//------------------------------//
// Deadlocked: Liberation 
// Story: Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Upon their return to the DreadZone Station the siblings discovered that Clank and Al were ready to get the party started, in fact with Autumn protecting them from sight it was easy to deactivate their remaining collars and escape Vox's grasp, while at the same time Ace sent a private message that was untraceable. It was the final stages of his plan, they were going to fight and he was going to lose, in fact he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was impossible for him to win, even if the siblings stopped using magic, so he wanted to put on a show before they moved onto Vox. It also came with the discovery of the meaning of his mysterious last name, he was able to make clones of himself that he could inhabit should his main body perish in some manner, so if they crushed him he'd be able to escape and ensure his half of the plan. This was how he was able to survive DreadZone for so long, using his ability to make a copy of himself before heading into battle, and since it had been a long time since he made one his current clone was much younger than he was, five years younger anyway, he would be able to move faster in a younger body.

The plan was dangerous, suicidal even if Vox figured out that they were moving against him, but the siblings had done a lot of outrageous things in the past and this would be no different, though the announcers continued to voice their desire to see Ratchet and his siblings fall before the might of Ace Hardlight, the only Exterminator left. What was hilarious was that they were still trying to paint them as mobsters of the highest order, criminal masterminds that deserved to be in prison with no hope of escape, and that they were responsible for incredible property damage, gambling and illegal hoverbike races, and, apparently, improper dental hygiene. Even with fans booing them Dallas and Juanita continued to uphold their opinions on Ratchet and his siblings, that they were liars, as in none of their stories were true and that they were taking the winnings of other heroes, and they knew that once this was all over they would be imprisoned for the rest of their days, along with Vox. Other than that Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl remained silent as they listened to what the announcers had to say about them, mostly to hear what outrageous lies they had to spread, while Ace chuckled as well, as he never liked the pair and he was happy to bring them down as well.

When it came time for them to tackle the Liberator Tournament the siblings stepped up and used the shuttle as Ace took his own secret passage back to his suite, so he could observe before making his entrance, where they were brought to the first section of the Battledome and deposited for the start of the final tournament.

We're back in the Battledome as Ratchet and his siblings begin the Liberator Tournament! Dallas said, where it was all too easy for them to tell that he hated them, especially since Juanita was staring at them with hatred burning in her eyes, meaning they were hoping that something or someone would take them down, No contestant has made it through this baby all season and frankly I don't expect that to change today. Even if they do survive the series of rigged challenges an deadly traps, Ace Hardlight will be waiting to turn him and his siblings into filet!

Ratchet and his siblings chuckled as they discovered what the first part of the tournament was, it was just another bout of cycling weapons as they faced four waves of enemies and, once again, each one had a different weapon for fairness, but it still wasn't fair for the gladiators as they blasted their way through the waves of enemies with ease. After taking down that challenge they were moved to the long platform they had fought the last two Exterminators on and had to face wave after wave of enemies, which each one slain would make each of them faster and faster. It was easy to see that it was made to make them kill themselves in their haste, an interesting plan that could have done something if it wasn't for the fact that Autumn and Starswirl could slow themselves down with magic, a cover since Clank had hacked into the systems and just cancelled out the speed increase. With them working together the challenge barely lasted as they blasted and smashed their way through all of the enemies that were coming their way, much to the continued dismay of Dallas and Juanita, who just growled whenever they won a challenge or did something incredible.

After conquering that challenge, however, they were teleported back to the first part of the Battledome, where they found Ace waiting for them to arrive so they could fight, all while Dallas and Juanita called for him to utterly destroy them, as if all three of them were demons or something.

"This is it. No one else, besides you three and myself, have reached this point." Ace commented, drawing his gun as he activated his own power, the side that he showed when he was actually fighting someone and not exterminating whoever his target had to be at the time, because he knew that they had to put on a show for Vox, "Ratchet, Autumn, Starswirl... come and face your end!"

Ratchet and his siblings found that the first thing Ace did was make some of his phantom copies, which he used when he was in a fight and were totally different from his actual ability, before opening fire on the three of them, separating them from each other to the best of his ability. Since they were putting on a show Autumn and Starswirl tapped into their true power, surprising everyone since this was the first time they had really done this, before going to war with the clones that were in front of them, lashing out with magic and weapons at the same time. Ratchet also found that Ace had grenades that released waves of electricity, designed to paralyze his foes before he took them down, though while his siblings paid it no attention, due to their magic, he jumped over them with ease and continued the fight with his foe. The only other skill he had to be wary about was that Ace could launch missiles shaped in his symbol that hunted down whoever his target might be, and his clones could do the same thing, not that it mattered since Autumn and Starswirl were able to wipe out the ones chasing them with a small bit of magic.

