Aboard the Starship Phoenix, Ratchet carefully managed the controls, keeping track of the readings the systems were giving him. Al stood at the science officer's station, while Clank was at the second in command's chair. Twilight was taking a nap in her room. Qwark was in Metropolis, acting as Sasha's VP. Ratchet was a little bit upset that he couldn't fill such a role himself - he already missed spending time with Sasha - but the role of the VP was to shake hands, look good, and make the President look good...and Qwark was better at political ass-kissery than he could ever be.
As he thought about Sasha, Clank informed him of a transmission. "Incoming call from the Galactic President. The new Galactic President."
Ratchet looked up happily as Sasha appeared on the screen. "Greetings, Madame President," he greeted, halfway between respectful and teasing. "You seem to be doing well."
Sasha chuckled ruefully. "Greetings, Captain," she teased right back. "I see you're taking good care of my old ship."
Ratchet smiled. "She needed some tuning up, but I've kept her in good shape. How's life in the Oblong Office?"
Sasha stifled a groan as she rubbed her head. "I never should have let you talk me into this. So much paperwork, and these idiots constantly spewing meaningless rhetoric to 'explain' why what I've proposed is impossible...and half the time, they don't even know what I'm talking about, let alone what they're talking about."
Ratchet sucked in a breath through his teeth in sympathy. "Anything I can do to lend a hand?"
"Actually, there is," Sasha replied morosely. "I'm afraid I bring bad news. As you know, Captain Starshield disappeared over a month ago. I've just been informed that he's been killed."
Ratchet closed his eyes in sympathy as Al gasped in disbelief. Captain Starshield had been one of the 2nd-tier heroes, those who had been high profile before Qwark stole most of the spotlight. They'd done their work, supported good causes, and overall were good people just looking out for themselves and others. "What happened?" Ratchet asked, doing his best to keep his own emotions in check. He'd need to be strong for this.
"According to reports, he was involved in some sort of illegal combat sport," Sasha replied. "Something called Dreadzone." She called up an image of a bluish skinned slug man in a red suit jacket. "We believe it was being run by this man, Gleeman Vox. He operates an underground media empire from within the Shadow Sector."
"You mean that lawless region of space on the fringes of the Solana Galaxy?" Ratchet asked.
Sasha managed a smile. "I see you've been keeping up with the paperwork yourself," she complimented. "But you need to be careful. Many other heroes have disappeared, which leads me to think that not all of those who have been in these 'games' are in willingly."
"And Ratchet, Clank, and Twilight are the big hero names recently," Al concluded.
"Exactly," Sasha confirmed. "I wanted to warn you-"
The signal became interrupted as the ship alarms went off.
"Unidentified craft approaching!" Clank called out.
Ratchet leapt from the Captain's chair, racing for the crew quarters, but he didn't make it ten feet before the assaulting troops teleported in and had the three of them cornered.
Twilight groaned as she came to. She found herself staring out of a visor in a sealed combat helmet. A robot of some sort was working on her, and not speaking. She tried to talk herself, but found no sound came out.
She struggled to recall what had led up to this. She had been aboard the Phoenix, taking a nap. The Red Alert had gone off, and she'd leapt out of bed, racing for the bridge and her station. The moment she'd stepped through the door of her quarters, she felt lightning arcing along her horn, and she blacked out. And now she was here.
When she tried to focus her magic, an alert displayed on her visor. She paused, waiting for the alert to pass as the robot made a few tweaks. Glancing around, she was only able to take in the basics of a med bay before being teleported somewhere.
When she reappeared, she was on all fours, and she was able to see she was in some sort of brownish-red armor. Her visor continued giving her details...something about being a 'new contestant'.
A new message appeared on the visor. 'Calibrating targeting matrix.'
A green hologram of a robot appeared to her left. When she turned to face it, it vanished, to reappear to her right. Frustrated, she seized the weapon in her hip holster - her visor identified it as one half of the Double Viper weapon - and fired at the hologram. When the hologram reappeared on a higher ledge, she shot it again.
'Calibration complete,' the visor read out. A map then appeared, indicating her current location and a destination.
