Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: The Interview

A month had passed before Ratchet, Clank, Starlight, and Sunset were brought to a studio for their 'Hero Interview', though it was mainly because Mr. Gadget wanted to have the best possible candidate interview the four of them. There were plenty of people he had researched that had problems all over the place, which would have made the following interview with his greatest stars impossible. Some of them even had a habit of asking the wrong questions, something that actually made his decision much easier as he could simply remove those offenders and move onto the next person in line. In the end he had decided on someone by the name of Discordious, though he insisted that he be called Discord during the course of the interview, and had arranged for Starlight and her family to appear on the Chaotic Nature for their interview.

Discord appeared to be wearing a brown suit, but every time Mr. Gadget looked at him he could have sworn that he spotted something different about the humanoid, be it small horns or a tail that disappeared moments later. He was fairly certain that Discord was actually of a race that had the ability to shift their form, with how every so often something about his body changed, though every time someone mentioned the changes to him he seemed to brush them off. There was even a pair of metal gauntlets that he wore over his hands, which either covered up what his hands actually looked like or gave him a unique look to separate himself from the other hosts that Mr. Gadget could have chosen from.

Still, to be on the safe side Mr. Gadget was also in the studio, so he could watch the interview as it took place and see if there was anything they had to edit later on.

Ratchet, Clank, and Starlight entered the studio first, though Mr. Gadget knew that Sunset was going to be running a few minutes late, because she was either running some tests on something they had found after Drek's defeat or she was practicing her magical abilities. The three that were present approached the chairs that Discord and his assistants had prepared for this event, where the host was sitting in a chair opposite of Ratchet's and Starlight's own. There was a chair designed to fit Starlight's body, as she really couldn't sit comfortably in an ordinary chair, and a fourth one that was supposed to be Sunset's, though neither Ratchet nor Starlight seemed worried that their sister wasn't there on time.

"Where is Sunset?" Clank asked, taking his seat as Ratchet and Starlight did the same, though he was the first one to express his concern for the missing member of their group.

"Running late, like we said when we left the house," Starlight replied, pulling out her tablet for a moment, checking her messages and finding nothing from her sister, "We've got five minutes before the show actually has to start, so let's hope that she arrives before its time to start... otherwise we'll have to start without her."

Ratchet didn't say anything about the fact that Sunset might be late, because he was considering everything that she had been through over the three weeks they had flown across the galaxy to stop Chairman Drek... and the transformation he, Clank, and Starlight had witnessed during the final fight. Sunset had withdrawn into herself after watching the video of her 'hollow', as Starlight deemed the creature, trashing Drek to the point that it obliterated their enemy. He could tell, without having to ask anything, that the experience had changed her personality and how she looked at life, as she had become more serious about learning control over her powers.

As he began to delve deeper into his thoughts, or tried to anyway, he heard some footsteps behind where he was sitting and turned around to find Sunset approaching them, though she was carrying a small box under one arm. Besides the box she was carrying, Ratchet noticed that his sister had changed out of the clothing she normally wore and was now wearing some sort of black robe now.

"Sorry I'm late, I was making some last minute changes to my weapon," Sunset commented, patting the sword that she always carried, but didn't go into detail as she took her seat, "So, did I miss anything?"

"No, we were just about to start." Starlight happily commented, just as the lights changed and their host got the show started, as if he had been waiting for Sunset to show up before they started.

"Welcome to Chaotic Nature!" Discord called out, standing before the crowd and holding his arms out, to which they cheered at him for a few seconds, "I'm your host Discordious, but please do call me Discord. Joining me today are the heroes that toppled the mad Chairman Drek and saved the Solana Galaxy from total destruction; Ratchet, Clank, Starlight, and Sunset. Or, as they have come to be known as throughout the galaxy, the Glimmer Family."

Discord moved his hand towards the four of them, to which the crowd cheered for a bit as he returned to his seat, where he had carefully prepared his notes for the actual interview.

"We've got a list of questions that people would like to have answered," Discord said, organizing his notes into their proper order before looking up at them again, "but first, I think we'll start with something simple; how does it feel to not only put a stop to Chairman Drek's plans, but also restore the planets that he had ripped sections out of and save the galaxy?"

"A little overwhelming to be honest," Ratchet admitted, glancing at Clank for a moment before returning his attention to their host, "When we first left Veldin we were trying to find Captain Qwark, so that the galaxy's greatest hero could muster whatever he needed so he could put a stop to Drek's plans. None of us thought that we would take up the torch, so to speak anyway, and take the fight to Drek... it still doesn't seem completely real though."

"I am quite proud of what we accomplished," Clank added, "My initial goal was to find transport to someone who could put a stop to Drek, but never did I imagine that I would be joining the fight myself. I'd say that the Chairman got everything that he deserved... and then something he wasn't expecting."

"It sure was exhausting work," Starlight commented, to which Sunset nodded her agreement to the statement, "though it did give me plenty of time to test the many weapons that Sunset and I developed for mass production... and one jewel that had been stolen by Drek."

