//------------------------------//
// Rift Apart: Nefarious City 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Ratchet groaned as he opened his eyes and found that he was in what appeared to be a small scrap area of a city, the very same that they had flown through with their lizard mounts, before hearing another groan as he spotted Starswirl off to his right, but as both of them picked themselves up he found a wanted poster nearby.

"No way... we found Rivet's dimension!" Ratchet remarked, forcing himself to stand once he noticed the familiar picture that was on the surface of the poster, an image of his sister, no doubt a rebel or hero that someone wanted to take out, which meant that Nefarious, in some way, helped fulfill part of his quest, "Clank! Autumn!"

"Are not with us." Starswirl stated, as he had looked around for their sister and their friend after realizing that he was okay, that nothing was wrong with him after the dimensional explosion that occurred not a few moments ago, though he felt that Autumn and Clank were okay, given how he and Ratchet had landed, "We had best start looking for Nefarious, since there's no telling what he might do now that he's in a new dimension... especially if this is the one he's been looking for."

Ratchet nodded and found that there was a single path forward, up some steps and around a corner, leading them to an area that they had flown through with their mounts not that long ago, though as they did that some of the robotic citizens talked about an 'Emperor'. While one could easily assume that they might be talking about Nefarious, due to the doctor wanting to find a dimension where he was 'always the winner', but given that they had no idea who or what might be in the other versions of reality there was a chance that it was someone else. Just to see if they knew anything Ratchet asked a pair of robots if they had seen Clank, describing him in detail, though they had seen no one like that, causing him to thank them for their time before continuing after Starswirl as they found a short tunnel to move through. Other robots talked about all of their hardships or were gathering scrap from a few piles they passed by, so they were focused on what they were doing and didn't notice the pair as they used an elevator to reach a sealed path with a Boltcrank, which was turned a few seconds later.

It allowed them to see a large bazaar that seemed to be the heart of the city, with a large statue of someone who looked a lot like Nefarious, filled with robots going about their day as they were required to thank Emperor Nefarious whenever they purchased items, as in before, during, and after the transaction.

"Oh this can't be good." Ratchet commented, because if their Nefarious realized how this dimension's version of him ruled with an iron fist it would likely spur him into trying to either replace him or wait until he encountered his counterpart, no doubt to make a deal of some kind.

Starswirl nodded his head before noticing that they had to glide down to the bazaar, in fact the lift was dead, which was what they did and he was thankful that Autumn had outfitted their boots with every boot gadget she had access to, but as they landed a familiar face, Ms. Zurkon, noticed them. She seemed to think they, or more accurately Ratchet, was one of her customers and ushered them to her shop in the center of the bazaar, though Ratchet knew that she was thinking he was Rivet, especially since she talked about a 'resistance' and how it wouldn't last if he wasn't careful. He was glad to hear that his sister was fighting the good fight in this dimension, especially given the start of what he and Starswirl had seen so far, though, to speed things along since there was no telling how long they'd be here, they simply went along with it. While Ms. Zurkon talked they noticed that she spoke differently than the one in their dimension, though while they listened to her something interesting happened, there was a commotion where some of the guards, white floating saucers that had a head piece like Nefarious, were chasing someone.

What he discovered was a scene he wasn't expecting to see, Autumn running by them with none other than Rivet leading the way, bringing her and Clank, who happened to be on his twin sister's back, to a raised area as an odd ship landed for them, as she let Autumn take the passenger seat before tossing Clank to her, climbing inside, and taking off, all while Rivet ignored Ratchet's cry of 'sis'.

"Is there any way off the planet?" Starswirl asked, as this Ms. Zurkon had a well of knowledge for them to gleam all sorts of information from, especially since they had no idea what was going on with this dimension, though Ratchet joined him not a few moments later, as while he missed his chance to speak to Rivet he at least knew she was okay, including the fact that her missing right arm had been replaced at last.

