HousepetZ: Heroes United
Part 1
“Stephen Strange?” Joey asked.
“He’s one of my helpers,” Chronos explained as they led the Rangers through the Sanctum Sanctorum to the dining hall, “When he’s not helping his fellow Avengers here, he helps me keep an eye on all the Dimensions, including the one you lot were in.”
“So, you know about Handsome Jack then?”
“Know him?” Chronos scoffed, “Hawk, I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since he opened the vault on Elpis in his world, despite all the warnings everyone gave him!” Chronos continued as Dr. Strange led them into a nearby dining hall, excusing himself to prepare them some tea, “As to how he got his hands on Dimension Rings, I’m just as lost as you are. I do know it’s not because of Simon Milton and Loki…”
“Yeah, what happened to those two?” T-Bone asked, “After the incident at the mall, we’ve haven’t heard or seen them for roughly four weeks. Normally, we hear something from them in less than one.”
“You think Jack got ‘em?” Hunter asked.
“Probably but it’s unlikely. I don’t think they even had a Dimension Ring. Did they, Joey?” Joey thought for a bit, “They did when I last fought them in my dimension but I think that got destroyed when we clashed then, which sent them to the SPD Dimension.”
“So, somehow, Jack found a way to get his hands on a Ring,” Hunter said as Doctor Strange returned with a tray of tea for everyone, accepting his cup and taking a sip, “Now the question is where did he exactly get one. You can’t just hop into a local store and find one on the shelves, can you?”
“Nope,” Chronos answered, sipping his tea as he accepted his bowl of fish fingers and custard, “Dimension Rings can only be found on Celestials and other such beings in their respective dimensions. I believe that when Jack opened the Vault and the mercs he hired killed whatever was inside, the creature within had Dimension Rings on them.”
“If it’s so easy to get those rings, then how come Jack’s the only one who’s doing anything with it?” Hawk asked. Chronos was ready to reply but Joey was a bit quicker on the draw, “Perhaps he figured out how to better use them to their fullest and had more practice with them? Honestly, there’s just way too many questions we can be asking when we should be asking a more simple one: Just how can we get back to that dimension and stop Jack from taking over the others?”
“An even bigger question should be; Can we even stop him? Who’s to say he could just send us to another dimension with that ‘bot of his the second we show up?” Tigress asked. As the team and Chronos talked about the situation at hand, Doctor Strange quietly excused himself and left the room for personal reasons.
“Here’s an idea; why don’t me, Ratchet, and Hawk, since we got guns, head there first and take out that robot while the rest of you rescue Cruger and the others?” Jazz said as they were discussing plans. Ratchet and Clank were all for it and Joey and the others were all for their part of the plan, including Hawk, though he had something else in mind. “I like your idea, Jazz,” he began, “But, I think it’d be better if me and Ratchet and Clank went for the bot instead of you and us.”
“Why’s that?”
“Ratchet’s the better technician and I can provide better cover, no offense. Besides...I’m not a Ranger anymore and Ratchet and Clank here were technically never Rangers either…?”
“..So he will be more focused on us, leaving that bot unguarded and, if he does unleash it, it won’t work?” Tigress replied, smiling when she realized Hawk’s plan, “Then you two would get the drop on him and we can quickly end this war!” Hawk smiled and nodded. “I see why Cruger recruited you now,” Hunter chuckled as Hawk finished his tea with a grin, “Well...what can I say?” The crew laughed and, with everyone in agreement, there was still only one more question to ask. A question that Joey ended up asking; “Just how are we gonna get back there? We don’t have any rings.”
“Ahem,” Everyone turned around when they heard the ‘ahem’. Standing at the doorway and fiddling with two rings of his own was Chronos. “One leads to where the bot is and the other to where Cruger is.”
“I was gonna question this but you’re a Celestial and, seeing as I dealt with many in my world, I’ll accept this,” Joey chuckled. Chronos smiled and, wishing the team luck, opened the two Dimension Rings for them. Hawk and Ratchet, with Clank, headed through one while the remaining members headed through the other. They closed up once they were through just as Doctor Strange appeared once more. “Just missed them. Is everything ready?” Chronos asked.
“Everything is ready,” he replied, “Hopefully we won’t have to do it but….” Chronos nodded as he knew what he was referring to.
