AN: Alright, to those of you who have read my previous works then you know that a video game story is something that I haven't done before. I found this story, originally 'what grinds my gears', and adopted it with the permission of its original writer, 'Yugiohfan163'. So any advice for this, or any other first chapter I post here, will be greatly appreciated.
AN2: To those of you who are interested, I am a part of a video game review channel on Youtube. We are just recently starting out but I'd like to think we're doing good so far. Any views would be greatly appreciated. I have one video out myself on the channel so far, with an edited and better version coming out later today, and the rest of the videos were put up by my colleagues. My current video is about 'Ratchet: Deadlocked' and I have plans for future videos on the video game franchises for 'Harry Potter', 'Pokémon', 'god of war', 'sly cooper', and others if possible. Right now the other videos up besides mine are 'Assassin's creed'. If you want to see the videos there are links on my profile to the youtube channel and my specific video that is currently up.
The Birth of Infernox
-Ratchet-
Ratchet strode across the main bay of the Starship Phoenix clad in his magnaplate armor, his anger evident by his expression and his walk as he went to his ship. The sources of his anger were back in the bridge partying it up and celebrating Quarks apparent 'victory'. "Like that fool could actually win a fight." he snarled angrily as he hopped into his ship and began scrolling through the coordinates of the planets and places he'd visited since returning to the Solana Galaxy.
With a snort of derision he thought back to what had happened to send him off and away from the fools that infested the ship.
-Flashback-
"To be a true hero of heroes, you need more than loads of charisma and a brilliant tactical mind. I couldn't have done it without… these massive guns!" Ratchet groaned with relief as the interview clip from Quark supposedly defeating the Tyhrranoid queen finally ended. Ever since he had gotten back on the ship he had been forced to watch that clip again and again, been forced to watch everyone on the 'Q-Force' congratulating quark on his extraordinary victory. Even the president had come, simply to congratulate Quark and 'plan strategy with their great Hero and Secret Agent Clank'.
While Clank hadn't gone star-struck over Quark he made no effort to deny Quark's claims of doing the fight alone and seemed to soak up the attention from the president. The only ones on the team who were at least sympathetic to him were Al, Skid, and Sasha. Sasha sympathy however only extended to a grimace thrown to him from across the room when her father had shoved him aside to get to clank. Al and Skid were much better company as they told him that they knew he was the real hero in the battle.
Looking around at all the fools surrounding him he got up, and turned to leave. He was sick of the oppressive air of ignorance that surrounded him and wished he had followed Al and Skid when they had left hours ago. As he got up Clank seemed to materialize by his side, "Where are you going Ratchet?" the small robot asked curiously. He felt a little crushed by the way that Clank asked the question, there wasn't a hint of concern in it, only curiosity.
"I have some things I need to take care of privately." he said stiffly before walking out and heading to his quarters. Grabbing his possessions he threw them in a collapsible storage unit before shrinking it and slipping it in his pocket, leaving a note, and heading to his ship. As he entered the main hanger he found the majority of the Galactic Rangers waiting for him.
"You're leaving aren't you Sarge?" one of the Rangers asked resignedly.
"What do you mean?" he asked warily.
"We know you were the real Hero in the battle of Tyhhranosis Sergeant." another Ranger piped up "And we can tell how bothered you are by the way that the different people on the ship treat you.".
"We just wanted you to know that you still have the support of the Galactic Rangers!" the first Ranger said which got cheers from the rest of them.
"Thanks you guys," he said, trying not to cry from the loyalty shown to him "that means a lot to me.".
"Before you go Sarge," one of the Rangers piped up as they rushed forward with a box "we got you a little parting gift.".
Opening it he was shocked to see a brand new RY3NO with a full load of ammo, "How did you…" he began before the one to give him the box cut him off.
"How did we afford this?" the Ranger asked and he could hear the slight embarrassment in his voice. When he nodded the Ranger continued "We took some bolts from the officer's arms fund and threw some of our own money in as well.".
"I shall use it with pride gentlemen." He said, saluting the Rangers who saluted him back before he continued the journey to his ship. As he walked, the laughter and merriment from the bridge served only to refuel his anger.
-End Flashback-
As he settled in his ship he began thinking of why he was even trying to be a 'hero' in the first place when all it got him was scorn and ridicule. He had done the majority of the work in saving two separate galaxies as well as being the backbone in protecting Solana for a second time yet nobody seemed to notice or care. They just went about their day thinking that their 'oh so special and heroic' Captain Quark could protect them. That thought made him snort in sick amusement, even when Quark had years of experience at 'being a Hero' the green spandex wearing buffoon had been unable to defeat Ratchet, a Lombax mechanic who was less than a year into his 'hero career', real hero alright.
Then there was his supposed 'best friend' Clank. Yeah, a real friend would make him act as his chauffeur in all of the 'great' episodes of Secret Agent Clank. When they had met the president Clank was treated like one of the greatest heroes in the world while he was only remembered as 'Clank's chauffeur', if the guy wasn't the president of the galaxy then he would have had a hell of a time kicking his sorry ass from here to Bogon. If it wasn't for him doing all the fighting in the life-or-death situations then Clank would have ended up as scrap metal ages ago.
Shaking his head he scrolled through his planet selection when the name 'Annihilation nation' caught his eye. If he remembered correctly, that was where he not only go the tyhrraguise, but where he also got to see the famous robot pop singer, Courtney Gears. What confused him though was that even though he was organic and she was a robot he found her to be one of the most attractive women he had ever seen. Sure he had seen Angella and Sasha, he and Angela had even tried to start a relationship for a while before deciding it wouldn't work, but they just didn't seem to catch his attention the same way Courtney did. He thought if he took some time and got some bolts at that competition, maybe he could even get the chance to meet her again. Decision made he punched in the coordinates and shot off to the Annihilation nation.
