Planet Protectors: Red Alert/ Chapter Four

...

"Get ready!" Scott yelled. The ship had trouble adjusting and landed with a crash and dug itself deep into the ground. There was silence for a short time.

"Alright! Xylox, LET'S GO!" Jack puffed out his chest and made a giant leap. ...before falling flat on his face.

"Uh, you are aware of gravity adjusters, right?" Sonar asked. This was new technology.

“...Yeah..." Jack stumbled back up, spitting out some grass in the process and pressing the button on the centre of his belt. A holographic display spread out in-front of him. The touchscreen hologram displayed six options; Inventory, Weapons, Training, Status (with a goofy headshot of him), Map and Options. He pressed options and swiped down to "Gravity Adjust". His belt button is pink; a colour he shares with Sonar. He held it for a few seconds to activate its power. Jack became transparent and glowed in a bright pink hue. It healed him and removed bruises from his rough landing.

Casey peeked her head out of the ship's door. "Woa- oh." This was her first time on Xylox. It was pretty much an average place, with average temperature and normal constructs. One thing was different though; the grass was blue. "Is that it? geez. Booring. Why is the grass blue?" she moaned.

"Nobody knows. For some reason, the grass produces water so this planet's got plenty." Scott replied, at first gently tapping the ship's communication screen which slowly turned into a forceful punch. "GRR.. WHY THE HECK ISN'T THIS WORKING??" He screamed.

Jack sighed and climbed back into the ship. "What's up, old man?"

"I... don't know? It's just not working. Fix it." “...and before you ask... Yes... I did turn it off and on again."

"Hm. That usually fixes everything..." Jack pondered, noticing a distinctive blue hue on the screen. "Ah. It can't transmit energy to your headset because the signal's not strong enough. The only way to fix this is to directly hook up the headset to power rather than from the ship."

Scott put on the headset. "Let's go, quickly."

Jack turned on his map. "Alright, we just have to walk north a bit, south a bit, west a bit, and uh... east a little."

“...You should just lead the way." Sonar added.

"Ugh, why is the gravity so low here??" Casey asked, finding it hard to move her feet.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Scott moaned.

“...To get an answer." Casey smirked.

"Hey, there's the local village! Probably have more of a chance finding a source to signal there than following this junk." Jack turned off his map.

The four walked into an electronics shop. A thin and formal giraffe owned the place.

She lowered her neck. "What can I do for yo-.." There was a pause.

"Why, you're the Planet Protectors, right?!?" She couldn't help but show her excitement. The Planet Protectors were known by all, regardless of where in the galaxy you live.

"Where's the leader?" She asked.

"Right here!" Scott waved up to her.

"Hm... I don't know if it's my long-sighted vision, but you don't look a lot like Cindy."

Casey sniggered. "Yep, that's Cindy alright! She's just... being experimental with her hairstyle."

"I see. Well, anyway, it's an honour! Please, anything you need is on the house."

"We don't exactly need anything, but rather somewhere where we can hook "Cindy"'s headset up to get signal." Jack leaned on the checkout desk.

"It's kinda urgent..." Scott added.

"No worries, Cindy and co! You can get a signal from the top of that mountain over there. (She points to a mountain visible from outside a window in the store) It's where the village gets its electricity from.

"Thanks a bunch!" Scott said, leaving the store with Casey and Jack. Meanwhile, Sonar was looking at a section in the store.

"Hold on. I want this." she was looking at a hairbow that played cheesy pop music from a decade ago.

“...Really?" Jack asked.

"Yes. It calls to me." Sonar placed the pretty pink hairbow in her hair and headed out the door.

The four had reached the bottom of the mountain. It used to be a shack used for mining but was abandoned. As such, rubble had collapsed and blocked their paths.

"Geez, how convenient." Casey moaned. She tried to walk onto the rubble but started to shake and fall.

"Well. I did all I could. Mission over." Casey wiped her tail.

"Don't worry." Sonar's shoes created small, gentle bursts of flames, holding her up in the air. She used her telekinesis powers to lift the rubble up. "Now, where do ya' want this?" She smiled.

"ON SCOTT'S HEAD! ON SCOTT'S HEAD!" Casey chanted.

Sonar went to move the rubble over to Scott. "Ha!" She laughed before putting it down gently aside him.

Scott said nothing.

"C'mon Silent Simon! Let's keep going." Casey poked him. He smiled a small smile before promptly hiding it and frowning.

The mountain was super steep. "ALRIGHT! My time to shine." Casey without thought grabbed Jack and held him up into the air whilst running up the steep mountain.

Sonar held the rubble up and used it as a surfboard. She helped Scott up and the two raced past Casey and Jack.

Just as Sonar and Scott were about to reach the top, Casey threw Jack up there first.

"BOOM!!" Jack screamed in celebration. Casey joined him.

"Pssh. It wasn't even a race." Scott moaned. It totally was.

The four had finally made it on top of the mountain and right next to the source of the signal; a small, metallic, floating orb connected to a closed panel.

"Jack, use your shoe to melt that panel." Scott ordered.

"Aye, cap'n!" Jack melted the panel and without thinking put his hand right into it. "Alright, lemMEOWCH!!! OWEE!! FINGER!!" Jack flipped out. He raised his hand to see his finger had melted off, and mint ice cream was drooping from his hand. "Ugh, not again! It takes at least a day to regenerate another finger..."

"At least you can regenerate one! You're so weird..." Scott scratched his head.

"Yeah, you're like a starfish with those regenerating body parts. I still remember that time you lost your head!" Casey chuckled.

