Lost and Found

by ACleverName8

Sequel to Lost Time. Now designated as a new Keeper of the Dimensionator, Ratchet is given a fun little task by his father, Kaden: Head over to Savali in another dimension to pick up some stuff from their Dimensional Archives. It'll be a quick little adventure, where absolutely nothing will go wrong. But little do they know that they'll run into a certain rebel Lombax and warbot.

24. Long Live the Emperor

Surprise, I'm not dead! Just INSANELY busy with college!

And luckily, I managed to get my first full free day off for the first time in like a month, and I pretty much wrote down a good 75% of this chapter in a single sitting.

And hopefully, it will be well worth the wait!

I hope you enjoy!

---

"It's alright."

Rivet snaps out of her thoughts at the broken silence of the quiet trip as she looks over to Ratchet, staring back at her with a soft smile while flying their ship.

"Erm… What?" She dumbly replies, blinking.

"It's going to be alright. I'm sure it will." He repeats with a nod before focusing his attention back ahead. "It usually turns out that way."

Rivet stares at him in confusion for a few moments.

"…Why are you saying that?" She questions.

"Well… You looked nervous." He replies with a small shrug. "And I can get why. Here we are, on our way to take down the Emperor—someone you've been fighting for your whole life—and you've already said you're not used to being a hero. And yet, here you are. Being one."

"I… I think it's a bit too early to call myself a hero." Rivet says, looking away. "We still need to beat him first."

"Being a hero isn't really about winning, though. It's about being brave enough to stand up to the challenge, no matter how scary or intimidating it might be." Ratchet counters.

"Exactly." Kaden pipes up in the backseat, slowly nodding—and sympathizing with that statement much too well.

"Yeah." Ratchet adds with a smile. "And I know it's honestly really scary and stuff going into a huge fight like this—stars know I'm not really used to it myself—so… I just wanted to let you know that even though this is probably going to be the biggest fight of your life with how much is at stake… It'll be alright."

Rivet just silently stares back at Ratchet as he continues smiling at her, digesting his words before he chuckles.

"And, well… I know it helps me when I think about how the outcome of all of things like this is that I either live to see it all turn out alright, or I'm going to be too dead to care by that point." He says amusedly.

"That seems… Dark." Kit cautiously says from Rivet's lap, tilting her head.

"And I especially love hearing you so casually talk about dying, too." Kaden says flatly. "But… I can't really argue with you there. That was pretty much the same pep talk I gave myself when I walked into the Court to fight Tachyon for what I thought was to the death. Either I live to avenge us and raise you in peace, or… Well… I get to see Marie again. Win-win." He says dryly.

An awkward silence befalls the group, not really knowing how to respond to a comment like that, but it is soon broken by Kaden sighing.

"Anyways, sorry. That was a long time ago." He says, waving a hand. "The most important thing is that while I was all alone back then, we aren't now, Rivet. You've got us, your Resistance, some of the prisoners from Zordoom, and… The pirates." He says, unable to help but mention them with irritation.

"Yeah, exactly!" Ratchet says happily, nodding his head. "If there's one thing I've ever learned from doing stuff like this, it's that it's always easier when you've got friends and allies. Like us!"

"Indeed. We shall stop at nothing to help you, Rivet." Clank affirms from the backseat with Kaden. "And as Ratchet says, I am confident we have the capability to stop the Emperor. After all, we are quite used to the business of removing Nefarious from yet another scheme to conquer the galaxy."

"That we are." Ratchet says with a nod, looking back ahead. "Unfortunately."

Rivet smiles, chuckling a bit at his comment.

"Well, it's expertise that I think will come in handy this time around, so thanks for that at least." She says warmly. "And… Thanks for everything else, too."

"No problem, Rivet. I'm always happy to help, especially if it's with kicking Nefarious' ass." He replies with a smile.

"I don't mean just that, though." She responds, shaking her head. "I mean, everything else today, too. Being able to meet you, getting a chance to meet my species, my family, telling me about how everything I'm doing is worth it, learning to work with people, and getting a shot at maybe finally being able to get rid of Nefarious once and for all… I just…"

She takes a breath, looking away with a shrug, feeling weirdly embarrassed saying something she's said several times already, but powering on through anyway.

"I'm not sure how this fight is going to end up, but… Meeting you today changed my life. And I just wanted you to know that, and that I'm really grateful for it." She says quietly. "So… Thanks. I'm glad I met you, Ratchet."

Ratchet stares at her with stunned silence, seeing Rivet stare out of the window whle subtly chewing on her lip, holding Kit in her lap as she curiously glances between the two Lombaxes.

Ratchet knows that Rivet's told him thanks for all the opportunities he's given her from the Lombaxes, finding a partner, and inadvertently setting into motion this final showdown between her and the monster that's plagued her for her whole life, sure.

But for some reason, this time, with how earnestly she spoke… It made him feel a strange warmth unlike any of those other times she's said the same.

He drifts out of his surprise to reach over, placing his hand on her shoulder, making her tear her gaze away from the window to look back at him to see a smile on his face.

"You're welcome, Rivet." He says warmly. "And for what it's worth… I'm glad I met you too. I know you haven't done much to help me like I have you today, but you've been a great friend. Erm… I mean, not to say that you haven't done anything to help me today since you did help save my dad and stuff, and I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but—"

Rivet chuckles.

"I get what you mean, hotshot." She tells him, smiling.

Ratchet's anxious corrections quickly calm as he sees the deep blue of her eyes staring back into his own, paired with that soft and warm and comforting smile she held, and the eased tone she spoke with saying that he wasn't that much of an idiot.

Ratchet relaxes his posture a bit, smiling once again.

"Alright. Good." He simply states.

She giggles, him finding it to be such a surprisingly wonderful noise along with any of her laughs, but they spend a few moments to simply stare at each other, basking in the quiet silence that they knew would not last much longer.

But that didn't matter to Ratchet. All that mattered was here, and now. And right here and now was Rivet, sitting next to him, staring back at him with those sparkling eyes of hers, feeling content and relaxed in the calm of the storm they were about to find themselves in.

Just him, and her.

But after a few more seconds (or minutes, as it felt like), Rivet lets out a breath, trying to calm her nerves a bit as she looks back out the window in her seat, breaking eye contact with Ratchet while lightly gripping onto Kit in her lap, curiously staring between the two Lombaxes.

And before Ratchet turns to face ahead to continue flying, he glances to the side and into the backseat, where he is met with the sight of Kaden crossing his arms with a giant, smug grin, and Clank simply wearing a flat, blank look while staring right at Ratchet.

Ratchet scowls, and Kaden proceeds to bounce his eyebrows, clearly silently voicing his completely baseless theory of a 'crush' between himself and Rivet yet again, prompting Ratchet to subtly raise his middle finger, making Kaden start to quietly snicker as Clank rolls his optics.

"Huh? What is it?" Rivet asks innocently, turning in her seat at the noise with Ratchet retracting his hand just in time to keep her from seeing it.

"Oh, nothing." Kaden says casually, waving a hand. "Bringing up Marie just made me start thinking back on some fond memories, especially when we first started dating. I was just laughing at myself for being such a dumbass around her because I was too scared to tell her I had a crush on her." He explains innocently, staring directly at Ratchet with a grin as he finishes.

But as Ratchet continues to scowl at him, knowing exactly what he's doing, Rivet instead hums.

"Oh… I see." She muses.

"Erm… My condolences, then, for what it is worth." Kit speaks up from her lap. "I am sorry she is not here with us."

"Yeah… Me too." He says with a sigh, leaning back with a bittersweet smile. "But you don't worry about me. It's been twenty years. It still stings, but at least you learn to live with it."

"I know that feeling all too well." Rivet mutters with malice in her tone, looking ahead with a frown. "I hope that sick, egotistical bastard is going to get what's coming to him."

While Ratchet and Clank give Rivet an empathetic, concerned glance upon feeling the weight of all the loss she's suffered at the hands of Nefarious with that simple statement, to their surprise, Kit wears no such expression. Instead, she reaches down, placing a hand over Rivet's while looking back up to her with a firm, determined look.

"He will." Kit states. "We will make sure of it, Rivet. He must pay for all he has done."

Rivet glances down to Kit in surprise, but upon seeing the fierce look Kit wore and hearing the certainty of her tone, now knowing all too well of Kit's own journey through living through this Empire of his… Even knowing what Kit did to her because of it…

Rivet gives a small smile, returning the nod.

"You're damn right, Kit." She replies before looking back ahead, Kit doing the same in her lap.

She knew that in one way or another, this was going to be the end. The end of the Empire, or possibly the end of her life.

And while she was scared and anxious it was the latter, after hearing all Ratchet had to say and with Kit's simple yet fierce statement… She was rooting for the former.

'Long live the Emperor' her ass.

---

"Rivet!"

Rivet turns her attention to Zurkie, flying over to her from the bar as she, Ratchet, and Kaden walk into the pub with their respective partners on their backs.

"Oh, hey, Zurkie!" She greets with a smile and wave.

"Rivet, where did everyone come from?!" He asks, waving a hand broadly over the very bustling pub, Junior darting his way between tables of Resistance members, space pirates, Morts, and assorted prisoners from Zordoom. "They all said you sent them here!"

"Well, first off, yes I did, and second off, everyone here just got busted out from Zordoom, and we needed somewhere to make our next move." She says with a nod. "So I chose here."

"WHAT?!" Zurkie cries out. "Rivet, are you insane?! Are you telling me you broke out the entirety of the Empire's detention facility and lead them all here, to my establishment?!"

"Erm, is that a problem?" Ratchet cautiously asks from beside Rivet.

"Yes, it's a problem! I don't want any kind of imperial assault on my pub because you decided to escalate things with the Emperor and bring it to my doorstep, Rivet!" He says sternly, crossing his arms.

"Hey, you don't say anything when the Resistance has meetings here!" She argues, placing her hands on her hips.

"That's because the Emperor doesn't bat an eye at a dozen or so members gathering here, but he sure will when the ENTIRETY OF HIS PRISON is gathered here!" He argues. "You better have a good excuse for all this trouble and heat you're putting on me, Rivet!"

"You're damn right I have a good excuse! It's because we're taking down the Emperor once and for all!"

"You're WHAT?!" Zurkie cries out in shock. "Rivet, do you have a death wish?!"

"No, I just have a job to do." She says firmly, crossing her arms. "We all do."

"Damn right." Kaden says just as strongly. "That lanky bastard has something of ours we need to take back ASAP or else the entire multiverse is doomed."

"So, you know, it's either sit back and do nothing or let him conquer every single dimension in existence." Ratchet adds with a shrug. "We don't like that second option, so we're doing this."

"I…"

Zurkie gives a very large, tired sigh before looking back at Rivet.

"I just hope you know what you're doing, Rivet. You know how much I hate his genocidal regime, but I hate the thought of you dying even more." He says earnestly. "This pub isn't the same without you, you know."

"Don't worry, Zurkie, I know, and I do." She says with a nod and a smile, placing her hands on her hips. "We've got this!"

With one more nod, Zurkie then quickly flies back to the bar to begin serving the many orders coming in as Junior continues stacking ticket upon ticket of drink and food on the incoming line, Zurkie telling him to help him with getting them out, followed by a begrudging 'Yes, dad'.

But moments after he zips away, Rivet's arms fall from her side as she turns around to face Ratchet and Kaden.

"Okay, so… What in the hell do we do now?" She asks.

"Huh? What do you mean? You were the one that called the meeting here!" Ratchet argues. "I thought you had the plan!"

"Hey, my plan was just breaking everyone out of Zordoom for extra manpower to actually do the plan of taking down Nefarious!" Rivet says. "The whole point of coming here was to make the plan!"

"W-Well, I don't know! Maybe just, uh… Gather everyone up and just head over to the Emperor to kick his ass? I guess?" Ratchet proposes with a shrug.

"Aren't plans supposed to be more detailed than that, though?" Rivet asks.

"Yes." Kaden says from beside them both, crossing his arms.

"Perhaps we consider how to organize all these groups for an attack, first?" Clank suggests from Ratchet's back.

