5354.4.034

Ratchet stood protectively in front of Susie as he and the other tryees were all corralled to what he assumed was the start of the crazy maze thing they were about to be made to run like a bunch of lab rats. The small team of four were just giving promises to Susie that she would be fine when the Cragmite guards had appeared and began prodding and pushing the fearful children and teens toward the maze.

Despite there being close to what Ratchet guessed was 85 people, the large mass of people remained dead silent and the desert was left eerily quiet.

"Alright people!" Qwark's voice called out from a grainy speakerphone. "The goal of this team building exercise is to make it through this maze with your whole team. There will be unexpected twists, turns, and traps to fully test your adventurer's spirit. Now are you ready? Set! GO!"

A reverberating buzz that caused Ratchet and Clank to cringe went off and the group of young people gathered dashed off… at least, that is what was supposed to happen. No one actually ran. Most just stood while a few too slow, tentative steps. With how the tryouts had been going, this didn't actually surprise Ratchet. What did surprise him was how Winnie dashed forward as if in a race. She halted immediately when she realised she was alone and looked behind her to see why her teammates were not with her.

"Wh- what are you guys doing?" She asked, her brows coming together as she looked at them in confusion.

"Uuuh… failing?" He hated saying the word out loud, but he had to since Winnie didn't seem to be onboard with their plan.

"What?" Both Susie and Winnie said at the same time.

So Ratchet wasn't the only one confused by his teammates reactions

Ratchet got down on one knee and smiled at Susie, "We made a promise to you, remember? You are going to see your mom again and that means we, as a team, have to fail this test as miserably as we can!"

"But," Winnie, who had made her way back to them, said. "What about you? Didn't you want to join the army?"

Ratchet's eyes widened in surprise. Had Winnie been prepared to give up her future for him? Was that why she had run a head? Winnie, who hated the Cragmites and spoke ill of their worthy goals, was willing to join their forces just so that he and Clank- no, Clank was only doing this because Ratchet wanted to- could fulfill his dreams. This realisation touched Ratchet and he stared at her in awe. Ratchet had never experienced this type of loving sacrifice before meeting Clank and Winnie and he wasn't sure what to do with it. These friends, his friends, were willing to give up everything for him. If this is what friendship was, he was not sure he was worthy of it.

"Ratchet? Winnie?" Clanks voice broke through his thoughts. "I believe we should move. Preferably as fast as possible."

Ratchet was about to ask why when his ears flicked as they picked up an intense humming sound and he realised the ground below them was starting to glow.

That could not be good.

Everyone else at the start line, and there were a lot of people, were now looking about in confusion as well. Ratchet just made the decision to get off the glowing metal start line when an electric shock shot up from the metal and filled Ratchet with an intense pain. He and everyone else there cried out as electricity coursed through them. The boy keenly felt it with his metal friend strapped to his back helping to conduct even more charge up and through the Lombax. He was also half a ware of being able to hear the screams of Sasha and Talwyn, but there was nothing he could do.

Finally the pain halted as suddenly as it had started and Ratchet's mind went mercifully blank for a moment. His mind was swimming and the darkness was so comforting with its promise of relief that he eagerly wanted to relax into it's soothing embrace where everything was blessedly devoid of anything.

But something else was calling him, something that at first was annoying but then became concerning. He recognised those voices, and the fact that they sounded so concerned caused panic to tug at his consciousness. Something was wrong. They were in danger. He had to help them. But he didn't want to leave the darkness. Going back meant pain. It would just be easier to stay here and-

"Ratchet!" The voice finally snapped through his consciousness and he gasped as colour and light flooded into his vision.

Everything was fuzzy and there was stinging pain that lingered in his blood. He just wanted to go back to the darkness.

"Come on Ratchet!" The voice, Winnie, shook him hard. "Don't leave us now."

"Wha?" He managed to croak out as Ratchet pulled himself up off the ground and looked around deliriously. "Wha happen...?"

"We gotta go now!" Winnie barked. "The ground is going to shock us again less than two minutes. You can't afford to black out again."

Something wet was pressing into his arm and he looked to see the small Tharpod, Susie, crying and looking up at him with fear on her tear stained face. Winnie's own expression was of concern and worry as she helped him stand up fully.

"Alright," Ratchet's mind was clearing up now and he had enough sense to grab his omniwrench which he had dropped on the ground when the electricity hit. "Let's go."

Winnie scooped up Susie and dashed deeper into the maze and Ratchet followed.

"We have to keep moving." Winnie explained as they took one turn and then another. "While you were dazed Captain Qwark explained that the ground in this death coarse is filled with pressure plates and the moment they're activated a countdown is started for five minutes before the ground shocks everyone standing on it. If we don't want to be zapped again, then we have to be in the lead."

"But we can't win this-" Ratchet began to say as Winnie took a right turn.

"Ratchet!" She barked out as they passed a group of cadets who were attempting to stay behind, but looked rather nervous about it. "You were out for a good minute last time. You cannot afford to take another charge! Not with Clank on your back directing all of the energy to you."

