Phew! I really am late this time! It's getting quite late here, so I'll skip the author's notes this time. So, reviews!
Jadzia Kira Dax: "That was one heck of an awesome chapter! I'm glad you had Lorna Cross involved with this chapter. Lombaxes rock!
P. S. Yeah, I like making jokes about Ratchet and Clank characters owing me bolts!"
Thanks! And yeah, I just had to add Lorna, I mean, I don't know any fic in which she actually plays a role, and I wanted to change that. As for why I chose to feature her alone and left Angela's father out... you will all find out later. And yeah, Lombaxes rock! Anyhow, enjoy!
Destiny W: "Well, that escalated real quick. I can't wait to read what happens next. : )"
In that case I won't hold you up. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.
Max Chronicle: "I trust you...only time will tell, huh. That was in my opinion...VERY SURPRISING but...
I'm half tempted to take Travel The Days to see if my prediction of the next chapter is true or not, I think I am though. Guess I'll see next week.
About the whole "shiz-worthy" ending; I accept that challenge.
Until next time...
Max out"
I have no idea if your prediction is correct, so please, let me know what your prediction was. Anyhow, I won't hold you up, go check if you were right. Enjoy!
zenith88: "Sorry it took me so long to write an review, but i simply forgot to write one. Anyhow you really surprised me when Angela yelled at Ratchet and back. The whole orderal with Angelas mother explaine also a lot to me, as for example from where she got her name. And the ract Simon introduced her to genetics is just as great as the whole story. Well see ya at the next chapter/story."
You're lucky I am late with this chapter, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to reply to your review. As for the argument between Ratchet and Angela, I wanted to end things with a bang and begin Epilogue 2.0 with some tension between Ratchet and Angela. Furthermore, I thought Lorna telling Angela where Angela got her name from was a nice addition. And I figured that she had to be introduced to genetics somehow, so I gave Simon the honours. Why this is relevant you will find out in Epilogue 2.0. But for now, enjoy!
Time to meet
Late at night, Clank was asleep in his recharge station on Ratchet's nightstand. He wasn't really dreaming of anything, but he was in a deep sleep that he wasn't going to wake up from anytime soon, and thus he had no idea of the hologram of Hypernova appearing or Ratchet leaving in the middle of the night.
However, he was woken up when he felt strange, as if something next to him was radiating some kind of energy. He slowly opened his right eye, and noticed that Ratchet's bed was empty, and that the room was being illuminated by a strange blue light, the light apparently coming from right next to him. Needless to say, the weird feeling, the mysterious blue light and Ratchet's disappearance scared Clank a bit, but he still opened his left eye and carefully looked to where the energy and the light came from.
A shock went through him that was so powerful that his mechanical heart skipped a beat. Hovering right there in front of him in a ball of blue light was his father.
Orvus.
"F-father?!" Clank stammered.
Orvus did not respond, seemingly asleep. "Father?" Clank tried again. No response.
"Orvus?"
Orvus suddenly shuddered, and one eye slowly opened. "Tea time already, Sigmund?" he muttered, still half asleep. Orvus chuckled. "Get it? Time already? Ha ha... ha..."
Orvus fell asleep again. Clank shook his head, he would have to wait for his father to wake up. Deciding to go do something useful, Clank got up and walked out of Ratchet's room, into the house underneath Ratchet's garage. He started to clean the house out of boredom, but an hour later the entire house had been cleaned (save for the room Angela was in, Clank did not want to risk disrupting her sleep so he had skipped that room for now), so with nothing else to do, Clank sat down on the couch and grabbed his book.
Even though it was very dark, Clank hadn't turned on the lights, he had no trouble seeing or reading thanks to the green glow coming from his eyes. However, since Clank could read really fast, he had finished reading the last page of his book by five A.M. and after checking up on Orvus it was clear that Clank still had to wait quite a while.
So, Clank sat down on the couch again and turned on the TV. He chose the science channel. The show was currently about quantum physics, something that did have Clank's interest, so the robot kept watching.
