No author's notes this time, I'll cut straight to the action. :)
Bang!
Lightning struck the building as if with a vengeance, and a piercing scream filled the air, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. "I knew it, ye foul devil!" Ratchet heard the pirate captain shout behind him, and he slowly opened his eyes. "What the fuck?" he mumbled, and he noticed that Clank seemed equally shocked.
The white Lombax had somehow come alive and had burst right through the glass. She was panting and she stood unsteadily, and she was bleeding profusely from her wound, but she was alive. Most noticeably however was that her arms were on fire. It was as if her fur itself had come alight, with large, white flames billowing from her hands.
The pirate captain fired a few shots at her. The plasma covered the Lombax' face but it didn't even seem to bother her. The Lombax beckoned closer and the pirate captain realized that he couldn't hurt her, so instead he quickly seized Ratchet by the neck and pressed his gun against the size of Ratchet's head. "Come one step closer and I'll burn this landlubber's skull clean, savvy?"
The Lombax halted and just stared at him. Her blue eyes seemed to be glowing as she looked at the captain, then at Ratchet, then at the pirates in the background who were holding Simon to the ground and kept their guns pointed at him, and then she looked at something in the background, and a small smile formed on her lips. She didn't move, but she just stood there, grinning.
"What in hell's name you be grinning at, demon?" the captain spat at her. Suddenly a burst of flames seized his arm from the side, burning through the circuitry in an instant with their sheer heat. Ratchet squeaked in pain as the sheer heat from the blast seared his skin, but his instincts took over. He forced his elbow into the robot's waist to throw him off-balance and then he grabbed the limp arm and threw the robot over his shoulder. He barely had time to scoop the gun off the floor before the pirates restraining Simon opened fire at him. He was hit badly in the foot but he managed to take cover behind a table. Clank meanwhile had hidden himself behind the remainder of the glass tank. He quickly rolled out of cover and moved over to Ratchet.
"Are you hurt?" he asked his friend over the sound of gunfire and bullets pelting the area around them.
"Yeah, I can't stand," Ratchet groaned. It was then that he remembered his fellow Lombax, and he carefully glanced around his cover to see what was going on.
She just stood there, bleeding and burning, while the pirates showered her with plasma. Ratchet felt his stomach churn as he watched her get covered with searing hot material, but oddly she didn't seem to register it.
Suddenly, the plasma covering her began to bubble and move, and it crawled across her skin and ruined clothes to her hands.
"My turn," she said, though with the damage to her throat, it was little more than a barely comprehensible, guttural growl. Holding one massive orb of plasma in her left hand, she started scooping molten material into her right hand before throwing it at her assailants like a snowball. One by one she took them down. None of them seemed to pay Simon any mind who just lay writhing on the floor, looking like a skeleton with skin.
"Don't shoot her with plasma you irredeemable cretins!" the captain yelled as he clambered to his feet. "Use bullets!" he added as he unsheathed his sword and charged at the Lombax.
In response she stepped aside, as if in a trance. She grabbed the blade thrust her way, the plasma in her hands quickly melting it into an unrecognizable mess.
By this point some of the other pirates had managed to reach for their flintlock-style pistols. "Not gonna happen," Ratchet yelled as he grabbed his Temporal Repulsor and knocked them down, freeing Simon in the process. Simon tiredly rolled onto his back and stared up through the gaps in the ruined ceiling; Ardolis' harsh rain pelting his face as he stared at the grey clouds overhead. He saw sparks jump across the ashen backdrop, and he smiled weakly. "Here she comes," he mumbled with a coarse and weathered voice.
Sure enough, an epic rumble came from the clouds before one final, mighty blast of thunder struck the ruined town. The white Lombax suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her head while she screeched in agony. Ratchet and Clank watched in shock as the fire covering her hand began to climb up her arms rapidly. It was as if her strands of fur came alight, turning into millions of tiny flames, and soon enough the Lombax was one woman-shaped mass of flames. She lowed her hands from her face, revealing two glowing orbs, and her golden hair turned into a long, golden flame that rolled down her back.
She rushed at the pirate captain in an instant like a possessed mass of fire. He flailed at her wildly with his ruined sword but to no avail, it passed through her waist like it would through a flame. She grabbed the captain's head and, in a matter of seconds, melted it with a vengeance until the man collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. His rain-soaked cloak had nonetheless caught fire, further reducing him into an unrecognizable mass of metal.
