Hello, everyone! Thanks for clicking the link, and welcome to my very first fanfic!

It's really late at night now, so I'll keep this introduction short.

Recently, I read the entire story of R&C: ACiT, and I must say that it captivated me more than any book I've read or movie I've watched. Soon after, I couldn't help but wonder something: what if Alister was on the right track? What if his mission to reverse time succeeded? The question stuck with me for several days. I began to throw ideas around in my mind. "What if" this? "What if" that? Before I knew it, I found myself sitting before my laptop, transferring my musings onto MS Word. And thus this story was born!

Also, please forgive me for any inconsistencies between my description of events as compared to the actual game. Some of those were intentional and inserted to create drama, while others were a result of me not actually owning the game and relying solely on the R&C wiki to tell me the details. :P

God I'm such a nerd.

A low, ominous rumble filled the Orvus Chamber. Under the glass beneath his feet, Ratchet saw streams of cerulean blue flowing from from all directions and gathering under the platform, concentrating in volume and growing louder by the second.

"Ratchet!" shouted Clank. "The Clock is overloading! We have to disengage the time-reversal command NOW!"

Ratchet didn't need a second warning. He turned and ran towards the mechanism mounted at the platform's centre.

"No!" screamed Alister. "What are you doing?!"

The other Lombax ignored him, instead sprinting towards the device. He grabbed the mounted handle and pulled with all his might. The Scepter promptly snapped in half, sending him sprawling backwards.

Darn, he thought, as he looked at the broken handle in his hand. This isn't good.

How right he was. With a thunderous bang, the energy welling up beneath the device saw sudden, violent release. An enormous pillar of blue exploded from beneath the surface, swallowing the mechanism in a pillar of electric blue light.

Destabilized by the energy surge, the platform began rocking fiercely, swaying from side to side like a leaf swept up in a vicious gale. A particularly powerful tremor knocked Ratchet off his feet. For a brief, terrifying moment, he felt himself sliding rapidly towards the edge. Grasping desperately around him, his hands gripped the side of the platform just as the rest of him flipped over, leaving him dangling precariously over the endless abyss.

With tremendous effort, the Lombax hauled himself back on to solid ground. The shock and the exertion of the earlier battle were taking its toll on his body. He was exhausted. But still he forced himself back onto his feet, and stumbled over to the pillar of energy.

He had to stop it, or the Universe was doomed.

Gritting his teeth, Ratchet forced his hands through the veil of energy. The rising energy was almost solid to the touch, and its texture reminded him of Gelatonium – red hot, burning Gelatonium that singed his exposed fur and ate away at his gloves.

He had just jammed his wrench onto the axle when a familiar battle cry rose over the din. He turned too late to see Alister's double-sided wrench flying full-speed towards his face. The weapon connected squarely with the side of his head, smashing his visor and crushing his ear against his helmet. The stunned Lombax staggered backwards, then collapsed completely.

"Ratchet!" shouted Clank. The small robot jumped out of his holster on Ratchet's back, but was swiftly met with a running kick that sent him skittering over the edge of the platform.

"CLANK!" shouted Ratchet in horror. He tried to get back up, but another devastating blow connected with the side of his helmet. His visor shattered completely, and the impact threw him into the ground once more. A third blow landed heavily on his stomach, and a fourth on his side with a sickening crack. A coppery taste came to his mouth.

Half-dazed, head throbbing and ear aching fiercely from his badly bleeding wound, Ratchet rolled over, wincing as he did so. Alister was towering over him, eyes narrowed and teeth exposed in a menacing snarl. He slammed one foot onto Ratchet's chest, causing the already injured Lombax to yelp in pain.

Ratchet tried to push the foot away and struggle free, but Alister only stepped down harder. Ratchet coughed. His chest ached horribly, and it was becoming hard to breathe.

Alister pressed the head of his wrench against Ratchet's throat. "Stop squirming, boy, or I can make things much more painful for you," he growled.

Out of the corner of eye, Ratchet watched the spectacle with increasing horror. The column of energy was starting to spin quickly. Soon it had become a raging vortex, spitting out crackling tendrils of lightning and fire as it gyrated.

"Please, Alister," he croaked. "Don't do this. There are other ways to rejoin the Lombaxes."

The white-furred Lombax said nothing, only laughed.

"What about the risks, Alister? What if you're wrong? Then not just the Lombaxes, but EVERYONE could perish!"

"Risks?" spat Alister. "Don't you dare tell me what risks I should or shouldn't take! You never knew the Lombax civilization, so it's easy for you talk about risks. But what about me? I let them down, and I'm going to bring them back! Damn the risks; if I succeed, our race will thrive once more! "

"Look around you, Alister! Take a good look! Does it look like you're succeeding?"

Alister raised his head. The kid had a point; the process did seem more chaotic than it needed to be. The vortex of energy had grown to horrific proportions. The chamber's windows shattered one by one, their glass shards flying dangerously close before being sucked into the hurricane. The metal arches supporting the chamber buckled and twisted, and some snapped in half entirely. The Orvus Chamber was tearing itself apart.

