Chapter XIV
A/N: Sorry some of the scenes in this chapter are kinda short... and also the fact that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual.
I hope it's okay nonetheless.
Credits are in the notes at the bottom!
"So... um... I was just thinking about the Shatterbomb glove Ms. Zurkon had available..."
"Just go ahead and get it," Klunk tells Rivet, giving her a deadpan look. "We are in the black now, and you could use some more legal options for area of affect weapons. And while you are getting that, I will sign us up for a room. Do not think I haven't noticed that you are starting to run at a sleep deficit. According to the menu, Zurkie's offers eight, sixteen, and twenty-four hour bunks, including one complimentary meal per each eight hour block, and one complimentary shower regardless of length of stay. You are getting a minimum of eight hours rest before we leave."
Rivet's eyebrow quirks upward. "What are you, my mother?"
"I'm your partner. And you are more effective when you are not either hungry or sleep deprived."
"Fiiine…" Rivet grumbles, sliding out of her seat. "At least I'm getting a new weapon out of this..."
After testing out the Shatterbomb glove in Zurkon Incorporated's VR deck, Rivet decides to buy it. Of course, she has to turn it over to the attendant before she can reenter Zurkie's, but at least now she has another weapon for the undoubtedly even more hectic future ahead. Klunk takes longer to return, but within maybe ten minutes of Rivet sitting down, he and the Gadge-bots come by.
As the little robots settle into their seats, Klunk explains, "I managed to procure a sixteen hour bunk. That will give us more than enough time to eat, get cleaned up, and rest. And perhaps eat again before we leave."
Rivet nods, before resting her elbow on the table and in turn her chin on the palm of her hand as she takes in the gastropub. When all this is over, when Drek is defeated and behind bars, they really should come back here sometime. Something in Rivet's chest seizes painfully in that moment.
What if, when they've finally stopped Drek for good, Klunk… leaves?
"I think I'm gonna pick the next song for that jukebox to play," Rivet says suddenly, as if by distracting herself from these painful thoughts, they'll never come to pass. The Lombax doesn't hear whatever Klunk's reply is, as she's already getting out of the chair and approaching the jukebox. She scrolls through the holographic display of the songs, eyebrows furrowed. After a moment, she selects the song Groovitron Trance by 'Alien Report.'
The feline takes a step back, arms crossed as the newly selected tune fills the gastropub.
Tapping her foot, Rivet decides the song is nice enough, and starts actually dancing to it. Stepping so that neither foot as on the floor at the same time as the other, and snapping her fingers rhythmically, swinging her arms from side to side with each step. Seamlessly, she then dives head-first toward the floor, palms pressing to the floor as she swings her legs around. Everything kind of turns into a blur at that point, as the adrenaline starts running through her veins.
In addition to fixing ships for a living and occasionally taking someone else's hoverbike for a spin (she always made sure to return it before anyone noticed it was gone— how she managed that without getting caught even she doesn't know), Rivet often danced to whatever was playing on the radio to pass the time. Sometimes even while she was cleaning up the garage a little, with a broom (sometimes it was a mop) in hand that she would pretend was a microphone as she softly sang along to the lyrics… even while tinkering with things, she'd sometimes play a tune or two and dance to it.
Just… something to make her black hole of a lonely existence a little less miserable.
An existence that she's not sure she can go back to, now that she has… a friend. A partner. Someone to watch her back just as she watches theirs. She's not sure if she'll ever be ready for when Klunk decides to part ways. The very thought sends a ripple of fear down the feline's spine.
By the time the song is finished playing, Rivet is out of breath. She huffs in exhaustion as she trudges back to the table and slides into her seat, stomach growling loudly in demand for food. Chuckling lightly, the Lombax turns her gaze onto her partner and says, "Ehh, I guess you're right. I could use some rest. And food. Definitely a lot of food."
Even after gorging herself a little on their supply of food, Rivet was and still is hungry.
Thankfully, less than a minute later, Zurkon Jr. comes around with Rivet's food, and flavoured oil drinks for Klunk and the Gadge-bots.
The room is a little bigger than what Rivet had expected for one with a bunk bed, but she's certainly not going to complain. In comparison, the bathroom is much smaller, but still spacious enough to move around comfortably in. She's not a huge fan of the tile floor, though— she nearly slipped quite a few times walking around the bathroom in her socks. Which, granted, probably wasn't the best idea, but she's not about to put her bare feet on a floor that other people have probably walked on.
Even if the room had been scrubbed clean after the last person or persons who used it left.
Rivet and Klunk take turns cleaning themselves up, and then take some time to help scrape some gunk out of the Gadge-bot's joints. Once that's done, Rivet sprawls across the small sofa pushed against the wall next to the bunk bed and picks up the HoloVision remote. She turns on the device, and flicks through the channels for a couple minutes before just turning it back off.
