"Hey, do you think they'll name a street after me?" Ratchet smiled as he got excited. "Or a cologne? 'Ratchet. Smell like a hero'."
"Needs work..." LJ noted.
"There he is!" A man called out before running with a crowd as they clamored around Ratchet.
"Fan club, ahoy." Lexi commented.
"Where's my fan club?!" Duck pouted.
"To have a fan club, you need fans." LJ replied. "See what I mean with this?"
"Hey!" Duck glared.
"He's right, Duck." Felicity clarified.
"Grazie." LJ smiled.
"Easy, now," Ratchet smirked to his new adoring public as he began to sign autographs. "There's no rush. Believe me, I could do this all day."
"Looks like you might not get the chance." LJ replied.
"Whatya mean?" Ratchet asked before his answer was soon questioned.
"Sorry, folks, but, unfortunately, we don't have time for this nonsense," Captain Qwark told the people before smiling hopefully and smugly. "I'm about to reveal my awesome plan for the attack on Drek Industries, unless, of course, anyone would like my autograph."
Everyone ignored Qwark and kept crowding around Ratchet.
"Chirp. Chirp. Chirp." Felicity whispered, imitating a cricket.
LJ chuckled at that, then imitated snoring.
"Good... Because... We don't have time." Captain Qwark told the crowd before taking Ratchet to go with him.
"And that's the end of that..." LJ sighed.
"I love you all!" Ratchet smiled and waved as he was carried off by Captain Qwark.
"At least he's modest." Tech commented.
"Could he be worse than Kent Powers?" Felicity commented.
"Nah, that guy's up there with Zapp Brannigan and Qwark." LJ replied.
"I think Zapp Brannigan's a good comparison." Zofia agreed with her brother.
"Once more, grazie!" LJ replied.
"I guess we better go after Ratchet before he loses his head." Ace suggested.
"So we can be there to catch it." Lexi added.
"As if Duck wasn't bad enough." Ace agreed.
"Hey!" Duck glared as they went to follow after Ratchet.
"You do got a bit of an ego on ya, Duck, buddy." Rev commented.
"True. I doubt we could all carry it." LJ replied.
Clank seemed to be left behind as they went to Ratchet and the other Galactic Rangers.
"Well, why shouldn't we come along?" Tech commented. "After all, Zadavia allowed us to become The Guardians of the Galaxy after we took care of Optimatus."
"You sure? There are only so many of you, and the galaxy is a VERY big place." LJ replied.
"Well, she decided on it," Tech defended. "Not to mention we're from a different time period than you kids are."
"Hey, that's right," Akito smirked. "That means we're older than ya! Do my homework!"
"Nice try." Ace smirked back to that.
"I'm just saying: you might need more teammates to help you cover the whole universe!" LJ explained.
"Well, if it helps, sometimes my brother comes around to help out," Rev spoke up. "Also Tech has a little friend of his that ex-Princess Ixta looks after."
"Princess Ixta, huh?" LJ asked.
"Queen Grannicus's granddaughter who is now raised and adopted by Zadavia and Uncle Planet." Estelle informed.
"I see..." LJ nodded.
"She's really cool," Akito said. "Maybe next time you'll see her if she's not too busy with Eddie."
"Hmm... Okay." LJ replied.
They soon came with Ratchet as Captain Qwark took them away from the adoring public for the Lombax which appeared to be a meeting place complete with a slideshow presentation.
"All right, Rangers, our plan of attack is simple," Captain Qwark told them, going over a special plan. "HALO drop into Skorg City, fire a whole mess o' bullets, and take Drek into custody so we can be home in time for waffles."
"Simple, isn't it?" Ace commented.
"Yeah, waffles!" Brax cheered.
"Wait, that's our plan?" Elaris replied.
Captain Qwark let out a sharp exhale before grinning proudly. "Yes, it is."
Tech sighed. "THAT... Is as stupid as hitting a bear in the face, biting its tail and running out of the cave hoping you can outrun it in time," he replied. "But hey: simple plans for simple minds."
"Quite... Seems like something Slam would come up with." Duck added before laughing at his own joke.
Slam growled at him from nearby. Duck flinched nervously from that reaction.
"Pardon me, Captain, but Chairman Drek is cunning," Clank spoke up. "He will be prepared for our assault."
