Here we are with chapter 12 and I have to be honest with you guys. I sorta lazed with this chapter and it explains why it took so long to upload. It doesn't mean though that I am losing interest in the story it just means I needed some time off is all. But this is also the biggest chapter of them all. Totaling at over 5,000 (5,285) words this is the big one. And this seems a little too late but we have hit the 500 mark in views. So thank you all once again for supporting this story. I would also like to thank GrimlockX4 for favoriting this story. Its this kinda support that motivates me to push on with this story

Disclaimer:

Ratchet and Clank, associated characters, weapons, locations, etc. belong to insomniac games. some real world companies and organizations belong to their respective owners, etc. I only own the right to some characters and some weapons and events introduced in the story.


An Unworthy Trust

Qwarks Headquarters

Planet Umbris

2:00pm GST

It was cloudy with the glow of red as the group landed on Umbris, on a landing pad located outside of the Captain Qwark Headquarters. As the group got out of the ship they saw that above them was no other than Captain Qwark, on a strange looking gyrocopter holding a strange megaphone.

"Welcome to my challenge course, now's your chance to prove yourself strong and brave" Qwark said. Jordan also notice Qwark take the megaphone away from his mouth and say something else, but from all the noise, he couldn't hear or understand it. "Conquer it, and you will join me in my fight against evil".

"HAVEN'T WE DONE ENOUGH ALREADY" Ratchet shouted

"What, I cant hear you" Qwark said, putting a hand to supposively his ear.

"I SAID, HAVEN'T-WE-DONE-"

"Sorry, still having trouble, tell me later"

"LATER"

"WHAT IF WERE DEAD BY THEN" Jordan shouted

"WHAT" Qwark shouted through the megaphone

Ratchet sighed in frustration "Cmon guys lets get going". Jordan then put his hood up his and put Sophia on his back and they proceeded to a Gadgetron vendor where Jordan saw the strange megaphone that Qwark had. He read that it was called a Taunter and it said that it used a sound box that had multiple pre recorded obnoxious sounds and when the user pulls the trigger, It taunts nearby enemies. Jordan decided to spend the 1000 bolts it cost for it and he now had 1300 bolts left. Jordan also saw that Ratchet bought another glove and Ratchet told him that it was called a Glove Of Doom. after the duo bought their ammo they walked across a bridge and saw that in their way was a rotating turret that tossed tiny bombs. luckily it was only proximal so Jordan pulled out his blaster and shot it once to remove some of the armor, and again to destroy it. as they walked down a narrow path they saw that another turret stood in their way. but shot a blaster at them this time in a wave like motion. the two managed to jump over the shots and Ratchet swung at it with his wrench, causing it to spin and go back into the ground. as they walked over another bridge they saw that there were floating spheres hovering around the bridge. Jordan decided to use his taunter and pulled the trigger and the weapon made a whistling sound and the two spheres suddenly had spikes come out of them and slowly float towards the duo. Ratchet quickly pulled out his blaster and shot one, and then the other. They walked across another bridge and saw this strange door and on the ground in front of it were three green pads, Ratchet stepped on one that lit up for three seconds and then turned back off. Jordan immediately had a theory.

"Maybe these things unlock this door" Jordan said

"What do you mean" Ratchet asked

"I'm saying if we step on all of these pads it will unlock the door"

"Okay then" Ratchet then walked over to one pad and Jordan over to another. Jordan took Sophia off his back and placed her by another one. Once the three were set Jordan counted down to three.

