Everything you've done...

...Everything you've tried to do...

...in the end...nothing worked...

It hasn't worked...

Why...?

'I...I'm awake in my dream!' I shouted in joy. 'That's why this whole things been strange...This is so frickin' cool, yo!'

Nothing...

I walked around the sunny Luminopolis city, the area I had once walked around in without any care and oblivious before I snapped into the realization. It was unexpected.

It was so awesome.

I spun around a tree, and even rode the city's hover taxis and had some fun grinding on every train rail and huge metal wire supports thrown at me while seeing everything change to what I want it to be. It felt amazing to be awake: to have complete control of everything and everyone and just do whatever I wanted.

Whatever I felt like.

It was innocence...childish innocence...

'I hope this never ends!,' I laughed as I replayed a funny moment. 'This is so fun. I can't wait to tell Clank...'

How I wished it wasn't true...

'Alrighty then... this getting to be a little too much..'

I walked around the city, dodging and avoiding the people there who kept looking at me with those weird eyes, as if someone had died and I'm the only one who didn't get the memo. It was unnerving, and they only seemed to get stranger and follow me. Like zombies..

Maybe I watched too much movies?

Yea, that's probably why.

Lies...

I managed to scamper on to our apartment that we had on this planet without any more encounters and closed the door behind me quickly.

Safety. At home and safe from the weirdness that happened so suddenly.

' Clank?' I called out across the room. But he did not answer back.

Maybe no one was home? But-'

'Ratchet!'

I hear that familiar voice and I smiled and spun around, relieved to be able to talk to my pal about this whole thing.

He didn't look in the mood to talk.

'Ratchet, we need to get you out of here!' He repeated over and over. 'This place is not safe! They will be coming-'

It was never real..

'Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on there, buddy!' I smiled and placed my hands on my hips. What a change of pace. 'Is this supposed to be a horror genre now? No one's coming for anyone.'

Clank pulled on me. ' But you do not understand the-'

'Listen, pal. No one's coming-'

That's when we both heard what sounded like a roar in the distance that shook the whole area, followed by the fog and the sudden noise of a door being ripped apart from its foundation.

'Son of aaaaaa-'

Nothing worked...

And thus I remained here...yet again...

'Huh...? I'm dreaming...? But how come haven't I woken up by now...?'

I happened to realize this while walking around the light filled streets of Luminopolis yet again, doing my normal things and looking at people once more. I actually thought it was just another normal day -until I found out what today's date was.

April 25.

Why..? Isn't it May 21 now...

It was always the same...

By now the city has lost its splendor for me; no longer was the city full of lights as shining and beautiful as I had always believed when I made the infrequent trips down here, every 1-2 a year. It was starting to get repetitive. Everything wasn't right.

How come I didn't wake up yet?

Why...?

Thus your seed of psychosis was created...

Each time you opened your eyes, each time you snuck off out of your variously changing rooms and out into the city, I saw it all...

Each time you felt the sickening feeling of finding out that it was April 25.

Each time you broke down...

...doing the same things you had done over and over again

you would try to make yourself scared, frightened, die...

Anything to get yourself to wake up.

'This isn't right...' I slumped down on the ground as the rain fell down silently, hitting my face and washing away my tears. 'This isn't right...'

And right you were...It was never right...and thus you repeated the cycle, over and over...and I took it in.

But as you kept trying and trying to wake up, you became agitated...

Frustrated...

Sick...

... crazy

But each time, you've never shown it...Why?

It's the same logic as forgetting trauma. For each time you repeated your dreams, the previous memories were taken from you...

Sealed away somewhere in your head...locked to forget because you didn't want to remember the confusions...

The mistakes...

You never remembered things off the bat..

...little by little you were going away from your reality...

...Little by little...so far away...

Until you remember no more...

And Thus from your anger I was born.

My mouth was wide open, yet no words came out. I was alone in the Court of Azimuth. Alone on the ground when I came out of my memory daze, silently crying and staring blankly in shock. Waiting for everything to settle.

