Rise of the Uniposers
Escaping from the blank grey room with the help of Tehctar, Ratchet, Talwyn and Clank regroup with the Uniposers and set off to the Backup Base while the battle with Angela rages on. The Uniposers arrive at the base as Angela is revealed to be a clone of her instead. They are all separated and forced to fight a member of the VA, with every member except Master being defeated and killed. The melee battle between Tehctar and Master rages on and they are moved down to the navigation room, where the others end up. After Master forces them to flee, Tehctar reveals himself to be Angela Cross, who reveals a plan as a last resort. Following the plan, Ratchet walks back into the navigation room with hypermite strapped around him. As the Uniposers escape and lure Angela's clone to grab the Backup Base, Ratchet activates the hypermite…
Chapter 25: Epilogue
The Unipose drifted away, occasionally clinking some of the small debris from the Backup Base that had traveled and crossed paths with them. The explosion earlier was spectacular, but no-one in the Unipose was excited because of Ratchet's sacrifice.
Talwyn and Sasha sat huddled together on the sofa, both in shock over what Ratchet had done for the sake of the universe. Angela walked in after letting Clank take the helm, wanting to comfort her friends.
"Listen, it's not that bad that Ratchet sacrificed himself…" muttered Angela, causing Talwyn and Sasha to look up at her angrily.
"CAN YOU HEAR YOURSELF?" exploded Sasha. "RATCHET WAS EVERYTHING TO ME!"
Angela ignored the two, knowing that they were uncontrollable. She grabbed a datapad out of her belt and tapped a few buttons, looking to see how far they had come. "Okay, I think it's safe now."
"Wha…?" Sasha blubbered as Angela revealed an advanced Hologuise from her belt. She tapped it once and Sasha and Talwyn watched in awe as yellow streams of energy began to fly around her body, until she was no longer visible.
"Angela?" asked Talwyn as the energy streams began to disappear and firstly revealed a yellow furry ear that wiggled around. Secondly, spots of yellow and brown fur began to appear, and Talwyn knew that it was him when the famous wrench came into view.
"Ratchet!" Talwyn yelled, who then jumped up and ran through the disintegrating streams and hugged the man she loved.
"They did the ol' switcheroo," muttered Sasha, remembering her father olden day terms. She realised that Angela had used Hologuises to switch roles with Ratchet, meaning that she was killed in the explosion while he was safe and sound in the Unipose. "Ratchet!"
Sasha hopped up as well and joined the hug as they were reunited with Ratchet. She ignored the wrinkles and baggy eyes from the shock and tears as she yelled out to the cockpit to bring everyone in to reunite with Ratchet.
After everyone had caught up with Ratchet, along with a few drinks, everyone returned to the cockpit after the excitement had died down. "So, where to?" Ratchet asked.
"How about my apartment in Megapolis?" asked Clank.
"I haven't seen that place," said Sasha. "And I don't think Talwyn has either."
As Talwyn nodded, Ratchet spoke. "Qwark has seen it though, when we first defeated Otto Destruct."
"Okay, Clank's apartment, it is," said Talwyn, much happier that Ratchet was alive, although sad that Angela was dead. Sasha took one last look at the planets and nebulae of Woldgon Galaxy, before the warp drive took them away.
"So what are you going to do about this ship?" asked Talwyn as they arrived in the Bogon Galaxy, bringing a couple of drinks for Ratchet, Qwark and Sasha.
"I don't know," responded Ratchet. "Just probably gonna give it back to Arv, he was the one who gave it to Tehctar in the first place."
"Arv," thought Sasha. "He's probably unaware about Tehctar's identity, and thinks that he's just a kid. Now that I think about it, he looked familiar in his Cazarean form."
"We're at Endako already?" asked Ratchet to Sasha, who had been mindlessly piloting the ship and was distracted by Ratchet's question. She looked out the windscreen, stretching, and saw that Endako was already coming into view to the left side.
"Oh yeah," she said, prompting her to angle the Unipose to the left and aiming straight at Megapolis, clearly visible on the surface of the astronomical body. There were other cities in view as well, but Megapolis was clearly the biggest.
"So, what are you guys going to do after we calm down after this adventure?" asked Sasha to the whole crew. Everyone wanted to speak at once, but Sasha calmed them down. "One at a time! Talwyn, you first."
"Well, I know what I'm going to do," began Talwyn. "Regroup with Cronk and Zephyr, and then find my father. He's out there somewhere, wanting me to find him, waiting for me. I know I have to find him, if I'm ever going to be happy."
Everyone nodded slowly, admiring her bravery. "Okay, Qwark, you next," said Sasha.
"My normal daily routine. Exercise with Helga in the morning, and saving the galaxy during the day, and gambling at the Maktar Casino at night. I also think that I'm getting my own Holo-vision show."
