Chapter 2: World of No Logic

"Hello?" a distant voice called, bringing me to my senses that I had lost in some sort of crash. There was a ringing in my head as I felt a weight on my back. I pushed up, lifting debris off of myself.

"Is anyone alive?" The voice called again. It sounded very familiar, like from more than five years ago. Or had it been only four years?

Rubble fell behind me. I turned around to find Clank climbing out.

"Clank!" I immediately rushed to my friend, helping him get his foot unstuck.

"Are you okay, buddy?" I asked out of concern for my friend's safety.

"Yes, I believe I didn't sustain any serious damage," Clank said. To that, I gave a huge sigh of relief. I don't know what I would've done if something bad happened to Clank.

"I'm glad that you're okay, Clank. That was one seriously bumpy ride we had, though."

"Yes, I couldn't agree more, Ratchet."

I asked Clank, "Did you hear someone calling just now? Whoever that was, the voice sounded familiar to me."

"I did pick up a voice, but it matches none of the civilians we've acquainted with before."

"Ratchet?" the voice sounded once more.

"Lifeform behind you, Ratchet!" Clank warned, bringing me to turn to the lifeform. My eyes widened at a figure that was very familiar. Really, who could forget something that doesn't need a NECK, let alone any limbs, to survive?

"Ratchet!"

"Rayman?" I answered back. He nearly slipped down the debris in surprise.

"It's you! How did you-?" Rayman tripped over some scrap and his foot got "dislodged", sending him tumbling to my feet.

"You okay?" I helped him up and supported him because of the lack of a foot.

"I hate it when that happens," he groaned. His foot kinetically got loose and returned to him.

"I may never get used to this," I commented, running a hand through the space where an arm should be.

"Do you know who this is, Ratchet?" Clank questioned. "I have never seen such an... Em... intriguing creature."

"A robot?!" Rayman got defensive all of a sudden, on guard.

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" I got in front of my best friend as a shield. "This is my friend, Clank. He's very intelligent and reliable. There's no need to get defensive." Rayman quickly relaxed at that.

"Sorry. I've had a history with usually bad robot pirates and mechanical monsters." A groan came out of my throat at the mention of robot pirates.

"Don't get me started with robot pirates. They're the worst."

"Ratchet, you didn't answer my question," Clank reminded, getting irritated.

Oh, right, sorry." I said, rubbing the back of my neck with a nervous smile growing on my face. "This here's Rayman, Clank."

"Rayman?" Clank asked with a confused expression. "No offense to our new acquaintance, but that's a rather unusual name, even from where we're from."

"Don't worry about it," Rayman said with a look of reassurance. "Considering that you two have never been here before, I guess that's something to be expected."

I asked Rayman, "But where are we? It definitely doesn't look like any place that Clank and I have been to."

"Well, I guess an introduction is in order!" Rayman said excitedly. He hopped onto a scrap pile. "Welcome to the Glade of Dreams!"

The Glade of Dreams.

"This is your homeworld?"

"That's right! Glad you remember that after 7 months!"

Did he just say...?

"Wait. Seven months? Last I saw you, it was four to five years ago." He cocked his head at that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can definitely confirm that it's been more than seven months since the last time we saw each other. At least where Clank and I are from."

"That is a very astonishing time difference, however," Clank remarked. And I definitely agreed with him. Seven months since the first time Rayman and I met each other? No, that can't possibly be correct.

How is the time difference so big? I don't get it. It seems like I'm adding something else to the list of strange things that have happened recently. Between Rayman's appearance and the apparent time difference between us, I have a lot to look into if I find a way home.

"Rayman, you better get your rabbit hair and you over here before robots capture you again!" a woman's voice shouted. Rayman went stuff before sighing in defeat.

"Who was that?"

"My friend, Ly. I'll be sure to introduce you-"

"AAAAAAGH! A giant rat!" someone screamed.

"I am not a rat!" another person replied. That sounded like Tal.

And I definitely didn't get any positive vibe from the sound of those voices. At all.

"Well, that certainly doesn't sound good in the slightest," Clank commented.

"You're telling me," I said. "Maybe we should go and see what's going on over there."

"That's definitely a good idea," Rayman said. Needless to say, Clank and I couldn't agree with him more.

I responded with, "Since Clank and I don't really know this place, do you mind taking the lead here, Rayman? At least until we learn to navigate the Glade."

