Ah, Gruntzilla. Haven't read from you in a while. I'm just sayin' this to let you know that everything that has to be said will be said later on. Until then, read.
This chapter is long!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Chapter Forty-four: Base fight
"Stay tuned, dear viewers…until the next planet is transformed. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
And the screen went black.
"Uhhhh," Qwark uttered nervously. "Does anyone here think anyone in Solana actually saw that?"
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
"Heinous interrupted every program!" Ratchet barked. "What do you think?.!"
"I'm just saying!" Qwark frowned. "It is five in the morning!"
"Different planets have different times," Lawrence stated, arms behind his back.
"……"
"……."
"Anyway," Sasha marched over to Al. "Got the coordinates?"
"Yeah," Al confirmed. "Heinous' base is heading on a course to Veldin."
Ratchet growled. He was about to speak--
Nefarious folded his arms annoyingly, "The same for me! I was gonna attack Veldin second! Blood copycat, I swear…"
"Okay," Sasha stated. "Here's the plan."
Everyone listened.
"I'm sending everyone who went on the ship at Grelbin, along with Courtney and Lawrence. Heinous' base has no defences, so you'll be safe."
"Anything else?" Slim asked.
"You'll be on your own after," Sasha's voice lowered a bit. "The Phoenix barely has any fuel left. The rest of us are going to Marcadia. Perhaps, we could get you more help as well."
Nefarious cocked an eyebrow, "As in…….."
"Several rangers."
"Alright," Ratchet palmed a fist. "Let's get loaded."
"Are the robots ready to guide this ship?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is the Biobliterator II ready and fully charged?"
"Yes, sir."
"And are the defences inside ready?"
"Ye--…….. Why would you need defences inside?"
The two robots stopped so a constructobot could pass them. The Big Room was busting with the usual robotic activity. Heinous and Albert had been walking through the room for quite some time. Raxamis and Sandy weren't present.
"I'm just taking precautions," Heinous said as they continued walking. "The Q-Force could be travelling here right now. I want everyone to be ready…………….that includes you."
Albert blinked, "Me?"
"Yup. The Fearsome Four have to be ready for anything."
"Please tell me you didn't say 'Fearsome Four'."
"Uh………………………I did say 'Fearsome Four'."
"Does that mean you're going along with Raxamis' name title for us?"
Heinous smiled slightly, "Why not? Instead of having to say all four of our names, all that can be said is 'Fearsome Four'."
"If you say so."
"Heh. I do." A beat. "Constructobot!"
A random robot walked up to the scientist and butler.
"How long till we reach Veldin?"
The robot beeped several morse code signals which were translated by Heinous.
"How long, sir?"
"About half an hour."
SHOOOOM!
Ratchet's ship was the last of three vessels to leave the Phoenix. The moment the ship exited, the main ship used the rest of its fuel to go to Marcadia.
Ratchet inside his helmet. "Well, Clank," he said, his Infernix Armoured hands on the ship's controls, "I'm in tiptop condition, all my weapons are at their maximum ammo, and I just had a relaxing shower. I'm ready for battle!"
"Good," Clank uttered without looking. "This may be the last battle before the defeat of Dr. Heinous. I hope that the others are as ready as you are."
"Sure. Maybe, we'll beat Heinous before they do."
Clank seemed outraged. "Surely, you don't mean you're going to use a dangerous villain in a game of 'who gets there first wins'!"
"It's okay, Clank. Just joking, is all."
"…….."
"Thanks for all the weapons, Jack," Qwark said without looking. He was riding shotgun in the green shuttle. Funnily enough, Skrunch was driving while standing on a phonebook.
"No problem," Slim said from behind, "I have a lotta doubles."
"Ahhhh."
A beat.
"Man," Slim half frowned, "we gotta get some girls in the Q-Force."
"There's Helga," Qwark leaned his forearm on the seat as he turned around and faced the tyhrranoid.
Slim glanced once at. "OTHER than Helga."
"Akk ah!"
"He said 'Courtney'."
She sat rather close to Nefarious on the bench inside the dropship.
Nefarious was oblivious, due to the fact that he was 'sleeping'.
When Courtney noticed, she huffed uncrossed her legs, re-crossed them the other way, and faced her left.
Lawrence stood smartly by the ranger. At one point, he asked, "Estimated time before arrival?"
"'Bout five minutes," the ranger replied.
"Thank you," Lawrence droned. He noticed Courtney's annoyed state. "Is something the matter, Miss Gears?"
Despite her annoyance, Courtney smirked at him, "There's no need to be formally, you know."
"I'm afraid it's in my programming, Madam."
Courtney shrugged. "If you say so."
SWOOOSH! CRASH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet's ship crashed through a steel wall. As a result, all items in the room were sucked out by space's vacuum. Ratchet jumped out, equipped with an O2 Mask. He had Clank on his back. The red ship was sucked onto space. Magneboots kept Ratchet safe. As instructed, he went to a console and pressed a button.
WHUUUUUUUUUR-CLIIINK!
A layer of wall slid and replaced the hole.
Ratchet removed his mask and inhaled. Clank jumped off his back.
"The ship is set on autopilot," Ratchet said. "I'll call it if I need to."
"Understood," Clank replied.
"Think the others are here yet?"
"I am unsure. Contact them and see."
Ratchet equipped a communicator. "Qwark, come in. This is--"
"--Ratchet. Have you arrived to the base yet?"
WHUUUUUUUUUR-CLIIINK!
A new layer of wall replaced the smashed one. Slim was the last to walk out of the shuttle. Skrunch stood next to him.
Qwark spoke into the communicator, "Yeah, we just did. Everyone's ready for action. I just spoke to Nefarious. He's here too."
"Where are you?"
"Fortieth floor. Same as Nefarious."
"Clank and I are there too. I have your signal ready. Let's group and then split up."
"Gotcha. Qwark out."
Qwark pocketed the communicator on an unseen pocket.
"Ooh ah ah?" Skrunch asked.
"I dunno if we'll beat him for sure," Qwark scratched his head. "He's unlike any other villain I've every seen."
"We'll beat him," Slim said. A beat. "I'll beat him."
"Fat chance," Qwark smirked. "You're looking at the greatest superhero who ever lived: CAPTAIN QWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKK!.!.!.!.!"
"The same 'superhero' who literally went bananas," Slim added.
Qwark frowned. "Let's just get to the rendezvous point."
"Are you sure it's necessary to stay where we are, sir?"
"Absolutely, Albert. I want everyone to split up."
"Where'd you think everyone would go, Uncle?"
"There's no doubt that Vince will be coming here………… That white tyhrranoid too. As for the others, I have no idea."
"Rawwwwwwwr rar-o rarrrerrrr?"
"Then make a run for it. I've sent several ninjas to patrol the hallways. You're not the only ones who'll be fighting."
"How much longer 'til we get to Veldin?"
"'Bout twenty minutes now, Raxamis. Just stay cool and remain alert."
"'Kay."
"Rar."
"Affirmative."
"Good. Heinous out."
-blip-
Heinous switched the communicator off. He had traded the walky-talkies for a new kind of device. He had used the new one to have a four-way conversation with the other robots.
The scientist stood in The Big Room once again. He watched constructobots move to and fro preparing for the next attack.
"…………"
His communicator beeped. He answered and listened to the morse code signal.
"…….," he barely frowned. "So……they're here already?"
…………
"Absolutely."
"'Bout time," Nefarious said as he leaned against a wall. Courtney stood by his side with Lawrence on his other. They where at an 'intersection' of hallways.
"Whatevah," Slim said as he stopped his walk. The others came from behind him.
"Okay," Qwark said. "Who's going where?"
"I am detecting robotic signals coming from all around the forty-story base," Clank said. "But there are four concentrated signals coming from different areas."
"Where?" Ratchet asked.
"One on the thirty-fifth, one on the twenty-first, one on the thirty-fourth, and one on the bottom."
"Right," Ratchet nodded. "Clank--"
"Skrunch and I will scope out the thirty-fifth floor," Qwark interrupted, raising a finger for no reason. "It's closer."
"Okay," Ratchet said. "Then, Clank and I go--"
"I'll take the thirty-fourth floor," Courtney said as she leaned one hand on her hip. She looked in Nefarious' direction, "Anyone wanna come with?"
Ratchet's was about to speak--
"Actually, I'm gonna go the bottom floor," Nefarious said as he stood up straight.
