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allstarsstorymode867 · 2 years ago

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All-Stars-Story Mode- [REWRITTEN] Chapter 1 [Part 1]

Icefir learned that the Broken is due to be free within a day and Knight seemed to have shrug her off but what happens if you learn that the very artifacts used in the Great Calamity still existed?

Co-written by @sampoststuff

(It's going to be posted in parts.)

-Chapter 1: By Mistake-

A long walk towards the center of the Cathedral instructed as Knight had instructed for her to go to, as a way to keep her focus on things more importantly than a “silly prophecy” as she was holding onto her backpack tightly as Nickolas repeated what the letter said.

“Icefir Windbreaker, often you would cause much trouble as my apprentice so I thought I will send you to one of my towers in Starvile Town so it is a big responsibility for you to prove that you can be trustworthy.” as he turned to Icefir Windbreaker who had a bitter look in her eyes as he added this part.

“And no snooping around where the muzzle of your mask doesn’t belong and playing it around while you are at the tower.” with a somewhat had a smile on his face, almost smug as she groaned in defeat.

Nickolas had finished reading Knight’s note and looked at Icefir, understanding how much she was disappointed that the leader of the Cathedral would just disregard the warning, it was a pretty good reason too for them all to worry about the Broken. Even after an eon passed!

“Icefir, it’s not all that bad.” Nickolas tried to comfort her, “On the bright side of things, Knight had organized one of her best towers of magic, time, and reality for you to stay temporarily. Isn’t that exciting?”

Icefir was thinking about what her assistants had said for a moment then her face lit up with a thought of a solution of her own. “Yeah, it is exciting. I could be able to-”

“No bad ideas, Icefir.” Nickolas interrupted sternly as he could see the look in her eyes, a look that tells him that what she is thinking was a bad idea.

“Just listen, there’s something there that I could remake the fifth gem and use it as a weapon to use against the Broken when she returns.”

“You are about to be crazy right now, Icefir.”

“I do sound crazy but I know my reasoning.” She defends herself as they are walked by the townsfolk of Starvile Town as they are preparing everything for tomorrow's festival. Getting closer to the tower, exactly the address on the letter.

“It’s a crazy reason,” Nickolas said before he pulls out the key provided in the letter and then slots it in place of the keyhole. He turns the key and the clicking sound is heard before he pushes the door open and they both enter inside the tower.

Icefir looked upwards at the spiral stairs going up, they looked like they were going up infinitely into the sky as it stretches on. A long way up there for anyone that wants to reach past the clouds.

Icefir silently gasped in excitement as she continued to look up while she took off her backpack and set it on the floor as she took a few steps towards the steps, eager to go up and see what it could be above her.

Nickolas then stopped her.

“Best not to go snooping around just yet, Icefir. It’s still under revadations.”

Icefir looked at her friend as her hand was on the stair rail and then to Nickolas who set his own backpack down and then unzipped it.

“You know, this tower is fairly old. It’s where Knight had done massive amounts of research and where the planning began on taking down the Broken. But, it was later abandoned.” He shrugged, taking out an old lantern. “Until recently. Apparently the ancient tech that was made back in the Great Calamity is still here. Pretty surprising in all honesty.” He then pulled out two wrapped up sleeping bags, placing them down to unpack the canned food that laid securely at the bottom of the backpack. He looked back at Icefir, noting her lack of movement. He laid out his sleeping bag, and rolled the second sleeping bag over to her. “...That letter from Knight getting to you? You’re not setting everything up right away…are you…” He tried to figure out his phrasing. “...Mentally shutting down, I guess?” He asked with uncertainty, wondering what her response would be.

“I just don’t like how she had handled the current situation, basically, I had found out that we are on the verge of Repeating-The-Great-Calamity chaos!” she said angrily as she hit her side with her hand.

Icefir sat down on the dusty floor with her legs crossed, with her gas mask on so the dust had no effect on her but with Nickolas, however, he started sneezing a little as he dropped the books from his backpack. Icefir mumbled a sorry as she unzipped her own backpack. “Do those machines still work?” she asked as she placed her books and pencils down on the floor.

Nickolas looked up at her, sniffling his nose due to the dust. “Why do you wanna know if they work?”

“I am mostly curious if she and Fijis before us had gotten them to work, I would like to know if we could use them for…” Icefir stopped herself as she was unrolling her sleeping back before she let her words trailed off, then she turned to her assistant, “I am just hyper-fixated on this, Nick, I am just worried that it’s a bad thing going to happen.”

Nickolas lit his lantern as he got up on his feet. “The Fijis most likely turned off the machines a long time ago. Look, I don’t think I like where this train of thought is going, but…”He huffed out a breath. “We can still look around the tower. Just to see if there’s anything noteworthy, info, or anything that serves as proof for the Broken’s inevitable return. How ‘bout it?”

Icefir thought about it for a moment before nodding, interested in what could be here before them. She got back on her feet and lit her own lantern before they both adventured about the tower’s bunker floor.

Just as anticipated, the door to the lower floor was locked but no problem with Icefir Windbreaker, using her bracelet’s magic, she pulled the door open in aqua aura and she gestured to her assistant to go in first.

They looked around the place, the place itself looked like the observatory by the small to big spheres hanging by the rings around the empty glass ball, dust collected and Ratiders made it their home; cobwebs strewn about like a clown.

Ratider hissed as the light of the lanterns came its way and caused it to scurry into the shadows as Nickolas picked up a paper to see what was written on it.

In old Fiji language, it said something about a device fused with magic that can be able to travel to other realities after they were created from the pieces ripped off from the Original.

