//------------------------------//
// Rift Apart: Ardolis 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Ratchet and Starswirl spent most of the trip to Ardolis telling Clank about what they've seen in this dimension, including all about Kit since she was a new face for all of them, while he, in turn, told them about his time with Rivet and Autumn, as he knew once they reached Ardolis they'd be busy. Ratchet knew from how the Resistance spoke of his sister that Rivet was a hero that this dimension needed, otherwise they'd lose hope entirely and fall into the darkness that the Emperor was trying to impose upon everyone, and listening to Clank made him smile. Rivet was, without a doubt, Ratchet's twin, that was the conclusion that Clank had come up with while traveling with her and Autumn on their quest to claim the Phase Quartz, as there were so many things that the two had in common that drove him to make that decision. It also made Ratchet really want to have some time alone with his sister, so they could talk and get to know each other, without the fate of the entire multiverse hanging in the balance, since the Emperor seemed to be recklessly using the Dimensionator.

Such a thing was reflected in the fact that, as they approached Ardolis, a world that looked like part of the crust had been removed while the rest of the planet had been destroyed, a few rifts opened in their path and Ratchet had to divert their course a little to avoid flying into one.

"I can't believe how bad the dimensional damage is getting... the rifts are multiplying!" Ratchet remarked, though he had a feeling that his father was either working overtime to try and stop the Dimensional Cataclysm from happening, given all of the rifts out there, or he might have given up to wait for them to save the day like usual.

"The Emperor is misusing the Dimensionator, and the Doctor is encouraging him to do so." Starswirl stated, which was an odd thing to say, since he and his siblings expected their Nefarious to turn on the Emperor once he lost the device that he had stolen from them in the gastropub, but instead he was working for this dimension's version of himself, like he might get a reward out of his servitude, "That's why all of this is happening."

"Yes, I am afraid that the Dimension Cataclysm will come sooner than we thought." Clank added, as he had a feeling that Gary was likely discovering this fact for himself or was already passing the news onto Kit in some manner, given that they were Master and Apprentice, meaning all of them were in the loop right now, or would be soon enough, "However, while the situation is truly dire, I know that we will not fail the multiverse... we do have a habit of beating the odds, after all, and I have the feeling we'll do so again."

Ratchet and Starswirl chuckled as they turned up the radio, which was a nice thing the ship came with since it also picked up on signals or broadcasts from the planets they had to visit in this dimension, giving them a heads up on what might be happening, and the catchy some that was on got interrupted by a Pirate broadcast.

Ah, what a tune! the Pirate said, sounding like she actually enjoyed the song and was sad to see it end, reminding the brothers about the radio station that Slag set up after he went into retirement, allowing Pete to take over, even though a lot of Pirates in their dimension saw the siblings as their true captains, In unrelated news, Ardolis be closed today fer a private event: the execution of Pierre Le Fer! All trespassers will be shot and or stabbed on sight, and remember Article 4 of the Pirate Code: never blow up your own blooming ship!

At this point none of them were even remotely surprised, as Clank did mention the fact that Pierre ordered his crew to blast the ship that Rivet and Autumn had taken over on Torren IV, most due to some of the looks he noticed on the faces of his crew, so it stood to reason they were punishing him for his actions. After landing on what appeared to be a landing area, again Ratchet marveled at what existed in this dimension and made him realize that Autumn would want one so she could tear it apart, the brothers climbed out, put Clank on Ratchet's back, and walked over to Ms. Zurkon. They found that she had some new toys to add to their arsenals, thanks to Rivet and Autumn, while also having the Headhunter, a sniper rifle, available for purchase, which the brothers collected and upgraded as well so they had more options for whatever challenges awaited them on this planet. Once that was done they found some Pirates down the way that were actually in the middle of talking about Pierre, where it seemed like they disliked his 'horrid' singing voice and many of his comrades were eager to see him be executed in the near future.

