Here they were. Outside Technoids office building on Genesis. Dame Simbai, a valued member of the the flux society, and the nurse, Helena Danvers. Nurse employed by Technoid, often treating Duke Maddox himself, and wife to the most wanted man in the galaxy, the former scientist and professor I'Son Danvers, now head of the pirates, Sonny Blackbones.
Helena wasn't sure how Duke Maddox would react to her presence, especially when he learned whom she was married to. It was possible that Duke Maddox didn't know that I'Son and Sonny were one and the same. For all she knew, he could chose to not want to help Sonny. In wich case, it would be over for him. But it was not the feeling she had, that Duke Maddox wanted to allow any of his operatives to commit murder. Sonny was maybe a crimminal in the eyes of the law, but in this case, Sonny tried to save them all. He shouldnt have to pay the ultimate price, his life, for that. Helena looked at Dame Simbai one more time, before they entered the building.
They were led to a meeting room. And found themselves joined by Grandmaster Brim Simbra. Dame Simbai reported to him how Sonny had taken the big risk of dealing with the metaflux, despite the danger this posed to his own safety. Grandmaster Simbra seemed to understand Sonnys reasoning for the choice, and Helena understood that The Flux society would stand by Sonny on the matter, offering him some level of protection. They had done so, until Bleylock had foiled the plan, and taken Sonny prisoner. The finals match was tonight, and Helena felt sick with the thought of what that meant for Sonny. These hours, while they tried to find and rescue him, his life was coming towards an end.
Helena looked up, as the door to the room opened, and Duke Maddox entered.
"I hope you got a good reason for disturbing me at this hour. I was informed that you had information on Bleylock that was urgent. So make it snappy" he grunted.
Dame Simbai quickly went on to explain the situation to him. Duke Maddox rubbed his beard as he listened. Someone had tried to call him, about this just days earlier, during the snow kids Technoidroid match.
Dame Simbai confessed this was her doing. She wasn't sure if Sonny was the right person to deal with something as dangerous as flux. But Brim Simbra had calmed her, reminding her of Sonnys past. If anyone was capable of dealing with such a deadly weapon, it was Sonny Blackbones. Brim Simbra reminded them, with his knowledge, if Sonny Blackbones had been a person set on doing ill to others, he had the knowledge and education to do would have made no sense to wait till now. And they had no record, whatsoever, of Sonny ever doing anything harmful towards the inhabitants of the galaxy. His only target had been Technoid, and since his past with them was known, it was evident, Sonny Blackbones was a victim of Bleylocks power plays. Sonny was in danger, grave danger, and they had to find Bleylock and his prisoner, before Bleylock made good on his word, and Sonny ended up dead.
Duke Maddox looked at Helena. His face a bit sad.
"I suppose..you wont be staying with us now. If you have met him and heard his side of things, I hope you understand that I am as much a victim in this power play of Bleylocks as you and he is?I would want Sonny back in the company, if I had caught him. I would have offered him the chance to work for me, to serve the time. Sonny is too skilled to be held locked up" He said.
Helena nodded.
"This isnt the first time Bleylock has been wheeling and dealing Your Excellency. And we both know, his and Sonnys past isnt all rosy red. We don't know what Bleylock aims to achieve, but he has stolen 16 years from Sonny and me, and Sonny lost his own sons upbringing because of that. I don't hold Bleylocks actions against you. I came here, to ask you for help. To save Sonnys life. If he can be freed, he can have a second chance. I hope there is still a chance this could happen" she said.
Duke Maddox nodded.
"If you got concrete evidence against Bleylock, I can put him on trail for this. Do you have any indication as to where he may have taken Sonny?" Duke Maddox asked.
Dame Simbai nodded.
"A friend of Helenas had a vision. She saw Bleylock will try to drown Sonny. The only place here on Genesis with that amount of water, is the reservoirs" she said.
Duke Maddox he checked the schedule for the reservoirs.
"Bleylock is at the northern reservoirs. That must be where Sonny is held captive. I will need some help though with the rescue. Can anyone get me in contact with Sonnys pirates? I will need their help pulling this off".
The final was on the way, and Helena could clearly see that her son was struggling. It was clear for the entire galaxy,that D'Jok wasn't having a good day. It was heartbreaking to know the reason why he acted as he did. D'Jok was putting his team and also, the galaxy, in danger, by trying to save Sonny this way. Helena was looking at Maia.
"Maia, promise me, if you get any preminition, tell me. Don't hold it back. If worst comes to happen,I need to know, so I can prepare myself" she pleaded.
Maia nodded. She was rooting for her friend. And sending a silent prayer, this would work to save them all.
This was turning into a day like no other. The pirates felt like it was a twilight zone for sure. They found themselves in a unique situation to say the very least. They were working hand in hand with Technoid, their sworn enemy, in a desperate effort to find and free Sonny, before it was too late. Upon entering the reservoirs at Genesis north, a place very close to their meeting place, Corso had even checked the signal again. Nothing. Whatever kind of prison was used to contain Sonny, he had no chance of signalling for help. And the final was on the way. Time was running out for Sonny. They had to find him, and fast. Duke Maddox stopped them while he used his palmprint to open the doors. Corso looked at it. Good thing he was here after all. They never would have managed to get in here on their own. From the look of things, if they had tried, they could have ended up causing Sonnys death. Duke Maddox turned to him.
"As a matter of safety, my robots are going to go in first, that is if you don't mind. We don't know what kind of defence Bleylock may have. He is holding the most valuable prisoner in the galaxy in there at the moment. That may make him act crazy if he figures out things too soon. My robots can handle lasers better than a human body" he said.
