/A.N WARNING! A CRACK IN TIME SPOILERS!/

Clank waited outside his friend's workshop and knocked politely. The door was slightly open, but Clank knew better than to burst in on someone without express permission. No answer. If Clank could have rolled his eyes, he would have. There was no clock inside, and Ratchet had the tendency to get so wrapped up in his work that it would come as a huge surprise that it was six hours later than he had calculated.

Then again, the Lombax usually answered at least with an acknowledgement of his presence. Clank could not shake the feeling that something was wrong, and after the events of the Great Clock, he had become increasingly over protective of his friend. Clank shut his optics, doing his best to erase the memory of Alister's rage fuelled shot, his friend turning round, the bolt smashing into his armour, then he was falling…falling….

He shook his head and opened his optics again.

Torn between manners and his concern, he eventually chose the latter and pushed the door fully open.

"Ratchet?" He called out.

Bang-crash.

"Ow!"

Clank winced. He must have fallen asleep while working on Aphelion's exhaust.

"Crap," Ratchet moaned softly to himself, rolling out from beneath the ship and rubbing his forehead. That would leave a mark.

He wiped his greasy hands on a nearby towel, and gave a quick glance around his workspace.

Clank did the same, different thoughts running through their heads.

Ratchet was noting in exasperation the exhaust which had fallen off again.

Clank shuddered at the mess. The little robot hated the clutter and grease of Ratchet's workshop. While he had to agree that his friend was a skilled mechanic, and it was usually safer for his friend to be working on Aphelion than out getting into trouble, Clank resented the trail of mess that his friend seemed to leave behind wherever he went, both metaphorically and literally.

"Yeah, Clank?" Ratchet set down the cloth.

Clank snapped back to his original train of process.

"Oh! I only wanted to check that you were alright."

"Oh…" Ratchet muttered confused.

Clank realised how silly he must have sounded, but was saved from making further conversation by frenzied knocking at the door.

Ratchet raised an eyebrow.

"Great," He muttered, pushing past Clank and into the hall, where he opened the door.

A Veldinian girl stood shaking. Her body was wrapped loosely in what may have been a dress, but was now burnt and ripped beyond recognition.

"Mister!" She panted. "You have to help us! Scary creatures have attacked my village and we're losing badly"

Ratchet's green eyes widened and a low growl emitted from the back of his throat.

Scary creatures, huh? I've had plenty of them in my lifetime. Why can I never have a normal day where nothing drastic happens?!

The little girls eyes were wide and pleading and Ratchet noticed that she had crossed her two fingers. He couldn't help but smile.

"Fine," He sighed. "Hang on..." Turning round and running back into his workshop, he grabbed his wrench, combustor, and belt which held various weapons and tools.

After a quick (breathless) explanation to Clank, he insisted on coming with him, and fastened himself to Ratchet's harness.

Ratchet ran out of the door, and the little girl smiled and clapped her hands with glee.

"Yay!" She squeaked happily. "I'll show you the way!" Surprisingly fast for someone only around nine, she sped over in what Ratchet supposed was the direction of her home.

She stopped suddenly, and pointed at the onslaught in front of them. Ratchet had never seen creatures like these before. They seemed to be half lizard with humanoid features, heavily armoured and carrying scarily heave guns.

"Ah, Lombax! I was wondering when you'd show up!" The biggest one smirked, stroking his gun lovingly.

Ratchet narrowed his eyes, tensing his hand on the handle of his OmniWrench.

"You knew I was coming?" He growled.

"But of course!" The lizard-guy sneered. "I knew the great Lombax hero wouldn't be able to resist a poor little girl. Too bad she was just a hologram from one of the most advanced systems in the galaxy!" Ratchet whipped around to face the little girl. It was true- she was now motionless, her expression blank. Her body had started to fade to static.

"It was a cleverly put together trap, that my Master spent months putting together. Now it's up to me and my fellow Lecers to execute it.."

Lecers? What sort of a species was that?! The group of Lecers let out a battle cry and descended on Ratchet like bees to honey, who double jumped into the air in a desperate attempt to avoid the line of fire. Bringing his wrench down onto the shoulders of one of the Lecers, he felt a shot miss his right ear by centimetres. He was outnumbered eight to one. Yay.

Everywhere he turned there seemed to be a Lecer facing him. His wrench seemed to bounce right off their thick armour.

Suddenly he felt strong hands grab him by the throat and lift him into the air. He gasped- he could barely breathe.

"You have a choice, Lombax. Are you going to come quietly?" The biggest one crooned.

Ratchet tried to pry the fingers from his throat to no avail.

"Never!" He choked.

"Alright then. Don't say we didn't give you the choice. Do it, boys."

Without warning, Ratchet felt something smash hard across the side of his head, and his world faded to black.