Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Interlude: Four Years of Peace

Sure enough Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl, Clank, Angela, Sasha, and Nika were able to return to their vacation without too much stopping them, as the authorities were surprised to see that they found and defeated another villain, though at this point none questioned him or his siblings. Qwark, on the other hand, was able to figure out that his real parents had been killed in an accident caused by faulty Technomite equipment, so he spent some time grieving his loss while staying away from Otto's prison, in case he was tempted to ruin the man's life more. Ratchet found that this time around they were able to spend more time on Pokitaru than before, as no one came running up to ruin their vacation, no villains were making a move on the planets, and everything seemed to be rather peaceful. Even Autumn and Starswirl confirmed that fact, as both of them detected nothing bad happening in the galaxy and, more importantly, no cracks in reality were showing up, as none had happened during their now finished adventure.

Nika didn't understand the idea of reality cracking, or at least in the way Autumn described it, but she was better off simply learning about it whenever it actually happened, as Ratchet and his siblings were sure it would return at some point, just like all the times they had seen it so far.

When they finally returned to service, and Sasha went back to being the President of the galaxy, the siblings found that a fair number of incidents that were reported were either dealt with by the Rangers or the lower ranking heroes that were now spreading out, to cover as much ground as they could. As a result Ratchet was able to focus on what had been interrupted after the war with Nefarious, finding a place for him and his siblings to live since their home on Veldin, sadly, had been taken out, along with most of their stuff. He eventually settled on an apartment that was in Kerwan, in the more advanced part of the city that was some distance away from the defense facility, so in the off chance that something happened he and the others would be ready to depart in no time. Ratchet also knew that Qwark had an apartment in the city of Metropolis, hence why he made sure to steer clear of the man so they weren't bothered by him, though he found that his offer was accepted, likely because he and his family were heroes, and that they could start moving in as soon as he got the keys.

A week later he, Autumn, and Starswirl moved into the new apartment, which had a room for Clank as well, because while he didn't need sleep like an organic lifeform he needed someplace to do whatever it was he wanted to do while they were sleeping, and Ratchet ensured his room had more than enough room for Angela, Sasha, and Nika.

When the first year passed by the siblings were able to celebrate their seventeenth birthday in peace, as no enemies came out of the woodwork or the depths of space to bother them, though Qwark did get a job with the city's defense force, just to continue keeping everyone safe. It was weird for the siblings when their seventeenth birthday went by without any new villains showing up, as they were used to it happening, roughly, around or on the day they celebrated turning a year older, like what happened when Clank showed up for example, but it was a nice change of pace. Autumn returned to her job at Gadgetron without too much delay, as without a villain to worry her she was able to devote most of her time to making all sorts of new gadgets and gear, for the Rangers and other heroes, while cracking the code to the Technomite technology, which had officially been handed over to her after Otto's defeat. Starswirl, on the other hand, spent his time researching all sorts of magic that he and Autumn hadn't considered, the lunar power they discovered previously causing him to take a moment and broaden his horizons.

Such a thing also caused Autumn to shift into her new form every now and then, to make sure she had it under control in case she needed it in the future, though she had to admit that doing this gave her a good feeling and it gave them another weapon to add to their arsenal.

In addition to that the group kept their eyes open for cracks in reality, showing scenes from what had to be dimensions none of them should be aware of, though Ratchet was doing it for another reason, just so he could figure out what his sister was up to and if he could figure out a way to bring her home. That was the thing that frustrated him, he had been so close to connecting with his sister, to the point where if he had been closer to the crack he could have crossed over into her dimension and either worked with her and her friend or bring them both to his dimension, but the crack slammed shut before he could do so. The Plumber, who they hadn't seen since infiltrating Nefarious' base on Aquatos, had simply disappeared and meant he wouldn't be able to aid Ratchet in connecting to his sister's dimension, not that he was even remotely helpful in the past since all he could say was that his sister was safe. Autumn and Starswirl, of course, couldn't do much to aid him since nothing existed to open portals between dimensions, but, at the same time, Autumn was sure that with enough time and effort such a device could be made, hopefully without doing more damage to reality, given all of the cracks they had seen so far.

That was something else they tracked down during their time waiting for another villain to show up, making sure nothing happened when one of the cracks showed up, though there were a few that showed a dimension where Ratchet was all alone, no girlfriends to speak of, though Clank was nearby and he had a purple alicorn filly who acted like his daughter, which caused him to chuckle whenever he laid eyes on them.

When they turned eighteen the siblings discovered that nothing new had happened and that Solana was safer than it had been in the past, thanks to their efforts and the efforts of the heroes that were making things easier for the family, which Autumn, Sasha, and Nika were okay with since they got some time to relax as well. At this point in time news had spread of Nika joining Ratchet's 'harem', as many were calling it right now, but, much to the surprise of the public, she simply went with it and enjoyed her time with Ratchet and the others, as it was the best idea she ever had. Their nineteenth and twentieth birthdays were rather tame as well, nothing major happened safe for both Solana and Bogon enjoying a time of peace that was only possible due to them and the various heroes bringing justice to every corner of the galaxies. During that time, however, Ratchet perfected his gravimetric warp drive and patented it with Gadgetron, who started to produce it so people could travel from one galaxy to another, meaning if they were needed in Bogon they could travel there in just a few seconds, and he was happy to see that people liked it.

It was on the night before their twenty-first birthday, however, that something happened, the siblings and the rest of their expanded family were sleeping peacefully when Ratchet, with no warning, started screaming as if he was in pain, where all of them were fortunate that the walls were soundproof so no one could hear this, though it wasn't long before Autumn and Starswirl burst into his room.

"What's wrong?" Autumn asked, where they found that Ratchet was sitting on the edge of his bed while Angela, Sasha, and Nika were tending to him, all while he was holding onto his right arm, as if he was afraid that he was going to lose it, which caused her to step forward and run a few tests on him.

"I... it felt like something blasted my right arm off..." Ratchet answered, revealing why he was so protective of his arm all of a sudden, even though they suspected that it might have been a rather real nightmare, they were known to happen, but in that moment Angela glanced down at his neck.

"Um, Ratchet, I don't think that was a nightmare... I think something happened to your sister." Angela said, where Ratchet and the others followed her eyes and noticed that his necklace was glowing, not intense enough to be blinding while being high enough to show them that something was happening, but they all understood what was going on.

Ratchet's sister was in trouble, likely hurt based on his actions, yet Angela had a feeling that this was a sign that something bad was coming their way, maybe the threat she had informed the others about before joining them, and suspected that when the morning arrived they were going to be starting another new adventure, whether they wanted to or not.

Comments

[Golden_Reflection]

an apartment that was in Kerwan, in the more advanced part of the city that was some distance away from the defense facility

Specifically, it is the Planetary Defence Centre.

[Golden_Reflection]

I see that Rivet has just met KT-7461 for the first time, and only the day after that fateful night will Emperor Percival Tachyon invade Solana and attack Kerwan in search of Ratchet and possibly Angela as well.

And Angela being with Rachet could mean there is a difference in the timeline of what Max Apogee has done in the last few years as normal canon says that Angela was last seen in Max's ship fleeing the cerullean sector which was later found on autopilot leaving Jasindu.

[Blackdrag-rose]

11276808 Yep, Rivet's had her fateful first encounter, and Ratchet felt the shock of that happening... at possibly the worst time, considering what will be found during the next adventure. As for Max Apogee, well, that's a plot point we'll never learn the answer to.