• Published 7th May 2016
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Ratchet and Clank: The Starlight of Solana - Blackdrag-rose



Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer grow up alongside Ratchet on Veldin, where they begin an epic journey to save the galaxy.

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Deadlocked: Avenger Tournament

Ratchet stared at the screen that showed him and Starlight what the other contestants were doing when they were running through the various courses that Vox threw at them, his eyes never leaving the screen. He had been like this ever since Sunset had appeared in the arena on Kronos, in her fused state no less, and utterly ruined everything that had been put in her way. Vox clearly assumed that Sunset would never be able to pull off what she did, or obliterate Shellshock and his son in the manner that she had used, though now he had to wonder if their captor was fuming at the loss of one of his Exterminators. Ratchet felt that Vox should be upset over what had just happened, because that meant that he would make mistakes and, eventually, bring about his own destruction.

Starlight, Clank, and Al had remained in their work area the entire time Sunset had been on the holoscreen, working on figuring out a way to disarm the collars they were wearing. Once the collars were taken care of they would figure out a way to contact Sunset, so they could make a plan to dismantle Dreadzone and get rid of Vox. Starlight only stopped one time during the process, when she had felt Sunset's large sphere of destructive energies that had gotten rid of Shellshock and his son. When the video feed ended Starlight went back to her work, though from the sounds of things it almost sounded like she had discovered something after returning to the collar.

Eventually the night was upon them, what they assumed was nighttime because of the fact that the majority of the lights in the station went offline like the previous nights, though before they turned in Starlight had something interesting to tell Ratchet.

"I'm going to laugh at whoever designed these stupid collars." Starlight commented, flashing Ratchet a smile as she raised a pencil with her magic and tapped her own collar lightly, "The three of us have deactivated the collar that I'm wearing... as well as the ones that they're wearing. In fact I've striped them of their explosives and hidden them someplace safe, so we can use them when we finally decide to break this place wide open."

Ratchet knew that his sister was skilled with mechanics and everything, but to use the time she, Clank, and Al had to not only deactivate the collars, but also remove the explosives so they could pretend to be under Vox's thumb impressed him to no end. He was already impressed by everything that she had created up until their capture, which included the RYNO series of weapons, and wondered what she would create once this adventure was over.

"So, when does mine get turned off?" Ratchet asked, jerking his thumb towards the collar around his neck while a smile appeared on his face as well.

"By the time morning comes, Vox will have lost his hold over all of us." Clank said, turning to look at the various worlds that surrounded the station, "Best not to let him know how much trouble he's in until we've found where Sunset is being held and determine how to get her a message... and break her out of course."

"Which means that we need to find someone who knows where Sunset is being held first," Ratchet replied, moving towards his bed so he could rest up for whatever Vox threw at him and Starlight in the morning, "then convince them to turn traitor against Vox and rescue Sunset from her cell. Once we've done that it should be a simple matter to save the other heroes, obliterate the other Exterminators if they're foolish enough to challenge Sunset, and get off of this blasted station before it blows."

"I doubt it will be that simple." Starlight stated, shaking her head as she turned her gaze to the Battledome for a moment, as if she was wondering what they would be facing in the morning, "The Avenger Tournament... one has to wonder what's in store for us."

Ratchet really didn't care about the tournament at all, not when they could finally get rid of the explosions that were locked inside the collars and free themselves from Vox's control. He already knew that they could make it through whatever was thrown at them tomorrow, so it was a simple matter of making sure that they survived the arena so they could advance onto the first world in the next tournament. Clank and Al would be rooting for them the entire time they were in the arena, and so would Sunset he imagined, so he didn't have much to worry about at the moment.

Eventually the four of them retired for the night, though when the morning dawned on them they ate a light morning meal as they waited for Vox to call on them to enter the Battledome. Clank told them that he managed to find some commercials that stared both of the announcers in some sort of 'update' that aired between the episodes. Apparently Vox was trying to paint Ratchet as a notorious crime boss, Clank as some sort of ruthless killer, Al as a heartless weapon modifier, and Starlight as a mad scientist that loved to watch things blow up. In the end they ended up laughing for about an hour before the intercoms went off and Team Darkstar was called to do battle in the Avenger Tournament, to which Ratchet and Starlight bid their friends farewell for the moment before they made their way towards the small ship that would take them to their next destination.


"The action is hot in the Battledome as Ratchet and Starlight take on the Avenger Tournament," Dallas called out, just as the duo teleported into the beginning of the arena with their helmets on and their weapons primed, "If they can survive this difficult series of challenges they will be the first duo, in all of Dreadzone's history, to earn the rank of Avenger!"

