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The announcement didn't particularly go over well. Not that Rivet expected it to. Yet still, it hadn't gone as bad as she thought.

They were in one of the back private rooms of Zurkie's, the distant hum and babble of the Gastropub beyond muffled by the doors. The four of them had been picking at the plates of food but despite all the thrill and activity of the last several days none of them felt overly hungry. Still, when Rivet had finished off one of the burger specials- and she still had no idea what was in that sauce, except the fact it made her tongue tingle -and set the plate down forcibly enough it got the other three's immediate attention.

Kit, still looking very unsure and withdrawn, was the one to ask, "Is everything alright?"

"Actually, I need to tell you guys something before we go into this fight," Rivet got to her feet and began to pace in front of them. "It's very important and I will understand if it upsets any of you. But I can't just let you guys go in blind anymore. Not when this feel likes the end."

Ratchet was prepared for an assortment of things to be wrong with an announcement like that. Like the station was going to explode or they discovered they had no ammo or had no snacks left or they were about to be sucked into a blackhole.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can prepare for it," Kit reassured her while Clank nodded.

"Nef- I mean, the Emperor. He's my husband, we're married," Rivet said in a rush. "And um, most of this is happening because he refused to go to marriage counseling and I was so mad I left and started trying to overthrow his empire to prove that he isn't right about everything all the time."

The complete silence that followed that was stifling.

Then-

"I'm sorry, I just hallucinated," Ratchet said. "You and he are what?"

"We're married. Have been for years."

More silence.

"So like..." Leaning forward so his elbows were resting on his knees Ratchet squinted at her, "Is uh, does marriage mean something different in this dimension?"

Rivet let out a frustrated noise before swiftly pulling off the glove of her left hand. On the fourth finger was a ring, a band of white gold. There were three stones embedded within the ring; two bright honey-coloured quartz bracketing a flawless sapphire that perfectly matched Rivet's dark blue eyes.

"That's pretty," Clank said.

"Can we get back on topic please?" Ratchet asked, shooting his companion an annoyed look. "The marriage bomb?"

"Does the Emperor have a ring?" Kit said, ignoring Ratchet.

"Of course he does," Rivet said, tone defensive. "He just doesn't wear it on his hand. It's located inside his frame."

"How do you know that?"

"They uh, they have trackers built into them."

"So the Emperor could track you this entire time," Ratchet said slowly.

"He wouldn't do that," Rivet said. "Like how I don't track him all the time. I um, only check occasionally if he hadn't made a public appearance in a while. And I don't share it with the rebels. Like how he doesn't track down me."

Ratchet raised a furry brow, "And how can you be so sure of that?"

"Well he's my husband for one, I actually am rather familiar with him. If he really wanted he could've just nuked my house in Sargasso from orbit any time he wanted which he didn't," Rivet said in such a tone it caused the discussion to come to a halt.

Kit and Clank exchanged looks while Ratchet was still squinting at her. None of them had accused her of being a traitor but she had a strong idea it was in the back of their minds. Honestly the whole thing was a mess, there was a reason why she never worked closely with the other rebels and preferred to be alone. Sometimes Rivet felt cursed for still loving Nef, how it would've been a lot easier if she just ended up hating him for everything he had done.

But she didn't and she still cared. Still missed him. Even as the years went by and he refused to listen because he was a stubborn idiot.

After a long moment Clank cleared his throat, a noise that sounded like a food processor getting jammed, before saying, "Could I ask why you made your separate ways? Or...why you chose to leave?"

"Well, the marriage got a bit cramped," she grimaced.

"He cheated on you?" Ratchet asked.

"No!" Rivet's tail puffed up in indignation. "It wasn't- it was moreso he got too obsessive with himself. Usually I could knock it out of him but this time it just got so much worse. You've seen the giant gaudy statues of himself everywhere, how he slaps his face all over the place. And then he refused marriage counseling when that behaviour got over the top and everything was just. Urgh. It all just ended up a mess."

"So let me get this straight," Ratchet waved a hand. "Your uh, your husband, the leader of this whole galactic empire, refused marriage counseling and that was the reason why you joined the rebels?"

"The empire wasn't always this totalitarian oppressive regime," Rivet said, not particularly liking Ratchet's tone.

"It did get a great deal worse as time went on which um, fits Rivet's timeline of leaving," Kit agreed. "And even killing the Emperor would just create a massive power vacuum amongst his followers, as there are still a substantial amount of his troops-"

"I don't want him dead," she protested. "I just want him to suffer a little bit. You know. To change his mind. It's just- he gets so stubborn! If he fails with all this then he'll realize that he's wrong. Sometimes an idea get stuck in his head and he gets so obsessive with it. I thought leaving would be enough but when that didn't work I started dealing with the resistance. The problem is since all of his choices haven't failed yet, so he's refusing to admit he's wrong. But now with your help, it can work."

She started toying with her scarf, and she could see how Ratchet's eyes narrowed when he realized the orange perfectly matched the Emperor's accents.

Kit was the first to speak.

"I do not understand," Kit said slowly, tapping her fingers together. "But I'll support you however I can, Rivet."

Ratchet and Clank exchanged unreadable looks before Ratchet let out a deep sigh and slumped back in his seat. Clank spoke, "Agreed. If you feel you can resolve this, then it is your right to try. This is your dimension, after all, not ours."

"Right," Rivet nodded, running a hand through her fringe and looking immensely distracted. "I'll uh- I've got to get some things in order. Then we can talk to Captain Quantum and stop all this."

"Will do."

Slipping her glove back on Rivet turned and left the room, heading into one of the private quarters with the door whooshing shut behind her.

For a long moment Ratchet, Clank and Kit said nothing and silence lingered over them besides the ambient hum of the station. Ratchet was lost in thought, still having no real idea what do with the complete bombshell the other lombax had thrown at them.

"I suppose that explains why Rivet was so willing to forgive me," Kit suddenly said, voice quiet and tentative. The bot easily remembered her conversation with Rivet at the Zordoom Prison, and how she seemed more angry at Kit not being upfront about being the one to take her arm than she actually was that Kit had hurt her all that time ago. Kit had tried to isolate herself, not wanting to harm anyone further in her defective state, but Rivet had been near furious in demanding Kit come along. In hindsight it made sense, that Rivet seemed determined to have Kit personally make amends for her actions and better herself through actions rather than run away. Kit had still felt sickened and ashamed in herself but had come along with her, Ratchet, Clank and Phantom when they left the planet even if the drive had been extremely quiet and awkward.

Ratchet grimaced at the bot's words because yeah- with a husband like the Emperor, the other lombax must be willing to forgive and overlook a lot of things. Or maybe not, because she had spend the last decade or so fighting him and trying to dismantle his empire to stop him from being such a controlling monster. So moreso forgiving but at the same time insistent the person work on changing their actions.

"How did they even get married in the first place?" Ratchet asked.

"I don't know," Kit said. "I never even knew the Emperor was married and I worked close with him for some time, not even the rebels found out anything about that and they've tried digging into his past a lot. As far as I know he never even had a paramour."

"I suppose you can try and murder your wife and her friends but draw the line at actually cheating on her," Ratchet grumbled, drumming his fingers on the table as his thoughts sped about.

"All marriages have a line you don't cross," Clank added.

Ratchet frowned, thinking that over. They had fought- and lost -against the Emperor before, but now that he thought about it the tall bot had never actually physically struck Rivet during any of those encounters. Ratchet had been punched and strangled at several different instances, but with Rivet the Emperor had only used his telekinesis on her.

"But the Emperor did seem highly familiar with Rivet whenever he called her while she traveled with me," Clank continued. "I had thought perhaps the relationship between the two was similar to yourself and Doctor Nefarious but it seems I was quite wrong."

Most of the conversations had been the two threatening or insulting each other. Then again Clank had never been married but he had watched- and starred in -enough holovisions to think that was actually just normal marriage behaviour.

"Could she really talk him down? If we beat him?" Kit asked anxiously.

"Stranger things have happened," Ratchet shrugged. "Not many, but uh there have been stranger things. A few. And if talking him down means beating him in a fight first then we're in the best position for it, we'll just have to trust her in wrapping things up."

"And technically Emperor Nefarious is the responsibility for this universe that we're uninvited guests of," Clank said. "I suppose in a way it is up to her on how to deal with him in the end. Wife to husband."

"So we'll have to grab the Doctor Nefarious when all this happens. Hey, you think he knows about the whole marriage thing? Which is still super weird to me. That would be as if I married him," Ratchet said, making a face as he shuddered. He still had no idea how the relationship between the robot and lombax must have started, much less lasted for years(?) if Rivet was still determined to save him in the end. The encounters he'd had with the Emperor was just the tall robot gloating or attacking him or terrorizing some hapless citizen.

"They're dimensional counterparts but we are not the same person," Clank said. "Kit is not a mimic of me just as you are not a mimic of Rivet, even with similarities. Though I would guess the Doctor doesn't know about the relationship, if the Emperor has kept his personal life so very personal. Otherwise he would have made a comment about it by now."

"If it stops the war then I'll support Rivet's um....Her marriage," Kit gave them a hapless look. "Even if I'm unsure how."

"Rivet said the best bet is to beat him in a fight, so I guess we'll just do it the old fashion way then let her deal the final blow when the time comes," Ratchet said. Though how she'd even go about doing it, Ratchet hadn't the slightest of idea. Maybe threaten to take off her ring or outright serve him divorce papers.

"We'll still need to retrieve the Dimensionator, regardless of the outcome."

Ratchet nodded at Clank's words. No matter what, they couldn't leave that kind of weapon with the Emperor. He was way too smart and competent, and Ratchet was severely grateful for how ridiculous Doctor Nefarious could be. The Emperor was on another level entirely on the danger scale. Even just seeing the two Nefariouses standing next to each other seemed comical in how different they were.

Leaning back in his chair Ratchet said, "I still don't get it but we'll help in the fight no matter what. Hopefully this Captain Quantum isn't a raging blowhard like Qwark and actually knows what he's talking about. Though I'll need a drink before I have that talk."

Clank agreed with him while Kit wanted to wait for Rivet, so Ratchet carried his friend out to the Gastropub. It was a thicket of familiar noise and Ratchet just really wanted to go back home, something Clank seemed to share. The dimension hopping seemed fun but with all the fighting and battles he just wanted a break.

At the bar Quantum was already talking, speaking loudly of an amazing plan he had in mind. Ratchet internally rolled his eyes at the man's plan of being disguised as a robot, only for all the vid screens in the room to suddenly light up with the red and orange symbol of the empire.

All notions of getting a drink were swept aside as Ratchet approached the nearest screen, Clank held tight in his arms.

"Do you know what that sound is?" Ratchet bristled at the increasingly familiar voice of the Emperor emanating from the screen. "Listen closely. Is it fear? Hope? The slow inevitability of death? No, it's me. Winning."

Ratchet watched as the vid shifted, showing Emperor Nefarious standing on the deck of a spaceship before the distant form of Corson V. Ratchet was fairly used to hearing villain monologues so zoned out slightly until the Emperor walked to the side, revealing Doctor Nefarious who looked profoundly uncomfortable and holding the Dimensionator.

"Maybe I'm a little old fashioned but I believe everyone deserves a little subjugation," Emperor Nefarious continued, "So, to celebrate such a momentous occasion, I'd like to honour the good Doctor who inspired this journey in the first place."

The Emperor grinned at the Doctor, who seemed to shrink further in place.

Then the Emperor turned back to the camera, saying in a lofty tone, "By invading his home dimension personally. My first stop, Megalopolis! Or as I'll call it, New Nefarious city!"

The spit take the Doctor did would be funny in any other circumstance, as was his startled shout. A second later the Emperor grabbed the Dimensionator from his much smaller alternative dimension self, shoving Doctor Nefarious hard in the face to the point he sprawled back onto the deck when he tried to hold on.

Ratchet watched in horrified silence as the Emperor turned and aimed, firing the purple weapon so a great rift tore open the space. Giving them access back to his dimension, Ratchet realized with a shock. To his and Clank's Megalopolis.

The feed was cut off amidst the Emperor's maniacal laughter, leaving Ratchet with a sinking feeling in his gut as Clank clicked and whirled anxiously in his grip.

Then Ratchet felt a touch on his shoulder and he turned to see Rivet; she had changed into the white and orange Imperial armour but her stern expression didn't once falter as she asked him, "When do we leave?"

Glancing back towards the bar Ratchet saw the Resistance all gathered there, with Captain Quantum, the Savali monks, Phantom, the Goons-4-Less, Gary and the Morts, and pirates with Pierre Le Fer. A handful against the massive army of the empire, but willing to fight all the same.

He looked back to Rivet, "Right now."

It was agreed Ratchet and Clank would take one ship and Rivet and Kit would take another with the Morts. They had a better chance of blindsiding the Emperor and his forces that way, especially with the Goons-4-Less and pirates being the bulk of the pursuing force.

Rivet just felt glad Ratchet and Clank hadn't questioned her integrity for the mission when they explained it to her. They knew her relationship with the Emperor now and she wouldn't have blamed them for thinking she wasn't completely committed. But she was tired of all this shadow fighting and sneaking around and being mad at her husband, she had spent more time separated from him than being together. It also didn't help she still intensely missed him, even if he was a self-centered know-it-all half the time.

She didn't even know how to broach the more personal parts of it.

Truthfully Rivet at been the one insistent on keeping their relationship heavily secret. It had been back before Nefarious went full blown megalomaniac, and Rivet had been a courier/guard for the gelatonium shipments from the Morts. She didn't really know why he had taken an interest in her but she had found him witty and snarky enough to be entertaining and things had snowballed from there. Rivet had told him she hadn't want to seem an opportunistic, that she was trying to sleep her way to the top. Nefarious promptly offered to kill anyone who said that to her and maybe Rivet was a bit too vindictive at times but she found the offer somewhat flattering. Maybe because she was young and dumb, but then again so was he.

She knew a part of him resented her insistence to keep their relationship secret, to insist on only a wedding between themselves when he had wanted a galactic-wide spanning affair. He saw it as her being ashamed despite her various protests but deep down Rivet knew a part of him still thought that, that she had been embarrassed of him. And for someone as vain as Nef, that was something harsh and deep. Rivet had repeatedly tried to explain that it was their life, it should be private, and she was already treated as some exotic rarity by some due to being the only lombax in the galaxy. She hated being gawked at and gossiped about.

Rivet just hadn't realized how bad it really had been, the resentment he held for that, until it all blew up and she left. Though Rivet knew if he really wanted he could've dragged her back kicking and screaming but instead he let her leave after a shouting match.

Maybe that was part of the problem, that they were both stubborn and bullheaded and didn't want to admit they were wrong.

As the Morts ship passed through the rift into Ratchet's universe, Kit shifted on the seat next to Rivet.

"Can't you..." Kit awkwardly fell silent when Rivet glanced at her, before steeling her processors to say, "Can't you just call the Emperor and ask him to stop? Would- would that work?"

Rivet gave her an odd look, "Kit, look. You can't just do that in a marriage, okay? It's a very complex relationship, there's lots of battles all in it and you can't just beg your partner to do something like that because in that case he would win. Especially because Nef is very stubborn and arrogant and refuses to listen to anyone else while I'm the reasonable, easy going one he should obey."

Silence.

"I'm easy going and reasonable," Rivet said, gritting her teeth as her hands tightened on her lap.

"Um. Yes," Kit said.

"And I don't know if he'd even listen to that," Rivet admitted, relaxing her grip slightly. "He'd probably think I was just trying to manipulate him. He called my bluff when I left. I don't know."

"...So..." Kit's voice was quiet, "What do we do if he refuses to listen to you?"

Rivet was silent for a long while, even as she rubbed at her wedding ring through the gleaming white armour. She could still feel it, and even after all that time she hadn't taken it off. But Nef hadn't removed his either, from where he had embedded it within his chest. Rivet had teased him at the time, calling him a hopeless romantic.

"Sometimes I keep think I should write him off as a lost cause. After all the horrible things he's done. Continued to do," Rivet muttered, feeling a heavy tautness in her stomach. "But then I keep remembering how he really is. How he always liked those stupid trashy soap operas to the point he kept a journal about them where he tried to guess the plots and drama. Or how he would always keep a bottle of lemonade in the fridge for me even if he hated it. The times he'd drink way too much and I'd have to drag him to a recharge station while he tried to recite this horrible poetry he came up for me in the 'spur of the moment'. Or when I was molting my winter coat. He threw such a fit with that last one, my fur just got everywhere. But then he drew me a giant bath and spent an hour just scrubbing and brushing me until the loose fur was all gone. I think of all that and...It's just...My Nef is still in there. He has to be."

Kit's touch was tentative on her arm; the right, the prosthetic. Shaking slightly but still determined even as the warbot looked at her with glowing blue eyes, "Then I'll trust you, Rivet. I'll follow your lead no matter what. If you think he can be saved then we'll save him."

Rivet smiled back at her, relief mingling with the melancholy, "Thanks, Kit."

When she shifted back in her seat Rivet tried to think over how she would go about changing his mind. Maybe if she cried to him, but Rivet hadn't cried since she'd been a young kit. Even when her arm had been blasted off she hadn't cried, just been in pain and whining and maybe drooling quite a bit but not tears. She certainly had never cried in front of Nefarious before and she wasn't about to start now. She still had her pride and damned if she was gonna die without it.

Rivet shook that off, even as she saw the state of Ratchet and Clank's Megalopolis when the Morts ship swept down through the atmosphere to reveal the sprawling city below. Already it was getting heavily assimilated into a mimic of Nefarious City and she winced at the amount of gunfights and fires that were breaking out everywhere and the screens always showing the glaring emblem of the Emperor. The Morts landed, ready to provide ground aid to the civilians, while Rivet took Kit on her back and went to where Trudi was waiting for her.

"Got her all ready for you," Mort told her cheerfully. "Good luck!"

"You too!" Rivet shouted even as the Pterafoid Flyer took to the air.

Most of their fighting was to take out snipers and troops laying suppressing fire on the defense squads on Megalopolis. Trudi's fiery breath burned through armour while her quick and nimble wings let Rivet fly her through narrow towers and between sky bridges.

Pierre and his pirate ship was following along Trudi's path, sweeping up any troops they had missed. Rivet grit her teeth, even as the sky around them had grown orange from all the smoke and fire clogging up the city. She kept in radio contact with Ratchet and Clank, hearing how they were sweeping the paths down below to try and find the Emperor even as the Goons-4-Less kept apace with him. Kit shifted on her back, occasionally letting her know if any empire ship was coming up behind them.

Then she spotted the Emperor far across in an atrium, Trudi hissing and snapping her smoking jaws beneath her, and Rivet bared her fangs as she urged the Pterafoid Flyer to zip behind a skyscraper.

She called through to Ratchet, "I found the Emperor. If you guys can distract him I can try and grab the Dimensionator from above."

"We'll meet you there," the other lombax assured.

Trying to keep out of sight of the Emperor and the Doctor, Rivet kept Trudi in sharp quick maneuvers as they plucked off any overly confident troops. If Ratchet could distract him, then she could have Trudi sweep in and hopefully snatch up the Dimensionator in a single swoop. That would stop him from opening all the rifts across the city, which was keeping up a steady stream of invading robots.

The coms crackled, "Rivet, how's it looking up there?"

"Not great," Rivet huffed, as Trudi tucked her wings tight so they could avoid a great curtain of burning plasma several imperial bots shot at her, "But we're with-"

Pierre cut in on the signal, "Ooh, is that Ratchet? Tell him of my admirable heroics!"

