Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait again! But here it is...

*This chapter does not have much action but it is still important to the whole story so I would recommend reading it thoroughly..* 

ALSO : You are going to be seeing familiar faces this chapter. BUT, just remember, this is still an alternate dimension so while familiar characters are mentioned, they are not the usual characters that we know!

Enjoy!

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Arthur]

He was silent after taking off into the stars.

Arthur managed to pilot the ship well, making sure to be careful and avoid any space rocks they encountered. His goal was to get both of them as far away from the planet as they could. The Council wouldn't let Ratchet go that easily, and once they found out that Arthur helped him escape? They would want his head as well, no doubt about it.

If it wasn't obvious enough, he didn't think this through.

Yeah, they succeeded in helping Ratchet escape, but what did that mean for him? He couldn't just go back, could he? He would most likely be imprisoned...or worse.

In the end, he did this for his little brother. That, and he wanted to make up for all the mistakes he has made.

But...was this all worth his life? Probably not. Ratchet was still like a stranger to him and their conversations in the past were less than kind and filled with suspicion. It's not like he meant it. He was protecting his brother and Ratchet picked up on his odd behavior.

But now, in the moment of stunned silence, Arthur wanted to hear the younger boy actually talk to him. He wanted an actual, genuine conversation. Anything to fill the cold atmosphere around them.

Maybe he should start...

"Are you...alright back there?" He hesitantly asked Ratchet, who had his arms crossed in the back seat. He didn't respond right away, rather, he shifted himself and straightened his back, blinking tiredly, "Just peachy." He responded curtly, "I still don't know why I'm here."

Arthur groaned in frustration, turning on auto-pilot and swiveling his pilot seat to face the boy, "Look, you're here because we all wanted to keep you safe! Stop being ungrateful!"

"I'm not ungrateful, you asshole! I just...why did people have to get hurt for me!?" he spat, "There was no reason for anyone to risk their life for me. Like...I don't even know if anyone is okay! What if they imprisoned Oliver? Phoebe? What if Kaden is dead because of me!?"

"I doubt that The Council would go to such lengths. People would find it suspicious and there is no excuse The Council could make if they all went missing."

"But...Kaden?"

Arthur frowned, "I am not going to lie to you, Ratchet." he stated honestly, "I don't know. Neither of us do. All we can do is hope for the best." he watched as Ratchet's ears lowered, "Kaden...he's a strong man. I don't think he would be put down that easily."

Ratchet looked down at the floor, "I guess you're right." he replied meekly, "But...that blast from Alister-"

"Ratchet." Arthur cut him off, "I know you're worried and upset but you gotta focus right now." He turned his seat back around, accessing the ship's navigation, "You're gonna be on your own after this, and I don't know what's in store for you, but you have a long journey ahead. At least, I guess so. With this whole war getting worse by the day, that makes your situation much harder."

"What!?" Ratchet nearly jumped out of his seat, "You're telling me that you're just going to drop me off in the middle of nowhere!?"

"Not exactly." Arthur replied, "I don't know where yet, but it will be somewhere with some sort of population. Maybe some sort of trading planet or..." he started mumbling to himself, searching through the navigation database for a planet that is good enough and far away from the Lombaxes.

Meanwhile, Ratchet said nothing as he leaned back, eyes wide in shock. So, not only was he in some sort of danger, but now he was being thrown into the world with nothing but the clothes on his back and no knowledge of who he really is. Just...how could he do this? How could he find out who he is? And now that the Lombaxes were after him and this war is heating up, which will only make his mission even more perilous! How would he get a ship? Bolts? Food? Anything!?

He didn't know where to start.

Calm down. He reminded himself, It feels like I have done this before...? Yeah, everything will be fine! I just gotta step back and think about it...

He calmed himself, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

Okay...wherever I go there will probably be someone on my tail, so I will have to lay low. On top of that, I will have to find a way to get bolts and manage to get on some sort of ship. After that, he could ask around for...for Clank.

If Clank existed...Oh! Who was he kidding!? Clank does exist. I know Clank exists! I feel it. I know he does...he does. He repeated it like a mantra in his head...