The show then finished and another show started, this time about scientists trying out new ideas and talking about their projects. After a while that show had ended as well, and another one began, this time on biology. Suddenly, Clank's sensors picked up sounds coming from the room Angela slept in for now, and sure enough, the door opened and Angela came walking out. She didn't look too awake, still in her PJ's and with a sleepy look in her eyes. "Good morning Ms. Cross. Have you slept well?" Clank asked.
"Huh?" Angela asked, turning to Clank. "Oh! Yeah, I did sleep well, thanks."
She yawned. "Waking up, that's the problem." she muttered as she walked into the kitchen and started to make herself a cup of tea. After a few minutes she joined Clank on the couch. "What are you watching?" she asked.
"The science channel. The current show is about Biology, or more specifically, DNA."
"Oh. Well, mind if I join you?" she asked.
"Not at all." Clank replied. "I am actually rather happy that you are willing to watch the science channel with me. Ratchet usually does not want to, for he often does not understand what the show is about."
Angela chuckled. "Sounds like Ratchet alright."
She looked around. "Speaking of him, where is he?"
Realization hit Clank like a truck as he remembered that Ratchet had disappeared and that he had forgotten due to his father appearing all of a sudden. He also realized that Angela would probably become sick with worry.
"Uuh... Erm... Ratchet... Ratchet is currently on his way to the Gadgetron headquarters on Kalebo III to pick up some hardware for a project he has been working on." Clank lied.
"Oh. Okay. Ratchet really has a knack for mechanics, huh?"
"Indeed. He often works on gadgets when he has time, or when he does not feel like working on yet another gadget, he plays video games."
"Games? Doesn't he read?"
"I have rarely ever seen Ratchet read, I'm afraid."
"Hmm, he should try it once."
"I agree."
Angela drank her tea as they watched the science channel. But that's when a voice came from behind them. "Oh, tea! It has been such a long time!"
Angela nearly dropped her cup of tea in surprise, and Clank nearly jumped. "The hell?!" Angela yelped as she got up and turned around in an instant. She did not see anyone, though she had clearly heard a voice. "Did you hear something, Clank?"
The voice spoke again. "Oh, silly me, I completely forgot that Zoni usually cannot be seen unless they make themselves visible."
Orvus appeared, hovering in the middle of the room. "There, can you see me now?"
Angela nodded with a look of pure confusion on her face. "Yeah, but... what in the world are you?"
"Miss Cross, meet my father." Clank said.
"Father?"
"Yes, Clank is my son." Orvus spoke up. "His body may have been created in a robot factory on planet Quartu in the Solana galaxy, but his soul did not come from a robot factory, oh no!"
"Father, I have so many questions that I do not even know where to begin." Clank spoke up.
"Ask all you want, I've got some time. Hehe, get it? Time?"
Clank nodded. "The question that has been bothering me for such a long time now is what happened on Zanifar, and where have you been all this time?"
"Those are two questions actually, but that aside. On Zanifar, I was betrayed by Nefarious, who imprisoned me in a special glass cylinder. He then started to interrogate me, asking me many different things, such as the location of the Clo- erm, 'my project', and asking how he could get into my chamber. I, of course, did not answer his questions, and as a result he used a device that he named the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler if I remember correctly to weaken my powers. Because it was quite clear that Nefarious was up to no good and that it would mean certain destruction for the universe if he would get access to my chamber, I blew up my physical form."
"But how could you have survived? Zoni cannot live without their metallic bodies."
"Luckily for me, there was one person nearby who was not evil, a golden Lombax hiding from Nefarious not too far away. I rushed over to him and fused with him to some extent, using his body as a safe haven. Unfortunately, I seem to have left something behind, for Nefarious could recover an image of you, my son. To my surprise, the Lombax seemed to recognize you as well, for he stammered 'Clank?!' upon seeing your face, accidentally making his presence known. I had to use quite a lot of energy during that adventure, for instance, I was the one who opened the... I forgot what it was called, basically that metal container that the Lombax used to store Zoni in. Whilst browsing through his memories, it was quite clear that it was no coincidence that that Lombax, which I found out to be named Ratchet, was there, he was a close friend of you.
