Whole Again

by RevenantReaper337

Sequel to Time Heals All. It's been nearly a year since Drek's defeat; the day Ratchet last saw Ellen alive before she was cruelly torn away. Fate works in mysterious ways however, and an unexpected opportunity provided by the eccentric head of a mega corporation in a distant galaxy may be just the catalyst needed to reunite the heroes of Solana once more. Covers R&C 2.

21. Of Stealth and Heavy Metal

Author's note:

Good lord that's a lot of reviews for one chapter, and overall really. I mean, 260 plus reviews already and we're not even at the halfway point yet for this story! Thank you one and all for your continued support, and to those who pointed out the frankly daft mistakes on my part in the last chapter; you'll be happy to hear that they've been fixed along with a few niggling little issues that escaped my attention first time around. In any case, here is the concluding half of our heroes trip to Dobbo and the long awaited return of Giant Clank. So without further ado, let's get this chapter started.

Review replies:

Razor of DOOM - Fair enough, and easily fixed. Though interestingly, it can also be defined as preoccupied or lost in thought; which is more akin to what I was originally trying to convey in the first instance, though not the second. For simplicity's sake though, both have been changed to just plain 'amusement' Hope that's better.

starrat - Thank you once again, hope you like this one too.

Firestar5277 - Glad you liked it, even if the exposition at the beginning was a little on the long side. Naïve though he might be in some aspects of life, Clank is pretty much a genius so I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner rather than not. The question is how he'll deal with such a revelation, and whether or not he'll keep it to himself… Considering Ellen's track record on solo excursions, it's almost a safe bet that something will go wrong; it's just a case of when and how bad. Hope you had a good Easter as well, take care.

Seiya-Serena-fan18 - Thank you, and believe me, I will for as long as I'm able.

OMNISENSE95 - Whoops. I honestly can't believe I did that, nor did I realise that was there until you pointed it out, so well spotted on your part. Things will be getting interesting indeed from here on out; especially since certain canon events will start to diverge somewhat in coming chapters…

vengarl22 - That's an excellent point, and one I've been trying to hammer home since the first chapters of Time Heals All. The problem with a fair number of self-insert and OC-centric stories is that they tend to quickly adapt to mowing down hordes of enemies with very little in the way of moral reasoning for the lives lost, becoming functioning sociopaths who have few qualms about killing anyone without really thinking about it. Such behaviour might be fine within the confines of a videogame where everything can be reset, but in reality there are severe mental, physical, and moral consequences involved in ending the life of a living being who isn't just another cardboard cut out bad guy. It's a theme I've tried to tie into the stories and something that will be expanded upon with time in order to humanise (for want of a better term) both the heroes and the enemies they face.

Plazmatic - The Carbonox armour - while awesome - would be way too expensive for Debby to build one set, let alone two considering how much the base components alone would cost. That said, Ratchet and Ellen's 'end game' armour sets will likely have carbonox plates to cover vital areas, mixed in with other materials to form the final product. I haven't got the final designs planned out yet, but I hope to have something special lined up by the time we get to that stage.

Destiny W - Thanks again, hope you enjoy the new chapter.

TimeLordCompanion - Thank you, but to answer your question, I'm afraid not. For now at least, my intention is to simply cover the first three games with Deadlocked/Gladiator as a distant possibility. Somewhere down the line I may cover the Future Saga as well (Tools of Destruction onwards) while skimming over the PSP games, but that's a long way off if at all since I want to write other stories as well and this one is eating up all my time.

Tempest Fugit - Glad you liked it, and I'm afraid you're a little off the mark. Without wanting to spoil anything, the STIKY and ACK will be end game weapons that Ratchet and Ellen won't get their hands on for a fair while yet due to their potentially story breaking, overpowered nature. Something tells me the Sire of Fire rant was written with Ratchet in mind; can't imagine why… TARC could definitely be a thing, and may perhaps explain why human scientific advancement has slowed down so much compared to the rapid expansion of the last century. But considering how creative humanity can be, I'm sure they would more than have their hands full.

Clank may be technically only one year old at this point in the story, but I'm certain he has enough tact to be discrete once he finally realises Ratchet and Ellen have taken their relationship in a more physical direction. Thanks again, and that particular image is potential omake material if I do say so myself; though I'm pretty sure Ratchet and Clank have already got their tickets and are likely sharing a tub of popcorn as the spectacle unfolds.

DarkEnigma95 - Thank you very much, and the references just seem to keep coming, no matter how obscure. I think pretty much everyone loves the Bouncer, because, well… Bouncer! I mean, it's crowd control incarnate. To be honest, I tended to skip buying the Plasma Coil in the game in favour of saving up for the Minirocket Tube and of course the Bouncer, so I can't remember much about it. Guess I'll have to fix that.

The whole being able to just teleport inside the testing facility thing really bugged me in canon, so I tried to make things more realistic and a lot harder for Ellen to get inside; something that will be continued in this chapter. And of course Giant Clank is back and ready to pound some heavy metal once again; but who will his opponent be…? Thanks again, and hope you like the new chapter.

Light Seeker 001 - Lots of questions on your part this week, and I'll do my best to answer them. Ellen's presence and subsequent influence resulted in Angela revealing a lot more at this point in time than she did in canon with regards to the Protopet and her work on it. This was intentional on my part in order to both create tension amongst the heroes with regards to who they should really trust, and because I have something else planned for later on that may alter event s where Ratchet and Clank would have received the relevant information in canon. Ellen is indeed starting to put the pieces together, but she still doesn't know enough yet to make any kind of conclusions.

For the events I believe you're referring to (Aranos, second visit) I have, once again, something else planned out that will change the team's dynamic, and (potential spoiler) result in Ellen making a new friend… I may have the heroes buy conventional Megacorp branded armour from a vendor as a temporary measure, but the intention is for Debonair to supply their final upgrade at a certain point in the timeline which I won't be revealing yet to avoid another potential spoiler. The carbonox armour is far too expensive, not to mention able to tank a stupid amount of damage, and so won't be used by Ratchet or Ellen in this story since it would tip the balance too far in their favour. That said, hypothetically at least, I imagine a Ellen's version to be a lot more sleeker and taller to complement her frame while having no armoured tail section or protruding ear defenders since she needs neither whatsoever.

The White Guardian - Well as the saying goes, better late than never. Seriously though, I honestly don't mind; it sounds like you've more than had your hands full and I can't say no to a double review. With regards to chapter 19, there was no way I would have been able to put in 'that scene' without bumping up the age rating and I personally feel it was better taking place off screen anyway, so I'm glad you approve of my decision to forego it and the alterations to the level layout. I always find it's the little details that make stories more believable, and I figured I'd find a reason for them to still be on the planet and worked from there.

I really hope someone at Insomniac gets the same idea too; now that would be a DLC worth paying out for. With luck, the movie will be enough of a success to warrant a sequel; but a possible TV series? Not sure how it would work, but I'm definitely sold on the idea. Congrats on getting a PS4 by the way. Even if you don't have any games yet, at least you can download whatever's going free on this month's Playstation Plus members section; the PS4 version of Zombi-U is certainly worth a look. That and of course you've the forthcoming Ratchet and Clank game to look forward to as well, and I'm sure that Bouncer will see very good use from day one…

I can't really comment on the music since I've been actively anything to do with both the movie and tie in game whenever I can in order to cut down on any potential spoilers. I do agree though that some musical scores work best when set to the imagery it was composed for rather than as a separate piece, it's just not the same otherwise. As for chapter 20, I'm glad you like the Metal Gear reference because there's more to come in this chapter, though perhaps a little more subtle. It certainly seems like an appropriate taunt or perhaps ability would be more accurate for the Spy, and I'm honestly surprised it hasn't already made it into the game before now. Funny though it would be, I can't see Ellen using the cardboard box trick to sneak around the test facility; although that does give me ideas for the future…

I think Clank's main concern was with fuel consumption and making sure he didn't burn too much achieving orbit, while making sure there's enough for a safe return journey considering he's not exactly aerodynamic or designed for extended space flight. That and my knowledge of the physics behind it are pretty much nil, meaning I've largely had to wing it, so thank you for explaining that and the extra information as well; should Ratchet and Ellen ever need to locate Earth without any other assistance then that will come in extremely handy indeed. Looking forward to hearing from you again once you've got time; but until then, take care, and… don't work too hard.

