Ratchet: Solana

Being back on the garage on Veldin was a welcome relief for Clank and I. Semi-retirement from the hero business has its perks, but I gotta tell ya: there's days I miss it. The thrill, the excitement, the rush, the saving lives/planets/all of time and space. At first, I did it for money and fame, but as I got older, I realized something important. I was actually doing good. I was a role model. I was really a hero, not some contract merc or something. But, ultimately, just fixing up ships with my one true pal is a life I'm not quite ready to just up and leave behind in the dust. Clank and I have been through a lotta stuff, and I value the friendship we have above all else. Putting my neck on the line and his just for some cheap thrills? I dunno. I dunno if I wanna keep doing that. I already lost him once, and I have no intention of doing it again. Sure, there's problems out there in the great big universe, and there's still bad guys out there, Nefarious being the biggest one, but Clank and I both know that there's good people out there with the exact same skill set as the two of us. Talwyn and Qwark come to mind right off the bat. Well, Talwyn definitely.

As I was fixing a two-seater voidcruiser for a rich couple, Clank approached me from behind. You could hear his metal feet, well, clanking on the ground from a mile away, so I knew he was coming.

"Ratchet, I would like to ask you some questions, if you do not mind," he said politely.

"Sure, go ahead bud," I said, tightening the bolts on the fusion core. I then moved to check the conduit's conductivity, which was important in any fusion drive. Too much, and it'll blow if you leave it on for more than an hour. Too little, and you won't have enough energy to breach the light-speed barrier.

"Now that we seem to be in a lull between our heroic escapades," he continued oh so eloquently, "I wonder if you really are intent on abandoning your search for the Lombaxes." I paused working on the voidcruiser, and sighed.

"Yeah, I am," I answered. "I know for a fact that they're all happily living in another dimension, and I know that I'm not really the only Lombax in the universe. Angela Cross is still out there, even though nobody's seen or heard from her in years." Then, I turned to Clank, going down onto one knee, my arm draped over the one bent. "Sure, they might be my people, and they might understand me better than almost anyone, but you… you're what matters to me, Clank. You and all the rest of my friends: Talwyn, Qwark, all of 'em. I don't need the Lombaxes when what's important to me is already right in front of me."

"I do believe I understand Ratchet," said Clank, nodding. I nodded too, smiling, and went back to work on the voidcruiser, calibrating the conductivity of the fusion conduits just right.

"Hey, you said you had questions," I said. "I mean, like, more than just one question. Anything else you wanna ask me?"

"Ah, yes," said Clank. "These next few questions are of a more personal matter."

"That's fine, bud." I slammed shut the panel leading to the innards of the voidcruiser, completing the work on the vessel. I turned back around to Clank, putting my Omniwrench on my back.

"What do you think of your current form?" Clank asked. That was a question that blindsided me. Really, nobody, let alone Clank, nobody's asked me something like that.

"My… form?" I asked for clarification.

"Yes, your form. Your appearance."

"It's… it's fine. My love handles are a bit too thin if you ask me, but other than that, I feel good about it. Body positivity, right?"

"Indeed. Is it a form you would prefer over any other?"

"Yeah. After all, I was born this way. There's people taller than me, sure, but I don't really care about height."

"I see. And what do you think of how I look?"

"Oh, you look fine. I'm a guy that prefers functionality over form. You can sneak into the smallest of places, and you can fit snugly almost anywhere. Your modularity and ability to accommodate a whole range of gadgets is a big plus too."

"I did not mean my abilities. I was speaking to my physical appearance. What is your opinion of it?"

"I mean, I like it."

"So, you would prefer I keep this form?"

"That's not up to me bud. Your form should be up to you, not someone else. Don't always do something just because it's what someone else wants." Clank didn't say anything for a few moments. Instead he looked away from me, breaking eye contact, most likely thinking hard about what to do next. "Clank? Whatcha thinkin'?" I asked. He looked up to me, those big green eyes locking with my own.

"Perhaps it is too fanciful a request," he said. "I apologize for taking up your time about this."