What happened? I whispered when I came to. But I didn't need to have it answered. I already knew what.

He shot himself. I shot myself.

His memories...my memories...

It all made sense. Everything made sense...and I...

'"...I've been here...since forever..." I said aloud to no one. Everyone was gone and I was alone.

I was alone in my dream and I didn't like it. But what could I do? I was scared. I wrapped my arms tightly around me and prayed for the dream to end. This was too much for me. I was frightened and confused about everything that I had found out.

Things that I don't remember having seen or done.

taken from me and and given back over and over in cycles...

Everything came back as small pictures; little images that floated in front of my eyes or jumped as I struggled to take it all in. To make it feel real. I tried...but in the end, I closed my eyes to avoid looking.

There were then the whispers, little whispers of words that were spoken in the cold voice of that who used to be my replica. I looked around to find out their origins until I realized that he was no more. I couldn't see him, he was but a memory now and I realized they were coming from inside my head.

I couldn't shut them out.

'You are dying...dying dying dying...

So close...but..so far away ...

I'm bound...

...you will never wake up...

...you can't...

"That's...that's not true...," I choked on my words as I cried, " I'm going to wake up soon...it's just a matter of time..."

There is no time, Ratchet...Everything is done...

Set in stone...

"You lie! I will wake up!" My words echoed throughout the room, bouncing on the walls as I screamed my loudest,"I will wake up...!"

Oh? But I won't let you...

I felt something crawl and slither onto my legs; looked down to find them sinking slowly into the flooring, merging into one and keeping me down. Bounded.

I won't let you leave...because we don't want to leave...

"I do! I want to leave, I want to wake up now!" I cried out in anger, "let me go! Lemme go..!"

There was cackle of laughter that boomed throughout my head. I covered my ears but that did no good in calm my rising anxiety down. It kept increasing. I felt sick.

It was pointless

"i...I want...to leave..."

You say that... but even still, you do not want to go...

I shook around, trying desperately to get my legs freed but it was no use. They sunk lower and lower. Like my sanity.

"Please...I want to go...I don't want to stay here..."

Yes, you do...You've never really wanted to leave...or I wouldn't have been created...

It was hard getting air in, I felt like a fish out of the sea. I gasped and wheezed as slowly my body began to get sucked inside.

Never coming out...never coming out...forever stuck within...

"I'm getting out...I'm going to wake up..."

Forever bounded by what you seek...destined to start again...

I screamed a silent scream, there was a child's laughter and the sudden feeling of breathing no more.

Everything was black again. Everything felt cold.

Nothing existed.

I found myself back in the void of darkness, and I remained here for what seemed like forever.

Floating...suspended

Silent, emotionless...Blank...

...Forever silent.

I was trying to find something...to look for the reason why I kept on sleeping...

I failed...My final ending...

I shuddered.

Alone...I'm too late...

...the reason...

forgotten...

...You've always had a choice in waking up, Ratchet...

What...?

You always has a choice...

My eyes opened. I felt myself standing on solid ground and I looked up. No longer was I in the cold darkness of my mind. I found myself back in the destruction of the fake Luminopolis, clutching my cloak. Feeling the wind blew gently over the crackle and pop of weak and dying flames

It was becoming dawn in a new day.

"You've always had the choice in when you wanted to leave."

I remembered that voice. I turned around and found myself staring into the faces of the 3 people I've long forgotten...that I've tried to forget after everything that's happened.

Hah...

In front of me stood Alister Azimuth, and the 2 old warbot guardians of Talwyn's: Cronk and Zephyr.

"Hello...you three...," I choked out, "it's...nice..."

My legs grew weak, my vision blurred and I fell down. But I didn't hit the floor -someone caught me beforehand and I found myself sitting on my knees, my head resting on a breathing being's chest and crying silently. It was warm.

