The Ratchet and Kim Possible Chronicles: Another Sitch in Time - Chapter 3

Meanwhile back in the Great Clock, Clank was still very much unconscious as he lied on the floor within the hallway just before where he was zapped. At that moment, the robot that attempted to help him out earlier arrived near him. Rufus stood atop a saucer that sat around the robot's neck. The robot then got to work on something within Clank's torso. He was working on it at rapid speed. Within little time, Clank woke up. The robot and Rufus took notice of this immediately. Robot: "Hello."

He was then spooked by Clank's sudden movements. Robot: "Ah! I'm sorry! I was only trying to help!" Rufus: "Clank!" Clank: "Hm, you were the robot who assisted me in my escape from Dr. Nefarious. I can see that you have already met Rufus." Robot: "Oh! This little guy? He helped me out of that broom closet that I was locked in." Rufus: "Mm-hm! Mm-hm!" Robot: "He seems to be quite resourceful."

Rufus climbed off of the robot and back on to Clank. Clank: "Tell me, what is your name?" Robot: "My name? Um…yes, of course. I am Sigma 0426A, but you can call me Sigmund. I am Junior Caretaker here at the Great Clock." Rufus: "Hm, Sigmund." Clank: "Forgive me, but what is the Great Clock?"

Just then, something popped out of Sigmund which startled Rufus. Sigmund: "Oh dear! We're late! Come! We don't have a lot of time! Figuratively speaking, of course."

Sigmund rushed off. Clank and Rufus exchanged confused glances with one another before Clank went off to follow Sigmund. Clank: "By the way, where is everyone? Are we truly the only ones here?" Sigmund: "Pretty much. Nefarious and his troops just picked up and left after that butler guy tossed you into the hall. Not a very pleasant lot, are they?" Clank: "No, they are not."

Rufus let out a raspberry. Rufus: "Nefarious!" Clank: "May I ask what the purpose of this facility is?" Sigmund: "This place? This is the Universe's greatest contingency plan." Clank: "Contingency…plan?"

He glanced at Rufus in a perplexed manner; Rufus shrugged his shoulders and let out another "I don't know" murmur. Sigmund: "You'll…find out more about it soon. Come, Orvus is waiting."

They continued on. As they advanced through the facility, Dr. Nefarious' accursed noise making machine, the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, moseyed on through, causing more destruction. Sigmund: "No! No! No! Aw, come on! Stupid Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler! And people wonder why we keep this place a secret."

They kept going for a tad bit afterwards. Soon enough, they arrived at a door. Sigmund stopped in front of it. Computer voice: "Access denied. Senior personnel only." Sigmund: "Open you optimal drive. This is senior personnel. I'm with XJ-0461…plus 1 guest."

The door opened for them, they were able to enter another chamber. Clank: "What is this chamber?" Sigmund: "This is one of our…special chambers, one of many that involve getting through via a special temporal procedure. You see, when you were unconscious, I took the liberty of installing a quantum actuator into your circuitry. It allows you to create multiples selves." Clank: "Multiple selves?" Sigmund: "Of course. How else would we be able to get anything done around here?" Clank: "How does this work exactly?" Sigmund: "It's simple. Just record your actions using the time pads and initiate them while the "present you" moves on to do other things." Rufus: "Huh?" Sigmund: "This procedure can be a little tricky. Here, let me show you how it works."

Sigmund got on to demonstrating how to utilize the temporal recording procedure. He started with creating a copy of himself as a means to open the door on the other side of the chamber. Clank seemed quite intrigued as Sigmund demonstrated this procedure as did Rufus. Rufus: "Cool." Sigmund: "Go ahead, sir. Give it a try."

Clank then took it upon himself to utilize this procedure. Rufus climbed off of Clank and back on to Sigmund. From there, he created a copy of himself to open the door, allowing himself and Sigmund to make their way through. Clank: "What an ingenious security device. Did you design it?" Sigmund: "Are you kidding me? Orvus was the smart one."

Rufus climbed off of Sigmund and back on to Clank, they advanced further through the facility. As they continued on, the infuriating Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler passed through, breaking more machinery, this understandably angered Sigmund.

Soon enough, they arrived in front of another chamber. Sigmund: "Here we are. So, are you ready to meet Orvus?" Clank: "I am ready. Rufus: "Mm-hm! Let's do it!" Computer voice: "Access granted. Welcome to mnemonic station Beta."

The door opened before them and they entered the chamber. It was a large, wide-open chamber containing several machinery, including one that looked somewhat familiar. Sigmund: "Ta-da!" Rufus: "Whoa…" Clank: "Where is Orvus?" Sigmund: "He's inside your head, of course." Rufus: "Huh?" Clank: "I do not understand." Sigmund: "He's locked away in a secret partition in your memory banks. Dr. Nefarious spent over a year trying to hack into it. I'll have to deactivate your neural safeguards and send you into your own subconscious. Hop in. Oh, uh, Rufus? Sorry, but the mnemonic station is only for XJ-0461 to access, you'll have to stay with me." Rufus: "OK."

