Chapter III

A/N: I've gotten my first two reviews! :3 So here, I'll be replying to them!

WafflesnRamen: I love these two's dynamic! I was a little curious how you would make Klunk work with him just being a more passive aggressive Clank but honestly he's perfect!

I can't wait to see more

My Reply: Yeeee, I'm so happy you love their dynamic! Klunk is a hard character to write, so I'm really glad it's paid off so far. The contrast in their personalities, opinions, etc. makes writing them fun though, especially since it gives me an excuse to develop their characters and relationship over time— rather than them being instant friends like Ratchet and Clank were in the 2016 game (which is why in terms of character development and jokes in addition to a few other things, I prefer the 2002 game).

DANGIT-Man: I'm enjoying this a lot. I love that the Lombax and robot in this duo have different personalities than Ratchet and Clank did from the first game. I hope you continue making this.

My Reply: You should probably thank Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for that XD, since Klunk appears in the former and Rivet will be showing up in the latter as a new playable character. So both games more or less give me stuff to work with. Since I've yet to get my hands on Rift Apart for obvious reasons, I do take some artistic liberties on her personality while still making sure it fits with what we've seen of her in trailers/previews/etc.

Rivet approaches the waterworks building, tugging lightly on her gloves. The structure had been built into the mountain, essentially having become a part of the jagged mass of rock. For some reason or another, this entrance to the waterworks had been left open— the twin doors are holed up in their slots in the ground and ceiling, clearly indicating that the place hadn't been broken into.

Unless the doors were hacked.

Either way, it doesn't really matter. The feline un-equips her Mallet and clambers onto the nearest fallen stalactite, blue eyes flicking about to make sure they're not going to be subject to a surprise attack or something. She climbs up onto the next section of stalactite, and crouches low as she gauges the distance between this stalactite and the one ahead of her.

I can make it.

Rivet lunges forward, and barely— just barely— makes the jump. She lands on her hands and knees, and a painful shock shoots up her upper legs from the impact. She ignores it though, in favour of getting back on her feet and pushing onward. The silver Lombax scales the following stalactite, and stiffens a little upon seeing the pumps up ahead. They're stick thin, and spray painted white everywhere except for their big, circular tops— which are a bright yellow.

The pumps move up and down at regular intervals, pausing for several seconds after each movement before jerking up or down.

This is going to be tricky.

As soon as the one closest to her lowers down to a more or less reachable height, Rivet crouches low and then vaults forward, flinging her gloved hands out in front of her to catch the edge if she has to. Thankfully, it's unnecessary, as she lands stomach-first in the middle of the makeshift platform.

It's going to be real fun doing it a second time.

Rivet almost slips when she catapults to the next one— which would've been really bad if she'd fallen, as she could easily crack her skull on the way down— but manages to land safely. Her ribs are definitely going to be bruised later, though. Another leap, and the feline's finally standing on something that is actually a floor, and not a makeshift platform. Of course, in the room ahead, there's a small group of the pint-sized bird-like bots, quacking to each other intermittently.

Rivet tele-equips her FissionMallet, and darts into the next room, swinging her melee weapon high before bringing it down on the nearest robot. The droid instantly crumples, and its brethren can only watch in utter shock— which gives the young feline the chance to smash the rest to pieces in less than a minute. Her Mallet quickly sucks up all the fallen bolts. After that, she smashes a couple of crates that— just moments before their demise— were stashed against the wall, picking up those bolts too, along with some ammunition.

"Hmm," Klunk hums thoughtfully, startling Rivet enough to almost make her jump. "Interesting. I am detecting a faint energy signature somewhere above us," the little bot explains, a hint of… curiosity? now entering his voice. "I believe it may be a gold bolt."

"A gold bolt? What's it doing here?" Rivet mutters, rather puzzled. How in Solana could a gold bolt wind up here, in a waterworks building? The silver feline turns around, taking in the uneven staircase up ahead of them. Clearly this place wasn't built with Lombaxes in mind… Directly in front of the staircase, on either side, there are two thin walls placed parallel to the steps, and opposite to each other. She tilts her head up slightly, and sees that one of the walls tilts into a sort of narrow path at the top. "Well, this is gonna be interesting…"

"What is going to be interesting?" Klunk demands as the Lombax approaches one of the walls. If she doesn't know any better, she'd say he's a little nervous. "Rivet? What are you going to do?"

