Ratchet fought with more ferocity, than he ever had before, his entire body emanating the utter hate and anger in his heart. Though, he would never admit it, seeing the lombax like this terrified Ace. The whole arena was deadly silent. The crowd was completely quiet and neither of the announcers had a single quip to contribute. The only noises that could be heard were the sounds of battle.
When Ratchet had first attacked, it was in blind rage. This sloppy show of power had made it easy for Ace to land a few hits on his foe. But as Clank spoke to Ratchet through his head set, he was able to slowly quell the rage boiling in his friend. As the lombax began to become calmer and more strategic in his attacks, it was then Ace Hardlight realized he was at a disadvantage.
With blow after blow successfully being landed on the former hero, Ace realized he had to do something quick or be completely done for.
Ace jumped backward out of the lombax's reach and quickly threw his shield up again. He was losing charge on it, so he had to act quickly. Ace gingerly felt around his armour looking for his last resort.
As Ratchet lunged forward, his wrench held aloft, he prepared to break Ace's shield and become the newest highest ranking gladiator. But, just before his wrench was about to make contact with the barrier, a painful electric shock surged through his entire body.
Ratchet gave a cry of surprise and pain and dropped his weapon in front of his foe. Then another, more excruciating shock, coursed through the lombax causing him to cry out again and fall to his knees.
Gasps followed by muttering could be heard from the crowd as the hero hit the ground. They quickly silenced as Ace began to chuckle, holding the shock collar remote in his hand. As Hardlight's laughter filled the vast room he dropped his shield, before casually walking over to the vulnerable hero. Tapering off his laughter, Ace paused to take a breath.
"Didn't I warn you not to go up against me?" Ace smirked "Was I not clear enough before? Or do I need to repeat the lesson?"
Ratchet's blood went cold upon hearing those words, he attempted to stand, to say something. But with another press of the controller, Ratchet was on the floor again.
"You're a pathetic excuse for a hero, you know that?"
"And you're a cheating bastard." Ratchet hissed.
Suddenly a chorus of boos erupted from the crowd. Ace looked up towards the thousands of people heckling him, and a deep frown set on his face. While he was distracted, Ratchet began to crawl toward his wrench. The lombax carefully stretched out his arm praying to have enough time to land one last blow on the villain. But luck wasn't on his side this time. Ace snapped out of his trance just in time to see the hero's hand begin to close around the weapon.
"Enough!" Hardlight screamed. With a quick flick, Ace turned the death-collar's setting near maximum and jabbed the button, letting the charge fly.
The reaction was instant. Ratchet was immediately convulsing on the ground, and screaming out in agony. Painful bolts of electricity ran rampant through Ratchet's body. He felt like he was being slowly cooked from the inside out, but Ace stood steadfast; his face unreadable and his jaw set firmly. Ace held his finger on that button for, what felt like, an eternity before finally giving the battered hero a break.
Ratchet took in one gulping breath before breaking into a fit of coughs. Ratchet could faintly hear Clank's concerned voice coming through his ear piece, but he couldn't tell what he was saying over the ringing in his ears. With the little strength he had left, Ratchet rolled onto his side to hack up whatever was blocking his airway. Finally a glob of blood splashed to the ground, and the Lombax was finally able to take in slow, shuttering breaths. He didn't get long of a break though, as Ace was quickly approaching.
Flinging the controller to the side Ace was quickly on top of Ratchet. As his hands made contact with the ground on either side of the lombax's head, Ratchet jumped. As helplessness and panic began to slowly worm through Ratchet's system, Ace's face broke into a maniacal grin. Hardlight leaned in close before whispering into Ratchet's ear.
"How 'bout we give these people a different kind of show?" Ace murmured. He sensually licked up the side of Ratchet's face, and his eyes went wide as his breath caught in his throat.
"How about… a live re-enactment?"
Ace's hand slowly began to trace down Ratchet's armoured body before lingering over his cod piece. Ratchet's heart thundered in his ears, knowing he was too weak to do anything to fight back.
"P-Please," Ratchet rasped "Please, no."
Suddenly there was a bang and in the next instant Ace's body was slumping over Ratchet's. The lombax lay motionless in shock. Clank's voice suddenly cut through and Ratchet was able to come back to his senses. With some effort Ratchet was able to roll Ace's body off of himself. He stared dumbly, as he realized Ace's head was blown clean off his shoulders. He quickly turned his view upwards to see the man who had pulled the trigger.
There stood Gleeman Vox himself, clutching a death-collar controller. You could have heard a pin drop as Vox pocketed the device, before slowly meandering over to Ratchet. The lombax stood quietly unsure of the man's intentions, so he tensed his body preparing for the worse.
But the hero was taken completely off guard as Vox simply laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Ratchet's face twisted in confusion as Vox gave a big smile before addressing the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you our newest captain of the exterminators…Ratchet!"
Had an idea for this fic and the motivation to write it. Hopefully the rest of the chapters will be up soon, once I've finished writing and editing them.