Okay, here's four. I guess it's a bit longer than the last one. Anyways enjoy!

Oh and please, reviews are needed if I am to continue this story.

Thanks,

Chapter 4, The Situation

As Sly, Bentley, and Murray contemplated their situation they heard a roar. That roar made the hair on the back of their necks stand on end.

Murray looked around, "Guys, that big cat is back!" A few hundred yards away stood the same, tiger-like, big cat that had attacked the Cooper gang earlier.

Sly groaned loudly, "Aw come on! Just one break today, is that too much to ask?!"

Murray got into his fighting stance, "Come on! The Murray isn't afraid of a big furball!"

The thing roared and charged.

Sly's prayer was answered. While the cat was in mid-stride, Rykk appeared. He came up through the ground underneath the cat and jammed both of his blades into it. The cat roared as Rykk got out from underneath it.

The thing lay on the ground and Rykk finished it off with his blades. "I hate Prowlers," Rykk muttered as he faced Sly. "Your friend will be okay, I also have some more Healer. It won't completely fix ya but it'll allow you to walk."

As he approached the hurt raccoon Rykk morphed. His sharpie-black skin turned into a slightly tanned, light pink/brown, mostly-hairless skin. He bore a similarity to Talwyn in that he had a patch of hair on the top of his head. His ears were still covered in black fur. The hair on his head was black but outlined in dark, dark purple. His eyes, still green, didn't glow but still had the vertical-slit pupils. His clothes also changed. He now wore a crimson shirt, black pants, a black vest with a gold S on its right side, and black cowboy boots. Rykk still had his tail coming from a hole on the pants' rear.

Okay, that's another question I have. Sly thought as Rykk kneeled down. Almost instantly a syringe filled with a blue/green liquid appeared in his hand. That's another one to add to the list. Sly grimaced as he felt the needle prick his skin. He felt the cool liquid flow into his veins and instantly he felt a tingling sensation. He had to force himself not to yell as he felt his knee go back into place and his cuts heal.

Within a few seconds the master thief was able to stand and walk.

Rykk then gave some more of the Healer to Talwyn and Bentley. He didn't say anything.

As Rykk healed the others, Ratchet picked up Clank and any pieces of the robot that he found.

Once everyone was on their feet again Rykk said/barked, "Follow me." His voice sounded much more plain and didn't have the supernatural note to it.

"Wait, where are we going? And where are we?" Talwyn asked.

"To the outpost I took your friend, it's not too far." Rykk said with the slightest hint of annoyance, "Welcome to Agrona. Now, who are you guys?"

Talwyn responded, "I don't know who they are." She motion towards the Cooper gang, "But I'm Talwyn and this is Ratchet…"

"And this is Clank," Ratchet said as he looked down at the broken robot in his arms. "Calamity did this to him."

Rykk stopped and looked at the broken robot. "It's what Calamity does, destroy. I have a friend who can help you at the outpost." He then turned his attention to the raccoon and his gang. "And you guys?"

"I'm Sly Cooper and these are my friends Bentley, and Murray. Carmelita is the one that Calamity hurt." Sly said and pointed to each member as he spoke.

Rykk nodded as they came to a small cliff. The cliff was about twenty feet high. "Ratchet, hold Clank up."

"Why?"

"Just do it," Rykk said gruffly as he leapt to the top of the cliff.

Ratchet held his broken friend up as high as he could.

Rykk lowered his arm and pointed it at Clank. A black and purple line of energy shot from his hand and enveloped Clank. Clank then began to levitate towards Rykk. Once at the top, Clank was gently laid on the ground.

"Everyone, get close together and hang onto one another!" Rykk shouted and waited for them.

They did as they were told but were nonetheless confused.

Again Rykk shot a black and purple line of energy but this time it hit the ground at their feet. The group of bewildered strangers found themselves, and the ground beneath them, rising.

Once at the top Rykk asked, "So how did you guys get here? Obviously you aren't local."

The two groups look at each other before Sly answered. "Well one of my team members discovered some kind of portal. While examining it, we were pulled into it."