Great. The one time he calls me by my actual name, and it's because he's freaking out.

Rivet crouches down and vaults towards the wall, swinging her hands and feet out in front of her. They make contact with the metallic surface, and she pushes herself off with every drop of strength in her body. Her fingers and feet make contact with the opposite wall, and she repeats. Repeats. And repeats a final time— and latching her fingers onto the ledge above her. She carefully pulls herself up, moving slow and controlled to avoid slipping. Once she's safely resting with her hands and knees on the metal platform, Rivet pushes herself onto her feet and spies the large golden bolt sitting there in front of her, glowing faintly.

"Lombax, you are insane," Klunk mutters. "Completely, utterly insane."

"Oh, you hush, bolts— it wasn't that bad," Rivet tells him as she bends down and picks up the gold bolt. It's surprisingly pretty light, despite its size. She releases it from one hand, re-equipping her Mallet. The gold bolt rises up from her gloved hand and zips through the air towards the Mallet's head. The bolt disappears in a flash of yellow light. "And besides, your gold bolt was up here."

"And how, exactly," Klunk drawls, annoyance now dripping into his voice, "do you propose we get down?"

Rivet's body stiffens, and a split second later, her ears flatten. "… uhhh…" She lifts up her hand and presses the green button on her glove. The holographic display for her bolt count pops up, and she swipes to the left to look at her weapons and gadgets. "Aha! My Swingshot! It's not just compatible with Versa-Targets… if I can just make sure it's secure…"

While the Swingshot is indeed not just compatible with Versa-Targets, it's a lot harder to use on other surfaces. Mainly because it's more difficult for the grapple to get a grip. Still, it's the only way they'll be able to get down safely… Rivet tele-equips her Swingshot and takes aim at the ceiling.

Three… two… one!

Rivet flicks her wrist back, firing the Swingshot. The grapple latches onto the ceiling, and the feline wraps her fingers around the green coil of energy— tugging a little to make sure it's secure. She then leaps off the platform, and closes her hand in a fist, triggering the pulley system inside the Swingshot and lowering herself down to the floor. The Lombax releases a soft sigh of relief once her boots hit the floor with a light thunk. She flicks her wrist down, disengaging the grapple.

"You really should stop and think before you act, squishy," Klunk tells her. "We might not be so lucky next time."

"You wanna know something, bolts?" Rivet asks as she un-equips her Swingshot and approaches the strange staircase leading up to a set of shut double doors. "You're really bossy."

"I think the word you are looking for is 'logical.'"

"Whatever." Rivet rolls her eyes and climbs up the steps, her arms and legs starting to feel a bit like jello from all the physical activity she's gone through in the past few hours. The double doors slide open with a swift woosh, and the feline is greeted by none other than one of the larger bird-bots.

Before it can react to the fuzzy intruder's presence, Rivet's already tele-equipping her FissionMallet and smashing the bot's face with it. Another whack and the droid goes down in a heap of sparking circuits and steaming metal.

Once the bot's down and out, Rivet steps over the smashed up remains of the machine and sprints towards the gap that separates her from the other end of the room. The Lombax skids to a stop just at the edge of the metal floor, and peers down the divide to see what would be awaiting her if she falls. It appears to be a section of a sewer pipe, with surprisingly crystal clear water streaming down it at rapid speeds.

Rivet takes a couple steps back, and lowers into a crouch— and then she lunges forward, springing off the edge and soaring through the air for a couple of seconds. She manages to hit the floor on the other side safely, boots thunking loudly against the metal. Two more of the smaller bots greet the feline— only to meet the same fate as their buddy from just a few minutes earlier.

Rivet twirls her Mallet between her fingers, to show off— even though there's no one to show off to— and winds up whacking the side of her own head in the process.

"What are you doing?" Klunk growls, managing to startle the Lombax a second time.

"I— uh— nothing!" Rivet quickly un-equips her Mallet and starts heading towards the next set of double doors. Which, strangely enough, can only be reached via using the small, moving pump in front of the doors as a platform.

Can this planet get any more weird?

Neither Rivet nor Klunk had been expecting to find anyone in the waterworks.

