Ravage: a Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper Crossover

Note: this takes place after Ratchet & Clank ACIT and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. I do not own Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper, they belong to their owners. Calamity, Agrona, and Rykk do belong to me.

Also note this is not cannon to any of my other works in this universe. This is something I am doing for fun and to introduce some of my characters that I'm still working on. That means that, when I finish my work and the off chance anyone here reads it, this won't spoil it.

Anyways, I've wanted to write a Ratchet and Clank FanFic for a long time. So I hope I'm making a good one.

Chapter 1, Ravage,

It was a cool night in Paris and Sly Cooper stood on the balcony of the museum overlooking the city. The raccoon sighed, reminiscing about his past thieving adventures. Those were the days, I miss Bentley and Murray. It's been months since I've seen them. I mean I grew up with them and then I fake this amnesia to live a "normal" life! Carmelita's great though. She's strong but beautiful. He was interrupted as Carmelita Fox came behind him. Her touch brought him back to the present.

"Come on Sly," Her Spanish accent cut the air. "Let's go get a drink."

One night later, Sly and Carmelita were fast asleep. When Sly's sensitive ears heard a light tap on a window. It was the window on the balcony of their apartment. What the heck? He felt more than a little embarrassed and vulnerable due to only wearing a pair of dark blue boxers. Luckily, he was skilled in hand to hand combat so he wasn't seriously scared.

He approached the balcony's slide-and-glass door and smiled. The turtle known as Bentley was on the balcony, he was smiling as well. Sly quietly and smoothly slid the door to the side and stepped outside.

Bentley chuckled as his friend closed the door behind himself. "Well Sly, I'm glad you've been keeping in shape."

Sly playfully rolled his eyes, "Haha, yeah but if I keep eating the way I do, I won't be." He lightly patted his stomach, "I am glad to see you Bentley." The former thief looked back inside nervously. "But if Carmelita sees you and me, she'll turn me into a fur hat."

Bentley put up his hands, "I know, I know Sly but I've found something extraordinary. Something I've never seen before. I need you to help figure out what to do with it."

Sly rose an eyebrow, "What did you find and where is it?"

"Some kind of globe-like portal, gateway thing in England; I wouldn't have come here if I didn't think it was important."

Sly rubbed the bridge of his nose, "What about Carmelita? What do I tell her? Hey, I've faked amnesia for the past few months?!"

"Not a bad way to start…" a Spanish-accented voice was muffled behind the glass door. Even though the glass muffled her speech, Sly could make out the venom in her voice. It made Sly's fur stand on end. Sly turned around and saw Carmelita with her arms crossed. Her silk night-gown billowed lightly as she moved.

Bentley rolled his wheelchair back a bit.

Carmelita slid the door open, an angry and hurt expression on her face. "You lied to me Cooper! You lying, no-good ringtail! I can't believe you!" Sly was lucky she didn't have her gun on her, or in the apartment, or in the building. She did smack the raccoon on the cheek though.

Sly recoiled, "I, I'm sorry, but I wanted to settle down with you. I do love you."

The fiery vixen was still angry but Cooper's words calmed her a bit.

"Guys I'm sorry about this, but I have something that will interest you both."

"What is it Bentley?" Carmelita asked, only a slight hint of anger in her voice.

"You have to see it, get dressed and meet me downstairs."

Meanwhile…

The short, young lombax known as Ratchet and the small robot known as Clank had just left the Great Clock. The duo wanted nothing more than to return to Veldin and rest. As they flew, a growl echoed through the cabin of the ship called Aphelion. Clank was initially confused but quickly realized the sound came from Ratchet's gut. The small robot chuckled slightly, "It's been a while since I've been around organics. I almost forgot you need to eat."

Ratchet blushed slightly and covered his stomach with his hand. "Yeah pal, I need to stop by Galaxy Burger before we get home." The mention of Galaxy Burger made his stomach growl even louder; which made the lombax blush even more.

Clank chuckled but then asked in a serious tone, "Ratchet, when was the last time you ate?"

Ratchet had to think a bit, he was so focused on finding Clank; he hadn't eaten as much as he should. "I'm not exactly sure, been kinda busy."

"You have been… alright Ratchet?"