“Wow…” Icefir spoke in somber as she walked towards what appears to be a lectern covered in dust and then swiped it to reveal her reflection and seeing the familiar symbols: Circle, Square, Triangle, X and a five point star surrounded by them.

She looked down and noticed something inside the lectern just between the wires, she bent down and then pulled out a book, it was untitled but its contents were interesting.

“Nickolas!” She shouted.

“What is it? What did you find?” He walked closer to Icefir and examined the book held in her hands.

“I can recreate it!” She muttered excitedly, pointed at the one page peculiar with her finger tapping on it.

“Recreate it?” He looked at the page, studying the contents, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Yeah!” Icefir said, barely able to contain her excitement as she stepped backward and then placed the book on the lantern before running towards a different side of the machine and then pushed a few buttons as Nickolas looked at her in confusion and fear on what his mistress was doing despite her teacher’s warnings.

“Hold on a moment! Those symbols…what are you doing, Icefir?” He asked in both worry and confusion as she continued to work on the machines.

“Going to save us all.” She answered breathlessly as she tossed in wood logs into the furnace of the machine, “We are remaking that crystal and finding the rest!” She then threw her own lantern into the furnace, making it explode into fire and setting the logs on fire as she pulled her mask off just a bit to reveal a cyan-aqua colored jack o’ lantern mouth that curled into a smile and then began to blow on it with her hat acting as a fan to make the inferno stronger.

“Going to save us all?” He raised his eyebrow, following behind her every move to watch what she was doing. “Remaking, finding-no no we can’t! There’s no way! The technology is old, we have no idea if it fully works or if something will malfunction! We can’t just recreate it! And even worse, Knight will be mad if she finds out what we’re doing!” He watched the machine slowly awakening from its long state of being idle, coming to life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Towards Veldin, in the Solana Galaxy. A strange signal was found.

It seemed out of the blue when the ship had picked up what appears to be a distress signal from Planet Veldin in the Solana Galaxy, they haven’t been in that sector for a few years as it seems.

On the other hand, Ratchet couldn’t be surprised if it’s some other bad guy.

Feeling rather nostalgic but doubtful that they will find anything on the planet, still, it’s an excuse to go there.

Go to Veldin to find the source of the signal and to search for answers… “For AAAAANSWERS.” Captain Qwark finished dramatically as both the feline creature and robot had to share Aphelion with him.

“You do realize that this ship still had ejector seats, right?” Ratchet said as his eyes shifted to Captain Qwark with boredom and annoyance.

“Oh come on, we all know how much you need me! Who else will be here to explain what’s going on?” He gave a gleaming smile at the duo.

“It is a signal but it seems to be some form of distress signal, Captain Qwark.” Clank explained but then placed his hand on the metal chin part of his head. “But it is strong enough to come from Veldin out of all planets.”

Ratchet’s face seemed to have shifted a little, a small smile formed on the lombax’s lips. “Still, it’s back to my old home. I wonder if a ship had crashed there.” he said as they came out of hyber-speed and they were presented to Veldin, back in Solana Galaxy once again.

“I can’t believe we are back in the Solana Galaxy.” He gazed at the planet Veldin before the three of them. “It’s been too long.” Happiness and excitement laced his words as they slowly got closer.

Closing in range of the signal, proximity 48.56 minutes max, 12 hours and 13 seconds.

Aphelion stated as they found an old landing platform and gently landed with ease, as they are in the canyons between and an old station lay still as Ratchet hopped out of the ship before Clank jumped and effortlessly landed on his friend’s back and Captain Qwark landed on his feet.

The old station was abandoned, and collected dust as long as… maybe before Ratchet had crashed on this planet when he was a baby. “There’s no way that signal came from here.” He muttered as he got out a big wrench as he and Qwark walked around.

“It could be possible that the machinery is still running.” Clank offered an explanation. “However, I agree. Something must be going on here.”

“Huh, it might be faulty.”

Quark got out a blaster as he looked around, “Could be baddies around to find a secret, sometype of doomsday weapon here.” He muttered and he is already acting like an action hero, “But I am confident that we will stop them like how we stopped Emperor Nefarious.”

Ratchet and Clank looked at him with unamused looks, “All right then.” Ratchet said as he looked at Qwark and said “We could just follow where the signal was but we're gonna keep our eyes open.”

“I can track the signal from here.” Clank spoke up.”Al recently installed many upgrades to my system.”

“That’s good news,” Ratchet looked at his friend with a smile, “Alright, fire up that tracker, Clank.”

Clank does so, he turns his head on the right and pointed at the direction of the signal; it was an old radio station for ships. Captain Qwark ran towards it.

“Alright, team, follow me!” He said as he began to kick down the door, “Best be careful-!”

The metal door came down and they stood ready for anything but the station was empty as they lowered their weapons with confusion. “It’s empty.”

“Are you serious?” Quark looked around, his blaster still in his hands. “We get a signal and there’s no one here? I was hoping to touch up on my heroic skills. Engaging in action, danger…” He walks in slightly further towards the radio station, leaning against the walls. “Maybe make my name known more across the many galaxies.” He laughs lightly. “We can’t make that happen if this station is abandoned!”

Ratchet and Clank entered the station as well and then looked at the radio before heading over to it. “It doesn't make sense,” Ratchet looked at the controls and none of them were on, not even a handheld device. “What could’ve made the signal?” Ratchet said as he let Clank hop off his back, confusion was equally matched on Clank’s expression.