The first challenge appeared to be a timed one, as the two of them had a minute and a half to eliminate one hundred and twenty enemies, though as they started fighting Dallas explained that the number had been doubled to accommodate the two of them. Starlight found it amusing that they had so little time to get rid of so many enemies, so she took a page from Sunset's book and created a charge of magic that exploded when it came into contact with a group of enemies on the opposite side of the area they were in. Ratchet then moved around Starlight, shooting anything that dared to get close to him and his sister while ensuring that they both removed large amounts of enemies in the process.

By the time that they reached the end of their timer they had cleared out the entirety of their enemies, much to the amazement of both Dallas and Juanita.

Once the first challenge was over Dallas told them that their next task was to survive the course that was in front of them and make their way to the 'Tower of Power'. Of course that was followed by a large force of enemies dropping into the area around them and firing upon them, to which they retaliated almost immediately. Starlight focused on the dropships and tore them out of the air with her magic, throwing one of them into another one, while Ratchet made sure that the smaller enemies and the gladiators were taken care of. It took some time to eliminate the entirety of the enemies that were coming to fight them, along with getting some minor damage to their armor, before they were able to move onward.

They dropped onto the walkway below them and approached the second part of the Battledome arena, where they shot at every enemy that jumped onto the path that they were following. It took some time to clear out the walkway of enemies, which raised the floating platforms that would allow them to access the next part of their challenge. They rapidly crossed over to the other platform and spotted a new enemy that Vox was throwing at them, one that appeared to be some sort of armored creature that fired sharp needles at them. Neither of them were sure if that was the only trick that the new enemy had to show them, and they were sure that there was another one hidden from them, but they eliminated them before they could reveal what they were hiding.

The two of them fought several waves of gladiators and their little minions, as well as taking out several more dropships along the way, before a small walkway connected the platform they were currently on with the one in front of them. There they discovered another new enemy of sorts, as they happened to be small turrets that were attached to the ground and fired lasers at whoever got close to them. Starlight found them amusing almost immediately, because she used her magic to summon a barrier that bounced the beams back at the turret that they had come from. It was a simple matter to surround Ratchet in this barrier and have all five turrets try and take him out at the same time, resulting in the destruction of their targets and prompted the other enemies to step forward.

It was child's play for them at that point, as all they really had to do was clear out the rest of their enemies to reveal their next objective, though all it really did at the moment was bring up another walkway made of platforms that brought them back to where they took out a turret with an EMP during their warmup challenge. Once they touched the platform they were assaulted by a small group of gladiators and their little minions, though it didn't take them long to clear them out and have Dallas declare that they had beaten the second challenge in the Avenger Tournament.

Their third challenge seemed to be somewhat harder than the previous two, as they now had to fight their way around the Tower of Power and reach the top, where they suspected that they would bring an end to this entire arena run. It was a simple matter to cross the platforms between them and the bottom of the tower, as all they had to do was wait for one of them to flip over before they could follow the path to their destination. The instant they touched the bottom platform they were attacked by two more of the small laser turrets and one flying gladiator, though none of their enemies got very far as Starlight's shield blocked all the incoming lasers while Ratchet removed the enemy in the air.

Once the enemies had been taken care of they carefully crossed the section of platforms in front of them, which had all been raised to act as some sort of stairs, before they found themselves on the next part of the tower. The moment they touched down on the next platform they were assaulted by the flying contraptions that Sunset had fought against when she was on Kronos, though they were pretty easy to get rid of in the end. All they really had to do was move out of the way when they fired their lasers, which were easy to see coming considering the fact that they had to pause to charge for a few seconds, before they shot all of them out of the air and progressed onward once more.

The next stair like area happened to be easier than they were expecting, because all they had to do was jump into the middle row, wait until they determined which platform was moving at which time, and then jump forward until they reached the third platform. Small robotic creatures, mimicking the ones that had been accompanying the gladiators, spawned in front of them as they touched down, though they were easily take care of as well. The third set of stair platforms were of the variety that fell towards the ground when someone stepped on them, so Starlight merely levitated herself into the air and followed after Ratchet. Five more flying blade enemies appeared in front of them and were removed in seconds, as they were easy to get rid of now that they could plan around their lasers, allowing them to access the platforms that would take them even higher on the tower.

The next set of platforms bought them to the top of the Tower of Power, where they discovered that their enemies were one of the leviathans that they encountered on Sarathos and a large gladiator that appeared to be carrying some sort of large wrench weapon, one that fired small blasts of energy at his target.

It was shamefully easy to eliminate both of their enemies at the same time, considering that the two of them didn't leave each others side for the most part, so in a matter of seconds Ratchet and Starlight had taken out the both of them. From that point onward it became the same thing as the other platforms, as they had to deal with the waves upon waves of enemies that Vox decided to throw at them. They had to deal with the variety of gladiators, the flying contraptions, the mechanical and non-mechanical minions, and a dropship or two before they were finally allowed to rest.

