Ratchet & Clank: Fractures In Time

Epilogue: Home

The damage to the Clock had been severe. No sector had been left untouched by the attempted time shift, the facility in an even worse state than when Nefarious had initially unleashed his machines to wreck havoc on the Zoni. But now, those very same Zoni that had been chased away and scattered across Polaris space were now home and aiding in the repairs, their bioenergy restoring every broken component, structure and window back to near pristine condition.

Ratchet had released them from the Vessel, backing up his promise to Clank to give them back once everything was over and done with. He too had done what he could to help out, drawing on his mechanical knowledge to access the pieces that the smaller Zoni could not easily manipulate by themselves. Even though he still didn't know what half of the things he was touching did, the Lombax worked hard to restore Orvus' creation back to the way it was. It was a welcome distraction.

Not an hour later, they had held a small service for General Azimuth. They had wrapped him as carefully as they could with the elder's own supplies of dressings and blankets, trying to hide any exposed part of him so as not to let him be exposed to the ravages of the cosmos immediately. Then, with the help of the Zoni and their ability to transport themselves, they had teleported him outside into the depths of the Breegus Nebula. It felt appropriate. A symbolic idea to allow the General to chase the stars for all he sought for the rest of time if need be.

As the Lombax had watched Azimuth's body float away into into the void of birthing stars and solar winds on the Clock's monitors, he knew he was severing the last link to his race in this dimension. It was an awful truth that only added to the hurt ravaging his heart, but he had to keep it hidden, keep it concealed. He had promised himself he would. Heroes were not supposed to cry.

Clank had not taken his eyes off Ratchet the entire time either. No bio scan was necessary to see the truth. His partner was hurting, probably so deeply that being able to appear emotionless at that moment was taking all of his concentration to pull off. Not that Ratchet would ever actually admit it was the case.

But they didn't have much time to mourn. The Clock was still in need of fixing, and fix it they did.

After a matter of hours, Ratchet, Clank and Sigmund stood in the repaired Orvus Chamber, just as the master switch was sealed away behind a new reinforced bulkhead security mechanism. Through the windows that let them see outside, the Clock gleamed as though it had just been built, the streams of quantum power directed and controlled through its inhibitors in stark contrast to the unstable blasts of energy that had once consumed the construct whole.

"Well... looks like there's just one more thing to fix," Ratchet commented, idly twirling a power cord in his hand like a rope. He shot a look Clank's way, pursing his lips in a half-baked imitation of a smile before he pushed the connection into its socket.
"Time keeper restored."
Even as the holographic message of Orvus flashed back to life, Clank did not feel happy at what he had just seen. Because they both knew what was going to come next. This was the part where they parted ways and finally said goodbye.

Ratchet may have seemed calm, but the constant occasional blinks and clenching of his jaws was proof he was holding back his feelings again, a trait that Clank had never agreed with in all the long years they'd known each other. The mechanic exhaled as he stepped away from the control panel, taking a moment to look up at the Orvus hologram before back down to his partner in crime.

The Lombax had to be grateful to the Zoni for what he had done, for giving Clank that vital spark of life and personality that made him who he was. In a way, Orvus was the one who had brought them together. It seemed fitting that he would be the one to pull them apart again.
"I'll leave you two alone," Ratchet mumbled, walking towards the way out of the Chamber and to his ship. After all, it wasn't "their" ship any more, not now.

Clank took a few steps after him as the Lombax started to leave, reaching out a hand without thinking. He just wanted to say... something. It wasn't right for their time together to end with silence.
"Ratchet, I-" he started to apologise.
"It's okay, Clank," the Lombax insisted, braving a smile for his friend. "It's what you were built for."

Hearing his own words used against him shut Clank up, lowering his arm in defeat. The Lombax's face relaxed , nodding his head at the small robot. There was no sense in trying to put it off any longer, not if the Senior Caretaker had his work cut out for him repairing any lingering damage they may have missed.
"Take care of yourself, pal," Ratchet wished, feeling his eyes start to well as he said it, knowing that he sounded just like Azimuth had. He turned away quickly, trying to disguise his emotional state as as best he could. Clank didn't need to see him like this.

Clank himself didn't move for a long while, staring after Ratchet until he had passed the threshold of the door. His posture slumped. That was it. They were done. They had accomplished what they needed to and they'd parted on good terms. What else could he really ask for?