Of course they also found that the Pirates weren't too happy to see them either, since the first group drew their weapons and started to attack the brothers, who retaliated as they realized that they might have to fight through Quantum's army to get to Pierre, which was a bad thing since he might turn on them as well. At the same time, however, Starswirl knew it was only a matter of time until the Emperor made his move, as he had the Dimensionator and with how well he was using it right now, thanks to the Doctor helping him out, so there was no telling when he'd rift into Ardolis to whisk Quantum away to wherever he held his prisoners. Clank voiced his own thoughts on the matter, as he was sure Zordoom existed in this dimension as well, which would be the best place to store potential prisoners until it was time to execute them, just to install fear in those who thought about resisting, a fate that the Emperor likely had in store for Rivet. Ratchet didn't want to think about what this dimension's Zordoom might look like, given everything he had seen of the Emperor's other locations, so he focused on tearing his way through the Pirates that were in front of them, all while finding a telescope that happened to be viewing an area where Pierre was being held captive.

With that in mind they made their way a nearby cave, finding that some Pirates were torturing another one with out of sync singing, which really annoyed him until the brothers blasted through his comrades, as he was contained in a cage, though as they leapt into the cave a kraken reached up and snatched the poor soul.

"You know, when all of this is over, I think I'll fulfill Rivet's other wish first." Ratchet commented, as Clank had said that Rivet wanted to find the rest of the Lombaxes at some point, especially now that she knew their kind was still out there, somewhere, and that the Dimensionator was the key to tracking them down, "We should be able to do that, right?"

"As long as we stop the Dimensional Cataclysm and recover the Dimensionator." Clank replied, because sometimes Ratchet liked to think about his twin, and everything they could do to make up for all the years they had been separated from each other, and either he, Starswirl, or Autumn would have to bring him down to reality, though it was good to see that he cared about his sister so much, "You changed your mind on the matter?"

"Well, I never really cared about finding the rest of the Lombaxes... I have my family to thank for that... but Rivet has been longing for such a thing and I want to help her out." Ratchet replied, where he blasted the crabs he and Starswirl found in the cave, along with the Puffoids, normal ones, that happened to be in the area as well, showing them that he was focused on the task at hand and wasn't being distracted by his own remarks, "After we do that, well, I'm thinking it'll be time for me to uphold my other promise: finding out where you and Autumn came from, as the Dimensionator seems to be the key to helping you guys out as well."

Starswirl had to agree with that, as the planet he and his sister came from was either in an unknown galaxy of this very dimension, which they hadn't found yet, or they were from another dimension and had somehow found their way into this one somehow. He and Autumn had talked about it for a time, over multiple instances, and neither of them were sure what the answer was to their question, there was no information for them to go off of, save for the fact that they had just appeared near Ratchet when his pod landed on Veldin. Such a thing made him think about something interesting, that if Tachyon had attacked sooner or later than he originally did there was a chance that Rivet would have been sent to Veldin like Kaden had originally planned, instead of them being sent to two different locations. It would have changed the course of this entire adventure, as he was sure they would have sought out the Lombaxes if Rivet had been with Ratchet at the beginning of their lives, though Starswirl decided to say nothing on the matter as he blasted their enemies and they made their way through the rest of the cave.

While they were making their way through the cave, however, they overheard some Pirates mentioning that they knew that the Emperor had the Dimensionator and that it changed nothing for them, because of the fact that their captain was always one step ahead of their foe. Such a thing made them wonder if the statement was true, because if he had a way to stay ahead of the Emperor it made one take a moment to think about why Quantum wouldn't share such a device with Rivet or the rest of the Resistance, to make sure they toppled the Emperor. One would think that both the Pirates and the Resistance would benefit from taking down the one who controlled the entirety of this dimension with an iron fist, but, as Ratchet considered it, he realized that Pirates were only in it for the Bolts and if their major target was taken out they'd no doubt lose out in the long run, or at least that was his thoughts on their reasoning. At the same time, however, it made all three of them wonder if they could convince Quantum to hand such a thing over to them, so they could figure out how to get the Dimensionator out of the Emperor's hands by getting ahead of him and laying a trap he wouldn't see coming, but that meant finding the person in question.