Back in Dimension SPD, Handsome Jack was kicking back and relaxing in the recently taken over command room, enjoying Cruger’s personal chair while his men and bots continued to set up a new Hyperion base within the SPD HQ. “Man, those rangers - gah even these pretzels suck - Who would’ve thought all I had to do was to blast them with a ring? Man, if I knew it was gonna be that easy, I would’ve showed up eons ago!” Jack laughed, spinning on the chair, “And to think! They were all that was standing in the way of me taking control of all dimensions. Oh think of all the worlds I can conquer, the morons I can take over...ah man, I’m just tearing up in joy!” His joy was soon interrupted as, over the comms, of his men began shouting about a jailbreak.
“What are you going on about?” Jack asked, “Those cells were designed to prevent jailbreaks, how’d they get out?”
“It’s the Rangers! They’re…!” The man’s voice was soon cut off by screaming as the sound of gunfire soon took over the airwaves. “Rangers?” he mumbled, sliding the chair to the nearby console and looking through the security feeds, cursing up a storm as he reached the prison section. There, in glorious high-definition, were the crew of SPD and the Rangers themselves. Somehow, much to Jack’s annoyance, they had returned from wherever his Loader Bot sent them.
“Gragh! DANG IT!” He shouted, flinging the chair across the room before grabbing a small handheld device, “Everyone, with me!” he commanded, pressing a few buttons, “If those cells can’t hold them and they were able to escape their banishment, then maybe I should send them all somewhere they can’t escape!”
“Cruger! Ten o’clock!” Joey shouted over the gun fire! The entire SPD crew and the Rangers were stuck in the main lobby as the Hyperion Forces reigned down on them, giving them everything they got. Although the SPD were tough, it appeared they were no match for the current forces of Hyperion. It seemed for every three they killed, more would take their place. Even Tigress had to resort to using a firearm as she couldn’t even get close due to the firepower. Just then, they heard the familiar sounds of heavy stomping coming from behind as they saw the custom Loader Bot that sent the Rangers away in the first place. Hyperion held their fire as the SPD and Rangers stopped as well.
“I have no idea how you guys escaped and, frankly, I don’t give a crap,” Jack said before looking back at the Loader then back at the SPD and Rangers, “I got the perfect place to send you guys and this time? I made sure you won’t….!” Suddenly, out of the blue, the Loader Bot began to malfunction and fire at everything and everyone, except the SPD and Rangers, much to Jack’s annoyance. Then, as a cherry on top, the bot pointed it’s cannons at itself and fired, destroying itself and the dimension rings it had in one nice explosion!
“Pity about your robot,” a voice then said from above, “But that’s what you get for not having good security on it!” Jack looked up and swore. Standing above him on the upper floor was none other than Hawk Redsky and Ratchet and Clank, the later holding the device that allowed the bot to receive commands from Jack. The SPD crew and Rangers cheered before aiming their weapons at Jack, Cruger ordering him to stand down and surrender. Jack pouted for a bit, leading everyone to think he was surrendering, but suddenly began to laugh. “Yeah about that,” he grinned, pulling out a dimension ring, “I still got a few tricks up my sleeves.” However, before he could act, Hawk suddenly landed behind him and lunged for the ring. Both he and Jack were now in a struggle, each one fighting over the ring to see who would get it first.
“Give it up, Jack! You're fighting a losing battle here!” Hawk growled.
“A losing battle for you, not me!” In a swift and sudden move, Jack reached for a small hexagonal device and spawned in his Conference Call Shotgun and aimed it up at Hawk and pulled the trigger….*bam!*
“HAWK!!!!!” Joey and Tigress screamed in terror. Hawk gasped and coughed up some blood, looking down to see a massive gaping hole in his chest then looking back up at a now smiling Jack before dropping to his knees.
“Well, that was easy,” Jack laughed as he holstered his gun but his laughing subsided as he tried to free his grip, with the ring, from Hawk’s paw. For some reason, he couldn’t get the paw to release, let alone let him go. In fact, it felt like the grip was tightening. He then, along with the others, soon began to hear a different laughter. Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, Hawk began to stand back up. At first confused, Jack then looked on in horror as the massive hole in his chest? The one he made with his own gun? It began to repair itself, leaving no trace of the shot behind.
“That, which is eternal cannot die,” Hawk growled with a smile as he looked up at a now frightened Jack, “But if it’s any consolation to you, Jack...THAT HURT LIKE HECK!” With a mighty thrust, Hawk headbutted Jack, sending him backwards back into a nearby reception desk. He then turned to the still shocked SPD and Rangers and showed them the ring, “What? I’m immortal.” As he spoke, Jack, winded from the hit, reached for his communicator and tapped a few buttons, sending a signal to the Hyperion Satellite.
