Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Nexus: Thram

It didn't take Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl, and Clank too long to reach Thram, though before heading down to the swamp that Neftin sent them the coordinates to they made sure to warn Talwyn about what happened, or at least leave her a message so they could see what sort of plan would help them beat Mr. Eye and his forces.

"Huh, so this is where the wreckage of the Nebulox ended up." Ratchet remarked, as they could see scattered pieces of the prison ship during their descent, in fact it looked like the vault section ended up in an area that looked like it was safe from all of the dangers that this planet possessed, so he touched down on the upper area outside it, "Neftin, we're on Thram. Where do you want to meet up?"

My apologies, we are... um... being delayed by personal problems. Neftin replied, where Ratchet was sure he heard someone crying in the background, though at the same time he couldn't fault Vendra for feeling the way she was right now, especially after being betrayed by someone she thought was her friend or even a family member, I know time is of the essence, with the Nethers traveling across the galaxy, and we will arrive on Tharm within the hour... go kill something to pass the time.

"I wonder what the galaxy would say if they realized that Vendra is only a little girl at heart." Autumn commented, where she spoke as soon as the link between them and Neftin was down, so their new ally didn't hear what they had to say about his sister, though as she said that they used the lift to lower themselves down into the area below them, "And would you look at that, the Smuggler is on this planet as well... what are the odds?"

"Oh, hello friends. Fancy meeting the lot of you in the Zarkov Sector." the Smuggler said, though his parrot seemed more interested in another part of the swamp, which was fine with them since it meant he might be seeing danger, before their ally glanced over all of them for a moment as he noticed that they were prepped for another adventure, "What can I do for all of you on this fine day?"

"Sadly, that's complicated. Why don't we just do some business instead?" Ratchet replied, because while he knew that the Smuggler might be able to point them towards the area that Neftin's base happened to be located in, in fact Aphelion had done a scan and might have found it already, he didn't feel like talking about it right now, "I'm sure there's some sort of creature that you're trying to gather either the soul of or components of to sell to someone in the galaxy... why not let us do a little hunting?"

"Well, I do have a client looking for some Gargathon horns... how about the usual deal, you collect them and I buy them by the time your done?" the Smuggler inquired, as he could tell something was bothering Ratchet, or at least he was the only one that seemed to be thinking about something else right now, and right now, after everything that had been happening in his own life, he decided to let the Lombax keep his secrets, "You'll be interested to know that you don't actually have to kill any this time around, as there are plenty of fossils scattered around the entire swamp... but, if the three of you want to fight them, feel free to do so."

Ratchet nodded before they checked the Vendor for new weapons, finding the Vortex Grenade, which utilized dark matter to wipe out those it was used against, and the Warmonger, an old favorite for sure, were available and they purchased the pair, upgrading them to their fullest like those that came before them. Once that was done he, Autumn, and Starswirl did as Neftin suggested, they departed from the safe zone and headed out into the wilderness for a time, seeking a couple of Gargathons so they could kill some time as they waited for their allies to arrive. As they expected they found more groups of Serathoids hanging around the swamp, which seemed to be a common enemy in this part of Polaris, though in addition to that they found some Blekkos, creatures who had evolved to explode when danger was near, which they decimated in no time at all with their weapons. Their main targets were, of course, the various Gargathons that were flying around this part of the planet, which were actually more aggressive than the one that had been in the Thugs' arena, though even they were nothing compared to the might of the siblings, allowing them to collect their horns once each fell.

In order to find all of the horns Ratchet found that they had to utilize their Hoverboots and their levitation devices in order to reach other sections of the swamp, allowing him and his siblings to scour the entirety of the area for the Gargathons that lived here and collect every horn that they could find. While they did that, however, Autumn and Starswirl could tell that their brother was distracted by what had happened on Silox, that their worst fears had been right, about the Twins being used as pawns by Mr. Eye since the day they were brought to this dimension. While they had a rocky start to their relationship it was easy to tell that he was worried about Vendra, about the fact that she was now in a vulnerable state after being attacked by someone she and her brother had thought to be their friend, ally, or even a family member. He also hated Mr. Eye right now and was likely considering their options on how to bring him down so they could save their universe, though there was only one route in his mind that made sense, given what was going on right now, and he figured he could wait until they met up with the Twins before revealing his idea to everyone.

Eventually they hunted down every Gargathon in the area and collected their horns, allowing them to turn them in and earn a fair number of Bolts for their efforts, but after that was done they got another call from Neftin, which they hoped was the one that they were waiting for.

Ratchet, we have touched down and are making for our base, which I've sent you the coordinates for. Neftin said, where it was easy for them to tell that he had tended to Vendra, who wasn't crying anymore, though this informed them that he must have landed while they were hunting the Gargathons for their horns.

With that information in hand the siblings made their way to the area in question, a cliff edge of sorts that was close to the area he had picked out for Aphelion to land in, and what they discovered was a decent sized passenger ship, perfectly sized for Neftin to stand in, that looked like it might have crashed, and, sure enough, Neftin had the door open, which he closed as soon as they were inside.

