Chapter 7

The cure is simple

Kit and Clank

Sargasso, it's morning, the sun has risen, the animals in the swamp have woken up and begun their life. In Rivet's hideout, in the garage Kit and Clank turned off their sleep mode and got up from the ground.

"Good morning!" greeted Kit Clank and kissed him on the cheek.

"Oh thank you, good morning you too!" said Clank with a sweet tone and kissed back. Clank felt that something was off, usually Ratchet was the one who woke up before them, he looked at the couch but he didn't see him there.

"That's strange, Ratchet is not here." said Clank.

"Indeed, where is he?" asked Kit.

"Maybe he went somewhere and will come back? '' asked reassuring Kit Clank.

"Well, that is a possibility, and why we worry about him, he can protect himself." responded Clank.

"You are right, I think we should wait for them in the kitchen." said Kit.

"Yeah, let's go." said Clank and they made their way to the kitchen. In the kitchen they decided to drink oil while they waited.

Ratchet and Rivet

In Rivet's room everything was peaceful and calm, in the bed Ratchet and Rivet were hugging each other and they didn't mind, they loved it. Ratchet was on Rivet, his head was under her chin while Rivet hugged him with her hands. Both of them smiled and enjoyed their fur contact, all they felt were just their soft and fluffy fur. Ratchet nuzzled to her neck, feeling her scent relaxed him and felt secure in her arms, Rivet groaned from the movement and slowly opened her eyes, she spotted Ratchet in her arms, she wanted to get rid of him, but she saw his face and she stopped, his face was so cute and innocent, it would be a mistake to wake him up, so she gently picked him up and put down next to her. She tried slowly getting up from the bed and slipped away to the kitchen, but her ears perked up from a yawn.

"Good morning Rivet!" said Ratchet happily and got up from the bed. He stretched his arms and yawned.

"Good morning Ratchet!" said Rivet, faking a smile.

"Where did you want to go?" asked her curiously while looking at her with a big smile. Yesterday's night was fantastic for him, he slept with Rivet and dreamed good now, not like previously where he had nightmares.

"I just wanted to have breakfast and didn't want to wake you up." said Rivet.

"Aww, don't kidding with me, I would never skip breakfast." said Ratchet but noticed something else.

"Rivet, how are you feeling right now?" asked Ratchet.

"Uhmmmm, fine." replied Rivet, uncertain what Ratchet wanted to know. Then it hit her.

"I'M FINE. Oh my Orvus! I am feeling fine. I got rid of it. I can't believe it." Rivet jumped in happiness, she hugged Ratchet too.

"Thank you." said Rivet while she embraced him. Ratchet smiled and enjoyed the hug. Then Kit and Clank ran upstairs.

"What happened?" asked the 2 robots in worry.

"I am healed. I can't feel any bad things." explained Rivet.

"That's good to hear, then you don't have to be in quarantine anymore." said Clank.

"I'm glad for your well-being, but how did you defeat it in a single day?" asked Kit curiously.

"Oh you know being a rebel has its advantages and this body defeats any enemies." explained Rivet pointing to herself.

"Khm,Khm." coughed Ratchet who wanted to catch her attention and indicate that he was here too.

"Oh and how can I forget the one who helped me the most, the brave, the kind and mostly dumb Lombax in this dimension." praised Rivet Ratchet who chuckled at her.

"Being a Dumbax has its advantages obviously." said Ratchet who put up a smug face. He was proud of himself and glad that he could spend the night with her.

"Well we are glad that everyone is happy and healthy and with that we should have a proper breakfast." requested Clank.

"Yeah we should, I'm hungry." said Ratchet, having an aching void, his belly empty.

"Yeah let's go." said Rivet and they made their way to the kitchen. They took their seats and began eating. Ratchet sat next to Rivet and Kit sat next to Clank, they sat opposite each other. They ate quietly, enjoying their cereal with milk until Kit spoke.

"Ratchet, what were you doing in Rivet's room?" asked Kit. Ratchet stopped eating, they blushed too, their mouth was full of food, they struggled to say words, but they swallowed it and began speaking.

"It happened at night, I heard noise coming from her room, I checked what was going on, then I saw she couldn't sleep and was freezing and I stayed there for the night." said Ratchet and he looked at Rivet who smiled and blushed. The two robots looked at each other, they were happy for Ratchet but they were scared that he's gonna be infected too.

"Oh dear, and how did you not get infected? How are you feeling, Ratchet?" asked Clank worriedly.

"I'm alright pal, don't worry about me. Besides, the only thing we have to worry about is the other viruses, they are weak against us." said Ratchet, smiling at Rivet who chuckled at him.

