//------------------------------//
// Deadlocked: Torval 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

	Sunset let out a sigh as she looked at the table that she and Eve were currently sitting at, one that had quite the variety of dishes scattered all over its surface. It was the day following her sibling's venture to the Valix Belt, where they had restored an important space station to its full capability and dispatched with all of the gladiators that had been thrown at them. She was impressed with Ratchet and Starlight's ability to get though so many enemies without her being there, which meant that she could likely retire once this entire episode was over. As much as she liked to travel the universe, and deal with whatever villains they came across, she was growing tired of being called the Goddess of Destruction and being constantly annoyed by her enemies. At the moment she only desired to end this ordeal and go somewhere safe so she could tame her powers... and maybe find a way to bind her power once more.

She knew that the act would annoy both Searing and Hatred, but she honestly didn't care as she looked from the dishes and focused on the man that was sitting at the table with them... Ace Hardlight.

"Is none of the food to your liking?" Ace asked, clearly attempting to have some conversation with Sunset as the ship they were in headed to the planet Torval, the place that Ratchet and Starlight had chosen to send her in the third tournament.

"No, of course not," Sunset replied, levitating one of the pancakes off of the plate it was on and dropped it onto her own plate, which had been empty while she had been alone in her own thoughts, "I've been wondering what type of opponent Vox is going to throw at me once we reach Torval... and what that enemy is going to do while we fight."

"Well, I can enlighten you just a bit," Ace commented, tapping some buttons near his chair and caused a screen to appear in the middle of the table, one that held the image of a one eyed man that was surrounded by explosions, "His name is Demolition Man, or Demoman for short, and he is quite fond of building explosives and creating destruction wherever he goes... and he is definitely insane. From what I was able to gleam from the wardens of PX-17's prison, those that will talk to me without ratting me out to Vox anyway, the Demoman is one of the most insane inmates that they have ever seen. He was placed in solitary confinement because he kept attacking his fellow inmates... and from what I heard he's done some nasty things to them before he was thrown into his cell.

The wardens gave him paper and pencils to pass the time, as it was determined that he wasn't a danger to himself, and he spent his time writing notes on various explosives and other devices. Apparently he's been devising a new collar, one that can't be broken unless someone has a deep understanding of how it works, but no one has been able to follow his rambling. In his cell he believes that he is either some sort of Head Scientist, or a mentally unstable warmonger that might create a weapon that can upset the balance of the universe. Then there's the third persona he has, where the demolition expert in him comes to the surface for some unknown amount of time... so I have no idea which of them you'll be facing today."

"Great, so he's worse than Spy and Sniper," Sunset said, shaking her head as she ate something from her plate, all while wondering how bad the man's insanity must be for him to be locked up on PX-17, "Well, I guess that when he shows himself I had better deal with him quickly... because there is no telling how many explosives Vox has given him access to after being denied for so many years."

"I completely agree with your plan of action," Ace said, letting out a sigh of his own, "the Demoman, from what I overheard when Vox was talking to someone on PX-17, is being allowed access to anything and everything he might need to bring you down. Not only that, but it seems like Vox is also throwing in a 'Get out of jail free' card if the Demoman can take you out, which would be bad for the universe if he was set free."

"I'm going to enjoy killing Vox when the time comes," Sunset replied, letting out another sigh as she contained her anger, "and blowing Dreadzone to pieces along with him."

Sunset was annoyed that Vox was even offering the madman the opportunity to be set free from the prison he had been thrown into, allowing him to continue whatever he had been doing before his capture. The Demoman sounded like a walking time bomb, waiting to go off when he finally snapped, and she wished that Vox had forgotten that the man had existed in the first place. She already knew that her fight with her next opponent would cause some amount of destruction, but she guessed that this time it would be in a good cause, seeing how she would be ridding the universe of another villain or a potential villain. She already knew that both Searing and Hatred were eager to fight the Demoman, but she paid them no mind as she silently waited for their arrival on Torval.

She had the feeling that what was to come was going to test her abilities, in some manner anyway, and that she was going to have to run with it if she wanted to bring an end to Vox and Dreadzone.