"How are you two holding up?" Ratchet asked, as when they entered the cruiser he and his siblings discovered that most of the inside had been removed to make room for Neftin, so he could move freely, while possessing a pair of beds, separate from each other since one sibling was large and the other was small, before discovering that Vendra was looking down at the floor right now.

"...we're fine..." Neftin answered, which meant they weren't fine at all, something the siblings expected after the shocking discovery that they were just pawns of the true villain, causing Ratchet to walk over to Vendra's bed and sit down near her so she could place her head on his lap, mostly since it was the only thing he could do without Neftin freaking out.

"What are you looking for?" Starswirl inquired, as he found that the moment Neftin answered Ratchet's question he turned and started searching several crates that were near the wall opposite of where his sister was sitting, while Autumn stood near the doorway, since there weren't a lot of seats to pick from.

"A tourbot for the Museum of Intergalactic History. We, um, swiped one of them when we learned that you decided to move the original Dimensionator there." Neftin replied, where he turned around and revealed the little robot to them, all while his comment revealed that they might have been planning on tackling the museum to obtain the true device, before he and Vendra decided on kidnapping Pollyx to get the job done, "I've thought about our situation and have determined that we need the original if we want to send the Nethers back to the Netherverse, but Mr. Eye will likely put up a fight, as he put a lot of time and effort into this plan, hence why it'll be up to you two and Vendra to take him down. I'll need to fix up the Dimensionator, to be sure it can handle sending the Nethers back to their dimension, which is where you come in, as I'm sure you guys can get to it in no time... I mean, you are far more nimble than I'll ever be."

"Yeah, about that: the original Dimensionator isn't in the museum... we just said that since people were expecting it to be somewhere safe." Autumn remarked, causing the Twins to glance at her for a moment as she used a bit of magic to show them what she meant, revealing the way to where she and Starswirl had safely stored the artifact, causing her to glance at Neftin for a couple of seconds, "We'll need to contact Kaden as well, as he worked on it before becoming it's Keeper, so he'll be able to help you accurately fix the device... or at least this version of it anyway... but even if we take down Mr. Eye, and save the galaxy, there are people who are going to call for you two to be punished for your actions."

"You mean... after everything we've been through, we'll be thrown in jail?" Vendra asked, where they found that she wasn't too interested in such a thing, in fact all she seemed interested in right now was either enjoying her time near Ratchet or just wanted this adventure to be over, and she glanced up at Ratchet for a moment.

"Not if we can help it... now that we know you two were being manipulated by the true villain, well, I'm sure we can find a way to help you, we just have to talk with Orvus and Alister." Ratchet replied, because Clank's dad had access to time itself and would be able to view everything that the Twins had done or been through since arriving in this dimension, while he knew that Alister, after calming down after Autumn talked to him about the Great Clock and everything, might be willing to help the pair.

As Vendra and Neftin opened their mouths to say something, however, everyone paused as they heard something crack, causing Aphelion to open the line to them and informed them that the breach on Silox was starting to spread, which was when Ratchet asked her to call his father, opening a line into the Great Clock.

"Dad, the breach on Silox is getting worse. Is the Dimensional Cataclysm getting closer to happening?" Ratchet asked, as his father was the best person to ask about this subject, given that he was the Keeper of the Dimensionator, or had been before Tachyon's attack, and he had to be tracking the damage Mr. Eye's breach was causing.

"No, but we're building up to it... I estimate we have four hours before we reach the point of no return." Kaden replied, all while he tapped several controls and looked at the screens in front of him, constantly working to fix the barrier that rested between the dimensions, where Ratchet noted that Vendra and Neftin were staring at him with some interest, likely due to the area behind him, "I take it you already have a plan in mind?"

"Vendra and Neftin made a makeshift Dimensionator, so Neftin should be able to repair the original and I was hoping that you'd come help him out." Ratchet said, as he understood that the Twins were the keys to defeating Mr. Eye, while he and his siblings would likely be the decoys for the most part, plus he suspected that if his father worked on the true device he would be able to save them some time, since it seemed like they were running short on it right now, "I'll be fighting Mr. Eye for a while... that's the villain that's been using the Twins for his own purposes... while Autumn and Starswirl will be joining forces with Vendra to, hopefully, destroy Mr. Eye."

"Okay, I'll join you in Meridian City... be quick, that creature is coming and he's weakening the barrier even more as time goes on." Kaden stated, where he did a double check on what Mr. Eye was doing, which seemed to be heading for the last area that the Dimensionator's energy had come from, the museum that they claimed it had been left in, though that also meant they had to warn Talwyn and the others about what was coming.

Ratchet nodded as the call ended, to which he beckoned for the Twins to join him and his siblings as they returned to their ship, as it was time to head back to Igliak and put an end to this short adventure, while hopefully fixing the barrier so they could safely use the Dimensionator later on, but first they had to deal with Mr. Eye and his plans and was eager to bring him down for everything he did to their brand new friends.