"And secondly, I believe we are missing the most important thing in that we do not know where the Emperor is currently located." Kit also pipes up from Rivet's back, raising a finger. "It hardly seems wise to plan an attack when we do not know where the attack is supposed to be, after all."

"Yeah, that bastard has the Dimensionator, he could be anywhere in the galaxy if he's 'cleaning it up' like everyone's been saying." Kaden says bitterly, right before his eyes widen, placing his hand on his chin in thought. "But… I know how the Dimensionator works and how to build it, so maybe if I get some parts and tools, I might be able to build some sort of tracking system to—"

"If I would have your attention…"

They all pause as the pub quiets down, everyone turning their attention to one of several monitors around the pub, displaying an image of the Empire's insignia before the face of the tyrant himself appears, smiling wickedly in his office.

"To the denizens of my lovely Empire, it is with great pleasure that I deliver the most wonderful of news!" He says cheerily, right before a picture of the pirates appear beside him. "Those drunken embarrassments of robotkind, the Space Pirates of Ardolis, have been crushed!"

The picture gets slashed with a giant red X, and he motions to his other side, showing the Resistance's symbol.

"YE'LL PAY FOR THAT, YE RUSTY TWIG!" A pirate angrily cries out with the cheers of his mates.

"The pesky Resistance that has been a constant thorn in my side ever since I first sat upon my throne, full of squishies who refuse to bow down to their rightful robotic overlords, has been snuffed!"

Another giant red X thrown on top of the image before it pans above him, now showing an image of Rivet's picture adorned on top of all her wanted posters.

"Ya mean you tried, you psycho!" Phantom amusedly corrects him with a raised glass.

"And most of all, the worst squishy in the entire galaxy, that loathsome space rat, Rivet, has been completely and utterly extinguished!"

Another giant red X, but this one notably bigger than either of the previous examples, clearly full of personal malice that couldn't help but make Rivet smirk in satisfaction even amid the thick tension that's befallen the pub.

The camera pans back down to Nefarious, who then gives a giant grin.

"In short, every last defiant being that was foolish enough to oppose my glorious reign over all who live under my gracious care have been exterminated! It is with great honor that I can finally and ultimately deem myself the one true ruler of the Polaris Galaxy!" He bellows proudly before he raises a finger. "Or, the Nefarious Galaxy, as it is henceforth to be known, but I digress. For believe it or not, my loyal citizens, but my conquest does not end here, for this is just the beginning!"

He then starts slowly pacing back and forth, the camera remaining trained onto him.

"Now, I know what you are thinking; 'Oh, but you most handsome and devilish rogue of our majesty'—thank you very much—'Are you possibly implying that your divine conquest shall extend to all galaxies as well?' Why, of course! I cannot rest in good conscious until everyone in existence knows the name 'Nefarious', after all, it'd be quite amiss of me!"

He then stops pacing, and looks back at the camera, raising another finger yet again.

"And I truly mean it. Everyone in existence." He says carefully and coldly. "And to think that applies to but a single universe is so unimaginative. No, the Nefarious Empire shall not stand as a pathetic galactic empire! Nor a lowly universal empire, either! Yes, that's right, my domain shall expand into a grand, magnificent INTERDIMENSIONAL EMPIRE!" He gleefully boasts, erupting into the maniacal cackle that never failed to make Rivet grimace and clench her fist like his scrawny throat was in her palm.

The Emperor's laughter then tapers off as he holds up the Dimensionator with a smile, caressing it with his other hand.

"Thanks to the very generous donation from a couple of unexpected yet rabble-rousing visitors to my empire—who have been dealt with, worry not—the best thing to ever happen to the multiverse can finally come to fruition!"

"Over my dead body, you son of a bitch." Kaden says coldly, glaring at the screen, full of rage and shame at failing his duty as a Keeper to let the Dimensionator fall into the hands of that tyrant.

"And with the galaxy all cleaned-up of undesirables who might stand to think they can possibly overturn my rule in my absence as I'm out spreading the good word of me in other dimensions, all that is left to do is just that!" He says happily, looking away as he turns, raising the Dimensionator.

But then, he pauses, right before looking back at the camera once more, but with a cold frown instead of the jovial smile he was holding thus far.

"At least, that's all what I thought before I learned of an… Incident." He says, lowering the Dimensionator. "Apparently, the simple task of making sure no one escapes my prison was too much for my former assistant. Space rats that I thought had been killed are miraculously alive, convicts and traitors are now free to run about, and worst of all, my wonderful plans of an interdimensional Nefarious Empire must be delayed." He states with cold anger.

"Welp, there goes our element of surprise, I guess." Ratchet says with a sigh, crossing his arms.

"But… It is just that. A delay. I know those fugitives are thinking that they've the upper hand, but they must remember who their master is, that there is only one of us that has the entirety of this galaxy in the palm of his hand." Nefarious then follows up.

He snaps his fingers, and the multitude of monitors behind his desk then show various feeds around Nefarious City, displaying absolute droves of Imperial forces on the ground and ships in the sky for air support, amassing to what looks to be the bulk majority of his whole army.

Everyone in the pub stares at the legion of the Emperor's military in silence, the feeds continuing for several more seconds before Nefarious leans back into frame, that sick smile back on his face.

"Impressive, is it not?" He says sweetly, now fully stepping in front of the camera as it zooms out from the feed. "I do work oh so hard to be able to have such grand and loyal forces at my disposal, and I don't take kindly to space rats who don't appreciate it as much as I do. So… It's time for much-needed pest control.

"I know you're watching this, Rivet." He now says annoyedly, placing his hands behind him as he stares into the camera, making her grimace. "And I know how much of a game you treat your futile attempts to dethrone me as. I already tried snuffing you away to end it, and yet, I see you ransacking my prison, even though you should have been quite literally erased from existence. I do not know how, but it's clear that I cannot get rid of you and your friends that easily. So much for trying new things, I suppose." He says with a shrug, looking at the Dimensionator in his hand.

But then, as Rivet clenches her fist, he slowly turns his head back to the camera.

"So, I decided that it would be best if we settled things the more… Traditional way. Total annihilation!" He declares gleefully, holding his hands up to the monitors behind him, still displaying the full force of his Empire, ready for battle. "And for old time's sake, why not treat this as a game? For funsies. It is already clear who the winner is going to be, and it would be quite unsporting of me to not at least offer an illusion of victory. It doesn't make your inevitable defeat taste as sweet without that garnish of crushed hope." He says, making a chef's kiss before pressing buttons on the Dimensionator.

Nefarious then opens a portal and walks through it, disappearing from view. But before anyone could wonder where he went, they suddenly hear a large, glassy shattering sound emanate from outside, making everyone turn their attention to the large window as the heroes' eyes widen, recognizing that telltale sound.

"Oh no…" Kaden mutters as they see a giant portal open just beyond the pub, Corson V being seen on the other side.

"What's he trying to do?" Ratchet asks cautiously, suddenly finding himself in a battle stance.

"Toy with us." Rivet says with a scowl, not bothering to look out the window with them. "Like always."

"It'll be like hide-and-seek!" They hear the Emperor's voice, now turning back to the monitors to see him return to his office through the portal, it shutting closed right behind as he smiles. "But instead of counting to ten seconds, I'll count to… Hm… Let's say ten minutes. And instead of you hiding, you try to find me by having you and your merry band of miscreants come to me through my graciously-provided gateway to Corson V from that filthy pub of yours and fight—Which, by the way, quite stupid of you to have every single ship escaping Viceron head directly towards the direction of that hole-in-the-wall, if you were trying to hide from me."

"RIVET!" She hears Zurkie's very displeased voice holler from the bar.

"NOT NOW!" She yells back.

"But at the end of the ten minutes, I come find you, and send all my forces through that portal to render that asteroid to mere dust in only a minute." Nefarious continues.

"RIVET, I TOLD YOU—"

"I SAID NOT NOW, ZURKIE!" She cuts him off.

"So! Those are the rules of the game." The Emperor finishes sweetly. "You come to me, or I come to you. Take all the time you need if you think it will help you—as long as it is under ten minutes, of course. Either way, this will be the end for one of us, and I think we both know which one." He states with a grin, leaning forward.

"I do hope you hurry up, though. I've got things to do, dimensions to conquer, you know how it is." He says with a shrug, standing back up before waving. "See you soon, Rivet! Ta-ta!"

The screen then cuts, no longer showing his smug façade standing in his office, but rather a simple, blank screen with a timer for ten minutes, beginning to tick down.

And as the rest of the bar erupts in loud conversations asking if the Emperor was bluffing or not, should they run while they still can, and several other worrisome possibilities, the Lombaxes instead turn to each other from the monitor.

"That's not even like hide-and-seek at all, asshole!" Ratchet says, placing his hands on his hips with a frown. "It's more like… Tag! Or something! At least get it right!"

"That is not the most pertinent concern right now, Ratchet." Clank says firmly.

"Yes, our concern right now is how are we to assault Nefarious City?" Kit answers worriedly from Rivet's back. "You saw the army he had!"

"Yeah, but see the army we have." Kaden says, gesturing out to the rest of the pub that devolved into talking anxiously about the Emperor's announcement. "We've got everyone in this pub plus some, right?"

"There's still more ships coming in from Zordoom when we came in, yeah." Rivet says with a nod. "What, do you have a plan?"

"With these numbers? A semblance of one. It's not perfect, but let's hope my years as a General don't fail me." Kaden says, cracking his knuckles. "Let's organize this army. So, who do we got in terms of forces?"

"Well… There's the Resistance, and luckily, everyone since they were locked up in Zordoom. Then there's the space pirates, which is the same story, and the Morts, too. Then us." Rivet says.

"Alright, and who are their leaders so we can organize this better?" Kaden asks, placing a hand on his chin.

"Oh, uh, the pirates got Quantum, the Resistance has… Well, probably Phantom right now, and the Morts got Mort."

"Wait, so are all of them named Mort?" Kaden asks, tilting his head.

"Yes. And yes, it is confusing." Ratchet says.

"I… Well, we don't have time for that." Kaden says before turning back to the pub and calling out. "Quantum! Phantom! Erm… Mort?!"

"Which one?!" A Mort calls out as they see the latter two make their way over to them through the crowd.

"Mort!" Rivet clarifies.

"Gotcha!"

"Isn't that literally what I just said?" Kaden asks.

"No." She answers flatly.

"Like I said; Confusing." Ratchet reiterates, raising a finger.

"What's up, Rivet? We kicking the Emperor's ass or what?" Phantom greets as he and Quantum reach them, the group of them huddled away from the bulk of the noisy pub.

"I hope you have a plan with a warning like that." Quantum worriedly adds, glancing to the timer on the monitors, steadily ticking down, a minute and a half already passed. "I didn't like the look of all those troopers..."

"Ah, I'm sure our little Riv's got something in her back pocket like she always does, dontcha know!" A Mort joins in optimistically, walking over.

"Not me this time. Whatcha got, Kaden?" Rivet says, crossing her arms while looking over to him.

"A classic. Multi-pronged assault." He says with a nod. "That asshole wants a fight, and we're going to give it to him."

"With all of those soldiers, though?" Ratchet asks, motioning to the screens, still ticking down. "If we're trying to beat them all, we're going to need way more than what we've got, dad."

"I know, but luckily for us, we Lombaxes have already figured out a way to win against a ruthless Imperial army when we're outnumbered." He retorts with a smirk.

"Which is?" Rivet asks, raising her eyebrow.

"The Dimensionator. It was invented to win a galactic war against odds like these by simply sending their army into another dimension, just like that." He emphasizes with a snap. "We get the Dimensionator back, we win."

"But doesn't the Emperor have it, brah?" Phantom asks. "Doesn't seem like much of a solution to me."

"That's why our target is just going to be to fight our way through until we get it. This isn't going to be a war of attrition; Any fighting we do is only to make our way towards him." Kaden explains. "According to that announcement, he's literally waiting for us in his office, right? All we need to do is get in there, but obviously, easier said than done with all the defenses we're going to have to get through.

"Like, first off, those air defenses. If we have to fly down to the city, we're going to have to get through those planetary fighters above the planet."