She then looked up at the pirates that had been keeping Simon hostage. The few that were still alive had staggered to their feet and were backing away. The Lombax leapt at them, and a burst of fire billowed forth from her hands, melting them from within as she trapped them in a relentless inferno that lashed out at them with a vengeance.
And as soon as it had started, it was over. The last of the pirates collapsed to the floor, writhing and sizzling as the fire did its merciless work. As for the woman herself, her flames faded away, revealing a normal Lombax again. She stumbled forward a few feet before collapsing to the floor, her bullet wound bleeding profusely once again. Clank rushed over to her immediately and started scanning her injuries. She looked at him and mumbled something incomprehensible before her eyes rolled back into her skull. She had lost consciousness. It was then that the little robot noticed that her clothes were burning away, having been set ablaze by her fiery episode. He quickly dragged her beneath a ruined part of the roof and let the rain extinguish her while he ran back over to Ratchet.
"Ratchet, give me your shirt."
Ratchet realized what Clank's plan was. "Well, if I'm not getting the blood out of this thing, you pay for a new one, alright?" he replied as he took off his armor's chestplate and then the shirt he wore underneath before handing the garment to Clank. The little robot rushed back over to the wounded woman and carefully tied the shirt around her such that it was applying pressure to the wound. "Miss Apogee, we need an immediate medical evacuation. We have the situation under control but we have two severely wounded, and Ratchet was hit in his foot and needs assistance to stand."
On the other end he could her Talwyn sigh, partly in relief and partly in frustration. "Right. I'll send Aphelion in, I'm dealing with the last few stragglers here. Aphelion, do you carry any Nanotech with you?"
"Normally I would, but someone forgot to restock it," Aphelion chimed in over the comms with a tone of disapproval. Ratchet chuckled nervously. "Yeah, my bad, there was a re-run of Unicop and I promised Cronk and Zephyr that I'd watch it someday. The plan was to watch it together before, well, you know."
"Yeah…" Talwyn replied. Though she was starting to heal, the loss of her two guardians was still a fresh wound on her soul. "Miss Apogee, I suggest you go assist Ratchet and Clank, I shall deal with these last few ships in your place," Aphelion suggested.
Talwyn happily accepted. "Thanks, Aphelion, I'll go in to help. You take care, alright?"
Aphelion chuckled sarcastically. "Well, I have to, because my pilot won't." Ratchet scoffed. "Hey, well, I'm the one who got you those terabytes of Defense Force and Galactic Ranger flight records to study."
Talwyn laughed as she set a course for her friends' position. "Ratchet, you never told me you got yourself a girlfriend," she joked. "Oh har har har," Ratchet sarcastically replied. "I was planning on making waffles for dinner but I guess I'll be making for one person less."
Talwyn grinned. "Like you know how to work a stove."
Ratchet feigned a scoff on the other end of the line. "Well, now I've been shot twice."
Clank turned to him looking worried, and Ratchet laughed. "I was joking, Clank, I'm fine." He crawled over to the unconscious Lombax, making sure to not pressure his injured foot. "How is she doing?" he asked his friend.
"She is unstable," Clank replied, sounding tense. "I do not know how she is alive, but if she does not get medical attention soon, we might lose her still."
"Right. And what's up with him?" Ratchet asked as he pointed at Simon. "How the hell did he get so old?"
"I do not know for certain, but I have a suspicion," Clank said as he stood up and walked over to Simon's sword, which lay on the floor nearby. He picked it up and took out the power core and walked back to Ratchet. "What does this look like to you, Ratchet?" he asked as he showed his friend the spherical core.
Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought. "Looks to me like a glowing crystal shard in a bubble if I'm honest."
"Indeed, a shard similar to the one powering your glove, which we extracted from the Fulcrum star that we found on Lumos. I wonder how this came to be in his possession. I suppose though that in this instance this shard functions like an energy converter, with temporal energy as the input."
"Yeah, that means squat to me, sorry pal," Ratchet replied apologetically. Clank looked at him impatiently. "I mean that his youth is the cost of his power."
Ratchet frowned. "Wait, but I'm still young, right?"