Rufus climbed off of Clank, Sigmund held his hand out for Rufus as he climbed back on to him. Clank: "I will see you soon, Rufus."

Clank entered the mnemonic station and went to sleep.

Clank was able to arrive within his subconscious. There, he spotted a figure floating in mid-air before him. It was Orvus. Orvus: "Hello, XJ-0461. And welcome to your subconscious. I am Orvus and I have been anticipating your return for quite some time." Clank: "I do not understand. Have I been here before?"

Orvus let out a giggle that was somewhat similar to Clank's. Orvus: "You didn't think your soul came from a robot factory, did you? I created you."

Clank seemed speechless. Orvus: "Oh, you must have so many questions, but before we get to that, I have a present for you."

He then presented to Clank what appeared to be a unique looking scepter. Orvus: "Now come, we have lots to do before you're able to take over my work."

Orvus turned the other way and drifted off. Clank followed after him. Clank: "Are you really my father?" Orvus: "No, my dear boy, I am a program, a digital simulation of the real Orvus, installed the day you were born in Solana. Although, I do know all of his old jokes. (giggle)"

They both continued forward. As they progressed on, Orvus taught him how to manipulate time in order to achieve what he needed to get done, as well as using his specter, which is called the ChronoScepter. From there, he learned how to use it to fix damages with the use of its time-manipulating properties. In addition to that, he used it to carry out the simplest procedure of all: whacking enemies, literally. Orvus managed to demonstrate this by having him bring up figments of a certain large oaf bag that neither Clank nor his friends were very fond of. It was something that I know he and his friends would have loved doing.

Soon afterwards, his lessons were finished. Orvus: "You've done wonderfully, my son. I know you're going to take good care of this place." Clank: "But where will you be? This is your facility." Orvus: "No, my dear boy, it's your facility. The Great Clock and everything in it, I now leave to you. Watch over it and protect it. Fulfill your destiny, XJ-0461. Program terminated."

Clank woke up and exited the mnemonic station. Rufus returned to his shoulder. Sigmund: "Congratulations, sir. It's a pleasure to have you aboard." Clank: "Sigmund, what happened to the real Orvus?" Sigmund: "He said it's a secret and a Junior Caretaker knows how to keep secrets."

Clank and Rufus exchanged confused and concerned looks with each other. Clank then darted towards a nearby compartment and retrieved the ChronoScepter from within it. Sigmund: "Come on, we have an orientation room that will tell you everything you need to know about the Great Clock. It's also great for watching cartoons." Rufus: "Oooooooh!" Clank: "Lead the way, Sigmund."

And so, they set forth towards their next intended destination. They made their way through a few more locks that they needed to pass through via temporal recording. They even had another run-in by Dr. Nefarious' destructive noise-making machine, infuriating Sigmund again with its repeated appearances. Regardless, they pressed on.

At one point, Sigmund had a bit of a tiff with the facility's computer. Sigmund: "Computer, can you shut down the gears in Sector 3?" Computer voice: "Negative, but I will cross my fingers for you." Sigmund: "Stupid, sarcastic, out-dated piece of…" Computer voice: "I heard that."

Despite the difficult impasse that they had run into, they were able to advance further. They made their way just a bit more, handling any havoc and difficulties along the way. Just then, the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler appeared before them again. Computer voice: "Warning. Unauthorized sonic device on approach." Sigmund: "Sir, watch out! It's the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler!" Computer voice: "Warning. Unauthorized sonic device in Sector 3." Clank: "Hm…Rufus, can you lend me a hand with this?" Rufus: "OK!"

Clank advanced towards the machine. Clank: "Your time has come, Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler. Let us dance."

He fought against the accursed machine. It was indeed a tough fight, but nothing that Clank couldn't handle. A few times, he sent out Rufus to scurry all over it as a means of distracting it. He utilized everything he had learned from his brief time inside the mnemonic station during his battle against it. After a long and grueling fight of utilizing his fighting techniques and Rufus, he was able to defeat the machine, causing it to be blown to bits. Rufus: "Yeah!" Clank: "One Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler scrambled. (giggle)" Rufus: "Oh, yeah!"

After the bout, Sigmund approached them, elated. Sigmund: "That was amazing, sir!"

As the 2 were conversing, Dr. Nefarious' butler, Lawrence, was observing them from a distance. He made his report to Dr. Nefarious. At that time, the evil doctor was within his self-named space station, uh…doing…something important. I guess you could say it was a…good way to pass the time, if you could really call it that…