This was perhaps the start of the greatest challenge that Ratchet and Kim Possible had ever and will ever face. A missing piece of the young Lombax's past was about to reveal itself before him and his friends in a truly unexpected manner.
It all started one ordinary day in Metropolis. Ratchet and Clank were working on a hover bike. Kim was there with them, helping them out whenever they needed her. She was sporting a new mission outfit. At the moment, she was standing by while the duo was working on the bike together. Clank: "Fuel lines?" Ratchet: "Check." Clank: "Horizontal stabilizers?" Ratchet: "Check." Clank: "Ion thrusters?" Ratchet: "Looks like we've got a tailwind. If we time it right, we can ride the slipstream of the grav-train past the c-grid traffic, launch the mag-grappler on to that pedway overpass and slingshot right to the…" Clank: "Ratchet." Ratchet: "What? The thrusters are fine, Clank. See?"
He tried working the thrusters, but they didn't seem to work. He chuckled nervously as he looked at his friends; they both seemed very displeased. Kim: "Uh…yeah…that was impressive." Ratchet: "Don't worry about it, Kim. It's…probably just a fused ion duct."
He went to check on it. Kim went up closer to Ratchet. Kim: "Thanks for having me here, Ratchet. Things at home have been unbelievably hectic lately." Ratchet: "No problem, Kim. I'm glad to have you here with us. Right, Clank?" Clank: "But of course, we are always happy to keep you company, Miss Possible." Kim: "Well, I appreciate it, you guys. Really, I do, in ways that either of you wouldn't believe. Ron has been acting awfully childish lately. It has become too much for me to handle. I just…needed to get away from all of it for a while." Ratchet: "Seriously? He's still behaving that way? I thought he would be more mature since you both graduated from high school." Kim: "I thought so, too. I don't know what's going on with him, but he has been acting very strange. I don't know why." Clank: "Perhaps he is just overstressed from that job of his at Smarty Mart." Ratchet: "I find that hard to believe. I like that place a lot. It's much less stressful than having to put up with Club Banana and their banana stickers, that's for sure." Kim: "You're still complaining about that? Geez, you really do hold a grudge." Ratchet: "Heh! Overcharge me for clothes ruined by those dumb stickers? No thanks. Smarty Mart is my place to be."
Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head, although, she didn't seemed annoyed at all. At that moment, a portable screen came up from within Clank. Clank: "Incoming call from Captain Qwark." Kim: "Oh, great. What does that idiot want this time?"
The screen turned on, displayed on it was an image of Qwark cowering from something. Qwark: "Ratchet? Clank? I've got a bit of a situation here at the Planetary Defense Center. Nothing I can't handle, mind you…just a few…thousand…heavily armed robotic commandoes, but I figured, hey, if you're in the neighborhood, maybe-AAAHH!"
Ratchet, Kim and Clank watched as Qwark was being attacked. Qwark: "Wait! I'm too handsome to die!"
From that, the transmission was cut off. Clank: "Hmm…heavily armed robotic commandoes?" Kim: "Uh, yeah, that sounded so much like something he really can't handle." Ratchet: "Kim, Clank, come on, we have to help him."
Ratchet got on the bike, Kim and Clank climbed up and sat behind him. Kim: "Seriously? Are we really going to help that guy out?"
Ratchet pushed on a few buttons. Kim: "Uh…this doesn't seem like a good idea." Clank: "Are you certain this is functioning properly?" Ratchet: "You guys worry too much."
The bike lifted up, they were about to fly off. Ratchet: "Planetary Defense Center, here we co-!"
As soon as the bike flew over the edge of the building they were on, it dropped like a rock. Kim: "RATCHET!"
He managed to steer the bike as it fell. Ratchet: "Clank! Hit the auxiliary thrusters!"
Clank did just that, the thrusters came on and they were flying. Ratchet was thrilled by the rush. Ratchet: "You guys alright!?" Kim: "Craziest thing I've ever done!" Clank: "Watch out!"
They nearly flew into a few obstructions, but Ratchet dodged them like a pro. They kept on flying. Kim: "Where are we going?" Ratchet: "It's a shortcut…trust me!" Clank: "Ratchet! Look out!"
He flew through a building with a large hole in it, thankfully unharmed. Ratchet: "Whoa! See? What did I…?" Kim: "Look out!"
They looked directly in front of them Ratchet: "Oh, no!"
They crashed directly into a blimp and fell out of the sky. They landed on the ground below them. Despite the long fall, they managed to survive. They got themselves back on their feet. Ratchet looked over towards Kim, who stared back at him, agitated. He smiled and let out a nervous chuckle. Kim: "We are never doing that without my dad supervising you ever again." Ratchet: "I…love the new mission outfit…" Kim: "(sigh) Guess we're going on foot from here." Ratchet: "Well…this would be a good time to try out my new nav unit."
