Kaden awoke to the sound of his alarm, a gentle beeping emanating from the clock on his nightstand, displaying that it was 9:00 in the morning. After waiting a few seconds to wake up from his drowsiness, he reaches over and silences it with a press of a button, taking a moment to rub his face before sitting up to stretch.
But as he threw his legs over the side of his bed, his face wasn't adorned with a scowl like it usually was first thing in the morning, often produced from a simple want to go back to sleep instead of getting up to go to work. Instead, he was wearing a small but pleased smile as he got up to go and get dressed, feeling invigorated by the simple fact that he awoke to another morning with his son back in his life, a high that he believed he could never get tired of.
And that high was particularly exacerbated as thoughts of yesterday's events played through his mind like a splendid film, recalling all the fond memories he made with Ratchet. Having breakfast with him, taking him to the City Guard, and going out hoverbooting together, that last one he was particularly happy about in the fact that he still got the skills even after all these years, although he lost the race back to Lyra when they left, which Ratchet didn't let him love down for a good fifteen minutes.
But despite all the gloating, he enjoyed how eager Ratchet looked when he got into her pilot's seat, though, looking just like a kid who got a new toy. And although it was quickly overshadowed by the acute sense of fear and anxiety he felt when Ratchet immediately tested to see how fast she could go, he managed to calm down with relief when he realized that Ratchet was thankfully telling the truth when he said he's a great pilot, and began to enjoy all the tricks and maneuvers he pulled off in the empty sky, being reminded of his own reckless days before he had him fly them all back home.
And for the rest of the night, he, along with Lyra's assistance, gave Ratchet a crash course on the basics of Lombax shipcraft, pointing out all the special technology that he never got a chance to see back in his own dimension, with Ratchet enthusiastically following along as Clank quietly listened beside him. Kaden was amazed at just how quickly he was able to pick up what he was telling him, though, going so far as to correctly assuming what piece did what after a while, and it made him swell with pride that his son appeared to be quite the bright Lombax, having a natural ingenuity at figuring out such advanced tech that he's never seen before. With only a few years' professional training, Kaden didn't doubt that Ratchet could find himself working at the Center right along with him if he wanted to.
It was when it eventually got too dark outside that they couldn't properly see everything in Lyra's engine that they decided to call it a night, Kaden cooking them a simple dinner before they both bid each other a good night, excited thoughts of their future together being the last thing he remembered before finally falling asleep.
It was one of the best days in his entire life, and as he walked out of his bedroom, he promised himself that it wouldn't be the last, and that he would try and make today just as great, if not better. And what better way to start off than by cooking them both a nice homemade breakfast?
But before he could do that, he looks over to Ratchet's bedroom door across the hall. With a smile, he walks up to it, unable to resist indulging in this new luxury of knowing his son will be right behind it, peacefully sleeping away, no longer stranded in another dimension.
He quietly turns the knob, and cracks it open to see—
Nothing?
Confused, Kaden opens the door all the way and steps inside, finding Ratchet's cot silently hovering above the ground, empty except for his tossed blanket and wrinkled pillow. Not even Clank was in here, he realized.
He walks out of the room, a sense of panic and dread beginning to grow in his gut. Did he leave? Did he run away? Was he kidnapped somehow?!
He quickly makes his way down the stairs, mind beginning to race with increasingly irrational worries and fears explaining his absence, but as he reaches the bottom, he realizes he can hear noises coming from the kitchen, accompanied with the smell of something cooking.
Placing a hand on his chest, he stops to take a sigh of relief at knowing that he hasn't disappeared from his life once again, only having gotten up earlier than him to make something.
After taking a few seconds to assure himself that his heart wasn't going to beat out of his chest from the moment of intense fear and panic, he walks into the kitchen to find Ratchet at the stove with Clank standing on a chair beside him to watch what he was doing, both their backs turned to him.
"Ratchet, are you sure you don't want me to cook breakfast instead?" Clank asks. "It's really no problem."
"No, I've got this." He tells him firmly, tightly gripping onto the pan's handle in front of him, staring at it with an intense focus. "If I can survive a fight with a War Grok, I can cook a pancake."
"Erm… are you sure about that?" He replies hesitantly, glancing to a plate of lopsided and/or burnt pancakes sitting on the counter in front of them. "Combat skills hardly translate to culinary skills, you know. In fact, they don't translate at all."
"Of course they do!" Ratchet argues, turning his head over to look at him for a quick moment. "There's… um… oh, focus! That's one! And I've got it down!" He says, returning to his intense posture of concentrating solely on the flapjack in front of him.
"Focus doesn't make a good pancake, though, having the adequate knowledge and experience of when and how to flip them is what makes—"
"Whatever, you're still not making breakfast, I am." He cuts him off.
"You are aware that you can just tell your father that you made breakfast yourself even if I cook it, right?"
He scoffs. "I'm not going to stoop that low, pal, it'd just be plain sad if I had to lie about cooking breakfast for my dad, you know. Which I won't have to, by the way, because I can cook pancakes!"
"You burned nearly half—"
"Shut up, I think it's ready." Ratchet states, gripping tightly onto the pan, prompting Clank to roll his optics.
Kaden watches as Ratchet lifts the pan off the stove, and after what appeared to be a mumbling of something along the lines of 'you got this', he uses it to flip the pancake into the air before plopping right back down into the pan with a sizzle.
"Yes!" He celebrates with a fist pump before turning to face Clank. "See that, Clank? I can make a pancake! It's not burnt or lopsided, see?" He says, tilting the pan to show off his handiwork. "It's perfect!"
"And it only took you sixteen attempts as well." He replies dryly. "Good job, Ratchet, I believe you're actually improving."
"Damn right I am!" He says proudly, either not noticing or ignoring Clank's subtle jab.
But as he stands there facing Clank, he glances over and sees Kaden standing on the other side of the kitchen, watching onto him with a warm smile.
"Gah!" He cries out, jumping slightly as he raises his arms, sending the pancake into the air once more before it lands onto the floor with a soft slap.
And as he calms down from the fright, Ratchet looks back down onto it in dismay while Kaden snickers. "Dammit, that was my best one." He mutters.
"Morning." Kaden casually greets him.
Ratchet frowns at him. "Is this just going to be a thing now? Scaring each other in the middle of making breakfast?"
Kaden shrugs. "Hopefully not, I don't want to make it a habit to clean the floor first thing in the morning."
"Don't worry, I will get it." Clank says as he hops off the chair he's standing on to walk over and pick the pancake off of the ground and throwing it into the trash can, where Kaden spots at least five other casualties of Ratchet's cooking resting on top.
"How long were you standing there?" Ratchet asks, placing the pan back onto the stove.
"Long enough to know that you're doing this for me, apparently." He answers, walking over to take a seat at the kitchen island. "So, is it ready?" He asks with a smile.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I've got a few ready to go, actually." Ratchet answers, turning back around to take the plate of pancakes off the counter, and places it down onto the kitchen island as Clank sets out the appropriate plates and forks for the both of them as Ratchet sits down with his father.
Kaden reaches over and takes the first two pancakes off the stack, shortly followed by Ratchet, and places them onto his plate, and saw that they looked… alright. They were in strange oblong shapes, and he was pretty sure a good quarter of one was overcooked, too.
"So, erm, whaddya think?" Ratchet asks as nonchalantly as he could, but Kaden could clearly see the apprehensiveness in his gaze as he looked at him.
"Oh, it looks… great!" Kaden reassures him with a smile before cutting off a small piece with his fork before taking it into his mouth, and chewing it, found it to be… not that great, leaving him to guess that Ratchet was also the one who made the batter as well.
However, despite the not-so-pleasant taste, he swallows it down and gives him a thumbs-up nonetheless. "Tasty."
Ratchet just stares at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "You could just say it sucks, you know." He states plainly. "I mean, I can admit I'm not the greatest cook in the galaxy, after all."
