Chapter 7: Hungry

Ratchet walked through the seemingly endless darkness of the cave, his path illuminated faintly by a portable lightsource on his shoulder. The silence that filled the place was suffocating to the hero, putting him on edge despite the apparent lack of threats.

It had already been close to an hour since he had ventured into the cave and the lombax had not really come across anything noteworthy. He had not communicated with Rivet, Kit or Segen, nor found anything that would suggest the presence of an Acolyte.

He was also getting a growing urge to yawn, and his eyes were starting to feel rather heavy. It was almost impossible to tell time in Misericordia due to the planet's naturally grim and gloomy sky, but he was pretty sure he was getting close to at least two days without sleep, something that was not exactly good for his health.

Regardless, the hero pushed on, deciding to distract himself from his tiredness by talking to his friend. "Hey, Clank?"

"Yes, Ratchet?"

"Done charting the cave yet, buddy?"

"Not fully." Clank said with a sigh. "It appears this cave system is significantly larger than Kit and I expected, even branching out to large open valleys near the surface. Additionally, it seems to be more than a mere cave system."

Ratchet raised a brow, eager for his friend to elaborate.

"There seem to be parts of the cavern that were carved out deliberately, methodically."

"You're saying this used to be some sort of ancient compound of theirs? A ruin of some kind maybe?"

"It is very likely to be the case. I would think this to either be a religious site, given the significance of the proceedings that take place here-" The bot declared, referring to the Acolytes' special trial. "-Or some form of mining or excavation site, given the structure and layout."

"Okay, but that means you've charted out at least part of it, right?"

"Indeed. I have actually located a point in our near future path that will converge with Rivet's group."

Ratchet smiled subconsciously at that. "Great, that means we'll be together if we bump into an Acolyte." He said with confidence. "Speaking of which, have you actually found any? Acolytes I mean. Can't you detect their movement or something?"

"I can, but only when they are in a certain range. There is not much movement in general here; only us, Rivet and Segen. Yet, as I have stated, there is still ground to cover, and it is quite possible the Acolyte is hiding there."

Ratchet was actually comforted by this, no longer feeling like he was walking around blindly. He put on a familiar adventurous smile now that he had a much better lay of the land. "Alright, let's keep going then!"

Another length of time passed, the exact duration of it obscured by the nature of Ratchet's environment. As he kept walking, avoiding deep cracks in the floor, Ratchet's nose picked up a scent like something rotting. It smelled far away, a distant filth, but it was definitely there, and even as faint as it was now, it made Ratchet's nose sting.

"Man, this place stinks! I swear this whole planet needs to get some sort of atmospheric air freshener."

"From all of your and Rivet's complaining, I sure am glad to not have smell sensors."

"Yeah, you really are lucky. It smells like something died, came back to life and died again." The lombax whined.

"I take it this is not one of your favorite planets?" Clank asked with a chuckle.

"Definitely not. Between the smell and the humongous cult that runs the place, I wouldn't want to visit ever again."

"Where would you like to go then? After this is over, I mean."

"I think I'd actually like to go to Ardolis, surprisingly enough," Ratchet said, his eyes focusing on something far away. "I think I've said it before, but it really is a beautiful place. I could do without the pirates, sure, but I think it's be nice to just go there and relax on the beaches, explore the mountains." He continued, a smile growing on his lips. "And hey, maybe Rivet can convince Piere to just leave us alone this time around."

"Oh, Rivet would be there too?" Clank asked, sounding curiously mischievous.

"Well, yeah! Why wouldn't she be?" Ratchet asked matter-of-factly.

Then, Ratchet caught himself. The hero raised a confused brow at himself for assuming so brazenly that Rivet would tag along, she was her own lombax after all. He also found it curious how much he actually wanted her to be there.

"I guess it just wouldn't be the same without her there." He tried to rationalize.

After this, Ratchet puffed and scrunched up his face when a notably rancid smell attacked his nose, causing him to lose his train of thought. "Must be getting closer to the source." He thought.

As he tried to swat the awful smell away, Ratchet heard Clank address him. "Ratchet, may I ask you a question?"

"Augh, sure thing pal," The lombax answered, pinching his nose shut. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, it is about a subject that I once believed to have a solid assessment of. However, recent events, along with an outside perspective have brought me to… question said assessment."

"Uhhhhh, okay?"

"I would like to state that this question pertains to something a bit personal, and would also like your permission before delving further into the topic." The robot elaborated, waiting patiently for the lombax to process his words. Upon hearing Ratchet welcome his question, Clank resumed speaking. "Well, I was wondering, what exactly is your standing with Rivet?"

Ratchet came to a sudden halt, jarring forward. "Um, what is that supposed to mean?"

"How would you describe your relationship with her?"

The hero was going through the equivalent of buffering. Not only had this line of questioning come entirely out of left field, he didn't really have a good answer.

"It is just that, you've known her for several months already and I believe it is fair to say you two have created quite a strong bond. It has also been well over a year since you… parted with-"

"W-What even brought this on!?" Ratchet cut him off, shouting accidentally. "Did Segen put you up to this? Is that what your 'outside perspective' was!?"

"Segen… raised a few points to my and Kit's attention about your behaviour around each other. But regardless, Segen did not 'put me up' to anything. This inquiry is my own, brought about by nothing if not friendly concern."

"Concern about what?" The hero asked, a strange knot forming in his throat.

"Concern for your loneliness, Ratchet. You've been keeping everyone at arm's length since your last break up. I would understand this behaviour if it had taken place in the months following the break up in question, but it has been over a year, you can't remain at a distance forever."

"Why not? I think it would save everyone a lot of time and trouble." The lombax retorted in a cutting tone, the knot growing tighter, his voice growing louder.

"You haven't answered my question." Clank remarked, his own voice rising. "If you truly do have feelings for Rivet, why would you ever bottle them up like this, Ratchet? Why would you put yourself through that?"

"Because it was SLOW, Clank!" Ratchet yelled, his heart as pained as his throat, his patience having snapped. But the fire in his chest and the glare in his eyes died down almost immediately, replaced by a somber, dull numbness. "Because I didn't just wake up one day and decide I didn't love her," He said, refusing to name the markazian girl in his thoughts. "It was incremental, we were drifting apart little by little and I didn't even realize it was happening right in front of me until she was practically gone… like the others before her."

