Disclaimers: I don't own Ratchet and Clank. If I did, this whole fanfic would be a movie.
Chapter Twenty-seven: Not enough
Ratchet's ship travelled through space at acceptable speeds. Slim sat on the left side, his intelligence telling him which switch does what. He was hunched over some, because of the limited amount of room.
Ratchet lay on the right side. He was slowly dosing off, but before he could--
"Hey, Ratchet," Slim brought him back to…………the ship, "may I ask ya something?"
Ratchet didn't feel like arguing so he said, "Shoot."
"I like the whole 'teaming up with you' thing, but…… what's with changing my name?"
"Simple, really--" yawn "--You said that the cops were after you back in Bogon. By now, word would have obviously--" yawn "--spread here, saying that Slim Cognito is wanted. So--" yawn "--Clank and I agreed to change your name. If we said that you were 'Slim', they would have alerted the authorities……even if--" yawn "--they were sleepy."
"I guess that makes sense," Slim glanced at Ratchet with his right eyes. "Hard to believe I--with my genetically mutated brain--didn't see through it earlier."
"………."
"……….."
"…………."
"………….?" Slim looked at Ratchet with both eyes. "Ratchet?"
Ratchet was asleep.
"…….," Slim shrugged it off and resumed piloting.
"Was THAT the last raid?" Raxamis waved a dramatic hand to the pipe. "It's the eleventh time for God's Sake!"
A long hour and fifty-two minutes had passed by since the first raid.
"Believe me, Raxamis," Albert said, "I know how you feel." He fingered his Mapo-matic some. "Praise the Heavens, it's the last raid."
"WOOHOO!" Raxamis punched the air as he jumped. "Let's blow this place."
"I couldn't agree more," Albert extracted as he extracted his walky-talky from his pocket. "Troopers, those were the last sewer crystals. We'll be coming up now and then we'll return to Planet Horax."
As expected there was no verbal response from the other end. Instead, the pipe increased its suction, pulling up three robo roosters which just happened to be under it.
"Robo roosters," you-know-who called, "position yourselves under that pipe, fore we're leaving."
The red robots did as they were told and soon, Albert and Raxamis were the only ones present.
Raxamis struck three different poses, jumped, rolled three times in the air and landed under the pipe with his arm outstretched and his head facing upwards.
"Suck me in, baby!"
FWOOOOSH! Raxamis was sucked in.
Albert rolled his eyes. "Yes, he was definitely created by Dr. Nefarious."
Unlike Raxamis' ridiculousness, Albert walked up casually and--
FWOOOOOOSH!
--was sucked in.
About sixteen seconds later, the pipe travelled up.
"Nnnnnnnnghhhh!" Slim struggled to pull Ratchet out of his ship. "Why won't…you just…move?"
Ratchet drooled slightly.
The tyhrranoid and lombax had landed in a wide alley in the slums of Gorda City. Names, places, bad spelling, dirty pictures. All of them written in graffiti littered the walls. That, and black blood. Garbage cans lay unattended. A typical alley in the slums. And--as usual for this planet's everyday climate--it was storming.
Slim growled. He then got an idea. He equipped something from his Storage Watch and held it in front of Ratchet's nose.
Ratchet sniffed.
"…………………………..!"
Ratchet jumped awaked. "Ewwwww!" he waved his hand in front of his nose in an attempt to ward off the putrid smell.
"Heh heh," Slim chuckled slightly and put the gadget away.
"What was that?" asked Ratchet, fully awake.
"Megacorp's Stink-O-Matic, guaranteed to make anyone smell the smell they hate most."
"That's horrible!" Ratchet frowned.
Slim smirked. "If I do recall, you're responsible for shocking, blowing up, transforming, sending through wormholes of doom, igniting, cooking, melting, freezing, bombing, fooling, devastating, annihilating, decimation, slicing and punching countless amounts of people. Robots and organics alike."
"Err…," Ratchet scratched the back of his head nervously, "they started it."
"Whatever," Slim put his gadget away. "Let's go find Mr. M."