ReginaDC21 - Hey again, and don't worry about it; I'm just glad to hear from you, and that you liked your sister's poem. Hope you had a great birthday. I'm looking forward to the big finale and reveal myself, but that's unfortunately that's quite a way off yet. Still, at least the journey there will be a (metaphorical and literal) blast with what's coming up in the following chapters. Until then, take care, and hope to hear from you soon.

Sonachugirl - I think being flushed down the toilet was a metaphor for his hero career, but it's still a mystery for the ages. Also, game logic. Well spotted there; the MGS reference is itself a sly dig at certain events from Time Heals All and seemed kind of appropriate really considering what's happening over the chapter and the next. Obligatory stealthy infiltration and giant robots, anyone? In a way, not being able to remember the level is a good thing since the events therein come as a surprise, though I have branched off a bit into more original territory more so in this chapter so I guess that'll be new to everyone anyway. Maybe you've just got gaming YouTubers on the brain? Sounds like I'll have to take another look at your gallery when I've got a chance to see for myself. Take care, and hope you enjoy the new chapter.

GoldenLombaxGirl - (Blinks) Huh… Actually, no I didn't. Though like you said, it is kind of obvious when you think about it and a small wonder it hasn't happened before now. Should definitely be interesting though, thanks for the heads up.

I'm always trying to improve as a writer, so please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome, flamers are not.

If you enjoy this story, please feel free to check out the other stories on my account should you wish.

An infiltration mission, giant robots, and not a cardboard box in sight. But what lies in wait for Ellen deep inside the bowels of the testing facility? Who is the mysterious opponent set to face Giant Clank and Ratchet upon Dobbo's artificial moon? And when will the Metal Gear references end? The answers to these questions and more lay in Chapter 21.

- RevenantReaper337

Disclaimer:

Ratchet & Clank, associated characters, organisations, and intellectual properties belong to Insomniac Games. All other real world organisations and products belong to their respective governments, companies, etc. Original characters, creatures, weapons, etc. belong to me. Cover art belongs to Nekolover3 and is used with her kind permission.

'Thoughts'

Flashbacks

"Speech"

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Chapter 21:

Of Stealth and Heavy Metal

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Megacorp Testing Facility, Dobbo

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.083 Galactic calendar

1:07pm local time

Considering the elevator hadn't ceased in its descent for the past few minutes, Ellen couldn't help but wonder just how far down the test facility went. She had to be a good few thousand feet below sea level already and yet the digital counter above the doors still read in the mid-teens; with the hot labs she was aiming for likely to be near the bottom floors if her theory panned out. Of course a place this big was bound to have an equally large number of personnel, which the redheaded commando would have to avoid somehow along with any surveillance measures in place. But with Ratchet's diversion drawing attention elsewhere, local security forces should be reduced enough to slip through while any researchers still in the building would hopefully have already relocated to a panic room once the 'attack' had begun.

Nobody's luck holds forever however, so it was perhaps unsurprising that the human found her elevator ride grinding to a halt a few floors short of her destination; emergency brakes locked in place along with the doors in spite of repeatedly pounding the release button. Ellen froze at the sound of rapidly approaching footfalls just outside the lift, interspersed with incomprehensible radio chatter and weapons cocking as what was most likely a Megacorp response team took up position. Realising she was trapped, the redhead's breath hitched as she desperately sought a way out; her eyes almost automatically darting towards the ceiling based emergency hatch a few seconds later.

Well, it always worked in the movies. Right?

Bracing her legs on the decorative facade running around the elevator car, Ellen boosted herself up and shoved the hatch open; barely managing to hang on to the ledge and squeeze herself through before resealing it just as the outer doors began to slide open. She didn't dare so much as breathe, heart lodged firmly in her mouth and ears straining against the sudden silence; one broken several long seconds later as steady footfalls entered the lift itself, followed by a voice from outside. "Anything?"

"Nah, not a damn thing," came the frustrated response from whoever was first inside; probably the unit's point man. "Probably been called from a different floor."

"What about the ceiling hatch?" the first voice insisted. "Somebody could've got up there."

Ellen tensed in response while subconsciously reaching towards her Quick Select in anticipation of shooting her way out, a notion forestalled as the officer snorted in derision and began to pace back out of the car once more. "Hey, you wanna check up there then be my guest, Jerry. After what happened to that guy in squad seven last week I ain't taking any chances in confined spaces. Poor bastard."

"You mean the tentacle thing that got loose from containment?" 'Jerry' asked with surprise. "Didn't they catch it?"

The as yet unnamed point man snorted bitterly. "Nope. Last I heard, they had it bottled up in the xenobiology wing before it disappeared again. Now shut up and lemme call this in."

Ellen held still with bated breath as he radioed his report to whoever was in charge of security here, trying glean what details she could while keeping a wary eye out for anything that might be in the elevator shaft with her. If escaping creatures was the norm around here then lord knows what else might be crawling around between the walls and elsewhere, just waiting to pounce. Suddenly, hiding on top of a elevator car in pitch black darkness didn't seem like a good idea anymore.

"Understood: condition amber. All units, return to your positions but keep an eye out for anything suspicious. The intruder may still be here. Command out."

The tinny-sounding voice over the radio cut off along with the transmission, the point man addressing his squad shortly thereafter. "Alright, you heard the man. Leave one of the robots here; the rest of us will head back to the checkpoint and lock it down tight. Come on people, let's hustle!"

Waiting a minute or so after the last footsteps had echoed away, Ellen pried the access hatch open by just a crack and peeked through; just able to make out the shadow cast by one of Megacorp's trooper model combat robots stretching inside the still open elevator car. There was no way she could possibly slip past without alerting the machine, and taking it on in such close quarters was too risky; meaning the redheaded commando would have to find an alternate route and soon if she wanted to finish the job before security grew tighter still. Carefully replacing the hatch, Ellen activated her helmet's light amplification feature and soon laid eyes on a nearby ventilation shaft cover; the quasi-night vision device giving an excellent field of view as she steadily shifted closer and pried it open with her Versa Blade.

The shaft was barely large enough to accommodate the human's frame even with her Jump Pack temporarily stored in sub-space, elbows touching the sides and rubbing against inflexible metal ducting as she squeezed her way through. Thankfully there was only one way to go, so the chances of getting lost were minimal; Unfortunately it was in entirely the wrong direction, and it wasn't until she came up upon a mesh grill pouring light into the shaft that Ellen was finally able to get her bearings. Peeking down into what appeared to be a break room below, it was obvious that it had been abandoned in a hurry. Half finished plates and mugs lay on top of the two elongated tables she could see, chairs scattered along with the occasional hint of personal belongings and what looked like a very expensive PDA.

With no quiet way of doing so otherwise, Ellen managed to bring her Versa Blade up to eye level and activated the heated edge; slicing through the grille altogether and letting it fall to the table below. When nothing happened a moment or two later, the human pushed head first through the resulting gap before inverting herself; hanging on by her fingertips and dropping on top of someone's lunch with a resounding squelch. Checking the break room was indeed empty and the door barred, a dozen or so paper napkins managed to remove most traces of a fish paste and mayonnaise sandwich from the soles of her boots with a disgusted grimace before the redhead set to work on the PDA's encryption algorithms.

Thankfully her Wrist Com's hacking suite was amongst the best on the market right now, so a seven digit pass code plus a few firewalls were practically nothing in terms of security measures. Definitely easier than trying to break through digital locks with her old net book like last time, that's for sure. A few seconds later and she was in; skimming through one Doctor Jason Carmichael's inbox and stored files for anything useful. Aside from correspondence on the medical applications of local sea weed and several increasingly flirtatious exchanges between him and an intern down in genetics, the scientist had received two messages that piqued Ellen's interest. The first was a generic alert informing all employees that the facility was under attack and to report to the nearest panic room, which explained why everyone had just got up and left in a hurry and meant that most of the people working here would be safely out of the potential crossfire.

