Alister's P.O.V

After the others went to the back porch it had been very uncomfortable sense the three of us were just staring at each other and I didn't miss the stare Rivet was sending my way which was making me nervous though as soon as it was there it was gone as Ratchet cleared his throat. I looked towards him but my ears fell back as once again I got distracted by memories from just how similar Ratchet was to his dad and though I quickly pressed down that thought my mind was screaming "Why must Ratchet be a literal copy of his dad instead of getting his mom's eye color or something." Even now after 20+ years I can't seem to get Kaden out of my mind. Was this a side effect of being brought back from the Astral plane that I had been on and why I can't let go? I knew the universe had a weird sense of humor sometimes but, this seems a bit prolonged. I get I messed up universe! can you stop reminding me of my failure please!?

Back in the current time I could tell Ratchet knew somewhat what my thoughts were but, what I didn't expect was him getting a look of mild anger and walking up close before saying rather suddenly "I'm sorry im not my dad general but, please for heck sake let those memories rest. I'm Ratchet and nobody else. I am my own person!"

With that said he turned away and told me and Rivet "i'm going to take a walk and would like to be alone" Shortly after that he left out the door wrench and his weapon cache in hand. When the door shut a bit harder then necessary everyone on the back porch came inside wondering what had happened. All I could really respond was "old memories of the past making themselves known".

Everyone besides Clank seemed confused and though it was against Ratchet's request I needed to apologize to him but, then I realized I didn't know which direction he even went. He is capable of protecting himself, I'm well aware of that but, I'm getting a bad feeling. The air is thick with the scent of rain and my back is acting up like it always does when severe weather is about to hit. I need to go after him!"

Rivet's P.O.V

Ratchet is acting off. My dad didn't even say anything and as far as what Clank says was true he shouldn't have any memory of Alister killing him in a different timeline yet he acted angerly towards Alister because of something involving Ratchet's father despite my dad not saying a single thing about it while we waited here. I was curious but, after feeling the air and sniffing towards the sky I knew something weather related was coming and could become dangerous quickly. I went to go find Ratchet only to see my dad was planning on doing the same thing as he grabbed a raincoat for himself and a spare from the coat rack before heading out the door.

I knew it would be a long shot but, I went to ask if I could come with or if he wanted to take Clank to help with the search for Ratchet and ultimately we both ended up coming with as it would cover more ground while Kit stayed back to let the others know information as we found it sense Clank's comm link was connected to hers. After doing one more check on supplies we left hoping to find Ratchet before the storm found us.

It has been a half hour and we have yet to find Ratchet. On top of that the storm was getting closer which was making me nervous as I have never been in a desert storm before considering I had lived on a acid covered planet. According to ratchet during one of our chats storms here were rare but, when they hit they could become dangerous and can drench the landscape in minutes which draws out rattlers and poisonous creatures from their hiding spots so they can get to higher ground. As we countinued further out I could tell my dad was getting more and more anxious when we saw Aphelion was still here but, even she hadn't seen Ratchet pass by. Where the heck did Ratchet go!?

Ratchet's P.O.V
*location: near the oasis*

"Why can't Alister let the memory of my dad go? I get he feels guilt for my dad's death but, this obsession is what had originally caused the near collapse of the universe the first time sense he had refused to listen to me and Clank."

"He had been as stubborn as a mule back then. I do care for the general and feel bad for what he had to go through. That craigmite did him and the others dirty by spouting false truths and I'm glad I kicked that pycho's butt."

As I walked I was becoming aware of the storm however when I tried to find shelter in my old childhood hideout I had found out it had been taken over by nature and was destroyed leaving a massive hole in the roof as well as multiple different creatures using it as a home. The old hideout was the only place near that I could use and now that its destroyed I knew I was in trouble.

The storm clouds had completely covered the sun making it very dark which normally wasn't a problem as the ability of seeing in the dark runs in my blood considering im a cat like person but, when you add wind and terrenchal rain into the mix even the most skilled navigators could get lost.