Ratchet nodded, "I am now," as he spoke he pulled out the pocket watch that belonged to Alistair. His heart dropped for a second as he looked at the picture of his father. I just wish I could've met him. Wish the clock could turn time back. Wish I could go and be with my people. His eyes got a bit wet but he blinked the tears away. Ratchet quickly put the watch in his pocket and buried his sadness.

"Hey Ratchet, why don't you give Miss Apogee a call?" Clank suggested, "She is probably worried about you."

"Alright, I'll give her a call on the way to Galaxy Burger." Ratchet typed her number into Aphelion's com system.

The young Markazian's face lit up, "Ratchet! Oh thank the heavens! I've been worried sick about you! Where are you?"

"I'm leaving the Great Clock with Clank."

"You found it and Clank! Ratchet, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just a bit hungry. Want to grab a bite?"

"I would, but I'm busy helping Cronk and Zephyr fix the air filtration system on the station."

Ratchet could hear the old robots bickering in the background. He remarked sarcastically "Sounds like that's going well."

Talwyn gave an exasperated sigh. "If it weren't for the fact I need air to live, I would let them do it. Can I get back in touch when I'm finished?"

"Of course, sure, hey how about I come give you a hand after I get a bite?"

There was a loud crash and Cronk and Zephyr began yelling louder. "That sounds awesome. I'll see you soon, got to go."

"See you later."

An short time later, Ratchet set Aphelion to autopilot towards Apogee Station. It would take them a bit of time to reach it; meaning that the two friends had time to catch up.

Ratchet swallowed the last of his meal while Clank finished a can of oil. As the duo consumed their meals, they had exchanged small talk and memories. They were laughing and having a good time forgetting about the past few days.

As they finished, the young and fun-loving lombax felt his stomach gurgle. He instantly realized what was about to happen. He grinned mischievously and lightly elbowed Clank. "Hey Clank, check this out."

Clank was slightly intrigued but then quickly realized what was about to occur.

Ratchet leaned his head forward and…, "BBUUUUURRRRAAAAPPP!" Ratchet let loose an enormous belch. It echoed through the small cabin.

Clank started to laugh. He was slightly disgusted as his sensors picked up trace amounts of gastro fumes.

"Ratchet really? You act like such a child sometimes!" Aphelion scolded.

Ratchet chuckled, wiped some drool from his chin, and patted his stomach, "Heh, not too bad if I do say so myself." He said in an immature but proud tone.

Clank slowly stopped laughing, "Ratchet, you are immature… but fun. I have missed you."

"I missed…" Ratchet began but was interrupted.

"Warning…" Aphelion's voice rang, "…approaching unidentified object."

Bentley took Sly, Carmelita, and Murray to England via the English Chunnel. Sly was back in his thieving outfit and Carmelita, in her police uniform.

Once in England, Bentley led everyone to the moors. "I was doing a job for a friend of mine when I came across some kind of communication device. It was unlike any tech I've used but I was able to interact with it."

"Wait," Sly started as they walked on the dirt road. "You didn't know what it was? the all-knowing Bentley?" Sly chuckled.

Bentley rolled his eyes, "Haha, and no I didn't. It gave me the location I'm taking you to. I got there and… I don't know what it is or what to do with it." The turtle led the gang off the road and to a crevice in the moors.

The crevice was barely big enough for Murray but he managed. "Who was your friend and what was the job Bentley?" The big, pink hippo asked.

"It was Rixio, an old Italian friend of mine. He wanted me to analyze and update his systems. He told me about this desk-like machine he had found while searching for treasures in Spain. While Rixio is intelligent, he needs some help in tech matters. He gave the machine to me as he thought it cool, but worthless. That was my pay. It's right over here."

The group turned a corner and Sly saw the most interesting artifact he'd ever laid eyes on. It was like a big, metal, riveted globe. It stood about twelve feet tall. The dark metal sphere hovered between the globe's arms and spun slowly. Red energy bounced from the globe's poles to the arms. On the back of the arms was some kind of touchpad.

"I tried to interact with this device but all I could get was that it was some kind of gateway or door." Bentley said as he wheeled his way to the interface.

"A door? To where?" Carmelita asked.

"It would just say to a place called Parson. It would seem there's some kind of intelligence in this machine. But it's either very stubborn, very old, or both."

Sly observed the strange contraption. It was evident the thing had been there for some time, there was rust and other signs of wear on it.

"Hey, what about this lever?" Murray asked as he pulled it down.