The second however was regarding the hot labs themselves; or rather one specific floor which had been gutted in a large scale explosion around three weeks prior. Although most of the project data had been lost during the incident, it was regularly backed up on a separate server located a few floors above, and had last been updated but minutes before the lab had been destroyed. Carmichael had requested access for his own work but was denied due to the ongoing investigation, with all of the relevant files locked down until further notice unless directly approved by the board of directors.

Was this what Angela wanted them to find? If the server was still intact and she could access it directly, then the information contained within could be exactly what Ellen was looking for with regards to the Protopet and what really happened here. Only then could Ratchet, Clank, and herself make any kind of informed decision as to what to do next; and who they could trust on either side of this messed up situation. The first order of business however would be finding the server in the first and bypassing any security measures that were in place; meaning the redhead needed a map or similar to locate it if she didn't want to wander aimlessly.

On a hunch she rifled through the pockets of a nearby lab coat left on the back of a chair, coming up with a mid-level security swipe card and a crumpled, coffee stained, printed schedule that also included a simplified map of the first fifteen floors below ground. The elevator had stopped on the thirteenth floor and the hot labs apparently started from the fourteenth going down, with the sixteenth being marked as off limits to all employees. If that was the gutted Protopet lab as Ellen suspected, and the rest of the information was correct, then the back up server had to be hidden somewhere between her current location and the floor above since that was marked as the facility's command centre and armoury for security forces. It was just a question of finding out where she could gain access without attracting any further attention.

Unblocking the door once more, Ellen cautiously checked both ways before slipping out of the break room and hanging a right; treading softly and keeping an ear out for any patrols. Coming up to a junction several turns later, the human pressed her back up against the wall and chanced a peek around the corner; noting the bored-looking novalian guard dressed in full riot gear pacing away with his weapon held low and the panning surveillance camera at the corridor's far end. That way was an obvious no go, but the retreating man's bulk did obscure the camera's field of view enough for her to crawl across to the opposite side of the junction without being spotted before standing back up and continuing to sneak on.

The distinct lack of sound other than the faint of hum of electricity was a little foreboding and had the redheaded commando on edge as she swept through an abandoned office space, although a mixed patrol of robot troopers led two fully armoured organic soldiers with 'Megacorp Security Service' stencilled across their chest plates wasn't exactly the kind of company she would have liked. Ducking behind a desk, Ellen watched a pair of black combat boots approach her position and slipped around the opposite side; staying low as she rapidly transferred to a cubicle just across the way on hands and knees before hiding behind the partition with baited breath. There was a pregnant pause as the man presumably reached her previous position followed by a contemptuous snort; the slight sound of metal on metal filling the gap as if he were prodding something with his gun. What was he doing? Did he know she was here?

"Spread out and search the area," came a slightly distorted voice mere feet away from the tensed human's hiding spot. "If the intruder's still here then I want 'em found."

Oh shit. Not good.

Ellen briefly considered faking her way out of the situation before just as quickly discarding it. The whole facility was supposed to be locked down, and any unfamiliar faces would be immediately suspicious and likely to get shot in the face, Megacorp commando or not. Instead she hid beneath the cubicle's computer desk as the squad began their sweep, daring not to move until the soldier checking her booth had moved past and out the other side before rolling out and rising into a crouch. Staying low, the redhead slowly crept behind the armoured figure at what she judged to be a safe distance as he checked each cubicle in turn; diverting off to one side and evading the gaze of a robot trooper by hunching down behind a large potted palm next to a support column.

It moved off to her left a few seconds later, giving the human a straight shot to the exit on the opposite side of the office space but fifteen feet away. But it might as well had been a mile away considering how many eyes were searching for her right now, and of course the other armoured soldier from earlier that was currently barring the way forward with his weapon poised to fire at the slightest hint of movement. Another distraction was in order, but throwing something while in his line of sight would give the human's position away; not to mention the fact there was another robot approaching her position from behind and would be on her in seconds if she didn't move right now.

Trapped between the two potential hostiles and with nowhere else to hide, Ellen picked a few decorative stones from the palm's ceramic pot and tossed them underhand at a filing cabinet lining the wall a good dozen yards behind her. The resulting clang of metal on metal drew everyone's attention, weapons raised and pointed towards the source as the patrol squad closed in with all due caution. None however noticed as the redheaded commando crossed the open gap between her and the cubicle just across the way; pausing to let a trooper move past before rounding the partition and creeping around the left side of the expansive room as quickly as she dared. Soon they would realise her ruse, and if the Megacorp team was smart then they would know for definite she was here.

Ellen planned to be gone long before that though and the exit was merely yards away now, just past the last desk on this particular row of office cubicles and across a brief expanse of open ground. making sure there still wasn't anyone behind her, the human peeked around her cover and slowly edged out; not daring to blink as she kept eye contact with the patrol and quietly edged out of the room. It looked like the two armoured soldiers realised they had been played and she had no intention of sticking around; slipping through the exit door before they could begin relaying orders to their mechanised subordinates and darting down the corridor outside.

The human took one turn then another, before finally slowing down once she judged herself to be a safe enough distance away; heart pounding and breath short as she tried to get her bearings once more. There had to be a way into wherever the back up server was hidden nearby, but so far she had seen nothing even remotely promising. Add to that the fact that the local security forces had been actively looking for an intruder since she entered the facility and time was rapidly running out; especially since that last group would no doubt be radioing in their encounter and drawing more reinforcements to this level. The corridors were likely about to get a lot more crowded soon, so maybe the ventilation ducts would be a safer bet for locating her goal without raising any further suspicions.

Finding a likely candidate mid-way up a wall a minutes later, Ellen pried it open and squeezed her way inside; leaving the cover where it was and worming further into the test facility's off limit areas. With luck, one of these shafts would lead to where the server was located or at least a method of discerning it. She just hoped that escaped tentacle thing the two guards from earlier mentioned wasn't in the ventilation system with her, or anywhere near here for that matter; otherwise it might end up being Oozla all over again.

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Megacorp Games Proving Ground, Dobbo orbit

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.083 Galactic calendar

1:17pm local time

Travelling through space at high velocity without the aid of a spaceship was perhaps amongst the strangest things Ratchet had ever done, especially since he was currently clinging to the back of his currently enlarged best friend with only his sealed helmet's limited oxygen supply to prevent him from suffocating. Still, it didn't stop him from enjoying the ride while it lasted as Giant Clank broke through the atmosphere and achieved orbit; the Mathematician's assistance proving invaluable in plotting a fuel efficient intercept course that saw them rapidly approaching the artificial moon where their shot at the Megacorp Games would be made or broken.

Getting closer by the second, it soon became clear that the planetoid based proving ground was modelled after a cityscape; scaled down skyscrapers protruding from the surface like a porcupine's quills amongst compacted streets. There was simulated gravity and a breathable atmosphere too; something they only discovered once Giant Clank reoriented himself to land and experienced the heat build up associated with air friction. Ratchet managed to shield himself the best he could while his commando suit's temperature regulating suite was taxed to capacity for the brief seconds it took to breach the atmospheric bubble; holding on tight as the metallic-silver war machine he was riding hit the ground with enough force to indent the now cracked ground and form a two foot deep crater.

Rising from his crouching position, Giant Clank ran a diagnostics check on his systems for any accidental damage while his optics scanned the deserted street he had landed in, only to pause as he picked up signs of movement directly ahead. "Ratchet, I believe we are about to have company."

Still a little shaken up from the sudden impact, Ratchet forced himself to focus as he groggily raised his head over enlarged machine's shoulder. "Where?"