"Alright on three we all step on the pads. One, Two, THREE". On three, they immediately stepped on the pads and the door opened. They all walked inside and saw two more turrets with bombs. Ratchet and Jordan knew what to do but this time Ratchet took out his Glove Of Doom and tossed it. A metal sphere came out of the glove and no second later, four little robots came out and started rushing towards the turrets. The robots started easily eating at the metal and soon the turrets exploded and the robots with it. They came across another door with three more pads. Jordan, Ratchet, and Sophia knew what to do so they stood by the pads. Jordan counted to three and they all stepped on the pads opening another door. They saw that it lead to two bridges and right when Jordan was about to step on it, part of the bridge came off and fell into the abyss below. They both knew they had to be quick so Jordan put Sophia on his back and Said that he would count to three and they would both run across the bridge. Ratchet agreed and Jordan counted. Immediately after he said three the two sprinted down the bridge, With the pieces falling off with every step they took. They soon got on a metal platform and they got to another bridge. Jordan didn't want to take any chances so he counted to three again and they both ran across the bridge and like before, Pieces of the bridge came off, but they soon got off the bridge and onto land were there was a maze made of barbed wire. They also saw that on the other side was a turret firing a blaster in the wavy motion again. The two managed to not only dodge the shots, but carefully navigate through the maze and get to the other side. Luckily the turret was only aiming at the maze so the duo walked up to it and Ratchet hit it with his wrench, causing it to spin into the ground. They soon walked down another path and saw two green pads, But a turret was firing over one. Ratchet saw the turret and shot at it, causing it to spin in the ground again. Jordan peaked around a corner of a metal wall and saw two more. Jordan saw the first one and shot at it to disable it, then slowly aimed and shot at the other one. Jordan started to walk down the path and saw the final pad, farther away from the other two though. Jordan set Sophia down and told her what to do.

"Alright Sophia now listen, I'm going to count to three and when I say three we'll step on these pads. Right after you see us step on these pads, run as fast as you can to the other one, okay"

"Okay" Sophia said and Ratchet and Jordan positioned themselves near the pads. Jordan then counted to three and the two quickly stepped on the pads.

"GO, NOW" Jordan yelled and Sophia started quickly running towards the pad. Right when it got to the third second, she quickly stepped on the pad, opening a door to a tall building leading towards the huge dome shaped building they saw back by the ship. Jordan looked over at Sophia and saw that the turret that was by the pad she was standing on started to rise and quickly shoot in Sophia direction.

"SOPHIA LOOK OUT" Jordan yelled as Sophia looked over and saw the turret, unfortunately for her, a shot grazed her right arm and she yelled and ducked from the incoming fire. Jordan quickly shot the turret, sending it into the ground. Jordan saw Sophia get up and hold her arm, Jordan quickly rushed over to her.

"Sophia are you okay" Jordan said with concern

"I don't know" Sophia said

"Let me see it". Sophia then held out her arm and Jordan saw the wound. Jordan saw as blood trickled down from it that a shot just grazed her and he was immediately relieved. Jordan then felt the wound to see how deep it was, luckily it wasn't deep.

"OW" Sophia exclaimed

"Sorry"

"Is it bad"

"No its just a small cut, one of the shots must've grazed you, I think you'll be okay". After Jordan said that he started seeing light come from the wound and as the light dimmed, there was nothing. Jordan also noticed that her veins were of its normal color, Indicating to him that he may need to get her some more Nanotech. But Jordan put Sophia on his back and he walked over towards the door that they opened, with Ratchet waiting for them.

"Are you alright Sophia" Clank asked with concern

"Yes I'm fine Clank" Sophia said as Ratchet and Jordan started to walk up the stairs into a wide open area where laid fifteen of the hovering mines that they encountered back on the bridge. They saw though that they were in a single file line, hovering all over the area. Ratchet got out his blaster but Jordan stopped him.

"lay down a mine, I have an idea" Ratchet layed down a mine. Jordan pulled out his taunter and pulled the trigger, causing the weapon to make an obnoxious alarm sound, and causing the mines to have their spikes come out and hover towards them. Weirdly enough they stayed in their line and caused the first one to hover over the mine, causing it to explode including 4 others. And because of the mines proximal towards one another, caused a chain reaction, causing all the mines to explode one at a time. And as the final one exploded, the area was soon empty and Ratchet looked at Jordan.

