Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Deadlocked: Capture and Qualification

Ratchet found that six months went by since Nefarious' defeat, where the election rocked the galaxy and people were very pleased with the candidate that had been chosen, something that caused him to lightly chuckle as he considered who had won the position. Sasha had, as per their predictions, won the election by a landslide and took her father's place as the President of the Solana Galaxy, which meant that she had to step down as the Captain of the Phoenix, which Ratchet had offered to watch over until she found someone who was deserving of the position. The people had flocked to her side as soon as her name was added to the roster of candidates, showing Ratchet and his family that many appreciated her work in saving Solana from Nefarious, though they had also named Qwark, of all people, as her Vice President. The family decided that it was for the best, as the man seemed to have taken their talk on the Thran Asteroid Belt, and what happened after the downfall of his greatest foe, to heart and was turning over a new leaf, even though the role he was now in meant that he was back in a familiar role, which meant they had to carefully watch him.

One other thing that happened was that the family had come up with a name for their own starship, the Helios, which was currently docked near Veldin, due to the fact that Angela was moving things from the family's old home onto it, what she and the inhabitants could find anyway, and transport the items to a new house in Metropolis. The reasoning for that was due to the fact that both of Solana's last villains had attacked the planet of Kerwan, or more specifically the city itself, so Ratchet and Clank decided that moving into the city meant that, when the next one showed up, they could be ready for it and react accordingly. There was a fine apartment that they were planning on moving into, with enough rooms for everyone, which also included Sasha when she was able to make time to hang out with them, and among the personal items they wanted to recover was something important to Ratchet, the pod that he had arrived in all those years ago, a second reminder that his missing twin sister was out there somewhere. Such a thing reminded Autumn of the forums she had read over during the election process, of people debating what the significance of Ratchet's necklace was, why it was half of a flat orb, and all sorts of other things that were related to it, causing her to chuckle as she read them.

Of course Ratchet spent a bit of time trying to figure out new ways to track down his sister, especially since the Plumber didn't want to help them and they haven't seen him since Aquatos, but even as he continued to fail in his quest he didn't stop, as he wanted to find her and set things right.

While that happened Autumn and Starswirl were able to do a couple of things with their magic, or more accurately they found a way to utilize the enchantment that had been found and combine it with jewelry to make the rings that Starswirl was interested in making for the both of them. They found that creating the enchanted jewelry was possible, much to the surprise of their brother, only instead of a ring, or even a set, they somehow, against all odds, made an amulet that was made out of Raritanium and had a design that included the head and wings of an 'Alicorn', leading to Starswirl sealing it in his private space, due to the dark nature of the artifact. Other than that they just learned more about the types of magic that existed out there, based on what they found in tomes that Starswirl bought for them, like a spell that allowed one to form a bow out of an element, like fire or water for example, and then use arrows of the same element to attack enemies. Of course neither of them could practice on the Helios or their new apartment, which was why Autumn purchased two sets of virtual trainers, just like what was on the Phoenix, so that way they could master whatever spells her brother discovered without damaging anything important, and with the custom scenario creator it meant that both of them could master all sorts of situations before they actually happened.

With Nefarious defeated Ratchet found that the Rangers were still incredibly busy, making him wonder when this galaxy started being a hotbed of danger, meaning it must have happened after Drek's defeat, as breaking planets to build a far larger one seemed like the perfect catalyst. If Qwark was still evil he would have blamed the mess on the man, claiming it was another way for him to get back into the superhero light he was used to, but he didn't, rather he determined that the other dangers had been lingering in the shadows and Drek only served as the catalyst to bring them out. With that in mind his offer to watch over the Phoenix had a second meaning, as it needed someone to watch over and maintain it, hence the reason he spent more time aboard the starship, until Sasha found a more permanent and trustworthy person to watch her ship. Of course Ratchet knew that there were parts that he wasn't knowledgeable in, so he managed to convince Al to work on the ship, and since it was working for the President it meant he had a generous paycheck, and Clank joined him to make sure Sasha's ship was well maintained and all of the Rangers had a place to rest before being deployed once more, though they also cleaned out the quarters they had been given.

Of course they were expecting the arrangement to last a month, maybe two, but it stretched into six and Ratchet felt that, with the amount of time Sasha was spending on her presidential duties, that it would be some time before they found the replacement that she was looking for.

