AN: Takes place after the comic books and the defeat of Artemis Zogg. Just before All-4-one.
Boxes rustled together as something moved in the darkness. The clinking of small trinkets being jumbled together followed next, while the sound of strained breathing permeated it all.
"Now where is that blasted switch?" grumbled an unseen, feminine voice. "I know there was a working one this side- Woah!" a deep rumble filled the air as an avalanche of unseen objects fell to the floor.
"Darn this stupid… oh! Here it is."
With a sound of a click, light flooded into the expansive, yet heavily-cluttered chamber of the Apogee Space Station. From wall to wall and floor to ceiling the room was filled with boxes, bags, crates, a solitary toilet seat, and numerous ancient artifacts that were stacked on top of one another. Catalog labels hung from many of the objects, but any other semblance of organization was completely absent.
Hanging upside down from one of these towers of junk was a young Markazian woman who had her hand outstretched toward the light switch.
Talwyn Apogee blinked hard against the harsh and sudden brightness, but took it all in with a grin, "Got it!" she declared in triumph.
When she pumped her fist victoriously, however, the amalgamation of junk that she'd been hanging from shifted again, causing her to lose her hold and fall face first into the ground.
"Miss Talwyn, are you in there?" came a concerned, mechanical voice. "Miss Talwyn, what was that noise? You're not hurt are you?!"
"I'm fine, Zeph…" Talwyn shouted back reassuringly, as she picked herself up off the ground. "Just lost my foothold is all."
Back on her feet, the young Markazian dusted herself off as she once again examined the overpacked room that she'd been blindly crawling through until now and noted that it miraculously somehow looked even more disorganized right-side up. The dusty archive hadn't seen light in years.
Stepping through the clutter as carefully as he could, a stocky, red and grey colored robot made his way into view, "What are you doing in here, Miss Talwyn?" asked the old, overprotective warbot. "I thought you said that your father's study was to be left alone until he returned?"
"Yeah, I know that Zephyr... I wanted to leave it exactly as he had, as if he'd never been gone... but now I need to go through it."
"Really?" the curious automaton asked. "I figured that since that Lombax pup was back in Polaris, you'd want to spend all your time with him?"
Talwyn smiled sadly at her friend's amazing mix of both insightfulness and obliviousness.
"Of course I'm glad Ratchet's back," she said, trying to sound positive. "It may have taken a planet-thieving wannabe-tyrannical-overlord, but I am glad..."
"Except," she continued, sounding much less positive, "he still isn't 'all' back yet. He's not the same 'Ratchet' he used to be, not since Azimuth died. I can tell it's still weighing on him heavily, even if he tries to hide it."
Zephyr cocked his head, "Do you mean the 'same Ratchet' who tore through the Apogee defense grid and blew a ten-meter wide hole in our kitchen on a rumor?"
"Yes! That's the Ratchet I..." Talwyn trailed off as she recognized the sarcasm in her guardian's tone. "Ehem... what I mean is: he's clearly still hurting."
"Ah, I see," the old warbot said while nodding with understanding. "So you're upset your knight in fuzzy armor isn't jumping headfirst into the nearest black hole just to fight the next psychopath-led army of mutant zombie robot insects? That makes sense... But what does that have to do with you digging through your father's study?"
Talwyn eyed the automaton with a slight scowl, wishing the scenario he'd described was as unrealistic as it sounded, "Zeph, he said he was done being a hero! You heard him on that interview, he's not even going to help hunt down Nefarious."
The old warbot tried to look sympathetic, "He just needs time, Miss Talwyn. He'll be back to his old madcap antics and kitchen desecration in no time, you'll see. So, about this mess?"
"Maybe," Talwyn began, sounding unconvinced, "but Azimuth was Ratchet's only link to his past, one he's never known anything about before. To suddenly gain something like that and then to lose it in the way that he did, must have been devastating."
"Miss Talwyn," Zephyr began sympathetically. "I am a very old robot. My joints are rusty and my processors run slower than they used to. To be honest I don't know how much longer I'll keep humming. In fact... I fear I may not last until the end of this explanation! What in the blazes does any of this have to do with you mountain climbing in the debris field that is your father's study?"
Talwyns expression hardened and she fixed her robot companion with a cold look, "Zephyr, do you remember when I was seven and I figured out how to rewire your voice synthesizer?"
"Hm?" he replied curiously. "Oh! Oh yes. Sorry, Miss Talwyn. Please continue," he apologized vehemently. "I'll be quiet and patient, scouts honor."
The young Markazian just shook her head, before reaching down and rummaging through the nearest box of archeological notes. "Anyway, I was trying to think of something that could possibly cheer Ratchet up, maybe give him back something that he'd lost. The 'reason' I decided to go through dad's study is-"
"Zephyr, Miss Talwyn, there you are!" interrupted a third voice suddenly.
They both turned to find a second, equally old warbot entering the room and immediately start trudging their way through the clutter to get to them.
"You've got to come see this!" he said again.
"Gosh dangit, Cronk!" snapped Zephyr in frustration. "I'm going to be an old rust pile by the time I figure out this mystery!"
"Yes, Cronk," added Talwyn, annoyed that the exposition of her brilliant plan had been interrupted. "Whatever it is, it can wait until I finish my explanation."
"But Miss Talwyn," Cronk pleaded. "Meridia-"
"I said: quiet... or it's chipmunk voices for a week!"
"Yes, Miss Talwyn" conceded Cronk, before quietly settling into place next to Zephyr.
