Oh hello there

It was strange material for a family photo book, but it could go between the pictures from the camping trip and whatever they were going to do together next. Five had brought them closer, after all. The times they were going to keep humiliating him deserved the recognition.

"I guess I'm not that lousy of a boss after all. Four out of five families is still a good result." Rook said with a shrug, "Well, I can't tell you guys what to do to Ratchet. Just make sure not to do anything too brutal to him while I'm going to be very busy kicking Five's butt."

Lucien couldn't help a small malicious grin, glad to be quietly enabled. Ratchet wasn't going to get away with hurting Russell like that just because he was a regular horrible human being.

"You heard the boss. We must be on our best behavior." Lucien said.

Ratchet would regret ever crawling out of the ditch the Twins had left him in.

"Now that one sounds like a joke!" Fae chimed in.

"Your ride will be there shortly." Willow announced. The shadows were already gathering by Erica, "Ah. I certainly hope that won't be the case."

Losing a limb, even temporarily, wasn't an experience Russell needed to get acquainted with. She would do anything possible to avoid that.

"The hope is that between all the tools we have, we can find a way to pry it off before it comes to that." Rook said then, "Ratchet doesn't really enchant his stuff and we already have some experience with it. Hopefully, we can spare him that at least."

But they'd deal with that once they got there. They first had to reach to their painfully obvious destination without causing too much alarm while Fae lit up the whole street.

"That's right! You gotta do things with style!" Which included defying gravity wherever simply getting around an obstacle was just too boring. "Nice grippers, Bill!"

Lucien needed none of that. He would leave Fae to her sliding and gliding from one pole to another and simply faded into the fog to keep up with the group.

"Come on, Antonio. You don't want Rook to curl your tail."

The taunt was a little moment of lightness while they hurried ahead. Rook's magic was as effective as it was unstable and none of them wanted to get caught in her path. But with stealth out of the window, the occasional set of burning fingerprints could be overlooked. The flurry of flames advanced, careful not to melt everything in her path.

"Eh, and I thought Willow had big pockets." Erica grinned, before her nose caught on the scent of bananas, "Thanks. I'll be right back!"

Right as Erica retreated into the abyss, a pair of hands emerged to take the bananas from Travis' hands. That was an excellent offering and with some luck, they would help Five make another swift exit once they were done with him.

"Hello, Big Big Bro! It's good to see you." Erica greeted Travis with a smile that was a little too wide as usual, "The others are taking the long way, we'll take the shortcut. Grab on!"

It was certainly wasn't a normal storm. That was for sure.

"And hey, there is a silver lining in all of this," Bill suggested, "We'll get more material for the Fam Kicking Ass compilation, and the album. It's one way to see it."

It seemed that Bill was feeling fairly confident about how a confrontation could end, despite everything that had been discussed moments before.

"You're not lousy at all," Leofric only said, "And we'll make sure to save you a chance to get your own back at him as well after you have dealt with Five."

Antonio was wearing a devious little smirk of his own at Rook's indirect blessing. He was certainly looking forward to making Ratchet pay. If anything, the man deserved it for not learning anything from last time, and he had to be taught an even harsher lesson.

"I'll show him best behaviour all right," Antonio replied then.

Fantasising would be need to be done later however. Right now, it was time to get going.

"It's a bit of both," Bill said to Fae, with a small grin of his own.

"Glad to hear it, I'll be ready," Travis said, with a nod. It seemed that he wasn't too worried about what said Travel might entail.

Perhaps he figured it was worth it when it came to kicking some ass and saving his brother.

"That's what I'm also hoping for," Bill said. It would be a last resort, and with any luck, it wouldn't need to be used, "But the sooner we get there, the sooner we can sort this whole mess out."

As he swung, he smiled at Fae.

"Thank you, they are pretty neat, aren't they?" Bill said.

"I still prefer that to freezing," Antonio said, as he looked over, impressed at the way Rook moved among the flames, "But I do see your point."

"It's all about how to modify a space to your needs," Leofric said, "But we will see you soon."

He would soon get his shield out once they were close enough, but he was already summoning the protective spell for the fam to have when they got up to Five.

Travis let out a low impressed whistle at how quickly Erica had gotten through to him, allowing her to take the bananas from his hands.

"Good to see you too, Sports Elf," Travis said. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help but smile at the greeting, "Sounds good to me."

With that, he took Erica's hand.

"Ready when you are."

Russell didn't have much to say about the current matter, due to still being unconscious.

He had been placed on a folding chair with a blanket over him. While his body was still unmoving thanks to the mix of toxins keeping him numb and sedated, his eyes still moved with a harsh intensity beneath the lids. It seemed the dreams he was having were not pleasant ones.

Russell chuckled a little bit.

"I, I know Grand, Grand Theft Auto does," Russell said, "Or, or least it, it did for, for an event. But it, it was in this, this game that, that came out this, this year. Poke-Pokemon Pokopia. You, you can, you can get, get particular items so, so you can launch fireworks in, in the game."

But then a new thought came to mind.

And he definitely has never played Pokopia since he didn't have a Switch.

But the idea of actually being able to do so in a video game actually sounded like fun. Especially if it was a whole game dedicated to it.

Apparently, it had been allowed up again for the New Year's Eve that year too, but he couldn't really remember. But then he smiled a little bit on hearing Worth's enthusiasm for playing.

"Well, you, you are in, in luck," Russell said, "We, we did pick that up as, as a, a 4th July special for, for customers to play."

Russell then got out a laptop from a locked cabinet, and then placed it down, opening it up. There was a username "EmeraldWingedLewis" and a password (CardinalRobinPigeon) for the account attached to the laptop on a note, just in case it was logged out.

