"I DID IT, BABY! YEAH!"

Dr. Nefarious' base was floating alone in space, away from the galaxies. Once in the lab, the robot carried the large phase quartz stone with him, waving it around laughing and dancing before placing it on the large table in the center. "Oh, the source of all my wishes here on the table," Nefarious stared at the object diabolically and happily, "Oh Lawrence! When was the last time you saw me this happy?"

"Not since season 10 was announced for Lance and Janice, Sir," the doctor's butler gave his usual lowered-eyed look at the object Nefarious was examining closely.

"Yes, but THIS is...almost...better," the robot pressed a few buttons that activated a hologram and examined the phase quartz, "I've studied all the manuscripts, stories and clues to make sure this is the right stone!" Dr. Nefarious continued to scan the object while Lawrence listened to his boss: " Can you believe that, Lawrence! They wanted to sell this as a fairy tale! But now I'll soon have the proof, just a few more seconds." The robot stared intently at the holoscreen, which would show the x-ray image that the doctor had ordered. A beep followed by a buzz and finally the image appeared.

"YES, IT'S THE RIGHT ONE!"

The x-ray showed a vessel inside the dried phase quartz held in place by the rock. Dr. Nefarious deactivated the hologram and tapped the systems again, which now pulled several gripping arms and tools out of the table. "LAWRENCE," the doctor cried out briefly, "We start working immediately! Coffee breaks are only five minutes. We have to be careful not to damage anything!"

"I'll start the timer," and with that said, they got to work.

Dr. Nefarious spent the next three to four hours carefully cutting his lasers along the stone, followed by the small saws that can cut through the phase quartz. The robot worked with extreme caution on the magenta-colored crystal, which was its main target. If he could sweat, Nefarious would have done it in masses. That's how intense and careful the precision work had been. "One last, careful cut," the doctor pulled a lever lightly, causing a laser to bore through the area he needed to sever. At first nothing followed, before the phase quartz slowly splintered and crumbled piece by piece. Finally, the stones fell away, revealing a small, cylindrical vessel that was gently placed on the floor by a gripper arm.

"AND THE OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS," screamed Dr. Nefarious triumphantly, to which Lawrence scratched his head, "Not for my ears, sir."

The doctor then finally lifted the jar and stared at it wide-eyed, "I have it in my hand, Lawrence! The greatest opportunity to control the universe is in my hands." On closer inspection, both robots realized that it was carved with lombax runes and symbols on it. Whoever had used this vessel had been one of them and, once again, the only one to refer back to the existence of the furry aliens. "It's all going according to plan," Nefarious lifted it up, "If I free HIM and find out how to use his energy... it will be easy to rule over everything and everyone! And he'll be so grateful to me for freeing him that he'll fulfill every wish! The moment of truth is here, Lawrence." Finally, Dr. Nefarious placed his right claw on the lid and turned it towards the opening. His goal was within reach.

However, the jar did not budge.

"Uh, just a moment," the doctor twisted it again. But nothing moved. Slowly, the villain's anger rose as he used his other hand, "I just need to loosen it a little, then we're off!" The lid didn't even budge with his other hand before Nefarious finally lost his nerve. "COME ON GET UP, YOU PIECE OF TRASH," The doctor tugged at the vessel with all his might, kicked it with his foot and even bit into it with his jaw. With the last bite, however, the robot slipped and fell to the ground with his back screaming, whereupon the vessel rolled to Lawrence's feet. "I don't understand," the villain stared at the ceiling, stunned, "Am I rusty, or why won't this stupid thing open?"

"You've overlooked something, sir," the butler had the jar in his hands, whereupon his boss was candle-straight on his feet. Dr. Nefarious also looked again at where his butler was pointing. "K...keys," his lower jaw hung down in bewilderment. Under the edge where the lid had been placed, six holes had been activated, waiting untouched to be activated. "Seems you forgot to read something in the manuscripts, sir," Lawrence placed the jar back on the table before Nefarious' eyes twitched furiously. Months of research and now this little mistake had become his downfall, claiming ultimate power for himself, "GRRRRRR AHHHHHH..."

"We can't do this, Lance. What if my husband finds out?"

"He'll find out, Janice. I've loved you ever since we met!"

Lawrence stared again at the seemingly frozen Nefarious, who was having another one of his episodes and stood motionless. A quick pat on the back of the head from the butler and the doctor had regained consciousness. "I've visited dozens of archives and libraries, and then I overlook such an important detail," the villain kicked the table angrily before resting his head against it, "And I was so close... maybe I should retire already!" Ready to give up, Nefarious remained in this position and Lawrence already placed a hand on his shoulder, "Then we can call it a day, sir."

"WAIT A MINUTE...I have an idea," the doctor had a diabolical look on his face again, "Ratchet and Clank!" Before his butler could ask, the villain leapt onto the table, "They won't just accept that I have the vessel in my possession. I'm sure the museum is already on its knees crying in front of them, begging them to stop me."

"But sir, what does one have to do with the other," the smaller robot looked at his boss with the same look, who then moved wildly, "They'll be looking for the keys to stay one step ahead! I'll have to strike then!" At that, Dr. Nefarious jumped down, and strode towards his command deck, where all his robot henchmen saluted.

"LAWRENCE! Prepare the holocamera," Dr. Nefarious announced, "I need to put a bounty on six keys!"

The damage was repaired.

The museum was almost as good as new when the two lombaxes lent a hand and helped the staff who had returned from cover. The director now walked to the display case where the phase quartz stone once stood and looked in horror at the empty desk, "Oh no...this is bad."