"Jewel?" Discord asked, curious as to what Starlight was talking about, to which she pulled up a picture of the RYNO... as Mr. Gadget had made sure that the dangerous weapon had been left behind.

"The RYNO," Starlight replied, a smile appearing on her muzzle as she looked at the first in what could be a long line of weapons, "Stolen by a Shady Salesman, sold to Chairman Drek, produced by our enemy, and reacquired before the thief could sell it on the Black Market."

It was clear that even a picture of the mighty weapon was enough to make Discord pause, though after a few seconds he cleared his throat and the picture was put away. Discord looked at Sunset for a moment, to see if she had something that she wanted to add to what the others had said, but when he got nothing he decided that it was time to move on.

"So Ratchet, how does it feel to have two sisters that are much smarter than you are?" Discord asked, reading one of the questions he had pulled from a questionnaire he had sent out a few days before the interview.

"It pushes me to be my best and find what I'm actually capable of," Ratchet replied, not surprised that someone would want to have that answered, "Starlight might be the queen of making weapons and Sunset might be great at making gadgets, but I'm not too bad at flying ships and taking out enemies from the sky. Maybe I'll get into mechanics in the future as well... so I can fix the ships that we have and any appliances that need fixing."

"Not without my assistance," Clank added, indicating that he believed that Ratchet might need some help in the mechanic field.

"Now something for the young mare," Discord said, suddenly shifting to Starlight for a moment, "Are there any projects that you had to scrap before completing them? Or is there anything you had to take apart to add to another project?"

"Not exactly," Starlight replied, taking a moment to think through all of her inventions and see if there had been one that she had to get rid of or add to another one, "No, I don't think there are any that I had to take apart or add to another weapon."

"And how about you Sunset?" Discord said, shifting the same question to the cazar for a moment, "Same question to you."

Sunset stared at Discord for a moment, clearly thinking through all of the gadgets that she had designed and had rejected, either because they failed her expectations or the expectations of Gadgetron. There was one or two that she had in mind, though they weren't total failures because parts of them had been included on other projects her coworkers had worked on.

"There was an EMP device I developed by accident when I was working on the electric fence," Sunset finally said, to which Starlight nodded because it had wrecked one of her own weapons when they discovered it, "unfortunately it kept wrecking the fence, so I gave the information to a coworker and Gadgetron, eventually, produced the Tesla Claw."

"That raises another question," Discord said, seeing how Sunset was finished with the mention of the weapon, "How did you guys track down Professor Nora anyway?"

"Oh, that's simple." Starlight answered, "She didn't clear her work computer of all her files and, after some digging, we discovered that she had a safe house that she would be staying at for a few days before disappearing completely. We decided to arrest her and brought justice to those that she caused the death of... I'm just annoyed that she betrayed the company and joined Chairman Drek."

"And how do you feel about Gadgetron working with the Blarg?" Discord asked, knowing that this would be a touchy subject for them, as the Blarg had been enemies up until the defeat of Chairman Drek.

"They aren't terrible when you get to know them," Clank commented, knowing that it would take Starlight and Sunset longer to answer the question, "though their newest Head Scientist seems... a little bit mad."

A video popped up on the screen beside Discord, which showed the Blarg scientist in question rubbing his hands and smiling as if he had something terrible in mind. He then said something about getting back at one of his coworkers for always taking his food from the company fridge, though whatever his plan was none of them bothered to listen to. Starlight actually chuckled a bit, because she knew that the scientist didn't have the same skills that Drek had, so there was no reason to worry about him trying to destroy the galaxy like the scientist that came before him.

"Okay, we've got a few more to ask before the session is over," Discord commented, turning off the video before facing the four of them once more, "though this one is more of a curious observation that many are likely asking themselves at the moment. Sunset Shimmer, what in the world are you wearing at the moment?"

"Oh, you mean the robes?" Sunset said, earning a nod from both Discord and half of the audience in attendance, "These are shinigami robes, or rather their supposed to be. When I was researching potential powers to test, such as a interesting fire spell, I noticed that the people of Old Earth had a society of peace keepers that wore this type of armor. Under the robe I'm wearing pieces of my original suit, but this is supposed to turn from cloth to metal when someone attacks me with a handheld weapon... so I'll have to wait to test it in the future."

"I can tell that your fond of the Old Earth powers that you've discovered," Discord commented, not asking a question as he looked at Sunset, "though I have to ask; does this mean that your swearing off weapons and switching to magic full time?"

Sunset remained silent for a moment, because while she felt like a natural at magic, just like Starlight was, she had the uneasy feeling that using too much at any given time would awaken her hollow once more. At the moment she knew that she would rely on her sword, because she had designed it to be an extension of herself, but she knew that the weapon alone wouldn't last her in the long run. She was going to have to resort to guns in the future, she knew that to be true, so it made her answer much more simple once she had thought about it.