"Stop bragging and keep shooting," she yelled, even as the pirate ship went hurtling past at such an angle a part of her was impressed it hadn't plowed straight into one of the buildings.

"Who's flying that thing?" she heard Kit yelp.

"Pierre, that's the problem," Rivet said with a snort, grinning as she felt Kit giggle at her back.

Several more long moments of battle- including someone driving right into a bridge and Pierre's loud screaming -before she heard Ratchet's hiss that he found the two Nefariouses and was about to confront them. At his quiet prompt, Rivet quickly urged Trudi into position as she shot around several platforms.

Trudi hovered behind the immense assimilation beacon, the orange device shielding the Pterafoid Flyer from view, but through the distorted glass Rivet could see the Emperor and the Doctor. Both were hovering midair and she could see how they were both focused upon Ratchet and Clank who'd confronted them on the platform below. Rivet's hands tightened against Trudi's tough hide and the Pterafoid Flyer quickly sped around the huge column, legs shifting in preparation to dive and strike-

Only for a great purple rift to suck away the two Nefariouses before she even had a chance to close the gap, the tear vanishing an instant later so she couldn't follow.

"Damnit," Rivet cursed. "Where did he go?"

Below Ratchet shrugged helplessly as Trudi flew overhead, even as Kit said, "He won't have gone too far! He'll still be in the city somewhere, we can try again."

Rivet nodded, even as Trudi flew up to head along the city speedway. As they shot down several dozen more imperial troops with sharp, fast fireballs Rivet briefly felt the weight at her finger. She could track him-

The pirate ship went speeding past her, cannons knocking down a empire cruiser, and Rivet felt Trudi lurch beneath her as an immense rift suddenly tore open the air before them. It was nearly as huge as the one they crossed through to reach Ratchet's dimension and Rivet felt her fur go on end as a gargantuan mech heaved itself up out of the rift. The thing was the same size as the skyscrapers around it, with huge twisting arms and an eerie mimic to the Emperor's own frame if he had crawled out of a horror vid.

She barely had time to yell a panicked, "Ratchet-" before Trudi screeched and bucked her off midair in panic.

Flipping forward, Rivet managed to shout before another small rift split open before her and suddenly she was rolling across a grassy platform as civilians screamed and cowered around her.

"Rivet!"

"I'm fine, Kit," Rivet shouted even as the small bot shifted on her back, quickly orienting herself.

"What is that? A battle suit?" Kit wondered as Rivet got her weapon ready. The huge mech was focusing upon her, even from so far away and she bared her teeth.

"Looks like, he always did like flashy reveals," she said grimly.

Rivet's body was tense as she hastily ushered the panicking civilians off into a nearby building even as another rift cut open the air in front of her and a huge clawed hand appeared. A bright orange screen was within the palm, a monitor with the empire emblem, even as the pincer-like fingers flexed.

"Rivet?" The Emperor's voice echoed from the limb, cementing her theory the palms were cameras for the suit to see. She tried to ignore the thrill hearing her husband's voice made her feel as he continued speaking. "You're out of exile, I see. What has gotten into you lately? I was so used to you being dull!"

The mocking words instantly banished any feeling of longing for sheer anger and spite, and Rivet found herself shouting back, "Yeah well, I could say the same for you, snookie-wookums!"

For a moment there was utter silence. Even the fighting going across the city seemed to go quiet for a moment while the immense power suit seemed frozen in place.

Then he all but bellowed, "Don't call me that!" and she was throwing herself to the side to avoid a great laser web from the mech's elongated fingertips.

"Uh-"

"He hates that pet name," Rivet grinned, dodging the laser as she started shooting the imperial troops streaming through another rift that opened. "I'd only call him that when I was pissed off. Glad he remembered it."

"Oh, alright. I'll help with the fight," Kit announced.

Rivet paused, letting Kit jump from her back and then running to a safe distance so she could transform into her battle configuration, even as Rivet launched a grenade at a pack of imperial bots. The explosion rattled the platform before Kit's immense warframe jumped forward. The rockets exploded the remaining robots even as Rivet started firing at the camera upon the palm of the power suit.

"We have to blind the machine," she shouted. Kit nodded, even as several Goons-4-less members appeared at the nearby lift for backup.

Fighting in such a narrow space with a herd of allies as rifts appeared left and right, spewing even more troops out to fight them as they all had to avoid the web of lasers being fired from the hand, was quite a pain as she had to avoid using any more grenades but within a few short minutes they shattered the screen on the mech's hand and causing it to retreat back through the rift. Kit shifted back into her small form, looking tense from all the fighting but still determined.

Still, Nefarious wasn't shaken from one of the limbs being blinded. Instead Rivet heard him yelling, gloating how they didn't have a chance. She glared in the direction of the huge power suit in the distance, but didn't bother to shout anything back especially as Pierre landed his ship next to the platform. Kit leapt onto her back and Rivet leapt onto the pirate ship, which immediately cranked its thrusters to shoot towards the power suit.

That thing really was huge and Rivet was unsure how they could even being to damage it when she heard Kit's, "We've got backup."

A glance to the left showed another ship quickly gaining on them, this one laden high with explosives with Captain Quantum at the wheel. Next to him was a heavily similar looking man but clad in green- the Captain Qwark person Ratchet always complained about. And Ratchet himself, perched upon the bow of the ship. Ratchet spotted her, giving her a quick smile to which she responded with a thumbs up as Kit waved.

"Emperor Nefarious!" Captain Quantum was shouting as the ship continued on its collision course. "Your campaign of destruction, cruelty, and wanton snobbery is over!"

"He just likes the finer things," Rivet couldn't help but mutter. And urgh even when nearly dying to his giant death robot she still wanted to defend her idiotic husband. What had her life come to.

Rivet shifted back on deck even as both Quantum and Qwark jumped ship over to theirs. She felt a flare of worry as Ratchet stayed on the bow of the vessel but she didn't try to intervene, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Pierre's ship veered off to the left even with the power suit tracking them before it noticed the one laden with explosions heading right for its face. The resulting explosion from the ship crashing into the suit caused such a bright flare she had to avert her eyes.

Keeping herself braced, Rivet watched as the suit pivoted around and went after Ratchet. Taking the brief break, she glanced around Megalopolis and grimacing at the amount of dimension debris was growing across the burning city. There were also dozens of randoms rifts cutting open the air everywhere, which the pirate ship had to swerve around.

"The rifts are getting worse," Kit said from her back, distressed. "The dimensions aren't supposed to have this much strain. A cataclysm-"

"I know, we need to get the Dimensionator as quickly as possible but we can only do that if we take that power suit offline," Rivet said.

"I think I can help," Gary said, suddenly next to her. Judging by the startled screams his appearance and that of the monks was just as surprising to the pirates.

"Gary!" Kit sounded relieved. "You have a plan?"

"Sure, but we need to get close to the Emperor for it to work," he said. "But I reckon with all this rift energy we can open one up to let Ratchet get right into the power suit, to get to its heart and take it down from the inside."

"Alright, let's do it!" Rivet said.

The power suit was still immensely powerful even with the forces of the Goons-4-Less and pirates attacking it from all angles. Rivet kept a steady stream of rockets and grenades lobbed at the thing, even as more dimensional debris cracked open the air around it. Her weapons grew hot, her white armour becoming stained with plasma splashes and ash.

Down below Rivet could see gunfire and the occasional golden rift being pulled and she kept her attention focused on the huge mech as Ratchet got closer and closer until Gary and the monks did as they promised; opening a rift directly into the core of the suit, for him to destroy its heart from the inside.

Then a blow to Pierre's pirate ship knocked her right off the deck, Rivet letting out a startled shriek even as Gary tried and failed to grab her hand before she went over. Rivet plummeted downwards, wind whipping through her fur, until she fell through another small rift and was spat out onto a street below. She went rolling, grunting as she bounced off a wayward piece of rubble before ending up in a bush.

"Rivet?"

"I'm fine, Kit. You?" Rivet pushed herself back up with a huff, brushing some wayward leaves off her head. Her armour was slightly dented but still functional.

"I'm alright. But it seems Ratchet and Clank succeeded with taking down the suit. Look!"

Watching the imperial suit flail like a living thing off in the distance was rather disturbing. Great plumes of smoke burst out of it, the once glossy white finish covered in craters and splits and ash even as it tottered forward. Its eyes were shattered glass and the mouth was lolling open like a drunkard before it stumbled and went plummeting down to go crashing at the atrium just across from where she and Kit were.

"Ratchet! Clank!"

"We got thrown to the other side of the city!" she heard Ratchet yell through the comlink. "Hold him off for as long as you can!"

Rivet let out a noise of acknowledgement as she ran down the street towards the atrium where the smoldering ruin of the suit was. She had to jump over several collapsed walls and crawl over a shattered bridge but quickly found herself in the wide space before the suit's broken face. Megalopolis was still on fire, and the giant inert Imperial Powersuit was strewn across a dozen buildings around the platform and leaking a strange pink fluid everywhere. Small flickers of energy still clung to it and Rivet found herself checking the suit's damaged eyes only to find both empty. Where were they?

Then there was a screech of metal near the suit's ash-scorched forehead and Rivet tensed as the Dimensionator came into view between plates of bent up metal. But before she could even think to run and grab it, Doctor Nefarious pulled himself up onto the suit's broken face with the weapon in hand. Then a split second later the Emperor appeared, punching him so hard with his telekinesis he sent the smaller bot flying off somewhere and grabbing the Dimensionator before it had a chance to fall.

The tall bot inspected the weapon but it seemed undamaged before he noticed her slowly approaching him down below and his facial plates twisted up in anger.

She heard Kit's quiet, "Do you want my help, or do you want me to stay out of it?"

Rivet hesitated, before saying, "Stay close but only attack him if I do."

"Okay."

She felt Kit jump from her back, quickly running off to the back of the atrium. She also didn't miss how the Emperor's eyes narrowed at the other robot's appearance as she darted out of the way.

"So quick to replace me?" he all but spat.

Rivet's features contorted, "Don't you imply anything like that. She is a friend, which you've seemed to have forgotten about."

"Me, forgotten? Oh my dear Rivet I never forget anything," even though Nef hissed the words she could hear them so easily.

Her artificial hand tightened around her hammer, "That's funny, I remember you using that excuse before when we've argued."

His laugh was cruel and cold, "Now you want to act like you're familiar with me? Act like you care? It's too late for that! I have the adoration of my empire, of my subjects! You think I need your paltry pity?"

"It isn't pity, you processor fried moron!" Rivet shouted. "It never was. Why do you think I'm even here? Why do you think I'm still here?!"

"How would I know? You're the one that ran off and hid, chose to mingle with that foolish Resistance," Nefarious snapped.

"Because I thought maybe I could prove a point! So you'd stop being such a stubborn ass! But now look what you've done!" she yelled, gesturing to the area at large where a city was still burning and a great mech suit was smoldering. "You just don't know when to stop, so that's why I'm here! To put an end to all this."

"You think you can defeat me?" he snarled down at her, optics flaring bright. "I will bring in all of my armies, all of my followers! You will bow before me!"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that," Rivet was screaming. "I am your wife not one of your lackeys!"

For a moment the Emperor looked caught entirely off guard and Rivet remembered how long it had been since she had called herself his wife. It seemed like so many lifetimes ago.

Then he bristled, thruster flaring to life at his back as he jumped into the air and then fired the Dimensionator. Again and again and again until she was surrounded by a great swarm of rifts where imperial troops came spilling out from like beans from a jar.

"He's going to destroy the dimensions," Rivet hissed, rage warring with horror. The sky was cracking, the rifts linking together like breaking glass. What would happen if the dimensions all shattered? Besides the obvious of them all dying.

Rivet straightened up, grip tightening around her hammer even if she knew how useless it was with dozens of troops rapidly surrounding her. It didn't matter, she had to try-

Before she could think to attack Kit intervened, fully transformed into her warbot form and missiles exploding the several troops trying to encircle her. Several more blasts and Kit was at her side, the warbot's weapons humming.

"I'll hold off his army," Kit said. "You take him down."

Rivet felt some of her anger shift to gratitude as she regarded her friend "Thanks, Kit. I knew I could count on you."

Kit looked startled before nodding. She then turned, thrusters firing upon her back as she shot up into the air to engage the immense swarm of imperial bots around them. Leaving her and Nefarious to face each other.

Rivet shifted back on her heels, taking a deep breath to try and calm her rage- it was interfering with her concentration. Instead she watched the tall bot hovering in the air and knew she was finally going to have to fight her husband.

Great end to a great marriage, she thought sarcastically before switching to her guns.

The fight was taxing and volatile, with both Rivet and Nefarious using whatever was on hand to try and beat the other. Rivet was streaking through her ammo, guns hissing and flaring and shuddering in her grip as the air grew bright with explosions and hot plasma, all the while trying to dodge giant slabs of rocks and rubble he kept yanking through rifts to hurl at her. Rivet kept her eyes sharp and reflexes quick as she moved, trying to rack her brain for a way to get the Dimensionator away from him.

"You never defeated me before," Nefarious mocked her as she avoided a telekinetic blast from him. "What makes you think you can do it this time?"

"I was faking it," Rivet said rudely.

An angry yell and she was dodging half a shopfront that tried to turn her into a pancake and she shoved away one gun when it clicked empty and pulled out another as she fought on. More rifts splintered the sky, some closing as soon as they appeared but still scattered about like pockmarks as the surrounding air looked like broken glass.

At one point the atrium started to get swarmed with imperial troops to intervene with her fight with her husband much to her frustration, with them all descending around her like swarms of starving sandsharks, but luckily Rivet had a friend at her back.

"Kit, I could use a hand!" she shouted, even as she hastily reloaded.

Barely a second later Kit was crashing down on the ground, the shockwave from her fist knocking down the troops as Rivet nimbly jumped over it. Several violent moments later of explosions and punches and missiles and the enemies were scattered in pieces across the atrium.

"Thanks for the save!" Rivet hollered as Kit jumped back into the air.

"Back after all this time just to betray your Emperor, KT-7416?" Nefarious mocked.

"My name is Kit and you are not my emperor!" she shouted back.

"Oh Rivet and 'Kit' how utterly charming!" he said sarcastically before giving Rivet a biting look. "So you have your new little pet robot. How sweet."

"Whatever, you weren't around," Rivet snapped. "Don't you act all hurt!"

"So I was the one who left?" Nefarious snarled, even as the next rift revealed nothing. They must have finally cut off the stream of imperial troops, there were none remaining. "I-Wait, where are the rest of my loyal followers? Hello? Where are they?"

"They're gone, idiot!" Rivet yelled up at him. "You're all alone."

He immediately turned on her, "If I recall, it was you! You're the one that ran off and never came back! You were the one who chose to do that, leave me alone! Don't you get all puff-tailed at me."

"Because you were acting out of control and refused to listen! I thought that if I left maybe you'd get your head out of your ass but instead you just got even worse! Not to mention you'd get way too jealous and angry," Rivet yelled. "You ripped off one of Courtney Gears's arms just because I got her autograph that one time!"

"Oh please, nobody misses a fist bump that badly," Nef argued back. "And anyway, you're certainly picking a fine time to act like you care. Right when I was about to win you suddenly start groveling! You were always ashamed-"

"I was not, it's not my fault you're so damn vain! I just wanted it to be about us, but you always wanted it to be about everyone else as well! Why was that so hard for you to understand? And you're not winning, idiot, there's no more troops for you to summon! No one left but me! Like always!"

At one point she was aware that Nefarious had landed and stormed right up to her. His once glossy white frame was covered in ash and tears, scorch marks and smoldering plasma holes with several hair-line cracks running across the orange glass dome of his head. Rivet had thrown aside her empty gun and was holding her hammer but was too busy yelling at him to really care. Kit meanwhile had finished up on the last of the troops and was awkwardly hovering off to the side as she watched them.

"So wanting to actually tell people I was married was too much for you? Just admit it, you were embarrassed. You were the whole time!" he snapped, with so much malice it made her bare her teeth at him.

"I wasn't!" she said, "You just think anyone not doing what you want is a slight! I'm not one of your damned lackeys! You weren't going to win, you have no troops left! That suit is destroyed! It's over! Just stop acting like this!"

"Like what?!" he bellowed, the Dimensionator clattering off to the side as he threw up his hands. "What do you think I'm acting like?!"

"You're acting like a child!" she yelled. "A child that can't handle not having enough toys or a sharkigator that won't stop eating! You just want more and more and more- why? Why did you turn out like this? This- this- this hateful, spoiled brat?!"

"If you hate me so much then why are you even here?!"

"Because I still love you, you stupid moron! Stars know why, but I do!" Rivet shouted. "I made my vows, to be there for you for better or for worse! That's why I'm here! Why I spent most of my damn life trying to prove that dominating the galaxy won't help you! That's why I'm trying to talk to you right now! And because I'm just so sick of the fact I was never good enough for you. That I never was."

The Emperor didn't scream at her after that, the words echoing through the atrium as he stared at her even as Rivet tried to suck in breaths as her lungs shuddered and shook. She could hear the whirl of the fans in his overheated system, and the soft clicking noise as his optics expanded. But he didn't shout back at her, instead he just stared.

Then slowly, hesitantly he reached out a clawed hand, the once glossy servo scraped and scorched, "Rivet-"

She slapped it aside before he could touch her, "No, just stop! Stop. You don't even care, I don't know why I was stupid enough to think you still would. Or ever, actually. I guess I was just some moronic deluded organic like you always thought I was. Stupid enough to think I was ever worth it in the end. You don't care."

He continued to stare at her, his frame growing more and more tense and then to Rivet's horror she felt a burning at her eyes. Shakily she reached up a hand, feeling the pale fur upon her cheeks come back wet. She was crying.

Immediately Rivet twisted away from him, covering her face with her hands. "Don't look at me! It's not, it's the smoke. That- that's why, just leave me alone. Like you always planned on doing. since you love control so much more. Go do whatever you want, I don't care."

Rivet struggled not to start sobbing completely, even as years of grief, anger, anxiety and shame seemed to come smashing down on her all in one instant. She just wanted to leave at this point, find some dark hole to crawl into and feel ashamed and alone in peace. A crappy husband and a crappy wife, no wonder their marriage was about as stable as a flaming oil pit and now she was crying like some pathetic soap opera lead. She hated everything.

"It wasn't about that," Nefarious let out a frustrated huff.

Whatever, she was sick of it all at this point so Rivet decided to turn back to him and throw her pride off into the dust.

"Then just stop, Nef," she said, more tears sliding down her face to drip off her chin. "Just- just stop. Is this even making you happy? When will it be enough? How many dimensions do you need to conquer? How many? How many until you're satisfied. What do you even want?"

For the first time in years the Emperor looked uneasy, "It's- I did expect some joy or contentment or I don't know, some murderous enlightenment after defeating the last of your rebels. But the problem wasn't me. It wasn't," he insisted. "I wasn't done, that's why I didn't feel any better. I had to find more dimensions to conquer, that's why I'm here. That's why this is happening."

Rivet was such an idiot. She never felt more of a fool in her life. She stared looked at him blandly, some tears dripping off her chin to slide down the soot on her amour, before throwing her hammer to the side where it clattered across the stone. He jumped at the noise, the wings on his back flaring up.

"Fine, whatever," she said bitterly. "You know what? You win. Kill me."

Nefarious went stiff, "What?"

"You heard me," Rivet snapped, teeth bared even as her eyes continued to weep. A part of her felt like vomiting on his shoes as well, that'd teach him. Instead she swallowed back the bile to say, "Kill me. Since obviously nothing is ever going to satisfy you. And I'm sick of this, sick of missing you and your stupid puns and your stupid poems and bad dancing and ridiculous art projects. I'm sick of all this, of this fighting and hiding. So just kill me right here then, if you're so committed, and spare me this bullshit."

