Chapter 13
Off to the Races
~Unknown Location~
A cloaked figure slightly shorter than a tall human walked through a lab covered in darkness. Water dripped from the cracked ceiling as fireflies and other midnight creatures hovered around. The equipment was covered in thick drapery to protect from the outside moisture. A big monitor dominated the whole front of the large concrete area. This individual was hunched, built powerfully, and covered in old steam punk-like armor that exerted steam every time the joints moved.
The creature wore a long grey cloak, a thick triangular helmet shielding its face with a black visor. It started at the center of the room where a big space divided up all the technology. Unsheathing one of its huge claws, it began punching in a small code onto a device snapped snugly to its black-furred wrist. The black crystal in the device's center began to glow as the creature aimed it and shot a small hole into the floor.
Water splashed from the rift opening a new dimension, the portal's purple edges glowing brightly. A large tentacle stretched its slimy limber arm through the hole. It began thrashing about as the creature walked up to it, reached a paw into the cortex, and grabbed something. With a big tug, Emperor Nefarious was pulled free from the tentacle creature. He gave a frightened yell as he was thrown onto the floor.
Nefarious coughed up water, clutching his throat as the portal used to summon him was suddenly shut. His once pure pristine white body was covered in black burn marks from his battle with the rebels. Even his face and orange glass cranium were shattered. His orange eyes opened, scanning around to see where he was at.
"W—what's going on?" he quickly felt his body, "I'm alive?" The emperor jumped to his feet but lost his footing from lack of energy.
Then he turned and saw something dark looming over him, his eyes gawked in fright.
"Who are you!" He demanded with a pointed finger.
The creature said nothing, just stared at him with a dangerously blank gaze. This unnerving the nearly killed emperor as he scootched back.
"Answer me, you loathsome creature!"
Still, his rescuer said nothing, just stared at him. Nefarious looked in another direction and saw a bunch of portable screens stacked on top of each other. Giving a nervous glance to the cloaked figure, he sluggishly got to his feet and sauntered over. Taking the top tablet, he powered it on and began to watch. Ratchet's face was the first thing he saw when the video came to life. Medical reports popping up left in right. The longer the former emperor read, the bigger his eyes got. Slowly he glanced at the creature that stood up to his chin in height.
"This fuzzy thorn in my side… one of the two that defeated me, humiliated me, took away my victory… you… actually killed him?"
The creature still gave nothing but an eerie silence as Nefarious suddenly started to rub his hands together. He quickly started going through the other tablets, getting more information on the events that recently transpired. Learning that Ratchet had barely survived but was weak brought a sickening sense of joy to the badly damaged tyrant. He gave his savior another giddy grin.
"You brought this lombax to his knees, on your own… then you summon me. Delivered me from my torment, I thank you!" He walked up to the creature and placed a hand on its shoulder. "Restore my status as Emperor, and I'll give you all the wealth your heart could ever desire!" He clenched his fist, eyes glowing a dark orange. "And help me kill those useless Lombaxes!"
"You… were once the emperor… correct?" came a female voice that surprised Nefarious.
"Uh, well yes, if that wasn't obvious!"
"Where… is the location of your primary technicians?"
Nefarious paused, looking long and hard at the slightly shorter individual. "Why would you ask such a stupid question? I just offered you a substantial offer, all I ask Is you bring me the heads of the lombaxes!"
The tyrant gasped in horror as his entire hand was dislodged right from his wrist. Large claws grabbed him by his throat and slammed him into the wall. Her massive dark paw squeezing his entire face, slowly caving in the damaged metal with unbelievable strength.
"Individuals like you… driven by raw malice, untamable blood lust… teeter at the end of my tolerance." She loomed over the downed emperor's face, black visor revealing two golden eyes. "And you… are dangerously close… to the edge."
Nefarious grabbed at the black paw that covered his entire face, desperately trying to pry the massive metal claws off.
"Release me you beast!" He slammed his foot into her chest, but it did nothing but crack his heel. Pain lightning bolted up to his metallic leg as the creature began to squeeze tighter. "Wait, truly we can work something out! Y—you almost killed the yellow lombax, surely we can be friends if we share a mutual enemy!" He desperately tried to negotiate for his life.
The creature above him didn't even halt her insane grip slowly crushing his skull.