“I’m not getting any readings of signs of life. Not in or near the station.” Clank said thoughtfully, internally thinking of explanations as to why this was the case. None of them seem like a possible explanation.

They heard Qwark screamed but it was cut as they turned to see where he was, his blaster is on the floor near to where the doorway was. Ratchet had to kneel down to let Clank hop on again and then they rushed to where Qwark was.

Looking down at the blaster and then at the door that was opened that goes deeper into the station and it goes in one direction into the darkness.

“Where’s Qwark, it’s like he vanished. And how’d this door get here? It shouldn’t be here at all, nor should this hallway. Clank, are you getting any of Qwark’s readings?” He asked, his concern overpowering his confusion.

Clank looked at his friend, and then he scanned the area for Qwark’s readings but… Nothing. No readings, no Qwark, nothing. It’s like he just ceased to exist. “I do not get any readings, Ratchet… It’s all blank.”

“All blank?” He looked further down the hallway, not taking a step in just yet. “How…?”

Then, Ratchet felt it.

At first, it felt like the wind was softly pulling him in, then, it felt someone had tied him around the chest and was tugging at the rope semi-hard to get him to enter the hallway and then it felt like a vacuum trying to suck him in as his feet was ready to give away and let him be hurlied towards the shadows ahead of him, he grabbed onto the rim of the doorway and held onto dear life.

“Ratchet…!” Clank cried as he was pulled off but he was saved at the last minute by Ratchet grabbing him by the leg as they felt gravity was getting stronger.

“Clank!” Ratchet gripped tightly, gritting his teeth as he held Clank’s leg. “I…I can’t hold on much longer…!” The wind was fighting heavily against the two of them as Ratchet struggled to hold both Clank and the doorway.

Finally, his hand slipped and he and Clank screamed as they flew into the void, watching the light getting smaller and smaller until it too was eaten by the darkness. Screaming resounded as they felt like they were falling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Paris, France Near the museum

He hopped over one roof after another, the wind gracing his gray fur as he barely rolled across the floor and then seeing that there were no buildings left for him to jump off on. And there’s a chimney in the way.

This did not deter him however, using his family’s inheritance; a cane with a golden yellow hook, he swiped at it and it was broken into pieces as the moon shines dim light on the figure with fluffy tail and eyes pierced into the shadows.

He hurled towards the ground before he suddenly raised his cane and in good timing, he hooked onto the power line, stopping his descent and soon shot upward like a rock being launched from a slingshot.

He flew upward and then spun around before he planted onto the power line with his own two feet and then he walked towards the direction like a well-trained acrobat that he had his eyes on for a while, something worthy of interest inside the museum.

It was worth planning a heist when you are a master thief, his father will be proud.

He went towards the building thanks to the power line before pressing his back against the wall before walking along against it and he was shown by the lunar body’s light; A raccoon wearing a blue hat, dark gray mask, blue shirt, dark grayish pants and boots are blue as well.

He peered his golden brown eyes at the museum, a smile present on his face before he jumped and landed on a pole on both his toes before placing his hand on his ear piece.

“Bentley, are you there? Talk to me buddy.”

“Loud and clear, Sly.” Voice on the other end replied, “Are you in position?”

“I am, and I’m wishing this was more of a challenge.” He grinned. “How’s it looking from your end?”

“I am in position as well, Murray had to open the door, you can guess how he got it open for me to get into the security room.” He said with a little annoyance in his tone of voice, Sly can tell what had happened and Murray is indeed strong enough to rip a door off its hinges. “And what I am looking at, it’s going to be more than you are wishing for.”

“C’mon, it’s nothing we can’t handle. That gem is as good as ours.” He stretched slightly, almost amused at the idea that this heist could pose as a challenge.

“It is, Inspector Carmelita Fox is here, I would like to take a guess that she will be expecting you to be here.” He answered with nervousness in his voice.

Sly grinned at the mention of that red fox, this night has gotten more interesting.

“Are you kidding, that just makes it all the more fun.”

“Can’t say I didn’t warn you about this heist being more rough of a challenge,” Bentley warned once again, “You are just begging to be electrocuted.”

“Call it love zaps.” He joked. “Don’t worry Bentley, we’ll be alright.”

He ended the call before he hopped off the pole and onto the museum’s roof to search for a way inside, something caught his eye before turning towards an air ventilation entrance, he lowered the upper eyelids a little at this with a smile.

No problem, same as before as he positions his cane by the hook before begins to unscrew the screws from the grill before taking it off. Got down on his stomach and then crawled inside, entering the museum.

“Hmm, no Carmelita in the vents. If she really knew me she’d know I'd try this entrance first.” He cracked quietly towards himself, shifting his way through the vents stealthily as he could. He could see from the grill was a familiar woman, a red fox who is named Carmelita Fox as she partols the halls of each exhibit.

“He has to pound to be here at some point tonight,” She muttered to herself as she held a flashlight in one hand and her shock pistol in the other, scanning the area, “He better have said his prayers when I slap the cuffs on him.”

“I’ll say them right now” He responded quietly, as he silently clasped his hands together in a prayer motion. “Thank God.” He suppressed a laugh and continued shuffling through the vent, making sure Carmelita didn’t hear him.

Her ears twitched a little as she looked up at the vents before she shook her head with the eyes that said “I knew that he’ll be here.” and then started heading for another direction.

Screws unscrewed as they hit the ground, the grill was about to as well but using his cane, he silently and successfully caught with ease, tossing the rope down and then he slid down before planting his feet firmly onto the ground.

