Ratchet and Clank: Wrath and Ruin

by saintandreas0612

Set months after the Dimensional Cataclysm, Ratchet and his friends are sent barrelling forth to a new and dangerous adventure. With the Dimensionator taken away, they must take unpleasant help in order to navigate a hazardous world where their new way forward can be found. Will they be able to overcome the quickly stacking obstacles and grim new enemies?

6. Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 6: Trials and Tribulations

Ratchet felt disoriented, displaced, like he didn't remember how he'd gotten to where he was or when he had changed back to his Ruined disguise.

His thoughts had been little more than white noise for the last half hour, his body moving in something akin to autopilot as he and his companions returned to Segen's home to regroup.

"That's the second time he kills someone in front of you and you just let it happen." A dark voice in his head berated him. "Some hero you are."

That sound, that wet yet so crisp and brittle crunch of bones being broken kept playing back in his mind on repeat, a feeling of uselessness growing stronger every time it did.

Ratchet shook his head and groaned loudly, trying to force his thoughts out. "Now's not the time for this!" He yelled at himself, banging a palm on his head repeatedly and snapping out of his sullen state.

His eyes went over Segen's living room. He saw Rivet pacing, hands on her temples. Segen meanwhile was sitting down, staring at the floor with a vacant expression on his face.

"Segen, that guy had our map," Rivet said to the technician. "What are we gonna do now? Is there any other place we can get the last map piece from?"

Segen didn't reply. He didn't even move.

"Segen, come on! What do we do now!?"

"I just-" Segen blurted out, hanging his head even lower. "I just need a few minutes, okay? Go do the Trial and come back here, I… I should be fine by then." He sighed, his whole body slouching as he buried his face in his palms. "I'm sorry I just… I need a minute."

Ratchet felt a pang of pity for the technician. He assumed Dal had been a friend of his, a friend he had just lost, but not before they tried to sell him out. He also found that Samson's absolute lack of faith in Segen being what had saved their skins to be a rather slimy thing to be thankful for.

The lombax then felt the weight of his silver friend leave his back. He lowered his gaze and saw Clank slowly walk up to Segen, placing a hand on the technician's knee.

Segen raised his head in a sudden jerk, eyeing Clank.

"Ratchet?" The bot called.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I think I'll stay here with Segen." He said, looking over to Ratchet, but never taking his hand off Segen's knee. "To… review our new course of action."

He raised a brow at his friend, but gave him a sideways smile. He had a feeling there was a little more to this than just reviewing plans.

He then saw Kit hop off Rivet's back and walk across the room to join Clank beside Segen. "Yes, I believe we need to take a moment to reorganize." She turned toward the lombaxes. "But you two do not have time to waste. The Trial will begin shortly. And we…"

Kit fidgeted, taking a step back toward Rivet, looking between her and Segen.

"Kit, don't worry," Rivet spoke up, leaning down to put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We get it, and you shouldn't even worry. We'll be back in no time." She promised with a wink.

Kit got on the tips of her toes and put her arms around Rivet, making the rebel go stiff again. "Be careful."

Rivet soon returned the hug, giving her friend a quick squeeze. "I will be."

With that, the two separated and Ratchet saw Rivet turn toward the exit. He followed her shortly after, sparing a glance over his shoulder, as if to make sure his friends were alright. After seeing Clank give him a thumbs up and a slow nod, he felt reassured enough to shut the door behind him.

Now standing outside, Ratchet turned to Rivet upon hearing her call to him. "Ratchet, we can't let him keep getting away with that." She said in a low tone, looking at the ground. "I… I don't think I can stand by and let him kill someone else like that again."

Ratchet knew full well what she meant. There was a weight on his mind, a feeling like he had failed. He realized she was likely feeling the same thing, and if it was as troubling for her as it was for him, he knew he had to do something to get her mind off it.

"Hey," He called softly. "Let's… Let's not think about that right now. Let's just go out there and win this thing, okay? Remember, I'm going to beat you this time." He taunted, offering Rivet a fistbump.

The white lombax looked at his fist, and then at him, a small smile appearing on her face, something Ratchet was silently grateful for. "You mean you're gonna try to beat me, hotshot." She scoffed as she brought her left fist to bump his own.

The two left their knuckles connected for a moment, leaning into the touch, yet keeping the pressure of it low. Ratchet could feel the little gaps between Rivet's fingers and how his own fingers seemed to slide into them. It was a pleasant sort of symmetry, one that made him want to deepen the touch, to actually hold hands and weave their fingers, see if they would fit together too.

But he decided he would have to keep that doubt to himself, as he pulled his hand back slowly and gave his friend a quick nod. "We should get going." He said, offering her one last smile before putting his helmet on. "We have records to set."

00000000000000000000

Rivet stood at the edge of the dark divide before the Maze of Kamul. Having gotten there earlier than last time and also pushing past some Ruined, she and Ratchet had managed to get the frontmost positions instead of having to hang in the back.

The endless black plain stretched out before her all the way to the horizon where it met with the purple and yellow sky, meaning it hadn't yet been molded by the Casters floating overhead.

She looked at the robed freaks who squirmed soundlessly high above. The warnings Segen had given her about them swirled around in her head, and having witnessed the power they commanded, she realized those warnings were not without reason. But, she also remembered something else the technician had said.

He said she was free to fight back this time.

That thought alone made her crack a wide grin, holding her hammer at her side even when she felt the cold ghost of eldritch eyes land on her. They were getting ready, she could tell, a deep instinct telling her they were itching for a fight just as badly as she was. Which was just fine by her, she could use an outlet right about now.

And then, as if on cue, the Casters began chanting, contorting macably as their ghoulish green auras began manifesting around them, glowing like stars against the dark purple sky.

She widened her stance and put her arms out to balance herself when the ground started shaking and glowing green.

She saw how the dark plain before her started warping and transforming, only this time, instead of having walls shoot up into the sky, the black metal floor parted with a rumbling screech. Deep ravines and gaping gorges spilled out in almost random directions, creating a colossal, intricate web of cracks.

Rivet leaned forth at the abyssal depression the Casters had created in front of her and swallowed at the purity of the darkness below, imagining that a fall to the bottom would be quite fatal. But then she squinted, having noticed something odd. From the stygian depths of the ravines, a faint green glow started shimmering.

This glow grew brighter and brighter and Rivet was soon hit with a smell like blast furnace, a pungent metallic smell, followed quickly by the distinct sizzling hiss of melting metal.

Moments later, she had to lean back as a tide of glowing acidic goo rose from the opened cracks, splashing against the remaining flat surfaces and sprinkling thick drops everywhere, drops Rivet had to take several steps backward to avoid.

When the sudden rain ceased, she looked ahead and saw the metal platforms had seemingly lost their rigidity, now floating waywardly on the vast ocean of green acid that spread out before her. On these makeshift islands, the Casters began placing several different items, sometimes molding the shape of the island itself as well.