When Ace's ship arrived at their destination on Planet Torval, and came to a stop within range of the teleport pad, Sunset let out a sigh as she bid both Eve and Ace goodbye for the moment before she teleported down to the surface. The area of the planet that they had flown to happened to be some sort of factory, though when she looked around her immediate area she found that there was a statue of Ace nearby. She barely listened to the announcers this time, as she knew that whatever they were talking about would be thrown out the window the moment her enemy showed his face, but she did catch the part where she'd need to blow up Ace's statue to complete the challenge and access whatever was underneath it.

Several enemies fired at her as she walked to the right of where she teleported to, which resulted in her merely dodging their attacks without using any of her magic, but then she noticed a turret powering up. The moment she spotted the turret she flashed through the air and slammed her fist into the shield that was protecting it, shattering the device that was powering the shield and exposing the turret. She pressed her hand against the metal for a moment, as she intended to leave a parting gift in the form of a magical rune, before she moved out of the way and flashed back to where she had previously been standing. Not a few seconds later the turret exploded, though the pieces that remained intact punctured the enemies that were standing near the turret, effectively rendering them all useless at the moment.

As she spotted two orbs she needed to hack into, which had been placed at the base of the turret's stand and would have only been revealed once she destroyed the device, she also noticed a blue metallic sphere float over to the orbs and hack into them, only to disappear once it was finished. She had no idea if that was supposed to be a friendly device, one that was supposed to do things for her while she was wrecking her enemies, or if it was an enemy aiding her so they could get to the fight quicker. Considering that there was another assassin lurking somewhere on this planet, one that was definitely more armed than the ones she had dealt with on Orxon, she decided to keep an eye on the device for now... or whenever it decided to show itself again.

She walked over to the other side of the area that Ace's statue had been placed in and found another turret that was warming up, though this one was guarded by what appeared to be robotic zombies. She didn't give them a moment to move towards her, as she flashed onto the shield of the turret, disabled it like she did with the last one, placed another rune on the metal, and teleported away as an explosion took all of the enemies out with a single blast. Sunset didn't move on immediately, as she stayed where she was standing for a moment and watched as the sphere moved into the area, hacked into the orbs, and disappeared once the job was done. With all four orbs hacked into a new path opened up for her to take, one that she only knew about thanks to the enemy gladiators walking out of the building ahead of her.

She crushed the robotic zombies that were in her way, smashed the other gladiators into the nearby walls, caused the next turret to explode like the rest, and even tore an enemy out of the sky, before waiting for the sphere to return and hack the nearby orbs so she could move forward. Once the door in front of her was down she overheard the announcer saying something about her having to hunt down and destroy twelve drones with the hoverbike that was sitting in front of her, but she decided no to bother with the vehicle. She levitated herself into the air and waited for a few seconds, because the moment she spotted the drones coming her way she surged towards them, causing them to turn around and head in the opposite direction.

As she chased down the twelve drones she summoned small spheres of magical energy, in the exact same amount, which she used to destroy each and every drone until only one of them remained. She eventually caught up with the final drone, but before she could destroy it herself a missile came out of nowhere and tore the drone to pieces, causing her to stop in her tracks as she looked for the person that was interfering with her run through Torval. As she landed on the ground she could have sworn that she heard either clapping or laughter to he right, so she faced the building it was coming from and spotted someone with a missile launcher in his hands... and an eye patch over one of his eyes.

"You must be the great Sunset Shimmer," the man said, lowering his weapon for a moment as he bowed to her, "I have heard many stories about you from the wardens of PX-17, when I'm not busy with my own devices, and I have heard them call you by three different titles; the Demon of Desolation, the Angel of Salvation, and the one that everyone knows, the Goddess of Destruction."

"I'm not sure about the Demon or the Angel titles, but the Goddess of Destruction is the one title I've been hearing for the longest time," Sunset commented, letting out a sigh as she stared at her opponent, because she knew that this had to be the person that Ace had warned her about before they arrived on the planet, "So, who are you exactly?"

"I am the Demoman," the man replied, spreading his arms wide for a moment, almost as if he had something planned before he had revealed himself, "and I make things explode with a satisfying KABOOM!"