"Is this a test? Only royal starships are allowed to leave, anything else is..." Ms. Zurkon started to say, though in that very moment another ship tried to leave the planet and was gunned down by one of the large metallic centipedes they spotted during Nefarious' acquisition of the Dimensionator, causing her to pause for a moment, "Well... maybe the Phantom, one of our members, can help you! Just follow the beat to Club Nefarious and you will find him."

"Club Nefarious, got it. Oh, and great work secret agent Zurkon." Ratchet replied, letting her know that he was pleased to obtain the information she had given him and felt that she had done well in doing her spy work, causing her to spin for a moment in excitement, allowing him and Starswirl to focus on their current objectives.

The reasoning for that was because their new ally had something else to tell them, there was a Resistance Spybot over in a factory that rested behind them, they just had to use another path to get up to a maintenance hatch, and while there was a chance it wasn't critical to their mission it might help them learn about the ongoing threat. Ratchet, while wanting to go find Phantom so they could get to the royal starship, admitted that claiming the spybot might be worthwhile in the end, as they usually found RYNO fragments in the oddest places, because everyone had been keeping the celebration from him and he was sure that Autumn might have spread the RYNO VIII plans out before it happened. In the end he decided to see what might be up there, though before doing so he found that they were able to buy weapons, as if this dimension and their home were linked in some manner, allowing him to purchase a set of Mr. Fungi, a fungus version of Mr. Zurkon that distracted enemies, and the Negatron Collider, a beam weapon of incredible power. With those weapons in hand, and he made sure they restocked all of their ammunition, Ratchet and Starswirl climbed up a nearby magnetic strip to reach the level above the bazaar, with some stairs that lead to what appeared to be a small train station.

In the next moment they discovered some Troopers, as Ratchet wasn't really in the mood to figure out a good name for the enemies they were facing, trying to find the Spybot so they could find it and destroy it, declaring that it posed a direct threat to the Emperor's rule. With their extended arsenal it didn't take the brothers too long to bring down the first group of foes, though Ratchet did collect some Raritanium that was resting nearby, before they traversed a gap that the train would have stopped in and found some walls to jump up. Fortunately there were multiple small rifts scattered around for them to use, as that was how they crossed the gap and then reached a Boltcrank that allowed them to open a side passage into the large building that Ms. Zurkon had pointed them towards for the Spybot. Some of the workers were surprised to see them in the first place, while one even complained about all the work he had to do, along with finding a missing Raritanium shipment, but none of the workers got up to help the Troopers, showing them that they didn't like the Troopers and wanted them all to suffer or something.

In fact one of the more loyal workers could be heard making a remark about having found the 'Rebel Lombax', meaning that most of this world had to be stupid since there was no way so many people could confuse him for Rivet, especially since the two had different colored fur and were different genders.

"I guess she really is your twin if everyone is confusing you for her." Starswirl remarked, though this was one of those times that he found to be amusing, Ratchet getting annoyed at people who thought he was Rivet, where his brother sighed for a moment as they finished exploring another part of the factory.

"Very funny... I just hope she, along with Autumn and Clank, are okay." Ratchet said, since there was no telling where Rivet might have gone with the others and meant that they would have to find another Resistance member to tell them what was going on, or at least where one could find their leader, since that was what Rivet seemed to be.

Starswirl knew that Ratchet was concerned about the others, though he wasn't too surprised to find that Rivet was the main source right now, as he knew Autumn would keep herself and Clank safe for a time, but he said nothing as they found their way to another area that trains could stop in. Sure enough more Troopers were waiting for them, searching for the Spybot that seemed to have moved through this area at some point in the last few minutes, causing him and Ratchet to open fire on them without delay, as they knew the robots were aggressive and figured firing on them first was the correct call. The more interesting point of these enemies was that some of the Troopers could actually separate their head containers when their body took a massive amount of damage, allowing them to stay safe as the bodies exploded, but it just made them an easier target for the brothers. Even with reinforcements joining the Troopers it wasn't long before Ratchet and Starswirl won, as all of their enemies were scattered on the ground, pieces laying everywhere, though they were impressed by the weapons that Autumn had made and were glad they could buy them all, as it made things a little easier.

