After many, many days, I have returned, and with me I bring the biggest chapter I ever wrote. But before I continue, please let me reply to the reviews.

Reviews:

Destiny W: "Wow, this was an exciting chapter. I can't wait to read more. : )"
Then wait no longer. I apologize for the long delay, but this is a long chapter after all, and I've been quite busy in the meantime with another fic of mine, Winter Special. But it is time for me to end this story, and thus I've written this in one week worth of time. Enjoy!

vengarl22: "Alright an oc I love a good oc i'll see 8g I can think of anything be expecting a pm and good chapter by the way"
OC accepted and added to the story. I really hope I got his personality correct. And thank you for the compliment, I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Enjoy!

Jadzia Dax: "This is awesome beyond comprehension! And I'm glad Angela is okay!

OC :

Name : Nadia Serene
Codename : Zephyr's Blaze
Age : 24
Gender : Female
Species : genetically engineered and enhanced Lombax
Armour : Thermaflux mixed with Blackstar armour
History : Nadia, a genetically engineered and enhanced Lombax, became a part of the Galactic Rangers two years after Ratchet and Clank left Solana. Her history before that is unknown.
Physical description : black fur with white stripes on ears and tail, similar to Ratchet. Hair colour is blazing red, eyes are golden coloured.
Personality : is touchy about her history, often, laughs, selfless, loves technology, hopeless nerd
Family : Unknown
Friends : Galactic Rangers
Goal : to make a better universe
Arch-nemesis : unknown, probably none
Strengths : intelligent, astonishing precision and accuracy, amazing skill in technology
Weaknesses : loses consciousness due to the smell of skunk, rambles on and on about technology when work needs to be done, hopeless in some strategic operations.

I hope you like my OC. If you don't, I'll understand. And I totally look forward to the next chapter! Good luck! Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax out!

...

I forgot to add a few details for my OC.

1 : Her hair is short, about an inch or so above the shoulders
2 : Her weapons are : Combuster, Alpha Disrupter, and the Rhinocerator ( or the upgraded R.Y.N.O 3)
3 : Her melee weapon is a metal pole, similar to a bamboo stick used in Japanese combat

And that's all! Sorry I forgot to add these to my OC."
The disadvantage of being a guest reviewer is that I had no way of letting you know that I have accepted your OC and added her to the story. I am not sure what you meant by "Japanese combat", so I guessed you were referring to Japanese Kendo fighting. I'm deeply sorry if I got that wrong, or if I got her personality incorrect. Anyhow, thank you for the compliments, and I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Enjoy!

Zenith88: "Wow, that's a hell of a fight. I really didn't expect someone to be even with Hypernova (yeah, yeah, i know, i didn't expect anything as you could guess ftom my former reviews). Anyways, for now it seems that i have to create an OC to help the lombaxes. Let me introduce Zenit, a Lombax-like creature, except the stripes have the shape of a lightning, and his force is, well, throw lightnings like Zeus. He has grey fur and yellow stripes and wears only black cargo pants. He also has a weak point, and that is pulling his ears."
OC accepted and in the story. I really hope I got his personality correct, if not, please forgive me. And yeah, with the last chapter I proved that Hypernova is not some boring, godmodded OC. Anyhow, please enjoy the next chapter! I really hope it is worth the long wait.

TigersEyeTheGemCat: "Black Hole...
GO TO YOUR ROOOOOOM.
XP
So its cool to know he was giving her nightmares.
TIME TO WHOOP HIS TAIL."
I'm afraid defeating Black Hole takes more than simply telling him to go to his room, as the heroes will find out the hard way in this chapter. 'One does not simply defeat Black Hole'. And yeah, it's time for him to pay! I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations, and I hope I portrayed your OC correctly. Anyhow, Enjoy!

Now that all reviews have been replied to, I will continue the author's notes. First of all: sorry for the long wait. I've had other projects that I needed to finish (cough cough Winter Special cough cough). So, it's 2016 now! A happy new year to everyone!

And those of you who have been watching the news know what's going to happen in about four months: The Ratchet & Clank movie, and the PS4 game! I'm so exited for both of them that I'm going to the cinema as soon as they've got the movie. Okay, maybe I'll wait a week or two when most of the people have already seen it.

Anyhow, since you all had to wait for such a long time for this chapter to arrive, I will end the author's notes here. Enjoy, everyone!

Black hole got up. "That was very brave, Lombax. Because of this I'll give you this offer only once."

A portal opened behind him, and Ratchet immediately recognized the architecture. The portal was leading to the Lombax dimension.

"Go home, join your race, live with them for the few hours of peace they still have!"

Ratchet frowned. "I will never abandon my friends!"

Black Hole laughed maniacally. "Oh, I hoped you'd say that."

"What do you mean?" Hypernova yelled.

Black Hole laughed again. "This time, I've outsmarted you. Look better!"

Ratchet did as he was told, and to his surprise, a giant, black vortex opened above the city. Black Hole began to charge power, and unfortunately Hypernova wasn't fast enough to stop him. "I summon every villain, every hater of light, ever worshipper of evil. I command you! Come to my aid! Destroy this world!"

Immediately hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts shot out of the vortex, and wherever they striked, they left behind a villain. Within seconds the streets were filled with villains.

Hypernova frowned. "You're a fraud, Black Hole, so I can do exactly the same."

He focused. "I summon every brave spirit, everyone who stands up for someone else, everyone with a heart of gold and a soul of light. Heroes from each and every timeline, universe and dimension, come to my aid. I ask of you, save this world from destruction and any who dwell here."

Immediately five portals opened up in the streets of the Lombax city. Black hole laughed evilly. "Five? Is that all you've got?"

"No. There are three more heroes."

"Three? Three heroes versus an entire army of bad guys? Ahahah, I'd like to see them try."

Hypernova growled and blocked another attack. "Clank!"

"Yes?"

"I believe you've got something in that chest compartment of yours that should be able to bring you three to the Lombax dimension."

"But can't we use this portal?"

"It's a portal opened by an evil mastermind, I wouldn't trust it if I were you."

