This is a sequel to Chapter Four of the original "The Right Things" fanfic by Andrew Joshua Talon. This is Part Eight if you read them all together.
Betty had a strange sensation of deja vu as she was faded away from existence in the control room and appeared again trapped in an area of Messiah meant to keep prisoners. The dungeon like cell was quite small for the large size of the ship and quite hard to escape.
Once again the lives of many were in danger this time by the ship that they created them selves. She had saved the Earth from being destroyed by countless super villains many times in the past when they did not know of the existence of the Galactic Guardians and now she felt as if she had to do it again even if they had regarded her as a traitor.
It was a group that had given her that classification. A group of people that had the majority to back them up but those many others did not know her. They had heard of her but they didn't know who she truly was and possibly didn't care for they believed they knew enough. They had heard about her betrayal and supposed crimes against the Earth but nothing more. They didn't know her side of the story.
She couldn't let those people die. Not the millions of innocent lives that couldn't help it but to go with the circumstances. Some may think it was their choice but only a few wise people know that many times life goes by without a single choice being made. Sensei Spindly Tam Kanushu had said something like that a long time ago she recalled.
Many are carried away by the wind of others. They don't make a choice they simply go along with whatever the people around them do. That is how the majority lives waiting for the person next to them to do something, to take action, to move forward so they can do the same thing. They go in the same direction assuming that if that many are heading that way then it is right. Then more people take the same course of action. More and more they cause a chain reaction capable of restructuring entire civilizations, planets and even galaxies.
She wondered how things would be if Mars had not attacked but what was a disaster on the day in which it happened was considered a good thing later by many Earthlings. True that many sacrifices had been made and the lives that were lost could not be recovered but that's how people are, it has to get really bad before they start to look on the bright side as if to try to create a balance. Even those who are pessimistic when things are at relative peace look for optimism when chaos comes. It's the way their mind works searching for a balance.
They give each other hope in times of need refusing to let their world end and try to look at the bright side while remembering the darkness in the deepest corners of their minds pushing it away not to look at it directly. Maybe they become optimistic because they refuse negativity completely when it becomes too much as if it was never a part of them.
The events had set a chain reaction enabling the Earth to create advanced technology out of the necessity to live. They had used Beatrix's ship and made vast improvements on the technology that existed. The Century Warbler was the key used to unlock a powerful force. Then, their own creations came. They were s strange for the eyes of many and different from other ships. They were made with what was available and influenced the designed that would be made in the future.
The Earth ships... Titan and Messiah were not meant to be enemies but they would go to battle in seconds. No other ship she knew of could possibly stand up to the Messiah. She had to find a way out and act quickly before it was too late. Maybe that had been her earlier mistake or maybe not.
She tried to avoid the situation staying away from a battle where she could not make a choice. But putting off that choice that she was forced to make anyway brought its consciences. Should she had picked a side and stayed with it? Had she joined their battle earlier would the outcome had been different? She didn't know and would not wonder about it as it was useless but this time she would make a difference.
Maybe she should had left to a faraway galaxy and stayed neutral to the entire battle in a place were she couldn't be forced to choose. Maybe she should do that as soon as she had the chance... No, Betty didn't run away, she never did. Weather it was Atomic Betty or just Betty she would face this. No more avoiding hard choices. She would save as many lives as she could. This time there were no sides to choose from simply lives to save weather they wanted her help or not.
She searched the small uncomfortable cell for any means of escape finding none. It was a little dark with a dim light that fell upon the corridor in front of her and only slightly touched the inside of the cell. There had to be some sort of device if it was possible to bring her here. The teleportation technology used was connected to ship. Then maybe there was something to be found, a way of escape, a way to take action. There had to be.
The crew of the Messiah was to say the least very alarmed by the ship's sudden change of course heading towards the Earth's fleet on an attack course. They were quick to realize that their precious ship was no longer under their control but they were powerless to get it back. The ship's internal security system prevented them from accessing the main control room where they suspected, correctly, that the invaders were. Captain Noah was there as well as Paloma and a few others. The crew wasn't certain if they were even alive at the moment. They were, but still unconscious and unable to do anything.
Sparky was part of the crew of the Messiah. He was Martian who used to be a Galactic Guardian. He sided with his planet and there for with Earth since Mars had joined them against the Galactic Guardians. He was too captured with the rest of the crew knocked out having a dream or more like a portion of a memory in his subconscious state.
It was of the day when he first heard that Mars was to attack the Earth. The first time he heard about it he didn't believe it but it would soon become painfully true. Being a Galactic Guardian wasn't a real problem for him on his planet since the Guardians were neutral to the battle at the time before Mars joined their protection.