With that done they claimed the Spybot, which was an Infobot they usually found in Polaris, before sliding down the pipe it was in front of, which returned them to the bazaar's upper area, so Ratchet restocked their ammunition before heading off to the path on their left. His reasoning was because there seemed to be three paths from Ms. Zurkon's position, the right one that they had just cleared out, the northern one that they couldn't access without another device, and the left, which seemed to be the one they needed to use to find Club Nefarious, due to the thumping music. Sure enough there were some robots waiting to get inside the building that housed their destination, one looking like he or she might have been here for several hours, but, oddly enough, the bouncer style robots let them in without cards or anything. It was weird, but neither of them wanted to argue with the results, even though they were a little weirded out by the large hologram of who had to be Emperor Nefarious watching everyone in the club, actually moving his eyes and arms as he surveyed his domain.

Ratchet kept quiet as they searched for the Phantom, as it seemed like he was on a mission right now, and Starswirl knew that he was banking on a Resistance member thinking he was Rivet, though as they entered the building they were actually followed by a pair of Troopers, who ignored them and fired on a large red robot, which was a hologuise for a figure that looked like a Rilgarian.

"So, the Phantom is Skidd's counterpart." Starswirl remarked, as they were discovering that nearly everyone in their home dimension had what Autumn would call a 'dimensional counterpart', save for Ratchet since they knew the history of his race, so it was easy to figure out that the Phantom had to be Skidd's.

All Ratchet did was nod his head as he opened fire on the Troopers, who were firing on the fleeing Phantom, though they knew he had some interesting gear on that helped him maneuver around the areas that he was sent to, which meant that he was faster than the Troopers were. Of course the Phantom wondered who they were, since he had been in the middle of a mission before either they blew his cover, by entering the club, or he was discovered by a device the Troopers had, though he did seem to know that Ratchet wasn't Rivet, even if he did think they were new members of his group. Neither of them bothered to correct him on that fact, even though Ratchet was thinking of joining his sister's cause once they fixed the damage that Nefarious had caused to the barrier between dimensions, so they didn't have to worry about the rest of reality being destroyed. One thing he and Starswirl agreed on was that Phantom might have switched from his mission to a test to be sure they could handle whatever the Resistance threw at them, in terms of assignments, before leading them to a courtyard for an apartment area, which had Troopers with metallic orbs as fists.

It was clear that the Phantom was testing them and using them to clear out the Troopers that were chasing him, though at the same time neither of them minded since it would allow him to understand that they were on his side, and it didn't take Ratchet and Starswirl long to break the small group of Troopers so they could approach their target.

"Nice work, new guys." the Phantom commented, speaking as the brothers approached him, as he was next to what had to be a security door that looked like there was a passage behind it, though he followed that up by grabbing onto their right hands and gave them something new, a new glove that actually merged with what Autumn had made, before taking a stance as he rushed forward and seemed to phase through the barrier, "Alright, try out your Phantom Dash, so named because the enemy can't catch what doesn't temporarily exist."

Ratchet and Starswirl smiled for a moment as they rushed forward and utilized the new feature, allowing them to do the same thing that the Phantom had done, causing him to beckon to them as he followed the path and brought the pair to an opening that lead deeper into the city's citizen living area. He helped the brothers learn how to utilize the new feature, as it allowed one to cross gaps and even latched them onto a wall, a metallic one that had arrows pointing in the direction it would send them in, which made them realize that Autumn was going to have a field day with the new technology, once she discovered it's existence. While they copied his movements, learning how to utilize the Phantom Dash for movement and imagining what they might do with it in combat, the Phantom nodded his head as they overcame the couple of tests he had for them, all while Starswirl noticed that they were moving through an alleyway right now. Despite everything else that was going on Ratchet had to ask about the royal starship, because that was the whole reason they had tracked him down in the first place and he wanted to make sure the Phantom could point them in the right direction.

All the Phantom told them was that they had to stay close, meaning he either didn't have the information they needed or he was pulling the pair around while thinking about what to do with them, something that eventually caused Ratchet to step in front of him and block the way.

