I do not own Ratchet and Clank, nor any of the other characters, planets, weapons, gadgets, creatures, devices, galaxies, chimps, or any other part of their series within this, and any other part of the Omniverse. I am, however a big fan, have all the games released so far (along with the first issue of their new comic) and am familiar with the incredible universe the guys at Insomniac began in 2002. I hope my stories meet approval and are as close fitting to the series as can be. Enjoy!

Far off in the Breegus Sector of the Polaris Galaxy, a titanic space station shaped like a floating city was suspended in deep space. Dozens of large golden rings, platforms, and towers glowed with cackling blue energy, slowly rotating to the sound of a ticking clock. Like a system of gears, these glittering wonders seemed placed in a precise order, all parts of a great whole. They circled, like satellites around a shining sun, a saucer shaped structure of the same golden metal floating at the heart of this marvel of science and sorcery.

The Great Clock!

Built by the great Zoni leader Orvus, soon after the unfortunate incident with the Fongoids and their unintentional time rift, the Clock was located in the exact center of the universe.

Give or take fifty feet…

Responsible for keeping the space-time continuum stable, this incredible structure possessed technology eons ahead of any other civilization in existence. Even the multi-brained sages of Terachnos stubbornly admitted they had nothing even close to what Zoni engineering was capable of.

Thanks to the efforts of Orvus's own son, XJ-0461, or Clank as he was known everywhere else in the cosmos, and his Lombax friend, the galactic hero Ratchet, the Clock was just repaired hours ago after suffering terrible damage. Due to the duo's bravery, the Timekeeper for the entire Universe had been saved from total system failure caused by the scheming of the villain Dr. Nefarious and, in a terrible twist of fate, the obsession of the Lombax's mentor, General Alister Azimuth.

A very close call indeed.

Above the glass dome that roofed the Orvus Chamber, the central control room for the entire Clock, a small group of Zoni hovered in space, glowing as bright as stars. The Time Cleaners had long since erased any time rifts opened by the Lombaxes' battle and all equipment was functioning at 100% capacity, so they could spare a few minutes to relax. They watched with amusement at the scene below them, their hive minds buzzing with activity.

Sigmund, the newly appointed Senior Caretaker of the Great Clock, was twirling around the Orvus Chamber with glee. A red and white robot with goofy yellow eyes, he had no legs but instead flew around with the aid of a hovercraft attachment. Sigmund used to be Junior Caretaker until Clank decided only hours ago to promote him, so to leave with Ratchet. In his hands he held a golden scepter, glowing bright with quantum energy as glittering rings, much similar in shape to the ones outside, rotated in midair around its top end.

"YYYYYIIIIIPPPPEEEEEEEE!" Sigmund cried with joy as he sped through the air, narrowly avoiding the large holo-screens that hung from the walls.

"I'm Senior Caretaker! I can't believe I'M Senior Caretaker! WHOOPIE!"

He spun around in the air, than turned down the power on his anti-gravity so he was back down on ground level.

A yellow and gold robotic eye came out of a circular compartment in the floor and seemed to glare at him.

"If you keep playing around with the Chronoscepter, you are going to break something important." A feminine voice stated dryly from unseen speakers around the Orvus Chamber.

With PK-17 sisterboards in a vector shell of raritanium, the Central Computer for the Great Clock was a work of pure genius. The only other machine that matched it in power and intelligence was the IRIS Supercomputer itself.

YET, it had to watch as this little cleaner bot swung one of the oldest artifacts in the Omniverse around as if it were a child's plaything.

Sigmund turned around towards the robotic eye and scowled back at it. "You be quiet, evil Computer!" Sigmund snapped in his high-pitched voice. "This is one of the happiest moments of my life and your not going to ruin it for me!"

Sigmund looked down at the Chronoscepter in his three-fingered robotic hands.

"I haven't been this excited since XJ-0461, I mean 'Clank,' first got here! Or when Orvus hired me! Or when that new Kid Nova cartoon got on the holo-vid!"

"Then your life must be quite dull."

"I'll fix you, you nasty, sarcastic, piece of…" Sigmund growled as he angrily swung the Chronoscepter at the Great Clock's Computer's eye. The eye quickly ducked back into its compartment, causing Sigmund to instead hit a computer counsel behind it.

CRACK!

The Chronoscepter's quantum charged blow went through the paneling like a sick Agorian through tissue paper. Broken glass flew out of the screen. Orange and yellow buttons from the keyboard fell out of their sockets. When all the shards stopped falling, Sigmund looked with shock at what he had just done.