The silence dragged on and on, with the noise of battle and gunshots seeming a distant thing. The Emperor continued to stare even as Rivet stood in front of him, defenseless. And she could see it on his face, when he realized she had in fact given up. Finally given up on him.

Hesitantly he reached for her, damaged joints protesting as he knelt, and this time she didn't try to slap him away. "My dear-"

Then she heard Kit's panicked shout, "Rivet, the Dimensionator!"

Both she and the Emperor's looked to the side, where the weapon was now clattering dangerously on the ground. Great whorls of power were consolidating around it, making the air vibrate and pulse.

Rivet moved before her brain could even think, shoving Nef hard in the chest and knocking him backwards even as a split second later the Dimensionator muzzle exploded into raw energy which struck her hard.

She hit the ground and went rolling, flopping like a dead fish until she skidded to a stop on the stone. Her ears were ringing, body feeling distant as if she wasn't even connected to it, while her vision had spots swimming back and forth.

Rivet shifted, attempting to push herself up, only to blink when she realized her right arm was strewn across the ground next to her. The yellow metal and screws, the various fingers and small ribbons of wires and chips were all scattered around her like confetti. Her goggles had also been knocked off, the lenses shattered and head strap charred like overcooked meat.

A heavy numbness was creeping down her right side, starting to tingle like nerves starting to ignite. Oh, she must have badly damaged the socket of her prosthetic arm when it got blown right off.

Then Nef was crouching down next to her, grabbing onto her. The dome of his skull had been shattered open and Rivet squinted even as he pulled her into the crook of his elbow. He was saying something but it felt all muffled, even as more purple cracks began to inch through the sky high above him. Nef shook her, leaning down until she could see all the tiny lenses in his eyes. With his other hand he touched her head, tilting it back and forth as he said something she couldn't hear.

Nef looked worried, which surprised Rivet. Maybe because she finally broke that stupid gun, she thought drearily even as he leaned back with her still in his grip. Her body felt too hot and too cold at the same time.

He was looking at his hand and Rivet very slowly realized there was blood staining it, at the same time she realized blood was steadily leaking into her right eye and slowly turning her vision red. Her ear-

Then his head snapped up, optics flaring pink even as a ship landed in the atrium. Rivet distantly realized it was Ratchet and Clank, along with the two Captains with Pierre, before Kit's immense warbot form was suddenly between them and the ship. Shielding the two with her body.

"Don't attack, the Emperor didn't do this," Kit said, sounding distressed.

When Ratchet jumped off the ship onto the ground he wasn't sure what to expect. Truthfully while he tried to have hope, he hadn't really believed Rivet could change the Emperor's mind. He let her take lead, since this was her Nefarious, her dimensional problem, but a part of him had no idea how she could change his mind or make him stop when the Emperor was so stubborn and relentless. He was unlike the Doctor, who actually had bouts of normalcy.

Then they flew overhead just in time to see explosion of purple energy. Ratchet had thought it was the Emperor who had done it, who had been looming over Rivet's prone, bloodied form when they descended, with him leaping down before Quantum had even parked the ship ready to fight. Instead Kit had stepped in, putting herself between the two lombaxes like a shield.

Ratchet hesitated, looking up at Kit who looked distraught but unwilling to move. She must be telling the truth, and he trusted her enough to hesitantly lower his weapon.

Cautiously he peeked around Kit's immense frame, sucking in a breath when he saw Rivet's bloodied form lying motionless in the Emperor's arm. Her entire right arm was gone, the prosthetic shattered into pieces and Ratchet could see oozing red right in the middle of the joint, so the explosion must have hit into her flesh through the connection port. Most of Rivet's right ear had been blasted off, the entire lower half gone with the upper a gory burnt mess that was steadily leaking blood. Burns had seared off most of the pale fur, with more burns starting to creep across the right side of Rivet's face. Blood was starting to stain the Emperor's chest and arms, to drip down onto his lap as Rivet continued to bleed freely.

Ratchet felt tense, knowing the missing flesh was beyond the abilities of the nanotech they had on hand- she would need to be taken to a doctor right away.

The Emperor bristled at the scrutiny, the wings on his back flaring up like a pissed off cat, but he made no move to throw Rivet aside to try attacking the other lombax. Instead he just kept a tight grip on her, glaring at Ratchet as if he was the one who had done it to Rivet.

Wow, it worked, Ratchet realized, in a distant sort of way. Having your wife nearly die right in front of you in a fight you made must've shook the egomaniac, as would the failed invasion and destruction of the war mech.

"Clank, you have to fix the Dimensionator!" Kit cried, snapping Ratchet from his thoughts. "The cataclysm!"

Ratchet swung around, spotting the shuddering weapon several yards away. Above dozens of rifts were already cracking open, the sky around them splintered. Ratchet ran, skidding to a halt next to the weapon as he hastily tugged Clank from his back even Kit kept guard over Nefarious and Rivet.

"Ready to fix it?" Ratchet asked.

"I'd love nothing more," Clank said, reaching for the weapon.

A series of rapid clicks and then Clank's eyes gleamed purple and the muzzle of the Dimensionator flared open like a flower as a beam of light shot upwards. It seemed to sweep across the city, the rifts quickly sealing shut with the dimensional rubble being sucked away, and then the cracks lining the sky vanishing back into nothing as the pale blue of Megalopolis swept back overhead. Even the great beacon and ruins of the Imperial warsuit were vanished away. The only problem was the imperial ships and troops were still left in the city, even if the cracks and rifts had vanished.

Ratchet let Clank hold onto the Dimensionator even as the muzzle closed back up as the dimensions settled back into place. He gave Kit a nod as he approached and her immense form carefully stepped to the side to let him pass.

The Emperor was still sitting on the ground holding onto Rivet with increasingly bloodied arms and didn't even bother looking up at Ratchet's approach. Then he realized what Nefarious was looking at; Rivet's armour had been badly damaged, with a portion of it on her left hand blown away to leave her fingers and the back of her hand showing. The small delicate ring was partially visible, even if the pale fur there was mostly stained in red and some of her fingers were broken.

"Order your troops to stand down," Ratchet said, gaining the Emperor's attention. The bot's orange eyes seemed to bore into him as Ratchet continued, "Call your ships to retreat beyond the planet's atmosphere and we'll open a portal for them to return to your dimension. Do that and I promise you, no further harm will come to you here and Rivet will get medical aid. You'll be free to return to your own dimension when she's recovered, provided you don't attack anyone else."

Captain Quantum gave him a startled look from where he was still on the ship, "Ratchet, I know you're a hero and all but look at the damage he's done to Rivet! He tried to kill her, she's severely injured due to him-"

"Rivet's his wife," Ratchet said, without dropping his stare from the Emperor. "He didn't do that to her."

Quantum, Qwark and Pierre looked utterly dumbfounded at the news.

"She's going to die if you don't agree," Kit pleaded, distraught. "Please. All this time, all she wanted to do was save you. She still loves you."

Clank nodded, "She does. She went through all this because she still believed you were worth saving. Not many people get that type of devotion."

The Emperor seemed to flinch at those words and Ratchet remained tense, ready to move. He could try and take Rivet by force, but with how much she was bleeding and how stubborn the Emperor was he wasn't sure he could do it without causing further harm to Rivet.

A grumble and Rivet shifted in the bot's arms, her remaining arm reaching up to brush against his chest to leave a smear of red before it flopped across her lap and she slumped, going unconscious. Blood was starting to dribble from her nose.

Something flickered in the Emperor's eyes as he started down at her. For a long moment nothing happen, then a soft buzzing emanating from him as he activated an internal comslink, and then Ratchet could see the imperial ships scattered about the city begin to slow and the noise of gunfire ceased. Then after a minute they began to rise, heading up above Megalopolis's skyline and up out towards space.

"Fine, I've called my remaining troops back and they will wait outside the atmosphere until you open a rift for them to return," Emperor Nefarious finally said, getting to his feet with a whistle of gears and protesting machinery. He looked terribly proud and broken at the same time, with Rivet's limp, bloodied body held against his chest, "But I'm going with you to supervise for her care. I don't trust any of you idiots with my wife."

Someone made a choking noise behind him but all Ratchet did was nod. "Good. Let's get her a doctor."

First session.

"I think this is entirely unnecessary, something we could handle on our own. But alas, compromising is something that must be done."

"You agreed to this. That was part of our deal."

"I never said I didn't. I just think we could sort this out between ourselves. Rather than...involve some third party to listen and judge everything. But here I am. Sitting in this ugly bland chair being lectured."

"You don't need to think of me as a judge or that I'm lecturing or criticizing either of you. I'm here to be a neutral means of observing the situation. Marriage counseling is when couples receive guidance from a professional in order to navigate relationship troubles you may be hitting a wall with such as shared responsibilities, resentment, infidelity, and more. That's what I'm here for, I'm not on either side. I'm on the side of your marriage."

"There's no infidelity so you can just scratch that off you list right now, alright."

"Yes quite, there's nothing of that sort here. We are having our quarrels, but nothing about that."

"But there's feelings of betrayal, yes?"

"..."

"..."

"Resentment, as well?"

"Well naturally, we've both very ambitious individuals..."

"You're the one who's overly ambitious. That's what started all this, because you wouldn't step back and settle. I told you-"

"And you just threw a fit every time, rather than actually discuss it with me. I offered you a place and yet you kept denying it-"

"I kept 'denying it' because my place was supporting you in terrorizing everyone. You just went way too hard and too fast!"

"Oh please, we both know the common masses are too stupid to know what they want. If you want to cry about every Sally Sobstory or Harry Hardluck then what are we even doing here?"

"I am not crying, you prissy jerk-"

"Alright, I think I need to cut in here. So first off I feel that stopping on accusatory language would help, there's quite a lot we need to unpack and at the moment it's just leading to an argument which we're trying to avoid. Same with the insults. You can't step forward if your base instinct is to attack each other, verbally or otherwise."

"..."

"..."

"You two understand what I'm talking about? About stopping the insults? Combative language?"

"...Yeah. I get it. But he just doesn't listen."

"I do listen. It's just you keep saying ridiculous things."

"Saying you shouldn't kill people for misspelling your name isn't ridiculous."

"And I repealed that law, at your insistence."

"The fact you even had a law like that to begin with is crazy!"

"That may be, but you can admit he's willing to change for you? Isn't that a good step forward in your marriage, that he is prioritizing your wants over his?"

"I- well, I mean yes. He is. But it shouldn't be due to me. It should be due to everyone."

"I don't care about any of them. Weren't you the one who said as much?"

"They're your subjects, you should care. Especially since you won't dismantle the empire."

"We both agreed that was for the benefit of the galaxy, to keep the empire intact because otherwise so much of the infrastructure and general livelihoods would be compromised so we're keeping the empire while rearranging everything within. Don't you try and blame me, you also agreed."

"Is that true?"

"What?"

"That you both agreed?"

"I...Yes. It is."

"Alright, so there is no reason to attack him about something you both came to a consensus to. It feels to me you are using that compromise as an excuse to lash out due to lingering resentment. Is it because you've agreed to be empress that it's dragging up bad memories? A defensive reflex?"

"I just. I don't know."

"Could it be because you were part of the Resistance for so long that you have a default negative opinion of the empire, regardless of many of the brutal and totalitarian laws being slowly repealed? And why you're still angry even with the compromises and changes?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I've fought a long time to win our galaxy back. Lost friends, my arm. So I guess a part of me is still angry that the empire is still existing even with it being reformed, you know?"

"You're blaming me for that? You keep refusing to tell me who it was who took your arm, if you'd just tell me I'll drag them in here and execute them on public broadcast for you. But you keep refusing to let me know who it is."

"See, you're missing the point again! It's not about my arm! It's about the fact it even happened in the first place! That you had your guards and troopers running around using lethal force on anyone who looked at them wrong."

"But he is trying to change. That's why you're here as well, isn't it Rivet? Because you want to see that change. Why is that?"

"Because I love him."

"..."

"..."

"See? Even after all that resentment, there is still enough binding you both together that you're both willing to try. It's obvious you've both been of the opinion that your opinions are the only ones that matter. You with ruling the empire and overseeing it as the supreme ruler, you with being a lone agent doing your own thing in the resistance to the point no one meshed well with you for years. While a level of ego is healthy, I think we need to focus on getting you both to compromise more while cleaning up the communication issues."

"I still think this is unnecessary."

Fourth session.

"So how would you rate your marriage?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's rather simple. Between one to ten, how would either of you rate your marriage?"

"So um, do you mean one is terrible? Or like, divorce time? Or ten is the highly bad option where death is the final solution, like a pain chart, while one is 'I'm completely fine with this nothing has to change'?"

"Yes, she's right. What scale are we using?"

"Just try not to think about it. Just say the number that comes instinctively when I ask. So again, how would you rate your marriage?"

"Eight."

"Eight."

"Alright, that's good. You seem to be agreement for this. How about this, if you could describe your marriage in one word what would you use?"

"Uh, well. Passionate."

"Passionate? That's interesting. The definition is capable of having, or being dominated by powerful emotions. Wrathful, in a sense. And of course meaning strong sexual desire; amorous or lustful. Was it one of those?"

"Um, the first ones? Mostly. The marriage is...emotionally exhausting at times but uh, I've never really wanted a boring or bland life. So I feel like my marriage with him represents that."

"Do you think subconsciously you pick fights because you don't want the passion to disappear? Even when separated-"

"We weren't separated."

"My mistake. When you weren't living together, then, even on opposite moralities- you with your ruling of the empire, her with being a rebel, both of you were in positions of leadership or at least publicly so you would clash quite regularly. Is that part of what you mean by passion?"

"Yes. We're both very...we're both very stubborn. And I think in a way that showed itself. Even when we weren't together we still sought each other out."

"I see, so you both agree with that description of your marriage. And since you're both...well, stubborn, headstrong people that does make sense you'd see your marriage like that. Do you also view your relationship as a competition?"

"He does."

"No, I'm asking you. Not to speak for your partner."

"Right. Um. Sorry."

"Alright so let's try again. Do you view your relationship as a competition?"

"Why don't you answer first, my dear? Since you were so eager to speak for me."

"The passive aggressiveness will not help, we're trying to curb that. Remember?"

"Fine."

"Well I mean, isn't marriage supposed to be a competition?"

"Not to most people, no. It's a partnership."

"Yeah, we have that! We just also have the competitiveness. That isn't a bad thing, right?"

"I'm of the opinion it isn't. It just proves we are the only ones who can handle it."

"Exactly! He's right, that's why. I was the best in the Resistance, he was the Emperor. So it's natural we should see each other like that. We're both strong individuals. It's normal. It's completely normal. Why are you writing so much?"

"I'm making notes, like I always do during sessions."

"Yeah but that's a lot you're doing."

"You give me those notes then if it's something you always do. Give me that ugly book with it garish clashing colours and ugly brown puffball on it, I keep wanting to burn it every time I see that hideous thing in my vicinity."

"I have stopped sessions before because you've gotten aggressive or there's furniture being thrown, I really don't want to have to do that again. It's not what we're here for. Understood?"

"..."

"I mean, he is right that it's really ugly. Those colours clash horribly."

"I think you're both being sidetracked at this point. My notebook is not the common enemy, but at the same time it is good you're being a united front. And fuzzles are not hideous."

"That one is."

Seventh session

"Now, I want you to look at each other and state the emotion you're feeling right now."

"About the marriage?"

"No, about the other person."

"Uh."

"..."

"Fine. Resentful."

"..."

"It's your turn."

"Annoyed? That quite easily encompasses what I feel right now after such an accusation."

"Understandable, but she wasn't accusing you of anything she was just stating how she feels. Now then, would you like to elaborate on the resentfulness?"

"Well just. I suppose that it took so long to reach this point? That years were wasted over all this dumb fighting?"

"It wasn't dumb, you're the one who made it that way."

"Of course, blame me for everything."

"Well because it was you doing everything?! I wasn't the one making an empire and arresting people and making people eat their drawings if their art of the emperor wasn't 'majestic' enough for you."

"Oh he told you about that?"

"Yes he did."

"I stand by that he was the one who ate that paper, not me."

"Because you made him-"

"Alright, at this point I think you can both agree arguing about things that have been done isn't going to help either of you. What's done is done, and you both had to accept that and since you're both committed to moving forward you need to focus on resolving the problems that can be resolved rather than dredging up old wounds over and over again."

"Okay, okay. I get it."

"That's why I'm here, to help renew bonds and a neglected partnership. And the part of that is addressing the negative feelings you two have associated with each other."

"Urgh, spare me."

"We spent years fighting, so I think they'll just always be there. I dunno how you'll dig it out."

"That's not a particularly healthy approach."

"No shit."

"There's no need for swearing, that is also unhelpful."

"Alright fine. Sorry. Just...let me think."

"..."

"..."

"Okay. The reason I feel resentful is...Not just because of what you did with the empire. Let's just ignore all that, alright? I'm talking about you personally right now. I'm just resentful of..."

"The long years of fighting?"

"No. Well. Actually yeah, that's part of it. But-Look, I had a good life before you showed up! I mean, well it wasn't good. It was...okay, I mean. Repetitious, I guess. Being a courier and a guard and doing the same drop off everywhere over and over again. But whatever! It's better than how I've been, just feeling so miserable and unhappy. At least I was just ignorant to it back then."

"So it brought dissatisfaction? Due to making you aware of how typical your life was?"

"...I guess. It was basic but at least I wasn't aware of how dull it was beforehand."

"Do you like doing heroic work?"

"What? What does that-"

"It's part of the question. Do you like doing heroic work, or do you feel as if it was your responsibility due to your marriage? Due to not trying harder to stop everything from escalating so far? Did that also contribute to your resentment?"

"You know what, this whole conversation is just pissing me off. How about we stop."

"Very well."

Twelfth session

"I think we need to address your fixation upon receiving love and adoration."

"Why is this a problem."

"Yeah...I'm confused. Isn't wanting that stuff a good thing?"

"The issue being is the toxic relationship you have with desiring these things, to the point you have mandated worship times for your citizens."

"...It's not mandated anymore. And I had the statue edited."

"Yes, but I believe this is a core issue that is impacting your relationship. I believe you have an intense, pathological need to be acknowledged and worshiped and it has impacted every aspect of your behaviour and has negatively affected your marriage."

"Oh so that's why you got so mad at me, because I wouldn't worship you?"

"Excuse me, I would prefer it if he would answer first."

"Alright. Sorry."

"There is nothing wrong with wanting acknowledgement for being superior."

"However it has become toxic, hasn't it?"

"How would it be toxic?"

"Forcing people to love you does not work. You have a wife, did you try to force her to love you?"

"No."

"You let her go did you know, during your separation years earlier? Why did you do that?"

"I wasn't going to imprison her."

"You did though."

"Because you burned down those stockhouses, not because you left."

"Well...yeah, I suppose. And. Urgh, but what she said is true isn't it? You just take my feelings for granted, didn't you?"

"..."

"Can you answer her question? I feel this is a core issue, that after she left you realized you had chased away the one person who held genuine affection for you. As such, you turned your attention on the empire and its citizens. You mandated them to worship and love you, to fear you and revere you. Could it be connected with the loss of your wife, and your attempt to replicate her affection to you now that you had lost it?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Nef? Can you answer that please?"

"Perhaps that...is a truth. Fine. I did....I did not realize how I would miss you after you left. After you rejected me."

