CHAPTER 1
"Welcome back to 'Behind the Hero.' Tonight's heroes are the duo who, alongside their fellow Galactic Rangers, recently restored peace and order to our galaxy: Ratchet and Clank. So gentlemen, tell us about your latest incredible adventures."
Ratchet and Clank sat side-by-side in the faux leather recliner chairs Grim managed to dig up from one of the many storage closets in the back of the garage. Ratchet himself had swapped out his orange shirt and teal pants for a white T-shirt and green overalls, the latter of which were a bit too big for his body.
Clank more or less looked the same, although it seemed he'd forgotten to take off his metal bowtie before coming home from the Secret Agent Clank filming set. It was fine, though, it wasn't like he lost it and even if he did the director made sure they had a billion of the things in a box, at the ready, because more often than not they would actually get lost during a fight scene.
"We've been pretty busy," Ratchet answered. "Ever since we beat Nefarious— and Drek I guess, dunno what happened to him— we've been to a bunch of parades, press conferences, fancy dress balls…"
"Do not forget the wiener roast at Al's," Clank quickly cut in.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Ratchet sent a smile and a finger gun Clank's way before turning back to the camera. "Things have cooled down a bit lately though, and we're… we're still busy, but more in a domestic sense. We fix ships, we stay up till 5 in the morning playing those old Qwark Vid-Comics— you know, the daily stuff people normally do."
"Yesterday I flushed out my radiator core," Clank added.
Ratchet shrugged. "I guess no one needs a hero right now."
0oooooooooooooooooooo0
It was about three hours after the interview ended, when Ratchet and Clank were sitting together in their room in the midst of another Vid-Comic marathon, that it happened—
The two were engulfed in a bright flash of light, and with no one to hold it Clank's controller loudly clattered onto the floor. On the holo-vid screen the final boss of the level, Dr. Nefarious, could be seen slashing Qwark to death.
Grim seconds later reached the top of the stairs leading into the bedroom, holding a pizza box.
"I got us some pizza— I know you don't like pineapple, Ratchet, so I picked all the pieces off and put 'em on my half…"
He trailed off as he gazed into the room to find no one there, the holo-vid still on, unattended, and the final boss of the Vid-Comic just killing Qwark over and over again. It was then that Grim panicked. He turned and ran down the stairs, tossing the pizza box aside as he reached the bottom and he jogged as fast as he could to the communications console at the other end of the garage. He turned it on and opened a com-link to the Ranger HQ.
"This is Grimroth Razz from Planet Veldin! I need to speak to the Rangers right away! It's an emergency!"
0oooooooooooooooooooo0
As soon as the bright light dissipated, Ratchet shook his head to get rid of the sparkly spots dancing across his vision and equipped his Omni-Wrench. He motioned for Clank to get behind him and glanced around the room they were now in.
"What the…?"
It looked like… a gym? Or something akin to that, because there were a bunch of weights lying around and a bench-press table.
In the centre of the room, right in front of Ratchet and Clank, was a big metal circle with a glowing blue light in the middle. Suddenly from the blue light burst a hologram, causing the Lombax to yelp.
The hologram took the form of a tall, very heavy man in a suit with a mostly bald head aside from two big tufts of hair sticking out from either side and a mustache to match, glasses, and a set of antenna on the very top of his head.
"Welcome!" the man exclaimed, as the duo continued to stare at him in utter bewilderment. "I'm Abercrombie Fizzwidget! Founder of the Megacorp company in the Bogon galaxy!"
Ratchet look over at Clank, who looks back at him and shrugs.
"I'm sorry to incapacitate you, but our entire galaxy is in a very precocious situation," Fizzwidget continued. "I must humbly request your sustenance, on a mission of dire urgitude. A mission of superfluous peril! A mission of unequizzical imperitude!"
The two Galactic Rangers continued to stare at the CEO, growing more and more confused by his increasingly nonsensical rant.
"Did that make any sense?" Clank whispered to Ratchet.
"Not much," the Lombax answered, talking just as quietly. "But I think I might know what he was trying to say with that mess of a word salad."
He looked at Fizzwidget with a raised eyebrow.
"You want us to go on a dangerous mission in another galaxy, this uh, Bogon galaxy… right?"
"Indubitably!" Fizzwidget exclaimed.
An infobot floated up from behind the bench press table, opening its mouth. The screen was fuzzy but quickly cleared up as it revealed a picture of a small blue creature with two big paws, big eyes, a single antenna, and lots of fur.
