Clank: Batalia
As the trio headed into a ship hangar through a door in the magma chamber, Clank spotted an infobot. "I wonder what this infobot is for?" he asked curiously.
Ratchet ignored him. Carrying Twilight - who had cried herself to sleep - he walked right up to the ship in the hangar. Popping the cockpit open, he tucked Twilight in in the back seat.
Unsure where Ratchet's mind was, Clank reviewed the footage on the infobot. Having watched it, he approached Ratchet. "Ratchet, the Planet Batalia is under attack by Drek's forces. A commando is calling for assistance!"
"Not my problem," Ratchet said simply, closing the cockpit and hopping back down to the floor, crossing his arms.
Clank stared up at Ratchet. "What do you plan to do? Ignore the fate of the galaxy?"
"Qwark made it pretty clear what happens to people who try to be heroes," Ratchet said bluntly. "You think I want to turn out like that? The galaxy can take care of itself." He leaned back against the ship, glaring down at the little robot.
"What will you do then?" Clank asked angrily. "Pursue Qwark for vengeance?"
"He made his own bed!" Ratchet snapped. "It's punishment enough that he has to sleep in it. The only place I'm going is back to Veldin, so I can help Twilight through this."
Clank's eyes widened in shock. "You realize if you abandon the quest, than Qwark and Drek have won," he pointed out, trying to goad Ratchet.
"Let them!" Ratchet growled. "You know what I've done for the past six years? I've dedicated myself to taking care of Twilight, trying to give her the childhood I didn't get. I tried to fill her world with the childish wonder I had to leave behind just to survive. I failed to give her faith in Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or even in the Tooth Fairy...but reading her the stories of Captain Qwark helped her believe in heroes. She genuinely believed that there were good people out in the galaxy who dedicated themselves to the good of others, whatever the personal cost. She believed." He slammed his fist against the ship. "And now she's lost that, too! Now she knows, there's no such thing as heroes. And the worst part of all this is I have no one to blame but myself."
"How do you mean?" Clank asked in surprise. "Is it not Qwark who-"
"I've known for years that Qwark couldn't be all he was cracked up to be," Ratchet interrupted. "But he was cool, and Twilight idol worshiped what he stood for...so I didn't say anything. I laid the groundwork for this, so I can't blame Qwark for being human instead of an ideal. I knew that was all he really was from day one." He glared down at Clank. "I really want to blame you. I want to so much. But Twilight was eager enough to meet Qwark and fight alongside him even without your urging. And I knew something was up with him wanting us to step into the 'Ring of Heroes', but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to discourage Twilight." He sighed. "I can only blame myself.
"So I'm going to take her back to Veldin, take her home, and help her get over this. And you're going to help by activating the ship, even if I have to hold you down while Twilight excises your robotic ignition system!"
Clank took a step back at Ratchet's vehemence, but then stood his ground. "You will not do that," Clank said simply.
"You willing to bet your circuitry on Twilight not taking you apart?" Ratchet asked, quirking an eyebrow up quizzically.
"No, if you told Twilight to do so, in her current mental state I imagine she would do so without hesitation," Clank explained. "I will, however, bet my functionality that you won't tell her to do so to someone she knows as a friend."
"Oh?" Ratchet asked. "And what makes you so sure?"
"Because you are too good a person to do so."
Ratchet actually laughed, though it was cynical laughter. "And where do you get off claiming I'm such a good person, anyway?"
"Because the only reason Twilight would believe so strongly in good people who chose to be heroes would be because she had known one for most of her life," Clank said simply. "Qwark's betrayal hurts her so much because she knows, from you, that he could have been better than that. Because she knows you are better than him."
Ratchet stared at the eloquent robot, his arms unfolding as he listened.
"You say Qwark's actions have made her come to the conclusion that there are no heroes?" Clank asked. "Show her she is wrong. Be the hero she needs to believe in. Save the worlds Drek seeks to destroy. Stop Drek. Stop Qwark. Bring them not vengeance, but justice."
Ratchet slumped back against the ship, Clank's words running through his head. "And why," he asked finally, "would you think I'd bring Twilight along for when we would surely confront Qwark again? What good would that bring her?"
"Closure."
Ratchet stared down at the little robot for a time. Finally, he sighed. "Clank, right now I really don't like you."
"Understandable," Clank replied. "I do not find myself all that appealing just now for my part in Twilight's disillusionment, either."
