Ratchet and Clank: The Long Road Home

by ASmash5Lucario

Rivet's and Kit's dimension is finally liberated from the remainder of Emperor Nefarious' forces, and the two Lombaxes are finally about to go to the Lombax Dimension. But something terrible has happened in Ratchet's and Clank's dimension while they were away, and the 4 heroes will to need to rely on each other if they're to survive the long road ahead of them

22. A Dance with the Devil

NOTES:

If you want a better-formated version of this story,

some of the chapters of which will contain pictures and illustrations of certain scenes,

head over to Archive of Our Own!

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A Dance with the Devil

Chapter Summary

Ratchet proceeds through the death-filled Neptune Bio-Weapons Facility on his search for Clank, who is being held captive by none other than Lord Valen, who has promised Clank's safety if Ratchet can find him.

Alone in the dark, and watched by Valen, Ratchet will be forced to face his greatest challenge yet. Does he have what it takes to not only stand against one of the universe's most dangerous villains, but overcome his own fears?

Chapter Notes

This chapter was originally part of chapter 21 but it was frickin long lol. In fact, there's MORE to this chapter, but it was like 20k words so instead, chapter 23 will be a little shorter, and will serve to branch events between 22 and 24, which i guess that's what a chapter is supposed to do anyway xP

Plenty of fun stuff in this one i think ^^ hope y'all enjoy!

The cold, still air bit into his flesh, bypassing his coat of orange fur, making his very bones feel like rods of chilled steel. His breath, shallow and shuddering, rose in a warm, humid mist before him as his eyes darted into every dark corner.

The silence, thick and frigid as the blankets of snow covering planet Batalia pressed upon Ratchet's half-drooped, but straining ears with unrelenting malice, and in his heightened sense of unease, the Lombax could have sworn he heard someone or something moving through an open door, out from the shadowy corners, or even from overhead. Yet every time he spun around to see who or what was whispering to him, he was met by nothing but oppressive darkness.

The deeper into the twisting and turning passages he went, the less clean they became, beginning to resemble the passages behind the Fertilization Chamber that were now sealed behind him, blocking his only escape.

But escape was the last thought on his mind right now.

Though his nerves tingled, despite the cold dread in heart, the fear clouding his mind and making every shadow appear monstrous, and as little as he wanted to walk down yet another set of bloody stairs up from which wafted an odor of something decayed, his primary concern was for that little silver bot who meant so much to him.

Clank, his best friend and his guide - the closest thing to a family he ever had. He was here, somewhere, trapped in a cage in this laboratory overrun by creatures straight out of those horror holofilms they used to watch together during quieter, happier times.

But no matter what it took, even if it meant wandering this facility for days without sleep, Ratchet would not stop until he rescued him.

The light in his chest harness the only source of illumination, the Lombax pressed on through the shadows, his combuster held tight in his hands, expecting at any second to meet some obstacle.

Yet, though they were now full of cold fog that made the Lombax shudder violently, and despite the abundance of overturned metal crates that would have made for the perfect place for an ambush, the passages were just as deserted and ruined as ever.

He came to a dead end and turned around to take a narrow doorway he had passed earlier.

As he approached the slowly flashing amber light that was perched above the door, he saw with a jolt, that the passage leading to the room in which he had seen Clank was now sealed off, leaving him only one way to go.

He swallowed and peered around the edge of the doorway. There were distant, hissing echoes coming from somewhere up the passage.

Taking a deep breath and gathering his courage, he turned the corner and slowly made his way up a cluttered passage full of gelatonium barrels, empty but undamaged stasis tanks in a line, and several valves and pipes along the wall.

His leather boots thudded softly against the cold metal floor as he looked up at the large tanks and at the crates stacked against the walls on either side, wondering what could be in them.

There was a sudden, loud *SSSHHH* and Ratchet's heart launched into his throat as he whipped around, preparing to fight for his life.

But it was nothing more than one of the valves, which had hissed and released a searing hot jet of steam that clouded what little sight the Lombax had in the pitch darkness.

His heart thumping in his throat, Ratchet's breathing slowed, and gradually the speed of his desperately pounding heart slowed back to its 'not-calm-but-not-panicking-either' pace.

At least the hissing sounds he heard were not the product of some creature in the dark…

He walked on, leaving the hissing valves behind, and exiting through a door over which glowed a slowly flashing crimson light.

He had not yet gotten the chance to register his surroundings when there was a soft hum behind him, and he turned to see the passageway sealing itself as the door slid into view, thudded into place, and throwing the veil of silence over his large furry ears once more.

Was Valen doing this? Could the Fongoid scientist see him, walking in the dark passages?

Ratchet took a deep breath, his trepidation mounting, and nearly gagged as the cold air flew up his nostrils.

The stench was worse than even it had been in the Fertilization Room…

Wrinkling his nose, bracing for what he was about to see, the Lombax turned around.

He was in what appeared to be a type of storage room, with chutes along the walls, and dim, golden lamps lining a sort of catwalk, which spanned over a five foot drop into a pit which

contained what were unmistakably the bodies of Valen's 'essential workers'. "('Th-they're so c-c-care-free now'… The b-bastard…!)" So this was what the Fongoid meant…

His teeth chattering, his tail wrapped around his upper body for warmth and from fear, Ratchet set forth along the catwalk, using all the willpower he possessed to not heave and vomit from a combination of the smell and the grotesque sight.

*BZRRRRRRT*

Ratchet thought he was having a heart attack. He whipped around as a buzzer, deep and loud, blared through the chamber, and the golden lamps transitioned to scarlet as a door on the far side of the room began to open with a dull hum.

Two clawed feet came into view and Ratchet gasped.

He turned off his flashlight and tethered over onto a stack of metal crates, wedging himself between the two topmost boxes, and ducking back into the shadows.

A lone Harvester entered the room and proceeded up the narrow catwalk, its pale-green, slimy skin tinged with red from the lights, making it look like a bloody and rotten undercooked steak on two legs, and it passed Ratchet's hiding place, pausing at a point seemingly at random, before leaping down into the pit.

Ratchet closed his eyes. The sound was all he needed to hear to know what happened next.

The Harvester leapt back onto the catwalk and crossed over to one of the chutes, its slimy body writhing.

For a moment it stood there, then raised up to the opening, separated its jaws, and dispensed a dark green, sludgy pod into the chute.

The monster turned and walked back to the door through which it entered, emitting low, deep growls as it vanished out of sight.

The scarlet lights lining the catwalk flickered and in a moment were glowing gold once more.

For a moment Ratchet merely stood there, obscured in shadow, his stomach churning and his breathing shallow and frightened.

"(S-so… that's why he c-calls 'em harvesters…)" Ratchet said privately, his teeth still chattering and his arms wrapped around his torso for warmth. "(M-must be why he k-keeps it so cold…)"

Ratchet climbed out from the shadows and hopped back onto the walkway below, landing catlike on the freezing cold platform, and straightening up.

For a few, tense seconds, he waited. How long would the Harvester take before it was good and far from the door? And how long would it take before the beast would it return?

Ratchet shook himself mentally.

He couldn't stay here, dreadful though he knew the path ahead would be. Clank needed him.

He walked slowly forward, and the door opened, and Ratchet saw the beast's tail disappearing

around a corner up ahead.

He followed, his combuster raised, his other hand ready to call shatterbombs to his aid should the Harvester turn around.

But then, to Ratchet's surprise, a door came into view, humming as it descended from the ceiling, and after a few seconds, the door had blocked off the passage ahead.

Undeniably relieved yet puzzled, Ratchet diverted his attention to a branching passage, through a door that was much larger.

Ratchet checked his communicator as he went and heard Clank's distress signal. It was closer than before, though still a ways off.

Was he… leading him to Clank…? What was his game…?

Ratchet climbed a short set of wide stairs. His flashlight, though it was of his own design and never wore out, seemed to be glowing dimmer… Or was the darkness intensifying?

He came to a set of large double-doors beneath a stretch of blank wall upon which Ratchet guessed a sign indicating what room this was had once hung, and he eased them open.

He was in a large laboratory, with a massive operation table with teraflux restraints and all manner of unpleasant-looking surgical devices all around it. Large cases littered the room, which were packed and overflowing with all manner of weapons – from warmongers down even to suck-cannons. There were several tables, upon which were phials and syringes of what was unmistakably nanotech.

Curious, momentarily diverted from his task of locating Clank and from his trepidation, the Lombax approached one of the tables.

He picked up one of the phials and examined it.

What the heck was all this nanotech doing here? And what was with all the weapons…?

There was a loose sheet of notebook paper nearby, and he placed the nanotech down to read.

"Despite having one arm severed during its encounter with the condemned, test subject has made a complete recovery and is in pristine condition. Performance exceeded expectations against the condemned, who is confirmed dead. Witnesses: Lord Valen and His Greatness Percival Tachyon.'…"

The paper fell from Ratchet's nerveless fingers as his eyes fell slowly upon the large surgical bed. "…Oh gods…"

Suddenly, there came the unmistakable sounds of massive feet stomping down the corridor outside, so heavy and hard that the small glasses of nanotech tinkled.

Ratchet's head jerked around, his ears drooping, and his heart freezing over and cracking within his chest the terribly familiar sound of deep, slow, rattling breaths fell upon his ears.

Ratchet gave a shuddering, yelping gasp and staggered back, looking wildly for someplace to hide.

He spotted a tall vent beside a rolling storage cabinet against the wall and tore across the room, shutting off his flashlight before throwing open the large vent, climbing inside, and sliding the

cabinet partially in front of the vent before shutting it securely behind him.

The double doors crashed open.

Ten feet tall, its face hidden behind some sort of vented mask, the slits where the mouth was glowing red with heat, its eyes green and glowing in the darkness, and its three, mismatched, muscular arms with razor-sharp claws, the Harbinger entered the room, its breathing like the growls of some otherworldly demon, emitting small embers of flame through its mask.

Half hidden in shadow, the beast was only partially visible to the Lombax, who stepped back deeper into his hiding place, clamping a hand over his mouth to silence his uncontrollable breathing.

It looked around the room, its head turning slowly and deliberately.

It walked over to a table and looked around it, before lifting the table off the floor and checking beneath. It then set the table down and walked over to a box, and peered inside.

"(It… it knows..! Oh gods, it knows…!)"

The Harbinger turned its head, and Ratchet saw into its eyes.

Ratchet's entire body went cold, and without warning, the star-shaped scar in his chest seared with nigh-unendurable pain, making Ratchet's hand fly to his chest as he gritted his teeth in an effort to resist crying out in agony.

The Harbinger was walking in his direction, and he took another step back, a roaring in his ears as he closed his eyes, trying desperately to wake up from his nightmare.

Visions forced themselves upon him as he stood, trapped in that pitch-black, narrow vent, feeling his strength fading from his body.

