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

	The moment that Ratchet and Starlight tried to leave the Battledome, by teleporting onto the shuttle that had brought them into the arena, they found that they were unable to do so and were trapped inside until someone told them that they were free to leave. That was swiftly followed by an alarm sounding and the sounds of shots being fired, to which they looked around to see what was actually happening at the moment. Armed robots were making their way into the arena and lining themselves up with the two of them, though as the robots did so they heard an announcement state that all video feed had been cut and that no holovision transmissions were happening anymore. Once that happened one of the nearby gates opened and the Eviscerator, in all his glory, flew out of the area he had been hiding in and ran several robots through with his arm blades.

While that happened Ratchet ran over to where Ace was laying and shook him awake, to which the former Head Exterminator moaned as he picked himself up and noticed who was standing around him, before turning his head back to see the robots that the Eviscerator was fighting.

"I was seriously hoping that this wouldn't happen," Ace said, picking up his weapon and extending the beam once more, "The Reactor had warned me that Vox had a back up plan in case things ever went south for him, something that he called the 'Purge Protocol', though I can hazard a guess as to what his plan is at the moment."

Before either Ratchet or Starlight could say anything a dropship, one that belonged to the Starship Phoenix and not Dreadzone, came into the area they were standing in and opened its door, to which they watched as seven figures departed from the ship. The figures were all wearing brown robes, ones that matched the jedi robes that Angela had been planning on producing for the new order, and they all appeared to be holding their lightsabers out. Six of the jedi had the style of weapon that only had one blade, though the colors were split evenly between blue and green, while the seventh member of their party held a lightsaber that had a purple color to it... and two blades.

Not a moment after Ratchet noticed the coloration of the blades, and the amount of blades that the lightsaber had, the figure pulled back its hood and revealed that it was Angela, who had a smile on her face as she looked at them.

"What would you guys do without me?" Angela asked, letting out a chuckle as she nodded her head to the others behind her, to which the six unknown jedi pulled back their hoods and charged into battle with Vox's robot soldiers.

"Well, we wouldn't be having a good time without you," Ratchet said, though before he did anything else he grabbed the collar around hiss neck and removed it, to which Ace and Starlight did the same.

"I really hate to interrupt this reunion, but we've got some business to take care of." Ace said, causing them all to turn towards him for a moment, "Part of the Purge Protocol was the death of every hero that Vox has ever captured, which means that all of the heroes that are in this station at the moment are in danger of being Exterminated. The other part of it was the extermination of everyone that's being held in the prison that's located on PX-17... though I shouldn't have to tell you what that means."

"This is a last ditch effort to kill Sunset," Starlight slowly said, the truth coming to her within a matter of seconds, to which she brought one of her hooves to her face, "Even after everything he has seen, and after everything Sunset's destroyed, I cannot believe that he's still trying to kill her. When will he learn that there isn't a way to kill her, especially considering that Searing and Hatred would kill him before he even got close to wound him?"

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Angela commented, beckoning them onto the dropship, to which the three of them climbed in behind her, "Ace, I'm going to need the coordinates for PX-17."

"And we're going to need something faster than this if we want to stop Vox," Ace replied, though he was fully prepared to hand over the coordinates for their destination.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Angela said, a smile appearing on her face as she closed the ship's door and got them into the air, "We brought both the Starship Phoenix and the Starship Hyperion, both of which are equipped with enough boosters and warp drives to get us where we need to go."

Ratchet knew that Angela was going to take them back to the Phoenix, where they could dock the ship and allow someone else to take control of it, before they teleported over to the Hyperion and followed after Vox. Even as they left the station behind Ace told them that Clank and Al had already started rounding up the other contestants the moment they started their match, so it was a distinct possibility that they were removing the blast collars before they made their escape. Ratchet didn't mind them staying behind at the moment, because they were trying to save lives and he knew that they would leave the station once they were sure that it was safe for them to do so. Between the jedi that Angela had brought and the newly trained Galactic Rangers, which Angela said were better than when they were when Nefarious was running around, he was sure that all the heroes that had been trapped by Vox would be free in no time.