"Meh…" everyone else said, disgusted by Qwark's selfishness. "Sasha, you should go next," said Talwyn before she could speak.
"Ohh," replied Sasha, shocked. "Well, I don't really know. I'll help my father get re-elected and return to the Starship Phoenix, helping to keep the Solana Galaxy in order." Ratchet smiled, remembering back when he on the Starship Phoenix, a part of the Q-Force. "That just leaves Ratchet and Clank."
"Well, I think we're just going to keep adventuring," said Ratchet, smiling as they touched down on Megapolis. As they walked away from the Unipose, Ratchet looked back and noticed something. "Ahh, we're gonna have to keep Aphelion though, unfortunately."
"WHAT?" she exclaimed, leaving Ratchet in tears of laughter. They all stepped on the Translocator and waited for it to whisk them away. Talwyn was the first to appeared at the door of Clank's apartment, and walked in immediately, looking at the place that had been given to Clank by Abercrombie Fizzwidget.
"She's a great place, isn't she?" asked Ratchet as soon as everyone had been translocated. "She got a VG-9000 that the President gave me, Sheep Invaders, a Swingshot course out the back and shower and bedroom just over there."
"Wow," said Sasha. "It's even better than I remember when I came when you got angry." Ratchet rolled his eyes quickly, trying to forget about it.
"Make yourselves at home," he said, sitting Sasha and Talwyn down, as Qwark began to raid the fridge. Clank checked out the apartment, wondering if his maid had left it in good shape. Ratchet grabbed the VG-9000 controller and passed it to Sasha, asking her without words if she wanted to play.
"Oh, sure. I haven't played this in a while," she said, wondering what game Ratchet was going to put in. She facepalmed when she saw that Ratchet had grabbed Presidential Politics Adventures, a horrible mediocre game in which the Galactic President starred in.
"…No," stated Sasha, causing Ratchet to burst out into laughter. "How about…Al's Robotic Rampage? I hear that's an action/puzzle game."
"Good idea," said Talwyn.
"Problem," said Ratchet, making Sasha and Talwyn turn their heads. "I don't have the game." Ratchet wished he had never said that, because he found himself in a downtown Megapolis games store, where thankfully there were plenty of copies as it was a game that had just came out and was 80 bolts. Thankfully, due to Ratchet's adventures, he had plenty to spend, so he decided to get four more copies for Sasha, Talwyn, Clank and Qwark.
"Oh, you're back quickly," said Talwyn, noticing that Ratchet was back while reading a novel.
"I had plenty of money, so here," he said as he threw copies towards Talwyn, Sasha and Clank, but Qwark wasn't there. "Hey, where's Qwark?"
"Oh, he said that he should get back to Metropolis, so he left quickly," Talwyn answered.
"Aww, then I'll just mail him his copy." Ratchet placed Al's Robotic Rampage into the VG-9000, turned it on and sat down next to Sasha, who still had the controller in her hands.
"Let's play then," said Sasha. Immediately, the first level popped up, and Sasha was playing as Al, who had a flamethrower weapon in his hand and had to destroy haywire robots. Sasha was doing on the first level, until the ambush at the end, where she was electrocuted to death by the robots. Ratchet had to help her then by surviving the ambush himself.
Talwyn decided to have a go at the second level, and they kept playing until it was time for Sasha to home to her father. "Listen, I better get going now, but before I do, I have to ask something. Ratchet, who do you choose?"
Ratchet wondered what she was talking about for a minute until he realised that she was asking whether he chooses Talwyn or Sasha. "I choose…neither of you. When I saw her once again, I realised…I was truly in love with Angela after all."
"Ohhh…that's okay, Ratchet, since because of your choice Talwyn and I won't be fighting, will we?" asked Sasha, responded with a nod by Talwyn. "Anyway, I better head off. See ya all around." She waved and stepped on the translocator, before disappearing from sight.
Ratchet smiled, wondering when he would see Sasha next, and passed the controller over to Talwyn. Clank, meanwhile, had taken a shower, and came out with two towels, one wrapped around his waist and one around his head.
"So, Talwyn, when are you gonna start searching for your father?" he asked.
"Ohhh, I have Cronk and Zephyr coming to pick me up soon, so I guess I'll go then," responded Talwyn, thinking that Clank didn't want her here.
"Well, just to let you know, there have been rumours of man by the name of Apex Omega around Eudora, Rilgar area in the Solana Galaxy."
"Why would I want to know that?" Talwyn asked.
"Because Apex Omega is an anagram of Max Apogee," said Clank.
Talwyn's mouth dropped open, as a large ship coasted by the door of Clank's apartment and stopped as their door met Clank's. It opened and Cronk and Zephyr appeared in the doorway, attracting Talwyn's attention. "You ready, Talwyn?" Zephyr yelled over the roar of the engine.
