Disclaimers:

I do not own any of the ideas, locations, or characters that appear in the Ratchet and Clank series, these belong to their respective owners.

The item/term Manifestor belongs to Stephen Stryker, I am using it with his permission.

All other characters, races, and locations not appearing in the Ratchet and Clank series are my own. While I probably won't care if you use them, it would be nice if you did ask.

Chapter 9: A Timely Reunion

Panting slightly, Ratchet stood over the body of his fallen enemy. This was the second time he had killed a defenseless opponent, the first being Drek.

Tachyon looked so small and insignificant, as though he had been bigger in life. Blood continued to leak out of his gapping head wound. It was purple. Funny how he suddenly noticed these small details.

This death, this killing, it was a lot more personal for him than any other. Even when he had killed Drek, the Blarg had been on a different planet. It had been a simple push of a button. This, this had been up close a personal. Very personal.

Ratchet felt like a weight from his chest had been lifted. He hadn't even realized it was there. But with Tachyon dead, he had finally done it. He had avenged his family. He had saved his race, the method back resting painfully on his head.

Yet, something still felt slightly wrong. Tachyon deserved to die, that was unquestionable. His crimes were many and horrible. Still, a small part of Ratchet was upset that he had done this act. It was then, on that spot, that Ratchet swore to himself that he would not kill any more defenseless opponents, no matter how much they deserved it.

"Hey boss, what you said there, did you mean it?"

"Which part Merc?"

The warbot hesitated. "About being dead. That whoever you were before…whatever happened since I don't know the details."

A solitary tear ran down Ratchet's fur. "Yes. The Lombax kit that I once was had a father and a mother and friends. They all died. He didn't make it out. He would have been someone very different. Whoever I was, whatever I was called, it doesn't matter anymore. Hasn't for a long time."

"But sir-"

"Green, Ratchet is right. Who we are is defined by our experiences." Clank interrupted the other warbot. "And Ratchet, there is another Lombax here."

Ratchet gathered himself, and turned around. Facing him, clad in a Praetorian Guard uniform, with a dual wrench slung on her back, was a red Lombax with green flecks.

Elder Karak had arrived five minutes earlier. She had witnessed the final ending of the battle between Ratchet and Tachyon, and had watched Tachyon's execution. She had arrived too late. One person had escaped her justice, but there was another in this room that deserved it.

"He was mine."

The other Lombax, who had a typical coloring of yellow and brown, flinched. "What did you say? I don't speak Lombax." The words were in common.

"He was MINE!" In common, the angry Lombax, roared the words. The small Lombax in front of her flinched again.

"Look lady, he was the enemy. He was all of ours. I just happened to get here first."

The red Lombax was too seethed with hatred. "You don't understand. He was MINE! I lost my FAMILY to him and his Cragmites!"

"You and the majority of the Lombaxes, including me. All that matters is that he is dead." A small part of her anger faded, but much was left.

She examined the Lombax more closely. What was he called by his friends? Ratchet, that was it, though that wasn't his true name. "You are Kaden Alenko, the Keeper of the Dimensionator, son, aren't you?"

The Lombax flinched again. "Ratchet Alenko. So that's my name…no, that it is not. It is simply Ratchet of Veldin." He was speaking to himself. "Yes, I was the Keeper's son. And you are?"

He was standing in some sort of green armor. The dimensionator rested on his head, which made no sense. But that didn't concern her, it was the wrench in his hands. "I am High Elder Karak Makan, leader of the Lombaxes. And that is not your wrench."

Ratchet didn't even seem startled by the sudden question. "It is now. It belonged to Elder Azimuth. He's dead now."

"It only belongs to those who earned them. And you are no guardian." And now for the big question. Yet before she asked, a whine of a ship interrupted them.

"Ratchet, Talwyn asked me to inform you that all the prisoners managed to make it out before the explosion. We only lost a few Galactic Rangers and Space Pirates." Karak saw the red fighter, Aphelion. Red, like her. And on the side, yes it was still there.

"You have SPACE PIRATES under your command!" She hadn't missed that either.

Ratchet looked a little abashed. "Yah, I killed Slag and became their "Captain." We needed allies."

"And you stole my ship Aphelion?" Karak didn't even pause, the words just burst out.

Ratchet drew himself up. "Now hold on, just what do you mean by stole? She was abandoned on Fastoon. I repaired her. What claim could you possibly have on Aphelion. And what do you mean by she's yours? She's an AI, she chooses who flies her."

