//------------------------------//
// Rift Apart: Meet up at Zurkie's 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Rivet was silent for most of the trip back to Zurkie's, while Autumn and Clank were excited because this meant they were one step closer to bringing an end to the dimensional damage, though her silence was due to the fact that she would be meeting Ratchet for the very first time. She was, understandably, nervous about this, as she had seen and heard good things about him from both Clank, who was his best friend in his dimension, and Autumn, one of his sworn siblings who had been on many adventures with him over the years. To him she would be a complete stranger and there was a chance that both of them would be expecting something totally different from the other when they finally met each other, even though Autumn had told her that she was just as stubborn as Ratchet was. That seemed to be the only thing they shared in common, other than the potential of people mistaking her for him and him for her, since Autumn and Clank were sure of that based on what Ms. Zurkon told them back on Sargasso, so she really didn't know what to expect.

By the time they neared Zurkie's, however, Rivet found herself trying out phrases to lead with when she finally met her twin brother, something Autumn and Clank had noticed awhile ago, as they could tell she was nervous, but decided to remain silent for the most part.

"Hi Ratchet, I'm Rivet... nice to meet you..." Rivet muttered, where she had to resist the urge to groan, nothing sounded like it would work for the situation that was vastly approaching her right now and she was afraid that she was going to make a fool of herself in front of her brother.

"Nervous, sis?" Autumn inquired, because she had to do something before the big meeting, as Rivet was going to end up giving herself a heart attack if she stressed about this for far too long, all while Clank was clearly staring at Zurkie's, or, to be more exact, the second royal starship that was parked nearby.

"...yeah, I am. I mean, I'm meeting my twin brother, after so many years of being separated... a lot can go wrong and there is a chance I could ruin this." Rivet said, showing them that she was nervous about many things, though at the same time Autumn and Clank knew there was no reason for her to be like this, especially given everything they knew about Ratchet and his personality.

"I would say that he's impressed with everything you've done, Rivet, especially after discovering the state of the dimension you've been living in." Clank stated, as that was the most impressive part, the Lombax was a fighter, even against the evil that was Emperor Nefarious and his army of loyal followers, and even with losing her right arm, and who knew how many of her friends, she never lost the hope that was burning inside her body, "Trust us, you two will hit it off."

Rivet smiled for a moment as she landed their ship and turned it off, allowing them to jump out and make their way over to the entrance, though she did stop at Ms. Zurkon's for the weapons her brothers had purchased after her visit to Torren IV, including the Warmonger, before heading inside... finding a male Lombax, a unicorn like Autumn, and a small yellow bot standing in front of the counter, turning to face them no less.

"Hey... um, hi... I'm..." Rivet started to say, though before she could get too far she found that the other Lombax rushed up to her and embraced her without wasting even a single second, which confirmed what she had been thinking, he was her twin brother, in fact she noticed some resemblance before he did this.

"Rivet... I am so glad that you're alright." Ratchet said, because while he knew that she was fine, after the discussion they had about the Dimensionator and the fact that Gary knew how to proceed, part of him had been worried regardless, due to her previous injuries and the dangers of this dimension.

"Yeah, I'm fine... and I'm happy that you're alright as well." Rivet replied, though for a few moments she hugged Ratchet in return, finding that Autumn and Clank were right, she didn't have to worry about this meeting at all, before they pulled apart and she shifted her stance, allowing her to disengage Clank from her back, "Also, don't worry, I've been taking good care of Clank since I found him and Autumn... she's, um, interesting to travel with."

"I can imagine." Starswirl commented, as Autumn's intelligence and knowledge on devices made her an incredible ally to have on hand, and Rivet, while clearly having enjoyed her time traveling with Autumn, was having a hard time explaining it to those who were in front of her, before he and Ratchet noticed something.

"Don't be alarmed, Ratchet, I am perfectly fine... in fact, I am starting to like my new look." Clank said, as he knew that this was the first time that his friends, or at least Ratchet and Starswirl, had seen his injured form, his missing right arm and the fact that he was stuck in his backpack mode.