"I agree with that. No hero will be defeated by invisible hostiles, especially not you." beamed radiantly Rivet. Ratchet loved seeing her smile and happy, it made his heart beat faster.

"Uhmmm, we should finish the food, I think it would be a waste not to eat." stuttered Ratchet. Rivet gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off and they continued to eat. The cereal with milk was good, but Rivet wanted something more besides breakfast. She searched the freezer for it.

"Um Rivet, what are you searching for?" asked Ratchet looking at her.

"I'm searching for my favourite ice cream you bought for me." said Rivet.

"Oh, ummm I put it at the bottom." said Ratchet blushing.

"Thank you!" She opened the bottom part and took it out. She loved this ice cream when the Morts raised her, she always got ice cream when it was hot or it was her birthday, she even received an ice cream cake. She put it on the table and gave him one.

"Thank you." responded Ratchet. He grabbed it with his metal arm and took a bite from it.

"You are welcome." said Rivet and did the same. They enjoyed their cold food in this hot summer. The two robots decided to drink oil while they were together. Rivet thought about showing Ratchet her hideout and planet more if he's gonna stay here a little.

"Would you be interested in my tour? I can show you my home if you are interested." asked Rivet. Ratchet seeing her face, that beauty, her eyes and smile when she looks at him, it's a treasure that his heart will keep forever.

"Yes, I would love to." replied Ratchet who didn't want to break eye contact, he just stared into her eyes.

"Ok then follow me." said Rivet and got up from her chair. Ratchet lost her eyes and blinked a few times before he eventually followed Rivet outside.

"He really loves her, did you see how he stared at her? I feel sorry for him." looked down Kit in sadness, who wanted them to be together. But life is much more complicated than that.

"Trust me, she will come to her senses and finally accept him. We should help Ratchet, he helped us and we should try too." replied Clank

"You are right, without him I would never be here with you, I will do everything I can to make Rivet his girlfriend," said Kit.

"If they come back we start proceeding with our plan." said Clank.

"You have a plan already?" asked Kit.

"Yes, you would love it. Now listen closely." said Clank and began talking to her.

Ratchet and Rivet

Rivet and Ratchet were on the way to a cave, Ratchet followed Rivet closely because the planet was a swampland and they might have dangerous animals like Grunthors and Troglosaurs.

"Scared a little?" asked Rivet. They were at the entrance of the cave.

"Yeah a little, I just don't like the wildlife here." said Ratchet, scratching his head.

"Then I am pretty sure I can convince you with her." Rivet said while behind her in the dark, two lights glowed next to each other. Ratchet's face reigned on his face and slowly stepped back.

"She is Trudi, be careful she doesn't like foreign people." said Rivet and petted her head. Trudi nuzzled in Rivet's hands. She can get around Rivet because she was around for her before the beginning. They created a special connection to each other and they still have it.

"So she is your friend?" asked Ratchet, not willing to get close to Trudi.

"Well if you don't do anything serious, you can get around her, she is a good girl." replied Rivet while trudi nuzzled in her hands.

"Ok, then I think I can manage to get close to her, right?" pointed out Ratchet.

"C'mon hero boy don't be scared of her, besides don't tell me you didn't ride an animal before?" questioned Rivet, because she thought that this already happened to Ratchet.

"Sorry, I just didn't have someone close like her." shrugged Ratchet. Rivet looked at him sympathetically, guess they didn't know each other fully. Rivet extended her metal arm to Ratchet.

"Then let me show you, I think you will like it." winked Rivet. Ratchet grinned, grabbed her metal arm with his metal arm and hopped onto Trudi behind Rivet.

"You should hold on to something, this ride will be like a roller coaster." spoke Rivet looking behind. She caressed Trudi, who emitted a sound in response.

"Uhmm Rivet, there is nothing to grab." said Ratchet a little panicked.

"Uhhhhhhhhh I guess you can….grab me?" Rivet didn't know if she answered or questioned from the embarrassment.

"Are you sure?" questioned Ratchet, he was unsure if Rivet wanted this. Yeah they slept together but they didn't have to be so close to each other.

"Yeah, just be careful." replied Rivet. Ratchet nodded and slowly hugged her around. Rivet felt a little uncomfortable but after a few seconds she didn't mind it. Ratchet on the other hand had a great time, he was cheerful because he hugged her, the most beautiful lombax, the coolest person, her Lombax Queen. These were the times when he felt that she was the only one for her and no one would take her away. If he fails to protect her, that would be the last one for him.