Some islands were made wider, stacks of explosive red crates scattered on their surface. Others were made very long and narrow, ideal for boosting through Hoverboots. Others were made tall and given stairways leading to their top, on which narrow, railingless bridges connected them to different platforms altogether.

"Oh, so that's what they're going for this time." Rivet though, ears lowering inside her helmet.

When Segen said they'd have to go through different and incrementally difficult configurations of the maze, she had been expecting slightly altered paths, maybe a few more dead ends than the last time, not a complete makeover of the maze to the point it was misleading to even call it that.

Nevertheless, Rivet tensed up and looked ahead, eyes searching for the nearest platform and the optimal path to cross the ocean of bubbling acid.

She grinned when she spotted it, a large flat surface that was lazily floating by. She quickly got to charting a path in her head, analyzing the best way to navigate the obstacles in her way.

Then she heard it, the monotonous, spectral chorus utter a single word. "Ner."

And like a gunshot at a race, that was enough to send all the Ruined present barreling forward, and Rivet jumped right along with them. "Rog nii jaar kai!" They all roared.

She leaped onto the platform she had chosen, hearing the rest of the Ruined grunt as they landed along with her, feeling the ground shift beneath her feet.

With the amount of Ruined that had jumped onto the platform, the weight put on the very edge of the metal surface became too great, and Rivet could feel the floor tilting upward beneath her feet. She heard the concerned murmurs of the Ruined who wobbled and we're losing balance even now. But It was when she saw the opposite end of the platform start to rise that Rivet decided it might be a good idea to activate her Hoverboots.

The engines came to life, and the rebel blasted forward past the few Slashers that had gotten the lead on her, leaving them, and all the other Ruined behind her, in the dust.

The slant of the platform kept growing steeper and Rivet had to kick her speed up a notch to reach the end of the floating surface before it capsized. When she boosted over the edge, Rivet flew through the air, spinning as she did, measuring her landing on the next buoyant surface, turning off her Hoverboots to get more control of her movements.

She touched down on a smaller platform which had several explosive crates haphazardly placed on it. Rivet couldn't have avoided touching at least one of them if she tried, so instead of thinking about the rapid beeping that started ringing out from the red boxes, she kept running forward.

In sync with her jumping off the platform, the crates exploded behind her, sending a wave of heat onto Rivet's back as she landed on her next stepping stone.

This island was much larger, and the terrain was more complex. There were gaps on the surface, from which acid spewed forth like geysers, there were lumps of black metal scaterd through, making navigation more difficult, and there was also what appeared to be a jagged high-rising peak with a flat cusp in the distance.

But what really caught her attention was the sight of a single Ruined Fishbowl, one that moved with grace and skill far beyond any other villain present. She smiled competitively as she realized who that was, adrenaline rushing through her body and pushing her to move even faster than before.

Rivet grunted and huffed as she navigated the difficult environment and tried to catch up to Ratchet. She jumped over the volatile acid geysers, maneuvered through the uneven metal geometry and dashed through the flat stretches of terrain, slowly gaining on her companion.

She saw him glance over his shoulder and jump upon seeing her. However, his surprise was quickly replaced by smugness. "Oh, hey Rivet, didn't see you back there."

Rivet felt a surge of pride-induced determination run through her as she let out a chuckle. "Enjoy the lead while you can, hotshot." She teased before she activated her Hoverboots.

With that, she shot right past him, zooming through the hazardous terrain and getting ever closer to the peak at the edge of the island. She found the fact she had activated her Hoverboots to be a very happy coincidence, as the peak was on an entirely separate island than the one she was currently on, a wide gap between them and a long ramp being the only way to reach it.

So, upping the speed of her boots even more, Rivet went up the ramp and flew over the acidic tide below her, the sweet burning smell of the corrosive liquid hitting her nostrils even through her helmet.

She then used her right hand to cling onto the surface of the jagged peak, digging her mechanical digits into the softer metal surface. Having gotten proper leverage and a good hold, Rivet huffed a breath and used her arm to fling herself upward with a grunt, this time using the little bumps along the peak's steep surface to grip like she would have on a climbing wall.

Looking up, Rivet could see she was already over halfway to the cusp, and was driven to move even faster, doing small, controlled jumps between the handholds, using her metal arm to create some where there weren't any.

But then, she felt her fur stand straight when a chill ran down her spine, a feeling like she was being watched. The sensation made her climb come to a sudden stop, her pace thrown off. And because of this, she was actually able to notice a faint reflection of green light on the dark metal she faced.

With a gasp, Rivet tensed up and flung herself to the side as fast as she could. The sound of acid splashing against her previous position, accompanied by that of dissolving metal were all the clues she needed to discern who had just attacked her.

She looked over her shoulder, glaring at the Caster that floated meters away, just out of reach of her hammer throw. Her eyes then widened when the robed freak raised an arm and began manifesting a new projectile, its many eyes curved upward and creating a mouthless grin on the creature's face.

But then, she saw the Caster's eyes go wide and its whole body flinch, as if it had been suddenly struck by something.

That's when she noticed a glowing green cable had latched itself to one of the tubes coming out of its hood, jerking it's head back. She then saw none other than Ratchet zipping toward the Caster, Omniwrench out and ready, having used the Hurlshot to tether himself to the robed villain.

Ratchet then landed on the Caster's back, before planting a mighty swing of his wrench against the back of its head, which caused the villain to go limp and start plummeting down, not before Ratchet used it as a platform to launch himself toward the peak, landing on its very cusp.

Rivet stood with her mouth open for a second when she saw Ratchet look down at her from the top of the peak and wave at her. "I'm just gonna go back to enjoying that lead if you don't mind." He boasted before turning around and getting on his way.

Rivet would be caught dead before she let the cocky lombax get away with a taunt like that. So, smirking and with her drive renovated, the rebel got right back to scaling the peak's wall as fast as her limbs would let her.

The moment her hand slapped the flat of the cusp's surface, Rivet leveraged her body and hoped on, keeping the momentum of her climb intact as she got into a sprint down what she now knew was a long bridge that connected the peak to another island far ahead.

However, she noticed Ratchet had taken up her trick and was using his Hoverboots to zoom across the bridge at great speeds.

She activated her own Hoverboots in response, immediately putting them on their highest setting in an attempt to catch up to the yellow lombax.

That was the moment she realized two more Casters had flown over, hovering high above her. She then saw them point their hands at the bridge, and soon the whole structure was covered in a phantasmal green glow.

Rivet reacted at the last second before the metal bridge screeched and twisted under the Casters' powers. She jumped to the side, off the bridge as it was essentially flipped over like a pancake by the Casters, before Phantom Dashing right back on and reengaging her Hoverboots. She smiled with pride when she saw Ratchet pull off the same combo with equal fluidity, even if it meant he was still in the lead and had reached the end of the bridge before her.