Ratchet raised a brow. "Clank, what-"

Clank pulled the Dimensionator out of his chest compartment. "After we defeated Mr. Eye, I could not resist taking the broken Dimensionator with me, in hopes that I could repair it for you. So far, my efforts have been fruitless."

"I got it to work again!" Hypernova yelled. "Go, use it, now! Those Lombaxes need help!"

Ratchet put on the Dimensionator. Angela grabbed his hand, and Clank attached himself to Ratchet's back. "Dimensionator, find the Lombaxes!" Ratchet commanded. Before the portal could take them away, he looked at Hypernova one last time. "Be safe, alright?"

Hypernova nodded. "I defeated this guy before, and I can do it again."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that!" Black hole yelled. He charged at Ratchet, Clank and Angela in an attempt to stop them, but Hypernova pulled him back with his energy. "I can't hold him back for long! Go, now!"

Then Hypernova remembered something. "Wait, I forgot to mention, the Dimensionator is-"

Ratchet, Angela and Clank were already gone. "Crap." Hypernova groaned.

"Oooh, did somebody screw up?" Black hole teased.

{Meanwhile, in the Lombax dimension...}

Ratchet, Clank and Angela landed on top of each other with a loud "Oof!"

Suddenly, they could hear Hypernova's voice through their helmet's speakers. "There is something I forgot to mention. By the time Tachyon attacked the Lombaxes, the Dimensionator was still unfinished. It was working, yes, but it had some... 'side effects'. It had a tendency to slightly alter the user. The Lombaxes managed to fix the issue. Well... 'most of it'. Ratchet, remember when, during your fight with Tachyon, you and Clank got sucked into a portal? During that travel, your behavior was altered a bit. Afterwards, you were slightly bittered. Thanks to a full year of me slowly repairing the damage, you became the person you used to be again. I managed to fix the behavior-altering issue, but I did not have enough time to solve another issue. This other issue was that, during usage, it had a tendency to corrupt or mix DNA.

When the Lombaxes fled to this dimension by using the Dimensionator, over 50% of all female Lombaxes found out that they now had a tail. Some male Lombaxes, on the other hand, found themselves being a bit taller. When you three used it mere minutes ago, neither Ratchet's nor Clank's DNA was altered. However, Angela's DNA was damaged. I was able to repair the damage from here... by adding some of Ratchet's DNA. What surprised me, however, is that Angela's DNA was already damaged, the result was that she didn't have full control over her body: some muscles could fail to respond, the result being what everyone believed to be clumsyness. I fixed both issues by adding a tiny bit of Ratchet's DNA, but it had some... visible effects."

Hypernova paused for a moment. "Angela, you now posess a tail, your fur is slightly brighter in color, you are no longer clumsy, and you posess Ratchet's quick reflexes. Of course, I can undo everything when this is all over if you want me to. Anyhow, there are more important matters. Cragmite forces are flooding the streets, killing any Lombax they can find. You three must act quickly otherwise the already endangered Lombax species will go extinct. Together with five other heroes you will have to clear the city of Cragmite forces, and each of you will clear a sector. You three will clear sector 2. I have already sent you three a map on which you can see the area you need to defend, as well as the position of the enemies you three need to defeat. Good luck."

Ratchet got up. "Let's go, we don't have much time."

Clank attached himself to Ratchet's back... but Angela didn't move. "Angela?" Ratchet asked, glancing over his shoulder. Angela was sitting on the ground, staring at something behind her. When Ratchet walked over to her, he could see that she was staring at a tail.

Her tail.

"Angela, are you coming?" Ratchet asked.

"Yeah, it's just... this is quite a lot for me to process."

"Miss Cross, there are people dying every second. We need to help them."

Angela's eyes widened. "Crap, you're right!"

She got up and grabbed her wrench. "Let's go."

{Meanwhile, in sector 3 of the Lombax city...}

A portal opened up, two feet above the ground. A female Lombax fell out. She had gray fur and black stripes, and she was wearing Holoflux armor. She landed on the ground with a loud "Umph!"

She got up, and wiped some dust off her armor. She then looked around. "Where in the world am I?!"

However, a roar behind her snapped her from her thoughts. She turned around, grabbing the handle of her OmniWrench Millennium 12. "Whatever that sound came from, I doubt it's friendly..."

She found herself staring at a squad of Cragmite warriors. The squad leader, a more heavily armored Cragmite, yelled "Lombax!"

The Cragmites charged at her. "Whoa, what is their problem?" The gray Lombax thought. But, instead of running away, she tightly grabbed the handle of her OmnniWrench and waited. When the Cragmites were really close, she suddenly jumped at a building to the left of her. She wall-jumped over the squad of murderous aliens and landed behind them with feline grace. "Okay, I don't know why you guys are so keen on killing me, but I just got here through a portal of some sorts, so whoever you guys are looking for, it's probably not me. So, you guys leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone. Isn't that a good deal?"

The Cragmite squad leader roared. "How dare you turn on your own race, filthy space rat! Trying to use them as bait while getting yourself outta here with your filthy lies! Well, too bad for you, the only way Lombaxes are getting out of here is in either a cage or a bodybag."

"Okay, what are you talking about?"

The squad leader grinned. "Oh, you don't know yet? We are here to imprison or kill each and every Lombax. And that. Includes. You. No matter where ya came from."

"So there's no way I can talk you guys out of this?"

"Nope. Now die!"

The female Lombax grinned. "I didn't want to talk you guys out of trying to kill me for my own wellbeing, but for that of you."

She pulled out a Combustor and gave the Cragmite closest to her a face full of plasma for his trouble. The other Cragmites roared at the sight of their fallen comrade, and retaliated by charging at the Lombax. In response she jumped with some precise timing, and landed on a Cragmite's head. Before the Cragmite could even yelp in surprise it's face got introduced to the Lombax' OmniWrench.

"Two down, three to go. Are you sure you don't want to get out of here while you still can?"

"Never will we give up! We won't ever stop with trying to put your race where it belongs. In. Hell."

