It had been several months since Twilight had first started her therapy with Fizzy Drink, as she called him now. She was showing steady improvement, though apparently still a long way from full recovery. Thankfully for Ratchet's budget - since she'd taken unpaid vacation from Gadgetron once this started - therapy was one of the services covered by their lifetime VIP packages. However, Fizzy Drink's last advice to them had been hard for all three of them to act on. After all, even if saving the day again would help them, the galaxy wasn't exactly in danger every other Tuesday, and none of them were ready for 'active duty'.
For today, Twilight and Clank were working together on a sand sculpture, while Ratchet set up a beach umbrella for them all to relax under. However, it wasn't long after he'd set up the umbrella and lay back in the shade before someone managed to snap a picture of him. He turned, mildly irritated, to see who the photographer was.
To his surprise, it was a little red haired girl with her hair done in a quad-pigtail style. She smiled happily at the picture she had taken before turning to snap one of Twilight.
"Hey!" Ratchet growled, though not too menacingly. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm taking picthureth for my thcool projecth!" she replied happily in a pleasantly high pitched, innocent voice. "I'm doing a report on heroeth, and I recognithed you from the newthpaperth!" She looked up endearingly. "You're Ratchet, right? And Twilight Thparkle?"
"So much for VIP anonymity," Ratchet murmured.
"I wath wondering," the girl continued eagerly, "if it would be pothible to get thom picthures of you two doing thome 'heroic acthion!"
"I don't know..." Ratchet replied. "Now might not be-"
"It could be fun," Twilight interrupted, stepping forward.
"Twilight?" Ratchet asked worriedly. "Are you sure?"
"Just a bit of practice while she takes some pictures," Twilight pointed out. "No big danger, no huge stakes, no galaxy in danger...baby steps, right?"
"I know where there are thome robotth you can fight!" the girl offered.
Clank sighed as he attached himself to Ratchet's back. "This will not end well," he murmured to no one in particular.
Ratchet and Twilight went down the path the little girl indicated, fighting some wild crabs that were still only somewhat hostile, and performing various physical activities of exploration - from double jumps to triangle jumps and the like - as the little girl requested, so she could take pictures. As promised, they also encountered some robots to fight, as this was apparently Pokitaru's new obstacle course.
At the end of it, the girl - who introduced herself as Luna, which gave Twilight a momentary sense of vertigo for some reason - began to fangasm over how great her report would be. Twilight took a step to the side to get her bearings again, and noticed a rather familiar figure doing his best to be inconspicuous as he read a newspaper while wearing a rather pretty white hat with flowers in it. He wasn't doing a very good job at being inconspicuous. "Qwark?" she asked in surprise.
"Why Twilight!" Qwark replied, doing a very poor job of acting surprised and innocent. "What a coincidence! And I was just hoping I might bump into you accidentally so I could wish you a happy birthday and see how you were doing!"
Twilight blushed happily. "You came all this way...just to wish me an early happy birthday and check on me?" Her thirteenth birthday was coming up in a few days, and she had been thinking it would be a good time to reunite with everyone, but Qwark making his way here - especially when he apparently wasn't supposed to - was very touching.
"Yup!" Qwark replied happily. "And...other stuff." He quickly coughed. "So what are you doing on the obstacle course?" he asked, changing the subject.
Twilight's eyes narrowed. Sometimes, Qwark was just too transparent. "I'm trailing Ratchet and Clank to see what they're doing so I can join in on their next adventure," she replied in a deadpan monotone.
"Hey! That's what I'm doing!" Qwark called out happily. He then realized from Twilight's glare that he'd been had...again. "Uh, I mean...oh, you know me too well," he admitted.
Twilight watched Qwark for a time, trying to analyze his motives. All too readily, all those pictures she'd seen in his sanctum back on Yeedil came to mind, the ones where he stood alone. "...what happened to your parents?" she asked, directly and quietly.
Qwark flinched visibly. Had he been maneuvered around to this subject, he likely would have burst into tears at having to retell it. But Twilight's sympathetic look, and the way she cut through all his distracting excuses, helped him face it without a storm of tears. "I...I don't know," he said at last, sitting down beside her. "I never knew them. I was raised by Skrunch's people, it's why I know their language so well, and went back to them when I was...lost...after what happened in Bogon."
Twilight reached forward and patted his arm in sympathy. "Have you...considered looking for your parents? Trying to find out who they are?"
Before Qwark could answer, new green robots attacked, damaging the resort and pursuing Luna. All four heroes immediately broke into pursuit, Qwark proving to be surprisingly in shape as he raced along with the others, only having minor problems getting up jump shafts due to his bulk. He'd also apparently acquired a pair of Magnegrind Boots in his size.
However, despite their best efforts, they made it too late, catching up only just in time to overhear that Luna was being taken to someplace called Kalidon. Before she was stolen away, Luna dropped a small green device that Clank claimed was of Technomite origin.
"Technomite?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"It's what parents tell their children to explain how technology works," Ratchet replied. "They say the Technomites do it. They're just a fairy tale."
"So's magic," Qwark pointed out, jerking a thumb at Twilight.
Ratchet's glaring frown in response was almost comical.
"Whether it is Technomite in origin or not," Clank spoke up, letting Ratchet salvage some of his dignity, "the coordinates etched on the side are our only lead to finding her."
"I dunno..." Ratchet began, looking towards Twilight worriedly.
"It's just a simple rescue operation," Twilight pointed out. "Maybe an ancient secret or two, but no real danger. Baby steps, right Daddy?"
