Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time fanfic
Genre: dark themes, adventure, mystery, some humor, possible romance
Warnings: violence, suspense, cussing, some death
Summary: At the Great Clock after Alister's death, Ratchet explores the Great Clock and finds a room that sends him to another dimension. In this dimension, Ratchet was never born and Dr. Nefarious succeed in robots ruling the universe. Organics are either caught and turned into a robot or killed. Ratchet must find his way back to where he belongs before he's caught or killed.
Hope everyone enjoys!
Another Chance
Ch. 9- Blackwater City
Both of the Lombaxes entered the general's ship before heading off to Blackwater City. Blackwater city was a feared place for the fact that this was one of the most populous cities for robots. The fact that an organic was spotted by there and still alive was quite a surprise and very suspicious.
Regardless, they both headed towards the planet with this dangerous city. Both hoped all would go smoothly but highly doubted it would.
Getting to the planet and even landing on it was surprisingly easy. However, both Lombaxes were very cautious when exiting. You never know who may be hiding behind the random pieces of metal chunks lying around or hiding in the natural environment.
It seemed like no one was around when the Lombaxes exited the ship. Alister got out a small circular device.
"According to this tracking device," Azimuth started, "The organic is not far from here."
Ratchet walked over to the elder and stood next to him.
"If we follow this path here," a white finger pointed to a trail that was to the left of them a little. "Then it should lead us exactly to where we need to go to find the organic."
Ratchet nodded. He then followed the general up the trail. It was quite dark and very unsettling because of the darkness and how quiet it was. Regardless, they both kept going. The trail was nothing but dirt but scenery by the path was of rocks, patches here and there of glowing liquids, and no signs of plant or organic life besides the two of them currently traveling on this dusty path.
As they followed the signal on the general's device, they realized that it was leading them closer and closer to the city. This fact made the Lombaxes even more anxious.
Rustling was suddenly heard and before the yellow Lombax even had time to react, he was grabbed and pulled behind a large piece of metal. Ratchet then realized it was only Alister who had pulled him. The source of the noise was the question though.
Both looked around as much as they could with their from behind the metal to see if the source of the noise could be found. However, there was no succeeding so far.
Unexpectedly, footsteps were heard. At first, it was just one set but then it turned into several sets of footsteps. Alister and Ratchet both got their wrenches out, for they had a feeling they were about to fight.
That feeling was right, for they saw an organic girl run from the opposite end of the trail that the Lombaxes had entered from along with a group of robots running after her. When she got closer, Ratchet's eyes widened, for he knew who she was.
"Alright Ratchet. You ready?"
"Yep."
The two Lombaxes then ran out from their hiding spot with wrenches ready. The robots stopped chasing the girl and evil type grins covered their faces when the Lombaxes were seen. They slowly approached the two.
There was a group of about seven robots or so who possessed various weapons. Ratchet and Alister went separate directions so they would hopefully not get surrounded. The girl went to hide behind the same piece of metal that the Lombaxes were at moments ago.
Azimuth started to shoot electric blasts and knocked out two robots before having to resort to closer combat.
Ratchet blocked a hit from one robot with a club. However, there was a robot that was slowly creeping behind the yellow Lombax with a pistol. Aiming carefully, a shot was then taken.
Unfortunately for the robot, Ratchet smirked before readjusting his weapon to where he could make a high jump over the robot. By the time the robot with the club realized what happened, a shot went right through his chest.
While that happened, Ratchet quickly got his constructo pistol out and shot the other robot before that robot could have any time to react after his taken shot.
A few more hits and shots were taken until all of the robots were taken out. Robot bodies laid everywhere but none were dead. They were just knocked out.
The girl that had been hiding behind the metal decided it was safe to come out and approached the Lombaxes.
"Thank you for helping me."
Ratchet was not sure how to respond so he just nodded while Alister replied, "You're welcome."
She put a hand out to Ratchet, "My name is Talwyn Apogee."
Ratchet took her in a handshake. "My name is Ratchet."