"See ya," said Talwyn, looking back at Ratchet, kissing him one final time, before hopping off the couch and jumping out of Clank's apartment and missing the doorway. Cronk grabbed Talwyn's hand and pulled her up, before closing the door and setting off again.
Ratchet sighed, smiling, seeing that only Clank was left with him. "So, you want to give the Unipose back to Arv?"
"Yeah, I guess. I've got nothing else to do," said Clank, heading towards the translocator already. Ratchet stood up and grabbed a comic book to read on the way back to Lavarti. Once they had reached the Unipose, and were ready to take off, Ratchet spotted Sasha running towards.
"Sasha?" asked Ratchet, walking out of the Unipose. "What are you doing?" Sasha stopped in front of Ratchet and panted heavily.
"I forgot to give something," she said, before smooching Ratchet on the lips, reaching her tongue into his mouth. She let go after many seconds, and without saying a thing, turned and ran back to wherever she was going.
"Heh," laughed Ratchet, before walking back up into the Unipose, where Clank had taken the helm, and began to take off as Ratchet was walking up the stairs. The roaring engine didn't deter Ratchet, and he closed the door behind him as he felt the wind picking up and his fur getting cold.
"Activate the grav-o-metric warp drive once again as soon as we leave Endako," Ratchet said to Clank, as he sat down in the left co-pilot's seat and began to read the comic book he had picked up, The Adventures of Captain Starshield. As he read this, Clank flew out of Endako into wide open space.
"Activating the grav-o-metric warp drive," said Clank, pulling down the lever that activated it. He waited a few seconds for it to kick in, but even after twenty seconds, they were still flying in the Bogon Galaxy.
"What's going on?" asked Ratchet, who had noticed this dilemma.
"I'm not sure," said Clank. "Ratchet, go down to the engine room and check if the warp drive is working."
"Okay," said Ratchet, placing the comic book under his armpit. "If it's not, we could always try using a Warp Pad." Clank facepalmed as Ratchet smirked, knowing that the Warp Pad was a useless item to own.
Ratchet walked through the weapons room, seeing that all the weapons were in place, before striding into the dining room and opening the rusty wooden trapdoor that was growing cobwebs due to it not being opened for so long.
Ratchet peered in, noticing that the engines had been running on their own for so long, unless Angela/Tehctar had fed them some more coal. That's when he realised how old the ship was. Most ships in the present day used energised crystallite, but this one was running on coal, a method of fuel that hadn't been used for over thirty years.
"Arv's been around that long?" he asked to himself, before sliding down the ladder and looking at the grav-o-metric warp drive, which was also old because he had made it from Blargian scrap metal just before Nefarious attacked Veldin.
Ratchet opened the battery panel and saw that the huge battery had been placed in backwards. He then noticed a note taped to the side of it. He unfolded it and looked at what it said:
Good times, huh? :P
Clank wondered what was taking Ratchet so long, so he impatiently pulled at the lever to the grav-o-metric warp drive and was surprised to find that it worked. He quickly set the course to Lavarti into motion and the Unipose disappeared once again from the Bogon Galaxy.
Around eight minutes later, Ratchet stepped slowly into the cockpit. "Hey, Ratchet, where have you been?" asked Clank, hearing his footsteps and turning around. He was shocked to see his face red, panting, as if he had been exercising and wincing in pain as if his crotch was hurting.
"Check this out," Ratchet panted, holding up the paper note. Clank looked at it but was confused as to what it meant. "Don't you see? When we were separated on the Backup Base, Angela went to the grav-o-metric warp drive and put the battery in backwards, just like Qwark had done with the device Angela made for the Protopets."
"Ohhhh….what happened to you?" asked Clank, worryingly.
"Oh, nothing," Ratchet responded quickly and secretively.
"Well, in your 'absence' the Unipose had already arrived at Lavarti," said Clank, pointing at the lava sphere out the windshield. Arv and Sara stood behind the desk of their little shop, studying the square bulge in Sara's torso.
"I can't believe a little robotic baby is going to pop out there any time now," said Sara as she heard the roar of the Unipose come closer. She and Arv looked out their stall and saw the white ship beginning to land on the small landing pad just near them.
"Look who's back," said Arv, turning to look back at the medal he had received from the Universal Heroes Recognition Organisation. He expected that Tehctar, in his Cazarean form, would run out of the ship as happy as he could be.
Unfortunately, all he saw was Ratchet and Clank walking slowly and solemnly out of the Unipose, and immediately he knew that something. When Ratchet stopped in front of him, he and Sara wondered what he was going to say.
"It's all yours," stated Ratchet, throwing the key to the ignition towards Arv, who swiftly yanked it out of the air. Ratchet quickly smiled, and then turned to walk away.
"Wait, where's Tehctar?" Arv asked, almost human like.
