Ratchet took a deep breath and exhaled. He sat on a swivel chair at a work station in his quarters that replaced Qwark's old cage. His head rested on his gloved fist. His other arm lay flat on the console of buttons--not pressing any--near an atlas that was facedown. Towards the edge, a half-full mug of coffee rested on a ten-day-old ring. In front and above him, were seven monitors. Judging by his illuminated face, they were on. His bloodshot eyes darted from monitor to monitor whenever he saw movement in his peripheral vision. He had set them up a few weeks ago.

Each monitor displayed something different. Two of them showed different parts of Metropolis, four of the Capital City, and another of Kyzil Plateau.

Ratchet flicked a paper ball to his right. It flew, bounced off a dustbin's rim, and landed in a pile of paper balls that also missed.

He was so preoccupied, that he didn't notice the automatic doors open. The visitor walked through the room, and stopped behind the lombax's back.

"……"

"Still scanning, Ratchet?" Al asked as he stepped to the lombax's right side and gazed at the monitors.

"Yup," Ratchet answered, only moving his jaw. Apparently, he wasn't frightened by Al's sudden appearance. He reached his left hand out, took a sip of coffee, and returned it to the ring.

"It's pointless searching," Al shifted his gaze to Ratchet. "You should stop and move on."

"Can't do that," Ratchet said coolly. He rubbed his nose and explained, "Nefarious was never captured…..never found."

"I admit the Biobliterator II explosion wasn't strong enough to send him into space, but you gotta leave this behind you," he removed his glasses, exposing two beady dots, and polished the green lenses with a cloth he extracted from his pocket. He went on while polishing, "This isn't healthy. Your body requires nine hours of sleep, and you only sleep from four hours and forty eight minutes. Not to mention that it's eleven-fifty-seven."

"On Planet Marcadia, it's--"

"You know what I mean!"

"…..," Ratchet didn't answer.

"Besides," Al placed his spectacles back on his yellow face, "you were never like this when Drek didn't show up."

"True, but that was different. A planet was destroyed with him along with it. Not to mention he wasn't really a public enemy, just someone trying to find a home for his gullible and naïve people. Nefarious was an enemy of everyone. There's a big difference between the two, Al. Drek was a perfectly sane, money-hungry blarg. Nefarious is a crazy stereotype scientist who wants nothing but robots. Personally, I preferred Drek….even if his ways of getting what he wanted were just plain horrible."

"I get it, Ratchet, but you have to keep in mind that Nefarious will reveal that he's back, giving you a chance to track him down."

"He may be insane, but he's not stupid."

"Eighty thousand to one says otherwise," Al gestured at the calculator in his pocket.

Ratchet couldn't help but smile after that.

"He's gone, Ratchet," Al said seriously. "That's all there is to it."

Ratchet could then hear the doors opening and closing again. He heard footsteps…..and Al was silent.

"Who is it, Al?" Ratchet asked without looking.

"Captain Sasha," he replied.

"Yeah?" Ratchet droned, expecting a lecture.

"We've just received a message from Marcadia," the captain explained. "There's an attack going on at the Palace."

This time, Ratchet's full attention was caught. He stood from his position, causing some joints to crack. He looked at the other two, asking, "Who's attacking?"

"Come see for yourself," Sasha answered.

Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, Sasha, Al, Skidd, Helga, and Skrunch were situated in the Bridge. The rangers were preparing the dropships.

"Just one minute ago," Sasha announced, "we received a distress call from the Presidential Palace. "It appears that…..well," she pressed a button on her work station.

The screen came to life and displayed images of……

Ratchet's eyes widened, along with everyone else's.

The screen showed fleshy tyhrranoids attacking the grounds of the Palace. They were armed with the same weapons as before. It was as if Nefarious' defeat never happened.

"It seems that Dr. Nefarious survived the explosion on Planet Mylon," the captain went on, her hands behind her back ever so professionally. "The orders are simple: go in and take them out." Her blue eyes shifted around the room. "Where's Ratchet?"

The lombax was gone.

Everyone looked around curiously.

"He was here just a moment ago," Clank said.

"Dudes."

Everyone looked at Skidd.

"He--like--left in a real rush after we saw the tyhrranoids," the green man said.

"I admire his determination," Sasha turned the giant screen off. "Let's hope he hasn't lost it."

"Are you kidding?" Qwark smirked. "He's been obsessed lately. I bet he's been waiting for an emergency like this since Nefarious' defeat."

"Probably," Sasha mused. She became 'professional' again. "I'm sending you too."

"WHAT--?.!--err--I mean," he smiled heroically with his hands on his hips, "…..okay."

Sasha rolled her eyes.

"I'm rather concerned with the fact hat Ratchet didn't take me with him," Clank uttered.

"Don't worry," Al nudged him friendlily, "he was probably in such a hurry, that he forgot you, is all. Besides, I'm sure he can handle it…..," his spirit fell a little then, "…..even if he hasn't slept in a while."

"I hope so," was all Clank could say.