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What Happened in the Morning: Chapter Three

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After the two shook hands, Alice scanned her surroundings once again.

"Um, where exactly am I?" she asked, eyeing the IV tubes nervously.

"Like I said, you're in a place that's safe," Ratchet reassured her, placing a hand on her arm. She flinched as a shock of pain shot through her veins. "Nobody can harm you here."

Alice gave him a sarcastic glance before her expression turned deathly serious.

"How could any place be safe?" she whispered, gripping in her sheets so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Especially for me..."

Staring into her hard expression, Ratchet noticed her entire face became a light shade of pink. His hand moved from her arm and touched her face, the heat burning his hand through his leather glove.

"You're getting a bit warm," he stated as he grabbed the nearest thermometer and tried to place it under her tongue. Which was easier said than done, since she pretty much refused anything that went into her mouth.

"Who knows if that thing's poisoned," she had remarked. Ratchet rolled his eyes and chuckled softly, with Alice giving him yet another glare.

"Why d'you think I would poison ya?" he asked, fiddling with the thermometer in his hand.

"I've got a lot of enemies," she said bluntly. Ratchet couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken. Here was another one of his species, dealing with the same problems he was forced to deal with.

"Look," he sighed. "You don't have to trust us if you don't want to. But we're trying to help you as best as we can. So please. At least give us a chance."

Alice was silent for a solid 5 seconds before closing her eyes and opening her mouth slightly. Ratchet then placed the thermometer gently under her tongue and waited a few seconds. She jumped a bit when it beeped, her face a little bit more flushed than before.

Ratchet's ears lowered a bit in worry as he read the digital numbers on it. It read 103.4 degrees Fahrenheit (39.6 degrees Celsius). This was not good.  

Alice did nothing when Ratchet sighed deeply. As he read the numbers out loud, she looked even worse. Her face was deep scarlet, her eyes were barely open, and her ears drooped extremely low behind her head.

He froze as she let out a strangled gasp and suddenly collapsed into his arms. Her high temperature took its toll on her weak condition, and she was at the point where it was too hot to even touch her face.

Ratchet carefully lied her limp body back onto the bed, a medic suddenly rushing in.

“The sent us an alarm,” he said before placing two fingers under her chin. "Is everything alright?"

The medic rushed to her, noticing that her face was flushed a deep scarlet and her temperature was skyrocketing. Way too high.

“She’s burning,” Ratchet told the medic, taking a deep breath as the words escaped his mouth. The medic nodded as he continued checking her vitals, injecting the IVs back into her arms to pump fluids back into her bloodstream.

“What did she say?” he asked, giving the Lombax a cloth to soak with cold water from the tap as he placed another thermometer

“Nothing about where she came from or why she's here,” Ratchet replied as he placed the cool cloth on her forehead.

"Hmph," the medic muttered. "I’ll request to the doctor to lower the thermostat in the room to accommodate her. If her temperature rises any higher, it would be too late to save her. Not to mention her injuries.”

“Thank you,” Ratchet whispered politely, watching the medic leave once again.

Thousand of questions started circling in his head as he sat down again on the seat as he watched Alice now dozing somewhat peacefully. He placed a hand under his head, tapping his chin with his finger repeatedly.

‘I hope she feels better soon,' he wondered, fiddling around with his Omniwrench. 'I can't let the only other one of my species just die like this.'

His thoughts were interrupted when the room suddenly became cold. Really cold...

'They must've already turned down the thermostat' he thought, sighing in relief as Alice's face fur finally returned to its normal chestnut brown color.

Ratchet continued thinking when he felt himself shivering a bit.

"Okay, I think it's a little too cold," he whispered as a large cloud of smoke evaporated from his mouth.

***

What really surprised him was that the room radiated an eerie purple aura. A swirling wormhole exploded from the wall, and a tall, thin figure stepped out. He was holding a green scepter and wore a byzantine robe with gold embellishments. Appearance-wise, he had short, black hair with a wave on his face. It was unknown what his face looked like since at the moment, his eyes were glowing violet and a hood disguised his face.

Recovering from his initial shock, Ratchet stood up and held up his Omniwrench defensively, standing his ground. The figure stepped slowly toward him.

"I am looking for a Lombax," the figure stated. Ratchet's ears lowered in fear. Uh oh.

"A she," he continued, emphasizing the gender as he walked around the room, "She's about yeaaa..." He placed a hand on Ratchet's head and pushed him down about an inch lower. "...big."

"Ngh," Ratchet muttered as the figure took his hand forcefully off his head.

"So," he boomed, making Ratchet suddenly fall hard on his rear. "Have you seen her or not?"

Before Ratchet could even answer, the figure glanced sideways and noticed the unconscious Alice lying on the bed in the corner. 

"Oh never mind," he sneered as he heartlessly pushed Ratchet out of the way, "I think I found her myself." 

He strode over to her side, placing a hand on her face.

"My dear Alice, " he sighed, his gnarled finger stroking against her cheek. His hand moved down the sheets and brushed against something golden and round in her pocket. "It's been a long time since we've met. Oh I remember our first encounter well; especially when I–"

"Get away from her," Ratchet snarled from his place on the floor, baring his teeth as he grabbed his Omniwrench and started racing towards the figure. Annoyed with Ratchet interrupting him, the figure instead reached for something in his pocket. 

"Oh if I can't handle it right now," he started, completely unfazed by the rushing Lombax coming his way, "I guess I'll have to finish the job another time." He scooped up some purple dust.

'And now for my dramatic exit.
' he thought.

"I'll be back, Lombax!" he exclaimed. "And mark my words, she WILL be mine! ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!" And with that, the figure disappeared, leaving behind thick clouds of smoke and scorch marks on the floor. 

As soon as the smoke cleared, Alice once again sat up, looking confused again as she noticed the scorch marks and lingering smoke. 

"What happened?" she muttered anxiously, rubbing her eyes quickly and noticing Ratchet staring at open air dumbfounded. He blinked a couple times until he finally noticed the distressed Alice in front of him. He came over to her and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"Nothing you should be worried about," Ratchet reassured her, his large ears detecting a small, shaky sigh of relief escaping from the female Lombax. He closed his eyes as he felt her arms hesitantly wrapping around his shoulders. 

'Whoever that was, I need to make sure she stays safe...even if it kills me'
Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed (I have no idea where I'm going with this so XD)

And I start school again tomorrow, so I was kinda pressed for time tonight. I might work on this there if I can. And hopefully get to the actual plot point of this entire story (I'm officially the worst author ever XXDD)

Hope you even like this chapter XD

***

Ratchet (c) Insomniac Games

Alice (c) me
© 2017 - 2024 alliethelombax
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TrueQuantumCatalyst's avatar
OH MA GAWD
THIS
IS
AAWWEESSOOOOMMEEEE!!!! :squee: Exited Withered Balloon Boy/Girl Intensifies! (Chat Icon) Sans Chat Icon Hyped Rowlett Judy Hopps icon THE HYPE IS TOO REAL  I Can't wait to read more!! :D