"I wasn't rejecting you. If I did, I would have just divorced you and be done with it. I just didn't want to see you destroy yourself, since your obsession with control was getting so bad. And yeah, maybe I fucked up. Maybe I just left rather than...rather than do something more. But you wouldn't listen."

"Did your rejection of her help? Did the demands for your followers help?"

"No."

"You- wait, what?"

"Shocked I'm admitting it, my dear? Well, I can understand. But perhaps that something I should thank my pathetic other dimensional self for. As he said, I had equated success with happiness for so long yet when I killed the rebels and fully dominated the galaxy I just felt as if I had completed any other job. Satisfied but certainly not the job I anticipated."

"Well, maybe I shouldn't have beat that little Nef up so badly then..."

"Hm. Indeed. But regardless it could be...that you are rather, well...Vaguely sort of correct in your words. That even forcing adoration from my people helped. But not to the extent I desired, not did crushing the rebellion."

"Aw, Nef."

Twentieth session

"So, you two seem very pleased."

"It went amazing."

"I must confess it was...a decent turn out."

"Oh please, you loved every moment of it. I told you, looking after your citizens will make them like you. Make them actually adore you. And now you've seen it first hand."

"Yes, I did see on the news the new implementations of the work hours and wage distribution. Public opinion has risen to an all time high."

"Well I must credit my wife for that. People never complained before so I did not see an issue. But now they...are quite more genuine in their adoration."

"So you have been visiting the workplaces impacted?"

"Yeah, I figured it would be good for people to see us working together and stuff. Ya know, show we're committed and that I'm also committed to be empress. And the empire is our responsibility as is the well being of the citizens."

"That is a wonderful idea, I agree. I'm glad you two came to this independently, it shows your communication and cooperation has improved drastically. The fact you are committed to the cause and you for listening and willing to implement these changes."

"I suppose I also have to take responsibility as well, I killed a lot of troopers and stuff over the year...So it's nice to help, you know?"

"Indeed. The troopers seem to be very happy with your new work rules however, so I'm quite sure they will forgive you most hurriedly, my dear."

"True, I've gotten a lot of invites to parties. But I'm trying to focus on our work stuff for now."

"Still, it's good to see you two so at ease."

"We did some homework this time...Or well, we talked about some stuff that was over due. Without furniture throwing, which you can appreciate."

"Which in my defense the last time that happened it was in fact you hurling the chair."

"I threw it great, got the window smack in the middle."

"Of course."

"Still, you two seemed to have made real progress in the last few weeks. I'm quite proud of it, and how committed you two are to keeping this marriage in tact."

"Marriage is a battle and neither of us are losers."

"Yes, precisely."

"I would say that is unhealthy, but I can't argue with the results."

Thirty fourth session

"So, how about we discuss the state of your marriage as a whole. Because there's been enough progress I feel we're in a healthy spot and I would like to hear your opinions."

"Well I won't lie, there were certainly times I wished to wring the head off her shoulders-"

"Heh, same for me. I've fantasized about ripping your circuits out quite a few times before I went to sleep."

"Naughty girl-"

"Ahem."

"Ah right, well it seems I could not bring myself to take that final blow. Even before all this. But I could not do that final part and I think that's what kept our marriage in a savable state."

"That one line that wasn't crossed."

"Yeah, exactly that. That's marriage, you know? A battle in its own way. And yeah we sorta did both ways, but I think we turned out well."

"Indeed, my dear."

"There will always be challenges. Threats, obstacles. But it seems you two can handle it together. Now that we got over that bump, I think your marriage is now in a good stable condition."

"Oh oh, wait a minute I actually wanted to bring up something."

"Hm?"

"I've been thinking and...I don't know, I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now. And I think now is a good time to bring it up."

"Of course, go ahead."

"Yes, my dear. What is it?"

"The last few months have been great. Beyond my expectations even if we had our spats here and there. I...Well, I suppose a part of me thought you wouldn't stick to it. That you'd change your mind, that you'd hate my ideas to change the empire, that you'd just...I don't know, revert back? But you've stuck with it and your promise to me, and our relationship has gotten so much better and I feel secure. I didn't even feel like this when we first got married."

"..."

"...I...Well, I mean..."

"It's alright, take your time."

"Well, I know I didn't treat you fair last time. I know I hurt you with wanting to keep it private. That I made you feel like some dirty secret, that I was ashamed or something. And that I just ignored your feelings about it, rationalized that my opinion was more important. And I've figured out from these sessions that yeah, I can't change the past or anything like that. But rather learn from my mistakes and fix them that way. So basically, I wanna do a marriage vow renewal ceremony. And I want to do it as a public event."

"...Why? Why would you want to do that now?"

"Because I want this to be a new chapter. My inauguration was the beginning but I think to really cerement it we should do a marriage vow renewal ceremony. Something we can let everyone know about us. Not just as co-rulers but as a married couple. Because part of a relationship is a compromise and after all our years of fighting and losing friends and losing my arm, I can't really understand my drama over it anyway. I'm not that young girl anymore, but this time I want to do a big party for it. A big party with a giant-ass cake, that's my demand."

"Of course, my dear. We will make it a galactic event, everyone and everything shall know about it. Our glory will be heard for every corner, it will go down in history as the most obscene and expensive event to every grace the galaxy."

"Heh, get over here you vain lug. We can certainly-"

"Excuse me, can you two take that to your bedroom? As happy as I am about this, I'm paid well, but not that well."

"Oh uh, sorry!"

Four months after the Rift incident

"So, anything good in the mail today?" Ratchet asked offhandedly, without turning away from the screen.

They were in their apartment on Megalopolis, with Ratchet in the middle of watching Temptation Asteroid. It was pretty lean pickings with the current season, Ratchet felt, even if the bout of intentional poisonings was keeping the drama going. Then later on he and Clank were going to see Al, to test out some new weapon mods and do a checkup for Clank. And much later on he had a dinner date scheduled with Talwyn.

"There's invitations for us," Clank said.

"Put it on the pile with all the rest. I think we spend half our time just opening shops and going to festivals lately, and that was without-"

"It's from Rivet."

Ratchet's head snapped around, "Eh?"

Clank walked up to the couch and offered him a small white envelope with Ratchet snatched from his hands. Written in glittery gold ink was his name, and when he flipped it over he saw the seal was of orange wax along with a little sticker of a cartoon Rivet.

When he cracked the seal and pulled out the letter he realized it was parchment. Damn, someone was certainly dedicated to the aesthetic. He was pretty sure the invitation had all been hand written, with loops and curls of some intense calligraphy. His named was printed again at the top of the letter, before more elegant writing filled up the rest of the parchment.

He began to read aloud, "We still do. You are formally invited to witness the wedding vow renewal ceremony of Emperor Nefarious and Empress Rivet- Wait, what?"

"It seems their marriage counseling went well," Clank said, sounding pleased while Ratchet was just bewildered.

"I mean good for them but uhh..." he trailed off, reading the rest of the invite. It came with a date and location, along with an itinerary. The renewal ceremony followed by a reception with dinner, drinks, dancing. There was a little person note from Rivet, saying how great it would be for her and Kit to see them again. And at the bottom of the invite was a picture of the happy wedded couple which Ratchet was pretty sure had been hand painted.

Rivet looked slightly different in the painting; most noticeable was her right arm. The chunky, yellow limb he remembered had been swapped out to one of a sleek white with orange highlights. Matching the Emperor's colour scheme, Ratchet realized, whom she was sitting next to with her hands on his arm. The Emperor looked much the same as far as Ratchet remembered, all glossy imperious frame, but even in the painting his optics were fixated upon Rivet while the lombax was obliviously smiling at the viewer.

"And it seems her ear has mostly healed," Clank said. "Especially since she almost fully lost it. I'm sure the fur will grow back eventually."

"This is so weird," Ratchet said, squinting at the invitation. "The marriage thing, right? Am I the only one who thinks this is so weird?"

"I'm unfamiliar with married life," Clank said. "But they do say opposites attract."

"Well yeah, but there's opposites and then there's..." he gestured helpless at the picture to which Clank just shrugged.

The five days after the failed cross-dimension invasion all those months ago had been tense. They had sent the imperial troops back to their dimension but the Emperor refused to leave without Rivet. It had been touch and go for a while, the explosion doing severe damage to the connecting joint and making her body go into shock due to both it and her head wound. It also seemed her earrings merging together and exploding actually caused most of the damage to her head and ear. But eventually she stabilized and woke up on the second day, coherent if not confused and angry. Kit had kept guard, both to prevent the Emperor from doing anything and also to stop anything from happening to him.

Trying to actually talk to Rivet was hard with the Emperor lurking over them like a horror movie villain all the time, and Ratchet still had no idea how that marriage worked since they seemed to spend half the time yelling at each other loud enough it could be heard through the shut doors and down the hallway. He felt bad for Kit, who had been stuck as a guard while the married couple were having full blown domestic arguments near constantly.

Truthfully Ratchet had been fairly glad when Rivet was able to travel as she took her cranky husband with her. While he certainly liked Rivet and Kit, another Nefarious was too much especially since his one had disappeared after the failed invasion and hadn't been seen since. Instead it just had been the Emperor left behind and his volatile hostile temper, to the point Ratchet half expected the robot to try ripping his guts out with his bare hands in the few times the lombax had interacted with him after the battle. Rivet just got mad at how the Emperor was behaving which in turn made him furious at his wife and they'd start screaming at each other all over again.

"How'd they even send this here?" Ratchet wondered aloud.

"I would presume Gary and the monks helped."

"Oh, right."

He looked over Clank's invitation but it said much the same as his own.

"Gifts optional' so I guess that means we're bringing something," Ratchet grumbled. Because regardless of how completely weird he still felt about his alternative dimensional self being married to Nefarious's alternative dimensional self it was basic manners to accept an invitation like that. That, and he did miss Rivet and Kit.

Even if it was still just so weird.

Clank held up another envelope, "And there's one addressed to Doctor Nefarious."

"Why would they invite him? His counterpart didn't seem to even like him that much," Ratchet said.

"If it weren't for his actions in stealing the Dimensionator in the first place, it is likely Rivet and the Emperor would never had been able to confront their marital problems."

"Right," Ratchet nodded, deciding to just go along with everything because that was his life now, "Guess we're doing this then. How're we gonna find Doctor Nefarious anyway? How do we know he wasn't turned into scrap metal after that invasion?"

"I believe he would be harder to kill than that, considering his track record. And I have an idea of how we could find him," Clank said.

Turns out it was easy as getting into the address log for SuperVillain Weekly and just finding his current address from there. Ratchet somehow even wondered how the bad guys kept popping up with that type of easy access but he wasn't there for a fight. Instead they went to Nefarious's lair of the month and just banged on the front door until his snooty butler answered. Oddly enough they were able to just walk right in to deal with the supervillain by proffering the envelope, which at the very least cut the robot off before he could begin his clearly rehearsed rant.

Nefarious seemed just as confused by the invitation as Ratchet was. He stared at the letter for a very long, silent minute while Ratchet and Clank waited patiently in front of him. The butler seemed as bored as ever.

"They're married," Nefarious finally said. He sounded in disbelief.

"Yeah. Your big competent other self not tell you?" Ratchet couldn't help but snark, even when Clank poked him in the side.

"My alternative dimensional self is married to your alternative dimensional self," the Doctor's voice was getting increasingly screechy as he pointed a sharp claw at Ratchet as if accusing him of being in on it. "That other lombax is the Emperor's wife. And you maybe didn't think that was important to bring it up at any point?!"

"I didn't know either!" Ratchet yelled back, throwing up his hands. "Not until just before you guys invaded Megalopolis. Then she dropped that all on us and wanted our help in saving her marriage. And guess what, it seems to have worked. Anyway, did you know we had the Emperor hanging around for like a week before we sent him back? Where even were you during that time?"

"I had things to do," Nefarious snapped, which Ratchet interpreted to mean that he ran away and hid somewhere until the heat was off. "I had no idea you were holding him captive. Huh, serves him right to be caught-"

"Actually, Rivet was badly injured and the Emperor agreed to call off his remaining troops and not attack us in exchange for her getting medical aid," Clank said. "Then he left peacefully when his wife was recovered."

Doctor Nefarious snapped his jaw shut with a metallic clack. His eyes swiveled back down to the invitation in his hand, back up to them, then back down. For a long moment nobody said or did anything.

"Why am I being invited?" the robot finally asked, looking up at them.

"I don't know, but it was addressed to you," Ratchet said, folding his arms. "And we're going, but obviously you're not getting your hands on the Dimensionator, so if you want to hitch a ride you need to sort it out with us."

"Why would I even want to go to such a stupid event?" Nefarious snapped. But despite his aggressive tone he still hadn't crumbled up the letter or screamed for them to get out.

"It is clearly addressed to you, and would be the polite thing to do," Clank said.

"Yeah didn't you and the Emperor bond a lot while he had you as some hapless hostage?" Ratchet scoffed.

"I was not a hostage!"

"Sure looked like it to me, he was dragging you around half the time like you were a kit-"

"Ratchet you're not helping," Clank said dryly.

"Well, whatever. I'm not here to argue, just here to pass along that invitation," Ratchet said, his tail flicking side to side. "If you want to come, just send us a message the morning of the date. I'm sure you'll figure a way to hack into our doorbell or something. So come or not. Your choice."

"I still don't know why I'd care," Nefarious said.

"I doubt your other self cares about you either but it seems he's being polite," Ratchet shrugged. "Don't rulers have those snooty rules of conduct and stuff?"

An 'aww' from the side and Ratchet stopped his arguing to look over to see Clank cooing at a photo the robotic butler Lawrence was showing him. Ratchet went to see what it was and then promptly went 'aww' himself at the adorable little baby-bot in the photo. Then they left Doctor Nefarious to make up his mind, heading back to Megalopolis, since otherwise Ratchet was going to stand there all day trading insults with him.

The following fortnight passed quickly and before long Ratchet found himself getting ready the morning of the ceremony, in preparation to cross over dimensions. Their friends had already been notified about their departure, even if Qwark had attempted to weedle himself a spare invite which Clank quickly shot down.

Clank had gotten himself cleaned and polished, with his frame painted to resemble a tuxedo complete with a small bow-tie. Ratchet dithered back and forth on going formal or more casual or maybe formal-but-also-casual until he just felt confused over suits being shown to him. Rivet never struck him as a vain individual, but her husband on the other hand was egotistical to the extreme. He still remembered wandering around Nefarious City and seeing all the great statues and holograms of the Emperor. Ratchet sincerely doubted the robot had gotten humble enough since then, even with marriage counseling. But still, it was a Nefarious. One who became Emperor. Should Ratchet maybe just wear his ceremonial armour? Just in case? Or would Rivet take it badly? Because while Ratchet didn't really care about the Emperor's feelings Rivet was a friend.

Eventually Ratchet settled on ceremonial armour with a fitted jacket over top, mostly because it was very nice looking with its dark polish and golden embellishments that he would not look out of sorts in a fancy dress party but also that it did not make him feel any near as vulnerable as a suit did. He did take a few spare outfits as well in case things got too wild, wearing his usual outfit for the journey there, and took along several guns.

Hopefully he wouldn't need them but plans tended to not work out too well in his experience. Might as well be ready, just in case.

There were also the presents, all accounted for. Clank's wrapping on his was immaculate, while Ratchet had gotten distracted several times while wrapping his gift. Still, he stuck a bow on top so Ratchet figured it evened itself out. They stuck it in one of the storage containers on the bench, with it shrinking down when shut so Clank could put it in his chest compartment. They waited long enough, but there had been no messages or angry letters sent.

"Ready to congratulate the happy couple?" Ratchet asked, giving a quick glance around the apartment in case they forgot anything.

"Of course, I am quite curious as to what has changed in their dimension," Clank said.

"Yeah, it'll be-"

A harsh knock at the door stopped them both, robot and lombax looking across the apartment.

Ratchet opened the door, expecting a robot but instead there was a fairly grumpy looking cazar standing outside.

"Uh, can I help you?"

The cazar glared at him and their entire body warped and shimmered until a grumpy looking robot was standing outside their door as Nefarious turned off his hologuise.

"I'm here for this ridiculous celebration," Doctor Nefarious said imperiously, as if he was doing Ratchet a favour.

"Well stop hanging out in the doorway, then!" Ratchet hissed, hauling the supervillain inside. "And I said for you to send a message! Not just show up."

"I don't take orders from you," Nefarious snapped.

"Well whatever, did you at least bring a gift?"

"Of course I did!"

"Then you-"

"Can we please not fight?" Clank said. "We are here to celebrate a happy occasion of our friend, not to argue."

"I'm not here for you or that ridiculous other lombax," Nefarious bristled. "Or even that- that ridiculous vow ceremony or anything like that. I'm just here to satiate my own curiosity. That and Lawrence locked me outside and made me come here because he said I wasn't being 'social' enough," he finished with a grumble.

"Just some ground rules first before we cross over," Ratchet said, waggling a finger in Nefarious's face. "You have to stay near me and Clank. No running off on your own and certainly not trying to crown yourself emperor again or take over the galaxy or trying to steal the Dimensionator or anything like that."

"And what'll you do if I don't like being babysit?" the robot snapped, crossing his arms. "Beat me offline with that stupid oversized wrench of yours?"

"No," Ratchet said. "But I'll ring up Rivet and have her husband deal with you. I'd bet he would be angry if you messed up his vow renewal ceremony."

The Doctor glared at him but otherwise didn't try to further the argument so Ratchet counted it as a win, even with Clank's slightly disapproving look. Maybe utilizing Nefarious's intimidation of his alternative self was mean but Ratchet really didn't want to actually mess up the ceremony considering how much it must been to Rivet.

"Now get in the damn rift, Nefarious, and behave."

"The sky is clearer," was the very first thing Clank observed.

"The citizens also look happier," Ratchet added, stowing away the Dimensionator.

The city was still overwhelmingly neon but the air was less dense and threatening. A far cry from Megalopolis with its bright blue sky, heavy greenery and ample space but not as bad as Ratchet remembered it had been.

They had jumped out of the rift in one of the back streets just before the Nefarious City Bazaar and almost immediately Ratchet felt a defensive bristle at the towering buildings and the neon lights everywhere. But as Clank said, the air wasn't as thick with smog even if there was still heavy traffic above them and the steady, consistent hum of machinery and robots threaded through the city like veins.

"So, I guess we just go to the Tower to find Rivet?" Ratchet asked.

"It would appear so, it is quite the landmark here."

Ratchet kept a close eye on Nefarious as they made their way to the heart of the bazaar but it seemed the doctor had no interest in running off. Instead he seemed nervous and unsure, lingering close to the two as they headed up the bridge. A Seekerpede soared overhead and he could spy several orange and white Nefarious troopers but none of them seemed interested in him. So there was a still a guard presence but without the lingering air of being hunted.

The market was also slightly different than he remembered, still with a sprawling array of shops but Ratchet noticed with interested the nearest one was selling simple potted plants. Considering how he had only seen scant weeds and scrubs in a few dirty back alleys last time he was in Nefarious city, the fact there was a stall blatantly selling flora was a good sign. The shopkeeper was also an organic, which Ratchet hadn't seen before, as he remembered all 'squishies' would be hunted on sight on the planet but it seemed now they were allowed to wander the city and sell things without fear of attack.

"Guess Ms. Zurkon isn't working here anymore," Ratchet said.

"I would wager there isn't much use for covert operations now the fighting is over," Clank replied.

