It was a dark night.

Only the neon streetlights or advertising signs lit up the sky, while all the aliens enjoyed the night life. In a gloomy alley was a large iron door guarded by two employees. They were Blarg soldiers, some who split into separate groups after Drek died and did their own thing. This station was a territory run by a fat specimen of the species, who counted his bolts in the hall and sucked on his cigar with relish. Several blargs were armed and sorted in this hall their weapons and ammunition, which they bought and sold illegally. On this planet, the law had long been missing and crime had risen, and the red monsters also wanted a piece of the cake.

"Hey! Do you see that?"

One of the guards pointed at the end of the alley, where the dim light showed a tall man standing dressed in a cloak. This giant now strode slowly towards the door, ignoring any threats from the Blargs, "Freeze! This is private property!" Now the person sped up and let go of the coat. An iron suit with helmet covered his body, whose eyes looked through a red visor and had his target in sight. Blaster fire was simply tanked by the armor before the giant, along with both Blarg guards, burst through the iron door.

Each of the red creatures looked in shock at the hole where the door once was and caught sight of the iron Juggernaut crushing its first victims. "SHOOT," the fat blarg yelled in panic, and fire was opened. Since there were more projectiles this time, the man formed a shield of plasma on his left bracer before using it to engage the Blargs. He mowed through the ranks, tearing them to pieces without effort and spreading the green blood around the room. He even snapped the neck of a red one with one hand before activating something on the right bracer.

A small blaster formed, but it didn't shoot lasers or bullets. Hot, radiant sand was fired at the villains, who got horribly burned and went down. Only two large blargs were left, walking toward the intruder with cracking knuckles. Unfazed, the iron man grabbed the fist punch of the first one before suddenly forming a sword in his hand and stabbing it through the neck. With his foot he kicked the second and fired sand after it, thus deciding the fight. Only the fat blarg was left.

"M...Mr. Sandman, please...I'll give the boss the money I owe," the red one shakily pleaded for his life, but the deeply altered voice rang through the intruder's helmet, "The boss doesn't have any more patience! Your time is up!"

"NOOOOOOO," but that was as far as the fat one got. This had been his last word.

On the same planet there was a huge skyscraper. It was the most beautiful building of all and the headquarters of a large criminal organization. On the top floor there was only one office desk made of the finest wood, five bodyguard robots were scattered around the room and on the office chair sat the only organic being, calmly eyeing the marble on the walls. Her purple lips moved away from the glass from which she was drinking her Purple Haze, before she heard the slam of the large door opposite her room. The Boss turned around and revealed her figure in the light. She was a middle aged woman, beautiful with pink colored skin, claws for nails, pointy ears and long purple hair. In addition, purple scaly sprouts adorned under your red eyes and on her shoulders, whose gaze was directed at the guest.

"Boss! The Blarg won't bother us anymore!" the same giant who had taken down the warehouse stood in front of her and threw a plastic bag on the table, which contained the hand of the fat Blarg.

"Good, the plague can go crawl somewhere else," the boss shoved the piece of meat into the trash can, before returning her attention to her employee, "Okay, Mr. Sandman. Let's get to the pay for today!" The colossus pressed a button where the helmet retracted back into nanoparticles on the back of his neck. He looked like a tiger, only with completely green eyes and two small horns on his head, otherwise everything from fangs, to fur was on it. One of the bots handed over a sack of bolts, which the boss threw loosely on her desk and let the killer look at it.

"Wait a minute!"

Before the tiger-like one could disappear he noticed the flaw here, "That's the half. You promised me double!"

"Yes...for the corpse of the fatty standing in front of my feet! You only brought the hand, so it's only half," the boss said casually, working on her nails with a file, but her contractor was angrier than ever, "You know what? I've had enough! That was my last job, I'M OUT!" The giant strode towards the exit to leave the place, but his boss had other plans.

"Hmmmm...Nah!"

"Nah?", the alien turned around again and saw the woman in the white dress standing up and leaning against her table, "Look, James. You're too useful, also you need me to survive! You get the job done and don't cry if you ever get hit. Your bonus will come, you just have to follow more specific instructions!"

"To get even less? I don't need your money anymore," James only got a hearty laugh from the pink woman in response, "Hahaha, exactly. What are you going to do? Deliver space pizza, work in garbage disposal? That ship has sailed, THIS is your job now, AND your life!"

"No it's not," his paws were already clenching into fists as he continued to listen to her speak, "You're a walking mountain of muscle, who crushes skulls! That's all you've got! I know you'll keep working for me James...it's up to you if it's going to be the soft way or the hard way." Now his patience thread snapped. He strode menacingly toward the lady who was holding back her bodyguards and just chuckled more.

"Ohoho, you really think you can beat your way out?" "It's worth a try," the rough voice sounded threatening and so the tiger-like man raised his fist slowly, but his boss now squinted up a gear.

