Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome to my latest Ratchet and Clank creation, which merges Tools of Destruction with the Rebootverse! I figured this would be a fun idea, because then I can use each planet from the game as a single chapter, and all I really need to do is add some additional scenes and dialogue, and presto! Also, I can indeed confirm that Alister Azimuth will be making an early appearance as well, and that my version of A Crack In Time will actually be the third installment (fourth counting the movie/game), following the merger between Up Your Arsenal and Going Commando. Also, yes, this chapter does use a LOT of elements from my Enter the Netherverse project, but since I've scrapped that project in favor of this one, it was easier for me to use parts of that project for this one. Well, that's enough babble, let's begin!
UPDATE: Hey guys. Well, after stumbling upon an author by the username of TheLilyofTheValley after reading her Ratchet and Clank oneshot entitled Snow Globes, I learned that she had a very similar idea to this one. So, when I showed her this one in the hopes of starting a friendship, to find that she was very unhappy was a surprise to say the least because she'd had that idea for more than a year. That being said, I would like to personally assure my readers that this is completely and entirely my own idea, and is in no way shape or form influenced by Lily's idea, and I apologize for any confusion I caused.
Chapter I: Invasion
Aleero City-Planet Kerwan-Formerly Known As Metropolis...
A tall and well-built nineteen-year old Lombax with yellow fur and bright green eyes; clad in a black, silver, and orange Protosuit Mark III, with the symbol of the Galactic Rangers emblazoned on its chest, looked out over the city from its perch on a skyscraper rooftop. This was Captain Ratchet, head of the Galactic Rangers and Savior of Solanna. Everywhere he looked, there were billboards proudly displaying him alongside those he once considered his heroes, but now considered his closest friends and allies. Cora Veralux, a Markazian woman who shot first and asked questions when she was good and ready, Brax "The Brute" Lectrus, a former pro-wrestler who had become a Galactic Ranger, Elaris, who was the brains of the outfit, Qwark, who, after betraying the Rangers during the Deplanetizer incident, had been demoted to the rank of Private and spent some time in the slammer for it, and of course, Ratchet's partner in heroics, the defective warbot called Clank. Ratchet owed everything he now had to Clank. If he hadn't crashed on Veldin when he did, Ratchet never would've been able to play his part in saving Aleero City, the Galactic Rangers, and most certainly wouldn't have been able to thwart Chairman Drek and Dr. Nefarious' sinister schemes and destroy the Deplanetizer.
Ratchet frowned as something came to his mind. Over the last four years, there had been rumors circulating that Dr. Nefarious had not only survived the destruction of the Deplanetizer, but had somehow become a robot, and was currently orchestrating a mechanical uprising with the aid of Courtney Gears, a race of talented pilots known as the Valkyries, and a vicious race of creatures known as the Tyhrranoids. Ratchet and his fellow Rangers had dismissed these rumors of course, knowing there was no way Nefarious could still be alive when both Qwark and himself had actually seen him die after Ratchet had slammed the blunt edge of his OmniWrench against the side of his skull, causing his weapon to fire on himself as the mad scientist fell into the Star Cracker core. Although, he had to admit, there was something a bit iffy about Courtney Gears' new single…
"Ahem, Ratchet? May I ask how long we are going to be standing here?" asked Clank, who was attached to the back of Ratchet's Protosuit, acting as a thruster pack.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Clank, I was just thinking," said Ratchet, snapping back to the matter at hand before jumping off the rooftop while Clank activated his thrusters, allowing Ratchet to take to the skies and weave through traffic like a majestic bird. A majestic bird who knew every fighting style and was a master of heavy weaponry, stealth, ballroom dancing, and origami. Within a matter of moments, Ratchet and Clank had landed in front of the Hall of Heroes, where a large golden statue of himself and Clank greeted visitors.
Ratchet took a deep breath and entered the Hall of Heroes, making his way through the building. The past four years that had past since the Deplanetizer incident had actually been rather peaceful for him and the Galactic Rangers. First, they'd had the daunting task of helping those who'd lost their homes in the Novalis disaster find a new place to call home, since Drek's New Quartu had apparently been destroyed. Then, they'd searched for Chairman Drek himself to no avail, followed swiftly by chasing down an escaped criminal by the name of Shiv Helix. These days, however, they'd been called upon to help with relief efforts caused by a natural disaster of some kind. Apart from that, the Solana Galaxy had been enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace. It was almost as though no one actually needed a hero right now.
Well, when they cry out for one again, the Galactic Rangers will answer, thought Ratchet as he stepped through the door to the Break Room.
Kerwan Orbit-Cue Bad Guy Introduction in 3… 2… 1.