Courtney half frowned.
"I'm goin' with him," Slim jabbed a white thumb at the robot. "For the Hell of it."
Ratchet finally spoke, "Then Clank and I will be going to the twenty-first floor."
"Okay, I have detected elevators in ten different directions," Clank said. "We should split up and defeat Dr. Heinous."
"And, if possible, find a way to destroy this base," Slim said.
"Let's go," Ratchet equipped his Multi-Disc Gun. Clank jumped on his back and the lombax ran down a hallway. Qwark equipped a borrowed Walloper, Skrunch jumped on his shoulder, and they were gone.
"You sure you don't wanna come?" Courtney cooed at Nefarious.
The robot was unaffected. Probably because he was already walking away.
"Hrrrphh!" Courtney frowned and platform shoed away.
Slim jogged towards Nefarious. The tyhrranoid and robot passed through a sliding door and were gone.
Lawrence was alone.
"……."
He had been listening the whole time.
"…….."
Calmly putting his hands behind his back, he walked down a hallway which was taken by Ratchet and Clank. He then turned left where the lombax and little robot had turned right.
He wasn't heading for an elevator.
"………"
"So…..," Nefarious walked at a reasonable pace, "…..why'd you come with me?"
Slim looked with one eye-stem at Nefarious. "I figured you'd know where Heinous would be."
"Damn right, I do. He's always had a fetish for going downstairs. I'm gonna pay him back for my childhood."
"Not if I get to him first!"
Nefarious frowned. "You won't!.!"
"Hey, you're not the only one who's had his life screwed up by him."
"Hmmmm," Heinous watched a floating holo-vid. The floating visual display device showed camera footage of Nefarious and Slim. "……………………….E5……………….Vince…………….."
A robo rooster stood by his side.
Heinous faced the other robot. "Send in the ninjas."
"Whoever gets to the bottom floor?" Slim asked.
"I don't care who gets to the bottom floor!" Nefarious grumbled. "I care about getting back at Jeremy for all the torment!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
"You're being too aggressive."
Nefarious halted and turned so he could face Slim. The albino also stopped and rose all three of his eyes.
"Other than myself," Nefarious shouted, "you're also another person who's life has been altered thanks to my stepbrother, the worst thing to happen to me! You mentioned four others before you whom you don't even frickin' know! Jeremy has done horrible things to be!.! He's the reason Qwark used to pick on me!.!.! He's the reason I wasn't so good at sports!.!.!.!.! He's the reason why I became what I am today!.!.!.!.!.! Ever since I was SEVEN-BLOODY-YEARS-OLD!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! I'm surprised I made it this far in life without killing myself! Jeremy was OLDER than me. He should have been mature. BUT NO!.!.!.!.!.!.! Because he was spoilt, rich bastard with no hope of being tolerant, he took his anger out on me!.!.!.!.! ALL OF IT!.!.!.!.! Although he's made you a freak, he's done worse to me! So tell me--'E5'--SHOULD I OR SHOULD I NOT BE TOO AGGRESSIVE ABOUT THE MAN WHO MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!"
"………," Slim was silent.
"SHOULD I?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!" Nefarious seemed taller.
"Yes, you should," Slim said defeated.
"Good!" Nefarious spat before he continued walking.
The large door ahead slid open. The strange thing was that Nefarious was ten metres away.
"?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?" Nefarious stopped.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!
A shuriken flew and imbedded itself in the floor between Nefarious' feet.
The robot jumped with fright and looked ahead.
Several robotic ninjas stood ready, some armed with double-bladed laser swords; others armed with shurikens.
Nefarious growled, "I don't have time for this!"
From behind……
"Neither do I."
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Slim blurred past Nefarious with freakish speed. He jumped, landed on a ninja's head, and proceeded to advance on the nearby elevator by jumping from head to head.
"GRRRRRRRR!" Nefarious folded his arms. Once he unfolded them, he was holding two ray guns.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
"We're closing in on Marcadia!" a worker said.
"Patch me through to the president," Sasha said.
"Patching you through now," another worker said.
"…."
"…."
"Done."
The president's tired face appeared. At the sight of his daughter, he gasped a cross between happiness and anger.
"Mr. President," Sasha remained formal. "I hope you received the e-mail I sent--"
"Yes, I did, Sasha," the galactic Leader interrupted. "I asked for an army to take Heinous down already."
"Oh……," Sasha said, "…..I see."
"You really shouldn't have gone off like that, Sasha. Perhaps, if you told me…things would have turned out differently."
"How do you mean, sir?"
"I would have provided reinforcements to help you out. When you were gone, I barely had any sleep, cuz I was constantly thinking about how much danger you could be in fighting a battle in another galaxy. And worse off……I couldn't watch the old Secret Agent Clank series again."
"Well…," Sasha fumbled for words, "……..I'm back."
"And I'm happy for that."
"Thanks………um……." Sasha returned to her professional self. "The reason I contacted you was to announce that we're going to land on Marcadia."
The president blinked. "Why? Shouldn't you be fighting Dr. Heinous?"
"We already have that covered. And the Phoenix is running low on fuel."
"Okay then. You can land."
"Thank you, Mister President. Sasha out--"
"Hold on."
"What is it, sir?"
The president seemed angry for the first time. He pointed a finger at his daughter and said, "When all this is over, you and I are gonna have a private talk about all this."
Sasha blushed slightly, because there where others present in the room besides her. "Okay, sir--"
"And make sure you keep yourself out of trouble in the near fut--"
"Okay, sir! Sasha out!.!.!.!"
Click.
She pressed a nearby button and the screen went blank.
Lawrence walked down the hall calmly, Mapo-matic in hand.
"………"
"I think this is Heinous' room," Qwark said as he gazed at the orange, two-story door with the 'H' in its centre. "What do you think, Skrunch?"
The primate in question nodded its one-eyed head. "Hoo hoo hooh akkkk."
"You're right," Qwark went to the borrowed watch on his right arm and equipped a Heavy Lancer. He looked right and noticed a smaller door, coloured baby blue. This one had a black, 'A' in its centre. "I'm guessing that's Heinous' butler's room…"
"Ak ooooohh."
"Right. Albert's."
"….."
"How do you open this--?"
SCHWIIIIIISH! The door slid up, causing Qwark to jump a little.
Without actually walking in, Qwark scanned the large and spacious room. He gulped for some reason.
"Ah ha ha hhhhhaaaakkkkakaa," Skrunch said.
"I may have redeemed myself, but I still get scared." A beat. "Don't tell anyone I said that, okay?"
Skrunch rolled his one orange eye and nodded.
Qwark smile slightly as he walked in. "Good."
"…."
"…."
Silence.
Qwark slouched as he walked around slowly. Skrunch faced behind Qwark and kept his left hand on the superhero's head. For a whole minute, absolutely nothing happened. Qwark stopped in the middle and scratched his head.
"That's weird. I thought Clank said that--"
He was interrupted.
WHUUU-WHUUU-WHUUU-WHUUU-WHUUU-UUUUUR!.!.!.!.!.!
Walls can from the room's floor. They rose up and stopped upon contact with the ceiling. The room had become suddenly smaller; all the furniture--that was against the original walls--was blocked by the new set of metal ones. Even the door was blocked. There was still space left to roam around though. Qwark and Skrunch were trapped.
They both gulped.
They both heard something.
They both looked up.
SWOOOOOSH-Plant.
Sandy dropped down from out of nowhere and landed on her feet in front of the two. She grinned.
Qwark and Skrunch exchanged chances.
A beat.
"SttcccahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!.!.!.!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The both laughed.
Qwark gasped mockingly. "Oh no, we're being attacked by a cut and cuddly, robotic sand shark! SOMEONE HELP ME!.!.!"
Skrunch just laughed.
"What is she gonna do? Bite us to death?.! HA HA HA HA HA HA--!"
SWOOOOOSH-SLIIIIIIIIK!
"Owie!" Qwark clutched his right arm………with had a one-inch cut. He looked forward, but Sandy was gone.
Skrunch tapped his head and pointed behind them. Qwark looked.
Sandy stood there, facing away. He head fin was dripping a red liquid. Blood. Qwark's blood. The sand shark turned around and gave them a sharp-toothed grin.
SCHWIIIIISH!
The door with the bright, black 'R' slid open, allowing Courtney to walk in.
SCHWIIIIIIIIIIIISH!
