Ratchet slowly came to, blinking his eyes as he struggled to focus. He could see a dome of some sort over his head, but his vision was too blurry to see what sort of dome it was. A somewhat familiar blurry metallic figure entered his field of vision.
"Ratchet?" Clank asked. "Are you alright?"
Recognizing Clank, Ratchet shook his head a bit, clearing his eyes enough to see his surroundings. "Where...are we?" he asked, just before his vision became clear enough to recognize the Court of Azimuth.
Clank smiled down at him as Talwyn, Zephyr, Cronk, Twilight, and Qwark crowded around him. Gesturing to everyone, Clank replied simply, "We are home."
Ratchet managed a soft smile as he was helped up. While not what he'd intended when he'd told the Dimensionator to find home...he had to admit it was true. With family and friends around him...he was home.
Once everyone was outside the Court of Azimuth, under a blue sky clear of any sort of battle, everyone began to relax. Qwark was hanging out with Rusty Pete, Ace Hardlight, and a few of the other pirates learning how to act the part better. He was having trouble getting the right attitude, accent, and dialogue though, much to Hardlight's amusement. Cronk and Zephyr were having fun 'reenacting' the fight between Ratchet and Tachyon, much to the amusement of the pirates who were watching and assisting in the reenactment. Talwyn was running around trying to keep everyone in line.
Ratchet, Clank, and Twilight were sitting off in one corner on their own, decompressing. Twilight was sitting in Ratchet's lap, enjoying having her head and neck caressed, letting out a soft whinny that was almost a purr. Clank was sitting in front of them, analyzing the Dimensionator.
After a time, Twilight spoke up. "Daddy...do you regret not going through that portal?" she asked. "It's...probably the only chance you'll get to be with Lombaxes again..."
Ratchet shrugged his shoulders. "Not really," Ratchet replied. "I...don't think I'd fit well with other Lombaxes, for the most part. I mean...what do I know about my own people's culture? Society? Heritage? Evolution? Heck, even how they govern themselves?" He shook his head. "I mean, I have this vision in my head of them as a shining example to the galaxy...but I've seen enough to know that can't be all they were. And...I'm not entirely sure I want to learn what the rest of it is. I've got Aphelion and...Angela to give me whatever information I really want, answer any questions I really want answered. But actually leaving all this behind to go to my own people?" He let out a dismissive laugh. "Even the Dimensionator knew I didn't really want that. When I told it to find home, it brought us...here. To our friends and family."
Twilight chuckled. "Yeah...I guess so."
"If anything, I regret that it's no longer usable," Ratchet sighed. At the worried glance Twilight shot him, he stroked her cheek. "I mean...it could have found your homeworld, Twilight. Could have...helped me keep my promise to you."
Tearing up a bit, Twilight nuzzled him.
"Actually, I think it tried to," Clank spoke up, drawing Ratchet and Twilight's attention. "The Dimensionator keeps a record of the actions it takes or attempts, and that continues to function even if it ceases to function in other ways. It lists three actions for its last functionality. The first being taking the three of us out of the dimensional rift, the second being closing said rift. But on the third, there's an error message."
"Error message?" Ratchet asked, pulling the Dimensionator over to him to read it from the small pop-up screen. "...Etheric quotient exceeds safety parameter Omega, can not open rift gates within 500 light years of mobile etheric source...quantum instability detected, contact Temporal Administrator Orvus for further assistance?"
"Apparently, Twilight's homeworld is not at fixed spatial coordinates, and is a huge concentration of etheric - magical - energy," Clank explained. "Something that the Lombaxes apparently knew about and understood. In addition, it seems to be experiencing some sort of quantum anomaly, and this...Orvus...is the only one who can give the answers..." Clank's voice trailed off. "Orvus...that name...it means something to me..."
At that moment, a massive surge of energy erupted above the gathered group, a swirling vortex of light visible to all. Three Zoni floated down, also in the visible spectrum, and Ratchet and Twilight - amongst others - were able to see them. They were tiny, robot-like creatures with relatively large heads, big blue eyes, and tiny arms and legs.
They approached Clank. "We needed to be sure you survived," they spoke together, their voices echoing. "Now it's time to come home."
"Wait, what?" Ratchet demanded as Clank seemed to go blank eyed. "Where are you taking him?"
"Mommy?" Twilight called out worriedly.
"Mommy?" Qwark echoed her.
The Zoni surrounded Clank in a quantum field. "The time has come, sire...to learn who you are...and who you will become."
"Leave my Mommy alone!" Twilight shouted out, charging her magic up and firing a powerful blast at the Zoni...only to gape as the blast froze in time before it ever reached them.
"It is time to understand your purpose," the Zoni continued as Ratchet and Qwark both lunged in, only to bounce off the energy field surrounding them. "It is time to come with us."
"Yes..." Clank muttered drowsily, plainly not fully functional. "Time to come with you..."
"Clank!" Ratchet shouted painfully as he watched Clank vanish, along with the Zoni and the vortex.