But what if he doesn't find Clank? What then?

He shook the thought away. One thing at a time. He had to do things one at a time. If he didn't, he would probably go crazy and make some sort of mistake.

Everything was on the line right now. Everything.

He looked up towards Arthur, who was still looking through the navigation panel.

"Hey, what's taking you so long? I thought-"

*Bang!*

Ratchet nearly flew out of the seat, hanging onto the armrest as the ship jolted forwards. He huffed, sliding back up the seat and looking towards Arthur, who grabbed the steering controls, "What the hell was that!?" Ratchet shouted. "I...I don't know!" Arthur was slightly panicking as the controls refused to cooperate with him, the ship jolting sideways this time, making him lose his grip just a bit.

"Put your fucking seatbelt on, dimwit!" Ratchet called out. Arthur just rolled his eyes at the comment, getting back into his seat and trying to take back control of the ship, "Can't you see I'm a bit busy!?"

"But-"

"Just shut up!" he managed to fly the ship forwards, ignoring the blinking red light on the ship's control panel. "I-I'm trying to-SHIT!" he finally pressed the button to access the scanners, eyes widening as he saw what was on the-

"Hang on!" He finally managed to buckle his seatbelt as the ship jolted to the side once more, a message trying to filter through the intercom

*static-* "T̸h̴i̶s̴ ̷i̴s̴.̴.̷.̷"*static...*"S̸u̵r̴r̶e̸n̴d̷e̴r̵ ̵o̷r̸.̶.̸.̸"*

"W-Who the hell is that!?" Ratchet clutched the seat as the ship groaned. He heard an explosion to his right before the ship careened to the left, red lights started flickering overhead.

He heard Arthur mumble something under his breath...

"It can't be...why would they be all the way out here!?"

But before he could ask what he was talking about, the flashing red lights were now accompanied by some obnoxious, ear-grating beeping. He looked up to the ceiling, metal bending and cracking and-

"Well, looks like we're going to make an emergency landing! Hold on!" Arthur grunted. Ratchet watched as the other boy tried to gain some semblance of control, but he wasn't strong enough to pull back or keep the steering wheel steady. On instinct, Ratchet unbuckled his belt and ran as fast as he could to the front of the ship, stumbling and falling along the way. When he finally made it, he quickly grabbed the wheel from Arthur, keeping it as steady as he could. His fists clenched as he grunted in exertion, "I could use a little help!"

Arthur then unbuckled his belt without thinking and started pulling back with him, "I didn't know you could fly a ship!? Kind of..."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know either!"

Together, the ship stayed steady (a bit...) as they started to enter a planet's atmosphere, preparing to crash head-on. There was no saving the ship now...

"Get back in the seats!" Arthur shouted, hopping back in his and trying to get the belt fastened. Ratchet did the same, finishing before Arthur could even click the buckle. He held on to the armrests with a vice-like grip.

Arthur panicked, "I can't get the-"

But before he could finish...everything went black....

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Ratchet]

The first thing he registered was his throbbing head...

His eyes opened, only to take in the devastating destruction around him. Surprisingly, he was still in his seat, but Arthur was nowhere to be seen.

He unbuckled his belt, standing up on shaky legs as he waded through the piece of debris, winding as some of the hot metal cut along his ankles. "Arthur!?" he called out, stumbling forward as a metal plate slid out from underneath his feet/ "Arthur! Where are you!?"

His heart sank as he heard no response from the other boy. He started to fear the worst.

"No...he can't be...he can't-'' he cut off his muttering, navigating through the rest of the metal debris and making it to the edge of the destruction, a dirt path. He turned around and looked at the crash site hopelessly. Fuck, there was no way he could repair this without anything on hand...and to make matters worst, Arthur was missing and...and possibly-

"Ratchet! I'm over here!"

Snapping out of it, Ratchet practically ran over to the voice, pushing away metal sheets and bent beams to reveal his friend, who was a bit worse for wear, but alive.

"Hey Ratch...think you could help?"

Ratchet looked down to where Arthur was holding his leg, he gasped, because it was currently being crushed by a heavy metal beam. Without another word, he ran over to the other side to lift it, hoping that nothing else would fall on his injured friend in the process.

