of… teamwork was to go by. How fast could one Shapeshifter form a shield, and how strong was it against abuse? Could both do it? What was a possible time li-
"Aaaah!" Something jerked at his ankle to pull his feet from under him. He fell backwards into a chest, freezing at the realization what this meant.
"You shouldn't think too much if you lose your attention." A giggle. "Otherwise your surroundings will demand it back." Arms wrapped around him, he could feel the grin on the Shapeshifter's lips –
A well-placed shot lunged the entity backwards, arms loosening up for an instant. Then before Ratchet knew he was grabbed, lifted and carried away. Amber eyes were visible under the visor as Azimuth looked at him. "Are you all right?"
"I guess so. But we won't be for long." Enraged for having his claim snatched away, the Shapeshifter shrieked. "You just pressed their rage-button." Alister sat Ratchet down, and they pressed back to back.
"I'm not sure if that was enough." Azimuth's visor was partially filled with analysis diagrams as he looked at the Shapeshifter. No data at all. "Nefarious? Tell me you have some valuable information." "Does
Cringing at the feedback, Azimuth shut his eyes for a moment and let out a pained groan. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed." "Just keep on going until you break their shields!" "Fine. FINE! Just stop shouting!"
"Nefarious. Scream all you want, but it would go faster if knew what weak points their shields have." Ratchet tried it himself to get through the temperamental robot. He deflected an energy shot to his legs with his wrench as a club. The Shapeshifter grinned in admiration at him. He only looked neutrally back, as not to give it any satisfaction of an emotional response.
"I TOLD the general already! Didn't he brief you yesterday?" Nefarious sounded really aggravated. "Damn squishy unreliability… Or didn't you work out anything at all? Why the heck did I tell you about it then?!"
"Alister knows?" He whirled around to deflect another attack, sprinting in circles around Alister. "You knew something about the shields? Why didn't you tell me yesterday, we could have developed a strategy." "I've TOLD you!"
Silence.
"… Nefarious?" "OH MY CIRCUIT!" "What…" "What would I insinuate? I couldn't believe you took me seriously when I said 'do something with Ratchet to make them jealous'! That was a joke, a complete joke!"
Ratchet was aware that there were several threads of hilarious that made up this conversation. Alister's mortified face even in battle was only one. Nefarious' assumptions on Ratchet's orientation; his suggestion meant as joke to Alister; the ensuing misunderstanding on the latter's side; the argument he caused with Ratchet, because the younger had felt as if he had been played – Lawrence would have a field day when he learnt of his.
That just left him with the question what, and if he should contribute something to this yarn ball. He had to fight a battle with two Jealous after all. And no, he was certainly not amused at Alister's expense. Not at all.
He settled for an ambiguous reply. If the situation escalated, the two Lombaxes would have to follow Nefarious's suggestion anyway, thus cluing the robot in.
"It seems Lawrence hasn't brought you up to date."
"Yes, Azimuth. He hasn't!" Nefarious' laughter died down. "I thought he'd have snuck a chip or something into your armors to give you information on them. The chips that give you access to the maps. Well, since you gave me a good laugh, I guess I'll activate that feature for you."
Before they could carry on the conversation, though, an axe hit the ground between them. Azimuth dashed to the side, evading claws only by a hair's width.
"Splendid reflexes," the Jealous commented and grinned sharply. Then it lunged itself after Ratchet.
He dived between its legs, rolling beneath the lifted one before he jumped again lowly. He set a spike, which began crackling with electricity, into the ground as he landed before he jumped away again. A shot blackened the spot he had been on only split seconds ago.
White flashes whipped against the entity. Its eyes widened, fingers tensed – but other than that nothing happened. Azimuth looked at it, new parameters appearing on the screen of his visor. Apparently the guard had turned on its protective shields to a maximum and left no weak spot-
There was.
Azimuth hurried forward and jumped up, spinning his wrench to charge it faster – then he rammed it between the wing tendrils of the Shapeshifter who let out a blood-chilling scream.