"First off, Lombax fighter's belong who they are assigned to. Secondly, that was my ship. The day of Tachyon's betrayal was my naming day. I painted my call-sign, Angle, on. But then the attack happened and I was knocked out and carried through the portal, and she was shot down covering our retreat. I was reassigned to the army, and worked my way up to where I am now."

Aphelion turned towards the shaking Lombax. "Now you listen here. I choose who flies me, and I choose Ratchet. I remember nothing of you, and only base memories of the Lombaxes. Ratchet is my pilot, and a damn good one at that. And he sure as Hell doesn't deserve this kind of treatment!"

Karak was furious. "Ratchet of Veldin, I am putting you under arrest for treason by failing your duty in protecting the dimensionator-"

"What the-"

"-and for stealing both my ship and Azimuth's wrench, which is punishable by death."

"-fuck!" And the mention of death, Merc and Green pointed their blasters at the Elder. Ratchet gripped his wrench tightly, and Clank jumped on his back.

Karak smiled. "Are you going to resist arrest? Because then I will be forced to put you down."

Sweat was forming on Ratchet, causing his fur to clump. "First off, what the Hell is wrong with you? Secondly, I did not know of my duty to anything or anyone. Aye, Tachyon got his hands on the Dimensionator, and was partly my fault, but most of that was due to ignorance on my part. Thirdly, you couldn't take me if you tried. And finally, you don't have authority to arrest me. I can't believe I have to pull this one on my own kind, but Diplomatic Immunity."

It was Ratchet's last statement that got surprised Karak. "I could take you out any day, boy. And what the Hell do you mean by diplomatic immunity?"

Clank spoke before Ratchet. "He means that because he is not a citizen of…whatever the Lombax nation is called, and because he is Supreme commander of the Tri Galaxy forces, you can-not arrest him. His is a foreign citizen with a high enough status to automatically grant him diplomatic immunity, and makes charges of treason impossible, as treason can only happen to a citizen."

"And next thing you are going to tell me is that he is a Blood Rager. He's a Lombax, therefore he is a citizen of the Lombax Confederation. And what do you-"

Cold, harsh laughter cut them off. All turned to face the screen that was floating downwards, showing a laughing Lycan.

"Well, I knew your reunion with your people would be painful, Ratchet, but this…this was absolutely beautiful to watch."

"Argon." Ratchet hissed the name.

"Aw Ratchet, why so angry at me?"

Now Ratchet was the one seething with anger. He was shaking violently. "You! You're the one who brought Tachyon here from that rock I exiled him on!"

"Why yes I did. I'm also the one who gave Tachyon the children. I did tell you after all that the Lombaxes faced extinction and that you had to act right then to save them."

Ratchet swung up his wrench and pointed it at the Lycan. "And now I am going to come after you."

"No you aren't. You are going to face your next choice." A loud thunk was heard as something detached itself from the screen and started burrowing down.

"I take it you saw that. What was burrowing down is an anti-matter bomb. It is heading straight for the core of this planet. When it reaches that core, it will detonate, destroying the planet instantly. This will occur in under fifteen minutes.

Now here's the catch. Three other bombs are located in your dimension. They are located in the ruins of your garage on Veldin, in the apartment on Megapolis, and the apartment on Metropolis. In eight hours they will go off, and begin burrowing. Fifteen minutes after that, those worlds will explode.

That Dimensionator on your head was made especially for you. You see, if you use the Dimensionator to bring back everyone on this planet to your universe, then it will be out of energy. Conversely, if you bring only you and your team back to your universe, you will have enough energy to hit all of the planets, and save them. You can't do both. To stop the bombs, hit the red button on the device. This will only work if it hasn't been launched.

So now Ratchet…choose. Your species, who apparently has branded you as a traitor, or the homes you lived in, filled with trillions of lives. Oh, if you save your species you will be able to reach one of the worlds in time with conventional drives, given that you can fight your way through my robotic armies there. And the evacuation of Veldin was interrupted. Most still remain on the surface. So, let the game continue!"

Ratchet snarled. "You bastard. You are worse than Vox and Tachyon."

"Why, yes I am." The screen went blank just as an energy blast from Ratchet hit it, causing it to break apart.

"Damn it!" Ratchet's mind was whirling around What to do? He couldn't just leave them all to die, but he had to save his kind as well…

The decision was made for him when the Dimensionator was yanked of his head. "Wait-"

"Dimensionator, find Fastoon, and bring everyone on and above this planet to it!" A cord was yanked, and a gaping hole sucked them all in.