Nefarious just let out a grumpy huff even as Clank and Ratchet headed further into the market. Doctor Nefarious got repeatedly mistaken for the Emperor as they wandered around the stores, which Ratchet still couldn't understand. The two hardly even looked alike, not just in their paint but even their posture were wildly different. Most of the robots just offered their congratulations for the upcoming vow renewal ceremony and occasionally gushed at how attractive either the Emperor or the Empress looked or how attractive they looked together. Nefarious looked like he was about to blow a gasket and Ratchet had to wonder if his glitch meltdown would pick up a different signal in a different dimension before his attention caught on the small, furry shopkeeper the next store over.

"Mort, hey!" Ratchet called out.

"Oh, the other lombax. Rivet told us about you," Mort said cheerfully when they drew close to the shopfront. "Hey, want some lemonade? It's not really taking off with the local populace but I think it'll get there. Or you can try our newest recipe, limeade. On the house, of course!"

"Just a glass, if it's no problem. How's the city life?"

"I prefer Sargasso," Mort shrugged. "But Rivet really wanted one of us here. Said it was a way to send off the old ways, and bring organics back into trade on the city. So I drew the short straw, even if the place could use a clean up. They only just got consistent fresh water sorted out! Can you believe that? Otherwise it was just acid baths. Couldn't even go to the spa because it would be lethal to me, burn all my fur right off."

"So Rivet's okay?" Ratchet asked, leaning against the counter.

Mort nodded, "Far as I know, and she still comes back to Sargasso pretty often. She invited all of us to her ceremony, but we're still quite a bit of clean up. Not to mention it's mating season for the Troglosaurs back at home and they're making a complete mess as usual. I missed it last time, as it only happens every fifty years but most Morts are going to be busy with that but Mort will still be there for Rivet. So sweet to see her being married, that's why I brought all this extra lemonade as a present for her."

"Right, so it seems everything is calming down," Ratchet accepted the glass of lemonade, while Clank and Nefarious declined.

"Yessiree, it sure is," Mort bared his teeth in a toothy smile. "It's a nice change not to be shot at or invaded. And while we still work at the gelatonium factory the death threats from the Emperor have stopped, reckon we have Rivet to thank for that. Same with the way better hours and we actually get pay now."

"She really has been an influence on him."

"Happy wife, happy life," Clank said sagely even as Nefarious made a strangled noise next to him like a broken kettle. At least Ratchet wasn't the only one not really adapting that well to the news even as he handed the empty glass back.

Mort then got distracted by a customer, a gangly robot that looked like monitor screen on wheels that wanted several cases of gelatoniumade, and Ratchet bid farewell. It looked like Rivet was still close to the morts which was a good sign. The other stalls sold an assortment of things such as weapons, mods, replacement body parts and other needs for the robotic citizens but Ratchet stopped at the stall selling the plants. The organic mentioned she was an off-world worker, but from the neon sign on the side of her shop she worked closely with other planets for direct imports. Each potted plant came with an extensive instruction manual and even a holodisk for maximum plant care.

"The Empress is wonderful," the little clerk said when Ratchet asked her how life was in the city. "Because of her, we no longer have to work twenty three hours a day nor give a hundred percent of our pay to the Emperor! He really does love us. Who knew he just needed the love of his wife first? It's so romantic."

Ratchet nodded even as the look on the Doctor's face made him want to laugh.

"There you three are!" a huffy voice interrupted them.

Ratchet recognized the small white and pink bot, but had no idea what her name was beyond being the Emperor's assistant. The only thing that had changed about her was the small sticker on the side of her head, even if Ratchet didn't recognize the emblem.

"Why didn't you immediately go to the tower to be logged in?" she hovered closer, even as she rapidly began to type on the screen of her tablet and not bothering to even introduce herself to them. "This entire event must have maximum coordination! You need to be at a certain place at a certain time, not just walking through the city without being flagged! Now follow me, you have to be registered in your apartments for the duration of your time here."

Getting berated by the small bot didn't really bother Ratchet and he let her shepherd them to the luxury apartment complex several streets from the bazaar. They passed several Nefarious troopers but none were hostile and essentially ignored them except for one lasertrooper who asked Doctor Nefarious if he was free later only to be immediately scolded by her fellows. The lack of hostility was like the general uplifted mood of the robotic citizens.

Ratchet remembered running past the apartments but hadn't gone inside. However he last remembered the trees had been bright white holograms. Now however the two had been replaced by organic trees, weak and small, but actual bark and leaves.

"So what do you think of the changes around here?" Ratchet asked, only to be promptly ignored by the bot as she ushered them into the lift.

He and Clank exchanged looks, while Nefarious was acting as if he was too good to acknowledge any of them even as they arrived at the penthouse suites.

She gave Ratchet a look of thinly veiled disgust but handed him a keycard while saying, "As the empress's personal guests, you are allocated rooms at the luxury tenements. You may visit the marketplace plaza and offer tribute to the bazaar statue of our two glorious leaders in preparation of their upcoming ceremony and you also have free passes to the day spa and security clearance to not be shot on sight despite your past terrorist activities against the empire. Same for you," her voice remained sharp, turning to Doctor Nefarious who tensed even as he accepted another keycard. "But impersonating the Emperor will have severe consequences this time which he will personally mete out or his wife will if she catches you. So behave."

Ratchet nodded, "Thank you...?"

"F-44," came the sharp reply before the small bot was gone.

"Well guess we-" Ratchet cut himself off when Nefarious stalked off and vanished into his room across from theirs, and the lombax had a strong idea the robot would've slammed his door if it hadn't been a sliding one.

"He's taking everything well," Clank said dryly.

"It is sorta rubbing his nose in it," Ratchet swiped open their door, the penthouse giving them a immense view of the sprawling city while the room itself just screamed 'obscene wealth'. "That his successfully other self bounced back from a loss even more popular than ever while he's..."

"Perhaps that is another reason he should stay retired," Clank suggested as he hopped up onto the couch.

Ratchet flopped down on the rug and promptly blinked because wow it was soft. Then the door swished open.

"Would you piss off-"

"Oh, sorry, I'll leave."

"Wait Kit, not you!"

After hastily assuring the little bot Ratchet had been ready to yell at Nefarious and not her, she then joined them in the penthouse. She looked much like Ratchet remembered, if not having the few scrapes and missing paint on her frame fixed. She was also carrying a tablet much like F-44, and from her own explanation she was helping organize much of the ceremony alongside the pink bot.

"There is so much to do even with this help," Kit said, looking down at the tablet. "I never really thought about why so many little things would be important. But it will be a galactic holiday, which was an odd amount of paperwork for that alone."

"Seems like a lot of responsibility," Ratchet said.

"Yes, but Rivet trusts me. She can't come greet you just now," she said, "Because the ceremony is only a few hours away. Even I will have to leave soon-"

"Hey, it's alright," Ratchet accepted easily even as Clank nodded. "I don't even want to plan those things because they seem like a pain, I can't imagine how much you'd have to juggle making it a galactic wide event."

"Even so, I'm very happy you two have decided to come," Kit said brightly. "Gary assured me he would make sure the invitations would reach you but I still worried. I know you had some big trips planned."

"Oh, the other lombaxes?" Kit nodded and Ratchet said, "We're doing that smart. So we're taking things slow so we're not just randomly crashing into dimensions this time."

"That's a good idea, I don't want another cataclysm to happen," Kit said.

"Luckily we know how to avoid those now," Clank added. "But how have you been? I presume there were some hurdles."

"It has been very busy," Kit said with immense seriousness, brandishing her tablet like shield. "But the marriage counseling has gone very well for both of them."

"Yeah, the marriage counseling," Ratchet said, trying and failing to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

It went right over Kit's head, "They go twice a week, Rivet made it an ultimatum. But I think it helped that what the Emperor really wanted was love, and his violent subjugation and demands of it from his citizens to worship him produced a hollow love that did not satiate his need for affection."

"Why did he not figure out that, I don't know, maybe his wife could give him the affection he wanted?" Ratchet asked incredulously.

"Rivet says he can be very dumb for such a smart robot," Kit said which made Clank giggle.

"But their reconciliation is going well," Clank said as he straightened back up. "And it seems the galaxy is also benefiting from it."

"It was part of the agreement when Rivet became empress," Kit said. "That she also gets a say in how everything is run and her changes have made the Emperor even more popular."

"I guess it's like Qwark," Ratchet shrugged, leaning against the couch. "From our dimension he's caused a lot of trouble for us, like siding with Drek to blow up a bunch of planets and all that drama with the protopet in the Bogon galaxy when he was impersonating Fizzwidget, betraying and double crossing us multiple times. But then everyone just forgot about it and now they saying he's hero sorta like how they're treating the Emperor. Life is weird."

Kit blinked, "You can buy protopets in this dimension as well, but as far as I know they've very docile and cute."

"These ones were too, before Qwark messed it up," Ratchet rolled his eyes. "At least Captain Quantum seems more harmless."

A chime from her tablet and both Ratchet and Clank watched as Kit's eyes narrowed as she hastily skimmed through whatever message had been sent.

"Oh no, they got the flowers mixed up! The shipment came in wrong, that colour won't work," the robot said, distressed. She looked up at them, saying, "I'm really sorry but-"

"-But you have to save the day, we get it. We can look after ourselves until we see you again at the big event," Ratchet gave her the thumbs up and Kit barely had time to smile at them before she was up and out the door.

Outside a great seekerpede went soaring past, catching his eye, and far out within the city view Ratchet realized the gargantuan golden statue of the Emperor at Nefarious Plaza was gone and in its place was one with Emperor Nefarious and Empress Rivet together. Even from so far away he could see the platform had grown bigger and there were organic trees ringing it even if there was still a lot of neon.

"Kit seems a lot more at ease," Clank observed, drawing Ratchet's attention.

"Yup, even if she's super busy with all this planning so it seems she and Rivet are close."

"I would suggest we go explore more of the city now that it isn't so hostile but..."

"Shouldn't try our luck?" Ratchet finished, arching a brow. "I hear you buddy. Why don't we just see what's on the holovision here until the ceremony starts, since it's not that far off."

Turns out there was a lot the same and a lot different.

He was rather unsurprised when Darla Gratch was still presenting the news no matter the reality, the robot reporter looking completely identical to the one back in their dimension if not for the fact she had a blue dress and pink eyes instead of the other way round. She was currently doing a segment on the upcoming ceremony and talking about the slowly relaxing grip the empire had on the population. Apparently it was now not punishable by death to misspell the Emperor's name and Rivet also had her own line of action figures being produced that had synthetic fur 'much like the real thing' to the fascination of the robot audience she was talking to. Ratchet still remembered when a few of the robotic citizens just thought he had been a robot covered in mould, since many had never seen an organic face-to-face before.

There were around thirty channels solely dedicated to just talking about the Emperor and his Empress, half of which were talk shows or just gossip but most seemed unanimous in supporting the marriage. Rivet was spoken highly of by pretty much everyone, which gratified Ratchet as he scrolled through various interviews.

"My family was imprisoned for making a clay sculpture that did not capture the true radiance of the Emperor five years ago," a robot was telling a reporter. "But now they've been released from Zordoom prison, courtesy of the Empress, and even had their missing limbs replaced for free."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Really happy, I no longer have to order more box-sets to build more family members. I mean, who has the bolts for that?"

The next channel was a commercial for someone selling fur coats in the same shade and pattern as Rivet's fur. The next was from this dimensions Big Al, who was fully robotic and currently talking about how he was no longer chained to his workbench so he saw it as a 'real improvement' for his working conditions. Another was an advertisement for Zurkie's who as part of the ad talked about how it was a favourite stop for Rivet and she personally endorsed it. There was also a new club opening within the city called Club Lombax where Rivet worked in collaboration with several artists and catered to organics but robots were still welcome.

While flicking through the channels he also saw Dallas and Juanita, the two just like he remembered. Literally identical actually, which rather confused Ratchet. He really had no idea how dimensions still worked, since there was certainly enough changed between his and Rivet's and also not at the same time. He wondered how much would change the further they traveled through dimensions. Who knows, maybe they'd find one where Nefarious remained organic and Ratchet was the robot, or Clank an evil mastermind or Qwark was an actual hero. Well whatever, things to ponder another time.

Ratchet snorted and changed channels, stopping on Heavy Artillery and proceeded to learn more about the Annual Hunt of the Hound of Cuddly Death than he ever imagined until he and Clank were called for the renewal vow ceremony.

The ceremony was one of the most lavish Ratchet had ever been to and that was saying a lot considering how many parties, events, reveals and other such ceremonies back in his home dimension.

Hosted in the Nefarious Tower, it was surrounded by so many journalists and news reporters and paparazzi a slugger trooper had to literally beat her way through the crowd to the doorway to allow Ratchet and Clank inside. The bots she had partially crushed didn't seem to mind and instead just kept yelling questions and trying to shove microphones and cameras in their faces while the slugger threatened to smash them into slag even as the duo ran inside.

"Welp, have to give them credit. Those journalists have no fear," Ratchet said, frazzled as he fixed the jacket over his ceremonial armour.

"They do seem to be a of a particular programming," Clank agreed.

Luckily when Ratchet glanced around he realized even with his heavy detailed and glossy armour he almost seemed under dressed. The whole grand hall was made from solid white marble, with heavily polished walls and a gleaming ceiling with immense chandeliers. The hovering chandeliers were made of crystal planes sliced so thinly they were no wider than blade of grass and were so glittery Ratchet nearly walked face-first into one of the marble pillars bracketing the room because he was too busy staring. Silken banners hung from the ceiling, elaborate vines with flowers- both organic and crystal -were wrapped around the pillars, dozens of huge fountains dotted the ground and all made from quartz with heavy arrangements of flowers lopping around them. The lights were made up of thousands of tiny robots fluttering around the room in the shape of fireflies.

"This is very pretty," Clank said, which Ratchet had to nod as they dropped off their presents at the gift table.

Ratchet couldn't see Rivet anywhere but figured she would appear when the ceremony commenced at the altar, which was partially obscured by the immense horde of flowers and crystals that loomed over the back of the room. Behind the altar was a huge banner depicting Rivet and Nefarious and Ratchet still felt as if he was stuck in a fever dream.

He recognized several other guests either due to meeting them or being dimensional counterparts of people he actually knew, including someone who looked unnervingly like Sasha if not for the burgundy fur, before they were all being ushered to their seats by Kit and F-44. Ratchet barely had time to give Kit a wave after she led them to their seats before the little bot had to run off and Ratchet was seated on Clank's right while Doctor Nefarious was already on his left. The robot looked very grumpy and wearing a suit with a ridiculous amount of ruffles at the chest and arms, but he was behaving so Ratchet counted it for the win.

The fluttering fireflies made a part of Ratchet want to chase after them, but he made himself sit as quiet and still as everyone

Occasionally Ratchet caught a glimpse of Kit, mostly her headlights briefly bobbing up from behind a mass array of flowers at the altar as she zipped around. F-44 was just as brisk, flying over the guests and sometimes ducking down to right a flower or fix a veil and a few times swooping lower to scold any ill behaved guests. An official robot walked past the guest seating to the altar with a heavy tome in hand to preside over the event, and Ratchet felt unnervingly certain that this was this dimension's version of Helga. She was wearing flowing robes of white and gold but Ratchet recognized her metallic pigtails and bright blue eyes and overall shape.

Ratchet's bafflement did not abate when the ceremony actually started. There was music and the fireflies were fluttering around and the chandeliers were so sparkly and Ratchet felt like he was about to slip into a contented nap just due to the general atmosphere of the room, the music was soothing and seemed to simmer through him.

Even when the Empress and Emperor appeared Ratchet still felt eerily content, even if his battle instincts were enough he noticed the gleaming white robot first. The Emperor looked much like Ratchet remembered, if not so heavily polished and buffed he was reflecting all the lights around him like a chunk of diamond with a cape wrapped around his shoulders and flowing behind him like exotic bird wings. Rivet meanwhile was wearing a dress that was such a fluffy white she looked like a cloud and Ratchet had no idea how she was even walking in it, and she wore a gossamer veil that floated around her like smoke.

The size difference between the married couple meant Rivet ascended a tiny staircase that had been carved from a giant chunk of glowing blue crystal that shimmered through her cloud-like dress, to be on eye-level with her husband. The Emperor helped her climb the stairs, holding onto her artificial hand as she ascended. He kept a hold of her hand as they both faced the Valkyrie bot who was acting as the official. Unlike Helga, who's voice was loud and booming, this version's voice was light and almost bird-like as she began the ceremony.

"I feel insane," Ratchet muttered, before Clank elbowed him in the side. At the very least Doctor Nefarious looked just as bewildered by everything.

Someone was sobbing in one of the rows behind him and Ratchet was fairly sure it was Captain Quantum just because of how similar he sounded to Qwark. Ratchet struggled not to roll his eyes, forcing his attention back on the ceremony as the Helga counterpart addressed the couple and the Emperor and Empress launched into their respective speeches.

From the Emperor Ratchet has hardly surprised when his speech started off detailing how he conquered the universe. The battles, the fights, the subjugation, the ruling. It was a eloquent speech, Ratchet had to give Emperor Nefarious that much. He certainly was more charismatic than his Doctor self.

He recited the events of his conquest of the galaxy and then spoke of more familiar things, the rifts and the dimension splitting. Even offhandedly mentioning his alternative self and Ratchet in a brief sentence.

"But despite my conquests, despite my killing of so many of my enemies and the forced adoration of my people, I did not feel fulfilled," the Emperor said in a lofty tone. "And it came at the end of all this struggle, that what I truly yearned for was you, my dear. For so many years I resisted such a notion, drove you away yet you never once faltered. So I say I take you truly as my wife with all the devotion I can, until rust consumes me and my circuits crack and fade."

A breathy 'awww' came from a row across from Ratchet and he kept his expression polite and interested. The Helga double accepted the Emperor's words then bid Rivet to speak.

Rivet's speech was much the same as the Emperor's but on the Resistance side of things. Her missions, her hiding, her attempts to show her husband that his dictatorship was not working. How she just wanted him to be the robot she knew he could be, rather than this hollow dictator with a great voice. Still, Ratchet was surprised at how formal she was being. Serious in a way he didn't remember.

"I spent more of my marriage apart from you, but from everything I've learned about life is that wherever we go we'll return to each other. Either as a nemesis or companion, hate or love, either way I will always know you. So I say, give the best of myself and I'll ask no more than the best of you."

Sneaking a look to the side, Clank looked deeply invested in the speeches while the Doctor still seemed confused and was fiddling with the frilly sleeves of his suit so much he had torn the edges. Ratchet really had to wonder that if a lombax from another dimension still having the supervillain robot as his most consistent 'rival' essentially vindicated Rivet's feelings about the Emperor and vice versa.

Back at the altar the Helga lookalike produced a knife and huh, he didn't know wedding vow renewal ceremonies entailed the couple cutting open themselves to bleed to show their commitment. Though in the Emperor's case he cut one of the tiny fluid lines inside the softer joint of his wrist, while Rivet cut open the palm of her flesh hand.

Maybe it's a dimensional thing, Ratchet thought, watching as the two clasped hands so fluid and blood mixed together. Then again he hadn't actually gone to a lot of weddings before, now that he thought about it.

At the altar Rivet bound her hand with a length of bandage offered by Kit even as F-44 swooped down to clasp the Emperor's cut line. Once done Rivet then did the most dramatic faint Ratchet had ever seen, even with all his hours of watching trashy romance drama shows. With her artificial hand pressed against her forehead, complete with a loud gasp, as she tumbled backwards down the small steps in a flurry of fabric. The Emperor caught Rivet before she hit the ground, in a deep dramatic sweep that made the ambient light ripple over his glossy frame like sparks.