"And leave my ship here?" Ratchet gestured. "In this alley where it's most likely to get vandalised, stolen or urinated on?.!"
"You're right," without another word, slim equipped a glove from his watch. This glove looked nothing like the gloves Ratchet used. The glove produced a glowing, white ball.
He tossed it.
It landed on the ship.
FLASH!
The ship was gone.
"Where's my ship?" Ratchet asked.
"It's right there."
"I don't see it."
"That's cuz it's invisible."
Ratchet looked at Slim in disbelief. "Really?"
"Yup," he held the glove up for Ratchet to see. "Gadgetron's Inviso Glove. Can turn anything invisible for up to half an hour. Not to be released until two months from now."
"Cool, but how will we know which alley to go to when we bring in your associate."
"Mr. M has told me all about the ghetto places in this galaxy and Bogon. And with my brain, I'm bound to remember where to go."
"Neat. Now let's go find your associate."
"Couldn't have said id better myself, Ratchet."
They walked out of the alley and into the filthy streets.
A familiar, blue ship touched down on the planet's tough soil. Albert and Raxamis walked out. They were followed by the robo roosters--holding a big, cube-shaped object. The troopers were next in line.
"That will be all for now," Albert said, to the robo roosters. "Set that down and wait."
They did as they were told.
Albert looked over to see Raxamis looking at Sandy. The sand shark growled something. Something that could only be interpreted by Dr. Heinous.
"Hey, Sandy," Raxamis said as he squatted down to her level, "what are you doing here?"
"I thought you hated that thing," Albert pointed.
"What?" Raxamis gave Albert a frown. "Since when did I hate anything as cute as this?.!" He enclosed her in a hug which would have caused an organic life-form to explode.
"Since it mad you crash into shelves by enveloping your head in hr mouth."
"What? Pffft! That never hap--"
WOMP!
Sandy had Raxamis' entire head in her mouth.
"AAAAAAAAGH! NOT AGAIN!.!.! AAAAAAAAGH!.!.!.!.!" Raxamis ran around frantically.
"I rest my case," Albert said as he pulled his walky-talky from his pocket. He changed the frequency to Heinous' and pressed the call button.
Albert waited. He whistled. He looked at Raxamis.
The robot was screaming his hidden head off. At one point, he almost crashed into a nearby vehicle.
"Snnnkkkkt! Skkkttss--What is it?.!" Heinous voice cackled over the other end.
Albert put the mouthpiece to his mouth. "This is Albert. Good news, sir. Raxamis and I have attained all sewer crystals within the vicinity of the sewers."
"Did you get all of them?"
"Absolutely, sir. No other sewer crystals had shown up on my Mapo-Matic after we were done. Nothing was left behind."
"Good good. Were they stored in the container like I asked?"
"They certainly were, sir."
"YESSSSSSSS!.!.!.!.!"
"………."
"Ahem. Excuse me. I'm just so happy. Our fists attack is mere moments away. All that remains is the construction of my weapon. And then, we'll be unstoppable!"
"Sounds good, sir….. Not that it's any of my business, but………why is Sandy out here?"
"Cuz what I'm doing is top secret. I can't afford to have any witnesses."
"Not even a sand shark?"
"Not even a sand shark. Say--now that you mentioned it--how is Sandy?"
Albert gazed off in the direction Sandy and Raxamis where. Raxamis was repeatedly slamming into one of the ship's legs. He would run, bump, fall, land, get up, and do it again.
Albert answered Heinous' question. "She and Raxamis are having a thrill, sir."
"Ah. It's nice to hear that, Albert. I'll meet you near the place where Raxamis crashed in The Big Room. Farewell for now--"
"Sir, wait! There's something you should know."
"What?"
Albert bit his lip, hesitated but said, "While on Planet Aquatos, Raxamis--"
"--and I saw something."
"What did you see?" Heinous asked. He was on one of the base's floors. In a lab. Fifteen constructobots waited on the other side of the room while the scientist spoke into the walky-talky.
"This may be a bit hard to believe, but I really did see him."
"'Him'?" Heinous raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. 'Him'. Anyway, Raxamis and I had just arrived in a room here he met Ratchet and Clank."