The wrench sticking almost vertically out of the entity's back set off a flash, morphing into an image. Ratchet readied another spike, watching the tip of the wrench as the Shapeshifter swiped after the elder.
"Alister, activate your wrench when I yell 'GO!' And then get as far away as you can." With that, he rammed the spike into the ground, closing the electric loop to and back from the first spike.
Screams drowned out the younger's words. Azimuth had a hard time removing his wrench, and an even worse time staying on top the creature. "RATCHET!" he shouted suddenly, "Behind you!"
A hot needle grazed the top of his shoulder before the young Lombax could duck and leap to the side. He felt blood seep from the wound, but kept concentrating on the Shapeshifter in front of him. He ran a wide circle, the other entity on his trail until the electricity barrier, the shrieking Shapeshifter and he himself were in one line.
In his run, he jammed the third spike into the ground.
"ALISTER, GO!" And off was he again – a roll forward away from another shot.
Again the elder didn't hear him. He tried his best to get his wrench out of the Shapeshifter, seeing how the whole energy charge had already left his weapon already and so did not look at the younger. So to his misfortune, he was caught in the electric shocks of the Tesla spikes. To his utter misfortune, the energy concentrated at the head of his wrench, surging from the top through the helve into both him and the entity beneath him. A pained yelp escaped him, unable to let go as the electric pulses cramped up his muscles – and much like the Shapeshifter, he fell to the ground, completely unable to move.
"Alister! Fuck." What should he do? Alister was moving his mouth so he was alive -hopefully- but it was clear that was paralyzed in the moment. Fortunately the Shapeshifter was, too, otherwise it just had to move a hand and kill the Lombax, so close they were.
It seemed Ratchet had to perform another rescue-on-hoverboots. After checking where the second Shapeshifter was, he activated them, braced himself on his hands and kicked his feet in the air. Right into the entity's face, the propulsion fire burning into its mass. Its shriek was cut off as Ratchet moved his feet lower and blasted into the chest, before dropping his legs completely and finally propelling himself to the twitching Alister. He slipped his arms beneath his arched up torso and his knees, happy that he hadn't been zapped, and grunting as he lifted him. Ratchet overbalanced for a moment before he could straighten himself.
Suddenly there was motion in the corner of his eye – and Ratchet could barely block an attack of the Shapeshifter. The vendor had spoken true: His armor was more durable now. That did not change, however, that the entity glared at the Lombax. "Let go of him," it hissed in thought, "We only want you. Let him down and come with us, and we won't harm him."
He sneered. "I can't do that." He shoved it aside, and renewed his grip around Alister's knees before he sped away again.
"Ratchet, bring that Lombax to one of the Nanotech spots. His vital signals are running wild in a bad way."
"Will do." One of the distribution panels lit up on his holo-map, at the right side in front of him. A teleportation beam appeared, materializing several crates. Before the beam even vanished, Ratchet rushed through the crates, sighing in relief as the forgotten burn in his shoulder vanished. Alister gasped on the other hand – his body instantly relaxed in his hold. Good because he didn't know much longer he could carry him.
A few coughs left the elder before he regained full consciousness. He blinked, disorientated at first, as he focused on Ratchet. "W-what happened?"
"You got electrocuted by accident – by courtesy of me." Ratchet stopped and set him down, rubbing his neck. "Sorry."
"… O-Oh. I see." Azimuth blinked again before smiling softly, gently grasping Ratchet at his chin and turning him towards him. For a moment, he seemed to ignore the battlefield and to only focus on the Lombax before him. "Thanks for getting me away from the Shapeshifters afterwards, then."
"Alister? Wha- AH!" He grabbed the elder by the forearm and jerked him to the side. A salve of bullets shot past them, the gun smoking as the second Shapeshifter snarled at them.
"How dare him?!" It lunged at the two Lombaxes, only to halt as it heard its companion's voice. Snarling, it slowly stepped backwards before turning around completely and rushing to the other creature's side without forgetting about its targets.
"That… was close." Alister stared at the bullet holes in the wall before looking at the Shapeshifter again. "We better not get into the fire again."
