Just finished Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, and I had this story idea after Nefarious kidnapped Clank and replaced him. It's going to only be a few chapters, but I hope you all enjoy this bonding moment between our two favorite heroes.

Clank sat very still, low on energy but unwilling to recharge himself. It had only been yesterday that they had defeated Nefarious and his goons, but it felt like an eternity. Each second seemed to stretch on and on. Clank knew he should recharge himself, but when he had shut down to recharge after they had returned home, his memory circuits had immediately begun to process what had happened. Clank's systems had become so distressed during the calibrations that he had come back online with no memory of what had upset him so much. He had been gasping as he had jerked himself out of the connection port none too gently, sucking air into his vents to cool his heated systems as a vague jumble of memory files flashed in front of his optics, and he remembered vaguely wondering if this was the equivalent to Ratchet waking from a bad dream.

Unable to bring himself to plug back in, he had stayed up all night as Ratchet slept and then had gone about his daily routine as usual so that Ratchet would not notice that anything was amiss. It had worked, though Ratchet had looked at him strangely when he had politely refused the tuneup he usually asked for after strenuous adventures. Normally Clank would not mind at all for Ratchet to clean his internal mechanisms and make sure he was in top working condition. But he was strangely uncomfortable with the idea of Ratchet's hands inside of him this time. It made no sense—Ratchet was most kind and polite about his maintenance and always let Clank be in charge—but that was how he felt. It was an unusual feeling, and one that he did not care much for.

There was a knock on his door, and Clank took a moment to gather his energy reserves to stand up. He padded over and opened it to see Ratchet standing there.

"Good evening, Ratchet," Clank said. "I thought you would be in bed by now. Is something wrong?"

Ratchet's ears lowered a little and his tail swished back and forth in agitation. He hesitated then opened his mouth before he faltered again. "If something was bothering somebody you know but you don't know how to ask about it, what would you do?"

Clank tilted his head to think about this. "Is it somebody I know?"

Ratchet didn't say anything. Clank tapped one of his fingers against the door as his circuits slowly processed the information. "Well," he said. "I would give this individual the space they need until they approach you."

"That's it?" Ratchet asked, slumping.

"I do not see any other options that would end as well. Unless you believe this individual is in danger?"

Ratchet stared hard at Clank, scrutinizing him. Then he slowly shook his head. "No. I don't think they're in danger right now."

"Then I advise you to wait for them to come to you," Clank replied.

"Okay," Ratchet grumbled. He shuffled his feet and flexed his gloveless hands. He was anxious about whoever it was. Then Ratchet looked him in the face. "If you're ever ready to talk, come and find me, okay?"

Clank nodded, though he was puzzled. Why would Ratchet be saying that to him? Clank had been sure to follow his routine down to the letter to keep from arousing suspicion. Right?

After shutting the door, Clank continued puzzling over the implications of Ratchet's words. It was so hard to think though. His circuits were starting to skip. He needed to recharge. So reluctantly, step by slow step, Clank padded over to his recharge station. He gazed at it for the longest time before he settled into the charging port. No matter his reluctance, his systems surged at the rush of energy, and he was out before he knew it. His memory circuits activated to store the memories into his permanent memory bank, and Clank was unable to rouse himself again as the horrible scenes played out in sharp relief.

xoxoxoxoxox

He came online to find himself in a large room. Looking around, he began to mutter. "Where am I? Is someone there? I seem to—"

He was startled by a screechy voice crying out with delight. "Agent Clank, it is an honor to finally make your acquaintance. I have been following your exploits ever since your first mission when you defeated the mind-stealing snotbeasts from Dimension X!"

Clank tried to process what was going on. In front of him appeared to be Dr. Nefarious, though he was no longer made of flesh. He was now a tall blue robot with red accents, and Clank tried to make sense of his words. Courtney Gears stood beside himself, smirking at Clank.

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding," Clank said. "Secret Agent Clank is merely a fictional character I play on the HoloVid-…" He was suddenly cut off by a shriek.

"Lies! Squishy lie…!" Nefarious seemed to cut himself off as he froze and a voice came from him.

"Oh Lance. I can't. It's not right! You're my cousin's uncle's son!" a female said. It was some kind of broadcast. To his surprise, Courtney Gears slapped Nefarious upside the back of the head and he unfroze and resumed speaking.

"…ies! You are a hero to robots across the Galaxy! And yet you deny your own destiny! You choose to bow and scrape before the squishies! Where is your pride in who you are, Agent Clank?! "

Clank was disgusted and outraged by this pronouncement. "Organic life forms have as much right to inhabit this galaxy as we do," he argued. "I see no reason to exclude—"

Once again, he was interrupted by Nefarious as he got in his face. "Then I will give you a reason. Join me and together we will rule an entire galaxy of robots! Or refuse. Remain a traitor to your own kind and follow your beloved squishies into the black hole of oblivion!"

Clank stared at this insane robot before him who, despite having been a 'squishy' once upon a time, wanted to completely annihilate organic life. He did not respond either positively or negatively, and Nefarious strode to the door, Courtney Gears behind him.

"You will have some time to decide. It will be awhile before that idiot gets here."

The door snapped shut behind him, leaving Clank in a room with no escape, not even through the vents. He hopped down and scanned the room, scouring every corner before he went back to hop on the chair. There was nothing he could do but wait, so he sat down again and went into a light stasis to conserve energy.. He knew Ratchet would be there soon. He would not give up until he had found Clank again. As soon as he discovered Clank was missing, he would leap into action. That was simply the kind of person Ratchet was.