"You came across Ratchet and Clank?.!"
"Yes, sir. They were speaking with a man in a metal cylinder."
"Did you kill them?" Heinous obviously wasn't interested in 'the man in a cylinder'.
"Raxamis did battle with them. He's quite the fighter. However, there were no winners or losers."
"Why?"
"The fight was interrupted when Raxamis destroyed the cylinder. The man inside was revealed."
"Who was he?"
"Have you ever heard of Slim Cognito?"
"Yeah. Sells products which aren't supposed to be sold until later, or sell illegal products. Sometimes upgrades weapons without the owner having to do all the work. He's a fugitive. What about him?"
"Slim was the man in the cylinder."
"Whoa! Really? What did he look like?"
"………………."
"Albert?"
"Huh? Oh sorry, sir. What was your question?"
"What did he look like?"
"Well……"
Albert said something over the frequency. Heinous listened to the descriptions. All the while, his eyes widened, his eyebrows rose and his jaw dropped. But what really got him was the name mentioned.
He gulped. "Did you say 'Experiment 5'?"
"I most certainly did, sir."
"If it's true……….do you know what it means?"
"The other experiments could also be alive."
"……"
"Sir?"
"……………."
"Sir, are you alright?"
"Tell the robo roosters to take the container where I told you to meet me. And bring Raxamis and Sandy with you."
"But, sir, what about the--?"
"Do it, Albert! Ask questions later!"
"All right, sir. I'll meet you there."
-blip-
Heinous switched off the walky-talky.
He put it on a nearby table.
He shivered, even though he couldn't feel temperature.
He hyperventilated, even though he couldn't breath.
If he had pores, he would have sweat.
Heinous slouched.
Heinous heaved.
Heinous remembered.
FLASH!
FLASH!
A frustrated Dr. Heinous removes his protective goggles.
His face is filled with determination.
Bags are under his eyes from all the work he had done earlier.
Sweat covers his head.
"It had better work this time!"
Across the room.
A pair of red eyes stair back at him.
"RRRRRRRRRRRAUGH!.!.!.!.!.!.! LET ME OUT OF HERE!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
FLASH!
FLASH!
Heinous stopped thinking.
"Nah," he told himself out loud, "for all I know, E5 could be the only survivor."
He stopped thinking and continued working.
However…
Now, he planned to add another feature to his project.
Ratchet and Slim walked down another filthy street. Slim was king enough to loan Ratchet his Magneboots, so the lombax wouldn't have gotten infected, had he stepped on something sharp. Also, Slim loaned Ratchet a coat to prevent the lombax from catching a cold.
"He should be around her somewhere," Slim said, looking left and right.
"Maybe we should go back," Ratchet shuddered. "You know, come back when it's daytime."
"With this weather, it's always night time. Besides, what do you have to worry about? You've faced tons of scary things! Don't tell me that Ratchet 'The Saviour of Solana and Bogon' is afraid of a little lightning."
"I'm not afraid of lightning! I've faced it before!"
Slim stopped. So did Ratchet.
"Good, cuz I think I found his alley."
"'Alley'?"
"Just because he's in an alley, doesn't mean he's some drug dealer or something. This guy's constantly on the move." He started walking in.
Ratchet hesitantly followed.
The alley was just like the previous one, excluding the fact that this one was more claustrophobic. As Ratchet walked more, he could make out a tall figure. This figure was leaning against a wall. Eventually, the figure turned his head to see who was coming.
Flash!
He lit up a lantern and set it down on a nearby trashcan. He features could be seen.
"Hey there," the figure said in a deep and raspy voice, "what can I do for ya?"
And that's when Ratchet had déjà vu. And--no--it wasn't the plumber.
The figure noticed Slim first. And he smiled.
"H-Hey, Slim-ster!" the salesman said.
"'Sup, Mr. M?" Slim smiled too.
Their fists touched, then up high and down low, their hands joined as if they were going to thumb wrestle, they pulled, the hands separated, and they pointed at each other with the thumbs outstretched.