Ratchet pushed himself to his feet and hopped up to the ship. "Set a course for Batalia, Clank."
Hovering into the cockpit, Clank began programming the course. "Course set."
"Let's go," Ratchet said calmly, taking the controls.
As the ship started entering the atmospheric envelope, Twilight awoke. "Where are we?" she asked groggily.
"Batalia," Clank replied. "Drek's forces are attacking, so we're here to lend a hand to a commando who sent a distress beacon."
"R-really?" Twilight asked in surprise. "W-we're still trying to save the day?"
"The day still needs saving," Ratchet replied as he triggered the landing gear.
Slowly, a smile spread its way across Twilight's face, and she rubbed away her tears. "...new ship?" she asked, struggling to control her emotions.
"Yeah!" Ratchet replied eagerly, hoping to distract Twilight from her inner turmoil. "Found it in a hangar back on Umbris. Pretty sweet ride, huh?"
"Yeah," Twilight agreed. "Certainly more comfortable than the last one."
Landing, the trio leapt out of the cockpit. A commando immediately began lecturing them. "At attention you deserting maggots-"
His rant was cut off as Twilight sealed his mouth with her magic. "We aren't your troops," she said coldly. "We're combat trained civilians responding to your distress beacon."
"So you can treat us with proper respect," Ratchet added, "or we can turn around and leave you to the bombardment."
As Twilight released her magical grip, the commando swallowed and nodded. "Right then," he said, regaining his bearing. "There's a turret in that fortress over there, and it needs to be repaired and used to shoot those bombers out of the sky before they reduce the planet to rubble! I'll be at the city entrance to give you further instructions!" With that, the commando left.
"Is that our only mission here?" Clank asked curiously.
Twilight checked her map. "According to the uplink, there's also one of his soldiers in some trouble along the grind rails just outside the city," she read off. "How about you two go handle them while I see about that turret?"
Ratchet blinked. "You sure you want us to split up?"
"I just woke up from a nap," Twilight pointed out. "Clinging to your back as you ride around on the rails, struggling to stay awake enough to not lose my grip and fall, does not sound like a good time. Besides...just now, I really want to blow some stuff up. It'll be cathartic, you know?"
"You sure you'll be okay by yourself?" Ratchet asked in concern.
"I'll be okay," Twilight replied. "Besides...I've got a lot to think about...or not think about, as the case may be."
Sighing, Ratchet nodded. "Alright. Just...be careful, okay? And meet back at the ship in no more than an hour."
"I will. And you too, Daddy," Twilight replied. They embraced before going their separate ways.
As Twilight made her way through the wrecked city, only half her mind was on the obstacles and enemies she faced. Since she'd managed to tweak her RYNO to have a much larger ammo capacity - it now had 200 rocket volleys in stock that she could replenish at any Gadgetron kiosk, and her employee discount (boosted by having been on the original design team for the weapon) reduced the price to manageable levels - she decided to test the weapon out. Braced on her shoulders, she was able to fire without even halting her steady walk towards the fortress. Nothing stayed standing for long under that deadly volley.
Twilight had intended to think her way through her emotions regarding Qwark's betrayal, but every time she tried to push her thoughts in that direction, they skittered away to random ideas. She would start coming up with some new spell, or go over a design for a new weapon or gadget, or grumble about how little depth Flight of the Pegasus had gone into the actual internal mechanics of Pegasus wings. She really wished she could fly, instead of just gliding, but every time she tried flapping her wings, she wound up crashing to the ground. She could never figure out what she was doing wrong.
Before she'd even realized it, she had made it to the fortress. She barely registered the commando muttering complaints about the out of reach bolt crank. He then noticed her.
"Alright, little lady! I need you to get into that compound and-"
Before he could finish, she levitated her Omniwrench over to the bolt crank and spun it open, extending the bridge.
"...right!" the commando said, obviously a little nonplussed. "Now get to that turret! And while you're at it, take this!" He handed her an infobot.
Twilight briefly watched the infobot with details on planet Orxon, the Blargian home world, before continuing into the fortress, obliterating all that got in her way with RYNO volleys. Getting behind the fortress, she spied the turret and headed towards it. Before she got there, though, she was starlted by a soft hand behind her ear and nearly fired her RYNO.
"Whoa, easy there Princess!" the Plumber cautioned with good humor. "Ease up on the trigger. You just looked like you could use a comforting scritchie scritchie."
