Sunset, once again, found herself sitting at the table that she had been sitting at when she went to planet Torval, where Ace Hardlight had informed her of the enemy that would be waiting for her on the planet's surface. The Demoman was as insane as everyone said he was, more so for challenging her to a contest of destruction, but she had put an end to his life like everyone else that tried to put her down. The constant practice of her destructive abilities was beginning to make accessing her true powers much easier, though in order to fully understand what she was capable of she would need to fuse with Searing and Hatred... and both of them were against it at the moment. Searing, who was tied to Sunset in a very personal way, had expressed her concerns for such a thing, namely that she and Hatred would disappear if they ended up fusing with her.
Hatred, of course, didn't want to hand control over to Sunset, as it basically meant that she would be admitting defeat in some manner and didn't want that to happen. Sunset decided that she would have to hold back on asking about the fusion again, because there was something about their true power that scared both of her other selves.
"So, tell me about Maraxus," Sunset said, turning towards Ace once more, who was merely sitting across the table from where she was sitting, though he had been silent the entire time, "You mentioned that Vox might be hiring some mercenaries to deal with me this time?"
"That was what I thought when I heard him the first time," Ace replied, tapping some buttons and revealing an image of Maraxus, which happened to have a space station floating near it, "but now I'm sure that I misheard him. That station is the Ghost Station, an old Blargian station that he acquired some time ago, where the ghosts of gladiators are said to linger after they are defeated in real life. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of undead gladiators roaming that station, giving Vox an unbeatable army that can infinitely regenerate no matter how many times you kill them."
"You say it like you have experience fighting them," Sunset commented, though if she knew Vox as well as she thought she did she would have guessed that the man used the ghosts against Ace to see how well they could fight now that they were dead.
"I have fought them a few times at Vox's 'request'," Ace answered, pointing to his neck, where his now inactive collar was resting, "Vox has said that it is impossible to overcome the amount of enemies that he has under his thumb, the ghost ones anyway, and that it is improbable that someone can survive their attacks. Basically he's been coming up with a way to eliminate any contestant that actually annoys him to the point that you have, which is why he's moved the station's location to where it is now. Vox has decided to use his seemingly unstoppable army against the one creature that he truly wishes to kill..."
"...Me." Sunset finished, already knowing how the line was going to end before Ace was able to say the word, though a small smile did appear on her face, "So basically my fight with them will be along the lines of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object; the ghost army is, as you stated, constantly regenerating itself, hence the term 'unstoppable', while I would not be able to move on until I had destroyed them all, hence 'immovable'. Or that is how I choose to interpret the situation that I am going to find myself in once I start the next Battle Course."
"I guess so," Ace said, as he wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, but decided that now wasn't the time to bother asking about it, "Anyway, if my guess is correct you will have to fight your way through the prison on Maraxus and rescue whatever they have trapped in their special cages. Normally a contestant's robot bodyguards, his helpers, would be imprisoned and the contestant would have to save them, but that's not the case with you. And of course Vox wouldn't dare use your family members in this situation, so I guess he might have salvaged two robots from the recycling bin and put them in the course for you."
Sunset knew that she wouldn't be playing the original game of the course for very long, considering that she would likely get halfway through the course before her enemies came looking for her. She'd likely rescue the first robot that was being held against its will, and decimate the enemies that were guarding it, before the ghost army bothered to show itself. Or maybe this time she would actually get through the course and then have her enemies attack her once she was done, because that would be quite the twist. Then there was the matter of the infinitely regenerating ghost gladiators, which meant that she'd never finish the course unless she somehow ended all of them and prevented them from coming back to life once more.
She silently wondered if blowing the station to pieces would solve that problem, but until she actually faced the ghost army in battle, and saw what abilities they had for herself, there was no way she could make that sort of decision just yet. She could mentally hear both Searing and Hatred complaining that they should just get rid of it now and suffer the consequences later, but she would play along in the off chance that she discovered something that would change the tide of battle in her favor. She also hadn't told Ace about the fact that there were technically three versions of herself, as the only people who knew that were those that had witnessed her fight with Hatred. It was better that less people knew the truth about her, Searing, and Hatred, otherwise she would be asked questions that she didn't have any answers for.
She stared at Ace as his ship continued the journey to Maraxus, listening to everything he had to tell her about the planet while saying nothing in return. She kept her mind focused on the ghost army she would have to face, knowing that they were the key to her overcoming the Battle Course that was waiting for her.
When the ship finally arrived at their destination Sunset immediately noticed the eerie space station that was floating nearby, looking like a complete wreck that would have fallen apart a few years ago if not for the large number of ghosts that happened to be living on the station. She knew that a fair number of the ghosts would be gladiators that she recently killed, either from Torval, Orxon, or Kronos, and that they would be out for revenge the moment they noticed her. That made her wonder if the ghosts of Warhead and Shellshock were among their number, because she did defeat them and completely obliterate them, so they would definitely be out for revenge.
