The first Epilogue has ended less than a day ago, and I'm already back with a small chapter in which the story continues! But this time, we will jump to the beginning, into Ratchet's past, and uncover the connection between him and Hypernova, and why Hypernova took Ratchet with him in the first place. About the unusual title, apparently the site does not accept periods in titles. Joy. Anyhow, enjoy!

WARNING: There will be major spoilers for the first story in this series, 'Epilogue', so I recommend reading that story first if you don't want your suprises ruined.

Ratchet shook his head, groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy, and his throat felt dry. He looked aroud, and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was.

Angela's house. She used to have a metal-plated house (though it was more similar to a bunker than it was to a house), but when Max Apogee took her with him in an attempt to protect her, he and Angela both forgot to turn off all electric devices. In the years that Angela was gone, one or multiple electric devices overheated, and the house burned down.

Ratchet, of course, immediately came to help his friend. He had scavenged the wreckage for any belongings of Angela that had survived the fire, and he did find a few photos that were still intact, but most of Angela's belongings were lost for good.

Ratchet immediately offered her a sleeping place in his own home, and if it wasn't for the fact that Megacorp had insisted to cover the costs of Angela's new home, he'd have covered the costs of her new home as well. Angela had spent a week or two browsing through some star maps and planet lists, but to Ratchet's surprise, her choice was Derasol, a planet covered in water and tiny islands. It orbited the same star as Veldin, though Derasol orbited a bit further away. "Derasol is a place I wanted to visit since the moment I first heard of it, in class, when I was little." Angela had told Ratchet. "I never visited it, though. I was way too busy with work." she had continued with a hint of regret.

Little did Ratchet know that there was another reason why she picked Dunynoa. He had no clue that she also chose Dunynoa because it would mean that she would live in the same solar system as the Lombax she secretly loved.

And little did she now that he loved her just as much as she loved him.

Back to the present. Angela now owned a cozy little cottage near a waterfall, the water from said waterfall forming a natural swimming pool in her backyard. Angela would often find herself staring at the stars at night, and wonder if, on a neighboring planet, a certain male Lombax was watching the same stars.

She couldn't help but smile everytime she thought of him. From his large, golden feet to his handsome, friendly face: she loved everything about him. Imagine her surprise when he showed up on her doorstep one morning.

Ratchet had told her that Clank was at Holostar studios for yet another Secret Agent Clank-movie, and that he felt lonely, so he wanted to visit a friend. "Plus," he said, "I never got to see the area, mind showing me around?"

They spent the whole day together, but then, disaster struck. As the two were walking down the mountain, back to Angela's house, Ratchet suddenly stopped walking. Angela noticed, and stopped too. "Ratchet, is everything alright?", she had asked. Ratchet had opened his mouth to answer, but instead of words, out came a growl, and Ratchet collapsed.

Angela quickly picked him up, and summoned all her strength. She ran back to her house, her love still unconcious in her arms. When she arrived, she quickly laid him down on her bed and tucked him in. She then washed her hands, made a cup of tea for herself, and sat down on the bed, keeping an eye on Ratchet. She watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, she watched his ears twitch in his sleep, and she watched his eyes, hoping to see a hint of him waking up.

She sat there until the evening. When it started to get dark, she moved a chair next to the bed, and closed her eyes. "Please, Ratchet... wake up..."

And then she, too, fell asleep.

Birds joyfully chirped in the trees and the sun calmly shined down on the planet. Golden colored light calmly shined down on Ratchet's face. The Lombax stirred, ears twitching, and after a minute or two, he slowly woke up.

He noticed that he was lying in a bed, and he noticed Angela, silently sleeping in a nearby chair. Ratchet wanted to smile when he saw her face, but then an awful feeling washed over him. He groaned as he suddenly felt nauseous.

That groan woke Angela up. "Uh? Uh-oh, I'm awake!"

Angela shook her head, and turned to Ratchet. Her eyes widened when she saw him close his eyes and groan. His ears lowered as well.

Angela got up, ran down the stairs, grabbed a bucket, ran back up the stairs and held it under Ratchet's mouth just in time. She winced when he puked. As soon as he had stopped puking, she ran down the stairs, emptied the bucket above the toilet, grabbed a glass from one of the kitchen cabinets, filled it with water, and hurried back up the stairs. She handed the glass to Ratchet. "Drink this."

"Why?"

"Because the stomach contains a highly acidic substance, and I bet it's chewing on your throat as we speak. Your throat is going to hurt tomorrow unless you drink some water to remove the acid. Clear enough?"

Ratchet didn't drink twice and drank the water. He immediately closed his eyes. "Uuh... my stomach does NOT like that splash of cold water."

"That was to be expected."

Ratchet shook his head. "Help me get up, would you?"

Angela helped him get up. "Why?" she asked once he was standing.

"I'm going back home, the last thing I want is forcing you to take care of a sick person." Ratchet said as he walked down the stairs. Angela ran after him and blocked the door. "Oh, hell no! You're in no condition to fly! Ratchet, you are not leaving this house while you're sick."

Ratchet suddenly lost his balance. Angela hurried over to him and caught him just in time. "That's what I mean."

Ratchet nodded. "Well, over my dead body that I'm going to force you to sleep on the couch. I'll sleep on the couch instead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I don't want to be a burden."

Angela chuckled. "Ratchet, you're my friend. I'm happy to help you."

Ratchet smiled as he lay down on the couch. "Thank you, Angela."

Ratchet rolled onto his right side and Angela sat down in a seat on the other side of the coffee table. "Well, all we can do is wait until your immune system has exterminated the virus."

"Well, then I suppose we need to kill some time."

"Not necesarily. I can wait."

"Yeah, but... it's going to become boring pretty soon, huh?"

"Probably."

Ratchet sighed. "Well... I know a way to kill some time."

"Spill the beans."

"A story."

"Sounds good, what story is it?"

Ratchet rolled onto his back. "It's a story that nobody has heard so far, not even Clank. The story of my childhood. You see... a few weeks after Black Hole's defeat, late at night I got a visit from a hologram of Hypernova. He guided me to a faraway asteroid, one in which he had a base. He took off his helmet, and the moment I saw his face, it was as if I was punched in the gut."

"What, was he that ugly?"

"No, no! I knew him. All too well. It all began a long time ago, when I was but a little child..."