Planet Protectors: Red Alert/ Chapter Nine

Scott was startled by what he just heard. Despite how close the two are, Sonar has never expressed negative feelings towards Scott or anybody within their team.

“...You’re... not??? What's the problem??" Scott put his arm on Sonar's back, still turned to Scott.

Sonar sighed. "I know... It's been a couple years since I... Left Velocity but this is the first major fight since then. I’m... I'm struggling, okay?" Sonar turned around. "I'm struggling! Struggling to cope with so many things! Keeping myself maintained in battle, making sure everyone is okay... seeing Sabre again..." She thumped down. “...I'm a bad person. I've done so many horrible things in my life. I can't live with it."

"That's not true..."

"How is it not?? I worked with Velocity, side by side with Sabre for years! Nothing they did mattered to me, simply because I was getting my pay. It's not okay!"

"But Sonar... You left Velocity for a reason; because you saw the bad that they were doing, and you didn't want to be involved. They weren't always this corrupt and you know it. You did the right thing by leaving, after all, you could still be there to this day. The fact that you changed your side is a courageous feat and you should feel very proud of it."

"I... I remember the old times. Back when Sabre wasn't AS self-centred. It was still there though; it's just something he is. It was at least excusable though. You could have a conversation with him, you could reason with him..."

"Yeah. We've worked together before... It's a shame the power went to his head... Just know Sonar; it's okay to feel this way. No matter how corrupt he was you considered him as a friend and you have lost this friend. It's okay to feel sad."

"I guess... I still need to get it together." She began to walk back to the ship before Scott stopped her.

"Sonar, it is also okay to feel... Just generally bad in general. It's okay. It's okay to feel cruddy. It's fine. You must let that out. You're basically my big pillow to cry on all the time... You're always welcome to talk to me if you need to."

“...Thanks Scott."

"Now c'mon, bring it in. All official ventings from Protectors need to end with a hug!" Sonar let out a faint chuckle and hugged Scott tightly.

For a few minutes Jack had been awkwardly observing the two, trying to pitch in to tell them something. He decided the best way to get their attention was to knock on the side of the ship. “...Uh guys, are you ready? There's a problem... Rufus and Polly haven't responded to neither Cindy or Melissa for quite some time now..." He rubbed his hand behind his head.

"Oh man..." Scott looked up at Sonar who had quickly restored herself back to a confident expression.

"Back to the ship then." Sonar began to walk back. Casey noticed and sprung up, asking her how she is...

Meanwhile, inside the cab, Lana was blasting out "Sabre's Greatest Hits" from the music player. It consisted of the same dubstep song remixed 10 times. "SO, WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK?? GOOD SONG, HUH??" She yelled, trying hard to compete with the noise from the player.

Polly tried with all her might to free herself from the metal bar that kept her wings trapped. "TURN THAT SONG OFF BEFORE I DO IT FOR YOU!!" she screamed.

Lana turned the music off. "Oh, what a shame. I really thought you would enjoy that music. I mean, Sabre himself created that. How could one not love it? It's pure bliss!"

Rufus had been looking out of the window for the entire "trip", staying silent and simply observing the planets that they were passing. He had mixed feelings; some of the planets were free and their inhabitants were free to live their lives how they wanted to, whilst others were under control of Velocity. Rufus gulped at the thought that he and Polly would be joining the ranks of inhabitants that have been captured. He looked down in regret and defeat.

Suddenly his eyes turned wide open. He had not been tied by Lana!

"Hey Lana, what's that over there??" He pointed.

Lana moved her eyes over to check out what Rufus was pointing at.

Rufus quickly untied Polly and signalled her beak to her. She nodded.

“...I don't see anything, pup... My, are you trying to play a trick on me?" She voiced concern.

"N-Not at all! Keep looking closer..." Rufus pointed again whilst ducking down for Polly's next move.

Polly suddenly let out a piercing shriek that sent Lana off guard and due to its frequency shattered the windows of the cab.

"I thought you were smart? I have NO idea what Sabre sees in you." Rufus giggled whilst nudging Polly.

Polly laughed and held Rufus. "Let's get out of here!" She pressed in her belt to generate a hook that she connected to the top of Rufus' vest. She jumped out of the cab, twirling to generate speed before spreading her wings and descending fiercely downwards. Rufus was screaming the entire time.

Lana was furious. She swiped up on the control panel on the cab's dashboard. Sabre was on the other line. "Hey Lana, my lovely lyrebi-" he was interrupted.

"There's no time right now! The two I caught have gotten away! I need some back up ASAP!"

"GAH! I'll be on my way!" Sabre's voice faded out whilst Lana took a deep breath and changed the music player's song to "Sabre's Motivational Tracklist, again the same dubstep song remixed 10 times.

"How far now??" Rufus had his eyes closed.

"We're nearly the... Crud."

"WHAT IS IT??"

"She's uh... caught up behind us."

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU TWO AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!" Lana yelled. The cab extended an oversized hand on the one side and a large net on the other. She began swiping the net at Polly who was avoiding it by mere centimetres.

Rufus just about managed to open his eyes for a second. He could finally see past the clouds and see the ground. They were nearly there!

...They were, anyway. Lana scooped Rufus up in the net and flicked Polly into the net with the oversized hand.

Lana tuned Sabre back into the conversation. "Never mind! It's okay, I have them back. I'll be bringing them to headquarters soon!"

“...Well, we made quite the effort there..." Polly sighed. Rufus looked down and noticed a blue light charging up.

"HEY GUYS! MOVE THE NET A LIL!"

The blue light struck the cab directly, causing an explosion. The net went hurling, eventually breaking and setting the two free. Polly tried with all her might to fly but fell down with exhaustion.

There was silence for a second. The two opened their eyes and looked up to see a familiar polar bear. It was Mandy, holding the two with ease.

"HEY! Are you guys okay??" She put them down. "I've been waiting here for the perfect moment to strike with the laser light here, but that darn cab never shown it's cruddy face! Thank goodness you stirred it off track." She took a breath. "Plus, don't get me started on that guide dog. He sprinted off the second he could! No interest in helping us here." she sighed.

"We're fine. Thank you so much, Mandy!" Polly smiled.

"Aww shucks, that's fine! I couldn't have done it without that lil' charmer over there!" She pointed at her son Andy who was pressing all the buttons he could find, sending various lasers into open space whilst his father Randy screamed and ran in circles.

"He's certainly... helpful..." Rufus softly chuckled.

"GUYS!! WHAT HAPPENED??" Cindy was running over in the distance, nowhere close to breaking a sweat.

"There's a bird on Velocity called Lana and she straight up nabbed us to go work with Sabre! Thanks to Mandy here we managed to escape but... We don't know how the light is." Polly worried.

Cindy looked up. "It's gotten smaller for sure thanks to the efforts of you all."

"What do we do now...?" Rufus wondered.

Cindy was about to speak but stopped. The sound of dubstep music grew closer.

"Oh boy." Cindy sighed.

An air ship was fixed above the four.

"HEY! Polar bear! You owe me a new cab!" Sabre was standing on the balcony, scowling.

Lana stepped to the side of him. "Yeah! You probably can't afford it. No worries, you can simply come and work with us so you can repay it! How about that?" Her smile was thinly painted with manipulation.

"Sabre! Come down here and fight me, one on one!" Cindy cracked her knuckles.

"I'd rather not. I just had this shirt cleaned." Sabre looked down at her with complete disregard. "Besides, I have an announcement to... uh. announce... soon. Maybe it will be of your interest." The ship began to rise upwards. "Stay tuned!"

The four stood in silence.

“...I guess all we can do now is wait then..." Rufus cowered.