Of course there was a fail-safe put in place.
The Flux masters was just seen as a group who mastered their Flux to perfection.
Thinking about it, it made sense, actually.
Professor Benson gritted teeth as he saw the Flux Masters standing together with Dame Simbai, their leader. For a moment, he considered having her taken out. But then, he noticed the Flux Master who stood to her right, stone faced and unreadable.
Sonny Blackbones. He was on the list as a possible fuel source for the weapon on Abraxor. But first, they needed the key of the Erwholers, even a copy would do, that and the palm print of the one assigned to safeguard it.
Professor Benson ginned. It was time to pay Bennett Erwholer a visit.

Bennett was stunned as he listened to what Sonny told him. His brother, the legendary Flux Master from Abraxor, was alive. He felt torn. A part of him felt angry, because he had not come looking for him.
Guess he wasn't important enough for that.
Sonny noticed he was hurt.
"Bennett, I didn't know. He has lived like a hermit on your home planet for years. He also has a group of rebels who support his cause with him, much like the Pirates. He may know something about the doomsday weapon Abraxor is said to have. We need your help locating him. That weapon must be stopped. I know that's a tall order, but the Galaxy is at stake." Sonny said. Bennett swallowed.
"Alright, give me an hour."

The building was in plain view. The usually air tight security had loosened a great deal. Perfect. The man was wearing a special suit, that allowed him to bypass all motion detectors. He looked until he found a door marked with Bennett's name. Slowly, he used his tools to open the door and get in.
Bennett wasn't here, that would save him a fight. He just needed the key, to operate the weapon. It took him some effort but at last, the safe opened.A box sat inside. He looked at it. Family pictures. Sentimentalities from a past long gone, but no key.
Where could he have hidden it? The stranger got stressed enough to throw the pictures to the floor, triggering the alarm. The noise was deafening. He had to get out before security got here. The stranger hid as the building's security team stormed the apartment. While the Pirates tried to figure out what had set the alarm off, the stranger snuck out, undetected.

Corso wasn't happy. A break in at Bennett's apartment while he was away? Someone figured out what Bennet was holding, and it painted a target on his back.
Sonny looked sleepy when he joined him, wearing his bathrobe and slippers. Corso smiled softly at the sight. He hoped he would get a proper night's rest soon. He would have to deal with that later. Right now, Sonny wanted to know what was happening.
"There has been a break in at Bennett's apartment. From the look of things, nothing was taken." Corso said.
Sonny frowned. Callie also joined them, stifling a yawn.
"Morning sickness?" Sonny asked carefully as Callie went to vomit into the toilet.
"Should we help her out?" Corso asked. Sonny smiled.
"You're the herbalist, you can probably make her something. I just hope we can persuade her to stop working so hard all the time." He said. Corso looked at him.
"I suppose. I just hope my memories will serve me correctly." Corso mused. Sonny smiled.
"I don't recall Helena being this sick when she was pregnant, but that could be due to the fact that I was working all the time, and was not really there to see it all." He said with a sigh. Corso chuckled.
"'Back to business, why was Bennett's apartment broken into?" He asked.
"They were looking for something they thought he had. Probably didn't want us to find out who he was." Sonny concluded. Corso agreed with him.
"What were they after?" He wondered. Sonny rubbed his chin. He might have an idea.
"We must speed up our own investigation into Professor Benson and the missing science teams. My bet is, what they sought, was Bennett's key to the weapon hidden on Abraxor" Sonny said as he reached for his clothes that Callie had hung on the chair next to him. It was time to spring into action.

Brim Balarius woke up, feeling a bit better. He was still weak from the horrifying events at the Circle of Fluxes, not to mention emotionally scarred.
He just hoped his message to Dame Simbai could set this right. He had stalled them for so long. Avoided completing what they asked him to do, or rather, ordered him to do. He just couldn't, he was not going to be their puppet anymore. But he needed help to stop this. From one of their Flux Masters. Brim Balarius used the text function of his transmitter. Raven had to ask Sonny to come see him, the sooner, the better.

Sonny, Callie, Corso and Micro Ice were all having breakfast. Callie still didn't feel all that good, so Corso gave her a cup of tea and some soup with a herbal mix that would keep her from vomiting. Callie ate slowly, she had to be at the station shortly. Corso had classes he needed to attend. Warren was the Flux Master who agreed to take this training on for the category Fives as a recently appointed Flux Master.
Micro Ice would accompany Sonny through the day, as part of his field training. Artie would have loved to have another day off from the Pirates food bank, but he was falling behind on his work, and Sonny still needed a partner. He started to realize that recent events were all Flux related. All signs pointed to the missing science teams. And Benson was also a part of this. But how to contact him? Technoid probably had his number.
As soon as they had cleaned up breakfast, Sonny called Technoid.
Duke Maddox was quick to answer.
"Ah, Sonny, I was about to contact you. We have the results from the Flux samples you collected on The circle of Fluxes. Two strains stand out, one very weak and the other, incredibly strong." He said. Sonny nodded.
"Abraxor's Darkness, and Chissia's Gaia, now all that remains, is the third strain" He said. Duke Maddox nodded.
"It appears to be synthetic, and also so fast you can't see it with the naked eye. Almost like an enhanced MetaFlux." He said. Sonny frowned.
"It can't be the MetaFlux, I made sure that Flux was destroyed completely." He said. Duke Maddox nodded."Looks like someone revived The MetaFlux, and enhanced it. I just wonder who." He said. Sonny felt chills run down his spine.
He never wrote the exact formula down, so no one could copy it. That was too dangerous.
He remembered Professor Benson's words. The professor was so eager to study his version of MetaFlux. Could he have recreated it?
This was a situation that could turn dangerous fast. With The Flux Masters now at the helm of enforcing the rules, he had to set things in motion to prevent a war.
"I need a favor."

