Deadlocked: The Arena
When Ratchet and Starlight emerged from the teleport pad they found out what was in their containment suite; an area for someone to sit in a chair all day and brief them on whatever missions they were supposed to go through and a lab area that appeared to be equipped for upgrading robots. There also appeared to be two docking areas, one that they guessed would send them into the arena when they needed to do arena matches while the other had to take them to the other worlds that Vox controlled. In the middle of their containment area was some sort of message board that told them who the other contestants in the season were, though the yellow colored names had to be the infamous Exterminators that they had heard of in their research.
Sunset's name, of course, was nowhere on the list, indicating that Vox intended to keep her as leverage against them until he was tired of all of them, though both Ratchet and Starlight knew that he would never reach that point.
"Good to see that the both of you are up and about." a voice commented, causing them to turn to the lab for a moment and find Al approaching them, though he was also wearing one of the blast collars, "I hate the armor that you guys are wearing... its worse than what you were wearing during the war against Nefarious, as both of them were made from cheaper metals than what the Magnaplate armor was made out of."
"They can make due with what they were given," a voice behind them said, to which they spotted Clank, sporting a headset that had to connect to both of their helmets, "just as they did back when we started our first adventure. Besides, its not like either of them can complain to Vox about it considering that he's got Sunset trapped in some unknown location at the moment."
"She's not on the station, that much I can tell you right now," Starlight said, letting out a sigh as they stood around the central terminal for a moment, "That means that Sunset's being kept on one of the planets that are scattered throughout the Shadow Sector, though which one we'll never be able to figure out unless Sunset has the opportunity to exercise her magic."
Ratchet knew that Starlight and Sunset had developed a special connection after the amount of times the Cores had been used, as in Starlight was able to sense Sunset's magical energy and could easily tell where her sister was. The problem was that this was a fairly new skill for her and she was unable to tell where Sunset was half the time she tried to sense her, which meant that they couldn't rely on that ability to figure out where Vox was keeping their sister. The other problem that Starlight faced was the fact that Sunset was currently asleep at the moment, as the more active Sunset was the greater Starlight was able to hone in on her position.
For now they were going to have to play by Vox's rules and fight their way through the arena, otherwise they'd never be able to leave this place at all. Though even as that thought crossed Ratchet's mind he noticed that Starlight was staring off into the distance, as if she was looking for something other than Sunset.
"Something up Starlight?" Ratchet asked, his curiosity getting the better of him, though there was nothing else to do until they were called into the arena or to one of the other planets.
"I'm feeling one of the Cores nearby," Starlight replied, a light smile appearing on her face for a few seconds, "and not one of the three what we've already recovered. I wonder which one Vox got his hands on..."
Ratchet, Clank, and Al shared a look with each other, because they were all surprised that Starlight could even sense the presence of the Core after discovering that they had been kidnapped and put in this place. They knew better than to tell her that she might be wrong, because so far the last three villains that they had encountered had one of the legendary Cores in their possession. If Starlight said that she could sense one in the space station then there had to be one, so all Ratchet wondered at the moment was where Vox was keeping the stone. They all knew that the stone would be in their possession when they finally put this place behind them, but first they had to play the game and pass whatever tests were thrown in their way.
Ratchet and Starlight ended up standing beside another machine that was near the central terminal, where they discovered they could use that machine to purchase weapon mods from with whatever bolts they earned in their fights, before they were summoned to the Battledome for their first test.
"I would wish you good luck, but that would only be wasted on the two of you." Al commented, a small smile appearing on his face for a few seconds, "Now, go show them how well the two of you fight together... and that they made a mistake keeping the two of you together."
"Of course they made a mistake... though it wasn't in keeping us together." Ratchet replied, glancing behind him and taking a look at the various planets that they would be visiting in the near future, "Vox is going to provoke the sleeping bear that he's 'captured'... and he's going to regret everything that happens after she wakes up."
If Clank and Al were wondering what had happened to Sunset, and Ratchet suspected that the thought had crossed both of their minds, they now had the answer to that question. Now they knew why the two of them were even bothering to do through with Vox's mad demands, because Sunset was being held somewhere as leverage.