"Look, I think it is beyond adorable that you decided to do all this homework, but big heroes do big things," Captain Qwark replied. "Each second we waste talking is a second Drek could use to destroy another planet."
"Exactly, which is why we cannot afford to just rush in like idiots!" Tech explained. "Because Drek will be COUNTING on that so he can TRAP you!"
"Exactly, we need to review our plan." Elaris added in agreement.
"Does anyone else feel like we should have shot something by now?" Brax complained. "Because it really feels like we should have shot something by now."
"Thank you!" Cora replied.
"For ONE STUPID MINUTE, would YOU GET YOUR VIOLENCE-ADDICTED HEADS OUT OF THE CLOUDS AND JUST THINK FOR ONCE?!" Tech snapped. "This kind of foolishness is why Nefarious went evil!"
"Let's take a vote," Captain Qwark suggested. "All those in favor of kicking in Drek's front door with a massive arsenal and restoring peace to a galaxy in turmoil, say 'Aye'."
"Aye!" Ratchet, Brax, and Cora replied.
"All those in favor of nerding it up here with some pie charts, say 'Nay'." Captain Qwark then said.
Tech just facepalmed. "FINE THEN! GO AHEAD AND GET YOURSELVES KILLED BY ACTING LIKE IDIOTS! SEE IF THIS COYOTE GIVES A FLYING FLOBNAR!" he shouted.
The others were soon in stunned silence.
"I don't think I've ever seen Tech get like that before." Akito commented.
"You can only push a fella so far until he snaps." LJ noted.
"Motion passes. We assault Drek Industries tonight!" Captain Qwark grinned.
"Welp, you're doomed," LJ noted. "I'll be writing your epitaphs!"
Tech soon went into a hallway as he looked a bit frustrated with Captain Qwark's stupidity. "Stupid big-chinned IDIOT... Ignoring the suggestions of that beautiful genius...!" he grumbled, unaware that Elaris heard him. "He wouldn't know a good attack plan if it hit him in the jawline!"
"Beautiful?" Elaris whispered to herself. "Could he mean me?"
"I mean, Elaris deserves WAY more respect!" Tech remarked out loud. "I just don't wanna see her end up like Nefarious...because I love her, Blanc-damn it!"
Elaris paused and looked emotional, though mostly because she felt touched. No one had ever said stuff about her like that before.
"They're gonna see, though," Tech continued. "The plan is gonna fail. Because sure they give us wedgies and shove our heads in toilets, but when everything goes to pot, everyone always turns to the brainiacs to help them."
Elaris nodded to that as she kept hidden as she put her hand on her chest as she began to feel something she hadn't felt before.
"Well, I feel better," Tech shrugged. "Might as well get back in there." And he headed back into the room.
Elaris let out a small gasp.
"Ah! Miss Elaris, excuse me." Tech said as he nearly ran into her.
"Um... Hello, there... I... Uh... Hello." Elaris replied.
"Sorry if I almost bumped into ya," Tech remarked. "Just had to get some stuff off my chest."
"Um, that's okay, I get that." Elaris reassured.
Tech blushed. "Oh. Well... Great. So... You got anything planned for later?" he asked.
"Besides being ignored by the Galactic Rangers, I don't think so." Elaris replied modestly.
"Hey. Mind if I join you?" Tech asked. "We can...be ignored together."
"It would be refreshing to have some company." Elaris gave a small smile.
"Cool!" Tech grinned. "So it's a... Date?"
"Yes... It's a date... Uh, socially of course." Elaris replied bashfully herself.
"Uh... Yeah," Tech replied. "That... Works for me."
Elaris gave a small smile while Tech smiled back. It seemed like perfect chemistry between the two so far.
"Well, the Galactic Rangers are going away, what should we do?" Jenny wondered as she pet her and Vincent's Ninetails who sat in her lap while purring from the petting.
"Might as well do something to kill time before they get back," LJ replied. "Yo, Aki, you up for that sparring match you suggested?"
"Sure thing, bud!" Akito smiled as he drank from his water bottle.
"That oughta be fun." LJ replied as he did a few jabs in the air.