Rykk then looked at Ratchet, "What about you?"

"Basically the same thing, do you know how we can go back to our worlds?"

Rykk shook his head, "Nope, not sayin there isn't a way, but this place is big and there's many types of portals."

Rykk's response made Ratchet even more disheartened. He looked down at Clank in his arms, "Rykk, why did that, that Calamity do this to us? We didn't do a thing to him, not even said a word."

"Simple answer, because he enjoyed it. It's what he does; it's what brings him pleasure." Rykk practically spat. "So Sly and Ratchet, I'm guessing you two are the leaders of your groups."

The thief and the hero both looked at each other and shrugged, "I guess so." Sly responded. "Now you know who we are, who are you Rykk?"

Rykk looked backed at Sly and gave him a bit of a stern look. "That is a long, complicated, and painful story. Suffice it to say, all you need to know is that, I'm a friend, I'm helping you, and will continue to." Rykk shifted his gaze towards the heartbroken lombax, "You aren't the first of your kind I've met."

Ratchet instantly perked up, "Wha, what do you mean?"

"I mean that you aren't the first lombax I've laid eyes on; nor are you second, third, or two-thousandth. In fact the friend we're seeing is a lombax."

"So… what are you Rykk?" Talwyn asked boldly.

"I'm not a lombax," he said sharply. It was evident that no one was going to get much out of Rykk. "There's a settlement of lombaxes we call Velocity but it'll take days to get there on foot. Trust me; right now being out at night isn't a good idea for you guys."

"From what we've seen, I'm inclined to agree with you." Bentley concurred.

"There's another city that's closer than the Velocity. It's not a lombax city but a human one. It's called New Elko; I'll take you there whenever we leave the outpost."

"Excuse me, what are humans? Calamity spoke of them to." Bentley asked.

"They're a race, somewhat similar to you guys. You'll see them at the outpost."

"Rykk, how'd you pull out the syringes you used to heal us?" Sly asked.

Rykk motioned towards his waistline, on it was a belt with dozens of black squares on it. Each square had a glowing green, vertical line on it. "This is called a Utility, a very common piece of tech. Each square can hold an object as long as that object is under a certain size or weight." Bentley and Ratchet were both greatly interested in Rykk's utility. They were able to get a few technical questions in before Rykk said, "If you have any more questions, ask them when we get to the outpost."

"Is it just me," Murray leaned and whispered to Sly, "Or does this guy seem a bit edgy?"

Rykk stopped and turned his head slightly to the side. Ratchet saw his ear perk a bit.

"If my ears didn't deceive me, I swore I heard someone doubt my help." Rykk said sternly.

Everyone froze when they saw the equally serious expression on Rykk's face. His eyes practically shot laser beams.

"Sorry about my friend here, it's been a rough day." Sly apologized for Murray. The pink hippo was frozen.

That seemed to satisfy their guide. He grunted, "Next time you want to talk about someone behind their back, make sure you're out of their hearing range." He said with a slightly lighter tone.

Okay, gotta be careful with this guy. Sly thought and made a mental note.

Talwyn look at Ratchet and he returned the look. They both shrugged and continued walking.

Ratchet shrugged off the incident; he was too excited that he was going to meet other lombaxes!

The group, led by Rykk, walked for another hour before coming upon the outpost. By that time, the sun had begun to set. The yellow sky turned into a mass of blue, red, and purple. A huge green moon soon began to rise.

The post consisted of five buildings. The place had an aged and wind-worn look. Three of the buildings weren't much more than glorified shacks. Going to and fro from the buildings, to Ratchet's delight, were lombaxes. They had either golden yellow or snow white fur with either brown or crimson stripes on their ears and tails. Among them were what he assumed were humans. They had pinkish/brown skin; most had hair on their heads but weren't covered in it (similar to Talwyn), and no tails. They all, lombax or human, wore rustic, western-style clothes. Most were brown or black leather or cloth.