As Ace brought them in to a desired landing spot, where Sunset could easily teleport down to the planet's surface, they overheard the announcers commenting on the fact that Sunset would be fighting her way through the prison to rescue two robots, namely because they couldn't use anything else in this particular situation. Sunset wished Ace and Eve farewell for the moment, knowing that they would see each other again once she was finished with the course, and teleported down to the planet's surface, where she found herself in an area that had a few electric barriers blocking her path.
She immediately spotted two enemies walking in the area in front of her, two of the spike throwing type of gladiators her siblings had encountered, though as she approached them they began to rain spikes on where she was walking. She weaved a little magic into the air and stopped the spikes in their tracks, though she also grabbed two of them and set them back to their owners, impaling their hearts and knocking them dead where they stood. She then pulled a few more out of the floating mess and carried them with her for a minute, as the instant she walked under a corridor between buildings she spotted a few more enemies to impale. Sunset then followed the path that she had been walking along and leapt into the building in front of her, where one of the robots she had to rescue was behind held.
The instant she walked into the room a large number of enemies, a collection of the various gladiators and their minions from all the fights she had seen, dropped into the area and attacked her the moment they laid eyes on her. It was easy for Sunset to defend herself, as all she really had to do was weave her magic through the air and shield herself from any incoming attacks, while making sure that her own attacks destroyed those around her. Once the enemies were taken care of, and the area was secure, she then shattered the cage that the robot was being held inside, though that was followed by the robot apologizing for wasting her time and deactivating the barrier that was blocking the corridor she needed to pass through.
The corridor ended in a small circular room, with a few gladiators for her to fight, though once all of them were basically burning husks the door on her right opened and revealed a group of enemies that were protecting a vehicle. As Sunset dismantled the enemies around her she had to wonder why they were even guarding the vehicle to begin with, considering the fact that she didn't need to use one of them. Apparently the trick to this challenge was that she had to guard the pair of robots that were in control of the vehicle while they captured the three nodes that were scattered through the exterior of the prison. Sunset let out a sigh as she followed the robots to the first node, to which she dropped a shield over them as they worked on claiming the node while throwing fireballs at everything that tried to stop them.
Once the node was secured the trio moved onto the second node and repeated what they had done to claim the first one, which was rapidly followed by them moving to the third one and capturing it in the same manner. With all three nodes secured Sunset bid the robots inside the vehicle farewell and moved towards the opening that they had unlocked, which she figured would take her right to where the other captive robot was being held. The moment she was inside the building she spotted a group of gladiators waiting at the end of the corridor that was in front of her, along with what appeared to be laser turrets.
She walked into the end of the corridor and smashed all of the gladiators into the walls, while breaking the turrets at the same time, until all she was left with were the hacking orbs, though she simply used her magic to cut her way through the barrier they were generating and continued toward her next objective. The moment she stepped outside she noticed a larger turret waiting for her, so she simply destroyed its shield with a wave of her hand and blew it up with a well placed fireball. With the turret taken out two groups of gladiators jumped down into the area she was in, along with two dropships, and proceeded to attack her without any regards for their own safety.
As Sunset tore her new enemies to pieces she had to wonder if they were being brought back on the ghost station that was floating above the planet's surface, though that also made her realize that she had not yet seen any of the ghosts that were supposed to be here. It was almost as if the ghosts were taking their time, allowing Sunset to add more numbers to their ranks, but she would still need to remove her obstacles if she wanted to move forward.
When she entered the next building she had to pass through she found even more enemies to deal with, though they were quite easy to get rid of thanks to their low numbers, allowing her to cut her way through the barrier behind them and continue to another section of the prison. The next room had the second robot that had been imprisoned against its will, though this time its cage was surrounded by a large number of enemies, more than what had appeared throughout the rest of the entire Battle Course. Sunset, however, took one look at the amount of enemies that were down there and let out a sigh as she levitated herself down into their line of sight. The instant one of the gladiators fired at her the rest followed suit, to which Sunset used her magic to catch the missiles and energy beams as they approached her, before directing them to new owners and blowing them all to pieces.
Sunset looked at all the scattered remains as she approached the container that the robot was trapped inside, smashing it so the poor thing could be freed, though as she turned to leave the robot said something that stopped her in her tracks.
"They're coming for you," the robot said, causing Sunset to turn towards it for a moment, to which it pointed to the west of where they were standing, "The ghost army is coming, Sunset Shimmer, and only you can figure out how to stop them in their tracks."
Sunset walked outside the building she was in and turned in the direction that the robot had been pointing, trying to see if she could find anything that resembled an army. After a few seconds she found what she was looking for, as a faint line of transparent beings appeared in the dust storm that was raging all around her. For a moment it only looked like there was a few gladiators for her to contend with, but the longer she watched them the more she began to notice that the first line was stretching in both directions. What had appeared before her eyes was a literal army of ghosts, though as more stepped out of the blowing dust it was beginning to feel like her earlier thought about there being thousands of them was true.
She gathered some magic into her hands and sent out a gust of wind that cancelled the natural storm that had been blowing, revealing that there were definitely thousands of former gladiators marching towards her location.