Clank nodded. "Yes, I do not detect any abnormal aging in your case. I think the discrepancy is either rooted in the fact that you use a different shard which might function differently as well, or in the fact that your glove uses a built-in power core that charges through thermal energy. Put simply, it recharges from the heat that you generate as a warm-blooded life-form. However, looking at that sword, I see no such power generator, so the only source of energy would be Simon himself."
"That's pretty dark," Ratchet replied, grimacing. Clank nodded. "Yes, but such is the nature of this universe. Great power comes at great cost."
"Guys, I'm here," Talwyn said over the comms as her ship came descending through the ruined roof. She raced over to the duo as soon as she could. "First things first, let me see that foot," she said as she knelt down beside Ratchet. Ratchet laid her lift up his leg, and she carefully inspected the damage. "Seems like a second degree burn to me," she concluded. "Sucks, but a small bit of Nanotech should fix you right up. Hang on."
She quickly rushed back to her ship and came back with an emergency vial of Nanotech. She cracked open the canister and held it over Ratchet's foot. "Now, this may sting a bit, alright?"
Ratchet nodded. "I'll be fine, Tal, but the others might not be if we don't hurry."
Talwyn nodded back at him and carefully emptied the faintly glowing liquid over the Lombax' injured foot. Ratchet gritted his teeth and growled slightly as the Nanotech set about cleansing the wound before concerning itself with regenerating the tissue. And yet, within a minute, it was over. "Can you stand?" Talwyn asked as she offered him a hand to help him on his feet.
"Yeah, I think so," Ratchet replied as he gladly took her hand. Talwyn then turned her attention to the white Lombax lying motionlessly at their feet. "Damn," Talwyn said in utter amazement at the sight. "Didn't think I'd ever see another Lombax besides you."
"Well, that makes two of us. Let's get her out of here," Ratchet said.
"Gotcha. You take the head side, I'll carry her feet," Talwyn replied. "How come I gotta carry the heavy part?" Ratchet pouted. Talwyn frowned. "Because her clothes are disintegrating from fire damage. We get her in my ship and then you kindly bugger off to Aphelion and get a lady some privacy. Now let's move her before the poor girl embarrasses herself by accident. She only saved your sorry ass," Talwyn snarkily replied. Ratchet turned beet red and kept quiet as they lifted her up and carried her over to Talwyn's ship where they lay the woman down on the couch the ship had for a back seat.
"There, now, away you, before her clothes actually fall apart," Talwyn said with a snarky undertone as she shooed him back and closed the window. Ratchet rolled his eyes. "What do you take me for?"
Talwyn looked at him dryly. "An idiot. A good man, but also an idiot."
"Am not," Ratchet pouted. Talwyn snickered and booped his nose. "Sure… stunderwear." Ratchet sighed audibly and rolled his eyes though he couldn't keep himself from smirking. "So that leaves just him," he said, nodding toward Simon. Talwyn recoiled visibly at the sight of Simon. "By the stars, I hadn't even noticed yet, he looks awful! What the hell happened here?" Talwyn remarked with shock and disgust.
"Zoni stuff. Let's just get him out of here," Ratchet replied. "Aphelion, what's your status?"
"Hostiles neutralized, I am on my way now," Aphelion replied, and sure enough, she came swooping in through a large hole in the wall. Ratchet walked over and carefully positioned his arms under Simon's back. Talwyn took hold of the man's legs. Simon looked up incredulously at Ratchet as they lifted him up. "Who are you? Are you that new electrician I called for?"
"Wha?" Ratchet asked in confusion as they carried him.
"Yeah, I got a nasty plumbing job to fix on my ship. I swear I called a plumber but all he gave me was cryptic nonsense of four-dimensional alien pebbles and death having an older brother."
"Uh-huh…" Ratchet mumbled as they laid him down on Aphelion's back seats. He snatched the earpiece out of Simon's ear and held it beside his own. "Artin, where are you?" he asked.
"Master Ratchet, I am achieving an orbit around the planet of Ardolis as we speak. What is the status? Is master Simon alright?"
Ratchet glanced over at the bizarrely old human. "Yeah, I guess. He's looking brittle and shriveled but he's still kicking. The fuck is this though?"
