Chapter two: Angela

(Grelbin)

Skidd groaned as he rocked his head back and forth. The first thing he noticed was that he was no longer in a barren wasteland of snow, but rather inside a small house, laying on a bed. Propping himself onto his right hand, Skidd felt his head and tried to regain his senses.

"Man. Did anyone get the license number of that truck, dude?" Skidd asked aloud.

"I see you're awake."

Skidd spun his head around to look in the direction of the new voice and saw a new figure walking over. The newcomer was a tall, female lombax with a ponytail, wearing a green top and pants.

"Who're you, dudette?" Skidd asked. "And where am I?"

"You're in my home." The lombax replied. "I saw your ship crash and brought you here before you froze to death. I find it a miracle that you even survived the crash in the first place."

"Well, thanks for saving me, dude." Skidd replied. "You're probably right in saying that I would've like, frozen to death if you hadn't come along."

"Hey, don't think anything of it." The lombax insisted, giving a light chuckle. She sighed. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't save anything from your ship."

It was Skidd's turn to sigh. "Don't worry, dudette. That just means that I can't contact my friends and tell them I'm okay."

"Well, we'll think of something to contact them." The girl replied. "In the meantime, you can stay here as long as you need."

"Thanks, man." Skidd said before pausing. "Wait. If we're going to be staying together for a while, me may as well, you know, get acquainted and stuff."

The girl gave out another chuckle. "Sure. I'm Angela."

"Nice to meet you, Angela. I'm Skidd." Skidd paused before scooting over on the bed, making room. "Come on, man. Sit down. I don't like, feel too good about letting you stand there, you know."

"Oh, that's fine. I'm perfectly okay." Angela said.

"I insist, Angela. Sit down."

Angela finally related and sat down on the edge of the bed, beside Skidd.

"Say. Before you passed out earlier, you mistook me for someone named 'Ratchet'." Angela said. "You wouldn't happen to be referring to Ratchet the lombax, would you?"

"I sure am, man!" Skidd laughed. "The galaxies owe that dude so much, and yet he doesn't accept anything in return."

"Tell me about it." Angela chuckled. "So I take it that means you know him?"

"Yeah. He and I, we're like buds, man! I was helping him on a mission to take out some baddies when I was brought down." Skidd turned to Angela again. "You know him as well?"

Angela nodded. "Yes. He saved this galaxy, as well as helped me find my employer, Mr. Fizzwidget."

Skidd's eyes snapped open. "Wait. You're THAT Angela!"

"What do you mean 'THAT' Angela?" Angela asked.

"Ratchet talks about you all the time, man! He even says he thought you liked him a little."

Angela blushed in embarrassment. "Okay, I'll admit it. When he defeated the Protopet, I had a tiny crush on him."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Angela, but Ratchet's hooked up with a girl now."

Angela shrugged. "That's okay. I'm real glad for him." She didn't show it, but Skidd could tell that she was slightly disappointed. "So, what is Ratchet up to these days? Still saving the galaxy, I take it."

"You'd be right, dude." Skidd replied. "He, Clank, and few others and myself make up a strike force that like, totally saves planets from danger." Another silence followed from the Rilgar native. "Well, to be totally honest, it's been pretty boring these past few months."

Angela chuckled again. "I guess no super-powerful villain wants to take you out."

Skidd laughed. "Yeah, man. Drek blew up with his homemade planet and Dr. Nefarious is still floating around in space somewhere. Bad guys are probably afraid of Ratchet by now."

"And the Protopets are now completely harmless." Angela added. "They're one of Megacorp's best sellers now that they're not ravenous monsters."

"How about you?" Skidd asked. "Ratchet says that you helped him save the galaxy. You popular in these parts?"

"Well, not in the whole galaxy." Angela admitted. "Just at Megacorp. Mr. Fizzwidget gave me a raise, so I can't complain."

"That's always good."

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air until Angela broke it. "You hungry, Skidd? I can make something for you if you want."

Skidd smacked his lips a couple of times. "I'm not really hungry, man. But I AM a little thirty."

"Sure thing." Angela said as she got up and walked over to her fridge. "What would you like?"

"Whatever you've got is fine, man."

Angela nodded, pulled a can of soda from the fridge and tosse dit to Skidd, who caught it with one hand. "Thanks, Angela." Skidd said as he opened the can.

Angela was about to grab a drink herself when she heard a beeping noise coming from her table. She turned around and saw a red light on a device flashing.

"What is it, Angela?" Skidd asked as he stood up.

"I'm getting a call. Just give me a second." Angela said as she pressed a button on the device, a videophone.

As soon as the button was pressed, the image of a portly old man appeared on the table.

"Oh! Hey, sir!" Angela greeted. "How're things going at the factory?"

"Wonderful, Angela. However, that's not my reason for calling." Mr. Fizzwidget's image replied. "Our radar picked up a ship coming down into your orbit. I suggest you remain on the lookout."

"Way ahead of you, Mr. Fizzwidget." Angela replied with a smile. "I've already brought the pilot of the ship here. And get this, sir! He's a friend of Ratchet!"