And yet, before the Lombax and robot— hunched over with their back to the duo— stands a Novalian plumber wearing a pair of bright orange overalls. They're singing an old rock song to themself, as they work on the pipes in front of them, firetruck-red plumbing wrench in hand. "I'm goin' off the tail of a crazy comet…"

"Uhh… hi?" Rivet pipes up nervously.

"Oww-ooch!" The plumber quickly turns around, eyebrows furrowed as they rub their forehead in obvious pain. Their eyes light up in recognition upon seeing the duo. "About time you twos showed up. The fighter jet's all set and ready to go— but you'll need this to operate it." They reach behind their back and pull from out of Loki knows where a bronze-coloured helmet with a blue glass visor and two holes on the back of the helmet itself that are big enough for Rivet's ears to comfortably fit through. "Only people who wear this helmet can activate the jet. Think of it as the jet's version of a Robotic Ignition System."

"… how did you know we were here for the fighter jet?" Klunk asks, clearly somewhat unnerved by the plumber's words. Rivet can't blame him. She finds it pretty creepy too.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out," the plumber answers without actually, well, answering the question. They toss the helmet towards the Lombax, who whips her gloved hands up and catches it. "Come back after you take care of the invasion— I got a little somethin' the two of yous might find useful." The plumber doesn't wait for a response— turning around and getting back to work on the pipes. "Let's go! Dah do dah do-do— I've listened to leeches, I've listened to…"

"… ooo-kay…" Rivet gives the helmet a quick, cautious sniff, and then— after removing her goggles and uploading those to her Quick Select interface, slips the helmet over her head. Surprisingly, and eerily enough, it's a perfect fit. "Let's just… y'know, go."

"Yes, let's." Klunk lifts his hand up, and Rivet grabs it. She swings him around, and their magnetic mounts click together softly.

Apparently this planet can get weirder.

"Rivet! Do slow down!"

Rivet pushes the lever in between her seat and Klunk's, before pressing a couple buttons on the jet's dashboard. She then swerves the steering to the left, causing the jet to twirl through the air. The feline slams her thumb down on the red button atop one of the handles— fiery pellets burst from the jet's cannons, disabling several Blarg fighters. The little ships spiral down to the ground helplessly, leaving trails of black smoke in their wake.

Klunk finally settles back into his seat after being flung about by his ally's very questionable piloting skills. "Next time— I am piloting!"

The plan is to get Klunk onto the bridge of the closest warship, so he can hack into its main computer and reprogram it to transmit self-destruct codes to all other Blarg vessels attacking the planet— before blowing up itself.

Simple enough.

The fighter jet swerves again, this time less violently. The nose tilts towards the nearest warship, and Rivet presses her foot harder against the gas pedal, speeding the jet up. She weaves in between the Blarg fighters, dodging their blaster fire and missiles while delivering some nasty payloads of her own.

Rivet clambers out of the fighter jet first, and Klunk quickly follows after her— both sets of feet thumping against the floor upon impact.

After the little bot is safely secured on the Lombax's back and her Dual Raptors equipped, Rivet takes a moment to study her surroundings. Aside from the duo themselves, the fighter jet, and a Nanotech crate, the hangar they hijacked is empty. It probably won't be for much longer, though. The feline twirls her Raptors as she approaches the lone door at the other end of the room, bright blue eyes flicking back and forth cautiously.

She reaches out with her leg, and presses the sole of her boot against the big red button to the right of the door.

The door slides open with a soft woosh.

Rivet keeps her Dual Raptors pointed in front of her, in case she needs to react quickly. The silver Lombax tiptoes quietly down the hallway, shivering a little due to the cold. Doesn't help that my shirt doesn't have sleeves… She strains her ears against the silence, waiting to catch any sound. One fluffy ear twitches as the noise of feet falling from somewhere deeper in the ship hits her eardrums.

And the source seems to be getting closer rather fast.

Rivet reaches the end of the corridor, and the next door standing in her way woosh-es open— revealing a thoroughly startled Blarg soldier waiting on the other side. The feline kicks them in the shin, and the reptilian buckles over with a pained yelp. She then smashes the butt of one of her Raptors' grips right in the soldier's face, knocking them out cold.

"A Lombax!" Another Blarg soldier further down the corridor ahead shouts, tele-equipping their own weapon— a Megacorp Pulse Rifle. Rivet whips her other Raptor up and pulls the trigger. Two seconds later, the Blarg slumps to the floor, a scorched, gnarled hole left behind in their chest.