"Clank!" Ratchet cried out, realising his friend had been too quiet. "Buddy are you okay?"

"The current caused his system to shut down." Talwyn informed him. "But he appears to be rebooting. As long as we don't get hit by more electricity, he should be fine."

Ratchet dearly wanted to scan his friend to make sure everything really was fine, but being in the middle of a death maze didn't really give him the time to do anything but run.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Ratchet asked. Suddenly the walls of the corridor they just turned into began shooting stun plasma bolts. Ratchet used his omniwrench to fend off the bolts while Winnie just dodged.

One blast hit her in the leg and her whole body froze up for a second, dropping Susie. The little girl scrambled to her feet and began pulling Winnie the rest of the few meters out of this section. Ratchet covered their backs and continued to bat at the plasma bolts.

"Yeah!" He gave a triumphant whoop when one bolt was deflected right back at the gun which shot it, short fusing the weapon so that smoke poured out of it.

A moment later Winnie regained mastery of her limbs and she and Susie dashed the rest of the way out of there, Ratchet bringing up the rear and destroying a few more guns in the wall while at it.

"Thanks," Winnie said as she scooped Susie back up and they continued running.

"To answer your question" She said as they took another right turn in the maze. "No, I don't. But we can't stop moving."

A familiar and dreadful humming noise, ever so quiet, tickled at his ears and Ratchet felt panic blossom in his chest.

"It's happening again!" He warned everyone. "Run!"

Filled with an extra burst of speed, he and Winnie dashed across the ground which was beginning to glow and at the last moment they dove to the safety of the next corridor. There was a fizzling crackle behind them and they heard an unlucky being who had been caught by the glow scream for a few seconds before the glow died down and the humming stopped. Scrambling to their feet Ratchet only spared a look back before he continued through the maze, Winnie already running in front of him.

The first (and hopefully only) electrical shock they had received had overloaded Clank's system and nearly knock Ratchet out. Whoever made this maze was going to get sucker punched into tomorrow when he found them.

"Is everyone alright?" A voice asked from behind Ratchet and the teen felt relief wash over him

"Clank!"

Winnie and Susie looked back at him in surprise and then relief to see Clanks green orbs glowing again.

"How are you buddy?" Ratchet asked while maintaining his current speed. "Everything working right?"

"Yes." Clank answered. "All systems have rebooted and I am fully on line again. Apologies for leaving you all, but the amount of electricity that went through me was too much at the time. Where are we?"

"In a death maze running from the ground which might electrocute us at any moment and we are probably completely lost." Ratchet answered.

"I see. Winnie, take the next left you come upon."

"How do you know?" Winnie huffed as she ran. "You just woke up."
"When we were standing before the maze, I committed the layout of it to my memory files. I recognise the unique curve this length of corridor is taking as belonging to the far right path close to the outer layer. If we take two more lefts, then a right, then down the middle when we come to a three way split, another right, left, right, right, right, left, and right then we will be at the jump."

"Okay," Ratchet laughed despite the situation they were in. "How about you just tell us which way when we come to forks in the road because neither of us are going to remember all of that."

"Which way?!" Winnie called out as they came to a fork.

"Left." Clank answered. The next corridor had little insectoid mini robots that shot lasers out of their eyes. Winnie had to put Susie down and they kept the small girl between them as they slowly inched their way out of the robot's range while fending them off. As they continued to run, Clank informed them that the corridors with enemies to fight didn't have pressure plates and thus no electrical shock. That at least was a relief to know they didn't have to worry about being zapped in the middle of battle.

The empty corridors, however, were all fair game and the team had a few close calls. It seemed that there was always someone five minutes in front of them setting off these traps.

They passed a few stragglers who didn't have to worry about blacking out like Ratchet and Clank did and so were still trying to lose this thing. While Winnie informed Ratchet that after the first shock he had been out cold they had lost seven minutes and nearly everyone else had run ahead. Ratchet hoped that would be enough time for them to fail the challenge.

They just finished fighting off a rather large War Grok beast, Ratchet kept it distracted while Winnie helped Susie sneak past, when they came to the end of the maze and a huge drop off. The finish line was in sight.

5343.5.136

The small Lombaxes heart pounded in his ears, his feet hitting the ground in a rhythmic pattern like a steady drum beat that propelled him forward. Ahead of the little boy were his teammates and the competitors all running the same race as him, though there were only three runners in the definite lead. Out of those three, only one wore their school colours and that Cragmite wasn't close to catching up to the other two let alone passing them. Ractshet cringed as he realised that they were going to lose the race. No one on his team would be in a good mood if they lost.

And then he saw it. The finish line, it was in sight! The red ribbon stretched across the track gave Ractshet a bold idea and he abandoned his rhythm based steps and shooting off across the track at a spead that surpassed the other students. Despite being at the very back, he quickly wove his way around the other Cragmites who had spent all of their energy during the first two laps.

The muscles on his calves burned and his side burned, but he only smiled. He could win this. He could win this for his team! Once he proved himself a team player they would accept him, he just knew it.