With some difficulty, he managed to lift it a bit and push it away and off his friend. Arthur gave a sigh of relief, but did not attempt to get up. "I...I think it's broken."

"Yeah, no shit sherlock." Ratchet bent down to inspect Arthur's right leg, "I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be bent that way."

"Oh no...you think?" Arthur asked sarcastically, gritting his teeth and letting out a hiss. "Great. Just great. First we had to crash and now I can't even walk!"

"Look, don't panic! We gotta find someplace safe to stay."

Arthur just grunted as Ratchet helped him sit up, grunting as he did so. Why did this have to happen? What were they going to do without him being able to walk anywhere!?

Ratchet, oblivious to his inner turmoil, wrapped Arthur's arm around him and helped him up, making sure that Arthur stood balanced. "Are you good to go?"

"Yeah...let's just go slow, alright?" Arthur winced as they moved forward, hopping a bit as he tried to get used to using one leg. "I hope this place is populated..." he muttered bitterly, "I have no idea what we are going to do if it's not. There's no way off of it."

"Maybe I could fix the ship eventually?"

"Hah, I doubt it. Not without tools." Arthur tried to keep up, and Ratchet went a bit slower. "I could try. We can't stay here for long." Ratchet reasoned, "But right now I gotta get you somewhere safe and stabilize your leg."

"How, you're not a medic?"

"I'll figure it out."

The two kept walking, navigating the bumpy terrain as best as they could. For some odd reason, Ratchet was feeling a bit put off. Heck, some of the water they passed had an odd smell along with some weird, green mist over it...yeah, it was best that they stayed careful.

Suddenly they heard a shriek overhead, ducking their head as something flew over them, creating a strong gust of air. Ratchet looked up, only for his eyes to widen..."A flying...lizard?"

"Dragon?" Arthur muttered in confusion. The creature landed a few feet away, looking at them in curiosity, tilting its head. Well, at least it didn't look like a threat...

"Ah! Trudi you found them! I was afraid that there weren't any survivors!"

Ratchet and Arthur both turned around, startled by the voice behind them. A short, furry creature walked up to them. They had big green eyes and a hard hat on their head, a long antenna attached to it.

"Hello there!" They greeted. Ratchet raised a brow while Arthur just stared on, in too much pain to actually care about what was happening at this point.

"Uh..Hi." Ratchet replied. The creature seemed unaffected by his confusion, however, and continued to speak, "Oh! I was so worried. Were you two on that crashed ship? I came to check if anyone needed help!"

Ratchet replied hesitantly, "Uhh..yeah! That was us!" he looked around himself. Well, he might as well take a chance,

"Do you know if there is a place to stay, by any chance? My friend here is-"

"Oh dear me! He's hurt. Of course, of course! You can stay with us! I just have to take you towards our workplace and we'll get you fixed up right away!" the creature called over the flying lizard (Trudi? Its name was?) Ratchet watched, baffled by the situation, "Oh...uh, thanks, I guess! But...how are we going to get there?"

"Well...I can take someone on Trudi here, it will be a-"

"I am not riding on that." Arthur stated, deadpan, "It's-"

"Arthur you gotta." Ratchet retorted, "I can walk and you can't and-"

"Nope."

Ratchet was silent for a moment, analyzing his friend why the creature was petting Trudi, making the huge lizard purr in contentment.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"N-No!"

Ratchet just rolled his eyes, "Well, too bad. You go with...whoever they are and I'll meet you there. Okay?"

"But what if they are tricking us?"

Ratchet hummed, side-eyeing the creature who was now giggling at Trudi, a bright smile on their face, "Yeah...I don't think so."

Arthur huffed, but looked away from him when the creature came back over to them, "Alrighty then! I can take one of you over to get fixed up by my pal Mort back home, but one of you will have to stay behind, good ol' Trudi can't carry all three!"

Arthur was about to speak up but was cut off by Ratchet, who already made his decision, "You two can go. I'll catch up if you tell me where to go." he ignored the obvious glare that Arthur was sending him as the person before them started to give him directions.

Hey, at least they found somewhere safe...for now...

