//------------------------------//
// Rift Apart: Back to Savali 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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While Ratchet, Starswirl, and Clank were flying back to Zurkie's, so they could meet up with Rivet, Autumn, and Kit so they could figure out their next move before the Emperor destroyed all of reality, a red light appeared in front of them and the hologram screen they had seen earlier appeared.

"My people... I did it!" Emperor Nefarious stated, where they found that he was already back in his office, which Ratchet and Starswirl had moved through to get the ship that they were currently using right now, where they found that he had a few screens set up that showed Rivet, Quantum, the Resistance, and the Pirates, "At long last, the Pirates are vanquished, the Resistance is broken, and this galaxy is finally MINE!"

As he said that skull markings appeared on the screens, showing that he believed his foes were taken out and that his hold on this dimension had been secured at long last, causing him to jump onto the desk and dance, much to their surprise as a party started, but he quickly stopped and gestured at the next, severing the feed and caused Starswirl to raise the device that Quantum had given them to see if there was anything else.

"That's it?! Where's the joy... the bliss... the murderous enlightenment?" Emperor Nefarious remarked, where they found that all of the Helperbots that were assigned to camera duty departed as he turned down the Assistant's offer of some wine, all while Doctor Nefarious sat in a chair, pondering something that only he knew about, "Why don't I feel any different!?"

"Your Excellence, if I may?" Doctor Nefarious asked, once more surprising the brothers with how he acted after watching his counterpart in action, as he seemed to be treating the Emperor as a god or something, which wasn't good for his ego, and it caused the figure in question to glance at him, before nodding, "I thank you. The reason is simple: you've conquered this dimension, that is true, but there are more out there... I, and the heroes from my dimension, have shown you that there is more to conquer."

"You're right... you're absolutely right: I haven't really won yet!" Emperor Nefarious stated, as he understood what he was hearing, though at the same time Ratchet, Starswirl, and Clank paled, just like they figured that Rivet's group was doing as they listened in through Clank's communicator, before he stood up with a smile on his face, "There are so many different dimensions just waiting to be conquered by my hand!"

"I'd say 'good luck finding them', but I have something far better." Doctor Nefarious said, where he held a hand out and his dimensional counterpart found that he was looking at an orb with a number of stars that were scattered around it, or at least an image of something Ratchet and Starswirl had seen during their time on Savali, "All we need is a map."

"A map... the Dimensional Map!" Clank stated, as that seemed to be all of the message that the pair had, causing them to lower the device so they could realize that they would be in a world of trouble if such an item was allowed to be taken by one of their greatest foes.

"We found it in the Archives... they're going to Savali!" Ratchet remarked, though in that moment he made sure that the link to the others was open, even though he suspected that it was, because with how important this was he wanted to be sure he only said it once, "Rivet, Autumn, you guys get all that?"

"Yeah, we got it. We'll meet you guys there." Rivet replied, as she knew that Kit would be able to tell her and Autumn why the map was so special, but if Emperor Nefarious was after it it meant she needed to make sure he didn't obtain it, as it seemed like it might help him expand his influence.

With the conversation down, and they were sure the Emperor and the Doctor didn't have anything else to say, Ratchet put the ship into high gear and flew to Savali as fast as it could handle, allowing them to see that one of his larger warships were resting above the mesa as they landed. He and Starswirl were instantly shocked by what they noticed, the Archives had been downed before their arrival, another disadvantage of fighting someone who had the Dimensionator and knew how to use it, which was why they were grateful Tachyon didn't have this skill. This was also terrible, as the Dimensional Map had been inside the Archives and, if the machine had been downed, there was a chance that it was already gone, a fact that would make everything even harder since the Emperor would be able to go to whatever dimension he wanted to attack first. None of them needed to be told which one he'd target first, he was likely going to target their home, mostly to ensure that the Doctor was in his debt forever, though as they landed in the lower part of the mesa, near the machine in question, Starswirl quickly informed their sisters of what was going on right now and that they were going to check out the Archives.

Kit, of course, was more worried about Gary and the Monks, which made sense due to the fact that she had lived with all of them for so long and they were like family to her, where Ratchet informed her that they'd keep an eye out for them, as there was no telling what might have happened to them this time around.