Faster he went until he caught up to the three Cragmites in the lead. The red ribbon of the finishing line was whipped and tugged tantalisingly in the wind as if it were calling him forward. Forcing more speed into his run, Ratchet sprinted forward even faster than before and began to pass the other Cragmites.

"What do you think you're doing rat?!" hissed his teammate from close behind him.

Ractshet just paused long enough to give the classmate a grin before he refocused back on the race and pushed himself forward once more.

Just as victory was in his reach a body shoved into him with vengeful force, throwing him off balance. He managed to look up in surprise just in time to see who had dealt the low blow.

His own teammate glared at him, anger boiling in his eyes.

And then Ractshet hit the ground hard, skidding across the track and into the dry sand at the side line.

A few seconds later he heard the snapping of a ribbon followed by a cheer which rose up from the sidelines. Pushing his face out of the dirt Ractshet looked over to see the other team throwing their claws up in the air in triumph while his own team hissed in defeat and looked on at the celebrators with anger.

Ractshet gave a defeated sigh and flopped back down into the dirt where his pride had been dumped into the mud.

"Hey!" Ractshet ears twitched as a seethingly angry voice caught his attention. He looked up to see the Cragmite who had tripped him stomping toward him. His other teammates heard the call of their track leader and all eyes fell upon him and the small Lombax he was glaring at.

"Ya you!" The track leader hissed as Ractshet hurried to get to his feat. By now the other teammates seemed to know something was about to go down and they all began to gather around him and the furious Cragmite.

"Yeah? What's up?" Ractshet asked almost jokingly as he smiled, desperately trying to quell the flight instinct that was urging him to get the heck out of there. But Ractshet wouldn't listen. He had spent an entire season proving himself to these Cragmites and felt like he was on the cusp of becoming a few of their friends. The leader would probably never like him, but Ractshet could live with that as long as the other teammates treated him well. And for the most part, they had. He had felt more acceptance here than anywhere else before. He had hope that things would go different than they usually went.

"You miserable little rat! You just cost me us the win! That's what's up!" The Cragmite yelled. This seemed to shock the rest of the team and they all turned their beady yellow eyes on the small Lombax and glared.

"I knew he'd only mess everything up for us." One Cragmite whispered and the others agreed. That actually hurt Ractshet a lot because the Cragmite who had spoken had been a teammate Ractshet thought he could possibly befriend in the future. Apparently he was wrong.

"If it wasn't for you getting in my way I would have won!" the ringleader hissed, seeming emboldened that the others had so easily been swayed.

Now this made Ractshet a tad bit angry, enough so for him to forget the compromising situation he was in and yell back, "No you wouldn't have! You weren't even close to the others you slug brained Amoeboid!"

Ractshet didn't need to see the anger alight in every Cragmite there to know that insulting the team's second fastest runner on the track team (first if you weren't counting him- which his teammates probably werent) was a big mistake.

But Ractshet had been getting flack from the jerk the whole season and he was done with it.

At least, that was what Ractshet told himself right before a claw darted out and hit him in the chest causing him to fly backward. As pain blossomed in his chest right before his back seemed to snap as it hit the ground for the second time in less than ten minutes, Ractshet wasn't feeling so brave anymore.

The other Cragmites, following their team leaders lead, began pelting on him and Ractshet curled in on himself to try and protect himself as best he could. Fortunately the beating ended abruptly when the Cragmite who had started all this, his name was Hyctess Rocseth which meant something like swift limbed, called his groupies off. Unfortunately, the reason the other Cragmites were pulled off of Ractshet was so that mister stab-his-teammates-in-the-back could beat the small Lombax up himself.

Ractshet decided not to give him the opportunity and the moment the other Cragmites stepped back he bolted.

Perhaps it was because everyone thought he, being a squishy mammal creature without a shell like them, would be too weak from the beating he had already received to actually be able to get up so fast and run. Or maybe it was because Mr. 'swift of limbs' wasn't as swift as everyone thought. Whatever the case was, they all sort of just stared at him in slight shock as he dashed right between Hyctess' legs and sprinted away from them at his top speed.

A few moments later, though, they were all chasing after him while yelling insults. During the race he had been fast, but now with adrenaline pumping in his veins he was really booking it. There was a few moments where it looked like Hyctess was catching up to him, but then Ractshet took a turn around a corner and dove straight into the maddening traffic, weaving and bobbing around fast moving hover crafts with drivers that refused to slow down or swerve when they saw him. A few of the more concerned drivers did honk at him in hopes that their warning was enough to keep the kid from splattering on their windshield and making a mess for them to clean up later.

When Ractshet reached the other side with his tail and ears still attached, he only allowed himself a moment to breath before he dashed off again. The sound of his former teammates (there was no way they were not kicking him off the team after all of this) yelling insults at him as they waited for the light to turn red and the pedestrian walk sign to turn on soon was lost over the busy sounds of the city.

Ractshet didn't stop running until the sounds of the city was replaced by the whistling of the hot desert breeze sifting through the burning grains of golden sand. Soon sand was replaced by hard stone and gold was replaced by red.

