Caleb snored lightly in his bed, hugging a sheathed Gladius close. Zig and Bernie were in the other bed, and Sharko loudly snored on the couch. It was fairly peaceful in the guys' room, but in the gals' things were much different. Katania and Marina were wide awake this cool Canadian morning, chatting about all the clothes the general's daughter had bought the other day.
"I know for a fact I won't be able to wear all of these", Kat said as she held up one of the dresses. "So if you want, Marina, you can take some of them." She smiled kindly at the mermaid, who looked back in shock.
The mermaid then made shocked gestures, seemingly unsure if Kat was being honest or not.
The girl just laughed with a genuine smile. "I mean it, sis!"
Marina squealed and picked up a pastel green dress, one that was just long enough to hide her whole tail. She rushed into the bathroom and left it seconds after, now wearing said dress. She did a little spin and a few poses, making Katania clap happily.
"It looks great on you!" Marina blushed at Kat's compliment, but her smile fell when she caught something through the window. Kat watched in concern as the mermaid walked over to the window, opened it, and leaned out.
"Is there something wrong, Marina?" The general's daughter asked. Marina said she swore she saw something reflect in the light, thinking some creep was watching them with a camera.
Her face morphing in concern, Katania walked out of the room and around the back. She was just under their room window, but didn't see anything. She eyed the quiet street carefully, and just as she was about to throw in the towel, she caught it. In the tree across the street, there was a camera aimed at the motel. Namely, her's and Caleb's room.
"What the hell…" She said breathlessly. With a kick in her drive, she rushed back around to the front, and started knocking on her best friends' door. After a moment, a still half-asleep Caleb opened the door, still hugging a tired Gladius close to him.
"What's going on, Kat?" the boy whined. "It's seven in the morning!"
"Marina and I saw that there's a camera across the street spying on us", the girl said in a rushed way, her words somewhat slurring together. "Marina caught it, and I saw it when I went out back."
Caleb instantly started to perk up as worry filled his veins. "Wait… what?" Sharko sprung to his feet and rushed out, heading into the other room to check on his girlfriend.
Gladius wiggled out of the boy's grasp and flew into the room, heading towards the window and looking at said tree. "I do see the camera… Do you know who it could be?"
"No idea. We don't even know how long it's been there!" Kat was panicking, looking around like she was worried someone was watching them at that moment. "I don't do well in situations like this."
"Okay… You relax here with Marina…" Caleb led her inside the room and sat her on the bed. "Ransack and Crumplezone will keep watch. Zig!" The hyena jumped up in shock, then saluted. "You and Sharko are coming with me and Gladius to check this camera out. Bernie." The mollusk perked up at the mention of his name. "You stay here and give Kat and Marina company, okay?"
Bernie nodded as he climbed into Kat's lap, reassuring the girl a bit more.
With his friend safe and secured, Caleb quickly headed into the bathroom to get changed. When he was back out in a fresh outfit, he smiled as Sharko was reassuring Marina on the couch.
"Alright boys!" Caleb called out, his smile becoming a stern look. "Let's deal with this camera, and see if there's anything else going on."
Sharko, Zig and Gladius all nodded, and they all headed outside as a troop. The hyena and shark were in their full disguises, and Gladius was sheathed and hanging from the boy's back, so they headed around the back of the motel, passing by the two Transformers parked in a defensive way.
Upon reaching the tree, the group looked up at the camera Katania had pointed out. But it didn't seem to be a camera at all. Sharko lifted the boy up, and he got as good of a look at the strange device as he could.
It was circular, with only a blinking red light and small antennae on it. With a confused look, Caleb grabbed it, and threw it to the ground hard. Zig jumped back a bit as shards of glass and metal flew out, leaving the device as a useless pile of scrap.
"Whatever it is, doesn't matter now", the boy said in a frustrated tone. "But when I find whoever put this here and scared Kat, they're dead."
Sharko put him down, and the trio started to walk back to the motel. But when they looked up, they saw Betty's ship high above. Concern etching across their faces, the group rushed back to the room just as they were all beamed up. Even Ransack and Crumplezone were taken along, the two Transformers hanging onto the sides in surprise.