"Sure thing." Clank locked back onto my back before me and Rayman leap over the rubble of the ship. Man, it's going to take forever to fix. Not far is... a creature - some kind of frog thing? - that is cowering behind a large mushroom. Nearby was a lady with swirls on her body - wait, is that a jumper? - with shirt purple hair and a bushy tail of the same color and Talwyn with her blaster on the ready.

"Whoa, Tal, hold on!" I called. She turned her way towards me.

"Ratchet. Clank."

"About time, Rayman!" the frog thing shouted.

"Who are those people with you?!" the lady shouted. "Are they with whatever this rat thing is?!"

"For the last time, I'm not a rat!" Tal shouted, annoyed to an extent.

"Globox, Ly, just calm down!" Rayman then said. "These guys aren't here to hurt us! They mean no harm at all!"

"Are these your friends, Rayman? Being in such a new place with new people is going to take some getting used to. I'm still trying to figure out how Clank and I are even in this situation. It seems like you have some introductions to make."

"Yeah, and quickly. People here don't take well to newcomers from another world after the robot pirate invasion a few centuries back."

"Centuries?"

"Anyway, Ly, Globox, this is Ratchet. I told you about Ratchet from my dream, remember?"

"That's the 'lombax' you told us about?" the bushy tailed woman asked curiously.

"Uh, hi," I waved. "I mean no harm. That's my friend, Talwyn, you're talking to. She's a Markazian, not a rat."

"There, we got that sorted out," Tal said.

"I didn't think your dream friend would be so furry," the frog commented. "With a- ROBOT ON HIS BACK!" He went back to hiding pathetically behind the mushroom.

"That's Globox," Rayman unformed. "He's scared very easily. We've been working on it."

"Well taken."

"Over here is another friend. This is Ly, the fairy." I could literally feel the giggles rise in my throat along with Clank and Tal.

"What's so funny?" Ly demanded.

"Fairies? Doesn't look like any fairy I've seen in those outdated fairy tales," Talwyn said.

"We apologize, but our world does not even have a grasp of mystical beings such as fairies because they are barely talked about," Clank explained.

"This is Clank, by the way," I pointed out so the "fairy" didn't hurt my buddy. "He's harmless."

Despite that, Ly still looked pretty standoffish by this, based on that expression she's giving.

"Harmless," the "fairy" soon said, an unconvinced tone in her voice. "Rayman, you do remember that the robots we've had to deal with have caused nothing but trouble, right?"

"Well, yeah," Rayman admitted. "But I really do believe Clank is entirely different from the robot pirates, especially since he's a friend of Ratchet's."

Seriously, what exactly was this world's history with robots?

I really do want to figure that out. Man, this situation just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Good thing I can trust Rayman, otherwise Clank and I won't be getting home anytime soon.

"Gmmph mmmmph!" something muffled shouted. I looked around a little, seeing nothing. Rayman looked down and his expression shows surprise.

"Uh, Ratchet." I looked down and I found myself standing on something.

"Whoa!" I leaped back. The thing unflattened itself and started hovering in the air with its wings. The green guy shakes the dirt off of their face.

"Finally! Am I going to be flattened by everything these days?!" they yell, frustrated.

"Sorry about that, Murfy," Rayman said.

"Murfy?" I asked, looking at the green creature in confusion.

"That's my name," the green creature, Murfy, said. "Don't wear it out! Now, uh, who exactly are you? And- Wait, is that a robot over there?!"

I'm not surprised he would be just as suspicious of Clank just like everyone else, excluding Rayman, here is.

"The name's Ratchet. And that robot over there is my buddy Clank. I met Rayman in a dream a while back, but for some reason Rayman and I can't agree on how long ago that was. I don't even know for sure how our ship ended up in the Glade in the first place. Anything in particular we should know about the Glade?"

So you can blow up the Heart of the World?"

"Murfy!" Ly and Rayman scolded. The green guy covered his large mouth.

"I'm not going to ask for details on that. Anything else?"

"Well, you better be well prepared for a lot of wack here," Rayman explained. "I can show you a few places."

"I suppose, and we can see if there's parts we need for our ship."

"Is anyone going to help me?" I heard another voice. Oh, I forgot about him and I couldn't help but groan.

Who was that?" Ly asked.

"That would be another 'friend' of our's, if you could call him that," I said, a hint of a reluctance in my voice.

"Do you think you can elaborate on that?" Rayman then asked.

"I think it may be best if we properly introduce all of you to him first so you can see what I mean."

I said,"That friend is Captain Quark, a hero who is well known where Clank and I come from. To be honest, dealing with him can be a challenge sometimes. At one point around the time Clank and I first met, Quark was an enemy, but he's tried to change that."