The same thing was done for Alister before he introduced himself to her. While watching them exchange the handshake, something seemed off to Ratchet. Talwyn was usually a strong fighter. To see her run and hide like that surprised the Lombax, but who knows what she went through during the war that took place in this universe.
"What's that on your back?" Ratchet heard the general ask. He then approached to see what he meant.
"Oh," she removed what looked like a little white box off her back. The yellow Lombax's eyes widened.
"A robot?! You were just running from a bunch of them. Why is there one on your back?" Alister asked in slight but controlled anger.
"He saved my life," she answered, "There were a lot more robots but this little guy tried to help me. He got rid of a good amount but got injured in the process."
Azimuth then asked, "What's his name?"
"He told me his name was Clank." She then looked to both of the Lombaxes, "Can you please help him?"
"… We will talk to Sasha and see what she thinks. After all, it is her ship we would have to bring him on in order to be repaired."
It was then Ratchet's turn to ask some things. As much as he wanted to ask her about how she has been and how she found Clank, he knew it would look very strange and suspicious so the younger Lombax refrained from doing so.
"How did you get mixed up with those robots anyway?"
Talwyn turned her head and looked towards the city. "You see that large tower there in the center?" She asked and pointed, "That's one of the Biomechanic Changers."
Alister's eyes widened, "… What?"
She nodded, "I tried to get in there and destroy it but I was obviously outnumbered."
Ratchet then remembered when the general had told him about the Biomechanic Chargers. They were the same as the Biobliterator but had more energy and could cause more organics to turn into robots by covering a larger span of land at one time.
"Wait," Ratchet replied, "What will happen to the residents if we destroy it. Shouldn't we try to reverse the effect first?"
Azimuth shook his head. "No, the normal Biomechanics don't have the ability to do that. Only the first original one does. As to where that machine is, is a mystery. It's hard enough to find and destroy a normal Biomechanic Charger but to find the one that is the main source of power to the others as well as the only one that can reverse the effect will be extremely hard to find and destroy, if we even do find it."
Ratchet nodded in understanding and then looked back at the tower. "Should we go destroy it then?"
"What?!" Alister almost yelled, "Are you crazy? We will need an army in order to get into the city. Even if we did sneak in, it would be extremely difficult to get to the tower, shut down the defenses, and destroy it as well as make it out in one piece."
However, the general realized that Ratchet already started going up the trail that Talwyn just came from. Red from anger could be seen on the general's face before he motioned for Talwyn to follow and they quickly caught up with Ratchet.
A hand fell on one of the younger Lombax's shoulders which caused him to turn to see a very angry white Lombax.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to destroy the tower."
The urge to hit the younger increased drastically at that moment for Azimuth. However, he just sighed.
"Fine. I will accompany you." He had a feeling he would be unable to talk him out of this one. From the short amount of time he has known this younger Lombax, he knew that he could be extremely stubborn.
"I will too." Talwyn replied.
A brow on the white Lombax's face rose, "You don't have a weapon on you."
She glared lightly, "I did until those robots took it and threw it into the water."
Suddenly, she caught a Constructo Pistol which was tossed from Ratchet. "Now you do. Just try not to lose this one." He smiled.
A slight blush formed on her face but she tried to shake it off. The three of them then traveled up the path until it eventually lead to a soaring wall that surrounded the city.
"Great," Azimuth replied, "How are we supposed to get in?"
A smile formed on the female's face. "I managed to figure that out before getting chased away. Follow me."
The organics snuck around behind some more metal chunks and environmental walls until they found a sewer lid about a fourth of a mile away from when they had arrived at the wall.. She messed with it some but could not open it. However, Ratchet helped and they both got the lid up. All of them then jumped into the sewer pipe before they could get caught and managed to put the lid in its original place.
"Well," Ratchet said, "I didn't expect to be crawling around in sewers again. I really need to get used to this."
"You've been in sewers before?" the general asked.