But something within the mechanoid still didn't feel right as he turned around, staring up at the recording of his father that he had never managed to see through to the end. Almost absent-mindedly, the robot pressed a key on the console to continue playing the video.
"The Clock, much like time itself, is a gift-"

Clank halted the message, staring down at the space between his feet. Orvus was right, time was a gift. And gifts were meant to be appreciated and used to enrich the little time that everyone was given in this existence. But after everything that had happened over these last few days, Clank was the only one who had come out on top. He had discovered a family of his own, he had found a purpose in life to strive for that was noble and just, for the good of everyone.

But Ratchet? He had lost everything. He'd lost his race, he'd lost his mentor, and he'd now lost his best friend. It was obvious from the way that he had walked out without a word that he didn't feel like he had a purpose now. He had dedicated years of his life to try and find his closest companion somewhere in the impossible scale of the universe and he was being made to leave without anything to show for it.

Guilt swelled within Orvus' heir. How could he even pretend that this was the right thing to do?

Ratchet's head hung low to the ground as he approached Aphelion, pressing the button on his glove to open the cockpit remotely. His movement was lethargic and slow, unable to tell if it was because of the physical efforts within the Chamber or because of how he felt. But the latter wasn't relevant, that's all he had to keep telling himself. If Clank was happy here, then he couldn't ask for anything more.

The Lombax slumped into his seat with a grunt, at least partially grateful to have the chance to give his feet a break. He yanked at his gloves, pulling them away from his hands to flex his clawed fingers, baring his teeth in a grimace as the bruising around his sides made the armour segments a little more painful to remove. Now in just his flight suit without the bulky metallic components, Ratchet tossed the extra pieces to the floor out of the way.
"Aphelion. Let's get out of here."

The ship was immediately concerned as she was woken up out of her stasis, detecting the tone of her pilot's voice. Even more so, she did not pick up on the electronic signature of Clank.
"Is our co-pilot not joining us?"
"No. He isn't."
"But-"
"Start ignition sequence."

Aphelion went quiet at Ratchet's abrupt tone, though found it hard not to detect the subtle waver in his command thanks to her advanced response algorithms to potential pilots. The Lombax swallowed. Then he swallowed again. The lump that was there was clearly not wanting to go away, causing him to force a cough in an attempt to disguise what he was doing. If she could have sighed, she would have.

Ratchet was a very poor liar.

He didn't need to think on long on it. The decision was made.
"I... cannot stay," Clank announced, stepping away from the controls of the Chamber.
"W-W-What...?" Sigmund stammered back, having simply waited on the sidelines until XJ-0461's friend had gone. "Can't stay...?"
"I am sorry, Sigmund," the robot replied, bowing his head as if to emphasise his apology. "I am truly grateful for the chance to have met you, to know where I came from. But..."

Clank paused as he turned around, staring up at the recording of Orvus. As if there was some vague notion that the real Orvus could somehow hear him.
"Father. Discovering my family has made me realise that... I cannot leave Ratchet," he explained. "Not until he finds his own."
"Sir..." Sigmund mumbled, staring at his mentor's son in awe.
"He has sacrificed so much for me," Clank continued to the hologram. "And now he has no one left. He needs me. I... hope you understand."

Naturally, the Orvus projection didn't reply, but Clank did feel a little better saying what he had. If there was some chance his father was listening, he had made his peace, wishing that the Zoni would not take the rejection of his inheritance poorly.
"So you're leaving...?" Sigmund asked, bewildered at how suddenly the change of heart had come about. And yet even that in itself felt strangely... non-threatening. He hadn't even detected a hint of panic in his circuitry, causing him to start tapping away on his display to find out what the problem was.

"Energy output normal, harmonic stabilisers stable..." the Caretaker muttered, leaning away from his screen without an answer. There wasn't actually anything wrong with his insides. So then... "Why aren't I freaking out?" he asked.
Clank smiled softly. He was proud of how far Sigmund had come in the short time he had worked with him, transforming from scared junior personnel hiding in the broom closet to one brave enough to stand up to Azimuth when he threatened the most important room in the Clock. That spoke more than any system diagnostic could.

The ship's engines burst into life as the pre-flight checks got under way. Normally Ratchet was never this thorough, much to Aphelion's usual annoyance, but throwing himself into this was the only way he could think to cope. Work always distracted him, gave him something to focus on rather than the obvious pain that kept spiking behind his ribs.