“...Oooh.” He looked at the gem. “That looks better in person. But, it would look even better in my hands.”

The gem itself was X shaped and blue as the light shining on an atlantic ocean but he noticed a guard, possibly there to keep watch, was on the ground, unconscious and snoring loudly that he would wake the dead at this rate. Confused, he walked over and then, out of his character to do so, poked his belly with his cane, no response and he noticed an empty mug with coffee spilled all over him so someone or something had done this to him.

He will be in trouble if inspector Fox had caught him hovering over the guard so he needs to do this quietly but without caution first as he took off his hat and then tossed it onto the floor near the pedestal.

Hat then exploded in smoke and around it were red lasers, Bentley had debriefed him on this and if he made one small mistake: it would trigger the alarms all over the museum.

“Hmm…” He looked around, making a pathway with his eyes. “Shoulda added more lasers, this is like a playground for children.” He grinned, squatting down, placing his free hand on the ground, taking a deep breath. In an instant, he leaped through one of the first openings he saw, landing on his free hand. He quickly balanced himself on his cane, standing upside down, before swinging his body through another opening that was higher above ground. Before landing, he tucked and rolled underneath two lasers. He quickly balanced himself on his hands when he landed in front of semi-vertical and horizontal lasers. Keeping himself low to the ground, he quickly made note of the trapezoid-like opening that he could pass through. Making sure his legs weren’t touching the lasers behind him, he brought them closer towards himself, and pushed himself into doing a backflip over the last laser that kept him from the gem. He landed graciously onto his feet, finally standing in front of the gem.

“A perfect ten, I would say.” He grinned towards himself, leaning slightly forwards as he took one step towards the pedestal, eying the glass container and the gem.

Sly took off his red backpack and then unzipped it before putting his hand inside then pulled out the other, identical hat. He held his other hat in his hand before he dug around in it before getting something out and then placed it on his head, he was holding something that represents a pen or a pencil in his hand before placing it on the glass surface and then perfectly drew a circle around the front of the crystal and then pulling the piece out.

He reaches his hand into the container and grabs the X-shaped gem before he reaches for something that was tucked in his glove before pulling out his calling card, blue and white raccoon face and then placing it to where it was.

“Did you get it, Sly?” Another voice asked in his ear piece with curiosity. Sly placed his hand on his ear piece again with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t be called a ‘thief’ if I didn’t get it.” He lightly tossed the gem in his hand, catching it firmly. “It’s as good as stolen.”

Just as he said it, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Freeze!”

Flashlight shines onto him as he turns in surprise and she is right there, Carmelita Fox with her shock pistol. “I figured you will go after that piece of jewelry eventually.” she said as she walked closer to him.

He seemed a little unfazed as he rested his cane on his shoulder.

“Inspector! Glad you could make it. You know, technically I haven’t committed any crimes yet. I mean besides breaking and entering, but! The gem hasn’t left the building yet. So there’s almost no reason for you to be here! Unless…you just wanted to see me?” He raised an eyebrow and gave a cheeky grin.

“I don’t, but I do want to see you behind bars.” She replied as she got closer, Sly knew it's time to get going and it was going to be like any other chase before… Literally. He puts the gem in his pocket as both of them know it’s going to be another dance.

“You know what, there’s a lot of negative energy in here that I don’t think is good for the gem. Think I might take this little guy for a walk outside the museum. And on an unrelated note, I have a ride to catch so, might take it out for a ride too.”

Trigger was pulled and then that was Sly’s cue to run, dodged the shock blast and then rushed past her, stopping and then tipping his hat to her. “Cooper!” She yelled as she ran after him.

Sly ran for it like his life depends on it as he skids to a stop before he ran into a different direction as she done the same as well, he turn another corner and an opened window is right there and he took the chance, he jumped out of the window and then kept running, Inspector fox was not far behind however.

Sly raises his hand to his ear piece again.

“Bentley! I have the gem!” He continued to run, somewhat restraining himself from looking back to see just how close the Inspector was.

“And judging the shock blasts… Is she after you again?!” Bentley half-yelled as he could clearly hear them in the background.

“They’re just love zaps, like I said earlier! Where are you at?”

“We are at the back of the building, get there fast!” He shouted as the call ended. “I’ll get you, Cooper!” She shouted, prompting him to keep running, she was trying to shock him to stop running.

As he reached the back of the museum, the Cooper Van was right now, and Bentley was in the back and Murray was in the driver’s seat. “Get in, Sly!” Murray shouts as Sly Cooper was getting closer to freedom as she is as well as she reaches out for his collar but then…

He had no idea who screamed first, a light came from his pocket and the next minute after that, Sly Cooper, Inspector Fox, Murray, Bentley and the van; they were all gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hilltop Mausoleum, Gallowmere

Zarok’s defeat has long since passed, with the unlikely hero being none other than Sir Daniel Fortesque, and his genie ally, Al-Zalam. Overcoming impossible odds, Daniel had managed to cement himself as a true hero. However, heroes must constantly be tested in their unwavering abilities and courage. Strange occurrences in the Hilltop Mausoleum have been noted, and word quickly got to Sir Daniel. This left him to believe that Zarok has made an unlikely and unfortunate return. Currently in the Hall of Heroes, Daniel internally speculates on what he could be planning. Sir Daniel returns to the mortal realm to investigate the Hilltop Mausoleum for himself, to see what these strange occurrences might be.