In the bridge, Caleb looked up at a concerned Betty, who was in her chair with a contemplative expression.
"Betty, what's going on?" The boy asked as Gladius started to hover.
"Something just feels off today…" She said in worry. "I found this strange device in my backyard, and I realised it was one of Maximus' gadgets. X-5 is analysing it now."
"That explains why he's not here…" Katania mumbled. "But why call everyone here?"
"I feel like Admiral DeGill will call us about it soon, so I decided just to get ready as soon as possible."
Zig and Bernie shared a nervous look just as X-5 entered the bridge, the screen on the main console flashing to life. Admiral DeGill was sitting at his desk, a stern look on my face.
"Atomic Betty", He began. "The data X-5 sent us on that strange device has the potential to spell doom for the whole galaxy!"
Marina whimpered a bit as the Galactic Guardian's expression became fierce. "What's Maximus planning, Admiral?"
"It appears these devices are scanning the known cosmos for each planet's most valuable resource", the fish continued as some information projected next to him. "And it's all feeding back to a massive drilling device Maximus has built. If he gathers enough data, then the drill will activate and rip every planet in its path apart. Your mission is to go to the drill and destroy it anyway you can, while disconnecting the other devices across the cosmos."
Caleb leaned into view, giving the fish a salute. "I promise, DeGill, Maximus won't get away with this. Betty, Sparky and X-5 have all of us backing them up."
"Good. Don't fail the galaxy in this troubling time, we're all counting on you." The screen call ended, leaving the group only with the ambience of the shit to fill the void.
"Alright, Captain!" Sparky said in determination. "What's the plan for taking out a planet busting drill?"
"First, we need to get close enough to see what we're up against…" Betty explained. "Then we'll infiltrate. X-5, were you able to see any blueprints or layouts of the drill from the devices database?"
"Negative, Captain", the robot said with a shake of his head. "Maximus has improved his cybersecurity and firewalls, so all I could intercept were a few orders for particular parts and what resources are the most valuable on earth."
"So we're going in blind…" Gladius mumbled in thought. "Perhaps, if we're stealthy, I could slip into a vent and hack into the system so we could find a weak point that will give us our ticket to destroy the drill."
"Good idea!" Sparky said. "Alright, we have a plan, everyone hold on!"
"Sparky, wait-" Betty's plea fell on deaf ears as the ship pilot shot the ship into hyperdrive, blasting it through the stars. Everyone had to brace, with the two Transformers holding on for dear life.
Sparky was in his moment, eyes a bit wild, as the ship blasted off towards an isolated area far off from any planets with even a shred of life. Then as abruptly as it started, the ship stopped, and everyone inside the bridge minus the Guardians were thrown to the floor.
"Are you guys okay?!" Betty cried in worry, jumping down to assess things.
Caleb groaned and rolled over, eyes spinning. "This is why I hate riding roller coasters…"
"More warning next time would be nice!" Katania cried out angrily.
Zig and Sharko rocketed to their feet and snarled at the pilot, making Sparky shrink down a bit in fear.
"We're all in one piece, and that's what matters…" Gladius said, trying to keep things together. Looking outside, he glanced at Ransack. "Is everything good for you two?"
"All good… out here… Gladius…" The motorbike robot said, trying to regain his balance. "Me and Cz just… need a moment to… tell where up and down are…"
"Not fully…" Crumplezone said in a dread filled tone. "You guys might want to see this…"
Everyone in the bridge shared nervous looks, and all peered out the left of the front window. With a gasp, they saw what Maximus had built.
It was about the size of a moon, and was shaped like a spear. With a massive and scary looking drill at the tip, covered in serrated, claw-like teeth, it made the group all realise that this wasn't just simply about mining planets…
This was about tearing them apart, gutting them completely.
~X~
Having angled the ship so it was facing Maximus' current grand plan, the group all remained silent as they mulled over their options. They could see some of Maximus' smaller guard ships flying around, making a direct assault with the ship not viable.
"And we won't be able to slip in close either", X-5 said as he looked over some papers. "Scans indicate there's multiple detection fields in place to keep any intruders in other ships out. there's no way for us to get close."