"Alister, are you okay?" The younger shook him at the shoulders, seeing that the entities were occupied otherwise for the moment. "Nefarious, what is the sta- Now wait a sec." Did Alister look's face somehow… soft? His pupils were dilated, focusing on Ratchet, but it was the area around the elder's eyes that bothered him. The usual wrinkles at the outer edge of his brows had vanished – he looked ten years younger. And adoringly at him.
"… Do you really think now is a good moment to play the 'make the Jealous jealous' card?" He asked him exasperatedly.
"What do you mean?", he replied with slight wonder in his eyes. "Why-"
A grappling hook shot past them into the wall. Two pairs of glowing eyes stared at them with obvious discontent.
"Playtime is over."
From one second to another the entities vanished from their perception, but long enough to let the dust settle. Before the Lombaxes knew, all they saw were those glowing eyes lunging themselves into their faces.
"Oh come on." More Gelatonium exploded, and he rushed with Alister passed the other three Plasma Stalkers he had quickly dispatched.
While one Shapeshifter was caught up by the plasma beasts, one guard had been fast enough to rush after them. "Oh no, you are not getting away." It disappeared for an instant, only to rematerialize itself right before Ratchet. The younger's eyes widened, not able to evade rushing right into the entity's arms-
"Energy force field activating."
Blue light blinded the younger as energy created a spherical shield around them. The shock in his eyes was just as apparent in the Shapeshifter's, whose head slid down along the protection wall. It started to disassemble, and as Ratchet looked back, the body did too.
"Ah. My timing was good." Azimuth released the button at his wrist, disabling the shield once more. "That portable energy force field is quite advantageous."
Gawking, Ratchet shook his head as he quickly fetched the broken collar and put it inside his manifestor. Now he clearly knew that the electric shock hadn't had any ill effects on Alister. That eased his worry – for whatever else he felt about the situation and the 'make the entities jealous' plan he did not have the time to unravel. The elder's expression from before just wouldn't leave his mind.
Suddenly everything around them went silent. The sound of Ratchet's hoverboots ceased to fill the room as he stopped, realizing that the noise from the plasma beasts was no more. Azimuth stared at their enemy, discomfort tensing him up. Curious, and against his better judgment, he did the same.
With eyes widened, the Shapeshifter was simply standing there. The Plasma Beasts on its arms had ceased to exist; vanished completely. Shock was in its face, quiet disbelief as it stared at its comrade's body. Fingers curled, its body tensed up. Slowly it lifted one foot and stepped closer to the remnants of its partner, levitating over the ground. It did not speak, did not pay attention to the Lombaxes.
It did not even smile anymore.
Slowly the entity lowered itself onto one knee. It gingerly, almost reluctantly stretched out its hand to touch the body before it, the evaporating substance veiling the fingers. Then it turned the lost entity around, fingers gingerly trailing over the torso in a controlled motion. The path they took glowed faintly, halting the evaporation for a moment; then, as it took the other's hand into its own, its expression changed. Shock vanished for devastation, disbelief for grief. Eyebrows pulled together, it pressed the other entity's fingers against its lips. The lines down its cheek glowed as if a light particle was transmitted from the corner of its eyes down its face – and for a short moment, it forgot to disclose the thoughts it was whispering to its fallen comrade.
"You said we would always share," reached the Lombaxes' ears, "Emotions, memories, experiences. Attraction and pleasure. Life and death. All of it." Slowly its optics fell shut as it held the limp hand tightly in its own. "That was why we would always go on missions together. So that we could always share." A pause. "This mission too. We knew it was a suicide mission to begin with. That was what its Excellency declared from the start, but that didn't keep us as long as we could stay together." Fingers stroked over the other entity's hand. "I thought we would at least die at the same point, driven to the end of our energy; but instead…"
It broke off, turning its head to the side. Then it opened its eyes, lips quivering slightly. "I envy them for being together while we are separated. It makes me furious to see their fortune." It reached up to its own jaw, splitting it into half. That the evaporating substance was concentrating around the dead entity's neck went past its perception completely. "But don't worry. I will stay true to my word." It turned back to the other's hand and shut its eyes. For a moment it believed to see the digits twitch; but it quickly dismissed the notion.