Ratchet let out a short, bitter, mirthless laugh. "I guess that's just the story of my life, huh? Everyone I care about just goes away sooner or later, because I'm not good enough to get them to stay." He belittled himself, digging his fingers into his palms, welcoming the hurt. "And I just…" He paused, squeezing his eyes shut. "I just don't think I can do that again, man. It just hurts too much."

There was a pause, a long, silent pause before Ratchet heard Clank speak again. He heard and felt the robot jump off his back and tread over to stand in front of him.

The lombax could see the silver bot's green eyes staring at him through the dark, angled in a compassionate look that made Ratchet unable to avert his gaze. "Ratchet, let me make one thing very clear." He said, speaking in a stern yet caring tone. "I will not go away. Whatever comes, and whatever happens, you do not have to fear the thought of losing me over you 'not being good enough'. And I can promise you, you shouldn't be afraid of losing Rivet for such a reason either."

The hero scoffed. "Yeah, right. She's too good for me, buddy. I bet the only reason she's entertained me for so long is because I'm the only lombax she's ever met. Once we get to the Lombax Dimension that charm's gonna wear off reaaaal fast."

"You sell yourself very short, Ratchet." Clank replied. "And I'm certain Rivet would agree. Your bond runs deeper than what race you belong to."

"Stop…" Ratchet whispered, his heart aching. "Just stop… I… I don't want to get my hopes up again. I don't want…"

"You don't want what?" The bot asked, leading him on.

"I don't want to be-"

"Jashiren… ar gitz sugu… jashiren…"

Every hair on Ratchet's body stood on end at that sound. Blood rushed through him as he entered a combative stance. He drew his Omniwrench and scanned the area, eyes wide and arms out, ready for anything.

The parched, broken voice had come from somewhere ahead of him, just how far ahead, he couldn't tell, since the stone walls and shape of the cave likely served to distort the sound via echo.

He gulped, something about the voice was unnatural, wrong. It made a chill crawl through him as he took single, careful steps forward.

"Clank? What was that?"

"I am unsure." The bot replied as he hurriedly returned to Ratchet's back. "I am still not detecting any movement ahead."

"Well there's definitely something ahead!" The hero whispered through grit teeth.

"Jashiren… sugu jashiren…" The dreadful voice repeated, bearly louder than before.

"Ratchet, be very careful. I am not detecting any movement or any heat signatures. Whatever that sound is, it must be coming from something in hiding."

Ratchet swept his eyes extensively, making sure to maintain awareness of everything around him, he went over the umbral geometry of the cavern walls, making sure nothing hid in the shadows, even going so far as to do a completely circular sweep, checking that no one had snuck up behind him.

"Ratchet!" Clank hissed, the distress in his voice making Ratchet freeze. "Turn around… slowly."

The lombax gulped, focusing to keep his breathing under control. He then spun himself around, back toward the unexplored guts of the cavern. He was on edge at Clank's warning, and thus swept his eyes over the terrain ahead once again. Being extra careful, lifting his gaze to the roof of the cave and then lowering it to the floor.

He had to clamp a hand over his mouth to muffle the gasp that escaped him.

A massive crack split the cave ahead, the only way across being a rickety wood and metal bridge covered in dust.

However, inside this crack was a sight that seemed out of a nightmare. Piled on top of each other, tangled in each other's limbs and covered in grime Ratchet feared to name, were dozens, if not hundreds of aliens. Species and races he was familiar with; cazars, markazians, blarg, vullards, fungoids, and many more, along several others he had never seen before. All these were clad in Ruined garb, only that it was ragged and severely damaged, filled with gaping holes that exposed gruesome wounds.

Black webs of disgusting, disfiguring blemishes and pustules ran all throughout the bare patches of skin on the bodies. Only that, they weren't bodies. Every single one of the Ruined piled inside the gorge, was breathing. Sparse, short, shallow breaths, pushed out of damaged throats by failing lungs, along with almost delirious ramblings in a broken version of a language Ratchet couldn't hope to comprehend.

"They seem to be asleep," Clank whispered, remiding Ratchet he was wide awake and not having a walking night terror. "I would advise extreme caution."

Ratchet didn't feel like sassing his friend at the obviousness of that comment, he was too busy keeping his cool under the circumstances.

He turned his light off and very carefully made his way toward the bridge. The second he took a step forward and heard the wood creak and squeak, Ratchet grit his teeth and felt his joints stiffen. He moved inch by inch, testing the wood beneath his boots, pulling back and repositioning himself whenever he felt too much give. He was thankful he couldn't see well in the darkness, because upon reaching the middle of the bridge, Ratchet was spared the temptation of looking downward at the writhing mass of rotting flesh below. But even so, he felt dizzy, unbalanced by the horrendous smell of death that rose like an invisible plume from the gorge. The stench was so powerful that the usually disciplined hero couldn't push back the urge to cover his nose and mouth, holding his breath all the way until he made it across the bridge.

After what felt like an hour, Ratchet managed to reach the other side and set foot on solid, green rock once more, releasing his long-held breath in a subdued exhale. He did not want to risk waking up whatever those things had been.

Even so, he also did not want to stay anywhere near that place a second longer than he needed to. That being the case, Ratchet broke into a silent jog, toggling his light back on and dashing to put as much distance between the gorge and himself as possible.

After a tense few moments, Ratchet slowed down to catch his breath, peeking over his shoulder to confirm nothing had followed them. "Are we clear, buddy?"

"We are. They do not appear to be pursuing us." Clank confirmed, sounding rather tense. He then breathed a sigh of relief. "I do, however, detect movement close by. Two signatures."

"Rivet and Segen." Ratchet said aloud with a smile.

"And not a moment too soon, as I am also detecting a third signature, not more than thirty meters away."

Ratchet's eyes went wide. "You think that's the Acolyte?"

"Quite possibly."

"Alright! Let's get moving then-"

"Ratchet?" Clank called suddenly, making the lombax stop in his tracks. "We still have our discussion to address." He stated, making Ratchet's ears droop. "But seeing the current circumstances, I believe it is best to put said discussion on hold for now."

