I would like to apologize for my long absence. I just got a beat up 1966 Mercury Parklane and I am in the process of restoring it, am also trying to get my GED and find a job as well. So I simply don't have a lot of time on my hands to write like I used to. Again, sorry for the long wait, here's the last chapter of Lost in the Ages….Enjoy

Also, if you're into other Ratchet and Clank fics, you should check out my best friend Jerod2447, he's got a ton of great fics, including my personal favorites Ravage and it's sequel Alter, two quality fics, I think anyone who likes my stuff will love his.

do not own Ratchet and Clank, (I wish I did) This is for entertainment purposes only.

Brynjolf stood atop the balcony overlooking the courtyard of the McCarthy estate with his forearms resting on the railing. He watched as the hundreds of rebels poured in through the large wooden doors with a smile on his face. He was so close, the King's palace was in his reach, after such a long time of planning, after all the men he has lost, after every battle he has fought...they all lead to this point.
Luka knelt behind Brynjolf with a less than happy expression on his face, he looked defeated, depressed, broken.
"Luka...go down to the courtyard and help the men get settled in" Brynjolf said.
Luka sighed "but-"
"no buts!" Brynjolf cut him off
Luka looked down and nodded "yes lord…"
With that, Luka walked down the marble steps to the courtyard and he started helping the rebels get settled in. Luka helped for a while with no problem, but he started to notice some of the men giving him dirty looks. Soon, four rebels approached him, one of which shoved him to the ground and pressed his boot against his chest. Luka yelped and threw a punch into the man's ankle. The rebel grunted and his ankle twisted, that's when the other three pounced on Luka and started pounding on him. They threw punches, knees and kicks. Luka yelled for help but expected nobody to come to his aid; to his surprise help indeed did come. Brynjolf and Marcus both jumped into the fold and fought the rebels off of Bryn. Marcus cracked his whip and it wrapped around one of their necks, he gave a solid yank and ripped him off of Luka and to the ground. Brynjolf cracked one in the back of the head with the pommel of his dagger. Once those two were pulled away, the others backed off.
Brynjolf helped Luka up. "go see Shooter...get yourself patched up"
Luka nodded, he had a large bleeding cut on his forehead, and was also pretty bruised up, but that was nothing to him, the fact that Brynjolf saved him from the beating actually made him feel much better about the predicament he was in.
"th-thank you"
Brynjolf nodded "now go"
Luka walked back into the estate to find Shooter.
Brynjolf looked at the rebels and growled "EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! If anyone puts their hands on Luka again, I will personally part your heads from your shoulders! If he deserves it, I will be the one to pass judgement and I alone! GOT IT!?"
All of the rebels yell "Aye sir!"
Bryn nodded in approval and walked up the stairs to the innards of the McCarthy Estate.
Shooter sighed as he saw a beaten Luka walk into his makeshift infirmary in a room off of the main hall.
Luka looked down "they...beat me…when I tried to help them…"
Shooter examined his wounds "tell me why Luka...why did you leave us?" asked as he started cleaning out Luka's wounds.
Luka grunted lightly as Shooter scrubbed the cut on his forehead. "you know why Will...Bryn killed my parents"
Luka yelped as Shooter scrubbed his wound harder. "Brynjolf was only protecting himself….your parents were the bloodthirsty ones Luka...if you were in his position, you would have done the same thing, you and I both know that…"
Luka sighed "perhaps…"
It took Shooter a bit to clean out the wound and stitch it up. After that, Luka went back to Brynjolf.
Brick sat on a bed with his hand tied to it's frame. Every rebel that passed him gave a dirty look, Ratchet had to pull a few of them away as they tried to attack him due to his treachery. Brick sighed and looked down at his stump and whimpered lightly.
"this is not how I imagined this happening…"
Ratchet raised a brow "what? You actually thought you would get away with betraying us? After everything you've done you are lucky that we let you live"

Brick sighed and looked down, his ears hung low. " that blasted fool Brynjolf chopped off my hand... I am useless now…Just kill me and get it over with"
Ratchet narrowed his eyes and looked into Brick's "There is no way I'm going to kill you, you are going to make up for what you've done. you can help, or we can throw you in stocks and let you rot in th-" Ratchet was cut off by the sounds of fighting, he jumped up and grabbed his sword and started running towards the fight. He ran through the main hall and out to the courtyard of the McCarthy estate, that's where he saw dozens of Guards climbing over the walls with their grappling hooks. He quickly joined in on the fight to repel the king's men, he charged one of them and ran his sword through his guts. The soldier yelled and fell to his knees that's where Ratchet gave him a quick death with a single swing to the side of his neck, parting his head from his shoulders. After he was done with that soldier he ran at another one who was fighting with a young rebel. Ratchet caught him off guard and he thrusted his sword into the soldiers back piercing his heart and sending him to the afterlife.