Ractshet's energy left him and he collapsed onto the hard cracked surface of flat rock. The sun beat down oppressively upon his back and Ractshet could have sworn he was on fire, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had just lost a golden opportunity to possibly making friends in the future because he couldn't keep his mouth shut (and because Hyctess was a jerk), nothing else really mattered. Besides, being cooked like a sublime stake on a barbeque seemed like a fitting end for a Lombax… Perhaps he was being overdramatic, but Ractshet didn't really feel like evaluating his thought process right now (or ever actually). He wanted to stop feeling this constant disappointment over and over, to stop being a constant disappointment. He just wanted it all to stop, period.

And perhaps if he had been allowed to remain lying in the harsh elements he would have gotten his wish… but it seemed the universe would not allow it. Just as Ractshet's mind was beginning to slip into a black sleep, the rock below him rumbled and the ground- which was not as stable as he had assumed- gave way. The Lombax found himself tumbling head over heels down a steep cliff (though it felt like he was falling down a mountain) he hadn't even realised he had been lying on the edge of. As he went down, the mini rock avalanche collected more sand and loose stone until it was only a matter of time before a stray rock knocked him out or boulder crushed him… if the landing didn't kill him, that is.

Ractshet flailed out trying to find a rock or creg or anything to latch onto. His hand clamped down around something solid and his shoulder was nearly pulled out of its socket as he came to an abrupt halt. By some miracle all the larger rocks and boulders fell around him while only sand and pebbles pelted his face as he hung on to the ledge for dear life.

Finally the mini rock avalanche ended and the Lombax pulled himself up onto the ledge that had saved him, panting hard with adrenaline and exhaustion. His bones ached and he could already tell that there would be some real nice bruises tomorrow. One shoulder burned where the sand and rock had rubbed it raw, while the other felt sore from nearly being yanked out of it's socket.

Hissing with pain as he rubbed the aching shoulder, Ractshet looked down to see the solid and unforgiving sandstone a good three meters below him which would have spelled death for the young boy if he had not been lucky enough to find this rock ledge that was sticking out of the sandstone cliffside. But when he looked he found the ground he was standing on was rather two angular and flat to be something made by nature. He leaned down and touched the surface with his gloved hands, sweeping away some of the sand in order to see just what he was standing on. It was metal, rusted metal that matched perfectly with the red and gold of the desert. The metal was very firm under his feet so whatever it belonged to it must be buried pretty firmly into the ledge. Still, he did not want to test its strength and his already good luck.

His natural curiosity was peeked, however, and he leaned over the edge to see under it. That was when he saw the door.

A little bit of excitement helped to renergise his stamina and Ractshet climbed down as quickly and carefully as he could (note: Ractshet is almost never careful so it is suffice to say that he probably took several risks while in his rush to get down and investigate the door.) When he got to the bottom Ractshet took a step back to take in the cliff he had half fallen half climbed down.

It was a completely average slab of stone that one might expect to see in a slightly underwhelming canyon. But right in front of him was something not so average. It looked like some kind of bunker had been built into the canyon wall. Age and the elements had mostly disguised the building so that it blended in with the sandstone and one side was completely covered by a past rockslide. Thankfully, the door had not been buried and Ractshet immediately began trying to open the door.

At first he just frantically pulled and tucked as if his small little body could open the door (which was actually not that large of a door. When brute force did not work, Ractshet decided to step back and assess the situation… which he probably should have done in the beginning because the moment he stopped his frantic pulling he saw the doors latch. Studying the door he found a latch that, though rusted a bit, gave under his slight weight and the door shuddered open. Triumph!

The door creaked open on rusty hinges and light from the desert sun spilled into the incredibly dark building's exterior. A rush of cold air hit Ractshet as he took a step forward from cracked sandstone to smooth cemented flooring. It was hard to see but already Racthset could easily guess just what type of warehouse this secret bunker was from all the tools hanging on the wall and the half finished projects and scrap metal lying about. Ractshet gaped at everything as he slowly pivoted to get a look at the whole workspace. Joy filled the tiny Lombax and the boy felt a ridiculous grin spread across his face. This was awesome!

"Aaaaah!" Ractshet lept into the air and fell right into a waste bin (which still had some old crumpled paper in it) as his communicator belted out his annoying ringtone which reverberated off the metal walls which only made the beeping louder and more startling. Ractshet had to take a few moments to calm his frantically beating heart before he could respond to the call (only one person ever called him so he knew who it was without checking).

"H-hey Argocs! Whats up?" The little Lombax tried to make his voice as level as possible so that the old Cragmite wouldn't know what a fright the boy just had. He took a step outside, everything echoed in their and he did not want Argocs to question where all the feedback was coming from, into the oppressive heat of the desert once more.

"Tachyon just got a call from your track instructor and he wanted me to check up on you. Are you alright little rat?"

Ractshet highly doubted it was Tachyon's idea to call him and make sure he was okay, but the Lombax let it slip. "I'm fine. I mean- I was kind of upset before, but now that I have gotten to cool down a bit in the desert I feel better."

"Are you sure?" Argocs asked, a bit of concern creeping into his voice. "Do you need me to come over just in case you pulled something? You are always so reckless out in the desert."