"Then we had better get to work," Clank commented, beckoning for Al to join him, before turning back to Ratchet and Starlight, "Show them just how skilled you are."
Starlight nodded and boarded the ship that had arrived to take them to the Battledome, though the moment that Ratchet was inside as well the doors closed and they were taken to the arena.
As they reached their destination they got a look at the people that would be commenting on their fights for the foreseeable future; a green skinned announcer with antennae that dressed in a blue suit and a red headed fembot that appeared to be his cohost. They appeared to be at the end of their comments for whoever was in front of Ratchet and Starlight, as they immediately started speaking about them before they even in the arena.
"And it looks like Team Dark Star is making a huge success in the Dreadzone so far," the green skinned announcer said, though he appeared to have another thought to add, "not that such a streak can last long with the lineup we've got. Then again, a new contender or two always shakes things up a little."
His cohost seemed either annoyed by something that had been said before Ratchet and Starlight had arrived, or by the fact that the two of them were even standing there to begin with.
"Next up we have... um, let me see here... Ratchet and his sister Starlight Glimmer?" the announcer continued, as if he was somewhat confused by who they even were, "Huh, never heard of either of them. Well, they're probably just intermission material folks, but don't worry! We'll be back with the action, once they are taken care of."
At that point Ratchet and Starlight entered the Battledome, though they kept their helmets off for a few moments so everyone that watched the news knew exactly who was standing in the arena at the moment, before they activated their helmets and let them cover their faces once more.
"So these are Ratchet and Starlight..." the green skinned alien said, sounding almost unimpressed by the two of them, "They definitely wont make it far folks, so don't bother going anywhere."
"You never know, they might surprise you," the fembot replied, sounding a little but annoyed about something, "I'm just surprised that the third one is missing..."
"Ugh... what third one?" the other announcer said, sounding a little worried that his partner knew something that he didn't.
"Sunset Shimmer," the fembot replied, though that was when her tone turned from annoyance to something of reverence, as if she knew about Sunset and everything that she had done.
"Wait... you don't mean..." the other announcer said, though the way he spoke easily told anyone that he knew what his partner was talking about, all without saying the words himself.
"Yes... the Goddess of Destruction herself..." the fembot answered, allowing everyone to know exactly what they were talking about, as if she didn't care that Vox might be listening to everything she was saying.
Ratchet allowed a smile to creep onto his face as he and Starlight pulled out their new weapons as thee enemies charged at them, mainly because he was pleased that the announcers knew about Sunset's existence. Now that everyone knew that Sunset had to have been captured along with them, and he was hoping that they all knew it, then it was only a matter of time until they forced Vox to let her out of her cell for some time. Their first wave of enemies appeared to be a group of Battledome gladiators that were accompanied by some little robotic creatures, which reminded them of the robot mutts they saw on their first adventure, and some spinning blade spheres.
Once those enemies had been cleared out of the way a set of platforms appeared at the edge of the arena platform they had been fighting on, though it only went forward and they had little choice in the matter. They rapidly crossed the two platforms and jumped down onto a walkway, where they opened fire on the gladiator robots that were waiting for them to arrive. It was much easily to deal with those robots, as they were quite literally the only thing in the immediate area for them to fight, though once they were all dead another set of platforms appeared before them. This time it brought them straight to what appeared to be a larger combat arena, where they had to fight more of the gladiator robots and spinning blade spheres, as well as another foe that looked like a cross between some sort of fish and one of the other aliens they had encountered on their adventures.
As they fought their new enemies they noticed that several dropships came in from time to time, dropping off more enemies for them to fight against, though Starlight also decided to blow one of them up before it could do so, which actually earned some cheers from the people who were watching them. The moment the groups on the first platform were taken care of a walkway appeared and connected them to the second platform, where they repeated what they had just did a second time. While they fought the second wave of enemies Starlight pulled out the Magma Cannon and used it against those that were coming their way, though Ratchet stuck to his Vipers the entire time.