"Is there a gas leak in here," Ratchet heard Doctor Nefarious mutter before he let out a hiss when Clank jabbed him in the sides.

Ratchet just started clapping with the rest of the crowd as the Emperor set Rivet down, with Mort in the adjacent row loudly blowing his nose before sobbing into his colourful handkerchief. Even offered a hundred bolts Ratchet would not be certain if that Mort was the same one he talked to earlier.

Then people were moving, the voices suddenly rising until Ratchet was surrounded by a crowd of chatting guests as the ceremony completed. He barely managed to grab onto Clank before nearly being bowled over by Gary who was too busy chatting to Pierre Le Fer who was doing such dramatic crying that Ratchet was tempted to trip him up.

Ratchet got swept up in the crowd, feeling people bump into him and hearing Doctor Nefarious swear at someone. He hastily snatched Clank against his chest to avoid being trampled at the surging crowd and instead just went with the flow.

It wasn't until he heard someone- maybe Ms. Zurkon, he wasn't sure -excitedly talk about the cake did Ratchet realize where everyone was going.

When the crowd burst out into a huge hall- decorated much like the ceremonial chamber -they found the cake even as Ratchet managed to escape the crowd. It was certainly impressive; the thing was huge, towering towards the ceiling to the point Clank had to tilt his head back to even see the top. Made of thirty different layers, tiers and bases the cake had to be sat upon a reinforced steel table as to not crush it beneath its weight. The cake topper was unsurprisingly a carved form of Rivet and the Emperor, standing on the sparkling frosting and disturbingly life-like.

He had no idea just what the cake was made from but he could it was made from various ingredients catering to both organics and robots. Opposite the cake were tables for the buffet, an absolutely feast laid out and waiting with a massively stocked bar, but the true prize of the room was the giant cake.

"My, that is impressive," Clank commented even as Ratchet lowered him back to the ground now that he wasn't in danger of being trampled. "I wonder how they made that?"

"With a lot of planning," Ratchet said, eyeing the huge thing. Then again, considering the crowd he guessed it needed to be ridiculously huge in order to feed everyone. Still, the engineering that must have gone on behind the thing fascinated Ratchet.

Before the giant bakery-born monster Rivet and the Emperor stood even as the crowd waited for them to do the traditionally cutting of the cake.

"And so, let them eat cake," the Emperor said in lofty tones before grabbing Rivet with his telekinesis and hurling her up into the air.

Ratchet tensed automatically but before he could even think of reacting, Rivet twisted midair, pulled out her hammer, and threw it at the cake topper which exploded along with the top most tier. He jumped at the explosion of sparks, glitter, ribbons and fireworks which then set a bunch of the silken veils high above them on fire to which F-44 instantly swooped in with an extinguisher. Below the crowd 'oooh'd and 'ahhhh'd even as pieces of cake went flying off in various directions like shrapnel even as the Emperor caught Rivet before she hit the ground.

"Okay, so some of these traditions are fun," Ratchet said, watching a piece of cake go sliding down one of the marble pillars even as people moved forward to grab some. Around them the dance floor also rapidly got filled as music filled the air, and he spotted Ms. Zurkon swooping past with Zurkie.

"It was very explosive, possibly a gaseous reaction to be introduced to oxygen so rapidly," Clank suggested.

Doctor Nefarious stalked by looked irate, trying in vain to scrub bits of exploded cake from his suit jacket before he had to duck to avoid getting hit by Gary's tail as the monk went trotting past with a piece of cake he couldn't even see over. Before Ratchet could say anything, Rivet's voice cut through the noise of the crowd.

"Ratchet, Clank!"

The other lombax suddenly appeared before him, her hug quick and very fluffy. Ratchet barely had time to think to return the gesture before she let him go, stooping down to hug Clank as well. Ratchet could spy the Emperor but he was still over near the cake talking to his adoring crowd. Ratchet didn't mind, still having no idea how he would talk to the robot.

"I'm so glad you guys decided to come," Rivet said brightly, stepping back with her veil drifting around her head and quickly drawing Ratchet's attention. There were bits of colourful frosting at the corner of her mouth and some more stuck to her fringe which she didn't seem to notice. "Gary assured me he could get the invitation to you guys but I was a wee bit dubious."

"Nope, got them with enough time to spare," he said. "And found our way here a lot easier as well."

"But anyway, thanks for coming. I know it probably all seems strange to you," Rivet said.

"Eh we've had stranger things. But the dress is interesting, how does it float like that?" he asked, because he was genuinely curious as to how the other lombax was even able to move. Instead the heavy ruffles reminded him of a cloud, seemingly floating about her so she could still move easily.

Rivet plucked at the thick, fluffy fabric as she spun in place, "Something to do with a gravitational weave, I think. Same for the veil. And I'm not much of a dress person but figured this would be the one time I would actually wear one so...Nef got what he wanted, one lavish as hell party with everyone knowing about."

"Those chandeliers are interesting," Clank said.

"I know F-44 was losing her circuits trying to get them ready in time," Rivet said with a snort, glancing overhead.

"How are things with her?" Ratchet asked. "She seemed pretty uh, standoffish when we met her."

Rivet rolled her eyes, "That's her default state, but she did warm up to me a lot when I got her that fifty percent raise. So hey, bolts talk."

"Both she and Kit worked hard with this ceremony," Clank said.

A grimace crossed Rivet's face, "Yeah, I figured Nef was overdue in getting his big ceremony so I bit the bullet here even if all the gawking is annoying. But marriage is about concession and this was one of them. Kit was such a massive help though, she certainly made it a lot more bearable when I nearly lost my mind several times."

"I hadn't seen that cutting done before," Ratchet said. "You know, both with the exploding cake and the knife part."

"Really? It's pretty traditional in this dimension. Best weddings had dancing, booze, great food and explosions with a little bit of blood. Maybe because of the empire but I liked the idea and so did Nef so we kept it in. Ms. Zurkon said it's highly popular to faint," Rivet said with a laugh, fangs briefly showing with her grin. "I just found that specifics idea super funny so figured I might as well. Did I look convincing though? I practiced a few times with Kit to really make it look well."

"Figured they'd have to hurry you right to a hospital," Ratchet said.

"Oh, and thank me."

"For the invite?"

"Nope, for convincing Nef to cut down on his two hour speech to two minutes."

"Thank you, Rivet."

"Thank you, Rivet."

"You're welcome, Ratchet. Clank. Oh, and thank you," that last part she directed to Doctor Nefarious, who jolted at the sudden address from where he had not-so-subtly been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Uh..." the robot looked completely confused, glancing at Ratchet and Clank to which they both just shrugged. Finally Nefarious asked tentatively, "What for?"

"For stealing the Dimensionator and causing the whole rift incident," Rivet said, smiling brightly. "It saved my marriage."

Doctor Nefarious was looking at her as if she was completely insane.

"You...you're welcome," he finally said when it became apparent Rivet was waiting on a response.

"Sure! Just don't do it again," Rivet said, a mock frown on her face.

"The Dimensionator is in good hands," Clank said. "We have made steps to endure it won't be stolen again."

"That whole incident was fun, I mean at the time it was rather terrible especially emotionally, but looking back it was fun," Rivet said, a crooked smile on her face.

Ratchet got the impression she had already had a few drinks, something made even more apparent when the Emperor appeared. Ratchet already knew he was coming towards them, just due to how Doctor Nefarious's body language was getting so defensive. But the Emperor's optics were already overly bright, teetering towards overcharge as he snatched Rivet up in his arms, completely ignoring the rest of them.

"Ah my dear, this is where you snuck off to," he said imperiously, not even looking at them. "Leaving me hapless before the masses."

"Aw poor baby, needed me to rescue you?" Rivet said teasingly.

"Since when have you ever turned down the time to spirit me away?"

"Oh there'll be enough of that later," she said, voice shifting as she threw her arms around the Emperor's neck. "Will make you look as ragged and torn up as you were in the aftermath of our fight when we get on our honeymoon."

Ratchet really didn't want to hear the two flirt and luckily enough they were both distracted by one another enough he could grab Clank and slink out of there. His friend didn't protest.

The Helga look-alike walked past with a piece of cake bigger than Ratchet, which briefly distracted him because he was sure the slice was spitting sparks, before he went over and spoke to the server bot who was hovering near the cake. A few moments later Ratchet was balancing two plates as he and Clank retreated towards the back of the hall where the tables and chairs were set up just before the dance floor. Above a chandelier was still shimmering and rotating slowly, chips of sparkling light reflecting off the pillars and silken veils.

Sitting down to eat was a good relaxation among the bizarreness of the day. Ratchet still felt like a part of him was dreaming, since he still found the whole event baffling. At the edge of the dance floor he could see Gary dancing with a bot who looked immensely similar to Courtney Gears, if not with much longer hair that glowed copper.

The cake was absolutely delicious though, and judging from the way Clank was crunching through his piece the robot-catering was doing an excellent job all round.

He had finished off his slice, contemplating to go get another, when he spotted a small form wandering past.

"Oh, hey! Kit!" Ratchet lit up, waving his hand in case the small bot missed him amidst all the decorations and mingling guests. He saw how she perked up, amused at how she did it the same way Clank did, before she was hurrying over to their table.

Ratchet's smile twitched slightly when he fully saw Kit now that she wasn't obscured by the immense altar he realized she was wearing a dress for the occasion, one that was covered in lots of frilly layers in a soft shade of peach that clashed terribly with her yellow paint and orange lights. She was also wearing a little crown of blue crystal flowers, with more glued to her lights.

"I see Rivet hooked you in with her crazy fashion sense for day," Ratchet joked when she drew close enough. "The things we do for our friends, eh?"

Kit gave him a confused look, "I picked out my dress."

"Oh, um. It looks great, super fluffy-"

Luckily Clank cut in to save him, "Congratulations on being Rivet's Best Bot."

Kit bounced in place, "Thank you. There was a lot of preparation I did not know renewal ceremonies needed, even things such as the flower arrangements and center pieces took so much time to sort through and decide. The prep party was a lot of fun, even if Rivet got so drunk she threw up everywhere. I learned many new tricks of getting vomit out of my joints that day, same with getting vomit from fur."

"Those are uh, some good skills to learn," Ratchet nodded. Sounded almost like a bachelorette's, but just late since they were already married. He didn't really know but he did know hangovers. Never fun.

"I also learned many new things about Rivet's relationship with Nefarious, even if most of them are things I did not in fact want to know," Kit added.

"Yes, I have found drunken ramblings leave a lot to be desired," Clank said.

"So how are things going along with you and Rivet since we left? You're close?" Ratchet asked.

"It's good, we talk a great deal and we have a lot of lunch dates even if lately the ceremony has taken up a lot of time. But there's still some fighting going on, mostly those pirates not behaving anymore or opportunistic mercenaries trying to take advantage of the messy situation," Kit replied. "Though mostly if there's a big fight Rivet will take Emperor Nefarious with her. A united front, she said. Important for people to witness the collaboration."

"Oh," he said, feeling a sense of disappointment. "I...thought she would be taking you along."

Kit gave him an odd look, "She's married, Ratchet."

"I mean yeah, but you can still hang out with her?"

"I do, she goes back to her home on Sargasso twice a month for a few days and she always takes me with her. And we call and video chat each other. But I do spend a lot of time on Savali as well, still learning from Gary and the fellow monks there. I don't spend all my time on Corson V or in the city. Both otherwise Rivet spends a great deal of time with her husband."

Ratchet never really thought about that, how hard it would be to very get to the level of closeness himself and Clank had with a robot like the Emperor already enmeshed into the dynamic. He did not seem like someone who liked to share, even with him relaxing his iron grip on everything due to his wife's influence. Ratchet was lucky in the aspect, that he already had a strong bond with Clank before anyone else and Talwyn had always been very accepting and respectful of it. Ratchet doubted the Emperor would be the same, especially since he was there 'first' even if it disappointed Ratchet.

"So you don't stay with Rivet when you're here in the city?" he asked.

"Well um..." Kit winced, tapping her fingers together before saying, "The Emperor does not like me. So I usually have my own rooms away from the imperial chambers."

"Is he really that possessive of Rivet?" Ratchet asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"He does not like the fact I'm the one who injured her."

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense..." Ratchet thought it over for a moment before asking, "How badly did he take it?"

"Rivet said I should stay on Savali when she decided to tell him," Kit explained. "Both so he could not do anything rash if I was nearby but also if she couldn't talk him down then Gary and the other monks offered to help me get into a pocket dimension. And then they could message you to come get me...I did not want to be the reason the Emperor went back to his ways."

"Well you're here now, so I guess Rivet worked her magic."

"Yes, but it took nearly two weeks before she messaged me that it was okay for me to come back and see her. And even then Nefarious would make rather insulting and passive aggressive comments towards me."

"He shouldn't-" Ratchet began only to be cut off by Kit.

"It's alright. I understood why he was acting like that. Then after I saved Rivet from an assassination attempt he no longer makes rude comments to me, instead he just ignores me," Kit said. "Which is an improvement. He can be very mean."

"Wait, someone tried to kill Rivet?" Ratchet asked.

"Oh yes," Kit said, as if it was common knowledge which for all he knew was in this dimension. "Quite a few times. There's the remnants of the Resistance, those who believe all this is a hoax and the Emperor must die for his crimes as do any of his citizens. And there's also the Empirical loyalists, who believe Rivet has hacked the Emperor and is controlling him. They're a very small group but they are persistent."

Ratchet couldn't help his snort at that.

"Yeah, don't think you can hack a bot like the Emperor if his origins is anything like the Doctor," he said, waving off Kit's curious look.

"Well they're a bit of a bother but all things considered everything is moving along well enough," she said.

"Seems like you guys have your hands full either way," Ratchet said.

"Yes, we're busy but in a more domestic sense. Oh and try some of the different cake layers," Kit said. "We had nearly three days of just doing taste testing and the different tiers are for organic or robots. It was quite a mission, I have a very extensive list."

She then went off to check something with F-44, the two robots switching to a tech dialect he wasn't familiar with. It was nice to see how confident Kit had become, changing so much from the nervous, withdrawn robot he remembered. It was also nice to see how much trust Rivet had in her now, considering how rocky their relationship had started off with, but now Rivet trusted Kit as her best bot and to help organize so much of her vow ceremony. He was glad the two were still close, even with the Emperor being so standoffish.

After a moment Ratchet pushed himself away from the table, saying "I'm gonna go grab something to eat from the buffet tables before I take on the cake again, want anything?"

Clank declined and Ratchet got up. Trying to navigate through the crowd was difficult, especially since it was obvious the drinking had started. Luckily he was pretty adept as darting around a battlefield and it turned out that translated well into avoid drunken guests. Though midway to the buffet tables he had to save Doctor Nefarious, as he had spotted the robot nearby cornered by a tipsy Captain Quantum who was tearfully telling him how beautiful it was that true love had saved the galaxy. Nefarious looked a few seconds away from clawing the man's eyes out, so Ratchet quickly stepped in. He gave the lombax a grateful look before just as quickly vanishing to freedom into the crowd.

After getting sobbed on, along with being briefly trapped in a bone-crushing hug, Ratchet managed to escape Quantum's clutches and left him crying to a bored-looking sever bot.

The amount of alcohol everywhere was impressive, with Ratchet not even able to read the ingredient list on most of them. There was also a great array of drinks that would work on robots, even ones without mouth ports considering the fuel injectors and port drives connected to some of the bottles which made sense considering the high robot population. He was rather glad Clank wasn't much of a drinker, even if the Doctor immediately started drinking the moment he got the chance, as Ratchet caught sight of Nefarious chugging a bottle over at the bar as Ratchet sidled past a pair of chortling Valkyrie bots.

Whatever, if the robot got overcharged Ratchet wasn't going to help him.

There were three troopers grouped at the side of the table, two being sluggers and one a lasertrooper. Probably there as security. Ratchet tried not to feel too nervous as three sets of eyes watched him as he approached, hoping they didn't hold any grudges as considering how they were sprawled out on the ground instead of standing guard he had a strong feeling they had all been drinking. He was pretty sure the lasertrooper was the one responsible for the cartoony Emperor carved into one of the marble pillars behind them.

"Hey, squishie," one of the sluggers said to Ratchet the moment he pulled up to the buffet table.

"Um, hey," he said awkwardly, before seemingly highly invested in picking something to eat.

Perusing the massive array of food was rather hard with the troopers watching him, even if none of the three were hostile. Trying to ignore their stares- and whispering to each other, which he couldn't make out -Ratchet started plucking up food to heap onto his plate. Sandwiches, bread bites, cheese cubes, skewers, a couple of steamed buns, sliders with an array of different meats and several deep fried balls that smelled delicious. Ratchet was always ready for a good meal so he started shoving as much things onto his plate as possible.

As he hefted up the plate, one of the sluggers asked, "So fluffy, you come here all alone?"

"No, he brought that cute lil' tiny bot with him," the other said, rolling all three of his eyes. "The chrome one."

"Ah, guess he likes them short unlike the empress."

"How about you, lombax boy? Want me to tug on your tail?" the lasertrooper then offered playfully, snapping her pincer at Ratchet.

"Uh nope, bye," Ratchet all but ran off with his plate in hand. Okay, drunk flirting was even worse than threats.

Struggling to juggle his overflowing plate with avoiding the increasingly inebriated guests everywhere was a fairly taxing task, especially since the room was so immense and glittery, with marble walls and floors and pillars and silken ribbons and gossamer banners everywhere Ratchet had no real idea how to orientate himself. Eventually he managed to find the nearest wall, and began using that to navigate back to his table.

Then he nearly ran right into Phantom when he snuck past one of the pillars, the Rilgarian managing to stop Ratchet's plate from flying off while also avoiding spilling any of his own drink.

"Easy there, don't want to mess up these fine marble floors," he said, helping Ratchet straighten up.

"Sorry, there's a bit of a crowd here," Ratchet grimaced, poking one of the sandwiches on his plate away from the edge.

"Sure is, feel like I'm back at Club Nefarious undercover with all this noise," Phantom said. His outfit had changed from what the lombax had been familiar with, to a black and orange tuxedo and his visor was now a pair of sharply angled sunglasses that Ratchet could see his reflection in like a mirror but it was still a far cry from Skidd's casual colourful clothing.

"Wait, are you still Phantom or...?" Ratchet asked, as he always thought it was a codename.

"Well I am and I ain't. Was thinking if there isn't a Resistance then there isn't a Phantom but when you feel like you know you then you'll know when you know, you know?"

Ratchet completely didn't but nodded anyway, "Yeah, as long as you're happy with it."

"I'll shake off the Phantom, once I figure out who I'm gonna be. Though out of all the secret things I've found out over my sneaking career this whole marriage puts it to shame, never even got a hint of that over the years," Phantom said, leaning back against one of the pillars with his arms across. "Sorta get why Rivet wanted to be alone most of the time, ya know? Especially if we started talking smack about her husband or how we were gonna kill him and sell him for parts."

"She does it as well," Ratchet pointed out before chewing on one of the sandwiches that had some type of pickled meat and chutney in it. "Or did, I should say."

"Yeah but a spouse doing it and random people doing it are two different things. 'Sides, there's just some things in a marriage you don't play with. And this coming from an eligible bachelor."

Ratchet winced, swallowing down his sandwich before saying, "So you guys really had no idea? About any of this?"

Phantom laughed, "Nope, was caught off guard like everyone when it turned out those two were in wedded bliss. Or not so wedded bliss, like my folks used to fight and argue but those two take it waaaaay beyond that. Reminds me of my grandma, who killed her husband. Just whipped out a ray-gun one day and-"

He mimed firing a weapon before laughing and taking a slurp from his drink.

