At long last - my first Fanfic! Read ahead, and please review, no flames. No previous FF XII experience required ( though it does help). Enjoy!

Ratchet and Clank: Code iVALICE

Name: Ratchet

Surname: unknown.

Age: 17

Species:Lombax

Other details:The only surviving Lombax in the universe, his father murdered by the evil Emperor Tachyon, the ruler of Polaris, and crowned prince of the cragmites. 4 time saviour of the universe. Ex Gladiator. Three months ago, He threw Tachyon into a black hole, in a battle he only narrowly escaped with his life. Shortly after, his robot companion, Clank, was abducted by an alien race called the Zoni, leaving him alone on Polaris.

Chapter 1: Out of time ( and space) 1

"No... it was all my fault."

Ratchet was inside a kind of temple, and it was coming after him. And nobody knew where he was. Where were they?

"Ratchet?"

The same temple. More of a tomb. His comrades-they were all blurry, and he couldn't make them out, stood behind him. They walked up to the pedestal. They were nearing the end of their quest. And they can practically smell success.

" Er… Ratchet!?"

The moon. 3 months ago. Tachyon. The black hole. His final words.

"You can't kill me, Lombax. Only I know your true name, and your purpose. The Cragmite return is inevitable!"

"RATCHET!!"

Ratchet woke up screaming, his forehead wet with sweat. At least he hoped it was sweat.

Damn, not that dream againHe thought. He had been having that dream all week. He blearily opened my eyes. He was in his quarters, on Starship Pheonix . He turned round, only to be met with the not-so- lovely face of galactic Super- zero, Captain Quark.

This gave him a jump, to say the least, and so before you could say 'Oooh, look! Its a jag-toothed Snagglebeast!', he sat up on his bed bolt upright, and hit his head on the ceiling with a clang.

CLANG!!

Why did I get a bunk bed? Thought Ratchet, but his mouth said "Ow… dammit Quark, what the hell was that for?"

"Well pardon me your majesty, but we can't all be lazing about around here. Remember; I'm the captain, and what I say, goes. Capiche?"

But before he had time to correct him with a snappy comeback somehow involving monkeys, Sasha had pushed Quark out of the way. Thank God.

"Lay off, Quark! Can't you see Ratchet needs some peace and quiet?"
And as Quark sulked out of the room, Sasha turned her attention to Ratchet.

" Hi, hotshot. Feel up to some high octane Sontarian kung-fu training later?"

"Not really." mumbled back Ratchet.

"Oh." She said. She seemed deflated.

She sighed. "Well, I guess I could cut you some slack, after what you have been through, you know, after what happened to clank..."

It was then that it hit him like a rocket fired from a cannon - Clank was gone. His companion and best friend, abducted to god knows where, by those Zoni.

If only I had believed him. If only I could have realised, before he...

"Ratchet? Are you OK?" asked Sasha.

He nodded sadly.

"Never better."

She seemed concerned.

"I suppose I could give you the day off, just this once..."

His long ears, which were drooping down, perked up a little.

"Thanks, Sasha."

She smiled as she left the room, her little, but elegant tail slinking behind her as she left through the sliding doors.

After he had climbed down fom his bed, he got dressed and went to examine himself in the mirror.

From looking at him, you wouldn't guess that he was the saviour of three galaxies. It was 4 weeks till his 18th birthday, and he was only about 4ft tall. He examined his long big ears, his golden striped fur, and his massive emerald-green eyes. He even shook his tail for the hell of it. Ratchet knew he could not make any judgement on his body, since he had nothing to compare himself to.

With the rest of the day free, he had nothing really to do. Ratchet looked at his list:

Fix Aphelion

Clean the dual vipers

Ask Sasha out

He went for the second option. Ratchet had always felt something about tinkering with gadgets which put him into a focused, medative state. He turned round, expecting to see Clank recharging in the mains.

"Clank, when you've..." He stopped himself. Clank wasn't there. He tore up the list and cried out in frustration. Ratchet knew he would not be able to carry on like this without his help. He needed him. He wouldn't be able to survive without him.

Ratchet opened his weapons rack.

Now, lets see- RYNO, Incinerator, Mootator... A Ha! Dual Vipers.

He was about to close the door when he noticed something -

"The dimensionator?"

And there it was, gathering dust like the broken down piece of junk it was. Ratchet Shut the door.

For the rest of the morning, he worked hard on the machine pistols. But something was still occupying his mind.

What a cool gadget he thought. God knows how those Lombax boffins managed to do it, but they just did. I managed to use it to find my way home, after Tachyon found the cragmites.

And the Lombaxes.

I remember; when Tachyon had found out who he really was, he got together an army of Drophids, and attacked the home planet of the Lombaxes, Fastoon. When the Lombaxes heard Tachyon was coming to wipe them out, they sent themselves all off to another dimension, to save themselves. Only 2 of them stayed behind: the guardian of the dimensionator, and his son.

Me.

At the time, I was just a baby. My father, to save my life, used the dimensionator to send me to Solana, on planet Veldin.

Tachyon killed him in cold blood that day. He would have killed me too, and the Lombaxes would, in this universe, be extinct.

I owe that machine my life. It deserves more than to lie there, rusting in my closet. That awesome helmet that could find anything...

OR ANYONE!!

"Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?!"

Ratchet's mind was racing as thoughts of inter-dimensional travel took over.

He had just had the greatest idea ever. He grabbed his trusty wrench, and opened his cupboard. Ratchet lovingly brushed off the tons of layers of dust that had formed over the past months. Luckily, only the primary reflux coil was damaged. He would have it fixed in no time.

After all, He reckoned, how hard could it be?