Ractshet new what that was code word for. Argocs was just making sure not to embarrass the Lombax by suggesting he needed to be patched up from getting pummelled. Argocs always left suggestions that the many scrapes and bruises were from Ractshets reckless behavior out in the desert and for this Ractshet was grateful.

Recently, however, Ractshet had been trying to 'ruff it alone' and had refused to let Argocs fix him up. Ractshet was about to say that he was fine and didn't need any help this time when his shoulder gave a painful twinge and Ractshet was reminded of his rather painful injuries sustained from the fall down here. Funny that the usual excuse was actually true this time.

"Actually," Ractshet laughed and he could almost imagine Argocs stiffening up at his actual admittance to needing help. "I was a bit more reckless than usual and might or ming not have fallen down the side of a canyon cliff."

"WHAT?!" Argocs cried out in alarm. Ractshet knew he was going to be in so much trouble especially as the string of curses that flowed from the com got longer and longer. "Did you break anything? Are you trapped under a boulder? When did this happen? Why didn't you call sooner? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU BOY?!"

"It wasn't that bad!" Ractshet rushed to ease the old Cragmites mind before he had a heart attack or something. "Nothing's broken and I only have a few bruises. It really isn't that much of a big deal."

"Just bruises?" Argocs asked disbelievingly.

"Well… and I sort of pulled my left shoulder a little, but nothing serious."

There was a heavy sigh from the other end of the line. "Where are you know?"

"At home." Ractshet lied.

"Good. Stay there. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Roger that!" Ractshet saluted even though he knew Argocs couldn't see the action. The boy immediately regretted it as his shoulder twinged angrily at him and he hissed in pain.

Of course Argoc's picked up on the sound and he seemed to panic again. "I'm getting in the hover craft right now. Don't MOVE! Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," Racthset smiled as he began trudging along the canyon floor where he could see the cliff began to lower toward the ground and he could more easily crawl out. "I promise not to move… too much."

There was mumbling on the other end about something being the death of him before an engine roared to life and Argocs spoke again. "I have to hang up now, but I promise I'll be there soon."

"Okay. Bye."

"Goodbye." Argocs hesitated a moment before Ractshet heard the line go dead and he sighed. Even if Argocs drove at his top speed the whole way- which he just might do- Ractshet knew he had enough time to get home himself, but he was not looking forward to the walk. Already Ractshet was beginning to realise just how hard he had pushed his body today and he was almost regretting coming out here…

Almost.

His find of the secret bunker made it totally worth it though. Already he was making plans making plans for how he was going to fix the place up and begin his own projects in the large space (several appliances at his home definitely needed upgrades now that he thinks about it). Ractshet used to dread the time he spent at home after school doing nothing (which was one reason he had attempted joining his school's different sports teams) but now he was looking forward to those hours of alone time.

5354.4.034

"RATCHET STOP!" Winnie cried from behind him and the Lombax felt himself get yanked backward.

"Hey?" Ratchet pulled himself up and dusted himself off, glaring at Winnie. "What was that for? The finish line is right… there…"

Winnie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow as Ratchet stared at the finish line ahead of them. Actually, he was staring at the great gap of complete and utter nothingness that lay between them and safety.

"Your welcome." Winnie huffed as Ratchet walked up the edge and looked down into a great pit of darkness.

Susie rushed forward and latched herself onto Ratchets leg like a steel trap. "Please don't kill yourself sir!"

"I won't I promise." Ratchet rubbed the top of her head fondly, but the girl still clung on tight.

"Okay," Winnie tried to call the group back to the issue at hand. "So there's a giant cavern between us and safety. I'm a pretty good jumper, but I know for a fact that I can't make it across that distance. What about you guys."

Ratchet studied the cavern for a moment before giving a decisive nod, "I'm pretty sure I could do it."

Winnie laughed. "Pretty sure is not going to cut it there fuzzball."

"Hey! I've jumped gaps larger than that! All you need is the right motivation."

"I have to agree with Winnie on this," Clank spoke up, "and out of my own protective instincts insist that you stop trying to kill us both. Besides, we must get our entire team across and if I have my doubts about you crossing with your own weight I am absolutely 99% sure that you could not make it across with a passenger."

"Only 99%. That means I have a chance." Ratchet grinned with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Let me explain the percentage. If there were a hundred different universe exactly like this one and the Ratchets of those universes all jumped across the gorge with a passenger, 99 of them would die. So you are right, you have a chance. But the chance of you being the one Ratchet that does not die is very, very, very high."

"Yeah but-"

"No." Winnie, Susie, and Clank all snapped at him.

"Fine, but then how-"

"How about we go on the bridge." Susie suggested and pointed.

Everyone turned around to see a glowing blue bridge that seemed to be made of some sort of solid energy field.

"How did I not notice that before?" Winnie asked incredulously.

"Because it was not there before." Clank answered and even as he spoke the bridge disappeared. "From what I have observed the bridge seems to be on a time limit that only lasts fifteen seconds before disappearing for another fifteen seconds at which point it repeats again."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Ratchet and Winnie both glared at Clank (or at least Ratchet tried but it was hard when his buddy was strapped to his back).