The female Lombax' eyes narrowed. "You know, I'm sick of this day. Getting sucked into a portal of some sorts, then having to fight a squad of imbeciles that tries to kill or insult me every two seconds."

"Then give up, and we'll give you a quick death."

The Lombax laughed. "Like you're smart enough to kill me. You're too dumb to find the trigger of your own gun!"

The Cragmites, of course, were not amused, and charged at her once again. Two of the Cragmites immediately got a face full of plasma for their trouble, only the squad leader remaining. The squad leader attempted to cut the Lombax, only to find his machete getting blocked by an OnmiWrench. "Gah! This is exactly why I hate your species, filthy space rat!"

Three seconds later the Lombax had managed to disarm her opponent and whack him in the face.

She walked over to the squad leader, who was lying on the ground in defeat. "Who-who are you?!" he stammered.

The Lombax sighed. "I did warn you, didn't I? And the name, is Ariana Anelie. Goodnight!"

Before the Cragmite could even ask what she meant by that, Ariana had knocked him out cold with her wrench. After making sure that none of the Cragmites would wake up anytime soon, Ariana checked her surroundings. "Okay... where am I, why is there a group of ugly creatures here trying to kill or imprison every Lombax?"

Suddenly, she could hear a voice in her head. "Do not be afraid." the voice said, scaring the living daylights out of Ariana. "What in the world was that?!"

The voice spoke again. "Calm down, please. No, you're not going crazy. I, am Hypernova. I brought you here because the Lombax species needs help. You are currently in a timeline other than your own, not just in a different dimension. You are currently in sector 3 of the Lombax city. You are probably wondering why the Lombax species is in danger. You see, a long time ago the Cragmite race dominated the Polaris galaxy. Everyone hated their cruelty. Then, the Lombaxes rebelled and freed the universe of the Cragmites by using a device called the 'Dimensionator' to trap them in another dimension. I am currently in that dimension. However, many years later Lombaxes found an egg in Lombax Trillium mines. Their raised him as one of their own. This last Cragmite was named Percival Tachyon. Tachyon, however, discovered the fate of his race and, consumed by rage, came up with a nefarious plan. He tried to trick the Lombaxes into granting him access to their technology. No Lombax trusted him... except one. Alister Azimuth. Azimuth believed that Tachyon's blueprints and designs were what was best for the universe: strong, tall mechs to protect.

However, Tachyon betrayed them, and launched a surprise attack on the Lombax race with an army equipped with Lombax technology. Many Lombaxes were killed, but the survivors fled to another dimension. And built a city in that dimension. You are standing in that city. Tachyon once again took control of Polaris, and attempted to exterminate every Lombax left. However, he made a huge mistake when he attempted to kill the son of the keeper of the Dimensionator, a young Lombax going by the name of Ratchet. Ratchet defeated Tachyon and imprisoned him in another dimension. While Ratchet carried on with his life, the Cragmites noticed the defeat of their emperor and started to work on a wormhole device that they could use to rescue their emperor. After saving Tachyon, they spied on the Lombaxes, and when they had found out their weak spot, launched a surprise attack. You are in the middle of that attack. Please, save as many lives as you can. If not stopped, the Cragmites will kill many Lombaxes, and imprison the rest. What will happen to the imprisoned ones is worse than death: they will be forced to fight until their doom in everlasting arena battles. And yes, not even children will be spared from their cruelty. I would have ended their attack myself, but I'm currently busy fighting off a much greater evil. One that, if released, won't just pose a threat to the Lombaxes, but to the whole multiverse: ever universe. Every timeline. Every dimension.

Good luck, and be safe. Hypernova."

Ariana nodded, and grabbed her wrench. "Alright, then." She said with a determined grin, and ran towards the screams in the distance.

Little did she know that, in the meantime, someone else had heard the same message from Hypernova. At exactly the same time as Ariana's portal, another portal had opened up in sector 1 of the Lombax city. A female Lombax fell out of this portal, landing uncomfortably on the ground while thinking only one thing: "What in the world just happened?!"

She had black fur and white stripes, short, blazing red hair, and golden eyes. She also had a tail. What was so unusual about her was that she was a genetically engineered and enhanced Lombax. She was wearing a mix of Thermaflux and Blackstar armor. Her name, was Nadia. Nadia Serene. However, she often used the codename 'Zephyr's Blaze'.

After Hypernova's message, she grabbed her combustor. "That's just horrible!" she thought while running towards the sound of screams in the distance. She found a squad of Cragmites throwing a bunch of Lombaxes into a cage. By the looks of it, a mother and her two children. "Please, we haven't done anything to you!" the mother yelled. The Cragmites laughed evilly and threw her back into the cage when she attempted to run out with her children in her arms. "The only place you're going is hell!" one of the Cragmites barked.

As you can imagine, this scene made Nadia very, very mad. "Hey, you!" She yelled in pure rage. "I'll give you this warning only once: let. Them. Go."

The four Cragmites stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "That's a good one! One Lombax versus four trained Cragmite warriors?"

"I'm warning you..." Nadia replied.

The Cragmites laughed. "Come get some!" One of them yelled.

"Gladly." Nadia responded while grabbing her Alpha Disruptor. "Weapon!" one of the Cragmites yelled. His face was blown off a second later. Angered about their fallen comrade, the Cragmites unsheathed their melee weapons: machete's.

Nadia grinned. "Big mistake." She grabbed her own melee weapon: a metal pole. The Cragmites grinned at the sight of her weapon.

As soon as the first Cragmite reached her, Nadia slammed one end of her pole into the ground and launched herself over the three storming Cragmites. While in the air, she turned around and gave one of them a smack in the face with one end of the pole with enough force to shatter the Cragmite's nose. The already wounded Cragmite turned around, only to get hit in the stomach by a metal pole.

Nadia held the metal pole in front of her and took a few steps back. She slowly circled the two Cragmites, waiting for them to attack. Of course, one of them was stupid enough to try to stab her. She blocked his attack with ease and, with mind-blowing speed, countered by slamming the pole against the Cragmite's neck, paralyzing the foolish alien.