Mr. Fizzwidget did a double-take. "Ratchet! Well then, by-golly, you help him recover, Angela. It seems like you have everything under control."

"Thank you for letting me know anyway, sir." Angela nodded. "I appreciate it."

"No problem, Angela. Fizzwidget out."

With that, the image vanished, leaving Skidd and Angela alone again.

"So that was Mr. Fizzwidget." Skidd chuckled. "I somehow imagine him to be a little different, man."

"It's kinda weird." Angela mused rubbing her chin.

"What is it, Angela?" Skidd asked, walking over to his new friend.

"Fizzwidget said that the radar picked up your ship coming into orbit, but if that's the case, the radar is seriously delayed." Angela explained. "You've been here for hours already."

"Hey, yeah. That IS pretty weird, man."

"Well, I guess it was just a delay." Angela shrugged. "Hey, Skidd? You want me to give you a tour of the place?"

"Sure. Might as well, dude." Skidd replied.

"Okay. Let's go, then." Angela smiled as she walked over to the door.

"Lead the way, Angela." Skidd replied as he followed Angela out the door. "Man. She's got such a beautiful smile." He thought.

(Phoenix)

Ratchet sat in his room on the Phoenix, his back against the wall. He absent-mindedly tossed a ball against the far wall, which bounced back into his hand. As Ratchet kept doing this, he wasn't really paying attention. He was more focused on the events that still lingered in his mind.

The furry lombax just couldn't shake the feelings of sorrow, guilt and anger that hung over him. One moment, Skidd was downing enemy fighters with enough skill to make anyone jealous, and the next he was tumbling down to the planet below in a ball of fire.

Ratchet was upset considering that he never gave Skidd enough chance to prove himself. Skidd had spent the majority of the Dr. Nefarious fiasco running from danger, and Ratchet had been a little hesitant letting him come along on this mission. But during the dogfight above Grelbin, Skidd had impressed his furry friend and Ratchet never had the chance to tell the Rilgar native how impressed he really was.

And then there was the feeling of guilt. It was supposed to have been him tumbling towards Grelbin in a burning ball of fire. But Skidd had chosen the wrong time to fly in the path of the shots. Skidd had saved Ratchet's life and he didn't even know it. Ratchet felt like he had let Skidd down for not protecting him and felt like he had let himself down for not looking hard enough for any surviving ships. If he had looked hard enough, maybe he would have spotted the leader's ship and prevented him from firing the shot.

Finally, there was the feeling of anger. His hatred was focused on the leader behind the attack. Whoever this guy was, he had downed Skidd. In doing that and killing one of Ratchet's friends, he had awakened a lombax's fury. Ratchet swore to himself that he would make whoever was responsible for this pay, and pay dearly.

As Ratchet continued to toss the ball against the wall, he heard the door to his room swish open. The light, metallic footsteps told Ratchet who it was, but he remained silent.

"Ratchet, please calm down." Clank said with concern.

Ratchet narrowed his eyes and continued to toss the ball against the wall. "Calm down? Calm down! Skidd's dead, the person responsible got away and it's all my fault, and you expect me to calm down!"

"No, seriously. Calm down. That is a Mini-Nuke you are tossing at the wall."

Ratchet stopped tossing the ball and looked at it. When he saw that Clank was right, and it the ball was really a Mini-Nuke, he quickly put it away. "Sorry."

"You should not beat yourself up about this, Ratchet." Clank said, walking over to his friend. "It was not your fault."

"Yes, it was." Ratchet sighed. "I could've done so much more to help. I could have looked harder for the leader's ship, or made sure it was the first I shot down. Instead, I didn't look as hard as I could have, and because of that, Skidd's dead."

Clank placed his robotic hands on his hips. "Ratchet, for your information, you are not the only one feeling guilty, you know."

"Oh?"

"Yes. In case you forgot, Sasha was the one to suggest Skidd go with you in the first place."

Realization suddenly hit Ratchet again. He had been so wrapped up in his own guilt that he never thought about Sasha and what she could have been going through. She must have been feeling just as bad, if not worse, than Ratchet. The lombax quickly stood up.

"I should go comfort her, then." Ratchet sighed. "Where is she?"

"In her room." Clank explained. "She has been in there ever since she told everyone the news."

Ratchet nodded. "Okay. I'll go see what I can do."

With that, Ratchet and Clank left the room and started walking down the long hallway to find Sasha's room. Before the two got very far, a robotic soldier stepped over to them, his hands behind his back.

"Sir." The robot addressed Ratchet. "We soldiers may not be capable of expressing sorrow, but we are extremely upset at Skidd's death. We know that you're feeling bad about that happening, so we all chipped in and got you something."

The soldier moved his hands around him and held out the gift to Ratchet. Ratchet's eyes sprang open when he saw the small, round body, big wide eyes and bright blue fur of the creature the soldier was holding.

The small Protopet looked at Ratchet with its adorable eyes. In the meantime, Ratchet's left eye started twitching.

Suddenly, Ratchet flew past the soldier, screaming like a little girl, torpedoing down the hall at breakneck speeds.

The soldier curiously looked at the Protopet in his hands. "What's wrong? It looks okay to me."

Clank sighed. "Corporal, we need to talk."