The answer came in the form of heavy footfalls that were growing in both volume and consistency from somewhere at the end of the street; both lombax and robot tensing as something red and metallic crashed through a mock apartment building amidst an explosion of rubble. Lowering the arm he had used to shield his face and passenger, Giant Clank got his first good look at a looming humanoid shape as the dust cloud began to shift and settle; easily a head taller than himself and with what appeared to be twin scythe-like wings protruding from its back. Striding forth on powerful legs ending in twin-clawed feet, the predominantly dark red and gunmetal grey battle mech had a broad and heavily armoured torso with smooth, rounded edges to help deflect incoming fire; each arm ending with a gauntlet mounted rocket launcher and tri-digited talons that looked like they could cleave through steel plating as if it were butter.

It was towards the sunken and translucent bubble canopy in lieu of a head however that Ratchet and Giant Clank were focused, especially since the viciously grinning pilot's face visible within the cockpit was one they could have done without seeing anytime soon. "Logan?! What the heck is he doing here?!"

"Surprise, morons!" Thugs-4-Less' head honcho gloated at the lombax's words, his gravelly voice carried across the diminishing gap via external speakers. "Its about time youse two showed up."

"You were expecting us," Giant Clank stated pointedly; fists clenching and optics narrowing at their long established foe. "But how did you know we would be here?"

The mercenary's presence was certainly a cause for concern since they now knew who exactly hired them. Did Angela lure them into another trap with false promises, or was this just an excuse on his part to get revenge? Considering their target was the test facility itself and an ambush there would have made a lot more sense, the latter was starting to look more likely. The other lombax seemed to genuinely want the three of them on her side, or at least after the same goal anyway, and Thugs-4-Less weren't exactly renowned for their sense of morality and high scruples considering their usual client base.

"What, youse think you're the only ones who've got sources?" Logan snorted, his mech slamming a taloned gauntlet into an open palm with a resounding clang of metal on metal. "I've been waitin' to pay back the furball and his broad since Megapolis; you're just the icing on the cake, tin man."

"Can you believe this guy?" Ratchet asked his enlarged friend with a roll of his eyes. "C'mon Clank, let's show 'em what happens when you mess with us."

"I had thought you would never ask, " Giant Clank responded dryly; stomping forth with his forearm-mounted rocket launchers already raised and firing as the battle began in earnest.

The mercenary's mech responded in kind with a barrage of its own, Logan continuing to fire as he backing off at a steady pace while stray explosions rocked the mock city street. Neither was inflicting much more than superficial damage to the other at best with their constant exchange, keeping an even distance between the pair while merely chipping paint and scoring armour as debris rained down on either side. It wasn't until a skyscraper festooned with billboards on an intersection began to collapse that the Thugs-4-Less leader decided to change tactics; using the rain of glass and steel girders to mask his movements as his battle mech burst through with jump jets flaring and a taloned fist already extending towards a surprised-looking Giant Clank.

The extra large robot took the brunt of the impact on his armoured chassis, almost doubling over from the sheer amount of force and leaving him vulnerable to a pair of one-two jabs that left him reeling backwards from the unexpected assault while Ratchet hung on grimly. A fourth punch was intercepted by a left cross that knocked the offending limb aside, Giant Clank stepping into the crimson-painted machine's guard and unleashing a right hook that left a faint, fist-shaped dent in its torso before finishing up with a devastating uppercut that sent Logan crashing through another building and into the street on the other side. By the time he caught up with his lumbering gait however, the mercenary leader was already gone; both the enlarged robot and his lombax passenger snapping their gaze in all directions in an attempt to track him.

"Hey, where'd he go?"

The first warning they got was when a glowing blue orb arced over a mocked up department store to their left; Giant Clank launching himself vertically into the air at Ratchet's shouted warning just in the nick of time as the entire street was consumed in azure fire. The planetoid's reduced gravitational pull meant that they were at a much higher altitude than anticipated and thus could see the devastation inflicted as the pair rapidly fell back to earth; the entire city block reduced to rubble and Logan's battle mech already advancing with his wrist-mounted launchers poised to fire. He almost certainly didn't expect his opponent to angle their descent in mid-air; the opening salvo of rockets missing by a considerable margin and a shrill whistle building up as the multi-ton, silver-plated war machine instead chose to drop directly on his head, firing all the way.

The crimson-painted battle mech barely managed to avoid being pancaked by virtue of its pilot reflexively triggering the jump jets, but still ended up stumbling backwards due to the sheer amount of force generated on impact. Surrounding buildings still crumbled from the shockwave and cracks spider-webbed across the street as Giant Clank rose from his crouch and boosted clear of the crater he had caused, both launchers already spitting rockets and continuing to chip away at the other machine's armour as he sought to close the gap once more. Logan had sufficiently regained his balance however and was prepared to meet the charge in kind; wrenching a particularly long girder from what was left of a building and wielding it like a club.

"Batter up!"

The first swing smashed against Giant Clank's helm without warning, stunning him long enough for a second hit to stagger the enlarged robot sideways and through an already damaged upmarket apartment block. The third hit was deflected by an armoured gauntlet however as he quickly recovered; tearing away what was left of the improvised weapon and grabbing the Thugs-4-Less mech by the arms before shoving it back into the soon to be demolished skyscraper on the other side. Both machines barrelled through the resulting cascade of glass and rubble into an open park area on the other side, the neatly turfed grass churned beyond recognition as the two metallic titans traded a never-ending stream of vicious blows that left both sporting multiple dents all over their frames.

Logan threw a gut punch that drew a right hook in return; talons tearing rents in armour and fists pummelling anything exposed in what promised to be a full on slugfest were it not for a few tricks available to either participant. Ducking beneath a high swing, Giant Clank launched into a tackle that almost knocked the crimson-painted mech down; ignoring a blow to his exposed shoulder joint and grasping his foe around the waist before bodily lifting the machine and throwing it across the park. In spite of his best attempt to cushion the fall with his jump jets, Logan still flew a good forty or so feet before slamming down into the dirt; cursing up a storm in the flailing mech's cockpit as it bounced once before finally slewing to a halt. It did however mean he had gained some distance and a chance to change tactics; forcing his battered machine back to its feet and charging back into the fray with wing surfaces flaring and jump jets giving an extra boost to his speed.

"You want a piece of me? Bring it on!"

---

Megacorp Testing Facility, Dobbo

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.083 Galactic calendar

1:25pm local time

Sandwiched between the twelfth and thirteenth floor was a sterile metal corridor that hadn't seen use in some time; the lifeless steel blue of such an enclosed space brightened only by thick stripes of yellow on either side that had long since faded with age. Partially exposed power conduits ran along the walls for as far as the eye could see, thrumming with a dull hum of electricity that filled the otherwise silent confines, while regularly spaced alcoves on either side held pools of what appeared to be liquid mercury for some unknown reason. It was into this environment that a mesh-plated grill dropped from the ceiling with a resounding clang in the relative solitude, followed shortly thereafter by a certain redheaded commando who landed in a crouch with a grunt before checking her surroundings once more.

After what felt like an age cooped up in the ventilation shafts, Ellen couldn't help but revel in the chance to move freely once again as she worked the stiffness out of her limbs; noting the locked down teleporter pad next to the blank wall a dozen or so feet behind her with a raised brow as she prepared to move out once more. That would explain why this floor was inaccessible from the elevator and the back up server so well hidden; the counterpart teleporter pad likely kept in a secure location and only used by a select few for maintenance if at all. It would also make getting out of here a hell of a lot harder, unless she wanted to backtrack through the ducting with the entire security force hunting her down, and lord knows what contingencies were in place if or when the human got what she came for. Before that however, she had to actually find and access the server directly; and past experience had shown that it would likely be a task unto itself.

Setting off with her hand cannon held at the ready, Ellen encountered the first signs of security in the form of a trio of bulbous, spherical floating drones topped with an orange visor that were easily twice her girth. A thrust vectoring engine pod on either side kept them afloat on slight jets of purple flame, while a small scale searchlight married to twin-linked machine guns was suspended from beneath its main body and seemed to be able to rotate at will. Right now they seemed to be holding where they were and blockading the archway ahead, sending out audible search pulses every few seconds and leaving no lapse in coverage to slip through; meaning that the redhead would have to take them down rapidly before an alarm could be raised.