"We will always share."
Azimuth averted his gaze immediately. He did not want to see that display another time, and Ratchet certainly did not want to either. Quickly he pulled the younger closer and blocked his view, waiting for the disgusting sight to end.
Soon the noise stopped; and again silence dominated the room. What, however, changed, was the immense pressure filling out the room, almost as if there was an invisible force grabbing them tightly. Azimuth tensed up and turned to the source of that feeling, only to see the Jealous levitate above the ground, head raised, arms loosely stretched out. Its appearance changed, its face showing no signs of emotions. Slowly all of its outer shell smoothened out, reflecting any light source like even metal. Even its face lost the traits of an organic surface; almost as if an iron mask had been cast over its head. Everything smoothened. Everything was in control.
It was aesthetic perfection.
The elder took a step backwards. Even though Azimuth could not see it, he could feel its energy pulsing in its body, waiting to burst. And when it turned its head to them, he was sure that it would happen soon.
The change set every strand of hair of Ratchet's standing – the power pushed almost physically like water, and he feared if he opened his lips just the barest amount, it would drown him. Whatever form the Shapeshifter had taken on exactly, it still distantly reminded him of a robot. Or rather a mechanoid fight robot because most robots still had something that organics could identify as a face. And it becoming a mech – that was bad news.
Its eyes searched for their gaze and lighted up. "My world has dissolved," echoed in their minds, "It is time yours does the same." Slowly it raised a limb, fingers splayed out. Azimuth gasped, pushing Ratchet out of the way. A flash of light—and part of the ground had been turned into debris.
"RATCHET! AZIMUTH!", Nefarious screamed into the communicator, "What have you done?! The Superior is grinning all over its face and my readings tell me that Jealous has a perfect shield now!"
"Well, since it wasn't obvious: Alister killed one Jealous, and its partner devoured it. We could have asked it nicely not to do so, but if one has already nearly impenetrable shields, I don't think we could have budged its mind on the matter." Again a shift of power around him, and Ratchet ran from the weaponized decay.
"I don't know! But if you let that guard continue, then-" Silence. "Stop it already!" "Easier said than done."
"When you say 'perfect' shield, of which durability and strength are we talking? And can it also affect our attacks with weapons?"/i The latter especially worried Ratchet. If the Shapeshifter could take out their missiles, bombs and other weapon-based charges, they were done for.
"The one even an RYNO V would not get through." Nefarious growled lowly. "At least if my assumptions are right. If not, then it might be the opposite case."
"Well, only one way to find out." Azimuth spun a bomb in his hand and threw it beneath the Shapeshifter; a split-second later it exploded, veiling the entity completely.
"Why do you have what we cannot?", echoed in their minds. The dust ceased to exist, orange eyes stared at them. No sound, no excessive motion. With each step it took, the path beneath it dissolved and vanished under an invisible veil. "It is unfair. Truthfully unfair." "I was talking about a RYNO V, not a measly bomb." "As interesting it is, I don't think we should waste more time."
"Gotcha." Hopefully this was easier done than said.
Ratchet did not have a RYNO V – yet – for the fight, so the others had to do. He had only a handful of Plasma Stalkers left but they seemed to be too weak against the Jealous anyway; not speaking of a strengthened Jealous.
There was one weapon in his arsenal that could work. It maybe even would yet find a weak spot on the Shapeshifter. But using it held a certain risk because it charged up so slowly.
The weight settled on his shoulder just as he needed to sidestep another attack, but not was fast enough. The decay reached the ground under his right foot, and with the Plasma Striker on his right shoulder, he overbalanced, dropping the weapon. The Lombax did not have time to fetch it back – the decay was following him suddenly. With a hissing whoosh, he raced away from it on his hoverboots.
