This is a sequel to Chapter Two of the original "The Right Things" fanfic by Andrew Joshua Talon.
The ship moved quite quickly despite it enormous size. With more fire power and more advanced technology than any other ship the Messiah was truly an impressive sight. When inside its massive structure everything seen outside appeared to look smaller in comparison. Or at least that's how it felt to him if he compared how things looked from the Messiah to how things used to look from the Starcruiser. He couldn't help it but to wonder why he was chosen for this and he wondered even more why he accepted. The captain was supposed to be the one who wanted to leave it all behind but maybe he did too in his own way. Yes, the captain, captain Noah Parker, not chief, he never called any other captain that. Perhaps he had no choice, Mars was his home planet but wasn't Earth Betty's home planet? There was always a choice, he made his and she made hers. She stayed with the Galactic Guardians till the end and now she paid the unjust price. If it weren't for her the Earth would have been destroyed a thousand times over.
He was a Galactic Guardian once even before his planet officially joined their protection. He never liked the plans to invade Earth but it wasn't his choice to make. But when he time did come for him to make a choice he made it. Everyone made their own choice. Beatrixo choose to help the Earth. She played a vital role in the new future. He chose to stay with his planet after Mars joined the Earth in the fight against the Galactic Guardians. From that moment on he was no longer a Galactic Guardian and Betty was no longer his captain. But if he at some point called her chief and trusted her with his life why was he chosen to b part of the crew of the Messiah if she was considered the enemy? Maybe they thought they had his loyalty because when he made a choice he chose to go against the Galactic Guardians. Maybe they were right. Perhaps he belonged here with Noah, Paloma, X-5 and all the other members of the Messiah's crew. Yet he couldn't help it but to wonder about the what ifs.
Sparky shook his head lightly. He had been staring out at the Earth for quite some time now. The Messiah was flown around the planet doing a few basic tests after stopping for fuel. The ship's design and advanced technology prevented the fast movements from being felt harshly on board as it would have been with a ship like the Starcruiser at a much slower speed. Not that the Starcruiser could have reached this speed anyway. During that time the Earth and its surrounding area looked like nothing but a blur of colors making him turn away from the window for a moment. Now the Messiah fully operational as expected had completed the test run which was a mere protocol and perhaps also a way to provide a good show for the neighboring space stations around Earth. The Messiah was ready to go. Soon the Earth was left behind so far away that he could no longer see it. It was as if upon leaving the galaxy he left a part of him with it and almost became someone else. Everyone had to grow up, even Sparky. He walked away from the window with no haste. He didn't need to go to a specific part of the ship at the moment he just wanted to walk admiring the Messiah. It was a true wonder of technology, the symbol of the Alliance of Planets to new worlds. The caretaker of peace...
There were aliens of many races in the Messiah. Every planet of the Alliance of Plants had a representative in her crew. It was to make it fair, so that they will all be a part of it even if Earth was the leader. That appeared to be working. There might have been complaints otherwise. He saw X-5 and B-1 up ahead. They had been updated and slightly modified, improved supposedly, only physically. He wondered if their memories were left intact as promised or maybe they were modified a little. He wouldn't know that, it's not like asking would work if the modification, if any, prevented them from giving or even knowing the real answer. Still X-5 somehow was the same old X-5 from so many years ago with new shinier armor. Or maybe he looked familiar in comparison because everything else looked so different. Things were different a lot had changed and he told himself it was for the best. It had to be done, it had to happen, it couldn't be stopped, it would eventually occur.
One thing that probably the entire galaxy and beyond knew by now was not to underestimate the earthlings. Another thing that could be learned from that was not to underestimate technology that has been disregarded as outdated. With a few improvements B-1 became a valuable addition to the robots that traveled in the Messiah. He had experience and there for a lot of valuable data. Information could not be underestimated and so he was one of the robots who were taken to new worlds. It was a bit surprising really. Not that they had recognized him but that he came to travel in the Messiah. The robots that were dumped on Crushta had formed their own civilization. They repaired and improved themselves. When B-1 was checked before officially becoming a part of the Messiah's crew Sparky had heard they were surprised to find that he wasn't so outdated after all. Looks could be deceiving everyone should know that by now.
It was surprising he was here because he was the leader of the robots of Crushta and in the beginning everyone thought he would stay there. But B-1 had explained that his presence in the Messiah would be more useful than it was in Crushta. He had taught his robot companions to repair themselves instead of waiting for a new biological owner. He had taught them not to hate the ones who abandoned them but to prove that they were important. He said they had learned what they needed to learn from him and that the data he had collected over the years would be put to better use in the discovery and exploration of new worlds. No one objected to that, it was truth. The robots of Crushta would miss him but they felt reassured that he was on the Messiah. Maybe artificial intelligence units were so advanced that they weren't so artificial after all. They too wanted someone representing them there. They had B-1 and his nephew X-5. Every civilization had someone.