-Annihilation Nation-
- Qwarktastic Battle-
-Round 98-
Shaking his head at the two ninja bots flipping towards him he shot his Quantum Whip, he had maxed its level out earlier in his bouts, forward and wrapped it around the two bot's heads before tugging back sharply and pulling their heads clean off. Without even turning he pulled out his Rift Inducer and fired at the remaining ninja bot that was trying to attack him from behind, smirking as he remembered how he got the weapon.
-Flashback-
On the way to Annihilation Nation he had decided to make a pit-stop to handle some business. Landing at Holostar studios he hoped out but stopped at the weapons vendor and perused it. Seeing a weapon labeled 'the Rift Inducer' he read the information and smirked before buying it. Closing up the vendor he turned to the offices he had landed in front of and marched up to them. Striding inside he ignored the startled secretary and entered the office of the Director who was in charge of the 'Secret Agent Clank' show. "What do you want Kid?" the Director demanded annoyed.
Rolling his eyes he drew a sealed letter and threw it at the man, "I quite you fat tub of lard." he growled before turning and storming off with a smirk, happy to have put the fool in his place.
-End Flashback-
The crowd roared in pleasure as he destroyed another wave of enemy combatants in the arena. He had been fighting for hours upon hours as he took out wave after wave of enemies, going through obstacle courses and arena challenges alike with a ferocity that elevated the crowd to no end. Suddenly the doors on the side of the arena opened and a swarm of gladiators began charging towards him. Smirking he aimed his Rift Inducer and fired repeatedly until there was nothing left of the swarm.
Finally the final gate opened to reveal Scorpio ready to face him again. He wasn't worried about it though, he had bet Scorpio multiple times before, both in the cyborg's new body and in its previous one as the B2 Brawler back in Bogon. Also he had a secret weapon, grinning he pulled out his RY3NO and began to open fire, quickly decimating the mighty mechanical menace.
"Unbelievable folks!" the announcer yelled in a mixture of shock and awe to the cheering crowd "Ratchet has done the impossible and defeated the Qwarktastic Battle! This challenge has only even been conquered by one man, Captain Quark himself, and that was several years ago and the challenge has only become harder since then!". He smirked at those words, figuring that the lazy bastard had probably bribed weak enemies into the ring to get some prestige. "And here to give the contestant his bolts is none other than the lovely pop star Miss Courtney gears!" replied the announcer to the joy of the crowd as said pop star walked up to ratchet, calmly ignoring the cat calls going her way.
"Congratulations, here you go." Courtney said with an intrigued smile as she eyed him while handing over a container he assumed held the two hundred thousand bolt prize for defeating the challenge. Nodding to the celebrity as he pocketed the shrinking package he tried to regain his breath and keep his emotions in check from beings so close to the attractive woman. "Meet me at my trailer after everyone's gone." Courtney whispered in his ear as she waved to the cheering crowd and made her way out the exit.
An hour later he was standing in front of Courtney's trailer having showered and gotten his few injuries checked before everyone else bar a few people had left. Taking a calming breath he stepped forward and knocked on the door which quickly opened to reveal a smiling Courtney "Welcome, come in and make yourself at home." she told him as she gestured him on in.
Stepping in he was shocked at what he saw, the carpet seemed to be made out of pink fur and was soft on his bare feet, he saw a crimson couch on the right side of the trailer across from a matching chair with a coffee table in the middle along with a small mini bar near the back across from a queen sized bed covered with pink sheets which a smiling Courtney flopped down on.
"Welcome, please, take a seat anywhere. There's is something I'd like to discuss with you." Courtney urges as he nodded and sat in the chair before turning it to face the bed, and her.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why did you want to see me anyway?" he asked, slightly confused but also wary.
"You defeated a challenge that was supposed to be impossible," Courtney explained "that was more than enough to grab my attention and I find myself intrigued by you.". He blushed and looked down at the praise but didn't deny it as he knew he had done something extraordinarily difficult, "You seemed like you were upset at something though," the pop star continued "want to talk about it?".
Rolling his eyes he snorted, "I needed to blow off some steam after coming to an important decision for my life.".
"What decision was that?" the robot sensation asked, clearly curious.
"I'm tired of fighting for fools who don't have enough intelligence to think for themselves," he snarled, not noticing how Courtney's eyes widened in shock "I'm tired of being pushed around and shunted to the shadows while others like that cowardly fool Quark take the credit for my work. He claimed to have single handedly defeated the Tyhrranoid army and their queen, HAH!. Quark was busy cowering in fear at the back while I did most of the fighting. The only other ones to help were a small unit of Galactic Rangers and a monkey. A FUCKING MONKEY DID MORE THAN QUARK DID!" he yelled out the last part angrily and was still unaware of the calculating gaze being sent his way. "I realized that nothing I did would ever be accepted or respected so I decided to leave, if they want me to be the good little Lombax and do their work while being treated like some second rate mechanic form the boon docks then Hell no.".
After a moment Courtney spoke up, "Really?" she asked "I bet you'd like to make them pay.".
"You have no idea how right you are." he agreed with a dark voice.
"Well, I think I might know someone who can help you out, cutie." The robot pop star said, giggling slightly at the blush he could feel taking over his face.
"A-and who would that be?" he stuttered, slightly embarrassed, as he attempted to regain control of his emotions yet eager to learn who this person was.
"Oh you know, just someone who's planning to rule the galaxy…Dr. nefarious." replied a calm Courtney as if it was the most obvious answer in the galaxy.