//------------------------------// // Time: Family // Story: The Sparkle in his Eye // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// "Tell me everything!" Ratchet demanded eagerly as the group returned to Alister's little residence at the top of the defunct mining robot. "How did the two of you meet? What was my dad like when he was younger? How did my parents meet? How did he become friends with so many different people? How did he start working on all these-" "Whoa, whoa!" Alister interrupted. "Easy there, Ratchet. That's a lot of questions, and I only have so many answers." He sighed a little sadly. "It's...it's been a long time. And...as fond as the memories are, some have faded a bit." Seeing Ratchet, Twilight, and Aphelion's disappointment, he sighed. "Alright, I'll try..." He leaned back, letting his mind reach into his foggy past. "Your father was brilliant, even as a child. He used to brag that his parents found it impossible to contain him, since he could dismantle his play pens and turn them into mobile walkers with just his binky and a well sucked candy. Despite that, he wasn't very physically fit until he reached his late teens. But one thing that stood out for everyone who knew him...as we put it, the only thing stronger than his brain was his heart. Friends, family, strangers...if there was someone in trouble or needing help, he wouldn't leave until he'd tried to help them." He chuckled softly. "The only thing more frustrating for those of us who called him friend than that part of him was the fact that he usually succeeded. "We first became friends...when we were about six," Alister explained. "I'd gotten a bit...reckless with my father's hoverboots, and found myself trapped at the bottom of a cliff. He stumbled across me, and scaled down to ask me what was wrong." He chuckled rather fondly at that. "Of course, then we were both trapped at the bottom of a cliff. But he managed to supercharge the boots to get us both to the top...where our folks found us, and we both got in trouble for recklessness and burning out the boots. We became fast friends ever since." "Yeah, definitely sounds like something you'd do, Daddy," Twilight said happily. "I really do need to learn to look before I leap, don't I?" Ratchet agreed, rubbing Twilight's upturned head. "And that's why looking after you is so stressful," Aphelion grumbled. Laughing, Alister continued. "As for Vashiir...we met her in secondary education, about equivalent to what the rest of the galaxy calls 'middle school'. Kaden was still a bit physically limited, so he struggled in the more physical aspects of the curriculum...but even though he could have chosen to drop those and specialize in the academic, he wanted to stick with me, so I helped him get through it. Vashiir was at the complete opposite end of the social ladder from us. Top of the physical classes, the most popular girl in the school, but she struggled a bit with her academics relative to the other students...not that she'd let that slow her down. If there's one thing she was - other than beautiful - she was stubborn. "The three of us were actually born to the lower echelons of Lombax society," Alister explained, "but your level in society was based on your talents, not your birth. All three of us were determined to climb all the way to the top...and when Kaden freely offered to tutor her without asking for anything in return, she stuck with us just to figure him out." "Sounds a lot like most of your girls, Daddy!" Twilight offered with a laugh. "Eh...not really," Ratchet responded, not quite agreeing with her. "Funny you should say that, though," Alister commented to Twilight. "When Kaden finally got his growth spurt, he turned into a total chick magnet. I can't count the number of times Vashiir and I would be talking about some assignment or other in Tertiary school - high school - and Kaden would charge into the dorm room the three of us shared, dive under his bed, and beg us to 'keep the crazy chicks away from him'!" Twilight and Aphelion burst into peals of laughter. Ratchet found himself feeling nervous, trying not to imagine what it would be like if Angela, Sasha, and Talwyn decided they wanted to share him...only to learn they weren't interested in taking turns. As Alister started to take a drink, Twilight spoke up. "So at what point in Kaden and Vashiir's courtship did you get over your unrequited crush on her?" She quickly raised a magical shield to deflect the spray. Alister coughed a bit, then set his cup down. "We have more important things to talk about," he stated firmly. "The fate of the entire universe hangs in the balance." He stood up, moving to a shelf where various objects were set. "Oh...never..." Twilight murmured, glancing away worriedly. "Kaden was the first Outsider to theorize the existence of the Great Clock," Alister explained, pulling out an old parchment. He unrolled it to reveal some old runes and their translations. "'Clock' being a crude translation of the runes on Quantos, as they actually mean 'Keeper of Time'. Since the Fongoids - who know more about the Zoni than anyone - refer to them as the Guardians of Time..." "Then you think the Zoni took Mommy to the Great Clock?" Twilight asked, surprised. On the way back, Aphelion had given Alister the Cliff Notes version of their reasons for being in the system. "If Clank's connected to them, he must play some part in its operation," Alister agreed, returning to a large chest where he began fishing around for something. "...Vorselon said something about how the Clock was theirs," Ratchet murmured. "And we saw that the Zoni brought Nefarious to 'repair' Clank..." "Then we'll need to go fast if we're to save your friend," Alister replied firmly. "And the universe as we know it. And for a Lombax, there's only one way to go fast." Grinning, he tossed Ratchet a pair of boots. "Your father's hoverboots. Ready for your first lesson-" "No, Twilight!" Ratchet scolded, glaring down at Twilight's pouting begging face. "You may not take them apart to study how they work or try and combine them with the magne-grind boots. Make a duplicate and experiment with that." "Okay!" Twilight agreed happily, using her magic to duplicate the circuitry of the hoverboots before taking them into Aphelion to study their workings. Alister stared after her. "...how is it she takes after Kaden almost more than you do?" he asked. "We were well matched," Ratchet offered lamely. "So...about that lesson?"