One section of the cave that they passed through was like the one in their dimension, heading up into an area that had a number of doors, and in their version of Ardolis there had been a pirate door they had to get through to progress, though this one was full of Pirates waiting for the execution to start. There was even a new Pirates in a cell before that room, all of them locked up in some manner, with a female robot trying to convince a Robomutt to hand over the key to her bindings, a rather large key that looked more like a blade that was styled in the manner of the Lombaxes. Starswirl had no idea if it was actually a Lombax weapon or if it was something made to mimic what the species used, but he snatched it with a bit of his magic, teleporting it over to his hand and making it disappear before anyone noticed what had happened, allowing them to enter the next room without the prisoner knowing what was going on. After that they found themselves under attack once more, Pirates assaulting them once more as the door behind them closed up, meaning that their foes had to be taken down before the brothers could advance to where Pierre was being held, which was nothing new.

As they fought the Pirates, however, Clank reported more dimensional energy spreading and they all watched as several rifts opened up on the level that was above them, where Goons jumped out, spotted the Pirates, and one group attacked them for something that happened in the past, leaving the others to attack the brothers. This was further confirmation that things were getting worse, because now that the Emperor had the Dimensionator he was overusing it and that was causing all of the damage to spread at an alarmingly unsafe rate. The theft of the device would have been fine had they been able to deal with the Dimensional Cataclysm first, since they wouldn't have to worry about all of reality being totally destroyed, but he had taken it before they could do that and now he and his siblings were rushing to do everything in their power to stop the multiverse from unraveling before their eyes. Ratchet wasn't sure how Quantum would help them defeat Emperor Nefarious, but Rivet seemed to trust him, despite him being a Pirate and her being a Resistance member, meaning he should trust his sister and hope they could get to the figure without tearing the Pirates apart, since that would make things easier for their enemy.

Eventually the brothers overcame the enemies that were in front of them and exited the building they had been in, where they started to make their way to what looked like a market of some kind, though a kraken tentacle crushed a cruiser that came to a stop nearby, allowing them to launch themselves over to where Pierre was resting.

"Come on, that ship had to go boom on Molonoth!" Pierre stated, all while hanging with his head down towards a wide opening, where the bothers found some tendrils emerging from it and one even seemed to get close to the robot, who was clearly freaking out right now since it meant his life was about to expire, "One could even say that it destroyed itself! Um, if anyone wanted to save moi, now would be a good..."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but we need to have a word with Pierre." Ratchet said, drawing the attention of the Pirates to him, Starswirl, and Clank as they landed near the area that the robot in question was going to be executed in, though he was a little surprised that these Pirates were willing to listen, instead of attacking them, "We need to speak with Captain Quantum and Pierre's the only one who can show us the way... or at least Rivet said he could... oh, and for the record, I'm not her protege or whatever you're thinking: Rivet and I are twins."

Pierre was, of course, shocked by this piece of information, in fact all of the Pirates were since they assumed Rivet was the only Lombax in the universe, or their dimension since they were now understanding that there were others out there, but as one started to open her mouth an alarm sounded. Apparently they had a way to determine when some of the Emperor's forces were nearby and it was all hands on deck to be sure that his Troopers didn't get close to the ruined planet, which did mean that, for the time being, the execution was on hold. With that in mind the Pirates released Pierre and pushed him into their care for now, as once everything was said and done they were going to execute him anyway, but at least he could help them track down Captain Quantum and have that conversation, hopefully before the Troopers showed up to wage war on the planet again. Pierre didn't seem too pleased with that idea as the floor was sealed and he was released from where he had been hanging for some time, but, since it meant he wouldn't be executed for some time, he had to live with the idea of showing them the way to his Captain.