The door closed behind her.
"……," she stared at the room full of Agent Clank and Courtney merchandise. "Whoa…"
"You like?" a young voice slurred.
Courtney blinked her golden eyes and looked around.
"Hi," Raxamis waved from where he was perched atop a cupboard. He jumped and landed in a squat in the middle of the room, his purple cape draping behind his back. "So…," he put his fists on his hips, "……you like?"
"If I didn't know any better," Courtney smirked, "I'd say you were bi."
Raxamis frowned. "I don't feel attraction to anything." A look of sadness. "Dad--Nefarious programmed me that way."
"Awww, you poor thing," Courtney mock cooed. She bore a frown, "I'd have sympathy for you if you didn't try to control me!"
"And that's another thing," Raxamis raised a finger. "Why in Yadar's name would you not wanna fight the guy who literally threw me away?.!"
"Uhmmmmm," Courtney fumbled for words.
Raxamis blinked. Then he gasped happily. "You have a crush on my father!"
Courtney gasped. "No, I don't!.!.!.!.!" she yelled.
"It makes total sense now! This changes everything! He he!"
"I don't have a crush on him!" if Courtney was organic, she'd be blushing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!" Raxamis hugged himself as he laughed.
FLASH!
A ball of bright pink sailed at him.
Raxamis opened one orange eye, gasped, and jumped to the side. The ball impacted his bed and singed the edge of the covers.
He noticed the ruined bed sheets when he turned around. He growled at Courtney.
The female robot in question smirked. "Not such a fan of me now, huh?"
"I adore you for your work only," Raxamis grunted and reached into his utility belt. "And if it's a fight you want; then it's fight you'll get. And it doesn't matter if anything gets destroyed, cuz I've got doubles. I also have a backup dirk from my computer."
VIIIIIIIIIUM! VIIIIIUUUUM!
He equipped two red laser swords, and attached them by the hilts. The glowing weapon ate all the oxygen present. With his free hand, he removed his cape and placed the article in his belt.
A beat.
"YAAAAAGHHH!" Raxamis charge forward, spinning his double-bladed laser sword.
Courtney jumped over him, did a forward flip in midair, landed on her feat behind him, and back-kicked him with a red platform shoe.
WHAP!
Raxamis stumbled forward. He turned around and glared at her in surprise. "You didn't show that much skill when you went against Qwark!"
Courtney did a double-take. "All I did was land behind you and kick you."
"Yeah, but you weren't that acrobatic!"
"Ah, now I remember. When I reactivate after a long time of being out of commission, my power level is low. It takes a while to reach its full capacity."
"…………………Oh." A beat. "DIE!'
Raxamis ran forward, this time his weapon positioned diagonally in front of him.
Courtney was ready.
WHAM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet fired with his N90 Hurricane as he backed up. Ninjas flipped, side-stepped, jumped, cart-wheeled, crawled, and dodged the rapid fire. Some getting destroyed while others escaped.
"We are nearing the door to where the signal is coming from," Clank said from behind Ratchet.
"Good," the lombax replied. He equipped his Rynocirator and fired.
FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
More than three quarters of the ninjas were reduced to piles of ash.
Ratchet whipped around and ran through a huge set of double doors. They closed behind him.
"….."
"….."
They were in a huge, hollow room. The same dull metal covered the floor, walls, and ceiling……………………except for a window in front of them a few stories up. A silhouette could be seen.
"Ratchet……Clank," a voice boomed from nowhere, "so nice of you to come."
Clank jumped off from Ratchet's back. "It's Albert. Dr. Heinous' butler."
"The very same. Dr. Heinous knew you'd have to split up, so he heightened Raxamis' Sand's and my signal so you'd separate. And I have been graced with the lombax who saved Bogon once and Solana twice."
Ratchet managed a smirk behind his helmet. "Want my autograph or something?"
"Alas, no. Which brings us to the situation at hand. I'd like to welcome you to the base's training room."
"'Training room'?" Ratchet remarked.
"It's a lot like the VR deck on the Starship Phoenix, but with less limits."
"Ah."
"Master Heinous will fire the Biobliterator II in a matter of minutes and you are in the way of his schemes. I have been instructed to annihilate you via this room."
"Wow, aren't you cheery," Ratchet muttered.
"Sir, is this necessary?" Clank asked.
"I'm afraid so. Pity……I really like the show you put on."
"How about Clank's autograph?" Ratchet gestured.
"Sorry, orders are orders. And now……………engage."
The room immediately transformed into a black area with green lined everywhere. These lines crisscrossed each other and bent, forming 3D shapes. Ratchet and Clank stuck out like sore thumbs. Then, the room got some colour. Shapes could be made out as the room became smaller. It was a circular arena in an even bigger circular dome. A filed of electricity separated the arena from the wall. Above the wall, several dark figures with red eyes cheered for no apparent reason. On the outskirts, where two ledges on either side if the ring.
"Maktar Arena," Ratchet mumbles as he gazed at his surroundings.
"Yes," Albert said. "Thanks to the documentaries I've seen about you, I know of some you have fought and defeated. Let's see you do it again, shall we?"
B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BOUNCE!
Rolled into a ball with a sharp object attached, Sandy ricocheted of the new walls.
Qwark helplessly ducked and ran every which way he could to avoid the bouncing sand shark.
"Ooooh ah ah ah!"
"It's too fast!"
"Oooh!.!.!"
"Fine!" Qwark tapped button on his storage watch while running. "Ah-ha!" he said as he equipped a small gun with a dart attached to the barrel. "Tranquiliser!"
Skrunch gave him a sceptic look.
"It can tranquilise organics as well as robots," Qwark said proudly. "At lease that's what Jack said."
Skrunch pointed at the metallic blur. Qwark tried aiming, but he couldn't get a decent lock on her. Skrunch seemed to notice, because he was crawling down Qwark's arm. He tapped button on the watch and--
ZAP!
--a laser shot from the watch. Right at Sandy point blank.
WHAP!
She crashed into a wall from being hit.
Skrunch pointed madly.
Qwark nodded, took aim, and fired.
TWIFFFFT!
The dart flew at Sandy.
And--
PING!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Sandy deflected it in the nick of time with her foot. The dart flew back and--
TUNK!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--flew into Qwark's neck.
The man in green blinked, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the floor.
THUMP!
Skrunch jumped off his shoulder. He glared at the grinning sand shark. The primate scampered over to Qwark's watch and took the device off.
"Rawwr ra rar rar rar rar areraaa?" Sandy asked.
'Do you think you have the advantage when it comes to defeating a robotic sand shark?'
Skrunch smirked slightly. "Ooh ah akk, haa-aa-k."
'I can always try, you know.'
"Raoooowrrrrr grrrr."
'You'll try and you'll lose, squishy.'
"Arrrrk rak ooooh ah!"
'You will be stopped!'
"A! Rar rar Rawwwrrrrrr rrrrggggrrrg-gr grawwwwl."
'HA! The Biobliterator II is set to go off in under twenty minutes and you're running out of time.'
"Ha aaaaaahh oooohh--?"
'What isyour problem with organics--?'
THWIIIIIIIIIIIISH!
Sandy flew at him, spinning vertically.
Skrunch dived out of the way just in time.
Sandy missed, found a wall, and bounced off it. She flew up, bounced off a wall, bounced twice more and flew straight at Skrunch.
Skrunch had a Walloper equipped. He struggled to hold the large weapon.
Sandy sensed it, aimed low, bounced over Skrunch, hit the wall behind him, went higher, hit the wall in front of him, went right, bounced, and went speeding at Skrunch at full speed.
Skrunch had no choice but to duck and--after ducking--run to the side, because Sandy bounced off the wall behind him. She landed in front of him.
Skrunch stored the Walloper and searched though the watch again. He found and equipped a Blitz Cannon. He places the weapon's butt to his chest, wrapped his arms around it, and 'hugged' the trigger.
Sandy rolled to the side.
BLAM!
Making sure that Qwark wasn't in his line of fire, Skrunch fired several shots at Sandy.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Sandy rolled, jumped, bounced, flew, and bounced again.
She landed on her feet and grinned her eyeless at the frustrated monkey. "Rar arar rawr?"
'Do you give up?'
Skrunch put the Blitz Cannon away. "Oooh ooh oohh akk!"
'Not on your life!'
"Rarrrrr warrr."
'So be it.'
Skrunch equipped another weapon.
