Ratchet and Clank: Family of Heroes

by Blackdrag-rose

Deadlocked: Avenger Tournament

On the way back to their containment area of the DreadZone Station, so they could rest before the next day's challenges, Ratchet, Autumn, and Starswirl discovered something interesting, the day's objectives weren't done yet, as the moment they returned to the station they would be partaking in the Avenger Tournament.

"Either Vox is desperate to take us out, or the fans want more." Ratchet commented, though he had a feeling that this time it was the latter, since the villain they were dealing with now was running an entertainment empire and responding to what his viewers wanted meant he'd be able to rack in more Bolts.

"We did just take out an Exterminator, one of the big dogs of the entire series, so people are interested in what else we are capable of," Starswirl remarked, knowing that, while he hadn't faced off against Shellshock since he had been back on the transport ship, some fans would be interested in him as well and, in their eyes, he had helped them take down one of Vox's Exterminators, "it would be foolish to ignore such potential profit, and Vox isn't a foolish person in that regard."

Autumn wanted to say that Vox was foolish, in kidnapping the three of them and their friends, as they had a habit of totally wrecking the villains of their adventures and bringing ruin upon those who tried to force their evil on the innocent people of the galaxy they were in, but decided not to say anything. The guards were designed to report to Vox and she didn't want to tip him off about anything they might do, in regards to tearing DreadZone apart so he could be imprisoned for the rest of his life, on account of all the kidnappings, murder, destruction, and everything else they might discover. There was no telling what else Vox might have in store for them, especially since it looked like he had a habit of trying to drown contestants to do his bidding, as in potentially destroying their reputation so they have no choice but to submit to his demands, and if that was the case they knew it was only a matter of time until he targeted them. Of course all three of them knew that it would be hard for Vox or his team to do something to their reputation, given that they had saved two galaxies and took out three villains, so they simply sat back and waited for the transport ship to reach its destination, so they could tackle the tournament and get this over with.

When they returned to their containment area they found that Clank was focused on something and discovered that it was one of the 'news updates' that Dallas and Juanita gave to their viewers, though while it started with them claiming that Ratchet and his siblings were mob bosses, only for the fans to boo them and launch a protest to stop the pair from spreading lies about the siblings.

"Like I thought, they'll have trouble breaking our reputation." Autumn remarked, though she was pleased to see that all of their fans seemed to know that they were definitely heroes and not mob bosses that ruled Bogon with an iron fist, since it seemed like that was what Dallas and his partner had been going for.

"I'll admit, you guys have some tough reputation... Vox might have met his match on this one." a voice said, where they turned around for a moment and found that Ace was approaching them, though while they were expecting to find his usual smug attitude, which could be seen in his walk, he seemed far more calm and composed this time, like the person on the show was different from reality, "and I might have a fun opponent this time around... maybe more, since the fans love seeing you guys in action."

"Ace, I know you hit a rough patch in your life, but that doesn't mean you have to let Vox pour darkness into you," Ratchet stated, as he and his siblings knew that if certain things hadn't gone down Ace would have walked a different path in life, a path that might have seen him as the greatest hero of Solana, instead of Qwark, and, surprisingly enough, the man looked like he was thinking about something, "we can make this right."

Ace glanced around for a moment, seeing a faint glimmer in the air that meant that one of the magical siblings must have set up a barrier of some kind, maybe one to prevent eavesdropping he guessed, and debated what he should sat to them, as he was expecting them to talk about him and why he was killing heroes, but now he had nothing to say. Part of him had to wonder if the siblings liked to try to redeem those they faced, as in those they deemed to be the true villains of their so called adventures, though the stories said that each villain they had encountered was either imprisoned, like Drek or the one from Bogon, or wiped out, like Nefarious. The other part of him wondered if he should just threaten them like he had been planning on doing when he decided to come here earlier, but in the end he simply did nothing but turn to the side for a moment, showing them that he was planning on leaving, before growling for a second. In that moment he glanced at the magic users and one seemed to understand that there was more he wished to say or do, where Starswirl weaved his power through the air and Clank found out what it was within seconds, an illusion spell to hide them from Vox, so while it looked like they were being briefed the reality could be very different.

"Here... if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me." Ace said, where he pulled out a small drive and tossed it over to Clank, though Ratchet caught it and handed it to his best friend so he could use it, not that Ace was surprised since he seemed to be a warrior at heart, regardless of what the bio said about the Lombax, "Command Code 061_Alpha_Omega. Pass Code Creampuff... don't look at me like that, it was the only thing I could think of that Vox couldn't guess."