"Good thinking" Ratchet said

"Thank ya" Jordan replied as the duo saw three more green pads. Ratchet, Jordan and Sophia got onto their places and they all stepped onto the pads, opening a door leading into another building. Sophia got back on Jordan's back and the duo walked through the building and climbed up a very tall ladder. Once they reached the top, they saw that there was a large pool of water with a giant green shark like fish inside it. Ratchet told Clank to hand him the Hyrdodisplacer and he did. Ratchet saw a nozzle in where he put the tool in and pulled the trigger. What Jordan saw then was the pool slowly start to drain and the weapon fill up with water. They jumped down into the bottom and Jordan approached the fish which snapped at him. Knowing that it wasn't a robot, Jordan grabbed out his machete, activate the ability and threw it at the fish, hitting it between the eyes and killing it instantly. Jordan retrieved his machete and the duo slowly treaded across the bottom and into a small pipe, leading them into another drained pool with two more fish. Ratchet decided to use his bomb glove and threw one at one fish, causing it to explode, and Jordan threw his machete at another one. The duo slowly climbed up a ladder out of the pool and walked over to another one, where only one fish was in it. Ratchet pulled out his blaster but was stopped by Jordan.

"Hang on Ratchet, I think I'm gonna let Sophia take this one"

"You sure"

"I'm sure" Jordan then jumped down to the bottom and the fish didn't noticed him. Jordan took Sophia off of his back and looked at her. "I think its time we start practicing".

"What do you mean" Sophia said

"This" Jordan pulled out his taunter and pulled the trigger, making the whistle sound again. The fish noticed the duo and started jumping towards them. "Remember what I taught you Sophia" Jordan said as he pulled out his blaster, in case anything goes wrong. Sophia stepped forward and aimed at the creature, She shot at the fish once, but missed. She shot it again, but missed again. "Remember about your breathing Sophia" Jordan said and Sophia took his word and started slowly breathing. She then shot again, hitting the creature in the jaw, slowing it down a bit. She then aimed at it again and slowly inhaled and then exhaled. Finally she shot at it again, hitting it in the forehead and killing it. Sophia lowered her weapon and Jordan looked at her. "Good job Sophia" Jordan said as he pat her on the back. the duo then climbed up a ladder and Ratchet put the Hydrodisplacer in another nozzle, causing the pool to fill up with water. Jordan also saw that giant seashells started to emerge from the bottom and float up to the surface. Ratchet went first and swam over to the other side of the pool and climbed up onto the ledge. Jordan then got in but looked back to see Sophia on the platform, put her hand in the water and quickly jerk her hand back. Jordan can see fear in her eyes and decided to swim back over to her. "Whats wrong Sophia" Jordan said.

"I cant swim Jordan, remember" Sophia said with a scared tone

"Just get on my back and I will keep you above the water"

"I-I don't know". Jordan knew that she wouldn't want to do this and he understands her fear. Jordan thought that almost drowning would give him a fear like this to. Jordan sighed though and thought of something.

"Alright, maybe I can use those seashells over there to help you float over to us, would you be fine with that". Sophia nodded and Jordan proceeded to swim across the water to get one of the seashells. As he started to swim back he was stopped by Ratchet.

"Whats wrong with Sophia" Ratchet asked

"She's afraid of drowning"

"Can't she swim"

"No"

"Well why dont you just put her on your back and keep her above the water"

'Oh what a great idea Captain Obvious, didn't you hear my whole conversation'

"That's what I said to her, she wasn't so sure about it though so I'm coming up with an idea" Jordan said as he swam back over to Sophia. Jordan positioned the seashell as close to the edge as possible and told Sophia she could get in. Sophia slowly stepped into the seashell, with her head only showing now. And because of her body weight, the shell only sunk a little bit into the water. Jordan slowly started swimming while pulling the shell and soon they made it to the other side. Once again, Jordan put the shell as close to the edge as possible and Sophia slowly got out of the shell, with some assistance from Ratchet. Jordan then pushed the shell to the side and climbed up onto the platform, where on the other side was another pool of water. Ratchet used his Hydrodisplacer to drain the water. The duo jumped in and killed three of the fish inside, but Jordan left Ratchet to them with his Pyrocitor. Ratchet then climbed up the ladder and put the Hydrodisplacer back in the nozzle and the pool started to slowly fill up again. Ratchet got in first again and swam towards a wall, Jordan saw that Ratchet then started to swim under the wall and swim up to the other side. Jordan got in and saw that there was a little gap that he could swim through, but it was unfortunately under water and there was no possible way to put a shell through it, Jordan swam back over to Sophia.