The information gargoyle had finished telling the reader on what was going on as crickets quietly played their melody through the night of the crescent moon as sound of armor clunking and creaking was heard where the gargoyle head was and right there was a cowardly skeletal knight with dubious courage but he lacks a jaw and a right eye as his left green eye are looking around the graveyard and towards the hill where the mausoleum where many legends of its bloody history laid there but it was the also a place where he had slain the Stained Glass Demon.

Dan looked to where the gargoyle was and already he started to talk to him.

“Well, well…Times have changed, haven’t they?” The gargoyle asks, not expecting an answer. “A year has come and gone since the defeat of Zarok, thanks to your efforts Daniel. I applaud you…metaphorically speaking of course. We don’t have hands as you can see.” He made a slight gesture with his body, looking at where his arms would be. “But, I don’t think you’re here on leisure terms. You know that something odd is occurring in the Hilltop Mausoleum, do you not? I’ll give you a hint: the Stained Glass Demon isn’t back. Rather, this is something else entirely. Was Zarok accidentally revived this time? Oh the cruel irony if that were the case.” He trailed off, slightly smiling at the thought.

“I have fought Zarok and I can beat him again if he really is back!” Dan talked back as he pointed his finger at the gargoyle before he continued on his way to the Hilltop Mausoleum as the doors opened to reveal the hill and a mausoleum up top, true to its name.

Daniel Fortesque remembered the year earlier that he and Al-Zalam had nearly been crushed by the boulders by its guardians but he is confident that they are not around this time as he begins to walk up to the top. Halfway up to the top, something caught his eye and he found himself looking at the night time sky.

A green shooting star was speeding across the skies before it was going towards him before it exploded to reveal Eile’s former personal genie; Al-Zalam as he laughed as he did a few tricks.

“Hello there, Dan!” He greeted cheerfully as he floated around for a moment with his hands behind his head before he did a loop-de-loop, “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?!” Before he shrunk to the size of a common house mouse and landed on his shoulder plate and asked “How have you been, old friend?”

“Al-Zalam! It’s refreshing to see you again.” Daniel felt relieved, feeling some comfort that he wouldn’t be entirely alone on his new adventure. “I wish we could only focus on catching up. I heard about some odd occurrences that were taking place at Hilltop Mausoleum. I don’t know what it is yet, but…I’m worried it may be Zarok.”

“Zarok?!” Al-Zalam spat, “You mean that old cockroach has returned?! What is he after this time around? Does he want his book back? Has he gotten to- Oh. What vengeance is he after, my friend?”

“W-well we don’t know what it is for certain yet!” Daniel tried to calm Al-Zalam, and himself, down. “Zarok returning may just be a possibility to consider.”

Al-Zalam seems to have steamed but he had to calm himself down, Eile had broken the bonds to his lantern and he had helped this skeleton before but if Zarok has returned, he may need his help once again. “Seems like a possibility, I will be a guide once again, Dan.” He spoke as he tip-toed a little bit until he reached the skull and then hopped into his empty eye socket, making his friend cringed and squirm at the feeling until Al-Zalam settled in as he poked his head out. “And I hope you won’t mind me being in your head for the time being, Fortesque! It will be like a second home.”

Daniel shook his head at this as he continued to walk the rest of the way towards the top of the hill until the mausoleum was in front of them, scary and foreboding as they could remember.

“Ooh…this place is as terrifying as I remember…” Daniel said, teeth subconsciously chattering in fear, but he quickly stopped himself. “Getting the skull key from the Stained Glass Demon and barely escaping from the Mausoleum alive brings back…’fun’ memories.”

“Eile would’ve loved to see that scene before her, Dan, I think she would have cheered you on if she didn't have to wait outside.” Al-Zalam commented as he watched Dan’s gloved hands placed onto the door and then pushed open, “But who knows when those imps will be back, do not let them have any weapons your fellow colleagues had given you.”

Dan nodded as they entered the Hilltop Mausoleum with caution and the opened stone graves are still there and a few skeletal remains of imps are still among them but they noticed that one detail about this place was different compared to the one from a year ago.

The original stained glass has the, again, true to its name, the Stained Glass Demon residing inside its prison of colorfully painted glass and now something else has replaced it with a shape of a triangle with four different shades of green.

The triangle appeared to be in the center, the heart of someone else that has a sword and a shield attacking the purple creatures with black and yellow eyes as they walked closer to where the battle had happened.

“Al,” Dan said as he stood in front of the newly built stained glass picture before them, “Has someone placed this here?”

“I…I’m not sure. I don’t know when this got here.” Al-Zalam looked around briefly. “Well…shall we take a look?”

The moon slowly coming from the top of the stained glass as they watched the moon got to the center of the glass, behind the green triangle as light shines from it in color and soon, sound of glass cranking reached their ears as watched the light green outline surrounding the triangle begins to cracked around the glass, Dan and Al-Zalam were very, very, very nervous as they watched.

What if this is Zarok’s doing?

Dan got out Karl Strunguard’s magic shield and Woden’s longsword, ready to fight whatever besides the stained glass demon is going to come out as the cracking became louder until the glass before them shattered and light poured down around them.

Then, in a flash, light quickly vanished and there was the stained glass of Sir Daniel Fortesque vanquishing the Stained Glass Demon before him but…

Sir Daniel Fortesque himself and Al-Zalam the Glorious Genie had vanished.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In an unknown city, far from Haven City.

A strange orange and yellow hybrid of otter and weasel was screaming at the top of his lungs out of sheer thrill and terror as the vehicle was flying out of control throughout the city, His paws are gripping onto the seat tightly as his friend, a human with unusually long ears, was trying to regain control of the hovercraft while the ottsel's screams are heard for miles by this point as they flew across the city on one mission.

