It runs in the family Chapter 36: A break, a ratchet and clank fanfic

Chapter Thirty-six: A break

The thug Leader sat in his lavish office. His left eye twitched as he spoke to someone on screen.

"So, what's your plan?"

"I'll be taking position aboard the ship which will be collection raritanium on Planet Grelbin," the Leader said emotionlessly. "There's no doubt that Captain Sasha will be sending someone to stop us."

"Who?"

"Ratchet, Clank, Vincent, Captain Qwark, Skrunch," the Leader listed. "Perhaps even Courtney."

"Who's Courtney?"

"The robot Jeremiah had under 'is control. Captain Qwark and Skrunch had succeeded in rescuing her from the scientist. She's also a former pop star of the Solana Galaxy."

"I'm amazed at how you know all this."

"Our other associate 'as provided me with enough information on the current situation, the past and the things that are to come. No doubt she'll give you the same thing."

"What about the other one? The tyhrranoid. Slim Cognito, I think his name was."

"'Slim Cognito' is a name which 'e uses as a fake identity. Experiment 5--'is real name--will also be there," the Leader droned. "I'll try and tell him what happened and what will happen."

"And if he refuses to listen…?"

"He won't."

"Does Heinous know anything about this?"

"No, 'e 'as no idea that we know about--"

Knock-Knock-Knock-Knock.

A knock at the door.

"We'll finish this another time," the Leader said.

"Be careful on that ship. Experiment 5's very fast and strong. Not to mention he has a bigger weapons arsenal than Ratchet."

"I'll stay alert," the said, the Leader pressed a button on his desk and the screen sunk into the floor. "Come in."

An elite henchman stepped into the office. "Heinous says it's time. There's a ship waitin' for ya outside, sir."

The Leader nodded. "Go ahead of me and tell 'im I'll be there shortly."

He stood up and rested himself on the desk with his right arm. He moved round the left side of the desk--his left, his right leg moving normally, his left leg dragging behind him, his right arm grabbing onto any object encase he lost balance, his left arm dangling by his side, his right eye refusing to blink, and his left eye twitching.

"Do you need help, sir?" the henchman, who was still there, asked.

"No," the Leader droned.

The usual thirteen people where in a luxurious hotel lobby.

"So…," Angela said, "…….Al, Jack and Skidd will be in Room 124."

"Yes."

"Yeah, dudette."

"Yup."

"Nefarious, Courtney and Lawrence will be in Room 125."

"Yep."

"Mmhmm."

"Yes."

"Qwark, Skrunch and Helga will be in Room 126."

"Yeah.

"Ya."

"Aak."

"They've made an exception to having pets on your case, Qwark," Angela said.

"Great!" Qwark punched the air was a latex-covered fist.

"Captain Sasha and I will be in Room 127."

Nefarious whispered something to Courtney. She rolled her eyes.

"And finally, Ratchet and Clank will be in Room 128."

"Yeah."

"Certainly."

"The receptionist gave us the keys. All our rooms are on the twentieth floor."

Everyone left for the elevator. Due to the number of people, the groups had to be split. Skrunch, Nefarious, Qwark, Courtney, Lawrence, Skidd and Helga took one elevator, while Ratchet, Clank, Angela, Slim, Sasha and Al took the other.

"I just thought of something," Ratchet said.

"What?" Slim asked.

"Who'll be taking care of the Phoenix?"

Sasha sighed. "I explained before we left. Weren't you listening?"

"I was exhausted," Ratchet said. "Three battles in two days."

"Oh sorry. The rangers will be taking care of it."

"Are you sure there are enough?" Angela asked.

"We're running low on rangers…," Sasha glared at Slim. The albino tyhrranoid shrunk. "But I think they can take care of the ship. Especially Bob."

"I sure hope that Dr. Heinous doesn't try the mind-control antennas again," Al rubbed his forehead. "I think I still have a headache."

"Yeah."

"……….."

"………."

"……."

Silence.

The elevator doors opened.

Everyone went to their rooms silently.

Some time later…

"I swear," Nefarious said, inspecting the room, "the squishies of this galaxy tend to overdo things a lot."