Rather than risk herself unnecessarily, Ellen tossed a few Megaturrets underarm to distract the now alerted hovering machines before switching back to her Leviathan; a flashing, rotating light atop their now aglow visors accompanying a droning alarm as armour-piercing rounds punched through their inch thick plating and detonated inside at the push of a button. Thankfully none of them had managed to bring their machine guns to bear on her before being reduced to scrap metal and the brief alarm hadn't drawn any obvious unwelcome attention, leaving the human free to advance past the archway with her hand cannon raised and ready for whatever else might show up.

Of course there just so happened to be a half dozen blade balls waiting to stop her, although these seemed to be a little bigger than normal and had green sensor clusters rather than orange. Ellen's HUD helpfully tagged them as the PX-6 blade ball V2.0, and although they were quicker and slightly tougher than the previous models both Ratchet and herself had wiped out before, these new versions went down just as fast when introduced to buckshot at nigh point blank range.

The corridor ahead was flooded by the liquefied mercury-like substance that the human had noted earlier, with the now defunct drones having been guarding the narrow, thirty odd feet bridge across to the other side. It wasn't until she was a quarter of the way across however when a small generator of some kind popped up on the opposite bridgehead, filling the air with a crackling scent of ozone as the protruding antennas on top emitted waves of chained ball lightning at regular intervals. Forced to play a deadly game of hopscotch to avoid getting fried, Ellen managed to push forward with carefully timed jumps and good sense of rhythm until she finally made it to the far side; the generator avoiding retribution by retreating back into its floor based hatch and leaving the human to face the path ahead with an irritated frown.

Security certainly seemed to be getting tighter the closer she got to where the back up server was supposed to be; the widened, zigzagging corridor ahead home to several more of those floating security drones on patrol with their searchlights sweeping back and forth. Ellen kept to the far left and followed along the wall, darting behind a protruding support strut and holding still until the machine's gaze was elsewhere before just as quickly slipping away once more. The corridor widened once more into large passage way that could easily accommodate heavy vehicle traffic; thick industrial piping running overhead from one wall to another while several waist high shipping containers lay scattered haphazardly. It left the human feeling increasingly curious about just how extensive this hidden floor was, although that was soon quashed upon rounding the next bend as she came face to face with a full squad of robot troopers that reacted violently to her intrusion.

Twin plasma rifles blazed a trail across the short divide and stealth was most definitely off the menu as Ellen hunkered down behind a soon to be scorched shipping crate, tossing both bombs and Megaturrets over her cover in an attempt to buy some time. Whether the alarm she'd tripped earlier had summoned them or the machines were guarding this floor anyway she honestly didn't know, and right now it was irrelevant. They had to know what she was here for, and if the redhead was going to secure the server before any data could potentially be purged then she couldn't afford to get bogged down in a drawn out fight.

To this end, once the incoming fire had slackened somewhat, Ellen rounded her cover on one knee and drilled the closest machine centre mass with her carbine; one of her nearby turrets finishing it off before being destroyed in turn by another assailant. Ducking back away from a stream of plasma fire, the human commando mentally tallied another one down to rocket fire judging by the explosions and prepared to underslung grenade launcher to bear; only to spot one of the robotic soldiers scant feet away as it flanked her cover with a rifle butt descending towards her face. It was only her knee-jerk reaction that prevented the redhead's helmet visor from being caved in; barely managing to block the blow with her carbine and rolling away from a second before slicing through the offending weapon's barrels with the heated edge of her Versa Blade.

A pair of shotgun blasts finally put the robot down for good, and by the time Ellen had turned her attention back to the battle it was already over; a pair of drunkenly swaying legs twitching with electricity from where another machine had been blown in half before keeling over as she jogged past and around the next corner. If the prior passageway had been extensive then this was something else altogether; the human finding herself stood atop a large, circular service lift leading down into a completely open two storey space that could easily park several starships on top of one another with room to spare. The area directly below was protected by two more of those electrical pulse generators that swamped the floor with overlapping waves of crackling power, beyond which was a few more troopers lay waiting in cover behind a row of shipping crates on either side of an obvious kill zone.

They in turn were guarding another narrow bridge over a much more extensive nigh lake-sized pool of the liquid mercury substance, multiple industrial scale cross-shaped bracings lining the route and preventing a good view of what lay on the far side. There did however appear to be a mirrored elevator shaft leading back up to a much higher level again, and hopefully the damn server since the human had just about enough of this place for one day, although first she had to actually get there. Thankfully such an elevated position made for an excellent sniper nest and Ellen's Vaporizer was more than up to the task; lying prone on her stomach at the platform's edge and aligning the crosshairs with her first victim.

One of the robot trooper's heads simply ceased to be, its comrades blazing away in the general direction of where they calculated the shooter to be just as a second crimson vapour trail stabbed through the air. Ellen watched the mechanical soldier fall with a neat hole punched through its chest before swinging the scope across to where the last one had taken cover behind their shared barricade; breathing steady and even as her finger lay poised on the trigger while waiting for an opportunity. All it took was a few inches of exposed metal foot, the human shattering it with her next shot and causing the robot to overbalance; exposing itself to a final stabbing beam of light that put it down for good.

Sparing a moment to slot in a fresh clip, Ellen stowed the Vaporizer and prepared to make her descent; opting to avoid the elevator and pulse generators at the bottom by gliding forth with her Jump Pack on slow burn. The redhead still wasn't a fan of heights, but she was getting better with time, and at least this way she could drop a few Megaturrets at her projected landing zone to take care of any unpleasant surprises that might pop up. It turned out to be a good call since the automated sentries began unleashing rockets almost straight away after deploying at the start of the bridgehead, turning an incoming wave of blade balls into so much scrap metal and making the human commando's life that bit easier as she touched down with her carbine already drawn.

The remaining drones were quickly eliminated between short bursts of fire and explosive warheads, leaving her free to observe the exposed bridge ahead now that the industrial cross bracings were no longer blocking the view. Aside from the lake of mercury-like liquid, presumably some kind of coolant considering how prevalent it was around here, the only other thing of note was the pair of the searchlight equipped guard robots on the far side which soon fell to carefully aimed sniper fire. Crossing over with care once it was clear, Ellen was suspicious but thankful that nothing else tried to ambush her on the open span; reaching the elevator and riding it up to the top before pausing at the fair-sized but comparatively shallow just ahead. Seriously, what was with this place? And who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to turn this floor into some kind of messed up obstacle course anyway?

Before Ellen could contemplate the architect's sanity any further however, she was distracted by the appearance of a familiar crimson-plated armoured vehicle hovering into position on the pit's far side. Disbelief coloured the redheaded commando's tone as the turret rapidly swivelled around to target her; diving into the sunken pit and rolling awkwardly on impact as the first autocannon rounds raked her previous position. "How the hell did they get a bloody tank in here?! We're a dozen floors underground for Christ's sake!"

Thankfully the tank couldn't depress its gun sufficiently to target the hunkered down human and didn't seem to be inclined to come any closer either, content instead to plug away at a distance and keep her pinned down. It was situations like this however that the Visibomb Gun came into its own; Ellen angling the barrel up and guiding a pinpoint missile strike against the armoured vehicle's thinner top armour followed by a second that gutted its interior and sent the burning hulk plummeting to the ground and out of sight like a lead weight.

Using her Grapple Gun to climb up the opposite side of the pit, Ellen stood on the relatively narrow edge looking down into a ridiculously long and deep, almost cathedral-like space that stretched out for at least a good few hundred feet; with three storey high, tinted glass windows on either side for some reason, through which gigantic heavy machinery could be seen at work. Having seen enough questionable architecture for one day, the redheaded commando chose to ignore it in favour of finding a way across to the small, circular platform hovering on the far side via a currently idling jet nacelle; observing the Dynamo activators set at regular intervals across the expanse in mid-air and trying to find a work around solution.

