Epilogue
The dropship landed in the Phoenix hanger. Sasha, Al, Helga, Skidd, Bob, and many others awaited the return of the heroic duo. The door-ramp opened, and Ratchet and Clank walked out, flanked by one ranger.
The lombax was in perfect. He was still wearing his Infernix armour (minus the helmet), and was carrying his Omniwrench. However, there was a small breakage of armour around the left hip. Clank walked behind him. He was pretty much the same as before, since he had been placed in Ratchet's watch.
As expected, a cheer rose from the crowd. Several staff members flocked around the duo, either asking questions about the deadly battle, or giving him pats on the back and ruffling his fur. Some fangirls overwhelmed Clank with their hugs….and kisses.
After a few minutes, everyone clamed down, and some dispersed. This gave Sasha the opportunity to approach Ratchet and Clank herself.
"Let me update you on the--" she was interrupted.
"Sasha," Ratchet held his hand up. "Please don't be all 'professional' and military-like right now." He simpered, "That's the last thing I need right now."
Sasha gave a thin smile. "Alright. How...are you?"
"We are fine, Captain," it was Clank who spoke, forcing both of them to look down. "Dr. Heinous was defeated. The galaxy can now relax."
"Heh, I hope so," Sasha relied. She went a little serious, but not unhappy, "Dr. Nefarious was taken to the galactic police department, where he was given a choice."
"Oh yeah?" Ratchet seemed interested. He folded his arms and asked, "How'd it go?"
"Well, you'll never believe that, but…………he decided not to attack organics anymore. He's turned good."
"Wow, that's great," Ratchet said, slightly impressed.
"Indeed," Clank agreed. "This should be quite interesting."
"Where is he--?" Ratchet stopped, because he found himself being hugged by Sasha. She leaned her head over his right shoulder.
She whispered, "Don't ever scare me like that again, hotshot."
"Uh….," Ratchet's cheeks reddened some, "….okay." he accepted the hug by embracing her gently.
"….."
"….."
Clank was polite enough not to interrupt. He just averted his gaze.
"Ahem."
All three looked.
Al, Helga, Skidd, Bob, and a ranger had been standing there the whole time. At the moment, Al had a fist near his mouth, as if he coughed. "The ranger agreed to take us to the Capital."
"Oh!" Sasha jumped out of the hug, causing Ratchet to fall forward but regain his balance before meeting the floor with his face. She cheeks were red as she said, "Let's go."
Everyone made for the ship.
"Coming, Ratchet?" Clank asked, because Ratchet hadn't moved.
"…….Yeah," the lombax breathed.
"What are you doing here?" Sasha asked.
"I'm going ta see Jack," Bob said. "He's my friend too, y'know."
"Fine. Come along," Sasha replied.
"There you go, Captain Qwark," Jane said. She stood up straight, adjusted her lab coat, and took a few steps back on the laboratory floor. As she put some tools in one of her pockets, she said, Go ahead, and try it."
Qwark nodded. He was clad in his usual costume. At the moment he was lying down on a table. He swung his legs over and his feet……..two of them…touched the floor. In the place of his normal left foot, there was a robotic prosthetic, attached to a metal disk around the stub. Special circuitry connected with nerves, creating a sense of 'feeling'.
He walked, ran, jumped, and landed hard, but the bionic body part didn't even crack out of place. He balanced on his right leg, and twisted his ankle. The metal replacement acted as a normal foot. "I like it," Qwark said with a light smile.
"I'm glad you do," Jane said with a smile. "It's made of pure, stainless titanium. It's virtually indestructible."
Qwark stood on both legs. He grinned, "Now, I can really kick some butt!" he flexed his abdominals.
Jane rolled her eyes. She tuned her attention to the other side of the lab, "How's everything there?"