"A dream," Alister smiled as he spoke with a hushed, paternal tone. "It's just a dream, Ratchet. Just a bad dream..."

You don't know how long I've wanted to feel this...

"...and I know how confused and scared you are," he continued. "To have been told all this, to have realized how many times you've repeated this whole ordeal over and over, just trying to wake up. All those attempts ending in failure because of something..something holding you back."

He stayed silent for a few seconds. Long enough for me to listen to the wind blow, feet from the 2 bots making their way over to me, and the flames that slowly began to disappear off in the distance. But I paid it no mind, for right now I was transfixed by his soothing tone.

Silent tears trickled down and he wiped them away.

"Its the guilt you feel, Ratchet." His voice trembled as I could see he was about to cry. "The answer you have been looking for this whole time...the thing that has kept you repeating this insanity over and over...has been one that has haunted me when I was alive..."

The guilt...

I let out a small moan before I broke down and I let out loud sobs of frustration, of withheld sadness that had been pent up and packaged inside the box that is my heart, so that no one would ever see them again. Not because I was stubborn.

It was because I had to be brave for everyone else.

The old Lombax rubbed my back as if I was a child, and I allowed myself to cry even louder, to be hugged, nuzzling my head deep in his warm embrace and continued crying it out. He didn't mind and I didn't feel bad.

I felt safe.

"I miss you guys..." I said, "I'm so alone...and-"

"Ratchet, you're not alone!" Cronk and Zephyr said in unison. They looked at each other before they settled on who would speak first via rock paper scissors. It caused me to smile a little in between when they argued a little about who cheated and Alister had to break them up.

"Ya still have Miss Talwyn," Zephyr said first, patting my head, "and yer other pals Clank, Sasha Phyronix, and that lumbering Captain Quark...for some reason."

Cronk stepped forward. "You also got us to talk to!"

Alister and I looked at him, confused.

"Cronk, ya fool!," Zephyr pointed out as he smacked his partner upside the head. "We're dead, remember? We can't talk to him!"

"Not up to face, we can't. I'm sayin' about still being able to hear him, ya know?"

Zephyr looked as if he was about to say something, but he recanted when he figured what the old warbot was talking about and just nodded his head slowly, thinking it over.

I laughed.

"All in all, you always had a choice in finally awakening in the real world, kiddo." Alister smiled as he helped me up. "But your guilt got in the way of everything."

I nodded, sniffling. "And...about April 25...?"

"That's the day you had a full blown argument with Clank about him always trying to poke around your increasing walk schedules you've been takin'," Zephyr answered. Cronk agreed.

"Oh, so I did walk a lot even out... there...huh..." I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to remember. "And that's why..."

"More or less you won't remember much when you wake up, seeing how long you've been under. But it'll soon come back to you, don't worry." A female voice said, and I turned away from Alister and the warbots to see Talwyn, Clank, Quark and Sasha standing there.

I smiled.

"Don't feel bad for what happened to us," Cronk said, "what happened, happened, and that shouldn't let ya bring you down from enjoying those you have left."

"Ya still got them," Zephyr added, pointing to the group, "don't forget about them. They are what define ya. They should be what you should be carin' about!"

Alister helped me up before stepping beside them. "Don't hold things in, Ratchet. Look what it has done to me. Don't let that be what changes you. Promise me ...Promise us that."

I wiped away the leftover tears off my face and hugged each of them tightly. "I guess you three are right...I'm sorry...I shouldn't be holding things in like that..."

I took a deep breathe in and out, and I stepped back from them, feeling good...relieved and finally being able to have the burden taken off my shoulders... that everything was going to be alright. There was a sense of peace that washed over me, and as I allowed myself to bask in the new feeling I soon began to feel sleepy...heavy..

...happy.

I promise...

As they waved I closed my eyes for one last time, and heard the world shatter behind me.

***Author's Note:

And thus concludes the 10th chapter of the series.

But of course, it's not done yet...Read the next chapter for the final ending to the whole story.