Caleb squinted as he rubbed his chin in thought, only to then snap his fingers. "X-5, the scans are for technology only, right?"
"Affirmative."
"Then why don't those of us who aren't machines head over there in space suits and infiltrate?" The boy spun around to the others, giving them a determined look. "That way we can sneak in and disable everything, find the schematics, get picked back up, and destroy this drill!"
"Not a bad idea, Caleb…" Gladius said in thought.
"We'll need a small team, though", Betty said. "I'll be going, so will Caleb and Gladius. Bernie", the mollusk perked up, "You can help us by slipping through vents. Anyone else?"
Sparky raised his hand, only for Betty to shake her head. "You need to stay here and pilot the ship, Sparky. And you'll have to stay too, X-5."
"You got it, Captain…" Sparky said as he deflated. Sharko gave Marina a kiss before walking up and offering himself to tag along.
"Okay, so that's the team!" Caleb said. He glanced at Katania. "Are you okay with staying behind?"
"I am", the girl said. "I need to make sure these two don't rip each other apart." Sparky and X-5 both glared at her, and she coldly glared back, which just made Caleb smile.
"Alright, let's get suited up, gang!" Caleb led the group out of the bridge, with those staying behind waving goodbye.
Betty took over the lead and showed the group where the ship stored their extra space suits. Thankfully, they were all form fitting, so Caleb, Bernie and Sharko all got suited up as Betty activated her own suit's space travel mode.
When they were all ready, the group headed out of the airlocke. Caleb squeaked and held Gladius as they floated out into the stars. The sword just chuckled and started to hover towards the drill, with Betty right by their side. Bernie was riding on Sharko, but the ocean predator was struggling to use his suit's jetpack.
Caleb laughed back at him, then looked at Betty. "So, when we get in, what's the plan?" His voice crackled with the static of his suits speaker.
"We'll first head in through a blind spot in the defenses", Betty began. "Then, hopefully, find some way to break into the system so we can find the security room."
"Bernie can do that. He might seem like it, but he and Zig can build and mess around with technology like no one else. He'll crack the system."
"I'll have to take your word on that…" Betty trailed off as she motioned for the group to fall silent, and they all hid behind a lonely asteroid not too far from their target. Well, Sharko slightly crashed into it, but recovered quickly.
They spied the patrols of the ships, and while there were a lot of them, they all did spot there was an opening down at a nearby emergency hatch. All sharing a nod, they slipped past when the patrol opened up and made it to the hatch. Sharko was quick to rip it open, and they all slipped in before they could be spotted.
Once inside, the group deactivated the helmets and started to sneak through the room they were in. It seemed to be an armoury of some kind, but based on the weapons still being stored in boxes and cases, it wasn't in use yet.
"It looks like Maximus was planning more than just a galaxy wide leveling…" Caleb whispered as he nervously glanced at the weapons. "He was gonna use this whole place as a destroyer!"
"That's not all, look at this…" Betty held up a clip board, and used her watch to give light to it. The group all read it over, and became uncomfortable with how the papers detail which planets would be enslaved, with their people locked up on the ship in certain areas.
"That is horrible", Gladius hissed in horror, sharply looking around at all the weaponry. "And with how big this place is, Maximus could house a planet's population sized army here."
"Especially since a third of it is robot", the bespectacled boy said in a shiver.
"Which gives us more reason to get this place shut down and destroyed", the Galactic Guardian set down the papers and faced Bernie. "Bernie, Caleb said you're good with tech. Can you break a panel open and make it so we can get a map of this place?"
The mollusk squeaked with a salute, and dashed off Sharko and over to a nearby communication panel. He ripped it open with ease and started fiddling with the wires and other components inside. He gestured Betty over, and she did so as the mollusk started pulling out several wires. Quick as a flash, Bernie connected them to Betty's watch, pulled out a keyboard of his own, and quickly typed out several codes.
In seconds, Betty's watch beeped, and a whole map of the drill was projected out as a hologram. With a confident squeak, Bernie put everything back to how it was, put his keyboard away, and climbed back on top of Sharko's head.
"Okay, wow…" the Galactic Guardian said in surprise. "I didn't know he was this good."