"Ehh, nothing good on tonight. Honestly, I can't believe they're still making new episodes of Lance and Janice— it's so corny and uncultured that my mind's rotting just thinking about it," Rivet groans, rubbing her forehead. "It's that bad."
Klunk is shooting her a glare anyway, since she is supposed to be getting some rest right about now. So the feline gets to her feet and stretches her arms, yawning as she walks up to the ladder leading up to the top bunk. When Rivet climbs up and plops onto the mattress, her eyes widen in shock at the softness.
"Holy crap! This bed is so soft!" The feline takes two handfuls of mattress and squeezes, still not quite believing it.
Klunk tilts his head as he looks up at her. "Is that a good or a bad thing?"
"Well, I like it, so… I think good?" She shrugs, before lifting the blankets and sliding underneath them. They're soft too,she thinks as she cuddles up with the heavy pieces of cloth. One of the Gadge-bots chirps, and leaps from the floor onto the top bunk next to Rivet.
The little robot curls up in a ball, pressed right up against her, and closes its eyes.
"Heh, I think this one wants to sleep with me tonight," Rivet says, smiling a little.
Klunk doesn't seem too impressed, and instead opts to open his chest compartment so he can plug in his charger pack. He clambers onto the desk beside the lower bunk, the latter of which is now being occupied by the other three Gadge-bots, and inserts the end of the pack's other plug into the nearby outlet. The charger pack's battery is getting rather low now.
Once that's done, and the silver robot's limbs have been retracted, save for his left arm, Klunk reaches up and pulls on the little ball chain dangling from the side of the lamp next to him.
With a soft click, the light recedes, and darkness washes over the room.
Rivet screws in the final bolt and sits back, admiring her work. It's finally finished. She sets the screwdriver down on the small cloth spread out in front of her and then reaches for her little creation. She runs her gloved fingers along the metal chassis, before carefully picking up the miniature Starjumper. It's far from the real deal— it doesn't have an engine or even real thrusters. But she did assemble it, putting together the fragile little electronics that produced its somewhat authentic sound effects, bolting together the frame and attaching the panels— she did all of it by herself.
Without even having to glance at the instruction manual, either!
The six year-old Lombax runs out of her room and down the hallway, her new mini-Starjumper in hand, giggling excitedly as the toy's sound effects go wild. Her slightly over-sized orange scarf curls out and flaps softly behind her, and her fluffy ears and tail bounce with each step.
Rivet's eyes slide open, and she lifts her head to check the digital clock on the wall. Six more hours until it's officially time to get up. The Lombax flips over onto her back, sighing. She had that dream again. The wonderful, glorious euphoria she'd felt upon finishing the Starjumper, pretending that she was a Galactic Ranger— and then the crushing pain that followed the week after when she was told that the parents who were looking to adopt her changed their minds.
Apparently, she was considered a problem child.
Rivet sighs again, squirming under the blankets. The little Gadge-bot beside her stirs, and lifts its head up. Its eyelids slide open, and the tiny droid looks down at her with its big, lime-green optics, the light shining from them chasing away some of the darkness.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," Rivet whispers.
The Gadge-bot tilts its head, and shuffles closer to her, whining softly as if to question.
"Is there really such a thing as bad luck? Or karma?" The Gadge-bot blinks, seeming to listen intently. "No one wanted me. I was always the odd one out. The scapegoat. The one nobody wanted to be friends with, just because she's from another galaxy. Just because she's probably the only Lombax around these days. Just because she's different." She chuckles mirthlessly, rubbing her arms as she goes on, "And don't get me started on the to-beparents. They all decided that they didn't want me either."
Rivet sighs, breaking eye contact with the Gadge-bot and instead locking her gaze on the ceiling. "I was pretty much alone my entire life. The few friends I did have after I escaped the orphanage… they moved on to bigger and better things. And now…" She shakes her head, turning back over onto her side, retreating back into herself. "Sorry to dump this on you. I… we have more important things to worry about right now. Like getting you and your buddies home, and kicking Drek's sorry butt into the next galaxy."
It's not like I've ever mattered, anyway.
Klunk isn't sure what to do with this information.
The Gadge-bot relayed it all to him via their link, not to mention the little droid shared its thoughts on the matter. It believes Rivet is afraid of being abandoned again. While Klunk has no idea what his future after Drek holds, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be without Rivet. He was born not that long ago, and as of right now, he has nowhere else to go.
How to bring this up to Rivet, however, and explain that he does not intend on leaving anytime soon, is another matter entirely. After everything she's been through, she has trust issues as well, and Klunk isn't quite sure if she'll believe him even if he tells her he does not plan on leaving.
Still unsure as to how to address this issue that will undoubtedly come up again at some point soon, Klunk decides to put off worrying about this until tomorrow morning, and shuts his eyes— powering back off for the night.