"O-Oh, we can handle it!" Quantum says, raising his hand—mildly surprising Rivet at seeing him jump at the call of duty instead of running from it. "We found that the Empire seized many of our ships at Zordoom, and even for the other ships, me and my crew are well practiced in aerial combat!"

"As I've experienced." Kaden grumbles with a roll of his eyes. "But are you good enough that you think you can punch a hole down through to the surface?"

"We'll do our best. Captain's honor!" He says, saluting.

"We're holding you to that, Quantum." Rivet says stiffly, pointing at him.

"But then when we're down on the ground, it's a whole other story. I'm betting there's too many defenses on his headquarters to land directly in there, so we're going to have to fight on the ground to his tower." Kaden continues.

"Having to fight troops head-on? Sounds like a Tuesday for the Resistance." Phantom coolly remarks, crossing his arms with a smile. "And besides, our guys know that city like the back of our hands. Anywhere we can't make up for firepower, we can make up for guerilla tactics, no sweat, my man."

"Yeah, but we're going to need more than the Resistance to hold back an army of that size he showed." Rivet counters. "What else have we got?"

"Us!" Mort says, raising her hand. "Just get us some of them Imperial ships and whatnot, and we can give 'em a taste of their own medicine, like back on Sargasso!"

"And not to mention that you've got us, too!" Ratchet says proudly, motioning to himself and Clank on his back. "This'll is a tough fight, but not one we can't handle!"

"Indeed, we will do our best to help hold back Nefarious' forces alongside everyone else." Clank affirms with a nod.

"And… Me too." Kit pipes up from Rivet's back, mustering up a determined tone. "I… I will also do my best to allow us to win. It is what I promised to you, is it not?"

Although Rivet knew what Kit meant in saying she would do her best—meaning that she'd have to face it again, the thing that took her arm those years ago… She couldn't deny that she felt relief on top of that fear that lingered in her gut.

And more than that, a twinge of… Happiness, hearing Kit pledge to do this in spite of the fear that Rivet now better understood Kit also felt in regards to her abilities as a warbot. Doing it because it was what she promised to Rivet, and she didn't want to let down her partner.

Her friend.

So, with a small smile, Rivet returns the nod.

"Right." She states. "I believe in you, Kit."

Kit returns a glad smile back at her, but Kaden simply continues without skipping a beat.

"Perfect, because I think you're going to be the key element to this plan." He says, pointing at Kit. "You've got the biggest firepower here, and not only that, you know the ins and outs of his headquarters. If we get far enough in, you'll be able to help fight our way to the office and to the pompous bastard himself, right?"

"O-Oh, erm, y-yes! I can!" She replies with a hasty nod.

"Excellent. So, from the top!" Kaden declares.

He clears his throat, and raising his finger, he looks over the group before him, pointing at Quantum.

"You and your pirates lead the assault through the atmosphere, letting everyone else get through to the surface of the planet."

"Will do!"

"Then when we're down on the ground, you and the Resistance support us as we make our way to his tower, or whatever." He says, pointing at Phantom.

"Hell yeah, my man." He says with a quick two-finger salute.

"All the while all you guys are on the tail-end of our ground assault, making use of the scrap and whatnot to do what you can to support us, too?" He continues, pointing at Mort.

"You betcha!"

"And you and Clank pitch in to wherever you're needed in the battle, helping out wherever you can, right?" He says, pointing to the duo.

"Just like old times." He says with a nod before smiling. "Remember when you said this was going to be a 'boring trip where you don't even need a gun'?"

"Shut up. And as everyone's doing all of that, we're all headed straight into his fortress with Kit leading the way to his office to rip the Dimensionator out of that psycho's hands." He finishes, gesturing to Ratchet and Rivet.

"And why exactly are you coming with us instead of being out in the fighting?" Rivet asks curiously, furrowing her brows.

"Because I'll know how to use the Dimensionator to banish the bulk of his forces into a random pocket dimension." He says, placing a hand on his chest. "Not unless you know how to pull off what we did to the Cragmites in the Great War?"

"Erm, no, I don't." Rivet says, shaking her head, but still furrowing her brows. "And why exactly am I going in there instead of fighting, too? Can't you two and Kit do just fine by yourselves?"

Kaden smiles.

"Sure we could, but if anyone here deserves the honor of taking down the Emperor themselves, it's going to be the 'space rat' he personally threatened in his galaxy-wide announcement because he hates her so much. If he wants to pull all this bullshit—" he says, motioning to the timer, "—In the name of making it personal, then we'll make it personal right back. Stars know I wanted the same thing with Tachyon, so let's do it now."

He then raises an eyebrow.

"Any objections to that?"

Rivet smiles as she shakes her head, taking out her mallet from her Arsenal before resting it on her shoulder.

"Nope. Not one bit."

"Great. And the rest of you…?" He asks, turning to address the group.

"Let's kick his ass." Ratchet responds.

"Down with the Empire!" Phantom says, raising a fist.

"No more of them bankruptin' taxes, dontcha know!" Mort adds.

"For Ardolis!" Quantum says resolutely.

"That's what I like to see." Kaden says with a smile. "Now, unless anyone wants to add anything more, head back to your guys, tell them the plan, and get in your ships."

Reaching for his Arsenal, he pulls out a blaster, and cocks it with a grin.

"Time for this General to come out of retirement."

---

"My, my, so many dimensions to conquer, so many to choose!" Nefarious says, scrolling through the Dimensionator's map as he sits at his (finally repaired) desk, propping his feet up onto it. "I just wonder which shall be my first to claim under my banner… Which is most deserving of the honor of my grand multiversal debut, hm?"

But as he rests a finger on his chin in thought, looking at the holographic map of dimensions laying out the inevitable expanse of his Empire, a button on his desk starts flashing.

He turns his attention to it, and reaching over, presses it with a click.

"Yes, General?" He asks.

"We've detected readings from the gastropub, your majesty." A gruff robotic voice answers. "It appears all the fugitives are coming through the portal."

"Hm. A tad quicker than I predicted." He muses with mild interest, glancing at the timer to see that there was still two minutes left. "Those squishies are quite eager to meet their demise, are they not?"

"Yes, your majesty." The General replies. "But, sir, why not simply destroy them all with your Dimensionator now? Or perhaps transport yourself somewhere else? Why allow them to come directly here?"

"What is the matter, General? Have you doubts in your army?" Nefarious questions, raising an eyebrow.

"Erm, n-no, sir! I am just questioning why not take the most effective tactics to ensure absolute victory?" He hastily clarifies. "It is in my programming, after all!"

"Remind me to update you units with a sense of creativity, then." He mutters with a roll of his eyes. "But no matter, General. I assure you that all will go just fine."

"And what of the worst-case scenario of if they manage to break through all our defenses and reach you?" He follows up. "I only ask for contingency purposes, your majesty."

"Oh, don't you worry your little head about that, General. I have contingency alright." Nefarious replies with a grin. "You just worry about stopping those squishies, and I'll worry about them if they defeat your forces. Which they will not, correct?" He questions, his tone suddenly growing cold.

"N-No, sir! Your majesty!" He quickly and fearfully replies. "They will not reach the Tower, I swear to you!"

"They'd better not, for I am far too tired of being let down by incompetent underlings today. By the way, should you fail in your task, do me a favor and throw yourself in a smelter to save me the time, okay?" He asks sweetly.

"I… Um… Y-Yes, sir!"

"Very good. Now, off with you." He says dismissively as he presses the button again to end the call.

He then picks his feet up off his desk to swivel back around, facing the wall of monitors behind his desk, all displaying various angles of his forces in Nefarious City waiting for the arriving rebellion army, of which their mass of ships was shown on the large center monitor.

And as Nefarious looks to all the pirates, Resistance members, and furry-what's-their-names coming through the portal he placed over the planet, he smiles, bridging his fingers together, knowing that Rivet flew somewhere among them.

"Let the game begin."

---

"Alright, are your guys in position?" Kaden asks, sitting in the passenger seat of the ship Ratchet was flying, Rivet and Kit in the backseat with Clank.

"Yep, just follow behind our fleet!" Quantum's voice replies, albeit with a twinge of nervousness in it. "This'll be just like a normal raid! But just… Bigger! Yeah! And against nearly the whole Empire… Yeah… A lot bigger."

"Just remember that all you need to do is make sure everyone manages to get down to the city itself. I don't think those planetary cruisers are going to follow you down when you get away." He cautions.

"Will do! We'll be sure to support you as best we can once we're done protecting everyone up here!"

"And may I add, we are being very heroic by putting our very lives on the line like this, are we not, my wee cherie?" Pierre's voice suddenly cuts in, making Rivet groan.

"Pierre." She says irritably from the backseat, leaning forward.

"Why, I believe it should be only be natural that should I survive this, I be rewarded appropriately! Like, say, with a kiss from mon amour?"

"You know, it'd be such a shame if a stray bullet in the middle of the battle shot you in the head, Pierre. Especially if it was because I accidentally missed a shot on a trooper." Rivet says coldly. "And there wouldn't be any way to know whose bullet it was from all the chaos, either. What a tragedy it'd be."

And as Ratchet can't help but snicker while Clank and Kaden give her a concerned glance, they hear a gruff 'harrumph!' over the comms.

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed, Rivet." He pouts.

"That almost never works, and you know it."

"I resent that notion, my—"

"Enough flirting, get your guys' head in the game!" Kaden cuts him off, also having had enough Pierre for today. "Remember; Just clear a path for everyone and get the hell out. Understood?"

"Understood!" Quantum jumps back in as Pierre's heard scoffing and walking away. "Just be safe, you guys!"

"You too. Over and out." Kaden says, ending the call.

He then looks back over to Ratchet in the pilot's seat next to him.

"You sure you can get us down there safely?" He asks.

"Pssh, this isn't my first planetary assault!" Ratchet says with a wave of his hand. "I had to do this exact thing with Tachyon, even! Only difference is that instead of a Cragmite, it's a robot, and instead of Fastoon, it's Corson V! I've got this!"

"I must agree with him as well, do not worry." Clank speaks up from the back. "It was actually shocking seeing how well he was able to do this the first time he was in an atmospheric dogfight."

"Gonna just ignore that tidbit that you had to literally assault our home planet because of that bastard, but good." Kaden says with a nod.

He then looks in the backseat to Rivet and Kit.

"Are you two ready to do this?"

"Ever since I was born." Rivet states with a firm nod. "I've been dreaming of this day to come."

"I am just relieved that this may finally be the end of his reign." Kit says solemnly. "I just hope I will be able to do my part..."

"As long as you can kick ass like back on Savali, then don't worry." Kaden says with a nod.

"Or how you just wrecked everyone back in his hangar, too." Ratchet adds.

"Just do what you gotta do to help us win, Kit." Rivet joins in, looking down at her. "No matter what. Alright?"

Kit glances between them all as they each give their own encouragement—Clank also nodding with a thumbs-up—and finishes by looking back up at Rivet as well.

And truth be told, Kit could still sense Rivet's unease and apprehension at the idea of having to see and fight alongside Kit's warbot form, being the phantom that has haunted them both for all these years.

But beneath that fear that they both had yet to fully conquer, Kit could also see what she had been seeing from Rivet all day today that led them to join forces in this deciding battle even after the hard truth was laid bare between them;

Trust in her partner.

And that would not be something she would dare to break again. Especially not now.

Kit gives a firm nod.

"Alright, Rivet. I will not let you down."

Rivet returns the nod with a small smile, once again giving Kit small relief that there yet may be some way for them both to move past it.

But thoughts for what the future may hold must be put aside, as they had to worry about their immediate future of the next five minutes of if they'll even be able to reach the surface of the planet against the blockade.

But just as she finishes that thought, a loud explosion is heard as they look forward to see the Imperial cruisers begin to fire on the leading force of the pirates, explosions and blasters beginning to let fly.

"It's starting!" Quantum's voice over the comms announces. "Everyone get to the surface as fast as possible, we'll cover as much as we can! And as for all of you, me hearties—FIRE!"

"FOR ARDOLIS!"

They hear a loud rallying cry over the comms before they shut off, and see the plethora of space pirate vessels begin to return fire against the blockade, the rest of their resistance's forces flying behind the line they made.