Brynjolf gathered the hand and they started fighting as well. Slick sliced a soldier across the gut disemboweling him on the spot. The soldier let out a loud yell as his intestines fell out of his body in front of him and piled on the ground. another quick cut to the soldiers carotid artery killed him and sent blood spraying all over the place. Shooter pulled out his crossbow and shot a soldier in the leg with one of his poisoned bolts, the poison took effect immediately and the soldier was doubled over in pain as the poison traveled throughout his body. Shooter shot another two soldiers, one in the chest and the other in the throat, killing both of them immediately. Snake cut a soldier in half with a single swing of his claymore, and stabbed another in the chest. Luka was hiding under a wagon during the fight, one of the rebel soldiers was killed right beside the wagon dropping his sword in Luka's reach. Luka quickly grabbed the sword and looked right at Brynjolf then at a few of the enemy soldiers. Luka had finally made up his mind and he was willing to help the rebellion. he climbed out from under the wagon and charged at a group of the enemy soldiers. his movements were practically a blur he was moving so fast, he made short work of a group of five soldiers, they didn't see what hit them. Soon the king's men were running for their lives, there was no way that they were going to beat the rebels in this fight.

Brynjolf growled and looked at his men. " you see this?! they are cowards running away with their tails between their legs! gather the siege equipment and make way for the king's palace! Take no prisoners! This is it!"
The rebels all cheered and gathered the siege weapons and they made way for the King's domain...the last battle of the rebellion lingers on the horizon, it can go one of two ways, they could kill the king and finally bring peace to their world...or they could lose, and the rebellion would be for nothing. Brynjolf had a tired look on his face, he was glad that his goal was finally within reach, but he was tired of the bloodshed. Brynjolf looked over the walls towards the king's palace and sighed before sheathing his blade. He looked over at Luka who was cleaning blood off of his stolen sword. Brynjolf approached him and knelt down beside him

"thanks for helping us Luka….I would like for you to accompany us, get into a suit of armor, and here, I believe this belongs to you"
Brynjolf handed Luka his sword that he had taken and gave a light smile. Luka took the blade and actually smiled a bit back

"thanks Bryn….I know I can never make up for what I did to you….but please forgive me, I let rage take control and I lost sight of who my friends really are…"
Bryn set his hand on Luka's shoulder and squeezed lightly and he had wet eyes. "Thanks Luka….the fact that you apologized means a lot to me….I forgive you"
With that, Brynjolf hugged Luka tightly and sniffled lightly. "You put me through hell Luka...but know this, I still consider you a friend"
Luka's eyes also became wet and he hugged back, he became choked up and couldn't find words to express what he was feeling. After a few moments, they broke the hug and joined up with the main force heading towards the king's palace.

The rebel forces gathered around and surrounded the king's palace, large trebuchets and ballistae were set up in front of the the rebel army. Bryn climbed atop a nearby rock and looked over his men with a hardened expression. This is it! We've fought and died to get to this moment! You brave men and woman are prepared to sacrifice everything to end the reign of terror brought upon us by the King! Today that dream becomes reality! Who is with me!?"
The army cheered loud enough to be heard inside the palace. The Guards on the walls looked like they were pissing themselves in fear of the coming battle. They knew the strength and heart the rebels had, they knew the walls wouldn't hold, they knew they were going to die defending a monster.
Brynjolf grinned and drew his sword and held it high. It glimmered in the sunlight and he looked at the siege crews. The trebuchet crews set large rocks into the slings of the trebuchets and proceeded to cover them in pitch. The pitch covered rocks were then lit on fire and they were ready to be launched. The Ballistae crews were also ready to launch, they had the massive bolts loaded up.
"To victory! FIRE!" Brynjolf yelled and swung his sword through the air.
Large flaming boulders were flung from the trebuchets towards the walls of the king's palace. They hit and exploded in fire and they sent shrapnel flying everywhere. A large piece of the walls were knocked in by the concentrated fire of the trebuchets and the ballistae. After about twenty minutes of bombardment, the small section of walls fell leaving a gap for the rebels to get in.
"Charge!" Yelled Brynjolf as he and the rebel forces ran towards the gap. Flaming boulders and ballista bolts flew through the air over them and pounded the interior behind the walls. The boulders and bolts killed anyone unlucky enough to be in their path. Fires began to break out all throughout the place as the flaming boulders collided with structures. The guards had to split their forces to help fight the fires, this gave the rebels an advantage. Soon, they made it to the gap in the wall and they poured through it killing any resistance they met.

