Ratchet walked out greeting fellow mechanics as he headed to the cafe to get some grub. As he waited for his food he looked out the nearby window, the empty void of space seemed to stare back. It had been three years since Ratchet left his home on Earth to join the Salmon Run. Ratchet got his food and went to sit with his friend Atticus, a jellyfish alien who welcomed Ratchet with open arms. "So heard you got fired off another team the other day," Atticus said as he pushed food under his frills. Ratchet ate his food letting out a loud sigh as he knew this to be true. He had been fired from his team for blowing apart the quantum turbine in their vehicle. "I just wanted to give it a tune-up. I just know if they had given me the right parts I could have done it," Ratchet said, slamming his head onto the table.
Atticus let out a laugh as he brushed Ratchet's hair with a tentacle, reassuring him that he would find a new team or teammate. As the two talked a group of snake aliens, known as Serpentarians, slithered into the cafeteria causing everyone to grow quiet. Ratchet noticed the snake women and thought to himself "Maybe I can be recruited by them," before Ratchet could move, however, Atticus tentacles grabbed him and held him to his chair as he made a tch tch tch sound scolding Ratchet as he said, "Ratchet you know just as well as any other alien here that Serpentarians don't hire anyone out of their race. So just give it some time and you'll find someone better for you." Ratchet began mumbling under his breath about how Atticus was right, disappointment appearing in his eyes as he let out a yawn and stretched back in his seat. As he stretched he noticed that his hand seemed to hit something, something soft and bouncy resting against his palm. Ratchet gave it a gentle squeeze while looking over at Atticus. Atticus's body has turned a bright red, a sign that he was embarrassed, as he pointed towards Ratchet's hand, causing him to look.
Ratchet looked back and immediately began to turn pale with fear. The soft, bouncy object was attached to a black scaled Serpentarian who stared at him with shock on her face. The black scales on her face had a soft red tint to them as she stared at Ratchet's hand in shock. Ratchet pulled his hand back, slowly standing up and backing away. In an attempt to lighten the mood he said "They're softer than I thought they would be." He gave a nervous laugh at this until he realized he was flying across the room. The leader of the Serpentarian group, a red viper with a bright green armband, had whipped her tail around and smacked Ratchet, sending him flying. The women left in a huff consoling the black snake lady as Ratchet was helped up by Atticus. The chef, a large bipedal toad alien, walked up to Ratchet, a look of anger on his warty face. "This is it, they're gonna take me back to earth," Ratchet thought, closing his eyes, but to his surprise, everyone began to cheer.
According to a rhino alien named Ripto, Ratchet was a hero amongst the mechanics, the only mechanic to even come close to talking to the Serpentarian race. Ratchet was considered a personal hero to some of those that we're scared of them. Ratchet didn't want praise for this though, he wanted to apologize to the lady. Ratchet respected the aliens he stayed with, for taking him in, especially his fellow mechanics and the racers. Ratchet let out a sigh as he put on his tool belt and headed to where the race vehicles were. All around him spaceships sat in their bays as mechanics worked on them with the drivers watching and discussing. Ratchet knew that the only way to get a new team would be to stop and talk with some other drivers and teams. As he walked down he decided to stop in front of a bin that contained a slender yellow spaceship with the words the Golden Sun written on the side. Nearby it stood an alien that was human in form but had bright yellow skin light the sun. "Hey, Solaris, how's it been," Ratchet said greeting the alien only to be grabbed by his collar when he tried walking past.
Ratchet was thrown out of the bin with Solaris standing above him, shouting "I told you to stay away after that accident Ratchet, so get out of here!" Anger filled Ratchet's eyes as he muttered a few curses under his breath and walked off. As Ratchet walked he would stop and talk in hopes of finding a new team, but everyone seemed full. As Ratchet walked further down, his hopes seemed to fall, and as his hopes fell his chances of being sent home grew. Mechanics without a team would be returned to their planet and that was something Ratchet couldn't take. As he kept walking a pair of eyes began to follow him until Ratchet headed past the hallway where a snake's tail wrapped around his neck and pulled him in the door closing behind them.
Ratchet looked up surprised to see the Serpentarian whose chest he had touched earlier, holding him with her tail wrapped around him. She had anger in her eyes as she began wrapping her tail tighter around Ratchet forcing him to gasp and begin tapping on her tail. The snake let him go as he crumbled down gasping for air as she spoke to him in a raspy voice saying "Look I need to talk to you about something important." Ratchet looked confused as he finally caught his breath and asked what it was. "I need your help with my vehicle, everyone is scared of my race and if I don't get help then I'll be forced to be out of the race and I can't afford that," she said, grabbing Ratchet by the shoulders. Ratchet wasn't sure if it was the lights or what but when she held him, two thoughts went through his mind. "She looks so sad," he thought to himself as he looked into her eyes.
"I heard you took the power pill and gained control over metal, that means you're the only person who can help me," she said, letting him go. Ratchet let out a sigh and looked up at her saying "Look normally I would say no but I need a driver so I'll join you but cuz in this light you're kinda cute." The snake lady's black scales began to tint red as she slapped Ratchet with her tail causing him to fly into the nearby door. She rushed over waving her arms as she apologized to him. Ratchet began laughing as she looked at him concerned. He looked up at her and introduced himself to her with her responding, "A pleasure to meet you Ratchet my name is Belinda, I hope we can do well together." The two shook hands ready to get to work.
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