Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Angela's Decision

Following the defeat of the Mutant Protopet, and Qwark's arrest for his crimes in both Solana and Bogon, Angela thought things were going to get back to normal, or as normal as her life could be thanks to the arrival of Ratchet and his siblings, but she was totally wrong. Mr. Fizzwidget decided to put the former Captain to work, assigning him a number so he could test all sorts of gadgets, as there was a long line of devices that had been created by the scientists and many were in need of being tested, something the cowardly man seemed to agree with since it meant he wouldn't go to jail. Autumn, while working for Gadgetron, joined all of Megacorp's inventors and pointed out any errors in their weapons or devices, showing them the intelligence of Solana's greatest mind, which one of them said even rivaled the Terachnoids of the Polaris Galaxy, which caused her to blush, since it was nice to hear someone new say that. Angela was still amazed by everything Autumn had created so far and everything she had planned, as her time in Bogon had inspired several new weapons and gadgets, as in the new line of Gadgetron weaponry that would bare her name, and while she was designing the next RYNO, the RY3NO as she called it, Angela found that she was also beginning to research new things for the next few versions.

Starswirl, as she discovered, focused on his magic and continued to read all sorts of tomes, be it magical in nature or the Holotexts that he bought with some of his Bolts, allowing him to learn more about the races, cultures, and planets of this galaxy, as he was interested in history and shared that information with his sister. Clank wasn't given the position that he had been 'given' during Qwark's time as Mr. Fizzwidget, though Angela found that her boss insisted on gifting them the apartment that Clank had been granted, only this time he granted them additional rooms as well, so Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl would have their own rooms as well. Ratchet was planning on becoming a temporary member of the new Bogon Defense Force, as there were still Thugs out there, bothering the people and planets of this galaxy, and he claimed that the work of a hero was never done, plus he could help train some new heroes for when they found a way back to Solana, due to the fact that the teleportation device only worked one way. Angela knew what her boss meant, it only pulled what the user wanted into Bogon, though sending things back to their respective galaxy or dimension was basically impossible, hence why he and his sister were coming up with something that might do the trick.

Angela, on the other hand, spent some time with Ratchet, seeing what he did when he wasn't trying to save the galaxy, or one of them anyway, but she was conflicted over what she should do with her life, as in should she continue working for Megacorp or should she join Ratchet in being a hero. The first thing she did after the defeat of the Mutant Protopet was make sure that the original was just fine and that all of the errors that needed to be fixed had been fixed, to be sure that her company produced the promised companion for everyone who called Bogon home, while making sure to fix the odd problem with the reproduction method she and the others had seen. It felt strange to be back in this position, as if she had never left in the first place, but as the first week went by she found that the feeling didn't go away, rather she felt like things were different for her now and that she needed to change her lifestyle as well. One of the things she did was set her melee weapon down and asked Autumn about the wrenches she had found, though she made one more copy of each one and handed the merged one to Angela, showing her that she wanted to keep one copy for later, a reminder of what she and her brothers had been through during their various adventures.

Her plan was create the weapon that the Lombax Praetorian Guard carried into battle, or at least according to the stories and informational pieces that were in her secret storage area, which was a staff like weapon that had a wrench head at both ends, though there were a few things she had to do to make it work like she wanted. As she thought about the new direction her life was heading in, if she embraced it and followed the siblings, part of her considered the armor Ratchet and his siblings had been wearing during their adventure in Bogon, some of the best based on what she knew, though, at the same time, she knew Autumn likely had some designs for the people of Solana. Part of her had to imagine what she would look like if she actually went out of her way and fully became a hero, like Ratchet and his siblings were, causing her to chuckle for a moment, even though it eventually made her wonder which path she would take, the path she had been on since arriving in Bogon or the new path that had revealed itself to her. She had a feeling that Ratchet, if he were in her position, would have already made the decision and started to walk down the path he decided on, to which she sighed for a moment as she considered her options and what would happen to one side if she decided to pick the other, and the potential consequences if they found a way back to Solana.