"Did you find anything" Sophia asked

"No" Jordan replied

"How we gonna get across then"

"Well there's a gap under there" Jordan pointed down towards the underwater opening. "We could swim through it and get to the other side"

"But I don't think we could fit a shell through there"

"I know that"

"But..Jordan"

"Sophia there's no other way, your gonna have to come in here with me"

"Jordan I cant swim" Sophia said in that tone again. Jordan could also hear her hyperventilating from fear. Jordan knew she really didn't like water, and he knows he's been in a situation like this one. But Jordan got out of the water and started to reassure her.

Jordan crouched down to her level and looked at her "Sophia" he said which made Her look up at him. "Trust me" he whispered which made Sophia calm down.

"Ok" she said back. Jordan then picked her up and held her close. He slowly stepped into the water and he instantly felt more pressure around his torso. He then slowly started swimming towards the wall and felt Sophia bury her head into Jordan's shoulder. "Just don't look in the water and you'll be okay" Jordan said hoping to calm her down a bit. Jordan approached the wall looked down in the water. "Sophia" Jordan said which caught her attention.

"Yes Jordan"

"Uh, you might wanna hold your breath"

"Ok" Sophia then closed her eyes and took a very deep breath. Jordan also took a deep breath and swam down under the gap. He started swimming as fast as he could, to make sure that none of them ran out of air. Jordan quickly emerged to the surface and Sophia started breathing heavily with Jordan only breathing lightly.

Jordan looked at Sophia "See that wasn't so bad now was it" Jordan said, only getting a death glare from Sophia. Jordan swam over to the platform where Ratchet was and lifted Sophia up. Jordan then climbed up on the platform and walked to the other side, where there was another pool, but multiple yellow swingshot targets. Since the route would take forever if Jordan used his machete, he decided to ride the swingshots with Ratchet again. Ratchet used his Hydrodisplacer to drain the water, then Jordan grabbed onto Ratchet and they used the targets to swing to the other side where there was a small cavern. They walked through the cavern until they encountered a drained pool, with a platform in the middle. They also saw that there were five more of those fish at the bottom, So they jumped down and Jordan used his machete to dodge their bites and stab three them, each in the forehead to kill them instantly. Ratchet used his jump attack with his wrench to kill the other two. They then climbed up the ladder to the nozzle and filled the pool up. Jordan went first this time and Jordan grabbed Sophia and held her. He slowly got into the pool again and started swimming backwards to keep Sophia above water.

"Don't drop me" Sophia said

"Its okay I got you" Jordan said as he swam over to the platform were up top had three more green pads. Because they were next to each other Sophia and Jordan quickly stepped on them, causing a door to open on the other side. Jordan held Sophia got back on Jordan's back again and he got back into the pool again where Ratchet drained it again, causing the duo to slowly descend to the bottom. Ratchet jumped down from his spot and they climbed up an elevated ledge and climbed up to the open door. They started to walk down a narrow hallway until they saw a circular door with a button on the side. Jordan pressed it and inside they saw it lead down a circular transparent tunnel and on the other side was Captain Qwark. Jordan didn't take one step in and he saw Clank running down the tunnel towards Qwark. The other three though just walked down to where Qwark is and they saw that he was on a hovering circular platform.

"Well, Well, you four continue to surprise me, step into the ring of heroes and I will finally give you what you deserve" The hero said as Jordan saw Clank and Sophia step into a metal platform where Jordan saw that the center looked like it split into two

"Sophia get back here" Jordan said firmly

"Jordan, this is it, we can stop Drek" Sophia said

"I don't know, something seems, off"

"Guys this is no time to become cautious we have reached our goal" Clank added

"I am with Jordan, something seems fishy" Ratchet said

"Listen to your little friends, your destinies are near steps away" The hero said

"Something just doesn't seem right" Jordan said

"This is it" Clank exclaimed, "Qwark is going to help us stop Chairman Drek" Clank said as Jordan saw him pull Ratchet into the ring. Jordan merely rolled his eyes and slowly walked into the ring with the rest of the group.