Artin mimicked a sigh. "Oh, I do wish he would consider heeding my safety warnings. He should be fine, just bring him over to me, and I will prepare a bed in the emergency ward."
"Yeah, make that two," Ratchet added as he scooped Simon's white suit off the floor and dumped it in Aphelion's trunk. "We've got one heavily wounded, we're rushing over there now." He turned to Clank. "Clank, you got that sword?"
Clank nodded and handed the weapon to his friend, who placed it in the cargo hold, though he kept the power core separate, placing it by Clank's feet in the passenger seat.
"Goodness, I'll keep two beds ready. How severe are the injuries?" Artin asked before Ratchet rerouted the connection to Aphelion's console and he took off, with Talwyn following closely behind. Artin was one step ahead and had sent his location to Aphelion, and the ship's autopilot took over, plotting the fastest possible course to Artin's hangar.
"Critical," Clank replied. "The person in question is a female Lombax; my scans suggest in her early twenties. She has suffered a very severe throat wound from a bullet, and has collapsed from fatigue. I am sending you my scans now."
"Thank you. I'll guide you to the emergency room once you land," Artin replied before killing the connection. Ratchet leaned back in his seat and tiredly rubbed his eyes while Aphelion raced them through space. "What an evening," he groaned. He looked at his friend. "Clank, how in the world do we keep managing to end up in these kinds of unbelievable scenarios?"
"I suppose it is our talent," Clank replied, sounding equally tired.
"Have either of you heard of the nutcracker?" Simon suddenly asked from the back. "Fuck me," Ratchet mumbled as he tiredly rubbed his face. "Now that's very rude of you, madam," Simon scolded. "Madam?!" Ratchet cried out as he looked over his shoulder. "What?!"
Clank frowned and decided to scan Simon's brain a bit more closely. "Ratchet," he mumbled after a few moments, "do not take his confusion personally. It seems his rapid aging has brought with it a nasty case of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease."
"And what's that?"
Clank looked at his friend with a sorrowful look. "His brains are falling apart and their function is being disrupted by electronically resistant plaque buildup around the neural tissue, causing memory loss and a decline in perceptive and motoric skills."
Ratchet blew a raspberry and rubbed his face. "Damn," he ultimately muttered. "That's quite something." He sounded really awkard. Clank nodded. "Indeed, we should hurry."
"Good thing you boys got me, hm?" Aphelion chimed in as Artin came into view, hidden in a nearby, passing micro-asteroid cluster. She skillfully flew into the open hangar bay and landed on the pad closest to the door. "We'll move the lady first," Ratchet decided, glancing over at Simon. He's hurt but not in immediate danger."
Clank nodded. "Where do you want me, Ratchet?" he asked. "Right here," the Lombax replied, pointing down to emphasize. "You keep an eye on this doofus so he doesn't do something stupid."
At that moment he was interrupted by a knock on the cockpit window. Talwyn was standing beside the ship, looking impatient. "I'll be back," Ratchet said to his robot friend as he opened the cockpit window and jumped out. "You take back, I take front?" he asked. Talwyn nodded. "Alright, let's hurry," Ratchet said as he rushed over to her ship. To his horror, the woman's breathing had become more shallow, and the shirt Clank had pressed against her wound was almost soaked.
"How is she alive?" Talwyn wondered aloud as she took hold of the woman's legs and feet while Ratchet lifted her up by the shoulders. "Beats me," Ratchet replied as they carried the Lombax out of the ship and down the hall. Artin guided them with lamps near the floor lighting up in the direction they needed to go. Soon enough they entered a small medical ward and they carried the woman over to the nearest bed. "Now you bugger off and let me work on her wounds," Talwyn said as she sat down beside the unconscious woman on a chair.
"Do you not need my help?" Ratchet asked. Talwyn shot him a pointed look. "I need to get her out of that ruined shirt and into a medical gown. Out, you."
Ratchet's eyes widened, and he muttered a small "oh" before walking out. He halted in the doorway. "Oh, hold on," he said as he turned around. He walked over to the nearest bed and knelt down. He grinned, noticing the wheels underneath, and he started rolling the bed out. As soon as he was out, Talwyn sighed. "Artin, we do have medical gowns around here, right?"