Sure enough they found a number of Troopers guarding the area between where the brothers landed and where the large machine had collapsed after it's legs had been taken out, there was one resting on a ledge above them, to which Ratchet and Starswirl opened fire on them without delay. As that happened Rivet informed them that she was going to head for the warship, once she reached the planet anyway since she and Autumn had been further away from it than the brothers, since they might be able to catch both the Emperor and the Doctor before they got away. Once everyone knew what was going on the brothers opened fire on all of the Troopers that were currently in front of them, who had been expecting them, no doubt the Doctor having informed his new master of the fact that they'd be on their heels in no time at all, but neither of them paid much attention to that. The only good thing about all of this was that Starswirl spotted the barrier that he and Ratchet had deactivated to get inside the Archives, back during their first visit, meaning the attack had caused it to activate, meaning they could dare to hope that their foes didn't get the map just yet.

As they did that, however, Starswirl detected a dimensional shift as the ground in front of them cracked, a new rift being opened against it's will, another sign that the barrier between dimensions was becoming far too unstable as time went on, before they watched in horror as skeletal Goons, fueled by the energy of death, burst through the cracks and entered their dimension.

"Okay... Bone Goons, that's... new." Ratchet remarked, though at the same time he discovered that the skeletal beings had no love for any living creatures, as they hunted down the Troopers and also charged at him and Starswirl, but as the pair blasted them he made sure Clank connected to the others, "Guys, we've got trouble... the barrier between dimensions is getting even weaker, as we've got Goons from what looks like a dead dimension coming through to kill whoever they want... the only good thing is that they hate the Troopers as well, even if they hate us at the same time."

Kit theorized that it was possible that this undead dimension was closer to Rivet's dimension than all of the others, so by using the Dimensionator on Savali so much, a center of learning and using dimensional knowledge, it was likely that those figures were now crossing over. Ratchet really didn't want to know what life was like in the other dimension, even though he could guess that it was a universe filled with skeletal beings that existed solely to spread the influence of death itself to every corner of it's reality, before focusing on their enemies. The Bone Goons were just another force they had to worry about, since they didn't care much for anything that wasn't already dead, hence why the brothers blasted them as well as the Troopers that were still in their way, making it a three way war to get inside the Archives, or even reach it. What came as a total surprise was the fact that, despite the lack of skin and even armor, save for the shoulder straps that bared the emblem of the group and jetpacks that some wore, the skeletal enemies were tougher than their living counterparts, so it took a bit longer to wipe them out than they were used to.

In the end, after some doing, the brothers were able to take care of the Bone Goons and the barrier lowered at long last, to which they quickly rushed through the dimensional portal of the Archives and found an alarming sight, the Dimensional Map was nowhere to be seen.

"Rivet, Autumn, Kit, we're got some bad news: the map's not in the Archives anymore." Ratchet stated, as Clank knew to open the communicator so they could speak with everyone else, while at the same time he and Starswirl started to leave the Archives so they could scour the area, "I don't know if the Emperor got here first, or if Gary found out he was coming and moved it... we're going to see if we can find any of the Monks before we do anything else."

"Got it. We're closing in on his flagship right now." Rivet replied, where she, Autumn, and Kit flew through the air while she locked onto the side of the ship in question, as one of the good things about the Imperial ships was that they were able to enter the Emperor's various structures and even his ships, a loophole she loved to exploit, "Trust me, if the Dimensional Map's aboard the ship we'll get it back... if not, well, I'll take great pleasure in breaking it from the inside out."

"And if the Emperor or the Doctor are there, well, we'll take them down in no time." Autumn added, though given what was going on all over Savali, as the Troopers were scattered everywhere and seemed to be doing battle with their brand new foes, confirming that the barrier between dimensions was breaking at an alarming rate, she was sure that both of their targets were here, somewhere.

After those words let her mouth Rivet docked the ship inside the Emperor's flagship, allowing them to climb out of their own ship before making their way down the short hallway that was in front of them, though as the door in front of them opened the sisters discovered a lot of dimensional energy rolling around the center of the flagship. As Autumn noticed that the only way up was to use a platform, which Rivet agreed with, she noticed that dimensional rifts were allowing Emperor Nefarious' troops to move out of the ship and were currently attacking whatever planet the mad robot was after. The sheer scale of what he was doing, however, was alarming on it's own, because with the strain he was putting on the barrier between the dimensions it was only a matter of time until everything came crashing down, which they were trying to stop since there was no telling what sort of damage he was about to unleash. In fact Autumn was sure that some of the Troopers were currently returning from what looked like this dimension's version of the Great Clock, which, if that was true, meant Rivet's home was in dire danger, because if that detonated from the quantum strain, with the barrier in it's current state, the destruction the explosion would cause would be unimaginable.