'Alright, I'll buy into your little shenanigan, but I don't like it'

"Why thank you Clank, you've been, helpful" the hero said as he pulled out a remote with a red button on it. Jordan quickly saw this and Ratchet saw his eyes started to widen

"I KNEW IT" Jordan yelled as he saw Qwark press the button and the floor beneath them split open and the group started falling into the pit below. Ratchet and Jordan where the first ones down, with the duo landing on their back. "Not again" Jordan said as he started to slowly get up. Jordan looked up and heard yelling as he saw Sophia falling down. Jordan quickly got underneath Sophia and caught her. Jordan looked at Sophia "You alright" Jordan said with concern.

"Yeah, I think so" Sophia said as Jordan looked up to see Clank using his helipack to glide down and land directly on Ratchet's chest

"Get off of me you idiot" Ratchet said as he shoved Clank off of him

Qwark maniacally laughed "I love it when a plan comes together" Qwark said with excitement

"What do you mean" Clank said confused

"What do you think he means genius, he's not gonna help us, he's gonna kill us" Ratchet said angrily

"You catch up quickly, only one problem with you hypothesis, I'm not gonna kill you"

"Your not" Jordan said confused

"No, He is" Qwark pointed to the Blargian Snagglebeast that they saw on the infobot, chained up to a wall

"But why" Sophia said

"But why" Qwark mocked "Its really not that difficult to decipher, I'm the official spokesperson for Dreks new planet, I cant have you four get in the way of my comeback"

'Did you just mock her, Did You Just Fucking Mock Her' Jordan thought, enraged about what he did.

"This isn't over Qwark" Ratchet said enraged

"No, but it will be soon" Qwark said as the group saw the beast break from its chains and walk towards the group

'Oh, Shit' Jordan thought as he saw the beast walk and the ground shake with every step it took. He then saw the beast shoot lasers from his eyes and made a line which immediately combusted into fire. Jordan quickly put Sophia on his back and he ran a safe distance and started shooting at the beast. He saw that on his blaster he had a full auto option. He turned it on and started shooting four round bursts at the beast, slowly putting holes in the beast. Ratchet saw what he was doing and ran over to his position and started doing the same thing. The beast shot another laser at them in which the duo quickly dodged. they shot at it a couple times more until soon, it activated a shield and started shooting fire out of his hands and started charging towards them. The duo started running away from it, over a bridge in which the beast followed. They then saw that the bridge broke on the beast and it fell into the lava. the beast then jumped out of the lava and onto the piece of land that they were on. It lifted its fists up and brought them down on the duo, which they dodged and caused the ground to tremble. Jordan decided to use this opportunity and equipped his bomb glove and threw three bombs at it, causing them to push the beast back to the very edge. Ratchet and Jordan started running back and started shooting at it again. Jordan knew that this might not be enough and got an idea. "Sophia" Jordan said.

"Yeah" Sophia said back

"I don't think are weapons are gonna be enough so, can you, you know" Jordan showed his blaster to her