A small fleet of warships drew close to planet Kerwan, maintaining enough distance to avoid being detected by the planet's long-range detection systems. Onboard the largest and most heavily armed of the warships, two creatures, both of them males, gazed upon planet Kerwan with cold expressions on their faces. One of them was a Markazian and had short black hair, icy blue eyes, and wore black full-body combat armor with a belt bearing an insignia, black leather gloves, black boots, and a black cape. His name was Aldrin Marek, High Commander of the Cragmite Empire and the Emperor's right hand. The second creature who stood beside the High Commander was none other than the small, insect-like Cragmite Emperor himself, Percival Tachyon.
"Well, we've arrived, Your Excellence. The Drophyds are getting into position. We can begin the planetary assault whenever you wish, merely give the signal," said Aldrin.
Tachyon said nothing for a moment, but merely gazed out upon the planet, a thousand thoughts racing through his labyrinthian mind. Somewhere down there was the last known Lombax in the universe. For years Tachyon had thought he'd wiped them all off the face of the universe, justice for what they'd done to not only his parents and any siblings he might've had, but his entire race. True, Azimuth, whom he'd once played like a harp, was still at large, but he'd hidden himself rather well, and while he'd heard rumors of an unknown Lombax vigilante operating in the Bogan Galaxy, no one could confirm or deny if it was indeed a Lombax. But, this one, who Tachyon had instantly recognized as the son of the Keeper of the Lombax Secret, had so recklessly plastered himself across billboards, candy bars, toys, and video games that there was no way he could've stayed hidden from the Emperor's wrath for long. And that, to Tachyon, was simply splendid.
When Tachyon finally spoke, he merely uttered a few brief sentences. "Ready my personal battle cruiser. I want that Lombax to look at me when I kill him. I want to see the light leave that furball's eyes. Just like I did with his father before him."
Hall of Heroes Break Room-Several Minutes Until All Hell Breaks Loose…
"Ha ha! Qwark's in a tutu!" laughed Brax Lectrus, a burly beast clad in his Protosuit Mark III as he played through one of the Galactic Rangers vid-comics on the Hall of Heroes Break Room's Insomniac VG-9000 while the real Qwark, who was clad in his usual green and black superhero-esque Protosuit, looked completely and utterly embarrassed in the background, while Cora Veralux, a Markazian woman clad in her normal attire of a bodysuit of white, blue, and grey with black leather boots snorted nearby.
"Pfft, it's not as bad as me in that sumo wrestler costume… I'd love to smack the guy who thought that was a good idea in the head with my OmniWrench," said Ratchet.
"I actually thought I looked rather dashing in that tuxedo costume. Like some sort of secret agent," said Clank before a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Hmm… Secret Agent Clank does have a certain ring to it. Hehehehehe," the defective warbot chuckled while Ratchet rolled his eyes in amusement.
Before anyone could say or do anything further, a violent explosion rocked the Hall of Heroes, nearly sending everyone flying off their feet. A moment later, a female voice came on the Hall of Heroes' intercom. "Rangers! We have a situation! Aleero City is under attack! There's an army of heavily armed robotic commandos headed this way!" said the voice of Elaris, the Galactic Rangers' Tactical Support and Weapons Specialist before the feed went dead.
Clank looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm… heavily armed robotic commandos?" he said.
"Just the way I like 'em," said Brax, telequipping his Pyro Blaster.
"And besides, Clank, when aren't robotic commandos heavily armed?" asked Ratchet. "All right, rangers, mount up! We got a city under siege, Qwark, Cora, you help with search and rescue. Brax, you, me, and Clank will fight off the invaders, Elaris, see if you can hack into the enemy's transmissions, if they so much as sneeze I want to know about it."
"Roger!" said the rest of the Galactic Rangers before they departed to perform their assigned tasks.
As they made their way through the halls of the Hall of Heroes, Ratchet, Clank, and Brax ran directly into the robotic commandos, which began to look less like robotic commandos and more like an army of fish people controlling mechanized battle suits. Fish people who seemed particularly interested in killing Ratchet over Brax, if their lines of fire were anything to go by. Ratchet and Brax were quickly able to destroy the invaders' battle suits and make their way out of the Hall of Heroes.
What they saw on the other side made their jaws drop in sheer horror. The entire city was in a state of sheer anarchy and chaos. Entire buildings and countless lives were destroyed in a single, powerful laser blast as entire families were herded together and promptly executed.
Before Brax, Ratchet, or Clank could say or do anything further, Elaris' voice came on over their comlinks. "Rangers, I've managed to hack into the enemy's communications. Listen to this," she said before a second, male voice came on the comlink.