The kids were avoiding him in middle school because he was different, increasing his growing sense of isolation and loneliness in the universe, Captain Qwark's betrayal and allowing the destruction of Novalis, Clank being taken by the Zoni, Alister dying to stop the destruction of the Great Clock, the deaths of Cronk and Zephyr, Talwyn ghosting him for three years, months of depression, self-doubt, and regret, being captured and sentenced to public execution by Emperor Nefarious, his failure to save Clank from Tachyon and Valen, his defeat at the hands of the Harbinger, his failure to tell Rivet he loved her, and the cold, crushing grip of death. He was alone – alone and useless, trapped hiding in an air vent from his killer, and there was no escape.

He clawed at his head, his arms and legs growing heavier and colder, a sensation that spread to his heart which felt like it was going to rupture in his chest as it tried desperately to keep him alive.

He cringed and writhed in silence, begging, pleading for it to end.

But then the beast walked past the large vent and storage cabinet, overturning a stack of crates before it gave an audible *hufff*, then turned and stomped out of the room, back the way it came, and vanishing into the darkness.

The pain in his chest faded and the warmth of life returned to his heart.

Ratchet opened his eyes, and he sank to the ground, shaking uncontrollably. He was drenched in cold sweat.

Tears streaked down the Lombax's cheeks and there was a terrible soreness in his throat.

He swallowed, those abhorrent, half-forgotten memories whirling around his skull like the dust storms on Veldin.

He couldn't go another step.

The Harbinger, that walking, living reminder of his failures and his uselessness, was roaming these halls, and he knew there was nothing he could do to fight it or escape.

The memory of lying slumped, broken, bruised, and dying on Cheunor swam before him again, and his breath caught momentarily, before recalling moments before the world went dark, how Rivet's beautiful, smiling face floated on the forefront of his mind, and how he had never confessed his love for her.

The tears redoubled, and Ratchet swore softly, bitterly. Why had he never told her…? Why was he so pathetic at this? Years of experience in liberating galaxies and stopping tyrants, and he couldn't even tell one of his closest friends he loved her…

But then something clicked back into place in his mind.

He gasped, and reached into a pocket, pulling out his nav-unit. But it wasn't his location he was trying to find.

He pressed a button, and the little device opened to reveal a small compartment in which was a square of paper.

His finger trembling, he turned his flashlight back on.

It was an old-fashioned photograph the happy couple had gotten made of themselves in their fifth week on Veracros, taken by Ratchet as the two Lombaxes sat on the edge of the water fountain in the square of Kedor, Amant's Peak, the place where they had confessed their love to one another, in the background.

Ratchet's photographic self was beaming, his cheeks a little flushed, an arm around her, around the girl he loved so much, and who made him so happy, holding her close to his body, his eyes alight with joy as Rivet pressed her lips to his cheek.

The female's snow-white fur blazed in the sunlight, her yellow, metallic arm wrapped around his shoulders, her eyes shut, and a small smile curling the corners of her mouth as she kissed him, so happy at having found someone that made her feel so loved and special.

He could remember it as clearly as though it had happened mere seconds ago, the way he, at the time feeling rather uncertain, asked if she wanted a picture made, how Rivet was not at first convinced at first, but at Ratchet's encouragement, she had accepted, and laughed softly in a mixture of embarrassment and happiness as he kissed her cheek in an effort to break through her tension, before doing the same as he snapped the photo.

She had told him afterward how she hoped they could stay like that forever…

Ratchet reached down to the photograph and stroked Rivet's face with a finger, his heart doing something between purring and groaning in pained despair. What he wouldn't give to see her just one last time…

He blinked, and a single tear fell onto the photo.

'One last time'…? Was he really that close to dying again, like he almost had on Cheunor?

He touched the scar in his chest, remembering the injuries he sustained before that critical blow was dealt, and how he had felt as life was almost pulled completely from his body.

The memory was sharp and painful, but though his head ached, the old wound in his chest had stopped hurting at last… Or rather, the perceived pain he felt had finally gone.

He raised his free hand up to his eyes in the near total darkness, and examined his gloved fingers, which despite his best efforts to control them, still shook uncontrollably.

"(G-gods dammit, Ratch, get a grip! Why'd'ja think that…?!)" he thought, furious with himself.

He was not dying, and he would not die here… Not now. He still had to find Clank, and return for Rivet.

Ratchet struggled to his feet, his legs feeling exceptionally like water, and leaned against the wall of the air vent.

He stood there for a long time, still shuddering with cold and with nerves, fighting back the sting those half-forgotten memories the presence of the Harbinger had occasioned, and tried to control his fear.

Fear…

Ratchet was no stranger to such emotion; he could remember as though it were yesterday how he felt facing off against Blarg scouts who fired indiscriminately at the Lombax as he fled back to his garage after rescuing Clank, and how the sight of the Nethers had shaken him to his core. But this was different. Not the imminent threat of being shot nor the very real risk of being swallowed alive by Leviathans had ever had such a profound, negative impact on him. But then, nothing else had ever come so close to actually killing him before.

For a few, slow, agonizing minutes, the Lombax had come closer than ever in his life to knowing what it was like to die - what that would mean for Clank, Rivet, Kit, all of his friends, and for the entire universe. He had survived so much, but this foe had bested him – stopped him from rescuing his first and closest friend. To die knowing he failed, knowing there was so much he had never done, so much he never said…

'Don't be ashamed, Ratch; It's gonna be okay-'

His head jerked up as the soft voice of his soulmate passed soothingly over his tormented mind.

'So what if you got beat up one time? …You're the strongest and bravest person I've ever met… What these scars tell me, is my boyfriend is brave…'

Though separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, the male Lombax could hear her – Rivet's words of encouragement, her voice laced with affection and adoration, as clearly as though she were physically there whispering into his ears, before gently pressing her lips to that terrible mark in his chest.

'My boyfriend… brave'…

Ratchet sighed softly and opened his eyes again.

What would she say if she could see him now…? He felt so disgusted with himself… No, there

would be no more sniveling, no more cowering, and no more self-doubt. He was going to save Clank, destroy this terrible facility, and return to the Phoenix tonight.

He took a deep, shaky breath and tucked his photograph of Rivet and himself away safely.

Though his hands shook, despite every nerve in his body tingling in dread, Ratchet reached out and pushed the vent open once more.

No matter what it took, he would rescue Clank. He, Ratchet, would be strong. He had to be strong – for Clank… for Rivet.

He peaked around the corner of the rolling cabinet, his eyes on the large double doors, his ears strained for the noise of heavy, thudding footsteps, but all was silent. The Harbinger was far away now.

Ratchet tip-toed across the room, paying close attention to his surroundings and taking care not to make a sound.

But as the Lombax reached the door on the opposite side of the room, he paused and looked back.

The phials of nanotech were still perched atop the tables, glowing silvery-blue in the darkness.

Ratchet touched a button on his chest harness, and a small hologram appeared before his eyes, showing him his current stock of ammunition and supplies.

He was good on nanotech, but they were all in small canisters, perfect for quick emergency use. "('Its only known weakness is its own life force…')"

Quick and silent as the flicker of a dragonfly over the surface of a pond, Ratchet darted to the table, grabbed two syringes, and exited through the large door, stowing the containers away safely.

The passage beyond was shorter than expected. After only walking a few seconds, Ratchet found himself at another sealed door. He turned and started along a narrower passage that seemed like it was used to regulate pressure and temperature levels, judging by the valves and the gauges sticking out of the pipes that ran along the walls and the ceiling.

He emerged a few seconds later onto a sort of platform with a set of service stairs leading down.

Clank's signal was growing stronger, and Ratchet felt a leap of anticipation. He was getting close at last.

Yet he had only just started descending the staircase when he heard it.

*thud* … *thud* … *thud* … *thud*

Ratchet gasped. The Harbinger was walking, somewhere in the darkness, its footsteps echoing and reverberating through the chill air, making it impossible to tell where it was.

Ratchet hastily turned his flashlight off again, throwing him into semi-darkness, and whipped his head left then right, but here was no place to hide; the platform stood alone above the chasm, the only ways out the staircase in front of him, or the passage behind, and in his panic the cold sweat dripping from his brow appeared to him like blood in the dark red light shining from the large fixture above.

"(F-fff-fixture…!)"

Without pausing to think, Ratchet fired his tethershot skyward, latching onto the large installment above, and was hoisted upward with irresistible force, landing in the bowl-like shape at the top just as a wall to the right of the platform below hissed and opened.

The Harbinger stood in the doorway, its low, deep breathing like the growls of an undead Grunthor.

Ratchet shrank back into the shadows of his hiding place above as his eyes fell on the hulking beast and his scar twinged unpleasantly, but he forced himself to think of Rivet, who believed in and loved him, and Clank, who trusted and needed him, and the momentary chill in his heart slowly waned.

The Lombax could not see the Harbinger, but the sudden *whoosh* and the following *CRASH* from below told him quite plainly the beast had leapt down into the shadows below.

He groaned internally.

"(Do ya gotta go that way…?)"

He was going to have to follow it. Clank's distress signal was coming from down below, and as far as the Lombax could tell, there was no other way down, now that Valen was sealing the exits.

Ratchet remained where he was, lying on his belly, allowing some time for the Harbinger to get a head start, waiting for the distant thuds of his massive taloned feet to disappear completely before he made another move.

A minute passed.

Three minutes passed.

Thinking he could have easily waited another ten, Ratchet pushed himself shakily onto his knees after the seventh, and, keeping his flashlight off, he slowly let himself down onto the abyss, choosing to bypass descending the steps. He was making less noise with his tethershot anyway…

Finally, his boots touched solid ground and Ratchet looked around, straining his eyes and his ears for a shifting shadow, or the growl of a monster lurking unseen.

But his sensitive ears registered nothing but silence.

Quivering with nerves and with cold, the Lombax turned on his flashlight, setting it to low, before walking slowly through the only door in the circular room.

There was a distant, echoing screech that echoed off the walls, and though it sounded far away, the noise crashed upon the Lombax's ears in the silence, making him jump and raise his combuster to eye-level. But the echoing screech faded and died, leaving nothing but the memory of the sound imprinted on Ratchet's mind.

What had done it? The noise sounded almost otherworldly; nothing he had met on any of his and Clank's adventures ever made a screech like that…

He pressed on cautiously, an odd dripping sound now falling upon his ears and a dim bluish-green light emanating around a turn a short way ahead.

Ratchet rounded the corner, and let loose a half-stifled yelp as he found the source of the noise.

Bodies littered the hallway, so mutilated and gored it was impossible to tell what races to which they once belonged.

Spent ammo casings littered the ground like pebbles, black streaks, blood, and dents covered the walls like paint, and Ratchet looked up, pulling a face of disgust and fear as a droplet of blood from a corpse that had been pinned to a broken pipe in the ceiling fell, and splattered into a pool of crimson at his feet.

"(H-Holly's work…?)"

No, not this. Though the Harbinger was brutal and merciless, his one battle with Tachyon's beloved pet proved that it was quick and clean. Holly had gone straight for the kill when she stabbed him in the chest; she was not a creature who played with her food.

But then he remembered Valen's words, and he felt the blood drain out of his face once more.

"(Cherubs…!)"