It was already opened up onto the Steam up, and as it was, Fireworks Mania was one of the more recently played games.

Russell was, as always, heartwarmingly considerate.

"Little critters always come first. But my only lil' critters are bugs an' they don't care. There was a big show bein' set off down by th' water, so I sat up on th' top of my building an' watched with a 12 pack of beer. Not too shabby."

But then he thought, "Hey what nerd game do ya play that lets ya set off fireworks? Grand Theft Auto 'er somethin'?"

Russell chuckled a little bit.

"I, I know Grand, Grand Theft Auto does," Russell said, "Or, or least it, it did for, for an event. But it, it was in this, this game that, that came out this, this year. Poke-Pokemon Pokopia. You, you can, you can get, get particular items so, so you can launch fireworks in, in the game."

But then a new thought came to mind.

It would have been hilarious to also make a second copy to send to her father as a kind reminder that he better watch his back even while there was no contact between them. She would look into that once they had the confirmation Russell was going to be okay.

"Remember, I dared do something a bit more chill and they all ran for the hills." Rook added, rolling her eyes, "Which is something to have gripes about when they're already fucking dead."

But there was no point in getting worked up about that at this time. They were up against Ratchet and Five, not the rest of his dumbass family. The general disgust among their group was enough motivation already.

"We should really consider making it a reality. Five probably wouldn't mind having an authentic eunuch around." Lucien stated.

"That should have sounded like a joke, you know." Fae told him, "But we'll see to that when we get there. The best torture takes form in the heat of the moment."

"Your remark extends to you as well." Willow mocked her, "Bananas are acceptable. Get ready and we shall handle the logistics."

Erica was definitely within earshot to know what she was expected to do.

"He has the strength but he still has no taste." Willow pointed out, "Being able to lift Russell doesn't exactly require much strength however."

"It's still enough." Rook replied, "I hope we'll be able to get rid of that thing on our own. Ratchet probably changed the combination. Russell has been through enough without us making it worse."

"In that case, we'll just have to go with Antonio's idea and do everything we can to keep Ratchet's crap jewelry away from us." Fae said then, "Come on, Rook. You've got Leofric and Bill here too. You can do this."

Erica nodded along. Rook's self doubt liked to show up at the worst times, even after all they had been through together, but they didn't mind reminding her they could take on anything.

"I think it'll be easier this time." the elf added, "Yeah, it's not right. We should really check it out."

"It's all right. I'm about to locate Five's new hideout." Willow was cut off as the lightning struck, "...Or I suppose we could investigate the ominous building in the distance."

Sometimes magic really clashed with her groove. Nevertheless, she straightened her coat, ready to go. If Five was so impatient to see them, then they better not keep him waiting.

"Then let's roll!" Fae took the lead then, dashing and sliding along a rainbow path, "Every joke has been made but you go right ahead, guys!"

Willow placed a hand on her katana, before following. "Tell me, Simon. Have you heard of a game called Ghostrunner?"

Rook motioned Bill to go ahead. "It's best if you go first. I wouldn't want to get you all toasted before we even see Five."

Erica finally got herself back on the ground. "You watch out for smoke machines, Leofric. I'll go get our token human."

Antonio simply nodded in agreement. He also liked that idea, but he was caught up in pondering just what they were going to do once they reached Five.

"It just goes to show how cool you really are," Bill said, "Assholes just can't handle it."

Antonio did let out a snarky little chuckle at Lucien's comment.

"Well, if anything, it might give him a reason to give up on life," Antonio then said, "And then he would be one less probably for everyone to deal with."

"I suppose that is true enough," Leofric said thoughtfully, "Most of it does happen without much planning."

"No problem," Travis said. He was quick to grab the bananas he had had sitting in the fruit bowl, and moved to place them near the shadows as instructed. If he could be there to help, he would be, "Right, beam me up please!"

"We can all agree on that," Simon said, "And that's saying something when it's coming from me as well."

"If worst comes to worst, we can probably find some way to cut it off without cutting Russell's arm off as well," Bill suggested, "And you sure can do it, Rook, especially with us with you. Fae's right."

He decided that he wasn't about to say that if that didn't work, then perhaps severing Russell's arm off could also be an option. Sure, it would rewind, and hopefully without the cuff still attached, but it was still unpleasant to think about.

"I did bring my shield with me," Leofric then said, "Along with my sword. They're both in my coat, which as we all know, stores more than what many perceive to be possible. If a gadget bypasses Antonio's telekinetic powers, then its momentum should be stopped by that."

Leofric nodded.

"Yes, I believe we should," he agreed.

"Good to know," Simon said, "I'm also working on that as we spea..."

Simon found himself trailing off when he saw the way the lightning had lit up that particular building. It was like it had been done on purpose.

"That's probably a good idea," Simon then agreed, once he found his voice again.

"Well, if he wanted to get our attention, he certainly got it," Bill said, before he looked at Rook, "Works for me. We'll see you there. I'm not going to joke, Fae, I'm just going to say I love the rainbow road aesthetic. Amazing track."

"Oh I definitely have," Simon said, "I have I'm going to like where this is going."

And he could keep an eye out on the other cameras for potential obstacles or possible threats while Willow did her thing.

"I'll keep an eye, an ear, and my nose out for any for those, Erica. Thank you for the warning," Leofric said, "Save travels, both by yourself, and when you return."

With that, he went to move on forward. No more time could be wasted. Bill used his shadowy tentacles to move himself forward, rappelling like Spiderman himself. Leofric simply phased through vehicles and other obstacles like they weren't there, and Antonio used his feline attributes to easily leap and dash over everything.