Rivet had closed the gap considerably however, and despite the Casters attempts to slow her down via lobbing balls of acid her way, she kept gaining on her companion.

Eventually, both lombaxes turned off their Hoverboots and started running down a flat plateau which had red explosive crates scattered about.

She had to put more focus on her dodges, as the Casters acid blasts were setting off several of the red explosives, making her squint at their bright flashes and wince at the loud bangs of their combustion.

Despite this, her lips started curling into a smile when she saw what laid at the end of the road. A series of long grind rails.

She saw Ratchet hop on one and let out a whoop of joy, before jumping onto one herself. The two went down their respective rails, each turning and curving over the glowing sea below.

Rivet jumped onto the rail to her left in response to a Caster throwing a ball of acid at her, and not long after, she saw Ratchet jump to the rail on his right when another Caster tried to melt him too.

She let out a giggle when she saw him do circles with his arms and wobble as he tried to maintain his balance. He must have heard her, because he turned to look at her and emitted a sound that made her picture him pouting beneath his crystalline helmet.

But before she could say the quip she had thought up, Rivet felt the grind rail shift beneath her. She figured out a Caster had started messing with the rail itself, like they had done during the last trial.

"I already know how this goes." Rivet thought as she jumped back to her original grind rail just in time before the Caster made the metal cable nosedive right into the acid sea.

Now back on a safe rail, Rivet realized the Caster responsible had actually gotten closer, just close enough for her to hit, and that wasn't a chance she was going to pass up. The rebel pulled back her arm and threw as strong a swing as she could, aiming right at the robed monster's hooded head.

With a ghostly hiss, the Caster recoiled from the blow, floating far away and gripping its injured face, making Rivet smirk, elated at getting some payback.

After this, Rivet saw the end of the road coming up, a low platform where the grind rails converged. She was sad this part was over, but partly relieved she would be in more stable ground soon.

Moments later, she and Ratchet got off their grid rails and landed on the island, turning on their Hoverboots, and as the two speeded past explosive boxes, acid geysers and attacks from the Casters that pursued them, Rivet realized she was having fun.

It might have been dangerous and risky, but she wouldn't really have it any other way. She loved the thrill of it all, its straightforward nature. And when she looked to her side to see Ratchet, she realized she loved sharing it with him. Their little competition elevated her enjoyment of this devilish course, and from his laughter in the face of the dangers that surrounded them, she could tell he enjoyed it too.

"I think I see the finish line!" The hero shouted. "Better speed up, Rivet!"

"Right back at you!" She replied, leaning forward in an attempt to reduce drag and get more speed out of her boots.

Rivet saw a couple more islands in her way before the end of the maze. She thought on the best path to take, analyzing the obstacles ahead.

There was an island shaped like an oval with a high wall of red crates at one end, probably meant to be a hurdle for anyone who tried to get to the finish line by jumping off another, larger island with a higher rise and a flat surface.

Clusters of platforms barely large enough to be stood on were sprinkled through the gaps between the larger islands and the shore, the edge of the maze.

Speaking of this floating rubble, Rivet saw how Ratchet, in true daredevil fashion, jumped off the sturdy ground of the island he was on and stepped onto one the tiny platforms. Her eyes went wide in fear when she saw the diminutive chunk of metal dip into the acid waters under Ratchet's weight, but she then saw the hero flip and jump off the crumbling stepping stone to land on the next one, before jumping off just as quickly.

Rivet was surprised at how nimble his moves were, it was like he was barely even touching the floating metal, which was a good thing, because the second he leaped off one, it sank, engulfed by the green tide.

That also meant she would have to find a different way to reach the finish line, and she narrowed her eyes at the yellow lombax, equal parts irked and impressed by his clever trick to slow her down. "I was about to pass him too." She thought to herself poutily.

Regardless, Rivet pushed on, carving out her own path. She used her Hurlshot to latch onto a spike coming out of a nearby island.

As she flew over the glowing acid and arched through the air in a pendulum, Rivet disengaged her tether and fell onto the large, perfectly circular island. She could see the tall wall of red crates on the smaller, leaner island ahead, meaning she was almost there.

But just as she started feeling herself put on a toothy grin, her eyes wandered to the sight of a familiar Fishbowl acrobatically jumping from one crumbling platform to another.

Then, with a backflip that made Rivet almost roll her eyes into the back of her head from the pure showboating it exhumed, Ratchet landed on solid ground, facing Rivet and giving her a low bow.

He had reached the finish line first, just like he said he would.

But, in spite of the hero's self-pleasing display, she couldn't help but smile. "I guess we're gonna need to have a tiebreaker, huh hotshot?" She concluded, feeling excitement bubbling up in her chest at that thought alone.

She continued running down the circular platform, chuckling at the sight of Ratchet waving her over, having concluded his boasting.

She then got to the edge of the platform and tensed her legs before leaping off with all her might.

Then she felt an incredible force tug on her right arm, and a shocked gasp fled her throat.

She heard Ratchet scream her name in a horrified tone as she was pulled backwards through the air.

Rivet felt pain ripple through her right arm as she felt like she was being dragged around by an invisible force that placed its grip around her metal limb. It made her close her eyes and grit her teeth, trying to hold back a scream of agony at the phantom pain that was flaring throughout her arm.

But then, she came to halt, arching forward slightly as the incercia of her movement was suddenly interrupted.

Rivet felt like she was being hoisted up by a hook on her right hand, the rest of her body hanging down idly. Her breath had gotten agitated purely from how unexpected that ordeal had been.

But the moment she opened her eyes, Rivet's breath catched.

Glaring at her, mere inches from her helmet's glass, were dozens of unblinking eldritch eyes. Some of them were bright green and widely open, but others were a darker shade and squinting, as if the Caster had gotten several little shiners.

That's when it dawned on her, this was the same Caster she had hit back at the grind rail, noticing how the shiners made up the perfectly circular outline of her hammer's head.

Even as close as she was, Rivet couldn't see anything below the Caster's hood, only those hateful eyes peering out from a gold-brimmed abyss.

Then, the Caster leaned even closer, almost touching the glass of Rivet's helmet. "Chag ha ni lanesh… segen." Rivet flinched at the sheer bile in the Caster's words, on top of being confused as to why the creature had called her by Segen's name.

But, undaunted, she grunted and pulled her left arm back before socking the Caster in the few good eyes it still had left.

This made the robed creature arch away and scream, as well as release it's ethereal hold on Rivet's arm.

Falling to the ground with a thud, Rivet turned around to head to the finish line, hopefully getting out of bounds for the Casters to attack her.

However, now that she was on ground level, she came to realize a few rather distressing things. She was surrounded by nearly a dozen Casters, and all of them were staring right at her.

Her ears flicked at the sound of struggle, and she glanced to her right. There she saw Ratchet, having jumped back into the maze, trying to fight his way over to her.

He jumped and grappled, but the hero could only scream in frustration when some of the Casters broke off from the circle surrounding Rivet and went to obstruct his path.