The two remaining Cragmites learned from their comrade's mistake and attacked at the exact same time. Nadia held the metal pole horizontally, blocking both attacks. She countered immediately by giving one of them a whack in the face with the end of the metal pole, knocking him out cold. Only one Cragmite remained.

The two combatants circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. After a while, Nadia decided to use the Cragmite's stupidity against itself. She started to taunt him, trying to get him to attack.

"Hey, uglyface! Give up while you still can, with your brains you'll end up trying to stab me with the handle of your knive."

The Cragmite growled, but it was not enough. She went even further. "Gosh, you sure are ugly, aren't you? Only a mother could love such an abomination. You know, I'm happy I haven't seen you guys where I come from, you're ugly enough to give entire civilizations nightmares!"

The Cragmite growled even louder. "One last push..." She thought. "Dang, when I've killed you, I'm gonna take a picture of that mug of yours. I could win a prize for killing the ugliest thing in existence!"

That was the last straw. The Cragmite roared in pure rage. "I'll carve out your organs and turn you into a rug!"

"Ahaha, like you're smart enough to do that!"

The Cragmite attacked. "Jackpot!" She thought, and blocked his attack. She used his strength against himself and disarmed him with ease. "I'm in a generous mood today, so go on. Pick up your weapon, and try again."

The Cragmite gave her a look of pure venom as he picked up his machete. "You'll regret that decision." he growled.

"You do know who you're up against, right?"

"A stinky space-rat whose race is about to face extinction."

"First off, you're smelling your own feet. Dang, when was the last time you took a bath? And second, I'm Zephyr's Blaze, one of the experts in Lombaxian Wrenchfighting!" (Author's note: basically Japanese Kendo-fighting, but in Lombax-style)

"I don't care who you are, but you're going down!"

Nadia sighed. "Such foolishness. Well, come get some then."

"Gladly."

The Cragmite attacked, but his attack was blocked. Nadia disarmed him with ease and grabbed his weapon before he could even yelp in surprise.

"Check mate." She said, and knocked him out cold with her metal pole.

She wiped some dust off her armor and kept going.

{Meanwhile, at another portal...}

Another figure fell out of a portal, this time in sector 4. It closely resembled a Lombax but, upon closer inspection, it's stripes had the shape of lightning bolts. He had grey fur, yellow lightningbolt-shaped stripes, and was wearing black cargo pants. It's name was Zenit.

It looked around, disorientated. "Where in the world am I?!"

After Hypernova's message, Zenit grinned. "Easy peasy."

But this time Hypernova sent another message, right after that thought. "It may seem easy with your powers, but that's why I've sent you to a more populated area of the city. This area is being attacked with mechs, for example. Be careful out there, and good luck."

Zenit grinned sheepishly. "Me and my big mouth. Or... well... thoughts. Anyhow, people to save."

A loud explosion shook him from his thoughts. "Ah, there we go."

He ran to where the explosion came from, only to see a Cragmite mech beating up a building. He noticed a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye. He focused.

A Lombax had fallen off the roof of the damaged building. "Oh, not on my watch!" Zenit thought. He activated his powers.

The air around him became charged with static electricity. He jumped and shot pure lightning at his feet, shooting him towards the building. He shot some electricity forward to slow himself down. He caught the Lombax in mid-air. "Hang on!" He yelled.

The Lombax wrapped his arms around Zenit. Zenit used his powers to slow them as they reached the ground. "Go, run!" He yelled. The Lombax responded immediately, and ran off. However, the Cragmite controlling the mech had noticed this. The mech turned to face Zenit, and charged up a laser-cannon.

Zenit smiled. "A-nope!"

He fired a beam of pure lightning at the mech, overloading the mech's systems and frying the Cragmite pilot.

Without control, the Cragmite mech collapsed like a ragdoll. Then, Zenit heard explosions in the distance. He ran to where the sound was coming from, only to stop when, suddenly, a small army of Cragmites surrounded him. "Well, well, well, now we've got you!" one of the Cragmtes yelled.

Zenit grinned. "Wrong. You guys didn't get me, I got all of you."

Suddenly, the air was filled with static electricity. Zenit suddenly clapped his hands together, sending a shockwave (get it? Shock-wave? Alright, alright...) at the Cragmites in front of them, paralyzing most of them in one hit. However, the others were unaffected. They charged at Zenit and grabbed his arms. "Thanks!" Zenit yelled, as he supercharged his arms, electrocuting the Cragmites.

The remaining them Cragmites were taken down mere seconds later by a blast of electricity.

Zenit laughed. "I won from a small army. Shocking, isn't it?"

However, the explosions in the distance kept getting louder and louder. Zenit sighed and ran on.

{Meanwhile, at yet another portal...}

In sector five of the Lombax city, another portal had opened up, but instead of a Lombax, something else fell out. It had pale skin instead of fur, but while it looked like an organic lifeform, it was actually an android.

He was wearing a black duster and a black bullet-proof assault vest. His name, was X6-88.

X6-88 looked around in wonder, and after hearing Hypernova's message, he nodded and started to run. However, he stopped when he heard yelling coming from an alley to his right. He activated his active camouflage, and sneaked to where the sound came from. He could not run while camouflaged, it only worked if he moved slowly.

He finally caught sight of what yelled. A Lombax family, mother, father and child, had ran into the alley in hopes of a way to escape the two Cramites chasing them, only to find out that it was a dead end.

X6-88's eyes narrowed as the Cragmite walked over to the screaming child. X6-88 grabbed his sniper rifle, rolled behind a few cardboard boxes lying around, and deactivated his camouflage. He zoomed in on the back of the other Cragmite's head (not the one approaching the child, it would be quite frightening for the family if the Cragmite's brains were blown out when he was but a few feet in front of them), and pulled the trigger.

The Cragmite's head practically exploded, and what was left of him collapsed like a ragdoll. Just like he had predicted, this caught the other Cragmite's attention. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

X6-88 laughed silently. "How about no?"

