"Come on, Azimuth, come on…" Ratchet shook the elder lying before him.
Once.
Twice.
Over and over again.
He had to wake up. Azimuth had to wake up…!
But with each second passing, each tick of the clock, realization came over the Lombax.
Time had stopped for the general. It had run out.
Ratchet pulled his hands back, ears folding in disbelief. Had he really died? Was Azimuth really—
No. They had to be in a time rift. Clank had to have stopped time for whichever indiscernible reason.
But time ticked on. Mercilessly. Cruelly. The ticking of the Great Clock was mocking him.
"Ratchet…" His robotic friend approached him and laid his hand on the Lombax's shoulder. "I'm… sorry."
The organic did not react. He just knelt there, staring down at the lifeless body before him.
"We didn't have another choice. We couldn't prevent this." Clank stopped for a moment. "We couldn't risk it."
"Risk is what makes us who we are." Ratchet murmured. He crawled closer to Azimuth again, pulling him towards himself and holding him tightly.
So warm still… He couldn't be dead already, could he? Just a few moments ago, he had been alive. Even now, he was still as warm as if he hadn't died.
But this was only an illusion. And the longer Ratchet held onto him, the colder the general grew.
"No…" He whispered. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He wrapped his arms tightly around Azimuth, burying his face in the other's fur. "You can't die on me, Alister! You can't fucking die on me now!"
"Ratchet, please—"
"You promised, you jerk!" The Lombax shut his eyes tightly. "You promised we would get the Lombaxes back, TOGETHER! Why… Why did you have to relapse now? WHY?" The younger's fingers curled. His body shook under his yells, just as much as it did under the sobs that left him. "This is wrong… There I finally had you, and… and…!"
Clank pulled back his hand and stepped back a bit. He sensed he had no place to say anything right now.
"We shouldn't even have come here… I shouldn't even have taken you with us." He rested his forehead against Alister's, shutting his eyes to stop the tears. "If I hadn't said anything about this, you wouldn't be dead. We would be off together again." His brushed his fingers through the elder's fur as if he could still feel. But he knew he couldn't. It was just this cruel, foolish bit of hope that deluded him into believing that he could revert Azimuth's death just like this.
Why did he keep trying, though? Azimuth did no longer move. He felt the other's warmth slowly seep out of his body. Yet he thought that the elder was still alive. Somehow, somewhere. He was not wounded, after all. He did not bear any injuries. So how could he be dead? It was simply ridiculous. The thought alone was so ridiculous that it made Ratchet almost laugh.
But the fact that this ridiculous thought was reality crushed him. He had no means to get him back. No means to revert—
There was. Right in front of him.
"Ratchet?" Clank didn't like that look on the Lombax's face. Something told him that his friend was about to commit a foolish mistake.
"I'll revert time." First reluctant, he gently placed Azimuth on the ground and staggered towards the time switch. "I will prevent this shit. Just far enough to save Azimuth."
"NO!" Clank pulled Ratchet back. "Ratchet! You can't! Look around you— the Great Clock is broken! It's BROKEN."
"Then WHAT should I do, Clank?" The Lombax screamed. "I have the means to save him, so why—"
"Azimuth didn't die to make you repeat his mistake!"
At this Ratchet's eyes widened. His ears folded back, his body shivered — then he fell on his knees again, head lowered.
"I'm sorry, Ratchet." Clank put his tiny arms around the Lombax.
"Damn it…" Ratchet rubbed over his eyes. "Just damn it all! I can be all the hero I want, and in the end I can't even fucking save Alister…" He slowly freed himself from Clank's embrace and moved towards the general again. He cupped the elder's cheek, smiling bitterly. "Some hero I am… Can't even save the one closest to me."
"As a hero, you can't save everyone." The robot stepped towards him. "It is simply impossible."
The Lombax didn't reply. He just knelt there, once more holding the general in his arms. Nuzzling his cheek against Alister's, he simply wished to remain there.
Clank looked at him before he turned away. Then he asked Sigmund to hide the switch once more before he and the robot left the chamber.
Ratchet barely noticed them leave. He simply closed his eyes and held the elder close.
"I love you," he whispered. Odd how easy it was to say it now, now that the general was gone. Back then, they would not even be able to hint at it. "I wish I had told you sooner. But I guess…" He tried to smile, but the sobs didn't stop. "I guess luck wasn't on my side this time." He stroked over Alister's cheek. It was already growing cold…
The younger chuckled bitterly. Then he remained silent, holding Azimuth in his grasp until the last bit of warmth had left.