"Because I was attempting to persuade my friend here not to kill himself." Clank answered materfactly.

"Well I wouldn't have ever suggested jumping if I knew there had been a bridge!" Ratchet cried.

"Would you though? I do not understand why but you always seem to prefer the dangerous and often life threatening rout instead of the obvious and simple one."

"I thought you forgave me for flying us into that asteroid field."

"I did." Clank nodded. "But just because I forgive does not mean I make myself forget. Our past mistakes are meant to be learned from, not forgotten and doomed to repeat."

"Guys!" Winnie called and the two bickering friends looked up to see her more than halfway across the glowing bridge with Susie in her arms. "Come on."

"Oh, right." Ratchet smiled and dashed toward the bridge.

"STOP!" Clank cried out, startling Ratchet as he automatically responded to the command and halted.

"Wha- dude!" Ratchet sent a glare to his back as he leapt forward again "What was that for? We gotta-" The Lombax stopped right at the edge of the gorge as the bridge disappeared and was gone. "Oh."

And that was when they both heard it. A buzzing sound of a build up of energy below their feet.

"Aww dangeit…" Ratchet cursed as he took a few steps backward.

"Ratchet. Do not do what I know you are going to do." Clank warned. "The shock will not kill you like that drop will."

Ratchet shook his head. "No buddy. You were lucky last time that the current didn't do any permanent damage or shut you down for good. I'm not risking it again." And with that he ran forward and leapt.

For a few moments they flew. Ratchet felt joy fill his lungs as he felt the freeing sensation of soaring through the air. Oh how he missed hoverboarding.

But then the descent began and Ratchet new he was still too far from the edge. They weren't going to make it. He vaguely heard Winnie crying out to him and had the comforting thought that Susie and Winnie wouldn't be forced into the army when two of their teammates had died. They would probably get the lowest score out of everyone.

Ratchet did, however, feel really bad for Clank. He always knew it would have been better for the little robot if he had never met him. Ratchet was just bad luck. He was misery after all.

5305.4.034

"Bu 'm scawd." A small Lombax, a mere pup, clung to his father's arm as squeezed his eyes tightly shut and shook his head.

"Come on son." A gentle voice urged him. The wind was whipping the child's tails and ears about wildly and his golden fur rippled as it played with his whiskers. "I promise you won't regret it."

The little boy shook his head again and only held on tighter as his father laughed good naturedly.

"I didn't know I was raising such a scaredy cat." The father joked.

"M not a scawdy ca." The boy mumbled through the shirt he was clinging so dearly to.

"What did you say?" The father grinned. "I couldn't hear you."

"M not a scawdy ca!" The little boy whipped his head out of his fathers shoulder and glared up at the grinning Lombax. Only then did the child realise his mistake and he froze up in fear as he immediately took in his surroundings. At first the little five year old was frightened to death. But then something else took root and joy filled his lungs.

The world before him spread out like a map with lush green forests below and the sight of a shining city in the distance. An endless dark blue sky stretched out above them and already some stars were twinkling to life even though the sun had not finished its breathtaking descent into the west. The plane (though people were now calling them ships) his father was piloting banked slightly and a glistening lake that caught the light of the setting sun so that it looked like it was on fire sparkled below them.

A light laugh bubbled up from the joy inside the tiny child as he took in the freeing sensation of soaring through the air.

So this is what flying was like.

"Well Kaden?" The pups father called, but the boy could not take his eyes off the spectacular scene before him long enough to see the proud grin on his father's face. "What did I tell you? Do you like flying?"

The boy could only nod and laugh with pure joy.

5354.4.034

Clank knew they were going to die the moment Ratchet's feet left the ground. It was a good effort, and they would certainly make it far… but not far enough. At first Clank was filled with disappointment. It felt like he had just come into this world only to be taken out of it immediately. He was also disappointed and upset that, in the end, he hadn't really protected or helped Ratchet at all. He had failed his own self appointed purpose in life.

But then a sickening thought came to Clank. There was a possibility that his mainframe and processor would survive the fall which meant someone might try and fix him. Then the little robot would wake up in the world where Ratchet was dead. There had been many a night when Clank stayed up wondered what would have happened if he had never met the friendly rat cat creature (and that was another thing. Now that they were going to die Clank would never find out what species Ratchet was). Nothing good came to mind and Clank knew that if he woke up in a world where Ratchet was gone, he would feel great pain. Perhaps he would never recover, but would he even want to?

By this time their flight through the air began to descend and Clank could feel panic rising up in him. No, he did not want to fail his objective. He did not want Ratchet to die. He did not want to wake up one day and discover that while he had been spared, his friend had not.

Clanks cogs began whirring in what he at first thought was a robot's version of a panic attack. But then he felt something shift inside of him and his body began to transform. Clank wasn't quite sure how it happened, but his processes told him he was equipping the Thruster-Pack(?). Miniature wings extended out where his arms usually were and he felt a thruster engine roar to life. Suddenly, they weren't falling anymore. Ratchet gave a cry of surprise as they rose up into the air. Clank himself was too busy processing everything that his body was doing. The mini bot had no idea how he was doing this -or how a thruster engine could fit in his tiny body- but one thing was for sure, he could now carry out his objective.