But Ratchet did not come. Hours later, another robot came in, and without a word, he picked up Clank and carried him through the halls to a ship. He was tossed unceremoniously into a tiny electrical cage and left alone. Once again, he scanned the area, but unlike most foes, Nefarious seemed to understand what Clank would need to get out. He had apparently seen all of the HoloVids that Clank had starred in, so of course he would be cautious. Not only that, he was a robot who could predict what another robot would do, and could do. So there was nothing to do but wait as he was taken to an unknown location.

Seven hours and ten minutes later, the robot once again appeared and deactivated the bars of energy. Clank tried to scamper between his legs, but the robot was bigger and faster with longer appendages, so he was captured again. Without speaking to him, the robot carried him off the ship. Clank knew what planet he was on at once. He and Ratchet had visited Kerwan during one of their tours after saving the galaxy. Metropolis was full of activity, but Clank's attention was on a holoscreen where he saw Ratchet landing across the way on Kerwan.

"It's already started!" Ratchet called, and Clank was puzzled by who his friend was talking to. "Dr. Nefarious must be around here somewhere." The Lombax suddenly turned toward the camera, his expression pinching with worry. "You sure everything's okay, Clank? Maybe Al should take a look at your circuitry."

Clank's systems seemed to freeze at that. How could Ratchet be speaking to him if he was captured with Nefarious. Then again, he thought suddenly, Ratchet would have been here a lot sooner if he had known Clank was missing. In that moment, Clank became afraid of Nefarious for the first time. This was not a HoloVid. This was real. And if he was not mistaken, Nefarious had done something far cleverer than any of their other enemies had.

"How do you like my special creation, Clank?" Nefarious asked gleefully, rubbing his hands together. "I call him Klunk! Your dopey friend seems to be quite fond of him!" He brightened. "Say, maybe they'll change your show to Secret Agent Klunk!" Then he laughed heartily. "Did you hear that, Lawrence?!" he crowed.

The robot that had been carrying him around spoke. "You put the wit in twit, sir."

Though Clank understood the slight, Nefarious did not. "Yes, I do, don't I?" he laughed then turned to Clank. "Today you will witness the dawning of a new era! For years I plotted in secret suffering endless disappointments. But soon it will all be worthwhile!"

"You will never succeed!" Clank said firmly. "Ratchet will put an end to your madness!"

That seemed to amuse Nefarious. "The only ending in Ratchet's future is the end of his life!" he crowed and laughed again before he added, "And you will have a front row seat."

Clank narrowed his optics at the crazed robot then anxiously watched through the optics of his evil twin as Ratchet began to make his way across the planet toward him. He was pleased by Ratchet's quickness and skill, and he knew soon everything would be okay. As far as his captivity had turned out, it wasn't so bad.

"It is time, Lawrence!" Nefarious announced awhile later, and Clank turned from watching his friend. "Time to unveil the true future of this galaxy! The future I have chosen!"

Lawrence did not seem too enthused as he yawned. "Sorry, did you say something, sir?"

"The activation device! Now!" Nefarious said, grasping Lawrence and lifting him off the floor as he shook him before tossing him down. Lawrence handed him a controller, and Nefarious snagged it. "Behold the final chapter of this galaxy's destiny! The age of robots!" he declared, and Clank watched with great concern as he held out the remote and pushed the button with a flourish.

A hologram of Nefarious appeared, dancing and singing. "You are my robot lover! Makin' my spark plugs go zap, zap, zap with your love!"

"Lawrence!" Nefarious shrieked.

"Oh dear, that was your audition for Galactic Idol, wasn't it? My mistake, sir. Dreadfully sorry," Lawrence replied, though Clank could tell he did not mean it. Lawrence held out another remote. "By all means, sir. Carry on."

Nefarious pushed the button and a machine appeared in front of Ratchet. Clank watched anxiously through the eyes of his twin as a Tyhrranoid was turned into a robot. Clank's mouth fell open as Ratchet suddenly looked very worried. Clank could stand it no longer.

"You are truly a miserable creature if you think spreading misery to every organic creature in the galaxy will erase your past humiliations from Captain Qwark."

Nefarious went very still then spoke to Lawrence. "We have a bit of time before that Lombax gets here. Get my kit, Lawrence. I want to show Agent Clank some hospitality."

Lawrence retrieved several vials and a blowtorch, which he handed to Nefarious. Nefarious turned to Clank with a wicked grin. "What say you, Agent Clank? Will you join me in subjugating the squishies?"

"Never," Clank replied.

"Very well," Nefarious replied. "Hold him for me, Lawrence."

Nefarious reached for him and opened his chassis up. His hand reached forward inside of him, and then he went completely still after a loud click from inside of him. He could not move. He could not move! And then Nefarious lit the blowtorch and reached down again…

xoxoxoxoxox

Clank's systems were so hot when he came online, and he tried to get away from Lawrence, who was holding him so tightly. He heaved himself out of the robot's limbs, and a tearing, screeching sound of metal warping reached his audios. He gave a scream and staggered forward. He could not speak, could not cry out for Ratchet, but he had to find him. Ratchet would protect him from Nefarious. He barely recognized anything, but his sensors picked up Ratchet's familiar vitals, so he staggered down a hall until he got to him.

Clank could not speak or think, but as soon as his optics registered that Ratchet was in front of him, he went to his knees, feeling low on energy and strangely weak. He needed to tell Ratchet of the danger, of what Nefarious had done, or was he doing it now? His memory chips were glitching so badly, that he couldn't tell what was going on. The last thing he knew was Ratchet's strong hands picking him up.

"Clank!" he called. "It's okay! I've got you!"

Then everything faded into binary code