"You anger me." Slowly it followed up; the ground was carved by an invisible force. Azimuth watched with horror, realizing that Ratchet was in absolutely imminent danger—
His gaze fell on the Plasma Striker. Well… He was not a trained sniper, but…
"I want the bliss you are allowed to have. Perhaps it will be mine if I claim it from you."The Shapeshifter lowered its head, fingers intertwining as it turned its palms at Ratchet – and for the first time since its transformation, its expression changed. "It is time for you to perish."
Light gathered in its palms as it charged its energy for the attack. Immense pressure slashed the air between the Lombax and itself aside, pushing Ratchet against the wall-
Bang.
The ground dissolved; a deep rift between the Lombax and the Shapeshifter had been created. The entity's eyes widened as it turned around. Another explosive sound – and it could just manage to form a shield before its eye.
"Seems like I am not that bad as a sniper." Azimuth quickly reloaded and took aim. "But I have to be faster, it seems."
Using the entity's distraction, Ratchet slipped away from the wall. He clutched his chest at the sharp pain throbbing there – a sure sign of a cracked rib or two, as he knew from past experience.
The Shapeshifter shook its head a little. Then it turned around and faced the elder calmly. "Out of my way, Lombax. I will tend to you as soon as I have claimed our Precious."
"I fear I can't let that happen." Azimuth smirked faintly before loading the Plasma Stalker again. A series of shots followed, all aiming at different spots of its body.
"Hm… Interesting." Nefarious mused in Ratchet's communication line. "Just as I suspected. Seems like that Shapeshifter is adjusting its shield to whatever attack comes if the projectile makes it through the invisible decay sphere. But what if… What if it doesn't notice them? Hm…"
"Let's try it." Just what to use? The Spirals of Death would be the perfect choice for their unpredictable trajectories but would they get through the decay field? Ratchet rapidly browsed through his arsenal, frustrated, until his eyes fell on an old acquaintance: the Mag-Net Launcher..
Now that could work nicely. He materialized the weapon, aimed and launched the net at the Shapeshifter.
The entity did not give Ratchet the luxury of satisfaction. It changed its shape and turned into a spherical form of itself with a surface that did not attract electric shocks.
"This Jealous is quite bothersome." Azimuth spun a few bombs in his hand before throwing them beneath the Shapeshifter. A huge explosion – but other than a deep crater there was no sign of effect.
"Fortunately I knew this would happen." Nefarious' tone was half annoyed, half amused as he made his running commentary. "You're destroying almost as much as the Jealous does. It's exactly that's why I chose this area. "No sensitive machinery, no important electricity lines, or transport tubes with dangerous materials beneath the ground. Magma would have been nice, but Lawrence convinced me that it was too much of a hazard if we tried to reroute a channel. Keep that up, however, and you may yet dig deep enough to have spew lava forth. Maybe the Shapeshifter would just melt then or something." "I'm not particularly keen on getting melted myself, though." "Ah, no." "What have you planned?"
"Me? Plan?" Nefarious sneered. "I did not plan for that. I'm just a mad scientist overseeing a fight between threats to my goals."
"Ratchet, don't just stand there!" Azimuth kept shooting at the Jealous who seemed slightly entertained by the elder's efforts. "Listen. Get my wrench and charge it. Then pierce the Shapeshifter between its back stubs. But don't get any closer to it!"
Ratchet rolled his eyes at the robot as he crashed another nanotech orb against his chest. As soon as the relief of ribs knitting together allowed him to properly breathe again, he followed Alister's order.
Floating and racing over the ground, he picked up the elder's wrench, and turned to the Shapeshifter. It seemed distracted enough in its playful deflecting of the Plasma Striker's shots – that could again be a trap, however. The entities had set up and performed several of them in the last days, so this could be another.
Not that Ratchet had much of a different choice. He charged up his hoverboots to full speed before he shot forward; he moved behind its back, only now activating the wrench. The tip instantly crackled blue, and he raised it over his head as he jumped up, rearing the tip behind his back for maximum momentum.
Metal screeched and dented.
Ratchet was hanging in disbelief from the Jealous' shoulders for a moment, the wrench tightly in his grip as blue flashes of lightning arched across its body. With a sudden return of common sense, he yelped and let go, leaping away from the Shapeshifter as he landed. The entity writhed, clearly in pain, although its movements were more restrained than that of its partner had been when having been electrocuted.