"And I can attest to that." Clank adds, sitting beside him.
"Hey, I wasn't asking you." He chides him.
"No, really, it's good!" Kaden assures him, taking another bite, but unpleasantly finding that the texture was different this time, proving his initial thoughts that these indeed were cooked unevenly. He swallows it down again, and finds that he had to force himself to do so.
But as he gives him another thumbs-up while humming 'Mmm-mmm', Ratchet only continues to stare at him skeptically, and looks back down to his similarly imperfect stack of pancakes before using his fork to take a bite as well.
However, after only a few chews, his face scrunches into a look of disgust as he spits it back out onto his plate.
"Ugh, how'd you manage to swallow two bites out of that garbage?" He asks, pushing his plate aside. "That nasty Citri-whatever juice you gave me yesterday tasted better than this."
And upon hearing this, Kaden breathes a small sigh of relief. "Phew, I was worried about hurting your feelings there if I told you how terrible that meal was." He says with a small chuckle. "And besides, I was just grateful you even cooked me anything at all. I appreciate the gesture, Ratchet." He says with a genuine smile.
And despite the disappointment he felt towards himself for botching up what was supposed to be a nice breakfast with his dad, Ratchet beams at the compliment nonetheless. But as he does, he feels his stomach rumble, prompting him to look down at it, and back up to the plate of his ruined attempt at a meal.
"Well, I'm glad you think that, dad, but it doesn't change the fact that that we don't have anything edible to eat for breakfast." He says as he glances back to his hardly-touched, foul-tasting pancakes before looking back over to Clank. "Erm, you think you could…?"
"It'd be my pleasure, Ratchet." Clank assures him with a nod before taking both their plates, hopping out of his chair and back over to the counter near the stove. "Plus, I expected this to happen anyway. It'll only be a few minutes."
"A few minutes? It took me nearly fifteen just to make the batter!" Ratchet replies with disbelief, turning in his chair to look back at him.
"That's because I know what I am doing, so I don't have to waste time by alternating between asking my partner for help to being adamant that I do not actually need it." He answers back smugly, grabbing another bowl and the needed ingredients.
Ratchet scoffs as he turns back, crossing his arms. "Whatever, I'll get it someday."
"If I had lungs, I would not hold my breath anytime soon."
"You know, Ratchet," Kaden speaks up, prompting Ratchet to look back at him from sneering at Clank, "I can teach you a thing or two about cooking if you want. I mean, I honestly wasn't much better than you when I started cooking for myself, so I get where you're coming from. I can even show you some recipes that Marie managed to teach me, too, it'd be a fun thing we could sometime." He offers optimistically.
Ratchet perks up a bit at the suggestion, but as he does, Clank pipes up from the counter, whisking a bowl of batter.
"Just be prepared for a fire to break out, Kaden." He casually warns. "Approximately seventy-five percent of my attempts to teach him how to cook ends with the kitchen covered in fire-retardant. It is a miracle that this room managed to survive one such attempt as is."
Ratchet groans. "Oh, come on, don't be so dramatic, pal."
"I'm not being dramatic at all, Ratchet." He argues. "That is an actual, recorded calculation that I made from our past experiences, albeit rounded for posterity's sake. The actual figure is more accurately seventy-three point three two five nine seven—"
"Alright, alright, I got it, I suck at cooking, you don't have to rub it in any more than you have to." Ratchet cuts him off. "Smartass."
Kaden chuckles. "Well, thanks for the warning, Clank, I'll be sure to have a fire extinguisher on standby whenever we try making cookies together."
"I recommend two, actually." He replies, now beginning to pour the batter back into a pan to begin cooking more pancakes. "Better safe than sorry!"
And as he chuckles to himself, Ratchet rolls his eyes before bringing his attention back to Kaden. "Alright, my cooking skills aside, what are we doing today? Going out for another round of hoverbooting?" He asks, wanting to change the topic.
"Ah, sorry to say, but we can't, actually. I've gotta get back to work at the Center." He answers apologetically, thumbing back outside.
"Aww," Ratchet mutters with a small slump. "Can't you just take a day off like yesterday?"
"Well… I could do that, I guess, but with the Dimensionator ban being lifted, I guarantee that the Interdimensional Division is going to get a hell of a lot busier, and I'll never hear the end of it from Mags if I left him high and dry like that." He explains. "Plus, I imagine he's just itching to get back out to explore the multiverse again, and I can't say I want to keep him from doing that. But, hey, if you come with me, you'll get to spend some time with both him and Julie and get to know them better, and that doesn't sound bad, right?" He offers with a raised brow.
"I… guess that sounds like fun." Ratchet answers with a small smile. "They seem like cool people to hang out with, from what I've seen."
"That they are." Kaden replies amusedly. "I wouldn't have been friends with them for all these years if they weren't, after all. Plus, I also promised Julie that I'd let her show you around her lab sometime, so I figure today's a good chance to let her impress you like she desperately wants."
"Impress me?" Ratchet repeats with a tilted head. "What exactly is in her lab that she thinks will impress me?"
"Guns." He answers pointedly. "A lot of guns. And cannons. And bombs, missiles, lasers, you name it. Basically, if it can blow something up, she's made it. I'm sure you'll like it."
"It definitely sounds awesome," he replies with piqued interest, "Will I get to use any, though?"
"I'm almost certain she wants to show you so you can use them."
"And will I get to keep some?" He follows up eagerly with a smile.
Kaden rolls his eyes. "Well, considering how eager she is to be your new, 'cool' aunt, I think it's safe to say that she'll let you take one home if you ask."
"Yes!" Ratchet quietly mutters to himself while giving a small fist pump.
Kaden raises an eyebrow. "And why exactly are you so happy about that?"
"Well, because I'll get to add something new to my collection, and if it's Lombax tech, then it must be awesome." He answers happily. "Plus, if it's a prototype, then that means it's one-of-a-kind that hardly anyone else will have, so how could I not be excited about that?"
However, as he says that, Kaden begins to chuckle, making Ratchet look back at him with confusion.
"What's so funny?" He asks.
"Nothing," He answers, "I'm just thinking about how lucky Julie is that she happened to adopt the perfect nephew for herself."
Before Ratchet could question him on exactly why he thinks that, Clank suddenly comes over and places two plates of freshly-cooked, beautiful pancakes onto the island in front of them before taking a seat next to Ratchet. "Enjoy." He states proudly.
"Wow, that was quick." Ratchet comments with amazement.
"Like I said, it is quite easy when you have the adequate experience." Clank astutely replies. "Especially after years of practice for cooking for you."
"Well, it definitely paid off for sure." Kaden chimes in, taking a bite out of his own stack. "These are tasty, great job, Clank." He says, flashing him a thumbs-up.
Clank beams. "Why, thank you, Kaden, I appreciate the compliment."
"Yeah, I should've just had you cook breakfast from the get-go." Ratchet adds, beginning to eat his as well. "This is way better than the garbage I threw together."
"Hey, like I said, it wasn't all that bad." Kaden argues. "I mean, I swallowed it, didn't I? You're not very far from getting it right, just watch."
"Are you forgetting how you called them terrible right after I did?" He counters.
"Even then, it doesn't change the fact that it was made with love," he responds with a smile and caring look, "And knowing that made it taste all the better."
Ratchet, however, groans with a roll of his eyes. "Ugh, that's gotta be one of the cheesiest things I've ever heard."
Kaden snickers. "You've got your mom to thank for that one. That's exactly what she'd say to me whenever I made something that tasted just as horrible as your pancakes."
"So… you are calling them bad." He replies with a raised eyebrow.
"Obviously." He replies amusedly. "It wouldn't have hurt to make them with a little bit more sugar on top of that love next time, along with a little less time on the stove."
"See?" Clank smugly asks. "I said you needed more sugar."