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

The Morts...were odd individuals.

The Mort that was taking care of Arthur was nothing less than sweet, and Mort on the other side of the bed seemed to be there to provide...Lemonade?

Arthur wholeheartedly believed that he hit his head too hard during the crash and was just hallucinating at this point. Alas, it's not like he could do anything with his injury, and that included getting up and leaving this nut-house.

Thankfully, Ratchet arrived within the hour, exhausted and seemingly done with the situation, but he managed to put a smile on for one of the Morts that came over to him.

"Well, welcome to our home! I'm glad to see that you made it here safely!"

Ratchet scratched the back of his head, "It was a bit harder than I anticipated but...yeah! I'm glad I made it here!" he looked around the room, "What exactly is this place?"

"Well, this is our Gelatonium factory! This is where we eat, sleep, work, and make the best homemade lemonade anyone could ask for!"

Ratchet blinked owlishly at Mort, trying to comprehend what Mort said, "Uhh...oh, okay! That's cool!" Arthur rolled his eyes at the forced enthusiasm Ratchet put forth. However, it seemed like Mort didn't notice or care at all as they continued to talk, "Well, make yourself at home! We'll be taking care of your friend here in the medbay. Over there, Mort can give you a little tour if you like!"

Ratchet looked over to the other Mort that was waiting on the other side of the room, but shook his head, "I appreciate it, but I would rather stay by my friend for the time being-" he glared playfully at the other, aiming to tease, "-He needs some emotional support, after all."

"Shut up, you ass!" Arthur glared at him, but his words held no real heat. He didn't have enough energy in him to argue and it's not like he could convince Ratchet to leave either way...

So by the time they got situated and Arthur's leg was being tended to, he decided to have a serious talk with the other...

"Look, Ratch, we may be in a safe place right now, but you can't ignore your objective?"

"Which is what exactly?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed, "Well, first, you need to find a way off this planet, and second, you need to find out what is going on with yourself."

Ratchet tilted his head, "But-"

"If The Council was willing to use you and send you off on a ship to do who knows what, then you must be important enough for them to do so."

"Or maybe they were just taking advantage of me."

"I doubt it." Arthur scoffed, "From what I know, The Council's main objective is to gain some sort of power. They wouldn't take some hopeless, lost teenager and go to such lengths." he reasoned, "On top of that, we have the war to worry about."

"And why is that my problem?"

"Well, it's not your problem now. But it will be later." Arthur shook his head, "These are unfortunate circumstances, Ratchet, but we didn't just help you escape and throw you away into the universe. If anything, I think you're the one that can fix things."

Ratchet looked away, shaking his head in disbelief, "Really? And how am I supposed to do that?"

"I just have a gut feeling."

Ratchet looked back at him then, "...How do you suppose I do that?"

Arthur hummed in thought, leaning back to stare up at the ceiling, "I don't know but...I think that only time will tell, Ratch. Believe me."

They were both quiet after that, the only sound was the echo of the factory machinery and cheering Morts, which failed to lighten the mood. Ratchet refused to look at the other, who stared at him with intensity, "The first step is finding a way off this planet and-"

"There is no way that I am leaving you!"

"But you have to!" Arthur insisted, "I didn't tell you this yet, but those people that shot us down? Those weren't Council Members. I think they were The Creator's forces. The Morts seem neutral...but who knows how long that will last?" Ratchet gave him no response, which only seemed to piss him off more, "Is it so bad that I want you to get off this planet and let you find out who you are?"

"No! I never said that!" Ratchet denied the accusation, "But now you expect me to find out who I am and my purpose and to save everyone on top of that!? I'm...I'm just a kid, Arthur, I can't do that!"

"Not unless you try." Arthur lowered his voice, nothing but a harsh whisper that managed to make Ratchet stop in his tracks, "I...to be honest, this whole thing seems like a suicide mission." he admitted, "But...this is your once chance, Ratch. It's not like I can help you with the way I am now. And...if I were to go back to our planet The Council would lock me up anyways."

"So...you can't go back." Ratchet clarified, but then his eyes widened in horror, "You thought this was a one-way trip this whole time!?"