Ratchet said nothing in reply, doubling his pace.

Shortly after, the tunnel Ratchet traversed opened up into a large space, held up by wood and metal beams, decades old by the looks of them. Ratchet could also see the rusty setups for rail systems scattered about. All this pointed to Clank's theory for this place being some sort of ancient mine being correct. He was secretly grateful for that, glad to avoid the possibility of barging into a blood-soaked sacrificial chamber instead.

He was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of two sets of footsteps approaching. Ratchet turned around to see Rivet and Segen arrive.

"Hey." Both lombaxes greeted in unison, smiling at each other

However, when Ratchet's eyes wandered over to Segen, he frowned in confusion. The technician's right eye seemed to be half-closed, the mechanized optics damaged. It was almost as if he'd gotten a robotic equivalent to a black eye.

"What happened to you?" Ratchet asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, this?" Segen said, pointing at his injured eye. "I, uh, tripped. Yeah, tripped."

"You tripped and fell on your eye?"

"Yep. Cave rocks, man," He blew out a breath and put his hands on his hips. "They'll get ya. They hit way harder than one would initially assume." He finished, glacing to his side where River stood, eyes narrowed bitterly.

At that, Rivet loudly cleared her throat, and Ratchet could have sworn she had a self-pleased expression on her face, one she tried to hide behind the fist she brought to her mouth and which vanished quickly, replaced by her game-face.

"Alright, I assume Clank picked up the same thing Kit did, right?" She asked, looking straight at Ratchet.

"You mean the possible Acolyte? Yeah, he's supposed to be only a couple dozen meters that way." He said, pointing to a dark passage up ahead.

"Yeah, about that," Segen interjected, taking a step forward. "You might actually want to deal with him stealthily. Ya know, to avoid having you guys beaten up too badly before your final trial."

"Alright, so Ratchet hits him with a Headhunter round to the back of the skull?" Rivet suggested casually.

"Hmmmm, weeeell," Segen hesitated. "Ratchet? Did you happen to see anyone else on your way here? Anyone at all?" He asked, steepling his fingers.

Ratchet pursed his lips. "Yeah, as a matter of fact I did. A whole gorge filled with creepy, maskless Ruined."

Segen's eyes seemed to lose some focus at that, dulled by a distant fear. "Yeah, I was worried about that."

"Why? What do you mean you found a whole gorge filled with Ruined?" Rivet asked, her voice echoing slightly in the room.

This got Segen to shush at her, putting an indignated look on her face before the technician spoke. "Those are Aberrants," He said in a whisper. "And they are seriously bad news. How many did you say there were?" He asked as he turned to Ratchet.

"I couldn't count them. And those were just the ones on the surface level of the gorge, there were probably a whole lot more hidden underneath." He said, his mouth going dry as the sight popped up in his mind again.

Segen hissed something under his breath, likely some sort of curse in the Ruined language. "Alright, that disqualifies loud weapons immediately. We can't risk you guys waking up and fighting a horde of Aberrants."

"Why not?"

"Because they bite." Segen said cuttingly. "They bite and scratch and spit, and there's no faster way to catch the Illness than through an Aberrant. There's not a more horrible or painful way either, so there's that."

"Wait wait wait, hold on a second," Rivet called, waving her arms. "They are drawn to sounds, they bite, scratch and are super contagious? You make these guys sound like zombies!"

"They pretty much are," Segen said back. "And they are just as nasty and hard to kill as zombies, so it's better if we don't tussle with them needlessly, okay?"

"For once, I agree with Segen," Ratchet commented. "I don't really like the idea of fighting a horde of hazmat-wearing zombies in a dark underground mine while they screech at me in an alien language."

"Thanks for getting that picture in my head." Rivet shivered. "But then how do we do this?"

Segen brought a hand to the tip of his mask. He hummed to himself for a while before his eyes lit up and he straightened out. "Hey, Rivet? Didn't you say you stole a Ripper's scarf back at the Big Base?" He asked, turning toward the rebel.

"Yeah, why?"

Segen's optics started angling up into what Ratchet would have guessed to be an outright devilish expression. An expression that was aimed at him. "I think I have a plan."

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"This is a terrible plan." Ratchet grumbled.

"Shut up, this is an excellent plan." Segen countered, shoving the lombax forward.

Ratchet could do little more than roll his eyes as the technician escorted him down the passage that presumably led to the Acolyte.

"And you're sure that stupid scarf is going to be enough to convince him that you're an Acolyte too?" Said Ratchet as he peeked over his shoulder to look at the technician.

Segen had the lengthy indigo scarf Rivet had stolen from a Ripper wrapped around him. The size of the item, combined with Segen's lean frame allowed for almost the entire upper half of the technician's body to be concealed by the indigo cloth, along with his mask.

"He'll be too impressed with the fact I caught a living, breathing lombax to bother checking if I'm an Acolyte." Segen said with confidence. "Now be quiet, I think I hear him up ahead!" He hissed, grabbing a hold of Ratchet's arm and pressing it against his back.

The lombax begrudgingly obeyed, shuffling forward as Segen pushed him along into a larger open room, one with passages set up in a crossroad, rails for mining carts converging and going over each other near the center of the room.

At one of the far corners of the room, kneeling and facing the wall, was a single creature. It appeared to be muttering something under its breath, repeating it over and over again, maintaining a specific pitch and rhythm every time it repeated the lengthy mantra.

There was a single, dull, green lightsource in front of this creature, and it allowed Ratchet to get a vague idea of what it looked like as Segen slowly dragged him across the room.

The Acolyte was dressed in a soft-looking fabric rather than a hazmat suit. That alone made him look more like a Ruined civilian than a member of the War Caste, and had it not been for the green and gold patterns on the robe, Ratchet would never have guessed otherwise. Or rather, that would have been the case, had the Acolyte not been as monstrously built as Bishop Samson, if a head or two shorter. The only additional details Ratchet could make out were the hefty metal gauntlets it wore on its forearms and the red bead necklace that he wore beneath his indigo scarf.