"MOMMY!" Twilight wailed, reaching for the empty space where one of the pillars of her world had vanished without a trace, tears pouring from her eyes.
None dared speak up in the silence that followed, broken only by Twilight's sobs.
Now things get interesting... I'm guessing Quest for Booty is next?
second and very sad
Twilight needs hugs
6713518 Ugh, that clusterfuck of code that they called a game?
*sigh*
It's stupid that it's actually canon...
I can care less that Twilight in this universe has two dads, but I do care that Twilight's been robbed of a parent. I'm not fond of characters that rob children of their parents.
6713554 Meh. It fits in between so it probably might not last long. Almost like the Size Matters arc. I wonder what Twilight would be like as a pirate xD
6713554 despite the fact that it was needed to set up a crack in time, I agree. True story, spent over 3 days downloading that game, beaten it in less than 3 hours. What a waste.
Also, slight error. I think u meant to type in that ratchet and twilight jumped at the zoni, not ratchet and clank.
... When Twilight finishes crying, they are not going to be able to run far enough. Nightmare Twilight is coming for you three Zoni in particular... Sleep with one optic active or suffer her fury.
6713584
Actually, I meant Ratchet and Qwark.
6713589 oh, close enough lmao
Kind of a dick move, on the part of the Zoni, there.
6713582 A complete disappointment.
6713576 Probably something like this.
Huh...If it's not one thing, it's another. Guess this is a gateway to the next Ratchet and Clank game.
Reminds me of when I beat this game. I was so stunned when I saw the credits roll afterward. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Well crap. I kinda wish that Twilight's blast just ignored the zoni time manipulation and ripped one apart.
Ah well. All for plot advancement. BTW, this profile pic is SFW right?
6713820
It is.
Couldn't Orvus like you know take all of them along? That way Zoni's won't get needlessly beaten up?
6713873
At this point in time, Orvus is dead.
6713561 The Zoni are mostly mindless, having more power when in large groups because of something of a hive mind. with only three they probably didn't consider that just taking clank and not saying what was going on, even slightly really, was a stupid thing to do.
6713830 Thank goodness.
Found that one on Gelbooru and cropped it to remove what would make it NSFW.
It's from Kampfer, love that anime.
6713896
I'd love it more if the writing didn't constantly remind me that the character in your avatar is actually a guy.
6713899 I think it adds a neat bit of a paradox. Hot as hell, but still a guy.
Loved the beginning of episode 13, that's for sure.
Fueled by despair, Twilight fixes the Dimensionator, just so they can follow Clank...
6713883 So the Zoni are changelings in energy form?
6713932 from the explanation that they give in A Crack In Time they are more powerful and can do more complex things when they're more of them in a single location. so given that with a whole lot of them in a location, i mean something like 20 of them allot, i think that they would at least mention Orvis before teleporting him. though it is kind of funny really, with Orvus watching this you would thing he would know better than to just take him without leaving a note for twilight. i hope he has insurance, Twili going to break something.
6713999
There were only 4.
You bastards you took Clank. *Pulls out R.H.Y.N.O V5* Now it's time to get him back and to commit Genocide. *Insane cackle*
6714014 i know, i meant if there were 20 there the might have mentioned Orvus in passing just once. since their very existence is to be custodians of the great clock, with all-most of them in the great cock they can repair damage and make it as if it never happened. with just 4 of them there they could not really do much other than 'bring clank to great clock' with the limited intelligence that the had with only that many of them there. i mean in the game you had to have quite a few zoni to fix the bigger things, and the more complex the task or even the fine details of a task would be sort of lost in the doing of said task some of the time. those particular Zoni probably had long standing orders from Ovrus to protect Clank and later guide him to the great clock when he was ready, the fine detail of 'make sure you don't piss off the powerful and smart unicorn while doing so' was most likely lost on them.
well, that just happened!
6714015 I will assist you.
The Imperium Navy, Army, Air Force, and Knights stand behind you, Brother.
Let's get Twilight's mommy back.
6713878 WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6713878
Oh, right. A certain villain has already taken over the Clock by this point.
Of course... Is he dead, or did he take the Lombax option and make a one-way hop across dimensions? The game was carefully vague on that point.
6714393
As far as the Zoni know, he's dead, like the games.
As for what actually happened...
...I love using that clip.
6713554 Officially, it's not even counted among the titles., but as a 'bridge' to explain why Ratchet was not surprised by the return of Nefarious.
6714066 Righto. To glory and FREEDOMMMM!!!
Zoni, thou hath fucked up majorly
hehehe
Is Quest for booty Canon? Never played it however i was told its like a DLC sort of thing for Tools of Destruction
6714876 Tools of Destruction can cut cleanly to A Crack in Time easily. Quest For Booty has a couple bits of lore that is nice to know, but that's about it. The game only draw more attention to the fact that Clank is missing and Ratchet is trying to find him. That... and the ending of Quest for Booty is Luna-be-damned cliffhanger Tatsurou would have been proud of. I really hope he just jumps straight to A Crack in Time and only mentions Quest for Booty in little - little - Flashbacks.