He switched on a device directly attached to the front of his belt and they went off.
As they rushed through the city, they ran into some robots that began attacking them. Kim: "I guess we found the "heavily armed robot commandoes" that Qwark told us about." Ratchet: "They don't look heavily armed to me." Kim: "Ratchet."
Just then, they heard a voice from what sounded like was coming from a transceiver. Voice: "The Lombax must be here somewhere. Obliterate this pathetic city." Ratchet: "Hey, did you guys here that?" Kim: "Yeah, I did. It sounded like some sort of transmission. Did he mention Lombax?"
As they charged through the city a bit more, a lot more enemies appeared around them. They fought through them and managed to subdue them almost immediately. Many structures around them were being destroyed by the onslaught. Voice: "The Lombax is considered to be armed and dangerous. Set blasters to atomize." Ratchet: "Well that doesn't sound good." Kim: "Just who is that talking?"
As they continued through, more enemies showed up. They fought off a lot of them and made their way to a grind rail. They started grinding it and tried to escape the onslaughts. Voice: "He's escaping on the manic rail, heading South." Kim: "OK, seriously, who is he and why is he trying to gun you down?" Ratchet: "How should I know!?"
As they were grinding, they witnessed a building nearby being shot at, it collapsed completely. Kim: "Did you guys just see that!? They brought down an entire building!" Ratchet: "Oh, boy, this is really getting serious."
They got off of the grind rail and rushed through more enemies. They managed to fight through all of them and reached a launch pad nearby; they were tossed very high into the air. Voice: "The Lombax is escaping on the launch pad. Track is trajectory and convert on his position." Ratchet: "What do these guys want with me?" Kim: "We may need to keep going to find out."
As they rushed through some more, they witnessed another building collapse from another one of the enemies' direct assault on it. Kim: "Geez, these guys are brutal!" Clank: "They are placing the entire city in great danger." Ratchet: "Gee, you really think so?" Voice: "The Lombax is identified on the sky bridge. Commence aerial bombardment." Clank: "Ratchet! Miss Possible! The sky bridge is collapsing!"
They ran across the bridge as fast as they possibly could. Kim: "Who…are these guys?"
They were bombarded constantly, but they kept on going. They managed to reach another rail and started grinding. Voice: "Incinerator missiles armed and locked in. Commence firing."
At that moment, another building nearby collapsed. Kim: "They just destroyed another building!" Voice: "The Lombax has been sighted near the grav-trains. All units, move in and cut him off." Kim: "When I find whoever's sending out those transmissions, I'll beat then to a bloody pulp." Ratchet: "Save some for me, Kim."
They continued grinding on the rail, facing more and more enemies along the way. Voice: "He's heading towards the Planet Central Defense Station. Dispatch forces towards that sector. Do not let him inside." Kim: "Guys, we have to hurry!" Ratchet: "Nough said, Kim! Let's bombard them and force our way through."
They fought their way through more and more enemies as they kept on coming. They were able to make their way to another launch pad and leapt towards a long, wide bridge. Clank: "Ratchet, the Planetary Defense Center is 200 cubits below, how do you propose we get down?" Ratchet: "I don't know, I'm kind of winging it right now." Kim: "Yeah, we've noticed how well that's been going so far." Ratchet: "You know, it's kind of hard to think clearly when I'm FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE!"
They ran across the bridge as it was breaking apart bit by bit from the oncoming onslaughts. It eventually gave way completely, causing them to fall through the bustling traffic below. Ratchet: "They just had to invade during rush hour."
The enemy armada shot at a lot of the cars during their attempts to attack the group. Kim: "Unbelievable! These guys have no consideration towards the civilians at all!" Ratchet: "Gee, did you realize that just now; because I've known that since that jerk said to have the city obliterated!" Kim: "Well, duh! I knew that, too. I'm just saying that it's a terrible shock, that's all." Ratchet: "Oh! Right, well…that's true, too."
They managed to descend safely. There, they arrived at the Planetary Defense Center. Kim: "Well, that was one wild ride." Ratchet: "Hm…looks pretty quiet…where's Qwark?"
He walked up to a panel and pushed a few buttons on it. From it was just a recording done by Qwark. Qwark: "Greetings, citizens, I'm away from my post at the Planetary Defense Center. Please enter the number that best describes your emergency."
At that moment, a robot appeared nearby and approached them. Qwark: "If you are being attacked by radioactive amoeboids, please press 1."
Just then, more robots show up from below the nearby edge on the side. Qwark: "If you have been ingested by a mutant space eel, please press 2. If your city is being invaded by a massive, deadly space armada, please press 3."
The group stood by as the robot in front of them shot at them; they jumped out of the way just in time. Qwark: "Para español, o prima numero cuatro." Kim: "Why would Qwark even have that for the Planetary Defense Center?" Ratchet: "Let's get out of here! This place is clearly useless!"