He then turned his attention to the stars all around them, wondering which one was PX-17 and trying to make out the shuttle that Vox had to have used to escape Dreadzone before Angela had arrived. One way or another they would bring Vox to justice... though that all depended on what happened on PX-17 and Sunset's reaction to everything the man had done so far.





As Vox walked down the hallway that would eventually bring him to the room that Sunset was being held in, where he could do what he and Commander Stone had come to do, he could feel his anger rising. He had made the smart move of leaving Dreadzone the moment Ace was dead, because not minutes after he docked on Commander Stone's ship, and left his shuttle, did everything start to fall apart. Apparently his satellites had stopped working for some odd reason, because the Starship Phoenix, the ship they had taken Ratchet and his family from, had suddenly appeared on their radars and sent ships into the station. From what the underlings reported the Jedi, lead by their founder Angela Cross, were assaulting their forces and rescuing the heroes he had captured.

It got even worse, because from what he was able to gather there were at least half of his employees that had turned on him the moment the Jedi arrived, which actually explained why the radars hadn't detected the Starship Phoenix until it was too late. That was also when he discovered that the blast collars had been deactivated, because the people in command of the collars also turned on him and made sure that they couldn't be used anymore. The worst news was the reveal that the Reactor, the Eviscerator, and Ace, all of whom he swore had been killed by Ratchet and Starlight, were actually alive and fighting against the soldiers they had left behind, though Ace had left the station with the siblings... which told Vox that they were coming to kill him.

In a series of unfortunate events Vox now found himself trapped between a rock and a hard place, because it was either face a prison sentence for the rest of his days or kill Sunset and hopefully die moments later. At this point he knew that he was screwed, almost as if the universe was laughing at him, but he prepared himself for whatever his ultimate fate was. Though before they even reached the room they were heading to he made sure to poison the blade that Commander Stone was carrying, because if there was one thing they were going to do before they died they were going to make sure that Sunset was dead as well. Though to make sure that the plan worked they had decided on using a smaller blade, a shortsword to be exact, so they could reach the heart with ease.

Eventually they came to the door that would take them into the room that Sunset was being held in, because for some reason they couldn't detonate the room like they had originally planned and had to resort to his backup plan, which was the poison.

"It has been an honor to serve under you Lord Vox," Commander Stone said, surprising Vox for a moment, but in the end the man simply nodded his head and they opened the door.

The room looked the exact same as Vox remembered it, with the walls being the same color and the holoscreen resting on one of them, which had been replaced after one of Sunset's outbursts. The observation room was empty at the moment, though there were no signs of Sunset jumping up there and killing the Professor when she had the chance. Sunset stood in the middle of the entire room, in the form that resembled a God of Destruction, though he had been told that the God she was mimicking was from an Old Earth story that her clothing designer had found. Sunset had been expecting their arrival, because she was facing the door they had entered from and opened her eyes the moment they stepped into the room.

"Gleeman Vox, we meet again," Sunset said, though she made no effort to approach them just yet, almost as if she was waiting for them to do something, "So, I take it my brother and sister have won their match and that we are all free to go?"

"Yes, and Commander Stone will escort you out of the prison," Vox said, beckoning for the robot to approach Sunset, though he waited until the Commander was right in front of Sunset so they could pull of the trick that they had planned for, "or rather escort you out of the prison and deliver you straight to HELL!"

Commander Stone, having hidden the blade he was going to use in the palm of his hand, spun his right hand around, revealed the hidden blade, and drove it right into Sunset's body at a downward angle, making sure that the entire blade was inside her body before backing away from her. Sunset, on the other hand, seemed surprised that they had even attempted something like this, before growing serious once more as she stared at them again.

"Seriously? You really think that this small weapon can kill me?" Sunset asked, flames dancing around her right hand for a moment as she pulled the blade out of her chest and tossed it to the ground, "I will enjoy killing y..."

Before she could finish her statement, and announce that she was going to kill them both, she felt a burning pain in her chest, one that she was sure didn't belong to the open wound, before she fell to her knees and coughed some blood onto the floor. Her body felt like it was on fire, almost as if there had been something on the blade that was causing a severe reaction with her body, though it pained her to raise her head and look up at Vox.