"I… don't bear the emotional capacity to feel rage. All actions have been done… have a logical competence to them. Things with… a motive." She hoisted the emperor off the ground with one arm, keeping his face wrenched between her claws. "Made a small error with the… male Lombax. An intentional act that led to… unintentional results. Didn't mean to hurt him… to that degree."
"Then what… what do you want from me?" Nefarious gagged out, losing his line of vision.
"Don't seek revenge, but retribution…" she loosened her grip a bit, "nothing you need to know." The creature snorted steam into Nefarious' eye screens. "Not driven by malice, but willing to do… acts viewed as malicious by those… not suffering from severe detachment issues as I… only if necessary, to plan."
She dragged Nefarious by his head and sat him down on a chair. Restraints strapped his limbs down as the former emperor now became completely helpless to this creature's mercy.
"Right this second, have no need to hurt you. Be illogical to do so… but… become a hindrance, will have to do so." She walked in front of the frightened tyrant and knelt, gold eyes staring lifelessly at him. "Answer the question... and the reward will be… your freedom."
Biting his metal lip, Nefarious internally cussed as he laid his head back in distress. He groaned in complete disbelief, straining against his restraints. The creature simply watched him with those calloused yellow eyes. Whoever was behind that helmet spoke with such a lifeless tone, it was as if a corpse was speaking to him if one was able to talk. It made his circuity crawl beneath his metal shell to feel this creature get so close to him.
"Within Nefarious City… there's an entrance that leads below the city and into my lab. T—the coordinates are 23-44-06…" Nefarious angrily snarled at the creature that slowly moved away from him. "That's where the office of my smartest technicians resides. You got your answer, now let me go, you hideous cretin!"
Slowly turning back to the emperor, the creature nodded. "Deal… is a deal," she slowly opened her helmet and revealed a massive snout filled with rows of dangling jagged teeth. Saliva dripped from the front fangs as a blue tongue slithered out and licked the side fangs. The right side was missing some teeth and replaced with metallic chromed fangs.
Nefarious gasped in horror at the nightmarish sight. "W—what is this? Release me, I don't want to stare a second longer at you!"
Suddenly the fangs bit into his neck, Nefarious screamed in horror as the lights slowly faded out. Two seconds passed till his yells died down to nothing. Electricity sparking everywhere the creature walked away from the former emperors' shell who remained stuck against the chair. She took her cloak and rubbed the orange mechanical fluids from her jaws before her helmet swished closed. Hiding her fangs once more.
"Your freedom, being a quick death." She walked back to the screen and began punching in the coordinates to find the location in which the former living emperor had given her.
"If had freed you," she muttered to herself as if the former tyrant was still able to hear her. "Would've exacted revenge on the Lombaxes. Become a blunder to plan. Cannot allow further torment to the targets."
Her short stumpy black tail swished beneath the cloak as she pulled up an image of Nefarious' city. Both her gold eyes staring lifelessly at the sight.
~In Space~
"So," Rivet asked as Clank and Kit were smashed in her lap like a mother holding her two squirming kids as Ratchet flew their ship. "Where did you say we were going again?"
"And why we couldn't sit in the back?" Kit asked with her head uncomfortably pressed against Rivet's front. "While I do not mind being on my friend's back, this is a bit unnecessary."
"You'll see," the male Lombax laughed as he continued to fly the royal starship North. Punching in a few more codes, the hero grinned at the sight before them. A large track with massive hover ramps circling each other like pretzel swirls. Big stands surrounded the area as tall track lights beamed bright rays down on the roads to light them up. All sorts of people sat in said stands watching racers shoot past each other on the course. Yelling and screaming as they cheered their selected racers to win.
Once Ratchet landed the ship in one of the many shipyards, he flashed some tickets to his squad. "Got us annual tickets to this year's Space Basho Race!"
"No… way!" Rivet gawked as she quickly leaped out of the seat with both mini bots still hugged in her arms. "Oh, this is so rad Ratchet!" she put both bots down in order to grab one of the tickets offered. Blue eyes lit up like a child at Christmas time. "How did you manage this?"
"Ah, I got my ways," he smirked as he stretched his arms while handing Kit and Clank their passes. "When ol' Ratchet here takes a girl on a date… it'll be a night she remembers." Ratchet flashed her a bright white smile and stood aside, allowing her full access to the lines leading into the stadiums. "Shall we?" He bowed for extra good measures.
