Welcome folks

Welcome folks! First of all, just like everyone around here, I don't own any characters of the Loonatics Unleashed, with the exception of my own original characters. And furthermore, let me thank you all for the support you've been giving me. To thank you all, I present to you, the sequel of my original story of the Loonatics, the "Loonatics Extreme" (for those who didn't read it, you better go read it, otherwise, you will probably don't understand this one), which I called, "Loonatics Extreme: Sport Madness". Plus, my good friend Ulyferal, will also help me with the story (if anyone has difficulties with their stories, and you need some help, go to her page and talk to her), and you are also welcomed to make suggestions for helping me make the story even better. Well, I think that's all I really wanted to say… Let's jet, people!

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LOONATICS EXTREME: Sports Madness

Chapter 1: The Deal

The Acmetropolis World Dome was known throughout the galaxy as the arena of one of the most incredible teams of Basherball of all time, the Acme Rangers. Excellent players have played for that team, including Drake Sypher, also known for his villainous deeds and for his ability to steal the powers from the original members of the Loonatics. But, the Acme Rangers are not the only team that plays in the arena.

The Acmetropolis Hurricanes, a basketball team, also played there and on this particular night, the game was for high stakes. If the Acmetropolis Hurricanes won the game against their opponents, the Glavatron Tridents, they would be one step closer to the title of the IBA League, short for 'Intergalactic Basketball Association'. In this league, the best teams from 12 galaxies competed among themselves for the title.

But the players also played for the opportunity of being remembered forever in the IBA's Hall of Fame. The Hurricanes were the favourites that night and the proof of that fact were the filled seats in the stadium and the many watchers from around the globe tuned in on TV.

As usual, Mr. