Chapter 1: Recovery
(The evening following the Clampett Galaxy disaster left Tech exhausted, so he slept soundly, but the night after…)
Pink triangle.
Lexi jolted awake and almost fell out of her bed as a loud, shrieking howl rent the still, peaceful silence that had been enveloping them all just moments ago. 'What on Acmetropolis was that!' she thought to herself as she rolled out of bed, put on her slippers, and checked the clock. 4:23 AM. Just great.
The howl was unmistakably Tech's since he was the only creature on the team that was inclined to do so. As Lexi opened her door and stepped out into the hallway, she jumped back with a yelp as a bright red-and-blue blur flashed past her, almost bowling her over. "Hey, watch it Rev!" she called, slightly annoyed.
"Oops-sorry-didn't-see-you-there-Lex-but-I-gotta-hurry-Tech-sounds-to-be-in-a-bad-sort-of-way-and-after-what-has-happened-recently-I'm-not-gonna-lose-him-again-no-way-no-how-never-again!"
"Ya got dat right, Rev," Ace commented as he also rushed towards Tech's room. Lexi followed him and entered the room to find Tech curled up on the floor, being shaken by Rev and Duck, who had obviously just quacked into the room to see what the problem was. Slam entered just moments after Lexi did and glanced at the slightly glowing greenish coyote with concern.
"Graalgrrblah bad dream?" he ventured. "Sure seems dat way, Slam." Ace answered.
The fearless Loonatic leader cast his eyes around the room trying to logic out the source of the commotion. Everyone was in their pajamas of course, considering the time of night it was. Even Tech was, and Ace could see his dismantled bed sheets and how he had obviously rolled out of bed in a fit of sleeping terror.
"C'mon, c'mon big guy just wake up already," Duck intoned, shaking the coyote still. He cringed as yet another pained howl escaped Tech's lips.
Quick as a flash, Rev got an idea. Also quick as a flash, he executed. Before Tech's howl could die out, Rev had dashed over to Tech's desk, snatched up a bowl that Tech had obviously had some "midnight snack cereal" from, and held it over Tech's face. The concavity of the bowl collected the sound waves and bounced them right back to his ears. Upon hearing his own terrified howl, Tech began to stir and slowly opened his eyes.
"What…what's going on?" Tech said slowly in a confused manner. He saw Duck and Rev on opposite sides of him, still holding him gently while Ace, Slam, and Lexi stared down at him with concerned, but now rapidly turning into relieved, faces.
"Oh, Tech, what's wrong? We were so worried about you." Lexi said softly, reaching down to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She noticed immediately that he was trembling rather violently.
"I….I was dreaming…about my old life in prison…" Tech said slowly and shakily. "Let me assure you, it was most certainly not pleasant."
"Eh, but now dat you've woken us all up, what would ya like us ta do for ya?" Ace asked.
"I…I'm still pretty tired…I think I want to try to go back to sleep for now," Tech answered.
"Well-of-course-you-can-do-that-after-all-it's-still-some-god-awful-time-in-the-early-morning-and-who-wouldn't-want-to-be-asleep-right-now?-And-WOAH!-just-look-at-the-time!" Rev had left his room in such a hurry he hadn't even bothered to check his own clock. Tech chuckled slightly at the roadrunner's antics, just listening to him talk in his normal way helped him relax.
"Ok, then I'm going to try to go back to sleep now," Tech said crawling back into bed. "I'll undoubtedly let you all know if I need help again" he said half jokingly, half nervously.
His teammates filed out of the room, each bidding him good night.
"Grrrgralhrrb nightey night."
"Good night, Tech. Sleep well."
"We'll be back if ya need us, Tech."
"Even I would be willing to skip out on a little more beauty sleep to help out, Tech."
"Don't-you-worry-about-anything-Tech-I-hear-even-a-peep-and-I'll-be-back-in-here-right-by-your-side-so-fast-it'll-make-your-head-spin!" And with that last sentiment, the door to his room slid quietly shut, and Tech sleepily closed his eyes, falling back into the quiet clutches of sleep.
Red triangle.
"So, what do we do now Ace? Just head back to bed and call it an honest night's work?"
"Eh, hold up dere, Duck. Now dat Tech is asleep and we're all awake, I t'ink now is a good time ta figure out how ta help Tech recover from dis whole mess. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, I doubt dis here problem's gonna disappear in one measly night." The rest of the team muttered their agreements.
"C'mon to da living room, gang. Zadavia gave me some footage that she said would be important ta watch. I t'ink it'll help shed some light on Tech's sufferin'." The team wearily filed into the main lounge and plopped one by one onto the couch in front of the main viewing screen. Ace nervously picked up an Acmetropolis recording disk and inserted it into the machine, taking a seat next to Slam afterwards. The screen came to life and they could see the high-security wing of the Acmetropolis Prison Station. The camera must've been situated right above the elevator doors, because they could see down the hallway and could see the cells and their occupants on either side, including Massive, Sypher, Mastermind, Weathervane, and that crazy dolphin Adolpho.
"What? We're just supposed to watch a few hours of Tech's boring old prison life? What's the point in tha-" Duck's next few words stuck in his throat as he watched the guard raise his truncheon and bash Tech in the back of the head with it, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground face first. "Hey, what's the big idea? I thought beating of prisoners was supposed to be illegal!" Duck fired up again.
"It's supposed ta be, Duck…" Ace murmured, cringing with the rest of the team as Tech was hurled unceremoniously into his cell with Mastermind. The footage from the next day flashed onto the screen, and what they then saw was even more heart-wrenching. The guards came again, but this time they dragged Tech forcefully out of his cell, power-cuffed him, threw him onto the floor and all four of them began kicking him violently. All the team could do was stare in horror. No one moved. No one spoke. No one even noticed the sound of breathing they were so tense.
If any of them had known what this footage contained ahead of time, none of them could have consented to watch it, except for maybe Ace. He did feel very much responsible for Tech's incarceration, after all. It was the least he could do. But as it was, the horrifying footage had them all gruesomely enraptured, and all they could do was stare in terror at the grisly scenes unfolding before them. When Tech was finally thrown back into his cell, the entire team breathed a momentary sigh of relief when they saw his telltale emerald glow surround him, and they knew that his wounds had been healed.
"Well, at least ol' Techy's still got his regeneration going for him. That's gotta be a big help, eh?" Of all the assembled Loonatics, only Duck was even remotely able to maintain his usual composure, and that was only because he had years of experience. The rest of the team largely ignored him however, too fixated on Tech's plight to be concerned with Duck's ego.
The next day's footage was even worse. The guards put a choke chain around Tech's neck and proceeded to brutally kick him again. Every time he howled in pain the leader yanked viciously on the chain, squelching his howls of protest repeatedly. Every member of the team involuntarily rubbed their necks, as if to make sure there wasn't a collar there now.
A full week's worth of footage had gone by now, with the daily beatings continuing and even growing more and more violent. The team could even see the assembled inmates growing more and more perturbed with the continued, unaccustomed, violence. Sypher even spoke up to the guards once, to voice his disapproval (considering that his cell was directly in front of the "action", so to speak), but quickly backed off after the guard threatened him. Another week's worth of the vicious cycle went by; beat, regenerate, beat, regenerate…
As the guard's "experiments" grew more and more reckless, the Loonatics' will to watch grew thinner and thinner. The final straw came when one of the guards turned on an incinerator and completely torched Tech's tail off. Upon watching Tech cry out in terrible pain, despite the collar, Lexi broke down into violent tears. "Oh my god, Tech! I'm so, so sorry this happened to you! It's all our fault!" she cried out between sobs.
The sudden outburst from Lexi sent Rev's nerves over the edge as well, and he also burst out into tears, unable to stand seeing his "l'il bro" be tormented so and even more unable to form coherent sentences of his usual caliber through his sobs. Rev and Lexi threw their arms around each other in a mutual hug, sobbing into each other's shoulders.
Ace gave his team a brief once-over to assess the situation before continuing. Rev and Lexi were no longer watching, instead consoling each other, which was good. Slam was still watching the screen intently. He had seen a lot of physical abuse in his past, so he was able to stomach it better than the rest of them. Ace could tell Duck was trying to be brave and keep watching, but it was obvious by the way he was shaking he couldn't hold out much longer. For his part, Ace felt sickened by the way Tech had been treated in prison, and the feeling of guilt that had been lingering in the back of his mind continued to worm its way into the forefront of his thoughts, unbidden.
The team finally broke down as a whole after a truly awful scene where the guards splayed Tech out on the ground and then stomped down on all four of his limbs simultaneously, undoubtedly breaking all of them. The team could take no more emotional abuse. Rev and Lexi, who had missed a few days' footage trying to pull themselves together had just looked up to try and watch a bit more. They had to stay strong for Tech!
They immediately wished they hadn't. The cries of anguish rang out even louder than before, and the two of them rose to leave. "I'm s-s-sorry Ace, I c-c-can't w-watch anymore!" Lexi cried out.
"M-me n-n-neither!" added Rev. Ace and Slam had shuddered outwardly at this last scene, and Ace decided to pause the video momentarily until he could help his team recover. Duck was the last to act, and as he spoke tears began to run down the side of his face, collecting on his bill.
"D-d-danger D-duck…c-can watch no more of this….it's t-too despicable…" And with that Duck quacked over to his two teammates who were hugging each other near the doorway, adding his anguished cries to the others'.
Now one hour after putting Tech back to bed, the prolonged sounds of crying had reached Tech's ears, and he now stumbled into the common room to see what was the matter. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, he was greeted by the wide-eyed stares of Lexi, Rev, and Duck by the door, their mouths slightly ajar and their cheeks soaked with tears. Ace and Slam were on the couch, also staring at him, both seemingly on the verge of tears (Tech didn't think he'd ever seen either of them cry). He noticed the screen in the background, and saw himself lying in a crumpled heap surrounded by jeering guards. "So…you finally know the truth" he said softly.
At those words, his three distressed teammates simultaneously threw themselves at him, barraging his ears with their sobs, distressed apologies, and general blubbering. Tech simply smiled grimly and wrapped his arms around them, closing his eyes and enjoying their embrace. Slam stood up and garbled "grrfrarlblah seen enough," eliciting an agreeable nod from their esteemed leader. The two of them added their strong arms to the group, cementing the team in a circle of friendship.
After a solid ten minutes, everyone had managed to calm down, but no one spoke or moved. They all just stood there, quietly, not speaking or moving but simply listening to the sound of each other breathing normally. Finally, Tech spoke again. "It's okay guys, we all did what we had to do, and in the end all that matters is that we were successful."
Ace answered for the whole team: "No, Tech. It's not ok. Your nightmares tanight were real and I doubt they're gonna go away anytime soon. But now we share your nightmares, and we will stick together until it is ok once again."
Nodding their heads but saying nothing more, the rest of the team agreed. No one spoke or moved for another five minutes more before they finally pulled apart at some unspoken signal. Rev was the first one to break the silence. "Man-oh-man-what-a-crazy-morning-it's-been-for-us-all-huh?-I'm-really-feeling-shaken-up-but-you-know-what-always-helps-get-rid-of-that-feeling?-One-of-my-good-old-pick-me-up-shakes-I-think-I'm-going-to-go-make-myself-one-right-now-and-hey-how-about-I-whip-us-all-up-one-I-bet-we-could-all-use-it!" Everyone laughed together at the roadrunner's sudden returned enthusiasm.
"Sure, Rev. That sounds great." Tech replied.
"Ooooh breakfast! Rfflgeblah me help!" Slam said following the roadrunner into the kitchen. And so, the reunited team (both physically and emotionally) enjoyed a hearty Slam-and-Rev breakfast that morning to get a good start to what would surely be a wonderful day. Today, everyone knew, would be a day spent solely together, enjoying each other's company and friendship, and healing their emotional wounds. As a team. Just like it always was, and always would be.
Green Triangle.