"Good, the poison is working like a charm," Vox said, grinning as he realized that it was only a matter of minutes until she was dead, "I'm sure that you have questions, but I'm afraid that you wont be asking me anything before you finally drop dead. I know that you are familiar with the Blarg and their poisoned planet, Orxon, though there was a special reason as to why I made sure to claim that world the moment Chairman Drek was dead. You see, he was working on a poison that could kill whoever it touched in a matter of minutes, and the best thing is that he never got around to making a cure for it. He managed to make one vial of this special poison, the same poison that's now tearing away at your life, before his death, though I'm sure he'll be happy to know that one of the Blarg's last inventions helped the universe by getting rid of you."

"Don't assume... that this will... kill me," Sunset coughed out, feeling the poison working its way through her body and weakening her overall strength.

"I don't need to assume anything," Vox replied, turning to the doorway and stepping back into the hallway, followed by Commander Stone, "Who would have thought that the last invention of the late Chairman Drek would be the one thing that could kill the infamous 'Goddess of Destruction'? Goodbye Sunset Shimmer, may this prison become your tomb."

Sunset forced herself to stand as Vox departed from the room, though not a second later another wave of burning pain shot through her body and knocked her back to the floor, where she landed on her side and stared at the doorway. Even as she tried to stand up again, and tried to walk over to the door, she was rewarded with more pain, forcing her back to the ground in defeat every time. After the third try had failed she remained on the floor and stared at the door, feeling the poison burning its way though her body and taking away what energy she had left.

Even as she felt her life fading before her eyes she noticed two shadowy figures appear around her, though she offered them a weak smile as she realized that Searing and Hatred had come to her once more.

Come on Sunset, fight the poison! Searing said, though for the first time Sunset was sure that she heard a hint of fear in her voice, Please, fight it. I don't want you to die.

"I don't think... I have much... of a choice," Sunset replied, though that was followed by a fit of coughing, "I bet this poison... would fail to kill... an actual God of Destruction... and not the pretender... I am..."

Yeah, Beerus would laugh at this and destroy Vox in an instant. Searing said, though despite the fact that she was mostly made up of magic at the moment she could feel tears running down her face, but then she turned to the other emotion that had been given life for a moment, Hatred, we have to give our power back to Sunset.

What?! Are you insane? Hatred fired back, as if she was disgusted by the very idea, Do you have any idea what will happen to us if we give our power back to Sunset?

Yes, I do, Searing replied, her chest starting to hurt all of a sudden, but she chose to ignore it and focused on Hatred, We, the manifestations of Sunset's emotions, will cease to exist... so in essence we would be dying, but we're already dying. Hatred, I know that you hate me, Sunset, and everything that Sunset and her family stands for, but if we stand by and do nothing then Sunset, and by effect the both of us, will die. What's better for everyone at the moment; fighting me and ensuring that we all die, or fusing back together with Sunset and ensuring that we all live to see another day?

Just because you have a point doesn't mean that I like it, Hatred said, letting out a growl as she stared at Searing, but as much as she hated the idea of fusing back together with Sunset she much preferred living, Fine, I'll do it... but if I ever get a chance to break free and go my own separate way I'm taking it.

Searing opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped when she noticed that her left hand was starting to unravel before her very eyes, to which she noticed the same thing was happening with Hatred's right hand. She already knew that it meant that Sunset's heartbeat was getting weaker and weaker, which meant that they needed to act now before they were all dead. It pained her to have to choose between herself and Sunset, especially after she had finally developed her own personality, but she knew what needed to be done... even if it hurt her to do so.

Let's do this Hatred, Searing said, allowing all of her power to gather into her remaining hand, which she rested over Sunset's heart, Let's save Sunset... and then we can deal with Vox.

By the Maker I hate you so much right now, Hatred replied, replicating what Searing was doing with her spare hand, though I guess I can settle on hating Vox and Commander Stone even more right now.

