As the group landed on Ryllus, Qwark let go of the outside of the space ship - as the cockpit hadn't had room for him, and he'd claimed he could handle riding the outside - dropping heavily on the landing pad with a thwump. Twilight immediately poked her head out to check on him, stupefied to find that he had somehow suffered no damage from space flight, reentry, or oxygen deprivation. Somehow, clinging to the outside of the ship like a limpet and 'holding his breath' had actually worked for letting him hitch a ride, and he claimed he'd done so before.
Meanwhile, Clank gestured to how ruined the area seemed to be, overgrown and untended. "The Technomites appear to have abandoned this area," he pointed out.
"Yeah," Ratchet agreed sarcastically. "The 'Technomites'..."
"Still don't believe?" Qwark asked, sitting up.
"Not until I see one," Ratchet countered. "I'll accept there's a possibility I'm wrong, given what you said about magic...but I'm not about to be pleasant about it. I know too much actual science to accept the idea of a race of microscopic beings making it all work."
"Fair enough," Clank replied. "But where do we go from here?"
"I'd suggest the biggest building," Qwark pointed out. "That's where all the functional tech is left. At least, that's where it was last time I was here."
"Thanks Qwark," Ratchet replied. "Let's go!"
"Actually..." Twilight began, drawing attention. "Think I could just wait here? It's...been a while since I was in space, and I'm feeling a little woozy."
"Really?" Ratchet asked in shock, rushing over to check on her. "In that case, we'll wait until you've recovered-"
"Luna's life is in peril, remember?" Twilight pointed out. "We can't waste time. You and Clank can go check out the building. Qwark can stay here and keep an eye on me, right Captain?"
"Of course!" Qwark agreed readily. "You'll be perfectly safe with me Twilight, or my name's not Copernicus Leslie Qwark!"
"Copernicus?" Clank asked, surprised.
"Leslie?" Ratchet snorted in amusement.
"And now you all know why I prefer to go by 'Captain'," Qwark replied sulkily.
"But are you certain you'll be alright without both of us, Twilight?" Clank asked. "You...tend to get nervous when we're away..."
"I'll be fine as long as Qwark's here," Twilight replied, smiling up at the Captain.
Ratchet's eyebrows climbed up to his ears at that statement. "...alright," he replied. "Stay safe. We'll be right back." With that, he and Clank began to explore the planet's surface.
As soon as they were out of sight, Twilight hopped easily up to the ship's computer console, calling up a search engine.
"You certainly don't seem woozy," Qwark pointed out.
"I'm not, really," Twilight replied, "but I didn't feel it was the appropriate time to tell Daddy about you being an orphan, and I wanted to help you research your family history to see if we can find out where you come from."
Qwark gasped in shock at her statement, then pulled her into a hug. "You're too good to me, Twilight...and I don't deserve a bit of it."
Twilight giggled and wriggled out of the embrace. "Come on," she said again. "Let's find your parents."
Qwark sat back, feeding her whatever information she needed as she worked the search engines to find out about his parentage. Partway through the search, however, a message for Qwark popped up from a company called Faux-Family.com. It contained within it what appeared to be the entirety of Qwark's family tree.
"Wow, can you believe it?" Qwark asked eagerly. "And look! My parents are still alive! I can go meet them!"
Twilight winced slightly at his eagerness, unwilling to disillusion him but knowing she had to point out the obvious. "Umm...Qwark? Don't you think this is...at all suspicious?"
Qwark rolled his eyes. "Of course it is, Twilight. I know what 'faux' means. French is literally the only course in school I aced. In all likelihood, some villain created this specifically so they could use it to manipulate me for some villainous scheme as dumb muscle. It couldn't be any more obvious if it was trying. I'm not that dumb!"
Twilight stared at him in surprise. "But...but if you know, then...why are you so excited?"
Qwark looked Twilight straight in the eye. "Because, Twilight...ever since the day I realized I wasn't a monkey - when I turned 18 - I've wondered...where do I come from? Who are my parents? Why was I left behind? Who am I?" He shook his head. "In all likelihood, this is a trap...but there's a slim possibility that it isn't...and I have to seize that chance with everything I have. In my shoes...wouldn't you do the same?"
Twilight lowered her head. "I...I guess..."
Reaching out, Qwark stroked her mane. "Don't worry. I'll keep my eyes open and won't take anything I'm told at face value. I'll guard myself against possible trickery...but I can't just walk away if there's any chance it's real." Leaning forward, he wrapped her in a gentle embrace. "We won't mention this to Ratchet and Clank, and I'll make my own way from whatever planet we go to next."
Twilight nodded, returning the embrace. "I understand. Good luck."
Not long after that, Ratchet and Clank returned with coordinates for Kalidon.
...My god... Quark is the Hulk... He survived re-entry and didn't need oxygen to breath.
6415818
He's not so much stupid as desperate and hopeful. After all, he did say he wouldn't take anything he was told at face value.
That would explain why he was only in ninth grade at the age of 26.