Ratchet raised an eyebrow for a moment as Clank connected the device to his terminal and input the codes, all while Ace left them to get ready for their next event, before his friend found that it opened the way for them to invade all of Vox's systems, meaning when he had a greater understanding he could mess with DreadZone. There were commands to turn off or disable the security systems, deactivate the collars that every contestant, save for the Exterminators, wore around their necks, and all sorts of other commands that could ruin all of the station if Clank activated them. They discovered the secret that Ace had handed them, this was a surefire way for them to bring ruin to all of DreadZone and save the innocent people, and they didn't even have to do that much work for all of this, meaning Ace likely assumed that there was no real reason to stand in their way and was trying to help them out. While Clank checked out the drive, and confirmed what was on it, Ratchet checked out the Vendor and found a new weapon, the Arbiter, which seemed to be the rocket launcher for this adventure, which he and his siblings collected so they could be ready for whatever challenges were waiting for them in the Battledome.

A few moments later they were called to take the shuttle to the main arena, where they quickly found that they had to face off against multiple waves of enemies and kill a specific number within a minute and a half, all while discovering that they were now taking part in the Avenger Tournament. Supposedly this was a series of grueling challenges that separated that would determine whether they were dead weight or worthy of advancing to the next rank, the Avenger rank, since all new contestants started at the Marauder rank, not that they overly cared about such a thing. With all three of them working together Vox had to increase the number of foes that were in the first challenge, as each one faced a different direction as the enemies came at them and blasted their targets apart, making it so there were no holes in their defenses. This time around the dropships actually stayed and tried to fire missiles at them, which didn't matter all that much as Starswirl and Autumn used their magic to shield themselves, opening the way for Ratchet to blast his while they tore theirs apart, much to the joy of the audience.

After clearing the first challenge they had to make their way through the rest of the arena, through the sections they had fought in during their introduction challenge to DreadZone, as Dallas informed everyone that they would be making their way to the 'Tower of Power'. The only difference between their first challenge and this one was that a new foe showed up, a bulkier insect gladiator that could fire off spikes that rested on their backs, though it didn't matter in the end as Ratchet and his siblings tore through the new challengers and continued further into the arena. Another change was that Vox had added some small laser cannons that fired at their targets when they walked within range, a decent addition when they thought about it, but they didn't stand much of a chance as Autumn leapt into the air and blasted all of them apart before any of them could hit her. They knew that putting on a show at times would make the crowd and audiences cheer, which would ensure that Vox kept them around since they were the rising stars of DreadZone, and continued to do so as they blasted their way to the next platform and turned to the left, following the path in front of them.

Such a thing brought them to the Tower of Power, a metallic tower that had floating platforms and flying enemies waiting for them, so Starswirl focused on all of the flying enemies, Autumn tore apart the lasers, and Ratchet focused on anyone who appeared in front of them. Climbing Vox's Tower of Power was rather easy for the three of them, even with the boost of gladiators that were added to give them a challenge, and after a couple of minutes they reached the peak, causing all sorts of enemies to join in the fun as they attempted to take them down. It was quite a fight, the large amount of foes that were sent to destroy them and end Team Darkstar's path through DreadZone, though Ratchet found that none of their foes were capable of hitting him or his siblings, allowing them to blast the gladiators with missiles and magic. Such a thing put on a show for Dallas, Juanita, Vox, and even the Exterminators, not to mention the audience, though in the end they were victorious and were quickly elevated to the rank of Avenger, earning them a new armor pigment, turning the red bits green, before unlocking both Shaar and Orxon as their next destinations.

After that the siblings took on the Dread Challenges that were available, one called Perfect Chrome Finish, which was a battle challenge where Ratchet and his siblings couldn't take a hit, otherwise they would lose it, causing them to chuckle for a few seconds as they opened fire on their foes. With Autumn and Starswirl's magic backing them there was no way for any of their enemies to get close to where they decided to set up camp, even the ones dropped on top of them failed to do anything, and while they expected some to boo them, for making this too easy, everyone actually cheered for the three of them. The other challenge available to them was something called Close and Personal, where they were only allowed to use their melee weapons against the waves of enemies that were coming at them, another mistake on Vox's part, as each of them were skilled with their main weapons, thanks to their commando training. As such the three of them raised their weapons and lashed out at every gladiator that came at them, while Autumn and Starswirl refrained from using magic, as it might disqualify them, dispatching wave after wave of gladiators as the audience cheered them on.

Once they were done with that challenge, and found that there were no more to do right now, the siblings returned to the suite provided to them and decided to rest for the rest of the day, as tomorrow they would be sent to Shaar and continue their stay in DreadZone, all while Vox had no idea what sort of danger he was currently in.