He suddenly realized he had heard those shrieks and seen that greenish-blue glow up ahead before

– at Tekogai Outpost.

There were doors on all sides, yet unlike the others, these remained open, leading into dark rooms full of unseen dangers. Some were clean, while others had trails of blood leading into and vanishing within.

But luckily, Ratchet already knew the way he needed to go.

He raised his combuster again, his breathing shallow and shaky, his misty breath rising in short, rapid puffs as he began, with slowly increasing speed, to place one foot back in front of the other.

His eyes darted in every direction as he walked among the dead, glancing into the shadowy rooms in which lurked who-knew-what, before flashing around to look ahead and ensure his pathway was clear, then darting up to the ceiling, before returning his gaze back in front of him, trying to ignore the open, bloody air ducts wide enough for a full-sized adult to be dragged into, and expecting at any moment to come face to face with a Cherub, arriving to play more with their victims, a Harvester coming to consume more corpses to be made into pods, or Holly, who was searching for him.

But he reached the corner around which that curious blueish-green light emanated, and paused outside a door with a small square window set into it.

It was much too high up for the Lombax with his short stature to see through, so he cautiously pushed the door ajar and peeked inside.

The Lombax had been prepared for what he might see, but even so he was still caught off guard.

Whereas Tekogai Outpost had contained a relatively small lab with perhaps thirty Cherubs, the lab here at Neptune featured was looked more akin to a bizarre aquarium.

The walls on either side were comprised of massive tanks of that glowing fluid, each containing a hundred or more of those nightmarish demons who drifted around lazily, their tendril-like limbs relaxed and flowing, their bulging, milky eyes closed, and their gaping mouths revealing shiny, razor-sharp teeth.

As though this weren't enough, the room was packed with those slimy green pods, their mucousy,

fluid-filled tentacles stretching in every direction, the pods themselves pulsing slightly, like some sort of diseased organ.

"(Gods…)" Ratchet thought, his stomach churning as his tension mounted, "(…Why can't peeking through doors these days be like it was back in gym…)"

Ratchet looked left then right. The Harbinger could not be far, nor the Cherubs that had let loose those distant shrieks, but at the moment, all was quiet and the room was deserted.

Slowly, the Lombax entered the room, the door closing behind him with a soft *click*. Clank's signal intensified. He was getting closer now…

Ratchet watched his feet as he crossed the room. The tendrils spreading from those sickening green pods crisscrossed in every direction, and he needed to focus hard on not stepping on anything, though he could not stop his eyes from darting regularly to check that the sleeping monsters in those tanks of fluid remained in their state of apparent dormancy, half expecting one to have vanished with every glance, but they remained unmoving and calm.

*Squelsh*

Ratchet froze as the sound of what sounded like something slimy and covered in some jelly-type residue fell upon his ears, which flared up at once.

He turned slowly on the spot, dreading what he might see, and raising his combuster back to chest-height.

One of the pods had ruptured, splitting clean down the center, and there, in the pool of sickly greenish- brown sludge, was a newborn Cherub.

The sludge oozed off its body and spread across the floor, and the undersized monster got slowly and laboriously to its feet, where it teetered for a moment, then grew steady.

It turned around and even as Ratchet watched, stunned and repulsed, the creature began to grow. The emerald-green eyes met the blank, bulging milky ones, and the Cherub gave a rasping growl. Ratchet put a gloved finger to his lips and took a step back. "…Sshhhh."

The Cherub took an unsteady step forward, still growing rapidly to the size of its kin sleeping in the large tanks along the walls, and Ratchet redoubled the grip on his combuster.

He had to kill it, now, while it was still weak enough to sustain a crippling or even deadly blast from the weapon in his hand, but to do so would surely wake the remaining Cherubs and alert the Harbinger to his presence, wherever it was. But at the same time, he could outrun this single monster easily. But there was still the fact that this beast was rapidly growing stronger, and the Lombax knew it wouldn't be long before its lungs were strong enough to emit those ravenous shrieks he knew their kind so well for.

But as he continued to take steps further away from the approaching monster, there was a soft

*splat* as one of Ratchet's boots fell upon one of the slimy tendrils and it ruptured, flooding the surroundings with that greenish-blue fluid.

"…Oh shit…"

Right on cue, there was a horrible, gurgling, echoing screech from every corner of the room, as every pod split open and more of those infant monsters spilled onto the floor, rasping and snarling, and flailing the tentacle-like appendages on their backs as they staggered up right.

The cacophony of noise was answered by the sound of rushing water and yet more gurgling roars, and Ratchet spun around, the blood leaving his face as the eyes of the Cherubs in the large tanks along the walls flew open and they began launching themselves against the glass, which began to crack.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Ratchet fired his combuster at the fledgling Cherub, which burst into flame at once, screeching and writhing, and the Lombax spun about and sprinted the remaining length of room, his feet rupturing yet more of the tendrils, then crashing through the door and flying up the dark passage.

As the door slammed behind him, he heard, making his heart leap into his throat with fear, the distant sound of shattering glass, the rush of water, and echoing screams of ravenous monsters.

A door up ahead was lowering, preparing to seal him and his doom, but he sped up, gritting his teeth as his only escape became blocked at shoulder-height.

There were renewed screams behind him, but he didn't look back. He didn't need to see them to know the passage was now full of bloodthirsty Cherubs.

He threw himself down with a grunt of exertion and slid the remaining six feet, passing beneath the closing door and narrowly avoiding getting crushed as it sealed shut behind him, and the door banged and crashed as the pursuing crowd slammed into the door, trying to force their way in.

Ratchet scrambled back to his feet and turned, but promptly threw himself down again with a cry of terror as a clawed hand came flying out of the darkness and missed him by an inch.

The Harbinger stood before him, its glowing, green eyes wide, the vents in its mask glowing with heat, its long locks of hair-like tentacles standing up as though sentient, and its massive outline just visible through the gloom.

The Lombax rolled across the ground, passed the hulking beast, who did not seem to notice him as he got to his feet behind it and tore off again up the passage, his heart pounding. He had to find Clank FAST. There was no way he would be able to run from the Harbinger forever now that it had found him!

There was a crash from overhead, and Ratchet swore loudly, filling the passage ahead with flames from his pyrocitor as half a dozen Cherubs came falling out of an overhead air vent.

Crashing footsteps met his ears and Ratchet ran forward, passed the burning, swelling Cherubs, and darting through a doorway just as the horrible sound of the monsters exploding met his ears.

The Harbinger's footsteps faltered, and Ratchet supposed the beast must have been caught off guard and staggered slightly from the force of the erupting Cherubs. He quickened his pace; if there was any time or opportunity to put distance between himself and that terrifying monster behind him…

There was a light ahead.

He ran harder, using every ounce of energy in his body, focusing every last effort on reaching the

open door at the end of this passage – his only escape.

"Whoa!"

The light of this room, so bright after all the darkness behind him, had almost blinded the Lombax to his surroundings.

He skidded to a halt, nearly toppling off a high, raised platform overlooking a large basin filled with bright green liquid that bubbled, with decomposed skulls and bits of bone that floated freely, half submerged in the foul-smelling substance, and from which spiraled pillars of steam.

It was a massive pool of acid, undoubtedly a room where failed experiments were disposed of.

The sound of screeching met his ears again, which were soon joined by the unmistakable sound of massive, crashing footsteps, and there was nowhere left to run; Valen had led the Lombax to his doom.

Or had he…?

Ratchet looked up, and saw a large, clean air vent from which hung a short ladder. He looked down. The platform was wide yes, but he gathered it was not supported by much, judging by the sound of his footfalls on the cold metal, and an idea came to him.

He took up his place in the middle of the platform, his heart beating frantically against his chest, his face set, and his teeth bared, waiting for those monsters to appear.

His muscles tensed, and cold sweat dripped off his brow. He only had one shot at this… If he screwed this up, it was over. But if he pulled this off, he would never see the Harbinger again.

The shadows shifted, and Ratchet's eyes dilated in terror as the hulking figure of that horrifying ten-foot tall monster emerged from the darkness, with a hundred Cherubs bringing up the rear.

The shrieks and the pattering of thousands of clawed feet were ringing in his ears, and the Harbinger threw out a clawed hand as it tore through the doorway and onto the platform.

Ratchet gave a roar of fright, and suddenly, his surroundings were blurred and his ears pounding with the reverberations of a dozen shatterbombs erupting below and the platform being shredded apart from the blasts as he fired his swingshot at the small ladder above and was jerked skyward.

He grabbed onto the lowest rung of the ladder, the echoes of the crashing platform and the explosions still reverberating off the walls, but now joined with the horrible sound of dozens of creatures writhing and splashing in the pool of death below as their flesh was melted away.

Unable to resist, he looked down.

The Harbinger was still alive; its claws, so sharp, had pierced the very metal of the wall beneath the door and was hanging on, feet above the pool of acid.

It looked up at the Lombax hanging from the ceiling, and their eyes met.

Holly drew a blaster and took aim.

But with a blazing, crunching sound, the blast from Ratchet's combuster struck the place where the beast had clung on, and its hand crumpled, causing the Harbinger to land with an echoing splash into the pool of steaming, bubbling acid.

Holly did not scream or shriek as the Cherubs had, but writhed and grunted in pain, sounding like the growls of a Nether.

Finally, after several tense seconds, the Harbinger sunk below the surface of the acid, and vanished from view.

Ratchet stared down at where it had vanished, half expecting it to spring out again, but the ripples covering the surface of the pool were from nothing more than the bubbles dotting its surface.

Ratchet climbed up, opened the vent, and heaved himself inside before rolling onto his back, his chest heaving and his head buzzing with shock at what he had just done.

He couldn't believe it… He actually did it. The Harbinger would never haunt him or his thoughts ever again.

He sat up and pressed his still-shaking finger to his chest harness. "C-Clank…?" he asked, tentatively, his voice quivering. *KKKKSSSSRRRRRTT* - "—chet! Ratchet is that-?!"

The Lombax nearly collapsed again as the slightly muffled voice of his best friend crackled to life over his communicator.

"Clank! C-Clank where are you?! Are y-you all right?!"

"I am fine-" Clank answered, sounding somewhere between terrified and overwhelmingly relieved, "I am just glad YOU are well! You ARE well, correct?"

"M-me? 'Well'? C-c'mon pal, everything's just fine!" the Lombax said, standing up and proceeding through the vents on legs that felt like lead and his head still spinning, "I'm almost there… I'm in the air vents, but I can see your signal below me. I'll get'cha outta there, j-just hang on!"

"Please do be careful Ratchet! Valen is sure to have set a trap!"

Ratchet slid down a drop, then got to his feet and jogged along a short passage, turning at a large, slowly spinning fan, and hurrying up to a wide vent through which blue light shone.

Using his Omniwrench, the Lombax pulled the bolts free, making the vent swing upward on its hinges without resistance.

He looked down. The room below appeared large, and there was a long catwalk over a large drop, up from which that blue light seemed to emanate. He could also see the corners of large fuel and energy cells lining the walls, as well as several generators which hummed quietly, glowing with that same blue light.

