//------------------------------//
// Interlude: Brief Rest 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Following Tachyon's defeat, which caused the Resistance to return to Meridian City with glorious news and the pirates to return to Ublik Passage to celebrate in their own way, Ratchet and the others returned to Talwyn's place, along with Qwark and Rusty Pete. From what they were able to figure out the pirates both respected and feared the family that Slag tried to steal from, before he knew who he was dealing with, but none of them wanted to cross them and continued to see Ratchet as their captain, so Rusty Pete, the new 'official' face of the crew, was joining them to figure some things out. Of course the group needed some time to figure out how things worked in Polaris, or if it was identical to what they were used to back in Solana and Bogon, but with Talwyn working with them both Autumn and Starswirl knew it wouldn't be long before Pete had the answers he needed. Qwark, on the other hand, just had a habit of following them and understood they might have yet another adventure in mind once someone figured out how to fix the device they had recovered, so he just had to be patient and see what happened next.

After arriving at their destination Talwyn found that Ratchet and his wives relaxed nearby, even though the main Lombax was focused on what Clank and Autumn were doing, scanning the slumbering Dimensionator, while everyone else was just relaxing and having fun, even if Pete was helping Qwark learn how to speak like a pirate.

"Having fun guys?" Talwyn asked, as Cronk and Zephyr, now in their primes once more thanks to Autumn tinkering on the pair during their fight on Reepor earlier, were imagining how the final battle with Tachyon went down, using makeshift items to represent the main weapons, Ratchet's wrench and the Dimensionator itself.

"Yes! Especially now that Tachyon is gone for good." Cronk replied, while at the same time Zephyr nodded his head, as the pair usually agreed on many things, even if they argued about other things far more than they agreed, but she was happy that they were pleased with this turn of events.

"To be honest, we can't really say 'for good', since we have no idea which dimension he was sent to," Starswirl said, as that was the truth of the matter, because Tachyon could have been banished to the one his people had been sent to, he could have landed in one where he perished immediately, or maybe he ended up in one that would spell doom for everyone, he really had no idea, "but, for the time being, saying that isn't a bad thing... and it certainly puts everyone at ease knowing that the emperor is gone at last."

"If you say so." Talwyn commented, as she was still getting used to the idea of there being other dimensions that none of them were aware of until this point in time, or 'universes' as both Starswirl and Autumn claimed, even though she and the majority of them were going to stick to dimensions, before she focused on the main pair, "So, what's the status report on the Dimensionator?"

"I am afraid that it isn't good. The Dimensionator is in no danger of self-destructing," Clank stated, which was the good bit of the news he and Autumn had to share with the others, causing many to come over and listen to what they were talking about, even though he could tell Ratchet was dreading the news they might give him, "but after using it to return to our dimension, not to mention using it to send the Cragmites back to their new dimension, and taking into consideration the damage it sustained during the battle with Tachyon..."

"Clank... please. Can we use it one more time?" Ratchet asked, as while he didn't want to interrupt Clank, especially since he and Autumn had spend a lot of time with the device his father had made and protected until his disappearance, there was only one thing he wanted to know right now, after seeing everything his sister was going through.

"I'm afraid not... we wouldn't have been able to use it without that washer, and that was only a temporary fix for what we were dealing with," Autumn said, where she could see that Ratchet deflated when he heard her response, as this was the one thing that could help him get to Rivet's dimension and bring her back, before something worse happened to her, and hearing this news only ruined his mood, "but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Clank and I already have plans to tap into Aphelion's archives, in case Kaden stored a copy of the schematics or his notes inside her for safekeeping, and carefully pull it apart to figure out how it works... with his intelligence and my gadget crafting ability, we should be able to figure out a number of things in half a year, and, baring any interruptions, we should be able to restore the device in a year's time."

"You do realize that you guys are usually interrupted around your birthdays, right?" Sasha asked, as while she was glad to hear that there was a chance that they might be able to help Rivet, even if it would take a years worth of hard work and no interruptions, she knew there was no way the universe was about to give them such a break, "I don't want to rain on the mood, not after everything we've been through, but there's a fair chance that the universe will throw something at us to stop the Dimensionator from being fixed... and this time I'm hoping to be wrong."

As Ratchet opened his mouth, so he could ask the pair what they needed to repair the Dimensionator, a vortex of energy tore open above them, causing him to hope, against all odds, that his recklessness on Sargasso was about to bear fruit, all to find small creatures that floated through the air, though as they approached Clank he found that Starswirl stepped up to make sure Autumn and the Dimensionator were away from the newcomers.

"Greetings, Sire. We are pleased that you survived the confrontation with Tachyon." one of the creatures said, where Ratchet was sure they possessed some sort of energy that was contained in their small frames, though they circled around Clank as one glanced at Starswirl, as if worried that one of his siblings might interrupt what was going on, "Now it is time for you to come home."

"No way... the Zoni!" Talwyn commented, as she had seen illustrations of them in some of her father's notes and knew the beings with a quick glance, what what was more interesting was the fact that they were interested in Clank, someone who was born in the Solana Galaxy, based on what she knew of the group.

As the Zoni surrounded Clank with their energy, lifting him into the air while informing him that it was time to learn of his origins and his true purpose, Starswirl latched onto them with his magic, showing that he wasn't about to let them take one of his friends, but before the others could do anything the Zoni energy surged down to him, surrounded him, and suddenly he and Clank disappeared with the Zoni.

"Okay... what just happened?" Nika asked, though that was becoming the norm for them, strange things were happening to Ratchet and his siblings, but now the family was fractured more than before, as Ratchet's twin sister was lost in one of the other dimensions and now Starswirl had been kidnapped by the Zoni.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough." Ratchet said, where he found that Autumn stored the Dimensionator away in a magical storage space, as without Clank it would take her far too long to figure things out, while the others were getting ready to help him figure out where his friend and his brother had been taken.

He really had no idea what the Zoni wanted with Clank, or why they decided to take Starswirl with them, but he knew that, in due time, he, Autumn, and the others would figure out what was going on and set things right, they just had to track down the Zoni first and he had a feeling that it would take some time before they were able to do that.