"That's good. Once this mess is sorted out, we'll have your father take a look at it." Ratchet stated, as Orvus seemed like a good person to ask about Clank's overall condition, and maybe they'd ask Kaden as well, before he considered something as he accepted Clank and gave Kit a little push with his left hand, "Rivet, Autumn, this is Kit, Gary's apprentice. She helped us obtain the schematics for the Dimensionator and helped us reforge it on Cordelion."

Rivet found that Kit was very excited to meet all of them, to finally meet everyone in Ratchet's immediate family, despite the fact both of their parents and the remaining two other Lombaxes were stuck in his dimension, before they focused on why everyone had gathered here. Ratchet nodded and set Clank on his back for a moment, which seemed natural for the two of them when Rivet watched it happen, before he pulled out a device that was identical to the one she saw in Clank's memories, the gun version of the Dimensionator. After showing it off, and Rivet got a chance to study it for herself, she carefully produced the Phase Quartz that she, Autumn, and Clank had put a lot of effort into acquiring, but said nothing about the fact that it had been broken and required a detour to fix it. Such a thing put a smile on all of their faces, as this meant they were one step closer to stopping the Dimensional Cataclysm, they just had to get Dr. Nefarious back to their home dimension and talk with Kaden, then Ratchet would be back to help Rivet with her foe.

As they headed for the door, to head into the gastropub to combine the two and set their plan in motion, Clank gestured between Rivet and Kit for a moment and Rivet actually asked if Kit wanted to ride on her back, though as she took her spot the door opened and, shockingly, they found Troopers waiting for them. It was unbelievable, as Dr. Nefarious had been so many steps behind them that they couldn't even imagine him catching up like this, but there he was, standing near one of the windows that overlooked the arena, while a white and purple robot floated nearby. They would have done something to attack them, had the rules of Zurkie's not taken their weapons and locked them behind some glass walls, plus a pair of Troopers stepped into the entrance behind them, forcing them to raise their hands as they threatened the group, as this was the worst thing imaginable. Sure enough Rivet watched as the Assistant practically ripped the Dimensionator out of Ratchet's hands, who growled as it was taken for the second time in a week, before the robot approached her, causing her to frown as well as she placed the Phase Quartz in the hand that was in front of her.

With the pair of items, which they had spent a lot of time to acquire, now in the hands of their enemy the Assistant turned for a moment and floated over to where Dr. Nefarious was currently standing, who turned as the smaller robot bowed her head and presented the items to him.

"You know, this dimension clearly loves me... as in the Emperor... because everything is brought to me in no time, which includes a new Dimensionator." Dr. Nefarious stated, where he seemed pleased with himself as he picked up the Phase Quartz and studied it for a couple of seconds, before picking up the device and opened a slot that allowed him to slip the crystal in, which he closed to push the crystal into the main slot, "Finally, the Dimensionator is back in my hands... there's so much I can do with it."

"How many times have you beat this guy?" Rivet asked, as the version of Nefarious that was in front of them didn't seem too terrifying, in fact he seemed to be riding off of her Nefarious' power right now, which would piss off the Emperor when he learned what was going on.

"Clearly not enough." Autumn replied, something that caused Ratchet and Starswirl to nod their heads in agreement, as all of them thought he would have gotten the message after the last couple of stunning failures he had suffered, though that caused her to glance at her sister for a moment, "Shall we?"

Rivet glanced her siblings, all of them to be exact, and found that everyone was in agreement, maybe losing to her, as in Ratchet's equally skilled twin sister, might knock some sense into Dr. Nefarious' head, to which they waited for a second or two before she and Autumn charged into him, pushing him through the glass. Sure enough he knocked them down into the arena that was below them, where Rivet landed with her robotic arm and used it to spin herself into a standing stance as Autumn rolled onto her hooves, though they were pleased to find that their weapons returned to them. As the sisters did that Ratchet and Starswirl clashed with all of the Troopers that were inside the gastropub, as Zurkie was kind enough to allow them to have their melee weapons in this situation, allowing their sisters to focus on Dr. Nefarious. Their foe, on the other hand, wasn't too pleased to have to deal with them right now, not after having stolen the Dimensionator, which he could use to do whatever he wanted, a bad thing given the damage to the barrier that needed to be fixed, but for right now it looked like they were going to have to fight him for a time.