Sandy 'gasped'.
Morph-O-Ray.
"HAH! HAH! HAH!"
ZAAAAP! ZAAAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Three blue laser beams flew at Courtney.
Courtney twirled, flipped and cart-wheeled, successfully dodging them. She hurled a spinning projectile at Raxamis.
SWISH!
Raxamis spun his double-bladed laser sword and deflected it easily.
CLANG!
It was a distraction for Courtney to come and throw a fist at his head.
WHAM!
Raxamis skidded back a few feet and stopped himself with an emerald-green claw.
He charged at Courtney, spinning his double-bladed weapon.
Courtney performed a high-kick and--
CLONG!
--somehow deflected the laser sword with an indestructible platform shoe.
"HIYAGHH!" Raxamis countered with the other end.
Courtney ducked.
Raxamis kicked.
CLUTCH!
She caught his foot with both hands. "NNNNNNNGHHHH!" he brought them up, causing Raxamis to fall backwards.
He manipulated the move by doing a back-flip. He landed on his bed and fired from his laser cannon.
ZAAAAP!
Courtney jumped over the shot and flung a ball of bright pink.
FLASH!
Raxamis spun his laser swords.
VIIII-CHING!
He succeeded in deflecting them.
He jumped down.
Courtney jumped back, raised her arms, and bought them down.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUM!.!.!.!.!.!
Raxamis jumped over the wave of red plasma, ignoring the sound of his possessions being destroyed behind him.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Raxamis deflected the spinning pink projectiles that were thrown at him……………and blinked confusingly.
Courtney was gone.
"Courtney….?"
………
"Uh…..Court--AKK!"
WHAM!
Courtney had come out from nowhere and kicked him in the side.
Raxamis flew back and--
CRASH!--crashed into a shelve of trinkets.
He groaned.
KONK!
An alarm clock of Agent Clank about to hit Max Million on the head with a mallet fell on his head. He rubbed his bruised cranium.
Courtney smirked at him. "Had enough?"
Raxamis stood up. He spun his weapon by his right side and got into a fighting pose. "Nope."
"Good."
Raxamis charged forward.
FLASH!
Raxamis spun his laser sword(s) and deflected the pink ballast that was thrown at him. CHIIIIIUM!
Courtney responded by performing several back-flips.
Raxamis didn't stop charging.
Whenever Courtney was upside-down, she hurled her spinning, pink projectiles at the other robot.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Raxamis side-stepped, deflected, jumped, rolled, deflected, side-stepped, jumped, and deflected.
Courtney was coming towards the little bit of wall between the computer and a more shelves. And she knew it.
TH-THAP!
Her booted feet found the wall and vaulted off it and over Raxamis. He landed in a handstand.
Raxamis smirked, ran up the wall, pushed off it. He landed on his feet, twirled around and fired his laser cannon.
ZAAAAAP!
Still in a handstand, Courtney spun herself and deflected the blue laser.
"YAAAAGH!" Raxamis ran towards her.
"HAAAA!"
FLASH!
Another blast of pink.
Raxamis wasn't quick enough.
CLANG!.!.!.!
The double-bladed laser sword was separated. Both swords were deactivated and went flying in opposite direction. Raxamis was unarmed.
Courtney swung a fist at him.
Raxamis batted the hand away.
Courtney high-kicked at his chin.
Raxamis stepped back.
Courtney flung a spinning pink attack.
SWISH!
Raxamis ducked, rolled around her, and donkey-kicked her in the rear.
WHAP!
Courtney stumbled forward, and twirled around just in time to block--
WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAPPPPPP!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--a series of blurring punches from Raxamis by hold her arms out in an 'X' shape.
"HIIIIIIIIYAGH!" Raxamis sent a roundhouse kick to her head.
GRIP!
Raxamis' eye widened.
Courtney had successfully caught his foot. She smirked.
"You really weren't bluffing," Raxamis managed, "where you?"
"Nope," Courtney chirped quickly and tossed Raxamis towards the remains of the bed.
Raxamis twirled his body and landed on his feet again.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWOOSH!
Courtney spun towards him.
Raxamis yelped, jumped off the bed, and ran.
Courtney spun after him.
Raxamis stopped and smirked at her. "You're not the only one who can do that." He pulled two laser swords from his belt. Yellow and blue. He held them in one hand each.
Courtney stopped spinning and looked.
Raxamis held his arms out in a crucifix position. His torso started rotating while his hips downward and head remained the same. He spun faster………faster……faster…faster…fasterfasterfasterfasterfasterf-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! His centre became a tornado of metallic green, emerald green, azure, bright blue, and bright yellow. And yet his hips downward and head didn't move…..save for his mouth. "Cool, eh?"
"Uhmmmm," Courtney seemed uneasy.
And that's when Raxamis ran at her.
STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP!.!.!.!.!.!
Courtney spun in unison.
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWOOSH!
FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOSH!
GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Sparks flew.
PHOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A missile flew from Ratchet's Megarocket Cannon.
BOOM!
Chainblade was struck dead centre. The behemoth gladiator clutched his chest dramatically, moaned, spun around on one foot and--
THUMP!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--fell on his back with his arms outstretched. He then disappeared in a flash of light.
"I can't believe it! Chainblade has been defeated!.!.!.!"
Ratchet stood a few feet away, armed with the said weapon. Clank was on his back in Heli mode.
"Is that the best you can do?.!" Ratchet bellowed.
"Actually………………………………………………no."
"From the Planet Cerebella comes a colossal creation…"
PLANT!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
A six-tone being landed in the arena.
Ratchet clenched his jaw and equipped his Mini-Nuke.
"Stand back for the big and the brainy……"
P-POW! P-POW! P-POW!
Six pink balls of pure energy were fired at Ratchet's figure, two at a time.
"Let's give it up for THE B2 BRAWLER!.!.!.!"
Ratchet side-stepped every shot and went towards the Brawler.
The Cerabellian stood in the centre of the arena, constantly firing two pink blasts of energy at a time. Its legs remained still. Its 'head' rotated and kept its single pink eye in the circling lombax.
Ratchet fired his Mini-Nuke.
BOOOOOM!
The bomb exploded upon contact with the Brawler's long legs.
P-POW!
The Brawler didn't stop firing.
BOOOM!
Another Mini-Nuke bomb exploded upon contact with its legs.
"It's like watching a train wreck. Wow!"
The Brawler's eye and antenna changed from pink to yellow. Its legs bent outwards, causing its 'head' to lower. The four appendages spread out straight, all at an equal length. The then started spinning. The Brawler's now yellow eye remained locked on its opponent(s).
Ratchet's heart was racing. He timed his jumps carefully. One false move or wrong timing would have resulted in him getting struck by one of the carbonox legs.
"Ratchet, use your Blitz Cannon," Clank said. "It will surely defeat the Brawler."
"Did it before," Ratchet said. "Gonna do it again!"
He equipped his Blitz Cannon and unleashed blink-of-an-eye blasts.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
"This guy's on a rampage!"
The Brawler's 'head' spun several turns. The Cannons aimed and fired.
P-POW!
Ratchet's eyes widened. He backed up to where the Brawler's legs couldn't reach him.
Ratchet jumped.
B-BOOM!
The pink balls exploded under him.
SWOOSH!
A metal limb passed under Ratchet, and the lombax landed straight after.
The only problem was--
P-POW! P-POW!
While trying to dodge, Ratchet engaged his Blitz Cannon.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The Brawler immediately stood up.
Ratchet was unfortunate, fore he was hit by two of the balls. His armour absorbed the damage though.
Not wasting any time, the lombax pulled out his Nitro Eruptor and fired one singe shot before the Brawler could attack.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"The Brawler's got all he can handle."
The towering robot in question collapsed, its legs spreading out unevenly. The glass that protected the brain cracked. The brain its self popped, bits of it going everywhere. The colour of the eye and antennas darkened to black. The cannons lowered and finally--
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--the Brawler exploded, pieces of the six-tone robot flying everywhere.
"The B2 Brawler is down and out!"
Ratchet barely panted. His helmet tilted up and the lombax said, "Got more for me?"
"As a matter of fact, I do."
The entire scenery went back to blackness, then things became clear and Ratchet and Clank knew where they where.
"The Megacorp Games arena. Enjoy."