"A few days ago," the CEO went on, "this top secret, biological experiment was stolen from our testing lavatory—"
The image flickered, changing to one of an armored masked figure in a cloak.
"— by this dupliferous criminal mastermind, and I need you to get the experiment back."
Ratchet rubbed his chin, thinking. This wasn't exactly something on the scale of what happened with the Deplanetizer and Dr. Nefarious. Still, he didn't know what exactly the thief was planning to do with this Experiment… but he didn't know what Megacorp was planning to do with it either.
It seemed Clank was on the same wave-length, as the little robot spoke up and said, "Mr. Fizzwidget, while we are honored that you are asking us to retrieve this Experiment for you, I have some concerns that I believe need to be addressed before we agree to anything."
Ratchet saw what might've been a flicker of annoyance on Fizzwidget's face, but it vanished as quickly as it came. It wasn't anything major to make note of, but it was a little weird.
"Go ahead," Fizzwidget prompted.
"What exactly is this Experiment for?" Clank asked. "While it appears to be harmless from the photograph you showed us, I am still concerned it may be a biological weapon of some kind."
Fizzwidget sighed.
"I can provide you some of the lesser top-secret files on the project," he said. "This Experiment is the latest in our attempts to create the perfect animal companion for anyone— children, adults… we're even looking into developing Emotional Support Animal versions for hospitals and retirement homes."
Ratchet hummed. That didn't sound too bad. Heck, Grim might even want one. If it didn't shed fur everywhere, anyway. Ratchet already did that enough himself.
"However, as I said, it is an Experiment," Fizzwidget continued. "There are still problems we need to fix— its unprovoked aggression and ability to multiply being one of them."
"And you're worried that that's why this thief stole the Experiment to begin with?" Ratchet asked.
Fizzwidget nodded solemnly.
"Whaddya think, pal?" Ratchet looked down at Clank and sent him a smile. "A new galaxy, a new adventure, new bad guy to stop… sounds like it could be a lotta fun."
Clank's eyes squinted and his jaw raised slightly, allowing him to smile back at the Lombax in his own way.
"It does sound rather exciting," he said. "If you are in, then so am I. Partner."
The two fist-bumped on it and turned to Fizzwidget.
"We're in," Ratchet told him.
Fizzwidget flashed a massive grin. "Qwarktastic!"
"Qwark-what?" The Lombax squinted at the CEO in confusion.
"Sorry, a bit of a fanboy, hehe," Fizzwidget hastily explained, almost looking sheepish. "I'm actually the head of the Comic-Con in my galaxy, and I always go dressed as Captain Qwark."
Ratchet didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, it was kind of cool to meet another fan of his idol, especially an older person at that. On the other hand, there was something just a bit off with the way Fizzwidget spoke just now.
Stop being paranoid, he told himself. Just because Qwark betrayed the Rangers didn't mean that Fizzwidget was leading him and Clank into some kind of trap. He needed to lighten up a little.
"Anyway," Ratchet began, "I just gotta call Grim to tell him what we're doing so he knows we're safe. Then we can, y'know, get underway."
0oooooooooooooooooooo0
Clank was rather grateful that Fizzwidget gave the two of them a bunk room to stay in, particularly one with its own communications console.
The thought of the CEO being there while he and Ratchet attempted to calm Grimroth and the Galactic Rangers down was not exactly a pleasant one. Once Grimroth and the Rangers were calm and knew they were safe, as well as what they were doing on Fizzwidget's ship, they understandably voiced their concerns.
"Why you two specifically?" Elaris asked. "He could've hired someone from his own galaxy. Even the Goons-4-Less might have done this job for the right price. But he asked you guys. That's just… a little strange to me. I don't like it."
"I mean, we did help stop Dr. Nefarious and destroy the Deplanetizer," Ratchet replied. "Maybe he figured we'd be more likely to succeed in getting the Experiment back."
"As of right now, Mr. Fizzwidget has not given us any reason to suspect him of anything nefarious," Clank added. Then he chuckled a bit upon realizing his wording. "Pun not intended. However… Elaris, if you are willing to do some digging on Mr. Fizzwidget, to see if there might be anything we should be concerned about—"
Elaris nodded.
"I'll get on it," she told them.
"You sure you won't need any backup?" Brax asked.