Clank calculated the exact height they needed to reach in order to fall to safety and angled his wings to help guide them forward instead of just straight up. Then, when he was sure they would be safe. Clank cut the engine and they began to plummet. Then Clank began a process of turning on and off the engine to slow their descent until Ratchet was hovering over solid ground at which point Clank deactivated his Thruster-Pack and Ratchet landed on his feet.

"Wow…" Ratchet laughed breathlessly. Clank could feel the frantic beating of Ratchets heart thrumming through his body. "Guess I'm the one out of a hundred to cross the gorge with a passenger, huh. Man, I feel bad for the other guys."

"I suppose you are the one percent." Clank mused. Before Clank or Ratchet could say anything else arms enveloped them and squeezed hard.

"You Blarg-witted fuzzball!" Winnie pulled away and punched Ratchet hard in the shoulder. Clank was thankful he had yet to make her angry at him, unlike Ratchet who seemed to be an expert at it. "Don't you DARE do that to us again! You… you- you scared Susie half to death!"

Susie, who Clank now saw was hugging Ratchets leg with full intention of never letting go, nodded teary eyed up at the duo.

"Hey," Ratchet smiled and tried to calm the angry Markazian and little frightened Tharpod. "I'm fine, see. No harm done."

"Only because you have Clank watching your back! Nexus! You guys should have told me Clank had a jet pack!"

"Yeah," Ratchet rubbed the back of his head nervously. "About that… Clank? Did you know you had a jet pack?"

"It is called a Thruster-Pack. The answer to your question is no. I was not aware I had such enhancements until just now."

"Huh," Ratchet nodded. "That's what I figured."

"What?!" Winnie almost screamed. "Neither of you knew about the jet pack and you STILL made that JUMP! Why you son of a-"

"Winnie." Clank was quick to interrupt. "Please remember our dear friend Susie is here with us."

Everyone looked down at Susie who just stared up innocently at them.

"It's okay Clank." Susie smiled. "Winnie didn't forget about me. She helped me across the bridge!"

Right then a voice boomed out causing everyone to whip their heads around to see Captain Qwark taking the stage- Clank briefly wondered how many stages this guy had set up beforehand- in the middle of the field which everyone who were in the last challenge had gathered on once crossing the finish line. Guards were starting to push everyone closer to the stage. A quick headcount confirmed for Clank that while he and his team had been bickering talking everyone else had made it out of the highly hazardous maze. Behind Captain Qwark's stage was a fence where all the parents, guardians, older siblings, or grandparents of the contestant waited anxiously for their family member to return to them.

"Congratulations young cadets for making it through the exhilarating maze-" The captain leaned away from the mask slightly illegal due to the many health code violations-" The captain leaned toward one of the soldiers flanking him and 'whispered' out loud, "Are we sure that didn't break any health code violations?"

"Affirmative sir." The soldier said. "There are not health code violations."

"Oh…" Qwark, who must not have realised that everyone could still hear him well, frowned for a moment before his large glaring smile came back onto his face full force. "In that case- Now that you all have proven your strength and courage in the many challenges you faced today, it is time for the moment you've all been waiting for. It is time to announce which lucky cadets have passed and will be joining me, senior Captain of Cragmite Veldin Force! If I call your name that means that you scored high enough to become a soldier for the Cragmite Emperor! Now let's begin!"

As Qwark began calling out names Clank surveyed the crowd around them. Some whose names were called cried out in anguish and anger or began trembling uncontrollably, though most just stood stone still in cold apathy as they either accepted their fate or shut down completely. Cries also came from the group of Veldians who stood on the other side of the fence though for the most part the crowd was quiet and frozen.

Qwark continued to call out names until he reached 67 and seemed to be at the end of the long list he held in his hand. Clank believed that he and his team had escaped being called until a very familiar name was called out which sent a chill down Clanks circuit board.

"Ratchet?" Qwark looked at his list quizzically. "Am I saying that right? I am? Hmmm. What is up with parents these days and calling their kids weird names. Anyway- Ratchet, Winnie, and Susie Pucelli. Your team just barely made it, but still good job. The rest of you? Better luck next time."

That seemed to be the end of the show and Qwark began to step down. Clank could feel the tension in Ratchet's back who seemed to have frozen up completely as well as see from the corner of his eye the utter shocked expression on the young Tharpod's face who stood beside Clank and his friend. Before he could process anything else a cry came from the crowd at the gate and the small robot turned his head to see an older women Tharpod leaping the gate and running toward them.

"NO!" She cried, tears streaming down her face. "Not my baby. Please! You can't take her from me! You already took my husband! YOU CANNOT TAKE MY BABY!"

Armed soldier's were rushing toward the women as she barreled her way through the crowd in an attempt to get to her child who was now trembling uncontrollably.