He used a grappling hook installed in his arm to pull himself up when the Cragmite wasn't looking. From the roof of a nearby building, he watched, deciding what to do: if he'd shoot the Cragmite in the head, it'd frighten the Lombax family even more, but if he didn't do anything, they'd be captured or killed for sure.

X6-88 made a decision that was unusual for him: usually he'd watch from the rooftops and strike from above, but this time he decided to go up-close and personal. He dropped down behind the Cragmite, and drew his combat knive. "Hey, cheese-brain!"

The Cragmite turned around immediately, drawing his machete. However, the Cragmite looked around in surprise when he saw that the only people in the alley were him and the three trapped Lombaxes.

Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. "Surprise."

He was out cold before he could even yelp in surprise.

X6-88 made sure the Cragmite wasn't waking up anytime soon, then turned to the three Lombaxes who were staring at him like a deer in the headlights. "Go, run, this place is not safe. Oh, and..."

He activated his camouflage. "You have seen nothing..."

He sneaked out of the alley. He used his grappling hook to swing from building to building at breakneck pace. When he got closer to the center of the city, he positioned himself on top of a tall office building and grabbed his sniper rifle. From there, he assassinated every Cragmite he could see. But then, something hit the office building he was using as a vantage point.

He turned around, and activated his camouflage immediately. "What the hell is that thing!?"

{And at the last portal, in sector six...}

The last portal to open up was the biggest one, twice as large as the others. What came falling out was a huge creature, almost twice the size of a Cragmite. He got up and grabbed his weapon, a giant cleaver, and looked around, gun metal colored eyes narrowed and scanning this new environment.

After receiving Hypernova's message (and almost getting a heart attack when the message started to play), the creature nodded, got on all fours, and stormed towards the center of the city.

The creature resembled a boar, with large tusks, brown fur, white eyes with gun metal irises and the ability to run on all fours. However, that's where the similarities end. This creature had a large cleaver as a weapon, one that was so large that you would need both hands to use it. The creature was also wearing enchanted armor made of leather that was lined with an unknown metal. Whatever it was, it was very strong: the armor absorbed all physical damage.

The creature saw a Cragmite in the distance locking a cage full of wounded Lombaxes. He started to run even faster when he saw that there were children in the cage as well.

He got up on two legs and walked over to the Cragmite, stoming on the ground with every step to create minor earthquakes as he walked.

If the earthquakes hadn't alarmed the Cragmite, then the large shadow surely did. He turned around, and the Cragmite's eyes widened. "Mommy!"

The creature grinned. "Sweet dreams, son!"

He punched the Cragmite in the face. But what I haven't told you about this creature is that his strength was incredible, he once destroyed an entire mountain with one punch (long story). I also haven't told you his name.

His name, was Bonalox. Bonalox hit the Cragmite with enough force to send him flying through a wall. Bonalox then threw a punch at the cage, bending solid titanium with one hit. He pulled on the cage, creating a hole that was large enough for every Lombax to escape.

But then things went south.

When Bonalox turned around, he found himself staring at an entire Cragmite army. And judging by the looks on their faces, they did not come in peace. Bonalox grabbed his cleaver and tightened his grip on his weapon. "I give y'all ten seconds to run home to your mother, or else I'll show you the true definition of pain."

The Cragmites ran, but they didn't run away. Instead, they charged at Bonalox. Bonalox grinned. "Baaad idea."

With one swing of his massive cleaver, he cut a dozen of Cragmites in half. The other Cragmites stopped and stared in disbelief. Bonalox wiped some blood off his weapon. "Nice thing, eh? Forged in the core of a planet, and thus super-heated and more than able to carve y'all into pieces with one swing, like those fools (he nodded towards the dead Cragmites in front of him) found out the hard way. Are y'all sure you don't want to run while you still can?"

"Never will we give up!"

Bonalox grinned. "Your funeral." He slammed his cleaver against the ground, creating a massive shockwave that sent the Cragmites flying.

He caught most of them in mid-air with one swing of his cleaver. The remaining three Cragmites were taken out by a punch to the face with such force that it sent them flying.

Bonalox grinned. "Fools." He then got back on all fours and sprinted to the center of the city.

Meanwhile, in the Cragmite dimension, Hypernova and Black Hole were still locked in a seemingly endless battle. Hypernova glanced at the still opened portal. "Hah! You're losing, pal!"

"I'm not your pal, and I sure as hell ain't losin'!"

Black Hole turned to Tachyon, who was staring at the battle from afar like a deer staring into the headlights of a car. "What are you waiting for, you idiot?! Stop them!"

"But-but-but how?"

"What have your scientists been working on for several months?!"

Tachyon's eyes widened. "The ultimate weapon... of course!"

He turned around. "Cragmites, bring me the ultimate throne!"

Immediately four Cragmites carrying a large metal sphere came walking towards Tachyon. When they put it down, the sphere transformed into a darker version of Tachyon's regular walking throne. "Well, applause, Tachyon." Hypernova said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, shut up!" Tachyon yelled as he walked over to the portal. Unfortunately, Hypernova was too busy blocking his nemesis' attacks to prevent Tachyon from walking through the portal. Immediately he sent a telepathic message to every hero in the Lombax city. "Careful, everyone! They've got one last trick up their sleeve!"

Ariana had almost reached the center of the city. She was running across a giant plaza of some sorts, but then she heard something. Something was moving above her. She stopped, and looked up. Her eyes widened as a giant, dark object came crashing down. She barely rolled out of the way. "What in the world is that thing?!"

When she walked closer out of curiosity, but with her OmniWrench ready just to be sure, she discovered it was a large ball made of some sort of dark metal. Suddenly, the ball transformed.

Ariana almost dropped her wrench in surprise when the metal ball transformed into a truly enormous mech.

A Cragmite unlike any of the Cragmites she had seen before was in control of the gigantic machine. He stared down at her. "Ah, good. My first victim of today."

Ariana quickly rolled out of the way of a giant fist. She countered by hitting the fist with her wrench as hard as she could. She barely left a dent.