Shooter yelled as he took an arrow in the shoulder, a heavy armor piercing arrowhead punched straight through a gap in his armor and came out the back of his shoulder. He watched as an archer knocked another arrow and aimed right at him. Shooter whimpered slightly and closed his eyes expecting to be killed, but the arrow never hit him, instead, he heard a loud metallic sound and opened his eyes. Ratchet stood in front of Shooter with a stolen shield, he had deflected the shot. Shooter nodded his thanks and used Ratchet as a shield as he leaned aside and fired a bolt into the chest of the archer and killed him.

Ratchet helped Shooter up and broke the arrow off but left it in his shoulder so he wouldn't bleed out. Shooter looked like he was in a lot of pain but was able to reload his crossbow and got back into the fight. The Rebels managed to push the king's troops back a considerable distance towards the palace, it was only a matter of time before they got the king. Brynjolf dodged a thrown pike before drawing his dagger and throwing it into the chest of the guard who threw it at him.
"Push on! We're almost there!" Brynjolf yelled to the rebels around him.
The rebels gave a war cry and they all fought hard as they could, the guards kept dropping like flies. The guards may have more training, but the rebels had more heart, and a purpose to fight, and that is what pushed them to succeed. The front line was less than sixty feet from the main doors to the king's palace and the guards were retreating back into the palace. The rebels charged after them but the soldiers managed to get inside and seal the palace doors before the rebels could get in. Brynjolf growled and looked at the Hand. "Alright, we need a way in there, we don't have a battering ram...Slick, Luka, any ideas?"
Slick nodded to Brynjolf "I thought of this yesterday, remember the skilled new guy Marcus?"
Brynjolf nodded "I do"
Slick grinned lightly "well, he managed to steal a set of guard armor and he got himself inside the palace. It's only a matter of time before he gets us in there"
On cue, the loud crack of a whip was heard on the other side of the doors and they opened. Marcus's whip was attached to the door release lever, but his act of selflessness didn't go unanswered by the guards. Almost immediately after he opened the door, the guards ran him through. As the rebels ran into the palace, they saw one of the guards had grabbed him from behind and buried a dagger into his back multiple times. Marcus let out a blood curdling scream as the blade pierced his kidney, liver and one of his lungs. The guard shoved Marcus to the ground and rejoined formation with his men as he saw the rebels coming at them.

"Marcus!" Slick growled as he sprinted at the guards with the Hand leading the rebel charge. The guards were in a line blocking the staircase leading to the king's quarters. They all had shields in front of them forming a defensive wall.
Brynjolf growled as well, the kid known only as Marcus sacrificed his own life and blew his cover as a guard to get everyone in the palace. "CHARGE! LEAVE NO MAN STANDING!" Brynjolf screamed at the top of his lungs as he lead the charging rebels to slam into the praetorian guards shield wall. A loud crash was heard and it echoed across the palace as the hundreds upon hundreds of rebels slammed into the wall. Everyone tried to find a gap and avoid incoming blades thrusted through small holes between the shields. Ratchet narrowly avoided getting his throat slashed by an enemy blade, but he managed to thrust his blade through a small gap and kill one of the soldiers holding a shield. A gap formed in the wall after Ratchet killed one of the shield holders, this made the rebels focus on that gap. Snake swung his massive sword into a shield holder near the gap in attempt to make the gap larger. He avoided a thrusted blade and lobbed a enemy soldiers arm off making them drop their blade and shield and the gap got larger. The rebels pushed themselves through the gap and got behind the soldiers, their weak spot. They began carving away at their backs and soon the wall dropped leaving no praetorian guard survivors.