"Incoming call from the Galactic President." Clank said, snapping Ratchet back to reality as he spoke, as they were sitting in the Phoenix's bridge at the moment, moving to another part of the Solana Galaxy, while both Autumn and Starswirl were nearby, working on some consoles to help their brother out, and he and Al were near Ratchet, "The new Galactic President."

"Greetings, Madame President," Ratchet said, speaking once the connection was established and they could see Sasha, in all her glory, on the other side, where it was easy for them to see that the call this time around was coming from her office in Metropolis, and despite the hard work she seemed to be doing well, "You seem to be doing well."

"Greetings, Captain." Sasha replied, though she let out a chuckle that made one wonder if she regretted her decision to do this, even if it was for the greater good of the Solana Galaxy, especially since the Blarg had captured the candidate of their species and imprisoned him for acting like Drek, "I see that you've been taking good care of my ship."

"Well, she needed some tuning up, but we've kept her in good shape." Ratchet remarked, because while he was skilled in working on machines, especially ships, smaller vessels, and even large starships, there were areas he was still learning about and that work fell on either Clank or Al, hence why he beckoned to them, "What seems to be the problem?"

The reason he asked that was because Sasha wouldn't waste time with a call like this, if she wanted some relief from all of her new duties, especially since Angela was still in Metropolis and could have been called in for idle conversation, which meant she must have found something for him and his siblings to do.

"I'm afraid I come baring bad news: as you all know, over a month ago Captain Starshield went missing," Sasha stated, as it had been all over the news, the superhero had been kidnapped from his own residence with no signs of struggle, so while many assumed he had gone on vacation, and would be back in due time, a month gone was too much, before she let out a sigh, "I've just been informed that he's been killed."

Ratchet paused for a moment as Al gasped in shock, because back before Qwark stole all the spotlight there was another tier of hero in Solana, the 2nd Tier as some called it, who worked for the betterment of Solana, instead of seeking money and the spotlight, while he knew that his family and Qwark were classified as 1st Tier superheroes, the super stars when one considered the information.

"What happened?" Autumn asked, as she knew that her brother was mourning the fallen hero, due to the fact that Captain Starshield had been a second hero to him, with Qwark being the main one before all of them discovered the darkness that was in his heart.

"According to the reports he was involved in some sort of illegal combat sport: DreadZone." Sasha replied, where she took a moment to tap a button and revealed an image of an alien that had blue skin, looked like a humanoid with a couple of shark features, and a red suit that suggested he was a businessman, "We believe that it is being run by this man, Gleeman Vox, who operates an underground media empire from the Shadow Sector."

"The lawless section of the Solana Galaxy?" Starswirl inquired, which was strange to hear that it was being mentioned, due to the fact that no one really liked to head out there and see what sort of discoveries could be found inside it, though as he thought about it he knew it was the perfect place to hide such an empire.

"Indeed. Its good to see that you guys are keeping up with the paperwork as well." Sasha commented, though while it was an official compliment, in case someone was listening to their conversations since people always tried to bring down the President and replay them with another person, she knew that Autumn and Starswirl had likely known about it for a long time, since before it was brought to her attention, "We're doing a bit of research, to see if we can learn anything else, but I was thinking of sending you guys in to investigate DreadZone, bring down Vox, and save anyone he's kidnapped... many of the other 2nd Tier heroes have been kidnapped recently, all from their homes no less, and since you four are the greatest heroes in Solana its only a matter of time until he comes for you. I wanted to warn you guys, before..."

In that moment their connection was cut as something hit the Phoenix, which seemed to be an emp that was designed to stall a starship, though as they got up and grabbed their weapons, as Al stepped back for the heroes to do their job, they were shocked into submission by a team of troopers that teleported aboard the Phoenix, bypassing the security measures Autumn had installed, and the siblings knew nothing more as they hit the ground.

---

When Ratchet regained consciousness, after who knew how long of being knocked out, he found that he was no longer on the Phoenix, rather he was aboard some sort of space station and was resting on a metallic table, only for him to find that he had been outfitted with some sort of armor. It came with a visor that seemed to be orange colored, why he had no idea and he really didn't care when he thought about such a thing, before finding that Al was walking around nearby, working on two other sets of armor, modeled to fit both of his siblings. One thing he instantly noticed was that there was a metallic collar around his neck, one that looked like it was connected to some sort of device that he couldn't see right now, but this told him everything he needed to know, especially when he saw a symbol that was red and looked like it might have three horns. Once his siblings woke up he knew that they would think the same thing he was currently thinking, they were in the Shadow Sector, no doubt having been captured by Vox's minions and forced into DreadZone, without a say in the matter based on the fact that they had been shocked into submission on the Phoenix, meaning they would have to be careful for the duration of their time in this place.

