Reflection - Chapter 1

04/06/2018 - I tweaked this chapter as well, so that's cool. Fleshed it out a bit more. As I was reading through it, I realised I could have added quite a bit more detail - hindsight is a wonderful thing, huh?

Kyzil Plateau, Veldin, Solana Galaxy

Ratchet had difficulty sleeping. Though he was comfortably tucked away in the hammock in his garage, his mind wouldn't settle. This wasn't an unusual event for him ever since his escape from Dreadzone only a few months before. Fighting other contestants on live HoloVision... it was a crazy setup, too cold and heartless to be true. He couldn't believe he had been kidnapped, only to fight various aliens and robots on live HoloVision, where millions and millions of people would tune in to watch. The entire fiasco bothered him. The fact that it had continued for so long and Ratchet had to be the one to stop it baffled him. Where were the Galactic authorities when you needed them?

His mind kept leaping back to when he faced Ace Hardlight in the Liberator Tournament. Amid all the jumping, dodging and shooting, Ratchet couldn't shake the feeling that he recognised his foe. He'd previously mentioned to Clank that he remembered hearing about Ace when he was a child himself, and that he mysteriously disappeared, only for Clank to dismiss it as 'someone else'.

Ratchet wasn't so sure. Then he found himself wondering what it would have been like if he had been as weak-willed as Ace, and got sucked into Gleeman Vox's offer. He imagined himself killing all those heroes for no reason other than money. Taking the lives of many well-known faces in the galaxy for financial reward. The thought of it made him sick. He then remembered Ace's reasoning: fun. Ratchet imagined taking the lives of his fellow contestants, enjoying himself while he did so, only for his stomach to knot up. Enjoying murder was unfathomable for the lombax; it disgusted him. Sure, he'd blown up plenty of robots over the last few years, and then there were the belligerent Blarg and the invading Tyrrhanoids, but it was them or him. He had never taken an innocent life, and he had no intention of ever letting that happen.

He thought about the Protopet infestation in Allgon City. He vividly remembered the blue fuzzballs of chaos rampaging throughout the city, chowing down on the robotic residents who were helpless to defend themselves. Ratchet's aim was impeccable, and he ensured that not a single citizen was harmed by his fire. It was a moment of pride for the lombax, who, despite the hell that was unleashed before him, kept his cool, where others would fail to do the same.

Of course, the Protopet menace would never have been prevented without the help of MegaCorp geneticist Angela Cross, a fellow lombax who originated as an enemy of Ratchet's, but quickly became an incredibly reliable ally. Together, they stopped Captain Qwark's twisted attempt of a comeback, and saved the Bogan Galaxy as a result. The thought of the geneticist brought a smile to Ratchet's face. He wondered how she was doing. He hoped she was alright, especially since the incident.

Then the smile died. Gosh, he had been such an ass.

Clank's Apartment, Megapolis, Endako, Bogan Galaxy, two years ago

"This whole Protopet business was insane!" Ratchet exclaimed, nearly launching out of his seat. "I can't believe this galaxy was threatened by a fuzzball!"

Ratchet and Angela were relaxing on the sofa in Clank's apartment. They'd spent the last five hours talking about Ratchet's various adventures: how he saved his home, and how he'd saved a second galaxy. They often compared notes, with Ratchet telling Angela what he did, with the female lombax following up with what she had heard on the news. She vaguely remembered hearing about a far-away galaxy being threatened by some guy who was tearing planets apart, when some kid took it upon himself to destroy the Blargian threat. It was something she barely took notice of, especially since it was happening millions of miles away, but now she knew of the man behind the name, it suddenly felt incredibly real. Though she wouldn't dare admit it out of fear of inflating his ego, she found it rather impressive.

"An incredibly belligerant and blood-thirsty fuzzball," Angela corrected. "You may try and act smug, but they were a pest to deal with you know it!" she added with a laugh. The Protopet's ability to multiply rapidly was not a feature she had intended to be a part of her creation. Instead, she was convinced it was one of the many undesirable additions included after her resignation from MegaCorp. It certainly wasn't something she was laughing about at the time.

"What can I say? I live dangerously."

"You'll just get yourself killed."