Before Ratchet could soak in anything else about the Acolyte's appearance, he felt Segen tug on his arm. "Pretend to struggle." He whispered in Ratchet's ear.

At this, Ratchet sighed and started squirming to give the impression he was trying to break free from Segen's grasp, integrating a couple of grunts to add to the performance. Segen himself also emitted sounds of strain and shifted his weight around to make it seem he was subduing Ratchet.

Then, Segen called out. "Brother! Look at what I've found!"

Ratchet returned his gaze to the Acolyte, and noticed the robed figure stood up and had turned around to see the comotion.

This allowed Ratchet to see that the Acolyte wore an odd mask, one resembling an animal, much like Samson's and Lanari's. Only that the Acolyte's mask depicted not a bird or a wolf, as it was much stouter and had a noticeable flaring fringe. The animal in question was a lion, and Ratchet noticed that the color of the mask was an immaculate white.

"Is that what I think it is?" The Acolyte spoke in a strong, gruff voice. "A lombax? Here in Misericordia?"

"And at our mercy, brother!" Segen added as the Acolyte approached.

"Hah, indeed! Good work brother, a prize such as this will be far more than enough to earn our glory!" The Acolyte said, turning to Ratchet and raising an arm. "The heathenous thing has two ears, what say we each keep one?" He asked morbidly as he flicked his wrist, and an arm-mounted blade ejected from his gauntlet.

Ratchet swallowed at the sight of the wicked blade being lowered to his ears, but it was stopped by Segen's words. "Actually brother, I have a better idea." He said, causing the Acolyte to freeze. "There are actually two of these heathens around here, one whole heretic for each of us."

The Acolyte released a regal laugh. "Excellent! I like the way you think, brother! So, tell me, where is this second lombax?" He asked maliciously.

"Right behind you." Segen said in a sweet tone.

The Acolyte only managed to tilt his head in confusion before a metal smack echoed through the room and the robed Ruined went stiff, falling backwards and landing roughly beside a metal rail, kicking up a puff of smoke as he did.

Standing over the fallen villain was Rivet, smirking proudly. "Well, that was easy." She said, resting her hammer on her shoulder.

"Right!? What did I tell you guys?" Segen said as he let go of Ratchet, taking off his oversized scarf and putting his arms out. "You don't need to improvise if the plan is good!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." The rebel cut him off. "Bolts, Kit? You guys ready to do this?"

The named robots walked up to the fallen Acolyte. "Indeed we are." Kit declared as she moved the metal gauntlet of the Acolyte. "This should be our fastest work yet. Clank, Glitch and I have gotten a much better grasp of the Ruined's security now." She proudly proclaimed.

"Great! The sooner we get out of here the better." Ratchet said, glancing subconsciously at the dark path from which they had come.

"You said it," Rivet agreed, holstering her weapon and turning toward the Acolyte. "So these are the famous Acolytes? I kinda expected them to put up more of a fight to be honest."

"We got off easy," Segen said, tapping Rivet on her metal shoulder. "A head-on fight with an Acolyte wouldn have been very… debilitating for you, trust me."

A previous comment on Acolytes being bishops in training surfaced in Ratchet's mind. He assumed that had to count for something, seeing as how the Ruined were a multiversal warmongering cult, their top warriors must be quite fearsome.

Something then occurred to Ratchet, and the thought was so epiphonic that he simply had to voice it. "Y'know, the Ruined seem to be kind of like an opposite of the Lombaxes."

"Huh?" Segen and Rivet said in tandem, all while the robots kept working on the Acolyte's gauntlet.

"Think about it. Both traveled through the multiverse, both are clearly powerful and advanced. But the Lombaxes focused on science, while the Ruined seem to be more spiritual. And also, the Lombaxes tried to help people, while the Ruined tried to conquer them."

"Huh, I've never thought about that before." Segen contemplated, putting a hand on his mask. "And the Ruined are multiversal anomalies too, just like the Lombaxes."

"Wait, really? There aren't alternate versions of the Ruined either?" Ratchet asked, astounded.

"Nope. In all their years of multiversal conquest, The Ruined have never come across alternate versions of themselves. The Illness, Misericordia and the High Clergy all only existed in this universe."

"Thank the stars, I wouldn't want to meet another version of Samson." Rivet joked.

Segen actually laughed at that, a short little laugh. "Yeah, you and me both. He's belligerent and annoying enough as he is. The thought that by multiversal theory there's at least one version of him that's worse in every way makes my skin crawl."

It was Ratchet's turn to laugh now. "Don't put that image in my head, man. Have you heard his voice? He sounds like a crow with a smoking problem, how can an alternate version of him sound even worse?"

"Maybe it'd sound like a crow who swallowed a whole box of nails." Rivet joined in.

The three laughed together, and Ratchet realized the three of them had actually shared a genuine moment of comradery, brought about by a unifying loathing of the corvid bishop. That was certainly a first, but a little part of Ratchet hoped it wouldn't be the last.

"Good news everyone." Clank called, drawing the trio's attention. "We are finished! The passwords are not stored within my and Kit's memories."

"Great! Now we just need to get the last piece of the map from Samson's office and we're set!" Ratchet exclaimed enthusiastically.

"You won't make it that far."

Ratchet felt himself freeze and his eyes go wide. He whipped his head toward the source of the voice, the still fallen Acolyte.

The robed villain stayed completely motionless, which allowed the tiny robots to frightenedly scamper away. However, Ratchet noticed the Ruined's hands were clenched tightly into fists.

Ratchet backed away from the villain, seeing Rivet and Segen do the same. He then drew his Omniwrench and took a combative stance as Clank hopped onto his back.

"I think you should stay down, pal," Ratchet suggested. "We've got you outnumbered."

"How touching you'd worry for my safety, heathen." The Acolyte replied. "But this place shall be your grave, not mine."

Then, without warning, the Acolyte slammed his fist against the metal rail that laid to his side. The impact reverberated through the steel tube and echoed through the dark cave, causing Ratchet's ears to go on end.

The Acolyte then slammed his fist down once again, and then once more, each blow resonating just as loudly as the last. And then, after the ghost of the sounds vanished through the darkness, a deafening silence filled the air.