"I really owe these guys a sorry for the trouble I gave them for doing this!" Kaden says as the fierce space battle commences above them, both sides trading shots. "Let's hope they pull through!"

"And let's hope so do we!" Ratchet says, suddenly taking evasive maneuvers as a flurry of missed shots from Imperial cannons begin to fly past the pirates and through the fleet.

Everyone holds their breath as Ratchet dodges the incoming shots and pieces of ship debris from successful hits on the pirates or other resistance ships flying ahead of them, some superficial damage, some unfortunately annihilating the unfortunate pilots. As much it pained them all to see an ally fall in front of them, they knew that they had no time to stop and mourn, as the only way to ensure everyone else gets down safely is by getting down to the planet as quickly as possible with the pirates' offense providing a distraction.

And luckily, they were performing their job just fine, every one of them fired up to avenge their fallen cove with added support from Quantum (and Pierre) to fire all they got to take attention away from the true invading force. And with how surprisingly organized their battle formations were against the cruisers for a crew of perpetually drunken pirates, it was clear that whatever little experience they had raiding unfortunate victims was perfectly suited for an atmospheric assault against the Empire.

"If only these guys were willing to help out the Resistance before everything hit the fan like this." Rivet can't help but comment, not failing to note their effectiveness against the Imperial ships. "We could've used a navy like them on more than a few missions like this."

"Well, we have them now, so let's make the most of it!" Ratchet says, still focused on flying as fast as he can through the battlefield.

"We're almost through the blockade!" Kaden says with a firm look, the stormy planet growing closer and closer at a quick rate. "We just need to get past their ships into the atmosphere and we'll have some more breathing room!"

"Will do!"

Leading the rest of their ground forces, Ratchet flies through the clearest path he sees amidst the battling planetary cruisers and pirate ships, debris and stray shots peppering the way through. Kaden monitors their radar, and thankfully, sees that the large majority of their forces managed to survive the initial push, meaning that everything was going according to plan thus far.

And hopefully, luck will still be on their side once they actually reach planet-side.

"I think we are through!" Clank speaks up from the back as they no longer see any ships in front of them, and instead only the cloudy surface of Corson V.

"And how's everyone else?" Rivet asks, leaning forward.

"Still here, thank the stars. Now onto the ground assault." Kaden replies, looking away from the radar to instead press the comms once again. "Quantum, Pierre, everyone's getting past the cruisers! Pull back and regroup back on the surface as soon as you can!"

"Will do!" Quantum replies. "It feels good to be helping again!"

"We shan't rest until each and every Imperial is no more!" Pierre adds. "And I shall continue to provide moral support to my compatriots to ensure—"

"Shut ye trap, Pierre! I's rather fly me self into one o' them cannons than hear ye incessant squawking!" A pirate cuts in.

"Have none of you the sense and understanding of what a heroic, motivating voice of inspiration can do for the morale of—"

"They're good." Kaden says, suddenly switching the channel. "Phantom, you and your people know where to go on the surface with all their defenses up?"

"Pssh, it's practically an initiation into the Resistance to know how to dodge those defenses." He coolly replies. "No worries, my man!"

"Good, because we need all the men on the ground that we can get. Just do what you do best and cover our path to the Tower."

"Loud and clear! Just kick their asses!" He cheers.

"You too." Kaden bids farewell before turning off the channel.

"Do you know where to go, then, Rivet?" Ratchet asks, flying through the thundering clouds. "Because I don't!"

"Yeah, there's a place past the bazaar near the tower where there shouldn't be as much cover, I use it all the time!" She replies, leaning forward to get a look at the map on the console. "It's right over—WOAH!"

She's cut off as an explosion rocks the ship, knocking everyone around as alerts start blaring.

"Shit, we're hit! The wing's gone!" Ratchet calls out, quickly grabbing back onto the controls as he looks at the alerts on the console. "Looks like this landing's going to a bit unplanned, because I can barely control this thing!"

"Just make sure we don't die!" Kaden calls out, tightly gripping onto the seat and console in front of him. "I do not miss this kind of shit from when I was in the Praetorians!"

And as Ratchet struggles to control their trajectory, knuckles white on the steering controls as he wrestles with it, the obscuring clouds finally give way to Nefarious City proper, able to see hundreds of troopers in the streets with several anti-air cannons positioned on top of buildings, all beginning to attempt to shoot down the rest of their invading force.

But they pay little mind to it, as they were currently focused on the fact that they were staring at the ground coming far too fast for comfort while on the verge of spinning out.

"Brace for impact!" Ratchet calls out, yanking on the steering controls as hard as he can.

The ship manages to obey his command, leveling out just enough to prevent a head-on collision into the ground to render them all into a pancake to instead crash and slide against the ground along a street, the impact shaking them all out of their seats with a cry as the ship plows into several troopers unfortunate enough to be in the way, only stopping once it collides with a building at the end of the street.

As the sound of grinding metal and screaming soldiers finally silence from the cabin, groaning quickly fills into their place as everyone picks themselves up.

"Anybody dead?" Ratchet asks, holding his head.

"Nope." Rivet adds, picking herself up off the seat with Kit and Clank.

"Miraculously not." He adds.

"Only superficial damage, but no worries." Kit assures.

"I almost wish I was." Kaden says, placing a hand on his back. "I'm getting too old for crash landings."

"Old man." Ratchet can't help but comment with a smirk as he sits up.

Kaden groans with a roll of his eyes, pulling out his blaster before cocking it.

"Shut up. A real old man would have died from that, but I'm still standing and ready to fight. Are the rest of you?" He asks, glancing around.

Rivet nods, sitting up and turning slightly to allow Kit to mount onto her back.

"More than ready." She says firmly with a smile.

"And as are we." Clank adds, climbing to the front to mount onto Ratchet's back as well. "It is not the first time Ratchet and I have needed to immediately fight after a crash landing, after all. I believe it is the fifteenth, actually."

"Shut up, pal, it's not that high!" Ratchet irritably clarifies as Clank chuckles before he rolls his eyes, placing his hand on the canopy emergency ejection lever next to him, looking to everyone else. "So, count of three?"

"Why not?" Kaden says with a shrug. "One—"

They all suddenly jump as the telltale sound of a shot being fired at their ship rings through the cabin, the nearby troopers clearly intending to make sure that its inhabitants were dead before assuming anything.

"THREE!" Rivet cries out, reaching forward to yank the lever herself.

The cockpit's canopy suddenly violently pops off and launches into the air with a loud hiss, startling the troopers approaching them into ceasing their fire for just a moment—which was just long enough for the trio of Lombaxes to each jump out of the ship wielding blasters to quickly dispatch the Imperial soldiers immediately closest to them.

And as their surrounding allies shake out of their surprise and return fire, they're no match for the near-unstoppable force of three quick, heavily armed, and battle-hardened Lombaxes working side-by-side, firing their weapons and swinging their melee weapons at the opposition while effortlessly dodging fire being returned, felling soldiers one by one with practiced efficiency.

And thanks to their welcoming party being among the lowest tier of Nefarious soldiers, it is but only a minute that they manage to clear enough soldiers to finally take a moment to regroup and assess their surroundings.

"Well, if the rest of the fight is going to be easy as that, I'd say we got this in the bag!" Ratchet says with a smile, resting his wrench on his shoulder while placing a hand on his hip.

"We haven't seen anything yet until we get to the Tower." Rivet cautions before turning her head. "Which… Would've been better if we crashlanded closer to it, but crash-landing beggars can't be choosers, I guess."

"Wait, we've got bigger problems right now!" Kaden says, glancing up.

They follow his gaze and look up to see the rest of their invading fleet begin to poke through the clouds above, but along with it, all the anti-air cannons that shot them down in the first place taking aim at them all.

"Oh no, we have to take those cannons out before they shoot everyone down!" Rivet cries out.

"How, though?!" Ratchet replies. "Those things are huge! And they're so far away, too! How are we supposed to take them out in time before—"

Suddenly, they hear a distinct shattering sound, snapping their attention to the closest cannon near them situated on top of a building complex, a soft purple glow emanating from below it before it seems to just… Fall and disappear.

"Wait, what the hell?" Kaden asks as they see more cannons appear to fall into nowhere from their point of view. "What—What's happening?!"

Ratchet and Rivet, however, widen their eyes, knowing that there could be only one explanation for what looked to be portals aiding them against Nefarious.

"Gary!" They both cry out in unison.

"Wait, what?" Kaden asks confusedly, turning towards them.

"Yes, it is indeed!" Gary answers as he steps through a portal that suddenly opens beside them.

"GAH!" They all cry out, jumping with their weapons raised at being startled by his surprise entrance.

"W-Woah, there, friends! I didn't mean to scare you like that!" He says, raising his book in front of him.

"Gary!" Kit says with a smile from Rivet's back as the rest of the Lombaxes relax after collecting themselves from the fright. "You and the monks are joining us in this fight?"

"O-Oh, erm, yes! As best we can while maintaining our vow of pacifism, yes!" Gary answers with a nod, similarly relaxing now that he didn't have three guns reflexively trained on him. "We saw the Emperor's decree, and we knew we had to do something to stop him from abusing the Dimensionator's power against the multiverse!"

"Wait, you guys can open portals?!" Kaden calls out, motioning to the last few anti-air cannons falling through them, allowing for the rest of their forces to land (relatively) safely to begin battling the ground forces proper. "Do you have your own Dimensionator, too?!"

"Oh, no! It is just from years' worth of intense practice, meditation, and channeling of the intrinsic energies of the multiverse into points that manifest themselves as portals!" Gary says with a smile and a nod before raising a finger. "But it is very, very intensive on us. I am afraid we will not be able to do much more to support you all beyond transporting those defenses away from the city, it is taking the entire colony to do just that."

"WHAT?!" Kaden cries out in disbelief at their groundbreaking feat, throwing his hands up. "HOW—"

"I don't know either, but we'll have time to ask them after we're finished with this!" Ratchet cuts him off before glancing to Gary. "And thanks again, Gary! Just help us where you guys can, and we'll handle the rest!"

"Will do, Ratchet! And best of luck to you all!" Gary says as a portal to Savali opens up behind him, stepping through. "Be as safe as you can!"

And with that, the portal snaps shut, leaving the three Lombaxes next to their crashed ship as more and more gunfire is heard from more and more of their allies joining the fray.

"Okay, we have to talk with those monks after we get this mess settled, because what in the actual hell?" Kaden says. "It took us Lombaxes years to figure out how to make the Dimensionator, and they can just do it by hand? What—"

"Less yapping, more fighting!" Rivet says, gripping onto her mallet. "Everyone can only hold off the Empire for so long, and we're wasting time!"

"Erm, right, yeah! Lead the way to the Tower!" Kaden replies, shaking out of his surprise as he brandishes his wrench and his blaster.

"We'll be behind you!" Ratchet adds with a nod.

"Good, now let's go!" Rivet says as she turns and starts running towards the direction of the tower poking over the nearby buildings.

They all start running through the streets of Nefarious City as fast as they can, Rivet yelling out directions as they do so, cutting through alleys and shortcuts she's had to take over her long career of infiltrating this city for the Resistance. And as they get closer to Nefarious' capitol, they begin to encounter more and more Imperial forces standing in their way, the bulk of his soldiers set on protecting the Tower above all else.

But just as when they first jumped out of their ship, the plethora of soldiers is no problem for the group of Lombaxes, taking out the soldiers with cool efficiency, covering each other's backs as Clank and Kit call out incoming attacks from behind, working as one large, well-oiled machine.

And as they fought, they had to admit that they were pleasantly surprised at seeing the peak of each other's fighting effectiveness themselves for the first time.

Ratchet was now able to perfectly understand how his father managed to become a renowned Praetorian General and subject of admiration in Alister's stories with how much combat prowess he demonstrated in his swift yet brutal strikes despite his older age and time in retirement, making him wonder just how much greater he must have looked in his prime.

Kaden also felt similarly towards him, and even though he was able to see his son's fight against Tachyon firsthand via the memories he shared when he first arrived to their dimension, it was entirely different to see it in person. Fighting alongside his child, he could see how entirely deserved his legendary heroic reputation in his home dimension if he was able to fight with such ease, with his and Clank's perfectly synchronized coordination reminding him of fond memories of fighting alongside Alister as well.