"As suspected. It still is the weak spot." Azimuth smiled in a satisfied manner. Then he aimed again, using the entity's distraction to shoot its head—
And this time it hit.
The Jealous crashed into the wall behind it. Blue flashes of light crawled over its body, a snarl escaping it. It shook its head and clawed into the ground, the matter dissolving at its touch.
It grabbed over his shoulder, claws trying to reach for the handle which were just so out of reach. It screeched in frustration, and suddenly, slammed its back against the wall. Then a second time. A third. A fourth. From the fifth time on it was a constant rhythm that rapidly sped up under the wall's cracking.
Azimuth stared at the Jealous, a slight frown over his eyes. Why was the wrench not dissolving yet? After all, all things were falling apart around that Shapeshifter, so…
Shock settled in his eyes. Before he could worry about anything else he had to take care of Ratchet. Immediately. Rushing to the younger Lombax, he pulled him into a safer region and inspected his limbs. As suspected, the armor had started to deteriorate… But what about Ratchet himself? He leant up and examined the younger's face, only to have his eyes widen.
"I've told you to stay away from him," he muttered, stroking over the younger's cheek. He did not say anything about the fading radiant gold; only pressed his lips together.
"You mean…" The younger swallowed; why did his throat feel so dry all of the sudden? "Do I look… sick?" He hadn't thought about what effect the decay would have on him if it hit him.
"No." The elder shook his head and smiled faintly. Then he turned away and readied himself. Apparently the Shapeshifter had given up its quest to remove the wrench from its back; much to its dismay the weapon did not seem to dissolve either. Why wasn't it disassembling it, then?
"Enough." The Jealous's eyes narrowed. "I have had enough of your play. I have had enough of seeing your bliss!" Its lower arms changed shape and turned into large scythes; the legs transformed into thin streamlined limbs. "You took the little contentment I had from me! You killed my partner! And now you dare displaying your luck in front of my eyes!"
It's really upset about its partner. Ratchet tried to ignore the realization but it had rooted already and began growing. Even if it wasn't as complete as the Superior, if the whole deal with the hierarchy was correct – he felt he was dealing with a person as an enemy, not only a monster. He crushed his empathy under his palm as he gripped his wrench, pushing away the image of Clank that suddenly had materialized in his mind at the word 'my partner'.
"Now that's what I was talking about!" The metallic ringing probably meant Nefarious had slapped his knee. "Now if I only had some oil… Lawrence always thinks of this logistics stuff because it isn't my strength." "I am glad you enjoy the display, Nefarious, but if you don't help us, we are going to be dead meat." "Well, Azimuth, wouldn't that be a
"Are you freaking SERIOUS?!" Ratchet shouted, even forgetting to use solely the communicator. "We are going to die and you will have nobody to fight the Shapeshifters!"
"And that concerns me... how?" Fingers could be heard clasping to each other. He saw the Shapeshifter charging up, impending in mid-air, eyes glowing brightly. My, my, if that hit, the Lombaxes would be history indeed… Maybe. "A game is a game. No cheating."
A blood-chilling scream echoed in the room as the entity rushed forward. As always, all around it evaporated like water, and with its increased energy use the range of deterioration was much bigger too. It tore a deep rift into the ground, readying its blade—
That was until Nanotech pierced it right through its chest.
Shock in its eyes, it did not first realize that even more shots of Nanotech burst out of pipelines hidden deep in the rocks; but when it did, it was already too late – most of its limbs had been pierced, and so it had happened with its body. Pained screams escaped it as it collapsed on the ground, its substance bleeding away from its grasp.
Both Lombaxes stumbled back from the crumbling ground as the blue glowing substance showered them. Ratchet gasped "Nanotech?" But Nefarious had said… His green eyes widened.
No tubes with 'dangerous' materials. Imaginary Nefarious reminded, optics glowing crimson in glee at the shuddering Ratchet.