Eventually, a voice came over the intercom of the hover car after Daxter’s screams had subsided.

“No point in trying boys, I have taken over the controls, so sit back and enjoy your death.”

They are speeding towards their final destination, whoever the voice was, he wants that artifact back from them, pray it off from their cold dead fingers as the man took the square shaped crystal from the empty set between him and Daxter and placed in his pocket while Daxter, on the other hand, had enough on this crazy ride of doom as he hopped into the backseat.

“Parachute! Parachute! Parachute! PARACHUUUUTE!” He was shouting as he opened the compartment and items are flying out of it after he had opened it and throwing out anything in search of a parachute just his size but haven’t found as the only item left of the back was a yellow rubber duckie while his friend, Jak, gotten a blaster gun out as he got up from the driver’s seat.

“Hop on.” He motioned Daxter over to him.

Daxter has no idea what idea he has in mind but he does so right away on his left shoulder. “Jak, I get that I liked to ride on your shoulder but-” He hasn’t had a chance to finish that sentence Jak jumped out of the vehicle and into the air with Dax holding onto his shoulder armor.

“This is nuts!”

Jak opened fire at a window as the hovercraft crashed into the building where it exploded into an inferno as the window was broken down, making a clear hole for them to go through as Daxter yells.

A few rolls across the empty room later, they are out of the building and into an alleyway with Jak landing on his feet and Daxter, into a pile of boxes with a ploof.

“...Made it!” Daxter shouted as he popped out of the pile in one piece with his paws clenched into fists.

“You okay, Daxter?” Jak asked after a moment.

“I’m fine as a rock…!” Daxter said breathlessly as he semi-crawled out of the pile of cardboard as we can see that this creature was wearing pants, fingerless gloves and a pilot cap with an odd pair of goggles as he shook a box about the size of his foot out. “I am just happy to be back on solid earth.” Before he looked at the box stubbornly stayed on his foot before grabbing it with his two hands and then began to push at it to get it off before falling down on his back and then the box flew off. Jak shook his head at this scene with a smile.

“I couldn’t agree more.” He surveyed the area around him. “Well, we better get going to Semo’s.” He looked at the square crystal in his hand. “We need to find out why this artifact has a rare eco.” He studied it carefully, it was nothing like Jak had ever seen in his previous adventures.

Daxter shook himself in a way that a feline would before he ran over to him and then climbed up his leg, across his chest and then finally on the shoulder armor piece with his tail dangling in the back.

“It’s better than that psycho wanting it,” Daxter said as he placed his elbow on his friend’s head, “Whatever that eco is, this pink square thing must’ve have maybe a laser-shooting-from-your-feet powers or something other.” He cracked as Jak started walking, still looking at the gem in his hand.

“...It’s definitely strange.” He hummed, gently turning over the gem in his hand, making sure he didn’t drop it. “There’s a slight glow to it, and it feels strangely alive…”

Jak took a moment to notice that a shadow at the end of the alleyway had blocked their way, he looked up and saw a man standing before them.

He is a same height as Jak but what he wore seem foreign to him and his ottsel friend, A gas mask from the 1900’s, a black ski mask with raven black work cap as he wore a light dark brown trench coat and midnight blue pants with each two red lines going down as the pants itself was tucked into the blackish brown boots with two buckles securing the near the top of shaft of each boot.

This man stood in front of him and Daxter, actively blocking their exit as he stared them down as he spoke in a grizzled voice with a thick accent, sounding foreign as well to their ears.

“I don’t zhink you don’t know vhat you two are getting involved in vith zhat stone.” he said as Jak felt threatened as he placed the crystal in his pocket.

“...Why? What do you know about this stone?” Jak questioned. Man in the work cap saw that he had gotten his hand behind his back to get something, ready to fight and he seemed unfazed with this sight.

“Vhat I know about zis stone is none of your concerned,” his hands were behind his back, holding something as if it was a present, “As I am vorried iz zhat vhat vill happen vill be far belong your world’s understanding so I suggest you drop it before you vill do unintended harm zhan good, Jak.”

“...Why and how do you know who I am?” Jak cautiously drew out his blaster, making sure he was ready to fire at the mysterious man in case he was planning on attacking both him and Daxter.

“Let’s say I am just a concerned civilized man,” He readied the ray gun behind his back, as impatience was growing thin. “Just known vhat vill come next if you do not drop zhat stone.”

It is a stand off by this point.

“I vill not repeat myself by zis time,” He then finally drew the Ray Gun out and pointed at him, his grizzled voice now sounded threatening as he spoke.” Drop. Ze. Crystal.” Ray Gun itself looked like a toy with green, yellow and red meteor and in its tubes were pulsating in a strange blue glow.

The pink glow is now growing bigger as Jak looked at his pocket in shock.

“It’s glowing even more now…” He said to himself. He fully took out his blaster and instinctively got more in front of Daxter. “I won’t drop the crystal until you tell me what is going on!”

“I told you…” he half-yelled at him, “Vhat is happening is far from your world’s understanding..!” Before he pointed the ray gun towards them both, Jak pointed the blaster at him just as the man yelled and in a flash of pink light, Jak and Dexter were gone like the man knew it would happen but the man was still there as he panted and dropped his arm holding his weapon.

“...Scheiße.” He cursed under his breath but he knew where they had gone. He got out a cube and then pressed a button on it, a blue portal opened up behind him and then entered it in silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the Springtime flower field…

Birds are chirping as they fly over the Lombax, his eyes closed before he slowly opens them with a groan.