Twilight smiled. "Mr. Plumber!" she said happily, relaxing into the ear scratch. "Good to see you're okay. What are you doing here?"
"Fixing the turret," he replied. "What about you?"
"Gonna use the turret to blow up the bombers."
He chuckled. "Good on ya. Better hurry while there's still some planet to save."
Nodding, Twilight hopped into the turret. At first it was mostly mechanical, just controlling the turret and taking out the bombers. However, as she continued taking out the ships, a slow grin began to spread over her face. Her magic began feeding into the turret through the controls, amplifying the destructive power of the shots. She surprised herself by laughing as she saw the last bomber explode, spinning down in a massive fireball towards the surface. She swung the turret around, seeking more targets.
"Whoa there!" the Plumber said, plucking her from the turret seat. "Reign it in there, Princess. What's gotten into you?"
Twilight blinked, her smile fading as she turned towards the turret in confusion. "I..."
He turned her face towards him and stared into her eyes. "Oh...it's not what got in...it's what got out." Sighing, he cradled her gently in a warm embrace. "Don't worry, princess...things'll get better eventually. Trust me."
She wasn't sure why, but Twilight felt completely safe in his embrace, and found herself happy to believe his words. "...promise?"
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," he replied, doing the motions one armed while the other held her. "Here," he added, stuffing a Metal Detector into her saddlebags. "A new toy to play with to take your mind off all this."
Squealing happily, Twilight immediately began tinkering with the Metal Detector. "Hidden caches of bolts? How limiting! I can make it work better than that..."
"Don't be late to get back to the ship," he pointed out to her.
"Right!" Twilight remembered. "I'm almost out of time!" She smiled up at him. "Thank you! See you later!" With that, she teleported back to the ship.
He waved to the ship, watching as it took off with its three passengers. "You will, Princess. Good luck."
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Noticed a small error.
Is the second Clank supposed to be a Ratchet?
Oooo!!! A Ratchet & Clank crossover!!!! One of my favorite game franchises!
5712022 I noticed that too. And given the surrounding lines, I'd say you're right. Which means I was right when I noticed it as well.
So we're both right in that the author derped alittle. But it's fine when he's/she's pumping out chapters this fast. Right?
Edit: The setup for that might have gotten away from me alittle.
"Qwark made it pretty clear what happens to people who try to be heroes," Clank said bluntly
I think that line is supposed to be Ratchet's
I can't help but D'aww at her little interaction with the Plumber.
Especially when he offer to give her scritchies.
Reaction to description
"Lets see, Solana Galaxy? Where have I heard that before? Nothing important, exciting . . . Ratchet a Lomba- RATCHET AND FUCKING CLANK CROSSOVER!"
You called Qwark 'Qward', but apart from that, awesome chapter! Loving all these updates
So, is the Pinkie Promise universal now?
5712771 It's not that so much as the Plumber being more or less omniscient. He KNOWS things...
5712779 Maybe he went to Equestria at one point?
5712785 Could be. Plumbers are needed everywhere.
5712786 Plumbers remind me of Mario and Ben 10.
5712789 Was thinking the same thing.
THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!
5712901
Never said she wouldn't get an O2 mask. Just said she probably wouldn't be swimming.
Feels a plenty in this chapter
At least the Plumber was there to ease Twi's pain 
5716245 Gwen Tennyson also used the magic steps. Hers were even a pinkish color and she usually only made a few at a time or a platform. Even used the platforms as shields from enemy attacks.
"I can only blame myself.
1. Just forgot your closing quotation mark.
5716600
Actually, I based it off Raven from Teen Titans.
5716788
Actually, I didn't. If you break paragraphs without ending someone's speech, you leave off the end quote but add an open quote to the next paragraph, to show it's the same person still speaking.
5717253 really? Huh weird I don't think I've ever seen raven do anything like this (minus a circular platform or two for the others)
5717293
She doesn't do it in combat. She uses it once to maneuver around inside buildings when not in combat. Although she uses up to six stairs at a time.
5717487
Still Ratchet wins. Not only does he have a ton of defensive weapons to pick from - some of which are also effective offensive weapons - any RYNO form the first three games - except the RYNOCERATOR from Up Your Arsenal - has lock on capability for a ton of projectiles, and can fire numerous volleys which move too fast too dodge.
And lets not forget all the weapons Ratchet has that summon helpers. Those stack the odds heavily in his favor. Not to mention he almost doesn't need Clank for maneuverability if he has those air boots - or whatever they're called - that he gets in Crack in Time.