"I said what I said", Caleb said with a smug smile. Betty sighed and pushed him lightly, heading to the door and carefully opening it. Peeking into the hallway, she gestured for the others to follow, and the group all carefully snuck down. It was fairly quiet, but based on the distant sounds of maintenance and work, it seemed this whole place was still under construction.
So, with Maximus' forces distracted, the group all slipped into the shadows and slithered around like snakes. Whenever they had a chance to, they'd slip off to double check the map before returning along their path. It was close a lot of times, with some of Maximus' henchmen or hired crews almost spotting them, but thankfully they made it to the security room with little issue. The door was unfortunately locked, so Bernie had to slip into the vents and crawl around to unlock the door from the other side.
The others, in the meantime, slipped into an empty room so they couldn't be spotted, and planned their next course of action.
Betty had the map out, and was looking over potential escape routes.
"After we disable the exterior defenses", she began, pointing at the map. "We could take this route to the hangar. That way Sparky could bring the ship in, pick us up as me moves, and destroy the most sensitive parts of the ship."
"Maybe they should go backwards", Caleb suggested, tracing the path Betty gestured for the ship. "That way, we get picked up right as the place is exploding, so minimal danger. Trust me, I've seen a lot of massive exploding ships to know that working backwards is better."
"I agree with Caleb's motion, especially since you all have space suits", Gladius added. "If there's a cable function…" Betty nodded, "Then we can just throw them out, have Ransack and Crumplezone grab them, and pull us to safety."
"Okay, we'll do that." Just as Betty closed the map, the door to the security room opened. Swiftly, the group slipped across the hall and inside, sealing the door behind them. Bernie greeted them from the console, and immediately both him and Betty got to work trying to crack the systems and shut everything down.
As Sharko guarded the door, Caleb walked around the main console and looked out the massive window that seemed to show off the central shaft of the ship. Energy traveled between openings to others, and gravity was grounded to the whole circumference of the cylindrical tunnel, so the boy and his blade companion could see Maximus' forces walking at all angles.
"This place is so much bigger when you really look at it…" Caleb said in quiet fascination. "How could Maximus even build this on top of his other plots, though? Either he's so rich, a great multitasker, using a Time Machine, or all three."
"Maximus is an overlord, as he says", Betty explained, not breaking focus from the console. "Despite how much I hate it, he has a lot of support. You saw how he has a whole race of people following him."
"Yeah, the Blood Monks. And these guys who walk around with axes. But it still seems so weird to me that no one else really stops him aside from, well, you guys."
"Planets do have their own police forces, Maximus is just… on a different level, is the best way I could put it."
"That does make sense…" Gladius mumbled to himself, as Sharko and Bernie nodded in understanding at the Galactic Guardian.
"So we do our best, but usually Maximus does get away. Or we put a stop to his scheme, and he moves onto the next one. He never really goes back to one."
"That's good to know." Caleb fell silent and returned to watching out the window, but jumped a bit when a ship flew overhead. It was Maximus' main ship, so the boy and sword ducked down as a precaution. Glancing over the ledge, they watched as Maximus and Minimus climbed out and started to head to the area right under them.
"Might want to speed it up Betty… Maximus is here", Caleb said in worry.
"Almost got it, Caleb…" The Guardian said slowly. "Bernie, keep doing what you're doing-" She was cut off. "We're in!"
Caleb and Gladius rushed over and watched as she and the mollusk worked like machines, getting the communication jammers, detection fields, and all weapons deactivated. When it came to the database, Betty knew who to call.
"X-5, we're in", she said as a hologram of the bridge projected up. "We need you to delete all of Maximus' database with all of this. Bernie will be helping you."
"Affirmative Captain", the robot responded with a nod and salute. He started to plug himself into the guardian's ship console, and thanks to Bernie he was able to tap into the database wirelessly.
"Sparky, when X-5 is done I want you to fly the ship through the back end of the drill and destroy everything."
"You got it, Betty!" Sparky started to get the ship warmed up, only for things to fall silent when the door opened.
The group spun around and looked at a furious looking Maximus and concerned Minimus, with several guards behind them.
"Atomic Betty", the cat snarled. "What a pleasure to see you here. And you brought your little friends too."