He jumped, they erected a wall. He ran, they splashed acid at him. He tried to use his Hurlshot, they pushed the islands he grappled onto out of the way.

And so, a sense of dread began to dig its way into Rivet's chest, ripping little bits of her bravery away as it tried to carve a nest for itself in her heart.

A big piece of it was ripped clean off when she felt another force jank her metal arm with enough strength to knock her to the floor. She groaned loudly as she tried getting up. She saw the Casters looking at her amusedly, their heads bobbing subtly, as if they were holding back laughter.

That made Rivet snarl and clench her hand tightly around her hammer's hilt. She wanted to beat their heads in, but through her rage-addled thoughts, she realized this wasn't a fight she could win.

So she turned heel and tried running for the finish line again, only to gasp when her right arm was violently pulled in the opposite direction, bringing her along with it.

She grunted when she hit the ground, being left laying belly up. She then let out a pained scream when she was forced to stand, pulled up by her arm once again. She tried grabbing her metal limb with her organic one, trying to stop herself and regain control. But then, she felt her arm being moved around in a wide circular motion, and even as she dug her heels into the floor and pulled back, she couldn't stop herself from being dragged along like a twisted doll.

She could hear them laughing now, laughing in their thin, dry, ghastly voices, a sound more like dying wheezes than laughter.

This sound grew louder whenever the Casters altered their pull on Rivet's arm, making her fall on the ground, only to pick her up again just to throw her right back down.

Between the Casters laughing at her, the thought that Ratchet was trying everything he could to help to no avail, and the horrible phantom pain that was steadily growing searing white from the tips of her bionic fingers to the socket on her shoulder, it took every bit of strength the white lombax had to hold back bitter tears.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, Rivet felt like she was starting to lose consciousness, likely from all the times she had been roughly thrown to the floor and hit her head. Within these momentary lapses of darkness, Rivet caught glimpses of nightmarish images, all the while the pain in her arm refused to recede.

The green glow of the acid sea was slowly replaced by that of fire, lots of bright orange fire blazing against the shadowy streets of a neon-lit city on a lonely stormy night.

The Casters slowly disappeared, or rather melded into a single creature, a single mass of bright golden yellow and black. The outline of it felt sinisterly familiar as it loomed over her and darkness enveloped her vision.

But then, she heard something, a voice that called her back from the darkness. That voice seemed to have drawn enough attention to itself to make the phantasmal hold on Rivet's arm disappear.

With that marginal relief, Rivet tried to push herself off the floor to look at the source of the voice, leaning more heavily on her left arm as she did.

There, she saw Ratchet, breathing heavily, gripping his arm and standing at the edge of the circular platform. He was looking up at the Casters, his hand shaking from how tightly it was wrapped around his weapon.

The Casters shot all manner of confused looks at the lombax, maybe from disbelief that he had actually gotten through the two Casters that had tried to stop him.

Then, without warning or slick quips, Ratchet jumped off the edge, weapon held over his head and whole body curved back.

A loud metallic impact resounded, accompanied by splashing, and Rivet saw how Ratchet had ground pounded the very edge of the nearby oval-shaped platform, causing it to act like a catapult and fling the tall stack of explosive crates it harbored right at the Casters.

Rivet saw the blinking orange lights of the crates fly above her and the green energy the Casters panickedly used to stop them in mid air made her think of the neon lights that shone on the buildings of Nefarious City that night so long ago.

But then, she heard Ratchet's voice again, and it brought her back to the present. "Rivet!" He called desperately.

The pieces slid into place in her mind, a single memory running to the forefront of it like lightning, jolting her to act. "They hate bright lights." She whispered.

And so, with the strength she had left in her left arm, Rivet drew in a deep breath and took aim, before throwing her hammer at the red crates.

She saw the Casters gawk in disbelief and heard them gasp in unison. Then she heard nothing at all, nothing but dull ringing in her ears from the brilliant flames of the crates.

The scorching heat made her scream and flinch away from the blast, barely able to grab a hold of her returning hammer.

Rivet then felt someone pick her up, helping her to her feet. She clung to this person as they ran and brought Rivet along with them, her mind and body too strained to put up much protest.

She felt her feet leave the ground, likely having made a significant jump, before landing on a sturdy metallic surface.

The ringing in Rivet's ears had started fading, and she could hear the otherworldly screaming of monstrous creatures behind her. She whipped her head to see them, the Casters, all wailing and covering their faces with their hands, a thick, grey smoke bleeding out of them.

Rivet's shock quickly gave way to utter rage, as she bared her teeth and stood up, ripping herself from the grasp of the one who had gotten her off the platform.

The rebel then let out a roar as she threw her hammer at the nearest Caster, hitting the still wailing monster in the head.

"Yeah! You like that, you freaks!?" She screamed at them, biting back angry tears.

She called her hammer back before throwing it at another Caster, and then another, over and over again, cries and yells escaping her every time she did. She could hear a familiar voice behind her, calling for her, but it sounded far away in comparison to the voice in her head that loudly clamored for revenge.

The robed villains had apparently recovered from the blast, having all turned to Rivet and gotten themselves out of range of her throws. They all had squinting, half-closed eyes, all angled into loathing glares while thin plums of smoke still trailed out of their dark hoods.

But then, she saw one of them compose itself before slowly tucking an arm behind its back. It then used its other arm to do a strange pose, as if it were lamenting something.

The rest of the Casters mimicked their friend, all hiding a single arm behind their backs and releasing dramatic cries that would have made an amteur playwright cry, before all of them erupted into rowdy, spiteful laughter.

Rivet started seeing red. They were making fun of her, going for the lowest hanging fruit possible.

She was far too angry to even string words together, and the screaming phantom pain in her right arm simply refused to go away.

So she returned to trying to throw her hammer at the villains, only to have them lazily dodge it and laugh at her even harder.

She then felt someone grab her by the shoulders, and she almost reflexively tried to throw them off. The hands returned however, in a much tighter hold this time, a familiar voice accompanying them. "Rivet, calm down! We won, it's over!" Ratchet tried calling her, trying to hold her back from continuing her attack.

She was heaving, her eyes stung and a horrible knot was forming in her throat. "Rivet, breathe, you're okay, you're alright." Ratchet's voice soothed. "Just… breathe." He repeated.

Rivet could hear the yellow lombax inhale, hold his breath and then exhale in long, paused intervals, trying to help her. Her own breaths were ragged and frantic, and even when she tried to follow Ratchet's example, she just sputtered and failed to keep her breath held in, which when combined with the tears that stung her eyes, only made her more frustrated. But through it all, Ratchet kept calm, kept his breathing even, serving as a guide for her.

Slowly, gradually, she managed to control her breathing, matching Ratchet's own respiration. She felt herself grow calmer, all the foul sensations that had built up in her slowly started fading away.