"(The reactor room…!)"

Valen had taken Clank to the very place where he and Ratchet had needed to go all along, and he had led the Lombax straight to him, if you could call sealing his way back 'leading' him… But why…?

Ratchet swung down out of the vent, hanging by the tethershot from the brace on his glove, and descended onto the catwalk below, landing quietly in large, circular, humming room.

He looked ahead at the core, and saw the place where he would set the bomb… But first he needed to find-

"CLANK!"

Ratchet couldn't help shouting; the sight of his best friend, though still imprisoned, yet safe and whole after everything he had just been through, was an extraordinary tonic to his nerves.

Clank looked around at the sudden noise, and grasped onto the bars of his cage, his green, fluorescent eyes widening and an unmistakable smile appearing on his metallic face.

Ratchet tore into a run, dashing between the rails, arriving at the large, round platform, bypassing the reactor core, and stopping short of Clank's cage.

"Ratchet! Oh, I have never felt so relieved to see you safe and whole… After what Valen said you had to get through to get here I was… concerned."

"As if anything would stop me from comin' and savin' you… It's good to see ya in one piece, buddy… All right, now let's get'cha outta this thing and get that bomb ready! I've seen about enough'a this place…"

"Ratchet, do not concern yourself with my prison; you MUST set the charges now!" "Wha-?!"

Ratchet looked up, his hands freezing halfway up to Clank's cage, and diverting his eyes from the lock into Clank's eyes, his ears flared in disbelief. Was he serious?! Ratchet couldn't leave him stuck in this cage like some naughty parrot! He knew Clank would never have left him trapped like this if it were the other way around!

"Ratchet, Valen will be here any second. You must plant the charges, then you can worry about releasing me once we get on that escape shuttle!"

Ratchet took out the bomb.

He looked at the small jumbled package of wire and circuitry, then at Clank, his frustration rising.

"Clank, buddy, I'm not leavin' ya trapped in this thing a second longer! It's an old mechanical lock, I used to pick these all the time when I was a kid!"

"You picked locks as a hobby?"

"It's a skill worth learning!" Ratchet retorted, defensively, "Trust me Clank this'll just take a sec; this bomb ain't goin' nowhere."

"And neither are you, I'm afraid!~"

Ratchet froze, the fur on the back of his neck prickling as a smooth voice permeated the air, and he felt a sudden presence a short distance behind him.

Suddenly, without warning, Ratchet's feet left the ground and he rose into the air, as though an invisible hook had latched onto his belt and hoisted him upward.

He flew through the air with a cry of shock, which turned into a grunt of pain as he smashed into the reactor core.

"So, you destroyed the Harbinger…? My my… you truly are as strong as the legends say…" the smooth voice mused, "But mercy me… as impressive as that is, this simply will not do. No darling, not at aaalllll… Our dear Holly was his Brilliance's pride and joy… He shan't be pleased with little old me now, won't he? No, this calls for some last-minute rearrangements…"

Ratchet shook his head. Stars were bursting into life before his eyes, and the back of his head was throbbing from where it had crashed into the reactor core, blurring his vision. Yet he could hear slow, calm footsteps approaching him as he sat there, dazed and confused.

"But tell me Ratchet, have you enjoyed your tour of my facility? It's rather quaint, isn't it? Yes, I just knew you'd agree… You see, when those bothersome alliances started cropping up, his Brilliance decided we needed a way to control the masses more effectively. Now, the implications of such seemed oh so dull… Why slaughter them without a purpose? They are confused, after all, and need enlightenment… and so I proposed that instead of just killing them, we use their wasted bodies to create more bio-weapons! They would become my darling children, at which point they would find their purpose at last… His Brilliance loved the idea, and so here we are now, after months of hard work! …But then you two had to go and just… ruin the ride! I mean, blow up my facility? Destroy my work? So headstrong, so arrogant…"

The footsteps drew nearer, and Ratchet expected to feel a sharp blade pressing threateningly against his throat or a blaster put to his head, but the footsteps walked right passed him as Valen continued.

"And I haven't even touched on your mischievousness yet! Were you really about to pick the locks on your friend's cage here and force him to leave his comfy little perch? Honestly Ratchet, where did you learn your manners? Can't you see? The poor deathbot is tired after a long day and needs his rest! Don't you, little one…?"

Ratchet looked up, his surrounding coming back into focus, and saw Lord Valen, with a hand on top of Clank's cage, and a combuster pointed directly at the silver bot's chassis in his other hand.

The blood surged to Ratchet's face, and he flew to his feet before launching himself at the Fongoid.

"Don't you fucking-!"

"Nah-ah-ah, careful what you do next, Ratchet!~"

Valen unticked the safety, and the Lombax froze, panic flooding his chest.

His eyes flicked from Valen, who was grinning wickedly at him, to Clank, who looked nervous, yet defiant, then to the combuster, his mind racing, trying desperately to think of something he could do to save his best friend, but the panic and the hopelessness began festering as nothing came to him.

If he tried to act, Valen would pull the trigger and kill Clank. But if he stood here, Valen would taunt them both until he grew bored, and kill Clank anyway.

For a long while they stared at each other – the frightened, enraged emeralds into the insane, bulging orbs of yellow.

But then—

"Bang." said Valen, pulling the trigger, and making a soft *click* echo surprisingly loud off the walls.

Ratchet winced fearfully and grunted audibly, and Valen exploded into a fit of maniacal laughter.

"You're soooo EASY to fluster, Ratchet! Come now darling, I thought you knew me better than this! Where's the fun in shooting you or your toaster when I could play with you two naughty boys instead?"

Knowing Valen's combuster was empty, Ratchet gritted his teeth and charged forward, raising his Omniwrench high over his head and letting loose a loud battle cry as he swung the tool downward with lethal force.

But in an instant, Valen glowed blue as at other times and he phased out of existence, and the Lombax's attack missed, striking the floor, which dented at the point of impact.

"Oh, does this mean you're growing tired of the pre-show?" Valen asked, excitedly. His voice was echoing around the room, sounding as though he could be anywhere. "Very well then, darling! Let us dance, shall we?"

Immediately, all the lights went out, an event that was accompanied by the sound of the reactor core shutting down with a low, dull hum that grew gradually deeper and quieter, until all sound was extinguished.

"Ratchet! Nine o'clock!"

A singular light flared in the darkness to the left, but the Lombax was already rolling to the side from Clank's warning while a series of fiery blue whisps flew through the air, each striking the place where Ratchet had been standing just a second previous.

Another flash of blue from whence the blue flares had originated, then another blue light burst to life atop the reactor core, and Valen came soaring out of the darkness with his staff in-hand.

Ratchet sidestepped hastily, dodging Valen's attack, the resulting crash of which echoed around the room as the spiked end of the weapon embedded itself deep into the metal ground.

Ratchet swung his Omniwrench again, but with surprising strength and speed, the apparently simple Fongoid tore the staff free from the ground and deflected the on-coming attack, kicking the Lombax in the chest and forcing him back.

Ratchet skidded along the ground, coughing from the impact, still standing, but stunned at the display of speed and strength of his foe.

Valen vanished again in another flash of blue, his chuckle echoing around the shadowy room, sounding at first as though he were right behind Ratchet, but when the Lombax spun around, the voice of the Fongoid scientist was coming from the opposite side of the room.

"Right here, darling~"

Ratchet wheeled about as a voice hissed directly into his left ear, and fired his combuster directly into Valen's face. But Ratchet blinked, and he may as well have fired his weapon at nothing at all, for Valen had vanished once more in a flash of brightest blue.

"How the hell's he so fast!?" Ratchet shouted angrily, spinning on the spot as the sound of what may as well have been half a dozen Lord Valens echoed from every corner of the room.

"HAHAAA!"

Valen flew forward from the abyss, swinging his staff about with such speed the pole of bronze and the green gem atop it appeared to the Lombax as nothing but a flashing blur.

Valen swung at Ratchet's head, which he blocked with a clash of raritanium on steel, then swung the lower end for the Lombax's feet, over which he leapt, swinging out his foot and striking an invisible barrier blocking Valen's face.

Ratchet was thrown off balance from the unexpected force field, but twisted in mid air as he fell to the ground, managing to catch himself and push himself up with a backwards leap, avoiding yet another blow from the wicked scientist.

Ratchet looked up upon landing, and promptly threw himself to the side again as yet more whisps of plasma cast by the Fongoid fired from the end of his staff.

"YES LOMBAX! DANCE for me!" Valen cried, his laughter echoing in Ratchet's ears, mingling with the sound of the fiery, sizzling blasts of those balls of plasma struck the fuel and energy cells lining the rim of the platform and along the walls.

Ratchet ducked behind the reactor core, knowing, as crazy as the Fongoid was, he wouldn't dare strike the core lest he risk killing them all including himself. Just as he expected, Valen's stream of plasma stopped.

"(I can't get to this guy…! He's too fast, and that barrier's too strong! There's gotta be something I can-)"

And then he remembered.

"(…Darn you Clank…)" he thought, a third of him exasperated, another slightly relieved, and the last third of him almost amused as he thought of Clank's over-thinking tendencies and his precautionary measures.

He summoned the Phaze Quartz into his hand, and in an instant, his Omniwrench once again seemed to vibrate from the power that was now coursing through it.

"Growing tired already, darling?" Valen called through the darkness, his voice full of sick, amusement, "But this show's only just getting started! I thought the strong and studly Ratchet would put on more of a show than this! Come on, Lombax, just peek around the corner for me won't you? …No…? Oh, fiiine, if you insist~"

"RATCHET! MASK!"

Clank's raised voice tore through the shadows, just as a rushing sound sounded from behind the reactor core and a dim, amber glow flooded the room with soft light.

Not pausing to think, Ratchet strapped on his O2 filtrator, clamping it over his muzzle just as a light mist descended upon them all.

"Oh don't be such a killjoy, deathbot!" Valen said, sounding, if possible, frustrate for the first time, "Your friend is exhausted and needs a nap! I thought you cared about him! Don't you want him to be at peace like the rest of those poor overworked souls that came here are now?"

And without warning, Valen appeared right in front of the Lombax in a flash of blue, and before Ratchet could react, he was caught by another invisible hook cast by the Fongoid and lifted off the ground, rendering him unable to move to safety.

"Terribly sorry dear, but your friend seems to think the show must go on. While I do care for the well-being of my co-stars, the audience is what matters most. That's just the way it is! Be sure to take a bow before the last ounce of life is ripped from your body!"

Valen, his right hand directing his staff at Ratchet, pulled back his left one, focusing some sort of psychic energy into his claw-fingered hand and preparing to deliver a fatal strike to Ratchet's face.

*CRASHH*

Valen flew backward his staff spiraling high into the air in a glimmer of bronze, reflecting the blinding, brilliant flare of purple light that had erupted in the air between him and Ratchet.

The invisible force released, and Ratchet fell to the ground, his ears still flopping from the explosion of wind that continued to blow around the room from the force of the kinetic blast emitted by Ratchet's Omniwrench.

