//------------------------------// // Deadlocked: Explosive Finish // Story: The Sparkle in his Eye // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// The audience watched with bated breath as Twilight screamed in agony. This wasn't supposed to happen. Twilight was supposed to finish off the bad guy, saving the day, and then everything would go back to normal. That was how it was always supposed to go. Even Twilight's speech during the fight had said that. And then Twilight had stopped, and claimed that Ratchet was her Daddy...and Vox had started shocking her. Vox's voice was once more audible to all in the Battle Dome as he ranted. "Do you really think you have a choice in this, Twilight? Well, you don't! You signed the contract: I own you now! I've worked too hard for too many months to have this fall apart on me just because you got squeamish! Do you have any idea how much setting up the double league cost, so you'd not know what was happening to Ratchet while you climbed your own ranks? How much it cost to ensure that neither of you ever witnessed any Vox Network broadcast about the other, so you'd fight your hardest just to find each other? I've invested billions into making this the greatest fight the Dreadzone has ever seen, bringing millions more into the fanbase! "And then of course there was Ace! None of this would have happened if he'd had enough charisma to keep people buying his junk! And then, of course, he starts babying you! Of course, he told me it was so he could use your adorability to sell his junk by proxy, but I knew better! You'd wrapped him around your little hoof, just like you've done to everyone you've ever met...except for me. If you were a bit more like me, you'd have turned that into a power play, wrapping the entire galaxy around your hoof and ruling with an iron horn! But no! You're such a goody four shoes that you genuinely care about everyone who falls under your spell! You make me sick! And that's why, when Ace lost to Ratchet, I ordered him terminated so I could spin that saccharine spiel about how he was brutally slain in the arena, to twist you around until you'd kill your own father without even realizing it! "And even though you've found out the truth, you're going to anyway...or I push this button, and every Deadlock collar in the arena save yours - and that includes the one around Ratchet's neck - goes off in a big blast, killing them all!" The audience gasped in shock. "...hey, why are all the fans looking like someone just shot their puppy?" Vox asked. After another moment, he asked, "Hey! Who set this thing to general broadcast?" "That would be me," a familiar voice spoke over communications. "Ace?" Vox gasped. "But you're dead!" "And you expected that to stop me," Ace replied. "Well if at first you don't succeed..." The sound of gunfire was heard over the broadcast, followed by static. Meanwhile, Twilight was still screaming...but to Ratchet's ears, the timbre had changed. She wasn't screaming in pain anymore. Her voice had become suffused with rage. Her eyes flared open, blazing white...and then cleared, her irises blazing red. Her coat suddenly changed from purple to white as her wings flared out, and her mane and tail burst into flame. The Deadlock collar around her neck melted off as the mystic flames consumed it, and her magic exploded off her body in a chaotic torrent that began to rip the Dreadzone apart. Ratchet managed to push himself to his feet to keep an eye on her, and was rather surprised when his own collar short circuited and fell off of him. Hearing screams of panic and the start of a stampede, he came to the conclusion that the short circuit had been more or less universal. Either that, or they'd noticed the chunks of the station being ripped from their moorings to swirl around in the visible magic vortex around Twilight. As the viewers started to panic, several Dreadzone automated defenses activated to keep them in their seats...only to be blasted apart by ship mounted weaponry. "Attention civilians!" a voice boomed out. "This is Captain Qwark, pro-tem commander of the Solana Galactic Federation flagship Phoenix! A level five quantum distortion has been detected within the station. You must evacuate immediately. The Starship Phoenix and others stand ready to accept civilian evacuees. Please board in an orderly and responsible manner." Captain Qwark himself stood at the foot of the Phoenix' boarding ramp, ushering civilians inward. Seeing one Deadlock collar that hadn't disengaged, he grabbed hold of either side and jerked his arms, tearing it in half and crushing the explosive circuitry at the same time. "That was scientifically impossible," a familiar voice told him. "Nothing's impossible for Captain Qwark!" Qwark proclaimed, not as a brag but as a comfort for the child whose collar he'd just broken. Then he recognized the voice. "Clank! There you are, little buddy!" He knelt down over the tiny robot. "We're here to rescue you! I see you've got Al with you...and four other robots I haven't met!" "This is Merc, Green, Barb, and Owloiscius," Clank stated quickly. "Who!" Owloiscius proclaimed. "No time for that!" Qwark countered. "Where's Ratchet and Twilight?" "If I'm not mistaken...at or near the center of the level 5 quantum distortion," Clank replied. "Yeah, sounds like them," Qwark agreed. "Well, you all get on board. I'll be right back!" Hopping onto a nearby hoverbike, he zoomed into the station as Clank, not knowing what else to do, took over guiding the civilians into the ships. In the center of the distortion caused by her magic, Twilight continued to scream as the station was torn apart around her. Her magic poured off her body, warping the very fabric of reality as the undirected etheric energy continued