The ticking of the Clock was currently falling on deaf ears. Alone in the small chamber was Orvus, who was staring out the window solemnly. The Clock looked beautiful today, as it always did, and several shooting stars were making their way through the cosmos. Orvus' eyes followed the sparkling trails that they left behind. He knew that it was a tradition among most races to make a wish whenever a shooting star was seen. Orvus wondered how many of those wishes actually came true. If they came true often, and shooting stars were really that powerful, then he only wanted to wish for one thing.

He wished that he didn't have to do what he was about to do.

Orvus noticed his reflection in the mirror. He frowned and his bright turquoise eyes were dull. He looked terrible. Like an organic when they're sick. Or rather like an elder Zoni who said some things that he wished he hadn't said to his own son. Orvus had spent most of the night thinking about the situation he and his son were in. On one side, Orvus understood XJ-0461's position and was almost proud of him for taking matters into his own hands. But on the other, Orvus was disappointed that his well behaved son would break the rule about not leaving the Clock, even after they had an argument about it. The universe was much too dangerous for XJ-0461 to be wandering.

The grip on Orvus' Chronoscepter grew tight as he thought about the unfortunate incident on planet Quantos. He cursed himself for not telling XJ-0461 about it sooner. If he knew, then he would understand Orvus' concerns and he would know that staying in the Clock was for his own safety. But like a fool, Orvus kept it under wraps, fearing what his son would think after hearing such a story. Simply thinking about it was enough to make the elder Zoni shudder. He could still see the look in their eyes…

'Well...there is no use stalling anymore,' he thought, frowning to himself. He glanced at the exit. 'I best go get him.'

Orvus rubbed his eyes for a moment before hovering to the end of the chamber, exiting it and meeting the cool air of the Great Clock. The chamber he was residing in came right before the Orvus Chamber, so he already had it in his sights. As he made his way to the Chamber, some concerned Zoni seemed to have picked up on their leader's negative energy, and they stopped and stared at him. Orvus waved off every single one that would stop and look at him, assuring them that he was just fine. Physically, at least. He appreciated his subjects' concerns, he really did, but he honestly wished that they wouldn't just stop and stare at him. It made him feel uncomfortable and it reminded him of how much his current state was affecting those around him. It had been a rough week and he was definitely showing it (not that he was meaning to).

Waving off all of the Zoni, Orvus came to the front of his chamber and hovered there for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Here went nothing. He pushed the large glass doors open and waited patiently for them to open. However, when he could see inside, he felt his heart almost stop. In the middle of the chamber, he could see a pile of familiar figure collapsed on the ground, completely lifeless. Orvus's eyes went wide and he felt disbelief crawl up his very being. Sigmund.

"Oh no…what…?!" Orvus had to take a moment to compose himself before rushing into the chamber. Nearly dropping his Chronoscepter, he went to Sigmund's side. He took a close look at his face. The robot wasn't moving and his eyes were completely dark. He was completely shut down. But why? Sigmund was supposed to be guarding the door! Desperately wanting answers, Orvus grabbed the screen on Sigmund's utility ring and powered it on. At least it was still working. He began typing on it. "Hold on, Sigmund. I will get you working again."

The elder Zoni quickly used Sigmund's computer to run a diagnostic. He immediately began reading as the results came up. It looked like Sigmund was simply powered down and there was no detection of any damage. Orvus let out a breath of relief. He then typed in a simple code that he learned about many years ago that would reactivate his friend. Sigmund had shown it to him in case something like this happened. Orvus was glad that he still had a good enough memory to remember it. He quickly entered it and floated back a bit, holding his breath a bit. At first, Sigmund remained on the floor. But within seconds, his gears were turning again, and a familiar yellow glow returned to his eyes. Orvus watched Sigmund gather himself, pushing himself off the ground and looking around, almost looking like he didn't know where he was. But, despite knowing that he was still powering on, Orvus floated a bit closer and frowned.

"Sigmund, what happened? Why were you powered down? You were supposed to be watching XJ-0461."

"XJ...0461...Oh!" Sigmund perked up as his memory banks booted up, and the memories of the previous night came flooding in. The frown on his face came immediately. He remembered that XJ-0461 had decided to run away after not being able to take being locked up in the Great Clock. He also remembered that they had made a cover story, making the idea that XJ-0461 uploaded a code to deactivate Sigmund for a few hours. The robot put his hands together and looked down a bit. It still hurt. He missed XJ-0461 already. But now he had to deal with Orvus, who was waiting for an answer. Sigmund felt a guilty feeling in his gut. He didn't want to go with XJ-0461's cover, but he promised that he would. He looked at Orvus, hoping that he wouldn't blow it. "I...don't remember much from what happened. But I think that...XJ-0461 uploaded a code to my computer from the console over there and shut me down."