Sure enough the Troopers noticed that they had arrived and were using the platform to move from floor to floor as they headed for the highest point, where the sisters blasted the robots that dared to get close to them, all while listening to the reports that some of the Troopers on Savali were giving their masters. They found that Ratchet's report was correct, there was an army of undead from another dimension that was currently stalling the Emperor's seizure of the Dimensional Map, or the Monks that called the planet home, to use as leverage against however held the device. At the same time, however, they discovered what Doctor Nefarious was up to, he was tracking down the other archives, looking for more weapons and other valuable Lombax information that could be used to further the Emperor's reign over this dimension and his invasion of the others. It was still shocking to find that the Nefarious from Autumn's dimension was so willing to serve another and was helping him by basically destroying everything in his path, especially given what they were discovering so far, though such a thing fueled their desire to bring the pair to justice as they blasted their way through the Troopers and ascended to the top of the ship.

Upon reaching the top, where the Emperor's chair was located, Rivet got ready to hit the robot, though before she could do so Kit realized something and tapped a button, revealing that Gary was sitting in the chair, restrained, though it looked like he had been meditating before their arrival and came back as they turned the chair.

"Ah, good, it's you guys. I was hoping you'd find me..." Gary said, though as he said that he stood up and it seemed like he pulled his back getting up, causing him to yelp in pain for a moment as he touched his back with one hand and held up the other to stop them from stepping forward, "ah, sorry, coming back to one's body mid meditation can be rather painful... ah, that smarts."

"Gary, what are you doing aboard this ship?" Kit asked, because she knew that he would never side with the Emperor, in fact the previous assault on Savali proved that to everyone that witnessed it, though she also had an idea as to why he was here in the first place.

"The Emperor and the Doctor imprisoned me here when they discovered that I had hidden the map inside an anomaly, one I personally designed." Gary replied, though while he talked he made sure to stretch his arms and legs, to work out the few kinks that remained from returning to his body before the proper time, before focusing on what they were after and what they needed to know to move forward, "They haven't found it yet, but they've been opening countless rifts willy-nilly to get to it, almost as if they don't care about the dimensional damage they are causing."

Upon learning that piece of information Rivet and Autumn informed their brothers as to what the situation was, all while Ratchet and Starswirl blasted more Bone Goons out of their way as they made their way towards where the little town was resting, when they collected the various Lombax Lorbs. Gary made sure to inform them that he had hidden the anomaly in the Catacombs, which they needed to activate one of the massive drills in the desert temple area, even though that meant they had to track down and activate three pressure plates to do so. Starswirl remembered where they were located, as he had spotted at least two of them during their time dealing with the Troopers, back during their first visit, though he didn't need to lend a hand in that department, as a large number of Bone Goons were guarding them. It was either due to them knowing that they were important or they had overheard the conversation and didn't want anyone to touch them, or this was just a coincidence and the undead were hunting them down to the best of their ability, after wiping out any Troopers who might be here.

With the sheer danger coming from the undead dimension, as there were cracks that the Bone Goons were using to cross over to this dimension, the brothers remained near each other while blasting the enemies that happened to be in front of them, since there was a chance they could be overwhelmed on their own. The sheer volume of undead made them worry about the state of the barrier, since Bone Goons were constantly pulling themselves into this dimension, intent on ending all life based on what everyone could see, though Gary did inform them that the anomaly allowing such a thing was the same he had used to hide the map in. That meant that if they found it, and retrieved the map, the threat would be sealed for the time being, hence why Ratchet and Starswirl focused on tracking down the pressure plates to activate the device inquestion, even though they were surprised by the fact that it was basically a massive drill. Such a thing made the three of them wonder what the Lombaxes had been planning for the device, or the Monks since they had taken the place over, but right now they focused on their foes and less on why such a place had been made, or what the purposes of the other two structures might be.

It took some time for them to actually track down the three pressure plates that were required for them to power up the device, but when such a thing happened it charged a small blast and tore through the ground, revealing the way down to the entrance of the Catacombs. Ratchet found that Glitch seemed interested in a nearby terminal and let her hack into it for a few moments, allowing her to deal with the Zeta Virus in no time at all, since that would allow her to deal with more viruses in the future. After that he used the nearby Boltcrank and opened the main door, allowing them to see the larger underground area they had passed through to get onto the Archives, with the rivers of green substance, meaning they had to ride some Speetles to get around the 'Aqueducts'. This time around they ignored the Bone Goons that showed up, instead they ran them over and found that it was easy to crush them with their rides, allowing the brothers to make their way through the underground area and reach what appeared to be the main chamber.