He righted himself and landed securely on his feet.

Valen rolled across the ground, his coat smoking slightly, and the staff fell, the green crystal atop it shattering into a million fragments as the weapon landed, topside-down, inches from the Fongoid's head.

Valen placed his hands on the ground, palms splayed, and began slowly pushing himself up.

"Phaze Quartz…? But my dear Lombax, that would be cheating! You wouldn't presume to do something so far-fetched as that would you?"

Valen pushed himself to his feet, his face still angled down and out of Ratchet's sight.

"Ratchet…" Clank said, his voice full of sudden apprehension, "I… think I just realized why Valen's life readings were obstructed…"

"What're you-", Ratchet began, but Valen looked up, and Ratchet noticed something wrong with his face.

A trickle of bright yellow was oozing from his purple forehead, where the impact of Ratchet's kinetic blast had struck. Fongoid blood wasn't yellow…

"Dear me… it IS Phaze Quartz…" the Fongoid said in mock astonishment, "No tool or weapon of its strength alone has the power to disable quantum shielding…"

Valen's face split into a wide leer; one that was much too wide for any creature Ratchet had ever met before.

Suddenly, with a *whoosh*-ing sound and a sudden rush of wind that made Ratchet's ears flop, Valen was back on his feet, his manic eyes burning as they rested upon the Lombax.

"Well then… I'm pleased to learn you've grown so comfortable around me darling! Why else would you show your true colors now, when we've known each other this long? So, you've done me a courtesy, what say I do you one by showing mine as well?"

Valen threw his head back and his body twisted sickeningly, unnaturally.

His body kept twisting; contorting and stretching until he resembled a tangle of laundry out of the wash, and his garments began to steam and hiss.

There was a whip-like sound, and Valen's body was a blur as it spun at a sudden, intense speed, so fast and sudden that he became dizzying to watch.

Then without warning, splotches of what seemed like vibrantly-colored paint began flinging off of the Fongoid's body, splattering against the walls, and Ratchet leapt back and threw up his arms to cover his face.

The high-pitched sound of Valen spinning in place ceased.

Ratchet lowered his arms and opened his eyes.

A towering figure now stood before him, slightly hunched over, exactly where Valen had just been.

The figure straightened up with a sudden flourish and threw out long disproportionate arms as though to show himself in full.

The creature's abnormally long arms were muscular and bore tribal tattoos, his skin a foul, lime-green, but perched atop a long, thin neck was a wide face on which was that same, fang-exposed leer, and the eyes were just as yellow, and continued to dance with sadistic malice.

"Behold!" cried Valen, "You gaze upon my true self! Have you ever seen such purity? Such an EXQUISITE physique? Such MARVELOUS FEATURES?!"

The creature before them spoke each question with a flourish and a change of pose, so that they could see him at every angle.

"You… You're a Changling…!" Ratchet said, stunned.

"But… But how can this be?! Changelings have been-", began Clank, but-

"Extinct for the last thirty-two hundred years? Ahh, you paid attention in history class, well DONE, darling!"

"I… never took-"

"YES that's quite correct! I'm the last one alive after you bloody peacekeepers ended our conquest for dominion of the Doppler Galaxy thirty-two hundred years ago! Our kind was the dominant species in that corner of the universe, and that galaxy was RIGHTFULLY ours! But NoOoOo, it was all 'unethical' this, 'cruelty' that! We were leading the charge into the revolution of a new age! Our power to mimic the life forms of others was a gift, and proof of our superiority! But rather than ACCEPT your low, worthless estates in life, you felt the need to party-crash our little rise to power! But joke's on you, I'm afraid, for Lord Valen survived by hiding among the Fongoids, that miserable race of tree-hugging, tech-abolishing fools until I heard of Tachyon and learned of his plot to free the Cragmites! What nonsense! All his underlings are MINE! There can only be ONE dominant species in this universe and it's NOT- "

There was a blast of sound and Valen stopped abruptly, vanishing in a flash of blue.

Ratchet lowered his warmonger, his head turning sharply to see where Valen had gone.

A blinding sickening pain and a flash of nonexistent lights, and Ratchet was rolling across the ground, the back of his head throbbing and stars bursting to life before his eyes, Clank's shout of frightened concern barely distinguishable.

"You sly DEVIL! You caught me monologuing!"

Ratchet's head spun, but he pulled out a canister of nanotech and crushed it in his hand, freeing the bluish-white mist within, which seemed to melt into his glove and into his hand.

Immediately the pain vanished, and his head stopped spinning.

He pushed himself to his feet and wheeled about, his combuster in-hand.

"I can see you've grown bored of lectures! Very well then! Let Act Two… BEGIN!"

Both the Changeling's arms flashed through the air, leaving a trail of light-blue mist in their wake before a ball of flaming blue plasma erupted from Valen's hands in a shower of sparks.

Ratchet raised his wrench instinctively and deflected the oncoming projectile, causing the flaming sphere to fly off into the darkness and erupt against a distant wall

Valen fired another blast, which Ratchet dodged, before Valen hurdled forward with speed unrivalled by any foe the Lombax had ever faced.

Valen's flaming, clawed hand swiped through the air, flying for Ratchet's throat, but he threw himself under the Changeling, who soared over his head and landed to slide across the floor on the opposite side.

"Masterful dodge, Lombax!" said Valen, "But can you avoid this…?!"

And in an instant, a positive swarm of flaming blue plasma balls had burst from the ground all over the platform and began, one by one, hurling themselves toward Ratchet.

The Lombax dove behind a console, which sparked and burst into fragments of metal and fried circuitry, he rolled across the ground and sprung to his feet to dodge a stream of projectiles that left a trail of black along the platform, and deflected six consecutive fireballs into differing corners of the room.

"OH what form! Simply Splendid! Marvelous! GORGEOUS!" Valen cried jubilantly, shouting each word with every one of Ratchet's successful dodges or deflections.

A fireball came whizzing out of nowhere, and Valen ducked as the fireball missed his head by an inch, the heat singing the top of his head.

"Hey!" Valen said, indignantly, "Watch where you deflect those, dearie! You nearly struck me!" and he vanished with a mad cackle as Ratchet growled and hurled a shatterbomb in his direction.

Ratchet spun around, glaring up at the foul, green alien who was now lying on his side, floating horizontally in mid-air.

"'Bout had it with this guy…!" Ratchet said angrily, and he swung his wrench through the air, activating his kinetic tether.

The head of his Omniwrench blasted off the end of the handle with another blinding explosion of purple light and a blast of wind, making him stagger slightly before planting his feet firmly in place, and Valen, unable to vanish in time before the powerful ray of purple reached him, was struck hard in the face and fell over backward.

The beam of purple light travelled on however, and before Ratchet could redirect the trail of kinetic energy, the head of the Omniwrench smashed into one of the fuel cells lining the walls.

The resulting explosion shook the very foundations of the large plant, and the Lombax fell to the ground as the platform on which they battled rocked with the force of a magnitude 7 earthquake.

Immediately, red lights flooded the room and a distant alarm began blaring through the entire facility as an energy cell much closer at-hand erupted, sending Ratchet flying through the air to land face first on the ground, a powerful, burning sting on the side of his face telling him a patch of fur on his cheek had been burned clean away.

"WARNING. REACTOR CORE CONDITION CRITICAL. ESCAPE IS NOT AN OPTION, MAKING NOW THE OPPORTUNE TIME TO TELL THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE HOW YOU FEEL. HAVE A NICE DAY."

"What!? NO! MY WORK! MY CHILDREN! You foul, DISGUSTING little… What have you DONE?!"

Flames burst into life everywhere Ratchet looked, the steadily rising heat contrasting sharply with the look on Valen's face.

His expression had changed Valen was no longer giggling, his eyes rolling with insane, calloused amusement; his face had given way to a cold, twisted fury so deep and so sharp that Ratchet almost felt as though the billowing fires around the platform had been extinguished.

The Changeling swooped, and Ratchet made to roll and dodge aside, but to his bewilderment, no attack came.

He leapt to his feet, turning his head quickly left then right, trying to see where his attacker had gone.

After a brief moment of confusion, Ratchet's eyes found him, and his heart seemed to fail.

Valen had skidded to a halt lifted Clank's cage high over his head, the small silver bot within staggering and falling against the bars.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Ratchet roared hoarsely, clambering to his feet and breaking into a run, his heart racing, "IF YOU TOUCH HIM I'LL-"

"Touch?!" Valen spat, before chuckling sinisterly, "Who said anything about me touching him?!"

Ratchet made a great, running leap, throwing out an arm, his fingers stretched to their greatest extent to rescue his best friend, but before his hand came within a foot of the cage, Valen slung the small prison across the room with all the force he could muster.

Ratchet fell to the ground and watched as though in slow motion as his best friend spiraled through the air. Clank's eyes were wide, and Ratchet saw his mouth open to formulate some unheard words, before the cage slammed into the wall, shattering into pieces, and Clank fell into a pool of raging, billowing flames.

For a second that contained an eternity, the Lombax gazed at the place where his best friend, his brother, his only family had disappeared, blind to the dust and embers clouding the air, deaf to the distant explosions as the reactors and generators throughout the facility overheated, and his body senseless to the way the ground shook, his scream of anguish unheard over the crashing of debris that fell from the ceiling. All that mattered was that Clank had gone.

That emptiness, that horrible, hollow feeling that had sprouted in his chest and spread to his stomach, fingers, toes, and mind at the sight of the silver bot being carried away by the Zoni after

their first victory over Tachyon had returned. But this time, there was no way forward, no chasing after him, and no cure for that maelstrom of hopelessness that tore at his heart. Clank had gone where he could not follow, and he was never coming back.

And then came the rage.

He spun on the spot, his tear-blinded eyes alighting upon the creature he now loathed as much as Tachyon, the empty feeling in his chest burned away as a savage, unquenchable hatred that scorched his insides, hot as the flames that had killed his closest friend.

Ratchet lunged at his foe, and Valen vanished, appearing behind the Lombax and swinging what resembled a blade comprised totally of flaming plasma through the air, but Ratchet swung his wrench behind him, blocking the flaming blade, making it crackle and spark, and he turned to drive the Omniwrench through the Changeling's chest.

Valen parried the attack and leapt back, hurling a fist-full of flames in Ratchet's direction, but the Lombax jumped and twisted through the air as the flame split into four separate projectiles and whizzed passed him, grazing his exposed upper arm.

The streak of singed fur was painful, but he was numb to it. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing, until he killed Valen and avenged Clank and the rest of his kin on Havenon IV.

Valen growled and summoned a large, flaming sphere from the nearby flames, which formed into a solid, blazing rock, and hurled it in Ratchet's direction.

But Ratchet, his cheeks tear-streaked, his fangs bared, stood his ground and roared with exertion, feeling as though his throat was tearing as he swung the Phaze Quartz-empowered Omniwrench at the large mass of burning stone, smashing it into a thousand pieces which all flew back at their originator, forcing Valen to create a telekinetic force field to stop from being peppered with flaming rock.

