Deadlocked: Crusader Tournament
"I can see that you are as deadly as the stories claim."
That was what Sunset heard the moment she teleported back onto the Dreadzone ship, causing her to turn in Ace's direction and stare at him for a few seconds. She still didn't know what game he was playing by stating that the stories about her powers were true, but she had the feeling that he had some sort of plan in the works. She had to wonder if he wanted Vox dead and had been waiting for someone to come his way, someone that could kill Vox and bring his entire shadow network to its knees. The thought of tracking Vox down and bringing an end to his life was something that she could entertain, but ultimately she needed to make sure her siblings were safe before even attempting something like that.
Until someone took care of the collars that were wrapped around their necks, and ensured that they wouldn't explode, Sunset couldn't make a move towards Vox... though if that situation changed she would be happy to go through with the thought.
"All of them are true, or at least hold some fragment of the truth," Sunset admitted, flexing her hands for a moment before she placed them behind her back again, "I've cracked moons, caused earthquakes that created planet wide destruction, and even ended the existence of one planet... not that I care for any of that."
"You hate being the Goddess of Destruction?" Ace asked, though the sound he made told her that he was surprised by her statement, which she knew that she would hear if she told the masses as well.
"Its just a title," Sunset replied, choosing to lean against a pillar and not sit in the seat she had been in, "I never wanted to be the 'Goddess of Destruction'. Captain Qwark, in his infinite stupidity, gave me that title because of the destructive nature of my innate magical abilities and, well, it just stuck to me like glue. Now everyone thinks of that title when they hear my name and they get this mental image that I'm some sort of immortal Goddess that can end planets with a wave of her hands..."
"Is that even possible?" Ace inquired, as none of the stories that he had researched made a mention of that type of power, though he had the feeling that it had to be true.
"It could be, but I have no way of knowing." Sunset answered, letting out a sigh as she called up the image of Beerus that Eve had showed her a few days ago, "This is the God of Destruction that my armor mimics, though he could end whole worlds with a wave of his hand or with a small amount of his power. Besides, I have only begun to tap into my full power... so I have no idea if I'll even be on his level once I master my abilities."
Ace was silent for a few minutes, allowing Sunset to wonder if he was trying to overthrow Vox or if he was trying to gather information so he could take her down in the future. There was no telling what was going through the man's mind at the moment, but she wouldn't hesitate to defend herself if he came at her with a weapon. Eve, who happened to be sitting between the two of them, was constantly looking from Sunset to Ace and back again, as if she was worried that a fight would break out. Eventually Ace let out a sigh and shook his had, as if he was clearing his mind of a stupid idea that he had before he even bothered to speak with Sunset.
"Vox will fall in less than a week," Ace commented, turning to the door behind him for a moment, clearly intending to leave once he said whatever was on his mind, "I just need you to hold out until then. I'm sure by then Ratchet, Starlight, and the others will have come up with a way to get around the collars they are wearing, allowing you the opportunity to bring an end to Vox and his empire."
Sunset stared at Ace as he left her and Eve alone in the compartment, leaving her alone to her thoughts once more... and the feeling that he had been speaking the truth about the shadowy empire about to meet its end. She knew that she would have to fight in one, maybe two, more sessions once her siblings cleared the tournament they were in and the next one. She already knew that she could deal with whatever Vox could throw at her, as she assumed that he was behind the assassins, so she let out a sigh as she closed the picture she had shown Ace. She would play this game she was trapped in for the moment... and once Vox was vulnerable she would bring an end to him and this pathetic empire.
Ratchet and Starlight both let out a sigh as they finished their breakfast, while listening to the news about Sunset's fight on Orxon and the destruction she had caused to the planet. They were used to the damage their sister caused to the planets she fought on, such as Yeedil and Koros, so they weren't too surprised to find another cataclysm on Orxon. Clank was still concerned that their sister might be adapting to her new position as the Goddess of Destruction and was beginning to enjoy the feeling of obliterating anything that annoyed her. Al, for the most part, was silent the entire time, either in total awe of Sunset's powers or shocked by the fact that she had damaged another world with so little effort.
In the end they all agreed to disagree, as the main thing about Sunset finishing her test on Orxon was that they now had the necessary Medals to take on the Crusader Tournament. From what they could find out about the next tournament was that they would be fighting an Exterminator at the end of it, which was when they would either ascend to the next rank... or die.
Once they were done with their meal, and were sure that all of their weapons were fully stocked on ammunition, they bid their friends farewell and boarded the shuttle that was waiting for them. Neither of them were excited to be back in the Dreadzone Battledome, but they needed to go through with it if they wanted to blindside Vox when they finally beat Ace.
