As Ratchet was warped into the bowels of the station, he glanced around nervously. Something...doesn't seem right here... He would contact Clank, but he knew the little robot would already be trying to reach Twilight, away from the communications. Deciding to be on the safe side, he triggered his helmet...only to realize he couldn't open it. When he tried to speak, the synthesizers wouldn't work.
And then the cameras came down. Not good, he thought silently.
A screen dropped down, revealing Vox. "And here he is, Dreadzone fans," Vox explained magnanimously. "The vicious brute who so mercilessly slaughtered our champion...now trying to sabotage the Battledome itself. Will his lust for blood never stop?"
Ratchet growled angrily, but knew he could do nothing here. Whether he liked it or not, he had to play by the rules Vox had set up.
Vox continued his lies. "As I'm sure you've all noticed by now, loyal Dreadzone fans...this maniac has sealed you into your seats so you can't escape! And now he's going for the self destruct system of the Battledome. If he makes it, we're all dead. But I've anticipated his plans. Not only will he have to fight against the toughest robotic foes the Battledome has ever produced...but he will also have to best one last Exterminator...the strongest, toughest, most powerful Exterminator Ace Hardlight ever trained! And this Exterminator is bound and determined to avenge him...oh, I'm getting chills just thinking about it!"
As the cameras moved away, Vox leaned in. "Good luck, Ratchet," he whispered into the comms. "The timer has already started. If you don't make it to the controls in time...bye bye everyone...except me. I happen to be in a safe, remote viewing location." Cackling, Vox turned off the communication screen.
Ratchet growled to himself as he began to make his way through. Without Merc and Green backing him up, he'd have to rely on brute force to make it all the way through. He hoped he had enough weapons and ammo.
By the time Ratchet made it through the bowels, deactivating both generators along the way to free the other heroes, he was feeling quite battered. As if running low on ammo and nanotech weren't bad enough, but the entire time the announcers were going on and on about how bad he was, how he was responsible for the situation, and overall painting him to be a monster. What really confused and upset him, though, was that they never once referred to him by name. They always referred to him as 'that scoundrel' or 'Ace Hardlight's murderer', or some other horrible epitaph. It felt as though he was being slowly erased, to be replaced by the monster they were making him out to be.
Finally, he reached the control room for the self destruct system. He knew he needed to deactivate it to save the station. As he staggered in, however, three things caught his attention that made him question the situation. The first was that the controls were shielded completely, with no deactivation switch in sight. The second was that he could see nothing on the controls to indicate that they were active.
The third was the sight of the Exterminator. Even with the full body Dreadzone battle suit in the Exterminator colors, there was no mistaking that figure. "Twilight?" he tried to ask, but his words did not leave the suit. He tried to open his helmet, but it wouldn't open.
"You monster," Twilight growled as she approached, the suit around her horn focusing her magic output as she lifted numerous weaponry. "You killed my Father...and you killed Ace, who wanted to take care of me...without Daddy, there's no one left for me back in Solana...or anywhere...you've taken everything from me!"
With that last shout, she opened fire. Ratchet did his best to avoid the barrage, but there was just too much firepower. A few glancing blows hit him, and he knew he was in trouble. He knew the only way he'd survive this was if he started shooting...but that meant shooting Twilight.
"Fight back!" Twilight commanded, pulling her Omniwrench out. "You've killed so much already...surely a little pony would be nothing to you!" She seized her wrench in her forehooves. "Fight me!" She lunged in, swinging the wrench.
Desperately, Ratchet pulled his own wrench out to block the strike.
Twilight snarled. "And you took his Omniwrench!" she snapped. "Obviously for a trophy, since you didn't bother to learn to use it properly!" Taking the wrench in her magic again, she began delivering a barrage of blows which Ratchet struggled to defend against.
"Is that the best you've got?" Twilight demanded. "You're pathetic! You never would have stood a chance against Daddy or Ace in a fair fight with skills like this. You must have sabotaged them to get your victory...just as you tried to sabotage this station to kill everyone!" She leapt back, yanking out her Harbringer. "But that killing spree ends here!" Pointing it straight up, she fired off all the ammo.
Ratchet's eyes widened as he saw the targeting circles cover every square inch of ground in the arena save a tight circle around Twilight. There was no way he'd be able to position them both in the circle before the blasts came. He had a choice of pushing her out to take the blows...or taking them himself.
Oh shi- his thoughts began, only to be interrupted with agonized screams as he took several Harbringer shots unprotected. He staggered as the volley ended. I...I'm alive? he wondered. His musing was interrupted yet again as he coughed blood up into his helmet. His nanotech readout showed he had hit zero. He was dead, he just didn't know it yet. The next hit would start tearing his armor apart...tearing him apart.
Inside, he didn't care. He'd failed Twilight. He'd let her get sucked into this and twisted around until she was trying to kill him. He deserved this for failing her.
Twilight's wrench flew towards him...and to his amazement, a spin of the base caused the head to open up. An energy blade tore half the helmet off as the wrench struck him hard enough to send him spinning.
Twilight stalked towards him. "Any last words?" she asked, leveling the energy blade towards him.
Ratchet rolled over, coughing up blood as he looked into her eyes. "N...nice upgrade," he gasped out with a smile, his eyes flickering from the blade to her. "Have to show me...how it works sometime, Twi..."
Twilight's magic failed, and the wrench clattered to the floor. "D...D...Daddy?" she gasped out in shock, disbelief, and horror.
"What are you waiting for, Twilight?" Vox demanded over Twilight's comms. Ratchet was close enough he could hear it. "Avenge Ace! Finish him off!"
"But...but he's my Daddy..." Twilight whimpered.
Vox growled. "I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding...that wasn't a request!"
Twilight's collar suddenly flashed, and she shrieked in agony, staggering backwards as electricity coursed agonizingly through her body and battle suit.
"Twilight!" Ratchet screamed out, reaching desperately for her.