"Nefarious?" Ratchet called as he and Clank walked into the room they'd been directed to.

There was no sign of the doctor anywhere, and as they ventured in further, they took in the room. There were tools, metal tables, and boards with blue prints tacked on all over the place.

"Nice place…" Ratchet remarked as he looked around.

"This is probably where Dr. Nefarious builds his robots." Clank stated.

Ratchet nodded, before pausing. Clank did similarly, and they could hear grumbling from somewhere further in the large room.

The ventured further, and saw Nefarious up ahead with his back to them, leaning on a table that was covered with various sheets of paper.

"Blowing up MY doors…butting into MY business…I outta annihilate them while they're still here…"

"Um, Nefarious?" Ratchet called.

The doctor yelped and whipped around, slipping on a pencil that had fallen to the floor and hitting the back of his head on the table. He dazedly lifted his head, and glared at them as soon as they came into view.

"What the heck are YOU doing in here? Wait, how the heck did you even find here?" he shouted as he stood.

"Umm, we…followed you?" Ratchet replied nervously.

"No, Lawrence gave us directions." Clank stated.

Ratchet sighed as he pinched his eyebrows together. "We weren't supposed to tell him that…"

"LAAAAAAWREE-" Nefarious shouted furiously at the top of his metaphorical lungs.

"Oh Lance! I've been lying to you! My name's not really Janice! It's Clarabelle!"

"It's okay, Clarabelle! My name's not really Lance! It's Bob!"

"Oh Bob!"

"Oh Clarabelle!"

"Oh brother…" Ratchet sighed, before picking up a good sized wrench and throwing it at Nefarious' head.

"-EEEEEEENCE!"

Elsewhere in the ship, Lawrence heard the shout, and sighed.

"So much for secrecy…"

"So, what's been eatin' you? You haven't tried taking over the universe or killing Qwark in a while." Ratchet asked.

"Nothing alright! Just get out of here!"

"That's not what your file said."

Nefarious paused for a second, and Clank took the moment to speak up.

"You feel guilty about leaving us on Magnus, correct?"

"…"

"We read the file through, so we know everything."

Nefarious grumbled under his breath, and the duo heard 'I'm gonna KILL him' somewhere in there.

"It helps to-"

"Talk, I know! Lawrence already said that! Twice!"

"So…talk." Ratchet said.

Nefarious froze again, before glancing away for a second. Finally, he turned away and crossed his arms, mumbling something.

"Sorry, come again?"

"I said I'm…." Nefarious mumbled quietly.

"What?"

"I'M SORRY OKAY?" Nefarious shouted, whipping around and glaring at them.

A minute passed in total silence, except for the whirring of the ship and the gears in Nefarious' head and body.

"You're…sorry?" Ratchet finally asked.

"Do NOT make me repeat that!"

"You, Dr. Nefarious, scourge of the universe, hater of all organic life, are apologizing?"

"Do you want a gift basket? Yes, alright, I'm apologizing! Can we get past that?"

"But I thought you hated us." Clank stated.

"I did! I mean I do! I mean…"

Nefarious trailed off, before turning away.

Ratchet and Clank looked at each other, before looking back the robotic doctor.

"So when exactly did you stop hating us?" Ratchet asked.

Nefarious turned back with a glare, opening his mouth to shout a denial, but upon seeing the knowing looks on the duo's faces, paused, and glanced away.

"…..It kind of just…fizzled out after we started working together…."

"You were pretty helpful ya know. You found Ephemeris' charging dock, and not to mention you saved Qwark."

At this Nefarious shuddered.

"PLEASE don't remind me…"

Ratchet snickered, before continuing.

"If you were starting to like us, why'd you take our ride?"

"Well…I figured I'd get…tossed in jail or something, ya know? I did attack Luminopolis with a Z'Grute and nearly destroyed the city, remember?"

"Yeah, but I bet if you'd stuck around, Qwark woulda pardoned you, and we would've explained things to Kronk and Zephyr. To put it simply, we might've actually been friends."

"Friends? Friends…remind me what that is again?"

The duo just stared at him.

"You don't know what a friend is?" Ratchet asked incredulously.

Nefarious merely blinked, awaiting an answer.

"Well, a friend is…well, a friend's like Clank. Always by my side, helping me, even telling me off when I need it."

"For you, a good comparison would be Lawrence." Clank stated, before being interrupted.

"We're not friends! Associates would be a better word!" Nefarious retorted.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Lawrence has stuck by you despite everything, probably rebuilt you dozens of times, and most recently tried to help you sort out your emotional issues."

"Yes, well…I suppose strong acquaintanceship could work…"

"Oh face it, you're friends and you know it-"

Ratchet was cut off by a loud shout.

"Greetings cadets and mad scientists!"

The trio yelped and glanced around. Qwark was standing behind Ratchet and Clank, and Lawrence was behind him.

"Dreadfully sorry sir, I attempted to keep him out. I'm not even sure how he found this room." The butler stated.

"Easy, I just followed the directions on this piece of paper I found. Oh, by the way, Ratchet, here's that action figure you wanted. I went to my room to get it, but when I came back you were gone. You must've forgotten." Qwark stated as he handed the Lombax an action figure of himself in a heroic, yet goofy, stance.