"Ahahahaha! Pathetic Lombax, this mech's plating is impenetrable."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Tachyon!" A male voice yelled from the other side of the plaza."

Tachyon's mech turned around. "Ah, Ratchet! Up for round two, I see!"

"You're damn right I am, but this time, I've got help."

"I've got help too, y'know!" Tachyon yelled. "Cragmites, help me out!"

Immediately an enormous portal opened high above the surface, and a huge ship came flying out. Thousands of Cragmites jumped down with parachutes.

"Oh, dear!" a voice spoke from Ratchet's back.

Ariana tilted her head in confusion. "Where did that voice come from?" she wondered, but her question was answered when a small silver robot jumped off Ratchet's back.

Ratchet's eyes widened. "Hey, you!" he yelled at Ariana.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Come over here, I need your help!"

"Alright..."

Ariana ran over to him. "Alright, on three, jump. One... two... three!"

They both jumped, though Ariana wondered why. The answer came in the form of the robot suddenly growing drastically, from a small silver robot into a gigantic war-machine, complete with wrist-mounted rocket launchers and double-layered titanium plating.

"My god..." she whispered.

"Quite surprising what Clank can do, eh?"

"Yeah. Anyhow, what did you need my help for?"

"Just shoot everything you've got at the ugly guy."

"Hey, I know what a Cragmite is."

"Alright then. Shoot the Cragmite!"

Ariana and Ratchet began to fire their Combustor and AerialAssault at the same time from Clank's shoulders. Tachyon laughed. "Like annoying little ants."

But his smile faded when a huge laserbeam drilled a hole in his mech's plating. "Nice shot, Angela!" Ratchet yelled over his shoulder. Angela gave him a thumbs-up from her position on a nearby rooftop, and charged up another shot of the improved Alpha Cannon.

However, Tachyon had noticed her. Angela ran as fast as she could when a gigantic metal hand came after her with the intention of grabbing her.

As the hand was about to grab her, Tachyon yelped in surprise when his mech stopped functioning.

"Shocking truth, isn't it?" a male voice yelled from Tachyon's right.

Zenit.

Tachyon roared in pure rage as he forced his mech to restart. "I've waited for this moment for a very long time, and I will not let a bunch of annoying, meddling little ants ruin this moment!"

"Ah, you're mistaken. I'm not just a normal ant..."

A beam of pure lightning hit Tachyon's mech's left arm, forcing the arm to shut down.

Tachyon growled and activated the shields, effectively protecting him from Zenit's attacks.

Suddenly, two laserbeams hit the giant mech. One beam was courtesy of the improved Alpha Cannon Angela was holding, but the other...

"Aww, am I late?" Zephyr's blaze said as she reloaded her weapon from her position on a rooftop.

Before Tachyon could even react, his mech received another hit. This time, it was the foot. When he looked down, he saw a brown-furred creature stab his mech's feet with a cleaver of some sorts, and, to his surprise, the cleaver cut through his mech's plating like a heated knife through butter.

He attempted to crush the creature. He realized his mistake when his mech's left foot was punched off. Before he could even cream in rage, his mech stopped functioning altogether, thanks to a bullet damaging some exposed wires. "Where'd that come from!?" Tachyon yelled. Unknown to him, X6-88 needed all of his willpower not to burst out laughing. "Dumbass."

"Now, Clank!" Ratchet yelled.

Clank threw a punch at Tachyon's face at full power, knocking the mech over.

But before they could smile in victory, a small drone came flying out of the wreckage. Tachyon was controlling it.

It looked like a small helicopter, but with stronger plating.

Quantumfibre.

"Crap..." Ratchet groaned as he recognized the metal and remembered how extremely durable it was.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the Cragmites had reached the ground.

But then Zenit had an idea. He noticed a water reservoir on a nearby building. "Hey, giant robot!"

Clank glanced over his shoulder.

"Could you knock over that water tank, then get out of the way? Just make sure all Cragmites are soaked."

Clank smiled. "Smart."

Clank did as he was told, and threw a punch at the water reservoir.

Immediately gallons and gallons of water flooded the plaza. Luckily, Bonalox saw it coming and stormed out of the way.

As soon as the Cragmites landed, they were washed away, and if that wasn't bad enough, Zenit fired a beam of pure lightning, electrifying the water and frying the Cragmites. "Zap!" He yelled in triumph.

However, that's when a sphere of dark energy started to form in mid-air. Tachyon lauched maniacally. "He's here! The master is here! You have no hope now!"

Ratchet gasped. "If Black Hole is here, then..."

{Earlier, in the Cragmite dimension...}

After Tachyon had gone to the Lombax dimension, Hypernova and Black Hole had only managed to merely leave a dent in the other's armor. Suddenly, Black Hole laughed. "Oh, my plan is going flawless so far!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll leave that for you to find out!" Black Hole yelled as he suddenly backflipped through the portal he had created earlier. "Damn it!" Hypernova thought. "I do not have enough energy to create a portal myself!"

If that wasn't bad enough hundreds of thousands of Cragmites came charging at him. However, if a Cragmite army couldn't even leave a dent in Hypernova's armor, then did you really think a Cragmite army would stand a chance against Hypernova's Quasar mode?

Hypernova merely swung his sword and a massive hurricane of sharp ice particles formed around him that completely vaporized over 70% of all of the Cragmites that had tried to attack him.

However, gaining enough energy to create a portal would take him approximately two minutes, time that the heroes in the Lombax dimension did not have. Then, he had an idea. He summoned 90% of all of the power he had. But, instead of supercharging himself or creating a portal, he forced the energy into the heroes he had contacted telepathically earlier.

"At least now they'll stand a chance... of surviving for more than five minutes." he thought as he shut down all unnecessary systems to he could recharge as fast as possible.

{In the Lombax dimension...}

Black Hole used Ratchet's incorrect assumption to his advantage. "Yes, it's true, I killed your pathetic friend. And you will follow the same fate in a few seconds."