In the next few moments Rivet got to see some of Dr. Nefarious' weapons, as he had outfitted himself with a blade of red energy in both of his hands, could fire spheres of green energy at whoever he was targeting, and, if he focused both of his jets in his feet, he could heat up the area below him in an attempt to hurt them.

"You know, Lombax, you are just as annoying as your brother and his siblings." Dr. Nefarious remarked, where he found that his attacks seemed to miss the newcomer and Autumn, though he was used to that when he considered the latter for a few moments, who likely saw him as predictable at this point.

"First off, my name's Rivet... and secondly, how did you know we are related?" Rivet replied, though at the same time she and Autumn dodged the incoming attacks and blasted the robotic doctor in kind, where she found that her newest toy, the Warmonger, was a wonderful weapon to have in her arsenal.

"He was floating overhead before stealing the first Dimensionator, remember? He likely heard Clank's comment about you before he made his move." Autumn stated, where she dodged an energy blade and blasted the doctor in the face, which knocked him backwards for a moment, though while he was in possession of the device they had put back together she did have to be careful, least she make things worse.

"You know, I think it's time I turned up the heat on you... how about the heart of a supernova?!" Dr. Nefarious stated, as he pulled out the Dimensionator and fired it without delay, where he and his foes found themselves being dragged to a very familiar place, for Rivet and Autumn anyway, in the form of the alternate Blizar Prime, "Why doesn't this go where I want it to go?!"

"The Dimensionator is designed to move from one dimension to another, not teleport things into supernovas, black holes, and other dangers." Kit said, where she was amazed by the power of the device they had forged, because this was the first time she was seeing it in action and it interested her greatly, though she found that Dr. Nefarious wasn't too happy with her remark, even if it helped him understand how to use the powerful device.

As Kit said that they reached the top of the building that the Chief Engineer worked in, which Autumn told her about since this was her first time seeing it, before Rivet focused on figuring out whether or not the Emperor had been dealt with, due to the fact that Dr. Nefarious had taken over the most powerful position in this dimension. He admitted that he had done nothing, as the Emperor was out conquering his remaining enemies, the Resistance leaders to be exact, which meant that the doctor could focus on them and claiming the Dimensionator, the perfect gift for the true Emperor. That idea worried Rivet and Kit more than they were willing to admit, as the idea of Emperor Nefarious getting his hands on the device and using it would most likely put the entire dimension in jeopardy, much less all of reality thanks to the barrier cracking due to the first Dimensionator's destruction. Such a thing didn't seem to worry the doctor, however, rather he seemed to have an idea in mind already, to fix the problem that was currently ongoing right now, or maybe he was just going to ignore all of the damage he had done, but either way they needed to get the device he was holding.

After some time Dr. Nefarious opened another dimensional rift and brought them back to Sargasso, Rivet's anyway since they recognized the nearby factory, before finding that a Grunthor was resting nearby and it decided to attack them for interrupting it's private nap since they were on where the Seekerpede crashed. To be honest Rivet and Autumn weren't at all surprised by this and opened fire on the creature as it tried to eat them, all while noticing that Dr. Nefarious flew off to watch the battle from afar, no doubt hoping that one or more of his foes would perish here. In no time at all the Grunthor was down for the count and they fired on their true enemy once more, switched to using more missiles this time around, as if that would change anything for him, though as the sisters expected it didn't do anything for him. After another bout of thrashing, much to his annoyance, Dr. Nefarious readied the Dimensionator and tried to dispose of them once more, as he didn't care about Kit's comment at all, only to return them to Zurkie's, where they knocked him to the ground for real, causing him to groan in the process.

For a few seconds after that Zurkon Jr. played Rivet's victory tune, for whenever she was in the arena, though as the three of them realized that the Dimensionator was within their grasp the lights dimmed and a new figure emerged, a taller and white version of Dr. Nefarious that had orange highlights and floated down like he was the master of them all, and the only thing that clued them in to his arrival was the fact that Ratchet and Starswirl were tossed into the arena.