"Hey, I thought it was plenty, alright?" Ratchet defends himself.
"Well, whatever the case, we should probably hurry up and eat instead of critiquing your cooking skills." Kaden says. "Don't want to be late for work, after all."
"Yeah, will do." He agrees, returning his attention back to his breakfast. "Pass the syrup, Clank?"
The Center for Advanced Lombax Research looked impressive, Ratchet thought as he and his father began to walk inside, with Clank strapped onto his back as usual. It was a giant tower with a small complex of buildings at its base, housing all sorts of labs and research for a multitude of specialized departments, Kaden told him, with labs toward the top of the tower belonging to members of the Council, with their meeting room earning its place at the very top floor.
And just like when he came here for the first time to arrive for the Council meeting, as they entered the Center proper, Ratchet found that the lobby was filled with a bustling crowd of Lombaxes walking around, all of whom were clearly busy as they held various tools, blueprints, gadgets, or a combination of the three, sometimes walking with another coworker in a small group as they fervently discuss whatever project it is they're making their way towards. Witnessing this scene, there was no doubt that Lombaxes were certainly a race of engineers.
But as he and Kaden walk across the lobby and to the elevators on the other side, he can't help but notice that he's getting some stares as they walk along. He got some questioning glances the first time he came here, sure, which was understandable given how he got arrested on live holovision that day. But this was more strange in the fact that he was getting a lot more of those looks right now.
"Erm, why is everyone staring at us?" He nervously asks his father.
He shrugs, appearing unfazed by the attention. "If I had to guess, they finally know for sure that you're my son, if Julie about bragged about being right for all this time like she said she would at the meeting. And if that's the case, then all their stares are pretty understandable given that they think you've been dead for the past two decades."
"Oh. Huh." He responds, still feeling a little unnerved by the probing glances he's getting, however.
"Hey, don't worry about it, once they get it out of their system, they'll just get back to work and ignore you like they always do. Just give it a day or two, tops, watch." Kaden reassures him with a smile, lightly nudging him with his elbow.
"If you say so." He replies as they finally make it to an elevator, where Kaden calls for one with a button.
After a short wait, they step into it, and as it begins its ascent, Ratchet and Clank take the moment to stare out of the windowed wall opposite to the door, looking out to the rest of the city, more and more buildings coming into view as the elevator climbs higher and higher up the tower of the Center.
"Amazing view, huh?" Kaden asks amusedly.
"Yeah." Ratchet responds, not taking his eyes off of it.
"Indeed." Clank agrees. "The sheer scale of this city is breathtaking."
"Well, that was one positive when we all had to escape here in the Exodus." He explains, gazing out at the skyline with them. "We got to build our cities from the ground-up, since Fastoon was uninhabited when we first arrived. Gives you all the room you need to expand and plan ahead for the future. Mags did a good job finding this place."
"What do you mean by that?" Ratchet asks with some confusion.
"Mags was the one who found this dimension." Kaden answers him. "Back when me and the Council were starting to get bad feelings about Tachyon, they tasked me with finding an emergency plan in case things went south, and I suggested escaping into another dimension. So, in order to that, I gave him the Dimensionator and a year to work, and he mapped out the entire multiverse to find the perfect one. And, well, this was it." He finishes, gesturing broadly out the window.
"Wait a second, he explored the entire multiverse?" Ratchet asks in disbelief.
"Yep." Kaden answers with a smile. "And he wanted to go back to explore some noteworthy dimensions even more since he was too much in a rush to get a good look around, but then, well, Tachyon attacked, and then the Council banned Dimensionators, so he never got the chance. Until now, that is, which is why I said he'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't come to work today to help him out."
"Huh. And here I thought that he was cool just because he had a sweet ship." He comments.
Kaden chuckles. "Just don't let Julie hear you say that, she's already jealous that he got a chance to impress you with Centauri the other night."
A few seconds later, the elevator suddenly slows to a stop, and the doors open to a floor of many other Lombaxes bustling about, where Ratchet and Kaden join them, going through corridors and passing labs, Kaden occasionally nodding to a fellow coworker as they do so.
But before long, they turn a corner, where they find Mags and Julie talking to each other outside of the Interdimensional Division's lab, but with Mags appearing to only be half-listening as he pores over a blueprint in his hands while she rambles.
"And then I said, what the hell is wrong with all of you? The GF9K is a plasma emitting component, not plasma radiating!" Julie exclaims in disbelief, either not noticing or not caring about his inattentiveness. "I swear, it's like they were trying to piss me off with that."
"Don't those two literally mean the same thing?" He asks, taking a moment to glance up at her from his blueprint, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose.
"Of course they don't!" She argues, placing her hands on her hips. "One's used for blasters, and the other's used for bombs! It's a huge difference! How do you not know that?"
"Ah, sorry, you're totally right." He sarcastically replies, flipping over the blueprint in his hands with a roll of his eyes. "I keep forgetting I should know about the intricacies of weapon design just as much as a senior weapons development supervisor. Don't worry, it won't happen again the next time you go off about parabolic ion ballistics, or whatever they're called." He states with a wave of his hand.
"Trajectories." She corrects him.
"Eh, I was close." He replies with a shrug.
And as Julie scoffs with a roll of her eyes, Kaden takes the moment to go ahead and walk up to them with Ratchet trailing along by his side. "Hey, guys." He says with a smile and small wave.
Both Mags and Julie pick their heads up and look at them, to which both their faces light up with grins.
"Hey, great to see you, Kaden!" Mags greets him back. "You too, Ratchet!"
Julie, however, greets them by immediately going right up to Ratchet and taking him into a sudden hug. "How's my favorite nephew doing?" She asks enthusiastically.
"Oh, erm, good… I guess?" He responds with surprise, hesitantly returning the embrace. "Are you going to hug me every time you see me?"
"Yep!" She answers, wearing a giant smile on her face as she breaks from the hug.
"You do know he's technically your only nephew, too, right?" Mags adds from beside her with a raised eyebrow. "It's kind of a moot point to call him your favorite."
"Doesn't mean it's not true, though!" She tells him with a raised finger.
"I…" He gives a light sigh before returning his attention back to Kaden. "Anyway, how was your guys' day yesterday?"
"Amazing." He tells them with a warm smile. "Me and Ratchet got to know each other a little better, we went out hoverbooting, I let him fly Lyra, and I showed him a thing or two about how to work on Lombax ships."
"Plus, we stopped by the City Guard beforehand to pick up my stuff, and I got to help train the recruits, so that was neat." Ratchet adds with a smile. "I mean, it'd be a lot better if their Chief didn't insult me every five minutes, but still."
"To be fair, you insulted her just as much as she did you." Clank comments from his back.
"Hey, I wasn't talking to you." He chides him over his shoulder as Clank begins to chuckle.
"Oh, you actually got a chance to see him fly, then?" Mags asks Kaden. "How'd he do?"
"Well… I've gotta admit it was kind of scary at first with how fast and reckless he likes to fly, but he's definitely got the skills of a seasoned pilot to back it up." He tells him while giving Ratchet a smile. "I'd say he might be a better flier than I am."
"Ah, well, that sounds like bad news for you, Julie." Mags tells her.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" She asks, tilting her head.
"Because now you can't bond with your new nephew over the idea of the both of you being the worst pilots on Fastoon." He says with a smirk. "Looks like you're still the sole, proud owner of that title, Julie, congratulations."
He then begins to snicker while she simply scowls at him with a glare, making Kaden roll his eyes, already preparing himself to stop the argument that's about to unfold.
To their surprise, however, instead of arguing back like she usually does, they watch as she wordlessly reaches for what Ratchet recognized as an Arsenal Retrieval Tool at her side, and in a second, manifests a gun of some kind into her hand that she promptly aims square into Mags' chest, making his eyes widen as he holds up his hands.