A few seconds passed before they both burst into pure magic, Searing taking on the form of a raging inferno while Hatred appeared as a swirling mass of shadows. They then began to pour their power back into Sunset's body, hopefully restoring her to the point where she could overcome the poison and stop them before they reached the end of their spell. Searing could feel herself slipping away as the magic consumed her, though she knew that Hatred was likely feeling the same thing on her end. As they worked she could also tell that the room around them was cracking, as if the amount of power they were putting out was too much for the walls and ceiling to handle.

Searing felt a smile appear on her face for a brief moment as she noticed Sunset's body move, though that was the last thing she and Hatred saw before both of their worlds went dark.





Vox and Commander Stone managed to make it outside the prison, without being stopped by anyone, before they found the Galactic Rangers standing around the ship they had used to get to the planet, along with Ratchet, Starlight, and Ace. He had been hoping to get as far away from PX-17 as he could before they found the planet, even with Ace's help anyway, but he had to wonder how they managed to get to the planet so quickly. If he still had his gun on hand he was sure that he would have pulled it out and loosed some shots at them before he was killed, though that wasn't possible as the Rangers were smart enough to remove the weapons that he and the Commander were carrying the moment they surrounded them.

Seeing how he was weaponless, and out of options, Vox was forced to watch as Sasha Phyronix, the previous captain of the Starship Phoenix, stepped out of the crowd and approached him, though she was also wearing one of the Jedi robes.

"Gleeman Vox," Sasha said, staring Vox right in the eyes as she spoke, "you have committed countless atrocities over the years, to both the heroes that you force to play your games and the planets you make them run through. Normally I would run through everything you have done, reading off a list of every known offense you have committed, but unfortunately we'll have to skip that, because we don't have a complete list, and get to the end. You have two options; surrender and go to prison for the rest of your life, with absolutely no chance of parole, or die."

Before Vox could say anything, or announce that he and the Commander had just killed Sunset Shimmer, the ground beneath their feet started to rumble and shake as an earthquake hit the area they were in. That caught Vox by surprise, because his scientists all confirmed that there was no possible way that PX-17 could have an earthquake, though if he lived through this he was going to track them all down and put them in the ground. Everyone managed to remain standing during the quake, meaning that it was one of those minor ones that did no damage other than freak people out, though when the quake began to subside the real fun started. Seconds after the quake began to lower in power a pillar of spinning fire erupted out of the prison and ascended towards the sky, though after a certain distance the sky began to swirl around the pillar of energy.

It was as if a maelstrom had opened up in the sky above them, because it looked like the sky was being sucked into the pillar of energy, though at the same time the ground started to shake once more.

"VOX!" Ratchet shouted, anger filling him as he realized that there was only one thing, or person for that matter, that could be creating the change in weather so suddenly, "What in the name of the Maker did you do?"

"There's no reason to ask him," Starlight said, her eyes locked on the pillar of energy, though for some reason she couldn't feel anything coming from it, "they did something to Sunset, that's all we need to know."

"Oh, I'll tell you what we did," Vox said, knowing that no matter what happened he was going to die on this planet, "Allow me to give you despair; we killed Sunset Shimmer! The Goddess of Destruction is no more."

The moment those words left his mouth something happened, as a circular ring, about six miles wide, appeared around the entirety of the prison and caused everyone to step away from the building. Starlight, deciding not to be anywhere near the prison at the moment, ran in the opposite direction, though she noticed that Ratchet and their friends were following her lead on this. She had absolutely no idea what was happening at the moment, but she had the feeling that something bad was about to reveal itself to all of them. Vox and his Commander, in their infinite wisdom, decided to follow them as well, choosing to leave the area around the prison in case something happened.

Once they were all outside the ring around the prison, and were a safe distance away, they all assumed that they were safe and that nothing could happen, though that was before a large sphere of energy erupted from the maelstrom and surged towards the prison, where it exploded the moment it came into contact with the structure. Ratchet, Starlight, and everyone else were forced to cover their eyes as a wave of dust came at them, temporarily making it impossible for them to see what had happened, though once the smoke started to clear there was a chorus of gasps as they took in the sights. Starlight's eyes widened as she gazed upon where the prison had been standing, because now there was a massive crater where the building used to stand, a crater that stopped at the edge of the ring that had appeared around the prison.