"Can you help us get a royal starship or not? Because we were told that you could." Ratchet stated, because he didn't like being yanked around at all, especially since Rivet and the others were getting further and further away from from as they wasted time on this planet.

"Lombaxes... you, my friend, are just as stubborn as she is." the Phantom replied, as if that solved everything, though that just told them that stubbornness was common in Ratchet's entire family, as his parents were like that at times and now it looked like Rivet was the same way.

"Well, at least we know you have more in common with Rivet than we thought." Starswirl remarked, where they stopped for a time to use a lift to reach another section of the alleyway, complete with more instances to use their new toy to move closer to another area, though at this point he and Ratchet were lost.

"...how do you know that name?" the Phantom asked, showing them that Rivet likely only gave her name out to those who joined the Resistance or those she personally saved from danger, or maybe he was just on guard since they had, in some way, helped ruin his mission in the club.

"This is going to sound crazy, but I'm her twin brother, Ratchet." Ratchet answered, though before the Phantom could say anything he reached into the top of his shirt for a moment and carefully withdrew his necklace, something that caused the figure to stop for a few seconds as he stared at the item, "Our father, Kaden, gave these to us when we were younger, half to me and half to her, before we were separated by an attack on our home planet... I went to one location, Rivet went to another... that's part of the reason why we need the royal starship, so we can follow after her, especially since she's got Autumn and Clank with her."

The Phantom stood there for a moment before sighing as he pointed down the alleyway he had been leading them down, informing them that he wanted them to help take control of a nearby blimp, so he was asking for assistance and would be giving over what they wanted, before informing them that Rivet usually went to Sargasso after missions. With that in mind the brothers bid him farewell for now, as apparently he had tools he needed to get, before crossing over the roofs of the alleyway he had brought them to, blasting a few Troopers out of their way. While they did that they passed by a group of robots who had been waiting in line for thirteen hours, for what they had no idea, but instead of wasting time on them the pair continued to move across the rooftops as they neared the building the Phantom wanted them to access. Such a thing brought them to another area where Ms. Zurkon had set up shop, meaning she was following her ally and listening to his remarks on where they were going, and this time she allowed them to upgrade their weapons with Raritanium, which was a good thing since there was no telling what might be waiting for them.

As it turned out they used an elevator to reach the Nefarious Day Spa, though while they opened fire on the Troopers that were up there, causing the citizens to flee before anyone got hurt, the Phantom got to work hacking into the blimp so he could do whatever it was he was up to. Starswirl noted that it sounded like he was talking about some sort of code or that the people had to rise up against the Emperor, to be honest it was hard to tell what he was trying to say since they he and Ratchet were in the middle of combat. They were able to confirm that the Troopers were far more difficult to fight than a number of enemies they had faced in the past, which made sense considering that they had been designed to deal with all of the Resistance members they came across, meaning they did have to use a bit of nanotech every now and then. In the end they were able to overrun the rest of the spa, much to the annoyance of some of the fallen robots, before they went offline, and by the time they were sure that everyone had been taken care of the Phantom rejoined them, who was very impressed by their abilities.

Before he could actually say anything one of the flying centipedes fired a laser and blasted the blimp down, even though it would have been better to just hack into it once the Phantom was done with his message, but the brothers guessed that it was all part of the Phantom's plans.

"It seems like I touched a nerve... anyway, a deals a deal." the Phantom said, where he reached into one of his packs and withdrew a little device that displayed a little spider mech that looked like it was designed to hack into items, which was handed to Ratchet not a moment later, "That, my friends, is Glitch. She'll help you get into the Emperor's private shuttle, which will take you into Nefarious Tower, the only place in the city where you'll find a royal starship... of course, you'll have to access the access console, which is located in the huge statue of the Emperor in the center of the city. While you two go get your ship, I'm going to tear this wretched world down from the inside."

