"RIVET?" Ratchet shouted as he ran through the ruins of a destroyed, abandoned city. "Rivet, where are you?"

Ratchet was frantically searching for his good friend, fellow Lombax, and alter-dimensional counterpart, Rivet. He had lost her somewhere in the city and couldn't find her anywhere. Suddenly, just as he was about to give up the search, he heard a strange sound.

"HELP!" shouted a terrified voice coming from somewhere nearby.

"What was that?" he wondered.

"Somebody please help me!" the voice shouted again.

"That voice…" Ratchet thought. "That's gotta be Rivet! I have to help her!"

Then he ran towards where Rivet's voice was coming from as fast as he could. Once he had finally found her, he witnessed a terrible sight. She was being attacked by a ferocious, robotic monster!

"RIVET!" Ratchet yelled in horror.

"Ratchet, help me!" yelled Rivet as she laid down in pain.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Ratchet called out to her.

He ran over to her, then helped her to get back up on her feet. But as he tried to get her out of danger, the monster let out a loud, frightening roar and grabbed her by the tail, causing her to scream in terror.

"Hey, let her go!" Ratchet said angrily to the vicious beast as he tried to pull her out of its clutches.

But it wouldn't let her go. So Ratchet kept trying his best to free Rivet from its grasp, resulting in a tug-of-war between the two of them. Eventually, Ratchet couldn't hold onto Rivet much longer, and the monster yanked her right out of his hands, leaving only her robotic arm behind.

"Rivet!" shouted Ratchet.

Pretty soon, Rivet was completely in the horrible beast's grasp, and there was nothing else that poor Ratchet could do to save her. Suddenly, the monster pinned her to a wall, held back its claws, and swiftly flung them across her neck, slitting her throat!

"NO!"

Ratchet quickly sat up in his bed as he was jolted awake from his nightmare. As he panted heavily, he found himself in his bedroom.

"Ratchet?" said a voice from somewhere in the room.

Ratchet looked around and noticed his best robot friend, Clank, standing next to his bed with a worried look on his face.

"Ratchet, are you all right?" Clank said with concern in his voice.

"Oh, Clank, where's Rivet?" Ratchet asked, frantically. "Is she okay?"

"Yes," replied Clank. "Rivet is fine. Whatever is the matter?"

Suddenly, as if on queue, the door swung open as someone else quickly came into the room. It was Rivet and her robot friend, Kit.

"Ratchet, what's wrong?" Rivet said worriedly.

"We heard you screaming and came as quickly as we could," said Kit, who was equally worried.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ratchet said, trying not to sound too upset or scared. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"Oh, dear," said Clank. "Well, are you sure you are all right, Ratchet?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, buddy," said Ratchet, trying to convince his friend. Then he faced Rivet and Kit and said, "Really, I am."

Rivet and Kit then looked at each other with worried faces.

"Well, if you need anything, just let us know, okay?" Rivet said before turning to leave the room.

Ratchet then sadly looked away from the girls for a moment as they started to leave.

"Um, Rivet?" he said.

"Yeah, Ratchet?" said Rivet.

"Uhh, if it's okay with you, I'd actually like to talk to you for a second in private," said Ratchet.

"Oh, okay then," replied Rivet.

"Well then, we will leave the room and give you two some time alone to talk," said Clank. "Right, Kit?"

"Yes," replied Kit, nodding her head. "And if you two need us, we will be just down the hall."

"Thanks, guys," Ratchet and Rivet said in unison.

Once the two robots had left the room and shut the door, Rivet sat down next to Ratchet on the bed.

"What is it, Ratchet?" Rivet said with concern as she took his hand.

Ratchet swallowed a big lump in his throat, then took a deep breath and said, "Rivet, in my dream, you were being attacked by a horrible monster. I tried my best to save you, but I was no match for that beast and it killed you within seconds. That's when I woke up screaming."

"Oh, my gosh," Rivet said in shock. "That must have been terrible. But at least it was just a dream."

"Yeah," Ratchet said softly as he turned away from her.

"Ratchet?" said Rivet. "What's wrong?"

"Listen, Rivet," Ratchet said sadly as he turned back to face her. "I know we're gonna try and look for the other Lombaxes. And I know we will find them eventually. It's just that… Well… With Angela missing in action and Alister dead, you're the only Lombax I've met who's still with me, alive and well. And I… I…"

Ratchet was soon having trouble controlling his emotions as tears started to form in his eyes. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around Rivet in a tight hug and started to cry.

"I don't want to lose you!" he sobbed.

Rivet was quite surprised by the sudden hug, but she stroked Ratchet's back and tried to comfort him. But then, tears started to form in her eyes, too. And then, she started to cry as well.

"Oh, Ratchet," she sobbed as she hugged him back. "I just had that same kind of dream a moment ago. And I don't want to lose you, either. You're the only Lombax I've ever met!"

The two Lombaxes hugged each other tightly and continued to cry in each other's arms. Meanwhile, down the hallway, Clank and Kit could hear their friends crying and looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.

"Oh, dear," said Kit. "Do you think we should go and check on them?"

"No, Kit," replied Clank. "We promised them that we would give them some space. I know it is hard, but I am sure they will be all right."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right," Kit said sadly.

A few minutes later, Ratchet and Rivet were finally able to stop crying and process their emotions as they both parted from the hug.

"Are you okay, Rivet?" Ratchet asked as he wiped away the last of his tears.

"Yeah," said Rivet as she took a deep breath. "I'm fine. What about you, Ratchet?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ratchet said with a smile. "Thanks, Rivet. I really needed that."

"So did I," replied Rivet with a smile.

Then there was a small knock at the door.

"Come in," said Ratchet.

The door then opened, and there were Clank and Kit, standing outside the room with concerned looks on their faces.

"Are you two all right now?" asked Kit.

"Yes, Kit," Rivet said with a smile. "We're both fine."

"Oh, that is good to know," Clank said happily as he and Kit walked into the room.

"Come on, Rivet," Kit said calmly. "Let's go back to bed."

"Coming, Kit," replied Rivet.

As the girls walked out of the room, they turned to Ratchet and Clank and said, "Good night, guys."

"Good night," they replied.

Once Rivet and Kit completely left the room, Ratchet got back into his bed and went back to sleep, while Clank went back into sleep mode.