"All right Dreadzone fans," Dallas called out, though even as he spoke it was easy to hear the fear in his voice, no doubt caused from witnessing one of Sunset's cataclysms up close, "prepare for the ultimate showdown as Team Darkstar fights their way through the Crusader Tournament and the chance to take on all star Exterminator Reactor!"
When Ratchet and Starlight teleported into the arena they found themselves at the top of the Tower of Power, which told them that they might have to fight they way down to the bottom at some point. They took a quick look around where they were standing and found that they were supposed to take out a fair number of enemies that came in waves, which was added to when they spotted at least ten gladiators and twenty little robot minions coming their way. Ratchet had been planning on using the Leviathan Flail that he had picked up, during the time that Sunset was on Orxon, and use it on whatever was coming his way, but apparently one of the rules for this challenge was that he and Starlight had to use the Hunter Mine weapon they had picked up.
Even with the weapon restriction it was quite easy for them to eliminate the first wave of enemies, as the mines exploded upon impact and caused smaller mines to hurt their enemies, though when the second wave came at them a few barricades rose out of the floor as several dropships flew in with more gladiators for them to fight. With an unlimited amount of ammunition, which they both assumed was some sort of mistake on the part of whoever designed the challenge, they rained death on their enemies. The third wave was merely a collection of laser turrets and small robotic minions, which were easy to get rid of, while the fourth wave gave them a variety of gladiators, spike throwers, and robotic minions.
The final wave of enemies was what appeared to be a seemingly endless stream of gladiators that were fully prepared to kill the two of them, to which Ratchet and Starlight let loose their mines and held nothing back as their enemies came towards them. Eventually they had cleared everything that could be thrown at them at the moment, to which they were told that the first challenge was completed and that they were now allowed to move on to the second part. The next part happened to be some sort of crank challenge, as it appeared that they needed to secure the crank to unlock some sort of grind rail, and immediately opened fire on the enemies that were coming their way.
They cleared out the enemies that were all around them before they accessed the bolt crank, which extended the rail until it reached wherever it was supposed to take them to. Once they had acquired the rail they jumped onto it and rode through the path they had unlocked, as well as jumping over the explosive rings that had been put in their path. The rail eventually brought them to the middle of the Battledome, where they found another crank waiting for them, but before they could access the crank they spotted enemies approaching them from all four sides. They took a few seconds to remove the gladiators from their way, though when they took control of the crank they noticed that nothing had changed... and then noticed that another crank had appeared on their map.
They approached the second bolt crank, and wiped the floor with the gladiators that had spawned in the area around them, and took control of it, though once again they noticed that not much had changed. Ratchet and Starlight looked at each other for a moment, not really sure if they had missed something, before letting out a collective sigh and heading over the walkway that took them back in the direction of the Tower of Power. Oddly enough they found a large amount of explosives around the crank that was on the platform in front of them, which Starlight removed with one shot of her Vipers, before they opened fire on the gladiators that spawned when they stepped onto the platform.
When they finally took out all of their enemies, and took over the crank they had come for, Dallas declared that they had cleared the second challenge... and that they were going to fight Reactor next. The two of them were given a moment to restock their ammunition, which they needed after the waves of enemies they had fought through, before their opponent walked into the arena. Reactor was a large robot, around the same height as Shellshock they guessed, that basically looked like someone had taken a ship's reactor, enlarged it to a certain point, and then slapped weapons and limbs onto it.
Oddly enough Reactor said nothing to them as he prepared himself, almost as if he was disappointed about the choice of challengers that he had to fight, leaving Ratchet to wonder if the Exterminator wanted to fight Sunset instead. A first Reactor did nothing more than firing small energy blasts at them from his hands, making sure to separate the two of them from each other as soon as they started. Once he was sure that they were far enough from each other he targeted Ratchet and surged towards him, using some boosters that were on his back, but he frowned when he noticed that he had missed Ratchet altogether.
After receiving a certain amount of damage Reactor moved towards the edge of the platform they were on and started loosing larger energy bursts at them, adding to the amount of moves he threw at them. Despite the amount of damage that they dealt to Reactor's armor, and knocked some of it off in the process, the Exterminator continued to come at them with the intent to kill filling his eyes. Ratchet and Starlight loosed a swarm of Hunter Mines that tore into Reactor's chest and sides, all while loosing every bullet and shell that they had in their arsenal.
Eventually Reactor fell to the ground and his heart area died down, indicating that they had beaten him and cleared the second tournament... though neither Ratchet or Starlight were impressed by Reactor's performance. They both had to wonder if he had been intentionally holding back his most devastating abilities, because Al had found a video of one of Reactor's older matches and it showed that he had another move he hadn't shown. After a few seconds they decided not to bother thinking about it and listened to Dallas as he raised them to their next rank and told them about next planets they would have to deal with.