Gladiators and robots began to fill the arena. They were followed by lava. Ratchet ran to the centre, where a circular platform had arisen. The moment he landed on it from a jump, he was propelled upwards. Knowing what was going to happen, Ratchet equipped his Gravity Boots.
"Make way for the Terror of Tarantia. It's shocking! It's amazing! Give it up for THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ARACNOID!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
SWOOOOOOOSH-GRIP!.!.!.!.!
A clawed hand wrapped around Slim's ankle.
"I'm gonna get there first!.!.!.!.!" Nefarious growled and flung the tyhrranoid behind him.
Slim twirled his body and landed in a sliding crouch.
DING!
The elevator that was called earlier arrived. Nefarious jumped in and pressed the button to the lowest floor. The doors began to close.
FWOOOOOSH!
Slim blurred towards the elevator……
……and didn't make it in time.
He skidded to a stop.
Behind him--
VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUUUUM!
Without looking, Slim reached behind him, snatched a laser sword out of a ninja's hand, spun around once, and sliced the robot in two.
He then used the same sword to open the elevator doors in front of him.
VIIIIUUU-CHIIIIIIIIIIM!
A circular hole was made.
Slim threw the sword behind him and jumped into the shaft.
He fell.
He could see the elevator car's roof closing in.
The tyhrranoid equipped a gun from his storage watch.
He fired up.
SPLORCH!
A blob of goo was launched from the barrel to the top of the shaft. Amazingly, it hit the pulley point blank……………and hardened.
The elevator jolted to a stop.
Slim then fired low.
SPLORCH!
The elevator was stuck.
P-PLANT!
Slim landed on the car's roof. He selected a Walloper and--
POW!.!.!.!.!.!
--dented the closed doors.
Three more time and the doors were punched clear off.
"Loser!"
Slim yelled as he jumped through. Although he didn't know it, he was now on the thirty-first floor. He set off to find another elevator.
…
…
…
…
CRUNCH!
A clawed fist punched through the elevator's roof.
A beat.
SMASH!
Nefarious jumped up, literally creating a gapping hole in the roof. He growled, "No one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it!"
He entered the thirty-first floor and set chased after Slim.
GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Courtney and Raxamis--still spinning madly--struggled against each other to overpower. They hadn't stopped once. Platform shoe met laser sword met platform shoe met laser sword.
Raxamis clenched his jaw and applied more pressure.
Courtney gritted her pearly whites and tried spinning faster. Her hands were connected at the bottom of the palm, one facing up and the other facing down. He was using the same leg.
"NNNnnnnnnnnngghh-NNNNNNGH!"
NNNNNNNN-RAAAAAAAAUGH!" Raxamis kicked outward.
THWAP!
Courtney's single standing leg was tripped.
She stopped spinning and fell on her rear.
"HAAAA!" Raxamis stopped spinning too. He raised both laser swords and swiped downward.
Courtney kicked her legs up and somersaulted backwards.
Raxamis struck bare floor, leaving scorch marks.
Courtney stood up and sent a red plasma wave.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZUM!
Raxamis jumped with no effort.
Before Raxamis could land on his feet, Courtney ran and--
THWACK!
--kicked him in the crystal.
"OOF!"
Raxamis flew back and crashed against the room's locked door.
He looked down worriedly at his source of power.
"Ah, nothing wro--AAK!"
He ducked.
THWAM!
A titanium fist smashed into the place where Raxamis' head was.
Raxamis got up from his roll and charged at Courtney.
She had removed her fist from the door. Courtney jumped over Raxamis before he could cut her in two.
Plant.
She landed behind him.
Raxamis performed a backwards kick.
Courtney caught his foot.
Raxamis deactivated the yellow laser sword, put the hilt in his mouth, and transformed his free arm into a laser cannon. He fired back.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
Courtney leaned her head to the side, dodging the blue laser. She tossed Raxamis over her head.
Raxamis purposely landed on his head, spun upside-down and struck Courtney with his sword.
VIIIIU-SCRAPE!
"AAAAAAAAGH!.!.!.!.!.!.!" Courtney screamed with surprise. She had a two-inch long diagonal slit across her lower back…revealing a few wires.
Raxamis swiped again.
Courtney side-jumped, dodging the attack. He unleashed more of her projectiles.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Raxamis deflected them easily with one laser sword. He removed the other from his mouth and said, "Did I hurt you?"
"You will pay for that!" Courtney shook a fist.
Raxamis shrugged.
Courtney unleashed more bright pink charges.
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Raxamis raised his swords.
"Come on! Come on! We must be ready!" Heinous barked. "We have only seven minutes left before we're in range of Veldin!"
A robo rooster walked up to him.
"WHAT?.!" Heinous loomed over it.
The red robot 'clicked' in morse code.
Heinous' eyes bulged.
Eighteen stories above…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
A door exploded.
Slim and Nefarious walked into The Big Room. They both move forward and leaned over a set of railings.
"….."
"…."
They saw him.
He saw them.
There where eighteen storied between them.
Along with several catwalks, chock full of robots.
Nefarious and Slim looked at each other.
"….."
"…."
Slim dove over the railings.
Nefarious dove after him.
The firing commenced.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
BLAM! B-BLAM! B-B-B-B-B-BLAM!
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWISH!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
PHWOOOOOM! PHWOOOM! PHOOOM! FWOOOOOM!
TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH!
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
ZAP! Z-ZAP!
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
BANG! BANG! B-BANG! BANG! BANG!
TWASH! TWASH! TWASH!
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
TWOOOOSH!
SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SW-SWOOOOSH!
Blasters…
Shurikens…
Devastators…
Shock Cannons…
Annihilators…
Tempests…
Multi-Disc Guns…
N60 Storms…
N90 Hurricanes…
All of them and much more were used from the labyrinth of bridges on every story.
Slim and Nefarious fell with their backs to one another.
Slim equipped a Plasma Storm in one hand and a Wolloper in the other.
Nefarious folded his arms, unfolded them, and came out with two ray guns. He formed a shield around himself.
Both freaks fired.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Big attacks like missiles were destroyed.
Some robots that were in the way or too close were zapped to smithereens.
Smaller attacks bounced of electronic steel or force-field.
Fifteen stories left…
Some ninjas jumped after them and unleashed shurikens.
Nefarious didn't bother with them.
Slim did.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOM! Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAP!
Every one of those ninjas was destroyed.
Ten stories left…
Missiles flew after them.
This time, Nefarious bothered.
He fired up.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
BOOM! BOOOO-OOOO-OOOM! B-B-B-B-BOOOOM!
Slim kept two eyes out for enemies on the bridges and the remaining eye on the missiles. One missile came closed enough.
POW!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
He succeeded in punching it away with his Walloper.
The projectile flew into a bridge and exploded, taking seven robots with it.
Five stories left…
No more robots attacked.
Nefarious and slim both looked below them.
Heinous was making a run for it.
The Biobliterator II was already being transported out of the massive area via small ships. It was less than a mile away.
Nefarious slowed his fall by hovering.
Slim equipped a glove, threw a ball………which inflated into a trampoline.
BOING!
He bounced, flipped, and landed several feet away.
Nefarious laded a little behind him.
"Show no mercy!" Heinous growled and pointed for attack.
Vehicles sped towards the two.
Heinous ran to a nearby hover scooter, jumped on, and sped towards the weapon.
Slim and Nefarious were surrounded by robots and attack vehicles……all aiming at them.
Immediately, Nefarious jumped, rolled himself into a ball, and unleashed several missiles. Some vehicles and robots got pounded……many other survived.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Slim blurred to one vehicle, dodging bullets. He placed a bomb near what he presumed to be the engine, and hopped to another victim.
BOOOOOM!
The vehicle exploded, taking a few robots with it.
Slim uppercut one robot, caught it before it could fly, and used it a bludgeon.
BLAAAAAM!
A blue wave of plasma destroyed the legs of five attacking robots.
Nefarious smirked, then frowned. He looked over his shoulder.
Heinous was getting away.
"Nnnnnghh!"
CLUTCH! CLUTCH!
He grabbed two robots by the heads and--
CRUCH!
--smashed them into each other.
He made a run for the last vacant hover scooter.
BOOOOOM!
A small mushroom cloud was what was left of a tank.
Slim looked over his shoulder with one eye to see if he was being attacked. Instead, he saw Nefarious jump on a hover scooter and speed after Heinous.
The tyhrranoid frowned.
Trailing wind, Slim blurred after.