Black Hole fired a beam of dark energy at Ratchet. Ratchet dodged the laser, but failed to noticed the rocket sent his way. Ariana pulled him out of the way in the very last seconds. "Thanks." Ratchet muttered before focusing on Black Hole once more.

"Master, help me! Rebuild the ultimate weapon!" Tachyon yelled.

Black Hole grinned evilly under his helmet. "Oh, rebuild it I will, but there is one little design flaw." He said as the parts of Tachyon's mech started to float. "You." Black Hole yelled as the parts started to form a giantic version of himself.

"We're so screwed." Angela whispered.

But then, everyone felt a sudden surge of energy. X6-88 found out that he had perfect accuracy, Bonalox felt stronger than he had ever been, Zenit felt like he could unleash so much power that he could rival a star, Angela felt courage and willpower, Nadia / Zephyr's Blaze was extremely focused and could react at light speed, Clank felt like he had access to an entire civilization worth of knowledge, and Ratchet felt like he was indestructible.

"Ratchet, I know how we can defeat him!" Clank yelled.

"How?"

"We need to work together. Zephyr's Blaze, Bonalox and Ariana Anelie, step on my left hand please. Ratchet, Angela, X6-88 and Zenit, cover me.

"Got it." Zenit said as he created a wall of electricity between Clank and Black Hole, who was almost finished building his own mech out of parts salvaged from Tachyon's mech.

Black Hole laughed. "You can't stop me."

X6-88 quickly distracted Black Hole by shooting a hole in the mech's upper arm.

But, before Black Hole could react, Clank had already placed the three heroes on the dark metallic mech. Immediately Bonalox started to tear his way through solid metal with his cleaver while Ariana and Zephyr's Blaze shot everything they saw that looked important.

Within moments they had disabled the mech's arms. Clank put them back on the ground and, together with Bonalox, threw a punch at the mech at full power.

Black Hole jumped out of the mech. "Hah! Fools! I wasn't going to use that mech, I as merely buying time so I could recharge!"

"Stop, Black Hole!" Hypernova yelled as he came flying through a portal.

"Argh, you just can't go away, can you?"

"Never will I give up!"

"Fine. If you so desperately want to die, then come and get me!"

"Oh, I'm coming for you alright!"

Before he charged at Black Hole, Hypernova turned to the small group of heroes. "I cannot thank you all enough. Thanks to all of you, countless lives have been saved. Now, I will return all of you to your own timeline. Please know that you will return to the exact moment of when you left with no memory of this adventure. But, never forget that you will never be alone. Now, go."

Everyone but Ratchet, Angela and Clank started to shine and fade slowly. Ariana looked at Ratchet out of the corner of his eye. "Ratchet, huh? Hmm... perhaps he's in my timeline as well..."

And then all five heroes had returned to their own timelines and their own lifes. "Be safe." Hypernova muttered. Then he tightened his grip on his sword, and charged at Black Hole.

Once again, an everlasting duel of sword-swinging and countering.

Clank watched the battle, and got an idea. He raised his giant hand and grabbed Black Hole out of the sky.

Black Hole gave him a look of pure venom. "Did you think you could trap me!? You pathetic, miserable-"

He was interrupted by a fully-charged alpha cannon shot to the face. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, insults Clank when I'm around." Ratchet growled.

"Did you think you could go angry? THEN WATCH WHAT I CAN DO!" Black Hole yelled. Suddenly, an explosion of dark energy around Black Hole forced Clank to let go, the sheer energy burning a hole through the robot's hand. Hypernova used the distraction to his advantage by charging up an extremely powerful laserbeam that he fired the instant Black Hole broke free.

But, as if the hole in Clank's hand wasn't bad enough, Clank's hand was covered with some weird black sludge. It suddenly spread across Clank's hand and started to make it's way to the robot's head. Clank attempted to shake it off, but with no success.

But, salvation came in the form of a beam of light from Hypernova. The black sludge disappeared, and Clank's hand was fixed again. Hypernova turned to the badly wounded Black Hole while charging up another laserbeam. "You see, Black Hole, you are losing once again. Why? Simple. That's the difference between heroes and villains: heroes work together for the greater good, but when villains work together, it's more like a temporary truce, and it's just waiting for them to stab each other in the back, like you just did with Tachyon. Heroes risk their life for one another because together we stand strong. Villains work and die alone. Like. You."

He fired again, but Black Hole was able to get out of the way in the very last second. "Not yet! It's not over yet!"

"It is over. From now on this is no longer a duel, it is a manhunt."

"Indeed, and you are the prey! Watch!"

Black Hole flew up as fast as he could. Hypernova waited. "Aren't you going after him?" Ratchet asked.

"He has nowhere to run. I have locked this dimension, and only I can re-open it."

But it soon became clear that Black Hole had no intention of leaving. A giant, dark cloud formed high above the small Lombax planet. It grew larger and larger.

"Crap! If that thing touches this world... then it's done for!" Hypernova yelled.

"What?!" Three mouths yelled in unison.

Hypernova nodded in determination. "But I've got a plan."

A giant portal opened above the planet, on exactly the opposite side of the planet as the black cloud. Hypernova flew high into the air, then flew downwards. He pressed his hands against the surface, and used all of his power to start pushing.

To everyone's surprise, the planet started to move towards the portal. Hypernova pushed even harder, and the planet went even faster. When it had just crossed the portal, the portal slammed shut and just in time: the black cloud had almost reached them.

Ratchet looked up and immediately he recognized the planet they were orbiting.

Fastoon.

The tiny planet the Lombax race had been living on was now a moon of their former home. And for a moment, there was peace.

But then a giant dark portal opened over Fastoon and Black Hole came flying out. Behind Black Hole, you could see the dark cloud in the Lombax dimension shrink.

"I am SICK AND TIRED OF THIS!" The villain roared.

Hypernova sighed. "Then let's finsh this."

He flew up, and for a good ten minutes there was another seemingly endless swordfight at the speed of light.

While fighting, Hypernova thought of possible ways to win.