"…" Rivet all of a sudden feels numb as she stares at the limp body. Her hands start to tremble, and she grips her Dual Raptors harder as she points one at the last Blarg in the room. "Drop it," the Lombax tells them, her voice coming out thin. When the soldier doesn't, keeping their own Heavy Lancer pointed at her in their trembling hands, Rivet repeats more firmly and steadily, "Drop. It."

"I'm dropping it, I'm dropping it!" the Blarg tells her hurriedly, finally dropping the weapon. They start backing away, and then barge their way through an open door in the wall to Rivet's left.

The feline releases a shudder-riddled sigh, her grip on her weapons only tightening.

"Are you ill?" Klunk pipes up after a moment. "Your heartrate and persp—"

"I'm fine," Rivet growls, cutting the silver bot off. The feline switches over to her Bomb Glove, trying not to think about it.

Don't think about it, don't think about it… don't look at it…

"Is this the first time you have killed someone?"

"Not the time for this. Ask me laaater," Rivet shoots back as she settles her side against the wall beside the open door, peering around the corner cautiously.

It's empty.

The feline turns her gaze on her hands, pressing a yellow button on her normal glove to bring up the holographic map of the warship that Klunk was able to provide her with prior to their acquisition of the fighter jet. "Alright, so if we go this way, then we can reach the bridge by…" Her words dissolve into incoherent mumblings. After a moment, she deactivates the map and rounds the corner— prepared to lob a bomb if necessary.

Thankfully, there's still no one in this particular corridor.

Rivet inches forward cautiously, equipping her Fission Mallet in her free hand as well. The Lombax reaches the end of the hall, and kicks the red button next to the door. The barrier swishes open, revealing a much wider room with higher walls and ceiling. Decorating it are three rows of massive green tanks, and equally huge Raritanium-plated crates. And, of course, there are plenty of Blarg soldiers congregating the area.

"There are the intruders!" one of them shouts as they jump up and down frantically, pointing at Rivet, and presumably Klunk as well. "Get 'em!"

"Good luck with that, buddy!" Rivet lunges towards the nearest soldier, swinging her Mallet up and then bringing it down on their head with a violent crack. She doesn't pause for even a second— slamming her weapon into the chest of another Blarg, knocking the wind out of their lungs. She unequips her Bomb Glove and re-equips one of her Dual Raptors, whipping the pistol-like machine gun up towards a third Blarg and pulling down on the trigger. Her ears catch the sound of a thud, and she knows that she hit her mark. She tries not to look at her handywork, instead focusing on avoiding getting shot by the two Blarg soldiers that still remain.

The two soldiers have to stop shooting in order to reload— Rivet decides to exploit this opportunity to bring them both down. The young Lombax sprints towards them, and then drops into a slide, the momentum from her brief run propelling her across the metal floor. She swings her Mallet, and slams it into one of the soldiers' shin. She skids to a stop, and smashes the weapon against the Blarg's skull.

The lone Blarg that remains drops their Burst Pistol in a panic. "I surrender! I surrender!"

Getting through the rest of the ship to the bridge was no easy task, but the duo finally got there. Rivet stands guard by the main console— keeping an eye out for any more soldiers who would almost certainly come swarming in at some point to try to stop them— while Klunk hacks the computer. The feline glances down at her right arm, which is gnarled with burnt flesh that's quickly knitting up with the help of some Nanotech that she'd swiped from a couple of the crates she and Klunk had found lying around.

Five minutes later, and not even a scar has been left behind.

Rivet jerks, startled, as the computer Klunk's working on releases a long, loud beep.

"Warning, warning," a computerized voice squelches over the speakers bolted to the ceiling. "Self-destruct sequence initiated. Please remove all personal belongings."

"I take it you're all done?" Rivet asks, holding her hand out to Klunk.

"Indeed I am," the robot answers, settling his hand in her palm. "Now, let us leave before we are blown up along with the warship."

A/N: I have mixed feelings about this particular chapter- maybe it's because I'm not used to writing chapters this long, idk. Hope it was okay, though! Also, I really did want to include the plumber's crack joke, but from what I can gather of her personality from what Insomniac has shown us so far, Rivet doesn't seem like the type to make jokes like that.

Also, yeah, I decided to incorporate gold bolts in this fic, because why not?