"What have you done?" Segen choked out, his voice a panicked whisper.

The Acolyte uttered a short, derisive chuckle. "I suggest you start running." He said, remaining completely still.

Ratchet's ears flickered, having picked up a far away sound. Sweat started forming on his temples. "You know, those things are gonna eat you if you stay there," He said, slowly walking away from the Acolyte, his eyes fixed on the dark tunnel the sinnister sound came from. "Don't you think we should, you know, put our differences aside to get out of here? Isn't this that part of the game?" He tried joking.

"Oh, no need to worry about me, heathen," The Acolyte replied calmly. "As an Acolyte of Bishop Astaroth, it would be unbecoming of me to die here. I couldn't bear to bring such shame to my master." Then, the Acolyte turned his head toward Ratchet, staring straight at him beneath his pale mask. "It would also be unbecoming of me to let you leave this place alive." He warned with deadly seriousness. "But, do you want to know what the difference between men like me, and heretics like you is, lombax?"

Ratchet broke the Acolyte's gaze when a ghoulish, unnatural screech rang out through the cavern and a low rumble manifested, shifting pebbles on the ground. "Uh, no. Enlighten me."

"Sportsmanship."

Another screech rang out, so much closer than the last that Ratchet's body sprang into action before he finished registering the Acolyte's taunt.

"Ruuuuun!" Segen screamed, slinging Kit onto his back and breaking into a sprint along the two lombaxes. "Ruuuuun! A horde is coming!"

Ratchet grit his teeth and ran as fast as his legs would let him, leaving the large room behind and rushing head first into the dark guts of the tunnels.

"Bolts! Kit!" Rivet shouted between breaths as she ran beside him. "Please tell me you guys found a way to get out of here!"

"Yes, we have!" Kit answered. "There is a vertical mineshaft with elevators that lead all the way up to the surface! We can escape there, and it's not that far!"

"Great! Now all we have to do is pray those dusty hunks of metal work!" Ratchet said in stressed sarcasm.

"Don't worry pal, you're gonna be real happy you teamed up with a technician in a few minutes." Segen reassured.

"We might not have a need for that," Kit interjected. "I should be able to carry all of you out of here thanks to my warbot form's thrusters."

The lombax was about to cheer in relief, but was made to squeal in fright when another ghoulish roar reached his ears. "Just how fast are those things!?" Ratchet demanded indignantly as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Really fast," Segen said, his breathing sounds labored. "They are the fast kind of zombie, like the ones from the new movies." He said, and Ratchet shivered as images from horror movies flashed into his mind.

"Do not worry, I believe I can get us out of here." Kit declared. "The mineshafts leading up to the main opening are quite large, I should be able to lead the way and remain in my warbot form all the way there!"

Ratchet was brought out of his thoughts at the sight of a gaping chasm ahead, one too wide for him to merely jump across. So, with a fluid motion, he kicked on his Hoverboots and flew forth, gaining speed and leaping over the dark chasm. He heard the roar of separate Hoverboot jets nearby and turned his head to see Rivet had done the exact same thing as him, down to the second. As such, both lombaxes landed on the other side of the chasm at the same time, disengaging their boots when they fell on solid ground.

He was about to sigh in relief, until he heard Segen shout at him. "Oi, geniuses! What about me!?"

The hero turned around to see Segen waving his arms frantically, doing little jumps as he stood at the edge of the chasm. "I don't have those stupid boots of yours! I can't get across!"

"Ja… shi… reeeen! Ar gitz sugu… jashireeeeeeen!" The Aberrants howled in the distance, growing ever closer.

Ratchet's already altered breath suddenly grew even harder to keep in check. He couldn't carry Segen with him, his Hoverboots had barely gotten him across without any extra weight.

But just as he was beginning to despair, Ratchet saw Kit jump off Segen's back and dash away. The little robot then powered down and shrunk, before expanding into her mighty warbot form.

Ratchet then saw the yellow bot extend her hand to Segen, who backed away almost on a reflex, before relaxing and hopping onto the massive robot's hand. Kit then used her boosters to fly across the chasm, landing with a sonorous bang on the other side, careful to not step on her smaller friends. She then extended her free hand to the lombaxes,

The very next moment, another shriek echoed through the cavern and Ratchet couldn't keep down the reflex that compelled him to look at the source of the sound.

He instantly regretted it and averted his eyes in a split second.

"Come on!" Rivet called, urging Ratchet to follow her as she jumped onto Kit's hand.

He didn't need to be told twice, and ran right after the rebel. But as he grabbed a hold of Kit's massive fingers, his mind kept circling back to remind him of the dreadful sight he had caught.

They were right behind them. The Aberrants were right on the other side of the chasm, all of them leaping into the void without a single hint of hesitation, letting out blood curdling screams as they flung themselves into the darkness.

"That chasm should stop them, right?"

"I don't think we're gonna be that lucky, Ratchet." Segen replied bitterly.

The yellow lombax held on tight inside Kit's palm as the huge bot ran through the dark cavern, following the path she had charted.

She jumped over chasms, bulldozed through stalagmites and stalagmites, ran through the deep tunnels of the cavern without fear or slowness, all while Ratchet clung onto her for dear life.

Soon, the yellow robot arrived at an enormous open space, one so large that a dozen robots the size of Kit could freely roam about and never so much as graze each other. Countless tunnels could be seen leading here, as if the entire structure of the mine was meant to be funneled to this place.

And right in the middle, was an enormous elevator, a circular platform that was likely meant to ascend a lengthy, skeletal cylinder that led all the way up, to what was a huge clearing from which the purple and yellow sky of Misericordia could be seen.

He was pretty sure that the elevator was not in anything even resembling working order, judging from the amount of wear and tear that it seemed to sustain, never mind the rust that covered it.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to risk his life on it, since the group had Kit to save their skins. He never thought he would be quite so happy to have a giant warmachine as his friend.

But then, just as Kit's thrusters began to whir to life, a series of painful, distressing sounds assaulted Ratchet's ears. He heard metal clash against metal and the electric sputtering of machinery failing. He heard Kit gasp in shock before groaning loudly, making her whole body shake, letting him, Rivet and Segen fall to the ground.