“Ugh…where…?” Ratchet surveyed his surroundings, his eyes still slightly adjusting. They widened in an instant when he realized he wasn’t in the radio station anymore.

Before him was somewhere else… Entirely different from Veldin’s usual desert wasteland.

(Drawn by Icefir Windbreaker)

Ratchet saw trees with glowing cherry blossoms over a patch of flowers littered all over the place as the walls surrounded him as he saw the other end of the corridor was a stained glass window of a blooming rose. He looked on in awe as he looked up and saw the stone walls were going upwards infidelity into the blue sky as it was impossible to see that made one believe they were underground as Ratchet got on his feet as he looked around the place.

“Woah…what is this place?...” He looked around in awe, his eyes landing on one of the many crystalized roses, and cautiously, he reached out towards it. Suddenly, a rabbit with his fur on his head tied in a bun, wearing a red and white travel yukata uniform with a box tied to his back, jumped in front of the Lombax with angry, wide red eyes, shouting “DO NOT TOUCH RED AETHER, YOU WILL DIE!”

Ratchet shouted in shock as he fell onto the ground, the Further Rabbit looked at the crystalized roses and his eyes widened but not with anger but realization. “Oh, gomen!” He plucked one rose from the patch, its crystal petals shining in the light. “These ones are perfectly fine.” he chuckled.

“Gah! Don’t scare people like that!” He lifted himself off the ground. “Who are you, and where am I?”

“I am Haru,” Further Rabbit introduced himself, “I am a traveler of the Cathedral, a gardener of plants as it is my speciality and we are now in the Spring section, my home.” he plucked the roses’ petals and then placed them onto the ground until he found a small, diamond-like seed in the center. He plucked it out as he took off his box pack and opened it, pulling out a small sealed pot that was labeled in a language that Ratchet can not recognize, it’s not his kind’s language that’s for sure.

He opened the pot that revealed the same seeds as he let one seed fall onto the pot and then resealed it. He turned his head towards the Lombax. “And what kind of a feline further are you?”

Ratchet was a little confused on what Haru had questioned as he resealed the pot and put it back in his box and put it back on his back and then began to examine him thoroughly.

“Feline…further?” Ratchet repeated in confusion. Haru looked at him up and down as he noted that Ratchet is wearing clothes that are unrecognizable to him, grabbing one of his ears as he muttered “Strange looking ears you have.” Before turning to his tail, his tail is like a lion’s but with markings. “Maybe a lion?”

“Um…no, I’m not a lion. I’m a Lombax.”He clarified. Haru looked at Ratchet again, “I had never heard that breed of feline Further before.” He tilted his head, his ears flopped over as white fur had a few brown spots, one over his eye. “What section of the Cathedral are you from, Lombax?” Haru questioned as he got out a notepad and bamboo inked pen and then wrote something down.

“I’m…not from any section of the…’Cathedral’. My homeworld is Fastoon…”

“What is Fastoon?” He questioned as he was done writing, “Whatever ‘homeworld’ you are talking about, are you here to attend a festival?”

“It’s a planet in the Polaris Ga-wait wait we’re getting sidetracked.” He looked around again. “Look, I’m not sure where I am or what festival is going on, but I’m missing two of my friends. Their names are Clank and Qwark. I guess we got separated.”

“More of you here? Are you all travelers together?”

“More or less but, we didn’t intend to come here, wherever ‘here’ is.”

“Well,” Haru started to think as he looked at Ratchet, “If you wished to find them, you will talk to the grandmaster of my village, it is nearby so we can talk to him, I was actually on my way there as we speak before you were near those roses.” He turned around before he turned his head to his new-found friend. “Like to come along, Lombax?”

“Sure…it’d be nice to know what’s going on.” He said that more towards himself. “The name’s Ratchet, by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Haru walked with Ratchet by his side as cherry blossom petals gently fell down as they were still glowing like stars falling from the sky gently. Ratchet took in the scenery around them as strange types of animals around them, especially the hybrid of cats and rabbits in the trees, rocks and ground as there are a few of them.

A litter of Cabbits kittens were taken by their parents upon seeing them, Ratchet was somewhat curious as this place is in the season of spring, constantly. He looks at Haru with thoughts in mind.

This placed “Cathedral” could be a planet for all he knows, maybe another form of reality.

“Listen, Haru.” Ratchet began. “Can you tell me more about this, ‘Cathedral’? What is it? What’s in it?”

“Want to know more of the Cathedral I see,” Haru turned his head to the stranger, “Cathedral is the home for many of us after the Original was destroyed, it wasn’t much but it was built by the great Fiji herself, she only calls herself “Knight the Dancer.””

They walked towards a bridge that’s been broken down, “Word of warning; hold onto rope tied here, Ratchet.” He said as he picked up the rope and held it tight, Ratchet didn't get it but he felt the bridge jolted with a grunt and grabbed onto the rope as it spun slowly but at normal speed to the other end before stopping.

A simple explanation would’ve been nice as Haru let go of the rope and walked off the bridge, “We had gotten used to this realm’s oddities over an eon.”

Ratchet is now looking down towards the abyss and seeing bridges that connected on both sides, some are fully intact and others are broken like this one and working like what had happened right now.

“It…sure looks like it…” He turned back towards Haru. “Is Fiji still around? Who else leads the Cathedral?”

“Many schoolers have tried but Fijis are a very elusive ancient race, they exist between worlds and the Dancer seemed to be the one that will watch over what’s left of the Original, Ratchet,” he trailed off as he looked up just as a shadow passed over them. Like clockwork, Devil Dog Soldiers are patrolling in the crocodile-eagle dragons. “All five races used to have homes in the Original until the Great Calamity happened.”