"He what?!" Orvus nearly shouted, astonished that his son would do such a thing to his own friend. After everything that had happened last night, he thought that XJ-0461 would obey the rules like he was supposed to. This was something that Orvus could never have predicted. But why would his son do such a thing? All Sigmund was doing was making sure that he couldn't get out-!

Orvus felt his heart skip a beat as he looked straight up into the Clock's core. He realized that, even after all of this commotion, it was eerily silent. The elder Zoni shook his head and muttered, "Oh no…"

Without wasting a moment, Orvus shot up into the Great Clock's core, submerging himself in the powerful quantum energy. In a slight flurry of panic, Orvus frantically searched around the large core for any sign of his son's usual green quantum energy. But, everywhere he looked, all he could see was the same bright blue. The elder Zoni's large eyes went wide as he grasped on to the realization: XJ-0461 wasn't here. He deactivated Sigmund so he could escape the Orvus Chamber without anyone knowing.

In a burst of bright blue light, and startling Sigmund a bit, Orvus quickly flew out of the core and he made his way to the chamber's console. He began typing furiously as he retraced his steps from yesterday. However, his hand stopped when he went to access the Clock's archives. His mind was telling himself to slow down. Though the possibility was great, XJ-0461 could simply be hiding in another part of the Clock. Orvus nearly laughed to himself as he rubbed the side of his head. He never thought that he would be in so much denial before. Still, tending to his concerns, Orvus raised his Chronoscepter and called upon a dozen Zoni. Each in a flash of white light, one by one Zoni subject appeared, waiting to hear the orders from their sire. Orvus pointed to the outside with his Chronoscepter, a serious and determined look on his face.

"Each of you, go out and search this entire facility for XJ-0461. If you find him, bring him back here to me immediately. This is a serious situation, so please hurry."

"Yes, sire," the Zoni said together in a powerful, harmonious voice.

At the word of their king, the large group of Zoni flew out of the Orvus Chamber and scattered across the Clock, searching for their missing prince. Orvus slowly lowered his Chronoscepter to his side and let out a small sigh. Sigmund, still with the intention of keeping his mouth shut on the truth of the situation, hovered up next to him. He knew that this part wasn't going to be easy. He couldn't help but feel bad for Orvus during this entire ordeal. The elder Zoni had not been in good health lately, and finding out that his son was no longer in the Clock was going to hit him hard.

Orvus's face had softened after the group of Zoni had left. He frowned, "I do not understand, Sigmund."

"Sir?" Sigmund asked, getting pulled out of his thoughts.

"XJ-0461 has been a good child for his whole life. I know that he is unhappy with his current state of living, but why would he do such extreme things? Sneaking out of the Clock, forcefully powering you down...it is not like him."

"Well...I guess you don't know people well until they're pushed to their limits," the robot said with a shrug.

"I didn't mean to push him to his limits," Orvus said sadly.

"Well, I mean...h-he wasn't pushed to his limits per say, but...I-I should have worded that better," Sigmund said, scolding himself a bit. He shook his head, "L-Look, I'm sure that he'll be able to see things the way that you see them. It's just gonna take time. XJ-0461 isn't completely like you, after all, sir."

"Mmm...still," the elder Zoni said, adjusting his Chronoscepter, "what he did to you and what he's done overall is unacceptable. We may not quite see eye-to-eye, but he still has to follow the rules of the Clock."

"Yeah, I suppose he does..."

The next forty-five minutes was nearly spent in complete silence, with barely another word spoken from either Sigmund or Orvus. They both stayed put in the Orvus Chamber, but both were doing their own things. Orvus floated back and forth, an uncertain and worried look on his face as he waited for his Zoni scouts to return. Meanwhile, Sigmund pulled up some cartoons on his screen and simply sat around watching them. Though he did try his best to look worried about XJ-0461, despite that he technically already knew where he was. Though, Sigmund had to wonder, was XJ-0461 even on Veldin anymore? Or did he and that 'Ratchet' fellow already leave the planet? Who knew?

Sigmund looked up from his cartoon and pulled himself out of his thoughts to look at Orvus. He was still pacing (well, the floating version of pacing). His turquoise eyes looked strained and worry had seemingly engulfed his entire being. Sigmund frowned. Orvus hadn't even found out that XJ-0461 was gone and he was already worried sick. XJ-0461 knew that his father would be in despair over his disappearance, but it's not something that Sigmund looked forward to seeing. Orvus loved his son very much, despite XJ-0461's rule-breaking. Knowing that his pride and joy left would shatter him. He already looked like that he was ill, this was the last thing he needed.