Sunset watched as the building the man had emerged from was engulfed in an explosion, informing her that he had planned on destroying it regardless of when he showed himself to her. She didn't care about the building, considering that there was likely no one inside it thanks to the Battle Course running through the area, but she did cross her arms behind her back once more.

"I hear that you are also insane," Sunset said, frowning at the grin that the Demoman was wearing, "I'm curious, why did you even agree to come after me... especially when you must have heard that everyone else that's tried has ended up either dead or completely destroyed."

"Spy and Sniper only fought you because of the money they were offered," the Demoman answered, though while he spoke he fiddled with the weapon that he was holding, as if he was making changes to it in the middle of a battle, "and Warhead only got in on the action because he wanted to prove that he was capable of carrying on his father's legacy once Shellshock finally bit the dust. I am the last resort option, because when I fight an enemy the term 'collateral damage' is something that happens all the time and I have been known to bring ruin upon wherever I am fighting.

Vox has given me some special ability boosters that should allow me to keep up with you, though I upgraded them on the way here so I could do what everyone else could not..."

The Demoman didn't get very far as Sunset poured some of her magic into the sphere that was floating near her before she tossed it at one of the buildings behind her, completely engulfing the building in an explosion that matched the one that the Demoman had prepared ahead of time. When Sunset turned back to her opponent she found that he wasn't phased by the nearly instant destruction she had caused, which she guessed made some sense considering that he was supposed to be insane, but she had been hoping to chase him away with that stunt. She let out a sigh as she prepared herself, because now she knew that the man before her was basically going to be throwing his life away in an effort to best her.

"...I was going to say something about a competition between the two of us," the Demoman said, a smile appearing on his face, one that Sunset didn't like the look of, "but it seems like I'll need to show you exactly why I was released from my cell. I was given full access to the entirety of Vox's weapons, from the explosives to the lasers, and I have created a zone that will be the death of the 'Goddess of Destruction'. Then I can head back out into the universe and resume destroying whatever my various employers desire from me."

Even as he spoke Sunset could hear the sounds of missiles being loosed from where they were stationed, to which she turned her head around a few times and spotted several of them coming right for her. She let out a sigh as she levitated into the air and moved away from the Demoman, though as the missiles changed their course and followed her she let her magic gather around her. As she flew through the air she turned around every now and then and blew several of them to pieces, before continuing throughout the area and repeating the process until they were all gone. The moment she destroyed the last missile she heard the sound of something else powering up and, in a moment of decision, she snapped up a shield and prevented a red beam of energy from hitting her.

The Demoman hadn't been lying when he said that he had access to the laser cannons that she had seen in Dreadzone's Battledome, as several of them continued to fire at her until she shattered them with her magic. Once she was sure that all of the cannons had been taken care of, and made sure that there weren't anymore of them, she circled back to where she had left the Demoman and found him standing in the same place she had left him.

"I should have known that you would have survived that test of mine," the Demoman said, crossing his arms as he looked up at Sunset, "now then, I do believe that it is your turn in this contest of ours."

"Explain what you mean." Sunset replied, though she had the feeling that she knew what the man wanted from her, because if it was destruction then she would be able to give it to him.

"I just attacked you in an attempt to destroy you, and you defended yourself against my assault," the Demoman answered, a grin appearing on his face, as if he enjoyed explaining things to her, "now it is your turn to do the same thing. Choose a spell to attack me with, anything that happens to be in your arsenal of spells, and I will endeavor to dodge it to the best of my ability. We'll keep doing this until one of us is dead, so I'll say it again... its your move, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset couldn't believe that he was actually allowing her to use whatever spell she wanted against him, because she could easily end this fight in on move if she wanted to. She wasn't doing this for the sake of Dreadzone, like many of the other gladiators she had seen, and she could easily bring an end to this particular episode the moment she destroyed the man before her. Still, she had to wonder if there was a way for her to get around the whole turn based attack system that the man was telling her about, when she realized that she might actually have something to use against him. She looked into the sky for a moment, to give herself the appearance of being in thought, but in reality she was looking for something that she could use... which resulted in energy gathering around her right hand for a moment.

