The Ratchet and Kim Possible Chronicles: The Polaris Epidemic - Chapitre 7

After another long flight, they were able to reach Ringus Minor. They soon landed on the surface and got out of the ship. They looked out towards the area before them. The entire place was filled with many industries. The scenery before them was pale; the skies consisted of an unhealthy and unnatural haze. Kim didn't like what she was seeing. Kim: "So, this is what an industrial planet looks like. I have to say that this place looks absolutely atrocious." Clank: "The layout of the entire area is indeed the result of so many factory buildings in one place." Ratchet: "Yeah, I have to admit that the place does look abysmal." Kim: "Hmph, and I thought that mining planet that was a forest reduced to a desert was horrible." Ratchet: "You know, this would go a long way to teaching humans the importance of taking care of their planet." Kim: "Hm, yeah, it would. If this doesn't get through to them, I don't know what will." Clank: "Hm, I do not understand why humans are so irrational." Ratchet: "Neither do I. Come on, let's go find the source of that bizarre reading."

Kim had the infobot transported via Wade's vendor and attached to her back. Clank latched on to Ratchet's harness like he always does. The 2 of them soon rushed out.

As they made their way through, they were faced with many vicious mutated creatures. They came at the duo without hesitation. Kim and Ratchet fought through the creatures with everything they had. The creatures came at them from different directions. Kim: "Ugh! These creatures are everywhere! Is there no end to them?" Clank: "I am detecting all forms of these mutated creatures emerging from many different sections of the area. Their point of origin is currently unknown." Kim: "No doubt this entire area becoming industrialized caused these mutations." Ratchet: "Wouldn't doubt it one bit, Kimberly."

Kim let out an annoyed grunt. Kim: "I hate this place! Everything about it is just awful! All places like this make me sick!" Clank: "I do not blame you for thinking that way, Miss Possible. I, too, am appalled by the poor condition of this place." Ratchet: "Same here."

The fight continued on, however, it only lasted for a while. Clank: "Ratchet, Miss Possible, I have pinpointed the location of the strange reading that Wade informed us about." Ratchet: "Great, where is it?" Clank: "My sensors have indicated that it is a good distance from here, within a remote facility." Ratchet: "OK, let's head over there now." Clank: "There is just one problem: the entire facility is surrounded by massive hoards of these horrid creatures. We would not be able to get through them." Kim: "Oh, great, just what we need; more issues." Clank: "I am, however, able to locate an alternate route. There is a massive sewage system directly below us. Kim: "A sewer!? Are you kidding!?" Clank: "If we could find a way in, we would be able to safely navigate ourselves towards the facility with very little obstructions." Kim: "Serious!? Are we really going to crawl through a sewer!?" Ratchet: "It's either this or fight off even more of these monsters." Kim: "(grunt) Fine! Let's just…seek out an entrance to the sewer and get through this already." Clank: "It is just up ahead. We'll need to hurry; this area will be swarming with more and more of these creatures." Ratchet: "Come on!"

They ran off as they scurried through the area. They were soon able to find a latch to the sewer. Ratchet lifted the latch, Kim jumped in, he went after her. He closed the lid as he ducked down below it.

They stood for a bit within the sewer, their feet were submerged within the filthy water below them. Kim lifted her foot out of the water for a bit Kim: "Oh, so gross." Clank: "We should be much safer down here but I would not recommend staying down here for too long." Kim: "Believe me, I don't plan on staying within this place any longer than I need to." Ratchet: "Come on, let's keep moving."

They began trekking through the sewer.

The passage through was not too hard, but it was hardly pleasant. Despite it being a safer route than facing the mutated creatures above them, there were other forms of mutated creatures within the sewer as well. Thankfully, there wasn't an abundance of them, so they were able to handle them just fine.

Shortly afterwards, they ran into someone that they have met before. It was the plumber; he was working on a run-down pumping machine. Ratchet: "Hey, look who it is." Kim: "No way! I don't believe it."

The plumber then turned his head and noticed the duo immediately. Plumber: "Oh! Hello there! I wasn't expecting to see you guys here of all places." Kim: "Uh, neither did we. Although, if we were to run into anyone in a…place like this, it's no surprise that it would be you." Plumber: "Well, I'm glad that I'm able to see you guys again. I wanted to thank you for introducing me to my new assistant."

Soon enough, Bonnie was seen standing near the plumber. She was wearing the same clothes as him. She looked very unhappy. Ratchet and Kim noticed her almost immediately. A little afterwards, they smiled. Ratchet: "Oh, no, the pleasure is all ours."

Bonnie let out an extremely agitated grunt. Bonnie: "I can't believe this! Never in my life would I ever take on such a disgusting and extremely low line of work! This is so lame!" Kim: "Well, you needed a job and the plumber needed an assistant; so it seemed to have worked out well for most of us." Bonnie: "Hmph! You guys put me up to this just to make me miserable!" Ratchet: "Uh, can you really blame us?"