Initially Bentley was about to scold his friend but then the dark metal around the slowly spinning globe began to retract. The parting plates revealed a black orb surrounded by red and black swirled energy.

Suddenly a high-pitched, gender-neutral voice came from the device. "Restraining blinds retracted, prepared for departure?"

"Departure? What's the destination?" Bentley asked.

The machine responded, "Parson, ready for departure?"

"What is Parson?" Carmelita asked.

The thing stubbornly repeated, "Ready for departure?"

Bentley began typing on the machine's interface. He became focused as he pushed the holographic buttons, "I think… I can… find out… more… now…"

"Departure imminent," the machine's voice echoed and suddenly red energy appeared in the air. The wind began to pick up.

Sly became worried and yelled as the wind quickly picked up. It was blowing towards the black and red orb. "Let's get out of here!"

Everyone tried to run but the wind was too powerful. Bentley was the first to be pulled into the portal. The poor turtle was yelling for help and tried to grab onto anything but was too late. Sly used his cane to hook onto a root in the side of the crevice.

Carmelita held onto a handhold on the other side of the crevice.

Murray slammed his hands into the ground and clutched it hard.

The red-tinged air was rushing so fast and loud, it was deafening. Sly saw Carmelita trying to say something but he couldn't make it out. Carmelita's grip slipped and she yelled as she was pulled in.

Sly yelled her name then felt the root begin to give. The realization that he would be pulled in hit him. After a few seconds, the root gave and Sly was pulled in.

Floating a good distance away from Aphelion was a black and red orb. There was a swirl of red energy floating in a sphere around the orb. The orb looked big, around eighty feet in circumference, and had an eerie look to it.

Ratchet looked at the strange phenomenon, "Clank have you seen anything like this before?"

Clank looked at it and scanned it with his optical scanners. He shook his head, "No, it's energy is reading unlike anything I have ever seen. It's not a black hole, star, or anything in my databanks."

"I'm giving Tal a call; maybe she saw something like this in her travels or heard about it from her dad." Ratchet contacted Talwyn. "Tal, I came across something neither I nor Clank have seen before. It looks like some kind of black hole or wormhole but isn't one."

She looked more calm and had evidently finished her repairs. "Where are you?" Ratchet gave her his location, "I'll be there in a few."

Talwyn flew quickly and was there within a half-hour. Ratchet kept a good distance from the weird sphere. He saw her ship and called her. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

Talwyn looked at the strange anomaly and shook her head. "It's not like anything I saw in my father's notes or anything I've seen. I need a closer look."

"Miss Apogee," Clank warned, "I would not get too close."

Talwyn was intrigued and was undaunted by Clank's warning. "Just one sec," her ship slowly approached the object.

When Talwyn's ship entered the red energy around the object, it flashed a bright white light. Suddenly, the red energy began to swirl into the object. It began pulling Talwyn's ship into the sphere.

Talwyn's voice became frantic, "Ratchet! My ship's controls are dead! I can't do anything!"

Ratchet grabbed Aphelion's controls, "Hang on Talwyn! I'm coming!"

Clank was about to warn Ratchet but, before he could say anything, they had entered the energy field. Tal's ship was pulled into the portal. A few seconds later, Ratchet & Clank joined her.

Sly had passed out when he went through the strange portal. When he woke up he was lying face down on crimson dirt. He hoisted himself to his feet and looked around. He was disoriented and the surroundings were alien to him. The ground was crimson in color and was dry. The sky was a pale yellow color. There were hundreds of tall, crimson, rock formations. Behind them were some kind of ruins. It looked like some kind of shack made of dark, riveted metal. It looked like the same kind of metal the machine was made of. There was no sign of the red portal or the device. Bentley was still out, he had fallen out of his chair, Carmelita was leaning against the ruins, and Murray, being the last one through, was out as well.

Where are we? Sly approached Carmelita. "Did I miss anything?"

She shook her head, "I'm scared Ringtail, this isn't Paris or England, this isn't our planet. I'm used to handling criminals, not other worlds."

Sly shrugged, "Well, I'm a thief and, like you, am not used to this."

A moan from Bentley got Sly and Carmelita's attention. They helped the dazed turtle back into his chair. "Ugh," Bentley said as he rubbed his head. "Where are we? And is everyone ok?"