Following the map, she shot three more holo-targets, causing an energy shield to drop, granting her access to a teleporter. On activation, she came out in a large, open area that was plainly an arena of some sort.
A holo-screen appeared, revealing the grinning face of Gleeman Vox. Twilight's helmet opened up in response to a button pressed on her peytral.
"Greetings, hero," Vox gloated, "and welcome...to Dreadzone! Rest assured you are now far beyond the reach of hope. There will be no rescues, no pardons, no possibility of escape. You are now a contestant on the greatest holo-vision program the galaxy has ever known! A celebrity gladiator, battling for the pleasure of a billion screaming fans across the Shadow Sector and beyond! Chances are you'll be dead by tomorrow. But! Those of you who play the game with skill and strategy will earn a chance to win your freedom. So, good luck...hero. We'll be watching you."
The holo-screen closed on Gleeman Vox's maniacal laughter. Several robots came out of various ports to attack Twilight, but she quickly hauled out her Omniwrench - which she now discovered was still with her - and flung it forward, activating its return gyroscope so it would circle around her as she moved. Hauling out the Magma Cannon she also found herself equipped with - she recognized it as a variation of the Shock Cannon - she quickly blasted the larger robots to bits while her wrench took down the smaller ones before it returned to her.
As she finished, Gleeman Vox appeared on a larger screen, and proceeded to explain the Deadlock collar locked around her neck. She quickly grasped it was the basic 'shock and bomb' collar that was stock for every 'captured hero fighter' film she'd ever seen at Holostar...including one she and Clank had starred in.
She was about to ignore it, but a message appeared on her visor screen.
Oh, and Twilight...we're well aware of your 'magical' abilities, and have isolated the wavelength it utilized. That's why your collar is tight enough around your neck to compress some of your fur, where you'll always feel it. If your collar is exposed to your magical frequency - whether from being tinkered with by a tool held in your telekinesis, you casting a spell on it, or you trying to teleport with your magic...and a signal will be sent from your collar...and Team Dark Star will be down its primary competitor when Ratchet's collar explodes.
Vox
Twilight swallowed, whimpering. She knew she couldn't try to escape now...not if the slightest touch of her magic on the collar would kill Ratchet. Taking a nearby teleporter, she returned to what her visor indicated was her private Dreadzone containment area.
This arc won't take long considering deadlocked is the easiest and shortest originally console ratchet and clank game
... dafuq?
*One quick google search later*
... When did I miss this freaking game? This is BRUTAL.
I mean... wow, wowowow. I didn't even know Sasha turning into mayor was CANON!
Uh... I'm going to look into the original game quickly, because, WOW, this is the first competent and terryfying villain I have ever seen in a Ratchet and Clank game, how you are going to turn this around to make it 'Twilight is OP' I have no idea.
I think RINO is definitely banned if Twilight tinkers with it.
man i could get this game to drop in frames in combat
Fuck yea Deadlocked, time for some robot Al!!!
Oh boy, time for the third game!!!
6179958 But hey, it's fun as hell.
Oh, that sleazy slug will get his in spades soon enough. I never played Deadlocked, but I'll enjoy this arc all the same.
Ahhh... This ain't gonna be pretty... Though I think that two might get to stretch her diplomacy muscles here, as well as her mecanical skills... I dunno, I always kinda felt bad for reactor, especially now since twi was able to "rescue" quark...
6179961 deadlocked? ohh its like the only game whit 100% no clank on your back.... and SOOO MUCH KILLING!!!! IT MAKES A PS2 FPS DROP!
6179961 Actually, the RYNO isn't in this game, instead. they have the Harbinger. The Harbinger is the last weapon in this video. Go to 5:40
6179971 Fourth actually.
6179971 This is the fourth game.
6180000 What does Qwark have to do with Reactor?
Vox is screwed nuff said
Excellent chapter
Well, they never mentioned her manipulating something to manipulate a tool to let her remove the collar. Which she can do with the expected loss of precision manipulation she usually uses. Of course, she could also try her luck with making a robot that can serve the same purpose. Of course, she might break it during the process.
6180028 similar case of pride gone to ones head, except reactor became what he is over a girl first
6166082 There's a good Let's Play of the first and second Bayonetta games by a fellow named Scribe. He does a complete walkthrough and provides informative commentary on the game and doesn't talk during cutscenes, and his vidoes are general 20 to 30 minutes long.