The pressure that had suffused the entire arena since the Jealous's transformation wavered around its writhing form when it was losing powers. It had no control anymore about the decay whose fluxes kept destroying the ground. The ripped tubes kept spraying Nanotech – too much of it as that the decay could even disable a fraction of it. The entity was now swimming in a sea of nanites which eagerly ate on it and its corroding mass.
Azimuth stared at the Shapeshifter before them, a frown appearing above his eyes. The entity's words echoed in his mind, all the things it had said. And now, too – all he heard within the screams and cries were questions why it could not have at least the satisfaction of killing the ones who had taken its partner from it. He looked aside and stepped away from Ratchet before he accessed a secure channel to speak only to him.
"This feels wrong," he transmitted quietly.
"I know. And we can't do anything about it." By the stars, he was tired of this. Of the fighting. Of the facility. Of Nefarious, and most of all, of Shapeshifters for a lifetime. He was tired of their violent and cruel nature, the battles with them, their sight alone, and how they constantly forced him to think and re-evaluate what he felt about them.
"We can't save it, no." Azimuth bit his lip and gulped lowly. "And it is odd that I am even thinking about doing so." He stepped further away and rounded the entity on the ground. A brief glance at Ratchet – Nanotech was dispersed in the air, like faint blue glow filling the room. Some gathered at the younger's face without him noticing, and at the armor too. Well, perhaps the elder would keep that memory to himself.
A faint smile, then he stepped behind the Shapeshifter. The readings of his visor told him that its energy was almost depleted, and that it had little to no time left to live. It certainly wouldn't be a threat anymore. "I'm sorry," he quietly formed as he gripped the wrench's helve. "Wherever your kind goes after death, perhaps your partner will be there too."
The Jealous turned around, eyes widened. Then it formed a last contemptuous smile. "Curse you, Lombax. First you have contentment, then you have bliss, and now you have dignity. My jealousy wasn't misplaced after all." The eyes closed as its head started to dissolve. Its voice took up a mellow, almost friendly tone.
"I hope your death will be as disagreeable as you are."
And with those words the Shapeshifter dissolved. Alister held his weapon in his grip, pressing his lips together. At first he could not take his gaze away from the spot where the enemy had been just seconds ago – but in the end, he picked up the collar, slowly turned to the side and walked towards Ratchet. "Let's go," he raspily suggested.
"Now that was excellent. I'm expecting you in half an hour in the usual room. I have a Superior to 'talk' to." Nefarious's voice grated on Ratchet's mind, and he slammed a fist into the wall next to him.
"You're welcome, scrap-head." He gritted out. Soon he was distracted from his anger as a tail tugged slightly at his.
"You will have enough time to vent later on." A pause. Then he looked at Ratchet and smiled softly. "For now, I'm just glad we made it." With that said, Azimuth walked ahead, the wrench contracting and being attached to his back again.
Ratchet slowly breathed out. His eyes caught the wrench, a chance that he gladly took to focus his mind on something.
"How's your wrench still in one piece? It's amazing that it survived the decay; must have one hell of an alloy."
"I am not sure. Perhaps it's because it was stuck in the Jealous. Or it can simply survive for that long." The elder sighed. He should not tell Ratchet about what he had seen happening to him. "Perhaps the effects affect only inanimate and unattached objects too."
"I hope so. I felt weird when I was close to it when ramming in your wrench." He scratched his cheek, the fur there having regained not quite its former golden color.
Azimuth looked at him, ears flicking slightly. Unknown to the younger Lombax, he reached to the manifestor behind his back and selected a Nanotech orb, shattering it. Then he approached the younger and lifted his head up, seeking his gaze to distract him from the faint blue glow around his hand. "When we get back to our room, we can unwind." A cheeky grin. "All the cuddles and hugs to make you feel better included."
If Ratchet's gaze hadn't been turned to him already, he would have snapped his head into Alister's direction. Searching his face for some silent seconds, he nodded. "'kay."
"All right then. Let's not waste any more time." The elder smiled and turned away, walking ahead once more. "We have a dreadful doctor waiting for us, after all."