"Almost done!" A white-coated back was facing her. Someone was hunching over another table. A tall cylinder stood on wheels near the worker. It had several compartments, three of which had robot arms coming out. Whatever was on the end of the arms was obscured from Jane's line of sight by the worker. On the table was a robotic body. The head and most of the chest couldn't be seen either……for the same reason. The sound of electricity, and the flashing of light came from the hidden part.
ZZZZzzzzz-ZZZZZZZTTTTttttTTTTT-TTTTTtttttttttzzzzzz!
A satisfied sigh was heard before Will finally turned around and removed his goggles. He stepped aside, while saying to the one on the table, "C'mon. Show them what Dr. Will has done to you, Miss Gears."
"Don't get so excited," Courtney said as she sat up. The left side of her face was returned to its perfect state. A new golden eye could be seen, and the cracks from Heinous' disk were gone. She smiled her pearly whites, adjusted her red headband and swung her robotic legs over the table. She made for the door.
"Uh, where are you going?" Will asked.
Courtney stopped by Jane's side. She turned around and said, "I called Super Nova Taxi to give me a lift to Metropolis."
"Why are you leaving so soon?" Jane was a bit concerned.
"He's gonna arrive in about ten minutes--"
"No. I mean why so soon?"
Gears gave a small smile, "I wanna see the new house Vince is getting."
"'Vince'?" Will and Jane were both confused.
"Nefarious' first name."
"Ahhh…"
"Another thing," the ex-pop star said. "…He's gonna let me live with him."
Qwark smirked.
Will and Jane exchanged 'surprised' expressions.
"What?.!" Courtney's upped her arms like a crucifix for but a second. "He's living in a mansion! Up 'til nom, there's only him and Lawrence! There's gotta be more people in there!"
"Riiiiiiiight," Qwark rotated his head, giving a big nod.
Courtney frowned for real, but ignored them. And she was gone.
"Did I say something wrong?" Will asked.
"No, you didn't," Jane shook her head. She turned her attention to Qwark, "Let's go and see your monkey."
"Heh…yeah," the superhero nodded and followed her, walking the same way he normally would.
"Will, you coming?" Jane turned her head slightly.
"I'll wait for Ed."
"Suit yourself."
And they were gone.
Will pressed a button on the cylinder, and all the robot arms went in. He then sat down on the table and waited.
"….."
Silence.
"……"
Whuuuuuuuuuuur-CHTINK!
Will looked up.
A manual, sliding door had opened, and Ed had emerged. There where beads of sweat on his grey forehead. He wiped them away with the back of his hand.
"How is he?" Will asked at he walked over towards the fellow scientist.
"Sleeping like a baby," Ed replied. "Hopefully, we'll find out how he managed to enlarge without using any machinery other than himself."
"Are you sure working on this is a good idea?" Will with a sceptical look.
"Hey…," Ed patted his shoulder with a friendly grin, "...nothing we can't handle."
"But shouldn't we beef up security or something?"
"No need, Will. He can't awaken, 'cause he's completely out of power."
"I suppose."
"Heh-heh. Come on, let's go and see the others off," Ed made for the door and was gone.
Will looked at where Ed came from.
The door was still open.
He slowly approached and reached to close it from its handle.
But he stopped.
"….."
And starred inside.
The room was dark.
The only thing that illuminated it was the green hue from a pod.
Inside the pod, there was a robot.
In suspended animation…….of some sort.
Wires were connected to every limb and led to the top of the pod.
The pod itself was connected from its base, by long pipes, to a large computer that hummed.
Instead of being surrounded by water, the tiny thing inside the pod rested on a metal pedestal to adapt to the shortness of the wires.
Nothing inside the pod moved.
Will starred for a good five seconds. He sighed and said, "Sleep well, Klunk."
He closed the door and locked it from the outside.
Whuuuuuuuuuuur-CHTINK!
And in the pod……
Klunk rested.
………
Klunk slept.
…………
Klunk remained peaceful.
……………
Klunk was undisturbed.