"I'll try" Sophia said as she equipped her blaster and started to shoot over Jordan's shoulder. They started shooting at the beast and Jordan heard a loud bang from the back of him and soon after he heard a ringing sound. Sophia shot the beast and caused it to activate its shield again and charge at them. The duo saw another bridge and ran over to it. They saw that in their way though was the bridge that the beast destroyed earlier. They jumped over floating pieces of it and got to the other bridge. The beast used it wings to fly directly on the bridge and soon enough the ground shook and the bridge broke and the beast fell into the lava once again. The beast then jumped to the other side of the bridge and used its lasers to shoot another line at them, Barely hitting Jordan but they dodged it. The beast then jumped to their side and started stomping causing the ground to tremble. Ratchet decided this time to use his mines and layed a couple down. The duo ran to the other side and the beast started to walk towards them, stepping on the mines and causing it to let out a roar. They started shooting it again, But Jordan started hearing more loud bangs from his right ear. Jordan then saw a Round hit the beast in the head and saw that it was from Sophia's direction, He looked back at her "Nice shot" he said but quickly looking back to see that the beast had its shield up again and charged towards them. The duo quickly started running to the other bridge. Ratchet got over to the other side first but before Jordan could make it, he lost his footing and twisted his foot. Jordan yelled as he went down, causing Sophia to fly over to Ratchet. The beast jumped over on the bridge and looked down at Jordan. As he was about to lift his foot, the bridge rumbled and soon a piece of the bridge the the beast was standing on, broke from beneath him. Soon the piece underneath Jordan started to bend, Jordan quickly crawled over but was too late and the piece broke from beneath him. He was about to fall in but Ratchet quickly grabbed Jordan's hand and saved him. Jordan then looked back to see the beast slowly roaring while it slowly started sinking into the lava. Jordan lowered his head and touched his forehead with his finger, then his chest, and left and right shoulder. Even though he killed, He never liked it and respected death, especially with a slow and gruesome one like this one. Ratchet slowly pulled Jordan up and Jordan layed flat on his back with Sophia rushing over and looking down on him.

"Are you okay" Sophia said with concern

"Yeah..I'm fine" Jordan said while breathing heavily "Hey" Jordan said as Sophia looked down at him again, "Good shooting" Jordan said as he saw Sophia smile in reply

"Thanks" Sophia said and Jordan slowly got up and the two started walking over to a bridge, connected to a door and inside was a red ship. On the bridge they saw that Ratchet and Clank were gathered around an infobot and Jordan could make out the conversation they were having.

"I wonder what this infobot has" Jordan heard from Clank

"Maybe it can replace you" Jordan heard from Ratchet. The mouth of the infobot then revealed its tv screen to reveal a black and white video and in the center looked like to be some kind of soldier.

"Were pinned down, Were pinned down. ships are hammering our position from the air" there was then a bright flash on the left side of the screen. The soldier looked over to see that there was a small crater near him. "That was a little too close. We need support NOW" The soldier looked to his left then right and then back at the screen. "Actually I need support. My entire battalion went a-wall and they left me to fight this war on my own. If the enemy doesn't kill those guys, I will. I'm not gonna last much longer, I need immediate assistance over and out". The video then went black and the infobot closed its mouth and went into Clanks compartment.

"Those are Dreks ships attacking that planet, we must help that Commando" Clank said

"Are you serious, That's it I'm outta here, Qwark is going to be so sorry that he ever messed with me" Ratchet said as he started walking over towards the ship, leaving Clank.

"This isn't about Captain Qwark anymore, There are innocent lives being lost"

"Yeah, well I'm done with all of this stupid hero stuff, I've got my own agenda now"

"Ratchet, this is not like you"

"What do you know about me, you've spent this whole time looking for Qwark, you don't know anything about me"

"I know you will do the right thing, you and me both" Jordan added

"Yeah, well the thing I wanna do now is find Qwark" Ratchet said as he jumped into the ship, figuring out how to start it. "How do you start this stupid thing" He yelled.

"Have you forgotten you need a Robotic Ignition System" Clank said as he used his helipack to get into the ship.

Jordan sighed "Cmon Sophia lets go" Jordan said as he lifted Sophia into the ship, and then climbed in after her.

"I will start the ship, If you agree to help that Commando" Clank said while Ratchet sat and thought

"So, blackmail is it, fine just shut up and start the ship" Ratchet angrily said to Clank while he started the ship

Jordan chuckled "Blackmail" He whispered to himself but Ratchet overheard his laughter and looked back

"What so funny" Ratchet said

"Nothing" Jordan said as he quickly cleared the laughter. Ratchet looked back at the dash and typed in the coordinates to Planet Batalia where they'll hopefully find the Commando, If he's alive.


Problems, Problems, Problems. Tensions are starting to rise between Ratchet and Clank in this part of the story, and Sophia how now suffered her first injury. Who know what will happen. Will the Commando be dead, will Ratchet find forgiveness towards Clank, Will the group CRUMBLE. Will have to wait and see in chapter 13.