"I'm still kicking now," Ratchet shot back with a smug smirk. It irked Angela, but she couldn't help but laugh at him anyway. She could tell from his way of joking that he used to be incredibly arrogant and stubborn, but was recently humbled. His humour was faux-narcissist - remarks of the egotistical kind, albeit not sincere. The way Ratchet spoke about his reluctant quest to save to Solana Galaxy told Angela that he was ashamed of his past behaviour, his treatment of Clank, his narrow-mindedness, his selfishness. She saw something die in his eyes when he talked about helping the lone commander on Batalia, or when he started focusing exclusively on Captain Qwark instead of saving the galaxy. But the way he also described these moments was like an adult talking about the stupid things they did as a child, his tone of voice drenched in regret; it was obvious that Ratchet wasn't that person anymore. However, his love of danger and adventure hadn't faded at all, which convinced Angela that he was still careless. The lombax sat before her had only just matured into adulthood, and still had a lot to learn.

Angela herself wasn't much older than him. When Ratchet was seventeen, he saved a galaxy. Four years prior, when Angela had been the same age, she had entered the genetics division of MegaCorp. She too had made her fair share of mistakes, much to her embarrassment. Sure, she could easily criticize him, but she wasn't an ancient, wise, philosopher; she was a young woman.

She looked back at her fellow lombax, who smiled at her. For someone who was incredibly reckless at times, he was... cute. Chatty, street-wise, charming... Angela tried to mentally shake that thought from her head, considering she had only known the guy for a day, maybe two - she wasn't sure.

Was this because he was a lombax too? Ever since she'd been abandoned as a baby, she'd never seen another one in her life, until now. There had been no records of a living lombax in the Bogan Galaxy for years. The fact that no one had seen another meant that the fact that they were essentially extinct was like common knowledge. Repopulation was a futile idea. She had accepted that she was one of the last ones, and so had Ratchet. Their species died with them. So if it wasn't for the sake of preserving their race, then what was it? She cocked her head slightly, which was such a subtle movement that Ratchet didn't notice, and chewed her lip as she thought.

A little crush? Maybe. She liked the guy, he had a warm and friendly way about him. Typically an incredibly private person, Angela kept herself to herself. Most of her co-workers didn't even know what planet she lived on, others barely knowing her name. The only thing everyone knew about her was that she was one of the main culprits behind broken glassware in the lab. Ratchet, on the other hand, was so easy to open up to. When she first encountered him aboard her flying lab, Angela could instantly tell from his fresh-faced look that his intentions were pure, and he had no idea how dangerous the Protopet was.

Angela had divulged a lot about her personal life, and it was as if she had known him for years. Much to her surprise, she suddenly remembered that she met him properly for the first time on Tabora, not so long ago. She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt around him. Maybe it was a sign. A sign of what though?

Ratchet looked around his surroundings, and his gaze wandered to the now-empty armchair to his left. "Say, where did Clank go?" he queried upon realising his robotic companion was nowhere to be seen. Now that he thought about it, it had been a while since Clank had offered any additional commentary to Ratchet's story-telling, and now he knew why.

"He left around the part where you took out the Blarg ships dumping toxic waste on Pokitaru. He left with his friend," she said, with a suggestive emphasis on 'friend'.

"But that was three hours ago!" Ratchet exclaimed, struggling to recall seeing Clank getting up and making his departure. Angela chuckled at his confused reaction. He was so engrossed in his story-telling, he didn't notice the little robot leave. Instead, his attention was focused solely on impressing her, which she secretly enjoyed.

"So," she started nervously, "I assume you'll be going back to Solana?" She fidgeted in her seat slightly, not wanting to hear the answer. Please don't go, she thought sadly.

"I don't think so," Ratchet replied, much to Angela's relief. "I reckon we'll probably stay here for a while. I mean, this place is paid for!" He laughed, to which Angela joined, albeit nervously. She was pleased. She wanted to see more of him, but had no idea how to set that up. She was desperately trying to think of something while simultaneously listening to the conversation. Except the conversation trailed off awkwardly, and she had now idea how to start it back up.

But this silence was different from silences she shared with men who weren't all that interested in her. Those were painfully awkward, especially when eye contact was made and nervous smiles were exchanged, but no conversation emerged. That was awkward awkward, where it was blatantly obvious that no one has anything in common and thus nothing to talk about, whereas this was just... awkward?

It's not awkward, Angela thought to herself, we've just spent hours talking and talking, it's natural for it to trail off now, right?