"Mama?" A little whimper escaped the girl's trembling lips. Her eyes widened in horror as a soldier leapt ontop of her mother and began to forcibly restrain her, even hitting the women across the head to get her to stop fighting.

"MAMA!" The little girl rushed forward but was grabbed and held up in the air by a soldier who had seemingly come out of nowhere. She fought and cried against the strong hand that held her at the back of her collar as her mother was crushed under a body of armor clad soldiers.

It was when Clank felt Ratchet reaching for his wrench that the mini robot seemed to regain his senses and a quick plan was formed. Before his friend could make a serious mistake that might get him killed, Clank shouted in a voice so forceful not even he realised he possessed such a power.

"HALT!"

Somehow, it worked. The fighting stopped and all eyes turned to Ratchet. That is, until Clank detached himself from Ratchets back and stepped out in front of his friend so all could see him.

"Excuse me, Captain." Clank tried on a much more civil tone as he stepped toward the stage where Captain Qwark who stood frozen on the last step of the stage he had been leaving on. "How many recruits are needed to fill the quota?"

"Seventy." the green man answered, almost as if he was unsure.

"Not seventy one?" Clank asked.

"No." Qwark answered, seeming even less sure of himself even as he looked at the paper in his hand which listed the exact amount of recruits he needed.

"Then there has been a grave error for Miss Pucelli makes seventy-one."

"What?" Qwark quickly looked over the sheet of names once more and scowled. "But I counted and-"

"What was my exact score, Captain?" Clank interrupted the man.

"Uuh… what's your name?"

"Clank." The robot answered. "I enlisted at the door along with everyone else."

"Huhh- Oh! I see it right here and… um… you don't have a score."

"None?" Clank asked. "Not even a failing score? How can that be? I participated in all of the challenges."

"Yeah," Qwark's brow knit together and he rubbed his cleft chin thoughtfully. "I guess someone did mess up. Now how am I supposed to know if you failed or not?"

"All you must do is look over the surveillance footage you used to monitor everyone. I am small but I assure you I was there and that I scored well, following each command given during the challenges. Not only that, but it was I who navigated my team through the maze and saved one of my teammates by flying them across the last hurdle to the finish line when they would have fallen."

It looked like Qwark was going to look back on the footage when one of the soldiers beside him leaned in and spoke. "Sir, we do not have time for this. We must get the new recruits into space as soon as possible, Emperor's orders. We should just take the young one and if the robot speaks true about his performance then we will no doubt recruit him next tryouts in three years."

The green captain looked between the soldier who had advised him, the tear stricken little girl who was being held aloft, and the miniature robot who- though small- seemed confident. Indecision wavered on his face before something hardened across his features and he nodded. "Alright. Miss Susie Pucelli, unfortunately you didn't do very well during the first half of the challenges and it was your team who did all the work in the maze so your score individually wasn't that high. So you did not make it into the Cragmite Veldrin Force. But don't worry, work hard and I'm sure you'll succeed next time in three years.

"Now, Clank was it? Congratulations. You are now a soldier for the Percival empire! Oh… and you men there, you can release the girl and her mother."

The soldiers hesitated, but then they obeyed and the mother leapt forward, scooping her daughter up before she could fall to the ground where the soldier dropped her. The women cried and laughed at the same time while her daughter just snuggled into her embrace.

"Thank you," Clank heard the women whisper even as he and the other recruits who had passed were being escorted away. "Thank you so much Clank." He gave one look back and saw her grateful eyes that shined with hope rekindled staring at him.

Those words rung in Clank's head and the vision of her deep thankful eyes staring at him filled his mind as he was pushed forward with the crowd of robots and sapiens alike toward what appeared to be a large space shuttle. It felt so good to give that women hope again. When he had seen her that day they first met Susie she had been a kind but weary soul with nearly dead eyes that seemed resigned to her life. But now they were full of life again as if he had somehow rekindled in her the hope that this world was not so cruel and heartless as she had thought.

"Hey," Clank heard a voice beside him and he looked up to see Ratchet staring down at him with a smile. "Thanks. What you did back there was amazing. Never have I been so thankful for that quick processor of yours. I… I'm glad you were able to keep our promise."

Clank shook his head. "You would have kept the promise too. I only managed to find a way that wouldn't end with us being killed or imprisoned for treason."

Ratchet laughed though it died all too quickly. He sat down on a bench one the wall- Clank just noticed that they had all been crammed into one big room in the space shuttle which was beginning to thrum to life under his feat as the engine was activated- and gave a heavy sigh. Clank knew how he felt. Today had been trying and they both had learned things about this world which neither of them liked. And yet, despite it all Ratchet turned to Clank and smiled once more with hope, pride, and gratitude in his sparkling green eyes.

"Thanks." Ratchet whispered, almost as if he didn't even realise he was saying anything, before he closed his eyes and leaned back to rest against the wall of the shuttle which seemed to be lifting off. Clank only smiled contentedly before climbing up on the bench beside his friend and following suit. When he closed his eyes, though, he saw Susie's smiling face and the old washer woman's eyes that shined with new life.

Clank liked being a hero, even if he was a hero only to one little family. It was worth it.