Chapter II:
Back at their apartment, Clank was sitting on a table while Ratchet was repairing his injuries. Ratchet had already removed the dent in Clank's head, straightened out his antenna, repaired his arm, and was currently working on his eye. There was a spark and Clank jumped. "Ow!" He interjected. "Careful!"
"Well, if you would quit squirming, this wouldn't hurt as much." Said Ratchet. He put a new cover over Clank's socket and stepped back. "There." he said. "How's that new eye work'n for ya, pal?"
Clank blinked at Ratchet a few times, then said "Not to well. Everything is in black and white."
"Oops." Said Ratchet. "Sorry. Let me try again." He removed the cover over Clank's eye, disconnect two wires, and reconnected them in the opposite sockets before replacing the cover back on Clank's eye. "Now try."
Clank's eyes widened, a look of surprise on his face. "Ratchet?" He said, looking over Ratchet's shoulder. "You have a twin brother?"
Ratchet looked over where Clank was indicating, and saw nothing there. He sighed, and said. "Hang on. One more time."
As Ratchet continued with Clank's eye, there was a beeping sound, and the hologram of a Markazian female appeared on Ratchet's holoscreen. Talwyn Apogee looked terrified as she stared at Ratchet still working on Clank. "Hey, Tal." Said Ratchet, without looking up. "What's up?"
"Ratchet!" Said Talwyn in an panicked voice. "I heard you and Clank were attacked!" Ratchet chuckled. "Wow. Word travels fast." He said. "Well, are you alright?" Talwyn urged. "We're fine, Tal." Said Ratchet moving away from Clank, who's eye was finally back to normal. "Just a teenager with an attitude. Although, she DID do a number on Clank here."
"Do you have any idea who it was?" Said Talwyn. Ratchet squinted, trying to remember what had happened earlier that day. "She had said her name was Soara. And she kept rambling on about "Ridding the Galaxy of the last Lombax"
Talwyn clapped her hand over her mouth. "Ratchet!" She said. "I- I want you and Clank over hear as soon as you can, so we can find out who this Soara is."
"Uh, that's gonna be a problem, Tal." Said Ratchet, scratching the back of his head. "Our ship is kinda busted up right now."
Talwyn sighed. "Please, Ratchet." She begged. "I can't lose you. Promise me you'll find a way to get over here as soon as possible."
Ratchet smiled "Okay, Tal. Don't worry." He told her in a reassuring voice. "Clank and I will stop by the defense center to pick up a ship, and we'll at the space-station as soon as we can."
Talwyn smiled at him. "Thanks, Ratchet. I'll see you two soon." Talwyn's hologram vanished from the screen. "Well." Ratchet said to Clank. "We'd better get going. Don't want to keep her waiting."
An hour later, the two heroes had set course for the Apogee Space-Station in the Solana battle-ship that they had borrowed from the Galactic guards. "What is our ETA, Clank?" Ratchet asked as he piloted the ship. "If we maintain out current speed," Clank answered. "Then we should arrive at the Apogee Space-Station in approximately six hours, fifty-two minutes, five seconds, and twenty-nine milli-"
"Alright already." Ratchet interrupted. "I got the gist. So, maintain current speed." A cheesy grinned crossed his face as he spoke. "And I should be able to see Talwyn by tonight." Clank smirked at Ratchet's remark. "What?!" Said Ratchet defensively. "It's been a while. And you know long-distant relationships never work out."
"True." Clank agreed. "So that means the two of you have made it official?"
Ratchet's ears stood upright at the question, and his eyes widened. "Well, I- we- uh." He stuttered. Clank stared at Ratchet, with a "Well? Go on." Expression on his face. "Yes." Ratchet muttered quietly, blushing under his fur. Clank grinned. "Now, was that so hard to say?" He teased.
"Watch it, Clank." Ratchet warned, pointing a finger at Clank. "I could have your wires crossed so you think you're a child's play-bot."
"Perhaps." Said Clank. "But then, how would you fare defending the Galaxy with a 'Child's play-bot' strapped to your back?"
"Uh." Said Ratchet, a loss at what to say next.
But their argument was interrupted when the ship's computer spoke. "Warning! Warning! Incoming enemy fighter!" It said. Ratchet looked at the monitor to see a single vessel approaching their ship. The fighter immediately started firing at their ship. Ratchet shot the ship to the side to dodge the fire, sending Clank, who was not strapped in his seat, flying into the windshield. "Hang on to something!" Ratchet shouted, as the enemy fighter fired again. Ratchet did a barrel-roll this time to avoid the fire, causing Clank to run into each side of the ship with a loud grunt each time he made contact with the ship. When the ship was upright again, Ratchet grabbed Clank, and strapped him in his seat with one hand. "Hold on." He said. "This is gonna get rough!" He did a loop around the ship so he was now behind it and fired back. The ship dove sideways and quickly shot back up. Then turned to face Ratchet and Clank, so there ships were nose-to-nose. Ratchet saw that familiar face inside the other ship, her violet eyes filled with rage. "It's Soara!" Ratchet shouted. "She does not give up easy!"
"Ratchet, look out!" Said Clank. Soara had fired a rocket at their ship. "Whoa!" Ratchet quickly dove downward, away from the rocket, but it followed them. "It's a heat-seeker!" Said Ratchet. "Hang on!" He shot back up, but the rocket followed, gaining speed. "I can't shake it!" Said Ratchet. "It's gonna hit!"
"Ratchet!" said Clank. "Head towards Soara's ship." Ratchet understood Clank's plan, and obeyed. He continued fly up towards Soara, and then, at the last second, did a U-turn away from her ship, causing the rocket to collide with the back of it. As the rocket exploded, Soara's ship began to free-fall down to the planet below.
"Good call, pal!" Said Ratchet, catching his breath. But celebration came to soon. Soara's ship shot another rocket at Ratchet and Clank's ship, which flew at top speed towards them. "LOOK OUT!" But too late. The rocket made contact, causing a deafening explosion. The cockpit sparked and flashed on impact. Ratchet slumped over in his chair, and moved no more. Then, as the sirens inside the ship began to blare, their ship too began to plummet down towards the planet below. "Ratchet! RATCHET!" Clank shouted. He threw his belt off and jumped on Ratchet, attempting regain his consciousness. "PLEASE, RATCHET! WAKE UP!" Clank pleaded. But Ratchet was still slumped in his seat. As they entered the atmosphere of the planet, the ship gained speed, plummeting faster and faster towards the ground. "Oh dear!" Said Clank as he looked out the window. The ground was only a few feet below. Clank quickly grabbed the controls, and pulled as hard as he could. The ship pulled up, but collided with the ground. The ship bounced a few times as Clank continued to pulled on the controls. Then the ship made contact with a tree, causing the ship to spin out of control. Clank was sent flying through the air and landed on Ratchet. Finally, as the ship was dragging through the ground, it began to slow down and came to a stop.
Don't forget to leave a comment