Sigmund knew that he was going to regret letting XJ-0461 go.

Orvus kept floating back and forth as he waited for his Zoni scouts to return. His grip on the Chronoscepter had grown more intense with each passing minute. They had been gone for awhile. Could they not find him? Did XJ-0461, his well-behaved and innocent son, really teleport-?

The elder Zoni felt like he could smack himself on the side of the head. No no, this was not the time to be jumping to conclusions. XJ-0461 was probably hiding out in one of the far corners of the Clock thinking about what had happened yesterday. He probably didn't like the idea of Sigmund being there to keep him trapped in the Orvus Chamber. This was a perfectly logical explanation, and Orvus was willing to bet that he was right in thinking it. Or...maybe he was just in denial.

"Sire!"

Orvus and Sigmund both turned to the entrance of the Orvus Chamber as the group of Zoni returned from their search. Sigmund hovered over alongside Orvus, who wasted no time asking his subjects questions, "Where is he? Where was he hiding? Is he alright?"

Some of the Zoni in the group looked at each other and almost seemed hesitant to answer. All of their deep blue eyes looked at their leader, whose slightly hopeful face was already fading. In their harmonious voice, they said, "The Prince was not found. The Prince is not in the Clock."

The elder Zoni's eyes went wide and he lowered his Chronoscepter, "He...wasn't found...?"

Sigmund could almost feel the tension in Orvus's voice. He looked at his friend with sympathy. A feeling in his circuitry told him that he should say something to him, anything, that would make him feel the slightest bit of comfort. However, before he even had a chance to open his mouth, Orvus zipped over to the Orvus Chamber's main console and he began typing on it again. Sigmund hovered over to it, though he already knew what Orvus as bringing up. Orvus kept a blank expression as he pulled up the Clock's teleportation system's history. This was what told him that XJ-0461 had left the Clock the other day. And sure enough, there was an entry from last night, around the time that Sigmund went to the Orvus Chamber to guard it. Like before, it was to Planet Veldin.

Orvus took a moment to breathe a bit, feeling rather stupid for being in denial earlier and not checking the teleportation history right away. A part of him knew that his son was not in the Clock, he just refused to listen to it because he thought that XJ-0461 had learned his lesson. But even the brightest of people can be dull sometimes. And he was no exception.

'Keep yourself together, old timer,' Orvus thought to himself. 'The longer you spend regretting the situation, the longer it will take to resolve it.'

Sigmund could feel his mechanical heart racing as Orvus just stared at the monitor. He looked really stressed out. As expected, he was not taking XJ-0461's disappearance well. Sigmund wondered what his boss's next plan of action was going to be. Though he already had a feeling that it wasn't going to go the way that he wanted. The robot huffed to himself. Keeping secrets was harder than he thought. But, out of loyalty to XJ-0461 and his struggle, he kept his mouth shut. Though he let out a small yelp and Orvus sharply turned around, an almost angry look on his face.

Orvus pointed his Chronoscepter at the group of Zoni, "Everyone, this situation is reaching possibly dangerous levels, and we must tend to it immediately. I need you group of Zoni to travel to Planet Veldin and search the planet for XJ-0461."

"All of them?" Sigmund said with great surprise and worry. "Sir, are you sure-"

"I am very sure, Sigmund," the elder Zoni said with confidence and a nod. He looked back at the group of Zoni, aware of the precautions they had to take when traveling outside of the Clock. "When you reach the planet, you must remain invisible to people. Do not be seen by anyone. Stay in groups of at least three in order to harness enough hivemind power. The moment you find XJ-0461, bring him back to the Clock immediately, no matter what he says. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, sire." The large group of Zoni simply replied together.

"Excellent. You shall leave for Veldin at once. With all of you together, you shouldn't need the teleportation system to get there." The Zoni's tone suddenly became soft "And all of you, please, stay safe. Find my son and bring him home. I wish you all luck."

With those closing words from their king, the group of Zoni, almost one by one, began disappearing in a flash of bright white light. The group of Zoni became smaller and smaller until the last one teleported out of the Chamber, following its fellow members to Veldin for their mission. Orvus let out a sigh of relief. He might have pushed himself a little too hard with those instructions. He really should take it a bit more easy from now on.

Sigmund noticed how tired he looked already. He hovered a little closer, "Sir, are you alright? Besides the, um...the whole XJ-0461 situation."

Orvus sighed, "I am fine. I simply need to rest for a bit. But when XJ-0461 is brought back, I am going to give him a piece of my mind."

"Are you sure about this? Sending all of those Zoni? Because, after Quantos, I didn't think that you would send out that many Zoni at once."