I used so much power to keep both of you safe that I had to sleep in order to regain my powers. Unfortunately, whenever Ratchet would hear my name, I would wake up. However, I did not have enough power to wake up, so I would drain that power from Ratchet. What is even worse is that I could not prevent myself from waking up, nor could I prevent myself from using Ratchet's energy. Whenever I would accidentally drain his energy, Ratchet would feel pain. I did wake up again at some point, and after browsing through some of Ratchet's memories, I found out that it was just after you and Ratchet had defeated creatures from a dimension called the Netherverse. Unfortunately, I had to use all of my powers once again to create a timegate to save someone from destruction."
Orvus turned to Angela. "You."
"Me?"
"Yes. You were on Lumos at the time."
And suddenly, all pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "So that's where that thing came from..." Angela muttered.
"Yes. However, I had used all of the power I had, and thus I fell asleep once again, and that brings me to this moment, I frankly have no idea how I got here or why I am no longer fused with Ratchet."
Clank frowned. "That is indeed odd. Perhaps Ratchet knows something, we should ask him when he returns."
"Indeed, we should. But, for now, could I have a cup of tea? It has been ages since the last time I drank tea."
"Certainly." Clank said, getting up and walking to the kitchen. Angela got up as well, but walked into the room she used and locked the door behind her.
She came out again when Clank was giving his father a cup of tea. This time, however, Angela was wearing her usual outfit and looked fully awake.
"That's better. Also, thank you for saving me... uh..."
"Oh, have I forgotten to introduce myself? The name is Orvus."
"Orvus? The Orvus?"
"The one, but not the only, for there can be more of me at a time. Hehehe, that is, if I play with time a little."
Orvus' serious side came back. "I hope you understand that that was just a joke, I actually highly recommend you to not mess with time, it is already so battered and broken."
"Time? Battered and broken?"
"Yes, but I cannot tell you more about it, for the safety of the universe itself."
"I understand. You know, some things I don't even want to know, I'm much better off without knowing of something that could potentially risk the universe, or at least, you say that you cannot tell me more for it would risk the universe. Then, in that case, by all means don't tell me."
Orvus nodded. "You are a wise woman. Many cannot stand it when something is kept a secret from them."
"Father, your tea is getting cold." Clank pointed out.
"Oh. Thank you for pointing that out." Orvus said as he started to drink his tea.
"No problem." Clank replied.
At that moment, the sound of engines could be heard, and soon enough they could hear the sound of a ship landing outside the garage.
Just a few seconds later they could hear footsteps coming down the staircase, and soon Ratchet came walking into the underground house. However, more footsteps could be heard, indicating that more people were coming down the stairs. Angela and Clank watched in shock as three Lombaxes followed Ratchet.
One of the two males had grey fur, orange eyes and his stripes were a mix of orange and crimson. He was strongly built, and appeared to have a small beard. The other male had golden fur, green stripes and brown stripes, and frankly, closely resembled Ratchet. And the female Lombax was a bit taller than the others, golden fur, sky blue eyes, and long golden hair.
"Ratchet, who are these people?" Angela asked.
"Angela, Clank, meet Kaden and Elisabeth, my parents, and Alister Azimuth, my godfather."
Clank tilted his head in confusion. "I was almost certain that Kaden and Elisabeth had died, and I saw Alister die before my eyes, so how can they be here now?"
"Hypernova."
"Come again?"
"Last night I couldn't sleep. Imagine my surprise when a hologram of Hypernova formed in the corner of the room. He told me that, if I wanted answers, I had to follow him, and so I did. As it turns out, Hypernova had been working on bringing my parents back for quite a while now, and he was even able to save Alister. He also managed to force Orvus out of my body, and gave him back his old metallic body."
"Ah, that explains quite a lot." Orvus mumbled in thought."