Zulia worried about him though. His captain was an earthling and even if she had met Atomic Betty a few times she worried about the actions she my take when faced with such a choice. "She'll side with her planet" Zulia had said. "She may be your friend now but she'll choose her home over her friends it is what any living being would do" By this point she knew of Betty's secret home planet that would soon stop being a secret to everyone else.
Sparky didn't agree. Betty's home was in space from his point of view. She spent more time on the Starcruiser and Galactic Guardian Head Quarters than on Earth. Her closest friends were outside of the planet. She had ancestors that had lived in other planets her grandmother was one of the best Galactic Guardians ever, surpassed only by Betty her self.
Beatrixo would leave the Earth, she and Jim would return to space before the conflict became serious. Beatrixo was only half earthling and Jim had lived for many years in outer space too. 'They will come...' thought Sparky. But they never did.
Beatrixo now known as Beatrix stayed on Earth. As for Betty, she refused to choose to Sparky's disappointment. Things had not gone how he expected and Zulia's prediction had not been completely correct. Then he had to choose and his choice was his home planet. The Galactic Guardians were a thing of the past now. He was right he thought. Regardless of the twists and turns that life threw in his path in the end he had to be right.
There was Paloma with the ability to predict things. She was an earthling by choice not by birth but as much as an earthling as any other. She sensed war and disaster but the outcome was too sensitive to the influence of a single person to predict, any person. To know for sure was not possible under the circumstances than again she could never be truly sure of a future that was not set in stone.
The battle was too close and any detail could change the outcome. Yet she felt more as an earthling with each passing day. Perhaps she wasn't able to interpret it at the time but her powers were telling her that Earth would win, at least on that occasion and it did. Or maybe it was not that but a growing emotion instead, it was hard to tell the difference for earthlings do not posses such abilities and she had neglected them for too long.
Paloma was unconscious also imprisoned at the mercy of the enemies along with her captain Noah. His life had taken an unexpected turn with so many surprises being revealed one after the other. Betty was a galactic guardian it was the reason why she was always late all those years. She never told him, she never trusted him. He felt hurt and betrayed when he found out. He would trust her with his life yet she didn't even trust his silence.
He would have understood had she said something on time. Then maybe he could have brought her to the side of the Earth. He could have made a difference for her or could he? It was still her choice in the end.
Even in her confined dark small space Betty heard explosions. She couldn't hear them too loudly inside the Messiah. Her massive shield blocked any harm coming her way and also made the sound die down before it reached the ship. Regardless of the volume of the explosions Betty knew they were near by possibly right outside. The battle had already started and she was still trapped but she found something. A small sensor, too small for a teleporter but she knew better. Technology advanced and devises became smaller. But it was still not much of a discovery, she had to figure out hw to activate it or find another way out entirely.
Maximus was quite amused with the arsenal of weapons available in the Messiah. He was having more fun than he remembered having in a long time. Right now his goal was to exterminate the Earth's army and that dreaded Titan he would think of what to do next when he came to it.
The gold fish's offer was not bad he didn't like the idea of working with the Galactic Guardians. Even so he knew this was not the time or place to argue. For now he would play along until was ready. Then he would rid this universe of earthlings and Galactic Guardians alike and make it his universe as he always wanted and believed he deserved.
Hearing Maximus's evil laughter Lamprey wondered if there was some kind of plot forming in his mind or if he was simply enjoying the destruction of the Earth hips. Better keep an eye on him. He didn't know why but he had a feeling that if any villain was to betray them Maximus would most likely be the first.
Hundreds of small starships surrounded the Messiah falling to her advanced weapons before they could even make a scratch. The earth was loosing ships out powered vastly by what was their strongest defender.
Inside the ship called Titan the crew was concerned about this battle and their possibilities of victory or lack there of. "I fear the Titan cannot defeat the Messiah"
"We're not giving up now. Don't you remember when they first attacked? Everyone thought we would be helpless against Mars but we beat them and turned them into our allies then we beat the real enemy. This time it will be no different. We're faced with a situation in which we are at a disadvantage but we will come out victorious in the end no matter what it takes" He knew they would most likely had to retreat this time but first the Titan would show what she was capable of doing.
End of chapter four's sequel aka the eighth part.
Disclaimer, I do not own Atomic Betty. The original "The Right Things" fanfic was written by Andrew Joshua Talon, the sequels in "The Right Things: Episode Two" were written with permission.