to build up, the pressure turning it into a swirling etheric vortex, tearing everything around her to bits. Nearby, Ratchet started to stagger towards the vortex. He'd been listening, and Twilight's screams had changed. They were no longer full of rage. Now, they were full of fear. She had lost control of her magic, and it had been fully unleashed. And now, it looked like it was about to tear her apart. Steeling himself, Ratchet took a step forward, and then another. He had failed her so much already...he would not fail her again. How could he call himself her father if he wouldn't face this for her? Stepping into the vortex, he felt it tearing at the very fabric of his being, but he steeled himself and continued forward. He didn't know how long it took him to reach the center, but eventually he felt the fur of Twilight's soft face against his. "D...D...Daddy?" she whimpered. Making soft shushing noises, Ratchet wrapped his arms around Twilight, holding her close, ignoring how the mystic flames of her mane burned his arm and hand as he stroked her. "It's alright," he said softly. "It's okay. It's all over..." After a time of comforting, Twilight's coloration returned to normal and the flames turned back into hair as the magic began to disperse. Clinging to Ratchet, she cried into his shoulder, dizzy from magic exhaustion, her reserves completely spent. "It's all over," Ratchet promised. "We're going home..." As he turned to leave, however, he was knocked aside as the helpless Twilight was yanked out of his grasp. "Not yet!" Vox crowed as he laughed, sticking something to Twilight's armor. "Did you forget the part where I said I owned her?" He dropped her to the floor as the device he'd attached primed itself and began to whir. "Twilight!" Ratchet yelled out, staggering to his feet. "Let her go, Vox!" His hands gripped both discarded Omniwrenches, Twilight's with its blade already out. "Or what? You'll kill me?" Vox laughed dismissively. "You're both on your last legs, I've already seen that! And you might want to pay closer attention to that device I attached. It's a thermal detonator, and big enough to take out this entire station! It's primed to go off if it gets too far away from me, if I send a mental command through my cybernetics...or if it stops detecting my vital signs!" His insane laughter filled the air. "Oh but don't worry...there is a way to get it off her. It just has to attach to another suit of active Dreadzone armor...oh, and once attached, it prevents the armor from being removed. So...what's it going to be, Ratchet? Leave her here with me? Or let the bomb attach to you and try to send her away...knowing she'll never leave you?" As Ratchet hesitated, another voice spoke up. "Any active suit of Dreadzone armor, huh?" Ace asked, scooping Twilight into his arms. With a click, the bomb attached to Ace's Exterminator armor. "You!" Vox snarled. "What do you think this will accomplish? They won't-" Ace interrupted Vox's rant by grabbing him by his throat and putting him in a one armed choke hold. "Go ahead. Set the bomb off. You know I'm not bluffing in that I won't hesitate to take you down with me." "But they'll never escape!" Vox shouted out. "You sure about that?" Ace asked as a hoverbike crashed through the weakened wall, Qwark atop it. "Qwark! Get them out of here!" Qwark took one look at the situation and nodded. Grabbing hold of Ratchet and Twilight, he slung them into his lap before turning the bike around and gunning it back for the ship. "And you think that accomplishes anything?" Vox laughed. "I've just got you on a leash again, Ace! And with this noble sacrifice bit, they won't hesitate to come back to try and rescue you! They'll never escape!" Ace smirked. "Except for one thing, Vox. My HUD just told me that there's no living thing within the blast radius of this bomb except you and me now." Drawing his gun, he put it to Vox's forehead. "Twilight and Ratchet are never going to have to worry about you again. I said I wouldn't hesitate to take you with me. I may be all outta extra lives...but you're out of luck. I'll see you in hell." He pulled the trigger. "Are you certain you're all alright?" Sasha asked over the comms. "As alright as can be expected," Ratchet replied. "Twilight's...well, she'll be okay eventually, I'm sure. And I'll be okay once she is." "You both could use some serious medical attention," Sasha pointed out. "The new medical facilities where we're going are state of the art," Ratchet pointed out. "And...well, we all need to decompress from what's happened. We need the time off. And..." "And you need to help her get over Ace," Sasha concluded. Ratchet glanced to the backseat of the ship, where Twilight was locked in fitful slumber. "...yeah," Ratchet replied. "She...she doesn't want to believe he's really dead. He came back from being 'dead' once already, after all. And...to be honest, after seeing how much she cares about him, I kinda want to believe it too." Sasha chuckled softly. "Alright Ratchet," she said finally. "Go be a Father. You all deserve a vacation after all this. I've already seen to it that no one will know where you are outside our inner circle, and none of them will spill the beans." "Thanks, Sasha," Ratchet replied. "We'll be back...once we're ready." "Take your time." Turning off the communicator, Ratchet leaned back with a sigh, rubbing his heavily bandaged arm and hand. "Clank?" "Setting course for Pokitaru," Clank replied. "The resort manager has already received our landing and privacy requests. We are in the registry for the Presidential Suite, listed in the resort directories only as VIPs." Smiling, Ratchet reached out to gently stroke Twilight's face. "We'll get better," he promised her. "It's going to be okay..."