"Scott still made the rest of your body do chores." Sonar laughed.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, Jack, considering you can risk the loss of your hand, check if the panel's cooled off." Scott stared at his hand whilst mumbling the words "weird dog" to himself.

"Yep, it's okay now. Pass me your headset and I'll get it some power in!" Jack plugged the headset in. In almost an instant the headset began to flash.

"Hello?" a voice called.

Part 2Edit
There was a brief moment of silence as the connection was stuttering. "Oh! Thank goodness it's you guys. We were worried you didn't land safely..." Rufus was on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, we're fine." Scott added, signalling Jack to put his hand behind his back.

"We've had the time to finalise our plan. I guess I can explain now. Are you all ready? Casey?" Casey of course wasn't paying attention. She shot up from the fresh blue grass she was keenly studying. "Ah yeah! Yeah. Totally on board."

"This red light... It's only going to continue to grow... and that's not a good thing at all. You see, this light holds power that can directly influence Velocity's strength. With the red light's power, they will be unstoppable. Nothing we would do would stop them. As long as that red light is there, they cannot be beaten." Rufus started.

"Didn't Velocity do something similar back when Cindy took them on?" Scott questioned.

"Yeah, it was similar. Luckily for Cindy though, that source of energy was insecure and transferable. If Cindy wasn't able to transfer the energy over to her, she wouldn't have been able to take them down. I've been researching into the light with Melissa, but we've came to the conclusion that there's no way to use this energy ourselves... It's technology we're not aware of..." Rufus was showing signs of stress so Melissa came to assist him.

"But don't worry! We've still got hope!" Melissa chimed in. "The light is still growing, and at this power, it's not at any use and can't power Velocity up. This means we can potentially destroy the light; but we're gonna need more time to figure it out."

"Alright. What should we do in the meantime?" Scott asked, trying his hardest to show confidence.

"We could do with some extra help," Cindy squished in-between the two. "Sonar and Scott, if you could stop here and try and help us out with a plan, whilst Jack and Casey can round up all the townspeople and keep them in the ship, they should be safe there."

"On it!" Jack smiled, whilst being dragged away by Casey (who was most likely happy to be away from Scott)

A few hours had passed since Casey and Jack left. Although Scott and Sonar were trying their best, the group's creative process was running short. Casey and Jack had rounded up all townspeople but one. They were talking to the shopkeeper they had encountered earlier.

"So ya' sure you saw someone in your store earlier who isn't here right now?" Casey questioned. "I mean, you do have quite the neck; are you sure you're not just seeing things??"

Jack gave her a nudge of disapproval. "I'm sorry for... her. Do you have any more details?"

"I'm sure of it. About an hour after you left, a fox with raggedy fur came in. She did not look well; almost hasty to enter. She did not buy anything, but I saw her leave in your direction before turning around. She headed into an alley by my store. I'll show you where it is, if you like?"

"Quickly then! We can't risk your safety." Casey said, regretting her previous statement towards the shopkeeper.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'd love to give Velocity a piece of my mind. If they think they can waltz in here and use their mark-" She was interrupted by Jack and Casey trying to get her to hurry.

On the way, they noticed the light was slightly larger than last time.

"Geez... We're dead." Casey whispered at Jack, who was staring at his cut limb. It was glowing; a sign of healing.

"Huh? Oh... yeah..." Jack said with an unfocused mind.

"There she is!" The shopkeeper pointed at the fox in question. She was sitting on a curb whilst burying her head in her rough fur hands.

"Hey! I'm Jack, a Planet Protector. There's a red light growing around Xylox and it's mega important that you come with us for your own safety..."

"Oh hey..." she turned, eyeing the shopkeeper, Jack and then Casey (who was constantly staring at the red light). After reviewing the audience above her, she appeared to ease down. "Okay, I'll come, but I need to know, are there any other Planet Protectors with you?"

The group began to move back. "Well, we have our crew, but the only member with a badge we have with us is Scott." Jack said. "Why are you asking anyway?"

"It's just that... I knew one of the protectors and I was hasty to see them again. It's been a while..." She said with a little more confidence now that she knew such a problem was overridden.

"Ooh!! Who's that??" Casey asked.

"Rufus? He has a badge too..." She answered.

"You knew that goofball?" Jack was surprised. He knew nothing about Rufus outside of the ship. His origins? Unknown. Only Scott and Cindy knew, presumably.

By this time, the four had reached the ship. They thanked the shopkeeper for her help and she decided to stay around the main hub of the ship. She wanted to witness this first hand, although the Protectors wouldn't allow that. Also in the main hub of the ship was the corgi Jack had talked to earlier. He was leaning back on the hub's desk, occasionally winking towards Jack (Jack no longer a shade of green and now red, blushing).

"I did. I knew him well actually, my best friend. I just wish he'd have kept in contact after he left..." She was mostly thinking to herself.

"Don't just leave us hanging! We know nothing; let us in on the scoop!" Casey wagged her tail and quickly zipped around, grabbing some chairs for the three to sit on.

"Alright, but do know, this will take a while..."

"Heh, it's fine. We got all the time we need." Jack said sarcastically. Even though the world was at stake; he was still more curious over Rufus. Nobody would ever say anything! Asking Scott would get you "It's in the past" whilst Cindy would give you "It's a long story". Rufus himself? he'd "rather not talk about it".

The two considered if they were doing wrong by listening to the story, but they couldn't help it. The curiosity was getting to the better of them. After all, they're a team. Shouldn't they know the basics of where their teammates are from? What they did? That was justifying enough in their eyes for the two to know what went down.

Without hesitation, the fox began her story...