"Woah, woah, woah, wait, Julie, what is—"
She cuts him off as she pulls the trigger, blasting a small electric bolt into him, making him stiff up for a few seconds as he squeaks out a pained cry, Ratchet and Kaden jumping back in surprise.
She grins. "Ah, nice, it works." She states in casual satisfaction as his muscles relax after a couple of seconds.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Julie?!" Mags yells at her, rubbing his chest as he realigns his glasses from the sudden shock. "What even was that?! That hurt!"
"My latest invention; the Smartass Silencer!" She proudly declares, holding it up. "Working title, obviously, but it basically shoots dumbed-down stun bolts that give a bit of a painful shock, nowhere near enough to incapacitate someone like the standard stuff, but enough to get some people to shut their mouths." She explains, glancing over to him. "I mean, I did also invent a new kind of passively-charged kinetic/solar battery so it never runs out of ammo, too, but that's beside the point."
"Are you seriously telling me you invented a new kind of taser just because you got butthurt at me making fun of you for your flying?!" He asks in disbelief.
She promptly shoots him again, making him stiffen with a cry once again.
"Yes." She pointedly replies. "I'm honestly surprised I didn't do this sooner, because it's working like a charm!"
"Ow, why'd you shoot me again?!" He demands, vainly holding the blueprint in his hands in front of him as an impromptu shield. "I didn't even make fun of you that time!"
"Because a good prototype needs to go through rigorous testing, it's engineering 101, Mags!"
"I just—Put the gun away, okay?" He pleads, raising a hand in a placating manner, still hiding behind the large piece of paper. "Two tazings is enough, I got the message, I don't need a third."
"Hmm… fine." She says with a shrug before turning back to Ratchet, holding it out to him with a smile. "Here ya go!"
He looks at the device in her hand, and back up to her with confusion. "Erm… why are you giving it to me?" He asks.
"Just consider it a present from your Aunt Julie!" She happily explains. "And besides, I'm sure you've got a smartass or two in your life that could use a little silencing every now and again, especially with a certain someone as your dad!" She says, leaning over to nudge Kaden with her elbow, raising her eyebrows with a smile.
"If he tazes me even once, I'm returning the favor to you, you know." He states dryly.
"Duly noted." She replies, turning back to Ratchet, holding it back out to him once more. "Go ahead, I promise it won't explode or anything."
Hesitantly, he does as she says, and after he takes it out of her hand, he begins to inspect it, looking at it from various angles, noting how it felt similar to the blasters he used at the City Guard, but was more comfortable to hold, was lighter, and he could feel how much sturdier it was compared to that standard-issue equipment they had.
But as he takes a closer look at the battery that she apparently invented herself, he pauses for a moment, and slyly glances over his shoulder before looking back at her grinning face.
"…Is it safe to use on robots?"
"Ratchet!" Clank scolds him from his back.
"Kidding!" Ratchet tells him, holding his hands up in defense. "I'd never do that to you, pal, honest."
"You'd better not, or I'm not cooking for you for an entire month."
"Don't worry, it shouldn't have enough juice in it to permanently screw up any circuits." Julie reassures him. "I think you're safe to use it on him."
"'Think'?" Kaden questions with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, like I said, it's just a prototype, and I've only tested it out on Mags so far." She explains. "But so far, out of all its trials, you've seen it's worked one hundred percent of the time, so I'm pretty confident it'll keep working. You've got my seal of quality assurance, Ratchet, don't you worry!" She says with a wink and thumbs-up.
"Just know that her idea of quality assurance means that it blows up in your hand only about half the time." Mags warns Ratchet, glancing at her. "There's a reason she has her own personal QA team, after all."
Julie shoots him another frown, and quickly pulls out another Smartass Silencer from her Arsenal before shooting him yet again, and as he manages to utter a curse through his tensed diaphragm, she simply looks at the device with adoration.
"You know what, I think this is my new favorite gun!" She says with a chuckle. "It's just so handy!"
"Why do you have two of those?!" He demands. "I thought you said it was a prototype!"
"Like I said, that one was a present for Ratchet, this one's just for me." She says, holding hers up. "And so far, that's three out of three trials without blowing up, AKA, over half the time! Now, let's see if it can go for a fourth—"
"Nope!" He exclaims as he suddenly snatches it right out of her hand. "That's enough tazing for you today!"
"Aw, buzzkill." She pouts, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, sure, because how dare he have the gall to not want to get shot." Kaden comments with a roll of his eyes. "Such a spoilsport."
"Right?" She exclaims indignantly.
And as Kaden sighs at having his sarcasm fly right over her head, Ratchet holds up his own with a smile.
"Erm, well, thanks for the gift, I guess." He tells her. "Even if I don't use it, I'll be sure to look into the battery you made, it sounds useful."
He then turns to put it into his own Arsenal, but as it demanifests into his inventory, Julie gasps and suddenly rushes up to him before taking it off his belt. "You finally got it!" She says excitedly.
"Wha—Hey!" He protests. "What are you doing?"
"You're supposed to ask before you take things from people, Julie." Kaden chides her.
"I already did ask if I can look through his guns, though," She retorts. "And he said yes!"
"When?"
"When were flying back here from the City Guard after he was arrested." She answers matter-of-factly.
"That was two whole days ago." Mags chimes in.
"Doesn't change the fact that he said yes, though. Now, let's have a little look-see, here…" She mutters as brings up a list of its inventory, to which her jaw drops upon seeing the sheer magnitude of the selections. "Holy—You weren't kidding when you said you had all these guns!" She tells Ratchet, giving him a huge, eager smile.
"Well, yeah." He replies plainly. "How else am I supposed to protect the galaxy if I don't have the proper firepower?"
"Oh, man! You have everything!" She exclaims as she scrolls through the list. "Buzz Blades, Mr. Zurkon, a Combustor, CryoMine Glove—Hey, look at that, Kaden! Plasma Striker, Lava Gun, Flux Rifle, and I haven't even heard of some these! This is just—wait a second… it seriously can't be…"
She taps on a selection in the midst of her fervor, where a RYNO manifests into her hands as she practically begins drooling in absolute awe.
"…They're actually real." She breathes. "And it's just as beautiful as I dreamed it would be…" She adds, running a hand across its surface with a loving caress.
"I know, right?" Ratchet chuckles. "You won't believe how much I had to pay to get my hands on just one of those, let alone the others, but let me tell ya, it was worth every single bolt."
"Others? You don't actually mean… that…" She trails off as she returns back to his Arsenal, and subsequently finds several more RYNO models sitting among the selections.
"Like I said: Gen I through VII." He states proudly with a smirk. "I got 'em all."
Julie doesn't reply, however, instead remaining frozen in place, still staring at the screen in one hand as she holds the RYNO in the other. And as her unexpected silence lingers on, Kaden's about to ask her if she's alright before she finally picks her gaze off the Arsenal and back to Ratchet, wearing a toothy grin with a fire in her eye.
"Uh oh, I recognize that look." Mags says with palpable apprehension.
Ratchet shoots him a concerned glance. "What do you—"
"Come on!" Julie exclaims excitedly as she holsters the RYNO into her own Arsenal while grabbing Ratchet's arm in one swift movement as they begin to run down the hall.
"Wha—Where are we going?!" He asks in surprised confusion as she nearly yanks him off his feet.
"My lab!" She promptly answers before looking back over her shoulder. "We'll be back, Kaden, me and him have some new toys to play with!"
"I…" He simply sighs and shakes his head before looking back up at them. "Just try not to kill yourselves, okay?!" He yells back as they run further down the hall.
"Will do!" She responds, flashing him a thumbs-up as she runs.
"Wait, weren't the elevators down the hall we just passed?" They hear Clank ask.
"Yeah, but there's no time to wait for one, we're taking the stairs!" She replies. "This is going to be awesome!"