Ratchet turned to where Orvus' voice came from. "Oh? You're awake?"
"Yes, I am." Orvus said, hovering over to Ratchet. "I believe I have not introduced myself to you yet. I am Orvus."
Ratchet smiled. "I know. Clank told me about you."
Orvus nodded. "That he still lives to tell about me is something I must thank you for, without you my son would have died."
"Well, I wouldn't be breathing either if it wasn't for Clank."
Orvus nodded. "Still, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being such a dear and loyal friend of my son."
"Don't thank me, thank Clank. He made me into who I am now."
"That is not entirely true. Someone can advice a person to choose a different path in life, but if that person listens or not is up to them. Clank may have played a certain role in making you who you are now, but in the end, it was you who let Clank change you."
"Erm... okay... well..."
"I see my words are a bit confusing. I agree, they are, but they are true. All that aside, I see you have some people to talk to, some people you hadn't really met until fairly recently." Orvus said, nodding towards Ratchet's parents. "Come," he said whilst turning to Angela and Clank. "Let's give them a moment alone, shall we?"
Angela and Clank nodded, and followed Orvus up the stairs and out of the house. Clank still had lots to discuss with Orvus anyways.
As Angela passed Ratchet, she stopped for a moment. "Ratchet?"
"Yeah?" Ratchet said, turning to her.
"I... I don't exactly know what to do right now. I mean, Clank's got his father to talk things over with, you've got your parents and your godfather, but I... I've got nothing to do. At all."
Ratchet hummed in thought. "Then you should think."
Angela frowned. "Not funny."
"You don't get what I mean. I meant that you'll have some time to think about where you want your new house to be."
"Ooooooh. Sorry for the misunderstanding, I get what you mean now. Yeah, that's indeed a good idea. Alrighty then, see you later."
"Bye!" Ratchet said as Angela turned around and walked up the stairs, disappearing from view.
An uneasy silence filled the air. Ratchet turned to his parents. "Well... uh... I suppose you've got lots of questions, so..."
"You first." Elisabeth replied.
"Well... Alister told me about my dad, but other than that, I know nothing about you. All I know is what Hypernova told me, which isn't much."
"I... whoa, it's been such a while ago, uh... I used to be a doctor. I worked in the hospital, but on the ambulance too every once in a while. I used to work together with my good friend Lorna. God, it's been such a long time since I've seen her, I wonder if she's alright."
Alister cleared his throat. "If nobody minds, I think I'm going outside for a moment."
Kaden blinked. "Okay..."
"What? I just need some time to think."
"Well, that's new!"
Alister poked Kaden's arm. "Watch it, Kay." he said with a grin.
"You got it, Al."
Alister shook his head with a smile. "I never thought I'd ever see you again, Kay."
"Are you getting sentimental, Al?"
"Huh, perhaps. Anyhow, I'm really glad to have you back, happier than I am to be alive myself. You haven't changed even the slightest, have you?"
"Nope."
Alister smiled and nodded. "Keep it up."
Alister walked up the stairs, and disappeared from view.
Kaden turned to his son. "Anyhow, got any more questions, kiddo?"
"Yeah, what was your job, dad?"
"Me? I used to be a racer."
"A racer?"
"Yep. I was an one-man team."
Elisabeth poked his arm. "Ouch! Sorry, two-men team."
He received another poke to the arm. "OOW! One-man-one-woman team, alright?"
Elisabeth nodded. "Good boy. Cookie for you."
Kaden burst out laughing. "Ah, you're the best."
"And you know it." Elisabeth replied with a smile. "But weren't you in the middle of a story?"
"Yeah, that is until someone interrupted me."
Elisabeth raised a brow. "But that aside," Kaden quickly said. "I used to race for charity. The money I won would go to various foundations. Okay... maybe not all money, seventy percent would go to charity. I needed the other thirty percent for maintaining my racecar and, of course, to save money. You have no idea how much money I'd racked up by the time you were born, enough for you to go to college for sure, which is exactly what I had saved the money for. 'Beth, on the other hand, made it her job to promote our team, making sure that we looked just as serious as the large teams, you know, the one that have a small army worth of mechanics."
