Commission for Xannador. I hope you like it!

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time fanfic

Genre: violence, action

Warnings: Violence, occasional cussing, some blood in later chapters

Hope you all enjoy!

Ice Shot

Ch. 2

Chilliness, coldness. That was what could be felt, which did not make sense, since he was in the warm confinements of his ship… Right?

Trying to figure this out, a yellow Lombax could be seen slowly opening his eyes. Blinking slowly at first, he did register that, yes, indeed, he was in his ship. However, something was not right.

While thinking of what could have happened, he noticed that his best bud was also sleeping. Clank never really slept unless it was absolutely necessary for his health, or was knocked out.

Only then did Ratchet think to look outside from the windows, and indeed something was very wrong. Looking out, all that could be seen was blankets of white as far as the eye could see, along with forming ice along the edges of the windshield of Aphelion. Ratchet then checked to see if she had any damage but there was no energy left to check.

Suddenly remembering, he then remembered that some mysterious ship shot them down. Who shot them? And why? And also, why couldn't they have been detected? Aphelion should have been able to sense them, easy, but no. The enemy must have had some kind of cloaking device, which is hard to find and expensive when can be found.

After these thoughts, Ratchet scooted over so he could wake his friend up.

"Clank?"

A groan of protest escaped the robot and he turned away from the voice and the hand touching his tiny shoulder. The thought of a robot being hard to wake up from sleep was slightly amusing to the Lombax.

Trying again, Ratchet replied, "Clank, wake up. We crashed."

After saying the term of crashed seemed to help awaken Clank up, for he opened his eyes after that was said and looked at Ratchet.

"What?" he asked in a mumble, but luckily still loud enough for the organic to hear.

"We crashed on a snow planet after we got shot at in space."

"Oh!" He responded before sitting up quickly, "I remember now."

Clank then looked at Ratchet and asked, "Ratchet. How long have we been asleep?"

"Beats me. I can't look up anything on Aphelion. She's dead at the moment." He answered, "For now, we will have to find a town somewhere and hopefully find some ship parts or another ship so we can go elsewhere for parts and help fix Aphelion."

Clank nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's head out then."

When this plan was established, Ratchet got to his feet so he could push the window open. However, this proved difficult since ice had grown along the edges to seal them in. After a few bangs and grunts, the ice was finally broken off or loosened enough to open the window.

Both crawled out of the ship once open. They then finally got a real chance to look around them. Good news was that it was not snowing. No wind chill or snowflakes would be a problem.

Over to the right not far from them was a dip, and when looking closer, it could be seen as a lake of solid ice. Then the left a ways offered a cave. Beyond this, nothing but sheets of white could be seen stretching out to the horizon.

"Well," Ratchet replied, "It looks like we don't have many options."

"I agree Ratchet. Perhaps we should head for that cave and stay the night there. It is not too far, but I am sure by the time we reach it then it will be dark." The Lombax nodded in agreement.

No more time was wasted as they began their journey towards the cave. Everything around them was silent expect for the crunching of snow beneath their feet with each taken footstep.

Suddenly, what sounded like ship engines could be heard. Confusion crossed both Ratchet's and Clank's faces as they looked towards one another before looking towards the sky. A ship of blue and black flew not a merely fifty feet above their heads. The lowness to the ground meant it would be landing soon. The ship looked a lot, almost exactly like Aphelion.

He then had a thought. "Clank. That ship looks a lot like mine."

"Yes, it sure does, doesn't it?" He answered in a robotic tone, not quite getting what Ratchet was hinting at.

"I used Zoni to make my ship look like that. Do you think they could be too?"

The robot looked confusingly at Ratchet, "That is an odd accusation. They could be I suppose, but where did you get an idea like that?"

"Well, for one how it looks, but it might also explain how they got the cloaking device and made us crash in one shot if that is the same ship."

"Hmm…" Clank mused. "That is a very good idea Ratchet. Though not many use Zoni, it does not mean that the owner of that ship does not. But how do we know if that is the ship of not?"

As if to answer his question, a blast was then shot from the ship towards them, towards Clank. When Ratchet saw where the shot was going, he jumped on Clank and both went sliding through the snow until enough friction was made to stop them.

"That answers my question…"

"Come on Clank!"

Not spending another moment in chat, Ratchet grabbed one of Clank's hands before throwing him onto his back and going into a sprint.

"Ratchet. Where are we going?"

"To the cave," Ratchet panted as he ran, "It's the safest place. We're sitting ducks out here."

The Lombax continued to throw one foot in front of the other as fast as his feet could take him. While running though, some thoughts went through his head.

'That ship is made from Zoni. How? Zoni are hard to find. Only certain people can catch them and use them… Clank told me about what happened while he was at the Great Clock. How Dr. Nefarious worked with the Zoni; tricked them… Could they be back? Could Dr. Nefarious or someone have made a deal with the Zoni to get Clank back? That could explain how they got the Zoni to help with the ship if they did, and those things will do just about anything to have Clank. They proved so when they kidnapped him.'

Eyes glanced slightly back only momentarily so he could keep running without distraction and so Clank would not noticed his distress. 'No! They can't take my best friend away again!'

After running for a bit longer, they finally made it to the lake. A loud screech tied into a howl was then heard not far from them, though they could not see where the sound came from.

Now being closer to the lake, it was then noted that a gorge was on the other side of the lake that could not have been seen from afar.

The screech was heard again but closer. Panic swelled inside both of them. Clank was trying to mentally prepare himself for battle. Ratchet, however, had other plans. Running towards the gorge, he stopped right on the edge once there. Looking into it, Ratchet knew what to do. He grabbed Clank and before either could think, Clank was thrown in.

The Lombax knew by the looks of it that Clank would be able to get out. It would just take a little bit of time for him to climb out. This was the best way Ratchet could think of to keep Clank safe. He then drew his wrench out and prepared himself for battle.

*Hello. This is the second chapter to Xannador's commission of Ice Shot. I hope you like it! I hope others who read this like it as well. Thanks for reading!