Having access to that particular gadget would have likely meant a race across multiple, temporary platforms to reach the end without being unceremoniously plummeting a couple of storeys to an unforgiving floor. But since Ratchet had the Dynamo and he was busy elsewhere, Ellen decided to improvise with a much safer alternative; making use of the Grapple Gun's more advanced features and rappelling down to the ground. Jogging across the metal-plated floor was certainly a hell of a lot easier and safer, allowing her to latch on to the hovering lift platform dozens of feet above and reel herself in before riding it to the top.

Stepping off, Ellen almost felt disappointed at the comparatively small alcove she found herself in; the entire journey up until this point boiling down to innocuous-looking terminal on the far side with a blank screen. This had to be the back up server, or rather its access point considering how big this underground floor was; host to who knows what kind of secrets kept separate from the main facility's information network and hopefully the answers they needed. But first she had to get into databases themselves and locate the right files before downloading them for later study, something that wouldn't yet be possible until a fundamental issue had been addressed; the lack of power.

"Damn it. Well, I guess that's one way to stop anyone from accessing it remotely."

Since all the other lights and such were on however, it was probably safe to assume that the server ran off of a separate power supply altogether; and since this floor was supposed to be a secret to all but a select group of Megacorp employees, then the source was likely to be close by. Fortunately there was a protruding yellow button just below the console's monitor labelled 'Maintenance Bot' which Ellen pressed with all due haste, banking on whatever drone was summoned to fix the problem at the source. Unfortunately, what she got was a gangly looking humanoid machine with a hover unit for legs, a host of tools strapped around its waist, and a heavy-looking wrench in hand that promptly crashed into the terminal face first; the thick-rimmed glasses over its green optics feeling like some kind of ironic afterthought as the dazed machine bashed its own helm a few times before drunkenly turning tail.

Ellen watched it meander back along the route she had already fought so hard to traverse with a grimace, knowing there was no way she could keep up with the clearly malfunctioning robot nor particularly wanting to if she could help it. If Ratchet was here then he probably would have taken off after it on that glider he thought so highly of, weaving through the various crossbeams and narrowing corridors until he reached wherever the power generator was and fixing it himself. But of course he wasn't here and there was no glider for the redhead to use even if she could pluck up the courage to throw herself off the edge and pilot it. Suppressing a shudder at the idea, Ellen turned to the tools and technology at hand in order to get the terminal operational again; using her Versa Blade to jimmy off an access panel beneath the machine and getting a good look at the wiring system.

It was a surprisingly simple setup for such an important piece of equipment; although that also made sense in a way since there were likely other redundancies in place as well. Between her own engineering knowledge and experimental use of her Wrist Com's less used features, Ellen managed to bridge the cables in such a way as to cause a feedback loop; causing the system to fallback on its emergency power cell and giving her perhaps ten minutes tops before it shutdown again to conserve energy. The welcome screen popped up just as she finished popping the access panel back into place, followed by a seemingly DOS inspired and archaic filing system that required the user to manually type in the file path for whatever they were looking for. In the end however, Ellen tracked down the backed up files for the Protopet laboratory and selected the last entry on the list, only to encounter a new problem that had her blinking in disbelief.

"Are you shitting me?! Now even the computers are demanding bribes!"

Ten grand to be precise if the popup window was any indicator; a small panel beneath sliding open to reveal a slot for inserting bolts along with a demanding, blinking red 'insert bolts' sign. Who the hell built that into a computer in the first place; and what would an isolated server use money for anyway? Yet another thing to add growing list of 'just plain why' Ellen had encountered between two separate alien galaxies so far, and not exactly helping the present situation at all. Time was running short, but like hell was she paying such a hefty bribe for information she was going to steal anyway; meaning it was time to put her personal skills and Wrist Com's hacking suite to the test against a most likely heavily fortified system. No wireless network meant jacking into the computer directly via an extendable cable, and as the infiltration programme got to work Ellen couldn't help but sigh aloud.

"Well, guess we're doing this the hard way then."

---

Megacorp Games Proving Ground, Dobbo orbit

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.083 Galactic calendar

1:23pm local time

With one fist cocked back and the launcher mounted on the other arm spewing forth rockets, Logan's boosting attack slammed into the enlarged robot before he could adequately brace himself; leaving him skidding on his back across the already churned ground and nearly squishing Ratchet in the process. Thankfully the lombax managed to avoid being turned to paste by clinging onto his friend's shoulder and hauling himself up as the Thugs-4-Less leader continued to rain down blows on the prone robot's form; unsteadily sighting his Minirocket Tube on the crimson-painted mech's transparent cockpit and pulling the trigger. Though the rocket did little more than scorch the bubble canopy and leave spider web cracks running across the surface, it surprised Logan enough for Giant Clank to unleash a pulled kick that sent him tumbling end on end through the air.

Scuffed and dented though he was, the metallic silver war machine thanked his companion and hauled himself back up to his feet in time to see his opponent do the same from where he fell; the mercenary leader's anger apparent as he leapt back a good fifty feet before bracing his mech's legs into a widened stance. "It's gonna be like that, huh? Well let's see how you like this!"

A sextet of missile ports unfolded on the crimson-painted machine's shoulders as its wings folded out of the way; an identical number of fiery spears racing skywards seconds later before arching around on an all too obvious intercept course. With no time to warn his furry friend, Giant Clank briefly hunched before boosting himself skywards seconds before impact; rapidly gaining altitude in the lower gravity environment and leaving what amounted to one giant crater far behind as physics reasserted themselves. They ended up landing on the far side of the park's remains close to a simulated shopping mall, the short shockwave generated demolishing most of it and nigh all the windows in the neighbouring buildings and giving away the extra large robot's position to a flight of crimson-painted, single seat attack helicopters with blacked out cockpits that bore more than a passing resemblance to those seen among the blarg forces way back when.

The colour scheme and the fact they were adamant on attacking with their ventral autocannons clearly marked them as belonging to Thugs-4-Less, an opinion reinforced as Logan reappeared from around the corner building of an intersection and opened up with his rockets once more. The little robot turned war machine and his lombax passenger had experienced just about enough crap from the budget PMC for one day and went on the offensive once more; Giant Clank tanking hits and unleashing what was left of his rockets as he advanced on the still firing battle mech, while Ratchet continually targeted any nearby choppers and sent them crashing back down to earth.

The two towering titans clashed in a whirling melee, fists flying and armour plating buckling under the strain as they fought amongst what was left of a battle scarred street. Logan attempted to jam a rocket launcher into Giant Clank's fairly exposed neck, only to have said mounted weapon crushed in a clenched fist and torn off entirely; grasping his foe's other arm in taloned digits while the robot was distracted and trying to wrench it off instead. Of course he hadn't accounted for a still lurking Ratchet, and so it was perhaps no surprise that the lombax promptly popped back up over his friend's shoulder with his Minirocket Tube in hand; pounding one high explosive warhead after another into the battle mech's bubble canopy at close range.

So many repetitive hits couldn't be ignored for long, and with the crimson-painted machine raising an arm to protect its cockpit, Giant Clank took the opportunity to launch a boost assisted, rising knee strike to the groin that lifted it several feet off the ground and left it exposed to his follow up attack. Motes of light seeming to gather around his chest plate as he began to channel the extensive energy in his core, Ratchet's eyes briefly widening as he realised what was about to happen and promptly ducking out of sight as the surrounding area dulled to grey before pulsing to a deep shade of scarlet. It was a phenomena that Giant Clank had only unleashed a few times before and just as devastating now as it was back then; a brief heartbeat of silence enduring before the atomic blast shot forth in a glowing ball of blue energy that imploded spectacularly and seared everything it touched.

Asphalt melted and the surrounding buildings were nigh vaporised where they stood from the sheer force of the detonation; Giant Clank being sent reeling with a good portion of his armoured torso and arms partially warped due to his close proximity. By the time he had regained a sense of balance and readjusted his optics, there wasn't much left standing to actually see since virtually an entire city block had been virtually wiped off the map. The exception of course being the extremely scorched and damaged battle mech currently limping away in the opposite direction with its left arm dangling uselessly; the metallic silver robot not doing much better himself considering the way his joints protested and the number of error messages occupying his vision.