On the other side of the door the brothers found a large number of Bone Goons gathering around the massive anomaly, though in the following seconds another crack appeared and a massive undead Grunthor with large spikes on it's body, a monster that was far more terrifying than any living creature they had seen so far.

"Oh my goodness." Clank remarked, as this was far different than the one that had appeared in the arena, the one that Rivet and Autumn had faced, in fact it was far more monstrous than most of the monsters they had faced so far, which also meant it was likely far stronger than what they were used to.

Ratchet and Starswirl opened fire on the undead without delay, just like they had done in the past, though at the same time they knew that magic couldn't be used, since they were too close to the anomaly for it to be used, so their weapons were all one of them could use. Starswirl did everything in his power to make sure the Bone Goons were wiped out, a fact that proved incredibly hard to do since more and more were emerging from the rifts, which was why the Monks were in the middle of sealing the rifts, steaming the tide to be sure they were successful. Ratchet found that he was the Grunthor's target, it wanted to munch his bones and kill him, which was perfect because it allowed him to control it's aggression while blasting it as best as he could, and when several of the rifts closed Starswirl was able to join in after dealing with the army of Bone Goons. Once all of the rifts were actually dealt with, and the Monks also sealed the one that allowed the massive undead Grunthor to enter this dimension, the brothers turned everything else in their arsenal against the beast, tearing into the empowered bones that gave it it's unnatural life, before it finally collapsed and dissolved.

With that done the rift was sealed entirely, temporarily preventing the undead from breaking into this dimension, though in the following moment Ratchet rushed up to the anomaly and turned around so Clank could do his thing, while Starswirl stood at the ready in case their foes showed up. In the following moments they were caught off guard as the Emperor and the Doctor emerged from the shadows, using a cloaking device to keep themselves hidden, meaning they knew that Clank was capable of solving these things and had simply waited for them to show up. Before either brother could do anything to stop them the Emperor grabbed Ratchet by the neck and lifted him into the air, not hard enough to choke him, while at the same time Starswirl found that the Doctor had his blade arm pressed against his neck. The unspoken threat was real, if either of them even tried to resist it would be the end of one of them, Starswirl no doubt, even if they only needed one hostage to obtain the Dimensional Map, but both brothers remained still, knowing there wasn't anything they could do to stop what was happening.

Sure enough Clank was able to obtain the Dimensional Map, though as he claimed it Emperor Nefarious revealed himself to the robot and informed him that if he wanted to be sure their heads remained attached to their bodies, and not be sent to Torren IV, he should hand it over, though as soon as it was handed over Ratchet and Starswirl were thrown into a rift he opened a moment later.

"Don't worry, we'll be hosting a viewing party of my victories in Zordoom Prison!" Emperor Nefarious stated, sounding like he was on cloud nine or something, as with the Dimensionator, the Dimensional Map, and an infinite army thanks to his counterpart seizing control of this dimension's Great Clock, he had everything he needed to take control of all of creation, a fact that made him chuckle.

As he said that, however, Rivet and Autumn rushed into the chamber as Kit jumped onto the ground, where the sisters were knocked onto their backs as the Emperor integrated the map into the Dimensionator, releasing a burst of energy in the process, though since they hit some stairs it caused them to be slow getting up. In that moment Kit informed the pair that they should run, and that she was sorry, as she was looking at Rivet when she said it, before rushing towards her new targets, intending on putting an end to this. As the sisters regained themselves, however, they were too late to stop Kit from transforming into her battle form, which neither of them had known about since Ratchet and Starswirl had kept it in the dark, in fact they might not know of it either, before Rivet fell back. In that instant Autumn noticed the look in Rivet's eyes, she recognized Kit's new form, in fact she had some phantom pain in her right arm and verbally accused Kit of being the one who took her arm, something that actually made Kit sad, before the warbot rushed at the Emperor.

She blasted the Dimensionator out of the Emperor's hands, by hitting his arm, but as she leapt into the air, to blast him into oblivion, he was saved by Doctor Nefarious using the device to send her to another world or dimension in an instant, though as Autumn tended to her sister, to calm her down, both figures disappeared, but she knew that they'd cross paths again in the very near future, once Rivet was ready to move again, anyway.