And with that, they suddenly disappear out of sight as they turn a corner, Ratchet almost falling over as she leads him around the turn, the sounds of other Lombaxes warning her to watch where she's going emanating down the corridor along with his unheard protests to ease up a bit.
Kaden and Mags, meanwhile, simply stand there, looking down the hall for a few seconds before their silence is broken by Mags' chuckling.
"Well, it seems like they're going to get along just fine." He says amusedly.
"I'm only surprised at how quickly she decided to drag him off to her lab." Kaden replies, turning back to face him. "I thought we'd at least have another five minutes."
"And I thought I could come to work today without getting tazed three times in a row, but I guess that's Julie for you." He says, looking at the gun in his hand before rolling his eyes and holstering it onto his side.
Kaden returns a small laugh before glancing down and noticing the blueprint he's holding in his hand, where he then points to it with a curious look. "Whatcha got there, anyway?" He asks.
"Oh, right!" Mags says happily, walking up beside Kaden as he holds out the blueprint in front of them for him to see. "Can you believe it? With the ban gone, the Council finally took the Dimensionator blueprints out of lockdown in the archives! And not only that, but yesterday, I finally got the go ahead to build a new one!" He explains with an overjoyed look in his eye.
"Wow, that's great to hear, Mags!" Kaden replies with a smile, patting his arm. "You finally get to explore all those dimensions you've been telling me about for all these years!"
"I know, right? I've already ordered some Phase Quartz yesterday, and I'm about a third of the way done with building a new Dimensionator already, but with your help, I think we'll be ready to hop dimensions by the end of the week!"
"Awesome, sounds like a… Wait, you just asked for Phase Quartz?" Kaden questions with a raised eyebrow. "And you're getting it just like that?"
"Well, technically, not 'just like that', it's supposed to come in about two to three business days." Mags clarifies. "But… yeah! No need to ban Dimensionators, no need to ban Phase Quartz either." He states with a smile. "We've got everything we need!"
"Huh… and to think that the Council got me thrown in jail for trying to get some two decades ago." Kaden mutters with a shake of his head. "Bastards."
"Hey, on the bright side, you technically don't even have a criminal record anymore if the crime doesn't exist anymore either." He says amusedly. "And, well, better late than never, right?"
"Yeah, I guess…" He concedes with a small sigh. "But sooner would've been a hell of a lot better than later, though."
Mags chuckles as he places a hand on his back. "Don't worry, me and Julie didn't let them hear the end of it yesterday, and we definitely won't stop now. But do you want to keep standing around to trash talk the Council some more, or are we going to get to work building a new Dimensionator so we can rub it in their face?" He asks with raised eyebrows and a smile.
Kaden looks at him, then at the blueprint in his hands, and back at him, a smile of his own growing on his lips before he responds with a nod. "You know it."
"That's what I thought. Now, come on! We've got a whole multiverse waiting for us!" He eagerly announces, rolling up the blueprint before he and Kaden walk back into their lab, beginning to create his list of dimensions he'd love to check out first.
"Ta-da!" Julie announces as she and a heavily breathing Ratchet suddenly stop in front of a set of large hydraulic double doors labeled 'Weapons Division'. "Welcome to your Aunt Julie's Explosion Emporium!"
"You could've warned me this place was down fifteen flights of stairs, you know." Ratchet responds, leaning over slightly as he catches his breath. "How are you not winded at all?"
"How are you winded?" She retorts. "Aren't you supposed to be this big intergalactic hero who killed Tachyon?"
"Taking down a genocidal maniac is one thing," He counters, starting to breathe more regularly, "Running down fifteen flights of stairs is another! Why couldn't we have just taken the elevator?" He asks as he motions to them, visible down the hall.
"Because like I said, it would've taken too long." She replies, quickly typing into a keypad next to the doors. "And trust me, it's so going to be worth it once you feast your eyes on paradise!"
"Paradise?" He repeats dubiously. "How could some lab be… a… paradise."
He trails off as the doors slide away to reveal a large lab, with about a dozen or so Lombaxes scattered about, working on various tasks, either sketching away at a desk, discussing over a blueprint taped to a wall, or tinkering on a gun on a workbench. It looked like a pretty standard lab, in all honesty, except for the fact that the wall to their left was filled with an innumerable amount of guns, from pistols, rifles, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, plasma cannons, bombs, gloves, and practically everything else that can cause destruction in some way or another.
"Woah…" Ratchet mutters, completely awestruck. "And I thought I had a lot of guns."
"Awesome, huh?" Julie eagerly asks. "This place is my pride and joy!"
"I could tell." He responds, not taking his eyes off of the arsenal strapped to the wall.
"Now, let's stop standing around, we can do something a hell of a lot more fun than just gawking at all those babies!" She says waving a hand over her shoulder as she walks inside, prompting Ratchet to shortly follow behind after taking a moment to snap out of his daze.
But as they walk inside, a cream-furred Lombax sketching away at a desk to their right looks up from a design of what appeared to be some kind of handheld launcher, covered in several notes and scribbles—most notably, with a large, underlined WHY?—and raises a hand to grab her attention.
"Oh, erm, Julie, could you hold up a sec?" He asks. "I need to talk to you about something."
She suddenly stops in her tracks, making Ratchet almost bump right into her as she slumps with a small groan before turning around and walking back to him, wearing a smile, but one that had considerably less excitement than a few seconds ago.
"Heeey, Percy, how's my favorite Quality Assurer doing?" She asks, giving him finger guns while Ratchet and Clank exchange questioning glances to each other for the odd greeting.
"Trying to keep you from killing yourself and others, like always." He replies dryly before gesturing to the blueprint on his desk. "Especially right now, actually, because I just got done reviewing your 'Double-Fire', and it's just… no."
"What do you mean 'no'?" She pouts. "Is it the name? I mean, I know it's a little uncreative, but I don't think—"
"It's not the name, Julie." He mutters, rubbing his eyes. "You have to stop assuming it's the name when I have to talk to you, because it's never the name. It's always literally everything else except the name."
"Oh." She answers back dumbly. "Okay, well… what is it this time, then?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"You can't just make a gun that shoots another gun." He explains with exasperation. "The fact that I have to spell these things out for you never fails to astound me."
"Huh? Why not?" She asks, crossing her arms. "There are already plenty of other weapons that do just that, hell, I can point out five on the wall back there right now!" She says, pointing back behind her.
"Yeah, but those ones shoot out mini-turret pods that are programmed to automatically target and fire at foes once deployed." He counters. "This just shoots out a literal, unguided pistol! How is that practical or safe?!" He asks, gesturing broadly to the design between them.
"Actually, it doesn't shoot out a pistol, for your information." She corrects him, raising a finger.
He rolls his eyes. "You're right, it just fires out another loaded barrel that shoots a bullet on impact, but that's basically the same thing, if not worse. I mean, what's the plan here? You're already shooting at the bad guy, so why have the extra step?"
"Because, picture this; You've got a bad guy, standing just around the corner, and you can't peek around to get a shot off because he's got it locked down, ready to blast anything that moves in front of him, so what do you do? That's right, you can just whip out the ol' Double-Fire, shoot it, and bam! Second gun bounces off the wall, shoots the guy in the face, and all without having to even look at him!" She explains enthusiastically, miming each action. "I just invented a built-in ricochet!"
"I…" Percy sighs. "Alright, I admit it sounds a little less stupid when you put it like that, but it doesn't change the fact that this design is still a no-go. I mean, according to this, you didn't even put any auto-aiming tech into the projectile, it's literally just a loaded gun that goes off wherever it lands! What's stopping it from shooting you in the face instead?"
"By… Erm… aiming better, I guess?" Julie replies, scratching the back of her head. "Look, I was just trying to go for a 'less-is-more' approach this time, alright?"
He raises an eyebrow. "And you decided to do that by getting rid of the only feature that gives this thing even an iota of safety and practicality?"