Robots perused him.
He managed to catch up with Nefarious.
The robot looked left and did a double-take. "Not getting tired, are you, Jack?" he managed a nasty smirk.
"If I am," Slim uttered, "I can always use this!"
Slim selected something from his watch.
Nefarious blinked.
It was a hoverboard.
"Oh my God," Nefarious slurred. "It's a….a….a……….a……………." his voice lingered.
"A Z5000," Slim smirked proudly.
"……….," Nefarious just stared.
Slim jumped, placed the board and under him. It activated immediately. He saluted Nefarious and hovered away.
Nefarious stared dumbly after the tyhrranoid. He growled when he realised his hover scooter couldn't catch up.
Heinous was still visible.
A ship flew above Nefarious, dropping missiles.
"AAAAAUGH! I don't have time for this!" Nefarious swerved left and right.
BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
The missing bombs exploded, leaving large holes in the base's floor.
Nefarious, parked, jumped off the scooter, hovered in midair, concentrated, and unleashed missiles.
They flew and--
BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOOOM-BOOM-B-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--exploded all over the ship.
Nefarious flew a little and managed to land on the hover scooter. He revved and drove off.
VRMMMMMMMM!
VRMMMMMMMM!
Two constructobots drove alongside him on either side…………equipped with Plasma Whips.
TWP!
The one on the right whipped.
Nefarious jumped, but kept hold of the handlebars.
The whip missed.
One came from the other side.
Still keeping his hold on the handlebars, Nefarious ducked his head.
This time, both whips came.
TWP! TWP!
Nefarious reached a hand out and caught one, his tough metallic self keeping him safe from harm.
"HAAAAA! SUCKER--!.!.!.!.!"
T-T-T-T-T-TWP!
The other whip wrapped around his ankle.
"Uh oh."
Both constructobots pulled.
Nefarious drove with one arm. With the other, he pulled. The constructobot to his left was pulled from its scooter. It stupidly held on to the whip's hilt. Nefarious swung the robot over his head and sent it--
WHAM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--crashing into the one on the left.
Both scooters--empty or with an overload of riders--swerved and spun out of Nefarious' view.
A beat.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
He blinked and looked behind him.
The two scooters he had just gotten rid of crashed into some hoverscooter-driving constructobots that were coming up close.
Nefarious equipped one ray gun and fired behind him.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Some constructobots were hit. They either exploded, or they crashed into an ally.
Nefarious fired blindly. When he looked ahead, his eyes winded.
Five constructobots. The only difference was that they were piloting mechs.
Nefarious replaced his ray gun with a wave of blue plasma in his hand and tossed it behind him.
BLAAAAAAAM!
Taking his ray gun out again, he fired at every cockpit.
ZAAAAP! ZAAAAAP! ZAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAP!
All five cockpits were penetrated. That didn't prevent them from firing from their arm turrets.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
"You're dead, loser!" Gary yelled before releasing a hoard of missiles from a machine attached to his back.
Ratchet back-flipped across the Annihilation Nation arena, avoiding them easily.
PWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
He sent another Decimator missile at the gladiator.
BOOOM!
The missile exploded on Gary's chest, removing some armour.
"Did you see that?.!"
"Go get 'em, sister!" Gary shouted as he hovered via jetpack to a safe place up high.
A hideous robot with Viking horns took his place.
"Mwa!" Helen blew a kiss to the silhouetted, red-eyed crowd. "Thank you. Thank you. You know I'm beautiful."
She jumped.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
She landed, sending a wave of electricity.
Ratchet avoided it and many more with hardly any effort. He kept his distance as to avoid Helen's whip.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A Nitro Erupter bomb exploded directly over head. She exploded, sending pieces of her bouncing everywhere.
"Whoa! He's lighting it up like a Christmas tree!"
"Yeah!" Ratchet mimicked lifting a dumbbell.
"It's not over yet, Ratchet," Clank uttered.
"What--? Oh crap…"
Missiles flew.
Ratchet back-flipped.
BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOOOM! B-BOOOO-OOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! B-B-B-B-B-BOO-OOOO-OOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
PL-PLANT!
Gary landed.
"Die!"
B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!
He unleashed plasma from a large gun he pulled from his back.
Ratchet side-stepped, equipped his Shock Blaster.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
BOOOOM! Gary exploded, sending pieces of him everywhere.
"Who's gonna take him on next?.! Not me, man!"
Everything froze.
Ratchet and Clank were used to this.
The robot quickly jumped off Ratchet's back. He knew it was safe.
"A valiant effort, Ratchet," Albert's voice droned.
"Is this an attempt to kill me?" Ratchet asked. "Cuz I'm beating everything you throw at me. Why don't you try throwing something I don't know how to beat, huh?"
"I'll annihilate you as I please. And it's not an attempt to kill you. It's an attempt to take out all your ammunition……………………then kill you."
Although it couldn't be seen, Ratchet growled.
"And I can always use the same enemy more than once, you know. Not they though."
Everything went back to normal.
Clank jumped on Ratchet's back.
Ratchet equipped his HK22 Gun.
"Prepare to be destroyed!" a voice with a French yelled.
"Oh no…," Ratchet moaned.
ZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet side-jumped to avoid Scorpio's saw blade.
He landed and glared.
The scorpion-tank-Cerebellian hybrid laughed, "Ho ho h-ho!"
ZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet side-jumped again and engaged his HK22 Gun.
The three bombs hovered, hummed, opened up when Scorpio was close enough, and flew into him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Man, I should fix this guy up with my ex-wife!"
Scorpio gasped dramatically. "You vill pay for that!"
He came closer, emitting fore from his arm-like flamethrowers.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Ratchet backed up, firing the HK22 Gun madly.
Tiny pieces of Scorpio went flying in every which direction.
He brought his tail down, releasing a saw blade.
ZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet flipped over it and replaced his HK22 Gun with his R.Y.N.O. II.
B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BLAM
"Merde," Scorpio uttered before--
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
--exploding.
"I think there's a lesson to be learned there, folks. Never mess with a trigger-happy lombax!"
The whole arena turned black.
"Well done, gentlemen. Prepare for the biggest challenge before you go up against Chainblade again."
The environment changed to a chamber. One that had a few pillars and bridges that formed squares. There was also a horrible odour.
"Damn…….," Ratchet uttered.
"Be ready," Clank said.
A beat.
SWOOOOOOOOSH!
A large body landed from above.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!.!.!.!.!.!" it roared.
Ratchet equipped his N90 Hurricane and prepared to fight the Tyhrranoid Momma.
Lawrence hummed to himself as he turned a corner. He was surprised that he hadn't been attacked by any rangers.
"….."
He neared a selected door.
"………."
WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAP!
Courtney held her arms out in a 'X' position, absorbing punches from Raxamis.
Raxamis grinned and swing his foot out.
Courtney jumped grabbed Raxamis' head, jumped over him, pulled him over her, spun twice and flung him towards the remains of the bed.
Raxamis landed on his back. He groaned as his eyes thinned to a close.
Courtney neared him.
"…."
Raxamis didn't move.
"……"
Courtney stopped.
"No way you could have been defeated that easily," she uttered.
"Right-o!" Raxamis yelled, and aimed up with his laser cannon arm.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Courtney ducked.
The blast travelled over her head, and went through the ceiling, forming a large hole.
A beat.
"Oops," Raxamis uttered.
Skrunch clutched his chest after being frightened. He was in mid-run, when a blue laser came through the floor…almost frying him.
Sandy was in a similar predicament. Although she didn't have a heart to stop, she was still curious.
The edges of the hole smoked.
Being closest to the gap, Skrunch neared and looked down. He saw Raxamis fighting Courtney with laser swords.
"Nnnnghh."
The monkey blinked and looked behind.
Qwark stirred awake. He rubbed his head, "That dart must have hit me," he noticed Skrunch looking at him. "Did you beat that sand shark--?"
SWOOOOOOOOOOSH! SCRAP!
"OW!"
Sandy had launched herself at Qwark, and cut him across the bicep. She stood a few feet away from him and Skrunch, bearing her sharp-toothed grin.
"I'm outta here!" Qwark shrieked before jumping into the hole.
Skrunch blinked his one eye. He jumped right after.
They fell and--
WH-WHUMP!.!.!
--crashed on Raxamis, who was about to swipe at Courtney. His laser swords went flying out of his hands. "Nnnnnghhh!" he struggled under the weight. "Gerroff!"