"A racer... that's so, so cool."
Kaden grinned. "Well, what do you do for a living?"
"I'm a mechanic, I fix other people's ships. I even built my own ship."
Kaden's mouth fell open. "You built your own ship? May I see it?"
Ratchet grinned sheepishly. "Well... uh... the thing is... I would have showed it to you... if I hadn't broken it mere minutes after completion. I kinda... lost control upon re-entry."
Kaden's ears lowered a bit. "Oh... well... that's unfortunate. Thank goodness you're still in one piece though."
Ratchet smiled. "I've handled much worse than that."
Suddenly, Ratchet's watch made a beeping sound. Ratchet glanced at his watch. "Darn, there seems to be trouble above planet Sargasso. I've got to go."
"Erm, there is one thing..." 'Beth spoke up. "Where can Kaden and I stay?"
"The nearest hotel is in Red Haven City, not too far from here. You can use Alister's ship, I safely stored it in an underground garage. Clank'll show you which door. Sorry, but I really have to go now. We'll catch up later."
Kaden nodded. "Go get 'em, son."
Elisabeth smiled, though there was a hint of worry in her eyes. "Be careful, Ratchet."
Ratchet smiled. "I've been up against tougher opponents, I won't be in any danger."
"Yes, but... you are my only son..."
Ratchet froze. "Yeah..."
Talwyn's voice came through Ratchet's watch. "Ratchet, come in. We need help here, now!"
"On my way." He replied. He ran up the stairs, jumped into Aphelion, and flew off.
Meanwhile, Alister was sitting on the edge of the plateau, his feet dangling off the edge and his eyes fixated on the horizon. He heard footsteps behind him, and glanced over his shoulder.
Angela was walking past him, on her way back to Ratchet's garage. She noticed Alister. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yes... no." Alister replied, eyes fixated on the horizon once again. "So what are you doing out here all alone?"
"Well, Clank got his father back, Ratchet got his parents back, and I... I got nobody." she replied with a bitter tone in her voice.
"You didn't get anyone back?"
"Nope."
Alister sighed. "Well, can't say I've got anyone."
"You're alone?"
"Yes. I was in love once, but... I don't know. For all I know, she believes me to be dead and has either taken her own life or has been killed, or is somewhere out there, on one of those countless planets, impossible for me to find. It's so frustrating."
Angela sat down next to him. "What was she like?"
Alister smiled as he stared at the horizon. "She was so beautiful, so radiant, so full of energy and so full of life, and she had the most beautiful eyes that were as bright as the purest oceans. I usually found myself getting lost in her eyes."
Angela smiled. "I miss people too. You miss your love, I miss my parents. I never knew my father, I know nothing about him to be honest, only that he was presumably killed during Tachyon's attack. I did get a chance to meet my mother, but she died soon after I met her."
"What was she like?" Alister asked.
Before Angela could answer, Kaden's voice came from the garage. "Al! Get your lazy butt over here!"
"Why?" Alister yelled over his shoulder.
"Elisabeth and I are going to look for a place to stay nearby, but the only ship we can use is your old ship, so unless you want to walk, you better get over here."
"Fair enough I guess." Alister mumbled as he got up and started to walk towards the garage, leaving Angela behind. Angela laid back and relaxed, not caring about getting sand in her hair, she'd wash it out later. She started to think. And finally, she realized where she wanted her new house to be.
"Dunynoa." She mumbled, staring at a bright star in the sky that could only be said planet.
So this chapter was set between Epilogue and Epilogue 1.5, a small 'in-between' chapter. This is the last chapter of Epilogue 1.5 though, but stay tuned, for the story will continue on March 10th...
Don't be sad though, I've got lots of other stories to update in the meantime. I've got one last Winter Special chapter nearly finished, and I plan on writing a chapter for Zoniborn as well as start another story.