“The Great Calamity?” Ratchet asked as he looked around in both curiosity and caution. “That’s some sort of war or battle that happened, I take it?” He guessed, walking right next to Haru.

“You could say it but it’s far worse than you think,” His face darken, “It wasn’t a normal one either where you come from.”

They continued walking as various animal life were heard, the untamed cabbits nursing their young while snakeraffes hissed as they passed by. Until they are at a wooden doorway.

“Here we are.” He said, “My village.” as he gestures to the door. There was just one door that seemed to go into another room as he looked at it in confusion. Haru walked towards it, grabbed the door knob and then turned it before pulling it open, revealing a whole new area before them as Ratchet was dumbstruck to see before him.

A large room housed an entire village surrounded by a wooden wall, village folk with similar but different clothes as farmers, salesmen, warriors (both Devil Dogs and Shindu warriors) with armor, and children running around playing.

“It is a beauty, isn’t it?” Haru turned to Ratchet with a smile.

Already, a part of himself wants to come out and improve this place but there are other matters to deal with now.

“It stands out, that's for sure.” He looks around, looking at each of the villagers that he could see. “So, what’s in here? Will we be able to find my friends here?”

“Not sure, my Lombax friend,” Haru begins to walk down to the village, “But I am sure Grandmaster will have the answer for that, maybe we could organize a search party.” as they walked down the path towards the gate of the village.

Ratchet looked around the place as the villagers were looking at the strange newcomer, murmuring and gossiping about him as they walked by. They passed by the Devil Dogs that are at a place that serves Sushi, they stared the Lombax down like hawks, mostly the German Shepherd Dog with red eyes that made him put on edge a little.

They finally reached a house at the end of the village, two guards were outside and then blocked off their entrance but Haru interjected.

“We are here to see Grandmaster, it’s urgent.” He explained to the guards, two guard dogs with yaris looked at each other for a moment before turning to Haru. “Make it quick.” One of them answered and let them through.

Ratchet and Haru walked in to see an old lizard training with a young cat but greatly the lizard won as he used the bamboo pipe to swipe at the cat’s legs and make him fall.

“Grandmaster Yu!” Haru greeted the lizard who seemed unfazed. “Hello Haru,” the old lizard greeted.

“And there’s a new friend with you.”

Ratchet was amazed but confused that Grandmaster Yu knew that he was there.

“Y-yeah, uh…” He cleared his throat. “I’m looking for my friends and I need to know if anyone has seen them. Quite frankly I’m only barely grasping where I am right now and I’m entirely sure how I got here. Haru’s been helping me out and he led me here.” He motioned towards Haru. “Are you able to help me?”

Grandmaster Yu removed his blind fold before helping his opponent back on his feet, “Have you and your friends lost your way?” Ratchet scratched the back of his head with one of his ears tilted down. “Ratchet had no idea how he and his friends had got to the Cathedral, I think he is from a reality outside of our own.”

“From another reality?” Grandmaster Yu repeated as he walked around with a white stick with a lit flame and relit a few candles, “Ratchet, how did you get here exactly?”

“Well, we were following a signal that led us to this abandoned radio station, but there was no one there. It’s like the signal made itself. There were three of us, the two were Clank and Qwark. Clank was with me and we heard Qwark scream, but Clank wasn’t picking up anything, like he just disappeared. Then we found a door to a hallway that we’re sure wasn’t there, and then a strong breeze pulled us in. Then, I woke up here. That’s all I remember.”

Grandmaster remained silent before looking at Ratchet. “Please pardon my question but can you check your pocket?”

He was confused but he had to heed his request, he dug into his pocket and he felt nothing. “Please check your other pocket.” Grandmaster Yu suggested again.

He placed his hand into his other pocket, and he suddenly froze when he felt something at the bottom. Carefully wrapping his fingers around it, he pulled it out, his eyes widening in surprise. In this hand lay a circle crystal. “Wha…I-I don’t know how this got in my pocket.” He said, more as a response to himself and his confusement.

“One of the Crystal Stars…” Haru muttered, “Ratchet, did you find that in that station?” He looked at the bewildered Lombax as Grandmaster Yu walked over to him and gestured to him to hand over the crystal to have a look at it.

“No…no we didn’t, Qwark would’ve definitely made a big deal about it if we saw it. The station was barren, even though there was a signal…or…” Ratchet briefly pondered if the crystal had something to do with the signal that they were getting.

“Whatever happened, I know it is not a coincidence.” Grandmaster Yu spoke gently as he looked at this gem, “What you have was a part of a legend.” He then looked at Haru.

“Mind getting the guards here? We are going to have a search party and Ratchet,” He turned to Ratchet, “If there are hopes of your friends going to attend the festival but I have a suspicion that you want to join the search as well.”

“I do, I want to make sure they’re okay. What’s the deal with the crystal? Why do I have it?”

Grandmaster Yu looked at the Lombax, “Maybe something about this may have a reasonable explanation.”

Ratchet was a little taken aback from it all, why does this have to do with him? Besides the guy that drove his people to escape an alternate dimension but that is a story that he will save for another time.

#All-Stars -Story Mode-#All-Stars -Story Mode- Rewritten #OCs #Icefir Windbreaker #Nicholas #Fremde #Video Games #Ratchet and Clank #Jak and Daxter #MediEvil #Sly Cooper series #Raygun (Call of Duty Zombies)#Chapters

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