Ratchet reached over to the middle screen, adjusting the sensitivity of the navigation systems with a few dial turns at the base of the display. But he found himself stopping halfway through. His eyes drifted over to the other side of the cockpit. To the empty seat where Clank used to sit. He blinked, feeling that awful welling sensation again before he promptly pulled himself away.

He spluttered as the beginnings of a sob slipped past the "barrier", rubbing at his eyes with a sniff. He cursed under his breath for letting that happen as he decided to move onto something else. Checking the flaps, that was something he could do. He shook his head with another huff of air, turning the flight wheel left and right a handful more times than he probably should have done.

Aphelion was trying her best to stay quiet, but the Lombax's agitated behaviour was starting to concern her.
"Ratchet," she announced, never usually one to audibly speak his name unless it was important. "Are you sure we should not wait for Cl-"
"No," he suddenly blurted, his voice breaking as his hands tightened their hold on the controls. "Prepare for take-off."

Naturally, the Lombax vessel complied, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Ratchet was clearly stressed from something, even if the specifics of why Clank was not with them were lost to her. She could only hope that they hadn't fallen out or that it was something trivial that could be resolved. Her voyages hadn't really been the same since the little robot had disappeared.

From how Ratchet was trying everything in his power to not stare at the outside world, at the Clock, it was obvious he shared that sentiment.

"Perhaps you are ready to be promoted?" Clank suggested, holding out his hand to manifest the Chronoscepter. He turned the handle towards Sigmund, causing the larger 'bot to gasp in surprise with a pointed finger towards himself.
"Me? Senior Caretaker...?" he questioned, taking the scepter from XJ-0461 and staring into the rotating headpiece in utter wonder. He was being entrusted with those duties? Did XJ-0461 truly think he was ready to take them on? Well, if Orvus' own child thought he could do so, then there would be no better authority to accept the job from.

"Yaahoo!" Sigmund cried, raising the Chronoscepter above his head in a triumphant little twirl. Clank snickered to himself, nodding towards the new Caretaker of the Clock. He knew that the former Junior would be just fine.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!" Sigmund beamed with gratitude. Clank lowered his head in a parting bow.
"Take care, Sigmund. We will meet again."

And with that, Clank changed targets. With no regrets in his systems as to what he had chosen to do, the little robot began to sprint out of the Chamber, hoping that he would be able to catch Ratchet in time before he left the boundaries of the Clock. He had to be quick. The Lombax was not going to be one to hang about if he could help it based on past experience, running as fast as his little legs would take him to make it in time.

As the robot passed under the archway of the Chamber entrance, he was relieved the bright blue hues of the Zoni-improved Aphelion still sat on the landing pad. He still had time! He swung his arms forward to give him a head start of momentum, the metal soles of his feet clicking and clacking against the sturdy material of the Clock's walkways to catch up. As much as he had been sprinting around this place for days on end to get to different sectors and to prevent the Chamber was being misused, none of those times were as important to Clank as catching this ship was now.

At the same time, Ratchet was hovering his finger over the cockpit button to seal the canopy. It was the last thing he had left to do, having exhausted every checklist he could think to run. And yet he found himself unable to press it, his digit shaking a little bit as that awful rising feeling in his throat reared its ugly head again. He suppressed it, feeling the muscle seize up when it became crystal clear what pressing this would mean. That it was truly the last thing separating him from Clank.

The Lombax swore at himself mentally for being so stupid. This is what Clank wanted, that mattered more than his own feelings on the matter. He growled behind his teeth as he made his hand move, finally depressing the switch and sealing the cockpit for travel. He closed his eyes, almost as if the idea of watching the bubble-like seal descend around him would be enough to make him lose control again.

Clank saw that hatch closing just as he reached the stairs to the pad. He used his Heli-Pak rotor to boost himself up them, knowing that each individual step would cost him too much time because of his size.
'Please, don't go yet!' Clank thought to himself, seeing the large nose of the ship loom over him as the canopy descended ever lower with a whirring hum. The robot had to chance it, knowing that this would either give him a perfect landing or cause him external damage from hitting the cockpit visor.

Clank jumped, tucking his body in to slip through the limited space that he'd been given. With luck on his side, he didn't make contact with the edge of the seal, unfurling himself just in time as it went flush with the Aphelion's hull. The thump that followed as the robot landed in his seat nearly made Ratchet jump out of his fur.