Akito finished up his drink before he soon jumped high in the air and soon landed right in front of LJ with his fists put up. "I gotta warn ya," he then smirked. "My dad's a bit stronger than Hercules, and luckily, I was blessed with the same ability. My dad's had some training from the amazing man known as Goku even. I gotta warn you, this might not be so easy."
"Oh, I know about Son Goku," LJ replied. "That just makes this WAY more fun!"
"Tell me about it," Akito smiled before running up to LJ like in a wrestling ring. "Emi, ya wanna watch?"
"Sure!" Emi beamed to her boyfriend as she checked on her friends' Pokemon.
"C'mon!" LJ cracked his knuckles and got into a fighting stance.
Akito smirked and soon grabbed a hold of LJ and held him over his head.
"Whoa!" LJ remarked. "The heat is ON!" and in. A flash, his body lit up like a torch.
"Seriously! How do you do that?!" Akito asked him.
"An incident involving the Super Skrull," LJ explained. "Happened when I was 5..."
"Hmm... Ya don't say," Akito said before setting LJ down before tackling him to the ground with a small smirk. "Well, Superman is like my grandfather, so I'll be just fine wrestling you no matter what you do."
"Ooh, lucky YOU!" LJ replied with a snort. "So this oughta be fun!"
"Yep!" Akito smirked. "Reach for the skies, Fantastic Boy! I'm gonna launch you into outer-space and banish you to Planet Neptune! Say hi to Bliss for me."
"No way, hombré!" LJ remarked. "The name's QuadStar, and I don't give up easy!"
"Yeah, you're showing that really well right now." Akito chuckled.
"Bliss... Neptune... What?" Zofia asked.
"You didn't hear?" Felicity replied. "After the Power of Four saga, Drell ran into Bliss and banished her to the Planet Neptune to never be seen or heard from again."
"Oh, thank GOD!" LJ remarked. "Bet Mom and Dad will be happy about THAT!"
Akito laughed as he continued to wrestle LJ as it was a lot of fun.
"Dang...you're GOOD!" LJ remarked as he extended his legs to dodge Akito's tackle.
"Thanks!" Akito replied before chuckling. "Hey, that kinda tickles."
"Okay..." LJ replied as he turned rocky. "Here comes the ol' Sunday Punch!"
Akito smirked as he bent down, feeling determined from it anyway. LJ wound up his fist and slammed it right at Akito. Some of the others grimaced to that.
"Oof!" Akito yelped, but unlike many people who would've gotten hit by that, he wasn't hurt TOO bad.
"Holy, Akito-you took the Sunday Punch!" LJ remarked. "Wow, you ARE resilient!"
"That's like whenever my dad bear hugs me after he comes back from an out of the country case." Akito smiled.
"I see..." LJ noted.
Akito soon picked up LJ again and spun him around playfully like a toy, sticking his tongue out and then had LJ land flat on the floor next to him, leaving a crack in the middle of it.
LJ sprang up and brushed himself off. "Dang... You are GOOD!" he commented.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you, did you?" Akito asked out of concern. "You just didn't seem like that would hurt a whole lot."
"Nah, it's cool. I'm alright," LJ replied as he got back up. "Just impressed, that's all."
"Maybe you should visit the School of Lucha with me." Akito smiled.
"Sounds like fun." LJ replied.
"I like it," Akito smiled. "I had to help my new friends there against a dark and evil force known as El Malefico."
"Hmm... Must've been one heck of a battle." LJ replied.
"Oh, trust me, it was," Akito said. "I had to help them with the Artifacts of Buenaness. Long story, I'll tell ya later."
"I guess you guys went too?" Zofia asked Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity.
"No, we were staying home at the time," Estelle replied. "It seemed like Akito was The Chosen One."
"That feels like a very frequent theme in most of these future stories..." LJ commented.
Akito rubbed his arm bashfully about that.
"But whatever." LJ shrugged.
"You're not mad, are ya?" Akito asked. "A mad friend is worse than losing a friend."
"No, dude. I promise I'm not angry," LJ replied. "Though my head sure smarts a little..."
"Sorry about that," Akito said. "We can take a break if you need one. That was fun!"
LJ smirked. "No kidding. But maybe just a little break."
"Yeah, let's take a break," Akito smiled. "Thanks, LJ, I needed that."
Felicity smiled as the two of them seemed to become friends.