"Yes," the AI replied. "This used to be a small cruise ship, and as per safety standards it was equipped with on-board medical equipment, as it could also be used as a rescue vessel due to its nature of roaming the galaxy and its comparably large housing capacity."
Talwyn interrupted him. "Fascinating, but I need to know where they are," she said, a little bemused. "Oh, pardon me," the AI replied, sounding embarrassed. "They are in the closet behind you, I'll try to mark it with lights."
Meanwhile Ratchet had made his way back to Aphelion with the bed in tow. He parked it beside the ship, and carefully lifted Simon onto the bed before making his way back. Clank followed along, sitting at the foot end of the bed and keeping a close eye on Simon's condition.
Once they returned to the medical ward, Ratchet halted beside the door. "Tal, can we come in?" he called out.
"Yeah, I'm finishing up here," Talwyn replied from inside. Ratchet rolled the bed in and carefully parked it beside the woman's bed. Talwyn glanced over at him with a small smile, proud of her handiwork. "That obligatory medical training as a Defense Force officer really paid off now," she said to Ratchet.
Ratchet walked over and had a look at the fruits of Talwyn's labor. The woman was now clad in a medical gown and tucked in up to her upper chest, and a thick bandage had been wrapped around her neck. Talwyn had rolled an IV stand beside the bed, and a steady stream of diluted Nanotech was being carefully injected into the woman's veins.
The woman herself was still unconscious, but breathing softly and steadily.
"I think you did it," Ratchet said with a small smile. Suddenly Clank rushed over and quickly removed the IV needles. "Clank, what are you?!" Talwyn called out but Clank silenced her with a glare. "Did you not check for allergies? Because I just did. I hope I was fast eno-"
The woman suddenly lunged forward a little with a pained grumble before slamming her back against the bed. Her muscles started spasming. "Seizure!" Ratchet called out. "No shit," Talwyn mumbled as she looked at Clank. "What do we do?" she asked the small robot. Clank scanned her again, and his expression turned from frustrated to sorrowful. "I… I do not think we can do something. She is growing steadily unstable. At this rate, we will lose her in minutes. Her heart cannot take it."
Ratchet walked over and slammed his fist into the wall with a frustrated growl. "No. I'm not losing another Lombax. Can we do a blood transfusion?"
"You are incompatible and it would be impossible to apply," Clank retorted. "Plus… her body seems to be rejecting the Nanotech."
"She's allergic to Nanotech?" Talwyn asked in shock. Clank nodded. "Yes. That is why we cannot help her anymore."
Talwyn began to tear up. "Oh no… oh my gosh… oh no, oh no, oh no! I-I-I should have waited, I… no…"
Ratchet's features softened. He walked over and hugged her tightly. "Ssh. You tried the best you could, Tal."
"I killed her," Talwyn mumbled in distress.
"Fire," Simon suddenly grumbled. Ratchet looked over with a sour expression. "Do you mind? We're having a really tough moment here. This lady is dying and clearly in pain."
"Fire," Simon repeated a bit more resolutely. His wrinkles had faded a bit, and he had regained a bit more muscle mass. "Talwyn, did you forget why we were on Cobalia?"
Talwyn nodded, her eyes still watery. "Yeah, there was one of those crystal activity surges, was there not?"
"Yeah," Simon replied. "And we found it."
Talwyn frowned. "How?"
Simon turned to Ratchet. "My memory is hazy but I'm certain that she (he nodded over to the white-furred Lombax) was dead. What happened?"
Suddenly it began to click in Ratchet's mind. "Tal, this woman set herself on fire. It's like she could control fire," he hastily explained. He frowned and rubbed his chin. "It… it was as if the heat gave her strength…" he added, mumbling.
Simon had heard enough. "Aside, all of you," he demanded, and out of sheer curiosity Talwyn and Clank stepped back. With his fading strength, Simon began to crawl, climbing onto the woman's bed. He lay down on his side beside her and slightly pressed her against himself. "Warmth," he mumbled. "She can take mine."
As the woman kept thrashing violently in her seizure, Simon was getting a fair share of bruises, and at some point her head shot upwards and collided with Simon's nose.
Crack.
Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn all winced at the sound, but Simon didn't seem to care about his broken, bleeding nose. Slowly but surely though, it seemed to work. The woman slowly calmed down. Simon looked at Talwyn and then at Ratchet. "Don't just stand there, help me. She needs to be kept warm."