Once all of the enemies were dealt with a bolt crank appeared in the middle of the platform, though once Ratchet turned it all the way around another walkway appeared at the edge of the platform they were on, so they jumped onto it and decided to find out what else they had to destroy before they could leave the arena. What they found, however, was a massive turret that was surrounded by a shield, though the moment they reached its platform something was teleported in front of Starlight, though she immediately recognized what it was and picked it up before the turret noticed them.
"What did they give us?" Ratchet asked over their communication line, keeping his eyes on the turret as it started up, while at the same time wondering if it would be of any use to them.
"Its an EMP device," Starlight replied, charging out of her hiding spot and loosing the gadget on the turret's shield, disabling both it and the barrier protecting it, "Now, let's bring it down before it can come back online."
That was easier said than done, as they opened fire on it the moment its shield was done, though it did come back online and immediately targeted Starlight, but before it could fire at her it exploded. As the turret fell apart Clank informed them that they had complete the challenge that they had been running through, earned a Green Medal along the way, and unlocked the first planet that they would have to travel to. Once the two of them knew that they were finished in the arena they returned to the ship that had brought them into the arena and took off, heading back to the containment area so they could plan their next course of action.
At the same time, however, they would begin the search for Sunset and the area that Vox was keeping her in, so they could rescue her before something set her off.
Vox stared at the remains of the turret that Ratchet and Starlight had finished destroying before their departure, though when he would normally be overjoyed by the carnage he was, in fact, outraged beyond belief. One of his announcers, one of the best in the business in fact, had let slip that there was another member of the little family that he had captured. Now all of the fans knew that Sunset was out there, somewhere, so it was only a matter of time until someone decided to ask him to allow her to join her brother and sister in the arena, even if that meant that she didn't have to go through whatever they had done before he 'allowed' it to happen.
If not for the fact that the announcer was one of the best, and very hard to replace at the moment, he would have slipped one of the collars onto her neck and detonated it without a second thought, but he couldn't do that at the moment.
"Uh...sir?" a robot said over the intercom, interrupting the thoughts that had been going through Vox's mind at that exact moment, "You might want to take a look at this..."
"What is it?" Vox demanded angrily, though sometimes he wondered why he even bothered to keep some of his worker robots around at all, when all they did was mostly irate him, "You know how I feel about interruptions when I'm scheming!"
"Well, sir... it's the latest focus group surveys regarding the new contestants..." the robot replied, indicating why it was important that he had interrupted his boss, "from the viewers..."
"Customers!" Vox growled, though his mind turned to the bolts he was currently making and that calmed him down just a bit, "If I didn't need their bolts, I wouldn't put up with them... what is it?"
"Well... its about Sunset Shimmer," the robot replied, knowing that even mentioning what he was about to mention could very well get him killed, but he also knew that his boss deserved to know what was going on, "Apparently, after the announcers announced that she was missing, a petition appeared following the end of the broadcast, one that indicated that the viewers would like to see her on the show at some point in the future. There's a fairly large percentage of our viewers asking for her appearance."
"What sort of percentage are we talking about?" Vox asked, knowing that there had to be quite a large number of viewers on the petition for the robot to even bother bringing it to his attention.
"Roughly seventy-five percent sir," the robot replied, to which the screen changed to reveal some charts that had been made, "which is about a good ninety million viewers. Now they haven't said that they would boycott Vox Media, rather they are expressing an interest in seeing Sunset join her family once or twice... and they're all willing to pay more for the opportunity."
"Just how much are we talking here?" Vox inquired, because it would have to be quite a pretty sum of bolts for him to even consider allowing Sunset out of the cage she had been trapped inside.
"Thirty to fifty thousand per viewer." the robot replied, bringing up another chart, though this one indicated how much he would make if he allowed Sunset to leave her cage for a moment or two.
Vox looked at the numbers and the amount of bolts that would be put in his pocket if he allowed Sunset to take part in Dreadzone, though the only problem was that the collars wouldn't work on her. He had hired a scientist to keep watch over Sunset, though for some reason the collars always deactivated themselves near her despite the fact that she was asleep at the moment. That was why they had created the cage that they had placed Sunset inside, because it seemed to be the only thing that they could hold her in without it going offline for some reason. If he let her out of the cage he was sure that he would be hard pressed to put her back inside, though that was when he remembered the collars that Ratchet and Starlight were wearing.
