Hi hi, all,

I'm gonna do reviews at the end. It's easier that way.

Bye byes,

Timid Vulpine

Ratchet leapt from the cockpit almost before the landing cycle had finished. He dashed over to the where the girls already were. Cronk and Zephyr were looking around, ready for attack.

"So, what're we waitin' for?" Kai was asking. She was now wearing black braces down the side of her face, connected by dark green glass. "If we hang around out here, we'll just get caught!"

"And you don't want to get caught," Tessa interjected. Her glasses now had lenses with the same dark green glass. "They have this phyco-girl in there with no boundaries to her imagination!"

The Lombax was about to talk when he spotted the building they were about to infiltrate. It looked like a great, sprawling monster, with it's great height and width. The main entrance looked like a giant, gaping maw, with giant, jagged bits of metal sticking out of the building around it. Ratchet silently thanked his lucky stars that they were going in through a side door. Or so he thought.

"Ratchet?" He turned at Talwyn spoke. "Are you sure about this? I'm sure they'd let him go if we asked nicely."

"Yeah right," Kai sneered, approaching them. "And I'm a bloke. Listen, Tow," She placed her hands on Talwyn's shoulders and looking her strait in the eye, " these THINGS, they're NOT friendly. You fall into their plans, or they zap you into submission. They don't like those who choose a different path, like me and Tes, and they especially don't like Lombaxes."

"That can't be true!" Ratchet said. "They helped me and Clank defeat the Cragmites!"

"The Cragmites were power-hungry back-stabbers, like the Zoni. They must've been betrayed by the Cragmites before, so they killed two birds with one stone, probably."

"Two birds?"

Kai shrugged. "Get rid of the Cragmites and win Clank's trust."

"But if they have Nefarious, like Tow said," Tessa's gaze didn't meet anyone's eyes, "Clank'll be disposable. That means that if he stands in the way of someone the Zoni think is more 'vital'..."

"He'll be turned into scrap metal," Kai finished, bluntly.

Ratchet looked at the building in horror. "We have to get him out of there!"

Clank's systems finished rebooting. It was the third time that day, and this time, he was determined not to open his eyes. He'd seen the same thing again after both system failure. Ratchet gets electrocuted by his step-mother. Ratchet plays catch with the girl. The girl kisses Ratchet. It was getting a little annoying.

Suddenly, he heard a small laugh. The little robot's eyes shot open.

It was a little Lombax girl. She couldn't have been more than ten. She was sat cross-legged on a cobblestone street, fiddling with what looked like a pogo stick and some rockets. Clank wanted to step forward and take the tools from the girl's hands, but he knew he was merely an observer here.

The Lombax looked at her creation, a twinkle in her eyes that reminded the robot of the many exciting (but dangerous) adventures he had had with Ratchet over the years. She stood, and was about to try out the dangerous-looking contraption...

...When a soft voice behind her said, "Excuse me, miss."

The child jumped, turning to see a small golden china doll-like robot, with hair (A.N: I know robots don't have hair, but that's the only way I can think of describing it) slightly below the shoulders and glowing amber eyes. It – no, she - came up to the girl's chin.

The small robot continued, "I believe those rockets are insecurely fastened. If you were to use it now, the rockets would merely fly off in different directions, possibly injuring someone."

The girl looked at the robot, then at the modified pogo stick. "Huh," she said. "You're right. Thanks!" She beamed at the robot, who seemed confused, then went to work securing the propulsion.

Seemingly satisfied that the Lombax wouldn't hurt anyone, the robot turned to leave. Then she stopped, looking over her shoulder. Then she pulled out a piece of paper. For a good few minutes, she looked between the paper and the girl. Then, sighing, she dropped the paper down the drain and went back to the girl. "Would you like some assistance?"

The girl grinned. "Oh yes please! The whole 'two heads are better and one' thing."

The two set two work on the dangerous-looking contraption, and Clank blinked in wonder.

When his eyes opened again, he was in the glass dome, alone. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the two figures in his mind. Did the girl go with the other Lombaxes? And what about the little robot?

Suddenly, the PA (Public Announcement) System blared a message from someone who sounded much kinder and saner than Zee.

"Testing, testing. One two three four five. Good, it's working. This is Tessa Sword smith! Just thought I'd educate your musical tastes with 'Numa Numa'! This is a pre-recorded message that we've set up just outside your main entrance, so no point in trying to find us!" The song started, soon followed by the Zoni's loud protests.

Ratchet shook his head. He'd just overheard the PA message and just playing them a song, even one like 'Numa Numa', didn't sound like a very good idea. They wanted the door open, not dancing Zoni.

That was one thing he wasn't too sure of: walking through the front door. Not only was it stupid from a military perspective, the mere thought of walking under and around those giant teeth struck fear into his very soul.

Tessa was blushing slightly. "Do I really sound like that?"

Talwyn shook her head and rolled her eyes. "How'll this get the door open, Kai?"

"Just watch," Kai said. She looked like an Olympic runner, just waiting for the gun.

The plan was simple. Once they were in, they'd get into the ventilation system. Then, Talwyn and Kai would go one way and create a distraction, while Ratchet and Tessa would go in the other direction, find Clank, then split up. Ratchet would meet up with Talwyn and Kai, while Tessa planted demolition charged in the lower levels. Finally, they blow the font door off, get back to the ships, then detonate the charges.

Then it happened. The door opened, and music poured out, followed by a pale girl with blue hair dashed out, so fast Ratchet didn't get a look at her face. Kai growled under her breath, "Zee... little murdering bitch..."

Zee was shrieking. "Where that DISGUSTING noise COMING FROM?!" Obviously, she wasn't a music lover.

Then, the twins launched themselves forward, speeding through, followed by Ratchet and Talwyn.

They flattened themselves against a wall, directly underneath an air vent. Talwyn and Ratchet hoisted Kai up so she could undo the catches, while Tessa kept watch.

"Got it!" Kai slipped the vent cover inside, then sipped inside herself. She then pulled Talwyn up, while Ratchet got Tessa.

When the four of them were inside with the grate back in place, Kai grinned at them all. "All right, ladies and gent. That," she pointed back the way they came, " was the easy bit."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi hi!

I'm now going to be QUOTING my reviews, but with slight grammar and spell checking.

Shakespeare's entourage

I probably feel very negative because of me being tired but you have bad grammar. You used a "pail" of water when you meant "pale" skin.
Still interesting story, and would be more interesting if i wasn't an R&C noob.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. But maybe you should work on doing simple things like, oh, I don't know, CAPITAL LETTERS AT THE BEGINING OF SENTENCES?! And if you didn't waist your time on the Xbox and bought a PS2, maybe you wouldn't be a noob. But thanks for the compliment.

Kio

Good story, bit short, butt good

Not all good things have to be long, but this one isn't finished. Oh, and you used the wrong but. You said "butt", as in rear end. Sorry, I'm in the mood to complain about grammar.

All right, that's it. I hope you liked it, and don't be afraid to review.

Bye byes,

Timid Vulpine.