"Oh no!" Sigmund thought with panic. "Ratchet and the Zoni just fixed those after the fight with that Azimuth guy! Oh, what am I going to do? I was still damaged when they were working on repairs in here!"

The Computer's eye came back out of its compartment, unscathed. It turned with a whirl to survey the damage, then turned back to look at Sigmund.

"Well, I told you so. If you are done pouting, will you please repair that?"

Sigmund looked down at the eye, his face filled with uncertainty. "How?"

If the Computer had real eyes, it would have rolled them in exasperation. Instead its robotic one looked pointedly at the Chronoscepter, now held limply in the Caretaker's right hand. Sigmund followed its line of sight and smacked himself in the head in realization.

"Of course! What was I thinking?"

"I do not want to know." The Computer replied nastily.

Sigmund ignored it that time and swung the Chronoscepter at the broken console again. As one of its rings touched the crushed machine, a chime filled the air. Ribbons of blue quantum energy flew from within the rings and enveloped the keyboard and screen. Time itself reversed around the shards of the broken equipment, causing them to fly back in place from where they fell. The cracks on the computer screen disappeared with a flash and the metal plating returned to its pristine condition. As the ribbons of energy dissipated into nothingness the computer console was as good as new, once again a gleaming piece of advanced Zoni technology.

Sigmund admired his work, than noticed something was different about the computer. Instead of the data that was on it before, a lone digital file was now visible on the glowing blue screen, ready to be opened.

"What's that?" Sigmund asked himself, an old habit he had from years of having only the Computer and Zoni to talk to.

The robotic eye extended itself from its compartment as far as its mechanized stem would allow until its round shape blocked the holo-screen.

"That is for Senior personnel only! Please move away from the console and I will return it to storage." The Computer firmly stated.

"I AM Senior personnel Computer! Now let me see it!"

"Let me think…..NO!"

The screen went black. Sigmund pushed the eye aside and tried tapping some buttons on the keyboard to bring it back up. The Computer had shut that off as well. Sigmund gave up after a few seconds and glared at the robotic eye, looking what he thought was smug.

"Fine you meanie! I'll bring it up with my own console. Ya didn't turn it off fast enough for me not to see the file's code number!"

Sigmund grabbed the small green holo-pad attached to a grey hoop around his metal torso (along with a wrench and a potted plant) and moved it in front of himself so he could reach the keys. He hacked his way past the Computer's firewalls and typed the file's code to locate it in the mainframe. Sigmund looked up and watched triumphantly as the file appeared on all of the holo-screens in the Chamber.

The Computer of the Great Clock sighed in defeat. "Accessing private archives…..Opening Caretaker mnemonic data…"

In the center of the Orvus Chamber, a hologram shot out of the ornate, golden lever that allowed master control over the flow of time. The light took the form of a small figure, dressed in a silver metal suit, with a black, hood-shaped, metal helmet. The large head beneath the helmet was a purplish pink, with great big eyes as blue as the Clock's energy. A kind smile was on its wide face.

"SIR!" Sigmund exclaimed in surprise, recognizing his missing boss and friend, Orvus. It had been only a few short years since Orvus had vanished when he left for Planet Zanifar. Sigmund now knew from Ratchet and Clank that Dr. Nefarious had captured him, but somehow the Zoni leader was able to escape, leaving no clue as to where he went.

"Good day to the Caretaker who finds this message. If I have not already reloaded this information into my databanks, it would only be because I did not return from my last errand outside the Clock."

At this the hologram's face became a little sad, though it still gently smiled.

"Do not fear for me. I have lived a long life and have met many wondrous beings throughout this and many other dimensions. Just to make sure that any valuable information I possess does not fall into malicious hands, I have downloaded all of my memories of my time here in this Universe into this single file."

"His memories?" Sigmund repeated curiously. He wondered if Clank had known that Orvus had left another message besides the one they both watched when they first entered the Chamber.

"As this file shows, I have selected significant events from my life I hope you will find enlightening. I will try to, as the kids say, 'lay it down for you' the best I can."

The hologram of Orvus gave his signature laugh, so similar to his son's.

"Now, let's see," The hologram continued thoughtfully. Sigmund looked up as the holo-screens depicted the Zoni's memories visually.

"It all began on Torren IV when we first made contact with the Fongoids…."