Kim was heard giggling. Kim: "How could we not? It was hard to resist. And besides, we were hoping that this job would help you to clean up your act." Clank: "Yes, that would go without saying."

Clank let out his usual giggle. Ratchet: "By the way, I'm really glad to see you wearing those clothes that we gave you; they were a special deal…from Smarty Mart."

Bonnie looked down at her clothes, greatly startled by what she heard. Bonnie: "Are you serious!? I'm wearing Smarty Mart clothes!? (grunt) It's bad enough I've had to take on this loser job, but I'm also wearing geek clothes!?" Ratchet: "Uh, you know, for what's it's worth, those clothes really do work for you."

Bonnie did not seem to appreciate his compliment. Ratchet: "And besides, do you really want to ruin your best outfits in this line of work?" Kim: "I know I wouldn't." Bonnie: "Could you have at least picked up overalls like these from Club Banana? I would feel better knowing they were from my favorite store." Ratchet: "Sorry, didn't feel like it. You know how much I detest Club Banana and Kimberly wouldn't even think to buy anything for you." Kim: " Uh, yeah, that is so true."

Bonnie seemed exasperated as she slumped down and let out a sigh. Bonnie: "I can't believe in what I've been going through after leaving high school. And I was annoyed over attending summer school on the year of my graduation, all because I missed Barken's one quiz." Ratchet: "Hm, who knew one of Barken's irrational methods would be put to good use."

Kim nodded, Clank was heard giggling. Bonnie: "But after that, my life just got worse. All of my friends have been like too busy having lives to spend any time with me. I was the best thing that they ever had." Kim: "I disagree." Ratchet: "Same here." Clank: "Ditto." Bonnie: "Even our old cheerleading squad members have jobs now and other things that they've been too busy with. Then they demanded me to get a job. Me! I use to have been the one to tell them what to do and they think they're too good to even hang out with me? All of my friends are now so lame!" Ratchet: "That's because they're doing this thing that you obviously don't like called "growing up". Maybe you should try it sometime; you would be amazed with how much happier you'll be." Bonnie: "Tch! As if I would take advice from some know-it-all, especially an alien. You things are hardly at the right standard to tell me what to do." Kim: "Uh, aren't you forgetting that you're working for one of them, Bonnie?" Ratchet: "Not to mention that you're amongst all kinds of aliens out here in this galaxy, so try showing some respect for once."

Bonnie growled out loudly again. Plumber: "Alright, young lady. That's enough. You need to get back to work; we still have a few more of these machines to fix up before we have to leave for our next job."

Bonnie slumped over as she let out another sigh. Bonnie: "Fine."

She then went back to working on the machine. Bonnie: "Things were so much better when I was still in high school." Ratchet: "Uh, just to let you know, if she becomes too much of hassle for you, we would gladly take her out of your hands." Kim: "Oh, for sure. I really feel bad for leaving her with you since she is so overbearing." Plumber: "Oh, don't you worry about me, young'ins. The little miss can be rough around the edges, but she has been very helpful." Ratchet: "She has?" Plumber: "Oh, yes. She's not as difficult to work with like you warned me about; although she does complain a lot." Bonnie: "Come on, you useless piece of alien junk! Work already! (grunt) Does nothing on this miserable planet work properly!? I'm not wasting my entire shift trying to clear out this stupid machine!" Kim: "Well, she does need the money, so I'm not too surprised. I'm just glad that you're able to…put up with her attitude." Plumber: "But of course. I can handle a little griping. She's done a phenomenal job, so I don't mind anything that comes out of her mouth, regardless of how dreadful they could be. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have a little extra money to bestow on the little lady as compensation for working a job she clearly doesn't like."

Bonnie then let out another frustrated grunt. Bonnie: "You've got to be kidding! This machine is full of all this disgusting gunk!? This is ridiculous! Am I really going to be on this all day!? This couldn't possibly be any worse!"

Just then, the machine splattered the gunk all over her, covering her almost completely. Bonnie: "AAAHHH! I hate you, you stupid, miserable piece of…GRRRR! How much more of this do I have to put up with!?" Plumber: "Oh, dear. Well, better get back to work. The poor girl sounds like she's having a bit of trouble." Ratchet: "Yeah, you do that, we're just going to go back to making our way through this place. Uh, good luck with everything." Plumber: "Thanks, you, too."

The Plumber went back to work on the machine with Bonnie while Ratchet and Kim walked off. As they kept going, they could hear Bonnie complaining even more. They smiled as they tried to hold in their laughter.

They continued to navigate through the sewer, fighting off a few more of the mutated sewer creatures. Ratchet: "Clank, how much further to the source of that reading?" Clank: "It should not be far now. This next exit will bring us real close." Kim: "Finally! We'll be able to get out of this sewer!"

They kept fighting through until they were able to find another latch. Ratchet: "There, that should be exit."