In the end she reached her decision, drafted a letter to explain herself to the person she needed to talk to, and then left her place on Grelbin, making sure to lock it up, before heading to her desired destination, Megacorp's main office, which was back in Megalopolis, as that was where Mr. Fizzwidget preferred to work and, as she discovered in due time, he was expecting her to arrive at some point, even though one of his screens had a video of Qwark, somehow, surviving a silo of RYNO II rockets, a way for Autumn to forgive him in some manner.

"Ah, Angela, it is good to see you again, and I have wonderful news: the Protopets have been well received," Mr. Fizzwidget said, speaking as she entered the office and closed the door behind her, where Angela could see that he was looking at a screen that displayed the sales of the new pet, not to mention the popularity and demand for them, as the people of other planets wanted the pets as well, before he faced her for a few seconds, "though something tells me you didn't come here to talk about your wonderful project."

"That's right sir." Angela replied, where she tapped her uplink and transferred the file she had created back in her home, a file that appeared on Mr. Fizzwidget's screen a few moments later, who raised an eyebrow as he opened it and browsed the contents of it, though he glanced at her after a few moments, "This is my two weeks notice... I'm going to resign from my position in Megacorp and follow a new path... I hope you aren't upset with my decision."

"Upset? No, never... well, if you had delivered this to me a year ago, there's a chance I could have been upset over seeing this," Mr. Fizzwidget commented, which made sense when Angela thought about it, as about a year ago she was deep in all sorts of coding and work to get the Protopet through the first of the design phases it went through, as it took them a long time to get to the version she sought to destroy, before her boss pulled up some videos, "however, after taking some time to watch and review your time with Ratchet and his siblings, I've come to understand what might have caused you to make this decision. I have to say, you make a great hero and so far the polls I have about such a thing say that people trust you, so much so that some are even wondering if you'll join the new Defense Force."

"That's the plan, until we find a way back to Solana." Angela said, as she had no idea if Ratchet and his siblings had told the man about their desire to head home, though she was making it known where she stood on the matter, she was going to join Ratchet and help him bring peace to the Bogon Galaxy, before she remembered something and undid the belt that hid her tail from everyone.

"I didn't know you had a tail, nor did I know you were a Lombax... though after seeing Ratchet, I should have figured that out with ease," Mr. Fizzwidget remarked, where Angela had a feeling that her boss had turned a blind eye to her tail in all of the recordings it had been in, in fact she could see it on one of the recordings that detailed their assault on Yeedil, but she wasn't about to question him at the moment.

"I've been hiding my true self, to keep both myself and this galaxy safe... but traveling with Ratchet and his siblings, well, it convinced me to change my mind," Angela replied, and that was the truth of the matter, encountering Ratchet and fighting beside him had stirred something inside her, and his words in regards to the threat that wanted their race dead spurred her into action, convincing her that they could take out the threat if it showed up, "Besides, Ratchet and I work well as a team, and with his siblings we work well as a unit, so I figured there was no reason to leave them... and if they do find out how to return to Solana, which is a big if, it would be nice to see another galaxy."

Mr. Fizzwidget chuckled for a moment, as he could tell that Angela was in love with Ratchet, he had seen how she acted when she was with him and had even watched as he made sure to separate the group up so his siblings could be a team and he could focus on helping Angela understand how to be a warrior, to which he tapped an icon on the screen and let a new mark appear on the file.

"There, I have indicated that the file has been received and that I have approved of your resignation," Mr. Fizzwidget said, something that caused Angela to raise an eyebrow for a moment as she heard the news, as she was expecting him to say something, anything really, to stop her from walking away from Megacorp, especially after all the years she spent with the company and worked under him, "I'm not about to stand in your way, Angela, so if you want to be a hero, and be with the one that you love, then by all means, go to him and live the life you want to live."