And as he fell, yelping startledly as he did, he managed to catch a glimpse of something. He saw a robed, masked Ruined climb from Kit's back onto her shoulder, before dragging an arm-mounted blade across her eyes in a brutal draw cut, jumping off the giant robot as he did.

Kit let out a horrible scream and sent her hand to cover her face, here usually bright blue optics now grey and dull, an awful scrape-like gash running through them.

"KIT!" Rivet cried, her eyes wide and pupils small.

"Kit, no!" Ratchet exclaimed, his heart pounding as he saw the blinded robot fall to her knees, revealing her destroyed thruster pack.

He rushed over to the fallen bot, Rivet sprinting ahead of him. The white lombax tried to calm her ailing friend down, calling her name, assuring her that everything would be fine even as the screams of the Aberrant horde closed in from the distance. "Kit, please, it's me!" Rivet called, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you're going to be okay, I just need you to shrink down, okay? So I can get you out of here!"

"Clank, can you help her!?" Ratchet asked desperately.

"I will do my best!" Clank promised, jumping off Ratchet's back and rushing toward Kit, who was currently weeping as she slowly shrunk down to her normal form.

"Well, crud…" Segen muttered, his hands shaking and optics dilated in panic. "I better get those elevators working." He said, before running toward the dusty console.

After this however, Ratchet's eyes found a very different focus, and all the sympathy he had held in them for Kit evaporated from them.

The Acolyte stood a few meters away, admiring his work. "That's one. The Aberrants should melt her into sludge in her state." He muttered to himself. "Now, it's just yours left-" He shouted, pointing his blade at Ratchet. "After all, it's your little robots who have the passwords, which means it's really them I have to kill."

Ratchet felt himself shaking with rage.

"Over our dead bodies." He and Rivet suddenly snarled, baring their teeth at the villain and drawing their weapons.

"Yes, that is the idea." The Acolyte snarked back, raising his other arm and flicking his wrist, ejecting from it a second blade and starting to briskly walk toward the lombaxes, taking long, aggressive strides.

Without taking his eyes off the enemy before him, Ratchet controlled his breathing and spoke. "Together."

"Together." Rivet repeated, flourishing her hammer, right before she and Ratchet dashed forward at the Acolyte.

Ratchet went low, going for the Acolyte's knees while Rivet leaped into the air, aiming for his head.

The villain countered by advancing and raising one blade and lowering the other, effectively catching both lombax's weapons mid-swing, redirecting both strikes away from himself. He then pressed on by doing flowing slashes that the two heros managed to parry.

However, the Acolyte then threw a lightning fast low-kick at Rivet, crashing his leg against her side and sending her grunting to the ground.

Ratchet tried calling out to his friend, but was quickly given his own problems to worry about when the Acolyte immediately turned on him. The elite villain unleashed a flowing string of strikes on the hero, pressing forward unyieldingly, using his long reach and dual weapons to pressure Ratchet almost to break.

The lombax had to Phantom Dash away, taking a quick breather as he did. After that brief exchange of blows, Ratchet's wrench-arm was sore from how fast he had to parry and quickly concluded that he needed a different approach to beating this villain.

So with that in mind, the lombax drew his Burst Pistol and squeezed the trigger, causing a barrage of green bullets to fly straight at the Acolyte.

The villain groaned and recoiled as the proyectiles hit his chest, but huffed and shook his head, before resuming his advance against Ratchet.

Upon seeing this, Ratchet fired another round of fire. But just as the bullets zipped through the air, they came to an abrupt stop, mere inches from the Acolyte.

Ratchet's eyes went wide at the sight, but decided to fire more bullets, only to have them be similarly stopped by an invisible force. The plasma that made up the proyectiles sizzled out not long after, right before the Acolyte had gotten close enough to Ratchet to slash at him.

The lombax Phantom Dashed under the attack, materializing behind the Acolyte and barely being fast enough to catch the rapid spinning slash the Acolyte delivered, preventing the hero from attacking the villain's back.

So instead, Ratchet Phantom Dashed again, putting some distance between himself and the Acolyte.

He was about to change weapons but stopped half-way, his hand hovering over his holster. He remembered the bullets from his gun being caught by that strange forcefield. "Maybe he is invulnerable to proyectiles?" The hero theorized. "All these jerks seem to have some sort of gimmick to them, like Clank said."

He was snapped out of his thoughts however, when the Acolyte was knocked flat on his butt by a Warmonger missile exploding on his chest.

And not giving the villain so much as a chance to get up, Rivet leaped over Ratchet and slammed her weapon on the villain's fallen body with a loud grunt in a vicious ground pound that made the Acolyte wheeze and retch.

The rebel then brought down her hammer again, this time aiming for the villain's head. However, just as her strike fell and was about to make contact, it stopped dead in its tracks right above the Acolyte's mask.

Rivet looked about as confused about it as Ratchet felt, and her stupor allowed the Acolyte to recover, placing one on his blades on Rivet's side and performing a draw cut.

Ratchet called out the rebel's name in worry as she gasped and Phantom Dash away, gripping her injured side as she did, which in turn gave the Acolyte time to fully stand and regain his composure.

Ratchet however, washed away his own distress and ran toward the Acolyte, his Omniwrench positioned perfectly for a winding gut punch.

And so, the hero swung his weapon as hard as he could, but half-way through his wrench's arc, Ratchet felt like he had struck a pillow, a soft, invisible cushion that simply impeded him from completing his attack.

He then looked up from where his weapon was, now held in place by the Acolyte, to the masked villain's face.

"You haven't caught on yet, huh?" The Acolyte taunted. "Good."

Ratchet then saw a blur of movement, and the next thing he knew, he was stumbling backward, searing white pain screaming in his ear. He Phantom Dashed backwards, trying to get away from the source of danger.

Through watering eyes and grit teeth, he managed to see the little triangle of furry meat that now laid at the Acolyte's feet. A sizable piece of his left ear.

"How do you even hear out of those?" The Acolyte asked as it casually used his robe's sleeve to wipe the red off his blade.