All the while, Rivet couldn't help but also admire them both for their own skills, and thinking about how even though they were both strangers to this dimension, neither had any qualms about risking their lives to fight like this just to help make her home a better place. Sure, it was also a sense of quid pro quo given that the Emperor was threatening their own home as well, but it didn't change the fact that they were right here fighting his troopers with her in the name of peace and safety for everyone.

It made her think that if all Lombaxes were like them… Then she might actually be able to find a family in the species she never knew after all, just like Ratchet said.

But first, she had to worry about ripping the Dimensionator from that pompous bastard's hands before thinking about the Lombaxes she'll finally be able to meet, and that was proving a more and more challenging task as their progress towards the tower slows with the increased resistance of bigger and more numerous soldiers impeding their path.

"We've gotta pick up the pace!" Kaden says as he smashes a trooper's head with his wrench. "We've still got a ways to go towards the Tower!"

"We just need to take a right up here, and then it's just a straight-away!" Rivet calls out, blasting through another one before running ahead. "We've just gotta push through—Oh, shit."

Ratchet and Kaden follow her, and then similarly stop as they see a group of Juggernauts block the road, with many more soldiers around them. Even though their allies' fighting managed to thin the resistance they were facing by distracting the bulk of his forces, it clearly wasn't enough to make it anywhere near the walk in the park they were hoping.

But as the Juggernauts turn their attention to them, the one in front yelling out, "It's the Lombaxes! Get them!", Ratchet's eyes widen as he looks to Kit on Rivet's back.

"Kit, it's time to pitch in!" He tells her.

"W-Wait, what?! Now?!" She asks in shock.

"Unless we're planning on dying right here and now, yes!" Kaden calls out, getting in a battle stance as the horde approaches them.

"I-I, but…!"

"Kit!" Rivet says, looking over her shoulder. "Just—Just do it! You're the only one with the firepower!"

"Rivet?" Kit asks uncertainly, that fear of herself that she's been running away from for all these years bubbling up once again. "Are… Are you sure, though?"

Rivet pauses for a moment, but then, takes a deep breath, and reaching behind her, takes Kit off her back to allow her to stand in front of her, and holds her hands on her shoulders while looking into her eyes with a firm look.

"I trust you, Kit." She states earnestly. "Okay?"

Kit freezes for just a moment, locked into Rivet's eyes as well, hardly registering Ratchet and Kaden getting antsy behind her. It was only three little words that in themselves, have little meaning.

But right here, right now, after everything they've suffered through today…

A coolness washes over Kit, and while that fear was still there deep down inside of herself, she could also feel that it had been quelled greatly with Rivet's words.

She nods.

"Okay. Just stand back."

Rivet gives a nod and a smile, and lets go of Kit's shoulders as she and her companions follow her instructions, Kit turning around to face the ever closer horde of Juggernauts and troopers approaching them.

Kit closes her eyes, and Rivet watches on with bated breath, mentally bracing herself against the sight of it once again as best she can, knowing deep down that it likely wouldn't help much, but something was better than nothing.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, Ratchet about to call out to ask if she's okay, they suddenly see Kit drop down to ground, and with loud, mechanical sounds, watch as her gigantic, bulky warbot chassis begin to appear from her small frame. Giant legs smash into the ground, giving way to a large torso, powerful arms then popping out, unsheathing cannons on either wrist before Kit then assumes a battle stance, her eyes slit into one of focus.

She charges forward, blasting her cannons into the oncoming forces, alright wiping most of the smaller soldiers out, but then upon approaching a Juggernaut, rears a fist back before allowing the momentum of her charge to punch straight through his head with a thunderous crash. The rest of the Juggernauts pause in shock at the sight, but Kit doesn't let up as she then begins blasting into them, punching and destroying them with shocking ease as there is a mixture of screaming from 'GET HER' to just plain fear.

It doesn't last for much longer, however, as it's only about a minute later that their path forward is clear—save for the debris of scrap metal and oil from Kit's handiwork.

And as she turns around to face the Lombaxes, with Ratchet and Kaden watching in awe, she locks eyes with Rivet, standing frozen in front of them both with wide eyes.

For a moment, Kit wonders if Rivet is about to just turn around and run away, looking almost exactly just how she did when Kit transformed back on Savali. Sure, they talked about things back on Zordoom and partially on the ship, but words are one thing, and actions are another. Would she even be able to handle all… This? Now knowing that the robot who was to be her partner is the very same monster that took her arm?

But before Kit's mind can spiral more than it was already trying to, she sees Rivet close her eyes, taking a very deep breath, and after a few seconds, opens them back up again to give a nod and a smile—albeit very small.

"Good job, Kit." She says. "Lead the way."

Kit once again feels a wave of relief wash over her, giving her hope yet that maybe this will work out after all.

"Very well. Just follow me, I will keep you all safe!" Kit states with a smile.

And as she turns to run ahead, the Lombaxes in tow, Ratchet can't help but look over his shoulder with a smile.

"We've gotta talk to Al about hooking you up with whatever she's got, pal!" He says.

"I prefer my current modifications, thank you very much." Clank responds with a roll of his optics. "And besides, I have already experienced being a warbot back when we fought Drek, as well. It was too cumbersome for my liking."

"Your loss!" Ratchet chuckles.

As they make their way closer and closer to the tower, Kit was proving to be exactly the advantage they needed, now carving their way to Nefarious with ease, Kit handling all the larger, powerful units as the Lombaxes take care of all the smaller stragglers that managed to not get destroyed by her collateral damage.

And as they were fighting, they were able to see that the rest of the pirates were now joining in the fight, retreating from the atmosphere to provide air support to everyone else on the ground, now even more effective with the monks having took care of the anti-air defenses. And on top of that, they were able to see that the Morts had yet again managed to get control of another Seekerpede to aid in the Resistance members taking out soldiers through a combination of brute force and guerilla tactics.

What first seemed like a last ditch, near-suicide mission against the Empire's capitol was now beginning to prove to be a true battle—a winnable battle.

But even then, they knew that however great their favor was turning out may very well be limited, and that this wasn't over until they got their hands on the Dimensionator to get rid of all their forces once and for all—especially the Emperor.

Even though it was extremely uncomfortable for both Rivet and Kit to be fighting with her warbot form, it was quickly growing to be more and more natural, and that was primarily fueled by the thought that this very well may be the end of the Empire that had tormented their entire lives. Now was the time for their revenge against the tyrant that had taken everything from them.

Before long, their group found themselves at the grand entrance of his tower, having taken care of the forces blocking the way, and were now face-to-face with a steadfastly locked and barricaded door.

But with Kit, it proved to be a mere delay in their assault as she raises an arm.

"Stand back." She warns.

And with one powerful blow, she punches straight through the door, peeling the solid steel like it was paper, opening an entrance to screaming soldiers who never would have thought anyone would have gotten anywhere near this close to the tower.

"Special delivery!" Rivet cries out as she rushes in alongside Kaden and Ratchet, all of them blasting weapons into the fleeing soldiers with Kit following behind.

"You guys know where to go?" Kaden asks amidst the shooting.

"Yep, to the top!" Ratchet replies, running. "Let's go!"

They fight their way through more of the cowering soldiers and deeper into the tower, towards the stairwell that Ratchet and Kit used to infiltrate Nefarious' office earlier, the fight once again proving to be almost trivial with Kit's warbot firepower, and made even easier by the fact these soldiers clearly didn't anticipate actually needing to defend the extremely fortified capitol.

But as they get deeper and deeper into his headquarters, away from the entrance, they can't help but notice that something was off as the shooting grinds to a halt.

"Uh… Shouldn't the Emperor's headquarters be… Guarded?" Ratchet asks uncertainly, now noticing that there didn't seem to be any soldiers anymore.

"It always should be, yeah…" Rivet cautions, keeping her eyes peeled.

"I do not think I have seen this place this empty, guarded or not." Kit adds as she runs behind them, her thundering footsteps filling the otherwise eerily silent air. "We must be careful."

"He just wants a showdown. I'll bet my life on it." Kaden says irritably. "When I went to fight Tachyon, the bastard ordered his soldiers to let me walk into the Court to fight him. I bet Nefarious thinks this is going to be some kind of victory lap."

"Well, he's got another thing coming if we managed to get here!" Ratchet argues.

"Just don't let your guard down. That slimy dickhead's always got something up his sleeve." Rivet says with a scowl.

"Indeed." Kit adds somberly.

They continue running through the empty Tower for another minute more before they reach the stairwell leading directly to his office, walking into the middle of the large, echoing chamber before looking up to see all the stairs above them.

"…Right. This is going to suck." Ratchet groans with a frown. "Maybe this is his secret weapon, huh? Exhausting us before fighting us by forcing us to walk up over a HUNDRED FLOORS OF STAIRS!"

"They are just stairs, Ratchet." Clank says tiredly, shaking his head.

"Hey, I walked up these things already, and they're not just stairs!" He defends himself.

"We need not worry this time, Ratchet." Kit says, walking in front of them before thrusters poke out of her back with mechanical whirrs as she kneels. "I can fly us up, get on."

"Wha—YOU COULD FLY THAT WHOLE TIME AND YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING?!" He calls out, throwing his hands over to her.

"We were trying to be stealthy, Ratchet!" She argues.

"Stop being a crybaby, Kip." Kaden says amusedly, walking up to climb onto her shoulder before smirking at him. "What was it you said when we first went to Savali? 'They're just stairs, and a little exercise never hurt anybody, right?'"

He scoffs, walking forward to climb onto her other shoulder with a pout.

"Shut up."

But as Kaden snickers at Ratchet's schadenfreude, Rivet pauses slightly, feeling… Uncomfortable at the sight of actually climbing onto Kit. It was one thing merely observing her as the warbot, but feeling her…

Kit turns slightly to look at Rivet, seeing the hesitation on her face, making her put on a small smile as she holds her large hand out to Rivet.

"We can do this, Rivet. I trust we can." She says softly.

Rivet looks up at Kit's face, then down at her outstretched hand, and back up to Kit's face once more in surprise.

And after a few seconds, puts on a smile and a nod.

"Yeah, we can." She says, stepping into her palm. "Let's kick his ass."

Kit chuckles, holding Rivet close to her body as she stands up.

"Yes, let us." She agrees.

She looks up, and with an ignition blast, flies up through the stairwell—Ratchet still unable to help but bitterly look at how quickly the stairs were passing them—and in only a few seconds, make it to the top of the landing, where they're able to see the grand wooden doors to Nefarious' office.

With no hesitation, they all run up to the door, Rivet leading the charge, and as she runs, she takes out her mallet, readying it for a swing, and with a cry, jumps and swings it into the doors to shatter them open as the rest of them pour in, raising their weapons.

"It's over, Nefarious!" She calls out with malice, pointing her mallet up to the desk in the front of the room. "There's nowhere to run!"

And at the desk, Nefarious is still casually leaning back in his office chair, feet propped up on the desk, scrolling through dimensions on the Dimensionator's map, barely glancing up from it to acknowledge Kit and the Lombaxes.

"Ah, why, hello there, Rivet." He greets pleasantly with a smile. "Must you have made such a mess? You could've just knocked, you know. it would've saved you the trouble of breaking through my door—Which, by the way, just what is it with you Lombaxes and destroying my furniture, huh?"

"Because it was fun, asshole!" Ratchet calls out.

"Give us the Dimensionator right now, you son of a bitch!" Kaden follows up, brandishing his blaster once more.

"So soon? But I've barely gotten to use it yet!" Nefarious replies. "Haven't you been taught basic manners? Sharing is caring! And now it's my turn to play with your toy! Just think of all the fun I'll have conquering dimension after dimension with this beautiful device!"

"Conquering? With what Empire?" Rivet asks. "This is the end of the line, Nefarious! We broke out all of Zordoom, busted through all your defenses, and now you're cornered right here in your office! There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and now it's time you pay for everything you've done!" She says, her words dripping with poison as her grip on her mallet tightens.