"Haven't seen you in a while," 'Mr. M' said. He then noticed Ratchet. "I'm guessing you came here to tell me that your identity has been discovered, right?"
"Not exactly. There was this fight; Ratchet against some robot. I think the robot shot my cylinder, breaking it in the process. Thus I was revealed."
"You don't say…," the salesman gave Ratchet full eye contact. With a smile, he said, "Ratchet, haven't seen you since the Megacorp games. Tell me, how did the Levitater go?"
"It went good," Ratchet said. "Clank and I managed to get in and we won a lot of prizes."
"Nice to here."
"Let's get serious," Slim said. "Mr. M, why didn't you tell me that the guy trying to destroy all organic life in Solana, Dr. Nefarious' stepbrother, was Dr. Heinous?"
Mr. M's face grew serious. "Cuz you would have most likely lost yer head and gone after him like some stupid moron. That's why."
"That's true. I guess…," Slim looked defeated as his eye stems dropped some.
"Have you decided do team up with Ratchet because of it, by any chance, have you?"
Slim's stems rose. "How'd you know?"
The salesman smirked. "You're not the only intelligent one around here, Slim."
Slim couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that's true, dude. I'm gonna join them to avenge my mutation. Ratchet and Clank even changed my name so no one will call the cops."
"Nice. Found any of the other experiments?"
"Sadly, no. But if I can't find them and kill Dr. Heinous, the least I can do is kill Dr. Heinous. I won't be easy, cuz he's a robot, but I'm gonna try."
"You go kick his ass!"
"Heh heh, yeah……………. Say, Mr. M, another reason why we came he is, well…" his voice lingered.
The salesman raised an eyebrow.
Before Slim could finish, Ratchet said, "He wants to ask you to join us. Says you could help us with all the weapons and gadgets you have."
"What?" Mr. M asked.
"It's true, Mr. M," Slim said. "Help us out, will ya?"
"Sorry, no can do."
"Why not?.?.?.?.?"
"Simple, really," Mr. M began. "You joined, cuz--despite the fact that you're a wanted dude--no one knows what you look like. On the other hand, I'm a wanted dude and people know what I look like. You get me, dawg?"
"Yeah," Slim sighed sadly, "I get you."
"Besides, I don't like playing the hero."
"……"
"Say, I just thought of something!"
Ratchet and Slim both looked at the salesman.
He said, "What if the people who Ratchet fought told someone?"
"Don't worry. One of them would have most probably told Dr. Heinous. Heinous would most likely be scare or angry. No, he'd wanna finish me himself."
"And Ratchet's little robot?"
"He would never do that," Ratchet said. "Clank believes in piece. And if rules have to be broken in order to get piece, then he'll be up for it. That AND he's not a snitch."
"Nice."
"Well, I guess Ratchet and I should head back to the Phoenix," Slim said. "The only reason Ratchet and I came here was cuz I thought you'd wanna help out, but since you don't want to come, this was just a 'Hi, how are ya?' moment. Let's go, Ratchet."
"Hold on," Mr. M said, "I think I can help you out. But first, you gotta do something for me."
Ratchet leaned his head to the side. "And if we do…"
"You'll get yourself one hundred thousand Bolts."
"We're listening," Slim stopped in his tracks and looked behind him without turning around.
"A client of mine is expecting a……..delivery," Mr. M explained. "I need you to take this package--" he pulled a small, hand-sized box from his pocket "--and bring it to him at the Zeldrin Starport. In return, he'll give you one hundred thousand Bolts." He handed the box to Ratchet.
Ratchet looked the box over. "What's in here?"
"Nothing you'll be interested in, so don't open it."
"Okay," Ratchet put the box away in his Storage Watch. "What does your client look like?"
"He'll be sitting cross-legged near the landing pad. He wears a trench coat that's too big fer him. Also, he'll be wearing a porkpie hat. The password is, 'Mr. M sent me'. And he'll respond by saying, 'good thing you're here, bitch'. It's a code I use when I'm not making the deliveries. Oh, and you can keep the money. I don't need it."
"Wow. Really?"
"Yup, Ratchet."
"Gee, thanks."