The Acolyte didn't have much time to taunt however, as Rivet was quickly back on his case, swinging her Omnihammer at him in a flurry of powerful attacks. However, each blow was caught by an invisible force before it could reach the villain, so reliably in fact, that the Acolyte had completely dropped his guard, having both arms lazily lying at his sides.

"Rivet, stop!" Ratchet shouted, willing himself to focus past the pain on his ear, getting his friend out of her anger-driven onslaught just in time to avoid a counter-attack from the Acolyte. "This guy has some sort of trick up his sleeve! We have to figure it out to beat him!"

But then, a ghoulish screech rang out, followed by another, and another, all through the mineshaft like a chorus of unseen monsters, causing Ratchet, Rivet and even the Acolyte to suddenly freeze.

However, those monsters did not remain unseen for long, and through each and every single one of the tunnels that funneled into the main shaft, Ratchet saw rivers of screaming Aberrants pour out.

And they were rivers, with so many creatures moving so fast that they pilled and ran over each other as they ravenously rushed toward their meal, screaming the same thing over and over again. "Jashiren! Jashiren! JASHIREN!"

But just as Ratchet felt his body lock up from hopelessness, he heard a voice call to him.

"Ha-ha! Ratchet, Ratchet!" Segen shouted. "Gimme a medal, man! I got it to work! I got the elevator to work!"

Ratchet turned to see the technician energetically pointing toward the elevator's platform, which was now dotted by sparse glowing lights and a low, industrious hum.

"Get on, quick!" Segen barked, waving at him to move, jumping onto the already ascending circular platform himself.

"Ratchet, Rivet!" Clank called, peering down at him from the platform, Kit clinging to his side, her face tucked between his head and shoulder. "Hurry!"

He didn't need to be told twice, and neither did Rivet. The two sprang into action and rushed to the elevator. Ratchet got there first, having been closer to begin with. He used the control console for the elevator to boost himself up and grab the edge of the platform.

However, instead of pulling himself up, he stayed hanging and held his arm out for Rivet to grab, right on time for the white lombax to leap off the console as he had done and grab his hand.

Clutching her hand tightly and straining his muscles, Ratchet began to sway her, gaining more and more momentum, before eventually swinging her onto the elevator, for her to then pull him up with just as quick a motion.

"Thanks," He breathed, getting a small smile from her. "You really need some nanotech though." He said, his eyes growing weary at the sight of her slashed-open side.

"So do you." She countered, with just as concerned a look on her face as she inspected his sliced ear.

"There's some nanotech over there!" Segen said, drawing Ratchet's gaze and pointing him to a small stack of crates, among which was indeed the glowing blue outline of nanotech.

Ratchet let out a relieved sigh at the sight and slowly made his way over, Rivet right beside him. He planned to let her have most of it, seeing as she had a much more serious injury than him.

But then the crates were blown away, kicked off the platform by a sudden force.

"Come now, It's not fair if you heal." A dreadfully familiar voice said, making the lombaxes asume battle stances and draw their melee weapons. "I haven't, so you shouldn't either."

The Acolyte had made his way onto the elevator, whether by jumping on and grabbing hold, or by using the guiding rails of metal that flanked the platform, Ratchet did not know or have time to care, for the villain had once again drawn his dual blades.

Then, a rumble shook the platform, and everyone onboard staggered, trying to regain their balance.

A beat passed, and Ratchet made his way to the edge of the platform to peek down, and he felt his hair stand on end when he did, for the entire floor of the mineshaft was now covered in screeching Aberrants, Aberrants that were using the elevator's support structure to crawl up, gaining on the slowly rising platform.

They were so close that Ratchet could feel their stench killing sensory organs in his nose.

"Do you not think this is the part where we should put our differences aside and work together?" The Acolyte suggested, echoing Ratchet's own words. "Isn't this that part of the game?" He finished, and Ratchet swore he heard a hint of fear in his voice.

Ratchet let out a mirthless chuckle as he turned toward the villain. "I think you burned that bridge when you hurt my friends, pal."

At this, the Acolyte growled, a stifled, irritated growl. "Fine."

And with that, the villain turned around to deliver a lightning fast slash to an Aberrant that had crawled onto the platform, knocking it right back off.

"Rivet," He called, getting shoulder to shoulder with his partner.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want the jerk or the zombies?"

"The jerk, please." She replied instantly.

He scoffed goodnaturedly. "Of course. Just be careful, he has some sort of trick I haven't figured out yet."

"You mean how he stops some attacks randomly? Yeah, I'll have to work that out on the fly."

"Actually!" Segen shouted suddenly, and Ratchet turned to see Segen stand up from a spot near the center of the elevator, where he had been looking over the two bots. "I know what this guy's gimmick is!"

"Traitor!" The Acolyte roared suddenly, making Segen jump. "If you help me kill these heretics now, I will kill you quickly instead of handing you off to the Wardens!" He threatened, pointing a blade at the technician.

Segen swallowed heavily, but Ratchet saw him steel himself, taking a more defiant stance against the taller Ruined. "He has a special shield, Ruined tech. It emits an energy barrier that adapts to the attacks it's repelling. Basically, you can't hit him with the same attack two times in a row, else the shield adapts and nullifies the attack."

Upon hearing the explanation and thinking back on the fight, Ratchet did take notice of the mentioned phenomenon, such as when he fired at the villain with his Burst Pistol, or that he and Rivet were only able to land single blows with their melee weapons before that invisible barrier manifested.

"Alright, so what you're saying is, I just have to hit him with a different weapon each time, right?" Rivet asked, a wicked grin spreading on her face as she drew her Blackhole Storm.

"Brother!" The Acolyte shouted again, kicking an Aberrant off the platform as he did. "Is this really the lot you've cast!? Do you really want to throw your fate in with these fools!?"

Segen stayed quiet for a moment. His eyes passed from the Acolyte, over to the bots, then to the lombaxes before pausing on the ground. But then, he sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh, what can I say? They're kinda growing on me." The technician said, flicking one of his wrists, producing an arm-mounted blade of his own, a blade he pointed at the Acolyte.

"Oh, we've got this in the bag." Ratchet said, cracking a fierce grin of his own.