She couldn't remember when they had started holding hands, or when they had sat down, but Rivet didn't pay those details any mind, instead giving Ratchet's hands a tight squeeze, which he returned.

But then, just as her head was clearing up, she heard one of the Casters speak. "D'awwww, hel segeni gitz ras rui!" It spat, putting its hands together and resting its head on them.

The rest of the Casters then laughed at their friends' words, and Rivet could feel herself growling, ready to spring back to attack them once again.

But then, she saw something that swept aside her anger, replacing it with shock.

She saw a sword fly through the air and bury itself deep in a Caster's chest, immediately cutting off their choir of laughter.

The impaled Caster looked at it's injury, feebly trying to pull the sword out, before it moved on its own accord, ripping itself off the robed villain's chest and going over Rivet and Ratchet's heads to return to its owner's hand.

And upon following the sword's flight, Rivet soon discovered who that was.

Walking briskly toward the still dumbfounded Casters, Bishop Lanari adjusted her grip on her sword, putting her index finger over the guard and resting her palm on the weapon's ricasso.

She then threw her sword forth with a forceful grunt, landing it on another Caster's chest

At this, the remaining Casters finally reacted and began screaming and scrambling away, but not before Lanari recalled her sword and threw it one last time, burying it in one final Caster's back.

At the sight of that vile creature falling and being consumed by the acidic waters below, Rivet felt a wave of vengeful satisfaction that led her to wind down a bit.

"I hate those tantrum-throwing idiots," Lanari growled in her elderly voice as she sheathed her sword, her once narrow and merciless gaze softening almost instantly when she turned to face the lombaxes. "Are you alright darlings?" She asked sweetly, leaning down with them.

Rivet wanted to say yes, but a discharge of pain shot through her metal arm, making her flinch visibly and groan. This made Ratchet lose his hold on her hands. "Rivet, are you okay?" He asked, leaning closer to inspect her.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine… I'm alright." Rivet said halfheartedly.

She hadn't felt this bad in a long while now. The phantom limb pain she suffered through was usually quite mellow, and the last time she had gone through a major bout of it had been several months ago in the catacombs in Savali, when she learned the truth about Kit.

Those memories instantly darkened her mood. Her entire expression dropped behind her helmet and her posture fell. The fact the pain in her arm was still present only served to make things worse.

But then, she heard something odd and felt someone place a large hand on her back.

Rivet lifted her head to see that the hand on her back belonged to Lanari, and the sound she had heard was the bishop singing. The eldery lady's song was in the Ruined's language, meaning Rivet couldn't understand it, but the bishop's soft voice and the slow, pleasant melody made it sound almost like a nursery rhyme, something a parent would lull their child to sleep with. Added to this, Lanari did light, circular motions with her hand, dispelling the stressful knots in Rivet's back and leaving a warm, fuzzy feeling behind.

All this made the wolf-masked bishop feel outright motherly.

In her relaxation, River let out a sniffling chuckle when she tried leaning forward, only to have her helmet bump into Ratchet's, causing the hero to join in on her laugh. The hero returned his hands to hers and sighed. Their hold wasn't as tight as it had been, but it was just as tender, and she noticed that he had kept up his deep, calming breathing going.

In this hold, between Ratchet and Lanari's help, Rivet felt the final remains of pain and disappear, the burning sensation in her metal arm ending at last.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"No worries." Ratchet replied softly.

"Any time, dear." Lanari added with a giggle.

After a few moments, Rivet felt Lanari's hand leave her back, probably due to the bishop standing up. This prompted the two lombaxes to do the same, and let go of each other's hands.

Rivet cleared her throat, passing down that awful knot before speaking. "Thank you," She said again, looking at Lanari. "For everything, especially for getting those jerks back for me."

"Oh, my pleasure, dearie," Lanari said with a little bow. "I've never liked the Casters much to be honest."

"But, won't they punish you for attacking them?" Ratchet stepped in, voicing a concern Rivet shared with him.

"Oh, please. I'm a Favored Bishop and the Forest Guardian, you'd be surprised what I'm allowed to get away with." The lady said, chuckleing beneath her wolf-like mask.

Rivet chuckled along with her. "I'm sure you can get away with anything. But we kind of have to go now, we have a lot of stuff to do." She said, pointing toward the nearby teleporter. "So, be seeing you, Lanari!" Rivet said happily, waving at the bishop.

"Be seeing-" Lanari began, only to freeze when her eyes landed on the palm of Rivet's hand.

Rivet got a feeling like goosebumps at that. She quickly flipped her hand to look at her palm. A pit formed in her stomach when she saw a patch of her right hand was back to its original yellow color.

She figured it had been removed thanks to the Casters' acid at one point or another. She couldn't recall the specific moment, she had been trying to tune out those last few minutes.

But now, Lanari had seen her, and judging by her reaction, she knew that there was a criminal out there with a yellow metal arm on the loose. The idea of having to fight the sweet old lady who had just a few moments ago helped her calm down and defended her from the Casters made Rivet feel sick to her core.

And then, as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Rivet heard a dreadfully familiar voice reach her ears. "Well, if it isn't my two new favorite recruits!" The voice shouted.

The heavy footfalls and hideous voice were all the hits she needed. Bishop Samson was at walking distance from her and her cover was partly blown. And as if that wasn't enough cause for concern, there was another bishop already in front of her.

She could tell Ratchet was almost paralized beside her, his whole body tensed up and straightened out. She looked at Lanari, hoping beyond hope for some help, maybe that she'd spare them or pretend she didn't see anything.

But when Rivet locked eyes with the bishop, she saw something. She saw Lanari wink. Relief washed over Rivet like a holy rain and she had to put in all her self control into not letting out a deep sigh.

The rebel then saw Lanari look over to Ratchet, before gesturing at him with her chin.

Rivet tilted her head at the motion, not having caught the meaning of it. Her doubts were resolved however, when she felt Ratchet suddenly take a hold of her metal hand, clutching it tightly and concealing the exposed yellow patch.

The duo then turned around to face Samson. The towering bishop stood dangerously close, and Rivet could feel his eyes run over them from behind his avian mask.

She then saw them settle on her and Ratchet's joined hands, and she could feel the drops of sweat trailing down her temples when the bishop narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.

However, he merely emitted a little hum, and raised his brows as if surprised, mumbling something along the lines of: "Well, whaddaya know." before he cleared his throat and spoke at his usual volume. "Ahem, I wanted to congratulate you two for another exceptional performance!"

Rivet glared at the cruel bishop. Having heard his true voice, and seen his true face, the ones he used on Dal's final moments, she found the almost plastic cordiality to be cloying.

Regardless, she had to play along. "Thank you, Bishop Samson," She said, offering as big a bow as her pride would allow.

"Oh yes, you two are definitely something else. In fact, I have something important I'd like to discuss with the two of you."

"What would that be?" She heard Ratchet ask in a casual tone.

