2/2
Ratchet and Rivet made their way through the streets of Metropolis, the neon riddled Nightlife bringing out a varied mix of many people.
They dodged and weaved their way through the hordes of people cramped together on the street, the neon signs and ships over-head painting the ground in differing shades of blue, pink, green and red.
"Any local favourites?" Rivet said standing close to Ratchet to avoid losing him in the street.
"I don't usually spend time down, I wouldn't know."
"Then why's Clank on your ass about being careful?"
He snickered as he led the way into some random bar, a mix of people sitting in booths or up and about, undoubtedly under the influence of either alcohol or some other substance.
Pulling seats up at the bar neither of the Lombax's feet reached the ground.
"Last time I went out for drinks I got spiked, which if you couldn't tell is why I woke up on top of a building naked."
Rivet laughed as he continued, sitting sideways on the stool with her head resting on her palm.
"Whoever did it knew what they were doing, spiked it with something called felinalmetrypthemyne."
"Felin what now?"
"It's called Lombax nip, Alister once told me it's a powder used in ceremony's, in small doses it acts like any other downer, when taken in high doses though it can lead to intense hallucinations and disassociation, only affects Lombaxes though, its poison to everything else."
Rivets eyes widened at the thought of such a substance, a smile split her features as she asked the question without words.
"No we're not doing it, hell I don't know where to get it any way."
"What can I get you lovebirds?" The robot bartender said approaching with a thick accent that neither of the two could place, it reminded them of pizza and large buildings.
Ratchet's eyes widened for a second and he almost sputtered to explain but the bartender just laughed as he floated away bringing back a bottle and two shot glasses.
"Lombaxian Whiskey, been saving this bottle for a long time, on the house heroes." He said quickly while floating away to provide for the many drunken patrons.
Pouring themselves both a shot they clinked their glasses.
"To your good health, lovebird." Rivet said as she downed her shot at the same time as Ratchet, both of them coughing and spluttering at the severe harshness of it.
"Shit that's tough" Ratchet pretty much wheezed out.
Rivet had to agree with him.
Within the hour they had finished the bottle and had made their way on the street, eyeing another bar further down, loud music blaring obnoxiously.
The entire time the two lombaxes swayed into each other laughing.
"What say we juts get food?" Rivet asked her eyes blinking haphazardly independent of each other.
"Mm taco?"
"Yes taco"
Ratchet smiled like the drunken fool he was as he followed Rivet down the dark puddle covered road, the fading sounds of the golden mile giving way to the sounds of wind and ships above them, Rivet was still holding the bottle as she stumbled towards the small fast food shop that sat roughly 100 metres away, it seemed to stretch for miles and Ratchet put it on the amount of grog in his system.
Something didn't feel right though, his nerves were dulled but he felt something tug on his mind.
Grabbing the bottle out of Rivets hand he looked at the label, not being able to decipher the words that well. Rivet turned around falling into him, the sudden action causing them both to go crashing into the pavement below.
Winded Ratchet tried to shove Rivet off of him only to find her shoving him back down after snatching the bottle back.
She read the label her eyes going wide.
"Lombax Nip Distilled Whiskey."
A look of panic crossed Ratchets face as he stood up swaying the entire time.
"Oh no."
Ratchet was alone, he was sitting in an empty space beyond the world.
A pinprick of light shone down through him and he felt the warmth of said pinprick make him squirm enough to open his eyes. In the distance sat Alistair on a ratty green lawn chair, staring off into the void that surrounded them.
Taking a step towards his godfather Ratchet found himself on steady footing despite the inky darkness threatening to swallow him.
Standing next to him Ratchet could see how he looked, exactly the same as when he had died.
Despite all this Ratchet couldn't feel himself getting torn up inside over seeing him again, instead a feeling of peace and contempt sat in him, his previous inebriation faded completely.
"Am I dead?" The question had come out before he had time to keep himself in check.
Alistair laughed at the statement as he kept staring ahead into emptiness.
"No my dear boy, you're on walkabout."
Slowly the memory faded back in, the last thing he remembered he had been sitting with Rivet in a street after sharing a bottle of something, spending the entire night flirting and cracking stupid jokes with each other.