Ratchet let out a curious hum, wondering if Skidd had that same type of family drama. All he really knew was that the Rilgarian was close with his grandmother but that was about it on the personal front.

"Lucky that hasn't happened to me yet," Ratchet said. "I've been pretty lucky in that department, even with breakups."

"Oh yeah?"

He started to gnaw on one of the skewers, saying around a mouthful of meat, "My first girlfriend, Sasha, become mayor of Metropolis and then later on Galactic President of the Solana galaxy. We just drifted apart, but we're still friends and I see her every few months or so. Just both got busy and had different priorities. Life stuff."

"Maybe I'll have that," Phantom mused, taking another gulp of his drink. "Now that I ain't going to be all undercover. Just need to retire the Phantom, but gotta sort out who I'll be after that. And who knows, maybe a casanova is one of them."

Finishing off his skewer, Ratchet said, "Who knows like you know, maybe that could be your uh, new self."

"I'm smooth," Phantom protested even as Ratchet was slowly learning he was also tipsy like pretty much everyone else.

"You're telling me, the robots here are pretty forward at any rate," Ratchet grumbled before taking a bite out of the deep fried balls. He blinked, chewing on it for a few moments before swallowing it down and shoving more in his mouth. They really were delicious, even if he couldn't identify the meat.

Phantom gave him an amused look, "Well obviously. The Emperor getting a pretty squishy empress, loads of the troopers still worship him and stuff same as the citizens. So naturally they'd be shooting their shot with you, ya know. Following his lead of being into lombaxes."

"Well..." Ratchet trailed off, before shrugging. "Sure, whatever. But I'm not looking for a date even if half the city thinks otherwise."

"Still, if they wanna they gotta and that stuff sells. Like there was some drama when those gossip mags and stuff that'd publish stories where people claimed to be the Emperor's lover. But he got super pissed and after the first couple of beat downs those types of stories got laid to rest," Phantom let out a little snort, obviously finding it more funny than anything.

"Uh, well at least our magazine industry doesn't seem to change across dimensions."

"That reminds me, had a good chat to my other self back during the dimension drama before we got sent back," Phantom said, waggling his glass at Ratchet. "Was thinking of maybe trying a hand at hoverboaring myself. Or something like a whole games event, got the parkour, hoverboarding and hacking all mixed together. Like a hardcore obstacle course, ya know? Battleplex but without beating up your opponent or the blood and guns so not really like that actually. Maybe I'll call it Phantom Menace- no wait, Phantom Pain or something-"

Ratchet nodded along with Phantom's ideas of names to call his game idea, chewing down one of the deep fried balls and starting on the next.

"Well, I have to get back to Clank," Ratchet said, when it become obvious Phantom was moreso talking to himself. "Good luck with that game event idea, though."

"Sure thing little buddy. Oh and be careful not to eat too many of those deep fried snagglebeast testicles even if they're delicious," Phantom said casually. "They go down smooth but come out fighting, if you get my drift."

Ratchet paused mid-bite, suddenly realizing what he was eating.

After a long moment he tentatively put it back on the plate since he wasn't about to spit all over the floor. He made himself swallow, ears pinned back but remained neat and not doing anything like throw the whole plate away. He did snag a flute of bubbly fluid from a passing server, swigging it back before placing the empty glass with another sever. None of the bots seemed bothered by the noise as they rolled around and Ratchet had to wonder if they'd switched their audials off.

Ms. Zurkon waylaid Ratchet when he was only several yards away from the table Clank was at, the hovering saleswoman had her green and blue chassis painted bright with golden accents and with a wide-brimmed hat resting on her head at a jaunty angle and laden with so many flowers Ratchet half thought there was a tree growing out of it.

"Ratchet! Oh my, it's so wonderful to see you again," the robot greeted him warmly.

"Hey Ms. Zurkon. How're things going for you and the family?" Ratchet asked, giving a quick glance about but unable to see Zurkie or Zurkie Jr. nearby.

"Oh it's been fantastic ever since all this fighting has stopped. But isn't this whole day absolutely beautiful?" the robot gushed, her hands clattering together as she clapped. "Rivet looks so adorable! She's like a little cloud. And my, the Emperor can be quite handsome when he isn't trying to kill and subjugate everyone in the galaxy. They are such an adorable couple."

"Yeah, it's uh...the ceremony was wild, I mean in a great way," Ratchet agreed. "Haven't seen chandeliers like that before."

"I know! Aren't they just gorgeous? Oh, I really do need to know how they're made, I think they'll be perfect for my own living room! I'll just need to change the furniture, definitely get a new rug..."

Their conversation was rather mundane with her telling him more about her aspirations in decoration but Ratchet didn't mind.

"Has it slowed down without being able to supply the Resistance?" Ratchet asked.

"Oh now I just supply the empire directly! It's not as fun, with all the sneaking and code words and everything but certainly less dangerous," Ms. Zurkon said cheerfully. "And Zurkie Jr. is getting even closer to his dream of studying at Bogon University because of the sizable commission I'm getting. I have a feeling darling Rivet put in a good word to me to that husband of hers."

"Has business changed much at the Gastropub?"

"Still humming along same as always, sugar. Business ain't changed much but that's because everyone still has to eat or fill up or want to check out the Battleplex if they're feeling a might tad bloodlusty. Just means we don't have to worry about a surprise siege anymore."

"So Rivet really has been helping curb the Emperor's warmongering huh."

"Well you know the old saying, sometimes a man just needs the love of a good woman," she said, tittering happily and dislodging one of the flowers from her hat which floated down on top of one Ratchet's meat skewers.

"That does uh, seem to be the case here," Ratchet nodded. "I still find it rather weird but here we are."

"Indeed we are. And might I say..." Ms. Zurkon hovered closer, saying in a conspiratorial whisper "Both of your boys look absolutely adorable together. You have good taste."

He looked over to where she was discretely pointing towards and felt his ears burn when he realized she was gesturing towards the table that Clank and Doctor Nefarious were sitting together at.

Ratchet felt like he was about to die. "Oh no no no, we aren't- I mean, Nefarious, he isn't mine and Clank's um, he isn't-"

"Oh of course, sugar," Ms. Zurkon said, giving him an exaggerated wink. "This day is all about Rivet, after all! You go back to your cute 'friends' and enjoy the celebrations."

He all but ran back to the table, face in a grimace and ignoring several guests who tried to talk to him. He barely sat down with his plate skidding across the tabletop before he snatched up the glass that Nefarious had been nursing, the robot glaring at him even as Ratchet downed it in a single shot.

Ignoring the fact he most likely just drank a glass of pure gasoline, Ratchet slammed the empty cut down and said seriously, "I need more booze. I'm too sober for any of this."

"Ratchet what-"

He fixed Clank with a stare, "No questions, more booze."

Ratchet woke up the following morning feeling half dead.

He groaned, pain lancing through his skull even as he tried to open his eyes. His body just felt like an aching lump of meat and his mouth tasted like vomit.

"Serves you right," he heard Doctor Nefarious's scratchy voice say smugly from somewhere.

Ratchet just flipped the bird in the voice's general direction before letting his arm fall across his face. Even with the lights dimmed and the city out through the windows constantly dark and neon, he felt like his head was going to explode.

An annoyed burst of air, and a bottle of water smacked Ratchet in the head. He let out an annoyed grumble but made himself sit up as he stared blearily around the room. He was lying on the nice furry rug of their penthouse suite, though he couldn't see Clank while Nefarious was sitting on their couch for some reason.

His clothes had also been changed, to a simple set of trousers and a t-shirt with a cartoony Rivet on it. Ratchet severely hoped it was Clank who changed his clothes.

Trying to unscrew the bottle lid was one of the hardest missions Ratchet remembered but eventually he succeeded. Swallowing down a mouthful, he let out a relieved sigh as the lingering taste of bile vanished from his mouth and the dryness ebbed. He took three more swigs before crawling over to the table and snatching up the pills left there. He really wished nanotech had evolved to deal with hangovers but it seemed to continue to be a cosmic impossibility.

"The bathroom is now sanitized and safe to enter," Clank said as he appeared in the doorway with a small hovercraft tray following him while cleaning off his hands.

"Eh? What happened in there?" Ratchet squinted, noting the mop and bucket on the tray and heavy assortment of bottles and sprays following his friend.

Clank gave him a stern look and Ratchet winced, feeling it was in fact him that terrorized the bathroom. He was rather glad he couldn't remember any of it as it didn't seem pretty.

"You squishies are disgusting," Nefarious hissed at him.

"Oh shut up, you used to be one too ya big nerd."

At least Doctor Nefarious was so offended by that comment he refused to talk to Ratchet anymore.

Clank took the cleaning tools out to the hallway for an employee to pick up, while Ratchet remained curled up on the rug nursing the bottle and feeling sorry for himself. The pills had helped turn the headache from excruciating to simply painful but he still felt like rubbish.

A shuffle and then Clank was sitting down next to him; Ratchet noticed how his paint had some scratches on it, but they didn't look like anything that came from a fight.

"What's he even doing here?" Ratchet said, pointing with his chin towards Nefarious and very uncaring the robot could hear him.

Clank spoke, "I could not carry you by myself. The Emperor did offer to help but his offer entailed him throwing you through the window of the penthouse with his telekenisis to which Rivet declined on your behalf. She was also rather drunk so I declined her help as well while Kit had to help break up several fires and gun fights between the guests."

"Remind me to thank Rivet when I see her."

"I'm unsure when we will see her next, but Kit was on her way. She's doing a check in with all guests, as she said in her message. Standard procedure of safety."

Ratchet found himself just lounging in companionable silence with Clank who remained at his side while Doctor Nefarious watched the holovis. From the sound, it was a recap of the ceremony and everyone just going mad with theorizing on the guests and any dramas or gushing heavily about Rivet and the Emperor.

Kit visiting made Ratchet perk up, especially as she was balancing a tray in her hands with a glass filled with a soupy plum-coloured liquid.

"Rivet taught me how to make hangover cures," the little bot said as she offered the drink to Ratchet. "Some of the ingredients are mildly poisonous to organics but Rivet assured me that's part of the cure. And she also taught me how to create robotic hangover cures, but Clank told me that were unneeded."

"Thanks," Ratchet said, before taking a hearty gulp. It made his fur bristle and there was some weird metallic aftertaste but no sooner had he swallowed his pained vision and sluggish limbs began to fade. The headache also grew smaller and smaller the more Ratchet drank.

"Is everything to your liking?" Kit asked and it took them all several moments to realize she was speaking to Doctor Nefarious.

He jolted, but regardless of sides Nefarious had always treated robots with far more courtesy than organics so he answered her easily enough. He still seemed rather unsure, but when Kit gave him several passes to various robotic establishments across the city, including directing him to the day spa, the robot easily accepted her word and let her usher him from the room.

"You're getting very diplomatic," Ratchet said when Kit rejoined them, minus one supervillain. A poke from Clank and Ratchet hastily amended, "I mean, you sounded very formal just then and easily deal with someone as prickly as Nefarious. Like an envoy."

Kit bounced happily on her heels, "Yes, I'm actually taking training for that. Gary said that cross-dimensional visitors are common actually, but not to the extent that you and Clank were. And since I'm still his apprentice and he's been teaching me more about cross-dimensional encounters. And...I'm learning to be more open towards people."

"That's fantastic news, Kit," Ratchet said warmly. "Especially as the years past we've met a few other dimensional crossers...visitors? Travelers? I don't know, but anyway I've seen you fight so I know this dimension will be in good hands if anyone tries to cross over and cause harm just as they will be in good hands if they're peaceful. You're the perfect envoy."

"I agree," Clank said. "We've had encounters before and someone of your talents will be deeply appreciated."

Kit giggled and flustered, before she pulled a couple of tablets out of her storage. She offered one to either of them.

"Uh, thanks?" Ratchet said. It looked like any normal vid tablet, even if the back had pretty detailing on it.

"It's something I've been working on with Gary," Kit said. "They should work across dimensions, so me and Rivet can message or call you two."

His ears perked up, "Wow really? That's amazing."

Kit nodded, "Gary said there might be lag and our timezones will probably phase in and out of one another, and with video calls they'll drop more often than not, but we'll be able to communicate."

"This will be incredibly helpful," Clank said, already tapping on the screen of his one.

Ratchet agreed, "This time if there's any drama about dimension invasions we can check in with each, and without having to worry about anyone stealing the Dimensionator."

"Have you encountered a lot of other people from different dimensions?" Kit asked, curious.

"A few and unfortunately not many friendly," Clank said.

Kit started to ask them more questions about their past encounters across dimensions. Before Clank could begin to explain about Mr. Eye and the Nethers, Ratchet asked for Rivet's location as he wanted to speak to the other lombax on more personal matters before she was whisked away on her honeymoon and they would have to return home. Kit told him where to go, and Ratchet left her and Clank to compare notes as he went off to find Rivet.

True to Kit's word, Ratchet found Rivet in a small establishment just down the street. By then the handover cure had kicked right in and he only felt a little bit uncoordinated as he wandered into the building to talk to the little robot clerk. Said robot was also wearing a headband with a fluffy set of lombax ears on top which Ratchet felt was unduly cute.

The elevator took him up to the top floor and, with the correct code, he opened the door with a loud knock.

He was caught off guard with the light the moment he stepped in, his headache flaring to life briefly as he struggled to orientate himself.

It took him a few seconds to realize the entire room was mimicking a beach; with white sand and roiling water that stretched to the wall that had a holographic effect to show the sea. The ceiling likewise showed a bright day just teetering towards the golden glow of a setting sun, and there was enough heat in the lights that it actually did remind Ratchet of the beach on Pokitaru. There was even the heady smell of salt in the air and the hint of fish swimming off in the sea.

In the middle of the room were an assortment of beach chairs and umbrellas, and that was were he found Rivet. The other lombax had been relaxing on one of the chairs and wearing shorts and a crop top with oversized sunglasses but she immediately shifted up onto her elbows when she noticed him.

"Uh, if I'm bothering..." Ratchet trailed off.

"Ah no, it's okay. Just feeling a bit seedy," Rivet made a face, readjusting her sunglasses. "And this is the closest to fresh air and sunlight I can get around here."

"The hangover cure?" he asked, sitting down on the beach chair to the right of her. He noticed how on the table between them was a thermos and a tray of picked-at fruit and a bowl of boiled eggs.

"It works wonders but I'm no miracle worker," she said, before plucking up one of the eggs and swallowing it whole.

"Maybe we can have a full breakfast then," he suggested.

Rivet gave him an odd look, "It's four in the afternoon."

"Oh. Uh. Guess I was passed out longer than I thought..."

Rivet laughed, the artificial sunlight flashing off her short fangs. "Yeah, Kit said you were in a bit of a state. Then again I think half the city is hungover or partied out. Even Nef crashed so hard his graphic cards got fried and he thought I was green at one point."

"Is he um, alright?"

She waved a hand, "He's fine, probably still defragmenting his systems though. I kept saying he shouldn't drink so much, those warnings are there for a reason. But when he gets overcharged he gets overcharged. Then again I can't really lecture anyone right now, because I have a hangover and am still a little drunk from last night."

"Yeah Clank had to babysit me last night," Ratchet said, eating a piece of fruit. "I don't think that impressed him too much. Apparently I made uh, a bit of a mess."

"Take him to the day spa, I'm sure he'll forgive you then."

"Kit'll probably drag him there, they were talking about dimension stuff before I left."

Rivet smiled, "Yeah, she's been telling me about her teachings with Gary. She's been really excited about it, especially when she managed to get the programming done for the tablet. I gave her a hand, but the bulk of it was all Kit."

"Sounds like you guys are getting along."

"We had some bumps along the way but every relationship does," Rivet said. The white of her artificial arm shimmered pearlesque when she picked up the thermos and took a gulp. She offered it to Ratchet who waved her off.

"I'm guessing you're not just talking about Kit," Ratchet said.

She made a face, "Nef is like a relationship on hard mode. But we're a lot better and the galaxy is getting better as well."

"I'll say, me and Clank already noticed a load of differences in the city from the last time we were here.Y ou're doing great."

"We're getting there," Rivet settled back in her seat. "Though you guys really had no idea about me and him before I mentioned it? Anything at all?"

"Nope."

"Not even about the fact there was a super convenient lombax-sized spaceship in his tower?"

"Now that you mention it the Emperor would never be able to fit in that thing," Ratchet said. "But no, I just thought it was...I actually don't know what I thought."

In hindsight it was very odd to find a spaceship that perfectly fitted a lombax in the Emperor's tower that the bot's towering form would never fit comfortably inside of it, same with that time Ratchet found a suit of imperial white-and-orange armour that was perfectly lombax sized, but he never actually thought twice over it. Probably should have, but he guessed it was just one of those things that slotted together in the end.

Rivet just hummed and the two lapsed into companionable silence. Ratchet tried not to look too much at her injured ear, especially with the pale pink skin still making up half of it. The fur hadn't grown back and Ratchet wasn't sure if it ever would. She hadn't re-pierced that ear, even if Ratchet noticed the single hoop on her left ear was now a bright bronze instead of silver. Closer to the hue of Kit's frame.

"...I suppose you won't be free to come dimension-hopping to find the other lombaxes anytime soon then," Ratchet said.

Rivet blinked, a conflicted expression on her face before she sighed. Slumping back against her chair, she said, "I mean, I do want to. I really do. But there's still so much I have to look after here."

"The Emperor."

"Yeah. I don't trust him to not fall off the wagon if I go running off into another dimension," Rivet said, sunglasses sliding down her nose. "And I don't want to plunge the galaxy back into a war, since people are only just healing after all these years of fighting and oppression. He's doing good but...I know it would be really easy for Nef to just revert back to his ways. He takes so much looking after."

"Right." It was an expected answer but Ratchet still felt some disappointment at her refusal.

"Sorry," Rivet gave him an apologetic smile.

"No, no. It's fine, I get it. You have a lot of responsibilities here, you can't just ditch them," Ratchet said. "You're an empress, so you gotta look after the people."

"You'll have Clank with you."

"Of course I will. He's been with me through everything. And I know Talwyn will help, she's been doing a lot of sleuthing on the dimensional map with Clank the last few months. So we actually have a clue where we're headed, she's always had a big interest in lombax technology and artefacts"

"Oh?" a grin began to sneak its way across Rivet's face. "She your girl?"

"Yes and before you ask, no she isn't a robot. She's a markazian"

"Boo, coward."

"Boo yourself," he said, swatting off Rivet's teasing with an easy smile.

"At least it seems like you have an actual plan compared to last time," Rivet said, the grin still on her face.

"Okay to be fair, that wasn't our fault. But with Kit's tablet, I'll be able to keep you updated on everything when we do start looking," Ratchet said. "You know, if I find other lombaxes. Hopefully I'll even run into Angela at some point, that'd be neat."

Rivet gave him a surprised look, ears twitching upwards, "Wait- Angela? Was...Was her last name Cross by any chance?"

"You know her?" Ratchet was just as caught off guard.

"She broke me out of Zordoom Prison, years back when I got captured."

"That's her. But- she's from my dimension," Ratchet said.

Rivet shrugged, taking the news in stride, "She was super nice, had some wild adventures she told me about but mentioned she was only passing through so I only knew her for an hour or so before she had to move on. Great on a hoverboard, and super smart. Hacked right through the door in ten seconds flat. Also told me how she had gotten her tail cut off during a fight ages ago. So we understood each other on that front," she finished, raising her prosthetic hand and wagging her fingers.