“Hey, what’s that rumbling sound?” A nearby techie asked as the ground soon began to shake. Before anyone could even react, there was a blinding flash, followed by an explosion. As a rather cheap shot, Jack sent an order to the remaining crew on the Satellite to fire a moonshot down onto the HQ itself, in an attempt to bury everyone (save him as his personal shield would protect him). Just as quick as it started, it was soon over. The SPD HQ was utterly and completely destroyed, leaving only rubble and debris. The Rangers, some of the SPD Crew, and Cruger were the only ones to survive, each one looking around at the destruction.
“Oh...no,” Jazz groaned, pointing to the horizon at the now visible, and larger than life, Hyperion Satellite. Below it, a massive army of Loader Bots and Hyperion Soldiers began marching towards them. And who was right out in front, holding his personal shotgun? None other than Handsome Jack himself. “Face it, Rangers!” he shouted, “You lost! I am the hero of this story! None of you will be walking away from this!” The Rangers, surviving SPD, and Cruger, though they didn’t want to agree with Jack, knew he was right. Everyone did, except for Joey. “I’m not giving up.”
“Joey?” Tigress said, “There’s too many of them for us to take on. No way we can win.”
“That’s what I thought when Daisy’s mansion was attacked by the undead. But we survived and came out the victors,” he said, grabbing his damaged helmet that was knocked off in the blast and putting it on, “If I am to die today, then I would rather die knowing I went out fighting and protecting the ones I loved instead of not doing anything.” Hawk stepped up to him, “That day I first came and we had that fight? I said you weren’t a soldier. I was wrong,” he said as he drew his revolvers, “You’re the best soldier I ever knew...and I’m with you until the end.” Joey nodded and smiled.
“I’m with you, too,” T-Bone replied, followed by Hunter, Jazz, Ratchet and Clank. Cruger and the remaining SPD members were next, followed by Tigress who stepped up next to Joey and nodded, looking out at the approaching Hyperion forces. “We may be alone in this fight...but dang it we will go out fighting,” She said to Joey. However, just before they could do anything, another voice soon spoke up, one that the rangers recognized: “But you’re not alone.” Behind them, a Dimension Portal opened up as, from within, Chronos and Doctor Strange stepped out, along with the other members of the Sanctum Sanctorum, much to everyone’s surprise.
“Chronos? What are you doing here?” Joey asked.
“We saw you guys needed some help,” Doctor Strange replied. Joey chuckled as Hawk replied, “Well, that’s nice and all but…” he looked over at the Hyperion Forces, “Pretty sure you guys came to a losing fight.” Chronos, however, just smiled, “Not quite.” Just then, more
Dimension Portals* began opening all around them. To Tigress’ shock, her fellow Furious Five team walked out of one, along with Poe, Master Shifu, and the other Kung-Fu masters and volunteers. To Hunter’s surprise? His Road Rovers team, alongside another Road Rovers squad, walked out of two portals, along with his dimension’s armies and the S.W.A.T Kats. T-Bone’s own team, The Extreme Dinosaurs, were next, followed by Rivet and Kit, Ratchet & Clank’s friends. But to Joey’s utter surprise, coming from a close-by portal, Zach Arbelt and his protector Cthulhu walked out, alongside Anubis, Dragon, and Zodd, both with their own armors and weapons.
“Is that everyone?” Strange asked Chronos, who just smiled as more suddenly opened up. The roar of motorcycles were heard as three biker mice rode out alongside a human who was dressed similarly to Hawk The cracking of knuckles were soon heard as well as seeing the shining of teeth as muscular humanoid street sharks appeared from another. More amphibians soon appeared as the Battletoads walked out of another. Even more portals opened up, these in the sky as various ships appeared. From the S.P.A.C.E (Sentient Protoplasm Against Colonial Encroachment.) Organization, led by Captain Bucky O’Hare to the Great Fox and the Star Fox team themselves. Handsome Jack could only look on in disbelief and shock. He had no idea these Rangers had an army this huge, let alone of this magnitude. Joey meanwhile, with a little help from Chronos, stepped up in front of his friends and fellow soldiers and pulled out his Masked Rider blade. Raising it to the sky and with all the strength he could, shouted as he pointed the blade towards Handsome Jack and Hyperion: “RANGERS...UNITE!” With a massive roar, the army for good charged forward as Jack’s own army charged at them. The Dimensional War had begun.
*Click the link as I feel this music is very fitting for this scene