………………………………………
"Whoa!" Skidd jumped at the sight of Qwark's metal foot.
"That's--like--the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Everyone was standing outside the Presidential Palace. Four dropships waited nearby, with rangers.
"It's nothing," Qwark waved a large hand. "I mean…..what hero can't suffer for their galaxy? What great hero can't sacrifice their own body so others shall live? What--?"
"Okay," Ratchet interrupted, "we get it."
"Amazing," Al said as he scratched his chin while bending over to examine Qwark's prosthetic. "A mechanism that appears to be exactly like the preceding body part, but isn't, and allows the user to exhibit the sense of touch through a twisted set of nerve endings and circuitry."
A question mark formed on top of Skidd's, Ratchet's, Qwark's, and Bob's.
"Big words omega," Slim uttered.
"Hey, Slim!" Bob went over to him. "How the heck are you?"
"Just fine…"
They wondered away from the crowd.
"Hey, where are Nefarious, Lawrence, and Courtney?" Ratchet asked.
"They went to the new mansion on Planet Kerwan," Will said. He smiled, "Nefarious' mansion."
"A mansion?" Skidd couldn't believe it. "Dudes! We gotta check that place out!"
"Later, Skidd," Sasha said.
Al suddenly checked his watch. He adjusted his glasses and said to the group, "I gotta go and return something to Gadgetron."
"Ahhh oook akkk?"
Qwark translated, "'Is it what I think it is?'"
Helga and Ratchet held back their laughter.
Al frowned, "Very funny. Stop teaching that monkey such rudeness," he pointed. He walked into one of the dropships, and the vessel took off after its door-ramp closed.
"I don't get it, dudes," Skidd said.
"Keep it that way," Jane said with a disgusted frown.
"He's a monkey," Qwark defending Skrunch, who had climbed to his left shoulder. "He can't help it."
"You're telling me," Ed grumbled.
"Ugh, it's good that I have a new foot and all, and Dr. Heinous is gone, but…," Qwark lowered his head in sadness, "……my shuttle is still on Veldin, and probably destroyed."
"Oh please," Ratchet cackled. "You have--like--a million of those in your base on Planet U--" CLAMP! "--MMMMMMMFFFFFFfffffff!"
Qwark put a large hand on Ratchet's mouth, causing him to almost fall over.
He made a tremendously fake smile. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Now, Ratchet, we agreed that you and Clank wouldn't tell anyone, capish?"
Ratchet managed to 'escape' from Qwark's hold. He spat out the taste of latex and said, "Yeah……" he wiped his mouth with the back of his armoured hand. A beat. "Anyway, you're not alone about losing your ship."
"Actually, Ratchet," Clank raised a finger, "we still have the blargian fighter we got from Gemlik Base."
"……..Oh. Guess you ARE alone then, Qwark. Hahaha."
"Y'know, the only reason I'm not hurting you is because you've just lived through an explosion."
"Speaking of explosion," Sasha interrupted politely, "didn't you say that there where another three with you?"
Ratchet only smirked.
They stood in a typical prison cell. Dull walls with tally marks, a sink, and a bunk bed with no ladder. A translucent blue force field was instead of bars. And in the middle of it all……
Raxamis stood, his crystal missing from his chest, an empty hole replaying it……..but he was still 'alive'. He sighed happily, "Do ya smell it, Jeeves?" He 'sniffed the air'.
Albert was testing the faucets of the sink. "If I could still smell, I'd tell you." Instead of his formal butler clothes, he wore an orange T-shirt with matching pants and shoes. The number '25465711' was tagged on the right chest of the shirt. CLINK! One faucet came off. He frowned and attempted screwing it back in.
"Oh c'mon, Jeeves!" Raxamis gave a goofy smile. "Ya gotta look on the bright side of things."
"'Bright side'?.!" Albert ignored the loose faucet and turned his full attention to the other robot. He tried keeping his temper as he said, "Look around you! Master Heinous' plan backfired, the Master himself has been destroyed, we've been incarcerated, and Sandy's been taken to B.T.S. for 'testing'!"