Angela smiled for a moment, happy to hear that Mr. Fizzwidget approved of her decision, before thanking him and left the office, though she would be back in a day or two to make sure her section was cleared out so she didn't leave anything of importance behind, and while she was sad to be parting from some of the people she worked with her mind was set on the path she wanted to walk for the rest of her days. With her business on Yeedil concluded Angela climbed into her ship and set a course for Endako, as based on what she had learned from the others they would be staying in Megapolis for a few days, allowing the officials to get everything for the new Defense Force and their temporary positions. Thanks to her new friends dealing with the Thugs, even if it was due to her hiring the criminals, a crime that Mr. Fizzwidget pushed onto Qwark and erased the evidence that would paint her in a horrible light, Angela discovered something nice, her flight was rather uneventful and allowed her to think about what Ratchet would say when she arrived. In addition to that she had a few thoughts about her flying lab, which was still on Aranos, though with Autumn's intelligence, and the knowledge of the Lombaxes that rested inside her secret vault, Angela had a feeling that they would be able to make a moving base for her and the others, depending on what Ratchet said when she shared her news with him.

After some time she breached the atmosphere of Endako and directed herself to the building that the siblings would be calling home for the foreseeable future, where her soon to be former boss had resigned part of the area to house a new private landing pad for their Star Explorer, and there was room for her ship as well, so she was able to land and climbed out so she could visit the others... finding that they were in the middle of the living room, relaxing before heading out to aid the new Bogon Defense Force.

"Hey guys. How are all of you doing?" Angela asked, where she pulled the headpiece that covered the top of her head, as it was in the way of her short hair, before deciding that this might be one of the last times she used it, though once that was done she slipped into the seat near Ratchet, who was happy to see her.

"Quite well. In fact, we're also being recruited to film a spy thriller series called Secret Agent Clank, of which I am to be the star of, with Ratchet being my chauffeur," Clank remarked, something that caused Angela to stop for a moment, as it was an interesting piece of news to hear, and while she would have been worried about their safety, given the threat that wanted to wipe out the Lombaxes, she found that this didn't bother as much as it should have, "We are still talking with the Director, Mr. Hatfield, about including one of Ratchet's siblings as well, especially since he was interested in making a villain that he called the 'Nirik'."

"Wow, that's... to be honest, that's amazing, and makes my news insignificant in comparison," Angela said, which was the truth of the matter, though she had to admit that it was an interesting idea and would likely earn quite a lot of money, not that Ratchet and his siblings needed the Bolts, before she found that the others were interested in what she had to say, especially when she looked at Ratchet's face, "I decided to resign from my position at Megacorp... and I'm going to join you guys on your adventures."

"Really? I thought you loved working for Megacorp? What changed your mi..." Ratchet started to ask, though before he had a chance to finish his question, as he was interested in why Angela, after all her effort to save the company she worked for from making a mistake with the Protopet, would leave Mr. Fizzwidget's company all of a sudden, he found something else of interest, Angela leaned forward and kissed him right on the lips.

Clank, Autumn, and Starswirl glanced at each other for a few seconds, as Angela was making the first move and they could see that she was letting her true self out, a warrior Lombax who was tired of hiding in the shadows, and finding Ratchet, in the oddest way possible, had been the best thing that had ever happened to her, to which they smiled as he embraced her and wondered what the future held for their group.

Comments

[badninja]

An interesting change from canon. Now I wonder if Ratchet will be getting multiple partners in this story?

[Blackdrag-rose]

11158071 I never liked how Angela was forgotten, especially since she's a Lombax, hence why I have her stick around with Ratchet. As for Sasha and Talwyn, well, you'll have to wait and see.

[Night_Moon60606]

11158081
the Lombax r very cat like in a way...Prides?

[Blackdrag-rose]

11158319 Could happen. The games gave Ratchet three potential girlfriends, even if one is canon and the other two were forgotten as time went on, so him having a pride could happen later on.