Hi hi, everyone,
Thanks to .x. Charlotte .x. for being the ONLY ONE that reviewed this time. We like having Fenna kill the parrot. And NO! Ratchet and Clank will NOT be having romantic feelings for each other!
Well, I've run out of things to say, so,
Bye byes,
Timid Vulpine.
Aphelion's engines were the only sound that broke the otherwise complete silence inside her cockpit. Ratchet had a few silent tears still lodged in his fur, and the sentient vessel didn't want to send him back into a full blown crying fit.
Ratchet felt like an emotional mess. He was the only Lombax left in this dimension, he was still a virgin, not that he'd admit it, though it bugged him at points and now, these insect things, the Zoni, had stolen Clank. He was lonely, and depressed, and almost wanted to curl up and die.
Suddenly, Aphelion made an announcement. "Incoming message from Talwyn."
Ratchet regained his composure and opened the link. "Hey, Talwyn. What's up?"
"Are you all right, Ratchet?"Asked a very worried-looking Tessa. "You look upset."
"Oh, I didn't know this was a multi-link comn..." Ratchet wasn't too happy about that. He sighed and stretched. "Yeah, I'm fine."
The girls, though dubious, seemed to relax at this. Talwyn turned to the twins. "So, why did you ask for my help? You've done loads of dangerous things. What makes this so..."
"Different?" Tessa suggested.
"Exactly."
"It's simple," Kai waved a hand vaguely. "One, we knew where you were for the first time in months. And two, we haven't done anything this dangerous as this since the last time we got together."
"You mean you haven't done anything more dangerous than get chased, first by a tribe of cannibals, then by a giant lizard, like we did three years ago." Talwyn shook her head. "I don't believe it."
"Does that happen often?" Ratchet asked.
"That's not all," Kai stressed. "The genius," she pointed at her twin, "managed to get stuck in quicksand! Then she screamed and triggered a rock slide!"
"Hey!" Tessa crossed her arms over her chest. "With that rock slide, I stopped us getting eaten!"
"Yeah, and almost got us crushed!"
"I can't believe your taking her side, Tal!"
"Oh, grow up, Tess! I don't really mean it. I'm just joking."
"Excuse me," Ratchet butted in, "but I feel a bit left out here..."
"Sorry Ratchet," Talwyn said.
"Don't be, you haven't seen your friends in years. Just," he leant forward slightly, "can we leave it until we've got Clank back, AND helped your friends?"
A small grin found it's way onto the brunettes lips. "All right then, Ratchet." That means he's gonna stick around for a bit.
Kai cleared her throat. "Actually, we've been talking."
Ratchet rolled his eyes and sighed. "Of course you have."
"Yes we have. And it turns out your friend is being held in the very facility that we've been sent to take down. Which means," Kai grinned, "we're gonna kill two bugs with one stone."
"I just hope you like fireworks," commented a suddenly giggling Tessa.
Clank's eyes were closed. Why had he suddenly woken up and started talking about bees and bonnets? That was illogical.
The last thing he remembered before that was the Zoni zapping him, which led to a full system reboot. Those random words must have been to check his vocal systems were working. But why shock me in the first place?
When he opened his eyes, he was stood a what passed for a typical, if somewhat small, room on Veldin. Tools were scattered in little heaps on the floor, Captain Quark posters hung from the walls, and there were comic books and music files were in disarrayed heaps. In the corner was a small bed, with a radio on the table next to it. Plugged into the radio by a pair of headphones... was Ratchet.
At least, it seemed to be Ratchet. Yes, he was a few years younger than when Clank first met him, but he had the same colouring, and the same emerald eyes. He was bobbing his head to the beat of a song as he chewed the end of his pencil, obviously stuck on a question.
The young Lombax started mumbling something. "If y equals x squared minus half x, what does y equal when x is six..." Maths, obviously. "Six squared..."
"Thirty six," Clank said, automatically.
"...Thirty six!" Ratchet scribbled down the working, mumbling. "And half six is three... thirty three!"