As Ratchet opened his mouth the Phantom jumped backwards, like he was making a bold escape, and was hauled off by a pair of Troopers that caught him, which seemed to be part of his plan, to which he and Starswirl sighed before using the nearby Boltcrank to lower a rail that would bring them back to the bazaar. With that done they raced down the rail, due to it being faster than what they expected it to be, and returned to where they started after seeing Rivet and Autumn go by, to which they faced the northern path and quickly restocked their ammunition. After that the brothers approached the last path and found that they moved up to prevent normal people from reaching the statue, though with their new device it was easy for them to cross the gap and reach the golden statue. Of course it was guarded by a massive robot, one that looked a lot like the one that attacked them from a dimensional rift back on Fastoon, when Tachyon was ripping rifts open with the Dimensionator, who declared that cutting in line was illegal and started to attack them.

The Juggernaut was far tougher than the other Troopers, as it had armor that was stronger than what they were used to fighting against, though as Ratchet and Starswirl fought it something interesting happened to them, a dimensional rift burst open and dragged them to another dimension. With how everything was breaking it was hard to tell if they were in Rivet's dimension or if they had been brought to another one entirely, even though they landed on a more peaceful planet that looked like a mesa or plateau, at least in the area they appeared in, and Ratchet noticed a few large devices off in the distance. He wasn't able to enjoy the scenery as another dimensional rift burst open and the Juggernaut jumped out of it, sounding happy that he had located them as he fired a beam of purple energy at them, forcing them to dodge with the new ability they had gained. As that happened Starswirl noticed the mutant crab creatures of the Blarg, which he and his siblings had faced during their first adventure, resting in the area and one snipped at the robot, though they were pulled into another rift and returned to Nefarious City, followed by their foe.

In the end they were able to best the Juggernaut and he blew apart with all the damage they had done, allowing them to catch their breath for a moment before Ratchet walked over to the console, only to find that Glitch seemed annoyed by being handed over to someone new. Starswirl noted that Glitch's face changed to show her emotions, meaning she was more than an ordinary program, like they might have thought at the beginning, before Ratchet told the little spider bot of the fact that they were in need of assistance and that she was the only one who could help. When she winked at him he turned her container towards the infected console, as it had some sort of purple vines around it, and Glitch went into it a few seconds later, where the brothers waited for a few moments, giving her the time she needed to hack the system and open the door for them. It took her a bit of time to deal with whatever was tampering with the console, a virus of sorts as far as the brothers could tell, but when she returned she did a little dance as Ratchet cheered her on and the mess cleared up, allowing them to enter the personal lift.

Ratchet and Starswirl braced themselves as it shot off towards Nefarious Tower, reaching the structure in no time at all, so the moment it came to a stop the brothers carefully rushed into the structure and started to look for the starship, which did bring them to what appeared to be the Emperor's main office.

"Death traps, warbots, five planet destroying cannons, and a surveillance state covering the entire city... now I really want to meet the Emperor." Nefarious remarked, indicating that there was more to the army of Troopers than they had seen so far, with the third item being something to tear down if they ever came back to this city in the future, given that wiping out planets was a bad thing.

Ratchet planned on leaving Nefarious alone, so they could steal the ship in peace, but when he zeroed in on a screen, one that had Rivet and the others on it, he moved into position and tapped the chair for a second, causing his foe to quickly turn around as Ratchet smacked him in the face with his wrench, though as Troopers were called in he joined Starswirl in the hanger, boarding a ship like the one Rivet used earlier.

"Why isn't it working?" Ratchet commented, as they needed to leave, like right now, but the ship refused to blast off or do anything he was imputing right now, which was when the console gave him a recording from a robot that like made these ships, asking for a password, something that happened to be on a red square near the controls, "'Why do I need a password I'm the Emperor how about I obliterate you instead hahahahaha.'"

That, against all odds, worked and he was able to fly out of Nefarious Tower, leaving Nefarious behind to do whatever he wanted as he and Starswirl focused on trying to meet up with Rivet, Autumn, and Clank, as they needed to figure out how to repair the barrier between dimensions before worrying about anything else.