Chapter 2

Talwyn Apogee wakes to the sound of the phone ringing loudly. She tries to ignore it, but it rings incessantly, unremitting. She holds her pillow over her head in an attempt to drown out the noise, but to no avail. Finally, sighing in exasperation, she gets up and answers the phone, if only to stop the annoying ring. "Ratchet and Clank's repair service, we fix ships, gadgets, and everything in between."

"Miss Apogee," the caller says in greeting. Talwyn looks to see Mecha Sonic on the screen. She gives a short nod to acknowledge him. "Is Ratchet there? I must speak with him immediately."

Talwyn glances toward the stairs. "I don't think he's up yet, but I'll see." She leaves the garage and heads upstairs towards Ratchet's bedroom. She knocks on the door. "Ratchet? You've got a call. I-" She stops as she opens the door. The bed has been made perfectly, and there is no sign of the Lombax Talwyn is searching for. She looks up at the wall next to the bed to see two pegs, the wrench they hold being gone.

She runs back downstairs and looks outside. "Just as I thought," she says to herself. Ratchet's hoverboots are gone.

"Well," a voice from behind the Markazian says. She jumps in surprise and turns to see Mecha Sonic standing in the garage next to Aphelion. "Where is he?" Talwyn sighs quietly, thinking, 'He must have teleported here.'

Then another thought occurs to her: he won't be happy when she tells him that Ratchet has gone. "He's not here," she says quickly. Mecha stares at her for a moment.

Then, "What?" Talwyn bites her lip anxiously. Mecha is far from pleased.

"Ratchet…is not here," Talwyn says again. "He must have left the house sometime during the night."

"Lombaxes," Mecha says, rolling his eyes. "Might as well try to find him, but first, I'll call for some assistance."

Ratchet inhales the fresh forest air as he wanders about. He has yet to come to a decision about Mecha's proposition. He can't figure it out! There are pros and cons to each decision. If he says yes, he will become more powerful, as Sonic had. But there is also the possibility that he will change drastically. If he says no, though, there is the risk that he will be unable to protect his own dimension from whatever it is that's coming. He will be the same, yes, but he can also be as helpless as a child when the threat arrives.

Meanwhile, with Clank…

Clank sits quietly, reading a book based on the theories of space and time collaboration. A knock comes at his door. "Enter," Clank calls, closing the book and placing it up on its shelf. The door slides open, revealing Mecha Sonic standing in the doorway. Clank is about to say something, but he notices something different: Mecha's visor is glowing blood red.

"You're…companion…chickened out, Clank" Mecha says, almost threateningly. "I am unable to contact him directly."

"Quite the contrary," Clank replies. "I do not believe he has 'chickened out,' as you say. He just needs time to think. Decisions such as these take time."

"Lombaxes," Mecha says. "Very well, I have been given no choice. I must hunt him down, and ask him myself."

"I would be careful if I were you," Clank advises. "Frightened Lombaxes are quite hard to deal with."

"I bet they are," is the cynical reply.

(*-*)

Ratchet sighs as he stares down at the ground far below. His vision is slightly blurry, but he isn't very surprised. Hanging upside down from a tree branch over a hundred feet in the air for more than half an hour will do that to a person. "Hey, mister!" a voice calls. Ratchet glances towards the source: a young Regal-Kerchu girl, probably no older than six. "What are you doing way up there?"

"Thinking," Ratchet replies. Regal-Kerchu, especially the children, are such curious creatures.

"Oh," she says, looking down at her feet. She looks back up and asks, "'Bout what?"

"Grown-up stuff."

"Oh. Okay." The child turns around and walks away, disappearing into the trees.

Ratchet sighs again, frustrated with himself. Usually when he needs to make a decision quickly, he can do it in a split second and deal with the consequences later. But for some reason, this is different. Why is it so hard for him? It's a simple question. All he needs to give is a simple answer: yes or no. The Lombax sighs for a third time. Why must this be so hard?

"This…is also not working for me," Ratchet says aloud. "Let's try something else, shall we?" Closing his eyes to avoid vertigo, Ratchet tries to pull himself up and climb down, but before he gets half way, the branch snaps. His eyes widen in the instant before he plummets down to the forest floor below. Right before he hits the ground, though, he activates his hoverboots, and maneuvers into a position in which he lands on his feet instead of his head. He deactivates his hoverboots and sidesteps to avoid the falling branch.

Why has the branch broken now? It held the Lombax's weight for nearly an hour, so why did it just now snap. Curiously, Ratchet examines the severed tree limb. The place where it is broken is smooth. This was no accident. Someone deliberately cut the branch, but why? When he looks up, nothing is there, and he is alone.

"How strange…" he mutters to himself. Suddenly, a small projectile whizzes past his ear and imbeds itself into a nearby tree. A second later, the tree cracks, and splinters are sent flying in every direction. Ratchet turns around to see who had shot the bullet. The only thing in his line of vision is a glowing red light. Ratchet takes a step back, slightly intimidated by the unknown.

"Ratchet," a voice calls out, seemingly coming from every direction. "Come with me." Ratchet looks around, unsure of what he should do. "Don't you recognize me?" Ratchet cocked his head, confused. Then a figure steps into full view.

Ratchet's eyes widened. "Mecha."

"Ratchet…I gave you enough time," Mecha stated. "Why are you out here?"

Ratchet stuttered, attempting to explain. "I…um…"

"Do you have an answer for me? Be honest."

"I…uh…I… um…I don't," Ratchet muttered, biting his lip.

"I was afraid of this," Mecha sighed. "I'm going to have to take you into custody until I can get an answer from you."

"Wha- no way!" Ratchet exclaims.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, crud…"

"Did I just hear you refuse?" Mecha demands. "Ratchet, I will ask you again. Come peacefully. Otherwise, I will be forced to impose drastic measures."

Ratchet's ears perk awkwardly. "Drastic…measures…?"

"Do you really wish to know?" Mecha asks. Feeling threatened, Ratchet moves into a fighting stance, pulling out his wrench. Mecha shakes his head. "Very well." He steps back, shrouding himself once more in dark shadows. Suddenly, the ground begins to shake.

Ratchet is surprised when he is unexpectedly thrown into a clearing by a giant drill. Ratchet shakes his head, and, when he looks up, his ears fall in both surprise and slight fear. His reason: the Egg Dragoon hovers over him like a feral predator ready to devour its prey.

"I've had enough of your games, Ratchet," Mecha calls. "Give me an answer now!" Ratchet takes a step back before activating his hoverboots and fleeing the scene. "Freeze!" Mecha calls. A wave of ice is shot towards Ratchet, but the Lombax dodges it with ease. In response to this, Mecha yells out, "Burn!" A volley of lasers is sent in Ratchet's direction, but again he dodges.

"Time for a change of pace," Mecha says more to himself than anyone else. Ratchet glances back at his pursuer, and, before he even realizes, he crashes headlong into a cliff face. He falls backwards, black spots invading his vision. As soon as he recovered, he looked back to see Mecha staring straight at him. "What is your answer, Ratchet?"

Took me seriously forever to get Wyvern to actually help me on this. He wanted to work on "Mobian Conspiracy." But I had to get this done cause, well, some people actually read this! Yay! Thank you all for reviewing, and to those who didn't, thank you for taking time out of your day to read my stories.

I have a poll set up to help me with decisions, cause, so far, only two people have given opinions, and they're opposite.

Peace, laters, SKRILLEX, and MUFFINS!