"It is futile," Clank somberly remarked. "This is helping, but she is slipping away too fast."
Simon instantly looked at Ratchet. "My sword, where's the core?"
"I-It's in my ship!" Ratchet hastily replied.
"Get it, Ratchet, now!" Simon yelled back and Ratchet rushed out the door. He came charging back in mere minutes later and dumped it in Simon's hand. "But what are you gonna do?" he asked.
"Acting on a hunch," Simon replied. He held the small orb in his hand and placed the white-furred woman's limp hand on it. The core started glowing and Simon winced.
Ratchet, Clank and Talwyn watched on in horror as Simon seemed to degrade at a rapid pace. The color drained from his skin, which turned winkled and brittle. Liver spots appeared all over, and his muscles seemed to fade away.
Mere seconds later the orb slipped from Simon's fingers as he collapsed, and Ratchet quickly rushed over and gently lay him down on his bed. He seemed older than anything Ratchet had ever seen, and it greatly unnerved him. He looked at Clank, then at Talwyn. He seemed lost.
Talwyn didn't speak as she walked over and hugged him tightly. Ratchet was stunned for a moment, but then hugged her back. "Thanks, Tal," he mumbled. "Don't speak," Talwyn mumbled back. "We'll figure out all this nonsense later. It's some time bullshit I guess."
Suddenly they heard a loud gasp, and when they looked over, the strange Lombax was sitting upright in her bed. She stared at Clank, then at Talwyn, then at Ratchet. Her expression was a mixture of confusion, fear and anguish.
Ratchet walked closer. "It's okay, it's okay, you're safe now," he assured her. That didn't seem to work.
"Dy era di? Dyo did di od ot ko? Era di aognn uhtr zo?" the woman shouted at him as she pointed at Simon. Ratchet frowned. "Uuuh… what did you just say?" he asked in confusion. Talwyn grabbed his shoulder. "Ratchet, let's just give her some space, alright? She's clearly not comfortable."
"I see that, but what did she say?" he asked her as he backed off from the bed. "I don't know, it's on the tip of my tongue," Talwyn replied, looking puzzled. "I don't recognize the words, but there's some odd familiarity to them. Perhaps Artin knows it?"
"Negative," the AI spoke, and the Lombax in the bed shrieked, startled by the sudden, faceless voice. "Oh, bollocks," Talwyn remarked and she facepalmed.
"Lom…ba…xi" Simon croaked from his bed. With a lot of effort he turned his head and looked at the woman in the bed. "Di asef. On yowrr. Ujts erts. Nxelpia ralet," he murmured. The woman looked at him in shock, then at Talwyn, then at Ratchet, then at Clank. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Koya," she mumbled before letting herself sink into the sheets. She pulled the sheets up to her chin and looked at Talwyn and Ratchet warily.
"Leave, please," Simon mumbled weakly while he closed his eyes to sleep. Ratchet and Talwyn looked to each other, and then to Clank, who gave them a nod of affirmation. "Well, okay then," Ratchet mumbled as he looked back at Talwyn. "I guess we still gotta eat dinner after all." He glanced at the woman in the bed, who was still staring at them. "Think she'd want food, too?" he asked Talwyn. "Probably," Talwyn mumbled as she took his hand and started leading him out of the room. "Doesn't mean she'll accept it though. It's best to let her be for now. Simon, too. We'll figure all of this out later." She glanced at Clank. "You coming, Clank?"
Clank nodded and followed them out of the room, walking beside them in the hallway. The white-furred Lombax watched them leave, and kept warily staring at the door, until she heard a soft, muffled snore coming from the other bed. She looked over with confusion, seeing Simon sleep without a care in the world. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh before she let herself sink into the pillows, and soon enough, tired as she was, she was out like a light.
Ratchet and Talwyn entered the dining room of the ship with Clank in tow. Like the day before, they sat down at one of the empty tables. "You want something, pal?" Ratchet asked Clank as the robot hopped onto a seat beside them. Clank smiled and shook his head. "No, but sitting with friends is always great." Ratchet cracked a small smile. "Stole the words right out of my mouth. Artin?"
"Yes?" the AI replied.