As they moved away from the marketplace Pierre informed them that to gain an audience with Captain Quantum, since they weren't Pirates, they would have to complete the 'Pirate Trials', a tradition that was as old as grog as he put it, and that to do so they had to head to the base of Skull Mountain. With that information in hand the brothers followed him over to one of the ramps that had launched them over to the marketplace, after making sure to restock their ammunition since Ms. Zurkon was nearby, before using it to head over to a lighthouse. Of course with Pierre no longer seen in the light he used to be seen in, at least by Pirate standards, they couldn't use one of the smaller ships that he used to use, rather they had to utilize the pad and some Speedles to reach the base of Skull Mountain. Clank discovered that, while neither Ratchet or Starswirl knew how to ride the little speedy bugs, not like Rivet did, they quickly learned how to do so and were able to reach the main path that Pierre lead them to, even though the kraken from before seemed to be following them, as it broke the bridge, forcing them to use a Swingshot to reach their destination.

What they discovered, however, was that there was an area that looked like it was the start of an amusement park, as the brothers found a bored Pirate standing behind a stall which had all sorts of pirate accessories, guns, weapons, and even costume pieces, where Pierre rubbed the back of his head as they approached the stall.

"Welcome to the Pirate Trials... now, who will be swashbuckling with us today?" the Pirate asked, sounding as bored as she looked, in fact she was likely silently annoyed by the fact that she was stuck with this duty while the others were busy with their looting of other planets, before she noticed who was with them, "Pierre? Shouldn't you be in the middle of being executed right now?"

"Allow me to introduce Rivet's brothers... and I am temporarily safe due to the impending Trooper patrol, as the others wanted to be sure we weren't being attacked." Pierre replied, showing them that he was going to offer them some help, as that was his task before the rest of the Pirates captured him and tied him up again, even if he was hoping to save himself before that happened again, "We're here to see Captain Quantum, so they're tackling the Pirate Trials."

All Ratchet could say to this was 'What?' and the systems for the entire Pirate Trials started to refer to him as What, as if it was a valid name for someone to have, causing him and Starswirl to walk down the path in front of them, which seemed to be wooden planks leading right to some barrels with theme park robots attached to them. By activating the button right in the middle of the area they discovered that the first thing that needed to be done was that they had to sing a shanty, while at the same time blasting the robots in the correct order, and Pierre handed them the pistols that were part of this whole thing. What was surprising was that the shanty the robots had them sing back was about girls in respectable positions of power, making them wonder if Emperor Nefarious being in charge had been the cause of the song's creation, before moving onto how they lingered by the shore. While they were confused as to the true nature of the shanty, Pierre and the robots were impressed by their singing abilities, especially given that they weren't robots, before a bridge lowered, allowing them to step into an elevator shaft that would bring them to their second trial.

This time around Pierre was more frightened as he accompanied them, for they would be facing the Terror of Bokkubokku Bay, the Destroyer of Moon 34-B, the inspiration behind every midnight tale, every shape in the shadows, and all that was unholy in the galaxy, a creature known as Snoojax... which turned out to be a dead Grunthor.

Pierre was, of course, surprised to find a pile of bones where the creature had been resting, even though this was mostly a Grunthor sized arena with no real food or water, though as a robot informed them that the second trial was out of order, so they could turn back or keep going, Ratchet spotted a console with a Zeta Virus. This time around it wasn't vital for them to do anything with it, but, at the same time, he knew that Glitch got stronger whenever she fought the virus and there was no telling when they'd need that strength on another terminal, so he paused for a few moments to let her do her thing. Sure enough he and Starswirl didn't have to wait long as she restored the Grunthor feeder to it's former glory, which was when the brothers headed down the rest of the path and entered the last chamber, a circular area with four boats, exhibits in the walls, and likely something resting right in the center. Pierre stood by the door as they dropped down onto one of the four moving boats, finding that this was a 'treasure hunt' trial as holograms of Pirates appeared on the other ships, and a few even jumped out of the water to attack their own ship, causing Starswirl to take the attackers down as Ratchet swung from ship to ship so he could blast the holograms.