"Why's that?" Courtney asked.

"Don't ask me," Nefarious gestured. "Ask the ones who designed this place."

"I thought you'd like this planet with all the robots and all."

"Robots: yes. Robots controlled by squishies: no."

Courtney sighed. "That word is getting really stale."

"Staler than your song, 'Acidic'?"

WHAP!

"OW!"

Courtney elbowed him in the side.

"You're the only one who didn't like it."

A coughing sound came from the room Lawrence was in.

"Whatever." Nefarious then changed the subject by saying, "I get the room with the double-bed."

Courtney frowned. "No, I get it."

"Hey, I'm the hero who's supposed to stop Jeremy!"

"You've done a good job at it too!" Courtney exclaimed sarcastically. "How long has it been? Almost two weeks since you joined?"

"At least I wasn't some kind of mindless zombie in my stepbrother's base!" Nefarious retorted.

"That wasn't my fault!" Courtney shot back. "Maybe, if you didn't send me there all by myself, I'd still be with you! And--no--those robots were useless."

"With me?.!" Nefarious growled. "Doing what? Trying to seduce me twenty-four-seven?.?.?"

"Are you gay or something?"

"No, I'm not! I'm just not interested in you!"

"Why not?"

"Well…….err………………………"

"……"

"……."

"……I get the double-bed!"

"No, I do!"

"GRRRR!"

They glared daggers--no--laser beams at each other. Nefarious glared down at the shorted robot. Courtney glared up at the taller robot. Their faces were almost touching, but it didn't look like the situation would get romantic.

At the same time, Lawrence came out of his room and saw the current condition.

"Just like old times," he mused.

Nefarious and Courtney turned their heads left/right and frowned.

"You stay out of this!" they yelled in unison.

Lawrence walked into his room quickly, afraid of getting his head sliced off.

"It's over between us!" Courtney yelled.

"It never started!" Nefarious yelled back.

"And it never will!"

"….."

"……"

"….."

"……"

"….."

"……….I dunno why I'm still talking to you."

"Same here, sister!"

"Then we'll stop.

"Fine!"

Courtney walked angrily into the largest room.

SLAM!

She slammed the door behind her.

Nefarious walked angrily to the sofa and lied down on it, he arms crossed and his face frowned.

"….."

A minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

"……..?" Nefarious blinked. He sat up as he said, "Hey!"

"Ratchet, where are you going?" Clank asked.

The heroic duo where in their hotel room. The most luxurious room they had ever seen. Two bathrooms, three bedrooms, one living room…even a kitchen!

"I'm just going to go and check this place out," Ratchet replied.

"Okay, I'll be watching the holo-vid if you need me," Clank said. "I wonder how Holostar Studios is handling without me."

Clad in a blue T-shirt, black pants, a cap and jeans, Ratchet exited the room. He wanted to see the arcade room Al had told him about. He would only spend a day here, so he had to make the most of it.

He made his way to the elevator. It was convenient that it had stopped and dinged at his floor.

Someone stepped out.

Ratchet stopped.

The person went to other way.

CLING!

He dropped something and bent over casually to pick them up.

Ratchet's lips curved onto a smile.

"Look, the plumber's back," he said.

The person jumped and turned around.

"Well, look who's here," the plumber said. Instead of the usual clothes, he was wearing a Hawaiian T-shirt and white shorts.

"This is the forth time, right?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes, it is. 'cept your little robot friend isn't here," the plumber replied.

"Actually, he is here."

"Vacation?"

"No, we're after another bad guy. Dr. Heinous, the one on the news."

"Ah, yes. My wife and I used the money we earned to go here to get away from Solana and to take a break."

"We chased him here."

The plumber blinked. "He's in Bogon now?"

"Yeah, but don't worry," Ratchet reassured, "we got it covered."

"I hope so--oh I have something for you!" the plumber reached into his pocket.

Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "You knew I was coming?"

"No, I just wanna get rid of these things," he pulled several items that looked like Bolts, but not exactly.

"What are they?"