And then, as if on cue, Ratchet saw several clawed hands start gripping the rim of the elevator as what were likely dozens of Aberrants started climbing onto the platform.

"Rivet!" Segen shouted. "Let's show this punk what happens when he messes with our robots!"

"Alright!" The rebel agreed, leaping toward the robed villain, Segen dashing for him with his sword-arm at the ready.

As much as he would have liked to see that battle, even more to chip in, Ratchet had his own fight to take care of.

He turned around to see the grotesque faces of Aberrants bearing their blacked teeth at him, spitting putrid saliva as they did.

So, every time one of the creatures reared its ugly head, the lombax delivered a swift, precise blow of his wrench. The moment his weapon collided against the monster's head, it squealed and lost its grip, plummeting off the elevator, allowing the hero to move on to the next target, dispatching it with equal ease.

However, despite the simple nature of his task, the hero quickly found himself getting tired, for it wasn't that the Aberrants were resilient, it was simply the fact that there were too many of them.

The filthy zombie-like creatures tried to claw their way aboard the elevator a dozen at a time, all spaced generously from one another, meaning that Ratchet had to always stay on the move in order to prevent them from overrunning him. And yet, every time he struck one down, another one eagerly took its place, as if the horde of monsters was so vast, that no matter how many of them he defeated, there would simply be more coming.

The hero risked a quick glance to orient himself amidst the chaos of his environment. He noticed that the battle against the Acolyte was being as taxing on his companions as his own ordeal was being for him.

Despite the villain's secret being exposed, he still fought with skill and power that made said weakness difficult to press. He kept an incredibly tight guard, deflecting and harshly countering any melee attacks thrown at him, which meant that now both Rivet and Segen were dotted with numerous slash wounds. The villain also managed to dodge and weave through most of Rivet's ranged attacks, much to the rebel's audible irritation.

Ratchet pulled back his attention to his environment, and noticed that the elevator was definitely closer to the exit of the mineshaft. However, judging from how ragged his own breath was, how injured Segen and Rivet looked, and by how many Aberrants were still trying to make their way onto the platform, he concluded this was a losing fight.

Luckily, the Acolyte seemed to also need a breather. "I… would like to bring up a truce once again, this is not going anywhere."

"Like we said… you burned that bridge already," Rivet replied between breaths.

This caused the Acolyte to groan, but raise his weapons to meet Rivet's own. However, before the clash could resume, Segen's voice filled the air.

"Wait! I think we should hear him out!" The technician shouted, raising his arms and retracting his blade, placing himself between Rivet and the Acolyte. "We won't make it to the top by fighting him and the Aberrants at the same time."

"It's good to see you've kept some of your senses about you, brother." The Acolyte said.

"Yeah, yeah, I just don't want to die." Segen elaborated lazyly, walking over to the Acolyte, offering him his blade-carrying arm, almost as proof.

The lombaxes meanwhile, were frozen in their places. Ratchet specifically was simply flabbergasted this was happening, his mouth hanging slightly open as he watched the exchange take place.

He saw the Acolyte take a few steps closer himself, eyeing Segen suspiciously. But, after a tense few seconds, the two clasped their hands together, a sign of agreement. Segen then threw a rough pat on the Acolyte's shoulder. "Thanks for letting me get close."

Segen then drew a blade from his other arm and buried it in the Acolyte's chest.

The Acolyte wheezed, having the air pushed out of his lungs while Segen simply started pushing the bewildered man toward the edge of the platform, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Oooooi! Samari, desharai! Desharai dol!"

"Desharai!?" The Aberrants all said in unison, muttering the word feverishly afterwards, reacting like animals being shown a treat. "Desharaaaaaai!"

And just like animals, when the Acolyte was thrown screaming and flailing off the platform, they all jumped after him. Each and every single one, rushing ravenously after their precious morsel of food.

And as the screams grew ever more distant due to the enormous fall, the elevator seemed to even gain speed in its accent, now rid of all the extra weight the Aberrants likely represented.

"Heh, that's twice I've duped that guy." Segen chuckled darkly. "My plans are awesome."

Ratchet meanwhile, had snapped out of his surprise, and shot Segen a very disapproving stare. "That wasn't-"

"Heroic?" Segen cut him off. "It's a good thing I'm not a hero then, huh?"

"I thought you said you were a technician, not a 'fight-ician'." Rivet joked, clearly not as upset as Ratchet. "But those were some pretty slick moves back there."

"Hey, I am a member of the War Caste, I gotta be at least a little bit of a fight-ician sometimes."

"Still, I prefer not pulling that kind of stuff on people," Ratchet insisted. "Can we try not playing as dirty as the bad guys, please?" He asked, making sure his words carried the weight he wanted, never taking his eyes off Segen.

The technician narrowed his eyes at him but gave no protest. "Alright, alright, no 'dirty tricks' from now on." He conceded.

Ratchet felt he had little choice but to be satisfied with that answer, as half-hearted as it sounded to him.

Regardless, Ratchet felt himself breathe a sigh of relief as he raised his head and saw the elevator was almost to the top of the mineshaft, almost to their long-awaited and hard-fought exit.

"Well, I'd definitely say that guy was about thirty seven percent stronger than the Musketeer." Rivet commented through grit teeth. "Definitely feeling thirty seven percent more damage."

"Yeah, I'll get you guys some nanotech I've got stored in my house once we get back," Segen said, before focusing on Ratchet. "Wouldn't want us to match, would you?" He said, pointing at the stump on his head where a curved horn would have matched the one on his right.

Ratchet let out a forced laugh as he stared half-liddedly at the technician, unamused by the jab at his now mangled ear.

"That's also not the only thing we're getting from your house, is it, Segen?" Rivet suddenly cut in, placing her hands on her hips and smirking at the technician.

"Oh, right. That."

"What? What are you two talking about?" Ratchet asked, his ear angled in confusion.

"Well, Segen and I made a bet," Rivet began explaining. "And since I won that bet, he's going to give us something really useful for our third trial."

"Really? What exactly is he giving us?" The hero asked, turning to the technician with a smile and a raised brow.

Segen's optics angled up into a mischievous grin. "How would you like to rip the Casters a new one?"

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