After taking them down an impressive inflatable island, sturdy as a real one, burst out of the center of the water and they found a hologram of one of the heavily armored Pirates waiting for them, to they opened fire on it while Pierre watched, no doubt realizing that they were just as skilled as Rivet was. Once that hologram was taken care of, and a few Puffoids that were also holograms, a surprise attack of sorts, they were able to use the Boltcrank to open the final door, allowing Ratchet and Starswirl to leave the Pirate Trials at last, while Clank mentally chuckled at how shocked Pierre was. There was another Pirate at the end of everything, in another stand and looking just as bored as her counterpart at the beginning, but she did inform them that Captain Quantum was just down the elevator and across the wooden bridge, meaning they were close to succeeding in their mission. Pierre, wanting to avoid being captured by the rest of his former allies, joined them again as they rode the elevator down to where the bridge was located, only to discover that the kraken was still, for some odd reason, following them, to which the brothers engaged their Hoverboots as Ratchet grabbed Pierre, allowing them to rush across the bridge before using a Swingshot to reach the deck of a ship that was docked in this area.

Standing nearby was a figure who was just as tall as Qwark was, in fact, as the brothers looked at him as the kraken tore the bridge apart, they discovered that it happened to be this dimension's version of Qwark, who was wearing bits and pieces of metal in certain places that made him look more robotic, with a bucket with a painted face on it that had a large black captain's hat on top, all to complete his guise.

"So Captain 'What'... what brings ye, and ye companions, here?" the figure asked, where the brothers and Clank were able to tell that it was a organic person playing at being a robot, rather well if he was able to deceive the Pirates, while noting his red attire, as opposed to Qwark's green clothing, as he turned towards them.

"Rivet asked us to come find you, because you're in terrible danger. The Emperor has..." Ratchet started to say, though as he started to mention what this dimension's version of Nefarious had in his arsenal now he and Starswirl found that the Captain raised his hand to stop him, all while Pierre stood near a door, no doubt to keep out of sight in case some Pirates came to speak with their boss.

"A Dimensionator?" Quantum finished, showing them that he, against all odds, already knew about the device and the fact that he was one of the last targets that the Emperor was seeking so he could bring despair to this dimension, to which he chuckled for a moment, upon seeing their expressions, as he tapped the side of his 'head', where the helmet projected a live feed of the Emperor and the Doctor, the latter giving the former a lesson on using the device, "We bugged him! It was, and still is, the greatest job we have pulled off to date! So actually, he's the one in danger!"

Ratchet, Starswirl, and Clank realized that the Pirates had bugged the Assistant, the annoying robot who had been near the Doctor when he stole the reforged Dimensionator from them, meaning Quantum could listen in on the orders that she was given and react accordingly, explaining how they stayed one step ahead of the Emperor.

"Amazing. Would you mind sharing the system with us, given the state of the dimension?" Starswirl asked, because he had a feeling that it would come in handy, allowing them to potentially get ahead of their foe and reclaim the Dimensionator before he did something incredibly foolish with it, and he refrained from saying anything about the helmet, allowing the Captain to see that they were playing along with his scheme.

"Give me a moment to think... Pierre, stay here and keep our friends company." Quantum stated, where he turned off the device and walked into his ship, using the door that was behind him, which was likely going to be locked once everything was said and done, though the brothers hoped he made up his mind quickly.

Sure enough they had Pirates who flew in on one of their smaller ships, where one glared down at them as they found that Pierre was still alive, however they did know that Ratchet and Starswirl were only here to talk with their Captain, so for the time being they were tolerating their presence on Ardolis.