"Kind of..." Arthur admitted, "But I didn't anticipate this."

Ratchet just shook his head in exasperation, "Dumbass."

"Asshole." Arthur shot back, but he smiled nonetheless. He felt like his words managed to get through to Ratchet in some way. Hopefully, he would listen to him and find a way off this planet...

"The Morts can probably help you. They seem like nice people."

"Yeah, but they have already done so much for us. I doubt they would have a ship or anything on hand."

Arthur sighed, "Won't hurt for you to ask..."

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

"-And here it is!" Mort cheered.

They flapped their hands up and down, before finally pointing at the worn-down ship. Ratchet grimaced, "That...is a working ship?"

"Well, yeah! It has been fixed up plenty of times but now we use it for emergencies only."

Ratchet tapped his chin, walking forward to check out the ship's features. It was...primitive, for a ship, at least. But...as long as it works, right? Yeah...flying this wouldn't be an issue! Hopefully...

"Uh-huh...and how long has it been standing here?"

"Well, we actually had a friend use it a year or so ago, so since then." Ratchet nodded in acknowledgment before straightening up. "I suppose it will do but..." he looked towards Mort, who had a smile on their face, "What can I do to repay you?"

Mort just sighed, but their smile remained on their face, "Mort believes that if you help someone from the kindness of your heart, chances are, they will help you back from their own heart too."

Ratchet paused for just a moment, taking in the heartfelt words that were spoken to him,

"I see. Well, then I guess we have a deal." he looked towards the ship once more, "I promise. Once I have things figured out, I will be sure to visit you all and help out with whatever you need."

Mort's smile brightened as Ratchet told them that, "Great! I wish you the best of luck then. Let me look at the ship before you go. You better go say goodbye to your friend before you go! Oh! And don't forget to have some of our homemade lemonade!"

Ratchet turned to exit the room, "Yeah...I guess I'll give it a try!"

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

"So...this is goodbye for now." Arthur mumbled.

Ratchet looked down at his feet. Surprisingly, he felt a bit emotional. Perhaps it was because he was leaving a friend, or, more accurately, it was the realization that once he left he would be all alone with no one by his side...

"Yeah...I guess it is." he mumbled. "I should have said this before but, thanks. Thank you for everything."

Arthur smiled, holding out a hand to shake, "It was no problem." he reassured Ratchet, who reached forward to shake hands with him as well.

"Promise you'll come back though, yeah?"

Ratchet tightened his hold. Could he really make a promise that he may not keep? It wouldn't hurt...

"I promise."

At that, they let each other go. Arthur watched as Ratchet refused to move, he chuckled, "No need to worry about me. I'll just be here drinking Mort's homemade lemonade!" He gestured to the cup on the bedside table. Ratchet joined in with his laughter, "Hey, let me try some before I go!"

Arthur handed him the cup after taking a swig, and without another word, Ratchet took a sip. His lips puckered, but not for long as Arthur grimaced as the flavor enveloped his senses. He'll get used to it...

And for Ratchet...he liked it, oddly enough.

The sweetness of the drink was perfect and threatened to drown out the bitterness, but it was still there. In the back of his tongue and his mind. For it was the bitterness that reminded him of the future he was about to face head-on.

So, he handed the drink back to Arthur "Don't worry about me, Ratchet. I will be okay." Arthur reminded him. Ratchet regretfully stepped back, giving Arthur one last smile as he turned to leave the room and his friend behind.

It was time to go.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

...and so, in the emptiness of space, he realized that he didn't like being alone.

It was foolish. Like...he just took off almost an hour ago and he was already missing people? He didn't like to label himself as weak but...that's how he felt now.

It felt like someone should be there with him, sitting beside him in the worn pilot seat. Without someone there, this cockpit felt small. It was like a box, but one that was slowly closing in and threatening to crush him.

On top of that, another bad thing was that this old cargo ship had a broken navigation unit that told him nothing about the space around him. So, he left the ship on auto-pilot and just...sat there.

What else could he do? He didn't know where he was and what he was going to do next. This whole situation was so messed up and he didn't know what thread to pull to help him unravel the whole situation and come up with something on the spot. That, and it's not like anyone was here to help him in the first place.