"Oh, you'll have to pass the third trial for me to tell," Samson replied slyly. "Let's just say it's about your future prospects, and that we'd have to talk about it in private in my office."

Rivet's eyes went wide at that. "We'll be going into the guy's office? We could find a new map there! And who knows what else!" She thought optimistically.

"In any case, I just came over to confirm if you two had passed the second trial, I have to go deal with an issue pertaining to a vacant spot for a certain quartermaster in the Undercity." He said, pointing at the teleporter with both hands. "In any case, may Alterra's smile never leave you!" He said, tipping his dainty hat to the lombaxes before shifting his gaze to the bishop behind them. "Lanari." He uttered cuttingly.

"Samson." She said back, just as sharply.

With that, the larger, meaner bishop took his leave, vanishing in a brilliant purple flash of light from the teleporter.

Now alone, Rivet turned to Lanari, who looked at her with worried eyes.

"Why did you help us?" The rebel asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

She could see Lanari's eye curl up beneath the lenses of her wolf-like mask, a warm smile likely having reached them. "Oh dearie, a friend of Segen's is a friend of mine. You have nothing to fear from me."

Rivet released that sigh she had held back a while ago. She couldn't explain it, but she felt a tremendous sense of relief at the idea of having such a lovely ally on her side.

And so, a thought came to her. She debated where she should voice it or not, but decided Lanari was trustworthy enough. "Would you happen to know where we could find an Acolyte?"

Lanari tilted her head and raised a brow at the question. "Well, if memory serves, they should all be either off Misericordia or delving into the Dolent Cliffs at this time of year. I'm not sure why you'd want to find one though."

"Don't worry about that, I was just curious." Rivet assured, making note of the information.

Though she felt a sting of guilt at lying to the nice lady, Rivet thought it would be better to let Lanari keep some plausible deniability, should Samson or someone else come asking questions.

"Anyway, we should get going," Ratchet declared, getting Rivet back on task and addressing her. "We should tell Segen about this deal with Samson's office, see if he and the bots have come up with anything on their end."

Rivet nodded in agreement before she followed her companion to the teleporter.

However, before they left, she heard Lanari call them one last time. "Be careful," She warned. "And… keep an eye on Segen for me, would you?"

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After concluding their second trial, the lombaxes returned to Segen's home.

Rivet was not exactly sure of what she would find when she swung the door to the technician's apartment open, so, not wasting time, she stepped in, announcing herself and Ratchet.

She was greeted with the sight of Segen looking more like his usual self, no longer vacant and slouched down. Sitting beside him on his table were both Clank and Kit, and the three of them seemed to have been talking about something before the lombaxes arrived but were drawn away from it by Rivet's call.

"Oh! You're here!" Segen exclaimed. "How did it go?"

"It was…" Rivet paused, running her hands down her arms, hesitating. "Interesting. You weren't kidding when you said the trials were going to get harder."

"Yeah, and there's still one left to go." Segen added, as he walked over to his fridge. "I assume you're hungry, right? What flavors did you say you liked?" He asked as he dug around for his test tube rack.

"Actually," Ratchet cut in loudly. "I think I'd rather just take the thing without flavoring, please."

"Me too," Rivet added, raising her hand. "Can't say I liked the sensation of non-descript sweetness invading my mouth."

"Yeah, it's an acquired taste." Segen said with a nod, extracting from his fridge a simple pair of pens, loaded with unaltered orange fluid.

As the technician handed the pens out to the lombaxes, Rivet heard Clank's voice call to her. "I assume you two performed just as remarkably as the first trial?"

"Yup, only I won this round." Ratchet declared proudly, putting his chin up and his hands on his hips, earning a soft elbow to the side from Rivet.

"We actually spoke to Samson after completing it," She said as she injected the pen into her arm, unsure if the utter lack of flavor was better than the surreal taste of the flavoring Segen had used last time. "He said he wanted to talk to us in his office if we passed the third trial."

"We're thinking we could find the map and passwords there." Ratchet added.

"He did!?" Segen exclaimed, making Rivet almost drop her pen. "Oh that's great! Yes! Yes, you can definitely get the map there." He said enthusiastically. "But, the passwords, we're still going to need the Acolyte for those."

"Really? Doesn't Samson have them written down in a post-it note in his office somewhere?" Ratchet asked with a scoff.

Segen scoffed back. "I wish. No, the passwords would be stored in his gauntlets-" He said, gesturing at his own. "-And believe me, as tough as an Acolyte is, they are lap dogs compared to fully fledged bishops."

"Speaking of," Rivet interjected. "We got word of where to find one. Do you know how to get to the Dolent Cliffs?"

Segen stiffened at the mention of the name. "Oh, yeah… right. It's that time of year."

"What time of year?"

"Acolytes have to go through a sort of… 'Special Trial' in order to become Bishops." Segen weaved his hands together. "They go to places like the Dolent Cliffs here in Misericordia or to other such places in other worlds to attend this trial."

"What's so special about it?" Rivet questioned with a raised brow.

"Hopefully, you won't have to find out." Segen replied ambiguously. "In any case, I hope you aren't tired, 'cuz finding an Acolyte in the Dolent Cliffs is gonna be a lengthy procedure."

Rivet supressed an urge to groan, instead shutting her eyes tightly and pursing her lips. "Well, we should get going then, I think I can use some of the leftover adrenaline from the maze to power through."

"Excellent, then let us be on our way." Clank declared as he hopped onto Ratchet's back. "Perhaps if we complete our task with sufficient speed, we will have time to rest later."

"I sure hope so." Rivet said with a chuckle, before her eyes wandered onto Kit, who was looking up at her with cheerful expectation.

Rivet then felt her fur bristle and her jaw clench at the sight of the yellow bot. A faint whisper of pain slithered through her metal arm. She took a step back from Kit, almost in a reflex.

When Rivet's mind caught up to what her instincts had driven her to do, she was left with an almost wounded looking Kit, whose bright blue eyes were angled down, her hands half-way reaching out for the rebel.

And yet, something in her head screamed at her to keep her distance, to not let the little robot any closer. "Uh, sorry Kit, I think I hurt my back during the trial," She lied cheaply. "Would you mind walking beside me instead of going on my back?"

Kit opened her mouth slowly to respond, but Segen's voice came first. "I could carry her for you." He offered, drawing all eyes to him. "I have a, whatyamacallit… magna-holster? I don't know, the little metal knob that locks onto things. It's here, under my poncho."

With that, Segen removed his tattered, raggedy poncho, exposing the upper half of his hazmat-covered body to reveal a harness, almost identical to the one Ratchet usually wore.

He then looked over at Kit and angled himself to show her his back. "You don't have to if you don't wanna. It's just a really long way." He advised.

Kit slowly turned her head between Rivet and Segen, pausing on the rebel. Then, she did something that looked like a smile, and gave a quick nod. "I understand. Yes. I will go with Segen."

