Nova stands outside the garage, eagerly stretching as Ratchet follows her. "Alright. I've rested the entire day yesterday, but it's past noon now, and I'd like to learn something new today. I'm not sure how long it'll be before they pull me out."

"Okay, okay. I did promise. We're gonna have to go to a different biome first, but I guess can throw in a lesson on the way."

"How are we gonna get there? Aphelion?"

"Nope, put these on."

Ratchet summons a pair of boots, throwing them to Nova. She brings them closer to her face, studying the material, the boosters, the ion coils. "Oh, these are hoverboots. So we're hoverbooting there?"

"Yup, it'll be faster than walking, and they're pretty useful overall." Nova watches as he puts on his with similar tech to her own telequip system. "You ready, kid?"

Nova nods, her face dropping into a serious, determined glare. "Teach me everything you can, sir. I need all the help I can get."

Ratchet thinks for a moment, searching his brain for an old memory. "How'd he explain it again? Oh yeah. Alright, Nova. To use these, keep your back straight, bend your legs a bit at the knee, and just.." Ratchet activates his own hoverboots, and true to the name, his body floats a few inches off the ground. "Go for it!"

Nova positions herself, and lights up her own boots once she finds the switch. The sudden lack of solid ground throws off her balance, and she throws her weight around to avoid eating dirt. Despite her best efforts, this fails, and she coughs up sand. "That's…*cough..* harder than it looks."

"Don't worry about it." Ratchet's boots deactivate as he helps Nova up to her feet, and she brushes off her clothes as he continues. "You were doing fine, but you have to make smaller adjustments to your balance. Otherwise, well, that happens. It's all in the hips, really."

"Okay then, let's do this again."

Ratchet activates his boots once more, and Nova studies his stance for a moment. She takes note that he's right about the 'small adjustments' thing, and now that she recognizes it, she can try to replicate it. Her boots come to life, and she stumbles a bit, feeling how her body is trying to find stability that's no longer there. She straightens her spine, and stands as still as the shifting will allow her to.

"Good. Now, to move or turn, just shift your weight where you want it to go. Don't push hard, or you'll end up doing flips. You don't wanna do that yet."

Nova watches as he does a circle around Aphelion, then stops in front of her. "Wait, yet? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Flips are great for jumps, and-"

"Jumps?!" Her hoverboots deactivate. "Like, 'fall to your death if you screw it up' kind of jumps?!"

He smirks, a light tone aiming to ease her tension. "Where's that enthusiasm of yours, Nova? You suddenly scared or somethin'?"

Nova retreats inward, nervously twisting her hands together. "Of heights and spiders? Deathly so."

Ratchet steps closer, placing a hand on her shoulder with the kind of comforting smile that a student might recognize on a dedicated teacher.

"Don't be. You've got so many tools to move however you want, so make gravity your bitch. It has no power over you, because you've got the means to defy it. Clank, the swingshot, and the hoverboots for example. Clank won't let you down, and you won't fall unless you let yourself fall. So don't."

Nova brushes a thumb over her own hex mount, sporting that soft grin from before. Ratchet pats Nova on the back, content that his words got through to her.

And he's certainly not brainstorming ways to tease her for her little crush, no, sir.

He points toward a silver speck in the distance. "Alright, Nova. I want you to follow me to that city using the accelerator in the boots, but with a twist." Ratchet summons his omniwrench, and attaches it to his hex mount. "I want you to try and grab the wrench from my back. If you can do it, you win."

"But won't the momentum from me grabbing it throw off your balance?"

"Only if you catch me," he smirks. "I'll be fine though. I can promise you that worse has shot at me. You ready?"

Nova smiles and nods as he begins the countdown. "Three..."

Ratchet stands next to Nova, keeping the hoverboots warm. "Two..."

Nova watches as the flames at his feet change color. Stick close, grab the wrench. "One.."

"GO!"

Ratchet flies off at breakneck speeds, and Nova follows, but she's not fast enough. The gold and silver figure ahead of her starts to get smaller and smaller. "Geez, those accelerators aren't a joke! Where's mine, though?" Nova shuffles her feet to try and find her own accelerator. "Uh..maybe if I-WHOA!"