Once they were done fighting the last of their enemies, and were sure that there weren't anymore of them, Dallas proclaimed that they were the first duo to ever clear the Avenger Tournament and were now officially Avengers, which was followed by their armor changing from the Dreadzone red and turning into what they assumed was Avenger green. With their victory assured, and the next two planets in the next tournament unlocked, they teleported out of the arena so they could share the news with Clank and Al, leaving behind the mess that they had created.


"I cannot believe that they won the Avenger Tournament!" Vox growled ass he turned his attention away from the screen for a moment, "Not only are those two still alive, and making a mockery of Dreadzone in the process, but Shellshock has been completely erased from existence... and even his kid, who was a prime candidate to replace his father, was taken out as well."

"Shellshock should have retired after the last season ended," a voice said, to which Ace Hardlight stepped out of the shadows, "Warhead was ready to take the place of his father, that is true, but he was arrogant to believe that he could take on the Goddess of Destruction and eliminate her on his own. We should be counting our blessings that Kronos wasn't completely destroyed in the process, because I'm fairly sure whoever is looking for Ratchet and his sisters would have zeroed in on our location if the planet had been erased."

"I could care less about those friends of his," Vox said, tightening his metallic fist around the glass he had been holding, from when he was watching the Avenger Tournament unfold, and shattered the glass, "I'm pissed that the Avenger Tournament couldn't take either Ratchet or Starlight out, pissed that we lost both Shellshock and his son, pissed that my announcers think they have the right to announce things that they shouldn't even know about... and why is this blasted gemstone still glowing?"

He was referring to the pink colored gemstone that he had gotten his hands on some time ago, as it was one of the legendary Raritanium Cores that had been scattered throughout the universe. He had been hoping to capture Ratchet and Starlight when they were aboard their own ship, the Hyperion he recalled, so he could acquire the other Cores that they had gotten their hands on. That would have left him with only two more to find and acquire, to which he could have hoarded them in one place until the end of his days and hold them over whoever was around him. The only annoying part, besides losing the three that Rachet and his family had gotten their hands on, was the fact that the one that was sitting on his desk had suddenly started glowing yesterday... and it hadn't stopped at all.

"It might be reacting to the magical energies of either Starlight or Sunset," Ace commented, raising his right hand to his chin for a moment, giving him the appearance of thinking about something, "I've heard stories that say that the Cores are bound to the two of them and are known to react when either of their magic is in effect... though of course without seeing it first hand there's no way of telling if the stories are true."

"Do you think that you can take her out?" Vox asked, clearly wanting to suddenly change the course of the conversation, though Ace caught the fact that Vox was already annoyed and that nothing would appease his at the moment.

"Not likely," Ace replied, crossing his arms as he faced Vox, "Facing Sunset Shimmer is a death sentence... and only a fool would dare to face someone of her caliber on their own, and without being prepared. Captain Qwark once incurred her wrath in the past and that lead to what has become known as the Yeedil Incident, while Dr. Nefarious is behind pissing her off and bringing about the near destruction of Metropolis... though he did get Koros destroyed. In order to defeat Sunset one must understand what she is capable of, observe her when she's using magic, and then come up with something to counter her abilities."

"Which is what you have been doing in your time off," Vox noted, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Ace, "You have until Ratchet and Starlight finish the Vindicator Tournament to come up with a plan to overpower Sunset, because I'm willing to bet they'll try and use her against you... and take off that black robe that your wearing, it looks out of place on you."

"Don't worry, I'll come up with something," Ace replied, not bothering to say anything else as he turned his back on Vox and walked out of the room, leaving the Lord of Dreadzone to his fuming.

Ace passed several of the guards that watched over the various heroes, from a control room of sorts, and grinned as he noticed that none of them had noticed that the picture that showed Team Darkstar was pretty much the same all the time. He had snuck in two days ago and rewired the video feed to replay mostly the same thing over and over again, though it would turn off when they went off world and would resume when they returned. What they were actually doing was on a monitor in his own chambers, where he was the only one that had the code to enter the room, and he knew so many things that Vox didn't know at the moment.

Team Darkstar was coming up with a plan to topple Vox's shadow empire and, as long as Ace did his best to keep their plans hidden until the time was right, Vox would never be able to see any of this coming until it was too late to save himself. Ace grinned, pulled out the lightsaber that he had been hiding in his robes, and sliced the bust of Vox that had been given to his as a present a few years ago right in half, letting both halves fall to the floor.

"I'm going to enjoy toppling this pathetic empire," Ace said to himself, shutting off the power to his new weapon and putting it away once more, before tapping the collar that was still wrapped around his neck, "and paying him back for all of the heroes that he has forced me to kill over the years. Mark your calendar Vox, because your end is coming."

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