I find myself actually waiting for this fic to update just so i can read it....damn Tatsurou your really good at what you do. i actually follow several of your fics I think. was always a fan of ratchet and clank but never really got to play past the second one. Seeing Twilight in the last arc though definitely made my heart ache for the poor girl but I am glad to see that she has more or less made it through it keep up the good work look forward to more of pretty much everything you have
6415833 Oh yeah... I forgot about that. No, wait... wouldn't he be in seventh grade at 26? That is, assuming he immediately set out to attain an education of course.
6415882
Oh...you're going to hate me a few chapters from now...
Now is when the good stuff of this arc begins
6415893 Ratchet 3, Qwark vid-comic 3, end sequence, from 5:50:
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
6415922 If it's the enemies you have to kill in the last level, then I think I know what you mean.
Heh, Qwark's middle name is Leslie.
6416141
Not even close.
Much sooner than that.
I can't help but think that his eyebrows climbed near diagonally instead.
And that foreshadowing Tats... Should we prepare the feels train?
6416386 You EVVIIIIIIILL bastard. Please write more.
6416386
...oh Faust... You hinted at it before, but now you're actually going to do it. You are a horrible, evil monster.
...
Keep up the good work!
Going in expecting a trap means you can be very happy when it isn't and counter ambush the trap setter when it is.
6415780 No, he's Batman. Because Batman Can Breathe in Space!!!!
when are they going to find twilight home planet?
love this story!!
Can't wait for more!!!!!!!!
keep up your hard work!!!
Yay for Twilight recovering some! Also, Qwark's going to get brain drained that much sooner, isn't he? Any way, I am actually surprised he told them his full name in a moment of heroic ness.
... Alright, so, we're basically going to do the same plot for this? Only, Quark knew it was a lie all along?
Alright, move on ahead then.
*reads chapter*
...
*sighs*
God, DAMNIT, Quark...
Just...
Why...
FUCK!!!
More depth to Quark's character?
6417861
Here.
You have to turn "View Mature" on, though.
6416915 This time he's got Twilight along though...
6416569 ... I feel like I'm missing something here...
6417541 The best way to counter an ambush is to know that it's an ambush ahead of time
6418436 True, but Twilight isn't easy to manipulate via claims of parenthood. At least not without a quadrupedal robot covered in fake fur with similar physical proportions to her... Then again, she hasn't started to remember yet.
6418445
The idea of some baddie trying to clone Twilight has been brandied around a few times in this fic. Given that this story arc is based on a game that includes clones of Ratchet, it is not a stretch to conclude that we will actually see clones of Twilight instead.
6418585
You're forgetting how they collect the samples they need to make the clones...and how different from anything in the known galaxies Twilight's physiology is.
6418604 So THAT'S what they where doing to Ratchet at that facility? I haven't gotten very far in that game (Or any R&C game for that matter). Yeah, I think the magic part would stump them.
6418556 She sort of has. Remember what she did when she first heard Luna's name? She almost remembered.
6418981
Actually...it has nothing to do with her magic. Look at medical history...specifically, the early history of anesthesiology, if you want a spoiler.
6419018 What, when they just used Ether gas? I assume you mean that none of their anesthetics would work on her?
6419058
I mean the more...horrific aspects of early experiments with anesthetic. Regarding when it didn't work the way it was supposed to.
6419067 Alright, I didn't feel like sleeping tonight anyway, which is why I was playing Dead Space 3 earlier!
*One Google search later*
" including ether, chloroform, and cocaine" They're going to get her high on Cocaine? Nah... *Continues to the Wikipedia entry, sees what one of the first anesthetics was* They're going to get her high on Opium instead... alright then... (I'm tired, it's 12:40 where I am, and I can't sleep) Or are you saying that there's going to be... unintended side effects?
6419109
It isn't about what they used. It's about what happened with some of the things they tried. Wait until the chapter, you'll see.
6419109 6419067
Well, that does explain that... acid trip of a level before Ratchet wakes up.
Well dam looks like the comments section got redacted.
6418986 Not really, you probably know about a dozen Chris', but you only really talked with maybe one and every time you hear some one call for a Chris, you assume it's the one you know for a moment. Familiarity does not equal memory, just cognitive dissonance.
6415656
that stinks I don't think i would like being with out my laptop for more than a few weeks.
6421729 its mostly about the mega-rocket cannon
6419346 Yes, the SCP foundation is taking over the comment section.
will you make a crossover that stars Sunset Shimmer?
preferably Jak and Daxter?
BTW... can't wait to see how you handle Crack in Time
6422663
Sunset's going to Star Fox.
Shining Armor's going to Jak and Daxter.
And in the future, please post story requests on my user page, not on existing stories.
earth, a planet so important, so well known that they teach one of it's langeuges all across the galaxy
Well, the plot thickens!
6422686
Falco: "Alright, we have four ships. One of us has to stay behind."
Slippy: "I vote Fox!"
Fox: "I vote Slippy."
Sunset: "Slippy."
Peppy: "3 for Slippy, 1 for Fox."
Slippy: "Go do a barrel roll, you old coot!"
Falco: "Fox, help! I've been shot down again! Frog instincts failing!"
Slippy: "..."
gah, what is wrong with the spacing?
7227233
I have no idea how that crazy formatting happened.