The dust had not yet cleared when Valen's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of a grief-stricken, vengeful Lombax flying toward him through the debris.

There was a loud, agonizing *CRACK*, and the Changeling was knocked aside as Ratchet's tool collided hard with the side of his skull.

Yet he remained standing; obviously winded, yet still upright and showed no sign of critical injury.

"Fascinating-!" Valen began, taking another vicious swing at Ratchet's neck, "After your pitiful display on Cheunor, I would have expected the loss of your deathbot a crippling injury to your spirit! And yet here you are, continuing your display, even with our audience gone!"

"Eat… SHIT!"

"Language, Ratchet!" Valen hissed, deflecting a vicious leaping strike from the Lombax, and forcing the latter back several feet, "That isn't mockery, it's a COMPLIMENT! Your resolve, your determination, your overwhelming strength for a being so small, weak, and useless… it's so STUDLY!~"

Valen leapt over the Lombax, cartwheeling ludicrously through the air, and missing Ratchet by a foot as he smashed to the ground again with such force that the already unstable platform quaked again.

"Yes, it all makes sense to me now… 'Tis no wonder that appalling cripple took such a liking to

you!"

Ratchet pushed himself back up, springing off his fingers from dodging Valen's latest attack, and paused, momentarily distracted from the battle and the steadily worsening condition of the battleground.

"What're you talking about…?!" Ratchet spat.

Valen's twisted face split in another maniacal leer as he began giggling immoderately.

"Did you really think that I, Lord Valen, mastermind behind the marvelous work conducted at this facility, would not have every corner under surveillance? Darling, don't disappoint me now, you were doing so well!"

"The hell are you-!?"

"That vent in the Harbinger's examination room – I saw you holding that archaic replication of still-life. What was it you held onto in that photo? It wasn't, perchance, another Lombax…?"

Ratchet stared at him, a shard of ice now digging into his grief-stricken heart.

Valen gave a theatrical gasp, covering his mouth in mock surprise.

"You mean to tell me… A Lombax besides you escaped not only the clutches of his Brilliance, but the loving embrace of yours truly? How did she escape for so long without our knowledge? And you never thought to introduce us!? Well… Well! There's still time… I can finish our dance and still have plenty of time to escape before your worthless corpse is made into yet another cloud of space-dust! I simply must meet her; she seems a charming girl!"

The room became a blur, the fires dancing around them smearing into meaningless shapes as Ratchet threw himself at the cackling Changeling.

His hands had gone numb, his fist shaking as he raised the tool in his hand high over his head, his throat feeling as though it were about to tear as he let loose a scream of rage.

He had lost Clank, but he would not, WOULD NOT lose Rivet too!

He leapt through the air, preparing to deliver another kinetic burst, but Valen intercepted the flying Lombax with yet another force field, and Ratchet rebounded across the platform, rolling and bouncing, and he felt his body slide over the edge.

He threw out his left hand, his Omniwrench still held tightly in his right, and clung onto the end of the creaking metal of the platform, and dangled over a multi-thousand foot drop into what he could only guess were the engines that propelled the facility and kept it floating stable in the vacuum of space.

Valen approached the ledge and leered down at the struggling Lombax, who glared back defiantly.

"Splendid performance, Lombax! This has been the most fun I've ever had… And it rather inspired me! As much as I loathe you for destroying my work and my children, the destruction here is rather a blessing in disguise, for now I have a ready-made excuse as to why His Brilliance's beloved Holly has died…"

He stepped onto Ratchet's gloved fingers, and the Lombax grunted in pain as Valen increased the pressure in his foot.

"You survived the fall on Cheunor, but this is one I can personally insure you will not be coming back from… Thank you for being such a marvelous dance partner darling, but here is where we part ways. Tah-tah!~"

*KRRSHRSHRHTTSZZZTR*

Valen let loose a terrible scream of unendurable agony, his eyes bulging, his body seizing up, sparking and flashing, momentarily revealing his skeleton and his clothes steaming as what seemed like a trillion volts coursed through the Changeling's body.

Valen staggered back, his arms splayed, and Ratchet heaved himself onto the platform again.

He looked to see what had caused the Changeling to fall back, and his jaw dropped.

There, hanging from Valen's back, his metal hands in the shape of tesla spikes, and a look of the utmost dislike on his face, was Clank.

Ratchet blinked and reopened his eyes to their fullest extent. This had to be his imagination! Clank was dead, he had seen him smash into the wall and tumble into a column of raging fire! How could he be alive?!

The Lombax shook his head once. He couldn't let his hopes get back up; it couldn't be real… And yet there he was, electrocuting Valen. He had just saved Ratchet's life.

Valen staggered and collapsed on all fours as the sound of zapping stopped, and Clank fell to the ground.

"…That fire was… Rather unpleasant…" he said, flatly.

There was another echoing crash, followed by a terrible quaking tremor as part of the ceiling caved in and a large chunk of debris fell onto the platform, causing most of it to give way and fall into the fire below.

Ratchet lunged forth as the platform tipped and he grabbed onto Clank, firing his tethershot onto the intact segment of the platform above, just as the unstable piece of footing broke away from the rest and began to fall.

Something grabbed onto Ratchet's boot, and he looked down.

Lord Valen, his telekinesis impaired from Clank's attack, had leapt and taken hold of the Lombax as they made their escape, his face twisted in a mixture of savage pleasure and hatred.

Not pausing to think, Ratchet jerked all three of them forward, making them pelt skyward as though fired out of a cannon, and feeling Valen's hands slip.

As they rocketed up passed the ledge, Ratchet twisted and kicked out with all the strength left in his body, and disengaging the tethershot.

Valen was flung off from Ratchet's foot from the sheer speed and angle of their arc, and he flew high into the air, smashing into the curved ceiling.

Ratchet landed lightly on the platform, and Clank falling close beside him with a light *clank* of metal on metal.

Slowly, Valen fell from the ceiling, his body twisting in midair, and he landed with a *CRASH* a

short distance away.

The Changeling shook his head, dazed and weakened, yet still with the look of unmistakable bloodlust in his bulging yellow eyes.

*CRLANGGG*

Ratchet and Clank glanced up, then hastily leapt backward as another chunk of ceiling, directly where Valen had crashed, crumbled and fell, spiraling through the air.

Valen glanced up, his eyes widening.

There was a terrible, crunching, squelching sound of metal ripping through flesh mingling with the sound of breaking bones as a long, thin, jagged chunk of debris fell directly on top of the Changeling and pierced his back.

For a moment the spike from the ceiling was momentarily balanced, Valen's horrible gurgling bellows of agony tearing through the air, before it slowly teetered sideways, lifting Valen off the ground and exiting through his chest, spraying the platform in glowing, golden blood.

Valen, the large metal spike sticking out of his chest, his blood spurting from the wound, spasmed, coughed and spluttered and his bulging eyes fell upon Ratchet and Clank once more.

He grinned.

"Eck- …Excellent sh-show Lombax…! …A f-finale… Worthy… of L-lord Valen…"

And, with a final chuckle, that twisted smile still curling above his fanged mouth, Valen gave a final shuddering gasp, one last twitch, and his eyes misted over, his head slumping back, and his arms thudding to the ground.

For a while both robot and Lombax stared at the motionless, lifeless body of their enemy, Ratchet breathing hard, half-stunned at what they had done.

"…Spectaculum… Est supra." Said Clank.

Ratchet jumped slightly, then looked down at the small silver bot beside him.

He was a little scratched and dented, and his servos looked a little strained, but there wasn't a trace of smoke or burns anywhere on his silver body.

Clank looked up, and the two sets of green eyes met. "Excellent work, Ratchet." *clonnngg*

The Omniwrench fell to the ground as Ratchet's knees gave way. A split second later, the Lombax had scooped the small, silver bot into his arms and pulled him into a crushing hug, his entire body quaking, holding his breath, and his face screwed up to fight back his sobs.

For a moment Clank was stunned into silence and inaction. Not even the time when he had nearly remained at the Great Clock before changing his mind had the Lombax held him so close and so tightly.

"Ratchet… All is well. I am here." Clank said, quietly.

"I… Buddy, I…"

Ratchet couldn't speak. The lump in his throat was excruciatingly painful. He felt if he tried to say another word or tell Clank how upset he had been when he thought Clank died, he would break down completely.

But still, he could not stop the tears from streaming down his cheeks, matting his fur. Nor could he prevent a single drop, which unknown to the Lombax, trickled down and landed atop Clank's cranium.

The reactor core behind them sputtered, and both Lombax and robot turned.

The large structure had sparked into flame, which began spreading in both directions, up and down.

"We must go, Ratchet! The escape pods-"

"I know."

Wiping the tears from his face with renewed vigor, Ratchet got to his feet, grabbed his wrench, and placed Clank securely on his back.

Ratchet looked over the ledge and saw the service hatch Qwark had mentioned in their debriefing, and leapt down to the narrow platform below.

Ratchet and Clank landed on the platform, and the Lombax wrenched the hatch open as the room shook violently from another energy cell along the wall above exploding, sending yet more flame and debris in every direction, and the duo ducked into the emergency-lit passage beyond just as a large chunk of wall fell and crashed into the platform, sending it tumbling to the propulsion engines below.

Ratchet raced along the passage, which was lined with pipes, pressure valves and temperature sensors, which whistled, hissed, and rattled, making the narrow passage foggy with steam.

Whereas some thirty minutes previous the Lombax had been chilled to the bone, the air and the surrounding walls were now swelteringly hot.

The passage twisted and turned, the spinning, red emergency lights disorienting Ratchet while the blaring emergency sirens echoed deafeningly off the metal walls.

There were Cherubs ahead, racing toward him through the red gloom, and Ratchet drew his pyrocitor.

"OUTTA THE WAY!"

The passage was suddenly alight with flame, and the cacophony of sirens was joined with the agonized shrieks of flaming, dying Cherubs, and Ratchet flashed by, darting around the corner, the sound of their erupting corpses barely audible over the blaring of the dashed down a set of stairs, then through a door, and skidded to a halt, his arms flailing as he nearly flew off the ledge of a ruined catwalk over an abyss, destroyed by what he could only assume was falling debris.

"Whaddawe do now, buddy!?" Ratchet shouted over the deafening screams of the alarm and the

repeating, recorded warning message.

"I am working on it! I think… Yes! We can bypass several more rooms if we find a way to safely descend into the abyss!"

Ratchet looked around. There had to be something he could tether onto or… or something! Anything he could use to get down there…

His eyes fell upon the metal railing of the catwalk. Though it was bent and broken, it remained

connected and went straight down and sloped, as though it connected to a doorway below.

"Hang on pal!" Ratchet shouted, and without hesitating, he leapt onto the rail and began sliding

into the shadows below.

"Ratchet! We do not know where this rail leads!" Clank shouted over the roaring of the wind as they gained speed."Just trust me on this!"The rail leveled out and turned around a corner, and Ratchet was forced to leap onto a parallel rail as the one on which they rode ended. This new one sloped down again before rounding another turn, and Ratchet saw light above, where the rail seemed to be leading."Dead end ahead!" Clank called in panic

They reached the apex of the rail's ascent and Ratchet gasped.