"Clank, come on!" I said, totally bummed that he just shot down something after building it up for a minute.

"No, no, it is not very reasonable of me to ask."

"Nothing's too unreasonable when it comes to you, Clank. Now come on, tell the class." Clank seemed apprehensive of continuing the conversation.

"Ratchet, please." Right about now I decided to take a knee again, and give my best cute face. I opened my eyes wide, letting them almost gloss over, I puckered my lips a bit, like how a kid would do if they were to almost cry, and finally, the coup de grace. I tilted my head ever so slightly. I swear I could see Clank just melt right in front of me. He sighed.

"I wonder… if it was convenient… if you could construct a new body for me." My eyebrows were raised. This was a curveball that I didn't see coming at all.

"A… a new body?" I asked. "What's wrong with the old frame?"

"Nothing, really," replied Clank. "However, I have requested this for several reasons. One: this form has distinct disadvantages both inside and outside combat. My servomotors are not strong enough for carrying most weights, nor am I particularly adept in melee combat, and I cannot climb great heights. Two: while my diminutive stature can allow me to be undetected, it does mean I will most likely be ignored should I need assistance from another, you notwithstanding. I cannot tell you how many times I have struggled at the cashier at the grocery store. And three: I… I do not want to see you all alone anymore."

"Clank, like I said before, my family's my friends, and I'm not short of 'em."

"I understand, but you have no equal. Nobody who is like you. Nobody who can really understand you like a Lombax. The only who could properly do so is Angela Cross, but as mentioned before, her whereabouts are unknown at this time. Imagine, if you woke up every morning and your best friend looked just like you. If you knew that there was another Lombax, be they artificial, and he was right beside you."

I was quiet. I didn't really think about that too much, and when I finally did, it hit me like a freight train. I wasn't really alone, but then again, I sorta was. The only ones like me in the whole wide universe, even superficially, were Angela and Alister. One was in the wind, and the other was dead.

At that moment, my mind went back to when I was younger, when I was a teenager. Before meeting Clank. All the kids in town would just stare, or point and laugh, or gather around to pet me like I was some exotic animal. I didn't like how they treated me, not one bit. Even their parents would do double takes, and not for good reasons. The really stupid ones wouldn't know what to call me, so they'd just call me "that furry kid." There were days I'd be mistaken for some sort of feral animal, and get shoo'd away from restaurants. As a way of coping with all that nonsense, I'd just work. Work, work, work. On vehicles, on machines, heck, even on weaponry. In the end, I really do think Clank saved me. Saved me from myself, since back then I remember just bottling it all up inside me. That got me thinking lately: I was just a ticking time bomb back then, and I was about ready to explode. I sighed, which brought me back to the present.

"Do you want this, Clank? I mean, really want this?" I asked.

"Yes, Ratchet," he replied quickly. "I do. For both of us." I smiled.

"Alright then, I'll start drawing up blueprints for the new you."

"Actually, I have sketches in my personal storage. I would like it if you could see them and form your conclusions based on them."

"Oh, uh, okay." I nodded. Clank motioned me to follow him, and I did, surprised that he thought this far ahead. I wonder what he would've done if I said no. To tell you the truth, though, I was kinda excited to see what he had in mind. So, I followed him. He led me to a small crate, and after punching in a code on a keypad located on the crate, it opened. He hopped in and rummaged through a few things. After like around thirty seconds he hopped back out with some drawings, and then he handed them to me. I looked through all of 'em, around ten. They all looked like me, but were distinctly gray-white in fur color. The drawings also had green-colored eyes with green goggles. A few had an antenna sticking out of his head, him having three fingers on each him, him with a color pattern that was a callback to his robot design, and his tail was a little thinner in almost all of 'em.

"Wow," I said. "You, uh, you really thought this out."

"What do you think?" Clank asked. I put down the drawings and looked at the robot.

"I think it's gonna take some time, and it won't be easy… but I'll do it." If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Clank had at that moment just lit up, like he just won the lottery or something.

"Thank you very much, Ratchet," he said.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, bud. That's what friends are for." We hugged.