A sudden banging on the door startled Clank, but Ratchet wasn't bothered. He was plugged into his music. The door opened and a tall, female Blarg burst in.
"Ratchet? Come on,"she walked over to the bed, "it's time to get ready for bed. Ratchet?" The woman was getting angry now. "Ratchet! Why aren't you listening to me?!"
She yanked the plug out of the radio. The room was filled with music. "...we're the baddest of the bad, the coolest of the cool-" She turned it off.
"Hey!" Ratchet turned on the woman, angry. "What did you do that for?!"
"You'll wreck your ears if you listen to your music that loud," The woman turned back towards the door. Her voice was shaky. "Now get ready for bed. You can listen to your music, quietly, for five minuets after that."
"Geez, stop acting like you're my mother."
"Believe it or not, Ratchet, I am your mother."
"You will never be my mother!" The young Lombax was stood there, obviously angry.
The woman stopped by the door. Slowly, with shaking hands, she closed and bolted it. Out of her pocket, she drew a taser. Ratchet's face filled with fear as the woman approached him again.
Clank closed his eyes before the screaming started. Why do I have to watch this?
Suddenly, the screams turned into laughter. When Clank opened his eyes again, Ratchet was playing catch with a girl around his age. Brown eyes, brown hair, pale skin, thick-rimmed glasses, nothing special. But he seemed to be having a good time with her.
The girl suddenly threw the ball at Ratchet's head. Hard. "Vanessa!" She started giggling. He looked at her with a stubborn expression. "You can go and get that!"
"'Kay 'kay, Ratty," the little girl, obviously Vanessa, had a flute-like voice. She skipped over and got the ball. "I'm sorry, Ratty. I know Zara hurts you..."
"Where the Hell did that crazy lady get a taser!" He threw the ball at a nearby wall. "She keeps telling me that she's my mother!"
"Nonsense! For a start," she caught the ball before it bounced away, "she's not even the same species as you!"
"I know..." Ratchet wrapped his arms around Vanessa's waist. "You're my best friend, you know that Nessy?" The girl stood on tiptoes and kissed the Lombax on his lips. Clank could feel the tenderness of the moment. Then he did something almost unwise.
He blinked.
When Clank's eyes opened again, he was back inside the Zoni fortress, in the glass capsule. The Zoni were floating around, looking at him, saying nothing.
Velvet insanity in the form of words came from behind him. "He don't look so ultra-mega-super special. Why do we need 'im?"
"Because, dearest Zee," said the collective voice of the Zoni, "we need a transference key, so the transformation can be completed. We also need the three Death Skulls, so we may break our bonds, and return to power." They floated around to the tall, blue-haired woman, dressed entirely (if scantily) in blue. She hummed in contentment as the Zoni brushed past her skin.
"Wonderful..." she purred. Then her eyes opened.
What Clank saw made him doubt that his optical sensors were working properly. Her eyes were a lucid blue. Bottomless blue. Not just the irises, but the pupils too.
The Zoni left. The woman spoke. "Hello there, little itty-bitty key. My name is Zee, if you hadn't already guessed."
"An unusual name." Clank stated.
Zee's face slowly took on the most terrifyingly crazed expression Clank had ever seen. "I has a question for yooou," she said in a sing-song voice, spinning gently. "I did heard that some bots can feel pay-ain," she focused on Clank again. Then she whispered in a dangerous, low, serious tone...
"Can you feel pain?"
Before he could answer, the mortifying lady held out a hand, fingers strait and spread out, palm pointing at the little robot. Blue lightening launched from a small tattoo, which resembled a Zoni's head, on her the base of wrist, strait through the glass, and hit Clank.
It was excruciating pain for the small bot. It felt as if all his circuits were over-loading, but his central fuse was refusing to blow. He let out one long, wordless howl of pain, before his whole system crashed.
The last thing he heard before the inevitable reboot was Zee saying, with only mild interest, "I guess you can feel pain... cool."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hi hi,
No sleep in the past twenty-four hours or so. Not tired, but being forced to go to bed as soon as this is uploaded.
Bye byes,
Timid Vulpine.