Al seemed to notice that he was moving, not to mention the fact that his siblings were starting to move as well, where he walked over and made sure that all three of them could accurately count the fingers he was showing them, though once he was done with that he tested some of the circuitry that had been added to the armor... causing him and his siblings to teleport out of the area and appear in what appeared to be a training course of some kind.

The new armor you're wearing is standard issue for new contestants. Al stated, speaking over the communicator that was in their armor, where Ratchet found that it was a full body suit and all three of them were wearing red, though his had brown stripes to match his Lombax stripes, Starswirl had white stripes for some reason, and Autumn had gold stripes, just to tell each other apart.

"No need to tell us... we're in DreadZone." Autumn remarked, as there was no reason for them to be told anything about the situation they were in, they were smart enough to figure things out on their own, though Ratchet could see that she didn't like the look of her armor, meaning it had to be cheaper than what they were used to.

Indeed, however, if you do not complete the qualification course in the allotted time, we will all be terminated. Clank added, where they found that he wasn't on Ratchet's back, which was odd considering that this was a new adventure, but it just meant that Vox didn't want to give him an unfair advantage over the other contestants, or whoever they would be forced to fight against.

Based on what they could see both Al and Clank were their assistants, in whatever capacity that meant for DreadZone, not to mention Vox had provided them with two weapons, a pair of small guns called Dual Vipers and a shotgun like weapon known as the Magma Cannon, as their starting gear. The first thing they were supposed to do was move around and make sure their software was working correctly, the targeting matrix of the battlesuits to be exact, before taking down three of Vox's holo-targets, used for training new contestants and getting them ready for the arena. Since the siblings were in the area, and not separated into different groups, it took them no time at all as each one targeted a single hologram and took them down before whoever was maintaining this area. With that done they jumped up a few platforms and reached the area that contained a small chamber and a teleport pad, one Autumn was able to tell that their suits would interact with if they stepped on them, which was what they did without delay.

As they appeared in another section of the station, an arena to ensure that new contestants had the combat abilities that were needed to survive in DreadZone, Autumn discovered that their suits also came with a map feature, which meant they would know the boundaries of the arenas they were sent to, before they were stopped by an image of Vox appearing on a nearby screen.

Greetings, hero! And welcome to DreadZone! Vox stated, where they were able to tell that this was a recording, which he must have filmed when he first started abducting heroes and forced them to fight for his amusement, and entertain all of the people who watched his network, so they said nothing as they listened to his speech, 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 holovision 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 the chance to win your freedom. So, good luck, hero. We'll be watching you.

Ratchet and his siblings said nothing as they found themselves thrust into the rest of the qualifying test, where they found some new enemies waiting for them, one being a robotic gladiator that must have been mass produced for Vox, another being the death balls they were familiar with, and the last being cybernetic insect gladiators. With three opponents both the robotic gladiators and the death balls didn't last too long, leaving the last one as a more worthwhile foe for them, and given their skill with the blades attached to their arms the siblings had to be careful. The Dual Vipers packed quite a bit of a punch, even though it took multiple hits to take a single foe down, and even the shotgun nature of the Magma Cannon took multiple hits to knock their foes out, which seemed to be the name of the game. Vox wanted entertainment and that meant that killing enemies easy ruined the purpose of his network, so his weapons were weaker than what Ratchet and his siblings were used to wielding during their various adventures, and since Autumn had stored her arsenal earlier they didn't have anything to tip the odds in their favor.

Of course they all still had their melee weapons, interestingly enough, and both of his siblings could use magic, so while the guns made things more difficult they found that it was basically the same for them and, in the end, they walked away from the arena with their heads held high and discovered a screen waiting for the three of them.

Note the Deadlock collar securely fastened around your neck. Vox said, though this time around it seemed more like he was speaking to them and not leaving a recording, all while two crash test robots stepped into the arena, both wearing metallic collars like what Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl were wearing, This collar cannot be broken or removed. Should you stray into any restricted area, the collar will administer an extremely painful shock. Observe.