Sly answered, "I don't know and yes, as far as we know. Murray is still..."

As if on cue, Murray moaned and stumbled to his feet. "Alright, that was the freakiest thing I've been through."

Sly looked around and assessed the situation. Okay, so we have no food, no water, no idea where we are, and no way back. So, what do we do? We're obviously not on our own world. Guess our only option is to take a look around. Sly spotted his cane lying a few yards away. He picked it up and twirled it a bit.

"So what's the plan Sly?" Carmelita asked. Nearly all traces of her anger and hurt towards Sly had vanished from her voice.

"We need to take a walk and hopefully find some way back; in the very least some water or food." He pointed the curved, gold-colored end of his staff away from the ruined shack. "We might as well go that way."

Ratchet and Clank found themselves crashing onto some planet. Aphelion failed to respond. Their yells of fear echoed throughout the cabin. Ratchet's stomach became queasy and he resisted the urge to lose his meal. The portal had dumped Aphelion over a hundred feet above some unknown planet. It's surface was crimson red in color and it's sky was a pale, royal yellow color.

Ratchet was able to spot Talwyn's crash site. It was apparent that he and Clank would be crashing beside her. Ratchet thought about Talwyn, he prayed that she was ok.

Clank watched as the alien ground rushed up to meet them.

The impact was hard but Ratchet and Clank had been through rougher landings. Ratchet groaned and Clank jumped out of the ship. It was apparent the ship was totaled. Clank trotted over to Talwyn's ship as Ratchet climbed out of Aphelion. He saw that Talwyn was fine and was struggling with her safety belt. It had jammed in the crash and her voice showed frustration. Clank pulled out a small saw and cut her free. He returned the saw to his compartment and Talwyn left her wrecked ship.

Ratchet walked over to Clank and Talwyn. "Is everyone ok?"

Clank nodded.

Talwyn nodded and said, "Besides the fact that our ships are totaled? I'm fine." She looked around. "You have any idea on what planet we're on?"

The planet looked unlike any of the worlds Ratchet had seen before. That's saying something; he's been on hundreds of worlds. He looked at Clank, "Does this place look like any planets in your database Clank?"

"One second," the small robot closed his eyes as he searched. A few seconds later he opened his eyes. "I am sorry; I do not have any records that match this place." He looked around a bit, "This is strange. I have never encountered any kind of portal like that. I am able to pick up some faint electrical and radio signals coming from the northeast. As best I can tell, there's some kind of settlement. Given the strength, I'd say it's about twenty miles away."

Both Ratchet and Talwyn sighed in uneager tones. Talwyn said, "Well at least you have plenty of time to tell me what happened at the Great Clock."

The Cooper gang had been walking for hours. But for the past hour Sly had been feeling uneasy, like something was watching him. He thought he had seen something dart from behind the rock formations once or twice, so he kept his guard up. Not sure what could be lurking in the strange place. Though his ears were top notch, he couldn't pick up any footsteps outside his groups'. Sly guessed it was sometime in the afternoon; though it was only a guess, as he had no idea how time was told there.

"Sly, can't we stop for a rest? We don't even know where we are!" Murray exclaimed. He was pretty worn and wasn't built for long hikes.

Sly was getting tired, but he was also very hungry and thirsty. His tail hung low, his ears were a bit down, his stomach complained, and his throat felt as scorched as the landscape. It was a barren desert, only rock formations and some withered plants dotted the crimson ground. The sun was relentless and there was little cover from its intense rays.

"Well, let's try and find somewhere to rest." They walked a bit further until Sly's ears perked up. The cool sound of a rushing brook hit his ears. "I hear water!" Sly exclaimed and Carmelita also heard it. They all bounded towards the source. They jumped down a short ledge (Bentley used his chair's hover function to get down the four-foot ledge) and saw the stream. It was about three feet across and was cool and clear.

The gang wasted no time and began drinking down the cool water. The cool, clear liquid soothed Sly's throat as he drank. He felt the crystal water splash in his burning, empty gut. As the raccoon satisfied his thirst, he was knocked to the ground by something big.

He was hit so fast, hard, and the creature was so quiet Sly had no time to react. All he could do was yelp. The thing was big, hairy, and a quadruped. Sly's light frame made it impossible for him to fight back. Sly felt a rush of pain in his left shoulder, the creature had dug its fangs in. Sly yelled as a warm and sticky feeling was felt in his fur.