As I was trying to figure out what to do I had gotten a ping on my locator that was linked to Rivet's as we never disabled them after our adventure and saw that she was nearby which scared me as she has never dealt with desert storms and so I kicked on my hoverboots and heading in her direction however I had failed to relize one thing. I was in the territory of the 'beast' which was a massive underground leviathan and I had become its target.

Rivet's P.O.V

As me and my dad kept moving I had decided to turn on my tracker as I was getting more and more nervous. Alister had become very quiet and had increased his speed by using his hoverboots and to keep up I had turned on my own. When I got a ping back from Ratchet's own tracker it was concerning as the location Ratchet's tracker showed him in had been labeled a dangerous area due to aggressive creatures being in the vicinity and though Ratchet's blip was heading in our direction something was interfering the signal before it read tracker offline. With that I had let Alister know before we used full thrusters on our boots hoping we would be on time to help as the rain had started to fall and it was quickly starting to become difficult to see.

Ratchet's P.O.V

Despite my better judgment I kept going though I could barely see a foot in front of me however I soon smacked into a very hard surface that had sprung up from the soaked ground. Unfortunately I couldn't tell what it was though I knew it was living as I heard a very loud hiss before I got sent flying by a very strong hit and with a flash of lightning my entire body went cold. In front of me was 'the beast'. It was a massive leviathan at nearly twenty feet and was the leader of the sand leviathan species.

As I quickly scrolled through my weapons only one of the weapons I brought would give me the advantage and it was the warmonger. It was the only one strong enough to give me a chance to get away but, even if I take down the alpha I will have to contend with a army of fifteen others that are of various sizes and require a different amount of hits and so a battle ensued and I was at a disadvantage.

Alister's P.O.V

The feeling I was getting had increased 10 fold which told me Ratchet was in danger and if we're not careful we would be too. This whole area around me and Rivet is buzzing with electricity and the smell of blood thirsty creatures had become overbearing. As I looked further up the lighting flash had shown me something I didn't want to see and that was a group of about five leviathans staring down at a speck with long ears and I knew it was Ratchet.

I could vaguely see a weapon in his hands but, the minute he shot it the group sent him flying. My anger began to boil and I equipped my duel wrench and sped up but not before letting Rivet know to keep back. What I didn't expect was her to completely disregard my concern and speed forward to slam her hammer into one of the smaller leviathan to get its attention which worked. It started flying forward only for it to be brutally bludgeoned and sent crashing into the sand below by Rivet and I had to admit I was impressed.

I didn't have long to be proud however as I heard one come at me obviously annoyed. I sent a blast of zoni energy at it due to it being modified and it took the enemy down in seconds.

In the background Ratchet had yet to relize we were there as he shot the warmonger again only for the leader to dodge and send a blast of electric energy at him which he dodged but, had still gotten hit with the aftershock which caused Ratchet's shoulder to get burned through the armor which elicited a yell from him.

The leader went for another strike only to be blasted in the chest from another rocket from Ratchet sending it reeling back and dazing it for a few seconds which gave Ratchet time to move and relize I and Rivet were fighting with him but, he knew any loss in concentration would cost us and so just sidled along side us to take out a couple smaller ones. I didn't fail to realize he was sloppy due to the previous hit he took having hit his dominant arm which concerned me and Rivet. We were down to only the leader when it let out a shriek calling in one other leviathan and I relized it was the leader's partner who was the same size as him.

I had inwardly cursed before getting ready to hit them both with a attack only to relize that both rivet and Ratchet had both gotten out warmongers and hit both leviathan squarely on the head killing both leviathan who slammed into the ground as Ratchet and Rivet rolled however only rivet got up. A couple feet from Rivet was Ratchet who was clearly not doing so hot as he struggled to get to his feet before he fell back to the soaked ground and passed out just as another flash of lightning went off.