One of the robots jumped into the air and was basically electrocuted to death, meaning they must have altered his collar to showcase the power of the foul necklace, something that caused them to turn back towards the screen and found that Vox was enjoying the show, meaning he enjoyed tormenting everyone he captured or employed.

Should a contestant become uncooperative or worse, boring, his or her collar can be detonated at any time with the push of a button. Vox continued, where they watched as he tapped a button and the second robot has his head blown off, effectively killing him in a matter of seconds, before he turned to face them once more, Also, we are aware of the power that you two possess and have made sure that your collars will respond to any magical tampering... so if you try any funny business, to try and get around our collars, it will cost you dearly.

Ratchet had to admit that Vox was smarter than they gave him credit for, he had prepared for his siblings, which meant he must have been planning this since they returned to Solana and showed that they were the heroes they had been back when Drek was messing with his Deplanetizer. With that done they were allowed to return to their suite, the section of the station that they would be spending the 'rest of their lives in', and found that Clank was in charge of communications and Al was designing helper bots that could aid one of them in the arenas. His reasoning on the matter was because they had no idea what sort of challenges might be thrown at Ratchet and his siblings, especially one that made only one of them go into the arena, so this was for when something like that happened, if it came to pass. While he did that Clank was working on ways to get around the communication obstacles he had found so far, as he was looking for ways to get messages to them without Vox knowing, and, more importantly, both he and Al were considering ways to get around the collars, but before he did that he had to mess with the camera system.

The siblings barely had any time to rest as a shuttle arrived to take them to the Battledome, as it appeared that Mobius Man had fallen in battle, though they ignored the message that played as they flew to the main arena that they would be spending a fair amount of time in, since they had no points to their name at the moment.

One of the things they discovered was that there was a pair of announcers, Dallas and Juanita, who seemed to have near free reign of commentary, as it appeared that they didn't like many of the contestants, but the discovery that the siblings, the greatest heroes in Solana were here, shut them up right quick. After entering the arena they found more of the foes they had fought so far appear in front of them, combined with red dropships and some little robotic snappers, something that caused Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl to fire on their enemies without delay. During their battle Clank informed the three of them that if they were ever out on their own, and had the modified helper bots heading into the arena with them, that they could revive a downed robot with one of the abilities that came with their new suits. Ratchet and his siblings had no desire to use that information in the future, since Vox might be forced to ensure that two of them were together at any time during their stay here, but Autumn filed it away anyway, just in the off chance they were separated from each other, before they smashed through the rest of their foes and dropped down onto a walkway to move forward.

Such a thing brought them to a larger arena that seemed to be the main battleground for DreadZone, where Ratchet and Starswirl focused on all of the enemies the dropships brought in while Autumn focused on the remainder that were on the other half of the arena. What that meant was that the arena they were on was divided in half, which became accessible as time went on, though the crowd was cheering as she smashed her way through them and cleared their section, allowing her and her brothers to move forward once the coast was clear. After that they found their way to a turret that looked like it had been taken from a tank and transplanted on the ground, plus it even had a shield that protected it from harm, so all of them hid behind some of the metallic barricades as Autumn assessed their situation. What she found was that each of their suits had the ability to command their helper bots to fire emp bursts at certain targets, though in this case pressing the button allowed one to summon a ball of energy that contained the same power, allowing her to disable the gun and its shield so her siblings could take it down.

With the turret destroyed they were awarded a Green Medal, which seemed to be important for the competition, before they were teleported back to the shuttle and returned to their section of DreadZone, finding that Clank and Al were eager to speak with them after their success.

"You did well, though I'm afraid that you won't have time to rest, since the planetary transport is coming," Al said, which told the siblings all they needed to know, Vox wanted to make sure they were put to work, creating episodes for his show so he could milk his media empire for more Bolts, before he held a hand out, revealing Ratchet's necklace, "oh, and I made sure to take this when we were searched earlier... didn't want Vox to hold this over you, given how important it is to you and your personal quest."

Ratchet smiled as he accepted his necklace and returned it to its proper position around his neck, not wanting to imagine what Vox would have done had he known about it, before he and his siblings head for the transport ship, as it was time to see what planet he was sending them to and how they were going to ruin his foul plans.