Luckily for Sly, he had a team. He felt the thing get thrown off of him and Sly did a reverse somersault onto his feet. His shoulder had a burst of pain as he rolled.

Murray had run his fist into the big predator; he was the one to knock the thing back.

The creature was a big cat. It was about the size of a Bengal tiger and had a somewhat similar stripe pattern. It was mostly black and had crimson, vertical stripes. It's underbelly was a rust-color and had white tips on its ears and tail. Its eyes almost glowed blue. The big cat growled and bared its fangs as it began to slowly circle the group.

Carmelita drew her gun and fired at the predator. Blue bolts struck the cat and it roared in anger. It drew back a bit before pouncing towards Carmelita. Its long, black claws extended, its white fangs were bared. Carmelita was moving out of the cat's path but was apparent she wasn't quick enough. Suddenly, Sly yelled and jumped in front of the cat's path. He hit it on the side of its face with his staff. The blow knocked the cat to the side and stunned it slightly.

It growled and rubbed its face with its paw.

Carmelita raised her pistol and began firing furiously. The flurry of energy bolts drove the big cat away. It roared and vanished behind a rock formation.

The crew was tense for a few seconds, waiting for the cat to come back. After a short time they relaxed a bit. Sly lowered his staff, using his right hand; he picked up his cap and put it on his head. As he performed the action, he winced. Sly put his right hand on the wound and took it off. On his blue-gloved hand was dark red blood.

"Sly, you ok?" Bentley asked. He felt a bit useless in the fight but he was well equipped to patch wounds.

Sly nodded, "That dang furball bit my shoulder."

"Let me take a look, kneel down a bit Sly." Bentley said as he extended the arms from the back of his wheelchair.

"I can't believe this," Carmelita stated and rubbed her forehead, "We are stuck on some strange world; no sign of any help, and have some big kitty cat trying to make us a snack!" She said as she started to walk around.

"That thing was no match for the Murray!" The big pink hippo said proudly.

"There, that ought to do it." Bentley said as he finished cleaning and bandaging the wound.

Sly's shoulder hurt as he put his blue, roughed up shirt back on. He grunted and stood up.

"Hey guys I got something!" Carmelita exclaimed eagerness laced her voice.

The guys approached Carmelita's position and each of them felt a touch of hope. Less than a quarter-mile from the stream was a dirt road. The road ran parallel to the stream and looked like it was used by horses.

Everyone, at practically the same time, looked one way and then the other. There was nothing coming either way.

Sly pointed each direction as he asked, "So, left or right?"

The Lombax, the Markazian, and the robot had been walking for a while. They had stumbled upon a brook early on their trek and had gathered some water. They used a bottle that Clank had kept in his compartment. They then walked for a couple hours and Ratchet filled Talwyn in on the Great Clock. She asked plenty of questions and the duo did their best to give her answers.

Shortly after finishing the Q&A, Clank said that he detected life forms. It didn't take the trio long to spot them. There were dozens of creatures. They were all around 5 and a half feet tall and were covered in either black or grey fur. They had four limbs, two arms and two legs. Some stood on their feet, others walked on their hands and feet. Some also had thick manes on their necks. They had short pointy ears, a short muzzle, and big green or blue eyes. They were all grunting and making various noises. It seemed to be their way of communicating.

Ratchet had only his wrench and his combustor (He had his other weapons but they were out of ammo. He only had fifty shots for the gun. The maximum amount he could carry was 150). He held his wrench in a defensive manner as Talwyn drew her blaster. Clank quickly jumped onto Ratchet's back and got out of the way.

The throng of monkey-like creatures approached the group but kept their distance. They seemed curious about the new visitors. They pointed and grunted.

"Clank, have any idea what they're saying?" Ratchet said as quietly as he could.

"I do not; their vocalizations remind me more of animals than civilized speech."

"Well what the heck are we supposed to do? I don't have a lot of ammo." Talwyn said in low volume.

Clank calmly said, "I suggest that we wait and see. Perhaps…"

As Clank spoke, the biggest creature stepped forward. It had a thick mane and stood over seven feet tall. It towered over the Lombax and Markazian. It stopped within four feet of the group. Then it began to sniff the air. It sniffed for a few seconds before eliciting a loud roar.