"Well, firstly, can you seal the hangar doors? Something tells me we should keep that other Lombax around. I'm not sure if she'll try to make a run for it, but it's probably best to just play it safe. Next, do you think you could serve us?"
"Certainly," Artin cheerfully replied. "And I always seal the hangar doors on principle to ward off intruders. You can rest easy. Now, what may I serve you?"
"Some pasta and a glass of Marcadian wine, if I may," Talwyn replied with a relieved smile. "Splendid, and you, Ratchet?" the AI replied. "I'll have the same, but tea for me instead of wine."
"I never took you for a tea lover," Talwyn replied with a raised eyebrow. Ratchet chuckled. "Well, after today I'd rather drink something such that I can at least catch an hour of sleep. I might lie awake all night thinking about this mess that we've gotten stuck in unless I stop myself right here," he explained.
Talwyn chuckled. "Oh, I get that. What a mess indeed." She then turned to Clank. "Oh, I forgot to ask: did you get any information at the Clock?"
Clank nodded while Artin came in with the ordered food. "Yes, though arguably the information that I could not obtain is equally important."
"Oh?" Talwyn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. I found a Zoni engraving on one of the shards that we extracted from the Fulcrum star from Lumos. I requested the corresponding file from the Orvus Computer, but with no success. The file was locked behind an unusually high clearance, which implies that this is no small incident. I did manage to acquire a complete archive of Obsidian Eyes, which we can investigate for Fulcrum Stars. This should at least get us enough material for research purposes, after which we can deploy proper scanners for remaining fragments of… well… this odd Zoni device. I do wonder what its function was."
"You and me both, Clank," Ratchet chimed in in-between bites of his food. The rest of the evening was spent on more lighthearted chit-chat, and it wasn't long before Ratchet and Talwyn had finished their food. As the trio went out into the hallway, Clank spoke up.
"Ratchet, Talwyn, please excuse me. My assistance is required in the laboratory. I will be cataloging all Obsidian eyes, and will then plot an ideal course for vising each of them."
"Sounds good, pal. We'll see you in the morning," Ratchet replied, before he and Talwyn excused themselves to their room; absentmindedly walking away hand-in-hand. Clank smiled and shook his head as he watched them walk away.
Upon reaching their room, Talwyn went into the bathroom first while Ratchet changed, and then he used the bathroom while she changed. When he came back, Talwyn was already in bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Ratchet killed the lights and climbed into bed as well. For a while they lay in silence before Talwyn finally spoke.
"You think you can sleep?" Talwyn mumbled tiredly.
"I doubt it," Ratchet mumbled. "I still can't believe half of the stuff that happened today."
Talwyn rolled onto her side and looked at him. "Well, maybe spend some time with pillow talk? Got any good stories?"
Ratchet rolled onto his side as well to face her. "Well… I've told you all about Clank and myself, right?"
Talwyn nodded. "Yeah, I think so. But you didn't really tell me much about what you went through prior to meeting Clank."
Ratchet grimaced. "Eeeeh… that's not a very happy story, I'd best save that for some other time. How about your upbringing?"
Talwyn bit her lip. "Best not talk about that. The loss of Cronk and Zephyr still stings."
Ratchet snorted. "We really can't catch a break, can we?"
"Nope," Talwyn replied with a disgruntled sigh. "No, we cannot." They lay in silence for a while after that, just staring at each other. "Soooo… how's work?" Ratchet ultimately asked to break the silence. "Good. Good good," Talwyn replied. "How come?" she added.
"Well… I just kinda miss hanging out with you, Tal. I was actually hoping we could catch some downtime after all this."
"I know, I… didn't we discuss this earlier?" Talwyn replied. Ratchet nodded. "Yeah, but I want to bring it up again. Back on Ardolis, we got caught off-guard. I got a gun pressed against my head. I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd lost Clank. I thought I'd lost you. It has reaffirmed just how much you mean to me. There's only so much time that I can get to spend with you."
Talwyn looked at him, eyes widened and mouth agape. She was stunned and genuinely moved by the sincerity of his words. "You know… I've actually really missed fighting by your side, and these kinds of talks."
Ratchet stared at her for a while. Should he say it? And then, suddenly, he had an idea. "I know something to talk about," he said with a smile. "As soon as I can, I'm taking you on a trip somewhere. You tell me where we should go."