6714659 Yeah... It's fucking stupid. I hate that miserable PILE OF CODE almost as much as I hate Handsome Jack.
Almost.
6714950 I'd say the only thing I hate more than that over-long, interactive cut-scene is Malcolm Hargrove, CEO of Charon Industries and former chairman of the UNSC Oversight Sub-committee.
That fuck-knuckle not only arranged a specific series of events that led to Project Freelancer being dissolved, most of which were via illegal means of 'acquiring' UNSC soldiers as security, he also orchestrated a PLANET-WIDE civil war, would send SPECIFIC UNSC ships within range of a hijacked alien gravitational control array and attempted to kill the Reds and Blues of Blood Gulch canyon, he also illegally revived F.I.L.S.S. and forced her into working for him.
She might just be a console-fixed A.I. system, but she has the sweetest voice and personality in the entire series.
6714993 Yeah, that guy FUCKING KILLED CHURCH, so he's pretty up there on my shit list.
But Jack?
OHOHO, let me tell you about Handsome FUCKING Jack.
Let's start at the beginning.
In the first Borderlands game, you start out in a bus. You get off the bus and almost immediately get shot at. This computer-lady appears. Tells you to follow the, 'funny little robot'.
You go do what she says, save a town, yadda ya yadda.
So, this Angel chick tells you what the fuck you're doing. 'Hey, go here! Stuff to kill!', or, 'Hey, you're doing great! Almost there!', or, 'Careful, this guy's STRONG'. She gave you the names of the bosses, how to kill them (though she did it in shadowed words), and then what.
She was literally THE ONLY THING THAT WASN'T GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOUR FACE OFF on the entire planet of Pandora.
So, we beat B1.
Now, onto the second game.
Start out in a frozen wasteland, almost dead.
Ol' Clappy pulls you out.
Shit happens and he loses his eye.
Kill the first boss, and she opens up a door for you.
She doesn't talk much, only when you do story missions, and even then, she still says little.
Skip forward to halfway through the game.
We get to the BNK3R, or, 'The Bunker', (which is HELL to fight) and kill its ass.
Then we finally meet Angel.
She's hooked up to a machine.
Handsome Jack comes on, and calls her his daughter.
She pleads, begs you to free her from his control. The horrible monster of a man.
You destroy her life support.
Handsome Jack kills the only friend you have.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL, FOLKS!
Then, he comes down, and he KILLS one friend that you just made, and kidnaps another!
We chase the bastard all over fucking Pandora, him getting crazier and crazier.
Goddamn, was it satisfying to put a hatchet through his skull.
I do not think I will EVER hate anybody as much as I hate Jack.
6715015 I'mma go out on a limb from that second-last line and say you played as Krieg.
And, he's really, only on par with Father Comstock from Bioshock: Infinite, who massacred his way through several wars.
Tripped balls after being baptised.
Built an entire flying city by recruiting a physicist lady.
Hired her brother.
Had them find that another him had a kid.
Found out that, by being involved with the flying city, he can't have a kid himself.
Proclaimed himself a prophet of the Lord God.
Abducted the kid he couldn't have, resulting in her losing her pinkie.
Murdered his wife.
Blamed the murder on an innocent servant lady.
Murdered the physicist twins who built the device that LET him abduct the kid.
Arranged the construction of a giant robot bird thing to kill pretty much everything that got near the kid.
Locked the kid in a tower shaped like an angel filled with things to suck away the powers she got from losing her pinkie while being pulled through a tear to a parallel universe.
Hired a corrupt businessman to make shit for him.
turned a blind eye to the blatant abuse of authority by said businessman.
Actively encouraged his city's white American inhabitants to oppress the Irish, Chinese and black people that came to the city.
Made propaganda to demonise the father of the kid he abducted.
Arranged the abducted kid's future in a way that she would destroy all the non-flying cities of America.
And drove his former C.O. to suicide via his other self.
After all that, he doesn't even have a decent death, because he dies like a bitch, while spouting hypocritical bullshit at his other self during a cut-scene, which leads to the other self bashing the guy's head into a basin until he dies.
6715060 Nah, I play Axton. His Melee is a hatchet.
And yeah, that Bioshock guy is a douchebag, but I roleplay when I play Borderlands, so it was like he actually killed somebody I cared about. I play Borderlands like I play Skyrim. I invest myself into my character.
Welp, time to brush up on Logic Bombs, stock up the EMP weaponry, and grab the Ion cannons. We're going evil little robot hunting.
I mean, after we calm Twilight down and keep her from ripping the Galaxy apart in despair.
Well. That was more traumatic than the original material, and rightfully so.
On we go to Quest for Booty: a game I skipped because it didn't have any actual new weapons.
6713616 This chapter made me sad, that picture fixed it, thank you.
6714858 I got a giant robot, for each of you!!!