Starlight started to wonder what was happening, though that was before Ratchet tapped her armor for a moment to get her attention before pointing towards the maelstrom, which was no longer active... though in its place floated their sister, in the form she used when she was merged with Searing.

"Impossible," Vox said, staring up at Sunset with a hint of confusion in his voice, "We killed you... you shouldn't be alive. Commander Stone, take care of her... properly this time."

Commander Stone engaged his jetpack and flew into the air, though as he zeroed in on where Sunset was floating he swung his right arm and revealed a hidden blade that he kept in case his main weapons were taken from him. The moment he neared his target he started swinging his weapon at her, though Sunset merely extended a hand and parried all of the attacks that came her way. Not a few seconds later she stopped the sword in its tracks, with only one of her fingers, and stared at the robot for a moment, before flicking the fingers on her other hand on its chest and shattering its core into a thousand pieces. Once she was done with the dead Commander, and dropped the pieces into the crater, she moved her hands behind her back once more and stared down at Vox, who seemed ready to flee at any moment.

In an instant she disappeared from the sky and reappeared behind Vox, whose eyes widened as he realized that something had definitely happened to Sunset, because he could have sworn that she wasn't this powerful an hour ago.

"Now then, let's rid the universe of some trash," Sunset said, causing Vox to turn around and look at her, to which she extended her left hand and pointed at his face, "Destroy."

The moment that word left Sunset's mouth Vox felt something race through his body, but he looked down at his hands and started to scream in horror as he noticed what was happening, his body was beginning to disintegrate. He could only watch as his body broke apart before his eyes, though whether he was turning into particles or simply being destroyed he had absolutely no idea. Even his metallic arm was breaking apart as well, though his screams were cut short as the destruction reached his head and reduced him to nothing. Not a few seconds later, when she was sure that Vox was truly dead, Sunset returned her arm to her side as she faced the others, all of whom appeared to be shocked by what they saw.

"Is Dreadzone clear of our friends and allies?" Sunset asked, because now that Vox was taken care of there was some loose ends she wanted to clear up before she did anything else.

"It will be in about ten minutes," Sasha replied, to which she beckoned for everyone around her to get back into their ships and leave the planet, because she had the feeling that something big was coming.

"Yes, and you appear to be leaving behind something important," Sunset commented, holding a hand out as she worked her magic, "Come to me, Fragment of Harmony."

A few seconds later a shining pink crystal appeared above her hands, causing Starlight to stare at the fourth Raritanium Core in both shock and awe at the same time. She had known that Vox had the next Core, but with everything that had happened she had neglected to find the time to discover its location so they could acquire it. Not that it really mattered anymore, considering the fact that Sunset had called it to her and it had responded, though she did hand it over to Angela so she could put it with the three they already had. Starlight and Ratchet followed everyone onto the ships and departed from the planet, though Sunset decided to remain outside the ship as they entered the atmosphere.

Once they were a safe distance away from PX-17, and Sasha signaled to Sunset that Dreadzone was clear of friendlies, Sunset summoned a disk of energy and threw it in the direction of the station. A few seconds later there was a blinding explosion that shook the ships around her, indicating that she had struck her target, but she wasn't done yet, as she turned back to PX-17, summoned some more of her energy, and threw a sphere of destruction at it. A few minutes later there was another explosion as she wiped the the prison planet from existence, to which she let out a sigh before teleporting aboard the Phoenix.

Now that she and her family were free it was time to have a much needed talk... though she was sure that they weren't going to like what she had to tell them.





In the Great Clock, however, Orvus looked over the readings from Sunset's 'awakening', as he was sure that a good portion of the planets around her had shook in response to her ascension. He had known that this would have been the end result, the creation of a God of Destruction, but he had never known whether she was going to be true to herself or if Searing would be the one to take over. Now, however, he knew the end result, though that did nothing to ease his mind as he looked over all the readings that he and Sigmund had received over the last hour. Especially the twelve unique energy signatures that their instruments had barely managed to catch before they dissipated completely.. energy signatures that had only appeared to watch the event unfold before disappearing.

The other twelve Gods of Destruction had noticed Sunset's ascension, though whatever that meant he had no idea... he was simply going to have to watch events unfold and see what happened to their universe.