Ratchet blinked as Fastoon's sun filled his eyes. He then whirled around, facing Karak and gripping his wrench. "You…you just doomed over a trillion people to death!" The two Lombaxes faced each other, tensing for a strike. They didn't even notice that they were surrounded by both refugees from the planet and those who had been evacuated from Veldin.

"Yes I did. And I saved my kind. Something you were obviously not going to do. There shouldn't have been any hesitation on your part. You are clearly a traitor."

They were circling each other now. "I was just trying to think of a way to save everyone. My duty is to the Tri-Galaxy to." His vision was narrowing, his breathing was becoming much harder.

"RATCHET! STOP, I HAVE A SOLUTION!"

Clank's voice calmed him down. "What is it Clank?"

The robot had hopped off his back. "While I was on the, well, the place where he died, there was a device called a temporal recorder. I believe we can use it to stop all the bombs."

Ratchet knew where he was talking about. "I see. Well, let's hurry there. Aphelion, prep for launch and alert Captain Sasha that I will be temporarily busy."

"Message away." The duo jumped aboard the ship. Merc and Green moved to join, but Ratchet shook his head.

"I'm sorry, you two can't come. This place we are going, it's a secret. It just is not allowed."

"But sir-"

"That's an order."

The two warbots started to back down. "Ratchet, that actually doesn't matter. In order for my plan to work, we have to have ships capable of warp jumps. The secret will be out anyways."

"Clank, are you sure?"

"Very. The Great Clock shall have to be revealed."

"Never mind. Hop in, and give the coordinates to the Phoenix and the Pirates. Tell Pete and Sasha to meet us there."

As the warbots strapped in, Karak sent him a look of pure hatred. Ratchet didn't understand what her problem was. But she could not stop him, not with Aphelion backing him up. Then he heard a weak voice. "Clank, is that you?"

Clank stepped out of the ship. His big green eyes looked forward, spotting a small purple figure floating towards the ship. A purple figure who was all too familiar, who Clank had been looking for a long time. "Father?"

Ratchet's head snapped forward. "Orvus?"

The Zoni, yes it was him, flew forward and grasped his son tightly. "Clank. Look at you. You have grown up, and I see that you have reached the Clock as well." A chuckle came from the small creature, incredibly similar to Clank's.

"Yes I did. Sigmund is now the Head Caretaker. Father, I have been looking for you. What were you doing in the Lombax Dimension?"

The old Zoni shook his head. "Later. Now, why do you need to go to the Great Clock?"

"We need to use the Temporal Recorder to save several worlds."

"And the secret will go out if this happens?"

"Yes, though it isn't much of secret anymore, with Doctor Nefarious and co knowing about it. The Fongoids accidently let it slip when they were brainwashed. It's only a matter of time before the rest of the universe knows."

The Zoni nodded. "I see. Well let's go then. It is clear that much has changed."

Clank, now reunited with his father, climbed into Aphelion. Three ships, Aphelion, the Phoenix (which had been teleported to Fastoon's atmosphere), and the pirate ship the Rusty Drunkard, entered hyperspace for the Great Clock. During the hour long trip, Clank and Orvus got to know each other.

Apparently, when Ratchet had freed Orvus from Nefarious, the Zoni had accidently teleported to the Lombax Dimension. Because he had been exposed so much to the Hypersonic-Brainwave-Scrambler, Orvus had lost his ability to teleport to other worlds, much less dimensions. He could still manipulate time to a degree, but wasn't that powerful.

During this trip, Clank also explained his plan. He and Ratchet would use a set of Temporal Recorders to hit all three worlds at the same time. A fourth pad would be used to bring Ratchet back.

"That is a bold plan, my son, but there are a few flaws. You see, the Temporal Recorders can only record either organic or synthetic life, not both. Also, using the recorder for that long of a time will cause incredible wear on the user. I don't think anyone can handle it."

Ratchet shook his head. "I'll go. I can deal with it."

"Ratchet-"

"No complaining Clank. It is indirectly because of me that those people are on the line. And I have been through worse. I will survive this."

Clank knew there was no chance of persuading Ratchet to let someone else do the work. "Very well Ratchet. Good luck."

"Thanks pal."

"Warning. We are now exiting hyperspace."