Corso nodded.
"As long as we find Sonny before its too late, I don't much care. I just want to find our leader and make sure he stays alive" Corso said.
Artie and Bennett nodded.
Duke Maddox then gestured for them to step aside as they entered the reservoirs, robots first.
Sonny woke up with a jolt. Something did not feel right. He had been sleeping for days, in this very cold prison Bleylock had made for him, an unescapable prison as a matter of fact. A bubble, that was now shrinking! It only took a second for Sonny to realise what was happening. The bubble shrinking around him. It seemed his friends had found them, and was making a rescue attempt. And it also seemed, Bleylock was aware of that, and he was countering, by depriving him of what air he had left.
He would not survive if he didn't try to fight this.
Sonny put his strong arms and legs against the bubble, doing his best to keep it from shrinking further.
They didn't know what had happened, but there was snow falling on the pitch of Genesis stadium. Snow! Just like it did 16 years earlier, on Akillian, the very day the glaciation started. Helena didn't remember much. She had been weak, almost ready to have her baby son, and laid to rest. All of this, had mostly passed her by. And then, when she got sick, after having him, Helena had been comatosed for nearly a month, soaring between life and death. She didn't get to see the snowfall, that got heavier and heavier, how flowers, not meant for this extreme temperature drop they experienced as the planet shifted its axis, had whithered before her very eyes. She woke up, to find all she knew as ever green, changed to winter white, and freezing cold.
To see this snow here, on Genesis, a man made spinning star,it felt surreal.
Maia sat beside her, among the other snow kids parents. This was history repeating itself. This was what had happened during the time of the great Akillian team 16 years ago. An unprecedented snowfall and a cold of unexplainable magnitude, that froze the stadium over, leading to the death of many.
What could this possibly mean? Maia felt more than she saw Helenas look at her. And out on the pitch, the snow kids was also perplexed.
Snow, here on Genesis? The shadows seemed to struggle with it, as they came from Obscurantis, a warm planet. What in the galaxy was going on?
The water was freezing cold. That was the first thought that hit Corso as he dove under, to reach Sonny. This was inhumane. And the bubble that contained Sonny, seemed to be..shrinking. Sonny was fighting it with all he had, but it seemed, not even he was strong enough to hold against it for long. Corso had to find a way to pop it, and free him, now the question was..how?
He had to loose it. If not, Sonny was done for, he was sure of it. And he couldn't bare the thought of loosing his father. Not now when he had just found him.
D'Jok pleaded with Rocket. His team had avoided playing off of him all night, seeing he had such a crappy day. They didn't understand his motivation. There truly was something more to life than football. His fathers life was more important.
D'Jok could see Rocket was hesitant to let him, but decided to give him a chance. This was their last chance, to tie the score, and then, the dreaded penalty time, and golden goal.
D'Jok closed his eyes, and sent the ball on the way. The roar from the crowd told him all he needed to know. It was a goal, there would be penalty time. And still he didn't feel happy. He had just failed to protect his beloved father. This goal..if Bleylock saw it, wich he assumed he did, D'Jok felt, he had just killed his own father with this goal.
Corso gasped for air as they broke the surface. Sonny was unconscious and limp in his arms. He couldn't help himself. Corso had to hang on till Bennett and Artie could help them. He didn't know for how long Sonny had been held captive under water, but he could feel Sonny being a bit cold. He had possibly been here for days. Bleylock was an animal in Corsos eyes. Once he saw Bennett and Artie on the ledge, he called out to them.
"Get Sonny out of here first. He is unconscious. And cold. Pull out something to warm him a bit. Tend to Sonny first, try to wake him , help me" He called out.
Instantly, the fangs of Duke Maddox Robots was lowered down. Duke Maddox nodded.
"They wont hurt him Corso. Place him on top of the fangs, we will lift him out" Duke Maddox called.
Corso nodded and used the boyance of the water to lift Sonny enough to place him on the fangs. As an extra measure, Corso pulled out a rope he had in his pocket, and used it to tie Sonny securely to the robot fangs.
"Ok, he is ready, lift him up".
Clamp was happy that D'Jok had scored. But they had not heard from the pirates yet. And that caused him to worry. Then, his transmitter went off.
Clamp opened the call.
"Clamp, we did it. We found Sonny, he is safe and sound, just a bit cold. I hope this doesnt get to you too late" sounded Corsos voice.
Clamp let out a sigh of relief.
"D'Jok tied it at the last minute. But he looks very upset. I guess he thinks, he just killed his father" Clamp reported.
And he felt Aarch and Simbai behind him.
"Someone please explain to me what is going on. I am listening" Aarch said.
Helena was watching the match, feeling like she had a big lump in her stomach when her son tied the score. She didn't want to think of what this meant for Sonny. Then, her transmitter went off. An unknown contact code. Could be a pirate. Did they bear bad news? Maias hand on hers, calm and with a soft smile, made her pick up.
"Corso?" she said as she heard the other mans voice.
"He is safe and sound Helena. We found him in the nick of time" Corso reported.
"Can I talk to him?" she asked.
Corso was silent for a sec.
"He will call you, as soon as we have found Bleylock. Needless to say, Sonny is a bit enraged over what was done to him. He is talking with Maddox now. I will tell him to call you, as soon as he is ready" Corso said.
Helena agreed.
"Thanks for letting me know. Now, we can enjoy extra time, golden goal, without worry" she said.
Corso chuckled.
"Make sure your son is notified at the break. He needs to play his best for the end of this. Go snow, Go!" he chuckled as he ended the call.
Helena leaned back. All would be fine now. Now, the snow kids just had to bring it all to a close, and a win.