"These tokens will allow you to play any game in the arcade," the plumber said.

"Wow, really?" Ratchet grinned, then his smile shrunk. "No, you don't have to."

"It's okay," the plumber held out the tokens. "I'm not so good at those games."

"Okay then," Ratchet held his empty palm out. Tokens were dropped into it.

The plumber waved. "See you around on your next adventure," and he sauntered down the hall.

"Cya," Ratchet said.

The plumber disappeared round a corner.

"Man," Ratchet grinned at all the shiny objects in his hands, "I'm gonna have so much fun."

"Some view, eh Helga?" Qwark said, admiring the view from the balcony with his hands on the railings.

They were given a view of a big part of the city. The place was spotless, flying vehicles where abundant and the sky was clear blue. The hotel and other buildings formed a 'square'. In the centre of the 'square', there was a park.

"Ya," Helga nodded.

"Of course…I've been in better places than this."

Helga rolled her eyes.

"Oooh?" Skrunch pointed something above the rooftops.

Qwark looked and didn't see anything.

"What did you see, Skrunch?"

"Ohh akk ayaaaaooh!"

"Vot did he say?" Helga asked.

"He asked what that was," Qwark replied.

Helga turned her head right and asked him, "Vot vot was?"

"I dunno," Qwark shrugged. "He pointed to one of the roofs."

"I don't see anything," Helga said.

"Me neither."

A beat.

"Wanna go to the pool?"

"Ya."

"Ak."

His back against a waist-high wall, Agent J panted after having been seen by Skrunch. He had ducked in hopes of the monkey thinking it was his imagination.

"I'll have to wait till nightfall if I wanna kill Ratchet," the assassin said as he calmed down a little.

"Sorry, Jack," Al said. "You can't come with us."

"Why not?" Slim asked casually.

"Cuz you're a tyhrranoid. A white, blue-eyed, pants-wearing, talking tyhrranoid! People would get suspicious."

Slim smirked and equipped something from his watch. Then in a flash of light, the albino tyhrranoid was replaced by a cute-looking robot.

"Gadgetron Holo-Guise," Al said.

The robot nodded.

Al smirked. "Wow, that's resourceful."

The robot nodded.

"Dudes, are we going?" Skidd asked as he reentered the room from outside.

"Yes, we're going," Al said.

Skidd noticed the robot. "Who's he?"

Al chuckled. "That's Jack."

"Holo-Guise, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay, let's go then," Skidd turned to leave.

Al followed.

The robot slowly walked towards the door.

At the arcade…

"Come on……… Come on………….YES!" Skidd held his arms up dramatically--some people stopped to stare--as he achieved a, "New high score!"

A few feet away…

"Quick, Ratchet!" Al yelled as he 'backseat played' use your special attack.

Ratchet button bashed madly. "I'm not gonna let him win!"

"Then use your attack!" Al pressed.

"Okay!" Ratchet pressed a red button.

The screen displayed a poor quality game character jumping into the air, twirling its body around so the feet faced the opponent, spinning like a drill and charging straight into the enemy.

"Not much health left!" Ratchet sneered at the person he was playing against.

"The fortieth try has got to work," Nefarious looked through the glass. He pressed a button on a joystick.

The claw lowered.

Nefarious waited.

The claw touched the prize.

Nefarious clenched his jaw.

The claw closed, missed the prize, rose, traveled, stopped over a hole, and opened.

Nefarious deflated. He frowned and reached into the wallet Slim let him borrow.

"……?" he blinked. "Empty?"

Nefarious ran out of the arcade as fast as he could.

He was going to ask for money.

Back at the other game place.

"Ratchet, he's using a fire blast!"

"I see it!"

"Use your--"

The screen flashed with a game character firing a ball of fire at Ratchet's opponent. The remains of the health bar disappeared and the words 'PLAYER 2 WINS' flashed, covering the whole screen. Then came the credits and a demo.

"I can't believe he beat you," Al said.

"I can't believe he beat me," Ratchet said.

"I can't believe I beat you," Lawrence said.

"Since when was gaming in your programming?" Ratchet asked.