"We'll do your thing, Mr. M," Slim said. "But why do ya need us to do it?"
"Do you want the Bolts or not?"
"Good point. Let's go, Ratchet."
"Hold on as sec, Slim," the salesman said, "I gotta give something to Ratchet."
"I'll wait out here then."
"What'd you have for me?" Ratchet asked.
"Check this out," Mr. M said as he pulled something out of his Storage Watch. It a black, spherical object. On one side was a bright blue 'G'. On the other side was a dark blue 'M'. And on top was a small, red button. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.
"No," Ratchet simply answered.
"This is called a 'Megatron Bomb'. It was created by both Gadgetron and Megacorp employees in the Bogon Galaxy during the time when Gadgetron was running outta business. Gadgetron thought that making this bomb would boost its business. They were dead wrong. The bomb can destroy a whole moon. It was so dangerous, that production stopped and the bombs were stored away forever. Luckily, I managed to get my hands on one of these babies. To use it, press the red button, let ten seconds pass and everything goes 'Boom'."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Cuz the galaxy needs a hero. And you're that hero. Not Slim. Not Dr. Nefarious. And certainly not Captain Qwark."
He held the bomb out for Ratchet to take. "Here. Take it. Use it well and only if you really need to."
"How much?"
"Defeat Dr. Heinous."
"It's for free?.!"
Mr. M. smiled. "If you wanna put it that way, then ya."
"Why are you helping us out so much?"
"Cuz I don't like this galaxy's organic life-forms being threatened by some loser scientist. Go get 'em."
Ratchet smiled and took the bomb. He stored it in his watch. "Thanks. I won't let you down."
"Don't worry about not letting ME down. Worry about letting the whole galaxy d--"
"No, I mean your delivery."
"Oh. Okay then. Cya."
"Bye," Ratchet walked up the alley.
Slim was waiting outside. When he noticed Ratchet, he asked, "So, what did he give you?"
"A Megatron Bomb," Ratchet replied.
Slim smirked. "I knew it."
"You did?"
"Yeah. Now let's quit wasting time. We got a package to deliver."
The usual four robots stood silently waiting in The Big Room. The colossal place was still full of activity--courtesy of the constructobots. All pieces of the weapons were present. At the moment, robo roosters were moving from the container to the boiler-like object. They put a sewer crystal each, went to the nearby container, got another crystal and put it in the 'boiler'.
As usual, Raxamis spoke first. "Uncle Jerry, what is that huge thing?"
"That would be where all the crystals are gonna be turned into pure energy. Once that's done, that thing--which is called the Compound Reactor--will transfer everything up the pipe--" he pointed to a pipe with came out the back "--and into the enormous cube, which will transfer all the power to the weapon." Heinous finished explaining.
"Cool….I guess."
"Which planet will we attack first, sir?" asked Albert.
Heinous smirked. "Probably Veldin. I really feel like pissing Ratchet off."
"Why don't we attack the mind-steeling snot beasts from Dimension X?"
Everyone looked at Raxamis.
"………What?"
"I think I'll attack Metropolis on Planet Kerwan. Vince always wanted that place. I'd love to see the look on his face once he sees that I was successful and he wasn't."
"Rar rar rawrrrrrrr."
"Sandy's right. We'll attack there."
"……"
"…….."
"What?"
"What the Hell did she say?.!.?.!.?.!"
"Planet Marcadia."
"Since when did she know about the planets in Solana, sir?"
"Since I thought her. Isn't that right, my wittle cutie--?"
"Ugh. Dude! Enough with the lovy dovy stuff."
"Yes, sir. I believe it's quite irritating to us."
"Whatever. Man, these robo roosters are taking forever! Pick up the pace, robo roosters!"
"Do it or I'll zap you with my laser cannon!"
"Speaking of laser cannons, Raxamis, Albert told me you did battle with Ratchet on Aquatos. How's it go?"
"It was cool, dude!.!.! I was like, 'Dude'. Albert was like, 'Oh dear!'. And Ratchet was like, 'Aaaagh!' Somebody help me!'. And then, I--"
"Sir, the robo roosters are ready."