Clank didn't want to look at him in the eye. He stared straight ahead, his own expression just as emotional because what he had done. Even if he knew he was giving up the wishes of his father, what was expected of him, the truth was that they didn't matter to him nearly as much as Ratchet did. The robot continued staring ahead, knowing that green eyes were locked on him from the side.

If he could experience the same sensations of tears that organics could, Clank had no doubt he would be in just as similar a situation as his counterpart. He dared a request with a noticeable hesitation to his voice, as though he was afraid with what the response would be.
"Please do not be angry with me."

Ratchet's mouth hung open, staring at Clank in utter bafflement. His expectations had been broken, everything that had been running through his head for minutes before the mechanoid had jumped in evaporating into nothing. His friend had come back. He'd changed his mind. Over everything that the little synthetic had insisted on and rationalised away, he had pushed all of that logic aside for him. He had been chosen over the Clock, over Orvus. It was one of the only few times that someone had shown that level of care to him before.

With that fact, the "barrier" did not and could not maintain its strength. The wall around his emotions finally disintegrated, hot tears spilling out over the Lombax's cheeks as his shallow breathing quaked from the subjugated weeping now starting to escape its prison within him. Clank noticed it from his audio receptors, repeating his request as though he was expecting those tears to be of frustration and anger at what he was doing. He knew this could have been seen as cruel, to upset Ratchet so gravely before taking it all back at the last minute. It was almost like taunting with him by changing his mind.
"Please...?"
"Oh, shut up, you stupid tin can...!"

Ratchet suddenly seized Clank from his seat with both of his hands in a furious jerking movement, pulling the robot close to his chest in a grip that was even harder than their first attempt at saying goodbye. His back rose and fell a little as he let out all of his pent up emotion in muffled sobs to Clank's shoulder. All the sadness of his journey to search for his partner, the loss of Azimuth and the chance to once again save his race... but also the pure joy that at the end of it all, they still had each other. Ratchet would never normally be so open with his emotions like this, but in the private seal of their ship's cockpit, he didn't feel like holding back any more.

Clank returned the hug with one of his own, smiling warmly to himself as his colder metal hands brushed through the fur around his friend's neck. The Lombax relaxed a little, leaning Clank away from him with his hands rested on the robot's shoulders. He sniffed rather audibly this time, reaching up to rub at his leaking eyes with a broken laugh.
"...I-I'm really bad at this, huh...?"
Clank shook his head, patting the Lombax's shoulder.
"No worse than anyone else, Ratchet."

The mechanic nodded, beaming his teeth in a smile as he sniffed again to control his tears. An impulsive idea came to mind from his more impassioned state, in a move that surprised the robot. Ratchet turned Clank around on the spot and set him down in his lap, just in front of the flight controls while still keeping his embrace tight as if to deny all possibility of 'escape'.

Clank, despite finding it so unlike the Ratchet he knew, giggled in his trademark laugh at the idea, finding it to tickle him something fierce at how it must look.
"Hey...!" Ratchet croaked, clearing his throat to fail at getting back to some sense of normalcy. "You tell anyone about this and I'll melt you down for scrap."
"I can proceed safely knowing that isn't true," Clank replied with a near smug tone to his voice before it turned much warmer. "But I will keep it personal to us all the same. I... like this side of you."

Ratchet smirked, blinking to try and make sure no more tears escaped him again. Right now, he just wanted Clank nearby, to physically feel what his presence was like after the years of him being missing.
"Well... it's a one off deal, so savour it while you can."
The little mechanoid had no problems with this arrangement, holding onto the bottom rung of the flight controls as Ratchet's arms warmed his outer structure.
"I won't blab either, you two," Aphelion promised them, starting to rise off the platform in a VTOL manoeuvrer. Her sudden interjection caused her two pilots to chuckle warmly among themselves.

Ratchet looked down at his partner. As far as he was concerned, he never did need anything like the Clock to save his kind, his parents. The synthetic sitting in his lap was all the family he ever needed, confirming it to himself with a brief rub of Clank's head around the base of his antenna.
"So... where to, pal?"
Clank reaffirmed his grip on the flight controls, tilting his head up to stare at Ratchet behind him.
"Let's go home."

The Lombax nodded to himself, leaning a little further back in his seat. Home sounded great.