Clank was right. The rail was leading straight for a large, solid wall, the base of which was alive with flames. However, Ratchet noticed, as the distance swiftly closed, an energy cell right at the base.

Ratchet drew his warmonger again, and Clank spun his head around

"Ratchet, what are you doing?!"

"All part of the plan!"

"WHAT PLAN?!"

"THE PLAN! It's an easy one, just watch!"

Ratchet fired the warmonger and the rocket launched forth, spiraling through the air, before colliding with the energy cell which exploded with such force that even with the distance between them and the point of impact, the rocket's explosion made Ratchet feel as though someone had taken a hot glove and slapped him across the face.

The grind rail crumpled, and Ratchet leapt with very last ounce of strength he could muster, Clank shouting in fright behind them as they passed through the smoke and smashed into the ground on the opposite side, rolling several feet before finally coming to a halt.

Ratchet's head and arms ached, but he pushed himself back to his feet, staggering slightly.

"*cough, cough* See?! *cough* Nothin' to it!"

"Yes, very well done!"And Ratchet sprinted off once more, his tail flying behind him.

"How long we got pal?!"

"My estimates are at ten minutes!

"Ratchet sped up. The tremors were growing worse, and as he scrambled up a set of stairs and flashed through an open door, he saw several energy cells lined against a distant wall in flames,

and he prayed they would wait until after they had passed before deciding to explode.

"Turn right!" Clank called, and Ratchet skidded around the corner of a hall of branching doorways, sprinting down a long, new passage lined with yet more hissing pipes and valves.

There was another crash, and the passage shook violently.

"Um… Ratchet…" Clank began, "Lower your cranium…"

"What?!" Ratchet called back, barely able to hear Clank over the hissing and the blaring sirens.

"Lower your cranium!" Clank shouted.

"My what?!"

"DUCK!"

Ratchet threw himself down and the wall to his left exploded outward as a massive, twisted chunk of metal came flying through the gaping hole in the wall and embedded itself into one of the large tanks, exactly where Ratchet's head had been a split second previous.

Ratchet spun around, and let out a cry of terror, stumbling back, and falling to the ground.

The Harbinger was back – its armor was rusted and steamed, dripping excess green fluid which hissed angrily onto the ground, its skin red and raw and melted away in places, and it growled with what the Lombax could only assume was a mixture of anger and pain.

Upon spotting the two heroes, the creature let out a bellow of frustration, the first time Ratchet had ever heard it do anything of the sort, and the sound alone made his entire chest fill with scrambled to his feet and tore off again, sprinting harder than he had ever done in his life.

"JUMP!" Clank shouted, and Ratchet leapt as what seemed to be a tethershot flew from behind them and latched onto the ground right beneath Ratchet.

The Lombax hurdled through a door, slamming it behind him and jumping down the full flight of stairs, crashing at the bottom and running off again as the door behind them flew across the room, and explosions erupted behind them as the Harbinger fired a warmonger of its own down at the pair of heroes.

There was a crash from behind and Ratchet looked back, yelping as he saw the towering monster straightening up and resuming its pursuit."Ratchet! Through that air vent!" Clank shouted, and the Lombax didn't need telling twice.

He threw himself at the vent, smashing it to pieces, and got yet another shock as he found both himself and Clank sliding down a long, steep incline through rumbling darkness.

But just when he was starting to fear what would happen when they reached the bottom, the slide levelled out, and Ratchet smashed through a vent several floors below.

"Little warning next time, 'kay pal?" Ratchet gasped, staggering to his feet.

"Apologies!" Clank replied, "But there was no time to explain! But no matter now, the evacuation transport is up ahead!"

Sure enough, Ratchet could hear the sound of what sounded like a large grav-train ahead, reminding him fleetingly and longingly of his and Clank's home back on Corson then it

struck him. Why would the transport be leaving on its own?

Ratchet dashed forward to a railing, and saw them down below, already barreling along two parallel tracks and gaining speed.

"Clank! Why the hell's it leavin' without us?!" Ratchet demanded, running down a flight of stairs, the panic in his chest growing more and more pronounced as he watched car after car of their only escape vanishing around a turn in the rail ahead.

"Perhaps it is part of the facility's emergency protocols!"

"Some evac transport!" Ratchet shouted angrily, dashing along a platform. They were gonna have to make a jump for it. "Looks more like a cargo train to me!"

*CRASHH*

"OH, SSSHH-"

But Ratchet's vulgar exclamation of fear and shock was cut short as the Harbinger, who had just crashed through the ceiling, landed in front of the duo and closed its hand over Ratchet's throat.

"Ratchet! Ratchet DO SOMETHING!" Clank shouted, panicked as the sound of Ratchet's rasping, gurgling efforts to breathe and the flailing of his feet and tail grew more strained and desperate.

Ratchet's surroundings were growing blurred, but he registered the glint of a razor-sharp blade appearing from nowhere, and the flicker of a fuel cell's status light.

He took a hand off the Harbinger's claw that was crushing his throat, and tossed the bomb he had meant to use to destroy the reactor core at the fuel cell, drew his combuster, and fired one well-placed shot.

There was a colossal explosion, all sound reduced to nothing but a high-pitched ringing and the world absolving itself into hot, burning pain.

Clank flew off Ratchet's back, the world spinning wildly around him, flames in every direction, and with no sign of his best friend.

After a series of *clinks* *clanks* and *clunks*, and several damages to his chassis and cranium, but after running a quick diagnostic, all systems were operational, though his gyro sensor continued to spin.

He suddenly realized he was on one of the evacuation cars, flying forward through the facility at near-blinding speed, and Ratchet was nowhere to be seen.

"Ratchet?! RATCHET!"

Clank got to his feet and looked hopelessly back at the cloud of black smoke and flame, the place where the Lombax had, in his desperation, pulled what was perhaps his most dangerous and foolish improvised means of escape ever, and that was saying something.

But then he heard someone shout over the roaring of the wind, and he dashed around a stack of metal crates and empty stasis tanks to the edge of the car.

There he was – Ratchet's tethershot had latched onto the back of the last car, and the Lombax was

swinging and flailing about wildly, his face bloody, his shirt ripped, and his fur singed, cursing at the top of his voice as he was buffeted around in the shuttle's slipstream, but miraculously alive.

Ratchet reeled himself in, and Clank took the Lombax's gloved hand, heaving with every ounce of strength he possessed, despite his miniature size, until Ratchet flopped down beside him, his chest heaving.

"*Wheeze* *gasp* H-heya pal… How ya doin'?" Ratchet gasped, his voice cracked and hoarse from his near-strangulation and from the loud, high pitch he had been screaming.

"I have been better… But I shall live." Clank replied, flatly. "Good… Great… How far is it?" "We shall arrive in- LOOK OUT!"

Ratchet raised his head, and promptly flung himself over to the side, grabbing Clank and holding him to his chest as a stasis tank came flying out of nowhere, smashed into the place where the Lombax had just been lying, and shattering into a thousand fragments of glass that blew away from the speed of the escape cars.

There, riding along an adjacent shuttle and growing closer with every second, was the Harbinger.

Its armor was cracked, dented, and loose, and its exposed flesh was blackened and red with severe burns, and it had sprouted a fourth arm from the place where the last one had been ripped off from the force of the explosion.

Ratchet staggered to his feet, his hands shaking as he clutched his Omniwrench. There was no escape this time; he would need to fight the Harbinger head-on.

The beast leapt through the air, across the large chasm between the two cars, and landed some fifty feet away, the remainder of its armor falling off with a crash, and it looked up, revealing its face to the Lombax for the first time.

The sight sent a thrill of terror through his body, and he gave an audible whimper, his flopping ears dropping subtly as he squeezed onto the Omniwrench with both hands as though it were a felt a light weight bump into his back and he gasped.

"Do not fear, Ratchet; I am here." Clank said, and just the mere sound of that soft, deep, monotone voice was like a tonic to his breathing eased up slightly, though his heart continued to pump ice-cold fear to every corner of his body, making him shiver despite the heat on the wind.

"Remember -", said Clank, "She believes in you."

A single drop of assurance fell through the cold darkness, and splashed into a dark, ripple-less pool, and like a spark on fuel, a flame burst into life within Ratchet's chest. He looked into the glowing, green eyes of the Harbinger, which gave a roar of fury, spraying the escape cars with spit, and Ratchet redoubled his grip on his Omniwrench.

"All right then…" he said hoarsely, "You wanna Lombax? Then come get 'im!"

Ratchet swung his wrench through the air, blasting the tool-head off in a beam of blinding purple and adding to the crash of wind upon their ears.

The attack struck the Harbinger hard in the chest and it staggered back, but it recovered instantly

and summoned forth a blackhole-storm minigun and began spraying in Ratchet's and Clank's direction.

Ratchet tore off, rolling behind a large stack of metal pipes, hearing the rounds pinging off the moment the firing stopped, Ratchet leapt out and opened fire with his combuster, but the Harbinger deployed yet another force shield, which absorbed the flaming projectiles.

"Ratchet! The gelatonium!" Clank called, and Ratchet directed his shots instead at a green canister behind his foe, which exploded and made the Harbinger lurch forward with a grunt of beast leaned forward and charged the duo, using its feet as well as its two fore-arms to propel itself toward its prey, and Ratchet threw himself to the side as it hurdled passed, knocking the large stack of pipes behind which the Lombax had hidden earlier flying off into the distance.

The Harbinger wheeled about, and swung a newly-summoned photon saber through the air.

Ratchet righted himself just in time to block a the fierce horizontal slash, but was nearly caught off guard as another saber came flashing down from above, and he deflected a second strike, feeling his feet sliding across the ground from the sheer force of the beast's attacks.

"Parry the left arm, then strike at its wrist!" Clank called, and as the Harbinger swung the left blade downward again, Ratchet deflected it to one side, swung his wrench around, and cracked the Harbinger's wrist, making it drop the photon saber, which flew off the back of the car.

The Harbinger roared again, and leapt back as it drew out the warmonger.

Ratchet rolled across the ground as a flaming rocket blasted toward his chest, and the explosion behind sent debris crashing everywhere as stasis tanks and crates were torn to shreds by the blast.

Ratchet got to his feet and gasped, throwing himself to the side once more as the Harbinger charged. But he was halfway through his dive when one of the beast's long, whip-like tentacles of hair intercepted him, catching him in the chest and wrapping around him with such speed and force that he felt a fresh deep cut appear in his back as he was hurled away, rolling across the ground and slamming into a stasis tank, the glass cracking on impact, his shirt ripped and leaving drops of blood along the ground and on the glass.

"Ugh, damn it…! Y'all right back there buddy!?" Ratchet shouted, pushing himself back up.

"Simply splendid!" Clank called back, while stars burst into view on his green lenses.

Suddenly the Harbinger opened its jaws wide, its mouth glowing with the heat of the sun, and Ratchet tethershotted out of harm's way as a jet of flame billowed out of the Harbinger's landed and straightened up.