"Dammit, you ruined it, Jeeves!"
"Don't call me--"
"Hey, you two. Quit your squabbling and come over here."
All gathered around the Compound Reactor.
"Close the door!" Heinous ordered a random robo rooster.
The door was closed…courtesy of the robo rooster.
Heinous approached the left side. A few switches and whatnot 'stared back at him'. He pressed a button and stared at a small screen.
Albert, Raxamis and Sandy crowded around him and did their best to see.
The text 'CHECKING AMOUNT OF POWER. PLEASE WAIT' displayed itself.
"What's going on, Uncle?" Raxamis asked.
"It's checking the amount of power we have," Heinous replied. "Hopefully, we'll have one hundred percent. Then all that'll need to be done is building the weapon….which should take us exactly on hour."
"How does it know how much power we need?"
"When I gave the blueprints to the constructobots to build my base, I had plans for other things as well. This was one of them. I know how much power the weapon consumes, but this is more accurate. We must have the exact amount of power. No more; no less."
"It's ready, sir."
All four looked at the screen.
"…."
"…."
"…."
"……………..WHAT?.!.?.!.?.!"
The text read 'POWER AT 12 PERCENT'.
Everyone gave Heinous room to--
"How can this be?.! Sewer crystals should be at least eighty percent!.!.!.!" Heinous pounded the console as he yelled.
He slumped. "Now, what're we gonna do? All this work. All for nothing!.!.! Dammit. Dammit all."
An idea popped into Albert's head.
'I know I'm going to regret this,' Albert thought, 'but here it goes.'
"Sir."
"What?" Heinous looked up.
"Remember when Ratchet and Clank went to another galaxy two years ago?"
"Yeah. They disappeared during an interview and came back a year later to stop Vince. After that, Ratchet told about his adventures in the other galaxy. Why?"
"When he returned a year ago, he had a powerful ship, didn't he?"
"Get to the point."
"According to the interviews, that ship was powered by Raritainium. So which ever galaxy Ratchet and Clank went to--"
"--should have a lot of Raritainium," Heinous finished.
"It's not promising, but--"
"Of course it's promising!" Heinous stood up straight with a smile on his face. "Instead of finding an alternate source--"
"Alternate alternate source," Raxamis interrupted, a finger raised.
Heinous glared at Raxamis before continuing. "We'll go to that galaxy and get some Raritainium!"
"Which galaxy is it, Uncle?"
"….."
"…."
"….."
"……."
Silence.
………
………
………
………
………
"Shit."
"What?"
"I don't remember what galaxy they went to." Heinous looked at Albert. And asked, "Which galaxy was it?"
"Sadly, I don't remember either, sir."
"What about you, Raxamis?"
"I dunno either."
"…."
"…."
"…."
"…"
Silence.
………
………
………
………
………
"Double shit."
"Aw man!" Raxamis palmed his forehead.
"Don't worry," Heinous said, "I'll just do some research. In the meantime, you two run along and do what you want. And my project isn't finished yet, so that should give you more time."
"Cool! I'm gonna go to the abandoned city and find me some stuff for my room!" Raxamis grinned stupidly. "Jeeves, come and help me!"
"For the last time--" Albert began.
YANK!
"DAAAAAH!"
Raxamis was running towards a parked vehicle while pulling Albert behind him. Him and Albert got into the vehicle and drove.
Heinous chuckled and shook his head.
"……………!"
The vehicle Raxamis was driving was heading straight for a closed door which led outside.
"Raxamis! STOP--!"
CRASH!
A hole formed in the door.
"Constructobot!" Heinous called a random constructobot.
The robot turned to look.
"Fix the hole."
The robot saluted and marched away.
Heinous faced the robo roosters. "Go and bring my blue ship in here, will ya? And get my cargo ship in here if it's still outside. If it's too hard for you, ask some robot for help."
The robots marched away without a word.
Heinous then picked up Sandy. "Come on, Sandy, we have some history to learn."
Didn't take long to update this time, did it? Sorry if it was too rushed.
Don't make any assumptions about the flashback. Keep things to yourself.
Review please.