Courtney blinked, her back facing the dented door.
Qwark's butt was on Raxamis' back. "Hi," he dumbly said to Courtney.
"Hi," Courtney uttered.
"Ooooh, oooh ah," Skrunch said as he jumped from Qwark's head.
"Yeah, let's go," Qwark said as he gently took the watch from Skrunch. He equipped a Splitter Rifle, "Courtney, get out of the way."
Courtney did.
PO-OW!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
A large and circular hole was made in the door.
"Let's go!" Qwark yelled as he picked himself up from Raxamis' body.
"What about him?.!" Courtney meant Raxamis.
"Just a distraction!" Qwark stopped at the hole. He looked at her, "I bet Nefarious and Slim are the one who found Heinous! We should regroup with Ratchet and find the others!"
Courtney nodded and followed suit.
Skrunch ran after them on all fours.
Raxamis groaned and stood up.
A beat.
THWAP!
Sandy landed on his head.
"!.!.!.!.!" Raxamis fell on his butt.
Sandy jumped off and looked at him curiously, as if she did nothing.
Raxamis stood up instantly. "They're getting away!.!.! GET 'EM!.!.!.!"
Sandy responded by jumping, bouncing off the floor, then the ceiling, then the floor again, and through the hole.
Raxamis collected all his dropped laser swords. He pocketed them except for one--a red one--and was the last out of his trashed room.
Schwishhh.
The door slid open.
Lawrence walked in and observed the control room. He was alone.
"Ah, just as Master Nefarious said," the butler spoke to himself, "'Heinous loves setting things up upstairs'."
He passed by the five empty passenger seats.
"……"
He arrived to the captain's chair and observed the controls.
"….."
His blue eyes fell on a computer monitor that was turned on. He pressed a few keys.
"………………..hmmm."
More keystrokes.
"Bingo," he said and extracted a communicator from his back pocket.
SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The Tyhrranoid Momma swung her tentacle-like arms.
Ratchet succeeded in dodging them by back-flipping. He fired.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The last few shots missed, because the behemoth jumped, and clung onto the ceiling with all fours. The turret on her back lowered, attached to a sticky piece of skin…and fired.
TATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
Ratchet jumped over some of the fire and took refuge behind a pillar. He panted.
"Getting tired? Surrender and your death will be quick and painless."
Ratchet was about to curse when his communicator chimed. He tapped a button on the right side if his helmet, where the cheek was. "Ratchet here."
The Momma's firing ceased.
Ratchet ran and listened.
"Ratchet, this is Lawrence. I have found a way to destroy the base."
Ratchet back-flipped and used his Tesla Claw.
"Great. Do it."
"I need to set the time first," Lawrence explained. "How much time do you need?"
"A lot."
"ROOOOOOOOOOOO-ARRRRRRRRRRR!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the--"
"--base's training room."
"I can shut everything down there. I'm in the base's main control room."
"Well, I'm not keeping you. Do you want him to stop this fighting, Clank?"
"Yes, Ratchet."
"Affirmative. I'll shut it down now. Then we'll talk about the base's--"
"--destruction after."
"I'll ask you how you did this later."
"Yes, you will."
The Tyhrranoid Momma disappeared instantly.
"W-What?" Albert's voice sounded confused. A beat. "Someone must be in the control room…"
Everything went to metal.
The training room's door swished open.
Ratchet didn't waste time. He and Clank exited.
"Okay," Ratchet said. "What's the status?"
"I'm unable to shut the Biobliterator II launch down. But I can destroy the base in a great explosion."
"Wait for me to get to the top floor."
"I'm afraid that will take too long. You're on the twenty-first floor. Turn left right now and enter the door to your right."
"Got it."
Ratchet turned left and right.
He was in room full of equipment. Weapons, to be exact. Spare parts.
"What next?"
"Call your ship."
"Wait, what about Heinous?"
"I think our top priority is the base."
"Fine," Ratchet pressed a button on his glove. "Need a lift?"
"I'll get one from Qwark's shuttle. More space."
"Right. We'll keep in the base's orbit. Ratchet out."
"Thank you very much, Lawrence," Clank said.
"You're welcome. Lawrence out."
And at exactly that moment--
CRASH!.!.!.!.!.!.!
--Ratchet's ship smashed through a wall. Robot parts were sucked out by the vacuum.
Ratchet jumped, guided himself and Clank, and landed them in the open cockpit. The lid closed and the ship drifted away.
"Well, that was a complete waste of time," Ratchet said as he removed his helmet.
"Let's look on the bright side of things," Clank said.
"Like what?" Ratchet guided the ship from its controls, his golden helmet on his lap.
"Although we weren't successful, there is still hope that the others will be."
"Let's hope they don't get killed……………………or worse."
"What could be worse?"
"They could get turned into robots."
"………"
"…………………OH! Uh…no offence, Clank."
"None taken, Ratchet."
Nefarious swerved left and right on the hover scooter, dodging bombs from a ship above.
BOOM!
One exploded behind him.
BOOM!
Another to his left.
BOOM!
The right.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Nefarious used his ray gun on the ship. The red and black attack pierced through the ship, came out from the other side, and caused the vessel to explode.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
"Why won't you go faster?.!" Nefarious banged on the handlebars.
BEEP!
He stopped.
"You have engaged Turbo," a voice from the scooter said.
"Huh?" Nefarious blinked.
"Turbo will begin in three……two….one."
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
The scooter sped along the base, nearing the wall at a faster rate.
Nefarious guided the scooter around remains of robot parts, probably done by Slim.
And speaking of the tyhrranoid, Slim was in view and getting closer.
Nefarious grinned.
Slim seemed to have sensed it, because his eye looked behind. It frowned.
Nefarious moved passed him. Slim clenched his jaw and increased speed. They were neck and neck now.
They frown at each other.
"You can't go faster, squishy!"
"Neither can you!"
"I can do this!" Nefarious swerved right to his Slim.
Slim jumped, did a Crunchy, and landed on his left.
"You'll have to do better than that, Nefarious!"
Nefarious pulled out his trademark ray gun and fired.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Slim, jumped, performed a Cracker Jack, and landed a few feet ahead of the robot.
"HOLD STILL!" Nefarious fired again.
ZAAAAAAAAAP!
Slim jumped and performed several moves.
Double Darla.
ZAAAAAAAAAP!
Chomper.
ZAAAAAAAAAAP!
Revolverator.
ZAAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAAAAAAP!
The Commando. Snagglebeast.
ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!
Do The Robot. Drek's Revenge. Call Me Sally. Sand Shark.
"I SAID HOLD STILL!.!.!.!"
ZAAAP! ZAAAAP! ZAAAAAP! ZAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAP! ZAAAAAAP!
Blarg Air. Scratcher. Gonzo. Big Al. Qwarktastic. Plumber's Crack. Tip Tweak.
"RAAAAAAUGH!.!.!.!.!"
ZAAAAAAAAP!
Twisty McMarx.
Through every jump and trick, Slim had landed all around Nefarious, still keeping hold of the hoverboard. He was now several feet away.
Nefarious' eyes widened.
So did Slim's.
Dr. Heinous was visible up ahead. His hover scooter was parked near a space shield. The Biobliterator II was out all the way, but still in range for a jump.
Heinous frowned. "NO! NO! NO!" his wings came out from his back as he passed through the shield and out into space…towards the weapon.
Slim selected an O2 mask from his watch. The headwear materialised in his albino hands electronically. It was a lot like Ratchet's, but lacked the holes for ears. Instead, it had three long, eye-stem-shaped protrusions at the top. The tyhrranoid put it on. He was about to pass through the shield, when his communicator chimed.
He cursed, pulled over--allowing Nefarious to pass--and brought the small device to his……………head.
"Jack here. I'm a little busy. Make it snappy."
"Jack, this is Lawrence. I'm in the base's control room and have found a way to destroy the base."
"Really? How?"
"A self-destruction sequence."
"Do tell."
"I can set the timer to any limit. Has the Biobliterator II been launched yet?"
"Yes. I was about to go into space after it."
"Oh, sorry if I interrupted."
"S'okay. Hurry that timer up."
"You're the last one. I already spoke to Ratchet, Clank, Qwar--"
"Get to point."
"Right. Ratchet and Clank are in the ship. Qwark is on the way here to pick me up. Courtney and Skrunch are with him. After me, we'll come for you. Bottom floor?"