"You already lost, Maximus", Betty said as she posed triumphantly. "X-5 is shutting down everything as we speak, so surrender now and we'll go easy on you."
"I'm not letting you undo all my hard work! Guards, seize-" The supervillain was cut off when his right hand man tugged on his cloak. "What is it, Minimus? I'm trying to put my nemesis in her place."
"He might have something to say about that", the timid alien said while pointing to Maximus' left. The cat looked over, and instantly turned pale at the sight of a snarling and violent Sharko right in his face. The shark let out a ferocious roar that shook the room.
Caleb's face became an exaggerated frown. "You guys might want to shield your eyes…" Bernie did just that while Betty, Gladius, and those in the hologram all looked at him in confusion. Zig and Marina shared a look, and watched with growing anticipation.
Sharko flexed his arm and rolled up the sleeve so his shark fin became a cartoonishly buff arm, all punctuated with a gun cock sound.
Immediately after that, the horror compensated. Sharko proceeded to completely decimate Maximus and Minimus, treating them exactly like how he did Zig so many times before. The shark threw them against the walls, slammed them on the floor, pulverized them with a flurry of punches…
Betty, Sparky and X-5 were completely floored, and horrified how their greatest enemies were turned into punching bags, once feared overlords completely laid out in one fell swoop. Even I'm the hall, the guards, Blood Monks and robots were all horrified, and soon sucked into the tornado of pain as Sharko brought the battle into the hallway. The whole drill shook with each punch, stopping maintenance crews and alerting all other forces onboard.
"This is our chance!" Caleb cried. "To the hangar!"
Betty shut off the hologram, and the group rushed towards the hangar, leaving Sharko to prove why he's a one-man army. Guard after guard, Blood Monk after Blood Monk, he tore them all to shreds, his unmatched brute strength nothing like they put up with.
After a bit, Maximus and Minimus were able to limp away from the carnage, beaten, bruised and the worst they ever felt. They quickly fled to their ship, deciding to cut their losses and abandon this whole plan. With this rabid shark levelling everything, it wasn't worth saving.
They took off back to their main base, they passed the Galactic Guardian cruiser. Inside, X-5 had just finished deleting the data, signalling for Sparky to kick the engine into full gear. He headed right towards the drill, fired up the ship's weapons, and as soon as he slipped in he opened fire. Ransack and Crumplezone joined in, calling to the heavens for their cyber key powers, and with their weapons fully charged, opened fire as well.
In the hangar, the group all wobbled on their feet as the drill was ripped apart, watching as Sharko exploded from an upper door, roaring with wrath as dismantled robots, empty Blood Monk uniforms, and unconscious guards flying out of his way.
"Sharko, c'mon!" Caleb called to him. The ocean king looked down and started to make his way down just as the cruiser started to barrel down at them. Just as they just joined them, all of the group with space suits extended their cords, and Gladius used his telekinesis to lift them up. CZ saw, and acting fast, he reached down and grabbed the cord ends.
The drill infiltration team were pulled out as escape pods and ships fled the drill, and the heroes all watched from afar as it was ripped apart from explosions all happening within. Caleb cheered, his voice cracking thanks to his suit's speaker, which made everyone else cheer.
As the drill was turned to nothing but flaming scrap, the Galactic Guardians and allies flew off back to earth, ready to call this day a success.
~X~
Back at their motel, Caleb was humming away as he packed up everything he had. It was time to move on to the next world, or hopefully home. Zig, Bernie and Sharko all did their own thing, with Gladius outside walking with Ransack and Crumplezone. Katania and Marina would definitely take a bit longer, though, because of all the dresses.
WIth a smile, Caleb grabbed his packed luggage and stepped outside, only to stop when Betty was standing there before him, in her usual Earth outfit.
"Betty, hey", the boy greeted. "Come to say goodbye?"
"No", the redhead said with a shake of her head. "I actually wanted to tell you something." She stepped aside as a disgusted Zig and Sharko walked past with their stuff. "You know how I said I'd think about joining you?"
Caleb blinked, sharing a quick glance with Katania as she just left her room. They both knew what that meant. "So… what about it?"
