Version 2 Author's Notes:
The title of Chapter #13 was a complete coincidence concerning the actual phrase "going commando", which is the title of the second Ratchet & Clank game; that's where I got it from, not the slang phrase. I wasn't even aware of the meaning of the phrase when I first wrote that chapter. I apologize if I offended you (by accident).
Chapter #14: The Sky Is Falling!
Ratchet & Clank, Spike & Jimmy, and Copper reached Acre B-3 in no time at all. They came to a stop when they saw that the lights were on in the first floor of the house.
Ratchet cocked his N90 Hurricane and said, "Looks like we've got company. Everybody stay back."
Cautiously he and Copper moved toward the door, and the dog tried the doorknob; as always, it was unlocked. They nodded towards each other, and the Lombax flattened against the wall with both hands on his weapon. Copper opened it slightly, then kicked it the rest of the way open and jumped out of the way. Turning on his heel, Ratchet moved himself into the doorway and aimed his rifle into the house, startling the people inside.
"Jiminy crickets!" cried a familiar voice.
"Ratchet, hold your fire! It's us!" said another.
The speakers were Tortimer and Sonic, who were inside the living room. Tom Nook, the Nooklings, and Tails came out of the other three first-floor rooms to see what the noise was about.
The commando lowered his weapon with a sigh of relief. "That was close. I thought there were robots in the house." He turned and called to the others, "It's okay, guys! It's just everyone else!"
Spike, Jimmy, Clank, and Copper went into the house. The appearance of the latter didn't go unnoticed by Tortimer.
"Copper! Yer back!" he exclaimed, slamming him in the back.
"It's all thanks to Ratchet and Clank," the police hound said. "Everybody else went to Paradisa."
Before the mayor could ask for an account of the jailbreak, Spike asked, "Where are SpongeBob and Patrick? Are they OK?"
Sonic shrugged. "We just got here, but we haven't seen or heard them."
"We haven't checked the second floor or the attic yet," Tails said.
Spike and Jimmy ran up the stairs to check it out; seconds later they were calling for the others. When they came up, they saw SpongeBob and Patrick tied up and gagged on the floor. They also appeared to be a few shades lighter than normal. Upon seeing their friends, the pair struggled and tried to talk through the washcloths in their mouths.
"What happened to them?" Jimmy said.
"The ACSP came here looking for Resetti," responded Tails. "I think their Chief tied them up."
The fox held up a note he had found tucked in between the cords. He unfolded it and read it.
"This is a word of warning to you foreign meddlers: cease aiding the Animal Alliance immediately, or suffer the consequences. My troops and I will not be so merciful the next time. –Chief of the Animal Crossing Secret Police."
Sonic rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Does he really think we'll give up just like that?"
"I dunno, Sonic," his sidekick muttered, glancing at the two trembling sea creatures. "He could've done a lot more harm to those guys."
But the blue hedgehog only smirked. "I'll tell you what it is, Tails: he doesn't know who he's dealing with. We'll show him what we're made of next time."
Spike and Ratchet managed to untie SpongeBob and Patrick and removed the gags. The moment they were free, they leaped up and dove into Sonic's arms…again. Sonic was forced to the ground by their weight…again.
"Get off! I can't breathe!" the blue hedgehog groaned. Several of the gang slapped their foreheads.
Spike and Copper grabbed SpongeBob and yanked him off, but Patrick refused to be pried off. Ratchet had to hit him with his wrench.
Tortimer asked the sea creatures, "You fellers OK?"
SpongeBob tried to answer, but when he did, his voice was too hoarse for anyone to understand. Clank suggested, "I believe they are suffering from a lack of water."
Spike and Jimmy helped the pair get into their tubs. Within minutes, SpongeBob and Patrick were much better, and the latter was able to tell them all about the arrival of the robots and how they took Resetti.
"At least they didn't take ya with 'em," Tortimer said, once the account was finished. "Now, Ratchet, would ya mind tellin' us how the two of ya rescued Copper?"
Clank interrupted, "I am afraid that a detailed account is not the best proposal at the moment. The Secret Police Chief contacted his forces at their secret base in the police station and spoke of an 'Operation Apocalypse'. We believe it is a plan to bomb this village."
Tom Nook's eyes widened. "They what?! That isn't good! We need to find shelter, and quickly!"
Suddenly they heard the door open and slam downstairs, and they raced down to see who it was. They found K.K. Slider braced against the door as though he was trying to hold back a raging bull. There was fear and terror in his eyes.
"K.K.! What's wrong?" questioned Tom. But many knew what it was before he even answered them.
"We've got a major problem, dudes!" whimpered the white dog. "I saw a squadron of bombers, comin' in fast!"