"Since the day I was manufactured," Lawrence said. "However, I have my limitations."

"Interesting…" Al scratched his chin.

"How about a rematch?" Ratchet offered.

Lawrence would have smirked if he could. "Alright then."

Nefarious ran across the pools rim.

Like the five-star hotel this place was amazing. Three deep pools, two kiddy pools, and a lot of space to put them in.

Nefarious came to a screeching halt right next to Sasha's chair.

Clad in a dark blue one-piece bathing suit, the captain glanced at him from the paper she was reading. Then without looking at the robot, she asked, "Yes?"

"I need more Bolts," Nefarious said, holding the empty wallet out, expecting Sasha to drop money in.

"I just gave you Ten Bolts," she said.

"I know. I used them all."

"Sorry….but that was the first and last payment."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee?"

"No."

It didn't look like the cazar was going to give in anytime soon.

Nefarious looked at the deckchair next to her.

"How about you, Allison?"

"'Angela'," Angela corrected. Due to the fact that she didn't have a bathing suit, Angela sat in a similar position to Sasha, reading the same kind of paper as Sasha. "And--no--I don't have any spare change."

Nefarious pulled at imaginary hair.

"But I'm so close to getting the action figure!"

Sasha was about to say something--

"CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"

Angela and Sasha looked up. Nefarious turned around.

Two jade eyes, two blue eyes, and two red eyes widened.

Qwark--wearing green swimming trunks and green gloves--was plunging towards the pools waters in a fetal position.

SPLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

A wall of water came and drenched every person with in a ten-metre radius.

Sounds of angry tourists filled the air.

Sasha wiped her face. She then gasped when she felt something sticky on her features. She looked at Nefarious, who was looking at her with an amused smile.

"Tell me I don't have ink on my face," Sasha said.

Nefarious' smiled grew. "You don't have ink on your face."

Sasha growled lightly. "How could it get any worse?"

"Look out!" Angela pointed.

Nefarious and Sasha looked and gasped.

Helga hit the half empty pool.

SLPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

"Here you go, Chad," Clank said, handing a signed piece of paper to a fan.

"Whoa!" Chad held the autograph up for him to read. "Thanks, Clank."

"You're welcome," Clank replied. "Just remember to always stay in school and keep out of trouble."

"You got it, Agent Clank!" the fanboy exclaimed. He waved and trotted away on his three legs.

The robot next to Clank shook its head.

"What?" Clank asked.

The robot hand-signed 'Why do you always have to say something like that?'

Clank blinked. "I did not know you knew sign-language, Slim."

The robot jumped, its eyes antennas turning from green to red. It looked around to see if anyone heard. No one had though, so the robot hand-signed furiously as it changed back to green, 'Don't use my name in public!'

"Oh, sorry," Clank said.

'Anyway, why do you always say that?'

"Say what?"

''Stay in school and keep out of trouble', for example.'

"To make sure that children--"

'Never mind.'

Clank shrugged. Then, he said, "What should we do now?"

The fake robot thought, then signed, 'Want to go to the buffet?'

"I do not eat, Jack," Clank replied dully.

The 'robot' looked embraced. 'Sorry, I forgot…… I do not have much to do. I will just return to the room.'

"Okay, I'll go and find Ratchet."

They separated.

"ComeonComeonComeonComeonComeon--D'oh!" Ratchet slapped his forehead.

"That makes five times in a row," Lawrence said.

"Wow, Ratchet," Al said after taking a sip from a drink he bought, "you got beaten by Nefarious' butler."

"I know," Ratchet said, rubbing his watery eyes. He then opened his bloodshot optics and said, "I demand a rematch."

"I'm terribly sorry, Master Ratchet," Lawrence said, "but I cannot partake in anymore gaming."

"Why?"

"Two reasons. One: I need to recharge. Two: Your eyes are bloodshot."

"So?" Ratchet clearly wasn't ready to stop. "I have more tokens to spare."

"I agree with Lawrence," Al said. "It's late."

"What?.!" Ratchet looked at his watch. He blinked his red-cornea eyes.

10:00 pm.