"I understand your concern, Sigmund. And I do not know how far this ordeal is going to go." The elder Zoni was about to say something else, but something caught his eye. Something gold and shimmering. He turned his body a bit and he saw the lone Chronscepter leaning up against the side of the Orvus Chamber's console. XJ-0461's Chronoscepter. Orvus narrowed his eyes and huffed. "But I do know one thing for sure. That little boy is in big trouble."

~Meanwhile~

"We are now arriving at the glorious city of Metropolis on Planet Kerwan. Please do not leave your children or any biohazards behind. Thank you for choosing the Intergalactic Transit System."

The transit came to a complete stop as it pulled into the bus stop. The double doors hissed open, releasing its passengers as well as a bus driver, who had finished his shift and was moving along for the next shift to come aboard. Clank scooted forward and dropped down from his seat, stretching his new limbs a bit. He didn't think that the trip to Planet Kerwan was going to be that long.

Between traveling from planet to planet, stopping at other bus stops and letting new passengers aboard, the whole trip had taken a little over seven hours. Not many new passengers showed up, though, because it was late in the night. Any children that had come aboard were either asleep in their parent's arms or too tired to do anything, so it was a very quiet trip. There was minimal talk, even between Ratchet and Clank. Though it was Ratchet's first time off of Veldin, the view outside wore itself out rather quickly for him, and he fell asleep like many other passengers did.

However, Clank was too excited to go to sleep. During most of the trip, the robot stared out the window as the transit traveled lazily through the cosmos, billions of stars and a great number of planets being seen everywhere he looked. He would have never gotten a view like this in the Great Clock, not even of the stars. He wanted to take in as much as possible while he was free from his Zoni life. While his current robot body was still taking some getting used to, like feeling everything that came into contact with him and listening to his joints constantly whir as he moved them around, it was definitely a nice change. He never felt so whole in his life, both physically and mentally.

Coming back from his memories, Clank looked over his shoulder to see what Ratchet was doing. Even after all of the commotion of the driver's announcement and all of the passengers getting off, the Lombax was still sound asleep. The robot tilted his head. He wondered if all Lombaxes were heavy sleepers like Ratchet was. He had been meaning to research Lombaxes in his new built-in database, but the fact that he even had a built-in database had completely escaped him. He shrugged to himself, at least it would give him something to do later on.

Clank reached forward and grabbed Ratchet's leg and began shaking it, "Ratchet, we have arrived at Planet Kerwan. You must wake up."

"Mmm...huh...?" The Lombax stirred as Clank shook him. He lifted his head up from the padded seat that now had a Lombax sized print in it and opened his eyes slowly. His ears drooped as he wiped drool off the side of his mouth and yawned while stretching his arms. It took him a few seconds of rubbing his eyes before he could see properly. He glanced at the robot in front of him and scratched the back of his ear, "Wha...what are you goin' on about...?"

"The transit has pulled into the bus station in a city called 'Metropolis', so we must get off before we are forced off."

"Ah, yeah...the bus station...and...and Metropolis...wait." Ratchet's ears shot up, as well as the rest of him. His now wide eyes glanced out the window and he was met with the sight of a large city. He smiled as he scooted closer, "Whoa! We really are in Metropolis! I really must have been knocked out."

"Knocked out? I do not recall anyone hitting you and rendering you unconscious," Clank said, tilting his head again.

"No no, I mean that I was in a really deep sleep."

"Oh."

The robot placed a digit on his chin. He didn't expect Ratchet to word his deep slumber like that because it wasn't exactly the truth, he wasn't knocked out. He supposed that there were a lot of Ratchet's mannerisms that he had yet to identify. And confusing sayings was one of them.

Ratchet felt the urge to roll his eyes at the robot's confusion but suppressed it, knowing that the creature that dwelled inside the robot was a confused creature who had very little experience outside his own species. Instead, he tapped the robot on the shoulder and nodded his head toward the front of the bus, signaling that they could get off now. After gathering his luggage, Ratchet followed behind Clank and slowly made their way off the transit (maybe he shouldn't have let the newly walking, short-legged robot go first), Clank hopping down one step at a time and Ratchet making sure that he didn't bump his luggage into anything.

It didn't take long between stepping on the landing platform and looking up for the two to be in complete awe. Just with the view from the train station, Metropolis looked like a shimmering wonderland. A plethora of gold and white buildings stretched upwards and reached for the clear azure skies. Sunlight bounced off the many reflective surfaces and shined down on its many civilians. Clank smiled a tad bit as he felt the warmth of the sun again. A wind blew through the area as hundred of hovercars going in a variety of directions flew through the sky. A leaf from a neatly planted tree that accompanied a plethora of other plant life growing throughout the city broke off the branch it was clinging to and landed in front of Ratchet. There was very little plant life on Veldin, and even then it was rare to see a green one, so seeing such greenery was a rare sight for him. This place was better than he could ever imagine. And they were still only at the bus stop.