"Not to mention my laser swords being confiscated, by utility belt gone with them, my laser cannons disabled, along with my strength, my power crystal replaced with a stupid battery that will short circuit me if I cause trouble, AND--to top it all off--I've been shackled to a painfully cliché ball and chain!"
KLONK!
The said item was picked up, and let go to fall to the floor. The sphere rolled until it stopped, due to the fact that the other end was fastened around Raxamis' left ankle.
"But I'm looking at the bright side of things!" he annoyingly went on. "Once our sentence ends, we'll be able to start anew, Jeeves."
"We're condemned until we rust away to nothing, Raxamis."
"………………….Errr--"
"And you might as well stop calling me 'Jeeves', seeing that my career as a butler is over."
"You'll always be 'Jeeves' to me……………..Jeeves."
Albert looked fiercely at him and shook a finger, "I thought I explicitly, unequivocally, and unmistakably not to call me--"
"JEEVES-JEEVES-JEEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVESSSSSSSSSS!.!.!.!.!.!" Raxamis spread his arms out and sand loud enough to shatter glass. "JEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVESSSSS!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
Albert grimaced and covered his…….'ears'. "STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO TEAR THIS ENTIRE PLACE APPART!"
Raxamis finally stopped. "What?" he simpered. "Don't like my singing?"
"Leave the singing to Courtney," Albert panted.
"Eh, I'm soooooo-oooooooo over her," Raxamis waved a hand. "I think it was when--"
"Hey, shut up. I'm trying to sleep!"
"Huh?" Raxamis blinked his orange eyes.
A youthish voice had sounded from one of the next-door cells.
"Who's there?" Raxamis enquired as he leaned against the force field in an attempt to see the speaker.
"Name's Pincer," the voice said gruffly. "And I'm trying to get some damn shuteye. So, I'd appreciate it if you shut the Hell up!"
"Ahh, you're that thief who was captured by Captain Starshield," Albert stated.
"Who wants to know?"
"Well, you pulled several robberies all over Metropolis during our stay in Bog--"
"Spare me the history lesson……… Hmmm… Say, you weren't with that 'Heinous' guy, by any chance…where you?"
"Ooooh!" Raxamis gasped happily. He punched the air above him in an excited jump and said, "We're famous!"
"Don't embrace me more, Rax--"
"Hey, I hate to interrupt your argument, but…..CAN I HAVE SOME FRIKKEN' SLEEP, ALREADY?.!.?.!.?.!.?.!"
"Yeah, sure," Raxamis said to the disembodied voice. "I'm gonna get some sleep myself."
"Me too," Albert added.
"Good…………………………………………………………………."
Both robots looked at the bunk bed.
"…….."
"……."
One second passed.
"I get the top bunk." "I get the top bunk."
They faced each other angrily.
"No, me!" Raxamis whispered harshly.
"Negative, Raxamis! Me!" Albert respected the sound barrier also.
"Okay, we'll play Rock Paper Scissors," Raxamis suggested. "The winner gets the top bunk. Read?"
"No," Albert folded his arms maturely, "I won't participate in such childish games for a bed."
Raxamis gave a sideways smirk. "Afraid I'll………beat ya?" he lightly pushed the former butler upon saying the last two words quickly.
Albert glared at him. "No….I'm not."
"Chicken!" Raxamis placed his fists on his hips to mimic wings. He flapped his 'wings' and made circle around him while chanting, "Buk-buk-buk-buk-b-ka!"
"I thought I said to--!"
"Sorry!" Raxamis interrupted Pincer's annoyed voice. He looked back at Albert, "Welllllllllllll….?"
Albert sighed, "Fine." He made a fist.
Raxamis did the same.
"One…"
"…two…"
"Three! Shoot!"
