Chapter 7: Bad News

Ratchet stood there, mouth agape in stunned silence. He blinked dumbly a few times, having trouble accepting what he was just told.

"I'm… I'm your nephew?" Ratchet question when he got his voice back. The army Lombax nodded his head.

"My name is Keith." He said. Ratchet stared hard at this Lombax, his uncle, Uncle Keith, and couldn't help the tears of happiness that started flowing. He still had a family, and he had finally found them.

"Come" Keith said "There is something that I think you might like." Ratchet followed his uncle to another room, which had a keypad. After Keith punched in the code, Ratchet walked into the well-lit room with sparkling eyes.

"Oh my God" he said, looking around like a little kid on Christmas "They're beautiful!" The room was an armory; every type of weaponry imaginable. Ratchet looked at every weapon possible, and tried every single one in the firing range. As he looked around, he started wondering something.

"Uncle Keith?" Ratchet asked as he put down a type of shotgun. His uncle looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"Why aren't there any RYNO weapons?" Ratchet asked. His uncle looked at him, confused.

"You know" Ratchet said "Rip You a New One. Weapons so dangerous their plans have been split into pieces and hidden around the galaxy; they've been blacklisted for years. None of these ring a bell?" His uncle shook his head.

"That needs to change right now." Ratchet said. He pulled up a chair at a table, and then looked around.

"Have a pencil and paper?" Ratchet asked.

His uncle shook his head again and said "Something better." He went to the opposite side of the table and flipped a switch. The table lit up, showing different programs. Ratchet played around with the programs for a few minutes, and found that they allowed 3D holographic imaging of whatever he drew. He started working, and when he showed no signs of stopping; his uncle left him to his own devices. As he exited the room Keith pulled out a device similar to a cell phone, scrolled through the numbers, and dialed one. The phone on the other end rang a couple times and then was picked up.

"He's alone" he said "If you want to make your move on his girlfriend, now is the time." Keith then hung up the phone and went to pick up some lunch; covert ops really worked up an appetite.

Meanwhile…

Spyro woke to Cynder saying his name. He quickly stood up and looked her in the eye.

"Hey" he said happily.

"Hi" she said back, tired and worn out.

"How are you feeling?" Spyro asked.

"Like I just pushed out eight eggs that I've been carrying around for 11 months. How do you think I feel?" She question sarcastically.

"Tired, agitated, angry, relieved, thirsty, and hungry. Did I miss anything?" Spyro asked. Cynder laughed at her mate's sarcastic demeanor; he had a nasty habit of cracking jokes when the moment didn't call for it.

"Looks like parts of Sparx did rub off on you all those years in the swamp." Cynder said weakly.

"Rest" Spyro told her "You really tired yourself out. I'll be here when you wake up." Cynder nodded her head, shifted to get comfortable again, and then fell asleep. As he found a comfy spot to rest and started to shift himself, a nurse came to the door with a worried look on her face. Spyro got up and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked.

"No dragon has ever had as many eggs as Cynder did; a dragon's uterus wasn't designed to hold that many. Because of that, the eggs were almost crushed by the others. Only the shells were tough enough to keep a complete collapse. Still, because of the pressure the eggs did have in the uterus, we are unsure if they will ever hatch; and if they do, we're not sure if the young will be deformed."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Spyro asked angrily.

"Because the eggs were causing so much pressure on each other, the same amount of pressure was exerted on Cynder's uterus. It caused permanent damage to it; so much in fact, that you probably can't have another clutch." The nurse told Spyro sadly.

Spyro's head was reeling from one set of bad news to another. Not only could his eggs possibly not hatch, they may be handicapped if they did. And if they didn't hatch, he probably couldn't try again. He didn't know how to break the news to Cynder, let along know if he wanted to. Spyro trudged out of the hospital to the training area for dragons in the city. There, he let every single dummy have the full force of his anger. When he was finished, he roared, it echoing across the city and escaping into the landscape. When he exhausted himself with the roar, he lied on the ground, curled into a ball, and started to cry.

Meanwhile…

Talwyn giggled to herself again. She needed to find Spyro so he could lead her to her family. She had to show Cronk and Zephyr the ring. Clank had gone off to find them himself. She just had nodded her head absent-mindedly. She couldn't help but feel sheer joy at the revelation.

"That's a nice ring." Talwyn heard someone say. Kayla stepped out of the shadows, eyeing both Talwyn and the ring with equal amounts of disgust.

"Uh, thanks." Talwyn said uncertainly. Kayla stuck out her hand.

"Kayla." Talwyn took the hand.

"I'm…" "I don't care who you are. All you are is in the way." Kayla interrupted. Talwyn tried to pull her hand free, but Kayla had a firm grip. Kayla then pulled Talwyn close to her and threw her on the ground. Talwyn managed to grab a fist full of fur and yanked it out by the roots. Kayla yelled as the pain flared, but didn't focus on it for long.

"You think he loves you? He will never love you! He loves me!" Kayla shouted at Talwyn, still trying to attack.

"You're lying! He proposed!" Talwyn yelled back, trying to shove Kayla off of her. Kayla got a firm grip on Talwyn's head and smashed it against the concrete. Talwyn's eyes fluttered, and then shut. Her breath was irregular and ragged. A pool of blood could be seen spreading out. Kayla took off her coat and placed it behind Talwyn's head. She pulled out a cell phone, scrolled through the number and selected one. After ringing twice it was picked up and a masculine name asked "Yes?"

"It's done." Kayla said. The Lombax on the other end of the line hung up.

"HELP! HELP US!" Kayla cried, faking desperation. Clank was running, followed by Cronk and Zephyr, Quark following behind, still trying to understand why this place didn't have outlets to charge his device.

"What happened?" Clank asked.

"I heard a scream, and found her like this; I think she must have slipped and hit her head on the concrete." Kayla said, tears in her eyes.

Quark picked her up gently, and followed Kayla to the ER. They got Talwyn in a bed and into surgery. Kayla slipped out during the commotion, and smiled. Step one of her plan was complete, now it was time for step two.

Meanwhile…

Ratchet was still working on the "Lombax RYNO" as he dubbed it. Keith punched in the code and walked in.

"Ratchet." He said in a worried voice.

"Hmm?" Ratchet asked, not really focusing.

"Talwyn was injured; they have her in surgery." Keith said.

Ratchet got up and ran after Keith, both of them getting into a hovercraft and heading for the hospital. Keith told Ratchet what had happened, that Talwyn slipped and hit her head. Ratchet walked into the hospital, and asked to see Talwyn. The nurse told him that surgery was finished, and she could take visitors. She gave him the room number, and Ratchet ran as quickly as he could. He walked in, and then said "Talwyn!" excitedly.

She looked at him, and froze when he hugged her. She looked deep into his eyes. "I'm sorry; but do I know you?" She asked.