This was perhaps the start of the greatest challenge that Ratchet and Kim Possible had ever and will ever face. A missing piece of the young Lombax's past was about to reveal itself before him and his friends in a truly unexpected manner.
It all started one ordinary day in Metropolis. Ratchet and Clank were working on a hover bike. Kim was there with them, helping them out whenever they needed from her. She was sporting a new mission outfit. At the moment, she was standing by while the duo was working on the bike together. Clank: "Fuel lines?" Ratchet: "Check." Clank: "Horizontal stabilizers?" Ratchet: "Check." Clank: "Ion thrusters?" Ratchet: "Looks like we've got a tailwind. If we time it right, we can ride the slipstream of the grav-train past the c-grid traffic, launch the mag-grappler on to that pedway overpass and slingshot right to the…" Clank: "Ratchet." Ratchet: "What? The thrusters are fine, Clank. See?"
He tried working the thrusters, but they didn't seem to work. He chuckled nervously as he looked at his friends; they both seemed very displeased. Kim: "Uh…yeah…that was impressive." Ratchet: "Don't worry about it, Kim. It's…probably just a fused ion duct."
He went to check on it. Kim went up closer to Ratchet. Kim: "Thanks for having me here, Ratchet. Things at home have been unbelievably hectic lately." Ratchet: "No problem, Kim. I'm glad to have you here with us. Right, Clank?" Clank: "But of course, we are always happy to keep you company, Miss Possible." Kim: "Well, I appreciate it, you guys. Really, I do, in ways that either of you wouldn't believe. Ron has been acting awfully childish lately. It has become too much for me to handle. I just…needed to get away from all of it for a while." Ratchet: "Seriously? He's still behaving that way? I thought he would be more mature since you both graduated from high school." Kim: "I thought so, too. I don't know what's going on with him, but he has been acting very strange. I don't know why." Clank: "Perhaps he is just over-stressed from that job of his at Smarty Mart." Ratchet: "I find that hard to believe. I like that place a lot. It's much less stressful than having to put up with Club Banana and their banana stickers, that's for sure." Kim: "You're still complaining about that? Geez, you really do hold a grudge." Ratchet: "Heh! Overcharge me for clothes ruined by those dumb stickers? No thanks. Smarty Mart is my place to be."
Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head, although, she didn't seemed annoyed at all. At that moment, a portable screen came up from within Clank. Clank: "Incoming call from Captain Qwark." Kim: "Oh, great. What does that idiot want this time?"
The screen turned on, displayed on it was an image of Qwark cowering from something. Qwark: "Ratchet? Clank? I've got a bit of a situation here at the Planetary Defense Center. Nothing I can't handle, mind you…just a few…thousand…heavily armed robotic commandos, but I figured, hey, if you're in the neighborhood, maybe-AAAHH!"
Ratchet, Kim and Clank watched as Qwark was being attacked. Qwark: "Wait! I'm too handsome to die!"
From that, the transmission was cut off. Clank: "Hmm…heavily armed robotic commandos?" Kim: "Uh, yeah, that sounded so much like something he really can't handle." Ratchet: "Kim, Clank, come on, we have to help him."
Ratchet got on the bike, Kim and Clank climbed up and sat behind him. Kim: "Seriously? Are we really going to help that guy out?"
Ratchet pushed on a few buttons. Kim: "Uh…this doesn't seem like a good idea." Clank: "Are you certain this is functioning properly?" Ratchet: "You guys worry too much."
The bike lifted up, they were about to fly off. Ratchet: "Planetary Defense Center, here we co-!"
As soon as the bike flew over the edge of the building they were on, it dropped like a rock. Kim: "RATCHET!"
He managed to steer the bike as it fell. Ratchet: "Clank! Hit the auxiliary thrusters!"
Clank did just that, the thrusters came on and they were flying. Ratchet was thrilled by the rush. Ratchet: "You guys alright!?" Kim: "Craziest thing I've ever done!" Clank: "Watch out!"
They nearly flew into a few obstructions, but Ratchet dodged them like a pro. They kept on flying. Kim: "Where are we going?" Ratchet: "It's a shortcut…trust me!" Clank: "Ratchet! Look out!"
He flew through a building with a large hole in it, thankfully unharmed. Ratchet: "Whoa! See? What did I…?" Kim: "Look out!"
They looked directly in front of them Ratchet: "Oh, no!"
They crashed directly into a blimp and fell out of the sky. They landed on the ground below them. Despite the long fall, they managed to survive. They got themselves back on their feet. Ratchet looked over towards Kim, who stared back at him, agitated. He smiled and let out a nervous chuckle. Kim: "We are never doing that without my dad supervising you ever again." Ratchet: "I…love the new mission outfit…" Kim: "(sigh) Guess we're going on foot from here." Ratchet: "Well…this would be a good time to try out my new nav unit."
He switched on a device directly attached to the front of his belt and they went off.