"Tehctar's dead," said Ratchet immediately, causing Sara to involuntarily deactivate. "He wasn't a boy at all. He made us believe that he was a shape-changing blob afterwards, but turned out to actually be an old friend of mine…Angela Cross."
"I've heard of her," blubbered Arv. "She was one of the last remaining Lombaxes. I heard on the radio that she was still missing."
"Well, now she's dead," stated Ratchet boldly, walking off without saying goodbye. Clank waited by the door of the Unipose, and Arv watched as Ratchet stopped to talk at Clank, before they both walked into the Unipose.
A few minutes later, after Arv had "woken Sara up", a whirring noise caught his attention. He looked up just in time to see the claws on top of the Unipose retract, and Aphelion starting its engines. "Is the boy really dead?" asked Sara worriedly.
"It's a long story," answered Arv, not taking his eyes of Aphelion.
Ratchet suddenly became happy as he left the Unipose for the last time and took off from Lavarti. Clank was emotionless as he looked out the windshield and gazed at the small Vullard shop, and Aphelion flew through the atmosphere, leaving Lavarti.
"So where to now?" asked Ratchet, holding the steering wheel firmly.
"I don't know," said Clank softly. "Maybe we should just head back to the Bogon Galaxy for now."
"Okay," Ratchet responded quickly. He activated Aphelion's grav-o-metric warp drive and waited a few seconds until they disappeared once again.
Arriving in the Bogon Galaxy again, Clank immediately noticed to his right that there was a familiar ice planet. "Hey, Ratchet, look!"
Ratchet immediately darted his head around and remembered that the ice planet to the right was Grelbin, where Angela was living before she became Tehctar.
"Angela…" began Ratchet, without bothering to finish the sentence. Devoid of asking Clank, Ratchet jammed the wheel to the right sharply, heading towards Grelbin.
"Ratchet, what are you doing?" asked Clank, jumping around in his seat due to the speed they were travelling at.
"Maybe we can find out some information about Angela after the Protopet incident," yelled Ratchet, his eyes poised on the planet in front of him. He eventually slowed down as they entered the atmosphere, attracting the attention of the Yetis on the planet.
As Aphelion flew lower to land in front of Angela's house, the Yetis began to jump up and grab the ship. However, Aphelion was too fast for the stupid creatures who kept mistiming their jumps.
Aphelion landed just outside the house, where a few Yetis waited for them. Ratchet quickly ducked into the back where his trunk o' junk was situated, and he pulled out his Heavy Lancer for old time's sake.
Ratchet side-flipped out of Aphelion and fired madly at the three white Yetis that had already began to run towards Clank. Ratchet already took out two with only five bullets, but the third one had already arrived at Aphelion.
Clank didn't sit there and do nothing. He leaped out of Aphelion, shocking the Yeti who just stared at him. He soared through the air over the Yeti, and swiftly kicked him over Aphelion towards Ratchet, who took him out with one shot.
Ratchet sighed heavily and threw the Heavy Lancer back into Aphelion's cockpit. Clank followed him as he walked on the small bit of concrete in front of the door. Once he reached the forgotten doorway, he grasped the handle and pulled.
"What?" he whispered as the door wouldn't open. He pulled again, but nothing happened. While complaining with the rusted door, Clank pulled out a bottle and turned around. Ratchet heard a pouring sound, and was about to look at what Clank was doing.
"Don't turn around if you know what's good for you," said Clank boldly, and Ratchet quickly heeded his advice. Shortly after, the pouring stopped and Clank shoved a bottle of oil in his face. Ratchet bewilderedly took it and splashed it over the rust, and quickly opened the door successfully.
Ratchet peered in, gazing immediately at a red velvet couch sitting in front of an outdated Holo-vision. There were a few gadgets on display on the wall, and a desk sat next to a door to the left. Ratchet immediately walked towards that desk and found that it was full of papers and a few photos.
One of the photos showed Ratchet in his Carbonox Armor, with the helmet removed, alongside Angela and Clank in his apartment, just after defeating Qwark. The other one showed just Angela posing to the camera in her house.
"Heh," Ratchet laughed, not bothering to look at the papers, and he opened the door on the left. Once again, he peered in and saw a toilet and a shower, and immediately knew it was the bathroom. As he walked back out, he saw Clank and began to move his arm, until he whacked one of the photos of the desk.
"Oops!" yelled Ratchet as he bent down to save it, but was too late and the frame was immediately destroyed as it hit the ground. He moved some of the broken pieces away and checked to see if the photo was okay. However, he noticed that part of the photo was folded back.
"Huh?" said Ratchet as Clank joined his side. He folded the photo back fully and saw another Lombax by Angela's side. But it wasn't Ratchet. This one looked older and had a scruffy yellow beard, similar to the supposed Lombax on Lomtaber. However, Ratchet noticed that there was a resemblance between the two.
"A brother…?"
THE END