Julie doesn't respond for a moment, having an index finger pressed to her lips in thought as Percy stares back at her expectantly.
"…Yes." She answers cautiously, bringing down her finger back down to point at him, where he simply facepalms. "…That wasn't the right answer, was it?"
"No. No it wasn't." He replies tiredly, bringing his hand down to reveal a small frown filled with defeated resignation as he begins to roll up the blueprint. "Well, you know the drill; read my suggestions I put down for you, draw something up that won't kill whoever's shooting it, and I'll go ahead take another look at it. But until then, I'm not passing this. Better luck next time."
He then holds out the rolled up piece of paper out to her, where she begrudgingly takes it with a small groan. "Will do, Percy."
"Erm… can I take a look at that?" Ratchet suddenly speaks up, prompting both Julie and Percy's attention.
"Oh, yeah, sure, knock yourself out, I guess." She says, handing it back over to him, where he eagerly unrolls it in his hands to inspect it for himself, Clank also reading along over his shoulder.
"Ooh…" He utters in wonder. "This thing looks pretty neat, actually. I can think of a time or two where having one of these would've been handy."
"Although, I must echo the sentiment that this seems like a highly dangerous device to use." Clank adds.
"Yeah, but so's half the stuff we use, and those hasn't killed us yet, so I don't see why not use this." He responds with a shrug.
"Yet being the key word."
"Semantics." He answers back with a wave of his hand.
"Hey, see, he gets the idea!" Julie says to Percy, thumbing over to Ratchet. "And that's coming from someone from out in the field!"
"Wait, who even is this kid?" Percy asks, motioning to him. "And why is he here?"
"I'm twenty, actually." Ratchet firmly corrects him, lowering the blueprint for a moment to look at him before bringing it back up.
"Oh, I'm glad you asked! This is my new nephew, Ratchet!" Julie gleefully informs Percy, reaching over to take him into a side hug.
"Nephew…?" He repeats confusedly before his eyes widen in realization. "Wait… so this is Kaden's kid that you've been talking about yesterday?" He asks with surprise. "The one who's been an intergalactic hero in the last dimension, apparently?"
"Yep!"
"…Huh. I definitely see the resemblance now that you mention it." He mutters, looking back at him with some awe. "And, well, in that case, it's good to meet you, then. Seems like you've done a lot of good over in the other dimension, by the sound of it."
Ratchet smiles proudly. "Thanks!"
"But, again—why exactly are you here?" He repeats curiously.
"About that," Julie cuts Ratchet off before he could speak, "We're here to spend some time on the range together!" She tells him energetically.
Percy raises an eyebrow. "You sound way more excited than you usually do when you say that." He notes cautiously. "What exactly is so special about this time?"
"What's so special about this time is the fact that he has this," She says, taking Ratchet's Arsenal off his belt once again.
"Wha—Hey, could I go five minutes in this dimension without people stealing my stuff?!" He protests indignantly.
"I mean, check this out!" She tells Percy, completely ignoring Ratchet as she shows off the extensive holodisplay list to him.
Percy whistles. "Damn, he's almost got as many weapons as we do." He comments, clearly impressed. "I can see why you're excited, too, I don't even recognize some of these, and I can spot some rarities in the ones I do. You got my kudos, Ratchet, this is… wait, what?" He suddenly asks, leaning over the desk slightly to inspect it closer. "Hold on, I can't be reading this right, it says you have… a RYNO? Seven of them?" He says in confused disbelief.
"Oh-ho-ho, you're definitely reading it right, Percy!" Julie assures him, turning the list away from him to tap onto it, where said weapon of mass destruction manifests into her hands as she wears a giant, toothy grin. "Behold! A legendary, genuine, illegal, insanely awesome Rip Ya A New One, sitting right here in my arms, all thanks to Ratchet's hard work!"
"Damn right." He adds with a proud nod. "It took a lot to get those, they're some of my most prized possessions!"
"Indeed. I still recall how you attempted to sell me for the one she's holding right now." Clank states distastefully.
"Hey, I already told you then that I was kidding!"
"Were you, though?" He asks skeptically. "You thought about it for an awfully long time for something that was just a joke."
"…I was at least eighty percent kidding." He concedes.
"Oh, shit." Percy mutters, ignoring them both as he looks at Julie with palpable fear before turning back to the rest of lab. "We got a code thirteen, everybody!" He shouts. "She's got a RYNO!"
Within seconds, he and every Lombax in the lab drops what they're doing—some quite literally dropping whatever tool or blueprint they were holding—and rush over to a terminal labeled 'EMERGENCY SUPPLIES', where everyone takes out a vial of nanotech along with some kind of handheld device that neither Ratchet nor Clank could recognize.
"Erm, what are they doing?" He asks uneasily, confused by the sudden chaos.
She groans with a roll of her eyes. "Grabbing nanotech and a personal shield emitter in case an accident happens—which there won't be, by the way!" She yells at them, raising a finger. "It's Mags that's the real dangerous one, you drama queens!"
"Hey, better safe than sorry!" A Lombax responds back from the group, tapping a button on the device, where a shimmer quickly flashes down from his head to his feet, with everyone else following suit.
"We know better than to just trust you'll be responsible with that thing!" Another adds. "We have these codes for a reason, Julie!"
"Oh, come on! I get a little trigger-happy one time and you guys freak out whenever I show up with something cool!" She protests indignantly.
"You nearly destroyed the entire lab with that cluster bomb launcher last year!"
"Nearly!" She emphasizes. "And its name is the Bangin' Bombastic Blaster, thank you very much!"
"Uh huh. We're still keeping these, Julie." Percy replies dryly from the group as everyone begins to disperse, returning to whatever task they were doing before the alarm sounded.
She rolls her eyes. "Fine, you guys go ahead and get swaddled up in your baby-blankets, then. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some awesome things to shoot."
She then begins to lead Ratchet back through the lab, where he and Clank look around to see all the various prototypes getting worked on, be it a sketch or a physical model, but also those shield emitters that everyone else now has strapped to their belt.
"Uh… Should we have one of those shield things?" Ratchet asks cautiously.
"Nah, don't mind them, they're just overreacting." She dismisses him with a wave of her hand. "And besides, we don't have to worry about the lab trying to cave in again since I triple-reinforced the range after that little incident last year. Trust me, you have nothing to fear!" She tells them, giving a wink and a smile.
And a few seconds later, they arrive at the other side of the lab, where the wall appeared to be made of solid trillium, and like she said, appeared to be so reinforced that Ratchet couldn't possibly fathom what it has to take to punch a hole through it.
But, apparently, that was a task that has already been accomplished as evidence by a large hole blasted through the wall next to the door, about the size of his torso, filled by what appeared to be some of that solid light technology he's been seeing.
"What happened there?" He asks, pointing to it. "I thought you just said you bomb-proofed the place?"
"Oh, that's something that was already there when I put in all that reinforcement." Julie explains amusedly. "That was from when Mags decided to try out one of my new missile launchers. I told him that he needed to hang onto it tighter, and that he should've widened his stance a bit more, but no, 'I've got this, Julie!'" She says in a mocking tone of his voice. "'This thing feels just like the Dimensionator, Julie! How bad can the recoil really be, Julie?' And the next thing you know, I have a hole in my wall, a bunch of destroyed prototypes caught in the blast, and three engineers yelling at him for nearly killing them."
She sighs before pointing to Ratchet. "Just remember, Ratchet, while I might not be the best pilot, Mags is hands-down a terrible shooter. Never give him a gun, understand?"
"Loud and clear." He responds with a nod, glancing back to the hole. "But, why exactly did you keep it there?"
"Because I like to rub it in his face that he sucks just as bad at something when he's making fun of me for my flying." She answers with a smile. "Plus, it's neat having a little window right there, it's good feng-shui."