They yelled the last two words in unison and placed their hands forward to display what they had chosen.
"……"
"……."
"……."
"……."
"………"
"……"
"……."
"………"
"…….."
"……Uhhhh," Raxamis smiled sheepishly at Albert. "How about best two out of three?"
"Thank ye," He said to a nurse as she walked in the building.
The assassin walked down the steps of a Megopolis hospital. His right arm was in a blue sling, the remains of the damage done by the car crash. Other than that, he was in his usual armour….which had a big dent in the chest area. His brow was frowned, as if deeply annoyed.
He walked down a pathway, ignoring random citizens. He seemed satisfied when he came to a phone booth.
He entered the claustrophobic structure, and closed the door. He reached into his pocked with his good arm, and pulled out a single Bolt. He inserted it in the slot, dialled a number, and placed the receiver to his head. He waited for the old-fashioned device to reach the chosen frequency.
"………"
Finally, someone answered.
"Thugs-4-Less Employee Line," a raspy voice said. It sounded as if that phrase had been uttered several times before.
"Ya, this is Agent J. I'm callin' ta request a lift to HQ."
"Ahhh, so you did manage to survive," the voice sounded humoured now.
The thug blinked. "Wha'? Does everyone think I'm dead?"
"Sorta. Ya didn't report back after you were sent to Endaco."
"I was in a short-term coma, for Slizzaz' sake. A car came outta nowhere 'n--"
"I don't need to hear yer story. Where are youz?"
"Megopolis. I was just released from the biggest hospital, and am now directly in front of it."
"'Kay. I'll send a dropship to come 'n get ya. Anything else?"
"No, that's great."
"I'll see youz soon then."
The line cut.
Agent J put the phone back in its place. He then exited the booth, closed it, and leaned against it, waiting.
"Struth…," he grumbled to himself, "……almost had 'im that time."
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.
"Nice to see that ya didn't lose your head out there," Mr. M said.
"Eh," Slim shrugged as if it was nothing…….. In fact, he said that, "It was nothin'. Heinous is gone for good."
"Good to know," Mr. M glanced somewhere momentarily. He smirked, "You can come out now."
Clank--frowning--stepped out of the shadows of the alley walls. He didn't like being here one bit.
Mr. M ignored him and sat down on a garbage can. "Guess you managed ta be the hero again, eh, Ratchet?"
"We have to keep up the tradition," the lombax responded from where he leaned against the graffiti-infested wall.
"We're not outta the woods yet," Slim said…….he seemed gloomy all of a sudden.
Mr. M blinked behind his visor. "Watcha mean, Slim?"
"I was told that Heinous made another experiment after me," the tyhrranoid explained. "Experiment 6. I dunno whether it exists, and I have no idea what it looks like, but………..I was told," he repeated, "……that it'll be comin' 'round in three years."
"Heinous told us that too," Ratchet said.
"Indeed, he did," Clank nodded and stepped a little closer to the group. "However, Dr. Heinous also spoke about a 'failsafe' of sorts. He announced that the Heinous name is far from erased from the galaxy."
"And it'll happen in three years."
"I see," the salesman nodded. "So….some kind of backup plan, and a monster are coming three years from now."
"Roughly speaking, of course," Clank droned.
"Of course….."
"Anyway," Ratchet stood up straight. "If this Experiment 6 really returns…..," he looked at everyone--Slim more than the other two, "…..we'll be ready."
"Yup," Slim grinned. "And who knows? Maybe, the other experiments really exist."
"Could be," Mr. M uttered.
"We will do our best to search for them," Clank promised.
"Thanks."
"So…., what're ya gonna do now?" Mr. M asked.
"I'm glad you asked," the tyhrranoid said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of fake eyes. "Slim Cognito's gonna be back in business in the Bogon Galaxy. By now, the buzz 'bout me would have calmed down. So…………..I'm gonna reopen the Ship Shack."
"Heh, good for you," Mr. M congratulated lightly as he got off from the garbage can.
