After Swapped fell apart in the ending I was reluctant to do another multi-chapter story. But this idea wouldn't leave my head. I can't guarantee it will be finished, but I figured that at least the parts I do write are still worth sharing. I wanted to do a story with lots of mystery and foreshadowing to encourage speculation. Let me know if you enjoy it!

P.S. While the tags mention this was inspired by Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, it's only in the loosest sense. I.E. an alternate timeline/dimension where the villain won. So there's no alternate gender counterparts like Ratchet vs. Rivet or anything, this is literally just "post season three but Viren won."


Everything hurt and she couldn't remember why. Rayla sat up and tried to ignore the ringing in her ears and how the world was spinning long enough to figure out where she was and how she got there. Her whole body was sore, and everything prior to waking up was a complete blank.

She was in a forest clearing, surrounded by trees with just enough space for the sun to poke through. Nothing in specific stood out about the environment, and with no memory of what was doing before, Rayla could have been on either side of the border.

A branch snapped somewhere nearby and Rayla's ears perked up. She wasn't alone. Rayla forced herself to her feet and staggered forward in the direction of the sound. Even in her unsteady and confused state, Rayla was far stealthier than whoever she was tracking. While the mystery person crunched leaflitter underfoot, Rayla grew closer and closer without a sound.

An exceptionally large bush rustled. Her target was on the other side of that bush, but Rayla couldn't shove through it without drawing attention to herself. She squeezed past the bush and up against a tree, making a little noise as possible.

On the other side her quarry had stopped. They were a girl, squatting down to inspect a purplish fern. Rayal's blood ran cold. While her hair was much whiter than when Rayla last saw her, there was no mistaking Claudia.

Rayla had been tracking Claudia and her father for months, was that what she was doing in this forest? Had Claudia done something to her memory? There was only one way to find out. Rayla crouched down and prepared to strike.

Rayla lunged forward. She realized something was wrong only after her feet left the ground. The sudden movement retriggered her vertigo. Rayla missed Claudia entirely and slammed onto the ground. She gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of her.

Claudia jumped, getting to her feet much quicker than Rayla could. She reached into a pouch tied to her robes.

"Meht dnib leets gnirehtils."

Dark magic produced serpents wrapped around Rayla, leaving her bound to the forest floor. She struggled against the bindings, but the snakes rapidly morphed into unyielding chains. Rayla could do nothing but glare impotently at Claudia.

"You?!" Claudia gasped upon realizing who had ambushed her. Her confusion shifted to rage. "You!" She withdrew an ornamental dagger from the pouch and knelt in front of Rayla.

Something about the dagger's design seemed familiar to Rayla. The dagger itself wasn't anything Rayla remembered, but it caused her to think of something just beyond the edge of her memory.

Claudia frowned at Rayla's lack of fear. The elf was just staring at her dagger like it was more important than what Claudia was going to do with it.

"Hello? You're supposed to be afraid now that I have you at my mercy. Oh, and by the way, after what you did, I'm not feeling particularly merciful."

Rayla narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "I'm already dead."

"What? I'm pretty sure you're alive." Claudia leaned over Rayla to check her for any injuries. "Are you okay? Did you hit your head or something?"

Her resolve to do anything harmful fading, Claudia stood up. She pointed her dagger at Rayla and gave a warning instead.

"Don't follow me. If I see you again, you really will be dead."

Claudia ran off into the forest, leaving Rayla chained up. Rayla continued struggling to get out of her bonds, the dark magic-wrought chains proved unbreakable. She would have to wait for the spell to wear off, assuming the spell even could.

Several minutes passed. Rayla listened as Claudia's hurried footsteps grew softer and eventually quieted altogether. The silence did not last long.

"This way!" A girl's accented voice called out. It sounded like a Moonshadow brogue, so at least Rayla didn't have to worry about them being a friend of Claudia's.

A hooded figure cautiously stepped out from behind the nearest tree.