"Ok girl, we are ready. Let's go." said Rivet and took her position. Trudi after a few seconds started clapping her wings and slowly rose up from the ground. Ratchet, who already was close enough to her, fearing from falling made him hug her stronger. Rivet was surprised by this move, she poked his hand.

"Hey there, can you ease it? I need fresh blood to concentrate." giggled Rivet.

"Oh sorry!" Ratchet quickly eased his grip on her. He forgot how strong he is now with the metal arm too.

When they were about 30 m from the ground, Trudi started to fly one way.

"Where are we going?" asked Ratchet.

"To my family, the Morts." replied Rivet.

"Okay. But why?" questioned Ratchet again.

"I'm just curious about them and I think you will like them. We will go to the Outpost L51." reacted Rivet.

Ratchet's mind hit a break. He never thought about how Rivet was raised and she just had a family. And they should be proud of her, she achieved her dream and became a model of hope and bravery. He was indeed interested in meeting with them, he had a thousand questions from them, especially about Rivet.

30 minutes later

Ratchet and Rivet reached their destination, the Outpost, Trudi landed gently and the two Lombax got off Trudi. One of the Morts saw them and shouted to the others.

"She's back! She's back!" The words echoed through the whole place and soon there were all the Morts.

"Hey hello Mort, Mort, Mort, Mort and all of the Morts. I love you guys." said Rivet before the group hugged. They were so sweet that Ratchet almost didn't mind not being there with them. This moment was unique because she returned in one piece and with a friend, one of the Morts saw Ratchet standing there alone and shouted.

"She found another lombax!" and with that all eyes set on Ratchet. Ratchet greeted them with a smile and a small wave at them.

"Guys, I want to introduce you to Ratchet. He's my dimensional counterpart and best friend."

"Hello Rivet's family." greeted Ratchet. One of the Morts walked over to him and extended his hand. Ratchet grabbed and shook his hand.

"You can call me Mort and we are glad that to meet one Rivet's kind, we thought that she is the only one left." said Mort with a hint of sadness.

"Well I guess you are all glad you were wrong." chuckled Ratchet.

"Why don't we go inside? We will make lemonade and talk more. C'mon." ordered Mort and they all nodded to go into one of the Gelatonium factories.

Everyone was in the factory and enjoyed the conversations they had. Ratchet and Rivet were sitting at a table with some Mort. They talked about Rivet's childhood and how she got to her education on engineering and driving.

"Wait, you found her in a rescue pod? And completely alone?" asked Ratchet completely shocked. He thought that his beginning would have no similarity, but he was wrong and this just proves Rivet's point. Rivet looked down, because she had a rough time recalling that time when they told her that they don't know where she came from and how she got here.

"The pod crashed near the factory and smoked, we heard someone cry and we saw a little baby Lombax there alone. We didn't waste any time trying to open the pod and take her out before the explosion. I took her and ran away before the pod blasted, I think all evidence disappeared with that blast. I'm sorry dear." Mort took Rivet's hand in sympathy, Rivet looked at her and smiled. She was already grateful for them raising her, she wouldn't trade that for anything.

" We wanted to make sure she gets a proper education, so we tried to teach her everything that we could about our culture and work." remembered back Mort. They have a hard time with her sometimes, because she didn't pay attention to what they said to her, got into trouble and stayed up late working on something else.

"She was sneaky and sly, but eventually got better from time to time. And we can say that she's grown into a mature, brave and beautiful woman." added Mort proudly.

"Awww Mort, you make me cry." said Rivet with a tear in her eyes. She hugged her tight and rested her head on her shoulder. Ratchet sat silently in his seat and adored the scene in front of him.

"I love you guys!" spoke Rivet with joy.

"Oh I almost forgot something, wait for me." said Mort and walked away.

"You have a beautiful family." spoke Ratchet. "I wish I had one too like yours." added sadly. Rivet's expressions softened, when she heard those words.

"What do you mean you didn't have a family? I thought you had someone like them?" replied Rivet confusedly.

"Nope, I had someone called Grim who found me near his garage in a rescue pod, he adopted me and ta-da, here we are." answered Ratchet.

"I mean he was not bad, right?" asked Rivet.

"Well he taught me everything about what to do in a garage and fed me everyday, so I don't think I could ask for another. But he was not like a father figure to me, more like a mentor."

"I see, but it's better than nothing, am I right?" took his metal arm with hers and squeezed it.

"Yes, I think." gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her arm too.

"Oh am I interrupting lovebirds?" asked Mort while holding something in her hands. Ratchet and Rivet snatched their hands away.

"Uhm no and we are not a thing." responded Rivet.