Just how many gladiators has Vox doomed to this existence? Searing asked, to which a burning patch of sand appeared on the ground to Sunset's right.
There has to be thousands of undead gladiators coming our way, Hatred replied, which was followed by a patch of shadows appearing on Sunset's left, We might not be able to survive this.
"Don't be all gloom and doom on us now Hatred," Sunset said, staring at the gladiators that were coming her way, wondering if she would even recognize some of them from her previous fights, "There is a really simple way to get around this situation..."
For the love of the Maker, we are not fusing! Searing exclaimed, the flames dancing for a moment in response to what she had said, We can beat them without having to access our full power.
I seriously hate it when I agree with you, Hatred commented, to which the shadows disappeared completely, Just start fighting and we'll back you up however we can.
For a moment Sunset just stared at the line of enemies that were coming her way, taking a moment to consider how to go about fighting all of them, before letting out a sigh as she gathered energy around her. The moment the first gladiator spotted her, and let out a savage war cry while pointing right at her, the line of enemies broke as the undead warriors charged at her. Missiles surged out of their ranks and came at her, to which Sunset summoned a shield to prevent them from touching her, though the moment the projectiles were done she moved forward as well. She slammed into the first ghost that she came across, releasing a burst of energy that tore him and the surrounding gladiators to pieces, before she turned her attention to the others around her.
Several gladiators switched their various guns for what appeared to be bladed weapons, axes, swords, and spears, which actually surprised Sunset for a moment, because she was sure that none of them had died with those weapons in their hands. She slammed her feet into one of the enemies that were around her, shattering their chest armor with her hoof, before moving out of the way as some of the others tried to land a blow on her. Dark flames pulsed around her left hand for a moment, to which she pressed it in front of one of the gladiators and summoned a wave of dark crystals that punctured a large number of enemies. At the same time she spun around and, with her burning right hand, released a wave of flames that turned the ghosts it touched to into piles of ash, which were blown away by the wind.
One enemy stepped forward to fight her, one that she recognized as the ghost of Warhead, though he said nothing to her as he attacked with his fists, to which she merely dodged for a few seconds. She wanted to be sure that the ghosts were actually regenerating, though with the large number of enemies around her it was actually impossible for her to figure that out at the moment. She decided not to waste any time with the ghost of Warhead and froze him with a wave of ice magic, before kicking him and shattering his form into a thousand pieces. Once that was taken care of she focused on the other enemies, picking and choosing which element of magic she wanted to use before unleashing a spell on the gladiators around her.
Ten minutes into fighting the ghost army seemed to prove what Ace had told her earlier, about the ghosts regenerating, because she spotted the ghost of Warhead coming towards her once more.
You cannot defeat us, Sunset Shimmer, the ghost of Warhead said, which was followed by a wave of laughter as the other ghosts started to laugh at her, The power of the Ghost Station allows us to cheat death itself. You cannot hope to beat all of us.
"You really shouldn't have said that," Sunset commented, a smirk appearing on her face as Warhead's ghost confirmed her suspicions, just as her energy flickered around her once more, "Now I know exactly how to stop all of you from coming back."
Sunset jumped backwards and landed on one of the stone pillars that were behind her, to which she brought her hands together and allowed her energy to pour into a small sphere between her palms, though she smiled as she noticed the looks of confusion flashing on the faces of the ghosts in front of her. A few seconds later she pulled her hands apart and a large sphere of destructive formed above her head, to which the ghosts that knew of her power actually took a step back as they stared at her. She already knew that some of them were wondering if she was going to drop the sphere on them, but considering that her suspicions had been correct she had a different target in mind at the moment. She turned her attention to the space station and threw the sphere at it, allowing the energy to soar towards its destination and engulf the entire structure in a flash of blinding light.
A few seconds later the smoke cleared and revealed what had happened, the complete and utter destruction of the ghost station, to which many of the ghosts let out a chorus of despair as they realized what Sunset had just done. She had effectively eliminated the source of their regenerative abilities, meaning that they could be killed and this time they wouldn't be coming back to haunt her again. Sunset smiled as she leapt into the air and sailed into the middle of the ghost army, though while she did so she summoned large fireballs that she threw into the ranks of her enemies. As ghost gladiators were obliterated by her attacks she landed in front of Warhead and shattered him once more, before moving through the ranks of the ghosts around her.
Without the station to revive the ghosts, and give them the ability to fight on until their enemies gave up, Sunset was able to obliterate everything that was around her. The ground broke around her as the elements she called up killed her enemies, rapidly reducing the thousands of enemies she had been fighting and leaving her with piles of ash that the wind got rid of. Once the last of her enemies had been taken care of, and she was sure that there weren't anymore ghosts lingering in the immediate area, she let out a sigh as she cancelled her magic and teleported to Ace's ship.
All she had to do now was see what Ratchet and Starlight did in the final tournament, where they would be fighting against Ace in the final battle, because it was only a matter of time until they put their plan into action... and then Vox, and the entirety of Dreadzone, would finally meet their end.