Clank tilted his head and gently picked the leaf up. Ratchet looked at him, "Do you have plants where you live?"

The robot nodded, "Yes, but we do not have trees. We mostly have bushes and ferns, though we do see a wildflower growing every once in a while."

"Hm, so seeing this much greenery is a new experience for both of us." Ratchet breathed in some fresh Kerwan air before walking forward. "Come on. Let's do a bit of looking around before we settle in."

"Agreed."

Clank quickly followed behind Ratchet, making sure to avoid getting hit by the swinging suitcase his friend was carrying. As he walked, his eyes drifted a bit. His gaze went up to the skies above and he squinted a bit. The morning hours were coming on to the Great Clock by now, meaning that his father would soon find out that he was gone. The robot wondered what Orvus's plan of action was going to be. He was usually very strict about sending Zoni out of the Great Clock, so who knew if he was even going to send a search party? Clank just hoped that the Zoni would never find him. He was still a Zoni after all and they could still sense him, just like he could sense them. Only time would tell if this whole running away plan would work out on his end. But for now, as he placed the stray leaf down at the base of the tree that it had fallen off of, all he wanted to be concerned about what adventures laid ahead of him with Ratchet.

After returning the fallen leaf to its tree, Clank trotted up next to Ratchet, who was walking at a pace that he was having a bit of trouble keeping up with. Ratchet noticed this and slowed down a tad bit, "Sorry, you're just gonna have to learn to keep up with those short legs."

"Yes, well, I am still learning how to fully operate them, so it is natural that I would have trouble with-oof!"

Before Clank could finish his sentence, someone walking in the opposite direction, another Tharpod bus driver by the look of it, tripped over Clank and they both fell to the ground. Ratchet was quick to drop his luggage and help the two up. Clank was placed back on his feet and he shook his head and the Tharpod rubbed the back of his head. The robot looked at him with an apologetic face.

"I am so sorry, sir. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I didn't see you. Hey kid, watch where your robot walks. He's gonna end up gettin' tripped on by everyone," the Tharpod said, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Ratchet said, finding it strange that the man called Clank 'his robot'. But it wasn't like he knew the situation with Clank, so Ratchet guessed that the assumption wasn't exactly an outrageous one. And before the Tharpod could leave he decided to get some info on where they were at. "Hey, do you know where we can find a place to stay for awhile? Something that's, uh... decently affordable."

"Hmm..." the Tharpod took a moment to think. He pointed northwest before nodding, "I believe there are some hotels over by the nature preserve in the nearby plaza. But if you're looking for something more permanent, there's an apartment complex with low renting prices in the lower northern area. "Those are the only ones that I know of, though."

"That's more than enough information that we needed, thanks," Ratchet said with a smile.

After waving farewell the Tharpod and making a mental note of the location of the apartment complex, Ratchet looked down at Clank, who was adjusting his head after being tripped on. It didn't look like the robot body received any damage, so that was good. He didn't know how durable the defective robot body was, to be honest. He hoped that it could take some accidental hits or damage because if the spirit inside was left without a body, there could be trouble. Speaking of which, he thought about what the Tharpod said about Clank being in danger of being tripped on. It was true that the people who lived in the city were rather busy, so they won't be looking where they are going most of the time. Plus, Clank wasn't exactly the most sturdy robot, and he could easily fall behind or even get separated in a crowd. There had to be a solution to this.

Clank readjusted his head until it sat comfortably on his neck again. He had only been here for about five minutes and he already had a bad experience. He sighed a bit, hoping that the entire trip wasn't going to be like this. The robot didn't leave the Great Clock to be literally stepped on. If anything, that was what he was trying to avoid. He looked up at Ratchet, who was apparently already looking down at him.

"I am fine if you are waiting for me to tell you," Clank said, brushing a bit of dirt off of his shoulder.

"Well, that wasn't exactly what I was lookin' at you for, but it's nice to know." Ratchet then knelt down and grabbed Clank's shoulders. The robot tilted his head as he was turned around. The Lombax hummed to himself in thought, "Hmm..."

"Pardon me, but what are you doing?" The robot asked, looking over his shoulder.

"I was just thinking about what that old Tharpod said. You probably shouldn't be walking around in a busy place like this. You'll just get tripped on again, and it'll stop being funny after awhile."

"You thought it was funny before?"

Ratchet paused for a moment, "...Pfft, no. Of course not. Anyway, I'm looking at this hex mount on your back."