Rolling her eyes, she got Ratchet by his arms, straightened him up, and hooked his arm into hers. Dragging him along as her arm monkey as she smirked at the nearby girls that eyed Ratchet. Her ear flicked in mockery at having the handsome male Lombax as the other females whispered in irritation.
"I think… so far, this is shaping up the odds to call it a date." She smirked, "and if it's going to end up a date… gotta make sure everyone knows who you belong to." She gave Ratchet a little smack on the backside for good measures. Making the male lombax blush as she gave a loud laugh.
"Woah Woah, not in public," he blushed as Rivet anchored her robotic arm around his waist and smashed him against her. Ratchet eventually surrendered and gave a light chuckle to the aggressively territorial female lombax. "I thought the interaction would determine if this is a date."
"Yea, so?" She asked, cutting him a confused look.
"Well, having your arm around me like your grabbing a tree trunk in a hurricane seems like you've already reached a decision." Ratchet wiggled his eyebrows at her.
The rebel laughed as she towed Ratchet through the lines and into the stadium. They climbed all the way to the top row and took their seats. Its metal surface was a bit chilly to the touch but Ratchet eventually settled down with Rivet keeping close contact to him. He raised an amused eyebrow at her.
"So," Rivet startled as Clank and Kit detached themselves from their backs and took the empty neighboring seats. "Who are we betting on to win?"
Clank perked his head up at the question and crossed his arms, cutting Ratchet a firm look. "Ratchet… is this just a race or is there a 'spread' you're trying to cover?"
"Aw come on Clank, it's not just gambling." Ratchet chuckled nervously at the goody two shoe bot as he quickly showed Rivet a program-book that listed all the racers. "See this dude?" He pointed to a lion-faced man with long purple-dyed hair. "I know him, and let's just say I have a hunch he's going to win."
"Really? His odds aren't very good," Rivet took the program to glance over it.
"Oh, trust me," Ratchet laughed as he recalled his interaction with the sky-boarder that was a well-known cheater. "I think our bolts are saved well betting on him."
"Then you got a bet!" Rivet took out a small gadget and placed a high number of bolts on the sky boarder. "You want in?"
"Let I'm going to let my 'maybe date' take all the winnings by herself," Ratchet got the small device away from Rivet and added his own sum amount of money. Hitting the green switch, both the lombaxes' bets were placed on the public board. Followed by several other betters ranking in their own predictions of who'd win.
Clank crossed his arms and huffed, Kit giggled and elbowed her own date. "Clank, it's no big deal, a little bit of bolts is not going to hurt anyone."
"But this can become such a huge problem if not handled carefully," Clank argued as he looked to Ratchet, gaze lingering down to his chest. Sighing in sadness, he forced on a fake smile for Kit. "I apologize, guess I've been a bit uptight lately."
"It's okay, let's just watch the races." She folded her hands together in her lap, kicking her legs out anxiously. "Um, would you be okay if I…?"
"You may," Clank snickered as he gave her some room.
Kit gasped in joy and leaned her head against Clank's shoulder. Giggling in true joy as she got comfortable in her dimensional counterpart's hold.
"That's better," Kit snickered out as Clank leaned his head against her own.
"Hello everybody, welcome to the beginning event of this year's new Space Basho Races!" A hefty yellow creature with sharp teeth and a five o'clock shadowed announced. Wearing a red derby jacket and puffing on a brown pipe. He sat in a large crane that carried him around the top section of the track, giving him clearance to see everything from above.
As the racers' started to come out, Ratchet felt something itch. Smacking what felt like a fly on his cheek, he grunted and turned to look to the left. There his eyes saw a tall thin creature, blue in complexion, and possessed tied-back tentacle hair. Ratchet's jaw slowly fell open at the sight, his photo taken from the motel days back flashing through his mind.
"You…" he whispered to himself, fur beginning to rise in irritation.
"Alright, finally the race is gonna start!" Rivet happily announced as Ratchet suddenly pulled his way out of her grip. Her eyes shot open in surprise and stood up to follow him. "Hey Ratchet, where are you going?" The male lombax raised his hand, gesturing her to sit back down. Which she hesitantly did so.
"I'll be right back, just gotta run to restroom!" He smiled nervously, forcing himself to look away from her concerned gaze. Boots pounded against the metal stadium as he raced down the stairs and towards the dugouts that housed all the racers waiting to take their turns.