Nova launches herself forward, and nearly does a flip with the change in speed. She recovers, beginning to break the distance between the two of them, but it's not quite enough to catch him. In the distance, there's these glowing arrows in the rocks that seem to increase Ratchet's speed, so she follows his path to find them.

Ships may be faster than hoverboots, so she's technically been faster, but this is so different. She's never experienced anything like this before. The desert sands and small pebbles bite into her ankles. The wind seems to both cut into her skin and wrap around her, and her clothes shake with the force. She squints through the unfamiliar feelings, trying to both be mindful of her surroundings as well as focus on her goal.

The skies around her, the clouds, the scattered plants and boulders, it all smears together like paint, turning the world around her into abstract art. Nova raises her voice. "Ratchet, this is..incredible!"

"I know, isn't it great?!"

The sand gradually disappears as he answers, turning into the rock formations far beyond the garage. Ratchet expertly glides between them, knowing the area like the back of his hand, and Nova follows in his tracks. With each sharp turn they make, each landmass they leave in the dust, she keeps her eyes on her prize: the gleaming silver and blue metal ahead of her. She's inching closer and closer, and she can almost graze her hands over the wrench. Come on, just a bit more...

Suddenly, Nova's attention is brought to the view ahead, and her heart drops into her stomach.

There's a huge chasm marking the end of the mini-Veldin, and they're both rushing toward it at ludicrous speeds. She stumbles, losing a bit of momentum, and Ratchet gains a foot or two of distance. Nova's not as ready for this as she thought, and she cries out to him over the wind. "Ratchet, what are you doing? We're not gonna make it!"

Without looking, he calls back. "It's fine, trust me! Look at the rocks!"

She hears him, barely, and glances downward for just a moment. More of those glowing arrows seem to be scratched into the rocks. The markings from before seem to lead to a hill that curves upward slightly, like it's a ramp not meant to send the user skyward, but to simply give a slight boost in altitude. Just enough of an incline for an easy glide over the canyon.

"Get ready to jump!"

"WHAT?! You're INSANE!"

"That's what they'd tell me!"

"Now is NOT the time for wisecracking, Ratchet!"

"Face it head on, Nova! Don't slow down!"

Nova catches her breath, settling herself with fongoid meditations from her younger years. Focus. Focus on the wrench. Don't think about anything else. Nova gulps. Including the death drop below us. Oh, gods...what did Orvus doom me to?

The end of the line gets closer and closer. Ratchet launches himself into the air with style, and Nova overclocks her hoverboots. As Nova's feet lose the ground, it almost feels as if she's flying. She looks down, and as the thrusters gently carry her over the gap, she sees it. Miles below them, in the bottom of the canyon, is a river of crystal blue water that shimmers in the afternoon light.

Nova's mind tries to shake off the thought, reminding her that the thrusters are the only thing keeping her in the air, but they also remind her that yes, she's still up. She's still here, still...alive.

I'm alive.

With a surge of newfound confidence, Nova reaches out for the wrench one last time, and her fingers brush against the metal as the two of them fly forward.

Ratchet rushes ahead as soon as he hits the ground, eventually stopping right at the edge where rock turns to metal platforms. He hears Nova's thrusters go quiet behind him, and he moves to turn around. "So, looks like I win, No-."

In her left hand is his millenium 12 omniwrench. He rolls his shoulder blades, suddenly feeling the lack of weight. When did she get that?

"You were saying?" She smirks and twirls the wrench, aiming to prop it on her shoulder. The angle is slightly wrong, however, and the quip is immediately followed by her eyes going crossed by the impact.

Ratchet shakes his head, chuckling at the sight of her dizzying herself with the weapon. He's gotta give her props for the attempt, though. "You sure are full of surprises, kid."

"Hey, I'm just not used to the weight!" She defends herself, blushing at the embarrassment. "My staff is a lot more evenly weighted than the wrench."

"Eh, you will be though. Trust me." Ratchet walks forward, gesturing for Nova to follow. "Come on, let's head deeper into the city."