The Harbinger was leaning forward, preparing to rush him down again.

Ratchet drew his enforcer, and waited until the beast had gotten within mere feet of him and Clank, before pulling both triggers.

The beast reared back with a roar of agony, clutching the gaping hole in its face with two of her four hands and spraying Ratchet with bright blue, glowing blood. But a split second later the wound had closed, and the Harbinger growled down at the Lombax, its eyes seemingly burning hotter and more vibrantly than ever.

"It keeps healing itself!" Clank said, shocked and desperate, "'Its only weakness is its own life source', 'its only weakness is its own life source'…! what does it MEAN!?"

And Ratchet stowed the enforcer away, but was forced to fall flat to the ground as the Harbinger lunged, soaring over the two heroes, and landing feet away, all wounds completely healed.

"Sanitation field ahead!" Clank said, spun enough, far ahead, but approaching rapidly, was the unmistakable bright-red glow of those special force fields designed to kill intruders.

"Oh, great! Some 'evac' this is!" Ratchet shouted, sarcastically.

But he paid dearly for his lapse of attention, for a split-second later, his throat was once again in the tight, crushing clutches of the Harbinger, and he was lifted off his feet.

Ratchet could barely hear the startled cry of his best friend; The Harbinger's grip on his neck was so tight this time that he could feel the blood draining from his face, his hands and legs already growing numb, and a dull rushing began filling his ears.

The monster glared at the Lombax with a triumphant gleam in its nightmarish eyes and began drawing its clawed hand back, preparing to pierce his chest with a fatal blow from which Ratchet would not recover.

But with his final ounce of strength, Ratchet plunged a syringe of bright, bluish-white mist into the beast's arm, and it released him at once.

Ratchet fell to the ground, coughing and wretching, feeling blood at his throat from where the Harbinger's claws had cut into him slightly.

The Harbinger was writhing, clutching its arm and shrieking in unendurable anguish, while ugly purple and green boils erupted up its muscular arm, then spread across its face and its body.

"RATCHET! THE SANITATION FIELD!"

Ratchet looked around, and swing-shotted onto one of the generators, swinging around the sanitation field and landing back on the platform on the opposite side.

The Harbinger looked up and passed clean through the bright red, buzzing beams.

The two heroes and the monster stared at each other, and for the smallest expanse of time, the beast knew what had happened.

But then the glow of its green eyes dimmed and vanished, and a bright blue grid-like pattern appeared over every inch of its body.

Suddenly, all at once, the Harbingers body split into a hundred small cubes, spraying liters of bright blue nanotech all over the platform, before the giblets of Ratchet's nightmare blew away in the escape shuttle's slipstream, and out of sight.

The shuttle slowed, and came to a halt, and Ratchet saw, with a leap of relief, escape pods lining the wall, and the black void dotted with thousands of stars through a window.

There was a distant explosion, and the entire facility quaked, making Ratchet stumble as he approached one of the miniature shuttles.

"That was the core reactor!" Clank exclaimed, "We have twenty seconds, if THAT!"

They slammed the pod door shut behind them, and both Lombax and robot leapt into the two available seats, engaging the engines, and Clank entering the Phoenix's coordinates.

With a blast that launched them into their seats, the two heroes were ejected out of the Neptune Bio-Weapons Facility as an ear-splitting crash rent the air before they were launched into warp-speed, leaving the destroyed facility, the body of Lord Valen, and the remains of the Harbinger far, far behind them.

Ratchet swayed where he sat. His entire body ached and he felt like he had aged a thousand years in the two or so hours they had spent in that terrifying, twisted base of Valen's operations.

He slumped sideways and fell flat on his back onto the floor.

"Ratchet?!" Clank gasped, alarmed, but Ratchet chuckled weakly.

"Ratchet, are you all right?! Do you need nanotech? Where does it hurt most?"

"I'm… I'm good pal, heheh…!"

Clank was gazing at him anxiously, but Ratchet felt light as a feather.

It was over. They did it. Valen was gone, and Ratchet had defeated the Harbinger. Finally, that terrifying monster would never haunt him or his nightmares ever again.

He sat up, looked at Clank, and beamed.

"C'mere."

"Ratch, what-"

But Ratchet had already pulled Clank in and was holding him as tightly as he had when Clank had reappeared after electrocuting Valen.

Everything about him was just as it always had been – the small, glowing red antenna, his bright green eyes, his shiny silver body. He was real, and he was alive.

"Thought I lost ya back there… I… I'm glad you're okay, buddy…" Ratchet said, unable to hide the slight quiver in his slightly stunned at the sudden and admittedly rather unexpected display of affection toward him from his best friend, Clank nevertheless smiled and patted the Lombax on the back.

"You too, Ratchet.

"They separated, but the Lombax continued to beam at him, drinking the silver bot in as though he had never really appreciated just how truly wonderful his best friend was.

"How'd'ja do it?" he asked, "How the hell did'ja get outta that? I saw ya fall into the fire…!"

Clank paused momentarily, then closed his eyes and closed his three metal fingers, making a small fist. His body glowed a bright, brilliant turquoise, then the light focused into his closed hand before vanishing entirely.

He looked up and held out his palm, showing Ratchet the small, strange, pyramidal device they had seen their first night aboard the gaped at it, lost for words.

"A Pyrostasis Module-" Clank said, quietly, "-Gifted to Locke and Derek during the first days of

the war by, unless my memory is faulty, 'a blue feller with overalls and a beard' who told them one of their 'rebel friends would need it for their hottest day alive'. The night Valen abducted me and took me to Cheunor, I ran to fetch the Dimensionator to fend off the Cragmites I hallucinated. I also saw flames, and I remembered what they told us our first day aboard the Phoenix… I took it to defend myself from the fire I saw. Without it, I do not believe I could have reached you after you fell off the bridge after your first encounter with the Harbinger."

Ratchet stared at him, his mind reeling from this sudden influx of information. But then it all clicked, and he knew, just as well as Clank did, who that 'blue feller' was.

"That guy…" Ratchet said under his breath, then he snorted, and Clank too began chuckling. "Always lookin' out for us, even if he ain't around, heh…"

"It would seem so." Clank agreed, and he sat down beside his best friend. "There is still something I do not understand-" said Clank, after a long silence. "Yeah pal?"

"I did not hear all of it on account I was surrounded by billowing flames, but it seemed Valen was aware there was a second Lombax… How did he learn of Rivet?"

Ratchet's eyes widened, and he felt a momentary stab of panic as he began feeling over his shirt and his pockets, searching for something, but after a moment, he gave a sigh of relief, and pulled out the photograph of himself and Rivet, a smile curling his lips and his eyes softening at once as they alighted on his blushing, laughing soulmate. Even printed on a still, thin sheet of paper, her twinkling eyes and her bright, toothy smile took his breath away as effectively as though she had just kissed him.

"He saw this photograph? How? When?"

Ratchet snapped out of it, Clank's inquiries waking him out of a wistful fantasy in which he and his lover sat alone together back on their deck on planet Veracros, watching the sun set and the stars blossom behind the large ringed planet in the sky above.

"O-oh, he uh… I sorta… it fell outta my pocket during our fight!" he lied. He could tolerate

Clank's teasing, his overly-protective and caring attitude, his teasing over how bad he and Rivet

were at hiding when they wanted to get intimate, he could even stomach Clank's jokes about

'balloon animals', but his shame over his mental breakdown in that vent and how Valen had seen

him shedding tears as he remembered his failures and that stupid, moronic thought that he would

never see Rivet again passed through his mind was a secret he would carry to the grave.

"…And he did not damage the photo in any way to incite you further? Fascinating…" Clank mused, and he fell into silence.

Ratchet watched him for a while. He could tell Clank didn't really buy the lie, but he was nonetheless grateful that Clank had chosen not press the subject. It seemed rather that Clank was at least aware the true reason Ratchet had lied was something he felt immensely ashamed about, and his gratitude and admiration for the small silver rose, if possible, even higher than it had before.

They two boys fell back into silence, and Ratchet returned his eyes to the photograph, focusing them on Rivet.

He was so gorgeous… so brave, and so strong… he adored everything about her, from her boots, to her mechanical arm, to the top of her soft, white, and pointed fuzzy couldn't

wait to see her again, to see her radiant face and to tell her he had overcome his fears at last, that he had finished both Valen and the he couldn't wait to hear what story she had to tell… he knew it would be fascinating; awe-inspiring, even. After all, what about her wasn't the most incredible thing in the universe?

They exited warp-speed and the Phoenix came into sight, making Ratchet's heart leap with could see blue and orange star fighters floating around the entrance to the hangar, and even from here he could see the carrier that Tal, Qwark, Skidd, and Phantom had boarded for their mission to evacuate the budding rebel alliances from Valen's dropships, and he was eager to see them pod entered the hangar, and Ratchet looked out of the window, down into the crowd of scattering rebels.

But then he felt a twinge of unease.

Where was Rivet's and Kit's starfighter…?

"Clank…" Ratchet said, and just by the tone of his voice alone, Clank knew something was took Ratchet's hand and the Lombax fixed him onto his back."Clank, where is she? I don't see her starship!"

"Rivet and Kit are not back…? Oh dear… Let us disembark; someone will be able to tell us!" The door hissed and opened, and Ratchet nearly toppled into the light.

The surrounded crowd gasped, and several took steps back as the smell of blood and singed fur met their nostrils.

"Where is she?!" Ratchet demanded loudly without answered, they were all whispering amongst before Ratchet could single someone out and demand an answer-"RATCH!"

He turned.

Talwyn was hurrying forward, her face scratched and bleeding, her usually sleek black hair unkempt and messy, and a bloody cloth wrapped around nearly her entire upper arm.

"Tal! Oh thank gods!" Ratchet said, hurrying forward.

Talwyn gasped as he approached.

"Ratch!" she repeated, stunned as she took in his bleeding, burned face, "Ratch, those wounds!"

"They're nothing Tal-" the male Lombax said dismissively, "'Fore ya ask, Valen's done, an' so's the Harbinger, AND the factory's history. Now where's Riv?"

Talwyn blinked at him."Wait, what? You did it?! Valen's gone!?"

"Yeah, yeah they're done for! Clank can vouch for me, he saw it all! Now tell me where she is, Tal! Where's Rivet?" he demanded, taking a step forward, feeling his frustration and fear rising in his stomach like bile as the absence of his soulmate pressed upon him like a growing, billowing sandstorm on Veldin.

"Ratchet, you need to go the infirmary, it's-"

"I don't need the hospital, Tal!" Ratchet interrupted, his fear turning into panic as the Markazian

danced around his questions, "What I need is to know where she is! Tal, what happened to my girlfriend?!"

Talwyn's brows contracted, and he could tell she was started to grow frustrated too.

"Go to the infirmary Ratchet and-"

"I told you, I DON'T NEED-!"

"Shut up and listen Ratchet!" Talwyn said, cutting across the Lombax angrily, "She's been hurt! she ran into Captain Styggs!"

"SHE WHAT!?"