"Hex mount?" Clank turned his head fully around (it felt a bit strange being able to do that) and looked down at the hexagon shaped groove in his back. He knew that it was there this whole time, but he simply thought it was for decoration. He didn't think that it actually had a name. "What does it do?"

"Well, if it's managed to maintain a proper shape and can lock on properly, I think we can do..." Suddenly, Ratchet grabbed on to Clank's hand and swung him upwards, the robot letting out a surprised yelp as he was flung over the Lombax's shoulder and hit his back onto his friend's back. With their backs together, they both made out a distinct click sound. Ratchet released Clank's hand and the robot stayed where he was, mounted on Ratchet's back like a backpack. Ratchet smirked, "That."

Clank felt a bit disoriented after his little flight. He could feel XJ-0461 spinning around inside him. He shook his head and looked at his position. Waving his feet a bit to feel the nothingness below him, he looked over his shoulder at Ratchet. "Is this what the hex mount does?"

Ratchet nodded. "Yeah, it connects with other hex mounts. I have one on the back of the harness I wear so I can carry my Omniwrench on my back. I noticed that the defective robot body you're in had one when I first found it. Thankfully it wasn't warped in any way so it can still connect. Now you can chill out on my back instead of getting trampled by everyone in Metropolis."

"Yes, I suppose this is better." As much as Clank agreed that this was the best and most logical solution to his situation. Something about this method...bothered him. He was practically clinging to the back of the Lombax and taking the form of a backpack. He voiced his concerns out loud as he realized more and more how strange it was. "While I appreciate you carrying me on your back like this, I find this arrangement slightly...embarrassing."

The Lombax raised an eyebrow at Clank's complaints, simply offering him a shrug. "Sorry, but this is all I can do for you. You're still learning to use your legs, so we really have no choice. Besides, this is the best way for you to keep up. And if you keep complaining about it, I'll just do this."

With a slightly mischievous smile on his face, Ratchet shook his shoulders and his back, shaking Clank along with them. The robot let out a yelp before he pleaded for mercy, "Whoa! Alright, I will not complain! This is fine! I am sorry!"

Ratchet chuckled as he seized his shaking, Clank recovering from his unpleasant ride as he did. Though Clank didn't necessarily appreciate what Ratchet just did to him, something about it made him feel...nice? It was a bit hard to describe. Ratchet wasn't really being mean to him or anything, it was more playful than hostile. It felt like something that a friend would do to another friend. Clank pondered this. He wondered if Ratchet saw him as a friend already. Or something like a companion? Perhaps he was thinking about it too much. And with Ratchet picking up his things and beginning to walk out of the transit station, Clank decided to simply smile and prepare for whatever was next.

Ratchet, and by extension, Clank, walked out of the transit station and followed the directions that the old Tharpod had given him. He remembered the Tharpod pointing north when telling him about the apartment complex. If what he said was true, then the lower northern area was their current destination. If they were planning on staying here for awhile then they would need a place to live. They couldn't stay in a hotel for weeks or months so that was out of the question. And with their somewhat low funds, they would have to settle for a rather low priced apartment. There was only two of them so it didn't have to be big or fancy. Ratchet lived in a garage his whole life, so his living standards weren't exactly that high. As long as it was affordable, he would be happy. Probably.

And even though they were in the lower part of Metropolis, the sight of the city was simply marvelous.

Clank's large eyes reflected the many buildings that seemed larger than life itself. It was like they were genuinely piercing the heavens. And even in the shade, the plant life was abundant, bringing trees and bushes and flower gardens, which bloomed with flowers that came in every color of the rainbow. Plants that were manually planted were neatly placed around parks that children of many species were playing in. Each one was given a fountain that shot out crystal clear water that cascaded gracefully down every level of the fountain before pooling into the bottom. Kids were running around tagging each other, splashing each other with fountain water, or sitting with their loved ones. There were even some adults enjoying their time, sitting under trees and reading books or going for an afternoon jog. All of it was enough to make Clank's eyes shimmer with joy. He would have never seen anything like this in the Great Clock...

A small frown came onto Clank's face then. He looked again at the children sitting with their loved ones, such as mothers, siblings and...fathers. The robot could feel a guilty pain in his chest as he could barely make out the image of his father in his mind. He remembered that, when he was younger, he and Orvus would sit with each other in the Great Clock's greenery. They would look over the edge of the platform and watch the Zoni fly by and the stars twinkle. Clank placed a hand on his chest and frowned again. He kept reminding himself that he wasn't going to be absent from the Great Clock forever, but thinking of his father...it almost made him regret leaving his home. After all, nothing could replace his father. It was like he had torn a hole in his own heart. And nothing else could fill it.

"Hey, are you alright back there?"

Clank was almost startled by hearing Ratchet's voice. He took his hand off of his chest and looked over his shoulder, "Y-Yes, I am fine. I was just thinking."