"-Lombax must be here somewhere. Obliterate this pathetic city, and bring back his head for the Emperor!"
"Hmm… from the sound of that transmission, I believe you may be their intended target, Ratchet," said Clank.
"That's what I was thinking," said Ratchet solemnly, realizing that every single life lost today was his fault, because some psychotic Emperor was trying to find him and kill him. I need to get off this planet and hope these guys follow me, thought Ratchet before he spoke aloud. "Brax, Clank, go and find Cora and Qwark. I'll handle the invaders. That's an order," Ratchet added when Brax gave him a questioning look.
Brax nodded and took off, but Clank remained right where he stood. "Apologies, Captain, but I do not believe I will be going anywhere," the warbot defect declared.
Ratchet couldn't help but give a small smile as Clank climbed onto his usual position on his back. "We need to find a way off this planet, and hope that this Emperor guy and his flunkies follow us. "
"You called?"
Almost as if on cue, a squadron of the fish people appeared and surrounded Ratchet and Clank, their cannons armed and poised to fire.
"Say good night, space rat. Just know this in your final moments. This was nothing personal, but The Emperor's the one who calls the sho-wha-huh?," said the commando, only to realize that Ratchet and Clank had disappeared. Looking up, the commando saw that the duo had grappled up onto an overhead gravtrain rail, and were currently grinding away from what was unmistakably The Emperor's personal cruiser hot on his heels, causing him to smile.
"Whoa!" cried Ratchet as the cruiser behind him fired its plasma cannons at him, forcing him to jump between a series of different railings, avoiding gravtrains as he did so. Until that is, a well-placed blast from the cruiser sent Ratchet and Clank falling from the railing and into traffic.
Ratchet heaved a sigh as he and his companion fell, narrowly avoiding speeders, hoverbikes, hovercrafts (several of which seemed to be powered by multiple electric eels) and other futuristic vehicles as people did everything they could to escape the invasion. They just HAD to invade during rush hour, didn't they? the Lombax thought as he narrowly avoided colliding with a hover truck before spotting a small landing platform.
Adjusting the position of his body, Ratchet, with the help of Clank's Heli Pack, was able to land safely on the landing platform, where Clank dismounted the Lombax's back… only to hear the sound of weapons cocking. Looking up, Ratchet saw that he had landed directly in the center of a circle of enemy commandos.
Helpless, Ratchet could only watch as the cruiser that had been chasing Clank and himself came in for a landing and the back hatch opened, revealing the form of a massive three-legged throne carrying a small, insect-like alien wearing a military dress uniform and a crown that looked to be slightly bigger than his head. In his free hand, he carried a scepter.
"Behold! The last known Lombax in the universe. A truly pathetic specimen of the race, I'm afraid. So weak," sneered the alien.
"And I assume you're the Emperor responsible for this unprovoked attack on my city?" asked Ratchet.
"Indeed I am," sneered the alien before standing proud and tall. "Emperor Percival Tachyon. Crown Prince of the Cragmites, conquer of space and time, and, pending the obliteration of a few insubordinate species, Ruler of the Universe!"
Ratchet and Clank couldn't help but laugh at not only how ludicrous Tachyon's claims were, but how funny his name was. "Your name's Percival?" the Lombax laughed.
"EMPEROR!" bellowed Tachyon, causing Ratchet to cover his ears. "See the crown?! See the scepter?! The giant walking throne and the legion of loyal robotic commandos? EMPEROR!"
Tachyon then took a breath to calm himself. "Not that a treacherous furball like you could ever…" Tachyon said before catching sight of Clank, who had stepped in front of Ratchet. "What's this? Heh heh, such a primitive robotic companion. And your kind used to be such renowned engineers."
"Oh, I'd be careful if I were you. He's got plaso-morphic blaster cannons on each fingertip," lied Ratchet as Clank took a combative stance, causing several of the commandos to falter and back away.
Tachyon glared at both Ratchet and Clank. "My gripe is not with this archaic planet, but with you! Surrender your… deathbot, and simply allow us to kill you. No one else need be harmed," the Emperor said.
"All right then. Catch!" said Ratchet as he used his OmniWrench to launch Clank onto the open ramp of the cruiser directly behind Tachyon, causing everyone present to look in that direction. Acting quickly, Ratchet deployed a Groovitron, forcing everyone present to start dancing uncontrollably, allowing the Lombax to join Clank on the ship and use it to make his escape.
And cut! Whoo boy, that was a lot of typing. Anyways, stay tuned for the aftermath of the Drophyd invasion, as well as Ratchet and Clank's misadventures on Cobalia. And be sure to leave a fave, follow, and review, like all the kids these days who love their social medias, and Praise Nefarious!