As I stated in the summary, the cover image is by Babywarrior5! :) I'd can't thank Lily and Babywarrior5 enough for this amazing gift. The detail is spectacular, the colours vivid, and the art style beautiful! You, Babywarrior5, totally blow me away at art. I'm pretty good, but you are beyond awesome. :D

So, as I said in Ratchet and Clank Legends: Race the Clock, I'm revamping Adara's personality. She's going to behave more realistically (hopefully) in this story than she did in Ratchet and Clank Tenebris: Shadow of Ephemeris. Now... without further ado...

I present to you Adara the Lombax!

. . .

"Disengaging primary cryofeed."

"Nrrgh... turn off the lights, wouldja...?" I blearily open my eyes, my vision blurry. I'm feeling rather disoriented at the moment, which isn't unusual in the mornings, so I'm not alarmed at first. Then I notice something.

There's something attached to my feet. Lemon number one.

Then I notice something else.

My whole body feels really weird, especially my head, and I don't know why. Lemon number two.

My vision clears and I see I'm hanging upside down above a metal platform that has to be five feet below me at least. "S***! What the h-"

"Little help here! Someone?" a voice calls. "I think my thing is broken!" I turn my head to see the source... Captain Qwark? What in the name of- what in God's holy name is going on here?!

"Who- who are you?! Answer me!" I snarl. Qwark turns his head (albeit awkwardly, for... multiple reasons) looks at me and an expression of surprise comes over his face.

"Another Lombax?!"

I see Ratchet and Clank both staring at me, the shock clearly visible on their faces. I highly doubt their astonishment comes anywhere close to mine...

I mean, I'm a frickin' Lombax?! How is that possible?! This doesn't... what... how?! I don't understand what's going on! That's when I really start to lose it. "Get me down from here! NOW! SOMEBODY!... stop it and calm down... calm down, this is just some really freaky nightmare... everything's gonna be just fine... or I had a... a relapse with my... my..." And then I just start crying hysterically.

So much for first impressions.

"Lady, just calm down, okay?" Ratchet says. "We're gonna get down from here. Just sit tight. Qwark, could you, uh, slap Nefarious out of it?"

"This isn't real, this isn't real..." I tell myself. At least, I seriously hope it isn't.

"You TWIT!" I hear Nefarious' voice shriek. Shouldn't he be dead? "You dare lay your squishy hands on me?! When I get- WOULD WHOEVER'S CRYING SHUT UP SO I CAN MAKE A DECENT THREAT?!"

"HOW ABOUT THIS?!" I yell back, angry now. "YOU CAN TAKE YOUR BLOODY THREAT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR-!"

"'Scuse me," a child's voice calls from below. "Whatcha doin' up there?"

I look down and see a young alien girl looking up at us. "Just... just get us down already!"

The little girl proudly salutes, replying, "Aye aye, Lombax!" She uses... whatever that gadget in her hands is to pull a switch, and then we find ourselves falling to the floor. I slam hard on my side, no doubt getting heavily bruised in the process.

"Nggh..." I stand up wobbly, though the others are already on their feet. I look at them and say, "Now that that's been done... I'm going back to the real world. Bye bye." I turn around and I'm about to jump off the platform in the hopes that might end this hallucination or whatever when a large gloved hand picks me up from behind. "What in the- YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW OR I'M GONNA RIP YOUR-!"

"That's no way to thank a Mega-Hero!" Qwark says, still holding me by my sweater. He turns his hand so I'm facing him. I growl, and punch him in the face. "OW! My nose!" He drops me and I bolt across the bridge to the nearest door. It doesn't open and I slam my fists against it. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nothing happens and I turn around, my back flat against the door. I look at Ratchet and the others, who are staring at me as though I've gone mad.

Which I had to have... there's no way this can actually be happening.

"You..." I try to gather my thoughts as I speak. "... you stay away from me... whatever you are..."

Ratchet approaches me slowly. "Look, I get it. Waking up in a strange place with no idea how you got there- believe me, it's not pleasant. But we have to stay calm if we're gonna get outta here. All of us. What's your name?"

I'm not sure how I manage to respond, but I do. "Adara... I'm Adara Laufeyson..."

"Okay, Adara." Ratchet pulls me away from the door gently. "Come on. You're gonna be okay Adara. You got that, right?"

I nod after a moment, tears still streaming from my eyes. But I'm more in control now. "I... I guess so..."

"Head through the sector seven air vent and we'll rendezvous on the south side!" the girl tells us as she pushes a button on a console. A holographic bridge appears, leading to another door. "A galactic scout never leaves before her mission is complete!"

"Er... how do we know which vent is which?"

"We'll figure it out as we go along," Ratchet tells me as Clank jumps onto his back. "Come on, we don't have a lotta time."

"What are we, playing 'follow the leader?'" Nefarious shrieks.

"Nefarious," I speak after a moment.

"Yeah?" The robot turns to me expectantly. "What'ya want, squishy?"

"I want you to shut up until this whole bloody thing is over." Then I follow Ratchet across the bridge, trying to keep my cool. If I let this get to me, it may just worsen my... condition further.

Mom... Luki... even if I can never get out of here...

... even if I never wake up from whatever this is...

... I hope you know that I love you guys.

. . .

Don't worry, next chapter, there's definitely gonna be action. I just wanted to set things up first. Anyway, I'd like to clarify several things:

1. Yes, Adara's surname has been changed as well, for multiple reasons I won't explain right now.

2. No, I did not mistype- "Luki" is actually an alternative name for Loki. *cuddles Loki toy and squeals* As to who she's addressing, that my friends, shall be explained later.

3. There's not going to be as much humour in this story as there was for Ratchet and Clank Tenebris: Shadow of Ephemeris. There will definitely be humour, both from the game and from me, but I'm adding a bit of a more dark tone to this story. At least, I'm trying to.

4. I might revise this chapter some tomorrow, but any advise you guys might give me would be awesome. I'm more used to writing characters who are often already confident and calm, so I honestly don't know if my writing for this chapter was any good.