She took this silence to examine Ratchet. She never really looked at him during the whole Protopet affair, considering the lombax never stayed still in combat, but now, she found him really attractive. His chiseled face, his strong build, his swoon-inducing smile, his eyes... emerald eyes she could stare into for the rest of her life.

Woah, slow down Ang, she scolded herself.

"So, uh..." Ratchet murmured nervously, "will you be returning to MegaCorp? I mean, the Protopet is safe now, you could go back to working on... something else?"

"I think so, I guess I could slide back in again," she replied, pleased to see the conversation picking up. "Before, I only really resigned because of..." She paused, fumbling for the right term. She chewed on her lip as she thought, to which Ratchet smiled. It was a cute habit she had, and Ratchet felt his heart melt at the sight of it. She was incredible... smart, beautiful, brilliant, and she had all these nervous little mannerisms and cute faces she pulled while she talked and thought. It was endearing.

"... ethical conflict," she finished, the smile returning on her face. "Accepting that my creation was a killer was something I couldn't do, knowing that it was going to be released to the public. So I had to what was right."

"So the right thing to do was dress up as a masked weirdo and steal the thing?" Ratchet questioned with a small laugh.

"Masked weirdo?" she repeated, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "The disguise was solid, I haven't been arrested-"

"-yet."

"I doubt they even know it was me!" she protested, scowling at Ratchet. "And I guess the creature was technically mine, I created it! Therefore, it wasn't theft."

Ratchet shook his head, chuckling to himself. "You stole corporate property, you're nuts."

Angela shrugged coyly. "It saved the galaxy."

"Oh no," Ratchet started, "it got me involved, which then saved the galaxy!" he joked.

"You do realise I'm still mad about you shooting me on Siberius, you corporate lackey." she said, half-joking, half-serious: Lancer rounds stung.

"You started it, you set MegaCorp Security Robots on me on your flying lab. You do realise chainsaw blades hurt, right?" Ratchet replied defensively, only to switch back to his usual smiling self within seconds.

"Nanotech will buff that right out, you big baby," she stated.

The laughter of the two lombaxes trailed off.

Silence again.

"So, I guess I'd better be heading back," Angela said, noticing the time. "It's getting late, and if I don't get back quick enough, the Y.E.T.I.s will be swarming my home." She stood up and started to walk towards the front door. She stumbled slightly as she did so, much to her embarrassment.

"You could stay here if you wanted, so you don't, you know, get torn to bits." Ratchet stumbled as he quickly lept to his feet, dashing after her.

Angela spun around and smiled. "Thanks, but no thanks. They've been getting more aggressive recently. If I'm not home, chances are they'll break in and wreck the place."

"Oh... okay," Ratchet faltered. Silently cursing himself, he forced his brain to hastily come up with a plan. He wanted a reason to see her again. He needed a reason. He could sense that this girl was something different, something special.

"I guess I should move to a different planet, the Tundor Wastes are lethal," she pondered aloud.

"No kidding. Collecting moonstones was suicide."

"You honestly tried collecting moonstones? Are you stupid?"

"It's a long story." Ratchet rubbed the back of his head nervously, while raising his eyebrows in a manner Angela considered smug. Whatever he did, she could tell he was pleased with it.

"Maybe I could hear it sometime."

"Maybe."

Silence. The two lombaxes stared at each other, unsure of what to say. After a few moments, Angela spoke up again.

"So thanks for the adventure," she said warmly. "I guess I'll see you around?"

"I guess so." He looked down at his feet as he tried to think of an excuse to see Angela again. He could feel that this was them going their separate ways. He needed to think of something, now!

"Say, Angela..."

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow night..."

"What about it?"

"Dinner?"

The two lombaxes froze. Ratchet couldn't believe he blurted the invitation out, whereas Angela couldn't believe that someone was actually interested in her. Most of her affections had been rejected by previous men, especially once they realised how much of a klutz she was. It was soul-destroying for her. Then again, staying home instead of crashing into a dinner cart in public sometimes felt like the more desirable option for Angela.

"I mean," he resumed, "you want to hear about the moonstones, right?" He grinned as he looked at her, rubbing the back of his head again.

A smile crept on her face. "I want to hear everything." She knew her luck was beginning to turn around.

So here we've got some RatchetxAngela stuff, because I think the world needs more of those two. This was originally envisioned as a one-shot, but turns out I plan on going into a lot more detail.

As per usual, if you like what you're reading, follow and review, because more will be on the way.

Cheers!

~TWRSB