But that wasn't all. Within the vortex Alister thought he saw glimpses of the worlds and planets he had visited, blinking in and out of existence as they were shot in and out of the infernal spiral. A strangely disturbing chorus rose over the din. Was it screaming? He wasn't sure.

For a brief moment, cold, hard fear gripped his heart. What if something was terribly wrong? What if he was wrong? What if Kaden was wrong… from the very beginning?

No.

Alister shook his head. It wasn't possible. Kaden couldn't be wrong. He couldn't be wrong – not after so many years of dashed hopes and wild goose chases; of pain, and loneliness, and torturous guilt.

He surveyed the scene once more, taking in the destruction surrounding him. As he looked he could almost imagine an order in the chaos, a single unifying beat in the frenzied orchestra that strummed and thundered around him. Everything was perfect.

Ratchet looked at Alister, desperately hoping. The eyes of a lunatic stared back at him.

"You're wrong, boy. Nothing is wrong! I know this is exactly how it's supposed to be! And when I bring my world back I'll–"

Alister didn't manage to finish his sentence. A small white being came running up to him, and with all the strength he could muster in his diminutive mechanical body, hurled himself at the Lombax.

The impact knocked Alister off-balance for a split second. It was all the time Ratchet needed to kick him in the stomach, forcing the breath from his lungs. He followed it up with a quick sweep of his legs, knocking Alister's feet from beneath him. The Lombax landed heavily on his head with a solid thunk and remained still.

Slowly, painfully, Ratchet tried to get up, but his legs suddenly felt like jelly. A small metallic hand appeared before him. Ratchet grabbed it.

"Good you see you again, Clank," he said, smiling wearily. "But how–?"

Clank smiled in return. "Let's just say I received timely assistance from a rather unexpected source."

His smile promptly turned to a frown when he saw the extent of his friend's injuries.

"Ratchet, you're…"

"I'll be fine, Clank. I'll have it looked at when this whole mess is over. We have more important things to do now, don't we?"

"Indeed we do, I suppose."

Together, they ran over to the malfunctioning device. At least, they tried to, Ratchet limping as fast they could, while Clank tried his best to support his friend.

Summoning all of his strength, Ratchet forced his arms through the wall of energy and grabbed the handle of his wrench. It was at once blazing hot and chillingly cold. The ether pulsing through it began to shoot through his arms, sending jolts of pain across his body.

Steeling himself, Ratchet pulled with all his might. His exhausted arms cried out in protest, and his broken ribs caused him to tremble in agony. Blood trickled down his cheek from his crushed ear. Every cell in his body screamed for him to let go.

But he knew he could not. For at that point, the survival of the Universe and everyone in it depended solely on him.

***

As Ratchet struggled with the machine, Clank stood at his side, feeling somewhat frustrated. It was obvious that Ratchet was in tremendous pain. It was at times like these when Clank wished he was a little bit taller. Maybe then he could help…

Bzzt.

Over the noise Clank heard a faint buzzing. His sensors detected an energy anomaly somewhere in the chamber. A tremendous amount of electricity was being charged, and not because of the machine.

The robot froze in fear for a moment. He remembered all too vividly the last time he heard that buzzing. Something horrible had happened to his best friend, the memory of which he knew would stay with him forever.

He turned, and his worst fears were confirmed. Alister was awake, his features twisted with fury and his body bent forward as if to pounce. In his hand the head of his wrench glowed an ominous blue. Clank tried to shout, to run forward and push Ratchet out of the way, but it was too late.

There was a loud crackle as Alister swung the wrench forward, flinging the plasma bolt free. It streaked and darted through the air, right towards the unwitting Ratchet.

The bolt smashed into Ratchet's chest like a sledgehammer, crushing in his armor where it struck. The impact alone shoved him back by several feet. After the blast came countless sparks of electricity that dashed through the Lombax's body, burning flesh and fur alike when they pierced the surface of his skin.

Ratchet's eyelids and ears dropped, and he shivered as if cold. He suddenly looked very, very tired. He coughed once, twice, then crashed heavily onto the hard floor and lay there, motionless and unbreathing. Clank could do nothing but watch in horror as his best friend, for the second time that day, died before his very eyes.

If the little robot had a heart, he knew it would have stopped right then and there.

Clank ran over to Ratchet's motionless form, willing him desperately to wake up. Alister strode menacingly over to him, brandishing his wrench like an executioner's axe.

Unwilling to believe the Lombax was dead, Clank performed a quick bioscan on his fallen friend. To his amazement, a small, dogged pulse still ran through the Lombax's veins. Ratchet was alive, but only just. And not for much longer.

Alister was approaching quickly. He walked against the light, so dark shadows shrouded his face and framed his glinting eyes. Unable to meet his murderous gaze, Clank turned away and prepared himself for the inevitable.

Just as all hope seemed lost, a single, inappropriately jovial voice entered his thoughts.

"Well, looks like gotten yourself into a bit of trouble, haven't you, Clank?"

Despite the extremely grim situation, and the imminent danger about to befall him and Ratchet, Clank smiled.

"I suppose I have, father."

And thus ends the first chapter! A big thanks to everybody for bothering to read this, and please drop a review if you have the time!

~misterhogtail