"Thanks Qwark, how could I have forgotten?" Ratchet muttered as he glanced at the doll.

"So, having guilt issues, eh? I've been there once-"

"NO I'M NOT! How do you even know about-"

Nefarious cut himself off, and glared at Lawrence. The robotic butler raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't say a word."

"No, it was all in this neat little file somebody left on your desk." Qwark stated.

At this, everybody turned a glare to Ratchet. He put his hands behind his back and whistled innocently.

"Anyway, I've got the solution to your problem: game night!" Qwark announced.

"…What?"

"It's a night where the Q-Force plays video games." Ratchet stated.

"It's super riveting and chock full of excitement! Plus I kick everyone's butt every time." Qwark added.

"That's because you cheat and knock everyone out with sleeping gas."

"Wait there's cheating involved? I mean, I DON'T CARE!" Nefarious shouted.

"Come on, Doc, it'll be fun!" Qwark didn't wait for an answer, and grabbed Nefarious' arm and yanked him out the door. The others could hear him shouting down the hall.

"GET YOUR SQUISHIE HANDS OFF OF ME! UNHAND ME BEFORE I RIP YOU APART! LAWREEENCE!"

"Okay…" Ratchet said.

"I think that went rather well." Lawrence stated.

"So, why did you have us talk to him?" Clank asked.

"I obviously couldn't get through to him. So I got the next best people; the ones who are causing his dilemma."

"Who'd of thought Nefarious would feel guilty about anything?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes, it is rather surprising. I think it's all due to the fact he used to be organic himself."

"Perhaps our trip to Magnus and experiencing the benefits of having friends helped with that." Clank stated.

"You make it sound so complicated. We banded together, saved the universe, and became friends, simple as that." Ratchet sighed.

Suddenly Qwark popped back in.

"Hey Lawrence, you should come too it'll be fun!"

"Where's Nefarious?" Ratchet asked.

"Oh, he froze up in mid shout again. Let's go, and hurry! He's playing the final episode of Lance and Janice! It's the one where Janice reveals her big secret!"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"I'd say game night is going surprisingly well. Ya know, after we kept everyone from pummeling Lawrence and Nefarious." Ratchet stated as he and Clank watched Qwark fighting Skidd over a controller.

Nefarious was sitting Indian style on the couch furthest away from the group, glaring at nothing in particular. Lawrence stood beside the couch, also watching the fight.

"Come on, Doc, you should play, it'll be fun!" Qwark remarked.

"Just because you glued the controller to my hands doesn't mean I'm going to play!" Nefarious growled as he held up his hands, which were glued to a controller.

"Fine…"

While Qwark continued his argument with Skidd, Nefarious once again attempted to get the controller off with his foot.

"Stupid thing! Help me, Lawrence!" he grumbled.

Lawrence started pulling while Nefarious pushed on the controller with his foot, and Ratchet couldn't help but laugh at the scene.

"Silence squishie! This isn't funny!"

"Are you kidding, it's hilarious."

"If my hands weren't glued to this, I'd- AAAAGH!"

Nefarious had stood from the couch, but tripped over the cord for the controller. Everyone burst out laughing, while Nefarious growled to himself.

"Wow Doc, you're easier to trip in real life than the game." Qwark remarked as his video game persona socked Nefarious' to the ground.

Nefarious' eye twitched, and the controller suddenly exploded as dark energy formed in his hands.

"Here's a fun game for ya!" he growled as he made to throw an energy blast at Qwark.

"Whoa, whoa, okay, cool the dark matter." Ratchet ordered as he and Lawrence held him back.

"Do relax sir."

Nefarious yanked free and plopped down on the couch, grumbling to himself. Cronk and Zephyr pulled Ratchet aside.

"Are ya sure about him, rookie?" Cronk asked as he cast a suspicious look at Nefarious.

"Totally. Sure he's a little short tempered, but given his reasons, it's understandable. Qwark can annoy anybody." Ratchet replied.

"True. Well, I guess we can just overlook things. But if he tries anything, I'm watching the little whippersnapper!"

"Heh, you do that."

They returned to the group, where Qwark was still trying to convince Nefarious to play.

"Come on Doc, it's fun!"

"No! I don't do fun!"

"You're just afraid I'll beat you!"

"Please! I can kick your butt at anything! Including intelligence…"

Qwark paused, before smirking.

"Fine, I guess if you're too afraid to play. The controls are tricky after all."

At this, Nefarious perked up.

"Tricky is good. Tricky I can do. Give me that!" he swiped a controller from Clank.

Ratchet snickered, and kicked back with a soda while Nefarious and Qwark's characters went at each other, and the duo was shouting at each other while the others cheered them on.

'I guess having Nefarious around won't be so bad. It'll definantly make things interesting…' he thought with a sigh.

Angered shouts sounded from Nefarious and Qwark as they claimed the other had cheated, before quickly denying the other's claim.

"Calm down everyone!" Sasha yelled.

"He started it!" Nefarious and Qwark yelled in unison, and turned on each other.

"I did not, you did!"

"Here we go." Lawrence sighed.

"Eh, I'm sure they'll get along better…eventually." Ratchet remarked.

Lawrence merely shook his head, and the duo watched as Nefarious and Qwark continued their argument.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Well, that's the end of this story. Hope you enjoyed! R&R!