By the time the shield wall had been dealt with, nearly all of the rebels had been killed or injured too badly to fight. They started the siege with over seven hundred men, and now they only had fifty able bodied men left. Odds were not in their favor, The king would most likely have his most skilled men personally protecting him.
Brynjolf gulped slightly as he looked up the staircase to the lone door leading to the king's quarters. He had waited for this moment his whole life, now he was finally there. With determination, and the Hand still leading the rebels being the first in line, they moved up the stairs towards the door. After about five feet, everyone heard the distinct click of a pressure plate and looked up. A large barrel of pitch tilted over and poured all over the stairs and rebels.
"TRAP! RUN!" Shouted Luka and everyone scattered, most of the rebels ran back down the stairs while the Hand ran up. After the pitch fell, a torch came a few seconds after it and ignited the stairs, luckily, they ran up the stairs far enough to not be caught on fire. The other rebels were trapped below, while the Hand were trapped above, leaving them to face the king and his bodyguards alone. With nowhere to go but up, they made their way to the king's quarters and busted his door down. The gang rushed in with weapons in hand and they saw the guard commander. With the Commander, were two more heavily armored and armed soldiers, the king's best. The king stood in the back of the room looking scared shitless.

Brynjolf growled at the commander. "Just give him up, you need not die for that scum today"

The Commander grinned as he drew his war hammer and held it in both hands. "You ain't going to lay one finger on the king you scum!"
Ratchet sighed "so much for the diplomatic approach" with that he charged the commander and tried to thrust his blade through one of the gaps in his armor. The Hand attacked the other two guys as Ratchet was busy with the Commander. Ratchet ducked a swing from the Commander's hammer and tried to slash the back of his leg. The Commander was fast for his size though and kicked Ratchet in the face. Ratchet was knocked back a bit and he spit some blood out of his mouth. He got back up and pressed his attack again, this time using different moves. He easily dodged another swing from the slow heavy hammer and managed to get into the Commander's blind spot. Ratchet drew his dagger and jammed it into the joint of the Commander's left leg, locking his armor there in place. As the Commander tried to spin around and try and take Ratchet's head off with his hammer, due to his leg being locked up, he lost his balance and his heavy hammer swung out of his hands and smacked the second guard in the head. The blow didn't kill due to the guard having a helmet, but it did ring his bell enough to knock him out. The Commander fell to the ground and Ratchet pounced on top of him before pulling his helmet off and drawing his other dagger. Ratchet raised the dagger with the blade pointing towards the ceiling and brought the pommel down on the Commander's face, knocking him out as well.

King...

As the Hand were fighting the guards, the king managed to slip into a passageway and into his secret room. Inside the room were two highly advanced looking portals made out of white energy, he grinned those fools will never find me here...I've been saving these for just this occasion...this is why I build my palace around these portals I found. With that, the king slipped into the white portal.

Hand…

As the Hand gathered around the last soldier, they could tell he was terrified. The man was shaking in his armor but he stood there with his sword out ready to fight. Bryn stepped forward and he had a bit of a cold look on his face.