"The dark mage is gone, but there's a girl chained up. Probably was going to use her for parts," the figure said. This was not the owner of the voice who had first spoken.

"Cut her free, then come on," the original voice answered.

The figured approached. From her low vantage point, Rayla was able to see up the person's hood. She gasped.

"Marcos?"

That had been his name, right? The human she spared that day in Katolis, and who fought alongside the defenders of the Storm Spire. What was he doing here?

Marcos stared down at her as if he'd seen a ghost. He turned away from Rayla and towards the trees. "Hey!" he called out, "Come out here. Y-you need to see this."

Another person dropped down from a nearby tree branch. Rayla knit her brows together. It wasn't like her to be snuck up on. Marcos was bad enough, but for her to miss someone clambering through the tree branches was unacceptable. Whoever Marcos' friend was must have had similar assassin training to be so stealthy.

"What is it?" the other figure asked, very annoyed. "We're going to lose the dark mage's trail."

She was standing behind Marcos, preventing Rayla from getting a good look. Her voice sounded so familiar…

Marcos shifted and the other figure came into Rayla's view. What she saw was impossible.

Inspecting her like a captured animal was another Rayla. In her mind, Rayla laughed. Of course, they'd been able to sneak up on her. Who better to out-stealth her than herself?

The two Raylas were a near perfect match, incredulous expressions perfectly mirrored. There was one major difference, this other Rayla had a scar running from her brow up into her hairline and terminating at the jagged stump where her right horn should have been.

"This… What is this? Who are you?!" the Other Rayla demanded.

"I think you already know the answer to that," Rayla said.

The other Rayla unsheathed her sword. It wasn't one of the butterfly blades Rayla had, but a sunforged weapon so hot it produced the stench of burnt ozone.

"Let me guess. This is an illusion. You're the dark mage and you must feel pretty proud of yourself for this little trap."

She pointed the sunforged sword at Rayla's midsection. While not making physical contact, the heat from the blade was enough to cause the closest bit of chain to glow and deform. "Well, I'm not fooled."

"I'm no dark mage. My name is Rayla, I'm from the Silvergrove- "

"No!" shouted the other her. "I'm Rayla and you're a- well, I'm not sure what you are. An illusion or a disguise or some other dark magic trickery, but it doesn't matter."

"Why would I disguise myself as you to fool you?"

"Don't know, don't care."

The Other Rayla moved to stab her, but Marcos cried out.

"Wait! Why don't we take her to the base?" Macros suggested, "Lujanne could tell if she's using an illusion."

"And if she is? Then all we'll have done is shown a dark mage where we're hiding."

"This doesn't seem like Viren. Like she said, why would he make a copy of you and then have you find her?"

"Don't I get a say in this?" Rayla piped up from the ground.

The other Rayla scowled. "Nope." She sliced horizontally with her sword, the blade cutting into Rayla's chains.

Rayla flinched but while the heat seared her skin, the sword never touched her body. Instead, it cut through the magical chains, sparking a chain reaction that caused them to dissolve.

"Pretty neat, isn't it? Specially forged for burning away dark magic," the Other Rayla explained. She squatted down and held out her hand.

With no other options, Rayla took her doppelganger's hand and let her help her to her feet. Her relief at being freed from the chains was short lived, as Marcos immediately grabbed Rayla's arms and tied them behind her back.

"Hey!" she protested.

"We're electing to trust you. But our trust only goes so far."

A blindfold was placed over Rayla's eyes. Someone, she couldn't tell whether it was Marcos or the other her at this point, shoved her forward. Rayla sighed and started walking. She had dozens of questions, but also had enough sense to know there would be no answers just yet.

The other Rayla and Marcos led her out of the forest and into a new world.


I was seriously tempted to give Other Rayla an eyepatch because her broken horn already brings to mind Punished Snake, but I thought better of it. Either way her out of universe name is still Punished!Rayla because I can't get that reference out of my head.