"I think we'll be fine," Ratchet assured him. "Compared to fighting a Nefarious the size of his ego, this is practically nothing."
"Don't do anything too reckless," Grimroth warned him. "You two are in a completely different galaxy all by yourselves. The last thing you need is to bite off more than you can chew."
"We'll be okay," the young Lombax told the old Fongoid gently. "Promise. Clank and I got each other's backs."
Grimroth closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Okay," he said.
After that, everyone said their goodbyes.
0oooooooooooooooooooo0
Ratchet and Clank sat side-by-side in the cockpit of their new Star Explorer as they soared just above the thin layer of clouds that hung high in Aranos' sky. The Lombax pressed a button on the ship's dashboard, opening up a comm-link with Fizzwidget.
"Ratchet reporting," he said. "We're on final approach to coordinates 3-7-Alpha!"
"Good luck!" the CEO told them cheerily. "I'm counting on you!"
"Affirmative. Beginning radio silence," Clank said, before ending the transmission with Mr. Fizzwidget. The screen went black and the speakers fell silent. Clank sat back and gazed through the windshield, watching the clouds pass by, and the massive airship ahead that appeared to grow in size as they approached.
It was only a change in perspective of course, which happened when you moved closer to or farther from an object.
And the closer they got to the airship, the more impressive and intimidating it looked. Clank looked over at Ratchet, and found that he was staring up at a hatch on the bottom of the ship near the thrusters. The hatch led into a small, all-glass room supported by thick metal frames, and appeared to be empty.
"Looks like that could be a way in," the Lombax observed. He pressed the single, blue button on his glove, activating his helmet's pre-installed O2 mask.
Mr. Fizzwidget had provided Ratchet with a Commando suit, free of charge, as well as two free weapons. While not nearly as durable as the Protosuit, the green-and-black suit and platinum helmet was a bit more inconspicuous, and still offered some protection.
After the ship's cruise control was activated, the windshield slowly lifted open. Ratchet stood up to work on getting the hatch open. Clank stood up as well and leapt onto the Lombax's back, securing himself firmly to the harness.
0oooooooooooooooooooo0
The hatch swung open, allowing Ratchet to climb inside. The O2 mask vanished from his face as he walked further in and the hatch closed behind him. No alarms blared to announce their intrusion, but that didn't mean they weren't detected. For all he and Clank knew, the ship could've picked up theirs as soon as they were within a one mile radius.
Ratchet walked onto a small, oddly shaped glass platform with a glowing green button on it. He figured it must be some kind of an elevator, so he stepped onto the button. It made a sharp sound that he could only describe as a doorbell kind of noise, and the elevator platform began to rise into the shaft above.
First the surrounding shaft was all metal, but it quickly turned into glass, through which Ratchet and Clank could both see pipes and gears, kind of like those retro controllers where you could see all the parts inside. It then turned back into metal and then moments later it reached the very top, where it stopped. Ahead lay a hallway with a glass floor and active hydraulic pumps on either side. On the other end of the room, a ladder could be seen leading up to another room.
Hanging from the ceiling above, like sleeping bats, were two blue robots that Ratchet recognized from the training he got from Fizzwidget's accelerated Commando course on the way to Bogon:
Megacorp Security Robot I – Chainsaw Model, or as some apparently called them unofficially, Sharpie MSRs.
As Ratchet slowly walked in, cautiously equipping his new Megacorp Lancer, both robots suddenly dropped down. However, they were both destroyed in moments by the Lombax's pistol.
Once he was confident they were destroyed, and after he smashed open the bolt crates just lying around using his Omni-Wrench, the Lombax climbed up the ladder into the next room. This one was empty, save for some more bolt crates and an ammo crate.
After then vandalizing these crates as well and liberating them of their contents, Ratchet entered the hallway to the left. The floor and walls were made of glass, and there were gear like structures lining the outside of the walls that spun slowly.
Just like the room before, there were two Sharpie MSRs, plus one flamethrower type known as a Pyro MSR. And just like before, they all fell within seconds to his Lancer. As Ratchet continued to plow through the all the security bots, including some black and red floating balls with mini-saws inside of them called PX6 BladeBalls, he began to feel like this was a bit too easy.
When the bridge leading to the next part of the ship was all clear, the only sound being that of the wind whipping past the Lombax's ears, it was then he voiced these thoughts.
"I don't know if it's just because of what we went through with the Blarg and Nefarious, but… all of this seems a bit too easy," he said.