"You didn't notice she was a lombax?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No, she was wearing a cloak and mask that she didn't take off the whole time. I wouldn't have even known she originally had a tail if she hadn't brought it up."

"Oh, I thought maybe female lombaxes didn't have tails when I met her," Ratchet said.

Rivet gave him a very droll look before glancing at her own tail.

"Okay, maybe no," he gave an awkward laugh. "And who knows, maybe there's just gene variance even with tails. But yeah, sounds like Angela from everything you described. When I first met her she also had on a cloak and mask with a hood, so I didn't even know she was another lombax until later on. Maybe she figured out how to cross over dimensions then..." Ratchet mused. "I met her way back, when I only just started my hero-ing work. Got sent to another galaxy, the Bogon galaxy. They had a pretty bad pest problem they needed help with and Angela was already there trying to sort it out. We had a few fights at first but eventually we worked together to fix everything."

"Did she know anything about the other lombaxes? Or them all disappearing?" Rivet asked, rolling onto her side and propping up her head on a metal fist.

Ratchet shook his head, "No. This all happened before I learned about the whole dimension thing and why we were all split up across time and space to avoid being hunted. I'd never been off planet until I met Clank, so I just thought lombaxes were sorta rare or reclusive. When I did know about it, afterwards I traveled back to the Bogon galaxy to talk to her about it years later, but she had already vanished. Left a note behind though, just saying 'thanks for the adventure, now let's have some new ones' so I think she now knows all about it. I wasn't annoyed she left without anything else, considering I didn't even say goodbye when I left Bogon, but I guess we just understood things you know? Maybe she was even able to hop through dimensions, giving other lombaxes a hand when they need it since she met you just like how I lent her a hand when I needed it. But yeah, it would be great if we were able to meet up with her again. I'm sure we got loads more stories to tell, and she was a good friend."

"You always need more of those," Rivet smiled, her tail flicking back and forth. "But it's crazy we both met her. Well if you do find her, let her know she's always welcome back at mine. She's smart enough I'm sure she'll be able to copy whatever Kit and Gary did to the tablets so we could talk cross-dimensionally if you do run into her."

"Yeah, they'll also serve as a good way to give you guys any warning. If there's someone sneaking around through dimensions trying to cause trouble."

Technically Rivet was in one of the safest situations; if anyone or anything like Tachyon or Mr. Eye ever appeared to menace her dimension she had the entire empire at her back and the likes of Kit and the Emperor at her side. So really, Ratchet needn't worry for her safety.

Rivet spoke, "And regardless of whatever happens, you and Clank are always welcome to stop by when you need a break or to tell us about what's been going on. And I'm sure Gary will keep an eye out for anything."

"Yeah, I've met his dad pretty consistently," Ratchet said thoughtfully. "It's neat how there's people doing the same thing, you know? And hopefully we'll find more, when the map is fully studied."

"It would be neat to see Angela again," Rivet said. "Or just another lombax."

Ratchet's smile faltered slightly when he thought of Alister, but he shrugged it off to say, "I do wonder if these dimensions will be like this one, a mirror of the original. Or if they'll deviate more."

"Well they say space is infinite, so it certainly sounds like an adventure. You might want to bring along a novelist," Rivet said.

"I'm sure Clank will manage. I'll be there as the chauffeur."

They settled into a companionable silence, Rivet occasionally taking a sip of her drink and Ratchet sometimes snagging a fruit to dolefully munch on. The salty, clean air was quite refreshing even if there was a persistent throb at the base of Ratchet's skull.

"Ah! Nearly forgot about this," the teasing tone in Rivet's voice instantly made him wary, snapping him from his thoughts. "I do have something to show you."

Rolling over, she flailed for something just to the side of her beach chair. When she turned back to him, she had such a shit-eating grin on her face Ratchet didn't really want to take the glossy magazine she was offering.

She wiggled it a few times, cheeky grin in place, "Come on, hot shot. Don't you want to see what they've written about you?"

"Not really," he said, even as he reluctantly reached out.

Taking the magazine as if it were a live granade, Ratchet look one look at the cover and groaned.

"It's not that bad," Rivet said, even if she nearly choked on her drink while struggling not to laugh.

"Seriously? Why do they even think I'm in some sort of, I don't know, threeway relationship with Clank and Doctor Nefarious-"

"He was literally princess carrying you," Rivet jabbed a finger at him, sunglasses nearly slipping off. "That was so cute, can't believe I missed seeing that."

"I- urgh, it isn't like that!"

"Denial is a typical response," Rivet said loftily. "There's not need to be ashamed-" then she started giggling as the magazine smacked her in the face.

She tossed it aside, still chortling, and the magazine lay there on the sand with its cover glaring up at Ratchet. A photograph of his passed-out drunk form being carried by Doctor Nefarious, with a worried-looking Clank at the robot's heels gazing up at Ratchet. It was very unflattering, as Ratchet had his mouth open and tongue lolling out while Doctor Nefarious was far more cake covered than he remembered and Clank had one of Kit's flower crowns on his head. Printed over the image was the numerous articles within the magazine, most wild speculation about the latest relationship gone viral along with theories of when the next wedding ceremony would take place since the only other lombax was spoken for.

Ratchet rather wished that slugger trooper had in fact beat all those reporters into slag. Well, at least they weren't accusing him of selling drugs or smothering baby seals in radioactive oil. That had been an annoying month.

More seriously, Rivet asked, "Is he really your enemy though? If he really hated you I don't think he would've helped."

"I dunno. I mean, he is and he isn't. I thought after the whole N.E.S.T incident maybe he could be a friend. Sorta. Even if he was as annoying as Qwark but he's our friend...sorta," Ratchet shrugged. "Then Nefarious retired after the whole thing. Or so we thought he did, before he stole the Dimensionator and caused all this. So I don't know."

"Well I'm still glad he showed up," Rivet said. "Nef thinks he's rather funny. Like...in a lame, bully-this-guy sorta way, but still entertaining and they have the same terrible sense of humour. He seems to be of the opinion the doctor just needs to drink more and maybe he won't be so nervous."

"Yeeeah, not sure if that would be the way but he's not my alternative dimensional self so who knows."

Rivet huffed, pushing her sunglasses back up her snout, "Well, Nef does need to curb on his drinking. I keep telling him that, and our marriage counselor does say it's a negative coping method which just exacerbates his indulgent tendencies. I mean, he's not as bad as he's used to. I think it's cause he just recovers from the hangover way quicker than us organic folk."

"Okay, I gotta ask. Just who is this marriage counselor of yours? They sound amazing," Ratchet said. Because really, someone who managed to reconcile the relationship between Rivet and the Emperor to such an extent had to be impressive.

"Oh she is, worth every platinum bolt," Rivet readily agreed.

"What's her name? Maybe I know her from my dimension," Ratchet said.

"Her name's-"

"Ah so this is where my little fuzzball went off to."

The Emperor's voice still caused Ratchet to instinctively tense, with him struggling not to draw his wrench even as both lombaxes looked back to see the tall white and orange bot approaching.

"Fuzzball?" Ratchet instead muttered to Rivet.

"He means it cute," she replied.

Ratchet made himself remain relaxed even as the Emperor swaggered up to them; the robot had lost a lot of his glossy shine from the ceremony but he was still rather glaringly buffed to Ratchet's hung-over eyes. Ratchet couldn't help but shuffle back on his chair when the Emperor flopped down next to Rivet, partially crushing her under his bulk. After a bout of swearing from them both, they eventually settled with the Emperor sitting back with his wings hanging over the top of the beach chair and Rivet sprawled over his lap with her head resting against his chest plate. One of the Emperor's clawed hands was resting on the small of Rivet's back, talons scratching lightly at her pale fur. It was disturbingly domestic and Ratchet kept his face neutral.

"So it seems I missed some important lombax bonding," the Emperor said when they were settled.

"More like we're recovering," Rivet grumbled, shoving her sunglasses back up her nose. "Not all of us can just defragment yourself and reboot sober. Which is cheating, I say."

"Perhaps you should have paced yourself, my dear. You did let our happy day go straight to your head."

"Oh please, you drank way more than me. You're a booze hound."

"I'm a connoisseur of liquor-"

"Booze hound," Rivet interrupted sternly, tapping a metal finger against his chest.

Ratchet shifted, about to get up and leave since the couple seemed to be getting increasingly domestic but his movement immediately drew the Emperor's gaze. He tensed slightly at being regarded by those bright orange optics as the robot's entire attention settled upon him.

"Ah, how rude of me," Nefarious said loftily. "I didn't not greet our honoured guest. How have you found your stay in my empire?"

"Better than last time," he said truthfully, twitching as the Emperor laughed. Seemed he still had that megalomaniac laugh even without doing anything villainous.

"Of course, since you seemed busy trashing the place last time. Tell me, how many of my citizens did you butcher?" the Emperor asked. "Or do you usually show up in a strange place and start shooting people?"

"Woah okay, it wasn't my fault I ended up in a fascist dictatorship where people started trying to kill me," Ratchet said, annoyed at the Emperor's mocking.

"No, of course not," the Emperor said. "So perhaps I should thank you this time, for not gunning down the entire bazaar-"

"Hey," Rivet lightly smacked her hand against the Emperor's chest and interrupting him, "You said you were going to be nice."

"I am being nice," he said haughtily.

"No you aren't, you're being a bitch," Rivet said with a roll of her eyes. "We both know you don't care, so quit trying to pick a fight."

"I care very much," the Emperor said, sitting up as his clawed hand kept scratching at Rivet's back. "Isn't that something you're always saying?"

"Yeah but maybe not in such a mean way," Rivet said. "You're just being rude for rudeness sake."

"I was not being mean."

"Yes you were. Try being nice, it's the best side of you."

"Well I suppose that's the reason why you're the only one who gets to see it, my dearest wife."

Ratchet quickly slid off his chair and scurried out of there as the Emperor's voice grew husky and Rivet's entire attention was on her husband. The married couple had gotten completely absorbed with each other, with neither noticing Ratchet's incredibly hasty exit. Fine by him.

He did make the mistake of looking back the moment he reached the door to which he instantly regretted it; the Emperor had pinned a giggling Rivet down underneath his much larger bulk on the chair, a clawed hand keeping her arms over her head. The robot leaned down and wow, did he have that serpentine tongue custom-installed because Ratchet didn't remember him having one beforehand, and a split second later Ratchet was out the door and all but sprinting to the exit.

Yup, he was gonna spend the rest of the day with Clank and maybe stuffing his face with more food and watching more trashy holovid shows. Yup, that was what he was gonna do while trying to scrub that image of Rivet and the Emperor from his mind.

Some days later

"Well that was fun but exhausting," Ratchet groaned, flopping down on the couch. It felt so good just to lie down. Sometimes he forgot how tiring it could be just socializing so much. He felt like a severely wrung out wet cloth hung out to dry.

"Yes, it was quite an eventful few days," Clank agreed.

But like all parties, Ratchet was always happy to finally get home and just relax. As much as he had wanted to see Kit and Rivet, the celebrations of the vow renewal ceremony meant he had been bombarded with so many well-wishers and drunken ambushes he lost count and the days just blurred together. Though after that first night Ratchet himself stayed away from the alcohol, but it seemed there was a week-long celebration planned so basically the city at large was crossed between drunk, hung-over, happy, annoyed with all the hung-over people everywhere, or those who just wanted the double time.

It also didn't help the rumour mill had gone mad, after Rivet had teased him Ratchet became increasingly aware of the looks he would get. Eventually citizens got curious enough they started outright asking him about his relationships, as it seemed all of Rivet's dimension were under the impression Ratchet was in a throuple with Clank and Doctor Nefarious and his denials were just him being cute and bashful.

Clank just found it funny, so he was no help. Doctor Nefarious didn't bring it up at all, which Ratchet wasn't sure was better or worse since he knew the robot knew about the rumours as he caught F-44 trying to fish for information from him. He didn't ask Ratchet about it though, so Ratchet sorta counted it as a win even if he felt immensely embarrassed when Kit tentatively asked him about it the following day including her asking if they wanted the doctor moved into their room.

Though Ratchet guessed it had to be expected in a weird way, since the only other lombax around was married to the only other Nefarious around. Still, he was pretty exhausted from fending off so much nosy questions, even if visiting all his new friends had been fun. Tiring though.

On day three Rivet had departed with the Emperor for their honeymoon, but even with the other lombax gone Ratchet and Clank had found a lot to do in Nefarious City. Ratchet had insisted Clank go to the spas (which Ratchet couldn't join, as unfortunately most of the specials were lethal to organics) while Ratchet ended up doing a parkour contest across the city rooftops with Phantom which resulted in them both temporarily being arrested and Kit had to bail them out. They didn't have to pay the hefty fine but they did have to apologize to the guests in the casino they had accidentally smashed into and made to clean up the broken aquarium under F-44's stern supervision.

But the food had been amazing, with Kit giving them several cases- including one filled entirely with cake -to take home with them when they finally had to leave. If Ratchet wasn't so tired and still rather stuffed from his farewell lunch, he would've dug about in one right at that moment.

They let Doctor Nefarious leave without incident, even though they technically should've arrested him but Ratchet wasn't really in the mood. The supervillain had obediently returned with them after all, and he had been clutching the gifts the Emperor had given him, which had been a bottle of wine that glowed eerily and a small golden statue of himself.

'Perhaps loosen up a touch,' the Emperor had said at the time. Rivet's giggling probably didn't help but Doctor Nefarious was smart enough to just nod and accept the gifts.

Ratchet just figured Nefarious had to figure out how to relate to himself and left it at that. Then he got preoccupied by Rivet telling them her upcoming plans and Ratchet ended up forgetting to ask the other lombax about what she thought of Doctor Nefarious before she was off on her honeymoon and as curious as Ratchet was he had enough manners to not disturb her. The married couple had seemed very enamoured with each other, after all.

(Kit had seemed extremely unsurprised when Ratchet mentioned the whole incident in the artificial beach room, saying in a fairly resigned tone excessive and inappropriate PDA wasn't out of the ordinary for the two to the point F-44 kept a spray bottle on hand.)

Still, it had been a fun trip even if it had still been quite bewildering.

Ratchet figured he probably should be doing a lot of things now that he was back home in his own dimension.

Instead he ended up having a nap on couch after shooting off some messages to his friends to let them know about their safe return. Ratchet was snorting softly as he lay sprawled across the fabric with an arm dangling over the edge, the warm sunlight of Megalopolis's clear afternoon beaming through the windows and Clank's low humming as he tapped away at his tablet next to him. Clank would wake Ratchet up if anything important happened, but right now the best thing was that they were back home safe together.

RIVET has sent a message to RATCHET

RIVET: Rivet to Ratchet, come in Ratchet.
RIVET: This is a super secret lombax transmission.
RIVET: So come in, over.
RATCHET: Oh hey!
RATCHET: Guess that means the message system works.
RIVET: :D
RIVET: Yeah!
RIVET: It took me a few tries because the connection kept dropping but it finally sent.
RATCHET: Really?
RATCHET: What's it like over there?
RIVET: I'm on Corson V, what planet are you on?
RATCHET: Me and Clank are at Aquatos, maybe that's why?
RIVET: Could be, we'll have to test it.
RIVET: What are you doing on Aquatos anyway?
RATCHET: We're helping Hydro Girl with a king amoeboid infestation which has flared up.
RATCHET: I'm gonna have to have so many showers when we're done, these sewers really haven't improved since we were last here.
RIVET: Oh right, Hydro Girl is one of your dimension's heroes isn't she?
RIVET: I've been reading all those magazines and holo-vids you got me, same with that figurine set.
RIVET: But sorry I didn't thank you in person for the gifts! Me and Nef didn't go through them until we got back from our honeymoon.
RIVET: And there were quite a lot haha
RATCHET: Oh that's alright, figured you guys would be busy and we could talk to you later anyway.
RIVET: I do find it really interesting though as in my dimension we never really had heroes?
RIVET: Or even supervillains, since Dr. Nef gave us like ten years worth of SuperVillain weekly from his universe and that's also been interesting.
RATCHET: Really? That's strange, though I suppose an empire had something to do with it.
RATCHET: Me and Clank are hardly the only heroes running around, we're just in the middle of the dimensional stuff.
RIVET: That Captain Qwark sounds like a real tosser though.
RATCHET: Trust me, he's a lot worse the longer you're around him.
RIVET: What even was that Nature's Mysteries bit?
RATCHET: ...Yeah, that really happened. He uh, did think he was a monkey that one time.
RIVET: :/
RIVET: Say what you want about Captain Quantum but he really isn't any where near that bad.
RIVET: Though the fact you have an actual fan club is hilarious.
RATCHET: Okay, that was Al's idea. Not mine.
RIVET: Right, after that Dreadzone thing?
RIVET: There seems to be a giant invasion going on in your dimension pretty regularly.
RIVET: We just had beef with Nef, not this stuff like Drek and Progs and this Clock thing?
RIVET: I sorta hid that issue from Nef, don't think telling him about a time clock would be a good idea, he might decide to be silly about it.
RIVET: Even if I'm not sure it actually exists in our dimension.
RIVET: But just to be on the safe side, ya know.
RATCHET: Fair enough, I trust you on handling him.
RIVET: Thanks again.
RIVET: I know you don't get it, but I appreciate you trusting me about it.
RATCHET: Hey, if there's anything soap operas have taught me is that only married people understand marriage.
RATCHET: So this is your fight and you're the one who knows the tactics.
RIVET: Heh, sometimes feels like it.
RIVET: Though at the moment we are watching some trashy shows from your dimension.
RIVET: Me and Nef that is, since it's around ten at night.
RATCHET: Wait really?
RATCHET: That's strange.
RATCHET: It's the morning here, we're just taking a morning tea break before we start up cleaning the sewers again.
RIVET: Maybe a dimensional thing?
RIVET: Kit said we might be days or even weeks off from each other. Just how space is.
RIVET: She's got some pretty huge books in her room with her studies now.
RIVET: But hey, quit distracting me.
RIVET: You guys never told me Clank is a movie star.
RATCHET: Wait, you know about that?
RIVET: Yeah, that was part of the gift Dr. Nefarious got us.
RIVET: The SuperVillain stuff but he also gifted us the luxury edition set of the complete collection of Secret Agent Clank.
RATCHET: Bluh what?
RATCHET: I knew he had been a big fan of that...
RATCHET: But I didn't think he'd give you guys the collectors edition.
RIVET: Well next time you see the doctor tell him thanks.
RIVET: Nef really loves cheesy shows haha so the corny super spy thing is really entertaining him.
RIVET: I don't think he's even noticed I'm typing on this he's so preoccupied by it.
RATCHET: I'll let Clank know he's got fans across the dimension now.
RIVET: I'm gonna have to slate a girls weekend and make Kit watch all this with me.
RIVET: Or girls week? Since there is a lot of the series.
RIVET: Though we've just started.
RIVET: We're at the Maktar casino episode?
RIVET: Urrrrgh the cheesy finishing lines, how can Nef enjoy this.
RIVET: As much as I like Clank there's just way too much cheese for me.
RIVET: So I think
RIVET: Wait.
RIVET: Hold up.
RATCHET: What is it?
RIVET: Are you the chauffeur?
RIVET: Why are
RIVET: Pffft hahaha you totally are!
RIVET: Ratchet the Chauffeur, got quite a ring to it.
RIVET: And the fake hair hahaha oh my stars you look like such a proper nerd with the outfit and wig and little hat.
RIVET: This is so cute.
RATCHET: >:(
RIVET: And what's the ejector seat joke?
RIVET: I've gotta check the behind the scenes when this episode is over, like right now.
RATCHET: Urrrrgh.