"Drop the sword…you have two choices, surrender...or die"
Ratchet looked at Bryn and shook his head. "Bryn….don't let your goal make you cold, be merciful"
Brynjolf sighed and nodded "aye….you're right Ratchet" in the blink of an eye, he pounced on the guard and knocked the sword out of his hand. He grabbed the guard's helmet and pulled it off of him before wrapping his hands around the guard's throat. Brynjolf proceeded to choke the guard out, the guard gagged and thrashed under Bryn, but there was nothing he could do. The guard's vision went dark and he quit struggling, the guard passed out and Brynjolf released his throat.
Brynjolf looked at the Hand and nodded "Slick, Shooter, tie em up, the rest of you come with me. We're getting the king.."
Everyone nodded and they did as told. As Brynjolf was leading the Hand after the king, he looked over his shoulder at Slick and Shooter "you guys hurry up or you might miss the king's death" he grinned slightly as they disappeared down the hallway after the king. They kept their guard up looking for any more pressure plates or guards coming their way, surprisingly, there were none. They all heard the low hum of energy coming from behind the last door in the hallway. The Hand all looked confused at the sound, while Ratchet and Clank who was under his armor recognised the sound immediately.
"No way….can't be" Ratchet said as he opened the door and saw the two portals. Ratchet's eyes went wide as did the Hand. "P-Portals? But how? This tech wasn't invented yet…"
Clank climbed out of Ratchet's armor and he also had wide eyes. "It appears they are natural….but the devices built around them, stabilizing them….this technology should not exist yet…"
Brynjolf looked very confused as did the rest of the Hand. "What the heck are you guys talking about? What are these things? Magic?"
Ratchet chuckled lightly and shook his head "no….they're portals, they'll transport you somewhere through a wormhole. The portals are natural...but the machines built around them shouldn't be possible in your time...this is all very interesting. I think the king used one of these to escape the siege….we need to go after him"
Shooter and Slick came down the hallway and they stopped in their tracks once they saw the portals. They heard what Ratchet and Clank explained as they were approaching though.
"If you guys want the king...we'll have to split up and enter both portals...who knows where these things are going to take us...we may never see each other again...they could very well even take us to different planets…"
Slick sighed and approached Ratchet and hugged him tightly. Ratchet yelped slightly not expecting it but he smiled and hugged back.
"I'm just glad I got to meet another of my kind….you guys have been good friends to me, Clank and I will never forget you"
"We never would have made it this far without you Ratchet….you saved the rebellion...and you have been a great friend to us all too" Bryn said with a light smile.
Snake nodded and also hugged Ratchet "you've been good to my cousin and myself….and that means a lot...goodbye Ratchet" Snake and Slick broke their hug with Ratchet and they smiled.
Breach nodded to Ratchet "we had a long run friend, keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine. Hopefully we will see each other again some day"
Shooter smiled and patted Ratchet on the shoulder and scratched Clank under the chin. "We had a good time Ratchet, and to meet someone who's related to me from the future heh...that was...interesting" Shooter said and chuckled "stay true to your heart, and you will always stay on the right path...farewell my friend"
Luka sighed "I didn't know you too well….but it seems like you held the hand together through some hard times….I appreciate it…."

Ratchet got a bit emotional at their farewells, knowing it was probably the last time he would ever see another Lombax, some tears rolled down Ratchet's cheeks and he sniffled a bit. "Thank you guys….for everything...you are good friends, irreplaceable friends….I seriously hope this is not goodbye for good…."
Ratchet wiped his tears away and looked at the portals "now….we need to do this….you guys take the portal on the right...Clank and I will take the one on the left"
Brynjolf nodded and stepped towards the portal before looking back over at Ratchet. Ratchet had tear filled eyes as he stepped through his portal. Brynjolf sighed and he stepped through his portal with the rest of the hand. They were off to find the king, and give payback for everything he's done. They will find him, and they will end him. Justice will prevail in this fight, and the future of Fastoon will be secured.

Ratchet and Clank…

Ratchet yelled as he was sucked through the worm hole very quickly, he was thrown out of it and he had landed in the dirt hard. He groaned and picked his head up and took in his surroundings. His ears dropped when he saw where he was at, the ruins of Fastoon, in his own time period. He looked around for Clank, and to his amazement, Clank had been turned back into a robot.
"Clank...we're…"
"In our own time….and I am myself again" he said as he looked at his robotic hands.
Ratchet nodded and sighed, he wished his only interactions with his own kind wasn't fighting in a war...he wished he could have stayed though, he made good friends out of the Hand. Ratchet looked a bit depressed, but Clank set his hand on Ratchet's leg and looked up at him. Ratchet smiled a bit, he still had his best friend Clank to cheer him up.

Thank you everyone for sticking with me through this fic. It was a fun long ride heh, all of your comments have been great, and I really appreciate it. Though I am sad to admit, I just don't have the time to write anymore. I may write again when my life evens out a bit, but I don't see that happening for a long time. Just bare with me, I know I have a few other fics that aren't finished, but I will get to them when I come back. For now though, farewell ladies and gents, been a good ride. Been great having y'all follow and favorite my stories, means a lot that people actually care about what I write heh. So...I'm going to quote Shinedown and say, "It isn't goodbye, it's just til next time"

(Evil Ratchet Out!)