Ratchet paused and gave a quick glance to his program. These racers only raced by their board numbers, not by their photos. Meaning if someone else stole their boards, they could race like them. He twiddled his thumb, eyes looking back to his left.
His target was wearing an all-black uniform as he carried a heavily decked-out red skyboard onto the track. Being one of the first to get out there. Ratchet looked around the other racers, all were not even looking in his direction, too distracted by their own equipment. Like tuning up their boards.
Sneaking into the barracks, Ratchet breathed in, mind going back to Rivet and her mechanical arm.
"I promise, I'll find out what they did to you." He whispered, re-opening his eyes as he pulled out a small device and hooked it to his chest. Tapping the button on his chest, it flared to life, glowing red as a loud buzzing sound nearly deafened him. Big sheets of metal slid over him, covering every section of his body till he was completely covered. With his red visor now powering on, Ratchet moved his joints, checking all the programs in his suit.
'Suit… fully functional.' The inner AI reported to him. All was ready for action; Ratchet swallowed the lump in his throat again. Fear tried to wiggle its way into his stomach. But reminding himself of the goal at hand forced his mind into gear.
Stepping into the open, Ratchet approached one of the sky racers. The one with purple hair he and Rivet bet on was busy tuning up his whiteboard.
"Man, this hunk of junk better work this time." He muttered in a surfer dude-like accent. "Can't have that stupid committee coming after me again." Picking his board up, he turned to enter the race but was cut off by a short but broadly built crimson robot.
"Uh, who are you man?" the purple-haired alien asked in confusion.
Ratchet raised his wrist and released a small blue mist into the racer's face. He coughed and angrily fanned the smoke away from his nose.
"Hey man, what the hell you think you're…" he began to wobble, dropping his board onto the ground. "D—doing…" his eyes shut as he fell into Ratchet, who caught him and securely carried him back to the barracks. Locking him into one of the stalls, the hero checked the clock.
He hustled back and retrieved the downed board and went onto the track. Immediately people screamed at his approach. Ratchet jumped in surprise but held his breath, forcing himself to calm down as he quickly started scanning the area. Looking for his recently spotted suspect. More and more races came onto the scene, blocking Ratchet's vision and forced the armored lombax to the starting line.
"Alright, racers take your places!" The announcer hollered out, raising a gun over his head.
Each racer stood on their boards, clicking their boots over the engines. All devices roared to life with multi-colored flames bursting from beneath the bottom half of their hoverboards. Ratchet winced at the loud sound but followed their example and clumsily kicked his own. He wobbled on his board a bit before finally straightening himself out.
"Man hope I remember how to do this…" he thought to himself, looking back up to see Rivet watching all the racers with heavy anticipation. Noticing she occasionally glanced to the empty seat next to her. This caused Ratchet's heart to sink, till the sight of blue tentacles caught the corner of his eye.
The suspect he was hunting came right up next to him. He had an octopus head hooked to a humanoid body. Hands and feet were also tentacles as far as he could tell. It was a bit of strange sight, but as far as Ratchet could tell, this indeed was the creature he saw from the photo.
"Beautiful day for a race, eh?" the creature suddenly asked.
Ratchet stared ahead to the track, trying his best not to stare at the man. Turned away his silence, the octopus-headed creature gave a small chuckle and tapped Ratchet on the shoulder.
"Hey, dude, it's common curtsey to wish racers good luck."
"Good luck," he whispered in his deep synthesized voice.
The deep batman sounding voice seemed to startle the suspect as he smoothed his tentacle hair back. "Woah, big voice for a little guy, bet you'd be good at scaring people on prank calls." He laughed and elbowed Ratchet.
It took every bit of Ratchet's self-control to not rip this guy's arm upon touching his armor. He had to remind himself this was for the mission. Breathing in a hesitant breath, Ratchet forced himself to keep his composure and eyes ahead.
"Yes, good luck…" 'After the race is when you're going to really need it…' Ratchet thought to himself after wishing the suspect a good race.
The numbers started to count down as all the racers hunkered low to their boards. Eyes narrowed, revving their board's engines. Ratchet kept the corner of his eye locked onto his blue neighbor. Anger rising a bit.
"Racers get ready… set…" The announcer raised his gun.
~TO BE CONTINUED