Pursuit was out of the question for the moment, and with the sound of rotor blades coming over the horizon, finding somewhere to recuperate safely for a few minutes took priority. Forcing his unsteady legs into motion, Giant Clank sought temporary shelter behind the skeleton of a shattered skyscraper as his auto repair systems attempted to fix his battle damaged frame at an achingly slow pace; checking his ammunition reserves and attempting to discern a new strategy while the lombax riding on his back kept an eye on the skies. Between the pair they had managed to inflict some serious damage on the Thugs-4-Less leader's mech, but with fatigue setting in and energy levels dropping they clearly needed to finish this fight soon. With Ratchet applying several phials of Nanotech on the worst affected joints to help speed up the process, Giant Clank judged himself sufficiently repaired to continue forth and hunt down foe before he could do the same.

What had once been an artificial cityscape occupying the moon's surface now resembled the set of a Hollywood disaster movie, with buildings razed and entire city blocks reduced to rubble. Or perhaps a monster movie would have been more accurate considering the two metallic titans that were still stalking each other in the ruins, along with the comparatively dwarfed flights of attack helicopters that now swarmed overhead. Ratchet was handling them the best he could while his extra large robotic friend ploughed through any that got too close, or otherwise threw debris in their direction in order to save what few rockets he had remaining. It was just as they dealt with the last group attempting a strafing run when a miraculously still intact glass-fronted office building on their immediate left exploded outwards due to the partially fixed battle mech lunging through it.

"Hey, remember me?!" Logan growled out as he grappled with the smaller silver machine, slamming him into another building and driving a taloned fist into his face before he could recover. "I'm gonna kick your ass into the next galaxy, and when I'm through with youse, I'm gonna take care of your little redheaded friend too!"

"Bring it!" Ratchet retorted as he bought his Tesla Claw to bear over his enlarged mount's shoulder; focusing on a torn section of armour plating hanging off of the crimson-painted machine's torso, and more specifically the exposed wiring within. "Now, Clank!"

A constant stream of artificial lightning caused the already battered battle mech to momentarily seize up, giving Giant Clank a chance to twist out of its grasp and break the deadlock with a flurry of punishing hits to the chest. Reeling back into the ruined building he had sprung from, Logan pushed off with a retaliating snap kick followed by a straight punch that snapped the enlarged robot's helm back and a renewed barrage of rockets from his remaining launcher. The two continued to brawl amongst the ruins with neither able to gain a truly decisive advantage over the other; trading punches, projectiles, and improvised melee weapons from the surrounding wreckage as their frames deteriorated further still. Ultimately however only one could remain standing, and it was with this in mind that Giant Clank seized the presented opportunity when the Thugs-4-Less leader overextended with a clumsy left hook from his only partially repaired arm.

Grabbing the offending limb by the wrist, the metallic silver war machine planted the crushing grip of his other hand just below his opponent's armpit; servos straining with effort as he used the resulting momentum to bodily throw the mech over his shoulder. The already weakened arm tore free from its socket with a shower of sparks and spurting hydraulic fluid, Giant Clank discarding it unceremoniously just as the scarred battle mech slammed into the ground back first with enough force to crumple its wing-like appendages. The move had apparently taken Logan by surprise as well considering the colourful expletives issuing from over his still broadcasting external speakers in at least three different languages; wrestling with the controls in an attempt to get his battle mech back on its feet once more.

Seeing the downed and smoking machine struggling to move let alone rise from his lofty perch, Ratchet turned towards his enlarged friend with a knowing smirk. "Whadya say, pal? Ready to wrap things up here?"

"Gladly," he rumbled in response; hunching down briefly before boosting himself up into the air.

Logan meanwhile, having realised his expensive toy was pretty much done for, decided to go out with a boom; reaching the mech's remaining hand down to its waist and unclipping the sole remaining oversized grenade clamped there. Just as he was priming it to throw however, The Thugs-4-Less leader looked up with eyes widening at the sight of a multi-ton giant robot dropping out of the sky right on top of him; pitching the now glowing blue orb vertically just before impact. The mech's already weakened torso was virtually pancaked from the sheer force of pressure, crushing the primary reactor within and rendering the whole machine little more than expensive scrap metal. Of more concern to the three sentient beings present however was the grenade that had just reached its zenith above their heads; the two organics apparently of the same mind considering their tandem responses as it began to fall directly back down.

"Uh-oh..."

Giant Clank leapt aside to escape the coming firestorm while Logan located the eject handle in his battered cockpit and yanked it sharply; explosive bolts blowing off the outer canopy and allowing a cramped escape pod to shoot out across the street just before the volatile orb made contact. Azure flames consumed the mangled battle mech entirely along with a good portion of the surrounding area, detonating any remaining ordinance along with it and temporarily masking the mercenary leader from view. By the time the extra large robot and his lombax companion could see clearly again, Logan was already airborne and rapidly gaining altitude; his ranting voice still audible over a tinny external speaker as he did a passable Team Rocket impression.

"This isn't over pipsqueaks! I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!"

"We'll be waiting," Ratchet murmured as the escape pod disappeared entirely from view with a brief twinkle of light in the otherwise unmarred sky; turning a concerned eye towards his currently silent friend who was still staring at where the departed head of Thugs-4-Less had vanished. "Hey, Clank, you okay there?"

Giant Clank shook his helm gently. "My automatic repair systems should migrate a sufficient proportion of the damage I have sustained, but I must admit to being concerned with regards to Thugs-4-Less' ability to continually track our location."

"You and me both pal," the lombax replied with a sigh. "Let's just get out of here; Ellen's probably waiting and worried for us."

---

Megacorp Testing Facility, Dobbo

Bogon Galaxy

G2.17.083 Galactic calendar

1:36pm local time

A short return trip later found the duo planetside once again; Ratchet hopping down from his perch as Clank shifted back down into his normal, diminutive form once again and not getting more than two steps before the waiting Mathematician greeted them with an approving grin. "Divide and conquer, huh? Hey, guess you guys were prime after all. You're going to the Megacorp Games!"

The last, nigh shouted part, was punctuated by the unusually themed wrestler pulling the same model smart phone-come-tablet from his back pocket as the biker back on Barlow; practically shoving it in the lombax and robot's faces as a commercial began to play on screen. Soft rock music began to play and the now familiar Galactic Gladiators emblem with its flail wielding, crimson silhouetted warrior on a metallic ringed oval occupied the centre as the enthusiastic narrator started his spiel. "Welcome to Megacorp Games! Sponsored by: Megacorp!"

A similarly themed version of the Megacorp logo briefly flashed on screen, before cutting away to footage of the same kind of reptilian gladiators Ratchet and Ellen had fought in the Maktar arena, sparring with each other to the delight of a watching crowd. "Okay Megacorp contestants, get ready to grapple with the Megacorp gladiator team. And if you survive that, enter the Megacorp battle arena with our mega spiderbot in our mega death-defying mega cage match." The video switched over to a tank-sized mecha-spider with pincer legs and an heavily armoured abdomen inside an extensive, tubular cage-like structure; forelimbs swiping and fanged jaws snapping menacingly at the camera.

"Then open the throttle for the all Megacorp hoverbike race; brought to you by Team Megacorp Racing." A brief clip showing what looked like Desert Riders bikers blasting through a curved section of forest briefly flashed on screen as the narrator continued bombastically, before speaking quickly and quietly as the video cut away to a gathering of tribesmen wielding swords much like those native to Barlow; some of whom were decked out crimson plate armour and packing crude blaster-type rifles. "Hostile indigenous life is not owned, endorsed, sponsored, supplied, abdicated or even liked by Megacorp. Approach at your own risk." One of the scavengers apparently didn't like having a camera so close to his face since he promptly cut it down with his blade; the screen quickly returning to the duel logos of both the Megacorp Games and company logo as the announcer wrapped up in a more normal tone of voice. "The Megacorp Games: keep it mega!"

"Sounds like a blast," Ratchet quipped as the mathematician flipped off the deice and stowed it once more. "Where do we sign up?"