"Oh dear, I suppose you are right, aren't you?" He asks, placing a hand over his mouth while feigning a look of shock. "I admit I didn't anticipate you squishies and drunken pirates to get this far so quickly, and I suppose you managed to crawl your way to my very doorstep, too. And given that it looks like those pathetic monks of yours can just whisk you away willy-nilly from whatever pocket dimension I so choose to throw your worthless hides in, I suppose this Dimensionator is useless in getting rid of you as well, isn't it?" He asks, lazily inspecting the device in his hand.

"Enough talking, dickhead! Just give up now! You've got nothing left!" Rivet demands, stepping forward.

However, the Emperor simply turns back to them, and with a smile, removes his feet off the desk to instead stand up with a menacing look.

"Ah, ah, ah… And now there is where you're wrong." He says, waving a finger. "I had nothing left, is what you meant to say. But just as I anticipated, you brought me the one thing I need to ensure my victory against you once and for all."

"And what is that, huh?" Ratchet asks, readying himself alongside Kaden and Rivet.

"The perfect weapon; KT-7461." He states simply.

"I am not your weapon anymore, Nefarious!" Kit says fiercely, raising her cannons at him. "For far too long, I was, and now I am here to ensure you cannot use anyone to cause destruction and pain like you did with me ever again!"

"Really, KT-7461?" He asks, slowly walking around to the front of desk, holding his hands behind his back. "Are you quite sure about that?"

"Kit wants nothing to do with you anymore, you psycho!" Rivet yells at him. "There's nothing you can do to convince her to help your goddamn Empire!"

"To convince 'Kit'? Perhaps." He says with a shrug. "But to convince KT-7461? Well… You know what they say; Once a soldier, always a soldier. And good soldiers follow orders."

And before anyone could respond, he simply puts on a devious smile before opening his mouth.

"3W809TN5. Passcode: Nefarious."

Kit suddenly freezes, growing stiff as her eyes go wide, and it takes a few seconds of confusion before the Lombaxes realize her ceased movement, turning around to look back up to her, seeing her stare directly ahead into nothing, arm cannons still raised up at Nefarious.

"What the hell did he do?" Kaden says cautiously, glancing between her and Nefarious, still calmly standing in front of his desk with a smile.

Rivet, however, remains silent, unconsciously gulping as cold dread begins to bubble up from her getting, getting a very, very bad feeling at seeing Kit's blank stare into nothingness, not appearing to respond at all.

But Ratchet, standing next to her, waves his hand.

"Kit! Are you okay?!" He asks worriedly.

For a second, nothing happens.

But in the next, Kit finally moves, blinking her eyes, but as soon as they open, they see that they were now glowing with a crimson red instead of their normal, soft blue. She snaps her gaze down to Ratchet, and without a second thought, brings down her outstretched arm to smack into him, sending him flying across the room and into a wall with a painful cry.

Rivet involuntarily gasps in shock as she steps back, but falls to the ground at seeing it in front of her again, witnessing those soulless crimson eyes and silent, ruthless efficiency at which she just punched her dear friend across the room with zero hesitation.

"KIP!" Kaden cries out, throwing a hand out with wide eyes.

Kit then snaps her attention to him, but even though Kaden saw that he was her next target, she moves far too quickly for him to react, grabbing him before throwing him right next to Ratchet, still laying on the floor with painful groans, Clank urging him to get up.

"N-No…" Rivet utters almost inaudibly as Kit stares at the two Lombaxes laying on the ground, to which an orange forcefield suddenly manifests around them.

"Oh-ho-ho, how marvellous!" Nefarious says almost giddily, retracting his finger from a button on his desk to activate Ratchet and Kaden's prison. "Even after all this time, my override codes still work! Thank the stars my useless ex-Assistant was such an avid recordkeeper for my various projects!"

Rivet can barely hear him, her head going numb with racing thoughts as Kit then looks back to her, those red eyes staring straight through her soul, just as they did that rainy night, being the prime subject of her night terrors. Those glowing red eyes, the hum of that cannon, then finally…

Bang.

Then blinding white pain, and even more red. A lot of red. Red like those goddamn eyes…

"Oh, what is the matter, Rivet? Cat got your tongue?" Nefarious taunts as Ratchet and Kaden finally start to recover from the unexpected throws, shakily standing up to collect themselves. "Well, come on now, don't be shy! Say something! Show us that cunning wit you oh so love to demonstrate with me!"

Rivet still doesn't respond, her breathing growing harder and faster as she feels numb with dread and fear at it staring straight at her, just silently standing there. Rivet can't think to do anything but grasp onto her prosthetic arm, just as she grabbed it when she ran away to her ship on pure instinct, praying to anything that could hear her to not let her die.

"No? Well, my, this is becoming disappointing." Nefarious says with a shrug, rolling his eyes before walking down from his desk. "I expected more from you! This is the warbot that took your arm! This is the very entity that haunts your dreams! This is the machine of pure, magnificent beauty that proudly represents the might and power of the Nefarious Empire! Surely there must be something you have to say at facing my warbot once again?"

Rivet could feel her eyes sting with tears of fear, not daring to blink, remembering how the last time she closed her eyes while faced with this monster, she opened them to find herself without a working arm anymore. This had to be some kind of nightmare, right? This wasn't real, this wasn't Kit, this was just a really, really, REALLY bad dream, right?! RIGHT?!

"Kit!" Ratchet suddenly calls out. "Snap out of it! This isn't you!"

"Quiet, space rat, we're not talking to you." Nefarious bites at him, now standing beside Kit. "You'll have your turn soon enough."

"Oh, we'll have our turn with you once we get out of here," Kaden says with a grimace, "You sick piece of—"

"I said quiet! You're ruining the moment!" Nefarious snaps at him before looking back to Rivet, paralyzed on the ground. "A moment which has yet to be as fulfilling as I had hoped. Hm… KT-7461?" He asks, looking over to her.

Kit finally breaks eye contact with Rivet as she turns to look back at him as well.

"Grab her."

Rivet manages to rip herself out of her thoughts at those words, snapping her head over to him in shock, but then just as quickly looks back to Kit as her hulking form steps towards her with thunderous footsteps.

Rivet shakes her head as she tries to crawl back.

"N-No, no, no, Kit, please!" She begs, tears going down her cheeks.

However, Kit doesn't listen, instead wordlessly taking another step before simply reaching down to grab Rivet into her giant hand, Rivet desperately trying to wrench herself free from her grip, but making zero progress, Kit remaining as still as a statue.

"Ah, finally you're doing something other than just lying on the ground!" Nefarious says cheerily. "Now there's that juicy fear that I was looking for!"

"You're SICK! You know that?!" Ratchet yells furiously, banging a fist against the forcefield as he can't do anything but watch Rivet suffer for his amusement.

"Of course! Who doesn't love a decisive victory against their opponent without one last romp with them?" He answers sweetly.

"K-Kit, please, please let me go, i-it's me…!" Rivet tries to plead, her voice cracking, staring into those eyes as she knows that she can be popped like a grape in just a single flex if Kit so chose to.

"Apologies, Rivet, but I'm afraid you're not speaking to Kit anymore." He clarifies, stepping into Rivet's view. "Such is the way of an override; KT-7461 is but a mindless machine of destruction that bows to every single one of my whims! Just as she as built for, all she was meant to do, and all she will ever be. Just watch!"

He clears his throat.

"KT-7461, turn her upside down!"

Rivet lets out a cry of surprise as she is suddenly flipped, feeling the blood rush to her head as Kit merely twists her wrist the other way.

"Now throw her into your other hand!"

Before Rivet knows it, she's suddenly tossed into the air, flailing, before landing hard into Kit's other palm that quickly secures her into her grip once again, barely leaving Rivet to process what had just happened in the whirlwind of her current emotions, feeling completely helpless.

"Now squeeze her! But not too hard!" He cautions.

Just as Rivet feared, she could feel her hydraulic digits squeeze against her whole body, quickly constricting her breath and making her gasp as she can't help but feel so utterly insignificant in the hand of this monster, knowing that had Nefarious not explicitly warned her, Rivet would feel her body break in only a second before being crushed like a tin can.

"Now let go before she turns even more blue, we're not done yet!" He says gleefully.

This had to be some kind of nightmare, it just HAD to be, this couldn't be real life where she was actually trapped in the giant hand of the thing that had already taken so much from her, knowing that now might very well be the time it'll take her life.

"She is now nothing more than my plaything! And with her, so are you!" He says, laughing maniacally.

"No, you're wrong! Kit's still in there, I know she is!" Ratchet yells.

"Agree to disagree, space rat." He says, his laugh tapering off. "My, to have your very life in my hands like this, Rivet, is everything I wanted and more. To see you reduced to such a mess before I finally extinguish your insufferable life once and for all, it's just…" He gives a chef's kiss. "Delicious."

"You won't get away with this, you PSYCHO!" Kaden yells at him.

"Oh, but haven't I already?" Nefarious asks, turning to look at him with a smile. "Now, KT-7461… Ready your cannon."

Without a word or even a nod, Rivet watches with utter terror as she watches Kit raise her other arm, the cannon engaging on her wrist, and in what felt like an eternity, watched as it was pointed straight at her, staring down that barrel that took so much of her life away already.

Rivet once again gulps as tears continue to fall down her cheeks, unable to tear her gaze away from either the cannon or those crimson eyes.

"K-Kit! Please, it's me, Rivet!" She begs, her voice on the verge of breaking. "This isn't y-you! You'd n-never do this! Please!"

"Rivet!" Ratchet cries out with fear, watching helplessly.

"Oh-ho-ho, now here's what I've been waiting for!" Nefarious says deviously, mounting the Dimensionator on his back to eagerly rub his hands. "The sound of a squishy begging for their life, like music to my ears! Do go on, then!"

Rivet completely ignores him, the entire world disappearing except for those goddamned eyes and that cannon pointed straight at her head, threatening to take the rest of her life that it couldn't get rid of that awful night.

"I-I'm your friend, Kit! W-We went to Sargasso, you met the M-Morts, and We went to my hideout, remember? I-I showed you my plants! You love plants, Kit! You take care of them, too, just like me!"

Kit doesn't move, still staring at Rivet in her outstretched arm.

"You helped me fight the Empire when they t-took Ratchet! You helped me out! You p-planned Kaden's rescue on Ardolis! Y-You even patched me up after a fight, and you told me you were having fun with me when we were on T-Trudi, remember?!" Rivet continues to beg. "I told you that I was, too!"

Nothing. The cannon continues to hover there, menacingly, scaring Rivet with the thought that this will be the last sight she will ever see alive.

"We promised to be partners and to trust each other! Y-You lied to me, then lied to me again, but… But… I still forgave you! Even after everything, I wanted to be your partner, Kit, because I know you're better than this… This… Thing right now! You're too nice, and caring, and quiet, and sweet, a-and… This isn't you, Kit!"

Rivet can't help but finally close her eyes, unable to handle seeing that red anymore than she has to, knowing that everything she says is going to be futile, and knowing that she's giving that pompous bastard everything he wants, but she didn't care. This was the end, and in the end, nothing ever really matters.

"W-We promised that we'd see the Lombaxes together, Kit… You promised me to show me the trees you're taking care of on S-Savali… You said they were so pretty…" She says miserably, feeling how damp the fur on her face was with a cool draft running over her, probably from the AC system. "W-We promised to stop being lonely and to stop running away from ourselves… To be partners. This isn't you, Kit, because you promised that this wouldn't ever happen again… And I trusted you… Because you're a good partner, Kit… You always were…"

Rivet still hears nothing aside from her shaky breathing, trying and failing to keep her composure in the face of certain death. So much for being the brave face of the Resistance, Rivet, her mind numbly tells her. Now you're going to die a crying mess in front of the Emperor.

How pathetic.

But as she was making peace with the fact that everything she fought for in her entire life ultimately stood for nothing if Nefarious was going to win anyway, she suddenly hears a sound. A small sound, but it was a whirring sound that came from very nearby.

Hesitantly, she opens her tear-stained eyes to look back at Kit's face, once again assaulted with those devilish, glowing eyes and smoldered blaster cannon the size of her head pointed straight at her face, but this time… Kit blinks.