"Yeah, that's me."
"I'll set the timer to two minutes. The Biobliterator II takes three to fully get in range."
"Do it."
"The clock is already ticking. I'll guide Qwark to you. Just stay put."
"Right. S--Jack out."
Slim pocketed the communicator, but kept the O2 mask on.
"Well, that was a complete waste of time," he uttered.
Robots approached him.
Slim sighed and equipped a Heavy Bouncer.
Nefarious climbed from the edge of the Biobliterator II. He stood up straight and looked around. He could see everything. The magnifying glasses, the pink laser that transformed Skid into a robot, the cuboid, the small ships…………….Veldin. But all that didn't matter. He cared about only one thing. And that thing was in the middle of the Deplanetizer.
"Jeremy…," Nefarious clenched his fists. "Your shit ends now!"
"Oh really, brother?" Heinous leaned against the pink laser. "Come and get me."
Nefarious could have destroyed the robot arms and magnifying glass near him. He could have attacked the cuboid. He could have blown all the small ships up. But he didn't. He just ran.
Heinous just stood there, he snapped his fingers and smirked.
SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH! SWOOOSH!
Five of the small hovering ships flew and levitated in Nefarious' way. It was evident that these weren't ships…..they were robots. Olive green, egg-shaped, hovering things with one blue eye, they were.
"Get 'im."
Their eyes glowed brigher blue and--
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
--emitted bright blue balls of plasma.
Nefarious ducked the shots. He concentrated and hurled a hologram of himself.
WOOOOSH!
The translucent doppelganger sailed, extended a claw and--
WHAP!
--hit one of the hovering egg-shaped robots that wasn't quick enough.
The egg flew and--
CLANG!
--dented the pink laser a bit. It broke in four pieces and fell at Heinous' feet.
Heinous frowned. He spoke into a communicator, "Charge the laser up! NOW!"
Two robots flew at Nefarious, single eyes glowing.
FLASH! FLASH!
Nefarious ducked one, brought out a ray gun and--
CLANG!
--deflected the other.
The other two came from the side. All four fired.
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Nefarious jumped while firing. ZAAAAAAAAP! He managed to take down one robot. He landed, rolled, dodged more fire, jumped and--SLIIIIIIIICE!-- sliced another in two. FLASH! FLASH! He swivelled around, and brought his gay guns in front of his face. CL-CLANG! After deflecting, he destroyed both of them with the said weapons. ZAAAAAAAAAP! ZAAAAAP!
He smirked at his stepbrother. "Is that all you got?"
"Vince, you don't know what I--"
JOLT!
The giant laser shook.
Both robots crouched and grabbed hold of the weapon's surface.
"WHAT THE HELL?.!.?.!.?.!" Heinous yelled.
SWOOOOSH!
A familiar, red ship flew over their heads. Ratchet saluted from the cockpit.
Nefarious couldn't help it. He smiled.
Heinous didn't though. "RAAAAAAAAAGH!" He aimed a laser from his chest, when--
SHOOOOSH! BOOM!
A flying missile flew and exploded at his feet, shaking him and causing him to fire off target.
FLAAAAAASH!
The yellow blast flew and--
SNAP!
--broke a robot arm.
Heinous looked.
Qwark's shuttle flew by.
"NOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOO!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
Ratchet's ship fired missiles at the cuboid.
"I won't let this happen!" Heinous' wings emerged from his back once again as he began to fly 'up'.
Ratchet's face seemed worried, but not because Heinous was going to attack.
"?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?.?" Nefarious wondered why.
And then, it happened.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
A huge ball of fire emitted from Heinous' base. The forty-story cube was engulfed by pure plasma, triggering a set of small explosions.
BOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOM! B-BOOOOM!
Several pieces of the base flew and were caught in Veldin's gravitational pull. One large chunk flew at the weapon.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!
The weapon was separated into several pieces, the laser, the Deplanetizer, the glasses, and everything else plummeted towards Veldin………………………………….Nefarious and Heinous along with it.
Ratchet's ship and Qwark's shuttle were pounded by debris.
Everything fell towards Veldin.
In a giant, underground, garage-like place, the Starship Phoenix was being pumped with fuel. Flanked by rangers and Al, Sasha viewed the recharging from a faraway bridge.
"How much longer until the Phoenix is recharged?" Sasha asked Al.
"Estimated time," Al tinkered with a calculator, "thirty-five minutes."
"Does it really take that long?" a random ranger asked.
"It takes one full Marcadian year for the Phoenix to use up all its fuel. A month's worth is lost with every hyper space execution. It's worth it."
"Right, Captain."
"We should head for Veldin right after--" Sasha was cut off.
"Captain! Captain!" A subordinate ran up to them with a portable holo-vid in his hands. "We have just received a transition from Captain Qwark!.!"
Al jumped.
Sasha kept her cool. "Let's see."
"There was no visual," the worker said, "just sound."
"Then let's listen," Sasha gritted her teeth.
The subordinate pressed a button on holo-vid. Everyone--ranger included--listened.
"Sccckkckckkcct…Qwark here. I'm pil--sssskskskskkkkkkkkyy--nous' base. We've att--ssksksskktsttststxtTSTSTSTTkkkk--estroy it and the base, but, we've been hit by debris! On--ssskskskkskktk--ision course with Planet Veldin. Shuttle damaged. Skkskskskskskkssscccscssx--p. We need backup--OH, SHI--sskskskkktktkkkkkxxx………xxxkxkxkkskxkskksstttstststxtsxxlsskskxsx!"
"This signal stopped from there," the subordinate said as he switched the holo-vid off.
"Oh, no!" Al streaked. "We gotta get to Veldin!"
Sasha was silent.
"……"
Ratchet groaned as he lifted his head from the ship's dashboard. He felt a small trickle of blood flowing down the right side of his head. He felt the source and winced at the pain. He looked right with weak eyes. Clank had his arms, legs and neck contracted into his body like a turtle.
Ratchet nudged him.
Immediately, the green eyes slid open. Clank stretched his robotic arms and legs and stood up on his seat.
"You okay, Clank?" Ratchet asked.
"I'll be fine," the robot responded. He noticed Ratchet's bleeding and 'gasped'. "Ratchet, you're--"
"I know, Clank. Don't worry, I have Nanotech."
"You'd better use it soon then."
Fully healed and wearing his armour, Ratchet climbed out of the ship, Clank following after him.
The ship was examined. It was butchered. Pieces of it were missing. The mystic would have asked for fifty crystals to fix the broken vessel this time.
"I'm surprised we made it," Ratchet said.
"So am I."
They then noticed their surroundings. A desert. Nothing but sand everywhere. The sun shined in the sky hotly and there was a small breeze.
"We're on Veldin for sure," Ratchet said.
"I couldn't agree more," Clank responded.
"A storm is coming," Ratchet said bluntly.
"How do you know that?"
"There's a short breeze. I remember something about this in Geography Class."
Clank 'smiled', "And I thought you didn't listen in school."
"Heh."
"……………"
"……………"
"We should find the others," Clank said.
"How?"
"I do not know about some, but I have a lock on Dr. Nefarious' signal. That way," he pointed.
"Right," Ratchet adjusted his helmet. "Let's go."
All the debris formed a giant junkyard.
Nefarious crawled out of the wreckage. He had survived by producing a shield around himself. He pushed back random metal parts and moved.
"…."
He stopped.
"?"
He listened.
"…."
Shouting.
He walked.
The shouting grew louder.
Nefarious pushed back a final piece of robot.
Heinous had also survived. He was yelling his head off at no one. He stood on a mountain of metal.
"ALL THAT PLANNING! ALL THAT WORK! RAAAAUGHHHHH!"
CLONK!
He kicked a lost constructobot's head.
"Oh hush, Jeremy."
Heinous looked.
Nefarious spoke again, "Whether the others died or not, one thing's for certain. This brotherhood ends here."
Heinous calmed down a little. He managed a smirk. "It'll all even out after this."
"First time we've agreed since that cheese incident."
"Yeah."
A beat.
They frowned.
They charged.
Heinous down a hill.
Nefarious up a hill.
Yellow and red eyes glowing.
Fists clenched and ready for battle.
Jaws tight.
Robotic gears turning.
Both yelling.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
Queue the opera music!
If you have any qualms about the whole space thing, just remember Gemlic Base in R&C 1.