"How the Hell…?"

"Time flies when you're having fun," Al started walking. "I'm going to get Skidd."

The yellow person walked away to fetch Skidd, who was currently trying to beat the high score he beat eight times before.

"Come on, Master Ratchet," Lawrence said, "you must get some sleep. There will be more traveling tomorrow."

"I'm not tired," Ratchet said dully.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm--"

Twap!

Ratchet fell face-first onto the console of the game he had been losing at for the past several hours.

Lawrence grabbed Ratchet and hoisted him over his shoulder. As he was leaving, the butler noticed Al carrying Skidd in a similar fashion.

Al smirked and continued sauntering.

For obvious reasons, Lawrence didn't smirk. He did continue sauntering though.

Night had fallen in Megopolis. The streets were filled with lights from a perfect amount of streetlamps. Ships still hovered around and pedestrians were more numerous than the vehicles transporting a quarter of the population. This was usual.

However, things weren't exactly the same…

A figure stood above the rooftops. His solid red eyes made his black silhouette all the more intimidating. Eating a Choochi Bar, Agent J scanned the area. From where he stood, it was dark; from below, it was bright. But he didn't care about other things. All he cared about was assassinating a certain lombax who was stupidly leaning against a railing of a balcony of an expensive hotel…all on his own.

After finishing the bar, the assassin crumbled up the wrapper and tossed it over his shoulder in hopes of landing it in the litterbin that was put there due to the City's fetish for cleanliness.

However, the wrapper bounced off the bin's rim and landed at the snivlacian's feet. He didn't notice though; because he was too busy eating a second Choochi Bar.

After finishing this and another three, Agent J would be ready for assassination.

Little did he know that his littering hadn't gone unnoticed.

Ratchet sighed deeply as he stared at the activity taking place below. It was perfect. Nothing seemed to step out of line. This City was like a robot paradise. The ones he had encountered two years ago were malfunctioning. The lombax only wished that things would be as peaceful for Solana. He remembered the place Slim had taken him to when they were going to meet Mr. M. It was just so ghetto to him. He had always thought that Gorda City was a happy place with people who got used to the frequent thunder storms. No doubt Metropolis was the same. Maybe even this City.

That wasn't important now. Dr. Heinous was a more formidable foe than Drek, the Thugs-4-Less Leader or Nefarious. No, this one was probably the worst. And if that wasn't true, then Ratchet wasn't sure if he'd be able to go up against any new enemies.

Raxamis' words still lingered in his brain.

'You're nothing without your toys.'

Ratchet new that the word 'toys' meant his weapons. He couldn't deny it any longer.

He was weak.

From the wrench to the Rynocirator, he was weak. Without those weapons, he would have probably never become the hero he was.

However, there were several outcomes if Ratchet had never intervened. There would have never been a protopet shipment.

As for Drek…

Veldin would have been destroyed and replaced by the synthetic blargian planet. Then the cycle would have started all over again. Another hero--other than Qwark--would have come and saved the day. Nefarious would have returned and so on……

Ratchet was still weak.

Qwark had strength. Slim had super strength, speed and agility. Nefarious had several different robotic powers. Courtney had agility and other attacks.

Every enemy Ratchet fought could have killed him then and there. Just one bullet to the head could kill him. He was so vulnerable. He never realized how fragile he was

Ratchet sighed and continued looking at the random passing cars.

"………."

Agent J finished the last Choochi Bar. He tossed it over his shoulder and--yes--missed for the fifth time. He belched and lightly fisted his chest.

He equipped a Vaporizer and took aim.

"…..'

The hotel was directly in front of the building he was on. Ratchet's head was visible and distinguishable.

He tongued his right cheek.

"Ya won't get away this time, ya rodent."

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!

He blinked.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!

He looked behind him.

SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!

Three sweeperbots were spinning at his feet. He didn't know why, but the robots were after the Choochi Bar wrappers.

"Get away, ya stupid robots!"

The only caused their 'eyes' to turn red. They swished faster.

Agent J jumped back and forth to avoid them.

Suddenly, he lost balance and fell over the wall.