"Leave that to the Mathematician," the hulking man insisted while holding his calculator aloft triumphantly. "Just show up at the arena, I'll have your passes ready and waiting for you there."

Thanking the masked talent scout for his time, Ratchet and Clank took an air cab he had graciously hailed for them back to where the landing zone where their Star Explorers were parked; the lombax casually taking in the chaos caused throughout the industrial complex as they flew overhead and idly wondering how Ellen was doing on her end. His answer would come sooner than not since she was already there and waiting, pushing off from where she had been leaning on her ship with arms folded and striding forth to greet them. "Hey guys, guess you've been a little busy while I've been away, huh?"

Ratchet couldn't help but smirk at her understatement considering the sheer amount of black smoke rising from the offshore facility behind him, not to mention all of the security forces swarming the place. "Yeah, you could say that. Just hope it was all worth it."

"Were you successful in ascertaining what Doctor Cross wished for us to see?" Clank queried politely, getting a grimace from the human in return as she brought up her Wrist Com and projected a holoscreen into the air.

"Enough to realise just why she's so hell-bent on seeing the little fluff ball destroyed," the redhead replied as the video file she had selected began to playback. "Take a look at this."

The screen was filled with static for several seconds before resolving into a monochrome version of the Megacorp logo with a dispassionate and clinical voice narrating over the top that held hints of a Germanic accent. "Doctor James D. Fullbladder reporting on Megacorp experiment number thirteen. This update is strictly classified; if you are watching this, you're fired." The view switched to grainy but still adequate surveillance footage from a fixed camera; one situated within a sterile laboratory that held a pair of scientists from some blarg-like species Ellen couldn't identify, while the confused looking Protopet sat on a steel examination table between them. The tall and thin egghead on the right rapidly jotted down notes on his PDA while short and dumpy counterpart proceeded to prod the blue ball of fluff with a chunky looking sword of all things; neither seeming to appreciate how much they were annoying it.

"Early thinking held that the specimen was entirely docile in nature; even overt provocation failed to incite it. But, the late Dr Putridson observed that the natural levels of monsterpropolis in the experiment's bloodstream can lead to some truly remarkable changes." The Protopet flinched away once more from the probing sword's sharpened tip before whirling around with sharp teeth bared in a snarl; seeming almost to spasm for a second at a time as it inexplicably grew in stages until it was almost twice its original size. The enlarged and enraged beast roared like a lion before pouncing directly at the shorter scientist's face; his taller colleague recoiling away from the resulting screams and bloodshed with horror until he was backed into a corner.

"Attempts at neutralising the specimen's violent tendencies were met with limited success." The surviving egghead shook visibly as he held out a turkey leg at arms length towards the predatory animal as it spun around to face him, only for the Protopet to grow even larger and lunge once more; clearly set upon a bigger, fresher meal. "Our surviving staff recommend that the experiment be destroyed immediately at Megacorp's deep space disposal facility. As if sensing it was being watched, the fluffy blue bundle of death fixed its gaze upon the camera before leaping forth and clamping its jaws around the lens; the feed cutting off abruptly and the video ending with a burst of static.

"That's..." Ratchet trailed off with rising horror. "And we were just carrying that thing around?!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Ellen replied grimly. "We had something that unstable on our hands - something that could easily turn on anyone in a heartbeat - and now it's back under Megacorp's 'control', doing who knows what."

Frowning at the still open screen on the human's Wrist Com, Clank spoke up as he observed the figures in small-fonted text along the bottom left corner. "According to the time stamp, this report was filed almost a month ago, and yet the observation log indicates we were the first to view that recording."

"Same with the one on the facility's back up server," the human added as she shut down the projected screen. "Ever since the Protopet lab was destroyed, not a shred of information about it has come out of the facility. Not that there's much left from the explosion anyway."

Ratchet's eyes widened with realisation. "So Fizzwidget must not know... We've got to warn him!"

Having Megacorp's CEO on speed dial helped setup the conference call that much quicker; Ellen's image clearly visible in the top right hand corner of the central console's screen as the two commandos waited in their respective Star Explorers for the eccentric man to pick up. A long half minute later yielded FIzzwidget's somewhat distracted image, his eyes focused elsewhere and a phone glued to his left ear. "Yellow?"

"Mr Fizzwidget! You're safe!" Ratchet breathed a sigh of relief, composing himself before continuing. "Sir, brace yourself. We just saw a video of your experiment eating its handlers. I repeat, it eats its handlers!"

"Ah, yes. No fat, extra foam, no sprinkles," came the unexpected reply; their absentminded employer apparently talking to someone out of sight off screen and oblivious to the danger at hand.

"Mr Fizzwidget," Ellen cut in with a firm but imploring tone. "The Protopet is a lethal accident waiting to happen and must be isolated immediately. Anyone handling it needs to exercise the utmost caution."

"No, no, decafitated," the elderly CEO continued to whoever he was speaking to off camera, before seemingly noticing his callers for the first time. "What? Oh, yes, yes: exercise my front-most cushion."

The lombax and human facepalmed almost in unison with matching groans of frustration; Clank taking the opportunity to appeal to their mutual employer now that he appeared more focused on their urgent situation. "Sir, your experts recommend that the experiment be liquidated. We will meet you at your deep space disposal facility."

Fizzwidget rubbed his chin in contemplation. "Ah yes, my cheap date proposal facsimile. It's heavily guarded, so be sure to use the password. Which is... ah, oh, uh..." The eccentric old man's brow knitted in confusion; odd sounds escaping his lips as he sounded out half remembered possibilities until his eyes lit up with sudden clarity. "Qwarktastic! Yes, that's it! Well, Toodleoo."

With a final wave he terminated his end of the call; leaving the three companions in contemplative silence for a few moments before Ratchet spoke up. "Well, guess we better get going. Clank, you've got the coordinates to that disposal facility, right?"

The little robot nodded in tentative agreement at his golden-furred friend's calculating look. "In additional to those for planet Joba as well. Why, what are you proposing?"

"Well I figure it'll take a while for Mr Fizzwidget to get a transport team together for the Protopet," the lombax responded nonchalantly. "So why not check it out while we're waiting? Better than hanging around here anyway."

"Why, what's on joba?" Ellen interrupted; her narrow-eyed expression now filling the screen since Fizzwidget signed off. "And why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"

Ratchet sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Kind of a long story, babe. I'll explain along the way."

Spooling up their engines and lifting off into the dreary sky, both Star Explorers were soon past the range of any orbital defences that might be tracking them and out into the depths of space once. Setting course for the distant planet, Ellen listened to the lombax she loved with half an ear as he explained what happened after they had split off from one another; a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she had somehow missed something important. Aside from the oddly specific password, there wasn't anything in their last conversation with Mr Fizzwidget that aroused suspicion; and even that could be written off as the eccentric old man simply being a fan of Captain Qwark's exploits before his downfall. Maybe she was just being paranoid, and getting caught up lingering over an odd coincidence.

But that hadn't stopped her from being right before.

---

And so the seeds of doubt have been placed. Quite a lot of original content this chapter on Ellen's side in particular with regards to her infiltration of the testing facility. As mentioned previously, simply teleporting in to such a supposedly secure facility as in canon is just plain daft and far too easy, so I tried for a more realistic approach to finding the computer terminal with the Protopet report. I also decided against having the glider section since it was something that Ellen honestly wouldn't do considering how uncomfortable she is with heights at the best of times, although I do have an idea for using it later on in the story.

Why Joba next rather than heading straight to the disposal facility, you may ask? Put simply, after what happens at the latter location, there is no narrative reason for our heroes to backtrack for the Megacorp Games once events are set in motion, and they will need the gadgets they can win there for what lies ahead; thus I had to give them an excuse to head for Joba. I did briefly consider skipping the planet altogether to be honest, but ultimately decided against it for aforementioned reasons, plus the challenge of writing more arena based carnage and another hover bike race while trying to make both feel fresh and interesting.

Until next time, please review and check out my other stories once they're posted and/or updated.

Thanks for reading

- RevenantReaper337