Kim leapt up and opened the latch. She and Ratchet were able to emerge from below. She then closed the latch. Before they knew it, they were standing in front of an unusual warehouse. It was white, which made it stick out of the entire area; it was rectangular shaped, making it look like a factory building, but it was indeed a warehouse. Ratchet: "So, this must be the place." Clank: "Yes, the readings are emanating from that warehouse. I am able to sense it strongly." Kim: "Alright, let's go inside."

They walked up to it and opened the door and made their way inside. From there, they had a chance to look around. Even the infobot detached herself from Kim and spent some time looking around. Kim: "Whoa, check this place out." Ratchet: "I know, it looks like…some sort of…old laboratory."

It was indeed a very old looking laboratory. There were all sorts of machinery and equipment spread out everywhere throughout the massive room. Clank had the chance to observe some of the equipment. Clank: "Hm…this place appears to have been around for a very long time and yet…it does not seem as though this equipment is obsolete or abandoned for that matter." Ratchet: "Hey, you're right. A lot of this stuff looked like it had been used recently." Kim: "If it had, then who was using it and what was all of it being used for?" Ratchet: "Beats me. I don't even know where to start looking for answers to those questions." Clank: "Perhaps Wade may be able to help us out with that." Ratchet: "Good idea, pal."

Kim switched on the Kimmunicator. Kim: "Wade, are you there?" Wade: "Yeah, Kim. What's up?" Kim: "Those bizarre readings that you picked up on led us to this very unusual laboratory. What do make of this place?" Wade: "Hm…let me check…"

He went on his computer. Just then, Clank spotted something. Clank: "Ratchet, Miss Possible. Look over there."

They looked over and spotted what Clank was seeing. Ratchet: "Hey, is that…"

Within a good distance from them was what appeared to be an old computer. Clank: "It appears to be a very ancient computer monitor." Kim: "A computer? That's…odd." Clank: "Hm, indeed."

They went up to the computer and took a good look at it. Ratchet: "Is it still working?"

Clank went on the computer for a bit, he then paused to look at it a bit more. Clank: "Hm…apparently." Kim: "I wonder how old this computer is." Clank: "I am uncertain of that, Miss Possible. But…there seems to be some very cryptic data on this monitor. I am unfamiliar with this intel." Kim: "Let's see if Wade is able to figure this out. Wade?" Wade: "I'll get on that right away."

Just then, they heard was sounded like an alarm of sorts. Kim: "What is that!?" Wade: "Uh, guys? I just picked up on something within your current location, something bad." Ratchet: "What is it!?" Wade: "It's a bomb!" Kim, Ratchet, Clank: "A bomb!?" Wade: "Yeah, I'm afraid so." Ratchet: "Where is it, Wade!?" Wade: "It seems to be buried just below the laboratory. I don't know exactly where, but I think I may have a good idea what it could be. If what I believe is to be true, then it could blow up that entire lab as well as a little of the surrounding area." Kim: "Oh, no!" Ratchet: "We have to get out of here now!" Wade: "I'm already working on that." Clank: "But what about the cryptic data on this computer?" Wade: "I won't be able to analyze all of it in time, but thankfully, I don't need to at this moment. I already have a way to upload the data so that I can look into it at my discretion." Ratchet: "You have? That's great. What is it?" Wade: "It's something that you guys have with you." Ratchet: "Huh?" Kim: "What do you mean?" Wade: "The infobot."

Soon enough, they noticed the infobot as she was staring very deeply into the monitor. Her eyes looked as though it was scanning the monitor. Wade: "I've uploaded a special program into her that will enable her to collect data from any hard drive or computer, regardless of the complexity of the data." Kim: "Wow, impressive."

After that brief moment, the infobot's eyes flashed twice. Wade: "There, I've managed to upload all of the data, now send her back to me so that I can look into everything that she had collected."

Wade's vendor appeared; Kim placed her back into it and had her transported back. Ratchet: "Great, now we just need to get out of here." Wade: "Already took care of that. I just sent Aphelion to come get you guys."

Before long, they noticed Aphelion directly outside. Aphelion: "Did someone call for an escape vehicle?"

They rushed over to the ship and jumped in. Kim: "Thank goodness you came, Aphelion! Get us out of here, now!" Aphelion: "On it."

Aphelion's cockpit window closed as it took off and flew away.

As Aphelion flew high into the sky at great speed, the warehouse exploded. The explosion could be seen from very high in the sky. Ratchet: "That was a close one." Kim: "Yeah, I can't believe we got out of there alive." Ratchet: "I know, it's a good thing Wade thought ahead of the situation." Kim: "Oh, for sure. It seems that whoever was using that lab really didn't want anyone to find out what they were doing there." Ratchet: "Yeah, I feel the same way." Clank: "Let us hope that Wade will be able to shed some light on what was occurring in that lab and who was using it." Ratchet: "Sure, I really do hope that he is able to find out anything from that encrypted data."

Kim nodded. Ratchet: "Let's get back to Meridian City."

They left the planet and made their way back to Igliak.