She then opens the door and walks in with Ratchet in tow before the door closes behind them with a hiss, and as she begins to tap away at some panel on the wall next to them, he takes the moment to look around the range, seeing that it extended out before them, every surface covered in more of that reinforced plating, but also a multitude of scratches, dents, and scorch marks tarnishing most of the otherwise shiny surface.
Suddenly, the range flashes for a moment, just like the City Guard's training course yesterday, and just like then, he sees solid-light targets moving across the range, but thankfully, he thought, not in the shape of Lombaxes. Rather, they were just simple cubes of varying sizes, from small to nearly taking up the entire space around them, which made him tilt his head a little.
"Why do they look like that?" He asks, pointing at them. "Aren't cubes a bit… simple?"
"Oh, they're not so simple, actually." Julie replies, turning away from the console. "Each size has a different density, which makes them progressively harder to blow into smithereens. See?"
With her free hand not holding the RYNO, she reaches for her Arsenal and pulls out a simple blaster, and quickly shoots one of the smaller cubes, which blows up into pieces that quickly fizzle away, but then a more medium-sized one, where only a chunk comes off, and finally to one of the largest ones, where it does practically nothing.
"See?" She asks, holstering it back into her inventory. "Lets us test how effective our weapons are, including weapons like this." She says with a grin, gripping onto the RYNO while staring at it excitedly. "You won't believe how much I've wanted to even look at one of these things after all these years, let alone shoot one! This is like a dream come true…"
She then sighs longingly as she caresses a finger across its body, where Ratchet hears Clank chuckling quietly from behind his back.
"I never would have thought we'd get to meet someone as enthusiastic about destructive weaponry as you are." He tells Ratchet.
"No kidding." He replies back amusedly before returning his attention back to her. "Well… what are you waiting for? Let 'er rip!" He tells her with a smile.
"Gladly!" She responds snapping out of her daze as she turns to face the range, gripping onto the RYNO with visible eagerness, wearing a huge grin as she aims it down the range, and without hesitation, pulls the trigger.
The range is suddenly filled with a cacophony of missiles, each one seeking one of the multitudes of targets down the range, and moments later, a nearly-deafening series of explosions begin roaring before them, beginning to obscure the targets in an ever-growing cloud of smoke, the only things now able to be seen being even more explosions within the zone of destruction as Julie laughs maniacally at the chaos.
Soon after the explosions finally rest, the smoke begins to clear, revealing that nothing managed to survive the onslaught of missiles except for the plating of the range, of which was practically blackened by all the scorch marks.
"Holy shit, that was awesome!" She cries out elatedly. "I don't think we've ever made something that could clear out the whole range just like that! Those missiles pack one hell of a punch, and all those explosions too! It was like a beautiful symphony to my ears!" She gushes, staring at the weapon with a smile that stretched ear-to-ear.
"Right?" Ratchet replies with a smile as well. "There's nothing that feels as good as pulling that trigger for the first time. I was a bit skeptical when I paid that black market dealer a hundred thousand bolts, but man, was it worth it!"
"I'd pay two hundred thousand for this thing in a heartbeat!"
"Just wait until you try out the other ones!"
"Oh, shit, that's right! You have even more of these things!" She cries out in excitement, rushing over to the control panel before furiously typing onto it, where the range once again manifests more targets as she rushes back, putting the RYNO back into Ratchet's Arsenal while simultaneously getting the RYNO II out within mere seconds.
"How'd she do that so quick—"
"Wow, this thing feels more dangerous than the last one!" She comments, seemingly ignoring both Ratchet and Clank's presence, having been sucked into some kind of trance. "Let's see if that's really the case!"
Once again, she unleashes an onslaught of pure destruction, wreaking absolute havoc on the glowing cubes at the end of the range, appearing to be having the absolute time of her life as she does so. And, also once again, the range is completely sparse of targets after only a few seconds, leaving only glowing scorch marks from the rounds of plasma that didn't manage to hit a target in the madness.
"Ooh, that one shot plasma!" She says, admiring it in her hands for only a few before rushing back over to the console, resetting the range once again, and pulling out the next RYNO model. "Welp, onto the next one!"
And so, approximately five minutes of explosions, rockets, and bombs later, Julie finally turns back to an amused Ratchet, RYNO VII in hand as she wears what had to be one of the biggest smiles he's ever seen.
"So, what'd you think?" He asks.
"I think that I have the best nephew in the entire galaxy!" She replies, putting the RYNO back into his arsenal before walking up to him and taking him into a surprisingly tight hug. "I can already tell it's going to be awesome hanging out with you!"
"O-Oh, erm, you too!" He breathes out. "Could you ease up a bit? What is it with all the bear hugs in this dimension."
"Because everyone's just so pumped to see you, including me!" She replies while letting go of him. "I mean, your dad's cool and all, but I can't say he's as into guns as much as me and you, and we're going to have an absolute blast together! Literally!"
Ratchet smiles. "Well, I can't say I'm not looking forward to it if it means I get to try out some of those prototypes I saw out there." He says, nodding towards the lab through Mags' hole in the wall, where they could see a few of her engineers glancing through the solid-light 'window' to catch a peek of the RYNOs for themselves.
"Oh, right!" She says suddenly with a snap of her fingers before pointing back at him. "Wait here a sec, I'll be right back!"
And with that, she then runs to the door, opening it, and disappearing through the doorway before it shuts once more, leaving Ratchet and Clank in the range, where they exchange a puzzled glance at each other.
He walks over to the 'window' just in time to see Julie run through the lab before screeching to a halt and disappearing behind some workbenches. He sees some tools get tossed around, along with a Lombax walking right past it, giving her only a moment's attention before rolling her eyes and walking right along as if her behavior was nothing out of the ordinary, stopping briefly to dodge a small wrench haphazardly thrown in her path.
"Huh. And I thought I was the messy one with my workshop." Ratchet comments.
"Don't worry," Clank reassures him from his back. "You still are."
Ratchet nudges him with his elbow as he chuckles, and looks up to see Julie running back to the door, still wearing a smile, and before he knows it, it opens up next to him, where she waltzes back in, his Arsenal in hand.
"Think fast!" She says as she tosses it to him, where he easily catches it before inspecting it in his hands.
"Erm, did you upgrade it or something?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope, I just gave you another little present in there, check it out!"
Curious, he does as she says, and opens the list to find another weapon added to his inventory, called a 'Laser Lobber'. He summons it, and a rifle appears in his hands, with power cells sticking out of its side with a nice little scope attached on top.
"Ooh, this looks neat." He says. "What's it do, exactly?"
"Well, nothing as exciting as those RYNOs, it's just a high-precision laser rifle I engineered, modified with ultra-efficient cooling vents so you shoot it as fast you want to without it overheating." She explains. "But don't take my word for it, try it out yourself!"
She then turns back to the control console, and after a few settings, targets once again appear on the range, but this time, they weren't cubes, instead once again being simple silhouettes, not of a Lombax, though, but of some kind of other creature. Ratchet couldn't immediately recognize it, but he thought it looked familiar, somehow, so he uses the scope on the rifle to get a closer look where he instantly realizes why it was familiar.
"Wait, are those targets in the shape of Tachyon?" He asks her in surprise.
"Yep!" She answers with a nod. "We couldn't think of a better thing we could kill on a daily basis, after all. It's a pretty good stress reliever, too, I think everyone on the Council has gone at least one round at some point, and I know Kaden used it a hell of a lot right after the Exodus, too. Although, I'm sure shooting at these targets doesn't feel nearly half as good as shooting the real thing like you did though, huh?" She asks amusedly.
"Well, it wasn't completely satisfying given that I was fighting for my life, but I can't say it didn't feel good to take him down nonetheless." He tells her with a smile before looking back down the range. "And it's not like I wouldn't enjoy shooting him some more, either."