Ratchet had forgotten for a moment that he was not home. He gave a nervous laughed and answered, "It's a long story."
A brow rose on the elder Lombax's face but no more was said as they traveled through the sewers. After some traveling, noise could be heard from above from all of the robots walking up and down the streets as well as talking to one another.
"This is very nerve racking," Alister stated. He then turned to Ratchet, "I hope you know this." He said as if he was blaming Ratchet.
"I am well aware." He answered and that was the only answer that he was going to get.
Azimuth got out his little tracking device and pressed a few buttons before it turned into a map. "Alright. If we follow this pipe for another 15 feet and then take a right. We should be there in less than five minutes."
They continued and then turned right. The three of them kept going for what felt like forever. The reason for this was the tention that resided in all of them about where they were and the consequences if somehow getting caught. The three of them continued to travel until they reached their destination on the map.
"Now, where do we enter the surface?" Ratchet asked, "Yeah, we are right underneath the tower but there are no lids to exit the sewer."
"I have this." Alister pulled back a sleeve to reveal what looked like a watch but when the right button was pressed, a small red laser came out. Work started to be made to make an entrance into the tower.
While this was going on, Ratchet noticed that Talwyn had her back to them and was looking around. He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. She whipped her head towards him but relaxed when she realized it was only Ratchet.
"Are you okay?"
A nod was given, "Yeah, I'm just nervous. We are under a city full of robots. This could get really dangerous." She then threw him a smile, "But I will help as much as possible." That was followed along with a wink. Ratchet blushed slightly.
A loud rumble was suddenly heard and both Ratchet and Tawlyn looked back at Azimuth to see he made an entrance but resulted in pieces of the sewer ceiling/tower floor lying on the sewer ground.
"There we go." He looked towards them, "Let's head up."
They both nodded before all three crawled up and entered the tower. The room entered had cement walls and dust and cobwebs to all corners. This had to be the basement of the tower, or what looked more like a storage room by all the various sized boxes and items.
"Where are we?" Talwyn asked, "I had not actually made it into the tower."
"We are in the storage area of the tower, also known as the basement."
"Where do we need to go to find and destroy the Biomechanic Charger?" asked the yellow Lombax.
"According to the map, the actual Biomechanic is at the very top."
"… Of course it is." Ratchet grumbled.
"Hey, this was your idea."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now how do we get up there?"
Alister looked at Ratchet with a deadpan stare before responding, "Stairs obviously."
Ratchet could tell the general was kind of mad at him now, even if not showing it in his expression. The tone told it all. However, he tried to ignore it for now because they had a mission to accomplish.
"How many floors are there?" Talwyn asked.
Alister looked at the map and his eyes widened. He answered, "You don't want to know. Let's start going up the stairs."
Ratchet had a bad feeling about this. Regardless, they started walking up the stairs. It started off from five flights to fifteen and it looked like there were three times as many. They continued upwards.
After around half an hour, the three of them finally made it up to the top and were all panting from exhaustion in the process.
"Alister," the yellow Lombax panted, "How many flights did we go up exactly?"
The general panted before answering, "Don't worry about it. Let's just get rid of that Biomechanic Charger."
Once they all caught their breath they towards the door that lead away from the stairs. Sneaking was now an essential since they were more than sure they would not be alone.
The hallways were surprisingly quiet though. That was a plus. However, going down one hall and taking a left finally got them to the actual room. There was a small window at the top of the door which Alister looked through and saw a group of at least 20 robots.
"This isn't good." The general replied, "That room is full of robots. Once one of them sees us, the alarm system will be turned on and the rest of the robots in this tower will come here. I'm sure we could handle twenty but a hundred or so I doubt."
They thought for a moment. "You know, I bet the security room is on this floor somewhere. Why would it be on any other floor beside the one where the Biomechanic is?" Ratchet observed, "Maybe if we can find it, we can shut the security system down."
A grin formed on the white Lombax's face. "That's brilliant. Alright," he looked at the map. "My best guess would be this room here."
"Why that room?" Talwyn asked.