Everyone (minus the Nooklings and the sea creatures) scrambled out of the house to see what was happening. The sky was filled with pitch-black thunderclouds, and a terrible storm was brewing. Flashes of lighting danced among the clouds, and thunder echoed across the village. But the terror of the storm was nothing compared to the sight of the bombers that were swooping down towards AnimaCity.
"…And so it begins," Tortimer muttered.
"The plan was named perfectly," said the shopkeeper. "This does look like the end of the world!"
"This is the end…of the Animal Alliance," K.K. added.
"Uhh…guys?"
Everyone looked at Spike, who had talked.
"It'll be the end of us if we don't find cover!" he exclaimed.
"You're right!" Ratchet said. "What are we thinking, standing out here where we can get killed?! Inside the house!"
"No!" Clank stated. "This residence is not a secure position to take refuge during a bombing! We should proceed to the Museum!"
"Why not the Secret Police base? That's deep!" Copper cut in.
BOOM!!
The crashing of thunder overhead silenced the argument. They agreed to head into the house to get the Nooklings, SpongeBob, and Patrick, and to stock up on provisions. But while they were doing this, the bombers dropped their payload.
BOOM!! BANG!! KABOOM!! CRASH!!
The Nooklings whimpered and latched onto their father's legs. Spike glanced at the ceiling with worry, and Jimmy bit his lip. Tortimer and K.K. packed faster, and Sonic stared out the window, watching the planes' movements.
And then it happened.
Ratchet said, "Man, it's like the sky is falling."
The "it" was that Patrick took that last comment too seriously.
"The…sky…is falling?!" he exclaimed, eyes widening.
Ratchet saw the crazy look on the starfish's face and gulped. He would regret this moment for the rest of his life. Uh oh. He's gonna crack, he thought.
"Patrick," Clank attempted to assure him, "Ratchet was only joking."
Too late. Patrick went nuts.
"The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Run for your liiiiiivves!!"
Spike slapped one hand over his face. "He's lost it."
Then Patrick did something that even SpongeBob didn't expect: he ran right through the door, leaving a Patrick-shaped hole in it!
"The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!! Aaaaaaggghhh!!"
SpongeBob ran through the hole in the door and shouted, "Patrick, wait! Come back! It's too dangerous out there!"
Just then, a nearby explosion blew away the back of the house, and everyone else ran out before it collapsed.
"Maybe Patrick was the smart one this time," said Sonic, staring at the ruins of their house. "We could've gotten killed!"
"That settles it!" Nook declared. "We're going to the Museum! Let's get Patrick and run for it!"
There was no argument about that. With Sonic in the lead, the gang ran away from Acre B-3. They managed to catch up to Patrick, who was still screaming hysterically.
"The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!"
"Shut up, Patrick!" Ratchet yelled. "The sky is not falling!!"
The pink starfish looked back and called, "What's a sky?!"
"Aaaaaaarrrggghhh!"
Patrick was looking back when he asked the question, so he wasn't watching where he was going. He tripped over a rock, but Sonic grabbed him by the hand as he passed. For a while Patrick could only scream as he was lifted off the ground, since the hedgehog was running so fast. But he didn't leave any of the others behind, and slowed down.
Their journey seemed to take hours. The bombs kept falling from the sky, driving Patrick crazy with his "the sky is falling" issue. It was hard for the gang to anticipate where the bombshells would land, and they just had to guess. They often had to halt because there was a fallen tree in their way or they had to go around a giant crater made by a bomb. At one point, Sonic halted the group just as a bomb crashed a dozen yards from them, raining dirt and grass upon them.
"Whew! That was a close shave!" Tortimer said. "Thanks, Sonic."
"We were just lucky," he replied, watching the sky for more bombs.
"I don't get it."
All turned to Patrick. Jimmy asked, "Get what?" Then he slapped himself for asking.
"How can you shave a bomb when it doesn't have a face?"
Ratchet glared and snapped, "Shut it, Patrick."
"Hey, guys, look!" cried Tails, pointing. "We're almost there!"
He was right; the Museum, still standing in the midst of all the chaos, was just across the river. But they had to detour, since a bomb had hit the bridge. After jumping over craters and dodging explosions, they made it across. Blathers was at the entrance, waving them in frantically. "Hurry, inside!" he urged them.
They made it just as a bomb hit several yards away. Blathers shut the door quickly and they all went into the basement. "I kept some provisions here, so we can sit this out with ease!" he told them. "That is, if the bombs don't reach this place."
"Don't worry," interrupted K.K. Slider. "I shut that heavy door to the basement. It'll take quite a bit of bombing to break that!"
While the bombing leveled the town and the storm let out all its fury, the eight heroes and the Allies huddled together in their bunker and snacked on the food Blathers had prepared. Then they snuggled into their sleeping bags and (somehow) slept through the rest of the disaster.