"We are chasing after a thief," Clank pointed out gently, "not an evil mastermind on the level that Dr. Nefarious or the Blarg were."
"I guess," Ratchet said with a shrug.
He entered the next section of the ship, a dark room with a single elevator being guarded by a Sharpie MSR that was sleeping on the job. The Lombax equipped his Omni-Wrench and quickly cleaved through the MSR before it even got a chance to activate, the remains tumbling down into the abyss below.
Ratchet stepped onto the button in the centre of the elevator, activating it. It took him up about ten to fifteen feet before stopping at a small bridge that led to a small group of already active Sharpie MSRs. A set of doors could be seen behind them.
The Lombax switched from his Omni-Wrench to his Gravity Bomb, took aim, and pulled the trigger. A yellow sphere erupted from its massive barrel, soared through the air for a couple of feet, and hit the floor next to the MSRs, instantly obliterating them in a single shot.
The Lombax ran past the sparking bodies and through the now open doors into the next room. It was a wide chamber with a weird looking metal wall at the other end that didn't quite look like it belonged there. In front of this wall sat a grey and orange pedestal, and on this pedestal was a cage containing none other than the Experiment.
Ratchet grinned. There it was!
He looked around cautiously and didn't spot any MSR robots nearby. So, the Lombax then began to inch towards the cage, meeting the Experiment's gaze. Its eyes were curious, and it watched his every move as he got closer.
"Hey, little guy," Ratchet said, sending it a small smile. "Just hang in there. We're gonna getcha outta here."
It was then that the wall before him suddenly separated into two moving parts that receded into slots on either side of the room, revealing their true nature as two heavy metal doors. Behind the doors that were only there a second ago stood the thief themself, plus two MSR robots, one a Sharpie, the other a Pyro.
Ratchet didn't dare try to equip one of his weapons as the thief was aiming a gun at his head. He was quick on his feet, sure, but with this close of a range, he wasn't sure he'd be able to dodge fast enough.
"I see it's time to update my security forces," the thief growled out.
"Ha, uh, no, I'm just here to fix the transflux… or… coil…"
Ratchet trailed off unconvincingly.
The thief snorted.
"Nice try," they said. "Give my regards to Megacorp."
They picked up the cage that held the Experiment, earning a vicious snarl from the creature inside, and made their way to the hatch to the right of the room, still keeping their gun trained on Ratchet.
"Finish him," the thief told the MSR robots, before turning and—
SMACK! They wacked their head against the edge of the hatch door.
"OW!"
The MSR robots, watching this, began to laugh. And with them and the thief now distracted, Ratchet took this as his opportunity to pounce. He equipped his Lancer and shot both robots repeatedly, then rushed towards the thief, switching over to his Omni-Wrench with the intent of grabbing them by the back of their cape and giving them a good enough concussion with his wrench that he'd knock them out.
Unfortunately, the thief by now was no longer dazed from hitting their head on the hatch and swung their leg up to kick Ratchet in the ribs.
"Oof!"
Stunned, the Lombax fell back onto his butt, the wind literally knocked out of him from the blow. But he was up in a second again and he rushed towards the thief once more.
However, by now they'd leapt into the shaft beyond the hatch and the door itself slammed shut before Ratchet could reach it himself.
"Oh, come on!"
Ratchet grasped the wheel-like handle on the hatch and tried to turn it, but it was firmly stuck, refusing to budge no matter how hard he pushed.
"Incoming!" Clank called sharply.
The Lombax spun away, narrowly dodging a BladeBall as its mouth opened and proceeded to cut into the hatch door. It immediately stopped and tried to chase after the Lombax as he backed away and then brought his Omni-Wrench down on it. He swung the weapon again and again until he was certain the BladeBall was finished.
"Thanks pal," Ratchet said.
"All in a day's work," Clank replied, chuckling. His tone quickly turned serious again however as he continued, "There may still be a chance we can catch up to the thief. Are there any other exits in this room besides the one they escaped through?"
"Well, there's one more hatch over this way," Ratchet answered as he approached the hatch in question, which was on the left side of the room towards the end. He gripped the wheel-like mechanism and pushed hard. Slowly, the handle gave, and turned.
The Lombax quickly stepped back, allowing the hatch to lift open. Through it he could see a wide, cylindrical shaft that he could easily slide down.
"I think we just found our exit," Ratchet declared with a smug grin, dusting off his hands.