"Remember...I know where your family lives!"

Suddenly the armored one hesitated, realizing the nerve the boss had hit. "Yeah...that's what I thought. Do you want them to have to run with you from planet to planet? Huh", No answer followed, just angry snorting from the tiger-like and a suddenly more aggressive pink woman, "Exactly...and that means you work for me until you die or I say WHEN YOU'RE FUCKING DONE! And the former will be more likely." Only an angry shout was heard and the thud of a fist. As the robots were about to spring into action, however, they saw James slam past the boss's head and into the marble wall.

With a pleased grin, the woman stroked the cheek of the much larger alien, "You're a fine pussycat, aren't you?" James turned away from the boss, defeated, and strode toward the exit with his head bowed, listening for the boss's words, "I'll call when a new job is available." No answer, just the obedient huffing and puffing of the big guy who had to keep working for this woman and was now at home waiting for the next assignment.

"Oh, and the scratch on my beautiful wall I'll charge you from the next payment. Finest marble and now gone," James answer was only an annoyed groan.

His ship landed at the Megaplopolis community landing area, the location of his home. He had taken off his suit and hidden it in the lockers of the flight vehicle that his boss had provided him when he joined the crew. Now wearing black pants and a gray vest, James Clawfield strode through the rain toward the poorer neighborhoods of the city planet. Finally arriving at the apartment building, he pulled out his keys and entered his home. Opening the apartment door quietly, he removed his gray vest, beneath which a white tank top covered his chest. Likewise, his arms were covered with orange fur and black stripes, reaching for the clothes rack.

At the same time, he caught a glimpse of an old picture.

It showed him as a member of the galactic rangers, next to his father, who was long gone. Emotionless, he strode down the hall and finally entered the living room, where his mood brightened again.

"DADDY!"

"Hey, you are still awake", two small children ran towards the colossus. One looked more like him and the other had orange hair and more humanoid resemblance. That's what the child had from his mother. A Markazian woman stepped out towards the much larger tiger alien and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "How are you, honey?"

"...Yeah, I'm fine," he lowered his children back down. His oldest son took more after his mother with orange hair while his younger sister had the same cat look as him, "So you two, brush your teeth and then off to bed with you. I'll say good night today."

"Oh man," the little rascals went into the bathroom to get ready. Suddenly, James' wife's expression turned serious as he placed the small bag on the kitchen table. "This...is just enough to pay the rent," the Markazian looked in horror at the bag of bolts before her husband sat down on the sofa, "I was going to get out after this, but she threatened me."

"James...it can't go on like this," Whitney blurted out, and the tiger-like one just snorted at that, "I know that myself...but if I don't play by their rules, it's your turn! Don't worry, Whitney, my..."

"NO! James, that's suicide what you're up to!" the woman stared angrily at the big guy, who immediately calmed her down, "Not in front of the kids! I don't want them to hear this...I'll think of something, honey." Both remained quiet as the hops of the smaller ones could be heard again. James' daughter approached her father and handed him a sheet of paper, "Daddy, look. I drew this at school today."

"Oh," he took the sheet in his big paws and eyed the drawing, where he spotted something interesting.

" Sweetie, who's that?"

"Well, Ratchet and Clank. You know...the heroes of the galaxy," the girl beamed happily, but she hadn't quite caught the question.

"No, I mean them. I know who Ratchet and Clank are, but who is that? Is that a Lombax too," James asked confused, while his finger pointed at the second lombax.

"Oh, those are the new heroes Rivet and Kit," his little one pointed at the doodle, to which her brother added somethings, "They live under the same roof with them. They're from another dimension."

"I bet they're together.

"EWW, gross!"

While the little children are being silly again, the tiger-like just rolled his eyes amused, before standing up, "Well come on you two, time for bed." With that James lifted the little ones up and tickled the children with his long, beard-like fur on his chin. First he put his daughter in her room and wished her a good night and sweet dreams. Now it would be his son's turn to fall onto his cozy mattress. There wasn't even a structure, just the mattress lying on the floor next to a few toys and a closet, but unfortunately that was all there was in this children's room. "Okay, big guy. See you tomorrow," a quick goodnight kiss followed on his forehead and the big colossus strode to the door, but...

"Daddy? Will everything get better one day?"

James knew that his son was not stupid and slowly turned his head to him, "...Yes, my son, someday it will be better." He gently closed the door and heard the little boy go to sleep. As he did so, the tiger-like man stared at his daughter's drawing and thought to himself.

"Ratchet and Rivet...huh," he was now more certain of victory than ever. He continued to ponder his grand plan, which he had been going over for years, ever since he started working for the Boss. All that was missing were two suitable members for this organization, which were now painted on with crayons in front of him. James knew it would be dangerous, and that these heroes would not go along with a killer's plans, but he had to try, and so the tiger-like man decided to find both lombaxes tomorrow.

Finally, his great plan could begin.