Then blinks again.

And again once more.

And finally, closes her eyes.

But as Rivet stares on in silent confusion with bated breath, she watches as Kit slowly opens her eyes once more, and instead being basked in that scarlet hue that tinted all of her nightmares…

Rivet saw blue. Staring right back at her.

Now it was Rivet's turn to blink in surprise.

"K… Kit?" She whispers, almost inaudible.

Before she gets an answer, they can hear Nefarious take a large, satisfied breath with some applause.

"My, what a show!" He cheers gleefully. "And those tears, Rivet? The absolute fear and terror in your eyes as you finally understood that you will die and that I will win? Now that is exactly what I have been waiting for in all these years fighting you! To finally break you!" He states, curling his hands into fists with a wicked grin.

"You are a monster!" Clank says from Ratchet's back

"We're going to KILL you, you son of a bitch!" Ratchet yells, pounding his fist against the forcefield.

"Limb from LIMB!" Kaden adds on.

"Oh, please, I would love to see you try!" He says with a laugh, glancing at them over his shoulder. "But not before I kill her."

He finally looks back to Rivet, still staring into Kit's face, but he doesn't care one bit as he smiles.

"Farewell, Rivet. As I said before, I commend your effort at playing our little game so well, and I almost hope I find someone as tenacious as you amidst the multiverse which will soon be mine. It'll almost be boring around here without you constantly throwing wrenches into my plans!" He says cheerily. "Almost. But for now, I guess I will be satisfied at seeing you reduced into the squishy mess that you are worth. It'll be a right pain to clean you from my office, but… Such is life. Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs as they say!"

Clearing his throat once again, he turns back to Kit,, still unable to see her face.

"KT-7461… Fire." He states, savoring every single syllable like it was honey in his mouth.

"NO!" Ratchet and Kaden cry out.

But even as everybody braces for the sound of Kit's cannon firing… Nothing happens.

And for another five seconds more, nothing still happens.

Not even the whirr of her cannon charging, nothing.

"Hm. Well. This is awkward." Nefarious says annoyedly before looking over to Ratchet and Kaden, trapped in the forcefield. "Experimental prototype units and their bugs. Always ruining the best, most dramatic moments. On the bright side, though, none of you will live to talk about this faux pas once I'm done with you!" He says amusedly, clearing his throat.

"Now, again: KT-7461, fire." He states more clearly, thinking that his sadistic gleefulness must have butchered the words in her audio processor.

Kit now responds, but instead of charging up her cannon, it instead folds away back into her arm as she lowers it, Rivet still being held in her other hand, albeit much less afraid.

"What the—Just what is wrong with you blasted thing?!" Nefarious asks in frustration. "I know you were a prototype when you ran off, but surely you weren't this flawed by the time you did! KT-7461, I said fi—"

He is silenced as Kit suddenly punches him directly into the chest, sending him flying into the wall, knocking the Dimensionator off his back as he lands next to a shocked Ratchet and Kaden, staring at him.

Kit finally turns her head, staring furiously at Nefarious on the ground while loosening her grip on Rivet to allow her to sit in her palm instead of being held like a ragdoll.

"I said my name is Kit." She says. "And I am NOT your weapon."

"Kit!" Ratchet says with great relief. "I knew you were still there!"

"I-Impossible!" Nefarious says, face awash with shock as he picks himself up off the ground, his shiny orange dome cracked. "I overrided you!"

"And it wasn't enough to overpower the care I have over my friends and partner, Nefarious." She answers grimly, Rivet quickly collecting herself as she stands in Kit's palm, still visibly surprised at the development, but now able to smile at seeing the fear on Nefarious' face instead.

Kit takes a step forward, shaking the room.

"And for trying to make me hurt them… You. Will. Pay."

Nefarious takes a step back, finding himself pressed up against a while as his eyes go wide with fear, seeing Kit's monstrous warbot form approaching him with Rivet's similarly furious yet tearstained expression giving a stare of absolute murder while taking out her mallet.

But as he stares in shock, he hears a small chuckle from beside him, and looks over to see Kaden smiling with his arms crossed in the forcefield.

"Limb from limb." He says simply.

"N-No! No!" He cries out. "KT-7461, I ORDER you to stand down! 3W80—"

"Not on my watch, asshole!" Rivet yells out, readying her mallet.

Kit rears her hand back a bit before throwing it forward, giving Rivet enough momentum to jump off her hand to literally launch at Nefarious, leaving him no time to dodge before she twists in the air, spinning her mallet, and upon reaching him, slamming it square into his chest to send him flying across the room and into his desk, shattering it.

And as it does, Ratchet and Kaden watch as the forcefield trapping them fizzles away, making them look around with relief before Kaden glances down, his eyes widening.

"The Dimensionator!" He says with relief, instantly snatching it off the ground before inspecting it from all over, seeing if Kit's punch managed to damage it somehow. "And… Aside from a few scratches, it's still intact, perfect! Now we can win this battle! Come on!" He says, beginning to run for the door.

"Wait, but what about Rivet and Kit?!" Ratchet asks, hesitantly following him.

They both stop at the shattered door to Nefarious' office, and look back inside, seeing Kit and Rivet slowly approach the Emperor as he groggily picks his head up from the rubble that was now his 'magnificent desk'.

"…They've got it." Kaden says. "But I'm not sure if everyone else outside does, so let's go pull a Great War on these Imperial Bastards before things get worse!" He cries out before running down the hall. "Come on!"

"Erm, right!" Ratchet says, agreeing with his statement before following his father to turn the tides and win this war once and for all.

Meanwhile, Nefarious finally regains his senses, sitting up from his desk, only to be met with the sight of Rivet standing in front of him, a look of pure rage and malice spread across her features as she holds her mallet in her hand.

But then, watches her simply drops it, tossing it aside with a dull, metallic clatter before she grabs his neck with her natural hand, and rearing her prosthetic into a fist.

"Ever since I was born, you've made my life HELL!" She cries out, punching him in the face as he cries out, weakly trying to shield it with his hands, but making no difference against the custom-made trillium construction of her prosthetic.

"You make my family work like dogs to pay for your bullshit taxes that take everything they're worth!" She says, landing another punch.

"You destroy planets for fun whenever they try to argue how much of a PSYCHO you and your goddamn Empire are!"

Another punch as he cries out in pain.

"Nearly everyone I've ever cared about and loved is DEAD because of you, all because they want a better life like everyone else in this galaxy!" She growls, another punch shattering a piece of his dome off his head as he closes his eyes, the paint peeling from his face as every strike dents it more.

"And most of all, you took my FUCKING ARM!" She yells.

Instead of punching, she instead grabs his throat with her metal hand, and despite her shorter frame, the sheer adrenaline and rage allows her to pick him up off the wood-chipped rubble of his desk to throw him behind her, making him yell out in surprise before he smacks into Kit's torso, only to be immediately grabbed by her and taken into her fist.

And as soon as he realizes where he is, he immediately begins struggling, kicking his legs and trying to wrench himself out of her grip out of terror.

"L-Let me go this instant, KT-7461! I am your EMPEROR! LISTEN TO ME!" He screams.

"No." She growls coldly. "You are not my Emperor. Nor will you be anyone's Emperor for any longer."

He continues to struggle fruitlessly, letting out grunts of fear and exertion as he sees Rivet start to slowly walk up to him, bending down for a moment to pick up her mallet once more, taking it into a very tight grip as she stares into his soul with eyes that have seen years of fighting, trauma, and loss caused by the Emperor now helplessly at her mercy.

"But that doesn't make up for the worst thing you've ever done to me." She says coldly. "Over twenty years ago, when you and your goddamn Empire were starting out, there was a ship that had just so happened to wander into your territory, by complete accident. And instead of just letting them go like any sane person would do, you made an example out of them. You shot them down out of the sky." She says, pointing her mallet up to him, resting his chin on its head.

"Do you even remember that, you son of a bitch? Just those two lives out of the billions you've slaughtered?" Rivet asks. "Just a small ship over Sargasso in the beginning of your Empire? Well? DO YOU?!" She demands, jamming her mallet into his chin.

"I… I… Y-Yes!" He responds fearfully. "I-It was one of the first exercises of—"

"WELL YOU FUCKED UP BIG TIME BY DOING THAT, NEFARIOUS!" She yells into his face, retracting her mallet from his. "Because do you know who they were? They were my PARENTS! Thanks to you, I never knew my real family! I never got to grow up with my species! I had to grow up here, in this galaxy that had to be ruled by a greedy, sadistic, psychopathic TYRANT like you! All because of that one goddamn ship you shot down for the hell of it!

"To think that in another world, I would have my family! I'd be living in a different dimension from you! I wouldn't even know you EXISTED, and I'd still have my ARM!" She cries out, holding up her prosthetic, making him flinch for another punch. "And how ironic is that, huh? That the biggest pain in your ass wouldn't even have existed if you weren't such a sadist? Do you wish you were in that world right about now? Because so do I."

Her features then grow colder, gripping onto her mallet even harder.

"But we don't live in that world. My parents are dead. My arm is gone. Nearly all of my friends are gone. And unfortunately for you, I exist. Right here, right now. And despite everything, everything you've ever thrown at me for my entire life, including whatever the HELL you just tried to pull on me with Kit a minute ago… I've. Won."

She then raises her mallet, pointing it at his head once more as he stares at her, helplessly terrified.

"So… What do you have to say about that, Emperor?" She asks.

He doesn't speak a word, snapping his gaze between her and her mallet pointed at his face, and sometimes up at Kit currently holding him, preventing him from running away. For the first time in his life, he was utterly helpless, completely at the mercy of someone else, and even worse still…

He lost.

Despite everything. Just as she said.

"Oh, what's the matter, Nefarious? Cat got your tongue?" Rivet asks dryly with a smile, repeating his words. "Well, come on now, don't be shy. Say something. Show us that cunning wit you love to demonstrate with me."

He finally snaps out of his shock as he stares at her with pleading eyes.

"Rivet, please, I'll give you anything you want! Just spare me!" He begs. "Money! Planets! Weapons! Anything you want, just name it!"

"I want my arm. I want my friends. I want my parents. I want the life that you stole from me back." Rivet calmly replies. "Can you do those?"

"I… I-I… Just—Rivet, I give up, okay? I concede! I am DONE! YOU WIN! I LOST! THERE, I SAID IT! PLEASE—"

"That's what I thought." Rivet says coldly, lowering her mallet to instead grip onto it in both hands, readying it over her shoulder. "I'd say it was fun playing this game with you, like you said, but that'd be a goddamned lie. I hope you rot in hell where you belong, Nefarious."

"RIVET!" He screams.

Rivet grimaces, taking a deep breath while raising her arms.

"Long live the Emperor."

And with one final cry, filled with the anguish, sadness, trauma, pain, misery, vengeance, agony, and torment she's had to suffer through for her entire life caused solely by Emperor Nefarious and his regime, stealing everything and anything away from her…

She swings.

---

"And tweak that setting, adjust this, set the coordinates to that…" Kaden mutters, quickly flying through the various menus and settings of the Dimensionator, with Ratchet standing next to him on a balcony of Nefarious Tower to try and fail to understand what he was doing.

"So, uh, what's this do, then?" Ratchet asks.

"Opens a bunch of portals localized directly under whoever you're targeting to dump them into a pocket dimension." Kaden replies, finishing tweaking the settings. "It's the very thing that let the Lombaxes win the Great War against the Cragmites."

"And, uh… Have you ever had to do this before?" Ratchet asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, but all Keepers are trained to learn how to do it in case of an emergency, exactly like right now." He says with a smile.

"And how do we know this will not cause even more chaos than it has already?" Clank asks cautiously.

"It probably won't." Kaden says, giving everything one more look-over.

"'Probably'?" Ratchet and Clank both question.

"Hey, this hasn't needed to be done since the Great War, and the Dimensionator's only gotten better since then!" He argues. "And like I said, this thing was specifically designed to do this, being able to hop dimensions for study and stuff was just the side effect!"

"But—"

"Look, we're not in a position right now to be asking questions, so let's do this!" Kaden says readying it.