He could always threaten her with their lives, because if the two of them were willing to fight in the arena to keep her safe then one would assume that the same could be said for Sunset.
"Open a line with Sunset's handler," Vox ordered, making up his mind on the matter, "I'd like some words with her before we attempt to use our captive for more profits."
"How long are you going to keep pretending that your asleep?"
Sunset let out a sigh as she opened her eyes, revealing that she was currently trapped in some sort of circular cage that offered her little room to move around, though beyond that she found that she was in a room that almost looked like the one she and Starlight kept the Cores in. The room, however, was separated into two stories, as the second story had a glass wall that allowed people to watch her all the time, though inside that section of the room she spotted a group of scientists running around. Clearly they were either trying to run tests on her or they were keeping tabs on the condition of her body, though at the moment she really didn't care.
She looked down at herself and found that she had reverted back to her alicorn from, which meant that her fusion with Searing had worn off while she had been knocked out.
"Ah, I see that you finally decided to join us." the voice continued, causing her to look back at the scientists that were staring down at her, though one of them was pressing the intercom button at the moment, "Hello Sunset Shimmer."
"Professor Nora... I was wondering when we'd be running into you again," Sunset replied, a frown appearing on her face, "I had heard that you escaped from prison shortly after the defeat of Dr. Nefarious, but I would have assumed that you would have kept yourself hidden until the heat was off of you."
"I came here for two reasons," the former professor said, a smile appearing on her face as she stared down at Sunset, "The first reason is because the Shadow Sector is the perfect place to hide from the authorities, not to the amount of bolts that my new employer gives me for making sure his contestants are healthy before they enter Dreadzone is definitely helpful. The second reason is that I can exact my revenge on the three people that wronged me; you, Ratchet, and Starlight."
"Which means that this cage is designed to explode whenever you or your employer desire it to," Sunset commented, her frown turning to a smirk for a second as she saw the look of annoyance that flashed on Nora's face, "Then I guess I'll be staying here until my family wins and secures my freedom."
"I'm afraid that its not quite that simple." Nora replied, to which a wall to Sunset's right opened up to reveal a screen that had to connect to the rest of the Dreadzone, "Vox has decreed that you can fight in the arena as well, despite the fact that I have told him that it would be impossible to put you back in your cage once your fight was over. Then he reminded me of something, that both of your siblings are wearing special collars that will detonate if you displease Vox in any way or break any of his rules.
There are four planets that your family needs to visit and win metals from, though the first set includes the Battledome as some sort of warm up, so that leaves three. Vox has told me that he'll pull out Ratchet and Starlight when they decide to allow you to take on one of the planets that they could go through, but they're only allowed to let you out once per circuit. Vox has also determined that your 'alicorn' form is not appropriate for the arena, so he's asked me to get you fitted for some sort of form that is appropriate for your position as the 'Goddess of Destruction'. Personally I'd rather just kill you now and get it over with, but at least you'll get to see some sunlight before your eventually demise in the near future..."
Sunset allowed her magic to wrap around her, twisting her form into the fusion state that she and Searing used while releasing a burst of energy that shattered the screen near her and shook the room itself.
"Do not think that you can control the Goddess of Destruction," Sunset growled, crossing her legs and taking a seat once more, all while keeping her eyes on the former professor, "I'll fight to keep my family safe, but if you so much as think about pressing the button that will detonate those collars... well, let's just say that I'll ruin more than just a holoscreen."
Sunset smiled as Nora's face paled, as if she realized what her 'captive' was capable of doing when she focused her mind on something, though she closed her eyes and turned to meditation. She would show Vox, and whoever was working for him, what would happen if she was pissed off or annoyed, though she could tell that she and Searing were looking forward to showing off a little bit.
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*starts singing* Someone's going to get it!
7805043 Its funny that Vox thinks that he can use Sunset for his own gain, all without it backfiring on him at all.
Even his head scientist knows that they might have goofed up.