"He's a headache with an ego," Talwyn added on. "I'll get him." Using her jetpack, Tal flew up over the rubble in search for Qwark.

"My sensors indicate that there is a lot of life and little tech on this planet," Clank analyzed.

"This world used to be all nature and beauty," Ly explained. "Until the pirates invaded centuries ago and the recent betrayal of the Magician just over a 100 years ago."

"The 'Magician?'" I asked.

"His real name is Ales," Rayman explained. "He used to be on our side a hundred years ago, until he was manipulated by an old enemy of mine. We were able to defeat both of them a few years ago, but lately, Ales has been acting strange."

"Strange?" I then asked. "How exactly?"

"Well..." Rayman started, looking a little bit troubled at first. "It feels a bit difficult to explain, really."

"To be honest, even I'm not sure how to explain his weird behavior too," Ly admitted.

I responded to Rayman with, "Well, you'll figure it out soon. Since he has a big connection to you, I feel like it won't be a secret forever."

"I hope so, he's been trying to turn over a new leaf. So I'm slightly concerned."

"We should probably go see how the Teensies are doing," Ly announced.

"I'm not the slightest bit teensy," that aggravating voice boomed. I groaned again as we turned to see Qwark and Tal.

"That's Qwark," Rayman inferred, unimpressed by the look on his face.

"Yep."

"Well," Ly started, a just as unimpressed expression on her face. "He certainly seems like a very... interesting person."

"You don't know the half of it," I said. Of all of the people Clank, Tal and I had to be stuck with, even after all of these years, I still can't get over the fact that it had to be Qwark of all people.

I said, "Could somebody explain the Teensies? We're learning a lot today, but I'm unsure about what they are."

"You'll see. Come with us, but keep Clank on your back. He looks less threatening that way." Well, there we have it. Clank climbed onto my back and attached again.

"Is this really a good idea?" Globox asked, having calmed down.

"You know the inhabitants don't take kindly to people from other worlds after the pirate fiasco," Murfy pointed out.

"I trust anyone with Ratchet, so they'll know to respect them as if they're one of us," Rayman stated firmly.

"Well, I guess if you're sure these guys can be trusted, then I guess we're in no position to argue," Ly said, her expression softening.

"That's a relief," I said. "Thanks for helping us clear things out here, Rayman."

"Any time, Ratchet," Rayman said with a smile. "Anything for a friend!"

"I hope you're right about the Teensies trusting us, Rayman. Well, I guess it's time for me and my group to meet a new species. I haven't said those words in a while, so let's hope this meeting goes fine."

He chuckled to me and we all headed into a thick forest.

SKSKSKSK

I could only say one word to describe this planet.

That word was beyond doubt, "strange." Already, we passed by little pixie like lights that Rayman called Lums, which were an energy source for the primitive, little technology this world was comfortable using, along with small, pink like round things with small, strands of blonde hair that were called Electoons. Toony, indeed.

"Fascinating," Clank commented, taking scans of other creatures as we passed them. "It appears these creatures are made of a very similar, organic material, some even close to what those "Electoons" are made of."

"That can't be possible," Tal diagreed. I couldn't blame her on that. "They're all so different. What's the likeliness that they're related?"

"Actually, almost everything is, as you would say, related," Rayman said.

"How?"

"Everything you see, plants, creatures, landscapes, was created by one deity."

"Oh, so we're going into magic now?" Qwark questioned.

"Sort of. This world was shaped by a god named Polokus, the Bubble Dreamer. His bubbles, with the Electoons' help, can create life itself here."

"You're kidding, right?" I couldn't help but ask. "That's not even natural."

"Then, what about you, Rayman?" Clank inquired. "My scans show that you are not made of the same, em, 'process' as your friends or the creatures we've passed. If anything, your body is more like the Lums we've passed along with reflected solar energy."

"You mean moonlight?" Rayman rephrased.

"Yes, I suppose."

"Rayman was made by fellow fairies, powerful ones that watch over the world for Polokus," Ly explained. "They're known as the Nymphs."

"Betilla, the Head Nymph, told me they used rays of moonlight and Lums to create me," Rayman added on. "Unfortunately, they lost some Lums and that explains the lack of limbs."

So his form was a mistake? That's quite a large oversight for some powerful beings.

"Can we end that conversation there please? There's a lot more I want to ask Betilla before I jump to conclusions."

Whatever you say, Rayman," I said. "By the way, I really need to ask now. Has it really been seven months here since the last time we saw each other?"