He never thought he would be going on a mission with Sonny again this fast. But here they were, going back to Professor Benson, who wanted him to come along. His acting must've been great.
The Professor warmly greeted them at his lab, dressed in a lab coat with a strange insignia on it. Sonny made a mental note of it. He also brought along a video file of the four stolen test tubes and the sample of what he had found on The circle of Fluxes. That might get Benson to talk. And before long, it became clear, Professor Benson knew more than he let on.
"Whoever made this strain of Flux, must really know their stuff. I've never seen anything so strong." Benson said while looking through a microscope.
Sonny had to work hard not to pin him to the wall. That was no way to talk about something that caused so much harm. He had a lot of questions, but kept them to himself. Professor Benson was involved. Sonny carefully chose his words before he spoke.
"Whoever made this, outdid our work. The MetaFlux was undetectable, at least to the naked eye. It was never this strong. I wonder how they managed to cook up something like this. I just can't think of any good uses for it." Sonny said.
That hit home. Professor Benson beamed with pride. And that alerted Sonny, he was right to suspect Benson of knowing far more than he let on. Sonny decided to carry out a line of questions, to see if he could get more information out of him.
"If you don't mind. I did some investigation on you. Well, Corso did. Apparently you're wanted on Chissia. You and eleven other scientists. I know the military covered this up, so I wonder what happened. Are the others alive as well? And does it have anything to do with the disappearing scientists from Abraxor? I am sure the governments of both planets would like to know what happened." He said.
Benson suddenly grew cold. Those questions had to have struck a nerve.
"I have a background that allowed me to act as a middleman between my bosses and Technoid. My colleagues are imprisoned on a moon. I'm not sure where, as I was always blindfolded the few times I was taken to them." He said.
This didn't sound right. Professor Benson knew more about this then he let on. And Sonny was going to make him spill the beans.
"How many of them are held captive?" Sonny asked.
Professor Benson sighed dramatically.
"You can count. There were twenty- four of us. We were forced to develop Flux bombs, like the one that exploded on The circle of Fluxes. If we didn't, Abraxor's weapon would be aimed at Chissia first. It would suffer the same fate as Ascaron." He stammered. Sonny didn't buy it.
Sonny looked at Micro Ice from the corner of his eye. He hadn't said much, he just observed. He just had to push a little harder.

Bennett reached Abraxor. He hated all the memories he had of this place. But this was not about that. They had questions that needed answering. His job was simple, find Bertrand, and ask if he could help them. As a Flux Master, it would be in Bertrand's own interest that the galaxy stayed a peaceful place. He used his ship in Stealth mode, first time in ages he actually turned that thing on. As soon as he found a safe place, Bennett parked his little ship where it couldn't be seen. He turned around, and saw the ruins of his childhood home. The memories came fast, but he had no choice but to let it go. His gaze moved towards the dark Abraxor mountains. Time to start the hike.

The category five students were all in the holo trainer today. Trying to understand and strengthen their Flux. Corso decided to put on his pirate uniform for this session. Warren was talking about how, at this level of mastery, he could actually, for those with ties to more than one planet, or settlement, make use of both Fluxes. First, it was Yuki from The Electras. She already mastered the use of both The Breath of Akillian and The Actonian Wave. To see her juggle the two was amazing. Corso watched several students do the same. They looked powerful. That bode well for the defense of the galaxy. Warren looked at him.
"Your turn, Corso, show us what you got." Warren said.
Corso nodded and stepped into the center. He decided to call up The seed of Shiloh. It looked powerful, streaming from his hands, and forming a protective cocoon around his body.
He was reminded of Chissia's Flux. Gaia. That threw his focus off, and he noticed his flux started to change. It got murkier, impossible to see through.
Corso felt scared all of a sudden. What was wrong with his Flux? He didn't use Gaia for so long. Corso felt it engulf him, he couldn't breathe.
Corso sank to his knees, feeling as if he was suffocating with Gaia growing stronger and stronger, as it took him over completely.

Blackbones was becoming a threat. Professor Benson was getting uneasy. Sonny knew he was lying. There was only one way left to deal with them. They needed Blackbones, as a fuel source for the weapon. If they had Blackbones, they could negotiate; his life for the key.
Professor Benson pretended to open a drawer, as he quickly pressed a concealed button to release knockout gas. Sonny felt lightheaded. His entire body was in alert mode. He had experienced this before. He had to get out of there.
"Micro Ice, we have to get out of here." Sonny managed as he pulled out a small device from inside his jacket and put it on his face. It was too late as he felt himself start to loose consciousness.
Micro Ice froze for a second. What was going on? He got a hold of Sonny, letting the older man lean on him.
Micro Ice tried to find the door, get away from the gas. Sonny took some deep breaths from his respirator.
Suddenly, Micro Ice felt someone place a rag in front of his face, as he sank to the floor, unconscious.
Sonny saw that Micro Ice had been chloroformed. Professor Benson was not alone. Sonny tore the mask off his face as he tried to duck below the gas.
He felt someone grab him from behind, putting a rag over his face. They tried to chloroform him as well. He couldn't resist and seconds later, he collapsed next to Micro Ice.
Professor Benson nodded to his accomplice. They lifted the two unconscious men, and put them inside a special crate waiting in a separate room. They were then transported to a loading dock in the cellar.
Sonny and Micro Ice were both put on stretchers, and tied down, with a mask on their face, by Benson's companions. Benson looked at Sonny.
"I'm sorry, but we need your Flux. Let's just hope you'll cooperate."

This is really getting exciting, isn't it. Sonny and Micro Ice are in trouble, and got too close to the truth. Let's hope they get some help. And what happened to Corso?
Thank you paranoidgirl, for the excellent work that you do.