"Not for the foreseeable future," Sunset replied, crossing her arms for a moment after she laid the box in her lap, "I might be learning to use my powers at the moment, but I need much more practice before I can actually leave Starlight's weapons behind and take up the mantle of magic all by itself."

"I can see that," Discord commented, sighing before reaching the end of his list, "Okay then, one last question; many people have heard a rumor that you guys found something on Quartu, something that has been lost for some time. Tell us, is this true or are the rumors merely pulling our legs?"

"Oh, the rumors are definitely true," Sunset said, tapping the box for a moment and causing the six sides to separate for a moment, revealing the shimmering gemstone that she had brought with her, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to all of you, across the entirety of the Solana Galaxy and its planets, one of the long lost Raritanium Cores!"

The crowd gasped for a moment and held their breath, because they had heard stories about the discovery about six special pieces of raritanium that suddenly vanished. Even Mr. Gadget, who had been amazed by the feats that his shining stars were capable of in the past, was shocked by the fact that they had found one of the legendary six crystals, something that he had tried and failed to find on his own. He stared at the purple crystal as it floated there, though he was wondering where the other five crystals had been taken to... but he knew that if anyone could find them it would be his own stars.

"Raritanium... Core?" Discord asked, carefully eying the crystal while keeping his distance from it, which was kind of hard considering he was sitting in the chair at the moment.

"A special piece of raritanium that was discovered on a planet at the edge of the Solana Galaxy, by the explorer Max Apogee," Sunset replied, staring at the crystal with awe in her eyes, something that she was sure that wouldn't go away anytime in the near future, "Its said that Max Apogee exploded the edge of the galaxy, searching for planets that have yet to be explored, before he discovered a planet that he knew hadn't been documented yet. He ventured down to the surface and explored the forest that he landed on the outskirts of, taking note of how differently the forest acted than any other forest he had been in before.

The story goes that he found some sort of ancient ruin in the middle of the forest, one that happened to have six shimmering crystals that he knew were raritanium. He collected these six crystals and called them the Raritanium Cores, because he knew, from the short time he was in their presence, that they radiated with a power that was much stronger than the ordinary raritanium people were using. He left the planet behind, with the purpose of returning in the future, and handed these to some scientists so they could determine what they could use the Cores for, but when he returned to where the planet had been he found nothing.

Max Apogee hasn't been seen in some years, as if he flew into the vastness of space searching for the planet he found the Cores and simply disappeared. I don't know where the other five of these crystals are, but its only a matter of time until they're discovered and returned to where they belong... wherever Mister Apogee had intended for them to end up."

"W... well that's all the time we have for questions today," Discord said, as if the appearance of the crystal had knocked a node loose, though Sunset paid it no mind as she stored the crystal away, "Let's have a round of applause for the heroes taking some time to be here today and wish them a prosperous future... in whatever form that it takes."

Ratchet, Clank, Starlight, and Sunset stood up and waved to the crowd as the show officially ended, though Starlight had to wonder if the end comment meant that they had only seen the beginning of their adventures by defeating Chairman Drek... and if that was the case then what were the four of them going to have to do next.

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

Nice touch with Discord getting in on the act.

[Aria Blitz]

7387416 I would agree, though its nice that he backed away from the crystal when it was revealed.
Its also a nice touch to add Max Apogee. He was an interesting character that was never developed.

[Nova Blaze]

7387436 it certainly seems to add weight to the theory of the cores being the elements. Also, Max Apogee was Talwyn's dad, right? Everything I know comes from The Sparkle in his Eye.

[Aria Blitz]

7387452 Aye, Max Apogee is Talwyn's dad.
As to the theory, there are six Cores and I'm assuming that they're all the same colors of the Elements. I think that the elements mirror the villains of the games, as Drek was greedy and the first one appears to be Rarity's element. Besides, Discord seemed to cringe when it was revealed, so there's that as well.

[HB_DS2013]

So Sunset is a shinigami now? This reminds me of a Bleach crossover with Sunset training to be the exact same thing. Friendship Souls, is what I think it's called.

[Nova Blaze]

7387476 Makes sense. We'll just have to wait to be sure.

[Aria Blitz]

7387480 Not exactly a shinigami, because I think she's just taking something that she thinks will work. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what the decision behind that was, but its whatever the author wants to write so might as well go with it.

7387482 Aye. We'll be entering the Going Commando game and there might be another Core lurking somewhere in the story. I hope he writes the game and doesn't skip it all.

[Sonata Blaze]

Ah, Max Apogee... I haven't thought about him in a while. Good to see that he gets more than what the game gave him.
And Discord... should have known that he would come and check on Starlight and Sunset.

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

Element of Harmony much? Six of them, different colors, and Discord's reaction to it.
Clearly the Cores are the Elements of this story.

[Supertoe]

I like how the new head scientist of the Blarg is the one obsessed with telopathopus brains in the ps4 remake nice touch.