"Great, welcome aboard little buddy!" Segen said cheerfully as Kit jumped onto his back. She let out a little grunt as she did, probably due to Segen being taller than Rivet was. "Alright, I'mma just leave this here until we get back." The technician stated as he set down his poncho.

"Why do you even wear that thing?" Ratchet asked, looking at the piece of cloth like it had been puked out by a Snagglebeast.

"It's comfy." Segen replied simply.

While the group bickered, Rivet was left to think for a moment. The memories, the flashes she got during that torture with the Casters, they had really ripped open some old wounds and rubbed quite a bit of salt on them to boot. She told herself she just needed a little space to get herself back together. She closed her eyes and realized she definitely didn't hate Kit, that this was not the robot's fault, but she still needed some time and distance to think clearly.

She did hope Kit would understand, she didn't want to set their relationship back, seeing how fragile it was compared to the one Ratchet and Clank held.

So, with a deep breath, Rivet went to gear up and get ready for their next objective.

Considering her weaponry and the mood she was in, Rivet was pretty sure whoever this Acolyte was, they were going to have a really bad day.

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The heroes had followed Segen to a teleporter and watched the technician input their new destination to the console.

After the now routine flash of purple light, Rivet found herself in a rocky, muted grey environment. Strong winds blew without relent, whistling on the jagged rock formations and kicking up puffs of ashen dust.

When Rivet stepped off the teleporter's platform, she felt her boots pierce a thin layer of soft, loose ash. Lifting her foot to see the ground she had stepped on, Rivet saw that the stone was a deep shade of green, opaqued by the grey dust.

"The Acolyte must have gone into one of the caves," Segen stated as he walked past Rivet, pointing dead ahead at the wide mouth of an enormous cave. "We should move. The faster we find the Acolyte and leave this place the better."

Rivet felt a surge of unease at Segen's disposition. However, her concern was overwhelmed by a strange, sour feeling in her chest at the sight of Kit casually hanging on the technician's back. As he walked further ahead, Rivet noticed that the little bot seemed to be conversing with him when just a little while ago she was trying to blend into the environment to avoid interacting with him.

Regardless, the rebel shook off her thoughts and jogged to catch up with Segen, hearing Ratchet do the same beside her. This led the group to stand at the very mouth of the cave, all of them staring into its dark, subterranean bowels. There were no vibrant bioluminescent lights and no sounds of civilization down there, making it feel dead and barren, distinct from something like the Undercity.

"This place looks huge." Ratchet said in awe, his voice magnified by the echo of the cave. "How will we even get around down there?"

"I believe Kit and I can chart the cave system and produce optimized routes." Clank interjected, raising an arm. "I would also like to recommend splitting up, so we may cover more ground in a more timely manner."

"Hold on a minute," Rivet shook her head. "Didn't Segen say these Acolyte guys are like fifty percent stronger than a Musketeer?"

"Thirty seven percent stronger." Segen corrected swiftly.

"Whatever. That Musketeer was a real handful for both of us together, are we sure we wanna go pick a fight with an even stronger bad guy by ourselves?" She asked, turning to face Ratchet.

The hero brough an hand to his chin. "What if we just split up to look for the guy and regroup when we find him?" He offered. "We can go look for him separately and if I find him, I'll signal you and just shadow him until you arrive. Then we take him on together!"

Rivet felt a sideways smile at his little plan. She knew it was as good an arrangement as they were going to get.

"Well, we have to decide how we're going to split up." Segen stated. "I can't fight an Acolyte, so I'm going to tag along with one of you."

Rivet sighed with closed eyes. "Should we do rock paper scissors to see who get him?" She asked Ratchet.

"If it's not an inconvenience," Kit began, the little robot's voice lowered by shyness. "I… I would like to be paired up with you, Rivet."

The rebel gave a compassionate look at her friend. "Oh Kit, it's not an inconvenience at all." She said, offering a smile to her robot companion. "We can go together."

"Cool, let's get moving then." Segen cut in, patting Rivet on the back as he started heading into the cave.

She furrowed her nose at the technician and suppressed a groan. The white lombax had forgotten her yellow friend was currently attached to Segen, the fact itself still feeling alien in her mind. But having already agreed to it, Rivet gave in and started following him.

"See you later." She heard Ratchet shout, traveling into a different section of the cave already. "Don't kill him please."

"No promises." Rivet quipped back, getting a chuckle out of her friend. Whether it was an amused chuckle or a worried one, she couldn't tell.

After delving into the darkness of the cave, Rivet had to turn on a small shoulder lamp to see properly. Once she caught up to him, Rivet noticed that Segen on the other hand, navigated the darkness effortlessly without need of a light source. She did remember the technician mentioning that all Ruined masks had something akin to night-vision, so that was likely the explanation why he hadn't so much as stumbled when Rivet had already nearly tripled three separate times on unseen rocks hidden in the darkness.

"Be careful, the caves run pretty deep around here. There are cracks and pits hidden in the shadows." Segen warned, pausing and going around something on the floor, a course of action Rivet felt wise to mimic. "You trip and fall, and you might not be getting back up."

Rivet muttered some thanks to him but said nothing else. Silence hung over the group like a cloud even as they ventured deeper and deeper into the caves.

Rivet did not exactly have plans to break that silence, but Segen did not seem to share her schedule.

The technician grumbled something under his breath before raising his voice. "Look, I can't deal with this-" He gestured frantically at her. "-This… staleness, for the posible hours we're going to be down here! Besides, I promised Clank and Kit I'd try to befriend you guys. So look… How about we play a little game?"

"What kind of game?" Rivet asked with her arms crossed.

"A simple questions game. It's called 'Debt of Seven'. We both start with three questions and we can ask anything we know the other person is capable of answering. The other person can choose to either answer truthfully-" He pointed at her. "-Or pass the question. If you pass the question, the other player can't ask it again, but they get two questions as a reward. So if I ask something and you wanna pass, instead of having to answer three questions, you'd have to answer four. The game ends when we run out of questions to ask, and the person closest to having raked up seven questions wins."

Rivet chewed on Segen's explanation. It sounded like a rather harmless game, seeing as she could skip questions at her leisure. Still, she was not exactly motivated to play along.

It must have shown on her face, because Segen spoke up again. "How about we make it more interesting? If you win, I'll give you a secret gift I have locked up in my house."

Rivet raised a brow at the offer. "What kind of gift are we talking about?"

"The illegal, explosive kind."

She managed to catch herself before she cracked a wide grin "Illegal and explosive? Those are two of my favorite words. You're on."

"Alright, nice!" Segen exclaimed, pumping his fist. "I'll go first, show you the ropes." He said, before clearing his throat. "This game is kind of like a little trust building exercise to chart out people's boundaries, so let's start with something nice and easy." The technician rubbed his hands together. "What's your favorite color?"

"Pass."

"...Seriously?"

"I assume it's my turn?"

Segen grumbled and scowled at her, nodding at her to speak.