"After we dropped you guys off, I talked with Sparky and X-5… and we agreed that yes, we'll join you guys. Plus, travelling in a cruiser like ours would be better."
"That's so true!" Ransack called out. "No offense to the shark and mermaid, but a guy can only take transporting your butts so often!" Sharko growled, and Marina scoffed.
"Well… The guys are coming by with the ship, so be ready, okay?"
Caleb smiled and looked up as the cruiser zipped back above overhead, and in a split second the crew were all back on board. Ransack and Crumplezone were more relaxed on the wings as the others all made it to the bridge.
Sparky was munching on some strange alien delicacy , spinning to face the others. "Heya', guys! Ready to get this show on the road! I am!"
"Ignore him, he's been going on for so long about the different foods he could try", X-5 said with an eye roll. "I'll make sure he doesn't go overboard."
Caleb and Kat laughed as Gladius snorted. "Thank you, X-5."
"Alright!" Betty called out from her chair, donning her Galactic Guardian loo again. "Let's get some distance from any prying eyes, and then Caleb can do whatever he does so we can get moving."
As Sparky flew the ship away from the planet, Caleb looked at Gladius, and they quietly discussed how they should tackle this.
"Not sure how to open a portal with the ship?" Katania asked.
"No, we aren't…" Caleb said. "I could go out in a space suit again, but…"
"Hand on…" Gladius said. Everyone looked at him as he spied the console, then bopped up with an idea. "Caleb, stab me into the centre console."
"Uh, what?" Sparky said as Caleb grabbed the blade.
"I don't agree with this!" X-5 hollered, only to deflate when Caleb did as the sword said. Sure enough, the console was damaged horribly. But then Gladius started to glow, and to everyone's shock, the console was fixed with a new slot for the sword.
"Perfect! Now we can channel the energy through the ship's tractor beam!" Gladius said proudly.
"And you knew this would work how?" Ransack asked in an accusing tone.
Gladius was silent for a moment. "Gut feeling."
Everyone looked at him blankly, but didn't press as Caleb took a deep breath. There was a shake across the ship and the boy tightened, and energy surged down and out the tractor beam's exit. A light shot out, and a distance away the familiar portal opened again.
"YES!" Caleb cheered as he pulled Gladius out. "That's it guys! right through there!" He looked up at Betty. "Ready for a new kind of adventure, Captain?"
"Yes I am", she said back with a smile. "Sparky, full power!"
"Let's do this!" Sparky forced the accelerator at the max, and the ship shot into the portal, leaving quiet space in their wake.
Little did they know, though, but another ship appeared shortly after through a similar portal. Coming out of the mysterious ship in space suits were Ralph and Steve, with Jenny flying around next to them.
"Virus said they should be here!" Ralph said in worry. "We've checked all the universes around then Transformers one, and nothing!"
"Maybe they moved around a lot before we showed up and Caleb was never here?" Jenny said, but her tone clearly sounded like she didn't want that to be true.
Steve pulled out a device from his pocket, and gasped. "Wait, a portal opened right next to hours, seconds before we showed up!" The other two scrambled next to him and looked. Using that leftover energy, they used the screen to replay the last few moments, and with beaming smiles they saw Caleb in Betty's ship. "Caleb, Kat and Gladdy are okay!"
"Back to the ship, we need to tell the others!" Ralph barked.
The trio all headed back into their ship, and as soon as they arrived they were gone, ready to give their friends the good news. When they did, the Capital became that bit brighter…
~X~
And so ends the Atomic Betty arc! This was a really fun arc to write, especially with this final chapter, so now it's next world time baby! I will say, though, that that arc will take a bit. It's gonna be very character heavy and emotion driven, so give it time.
But yeah, this wasn't an episode of the show. I made this all up on my own, although there is minor Star Wars inspiration with this whole little escapade. And if you felt the way the situation was overcome was a bit anticlimactic, I mean… Sharko was right there. And Maximus loses so often that a super powered shark being like that makes sense to completely lay him out.
Anyway, love you all, keep giving me the support, and do try and join my art collab please.
Up next: The group, after a pretty rough crash landing, find themselves in a secluded village in a valley filled with music, colour… and magic…
~Kat~