"Now I remember."
"Do you though?"
Ratchet looked down at Alistair who looked right back, his eyes calm and at peace.
Opening his mouth to speak Ratchet couldn't find the words. Of all the people he expected to see on a trip of this proportion it hadn't been Alistair.
"How's my Old Man?"
The long dead Lombax stood up and took in the emptiness standing alongside Ratchet.
"They're ok."
The words sat strange inside Ratchet but the feeling of contempt didn't leave him.
He remembered reading somewhere that the Ritual involving the nip was supposed to help enlighten oneself about the history as well as future of the Lombax race, but Ratchet felt that the emptiness surrounding him was expected, he didn't know a lot about his species, still didn't after all this time, the void representative of this.
Turning around Ratchet found Alistair gone but in his place a door, a door that seemed insignificant, just as its surroundings.
Holding onto the doorknob he felt a whisper course through him making him shudder. The golden light behind the door leaving a warm feeling on his fur as the wind gently blew through it.
The feeling of sober content was immediately replaced with that of a massive hangover, one which seemed to be doubled by a thick bandage that wrapped over his head.
Rolling over Ratchet didn't expect to find what felt like fur in his face. Opening his eyes he saw an arm of purple fur which made him curse under his breath, looking under the covers he was relieved to find themselves both clothed.
Making his way out of the bed on shaky legs he passed by the radio noting just how audibly it was playing.
The ancient music from nearly 20 thousand years ago played on repeat.
Noting how trashed his room was Ratchet thought hard about what had happened, he remembered getting drunk and lying on the road with Rivet, everything past that a blur. Bits and pieces of being in a black void speaking to Alistair fragmented in his mind, making him sigh.
That bartender had gotten him high again.
His Fur was damp and he felt gross, walking over to Rivet he nudged her awake, it was nearly 5:30 in the afternoon.
"Rivet wake up."
She woke up with a start regretting it instantly, clutching her head.
Looking around at where she was she turned to glare at Ratchet before sighing and hiding under the blankets.
"I swear to whatever holy being out there if we-
"Considering we're both still in our clothes I reckon we just crashed" He said very quickly as if it was rehearsed in his head for the tenth time since waking up.
Sitting up once more she stifled a yawn while holding her head.
"What even happened?"
"I believe I can give you some clarification."
Clank walked in behind them startling them both.
Ratchet sat down on the bed and stared at Clank with the most serious look he could muster before opening his mouth.
"At least no one ended up naked this time."
Rivet began to giggle before Clank shut her down with a glare.
"When you came home Rivet was carrying you through the door, you both were in the midst of the effects of Lombax nip, and you were both crying about something when you came in the door covered in rain, smelling like alcohol and petrol."
"No wonder I stink"
"You always stink."
Ratchet shoved Rivet off the bed laughing, making her land awkwardly earning him a kick in the shin that made him yelp.
Rubbing his shin Ratchet nearly ran to the bathroom closing the door behind him, making an effort to drone out any outside noise with a speaker that was in the Ensuite, Blasting the Doors as loud as possible while singing.
"Are you Ok Rivet?"
"No."
Clank made a motion for her to follow him out to the kitchen, the smell of waffles wafting to her nose.
"Hey Clank, were we really crying?"
Clank nodded, hesitating for a second before opening his mouth.
"Both times he was drugged he cried, about being alone in the universe and about Alistair."
"Which was it this time?"
"Alistair."
She noted how strange Clank said his name, almost with a hint of hatred.
"I hope he's ok."
"What about you?"
The vague memories of witnessing her arm being torn off played in her mind for a few seconds before she supressed it.
"I don't remember a thing about it, guess it's not all its hyped up to be."
Clank eyed her with a hint of suspicion before turning to the pan on the stove as the sizzle of bacon filled the air.
"Where's Kit?"
"Dealing with reporters downstairs."
"Reporters?" She asked curiously while Clank served her a plate.
"Oh yes, you and Ratchet crashed an Abandoned cargo ship into the sea." Clank said this as if it was a regular occurrence.
Which knowing Ratchet it probably was, Psychedelics involved or not.