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Beatrix watched as the sun slowly set on Earth. Well, on a certain area of the Earth. Others suns, other stars, other worlds were out there. The Messiah must be far away from this galaxy by now. Noah, Paloma, Sparky, X-5, B-1 they were all far away, Betty too. But thinking about what could have or should have been wouldn't do any good. She had thought about it endlessly and came to no conclusions because there wasn't one to come to, because this story was yet to be finished. She looked at her garden admiring each plant. Flowers of different colors decorated her garden in group of the same color. She had plenty of space to plant whatever she wanted weather it was originally from Earth or not from Earth but was able to grow there too. Working on her garden was a good way to relax on her free time.
She admired an earthling rose. It was beautiful with soft red petals. She didn't forget that it also had thorns. It reminded her that life was like that. It had its soft beauty, moment of happiness and peace and it's had its harsh thorns, moments of war, destruction, chaos and uncertainty. No, not uncertainty, that was something different. Not knowing what is going to happen doesn't necessarily mean something bad will happen and knowing what is going to happen doesn't guarantee that things will work out either. Though most humans and not only humans but also must living creatures by nature feared the unknown that didn't make it necessarily bad. It all depended on how you look at it. There is no future set in stone except maybe the fact that all living things would have to stop living some day. But what will happen in the in between? That time, that was longer for some than for others, called life. Great things could be achieved if that time was used properly. Good things, bad things, things to be proud of and always remember and mistakes that people are not proud of making but they learn from them none the less. Some mistakes are necessary and some should be avoided. Sometimes one came disguised as the other and sometimes it was clear to see between the right thing to do and a mistake.
Everyone saw things in their own different and unique way. Not two perspectives of two living beings regardless of how similar they may be were exactly alike. Everyone was different and the same at the same time. It was a strange irony that explained itself. Because everyone saw things in a different way they could chose to look for their similarities instead of their differences and decide that even if their exact perception if the situation wasn't identical they were similar enough to live in peace. Then they would help each other because they are similar, they're on the same side, because they're both on the right side. Yet they complement each other because they each have something different to offer with the similarity of both needing something from the other. Perhaps it wasn't so much about people but about the choices they make. It was the choice, always the choice. The choice that brought a person to a certain path and to a certain place at the end of that path which was to prepare the traveler for what was to be found at the end of that certain path.
Beatrix turned her attention away from the rose as the sun became a thin line of light in the horizon. That had been enough deep thoughts for today. She headed back inside and stopped at the door looking at the skies for one more moment. The stars were not visible yet but soon they would be. They were there they were always there even if they couldn't be seen. Even if they were covered by the light of a bigger star, their sun, a blessing to the Earth what gave them light and warmth, a necessity for the planet's environment. Maybe sometimes a little darkness was needed to see the other lights that were missed before. A dark time was replaced by many lights, the new hopes of many civilizations from all over the universe. She walked inside and closed the door. Hasn't she decided upon having no more such thoughts today? Oh, let them come if they must. She had made her choice. Everyone had.
Betty was alive she was certain of that. She was trained to be the best of the Galactic Guardians She could survive her imprisonment. She would find a way. If anyone had the best chance it was her. She was all grown up and could make her own choices. Time was needed if she was to return. But not, now it was too soon. If she left her prison now she would be killed. She was considered a traitor, one of the dangers that had to be dealt with. That image of her might last some time but maybe in the future it would start to fade away if the right things happened. But the right things didn't happen just like that, they had to be done but it was too soon. Patience has always been a virtue and now more than only a virtue it was vital.
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It was indeed a cruel irony that the planet she protected was the same one that trapped her in this planet with no technology or civilization or anything. Betty would have never imagined that it would come to this when she stopped Maximus IQ and other super villains from destroying the Earth countless times before. She didn't regret it; it was the right thing to do at the time. Yet now she had nothing left, thinking of the past meant thinking of what she lost. Maybe she underestimated the Earth too or maybe she overestimated the Galactic Guardians. She didn't want to think she overestimated herself she sometimes thought about it but pushed such thoughts away. She was outnumbered and they had developed technology that was much more advanced than what she had available. She didn't even have her crew in the end.
Betty wondered where Sparky and X-5 were and where her grandmother was. She was probably on Earth. As for Sparky and X-5 she wasn't sure, in space most likely. She didn't blame Beatrix, she had the horrible bad habit to blame herself. She wasn't sure when or why she developed it. Maybe it was the atmosphere of hopelessness that appeared to have permanently settled into this world she was in. This world had already claimed several lives but at least she was alive and maybe a few others besides Maximus hidden in another area of the planet far from there. But this planet would not end her life. She may have nothing left but that she didn't want to allow it. Everyone's choices come with certain consequences and she could face whatever consequences her choices may bring. She wasn't going to run way. Is there really a right or wrong? Did it even matter now?
End of the Chapter Two's sequel.
Disclaimer, I do not own Atomic Betty. The original "The Right Things" fanfic was written by Andrew Joshua Talon, the sequels were written with permission.