"Um, is that a good thing?" Ratchet asked.

He was answered when the thing tried to bat him with its arm.

Ratchet was quick and was able to dodge the swing.

Talwyn fired her blaster and hit the beast. The bolts hurt it but made it angrier. Not only did the alpha get upset, the rest of the mob yelled and charged the trio. Talwyn began firing furiously.

Ratchet swung his wrench and hit the alpha on the head. The thing stumbled a bit before swinging again and baring its fangs.

This time the swing made contact and sent Ratchet into the air. He hit the side of a rock and landed on the ground. Luckily for him, his armor took most of the damage.

He got up and heard Talwyn yell, "I'm out!"

"Ratchet," Clank said, "I think need to we run." The things were about to overwhelm them.

Ratchet ran towards Talwyn and shouted above the roars, "Talwyn! Let's get out of here!"

She put her gun away and followed Ratchet.

Ratchet looked behind at the creepy mob, we're not fast enough! Aw crap, I'm so stupid! He looked at Talwyn, "Tal! Use your hover-boots!"

They both activated their boots and shot forward, easily outpacing the monsters. The dark red ground, shriveled shrubs, and rocks flew past them as they hovered about three feet above the ground.

"Where are we going?" Talwyn yelled.

Ratchet shook his head, "No idea! Just get distance from those things!"

They zipped across the terrain for a minute before Ratchet's boots suddenly cut off. Crap, was all he could think before crashing, tumbling, and rolling on the rocky and hard ground. The fast and hard impact detached Clank from Ratchet's holder and he went tumbling. Ratchet stopped with his back hitting a boulder and he being upside-down. Clank had slowed enough to be caught in a dried bush.

Aw what happened? Did my boots rust up or what? Ratchet was dazed, bruised, and had a few cuts. He looked around for Talwyn. He saw that she had overshot them and was hovering back to them.

Ratchet stood up and smiled. But he was soon in shock as the ground beneath him surged upwards. He was once again in the air but he had been tossed over forty feet up! Soon the ground was rushing back to him and he landed, hard. He was tough, the fall hurt but he'd been more surprised.

Ratchet's launch into the air by the ground greatly puzzled Clank. He wished he could have caught his friend but he would've been crushed by the Lombax. He winced a bit by the thud Ratchet made upon impact.

-Thud- "Ah! What in Solana was that?!" Ratchet exclaimed as he slowly got up.

"Oh that," a deep voice with supernatural notes to it said. "That was me…"

The duo saw a figure hover from a cave entrance. He made both of them have some pangs of fear. He was bigger than the alpha male monster. This thing was almost nine feet tall and had dark, ash grey skin. His eyes disturbed them greatly; the two round pupils were deathly pale white. The rest of the eye was constantly morphing the following colors; red, orange, yellow, and white. The morphing colors glowed and were also streaked through his white, swept-back hair. He wore a, dark red/almost black, cape that was attached to a bronze-colored breastplate. The plate had silver lines with morphing-color streaks. The lines were elegant and smooth. He had similarly styled armor on his legs and forearms. Each forearm had three pairs of two-inch long spikes. He also had circular symbols on his shoulders and back. The symbols also glowed and shifted colors.

Ratchet took a quick glance over his shoulder and saw Clank peering around a boulder. Ratchet gave a quick nod that meant for Clank to stay hidden.

Clank, reluctantly, understood.

"…And I am Calamity," with that he pointed at Ratchet.

Ratchet's blood almost froze as he saw three; dark, ghost-like entities emerge from Calamity. They looked like black, robbed figures with no legs. They floated and their robes looked like they were filled with black smoke. Each one had two, glowing, white eyes shining from underneath their hoods. At the end of their arms were five-fingered hands, each one tipped with a claw. Ratchet could hear whispering and low voices coming from the dark ghosts. What they were saying was undiscernible.

When Calamity pointed at Ratchet, the three ghosts charged him.

Ratchet stumbled back a bit in fear and swung his wrench. He hit one on the side of the head and sent it spinning. He was able to hit the second one as well but was rammed by the third. He yelped as it knocked him violently to the ground. His arms trembled as he pushed himself up. Before he could get up, one of the ghosts came up from the ground below and grabbed him. It pinned him against a rock wall and slashed at his midsection. The ghost's claws went through the armor and cut Ratchet. He howled as he drew his combustor and fired. It got the ghost off of him and luckily the cuts weren't life threatening. The nanotech in his system quickly healed most of the wound.