"Wow, what a battle!" Emperor Nefarious stated, where he sounded different to his dimensional counterpart, as he was far calmer and more composed than the doctor had been previously, though at the same time fear seized their hearts as he picked up the Dimensionator, almost as if he knew what it was, a bad sign for sure, especially since he wound it up for a moment as he pointed it right at Rivet's face, "Are we done having fun? Come now, give it up for Rivet and her first very victory! Really... no one? Fine. I'll have you know that I wish I could have gotten here sooner, however, I have some good news for my loyal citizens: I am thrilled to announce that the majority of my opposition has been crushed... with only two exceptions in the form of Captain Quantum and you, Rivet. Anyway, when I heard that the 'rebel Lombax' was 'fighting me' I had to..."

"Come here the universe celebrate your defeat?" Rivet asked, as she couldn't help it, because it would be good to rub this in his face and show him that there were more people that wanted him dethroned so life could return to normal, just to see if there were more people who'd join the Resistance.

"Who's celebrating? You mean them?" Emperor Nefarious inquired, almost in a mocking tone as he turned the device on one of the stands and activated it, sending a bunch of people into another dimension, though as the family took a step he engaged some sort of gravity power in his eyes, ensnared them, and sent them flying off to the side as he faced his own dimensional counterpart, "Do you have anything to say, imposter?"

"I am your humble servant, my Emperor, and I will do anything to help you take down your enemies." Dr. Nefarious said, a fact that surprised Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl, and Clank, as this was the first time he was willing to bow his head towards someone else, much less him from one of the other dimensions, meaning the power had gone to his head "I can also help you master using the powerful Dimensionator."

"Ah, my strange fan wants to help? Tantalizing." Emperor Nefarious remarked, where he actually picked Dr. Nefarious up onto his feet and directed him to the hollow center of the arena, taking a moment to use his gravity power to push Rivet and the others into the floor for a few more seconds to show his superiority, before opening another rift, "Why don't we make this interesting? A home game, perhaps?"

In that moment Dr. Nefarious, taking the hit, jumped into the rift as the Emperor turned for a moment and smiled at Rivet before falling back in style, which was followed by the rift closing behind them and freeing the siblings from his hold, even if Ratchet and his siblings were surprised by Emperor Nefarious' powers.

"He's going to Sargasso... I have to get there first!" Rivet stated, as she knew what the Emperor was talking about, as he must have known where she was hiding for some time and had been waiting for a good excuse to deal with her and those who kept her location a secret.

"Not without us. I'm not letting you fight that maniac on your own again." Ratchet replied, because while he trusted Rivet and her skills, as they had kept her alive for all this time, with the Dimensionator in the Emperor's hands there was no way for them to tell what was going to happen next, with how quickly he used the device.

"No, leave Sargasso to us. You two and Clank should focus on Captain Quantum." Autumn said, as the last of the rebels on the Emperor's list was now in danger, far more than ever now that he had the device in his possession, which caused her to turn towards her sister for a moment, "How do we find him?"

"Go to Ardolis and find Pierre... this dimension's version of 'Rusty Pete' as Clank called him earlier." Rivet answered, which was the fastest way to find her former ally turned pirate, talking to his second in command was the best thing they could do right now, hopefully to get him to safety before the Emperor found him, "Trust me, he'll point you right to him."

"Okay, Ratchet, Clank, and I will head there and find Pierre, while you guys head back to Sargasso." Starswirl said, which in his mind seemed to be a fair division of labor, given the situation they were now in, causing the others to nod for a moment to show that they agreed with their plan of attack, "We should meet up back here once everything is said and done, so we can figure out what to do next."

With that done the family returned to the gastropub, which Zurkie was now starting to clean after the mess that had been made, before departing from the area as they collected their weaponry and headed for their ships, as they had a planet to save and a pirate to find, before worrying about the Emperor and the Dimensionator.