The rebel decided she would try to get some value out of this little game, so she decided to ask more useful questions. First order of business, figuring out if playing was even going to be worth her time. "What exactly are you hiding in your apartment that you don't want anyone to see?"

"Awwww, and ruin your surprise?" Segen asked with a honed voice. "Pass." He spat.

"Worth a shot". She said to herself.

She then saw the technician narrow his eyes at her, humming quietly. "What did you used to do? Before this whole mess with the Ruined, I mean."

Rivet was a little surprised by the question, but concluded it was not personal enough to warrant a pass. "I was a spy, a rebel." She answered. "I spent my whole life fighting as hard as I could against this evil Emperor and his goons, always on the run. I suppose I still am, a rebel fighting evil, I mean." She finished crossly, hoping the technician got her meaning.

He scoffed but didn't say anything back, waiting for her next question. She thought for a moment before coming up with another one. "Do you know Bishop Lanari? She seems to know you."

Segen gulped at that, his voice fumbling. "You could say that, yeah. We've known each other for a while."

"What's your relationship with her?"

"That's a second question." Segen said, jabbing a finger at her and causing her to groan quietly. "My turn. How old are you?"

"Pass"

"Oh, come on!"

"Well let's see how you like it when I ask personal questions about you! Who were you before joining the Ruined?"

Segen narrowed his eyes at her, but the expression on them overall was not angry, but rather sad, melancholic almost.

"Pass." He murmured, making Rivet huff in satisfaction. "Alright, how many times have you and Ratchet saved the world?"

Rivet narrowed her eyes at the structure of the question. "If by 'saving the world' you mean foiling a big bad guy's plan to cause untold amounts of destruction, I've only managed to do it twice." She admitted. "Ratchet has done it more times than me. He's told me about a few of his adventures and that already puts his total above mine."

"Oh, so you've only known each other recently?"

"That's a second question." Rivet countered, smirking smugly at Segen.

The technician clearly didn't appreciate his own jab being used against him, but didn't make a fuss. Meanwhile, Rivet thought up her next question.

After racking her head, Rivet was left with a simple, fundamental doubt, an essential clarification. "What's the deal with the Ruined? Like, why do they attack people across different dimensions? Why did they come to attack us? And don't give me that 'giant space monster' showbiz!" She warned. "I want an explanation."

Segen sucked in air and breathed deeply. "Alright, I'll be honest, I don't believe in the Alterrathan." Rivet's face scrunched up in confusion, driving the technician to pause. "The name for the 'giant space monster', or Alterra, as some people call it. But, pretty much everyone else does, and according to the myths, the Alterrathan was caught in this big cosmic battle that shook the multiverse itself." Segen said, flaring out his hands in grandeur. "It supposedly won that battle, but was greatly injured. So it went off in search of a place to heal. However, the blood it left behind supposedly is the source of the Taujan, the Illness, the thing I and all the Ruined are sick with."

"So you guys are sick off your own god's blood?" Rivet asked confusedly.

"If you believe the stories." Segen replied. "Anyway, the Alterrathan apparently left a trace, an invisible paved road for us to follow that the Caliph and the Cardinals dubbed 'The Path of Healing'. This was a huge roadmap that would eventually lead to the final resting place of the Alterrathan itself, where we would find a cure for the Illness and finally be purified."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with you people conquering planets?"

"Well, the Cardinals believe that the planets marked in The Path on Healing were sort of… branded by the Alterrathan, meaning they, and their resources are ours by divine right."

Rivet frowned and crossed her arms again. "Ratchet was right, you guys really are a big cult."

"Authoritarian Theocracy," Segen corrected coyly. "Warmongering Authoritarian Theocracy, but yeah. Anyway, I think that was pretty extensive, now it's my turn." Rivet braced herself for the question. "How'd you lose-"

"Don't!" Rivet yelled, shooting a glare at the technician that made him jump away in fright. "Don't." She repeated, lower, but no less threateningly.

"I was going to ask how you lost half of your guns! Jeez!" Segen said with his arms up.

Rivet's expression softened from equal parts regret and embarrassment. "Me and Ratchet fought a big villain before we came here." She said, her voice low. "Guy called Vorselon, you wouldn't know him. In this big final fight with him, he put us through the ringer, broke several of them in an attempt to disarm us."

Segen had relaxed from his defensive stance, but kept an uneasy sideways eye on Rivet as they kept walking. Wanting to move past her outburst, the rebel raised her next doubt, one that had been gnawing at her for a while now. "Who are the Cardinals?"

"The Cardinals are the acting leaders of the Ruined Church. They stand above the bishops and comand the War Caste. They are really meticulous and conniving, most Ruined go their whole lives without even seeing a Cardinal, but their influence is felt everywhere. They are the ones that plan and oversee the conquests and chart out the Path of Healing."

"So they are the ones in charge?"

"No, they are technically second in command. The real leader is the Caliph."

"Who is-" Rivet bit back her tongue. "Second question, right."

"You're catching on, and running out of questions." Segen remarked. "I'm gonna win at this rate."

"Haven't we both already reached the limit of our questions? We've both asked the other five questions since we both passed twice, right?"

"You really did catch on, nice." Segn said with a slow nod. "And yeah, you're right, we're at a tie. So, we need a tie-breaker. Since it's my turn, I'm going to ask one final question. Depending on what you do, the winner is decided. If you choose to answer, you win, if you pass, I win." He explained, mischief slathered all over his words.

"Remember, you can't ask questions I've told you to pass." She reminded him pointedly.

"I know, I won't." Segen promised. "I have a really good one planed. See, the trick of 'Debt of Seven' is to draw an outline. If I had asked something like, say… 'why do you hate me so much'-" He said in an odd accent Rivet hoped for his health wasn't supposed to be hers. "-Then you would have either passed or lied." He said, and Rivet had to admit, he would have been right.

"So, instead, through the other questions, I figured it out myself!" He declared with pride. "From not wanting to answer a freaking kindergarten icebreaker like what color you like and what your age is, I can tell you aren't a very trusting gal." He explained. "And from your background as a spy I can tell you haven't really lived a life to change that, so it makes sense that you wouldn't want to put any faith in a guy like me, who works for a regime type you've spent your whole life trying to get rid of."

Rivet was taken aback by the comprehension in the technician's words. She was momentarily speechless at how much he got out of his questions, even the ones she refused to answer. But, before she could linger on her thoughts, she heard Segen speak again.

"So, while I don't have as clear a picture of you as I'd like,I think we can understand each other a bit better now." He said with a warm, mouthless smile. And for the first time since she'd met him, Rivet didn't feel outwardly hostile about the technician, nor inwardly hostile either. She was blindsided by it.

Regardless, Segen cleared his throat. "With that in mind, I think I have the perfect question." He declared rubbing his hands together in preparation.

Rivet leaned back and waited, a small, impressed smile on her face.

"Have you sucked face with Ratchet yet?"

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