That doesn't mean it didn't hurt. Yow! This is just not my day, or week, or month, or year. Ratchet saw Calamity and fired his combustor. Calamity crossed his arms in an x shape. A chunk of the ground rose in front of him and blocked Ratchet's combustor round.

Calamity smiled, that is until he was kicked in the face by Talwyn. Ratchet smiled in turn but his smile was drained as Calamity grabbed Talwyn and threw her against the wall. The blow was hard and nearly knocked Talwyn out.

Calamity once again grinned. "Now, let's see what you two know." He pointed at both Ratchet and Talwyn. Two ghosts flew; one at Ratchet and one at Talwyn. Each ghost entered their targets.

Yah! What the, there's something in my head. Ratchet thought. Gah, like a wedge prying in my, OH SON OF A QWARK! Ratchet yelled both in his mind and out loud. The ghost began ripping through all of his memories at breakneck speed. It seemed like it was copying and pasting the memories to itself. My life on Veldin, my ship I was building, Clank crashing, warning me of danger, stopping Drek, the protopets, Angela, becoming a commando, Sasha, getting kidnaped, fighting on Dreadzone, escaping that awful place, (the next bit brings Ratchet to tears and its forceful playthrough causes horrific mental and physical pain) Tachyon's invasion, finding out what happened to the lombaxes, Talwyn, finding out that Tachyon killed my father, that I was the last lombax in this dimension, the Zoni kidnaping Clank, searching for him for two years, dealing with rusty pirates, finding Alistair Azimuth, realizing I wasn't alone, that I wasn't the only lombax, finding Clank, dealing with Dr. Nefarious, going to the Great Clock, I'm about to leave my best friend, Alistair gets angry because I tell him we can't use the Clock to change the past, he tries to kill me!, Clank saves me, in the ensuing fight Alistair damages the Clock, he realizes his plan won't work, he sacrifices himself to save us and time, it works, I'm about to leave my friend again, I'm sitting in my cockpit realizing that I'm alone, I get a great surprise when Clank jumps into the cockpit, we look at each other and we understand. Then I come to this place… stupid ghost get out of my head!

Talwyn screamed as the ghost entered her mind. You freak get out of my head! Gah no! Her head began to pound as the ghost sifted through her memories. My father, we lived in that station, he was at my seventh birthday, he disappeared when I was eight, I grew up on that station with Cronk and Zephyr, even with them I was alone, many years later Ratchet and Clank came to the station. They were looking for the Lombax artifact but we didn't have it. We eventually found it but I was imprisoned. Ratchet broke me out and eventually killed Tachyon. We returned to the station but then Clank was taken by the Zoni. Me and Ratchet started searching. We dealt with pirates before Ratchet disappeared. Then, a year later, he calls me. All the recent events unfolded.

Calamity withdrew his puppets from the minds of the two strangers. "Well, well, you two have led interesting lives. Now, the real fun begins," he stretched out his hands in Clank's direction.

Clank jumped and felt strange. He noticed that he was covered by a strange energy. The energy, like Calamity's eyes; constantly shifted between; red, orange, yellow, and white. Clank couldn't move and soon found himself floating in the air. He was pulled towards Calamity and hovered in front of him. Calamity had his right hand pointed at Clank. His fingers were extended but were close together.

Ratchet gasped and quickly got to his feet. Fear took him as his best friend was put in grave danger.

Talwyn quickly got to her feet. She felt helpless.

"I see this tiny machine means a great deal to you… Ratchet,"

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Ratchet yelled in rage and fear. He was reluctant to use his combustor for fear of hitting Clank.

Calamity's voice took a slight, blissful tone. "Ah, your fear and anger feels great. Like sweet honey it drips from your face and voice. You know what's even better?" He spread his fingers apart a bit and Clank strained as his arms and legs were pulled. "Watching someone lose someone or something they love. The terror and anger is absolutely delicious." He spread his fingers apart a bit more and Clank grunted louder.

Ratchet felt terrified, the friend he had searched for, for two years; was now in the hands of some powerful psychopath, "Clank!" The realization that this thing meant to kill Clank made Ratchet greatly consider using his combustor. He quickly found an opening, drew, and fired his combustor.