A rare and deadly chemical was incorporated in the midst of a returning evil…
Zenaritanium
What mysterious wonders lie deep inside this precious chemical sediment? They say it's toxic, or was it deadly? Or was it lethal? One of the three. Supposedly it holds the power to do many things. Some of those things include controlling an army of 10,000 robots, destroying skyscrapers or hanging out washing, really it's whatever tickles your fancy. They say Zenaritanium was created on a foreign planet when a deposit of Rareitanium was dumped on it. The Rareitanium reacted to the chemicals existing in the planet's core, therefore creating a new source of power. Scientists named it Zenaritanium and planned to use it as fuel for industrial machines. However, upon testing it, the Zenaritanium granted never before seen powers to the machine; dangerous powers that destroyed 8 research buildings and testing facilities. The machine had to be shut off from the inside and from then on Zenaritanium was declared 'illegal' in all galaxies. The planet, unofficially named Planet X, was ordered to be destroyed by President Artemis Zogg a year before Qwark replaced him. Criminals were quick to steal pieces of Zenaritanium before Planet X was detonated. Pieces of this toxic substance are still rumoured to be sold on the black market, and sometimes eBay if the sellers are feeling lucky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RATCHET & CLANK~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3: A Rude Awakening
Dr Nefarious' eyes opened as the sudden jolt of light ran through him. He instantaneously sat up. Seeing this, Lawrence immediately spun the dial back down to Level 0 before appearing beside Nefarious.
Without hesitation Lawrence acquired, "Sir, how do you feel?"
Dr Nefarious faltered a bit before replying, "Lawrence, I had the worst dream!"
Lawrence wondered if he should proceed, seeing he felt he knew what his master was going to say. "Oh, what was it sir?"He asked anyway with a hint of fake concern in his voice.
Nefarious gave Lawrence zero eye contact as he stared into space as if recollecting his dream, "It was horrible! The asteroid landed on this Zanifar planet. The squishy creatures took me in and taught me about these Zoni things. I then brainwashed them to worship me and they led me to this huge clock that controlled the Universe's time! There, I realised that Clank was the key to rewinding time because..."Nefarious spoke each line as if it made sense.
"Oh, well I don't see what's so horrible about that?" Lawrence built up the conversation. He thought that this was the best way to tell Nefarious that his dream was actually reality.
Dr Nefarious clenched either side of the table he was still sitting on and then responded.
"Then Ratchet and...Qwark...came and ruined EVERYTHING!" The word "Qwark" was greatly emphasized, "They penetrated my impenetrable lair and destroyed my indestructible plans. I was this close to annihilating that menacing Ratchet! It all ended when I lost control of my body and...blanked out!"
Lawrence watched Nefarious cringe over the thought of defeat and decided it was his turn to talk.
"What an eventful dream, sir. Real sounding perhaps. Maybe next time you could try an impregnable lair, I hear they are much sturdier. By the way, I should probably state that your right arm may need a spot of fine tuning; if you wouldn't mind handing me that spanner, sir."
It was only when Dr Nefarious attempted to move his arm that he noticed his condition. Deep scores, cracks, dents, and even dust and dirt covered his body. Nefarious looked down at his arms, abdomen and legs and started to panic.
"Oh and now your jaw looks like it's going to unhinge itself, better fix that aswell..."
"Lawrence! What happened to me?" Nefarious' attention was now on Lawrence, he struggled to speak, "and where am I?"
Lawrence thought for a second about how he would proceed, but he didn't really think that hard.
"I think now would be the best of times to point out that your dream was more of a reality than a fantasy, sir."
Dr Nefarious' eyes widened.
"Judging by the state of your body I thought you would have been intelligent enough to conjure up a theory that your dream was rather more fact than fiction."
Dr Nefarious' lowered his brow.
"Seeing that you were knocked cold by Ratchet I took the liberty of teleporting you off the air craft before it plummeted into your lair."
Dr Nefarious clenched his fists.
"It was the biggest explosion I've seen since that toaster incident."
Dr Nefarious' gears started to grind.
"I tried my best to repair you to your original state sir, but nobody's perfect."
Dr Nefarious stood up.
Nefarious' body was shaking with rage. His rib pipes glowing pink, the mysterious substance that Lawrence fed through a wire into him earlier pumped through his circuitry. It was a rage fuelled by frustration, finely sprinkled with failure and topped off with the loathing of a certain Lombax.
Suddenly a great wail erupted in the room. Nefarious yelled. Nefarious shouted. He screamed with all his might. What's another word for loud noises? I dunno, but Nefarious made a noise similar to a Kerchu giving birth. Nefarious' voice probably never had a chance to break before he traded skin for metal. Either way his shrieks echoed the vicinity and possibly broke a couple of windows.
When Dr Nefarious' screams finally stopped he sat back down on the table and held his head in angst.
Lawrence uncovered his ear holes (as if he had any) and continued.
"As for your second question we are situated in an abandoned warehouse on a deserted moon just south of the Verdigris Sector! I theorised that this place would be a superb haven in case we had to suddenly disappear since nobody comes here anymore. You've been out cold for about 8 months and apart from the occasional gig, I've been mending you in my spare time."
Dr Nefarious only heard occasional parts of Lawrence's speech for he was now staring at his hands. His fingers glowed with a slight pink aura and his palm's felt different as if something had changed inside him. Lawrence observed Nefarious' fixation.
"You are now running on Zenaritanium."
Nefarious now looked at Lawrence as he spoke, "Supposedly the most powerful substance in the Universe. Really it was the only chemical I could find that suited your system requirements. "Technically legal" the black marketer told me. Never actually saw the chap's face, only his eyes."
Nefarious smiled at Lawrence. At first it was a cheerful smile, then it sort of looked menacing. I really don't know what the smile looked like considering robot's faces can sometimes portray less emotion than a Furby. That's what body language is for.
Anyway Nefarious' face confused Lawrence to the point where he had to ask, "You're not telling me you're already planning revenge are you sir? I was sort of looking forward to a bit of R and R."
Dr Nefarious leapt up onto his feet and began to pace the room, tripping every now and again from injuries to his legs.
"With this new power within me, nobody, not even Qwark, will expect what I have planned for the Universe. I've figured out what I do wrong. It's not about building cheap robot armies, it's about MAKING robot armies."
"I don't follow you sir."
"All in good time Lawrence, but for now, I know exactly whom and what I need to initialise my glorious new plan. First I'll need this place to look more 'lair-ish'."
"I would have at least appreciated a thank you for repairing you sir."
"There's no time for useless conversation. This time Lawrence, I won't fail."
"I think I just had Déjà Vu," Lawrence remarked to himself as they exited the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ V~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~