5717624
Both his dark and light powers use up his energy, which once expended would not be recovered-
You know what? Rather than discuss this further, I would suggest this be submitted to ScrewAttack as an idea for a Death Battle.
5717750
Actually, Ratchet has one weapon that Jak would be helpless against, and would be super effective.
The Sheepinator.
It transforms targets into sheep, the amount of continuous energy required based solely on the size of the target. Ratchet gets in close, locks them in melee, and fires at point blank, keeping him from breaking free.
Jak is now a sheep.
5717817
Then there's one weapon/gadget that will give Ratchet a definite advantage.
The Groovitron. It forces all enemies - including boss enemies - to dance uncontrollably until the song ends. Follow that up with several RYNO volleys, and Jak is down for the count. Not to mention Jak has a much lower maximum health than Ratchet by any measure.
Edit: Alternatively, follow Groovitron up with his latest gen sniper rifle, which can target vulnerable points for massive damage.
5717857
That assumes Jak activates Dark Jak before the Groovitron is thrown. Ratchet could easily just use shields to deflect most impacts and damage until Jak runs out of Dark and Light Eco, then activate the Groovitron.
5717955
Thing is, Jak only has one activation of Dark Jak. Ratchet can carry up to three Groovitrons. Once he's got Jak dancing, he can pull out the gun, wait for the eco shield to drop when it runs out of power, and take the kill shot.
The major advantage Ratchet has isn't weapons or abilities. It's experience and training. He has more games under his belt, has fought more massive foes (both larger and a greater number of them), and has methods of achieving comparative durability and maneuverability.
Also, Ratchet, being a Lombax, is genetically predisposed to have greater combat reflexes and abilities, since he comes from felines instead of apes...or whatever Jak evolved from. (Or was his race designed by the Precursors?)
5717258 Huh, the more you know.
5718045
5717976 I think that the chances of them getting into a fight are slim, because as soon as the "evil dude of the week" shows up to take advantage of their "arguing", they'd both gang up on the (poor) dude, and blast him to beyond the outer reaches. And then afterwards, wonder just what it was that they were "arguing" about...
This weird tangent was brought to you today by: that one easter egg in Ratchet: Deadlocked, two-player-mode.
*With that, she teleported back to the ship.* When did she learn to teleport?* First time you mention it.
5726032
First time she's had a use for it.
Very nice chapter, and the discussion between Ratchet and Clank felt very meaningful and I loved it.
But...
Qwark's not human, he's just a humanoid.
But other than that, it was great.
God...I love Twilight, she's just so damn cute!
Was this shown else where in the story? Cause right now, it is game breaking. Not the Twilight isn't already with the levels of OP-ness she is at.
5865207
Oh pssh who cares about gamebreaking? The conflict of the story isn't necessarily the conflict of the games. If anything it seems to be more about the development of the characters thus far, with the circumstances as a catalyst.
Heehee, I knew that "Then be her hero" part was coming, doesn't make it any less satisfying though. X3
And naturally mister plumberman plays the role of Pinkie. Always love that about him in the games.
200 rounds?
energy projectiles?
did twilight just turn the ryno into the ryno II?
5940794
or the "ryno" from deadlocked
Ever since that plumber guy showed up in Clanks mind I've had a suspicion that he's like Clanks father. A partial deity of some kind. That thought always sounded so much better than the "Oh, and here's a convenient gadget" line. I like the idea of him being something like Ratchet's guardian angel, there to provide advice and help in small ways. what's better is that he seems to be Twilight angel now. this is getting good!
i have the feeling the plumber builded the super computer that knows vrything that we see in one of th games but why does the plumber know everything
5950777 THERE'S A R.Y.N.O. IN DEADLOCKED!!!
6854678 Its up to six or seven in Nexus
I have not played R&C. When I read this, I thought Afgan. when I saw a video it was a war-torn happy place with blimps and dark clouds.
5712169
What kind of a person doesn't instantly recognise the Solana Galaxy? If you've played the games, you simply must remember all the things for all eternity!
...
Unless you can't afford anything past PS2 and/or your older brother already owned an Xbox 360 so your parents wouldn't buy a PS3
you mean no more, don't you?
Wait. When did she learn to teleport such a distance, or at all?
I only just now realized the double meaning to that particular term of endearment... on at least my third read-through.
Wait, she can teleport now ?
Wait, she can teleport now ?