"Shame, you two would be cute together." added Mort. The two Lombax blushed from the comment and tried to quickly change the subject.

" What did you bring?" asked Ratchet.

"Oh these, these are photos about Rivet from when she was a kid." said Mort.

"Ok I definitely want to see them." said Ratchet walking over to her, eager to see it.

"This is the day when we found her, we put a blanket around her and fed her." said mort showing the picture where Rivet is in a blanket and Mort holding her while feeding her.

"Awww it's so.." Ratchet wanted to continue but Rivet interrupted.

"Don't you dare say the word." said Rivet with a glare.

"Ok. And what if I say adorable?" asked Ratchet with a smirk. Rivet lightly punched his shoulder.

"Auuu….. OK, noted." Ratchet felt the pain and let out a small moan in agreement. Mort laughed and continued.

"And this is her 8th birthday, there are others, but this was a little different than the others because this is when she got her hammer. We bought her at Mrs. Zurkon and she squealed from joy when she unwrapped it." In the pic was Rivet with her hammer and the cake.

"And still in good use, you really love it, don't you?" asked Ratchet.

"Well it's good for hammering my enemies and for engineering, so it's in good use." stated Rivet.

"Oh this is when she built her ship. We were so proud of her that she was able to build one. That ship was her new room for her, she didn't come out for days, it was like her little bunker." remembered Mort.

"Yeah that ship was so awesome, I managed to get a comfortable seat when I was running errands. I still remember the day when I slept there for weeks." said Rivet.

"And for the last one, she joined the Resistance at 12. She was so eager to fight against the Emperor, our brave girl." showed Mort the pic where Rivet posed with 3 Resistance fighters.

"Wow, and I just started saving the galaxy at 18, this just shows how much she's capable of." appreciated Ratchet Rivet. Rivet grinned and crossed her arms.

"If that's so, I am more experienced than you." flexed her arm.

"Yeah you are." said Mort. " Ratchet right? How did you get that arm?" inquired Mort. Ratchet and Rivet glanced at each other nervously and nodded.

" Well if I wanna say shortly, a bomb exploded in my hand." sighed Ratchet.

"He saved my life with that, if he hadn't noticed it on my back." spoke Rivet. Mort glanced at Rivet and then Ratchet. A few seconds later she smirked at the two.

"I can see that you two are really special to each other and I can say she made the arm, am I right?" glimpsed at the arm.

" He saved my life, this is the least I can do." beamed at Ratchet.

" Well I can see that you two are in good hands." smiled Mort at them.

" I will go to the toilet now. Be in a minute." walked away Rivet quickly.

" Ratchet come here." ordered Mort. Ratchet walked to her.

" Answer me honestly, do you love her? I can see from your look, she stole your heart didn't she?" snickered Mort.

" Yes, but she doesn't." added Ratchet cheerlessly. Mort's jaw dropped from the comment.

"Wait, how does she not love you? When I saw you, I thought that she found the significant other."

" Thank you, but she is afraid that I'm her male version from another dimension. She thinks that is weird and wrong." explained Ratchet.

"Nonsense, she is just confused, give her time." advised Mort.

"Understood, then I will tell you what happened there at her home until she's here." said Ratchet.

"OK dear, let's hear it." replied Mort.

Rivet

Rivet entered the bathroom and did her job. When she washed her hands, she looked at her face.

"C'mon, you don't love him, it's all wrong." the thoughts in her head just kept being louder. She grabbed her head and sighed, cleared her mind and looked in the mirror again.

"Ok, you just have to think straight and don't have second thoughts about "us". said Rivet to herself. And with that she quit the bathroom. On the way to the factory, she heard a strange voice near the factory at the building materials.

" We have the raritanium in the boxes and thank you for choosing us." said Mort while shaking his hand with someone else. Rivet didn't quite catch the person, but she was curious who it was. She walked closer to see a male Markazian, who was so handsome, she didn't catch what he said while staring at him.

"Hello? Hello? Are you Rivet? I've heard about you, you are our saviour, I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for us." greeted the Markazian Rivet.

"Oh hi, yeah, yeah, it was nothing, really." shook her head and scratched her ear. She even blushed, he is so handsome and polite.

"And you are here for?" asked curiously.

" Trade, business and travelling also." explained the Markazian. "Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Dax Bogg, pleasure to meet you, Rivet." said Dax.

" Indeed a pleasure to meet you too." said Rivet while blushing.

In the background, Ratchet and Mort watched them with jaws dropped. Their eyes stopped working and the world stopped. Ratchet said two words that described this event.

"Oh no."