7805378 Hence my singing.
7805382 Its also kind of funny that Vox doesn't approve of Sunset's alicorn form, and instead prefers a more 'anthro' form for her to use when she's in the arena. Its funny because he's fine with Starlight running around, almost as if one pony is more than enough for him.
7805401 Thrice-blasted anti-brony. Because, you know, her other form is so much weaker.
7805419 Vox has practically doomed himself. Sunset, in her fusion state, has to be ten times stronger than her pony form.
Besides, we already know that she's going to blow something up... the question is what receives her anger first.
7805428 Hmmm. Professor, planet, or big bad. Decisions decisions. Or all at once. That seems more likely. And I suddenly have this mental image of Sunset and Searing asking if it's okay to blow up this planet. And Ratchet and Starlight replying "You know what? Blow em all up. Do the galaxies a favor."
7805439 Get them all together, on the Dreadzone space station, and have Sunset and Searing nuke the thing from orbit.
Ratchet and Starlight are going to be in for quite the surprise when they find out that Sunset's being allowed to help them in getting through the arena.
7805458 Especially since it would give Starlight time to plot and scheme (being a former villain's got to have SOME kind of benefit, even if she doen't remember it) how to get those collars off.
7805478 Right, because Vox said that her magic would set off Sunset's cage... but he never said anything about Ratchet and Al helping her examine it and figure out a plan of attack. I honestly see her trying to deactivating the collars so she can tell her sister to start blowing everything to pieces.
7805491 "Alright girls, the collars are off. Blow everything to kingdom come."
"
"
7805563 Its either going to end in that outcome, or Vox doing something to awaken the powers that Searing feared that they would eventually unlock.
7805588 I have no idea which one I prefer.
7805604 Either way Vox dies... but the amount of destruction will be different.
7805640 Good point. Hmm, comedy, or destruction? Or perhaps comedic destruction? Yeah, I like the sound of that.
7805647 You know, I keep thinking about the power that Searing feared... I think Sunset's true potential, at this point anyway, is a level of power that would be on par with Beerus' own.
7805681 Yeah, but Sunny wouldn't be as arrogant about it. Well, unless they deserve it. We should get Blackdrag-rose to write a spin-off of Sunset meeting Beerus sfter attaining her status as a true Goddess of Destruction.
7805690 You know, it would be funny if he was actually writing another displaced story, only with Dragon Ball Z as the story. Then the two of them would likely be forced to meet at some point... and hilarity would likely ensue.
7805694 I just had another crossover idea, just with a different author. I wonder how Sunset/Searing would react to Ganondorf8's Sunset from his "Legend of Sunset Shimmer" series. Annnd now I'm picturing the Goddess of Destruction and Sunset with the Triforce of Courage tag teaming Ganondorf.
7805717
Sunset is the hero we both need and deserve.
7805729 I am so mentioning this when it updates tonight.
7805770 If Black does create a DBZ story, and that's a big IF in my opinion, you'll definitely be the first person I bother revealing its existence to.
Until then, we get to watch Sunset cause destruction.
Beautiful.
7805829 My thanks, friend. And destruction is an art. A beautiful, explosive, art.
7805868 One that Sunset and Searing seem to have a masters in.
7805893 I'm thinking more Dr. Sunset and Dr. Searing. Has a nice ring to it, huh?
7805939
That it does.
7805563 This is an accurate assessment of what will happen if the author takes this route in the story.
Hatred: Wait! We get to destroy the entire station?
Sunset: Yes. Why do you ask?
Hatred: Give them nothing, but take everything from them!
7806440 Yeah, sounds about right. What do you think about my idea for a crossover?
7806542 Which one? The one with this Sunset meeting a different version of herself, or the one where she meets Lord Beerus?
7807046 The one with Beerus was Sonata's idea. Mine was Sunset meeting another Sunset.
7807274 This Sunset meeting another version of herself would be a nice short story to read (or longer if the author wanted).
Sunset meeting Lord Beerus, on the other hand, would also be a funny story to read.
Huh, I thought he would want to make her an Exterminator.
Or.
Medal.