"Yep, I can definitely confirm that."

"But how? Where we come from, that encounter was a much longer time ago."

"I had a feeling that the question regarding the noticable time difference would be brought up," Rayman mused with a sheepish smile on his face. "As you can most likely tell by now, time here in the Glade of Dreams works differently. And I mean by A LOT."

"How much is a lot? Now I'm definitely interested in figuring out what's going on. So much has happened since that first meeting that I'm not sure I can keep it all straight."

"Well, this sounds impossible, but despite your time being faster, I'm the older one."

"What does that mean?"

"Everyone here is... Well, how should I put this, Ly?"

"The inhabitants age differently," the fairy explained.

"How so?" Talwyn inquired.

"When I first found Ratchet and Clank, it took me a moment to recognize Ratchet because he looked a little older," Rayman said.

"That's true," I pointed out. "It was around four or five years ago when we met. Yet, you don't look like you've changed at all."

"Don't let it fool you. I'm actually a few centuries old, just like everyone else." If this forest wasn't so noisy, I swear one could hear a pin drop.

"Say that again?"

"Okay, to be precise, I'm at least 400 or so."

"What?!" Four-hundred?! This guy looked no older than 17!

"How is that possible?" Clank asked, just as stunned as I was. "Are the people affected by some slow-aging effect on this planet?"

"Nah, we're all just made of dreams so we don't change that often," Murfy butted in.

"Fascinating. I would say that's a connection to the flow of time here. Either this is another dimension where time moves at a slower rate than ours or the time moves slower to adapt to the slow-aging process of the inhabitants that makes them change."

"Nerd!" Murfy honked. Rayman flicked a nut at him, sending him spinning. "Whoa!" He turned to Rayman angrily. "What was that for?"

"Don't be rude."

That's still one serious time difference between this world and where we're from, though," Tal commented.

"Yes, this truly is one mysterious world we ended up entering," Clank said.

"That reminds me," Rayman then started. "How exactly did you guys end up here in the Glade of Dreams to begin with?"

I responded with, "Let me see if I can explain it. Rayman, do you remember those shadowy monsters from the dream? Well, they were attacking our ship a little while ago. Clank and I used the power inside of a yellow jewel we found recently to take the monsters down, but somehow that jewel also opened up a portal. We ended up losing control of our ship shortly after, and we ended up crashing in the Glade." Am I missing any important details, guys?"

"You used that rock you found in an asteroid field?" Tal questioned.

Rayman on the hand came to a stop and turned with wide eyes.

"What did you say? Those black things attacked you on your ship?"

"Yes, they were everywhere. None of our weapons worked on them."

"And you mentioned a jewel, right? Would it happen to be a fist sized gem with a lot of power?"

"Y-yes. How did you know that?"

"I found one shortly after I met you." What did he say? "It was during a meteor shower seven months ago. All we know about it is hat it may be from the heavens since it's not of this world."

"Did you say a meteor shower?" Clank popped in. "What a coincidence. The meteor shower had caused the asteroid field where we found our gem. In fact..." Clank took something out and handed it to me. It was the jewel. "I was able to store it before the crash."

"That's it!" Rayman shouted. "Exactly like that, except mine is a different color!"

I could feel my jaw practically drop to the floor the moment Rayman revealed that.

"You're joking, right?" I asked, clearly shocked by this revelation.

"No, not even a little bit! The only difference is that the one I found is colored purple! And boy, was it handy when those weird black bug things came out of nowhere!"

After everything that's happened so far, I can honestly say I don't know what will happen next. But I feel like the jewels are important somehow.

"So they were here too?"

"The fairies' magic was useless against them," Murfy commented. "If it weren't for Rayman's quick thinking, the Glade would've been swarming with them."

"The same could be said for our situation, really," Tal commented. "When we encountered them, we literally couldn't make even a dent on any of them."

"The only reason why we managed to chase them away was because of the stone we had," I explained. "And after we used it, they just vanished as if they weren't even there to begin with."

"That's exactly what happened when we used the one I found!" Rayman exclaimed.

"Maybe the jewels are connected somehow? I'm still trying to put the pieces together on this puzzle, but so much has happened that it's been a challenge."

"You're telling us. So speaking of yours, where is it?"

"With the Teensies we're taking you to. If there's one species trustworthy with anything this powerful, it's them."

"Okay. Then, we can see what the heck is going on with everything that's been happening lately."

"Agreed." As we journeyed farther through the forest, a large structure came into view.

"Behold!" Murfy announced. "The Fairy Council!"

End Chapter