After a morning that consisted of having the ship refueled, a big breakfast, some Holocard games with some of the other patrons at the gastropub (who lost a good amount of bolts to Klunk), and another dance routine— this time to Segment Fault by 'Lawrence & Z'Grutes'— courtesy of Rivet, it's finally time to leave Zurkie's and head for Kalebo III.
Both Zurkie and Ms. Zurkon, and even some of the Zurkon Jr.'s are clearly disappointed that they're leaving so soon. Rivet does promise to drop by again in the near future, which seems to make them feel a little better. Still, saying goodbye is hard for the somewhat large family of robots. And Rivet admits, to herself at least, that it's hard for her too.
This place is weird, for sure, and yet… it feels kind of like…
She doesn't finish that thought.
"I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned that your database contains the rules and strategies to every card game in the known universe," Rivet says as she, Klunk, and the Gadge-bots make their way back to their ship. "Maybe both…"
"You are just jealous because you lost the first game," Klunk snarks. His partner's eyebrow quirks upward as the little robot sticks his chest out a little, as if he's puffing it.
Oh, for the love of… Rivet just shakes her head and bites her lip, trying not to laugh at her partner's behaviour.
Kalebo III, Gadgetron HQ…
As Klunk tilts the ship down towards the landing pad below, Rivet groans as she glares out the cockpit window.
"Greeaaaat," she grumbles as a dropship swoops in above a platform lining the building closest, and opens up the back to release several Blarg troopers equipped with jet packs. "Of course the Blarg would try to take out the competition."
Klunk nods in agreement. "I will have to find another location for us to land, one less out in the open. And we will have to leave the Gadge-bots here until we can clear out the Headquarters."
While her partner searches for a place nearby where they could land safely and not have their ship blown to smithereens or something during the attack, Rivet tele-equips that strange yellow thing she'd found back on that Blargian warship. The one that tried to kill her with its self-destruct sequence. After tilting it in the light a bit, she shrugs and just slaps it on her belt.
Klunk eventually sets the ship down on a small, mountainous islet not too far from Gadgetron HQ.
Now the problem is finding something that'll help them get over there in the first place. So Rivet, Klunk, and the Gadge-bots start tearing through the ship's cargo bay in the hopes of finding something that its previous owner might've left that could prove useful.
"Rivet!" Klunk calls from one corner of the ship. "I believe I may have found something!" As his partner lifts her head to look over at him, the silver robot steps aside to reveal what vaguely resembles some sort of aquatic vehicle armed with ion blasters on either side. "It appears to be a Jet Ski."
"Yes! Let's take this baby for a spin!" Rivet cheers and fist pumps the air in her excitement.
Klunk decides not to ask. Instead, he says, "It is probably best if I handle the piloting of the Jet Ski." Before the young Lombax can protest, he adds, "If you wish me to in the future, I can give you lessons on how to operate such a vehicle. However, we do not have the time for that right now. We must return to Gadgetron HQ before it is completely destroyed."
Rivet considers this for a moment, arms crossed and a frown tracing her muzzle, and then nods. "Yeah, you're right… okay. I guess I can wait to drive it."
After piloting the Jet Ski back to Gadgetron HQ and tying it off to one of the support beams for the platform above them, Klunk clambers onto Rivet's back while the feline latches her gloved hands on the ladder in front of her and starts climbing. When she gets to the top, utter chaos breaks out as soon as she puts her foot down on the walkway.
The Lombax leaps to the side as a grenade is lobbed at her, and can feel her fur being singed by the heat of the resulting explosion. She tele-equips her brand new Shatterbomb glove and throws one of the volatile spheres at the nearest Blargian trooper.
As soon as the purple and yellow, electrified orb makes contact with the trooper, them and their comrades are instantly vaporized in a huge ball of violet flames tangled with indigo sparks.
There's nothing left of the troopers. Not even piles of ash.
Rivet's jaw drops. "… Zurkon Jr. wasn't kidding about the 'tearing apart baddies' part," she finally says, her voice barely above a soft mutter. She finally sprints down the walkway ahead of her, already prepping another bomb to lob at any more Blargian troopers that decide to get in her way. Sure enough, just another couple metres, and three more of the reptilian soldiers show up, deactivating their jet packs and landing with a series of clanks just outside the building ahead.
Rivet skids to a stop, regarding the heavily armed troops with a raised eyebrow. "If I were you, doofuses, I'd start runningnow." Upon hearing their weapons click, she sighs, shaking her head. "Of course not…"
The last thing any of the three troopers see is her flinging a grenade at them.
A/N #2: Credit for the dialogue between and including "So... um... I was just thinking about the Shatterbomb glove Ms. Zurkon had available..." and "At least I'm getting a new weapon out of this..." goes to Tangent! 3 And Rivet's distaste for Lance & Janice is inspired by Tangent's version of Rivet, Widget, from their AU "Widget & Clank: Lombax Bebop."