"Well, then, like you said, let 'er rip!" She replies eagerly.
With a nod, he brings the Laser Lobber back up, aiming down the range, and begins firing down onto the pseudo-Tachyons moving down the range, watching their solid-light bodies shatter into pieces through the scope as laser bolts cut right through them like butter, and just as Julie promised, he's able to take them down as fast as he can pull the trigger, feeling no resistance from the gun as he rapidly fires more bolts, taking down even more targets as he does.
And in only about a minute, he lowers the gun, barrel sizzling as they look before an empty range.
"Damn, you're a great shot!" Julie compliments him, patting his back. "But how was the gun?"
"Really nice, actually!" He tells her, inspecting it. "It felt comfortable to hold, the balance is perfect, it's super accurate, too, and you're right, I didn't have to worry about it overheating at all like I do for most laser weapons. This is a solid design!"
"Yes!" She quietly congratulates herself, pumping her fist. "Suck it, Percy!"
He raises an eyebrow. "Wait, what did he say about it?"
"Oh, you know, that the experimental cooling system I invented for it has a little, teeny-tiny chance of detonating into a small explosion of a three meter radius from the chemicals I used for it, but hey! It didn't explode just now, so that means it works!" She tells him happily, pointing finger guns at him.
"Wha—How small is that chance, exactly?" He asks worriedly.
"Don't worry about it, it's only like, twenty-five percent." She says nonchalantly.
"Twenty-five?!" He repeats, looking at the rifle in fear.
"Hey, according to my calculations, if it does explode, it's only during the first time using it wince that's when the chemicals really get going, so if it doesn't explode then, it won't explode later." She clarifies. "So, because it didn't explode just now, that means it is totally safe! Well, as long as you're not, like, looking down the end of the barrel, but still."
He squints at her. "Wait, so you're saying that just now was the first time this thing was shot?"
She tilts her head. "Erm, yeah?"
"And you also just said that it's most likely to explode if it's shot for the first time, too?"
"Uh… yeah?" She answers cautiously.
"So, what was the plan if this thing did explode in my hands just now?" He asks.
Julie doesn't respond, but that doesn't dissuade Ratchet from simply raising an eyebrow as he continues to stare at her expectantly, with even Clank looking over his shoulder to also returning a questioning look.
"…I was reasonably certain it wouldn't explode." She states.
"Uh huh. But what if it did?" He repeats.
"Well… I'd be in the blast radius, too, so… I guess I wouldn't have to worry about your dad murdering me for killing you if I'm dead, too?" She offers with a shrug and an awkward smile.
"I…" Ratchet simply sighs in defeat.
"You know, she reminds me a lot about you." Clank comments. "I believe we had a similar discussion for the Nuclear Rocket Sled."
Ratchet points at him, looking over his shoulder. "Hey, that's… a fair point, actually." He finishes quietly, retracting his finger.
"It feels satisfying to watch you feel what I feel on a weekly basis." He answers back smugly.
"Well, anyway!" Julie suddenly declares, prompting their attention back to her as she takes out another Laser Lobber from her own Arsenal. "I was actually thinking of something else we can do!"
"Which is?"
"Shooting contest!" She happily informs him, using the control panel to reset the shooting range once again. "But first, let me test this one out real quick."
Just like Ratchet, she quickly gets into a shooting stance as she begins to effortlessly shoot all the Tachyon-shaped targets, mowing them down with similar speed and efficiency as him, impressing both him and Clank as they watch.
But unlike him, they notice the barrel suddenly begin to glow red, and Julie stops shooting as her eyes widen.
"Oh, shit!"
She then takes the rifle suddenly chucks it as far down the range as she can before turning away to shield herself, and seconds later, the weapon violently explodes—even larger than what Ratchet assumed—and takes out all of the targets surrounding it, leaving only seven more standing.
"Phew, that was close!" Julie says, chuckling with relief.
"That is what could've happened to me?!" Ratchet exclaims, throwing out an arm to the large, smoking scorch mark on the ground.
"Yeah, but like I said, it didn't happen!" She says, raising a finger. "And that right there is also the reason why I made grenades out of those chemicals, too. They work like a charm!"
"I—"
"But don't worry, because I got another one right here!" She says, pulling out yet another Laser Lobber. "Let's hope this one doesn't explode, because it's the last one we got."
She then uses it to swiftly shoot the remaining targets on the course, and fortunately, it doesn't detonate into an impromptu grenade as she does so, making her look at it with a smile.
"Well, that's two successful trials out of three. That's pretty good in my books!" She says as she goes over to the control panel to reset the range again.
"But not in Percy's, I'm hoping?" Ratchet asks.
"No." She says with a slump as she walks back, targets popping up once more. "Buzzkill. Now, back onto our little contest, I have an idea. How about we hold a little wager?"
He raises an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, how about this; if I shoot the most targets, I get to keep one of your RYNOs for a week." She says with a grin.
Ratchet places a hand on his chin. "Hmm… and what if I win?"
She shrugs. "I don't know, what do you want?"
Hand still resting on his chin, he glances out of the window looking into the lab, and to the giant wall of weapons near the entrance. It was the first thing he noticed when he walked into this place, and he recalled asking his dad what her thoughts were on taking souvenirs home when he mentioned she was the head of a weapons development division. And so, with a smile, he looks back to her.
"If I win, I get to take home any gun you have out there in the lab."
"Alright!" She says eagerly, holding out her hand that Ratchet takes into a firm handshake. "I'm guessing you've already got your eye on one, then?"
"Nope." He answers back with a shrug. "But I'll be sure to take my sweet time picking out which one I want once I beat you."
She laughs. "Looks like you've inherited Kaden's competitiveness! But let's hope you haven't inherited his shooting skills, too, because I whoop his ass at these contests!" She says, turning to the range, raising her Laser Lobber.
"Well, he hasn't spent half his life running around to shoot things all over the universe, so let's see about that!" Ratchet replies, getting into position just as she does, aiming to his first target. "So, on the count of three?"
"Bullshit, I know you're just going to skip to three like Kaden does." She tells him. "That's why I added in this little feature; Initiate countdown!" She calls out.
"Affirmative." An AI voice suddenly crackles to life. "Ten…"
He chuckles. "Yep, got me there."
"Knew it." She replies with a smirk.
"Eight…"
"I'm so getting my hands back onto that RYNO. I think I'll choose the fifth gen model, that was my favorite." Julie says.
"You go ahead and think that as I get to stroll out of here with a brand new gun." Ratchet replies.
"Four…"
"Good luck, you'll need it." He says.
She scoffs. "Right back at ya."
"Three… Two… One… Fire." The AI announces.
And with that, the shooting range is once again filled with the sound of destruction, from their rifles firing, the targets shattering, the bolts colliding into the wall, and a lively exchange of trash-talk as Ratchet and his Aunt Julie compete for the title of best marksman.
Man, this chapter was super fun to write, it's actually one that I've been wanting to do for a little while now every since I got to thinking about how Ratchet would interact with Mags and Julie now that all the craziness of their situation has (mostly) settled down. And honestly, I just missed writing the two, they're a super fun dynamic.
I was actually planning on there being more—a lot more—to this chapter, but by the time I got everything up to this point written down, whoops, I have 13K words down already, and the stuff I got lined up next needs a little room to breathe, so I had to go ahead and break it up. But hopefully, that next bit's going to be just as easy to write down as all of this was, so fingers crossed that's the case.
And, also, yes, Mags does in fact wear glasses. I know that's literally only the second time I've mentioned it throughout the entirety of this huge goddamn story, the first being in the prologue, but that's because despite all my strengths when it comes to writing, character descriptions and reminding readers of said descriptions is not one of them. I bet you didn't even remember I gave him white fur, either.
So, hopefully I'll get better at that. And if not… well…
Hopefully I'll get better at that.
Until next time!