So he sat in the silence, knees up to his chest as he curled into himself, tail hanging still off the edge of the seat. He should probably move soon so he wouldn't run out of fuel, but he didn't have any motivation to. The past events left him numb and lethargic, even if he tried to play it off like it was nothing. The sickness that plagued him hours ago made him feel like shit. The minor injuries from the crash started to ache, and above all else, the feeling of loneliness consumed him like the cold that settled into his bones.

Maybe he could catch some shut-eye? Maybe...but it might be dangerous to just float around in the expanse of space unprotected like this. He should really-

*Static*.."H̸e̷l̸l̷o̸?̵"

He paused, leaning forward and staring at the intercom in bewilderment. He was about to press the button to respond-

"C̸i̸t̶i̴z̶e̸n̴?̶ ̷H̶e̷l̴l̷o̸?̵ ̵T̸h̴i̶s̴ ̴i̷s̸-̵" the boisterous voice was cut off, the next voice coming out clearly "Shut it, you HALF-WIT!" Ratchet flinched at the volume, hesitantly pressing the button as he hesitantly responded.

"Uhhh, hello?"

He heard nothing but silence for the next few seconds, just static before-

"See? I told you it would work! My plans never-" someone cut them off with an exaggerating groan, "Would you just SHUT UP for once in your miserable life!"

"Now that wasn't so ni-"

"PLEASE, whoever you are, get me off this ship so I don't have to deal with this-"

And there was incessant bickering on the other end. Ratchet shook his head in disbelief as the voice started getting on his nerves. He turned off auto-pilot and grabbed the steering wheel, he looked around the area. If these voices were coming in clearly, they had to be close. He looked down near the broken navigation screen, dim coordinates...no use.

He huffed, about to give up when he saw a speck of red in the distance. He pressed the button to respond and cut off their incessant bickering, "Hey! I think I found you!"

"Thank you. Thank you! Would you STOP-" Ratchet rolled his eyes, pulling up next to the ship as the voices finally stopped arguing. Ratchet sighed in relief,

"Really? You're telling me that THAT THING is your ship!? What a sad excuse for-"

"Thank you for your help, citizen! I will be sure to repay you when I am finally able to campaign in the big city square in front of all who-"

"SHUT IT!" The shrieking cut the other voice off as Ratchet groaned, wanting to hit his head on the control panel. "Look, I don't know how to do this. Should I just pull you both along-"

"No problem! We'll just enter-"

"You IMBECILE! If you open that-"

Ratchet jumped when the screeching sound of static filled his ears, along with a bang from outside his ship...

There's no fucking way...

He buckled himself in as he pressed the button to the hatch, hearing someone be tossed in along with a pair of heavy footsteps jumping in. "Shut it! SHUT IT ALREADY!"

Ratchet smashed his fist down on the button, the rush of air stopping and the air filtration systems running on max power. He growled, "What the fuck were you thinking!? This whole ship could have been crushed like a soda can because of what you did!" He turned around, analyzing the damage around the hatch, "It even bent the fucking metal! Are you-" his voice trailed off into nothing but a whisper, eyes widening, "-are you...insane?"

He unbuckled his belt and approached the first person, who was tall enough to almost hit his head on the roof of the ship. Ratchet looked up in astonishment, taking in all of the humanoid's large, bulky frame along with his very wide and smug smile, which was directed down at him, "Well, greetings, citizen! What is an intelligent Lombax like yourself doing around these parts?"

But Ratchet continued to stare at the (really, really familiar) face before him. Taking more details in and...letting out a strangled gasp-

.

.

.

"What the fuck!?"

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Nova]

They haven't been awake for long.

Upon opening their optics again, they were lucky to find themselves alive...barely so. Their injuries were wrapped or covered with rusted pieces of scrap metal, and his broken facial plate was being held together by some sort of...tape!?

They rolled their good eye. Really...couldn't they have used something better, or just leave it alone? Why were they still alive in the first place!?

The last thing that they remembered was being in the clutches of one of The Creator's minions after-

After...Nolen...