Talwyn thought for a few moments, until there was a spark in her eyes. "Veldin," she said without doubt. "I wanna see where you grew up."
Ratchet's smile faded a bit. "Well… I used to live in a garage, you know that much. Thing is, it was destroyed years ago when Veldin was suddenly attacked. I haven't been back there since. After that I spent months as captain of a star ship, after which I decided to live on Kerwan instead."
He rolled onto his back. "I… I kinda miss it there. City life is so convenient, and the Apogee station is beautiful, but… there's some kind of magic in Veldin's sunrises and sunsets. It's warm during the day, and cool during the night, but not uncomfortably so."
"Maybe we could rebuild it?" Talwyn asked. Ratchet smiled and rolled onto his side to face her. "We could, but I don't see the point in that. I miss it, but it's not my home anymore. Home is wherever you and Clank – my family – are."
Talwyn smiled back at him. "Perhaps we could rebuild it as a vacation destination instead?"
Ratchet thought for a few seconds, and then he grinned. "You know what? That's actually a pretty great idea I think."
Talwyn chuckled. "Well, let's just dream of that, then. Let's dream on what demands we have of our ideal vacation home."
"That sounds lovely," Ratchet mumbled as he closed his eyes. Talwyn followed suit, and soon enough, they were out like lights.
Sorry that this chapter took so long; I was having some serious issues with wrapping it up. There were some ideas that I had for it, but I decided that they would be better used at a later moment in time. I do have a solid outline for the next chapter, so that shouldn't take too long to complete, especially with only two remaining university projects and with the summer break looming on the horizon at long, long last. There's first some beta work for me to work through, though it's for a story that I also genuinely greatly enjoy reading, and so it shouldn't affect the upload rate of this story. Editing goes a lot faster with great music and great story, after all. :)
In closing I want to, as is usual, personally acknowledge and thank everyone who has left a review on my work since the last chapter was published.
Max Chronicle: "DUDE! YES! *throws arms triumphantly into the air* SPIZ!
Am I to assume the name of the blade remains the same or is there no name for the blade as of now (or ever)? But I was giddy as all get out when Project Orion revealed itself to be the blade in question. Those were some good time friend!
And b*tch how DARE you pop hot ones in Alcyone?! Now that you mention it, I will be sending rockets in your direction. EAT MISSILE MACROSS MASSACRE! *whips out every rocket launcher in the series and opens fire*
All I can say is that I hope you live through that - because I still want you around to finish the story.
That's all I've got for now! Take care of yourself and your more pressing tasks at hand and I'll see you around with a new chapter eventually!
Max out."
There is no new name for the blade at this time, but neither has one been given to it (yet?). Presently it represents one of Simon's two attempts to make use of the curious Zoni artifact in his possession; the blade being offensive usage and the Hypernova armor being a defensive usage (built around dodging and with impressively resistant shields but with little offensive power). The blade's attributes have also been altered significantly, though its appearance remains unaltered. Kind of like a weapon re-balance in a video game.
As for Alcy: I figured I'd get some strong reactions to that, but it was necessary to add weight to her later entrance and set up a part of her story arc. You'll see what I mean later, because you bet I'm actually finishing this project this time. :) Thanks again for reading and reviewing, and take care!
RivettheLombax: "Noooooooo! Max isn't the only one who's gonna be ripping ya a new one- *picks up random R.Y.N.O. and starts shooting* Also, AAAAAAAA, CLIFFHANGERS, WHYYY KSFJSJDJDJDH I hope Ratchet is somehow okay, but nhggggh, not gonna get my hopes too high. Especially after Alcyone's death..."
Heh, pesky cliffhangers, hm? Sorry 'bout that; as you might have read it was necessary to give weight to Alcy's intro. Don't worry though, Ratchet still has quite a part to play so I'm not killing him off... yet? ;) Anyhow, thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and take care!
Lindzeldia: "This cliffhanger should be illegal...regardless I'm hooked!"
Oh hey, I'm very glad to hear you like it so far! And yeah, I think that that was one of my most creative cliffhangers so far. As is typical with cliffhangers though, they are meant to set up the next chapter's intro, and I hope I made it pay off. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and take care!