6180015
Wait, what? Wasn't the game with Nefarious the second game? I think I'm confused.
And I thought I hated Gleeman Vox before...
Where's the Blazing Twilight emoticon when you really want it?
6180067 Look at the story's description, it has a list of the games.
6180107
Ok, now my confusion is fixed.
6180059
I don't watch playthroughs with commentary.
My only exception is Let's Plays of Youtubers who I already watch for other things. Like Josh Scorcher's Let's Plays of Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix and...whatever skating game he's playing now.
Ya dreadlock is twilight going to get her own team or are we going with the co op campaign im so neivcyted
I always thought of him as a reptilian/shark man myself. What with the head fin, neck ridges and those teeth. Also don't forget that gold cybernetic arm of his.
6180138 I feel your confusion that skating game came a little out of left field
I hate villains like this guy... they're scum with a big budget, lots of minions, and need to be crushed! The explosive collar thing does confuse me a bit, can Twilight use her magic on things other than it or no magic at all??? And will Sasha put some Executive Power into effect to rescue Twilight, Ratchet, and Clank via busting in with Sparkle Squad????
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
.... Vox is a deadman, and if he's lucky it will be quick...
Yep. Vox, if you're really luck, it'll just be Ratchet, Clank, and Twilight killing you. Well, actually, if you're really lucky, you'll be taken out by a nice impersonal ship-to station blast when the armada arrives. If you're unlucky... Have fun with the nightmare!
...Oh, yes. And there's the question of what happened to everyone else on the ship. The Phoenix surely had more than four people aboard.
6180838
Actually...no it didn't. The Phoenix is a state of the art ship that can be run with a bare minimum of crew. Most of it is automated.
6180895
Ah, thanks. I guess most of the people aboard before were there for the active war effort rather than for normal ship operations.
6180902
Yup.
6180550 he is gona wich he fell on his own sword.
If Twilight is Ratchet's partner, does that mean that Merc and Green won't be in it? Because they're some of my favourite characters in this.
6181310 Remembering that they would be removed in co-op games, I doubt they'll be there for more than cameos.
so basically she has to remove ratchets collar first, some how slip it on vox and then teleport
i always hated Gleeman vox with passion...
sheesh, he was annoying
6181518
Or she coukd build a device that disables all the collar signals.
I think Vox will be stupid enough to make Nightmare Twilight to come back.
Wow, Vox has no idea what he's gotten himself into this time. Now, with just Ratchet and Clank, he would have been able to get away with it. But Twilight's in the picture here. She's not just a hero, she's adored by the galaxy. A competent Quark will go after him. The Q-Force will go after him. Sasha will go after him. The entire galaxy will be out to get Gleeman Vox once they know he has her captive.
Ah, Deadlocked. This was my favorite PS2 Ratchet game for one main reason: 2-player co-op! If I knew how, I would so mod that feature into the other games.
So, will R&T have to deal with their collars exploding when they get too far apart like in the game's co-op mode?
6181310 ....... Given how Twilight improved the Rangers of Sparkle Squad.... I am very scared of what she could do to help improve Merc and green.....
6181649 unless the collars are on a constant feedback loop where they need a constant signal to keep from going off
Is there a pic of Twi's new armor? If not, could you, during youre free time, maybe make one.
6185992
I have no talent for visual art. Only the written.
And no, there isn't a picture as far as I know.
Honestly, you're doing a great job here. Wondering if the Sparkle Squad will be in Deadlocked. The only part I'm worried about is when you get to Size Matters. That was my least favorite game out of all of them. I just didnt like it.
6183571
That has the risk of killing all participants every time something causes interference. Fun the first few times but bad for business in the long run.
If Gleeman Vox keeps torturing Twilight like that, I think some of your readers will tear through reality just to strangle him. XD
I wouldn't put it past some of the more hardcore fans.
*pumps shotgun*
I'm comin for ya Vox...
Nobody fucks with Twilight.
6186288
yeah the grapfics SUCKED compared to the first game... it was like looking at a cartoon in a terminator movie sequel....
it mostly was a filler....