Then, at that moment, they found their anger returning ten-fold. The look on Nolen's face during and after that encounter was burned into their mind. It angered them that after saving the man, helping the humans, and remaining docile towards them that the man just...just hurt them and turned his back like they were nothing! How could he!? How could humans do such a thing to them!? They just showed the humans kindness, and they were left for dead!?

They couldn't help but feel the growing resentment that they had.

And the best part? They were sitting in a cell, broken and hanging on by a wire. Well, now that they mention it, one of their left leg was gone from the knee down, which wasn't surprising. It was barely hanging on by a wire when they were picked up, so it must have fallen off somewhere. At least it was covered by the same electrical tape as their facial plate was...

Not like it mattered now, not like they could leave this cell anyways. And...they supposed that it wasn't that bad. They could probably say that they were used to it. Sure, they had plenty of freedom with the human survivors, but not much. Heck, before all this, they were kept against their will at The Great Clock...

It was like their whole life so far has been nothing but a prison. They were unable to be free and make their own choices. No, they were thrown into the harsh, cold reality that they could never survive happily in. Sadly...it was the reality that they had to come to terms with.

Perhaps Clank was right for keeping them locked up. Sure, they couldn't be themselves back then, but anything would be better than the pain they have witnessed recently...

Who is really at fault? The humans.

They risked their own life to help the humans survive against The Creator. They never raised a hand or blaster towards them. They never even laid a finger on them and yet...they were still nothing but a piece of trash to the humans.

Especially...Nolen.

The man that they have become so close with has done nothing but betray them. Yeah, they hid that they were a bot, but they never hurt the man or fought back against him while the man was practically beating them up.

And when the man turned, only to watch Nova get taken by the enemy and did nothing? Oh...that just made their skin crawl.

They clench their fist tighter, threatening to break the steel chassis that covered their hands.

If they ever get out of here, there would be hell to pay.

Perhaps they could build a life of their own and live free somewhere else, all while forgetting everyone else and everything that hurt them up until this point. That sounded great. That sounded so satisfying, even. Because if you didn't have to deal with others, you wouldn't have to deal with problems! You wouldn't have to-

*tap*tap*

They looked up suddenly, only to see one of the smaller guard bots tapping on the holo-shield that kept them in the cell, tilting their head as they watched a second bot approach too...

"By orders of The Creator, you are being ordered to come with us. We shall escort you now."

They jumped when the shield went down, guard bots stepping forward as each of them took one of their arms, pulling them up in one quick motion, they growled. "Hey! Watch where you're fucking claws are going!"

Against Nova's words, the other two bots only tightened their hold as they walked them down the prison block, the cries of other prisoners not deterring them in the slightest as they tugged Nova along.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

[Clank]

He was thrown into the room, landing on his face in the process.

He groaned, lifting his head up and looking around the room.

A gigantic glass window was at the far end of the room, overlooking the city below. A small desk and chair sat in the center. Bookcases lined the walls and there were...quite intimidating weapons displayed on the wall. To his dismay, he recognized most of those weapons and what they do...

Well...looks like his life really was in danger.

"Ahem." someone cleared their throat. Clank made eye contact with who it was.

The Creator.

He said nothing as the other bot stood on his desk, acting all high and mighty. His dark red optics seemed to bore into Clank's soul as they stared at one another. Becoming unamused, The Creator scoffed, and shook his head in disappointment, "Well...I thought you Lombaxes would be more...amusing to deal with." he mused, "Such formidable fighters in both mind and spirit. Aren't you a pitiful example of your species.."

Clank only glared at him as he walked closer to the edge of his desk. He eyed the four guard bots by the door to the room, making sure that if this Lombax were to fight him, they would be ready to strike and kill. Clank seemed to notice this, and tried to relax his posture.

"Then again, you are not like what he described..."

"Who?" Clank found himself asking without a second thought, "Who would-"

"Well, your leader, of course. He was the one to send you over, after all. Am I correct? The only ones that would send a Lombaxian spy bot would be the Lombaxes..." he tapped his chin, "I also wonder why you haven't arrived here first. Unless...you were trying to escape? Or your leader tried to trick me...and here I thought we could make some form of an alliance..."