Ratchet shrugged and then smiled, "Alright, whatever you say. We're almost at the apartment complex. I think that's it over there. Let's hope we get a decent apartment. Gotta have a decent place to live if we're gonna be explorin' a new world."

"Indeed," the robot agreed, the frown on his face fading. Exploring a new world...there was something about that that made him happy. Even excited. Even though he missed his father, he knew that he had a whole universe to explore thanks to his decision. And it wasn't like he was alone, he had Ratchet with him. They didn't know each other that long, but it was better than having no one with him. The hole in his heart remained but at least Ratchet could fill it, even if it was just a little (that sounded strange, but it comforted him).

~Meanwhile~

Orvus let out deep breaths as he kept his eyes closed, semi-meditating in the Orvus Chamber. It had been a few hours since he sent the Zoni to planet Veldin and they had yet to return. The ticking of the Clock seemed louder than ever, with every tick reminding its creator that his son had still not been found by the search party. Orvus had been so stressed out over it that he forced himself to calm down the meditate a bit. He had been hovering in the same spot for most of the hours that the Zoni had been gone, and he did not feel any less stressed. Usually, meditation calmed him down within a few minutes, but now, it simply felt like he was just keeping his eyes closed and doing nothing. This ordeal was really taking it out of him, and he was going to let his son know that once he was brought back to the Clock.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Orvus Chamber, Sigmund sat quietly in the corner, almost distancing himself from Orvus as he tried to meditate. He couldn't describe how uncomfortable he felt right now. Seeing Orvus so stressed out and XJ-0461's disappearance weighing him down was so hard to watch. And it didn't make Sigmund feel any better knowing full well what happened to XJ-0461. Every time he looked at Orvus he felt the urge to just spill everything that he knew just to get it off his chest. But the promise he kept to his friend and the fear of Orvus's anger forced him to keep his mouth shut. The robot sighed to himself, keeping secrets was probably one of the hardest things he ever had to do.

But at least his knowledge of what was going on was about to fade. All he knew what that XJ-0461 was running away and Sigmund only knew about his Veldin destination. When the Zoni come back saying that they weren't able to find him, Sigmund would officially be as clueless as they were. The stress of keeping his mouth shut would finally ease up and he could feel less guilty about it. However, his worry was going to remain. Sigmund looked out the light blue glass window and into the universe beyond. He wondered what XJ-0461 was seeing right now? What kind of people did he meet already? Though, he knew that the young Zoni had already met someone, the "Ratchet" person. That Ratchet was probably the only person who was looking out for his friend right now. At least, he hoped so.

'Look after my friend, Ratchet person,' Sigmund thought to himself. 'If you let something happen to him, I swear, I will never let you hear the end of it! No siree!'

"Sigmund?"

Sigmund jumped as he suddenly heard Orvus calling for him. He whipped around and saw the elder Zoni looking at him. He straightened himself before answering, "Yes, sir?"

Orvus hesitated for a moment, looking like he wasn't sure about what to say. He looked at the robot with his large turquoise eyes, "I was thinking. What I said to XJ-0461 last night...was I too harsh? Do you believe that I chased him away with what I said?"

Sigmund was quick to shake his head, "O-Oh, no sir, don't think like that. I can't really tell you what's going through XJ-0461's mind right now, but I know that he still loves you, no matter what you say to him. Once he's brought back to the Clock we can get this all sorted out and go back to the way things were."

The smallest smile showed up on Orvus's face, but it was quick to fade. He lowered his head slightly and he glanced at XJ-0461'a Chronoscepter out of the corner of his eye, "I do hope that you're right...perhaps-"

"Sire!"

Orvus and Sigmund's attention were both grabbed by the sound of the familiar voices of the Zoni. Orvus gripped his Chronoscepter tight and raised his head as he felt the group of Zoni returning. It looked like it was time to teach his son a lesson. There was going to be punishments involved and definitely a stern talking to. There were so many things he wanted to say to his son right now. He was angry at him, horrified at what he did, disappointed in his lack of respect for the rules of the Clock, worried about...his safety...and happy just to see his face again...Orvus's anger was very high, yes, but just knowing that his son was going to be back in the Great Clock relived him. And as the flashes of the Zoni came one by one, he was ready to tell his son everything that he needed to hear, the good and the bad.

The elder Zoni floated forward and already began speaking, "XJ-0461, I hope that you did not have any plans today because you are in quite the amount of...trouble...young man...what?"

The Zoni finished teleporting back in from Veldin. Every single one was accounted for. However, each one of them was empty-handed, there was no sign of XJ-0461 in the crowd whatsoever. Orvus had to check in the group over and over just to make sure, but there was no mistaking it. His son was not with them. He shook his head in disbelief and glanced at Sigmund, who looked just as confused as he did.