"Why do I feel like that should be on a list of famous last words?" Qwark asked no one in particular.
Aw.
See, Kudzu's not the only one who can do 4AM updates.
Unusually perceptive there, Qwark.
Size Matters was never one of my favorite R&C games. The various size stuff was neat, but the story was really predictable...and the villain just can hold a candle to an enjoyable villain like Nefarious or someone wonderfully loathsome like Vox (who still died way too quickly). Having Twilight and Qwark around will hopefully make it better.
If I remember right, you once said that you are going to get all of the ponies back together sooner or later. Is that still true?
6407202
Size Matters was okay; trouble is, it's one of those filler titles.
It just didn't have the scale that the other games had, and was far too short.
At least the different armors made up for it.
6407232
Yes, it's still true.
6407249
Alrighty then.
6407234 Never said Size Matters was bad....just, like you said, kinda filler. It was like the more recent Into the Nexus, only the villains in that are more enjoyable. But in both I got to the end and my first response was "Where's the rest?"
Man this game suuuuuucks it improved to a 6/10 from a 4/10 (when they ported it) on my own scale. My main Gripe with the game (at the time) was the fact Insomniac Never developed it and from what i found they made it intermission matierial, however when it got the port to PS2 it was much smoother, this game would make an Excellent Retexture Remaster however.
Is this story going to end this year?
Also this game was made to keep eyes away from Insomniac while they made (in europe all the RC games excluding size matters had different names) Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction/Future Tools of Destruction. Auther can you also rename the the titles to include the Official European Titles? I'll name them next Post.
European title names are: Ratchet and Clank 2: Locked & Loaded [] Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal Ratchet: Gladiator [] all the PS3 titles are the same name just without "Future" caption in them
6407297
Not sure, but doubtful. There are several more games to get through.
6407314
In the story description are all the games I'm going through, listed by the titles I know, which are the titles I'm going to use.
6407325
And I'm not going to rename chapters throughout the entire story just because one reader asks. I've already gone through everything but Size Matters and the PS3 titles.
Ah, and now we begin getting into games I've not played.
Reminds me of when Ratchet and Clank briefly broke the fourth wall in 2.
Glad to see Twilight is willing to jump right out of her comfort zone to rescue a little girl she barely knows. At least Qwark is there to help the team, let's see him be the hero Twilight believes he can be!
Whelp... So much for vacation and therapy... And it's definitely going to be in the list of famous phrases.
OMG!!! it's Twist!
I just can't fucking wait until we get to the PS3 ones, with one in particular. ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN FOR A CRACK IN TIME!!!
Hmmm... If I've got the time skip for the PS3 titles right, Twilight should be catching up to her previous age some time during those events.
And I could have sworn you had planned to skip Size Matters. Anyway, here's hoping that Quark has matured enough not to end up falling for the idiot ploy used in the actual game.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
And now onto number two of the two Ratchet and Clank games I own never managed to finish. Size Matters.
I HATE the drug trip part of that game... Just... UGH!!! Platforming's hard enough without the background blurring on you and making it near impossible to see where the platform is after you start moving. AND DON'T FORGET THE HALLWAY OF EYEBALLS!!! How the hell I got past them I still don't quite understand...
6407366 Just wait for the Drug Trip part of that game... Good GOD that part's weird and annoying
6407366 Same here, I never even looked at anything past Deadlocked. I feel like, as good as the ratchet and clank future games may or may not have been, I'll always prefer the first 3 games more.
6407956 Wonder what twi's reaction will be once Ratchet finds the blueprints twilight scattered around?
6409158 He's gonna flip. Looking forward to that as well. And I notice that just about every time I comment on this story, you reply. Are my comments really that interesting?
6409257 Yeah, I just like talking with a fellow enthusiast
Going commando was my first game for PS2, so naturally I'm loyal to the series.
6409663 Ah, the oldies. The days of bad graphics and horrific glitches. Gotta love 'em!
The hall way of eyeballs reminds me how wierd the game went
I remember when clank said that.. hand on his hip and all...
YES!!! caught up from annihilated nation to here in one night! (It is now 3:22 in the morning and I started after 6)
No Twilight you have induced Murphy's Law on us all!!!!!
6413430
I see that when you like a story you binge read every few days or so right?
6413838 I hadn't had a computer over the summer so....yea I think you get it..
6415656 I hear that.
Luna is an Evil Master Mind?
A humanized Twist who happens to be named Luna...
Why does that sound like it might have been the Princess looking for Twilight?
Also... if you keep updating as quickly as you do, I don't know if I'll catch up before the Hiatus ends lol
Well, I've binge read everything so far, but have to call it a night here. I have no idea what is going to happen from here on (I only played until Deadlocked, since I've never gotten a PSP or PS3), so I should probably start the rest when I'm more awake.
I've loved everything so far!
"I have a bad feeling about this." ~ Han Solo.
7126714 i have a bad feeling about this-obi wan (that line was said in every star wars movie)
Everyone knows the best therapy a hero can get is being a hero.
And now we come to the one canon game I haven't played or watched... and coincidentally the only one I don't own (that I know of).
Princess of cause.
8198916
actually, Size matters is not canon but rather a side game.
8831868
wait...let me just... REALLY?! I always thought it WAS cannon!
9833564
I looked it up. Its cannon
10309881
Canon: The official events of a story world.
Cannon: A big tube that fires a metal sphere at high speeds (or a blast of sound in the case of a sonic cannon).
Sounds the same, spelled similarly, but they're different words.
10815151
Both can sink ships tho. :3