"I have no idea what you are-"

"Silence!" The Creator cut him off, eyes alight with anger, "I allow no one to interrupt me while I am speaking. Unless you would prefer to be slain right in front of me?"

Clank gave no response, grimacing as The Creator laughed devilishly, "I commend your efforts on trying to escape my grasp, but alas, you weren't quick enough." Clank swallowed thickly, "And now here you are...a little cat in a cage. Pitiful. To think that your leader would send a disappointing robot like you over here. It feels like...I've been insulted. Did they think I would be so easily fooled!?"

Clank could do nothing but take in what the man was saying.

"You see, I know everything about what you Lombaxes are doing now. I have eyes everywhere and to think that your kind would send a spy to infiltrate my city!? That's laughable! Your leader must be a real imbecile to think that they could get away with this."

He inched ever closer to Clank, looking over to two of the four guard bots by the door, "Retrieve the other Lombaxian bot for me and bring them here. I need to have a nice little chat with them as well." They quickly left the room and the Creator's eyes landed on him once more.

"Ohhhh, what shall I do with you, I wonder?" he tsked, looking away in thought, "Destroy you? Keep you in my cells to waste away? Drain your oil." Clank felt a chill go up his spine...

"Dismantle you and send you back to your people...? Hmmm, the possibilities are endless with you!"

Clank frowned at how cheerful The Creator sounded at the moment. Damn...it looks like his dimensional counterpart was a real psychopath...

"Hmm, I will make my decision once I chat with your other counterpart." he looked towards the remaining guard bots, "Take him back to his cell."

Clank tried to tear himself out of their steel grip, but to no avail. He was being dragged out the door,

"What do you mean my counterpart!?" he questioned frantically, only to receive no answer as he was pulled past the threshold and dragged back to his cell. His ears lowered as he stopped fighting to get away, watching the scenery change from a long, dark hallway filled with guards to the gigantic prison block that held countless prisoners. Some humans, some bots, some...he couldn't even tell but...it didn't look like they were moving...

"Hey! Watch where your fucking claws are going!"

His head shot up as he heard the familiar voice coming near. "What the..." his eyes widened as his mouth hung open in shock. No...it can't be...It couldn't be!

On the opposite side of the walkway was none other than the two familiar guard bots, who were dragging along none other than-

"XR!?" he called out, getting the attention of the other, who looked up in alarm as they were dragged past...

"C-Clank!?" They both started to fight against their restraints, "Get the hell off me!" he heard Nova growl to the other bots, "Clank!" they tried to look over their shoulder as best as they could.

Clank did the same, taking in XR's look of both anger and fear as they were dragged farther away from each other. He called out once more, "XR! Don't worry! I'll-"

He was suddenly thrown forward, hitting the ground with a grunt as the sound of the shield going up, keeping him from escaping. The Guard Bots looked a bit agitated,

"Silence, prisoner." one of them said before walking away and leaving Clank in his cell. Clank stood up, banging uselessly against the shield in frustration.

What the hell!? XR was alive!? And they were here!? Oh no...oh no, now that they were both captured with little chance of escape how...how will...how will they find Ratchet  and how will they return to their own dimension (if it still exists now...)

How would they both get out of this alive!?

....

Clank sat back, hopeless and...and scared. What could he do now!? He was powerless at the moment and it's not like anyone was going to come in here and save him and Nova from this prison.

It felt like all hope was lost...

...

Well...it's not like he could do anything about it...

...

So here, in this cold, dirty cell, Clank pulled his knees to his chest and waited for what was to come.

⊱ ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

So...who do you think Ratchet just met?

I have written most of this late at night, so I am sorry for any leftover spelling or grammar mistakes. I will be going over every chapter and fixing things soon, but with my college courses practically sucking most of my motivation out, it will take some time. However, I already have a (somewhat) complete layout for the next chapter, so I am hoping that I will release it promptly.

AND- Before I go, I just want to thank all of you readers for your support for me and my story. It really means a lot and, in all honesty, it really helps get me through my days, so thank you all so much! ❤

I hope you are all doing well! Have a great day/night everyone, and see you next time!