He frowned. There was only one way. He could not defeat Black Hole: they were evenly matched. However, to some degree, he WAS Black Hole: their armor was identical. Maybe used for different purposes and using a different source of energy, but it was made of the same materials. And that led him to a different question: how would I defeat myself?

The answer was simple. His sword suddenly disappeared and he grabbed Black Hole's arms. Black Hole laughed. "Bad idea..."

The same black sludge that had once tried to infect Clank's brain was covering Hypernova's arms and started to make his way to the hero's head.

"What are you doing?!" Ratchet yelled.

Hypernova looked down. "Take care of yourself, Ratchet. I am proud of you."

Ratchet had heard that line before. "What?! N-no! You can't-"

Black Hole was just as shocked. "What are you thinking?!"

"I will finish this. Now. You only fight with one goal: coming out on top. I fight with only one goal, but mine is different: stopping you. I do not need to be alive at the end, as long as you are stopped."

Hypernova started to push while Black Hole started to squirm, trying to break free. Hypernova flew into the dimension that had been the home of the Lombaxes, carrying a screaming and squirming Black Hole with him.

He flew even faster until they were thousands of lightyears away from the portal.

Ratchet, Angela, Clank, and every Lombax still on the planet stared through the planet-sized portal hovering far above Fastoon. Then, suddenly, a titanic explosion could be seen through the portal.

A hypernova.

The shockwave was approaching the portal, and fast, but the dark portal closed just in time.

"No!" Ratchet yelled.

The portal was gone.

Ratchet fell to his knees. "He's gone... he blew himself to smithereens."

Angela hugged him. "He did what he had to do to protect the universe, Ratchet. We should be proud of him. We won, Ratchet. The evil is gone. It's over now."

"It is done."

It had been three weeks since the fight with Black Hole. Some of the Lombaxes had moved to their original homeworld of Fastoon, some had stayed on Fastoon's new moon.

The universe was at peace once again: Tachyon, who had been trapped inside a pile of scrap metal, had been imprisoned in a small, separate dimension, and unknown to the Cragmite, he was under constant Lombax supervision. They hadn't killed him, the peace that death brought with it was too good for the Cragmite.

As for the other Cragmites, the surviving Cragmites continued to inhabit the dimension they had been banished to, but since Hypernova had destroyed all Lombax technology he could find in the dimension, the Cragmites were left with medieval-grade technology. It would take them hundreds of thousands of years to build a new device capable of creating a portal to another dimension.

Ratchet and Clank were once again living in Ratchet's garage on Veldin. Ratchet actually wondered why he ever wanted to leave the planet: in the long time that he had spent living somewhere else, he had realized that he had grown to love the warm, rocky planet, and thus he had spent some of the millions of bolts he had earned in his many years as a hero to restore the garage to it's former glory, as well as improving the underground living space and adding many rooms.

As soon as she could, Angela had flown back to Bogon to meet with her former employer in person, she thought Fizzwidget must've been worried sick after one of his most respected scientists had disappeared and had stayed missing for many years.

She was correct: Fizzwidget nearly fell out of his seat when she came walking into his office. Immediately he ordered all Megacorp employees to discontinue working and come celebrate Angela's safe return (even though Angela told him that that wasn't necessary.)

Since her home on Grelbin had been destroyed, Angela was staying on Veldin with Ratchet and Clank for the time being while she looked for a place to build a new home (when Fizzwidget learned that her home had been destroyed and heard all the trouble she had been through, he had insisted that Megacorp would cover the costs of her new home. All she had to do is choose where she wanted to live).

But on Saturday evening, three weeks after Black Hole's defeat and Hypernova's demise, Ratchet couldn't sleep. He had been having trouble with falling asleep ever since Hypernova died because Hypernova knew Ratchet's parents and quickly became a father-like figure to him. But that night his insomnia was even worse.

He rolled on his side and groaned when he saw the noticed the time his alarm clock was displaying. 2:14 A.M.

Ratchet had been awake for four hours already. But then he noticed a bright light out of the corner of his eye. He rolled around and nearly had a heart attack when he saw a holographic version of Hypernova standing in the corner of his room.

"Follow me if answers is what you seek." he said, and walked out the door. Ratchet immediately got out of bed, grabbed his coat, and got into Aphelion. Holo-Hypernova was already ascending.

Ratchet followed him. After two hours of flying, they approached an asteroid. Ratchet remembered the location: it was one of Hypernova's bases, the one he woke up in after being saved (and abducted) by Hypernova on Veldin.

Ratchet landed Aphelion in the hangar and followed Holo-Hypernova down the hallway. The holographic Hypernova walked on like a zombie: just walking on without seeming to notice his surroundings. Suddenly, Holographic Hypernova stopped in the middle of a hallway. He turned to his right and faced the wall. "Light of purification, grant me access."

The wall slid open to reveal a hidden passage. Ratchet followed Holo-Hypernova through the hallway until they walked into a larger room. Holo-Hypernova stopped and turned to Ratchet.

"So you did come."

"Erm... I've been following you for a good two hours now?"

"I am sorry. Until a few seconds ago this holographic version of Hypernova had been on autopilot, but now I, a disc on which Hypernova stored a copy of his personality in case something like this happened, have taken over. So yes, to some degree, I am Hypernova. This chain of events, me appearing in your bedroom and guiding you here, would be set in motion as soon as Hypernova was destroyed. I am here to answer every question you may have about me. I am dead now, Ratchet. It's pointless to hold back any secrets from you now. So ask all you want."

"Okay. Who are you? And no disguises this time."

Hypernova took off his helmet.

"YOU?!" Ratchet yelled.

"Yes, Ratchet. Me."

I bet y'all were not expecting that to happen. Hypernova sacrificing himself to defeat Black Hole, the planet in the Lombax dimension becoming a moon of Fastoon, Ratchet knowing Hyperova...

About that, the next chapter will be a lot shorter. It will be the epilogue to Epilogue, the last chapter, in which Hypernova's true identity is revealed and all questions are answered. Well... most of them. Remember, the Epilogue series is far from over.

And about Hypernova dying... please forgive me.