Sly wasn't quite sure what to think about their situation. I mean I had just settled down with Carmelita a few months ago and now, now me and my gang are involved in… something. We're stuck on some strange alien world and were almost killed by some monster only to be saved by some kind of good monster! Ugh, Carmelita and I need to take a long vacation to Florida when this is said and done.

Rykk led the group to one of the bigger buildings. It was four stories tall and had a sign above the door that read: The Dragon Tavern. Sounds of laughter, ruckus, and the music of a merry piano passed through the door. Rykk pushed open the door, "Follow me, and stay close." He ordered. "Our friend is upstairs."

Inside, both lombax and human were sharing drinks and drunkenness. There were both human and lombax females in dresses that marked their profession. The place was a decent-sized bar for the post, able to hold around fifty people. At the time of their entry, it held around sixty.

Rykk guided the group to the back of the tavern.

Talwyn, at one point, had to shove off a young, drunk lombax that had grabbed her. His yellow fur and clothes were a mess, "Come on baby, let me show you a good time." He stammered and, to make matters worse, hiccupped and burped simultaneously in her face.

Talwyn recoiled and shoved him away. She hurriedly caught up with her group. Rykk led them up a stairway to the third floor. He took them down a hall and they came upon an older lombax leaving a room. Rykk waved to him, "Hey Oliver, brought the rest."

"Ah, hey there," Oliver greeted. He had white fur with brown stripes. The fur on his chin and above his eyes had a silver tint to it, indicating his age. He wore the typical western garb but also had a key ring on his belt.

Must be the inn keeper, Sly thought.

"I'm Oliver Tact, I run this inn. And luckily for your friend in there, I'm also a doctor." He then shook hands with everyone and got their names. He then took them to an empty room and examined their wounds. Thanks to the Healer serum they were given, everyone just needed some bandages.

Ratchet was the last to get examined, when he was done he asked, "Can you help me fix my friend?" Ratchet said as he held Clank out.

Oliver retrieved a pair of glasses and studied the broken robot. "I might, but let me get a hold of someone who I know can help."

Rykk gave Oliver a curious look and asked, "Bones?"

Oliver nodded, "Right now he's helping Leo repair some damage some dang Nocturnes did to a power station. He said they should be done by tomorrow. I can take your robot…"

"His name is Clank," Ratchet said quickly.

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "…Clank, I'll take him and prep him for you and Bones tomorrow." Ratchet carefully handed over his best friend over to Oliver. "Tonight, ya'll need to rest. I got four rooms open." Oliver took four keys of his ring and handed them to Rykk. "Rykk, your room's set. I'll let you choose who goes where."

Rykk then began to give out the keys. "Talwyn, to keep things simple, I want you to room with Carmelita."

She shrugged and took her key, "Fine."

"Ratchet and Sly, here's room 318. Bentley and Murray, room 320 is yours." He said as he gave them their keys.

They were all tired so they didn't argue as they took their keys.

Ratchet and Sly quickly found their room. It had two, twin beds, a small bathroom, and a small kitchen. The room had a warm and comforting feeling due to the soft, yellow lamps and wooden floor and walls.

As they entered Sly said, "I'm sorry about your friend."

Ratchet sat on the edge of his bed and took his boots off. "Thanks, the two of us just couldn't catch a break y'know?"

"Yeah…" Sly thought for a sec as he too took off his boots. "We haven't properly met have we?"

Ratchet shook his head as he threw off the upper part of his badly damaged armor. "No, guess we haven't."

"Well," Sly offered his hand, "I'm Sly Cooper."

Ratchet shook it, "Nice to meet ya, I'm Ratchet."

Sly tilted his head slightly in puzzlement, "Pleased to meet you, have a last name?"

Ratchet shook his head, "Don't know it and never needed it. I was an orphan."

"So was I," Sly said as he lay down. The bed felt nice and soft against his grey fur. "Well, I'm beat."

"Same here,"

With that the hero and the thief soon fell asleep.

Okay so Rykk is a bit of an... interesting sort isn't he? Any thoughts about him? About Calamity? The Story in general?