Before the Demoman could realize what she was doing, and retreat before he was hit, Sunset teleported down to where he was standing and threw her fist at him, cracking both the air and his ribs the moment she came into contact with him. Instead of allowing the quake to happen Sunset followed though with more punches, each of them laced with her destructive power, and with each blow connecting to her target she could feel his bones crack under the pressure. The last hit she delivered to the Demoman's body was a swift kick to his chest as she crushed his ribs, knocking him backwards as the earthquakes shook the ground around them and shattered some of the buildings that were nearby.

Sunset expected the man to fall to the ground and admit defeat, which would have pleased her to no end, but the man simply stood back up and faced her, allowing her to watch as his ribs and bones mended themselves until he wasn't wounded anymore.

"I'm from a race that can rapidly heal any wounds that you can deliver to my body, though most of my kind was destroyed years ago," the Demoman said, though as he spoke he reached down to where his boot were and twisted something on them, telling Sunset that he was preparing for his next attack, "not that it really matters at the moment."

Sunset noticed that some of the Dreadzone dropships flew into the immediate area around them, though they did nothing more than open their doors and waited for something to happen. The Demoman burst into the air, no doubt because his boots had been modified to increase his speed by whatever he desired, and flew into one of the ships before coming back out. When the man was outside the ships again he opened fire with the weapons that had been brought to him by Vox, loosing a swarm of missiles at Sunset as he dipped into the other two ships and repeated the process. He continued to repeat this process until he was out of ammunition from all three of the ships, allowing them to leave the area as he landed outside the smoke that had appeared when thee missiles hit Sunset... or the area where she had been standing.

"You cannot beat me, Sunset Shimmer, because I was hand picked to destroy you!" the Demoman shouted, with a wide grin on his face while he said the words, "My speed, my stamina, and my destructive power will rival, nah, DWARF yours... in comparison to you I am the true God of Destruction! And if that's not enough to entice you to fight seriously then I guess I can kill your family next, along with everyone that personally knows you."

"Really?" Sunset said from within the smoke, annoyance flickering in her voice, "Really?"

"REALLY!!" the Demoman loudly declared, as if he was actually enjoying himself and didn't care what happened next, despite the fact that he was likely annoying Sunset to no end.

When the smoke cleared the Demoman's eyes widened when he realized that Sunset wasn't standing there anymore, though before he could move something collided with his chest and knocked him back just a bit, leaving a small hole behind. He looked around as he tried to recover from the attack, his eyes looking for Sunset, before he noticed a mass of shadowy energy swirling around something nearby. That was seconds before a small burst of energy shot out of the swirling mass and struck him in the chest, passing through one of his lungs and knocking him onto his backside as it left a hole in him. He was beginning to think that this had been a terrible idea, that agreeing to Vox's proposal had been the dumbest idea he had made in his entire life.

He looked back at the swirling mass and felt fear creep into his body as Sunset walked out into his view, though she was surrounded by the shadowy energy he had seen.

"What's wrong 'God of Destruction'?" Sunset asked, a smile creeping onto her face as she looked down at where the man was laying, "You were talking about ruining my family and friends a second ago... and then I blew two holes in your chest! Come on, God of Destruction, heal your body and fight me. Fight ME... or give me a hug!"

"R... really?" the Demoman asked, fear creeping into his voice as he realized the error of what he had been doing, all while knowing that it was too late to save himself.

"No." Sunset said, to which she extended a hand towards the ground and summoned a sphere of destruction that was three times the size of her body, one that she sent down to where the Demoman was laying.

Her opponent couldn't run from the blast, as the moment it collided with where he had been laying it exploded with enough energy to create a two mile wide crater. She waited for a few seconds, to be sure that her opponent had been taken care of, but when he didn't show himself again she knew that she was victorious. She looked around the ruined Battle Course, taking in all the destruction that had been caused by both her and the Demoman, before she let out a sigh and teleported back to Ace's ship. With Vox's last possible trump card removed from the field, and quiet a number of his weapons, it was only a matter of time until the man wised up to the fact that he should let her and her family go... though she knew that he would still keep them chained until he was done with them.

She just had to be patient, because it was only a matter of time until she and her allies brought about the end of Dreadzone... and she would be laughing the entire time.