"Captain, we've encountered Troopers near the planet. What are yer orders?" one of the Pirates said, showing them that most of the robots here were under the assumption that Quantum was just like them, and not someone pretending to be a robot, while knowing that he was inside his personal quarters.

"Gather the others and prepare to intercept them. The Emperor isn't sending an army, so we won't have to worry about fleeing to another outpost for a time." Quantum replied, his voice coming from inside the ship, though it showed that he was either smarter than Qwark or he was just as cowardly as the man from their dimension, but at least the Pirates were quick to obey his orders, "As for Pierre, bring him along and put him to work."

"As you wish. And the three newcomers?" another asked, as he was staring at the brothers and Clank right now, while at the same time Pierre sighed as he walked over to the ship and jumped up onto it, no doubt cursing his luck since it meant he'd either die fighting the Emperor or die to his own allies.

"Leave them be. I have business with them that I'd like to finish up." Quantum stated, something that caused the Pirates to bow their heads before departing from the area that he had set up his ship in, which was when the brothers found that it started to move as well, but neither of them said anything as it moved, simply waiting for their host to tell them what was going on, "So, it looked like you guys knew me... care to explain?"

Starswirl informed him that they didn't know him, rather he reminded them of Captain Qwark, their dimension's version of him to be exact, and he spent some time telling the pirate captain about the figure, since he seemed interested in the person that his dimensional counterpart had become over the years. Ratchet and Clank, on the other hand, kept an eye out for any potential rifts that the Emperor might use to ambush Quantum before he was able to get off the planet, due to the fact that it seemed like this particular set up seemed designed for the pirate captain to flee before he was caught by any of his terrible enemies. After getting a fair distance away from his hiding spot their host emerged and they found that Quantum really did look a lot like Qwark, only there was a fire in his eyes that seemed to indicate that he was braver than his dimensional counterpart, especially since it took Qwark some time to muster the courage to stand before their foes and do the right thing. He quickly informed them that, just in the off chance something happened, he had multiple helms prepared and each one happened to be equipped with the bug, so in case a foe broke one he had something to replace it with, so he was able to hand one over to them with ease, though if the Pirates returned he was heading inside to be sure they didn't see his true face.

Ratchet happily took the device, since it would be vital for them to figure out what was going on with the Emperor and the Doctor, before he turned it on to make sure it worked, not that he didn't trust Quantum, and found that it worked like a charm, which turned sour as he noticed what was in front of them.

"And there. You. ARE!" Emperor Nefarious said, where they found that he was diagonally above them, complete with the Assistant no less, both emerging from a dimensional rift as he charged up the Dimensionator, causing the brothers to realize that, with the device in hand, he was able to do so much more now.

Sure enough the Emperor fired down at the water and they found a rift opening below them, where it looked like it might be linked to a darker version of Zordoom, where Quantum picked them up as the Emperor laughed and hurled the pair off into the water, claiming it was 'hero work' as he and his ship fell into the rift. Fortunately not all was lost as Starswirl made sure his parting gift was intact, the device was nearby, and some Pirates did fly by after the Troopers left, allowing them to climb out of the water before informing them that the Emperor had kidnapped their leader. Pierre declared that they had to get back at their foe, one way or another, and all of the other Pirates agreed, so they delivered the brothers and Clank to their ship before flying off, no doubt to prepare for total war with the Emperor's forces. The three of them were still a bit surprised by all of this, how different Quantum was from Qwark and the fact that he instilled such loyalty in his men, to the point where they'd willingly charge into battle to free him, though Pierre promised that they'd stop by Zurkie's to meet up with Rivet, who was their best chance to get their captured Captain back.

With that done, and having nothing else to do on the planet, Ratchet, Starswirl, and Clank climbed back into their ship and blasted off without delay, as it was time for them to return to Zurkie's and see if Rivet had an idea as to what needed to be done next to stop the Emperor in his tracks.