Orvus floated up to the group of Zoni, "I...I don't understand. Where is he? You were supposed to find him."

The Zoni looked around at one another before speaking altogether, "Prince was not found on Veldin. His energy was not detected. We apologize for our failure at finding him, Sire."

"But...he was supposed to be...how is he not...?"

Orvus almost floated down onto the ground as he felt the weight of the universe weighing down on his shoulders. He placed a hand on his head as his eyes went wide. He didn't understand. XJ-0461 was supposed to be on Veldin. The console said that he teleported to Veldin last night! Where else could he have gone? If he had an organic heart, it would be racing with one thousand beats per minute. This wasn't good in the slightest. His son was officially missing and he had no idea where he was or where to start looking. The Zoni could feel the immense negative energy coming from him and they all started to feel uncomfortable and a bit fussy. Orvus tried his best to calm down, but he couldn't bring himself to calm himself even in the slightest. If XJ-0461 was outside the Clock and didn't have access to quantum energy, then, if he wasn't brought back soon, he would dissipate and...and...

Sigmund hovered over to Orvus, thinking that he was about to collapse with the strained look on his face. However, the moment the robot reached for him, Orvus shot up with an unsettling look on his face. He even caught his own subjects by surprise. He waved his Chronoscepter and shouted his orders.

"All of you! We are dealing with a critical situation! If we do not find XJ-0461, he will dissipate and cease to exist! We must bring him home at once! If he managed to get off the planet, then we will begin searching the planets in the Solana galaxy. I will be sending more Zoni search parties shortly. As for this group, begin searching Planet Quartu. Just like your search on Veldin, look everywhere! Find his energy and bring him home the moment you find him! Bring your Prince home!" Orvus took a moment to pause, exhausting himself after the large burst of energy and anger. Even he noticed how intense he was being. He cursed himself for doing that to the Zoni and himself. Yelling wasn't going to get them anywhere. He looked back at the Zoni, who were surprised at his sudden outburst. He frowned, "I am sorry if I am being harsh, but please...I cannot lose my son. Please bring him home. You shall leave at once. And please...do not put yourselves in danger. We cannot lose anyone. Do you understand me?"

The Zoni were silent for a moment, taking in all the information and surprise from their leader. It was only when Orvus gave them a reassuring nod that they responded, "Yes, Sire. We must find the Prince."

Orvus gave them the faintest smile as they quickly began teleporting again, not wanting to keep their sire waiting. He watched all of them disappear one by one again, still cursing himself for being so intense. That burst of energy he had was just too much for him that he couldn't contain it. He hadn't had to deal with a situation this severe ever since the incident with the Fongoids. And that was really saying something.

"Sir...?"

The elder Zoni looked to his right and saw Sigmund cautiously hovering up to him. He frowned and looked away, shaking his head, "I am sorry that you had to see that, Sigmund. I was surprised myself."

"I don't really blame you, actually," the robot frowned and looked down. "I'm pretty worried about XJ-0461, too. I hope he's alright."

"I hope that he is alright, as well. I simply hope that we find him in time. If he dissipates before we find him..."

"That is something to worry about, but XJ-0461 knows what would happen if he doesn't conserve quantum energy. I don't think he would go out into the universe without a plan of energizing himself," Sigmund said with a small shrug.

"Perhaps you are right, but it is too dangerous out there for him. If what happened on Quantos happens to him..." Orvus felt a bit of anger and worry rise into him. He looked back up, his energized heart practically pounding. Sigmund noticed this and decided to back down, thinking that Orvus might need some alone time. The elder Zoni shook his head and muttered, "I didn't watch four hundred and sixty of my children perish so he could expose himself to the dangers of the universe."

"I know you didn't, sir," Sigmund said quietly, praying for XJ-0461's safety. "I know you didn't..."

So uh...two months since I've updated...I am so sorry. But hey! 8,152 word chapter! Longest chapter yet! That makes up for it right?

RIGHT?

Also, this story now has a cover! The artwork was done by the talented Styx-lombax and she did a wonderful job on it. So if you've ever wondered what XJ-0461 looks like, you have your answer. He's a little green boi.

So, looks like Orvus is starting to lose his temper. But can you blame him? His son ran away and is in danger of dying due to lack of quantum energy (well, that's what Orvus thinks, at least) so Time Dad's bound to be a bit stressed. Let's see how he handles this stress, anger and worry.

Make sure to leave a review while picking up your complimentary toaster!

This is Amberdiamondswords, Lordess of Diamond Swordness, signing off...hopefully not for another two months...!