Armoury
With the evening rapidly approaching the 4 inter-dimensional heroes made their way back to Ratchet and Clank's apartment high above the hustle and bustle of the street below.
After a large feast of take away that Ratchet and Rivet had spent the entire time arguing over the quality of the latest Qwark movie while Kit and Clank attempted to finish the entirety of Super Blarg Bros in a night, an idea came to Ratchets head.
Standing up he grabbed Rivets attention with a gentle shove.
"Follow me there's something you should see that I guarantee will make you lose it."
With a scoff Rivet rolled her eyes and stood up, following Ratchet.
Clank glanced to the kitchen where he saw Ratchet flick a button near the fridge which caused the entire back wall to open up taking the fridge with it.
"Do be careful with the R.I.N.O's I think I left one on." Clank said his eyes now back on the game.
"You know me pal, I'm always careful."
Clank glared at him which made Ratchet shift on his feet.
"Most of the time."
Turning a light switch on Ratchet walked into the large room with racks upon racks of weapons and armour.
"Here I was thinking I was being led into your torture chamber."
Laughing a bit Ratchet turned around and got to work on a trinket of some kind, the occasional spark coming out of it.
Taking in the sheer amount of weaponry that sat on the walls Rivet felt a hint of jealousy, the only guns she had were the ones on her, which were usually of subpar quality all thanks to the now long gone emperor.
Some of the armour on the wall had an insane amount of scuff marks and scratches on it, one that caught her attention was the hulking black armour that sat in the corner, the blue backlight off shrouding it in darkness. The visor's orange V staring straight into her very soul.
Repressing a shudder she looked around, the odd photo here and there. Most of the photos were of Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet looking a lot younger in most of the photos, his stripes not as faded and his fur a lighter shade
How long have they been doing this hero stuff?
A photo of a Markazian stood out from the rest.
"Who's this?" The question slipping out before she knew she was asking it.
Ratchet glanced over at the photo squinting a bit in the bright light, it stung Rivets eye's a little as well.
His ears perked up and half a smile washed over his face.
"That's Talwyn, she's my e- uh good friend of mine, haven't spoken in a while though." As he said this he slumped a bit.
Rivet caught the slip up but didn't comment on it instead smirking as she watched him work.
Suddenly Ratchet sighed heavily standing up straight, looking at Rivet.
"I suppose I can spare the time to grant thee a tour." He said mockingly.
Rolling her eyes for the tenth time today she supressed a laugh.
"Go ahead, but try to avoid boasting about anything or I might be inclined to use that very angry looking Zurkon."
Laughing again Ratchet made his way over to the armour next to rivet.
"That gross thing is what we had to wear when Qwark decided we needed a Special Forces team and decided on the ugliest armour he could think of."
Rivet eyed the Q-force armour with a look of confusion, yeah it looked disgusting she had to agree.
But also so comfortable.
Her eyes continued to dart to the corner where the orange visor continued to stare at her, following her eyes he looked at the corner as well.
His tail flicked idly hitting her in the ankle as he walked past turning on the backlight, showering the Deadlocked Armour in a blue hue.
Rivet took in the sharp edges and colouring of it, the black red and red jumping out at her, it looked like something straight out of a horror movie, numerous scratches and blaster marks littered the suit.
It was big, bulky and looked incredibly uncomfortable.
Breaking the silence Ratchet spoke not facing her.
"Me, Clank and our friend Al got kidnapped and put into this competition called Deadlocked, kinda like the contests at Zurkie's except it was kidnapped heroes fighting to the death to the death and they had a bomb strapped to their neck."
Pausing for a moment he let out a shaky breath.
"I was 18 when they nabbed us I thought it'd be fun to be a gladiator and get heaps of bolts for doing what seemed like good fun, just beating up bad guys."
Turning around he faced Rivet who was listening intently.
"It turned out that Vox, the guy who was running the whole deadlocked show was really only it for the money, didn't care what happened to anyone else. I was young and stupid and that nearly got me killed a few times in there, heck almost every scar I have is from that armour not doing its job."
Turning the light off as he was clutching the watch around his neck that continued to tick after nearly 30 years of use he opened his mouth again.
"I still get nightmares about it sometimes but what can you do."
Rivet hummed in agreement not knowing what to say.
Sensing this Ratchets mood shifted again as he took the watch off and tossed it to Rivet catching her off guard.
"I made you this, it's supposed to never stop ticking." Walking over he handed her a different watch of near identical make, not as worn though. Taking his own watch back he opened it letting her glance at the photo inside.
Two Lombaxes smiling, both looked around Ratchets age, the one with green eyes identical to Ratchet's own she assumed to be his father.
Putting the watch he made aside she looked at the photo and back at Ratchet with a smirk.
"I didn't know you have two dads."
This time it was Ratchet who rolled his eyes as he almost groaned.
"Nah, the white ones my godfather, he stayed behind when everyone left."
Glancing up curiously Rivet eyed the look of pain in his eyes.
"When Clank got taken by the Zoni to the great clock I met him when I was looking for Clank, he helped me a lot, taught me a bit about the Lombaxes, told me why they left and how my dad died."
Pausing for a second he picked up the angry looking malfunctioned Mr Zurkon and put it on the bench.
"Alister sacrificed himself to save the universe, he was good just made some bad mistakes, something we all do."
Rivet smiled at that comment.
"What about your Dad?"
He stiffened for a second before going back to his normal posture.
"He died protecting the dimensionator."
Rivet noted the shakiness in his voice, letting a silence fill the air between them.
"Open the Watch."
Grabbing the watch Rivet looked at it closely noting the intricacies and what looked like ancient Lombax runes, similar to the ones on Sargasso.
Opening it up greeted her with a photo that was taken only hours after the Emperors defeat. In the photo stood Ratchet holding his omni wrench looking identical to his father, River stood next to him, a thick bandage wrapped around her ear along with Clank as well as kit standing in between them.
"Thank you Ratchet."
With a smile Ratchet put a hand on her shoulder as he walked past and up the stairs, stopping near the top.
"You know, I haven't spoken to anyone about how bad Deadlocked messed with me, only person that knows about it all is me and you."
Holding the watch in her mechanical hand Rivet made her way up the stairs.
"Too late for a night out?" Rivet asked stepping around him into the Kitchen.
Clank and Kit heard this and at the same time turned and yelled out.
"Yes!"
Both startled by the mechanical yell Ratchet and Rivet jumped slightly.
"We'll be back by morning we promise!"
"Ratchet last time you went out for the evening involving drinks you awoke completely naked in a taxi atop the tallest building in the city."
Looking at Ratchet with a look mixed with horror and admiration Rivet fired back.
"I'll make sure our alcoholic doesn't get himself in as much trouble, come on hotshot."
With that she grabbed him by the wrist and they both slinked out the door giggling the entire time before their robot companions could interject.
"Is that true?"
With a tilted head Clank sighed.
"About Ratchet?"
Thinking about Ratchets many drunken escapades since he turned 18 he chose his answer carefully, most of them had been the several weeks after Alister's death, Ratchet having been too emotionally broken to even think about moderation or hero work.
"Yes."
1/2