He cranks the lever, and after a few rotations, pulls the trigger, where nothing seems to happen.

But then, overlooking the city, the suddenly start to see portals open up beneath various Imperial forces, one-by-one, and watching as they fall away into nothing, from the smaller troopers to the biggest Juggernauts, and even aerial units in the sky, all before the portals snap shut behind them all, leaving many of their combatants confused at their disappearance.

And as the sounds of battle grow quieter and quieter with every transported soldier, Kaden smugly looks back to Ratchet, placing a hand on his hip.

"See? Told you that nothing bad would probably happen." He says.

Ratchet scoffs, crossing his arms. "Hey, can I really be blamed for worrying about if something goes wrong with it after I nearly died from it malfunctioning during my fight with Tachyon?"

"Touché." Kaden replies before bringing out his communicator.

"Phantom, Quantum, Pierre, you guys there?" He asks.

"Yep!" Phantom replies.

"Indeed so!" Pierre answers.

"We are, and… Every trooper's just disappearing through portals! Does that mean you got the Dimensionator back?!"

"That we did." Kaden says with a smile and a nod.

"Wait, so doesn't that mean that the Emperor's…"

"Not a problem anymore." Kaden says with certainty. "Once you guys finish off any stragglers that managed to avoid the portals, you all deserve one hell of a celebration, because the Nefarious Empire is officially no more."

"I-I can't believe it, we won!" Quantum cheers.

"HELL YEAH!" Phantom celebrates. "Down with Nefarious! Down with the Empire! We're finally free!"

"And what of Rivet, hm?" Pierre asks. "Is she there with you?"

"You're not getting that kiss, Pierre." Ratchet cuts in flatly, making Kaden roll his eyes.

"I wasn't asking you, cretin!"

"She's a little… Indisposed with the Emperor right now." Kaden answers. "She'll be able to join you guys as soon as she can. But in the meantime, we've got ourselves some business we need to finish up before we savor our victory, so until next time, everyone. It was an honor working with you all. Except you, Pierre."

"The nerve!" He pouts.

"We couldn't have done this without you guys, I'll try to convince Zurkie to set you guys up with free drinks for life!" Phantom says. "Catcha ya on the flipside!"

"And I wouldn't be here without your help, either, Ratchet! If you ever need a favor from the pirates, you know who to ask!"

"Just stop kidnapping people I care about and we'll call it even." Ratchet says.

"Will do! Be safe, you two!"

And with that, Kaden ends the call as they're able to hear cries of celebration down in the streets from the cheering rebels and pirates at receiving the good news of the fall of the Empire.

"You know, even though it sucks getting shot at and kidnapped and nearly dying every five minutes… The feeling of having helped people like this almost makes it all worth it being a hero." Kaden says proudly, crossing his arms while looking down at Ratchet. "Although this must be a Tuesday for you, huh?"

"An exciting one at least." Ratchet chuckles. "But I'd still rather stay in retirement than do all this again. I am wiped."

"No kidding, which is why I said almost makes it worth it. I prefer my quiet retired life as an engineer and Councilman over being a General, thank you very much." Kaden says before holding the Dimensionator up to Ratchet. "Same goes for being a Keeper, too. Thank the stars you're replacing me after all of this."

"I… Wait, what? Are you retiring from that right now, too?!" Ratchet asks in shock, taking the Dimensionator into his hands.

"What? Hell no, you're still a newbie, Kip!" Kaden chuckles, stepping over to wrap his arm around his shoulder. "I'm just glad there's someone here to share the burden with me!"

"So… You're just going to make me share the blame for letting Nefarious steal the Dimensionator, too, then?" He asks dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"Hell no, because Nefarious never stole it. And that's the story we're telling the Council if they ask, got it?" He says sternly, raising a finger. "If they ever caught wind that another genocidal Emperor got their hands on it to try and conquer the multiverse a month after lifting the ban, they're going to ban these things even quicker than last time."

"Oh… Yeah." Ratchet says slowly, also fully understanding the consequences of admitting such a thing. "So… We just happened to liberate a whole galaxy after some detours here and managed to keep the Dimensionator protected the whole time?"

"Exactly." Kaden says with a smile before using his free hand to give Ratchet's head a noogie. "Look at that, my son being an accomplice to lying to the Council with me, I couldn't be any prouder!"

"Ah, hey! I told you I hate it when you do that!" Ratchet says, batting his hands away from his head.

"Maybe try being not short enough to just do that, then, shorty." Kaden smugly replies as Ratchet fixes his hat.

"Screw you."

But as Kaden chuckles, they begin to hear footsteps from behind them, and turn around to find Rivet walking towards them with a steadfast look, several new oil stains peppered across her jumpsuit since they last saw her, and with Kit minimized to her normal form and mounted onto her back.

She stops for a moment when they turn their attention to her, glancing between the two of them, but she only continues walking until she's at the balcony railing, resting her hands on it. And looking down, she's able to see and hearing everyone cheering in the streets with a distinct lack of gunfire and Imperial forces—save for the slain ones strewn all across the ground.

Kit hops off Rivet's back to stand beside her, getting a good look of it all herself, and neither of them say anything. Nor do Ratchet, Clank, or Kaden attempt to say anything either, knowing that now was not their place to speak after the personal battle that had just been fought.

But after about ten seconds, they hear Rivet take a deep breath before letting it out in a long, tired exhale, hanging her head.

"It's over." She says exhaustively, the rest of them almost unable to hear her over the cheering. "It's finally all over… Isn't it?"

"It would appear so, yes." Kit says calmly, nodding her head. "I trust you two used the Dimensionator to take care of the rest of his forces?"

"Erm… Yep! And it worked like a charm!" Ratchet says with a nod. "Had no doubts whatsoever!"

Kaden scoffs with a roll of his eyes, but Rivet picks her head up, scanning over the now liberated Nefarious City, all her friends and allies safely celebrating in the streets below the now vacant Nefarious Tower.

"After all these years… After so much fighting… After so much loss… I didn't think this day would come." She says solemnly. "I always told myself and the rest of the Resistance that it would, but… Those were usually just words. When I said that someday, we'd be able to live free without Nefarious lording over us all the time, I wasn't sure how possible it was. Maybe it'd take a year, or a decade, or even longer, we just kept telling ourselves that even though we were losing more and more and more… It'd be worth it in the end. That someday, we'd take down the Empire once and for all."

She hangs her head again.

"And… Now… Someday is today." She says, relief washing over her words. "Nefarious is gone. The Empire is gone. All of our problems… They're… Gone. I never thought I'd see the day that I can actually say that, but… Here I am. After everything I've been through for my entire life… It's… Over. It's finally over."

Picking her head up one more time, she turns around to face Ratchet and Kaden, to which they see a large smile plastered on Rivet's face while tears of joy roll down her cheeks, glancing between them both with earnest eyes full of happiness.

But then, she focuses onto Ratchet, and rushes forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug, knocking some breath out of him, but she pays it no mind as she opens her mouth again.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't just randomly run into you at Zurkie's, Ratchet." She says earnestly, squeezing him. "You let me meet Kit, you finally found the answers to the questions I've had all my life about my family and species, you're allowing me the opportunity to meet them, you said all the right things to support me this whole time, and most of all, you were right there fighting with me along every step of the way to get here. I owe you everything, Ratchet." She says, still holding onto him. "Thank you."

As Ratchet holds his arms up in surprise at the sudden hug, gulping, he glances around to see Kit smiling happily while his father simply looks on with a proud smile, giving him a nod while rolling his hand toward him.

He then looks back down at Rivet, feeling her tears against his shoulder, and he just smiles as he returns the hug, squeezing her back.

"You don't owe me anything, Rivet. I'm just here to help." He says softly. "And besides, the real hero here is you. None of us would have gotten this far if it wasn't for you, what with you saving my ass on Sargasso, leading us to the pirates to get my dad, helping break out Zordoom, and helping lead the charge against Nefarious here. If anyone's deserving of any praise, Rivet, it's you."

Rivet sniffles, and pulls away from Ratchet to look back at him with a smile, tears still misting her eyes.

"So… This is what it feels like to be the big hero who saved the day, then?" She asks. "Just like you?"

"If it's a warm and fuzzy feeling that makes you proud of what you accomplished to get here?" Ratchet replies amusedly. "Then yes. Feels good, doesn't it?"

She sniffles again as she gives a small laugh.

"It does, it really does." She says with a nod. "Thanks again for everything, Ratchet."

She gives him another squeeze in their hug before she lets go (to Ratchet's disappointment, he instantly realized), and then turns back to Kit, standing behind her.

She steps towards her, and then kneels to look down at her with a smile.

"And you too, Kit. I wouldn't be able to do as much as I have if I didn't have a partner watching my back." She says earnestly.

Kit smiles, but then immediately after, it falters.

"And I am proud to be your partner, Rivet. But… With what happened back there when Nefarious took control over me… I… I do not know if I can be—"

"That wasn't you, Kit. That wasn't my partner." Rivet says, suddenly leaning forward to hug her. "Like I said, I know you wouldn't ever want to hurt me like that ever again. And like Emperor Dickhead said, that wasn't Kit. That was KT-7461. And KT-7461 is dead and gone, just like him. I forgive you, Kit. For everything."

Kit is surprised by Rivet's hug, but she need only a few moments before she returns it as well, wrapping her arms around her as best she can.

"I am glad to hear it, Rivet. I am happy to have found a friend in you." She says. "You have no idea how much it means to me."

"You were right there with me when you helped me end the Empire, Kit. Of course you're my friend." Rivet replies. "But even more than that, I'm happy to have found a partner in you, too."

They remain in their hug for a few seconds more before they let go, exchanging a smile one more time, and allowing Rivet to stand back up while wiping her eyes.

"Promise not to tell Phantom or Pierre I cried, okay?" She asks with a small laugh as she does her best to dry her damped fur.

"Our lips are sealed, don't worry." Kaden says with a smile.

"Yep, like hell we're helping Pierre give the offer to be a 'shoulder to cry on' for you, or whatever." Ratchet says, rolling his eyes.

"Why do you have such a rivalry with him, Ratchet?" Clank asks from his back.

"Hey, you two were kidnapped by him! You know how insufferable he is! How could I not?"

"…A fair point." He concedes.

"Well…" Rivet says, finally having mostly collected herself after that emotional talk. "This might be a dumb question, but, uh… What now? I always dreamed of taking down the Emperor, but I've gotta admit that I never really thought about what'd happen after that happens. If it ever did."

"Well, you celebrate, for starters!" Kaden says with a chuckle before raising the Dimensionator in his hand. "But before we can do that, we've got an urgent task we need to take care of first."

"And… What's that?" Rivet questions as Kit hops onto her back.

Kaden presses a few buttons on the Dimensionator, and after a crank of the lever, fires it behind them, showing the familiar yet darkened landscape of Savali on the horizon, and immediately in front of the portal, the roof of the Archives, with several large books and a blueprint sitting on its floor, reading 'ATLAS OF THE MULTIVERSE', 'THE COMPLETE COLLECTION OF CROSS-DIMENSIONAL THEORIES', and—most importantly—'The Life and Times of A Teenage Terraklon'."

With a smile, Kaden steps aside, gesturing towards the portal.

"We've got some books to deliver."

---

Holy SHIT this took way too long to complete, but I guess that's what happens when college swallows up every single last bit of your free time, lol.

I know I glossed over a lot of fighting in this totally 100% epic finale, but to be honest, I was frankly done with being stuck in my AU with this fic for over a year and a half now, so I really wanted to just get the finale out of the way so I can move on.

But I am honestly proud of the final confrontation with the Emperor, and I admit I wondered if I made him too sadistic in some parts, but him being a monster is too fun to write, and it makes his death all the sweeter when it happens, lol.

Now all that's left to do is to write the epilogue that I've honestly been wanting to write almost ever since I first started this fic, so hopefully the motivation of finally, FINALLY being able to write the thing I've been wanting to write for over a year is enough to get it out quickly! As long as college permits, that is, so fingers crossed.

But, with that said, I hope you enjoyed the grand finale of this fic, and hopefully it was worth the long wait!

Until next time!