With their new armor in hand Ratchet and Starlight returned to their holding area, where they could continue to plan their rebellion against Vox and hope that no one discovered them before they were ready.
Ace, once again, had to resist the urge to smile when he was in Vox's presence, because he enjoyed watching the man squirm when he took in what Sunset was capable of destroying and what Ratchet and Starlight were able to do in the arena. He had already done his research on all three of them and he was always amazed by their capabilities, though it never ceased to amaze him that Vox was always so surprised. Ace had been somewhat surprised that Reactor didn't use his final move in the arena, to make the fight more convincing than it already was, but he was pleased none the less. Though, to be fair, Reactor's best move would have drained him of all his energy and would have likely destroyed the entire area without damaging either Ratchet or Starlight.
Vox still had no idea that he, Reactor, and the Evicerator were all allied against him, though Ace knew that several of the newly captured heroes would be itching to get out of here. Once Sunset was busy with whatever planet she was assigned to, and held everyone's attention, Ace would visit the designated location that Reactor wanted his body to be left in should he lose in a match. Then it would be a simple matter to reactivate him and hide him somewhere until he could move forward with his plan... and maybe blow PX-17 to pieces once Sunset was off the planet.
"I cannot believe that both Shellshock and Reactor have fallen," Vox commented, holding back his rage as best he could, "Those two were designed to end anything that got in their way... and now Team Darkstar has ended both of them. At least we can bury Reactor."
"Yes... its a shame that they took out Reactor as well," Ace said, switching to his uncaring nature, the one that Vox was used to dealing with everyday, "Maybe the Evicerator can take them out... if they manage to make it that far."
"I'm going to have to make another call to PX-17 and release another one of the inmates," Vox said to himself, as if he expected Ace to walk out in a few minutes, "maybe the Demoman, the guy who loved to tinker with explosives and watch things blow up. He might have the capability to take out Sunset... before she really becomes a problem."
Ace knew that Vox was thinking, because the man had Vox was suggesting had made a demand for the next time he was released; unlimited access to each and every explosive that Vox had access to. Demolition Man, or Demoman for short, had the basic idea that blowing everything up was the best way to do things and he was considered to be one of the most insane people that Vox had captured, which was why he was imprisoned in PX-17's prison... where he would stay until Vox thought otherwise. Releasing him was a last resort option for Vox, which meant that he had to truly be desperate to get rid of Sunset if he was considering letting him out. Ace hadn't even considered that Vox would dare release Demoman from his cell, which would affect his plans just a bit once the man was out in the universe once more.
Ace excused himself and left Vox to make his call, as there was some work he needed to do before Sunset left PX-17 and traveled to whatever planet her siblings sent her to.
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I'm willing to bet Starlight might be able to figure out Ace's plan early. She's certainly smart enough.
7862182 Considering that both she and Ratchet noticed something odd about Reactor, and the missing final move of his, I am willing to bet that you are correct.
And, oddly enough, the planet that Sunset is imprisoned on happens to be Vox's prison planet... with an insane inmate.
7862304 It'll probably be during the next Exterminator fight. And has anyone else noticed how familiar these inmates are?
7862482 They seem to be characters from TF2.
7862610 Oh good. I'm not the only one who noticed.
7862665 Hard not to when there was a shape-shifting Spy on Orxon... and a terrible sniper.
Have to wonder how insane the Demolition Man that's coming up is going to be.
7862692 It's terrifying to think, but he might actually make me look sane.
7862795 Considering that Vox had to lock him away... dare we think that he might be on Sheogorath's level of madness?
7862802 Maybe not quite that crazy, but there'll definitely be a very nice boom.(Yay references
)
7862897 Yeah, though it depends on whose blowing something up. Its going to be an explosives expert against a Goddess... I don't envy the Demoman right now.
7862897 There is going to be a lot of explosions... from both of the combatants.
7863418 And pyromaniac that I am, I'm gonna enjoy the next chapter.
7863517 Well, I think the pattern will follow itself; Ratchet and Starlight will take on the first planet in the tournament, then Sunset will take out the second planet, and the tournament will be dealt with by Ratchet and Starlight.
So, if the pattern holds, it will be two chapters until Sunset appears for the fight with her new enemy.
7863524 Fair enough. Ah, what's one chapter that'll be just as fun?
7863532 We'll get to see Ratchet and Starlight take out another planet... and the horde of enemies that Vox is going to be sending at them.
And then, one the next chapter is over, we'll get to see what happens with Sunset.
Think u meant Ace here
In the end they all agreed to disagree.