"Yup," Slim pocketed the eyes, and took out a small capsule. He pressed a button on it and threw the item to the ground. A ship began to 'inflate' at a slow rate.
"You're just full of surprises, eh?" Ratchet put his fists on his hips.
"It's what I do best," Slim said as he adjusted his pants.
"Say, guys," Mr. M said. "I just thought of something…. Dr. Heinous called his weapon 'the Biobliterator II', right?"
"Yup."
"Yes."
"Of course."
"I think he made a big mistake," the one from Rilgar said, his lips curving upwards ever so slowly, "cuz Nefarious had already made a Biobliterator II. The one Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark fought on Planet Mylon. Anyway, Heinous misnamed his 'grand weapon' after several hours of working on the damn thing. He should have called it 'the Biobliterator III'."
One second and--
"Sskktksks--AahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"
"HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!.!.!.!.!.!"
"Eh-eh-he-he-he-he-heh-eh-h-heee-ee."
--Ratchet, Slim, and Clank laughed at the statement.
"Oh man," Slim whipped a tear away from one eye-stem, "I can't believe I missed that…."
"More like Heinous missed that," Ratchet grinned stupidly.
Clank chuckled once more before calming down.
Mr. M crossed his arms proudly.
A clap of thunder sounded in the background and was ignored.
"Ship's ready," Slim gestured behind him. "Gotta fly. I'll see ya in a few years."
"Later, Slim," Mr. M said.
"I hope to see you again, Slim," Clank said politely.
Slim was about to get in the ship's open cockpit, when--
"Hold on," Ratchet held an arm out.
Slim looked with a questionable stare. "What?"
"I've been meaning to ask you…… How did you become the narrator of the fifth Captain Qwark vid-comic?"
Slim winked a blue eye, "Trade secret." That said, he hopped into the ship, the cockpit lid closed, the vessel hovered, turned around, moved forward slightly, and--SHOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOM!--flew towards the dark sky where it disappeared above the black clouds.
"Hmmm," Ratchet scratched his chin. He turned around. "Do you know Mist--?" he stopped when he realised that Mr. M was gone. "………" He looked down at Clank, "Did you see Mr. M leave?"
"No," Clank shook his head. "I was occupied with Slim's departure."
"I see."
"Let's get back to the dropship," the little robot began walking towards the alley's entrance. "I'm certain that the ranger is getting worried."
"Yeah; guess you're right," Ratchet followed him through the pouring rain of Planet Otlantis.
"Here you go," Al placed Lawrence's tracker on top of Mr. Krinkle's desk. He smiled at the C.E.O. and added, "Thanks for letting us use it."
"No problem," Mr. Krinkle gave a lizardy smile. "It comforts me to know that Gadgetron technology was used to save the galaxy once again."
"Actually," Al raised a finger, "if it wasn't for you……things wouldn't have turned out the way they did."
"Nonsense. It was the Q-Force and Dr. Nefarious who helped. And that albino tyhrranoid…."
"Jack."
"Yeah, him."
"Be as modest as you want," Al continued. "But there's no denying that you played a major role in this."
"And I'll play a bigger role by giving a fifteen percent discount on all Gadgetron merchandise sold to and/or bought by any Phoenix staff."
"Oh no, sir. That's not necessary."
"It's the least I can do, Al," Krinkle pressed.
"Ah well, if you insist," Al shrugged. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see Nefarious' new mansion."
"Ahh," Krinkle smirked. "Enjoy yourself."
"I will."
And Al was gone from the giant office.
"Miss Cross," a robot said as he approached the lombax. "I'm pleased to report that all the mess has been cleared up."
Angela glanced up from a portable chair. She was left in charge of the crew to search the remains of the crashed ship on Grelbin. She smiled, "Great. Be ready to move out in ten minutes."
The robot saluted and droned, "Will do, ma'am." It trotted off through the snow.