In front of them was the Great Clock. Even though he had already seen it before, it still took his breath away. It was truly a marvel of technology. Ratchet landed Aphelion, and hopped out, Clank behind him.

This place made Clank uneasy. It was here that Ratchet had died from that wrench in his manifestor…except he hadn't. Ratchet knew nothing of his death. He knew nothing of those six minutes. Only Clank knew what happened. And that was how it was going to stay.

Orvus recognized that his son was distressed. "Clank, what is wrong?"

The small robot shook his head. "Just some bad memories. A great tragedy took place here."

"I don't understand, but I won't pry."

Ratchet was talking to Aphelion. "Contact Sasha and Pete and tell them the plan. I'm getting ready."

"I am sending a signal now."

They were all interrupted by a shout. "Sir! And SIR! You are both back!"

The red robot shot forward. Sigmund halted in front of Clank and Orvus. "How did you get back?"

"It's a long story Sigmund. Unfortunately, we ironically don't have time. We need to prepare a Temporal Recording."

It took fifteen minutes to explain and set everything up. Time was running out. One Ratchet stepped on a pad. To him, there was only one person. Clank saw all four simultaneously. The first three went to their designated ships, and took off. The fourth collapsed just after stepping off the platform, bleeding profusely.

Ratchet's first stop was Veldin, with Aphelion. There were a few fighter craft maintaining a blockaded with a carrier. The fighters were easily destroyed, but the carrier bugged out.

Aphelion landed Ratchet next to the Ruins of his garage. There were quite a few Lycan warbots guarding the ruins, but they fell before Ratchet's RYNO. He wasn't going to waste any time. Already he felt as though he weighed twice as much. Orvus had been right. This was taxing.

He found the devise in the center of his garage, a giant red button on it. The timer was counting down, only 30 minutes remained. He hit the red button, and the countdown aborted. Then pressing the device given to him by Orvus, he teleported to the next recorder. Aphelion flew back into hyperspace, heading for the Great Clock.

He was in a pirate drop ship over Metropolis. The Rusty Drunkard had only stayed long enough to distract the Lycan fleet stationed above. He was alone on the ship, it was on auto pilot.

The city had finally recovered from the invasion. Yet he had no time to admire the city. He jumped off from the ship, and landed on the ship pad of his apartment. Again there were Lycan war bots, and the RYNO destroyed them, though he had run out of ammo. And he felt so heavy...it took a real effort for him to walk over to the device, and push the red button.

Tired. So tired, so weak. The ruins of the crashed dropship were slightly behind him. Everything was so heavy. He had crashed close to the apartment, but swarms of Lycan bots were in his way.

He was feeling so helpless. But helplessness gave way to rage. As the taxing power of the Temporal Recorder forced him on his hands, anger surged through his blood. His vision was narrowing, his breathing hard. Despite how tired he felt, everything seemed sharper.

This was Clank's home. This was where he had been somewhat tortured by Angela Cross, when she was still the thief.

He manifested Razor claws, his lightest weapon. Bots closed on him.

This was Clank's home. Clank's. HOW DARE THEY HARM CLANK'S HOME!

His vision was narrow, it was only on the bots, his enemies. His breathing was shallow and rapid. And despite the protest of his muscles, he charged forward.

He was too heavy, he was on all fours. It was easier. It was necessary. It was…right. A snarl issued from his mouth as he plunged the razor claws into the closest bot.

Leaping from bot to bot in a display that contradicted how tired he felt, the Lombax fought. He only felt his arms plunge into his enemies, but not the blades that cut into him, or the blaster that singed his ear. He heard only his ragged breath and the sound of enemies falling. He saw the claws turn red with a savage joy as they cut through the enemy.

Onward he ran like a wild animal. His rage was terrible. Despite the damage inflicted, they could not hold him back. He cut down those in front of him, reaching the apartment. Clank's Apartment.

There, that red button. That was his target. Red, just like his vision. Just like his claws. He pressed it. The timer stopped at 13 seconds. He then pressed the button on the device.

The weight disappeared. He no longer felt the mindless rage. But his sight was turning black. Ratchet collapsed, unable to hear his friends' cries of alarm.

Author's Notes:

I forgot to mention this in the last chapter. The Lycan Dimension was formed when the Fongoids abuse of time reached its climax. 83 celestial entities were thought to be destroyed. In reality, they were actually sent to a pocket dimension when Orvus stabilized the time space continuum with the Great Clock. The Lycans were the most advanced species, and spent the next eon conquering their little corner of space.