Sadly, or at least it was that way to Ratchet, Ace didn't seem to have too many other abilities, meaning Vox kept him with just his gun skills and nothing else, because the fight ended with him knocking Ace to the ground, his nanotech reading zero in an instant, before the clones shattered under the might of his siblings. Of course Dallas and Juanita were outraged by this turn of events, even though they were forced to acknowledge their win again Ace Hardlight, elevating them to the rank of Liberator, turning the main color of their armor black, though he and his siblings resisted the urge to laugh at the name, given what they had planned. With Ace done for, and they made sure to make it convincing so Vox would call them to his office, those who sided with the announcers called for someone to take their heads, though the guards informed the siblings that Vox wanted to see them, which was according to plan. As such they wasted no time in leaving the arena and let the robotic guards take the three of them to where Vox was waiting, no doubt annoyed that Ace had been beaten, meaning it was time for them to take him down and get on with their lives.

Sure enough he was sitting in his chair, observing the station in all its dark glory, when they entered his domain and were left alone by the guards, meaning they still believed that the collars were operational and there was no reason to worry about them attacking their boss, which just meant everything was in their hands.

"You wanted to see us, Vox?" Ratchet inquired, though as he said that he found that the boxes that had cluttered up the office were already gone, meaning the greedy man had bet against Ace and was likely creating new merchandise to fill the void that was left behind.

"You three are the new grand champions of DreadZone, the hottest celebrities in the entire galaxy!" Vox remarked, where it was easy to see that he believed that they would bow to whatever he said and become the newest hero killers in Solana, meaning he was in for a rude awakening in the next few moments, "I've got a sweet deal lined up for you, which will make you rich and me richer... once we start a new season of Dread..."

"No deal." Autumn said, something that caused Vox to pause for a moment, as if he misheard her or something, while she and Starswirl stood at the ready, since there was no telling what he might do now that they were going against his will, but if he did what Ace expected it would be the end of him, "What? We're heroes, not criminals that want to make money by killing other heroes for sport."

"Besides, you don't have any cards to use against us." Starswirl added, as this would cause Vox to either make his move or just sit there and accept that they weren't going to abide by his desires to use them as money makers, the latter would be followed by them arresting him and hand him over to the authorities, given what Clank was up to.

"Oh yeah? You seem to be forgetting something." Vox stated, where he pulled out a switch that, when pressed while it was pointing at a contestant's collar, would set off one of the collars and kill whoever was wearing a DreadZone collar, though that was followed by a grin appearing on his face as he considered his apparent 'victory', "All three of you are still wearing my special DreadZone collars, which means that your lives are in my hand and if I say you'll become the new stars of my domain, well, that's what you'll do with a smile on your face!"

Ratchet stepped forward and pulled out his wrench for a moment, where he smashed the table with a mighty blow and stopped when he was face to face with Vox, who growled for a few seconds before pressing the button as he pointed it at his target, only nothing happened and caused the color to drain from his face. In that moment Ratchet raised his spare hand and removed the collar with ease, something that his siblings did as well and really shocked Vox when he realized the scene that was playing out before him, causing him to tap a button and pull up a screen containing the other heroes his people had captured. Sure enough nothing happened when he pressed the button again, even though he pressed it a few times before determining that his trump card had been deactivated, where the monitor changed before his eyes and revealed Clank and Al, who tapped a few buttons and freed all of the prisoners from their collars, causing the heroes to emerge and riot against the guards. The door opened behind them and Ace, younger than they remembered, walked up to where they were standing, though Ratchet smiled as Angela and Sasha, both in their adventure attire, followed him with a few Rangers flanking them, something that caused Vox's jaw to drop as his pet slug cowered in fear.

It took them no time to arrest Vox and cart him off the station, as well as free those wrongfully imprisoned by the man, but as everyone departed from the Shadow Sector, and no one was left on the station, Ace activated the self destruct and blew the entire station apart, leaving that part of their past behind as the siblings looked forward to what the future held for them, Clank, Angela, and Sasha.