"It should be all right again," Ratchet and Rivet approached the director. The older man looked at the two heroes with a frightened expression, "We have a huge problem. What Nefarious has stolen can bring us great evil." The rebel raised her eyebrow in confusion, "He could be using the stone's energy..."

"It's not the phase quartz that's causing us problems," the director asked both lombaxes to follow him to his office, which the heroes did. Once there, the older alien took out a few papers with his three fingers, showing either drawings or old diary entries.

"There's a vessel inside the stone," the director flipped through the file until a picture of the cylinder-shaped object appeared. The appearance looked familiar to Ratchet, as did the writings of the lombaxes, but before a question was asked, the older man spoke up again, "And there's a dangerous creature locked inside the vessel!" The orange hero's ears pricked up at the last sentence. Rivet was also carried away, but her reaction was nothing compared to that of her loved one, "No, it can't be! It's just a fairy tale, that's all!"

"It's the truth," the director showed more documents that described about the creature and the planet it was found on, "The species on this planet is already extinct. They could live for over five hundred years, but a thing called the heaven stone, a comet like rock from space and the sun, put an end to their existence."

The older alien put the folders aside, "We tried to sell this as a story. Rumor has it that the beast in there can grant wishes, but not in the way people would think. If this comes out, everyone will go crazy and want to free the beast, which will then take revenge!"

"You lied to the galaxy," the rebel was slightly angered by this, before the older one justified himself, "Understand! Everyone would have killed each other after that thing. The beast doesn't grant wishes, it's pure evil!" The museum director lowered his head and held out a card: "The jar can only be opened with these keys...please Ratchet! You must find these before Dr. Nefarious gets his hands on them."

Ratchet kept a few words to himself. How he had hoped that no intergalactic threat was imminent. But if all these stories were true, and a monster was about to be released, then the hero had to intervene. "Sir...I'll do it," the orange one finally replied, "Nefarious won't get the keys! Rivet, you're with me too, aren't you?"

"Someone has to look after you, hotshot" joked the white lombax with her cheeky grin, to which the director breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, both of you! The fate of the galaxy is in your hands!"

The lombaxes said their goodbyes and made their way back to the apartment as quickly as possible.

After several minutes, they both arrived back and entered their home. Clank and Kit had sat down at the kitchen table, held hands and had a little chat before the voices of the lombaxes rang out. "Clank, Kit," Ratchet began, before Rivet finished his sentence, "Get ready, please! We have a mission ahead of us!" Confused, the bots raised their non-existent eyebrows, whereupon the orange one went to his best friend, "Dr. Nefarious is back! And he's stolen something that could endanger us all. I'll tell you more in the ship!"

"Oh dear," the silver one followed his best friend into the room, where Rivet had already changed into her classic outfit and scarf. The lombax closed the door as she left the room and then changed too, as...

"Ratchet...did you do it?"

"...No, pal," the hero whispered to the robot, "When I went to get the ring out, Nefarious came and ruined everything."

"Ratchet, you know it's going to be a long time before you get another chance," Clank feared that this would make the upcoming adventure more difficult, "I mean, it adds to the pressure now, doesn't it?"

"It doesn't make it any better if you talk about it," Ratchet laughed softly when he was finally dressed, "Come on, to Aphelion!" His best friend jumped into the familiar backpack position and walked back outside with the lombax. Their counterparts were already waiting for them there, whereupon the orange one went to the rebel, "Let's go!"

A kiss on the cheek followed, to which Rivet couldn't help but smile, "We'll show the doctor who he's been messing with!"

"He knows that, but he won't learn from it," came from Clank, which made all four of them laugh. So the heroes went outside, walked down the stairs and found themselves in front of the garages again. Aphelion was then uncovered again and the team sat down in the lombax ship. After a few minutes, the engines started up before Aphelion flew up into the sky and then penetrated the atmosphere. "So, Rivet get the map out please," asked her boyfriend, holding the controls and flying intently through space. Nodding, the rebel wanted to tap the screen before it suddenly flickered and the voice of the artificial intelligence followed, "Ratchet, I'm getting a transmission that goes through the whole universe!"

The image changed, and the lombax and his best friend caught sight of their nemesis, "Nefarious!"

"Hello, galaxy," the doctor's voice was clearly audible. You could tell it was just a message and not a direct call, "I am Dr. Nefarious! You also know me as the genius who used the dimensionator or wanted to turn all squishies into robots! Well, this time I have no threat!" The four friends looked intently at the message as the villain lifted up a vessel, "Do you see this little thing?"

"Oh shit," Rivet and Ratchet knew it was getting serious, "He's cracked the phase quartz!"

"Oh yeah, this little thing has something special inside," Dr. Nefarious almost juggled it around before showing the object to the camera, "Six keys are needed to open it! I need the help of any criminal or person whose life is miserable right now!" Nefarious stopped briefly before starting again, "And the reward is a million bolts... AND the main attraction!"

The robot laughed nastily into the camera, "That thing in there can fulfill your wishes! The person who brings me the keys will have one wish granted! And if you're wondering where to find the locations, look here!" Two pictures were published, which set the couple's alarm bells ringing. "THOSE LOMBAXES KNOW IT," Nefarious had shown a picture of Ratchet and Rivet to the camera, "Follow them and you'll find the keys! Remember, you have one free wish, in gratitude from me! NEFARIOUS END, Lawrence turns off the camera..."

The transmission ended. However, the four heroes were now more tense than usual. The whole situation was made worse, as they would be hunted down now.