"Good. Now, where was I? Oh right... Even though Ratchet won't tell me much about Azimuth or what little about his past he's learned, I have managed to get him to tell me a little about his father, Kaden, and that this 'Kaden' was some kind of brilliant Lombax scientist."
"Kaden?" repeated Zephyr thoughtfully. "Where have I heard that name before?"
"Maybe he owes us money," Cronk offered unhelpfully.
"Exactly!" Talwyn declared excitedly. "If this 'Kaden' guy was such a famous Lombax, then my father must have researched him at some point. If you two remember the name, then dad must have mentioned him at some point!"
"Hmmm," Zephyr intoned skeptically, "I don't know, Miss Talwyn. I wouldn't trust the data on our old hard drives."
"Oh, I don't," Talwyn agreed, without hesitation, "but my theory's still sound. I've decided to go digging through my father's research for any mention of a Lombax scientist named 'Kaden'. If I can give Ratchet even a little bit of his lost past, maybe he'll come back to me… all of him this time."
Zephyr nodded his understanding, "I see, that's a wonderful idea, Miss Talwyn. And I'll bet that he'll be so happy he'll lay his head right on your lap and let you play with his ears" teased Zephyr.
Talwyn blanched at the comment, "No! That's not what I-"
"Oh look, Cronk, she's blushing! I knew she was really thinking about it, that's what all the fangirls on the holonet want to do to him. Ho ho ha, that's a good one," Zephyr laughed mercilessly.
The young, red-faced Markazian opened her mouth to retort, but Cronk interjected before she could, "I'm so proud of you Miss Talwyn," the old warbot declared sincerely. "In order to give the rookie the past he wants, you're willing to face your own after all these years."
Some of Talwyn's anger subsided, "Thanks Cronk," she said appreciatively. "It's nice to know that 'some' people can recognize a girl's hard work and be sensitive about her... Oh, wait! Cronk, what was so important earlier?"
"Earlier?" the old automaton questioned in confusion. "What are you talking about? I was just watching holo-vision earlier."
"You old bucket of bolts!" Zephyr barked in frustration. "You came in here screamin' about how Miss Talwyn and I have to come see something right away."
"Did I?" Cronk asked with a thoughtful look. "Hmm, well… when I was watching the 'Galactic News: The Entire Universe in your living room' station, I did hear about something crazy that I thought you guys would want to see."
Zephyr was tapping his metallic foot impatiently, "Well, spit it out already, ya darn fool. I didn't get through one long explanation just to get pulled into yours!"
"Hold your horses…" Cronk countered defensively, hating having his processors rushed. "I'll get it in second. Uh... it was something about a heinous doctor trying to kill the king of subatomic particles... with some kind of diet food? No, it also had tools involved, maybe a wrench, but I distinctly remember the tools were banged together to make noise."
Zephyr turned to Talwyn to see if she knew what he was talking about, but the young Markazian simply shook her head.
"Ah ha! I remember now!" declared Cronk triumphantly. "The headline was: 'Dr. Nefarious Unleashes Light Eating Zegrute to Kill President Qwark, Hero's Ratchet and Clank Attempt To Subdue.'"
The oblivious blue robot then stood there looking extremely pleased with himself.
"What?!" shouted Talwyn and Zephyr together.
"Tell us something that important sooner, you steam driven rust bucket!" Zephyr insisted hysterically.
Cronk looked defensive, yet apologetic, "Well, I tried to, but Miss Talwyn had something important to tell us."
"Oh, whatever let's just get going," the red mechanoid dismissed with a wave of his hand, before turning back to Talwyn. "I'm sorry, Miss Talwyn. I guess we've got to go pull some green bacon out of another frying pan. Honestly, the rookies give us one day off from guarding that giant green bullseye and this happens!"
Talwyn just smiled and nodded, "It's alright guys. Just make sure everyone's safe, OK?"
"Yeah, Zeph," pressed Cronk dutifully. "We gotta make sure there's still enough pieces left o' the rookie for Miss Talwyn to give whatever information she finds to!"
"You bet!" agreed Zephyr, with a mischievous grin on his large mechanical features. "Priority on protecting the ears, right Miss Talwyn?"
"Get moving you two! Or else I'll rewire your voice boxes with an Alpha Disruptor!"
"Already gone, Miss Talwyn!" Zephyr called back as he disappeared down the hall. "Good luck with your search!"
When both of them were well out of earshot Talwyn let out a long sigh, "Seriously, those two," she said aloud to herself. "Maybe instead of their voice modulators, I'll adjust their empathy gauges. Then maybe they won't tease an innocent heart so much…"
"Besides, it's not like I really wanted to scratch his ears or anything," she insisted defensively to nobody at all. "But... I wonder if maybe he'd like having his ears scratched? Or maybe he'd prefer it if I scratched under his chin? Oh, I wonder if his tail would wag if I-"
The stupidly grinning Markazian suddenly shook her head violently, "What am I thinking about?! No, I came here to do something important. I've got to keep focused!"
Broken from her dream, Talwyn's expression turned serious once more, as she returned her attention to the first pile of junk. She could see the tiny corner of a table poking helplessly from the lower half of it.
"Well, as they say," she continued aloud, "'the journey of thousand parsecs starts with the first warp jump'."
Talwyn then reached down and gripped a random box that was about chest height in the pile. Ever so gently she began to pull, but as she did so the tower began to wobble violently and the various objects that made up its structure jostled against one another.
Talwyn quickly withdrew her hand and took a step back fearfully, looking up at the high mound of junk that cast its shadow on her, "This may be more difficult than I thought."