Angela extracted a small object from a compartment under the chair's armrest, she threw it, and it grew into a floating holo-vid……displaying Mr. Fizzwidget's old, but happy face. "Yes, Miss Cross?"
"Mr. Fizzwidget," Angela said as she stood her tall self up. I'm pleased to report that the ship' remains have been removed."
"Great! It's nice to know that I can rely on you for such tasks," Abercrombie said, cheerfully. His face that went serious, "Any luck with the Thugs-4-Less Leader?"
"No…we didn't find him," Angela announced. "It was assumed that his body must have frozen to death before it hit the snow. And--even if it didn't--he would have sunken in."
"Guess Thugs-4-Less will have to find another Leader," the founder's image starched its chin.
"Probably…"
Fizzwidget then brightened with a tiny smile. "Guess what I've just found out."
Angela raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?"
"Dr. Heinous has been defeated, of course. Ratchet and Clank did him in with a well placed bomb. The public has no idea what the weapon was, and Ratchet doesn't seem to want to tell anyone about it either."
"Wow," Angela grinned, humoured. "They always save the day. The fourth time, now, is it?"
"Yes-serree, Miss Cross. Heh, Dr. Nefarious, Captain Qwark, Courtney Gears, and that white thing aided as well."
"Solana can finally rest now……….until another villain rears his ugly head."
"I'm sure they can handle it. Heh-heh, Fizzwidget out."
Angela leaned her head to the side, "Huh?"
-blip-
The screen was now black. It kept hovering though, expecting to be used again.
Angela sighed and began to gather her equipment. "Silly old man," she whispered.
They stood.
Staring at it.
It was beautiful.
It was huge.
It was perfect.
It was on the outskirts of Metropolis. The countryside……what was left of it.
It was Dr. Nefarious' mansion.
"Unbelievable," it was Helga who said this. Like the others, she was wide-eyed.
The mansion was even bigger than the Presidential Palace, width-wise. It was a four-story structure, completely covered in white. Reflective windows where on every floor. There were balconies, strong enough and big enough to support a snagglebeast. The main door was another swishing one, ten-feet high, five-feet wide, made of dark blue titanium. The ground framed the whole thing with a series of trees, and shaven grass. There were about eight garage doors to the left side. The pathway led to a huge thirteen-spouted fountain of 'Bolts'. And that was only the front.
At the moment, Ratchet, Clank, Al, Skidd, Helga, Lawrence, Qwark, Sasha, Courtney, Nefarious, and Skrunch were standing on the wide pathway. Behind them were a set of tall gates, and behind those, Metropolis City could be about half a mile away. Every
"Like it?" Nefarious smirked as he stood in front of the domestic mini-empire. "I'm thinking of turning it into a bigass lab……..with a game room."
"How long will that take?" Qwark asked.
"I'd say about three Kerwan months," the robotic scientist said.
"Say, I have to ask you something," Ratchet took a step forward. "Now that you're good….are you gonna change your name?"
"……"
"Dr. Nefarious," Clank pressed, also inquisitive.
"……………No, cuz that's my name. I've lived with it my whole life."
"Why don't we call you 'Vince', dude?"
"You catch up quick, Skidd," Al faced him.
"It's a gift," the Rilgarian said sheepishly.
"Now that we got that covered, sir," Lawrence droned, "why don't you show them what's on the inside?"
"Good idea, Lawrence," Nefarious pointed. He spun around and sauntered. "C'mon," he gave a wave while glancing, 'I wanna show you my room, Lawrence's room………Courtney's room."
For the sake of politeness, no one said anything about that.
They just followed.
Eager to see the new domain.
Of a new scientist.
Dr. Nefarious had changed that day. He would always maintain the same character, but will no longer plot attacks and so on.
Solana could rest another day.
In peace and harmony to a new beginning.
READ THE APPENDIX IF YOU WANT THE SEQUEL TO HAPPEN.