They jumped on to another grind rail and managed to grind out of there.
As they were grinding along, there were being bombarded constantly. Voice: "We have a lock on the Lombax. Take him out."
Along the way, some of the other rails nearby were shot at and demolished. Clank: "My sensors are picking up structural damage to the grind rail." Kim: "Great! What else could go wrong?"
At that moment, a large ship arrived on the scene. Voice: "All units, fall back, the emperor has him in his sights." Ratchet: "You just had to say it, Kim." Clank: "Ratchet! Miss Possible! That warship is gaining on us!"
The warship shot at them several times as they continued grinding along the rails. They were eventually forced off of the rails and on to a building where they were completely surrounded by several of the enemies. Kim: "Well, this isn't good."
The warship then landed directly in front of them. Emerging from the ship was a short alien on a robotic walker. Alien: "Behold! The last Lombax of the Universe. Truly a pathetic specimen of the race, I'm afraid. So weak." Kim: "Who are you and why are you trying to have Ratchet killed?" Alien: "I am Emperor Percival Tachyon, Prince of the Cragmites, conqueror of space and time and…pending the obliteration of a few insubordinate species, Ruler of the Universe! That is who I am, dear girl." Kim: "Oh, so not. You won't be destroying any Lombax, you insensitive brat, especially not the one who is my best friend." Tachyon: "You dare display such insolence towards the Emperor of the Universe?" Kim: "Oh, you're not MY emperor, that's for sure." Ratchet: "Good one, Kim."
Ratchet and Kim did a fist bump with each other. Tachyon: "ENOUGH! I will NOT tolerate anymore of your disrespect! Although, I would have expected nothing less come from a girl who would side with this treacherous furball." Kim: "Hold on, what exactly do you want with Ratchet? Why do you want him dead?" Tachyon: "My dear girl, his kind has defiled my bloodline for generations. He must be wiped off the face of the Universe." Kim: "Oh, I so won't let that happen."
Clank stepped in front of Ratchet. Clank: "I will not let that happen, either."
Tachyon looked down at Clank. Tachyon: "Ah, what's this? Heh, such a primitive robot companion you have there and your kind used to be such renowned engineers." Kim: "Don't underestimate him, Tachyon; he's a lot tougher than he looks." Ratchet: "Uh, yeah, guess you could call him a classic example of "big things coming in small packages"." Tachyon: "Hm…well, my gripe is not with the people of this archaic city, but with you. So, I'll arrange a deal. Surrender your "death bot" and allow us to kill you, then no one else needs to be harmed, especially that insolent, smart-mouthed girl." Ratchet: "Fair enough."
He held out his wrench in front of Clank, Clank grabbed on to it. Ratchet proceeded to toss Clank out towards Tachyon with the use of his wrench. Ratchet: "Here you go!"
With one swing of his wrench, he tossed Clank past Tachyon and on the ramp of the warship. Kim jumped up, flipped, did a handstand on Tachyon's head and leaped off towards the ship. Ratchet rushed underneath Tachyon's walker, slammed his wrench on it once and then ran towards the warship. He, Kim and Clank went into the ship, took off and left the planet.
As they flew away from the planet, they sat in the front seats. Computer Voice: "Auto pilot engaged." Ratchet: "Whoa! Hang on, guys." Kim: "So, what now?" Computer Voice: "Hyper booster online. Engaging cryosleep."
At that moment, a sleeping gas was blown out of the ship's dashboard. Kim: "Oh, no…" Ratchet: "Cryosleep? Ah, nah, nah, nah, there's no way I'm gonna…"
In an instant, both Ratchet and Kim were put to sleep. Clank looked towards both of his friends. Clank: "It is fortunate cryosleep does not work on robots. (Giggle)"
Just then, a boxing glove emerged directly in front of him and punched him in the face, knocking him out completely. The ship went into warp drive.
As Clank was knocked out, he dreamt of flying above an unknown city. Shortly afterwards, a mysterious robot appeared before him and approached him. It pointed towards a large, domed building. Robot: "His past is inside."
It flew towards the building, Clank followed after it.
Shortly afterwards, Clank woke up on a strange planet. He looked around for a bit before looking towards Ratchet. Ratchet: "Clank! CLANK! Are you OK?"
Clank got himself up. Clank: "What…happened?" Ratchet: "You were knocked out for a minute there." Clank: "I am…fine…" Kim: "Really? Are you sure?" Clank: "Yes, Miss Possible. I am positive. Where are we?" Ratchet: "Beats me." Kim: "The ship crashed on to this unknown planet while we were unconscious. It must have run out of fuel while it was on autopilot." Ratchet: "Well…this has been one interesting day." Kim: "So, how are we going to get off of this planet?" Ratchet: "Don't know. Hopefully, we should be able to find another ship. Come on, let's try to find one and get back to Kerwan."
And with that, they walked off.