"Because of the setup. It has a curved wall, which entails that there are many camera screens present along that wall. That would make since for how many floors are in this tower. The wall is also curved so it is easier to view all the cameras at one time."
"That makes sense," Ratchet replied.
Alister nodded, "Let's go."
Again, they snuck around twists and turns of the dark red hallways of the top tower floor for a little while. The floor itself was not very big so finding the room would not be timely. What would take the extra time was the sneaking around part.
They did finally reach their destination. Quietly… silently, Ratchet opened the door and sure enough, there was the curved wall with all the cameras. The robot watching the cameras, however, was fast asleep.
The three of them snuck in quickly. Before the robot knew it, he was tied up and thrown into the closet in the room. While Ratchet and Talwyn made sure the door was shut tightly, Alister walked up to the control panel and shut off all the cameras as well as the security alarm.
"Good job." Alister replied, "Now let's go get those robots."
A grin grew on Ratchet's face. The three of them exited the security room and snuck back to the main room with the Biomechanic.
"We still need to find a way to get in without them all shooting at us at once." Ratchet responded.
Talwyn smiled, "I think I can help with that."
She grabbed a couple of small canisters from her belt. Quietly and barely opening the door, the cans were tossed into the room. Noticing the cans, the expressions the robots held read confusion. However, their confusion was soon answered as the cans opened and smoke filled the room. Confusion still stood on what was really going on though.
Once they room was completely covered and the guards were shouting in rage and confusion, the three of them slipped on. The nice thing about the smoke was that the organics could not be seen but the robots could be because of their bright lit eyes.
This would probably be one of the easiest battles the three would ever have. Talwyn shot bullets, Alister shot electric blasts, and Ratchet hit until all the robots were knocked out.
By the time the robots were all down, the smoke cleared. All that was left now was to destroy the Biomechanic. It looked just like the Biobliterator but it was larger.
"Ok," Ratchet replied, "We're here. How do we destroy it? I doubt it will be as easy as…"
Before Ratchet could continue, Azimuth shot an electric blast into the indent on the front and the whole machine exploded.
"…as shooting it." Ratchet finished lamely.
Suddenly, alarms were heard going off.
"What the…?!" Ratchet exclaimed but the thought was not finished before he heard Alister shout, "Follow me!" and did so with Talwyn by his side. They all exited the room and headed back to the stairs.
"I thought the security system was down." Talwyn responded. They made their way to the stairs and started to run at lighting speeds down them.
"I thought so as well," Alister answered, "However, there must have been a certain one for just the machine was it to actually get destroyed."
They continued to run but robots could be seen running down the stairs after them.
"There has to be a faster way down these stairs!" Ratchet said with anger in his voice. The robots were catching up to them. They were running out of options. The yellow Lombax then had an idea.
"Alister?! Are you wearing your hoover boots?"
"Yeah."
"Turn them on! We'll get down the stairs faster. It's not like we need to be quiet anymore."
He nodded before turning his boots on.
"What about me? I'm not wearing boots like that."
Instead of giving a verbal answer, Ratchet quickly picked her up bridal style and turned his boots on. Talwyn blushed but said nothing as she wrapped her arms around the Lombax's neck. Ratchet noticed and blushed as well but said nothing of it.
Azimuth and Ratchet then raced down the stairs. They quickly out sped the robots. Once back in the basement, they jumped through the hole to the sewers.
After that, they sped through the sewers. It didn't even take five minutes to get to their starting point and exit the sewers along with exiting the city.
Once out, sirens could be hear as well as what sounded like a panic attack. Yells and screams could be heard throughout the city.
They decided to not stick around and raced towards the ship. The boots made the trip quick, for they quickly made it to the ship. Jumping in with speed, they then left the planet in, luckily, one piece.
*Hey everyone! So, I decided to go through this and make a few changes. I mainly added some more details but I did change a few things as well. I hope it sounds a bit better now because I did rush through it the first time around. I will get to work on the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading! :)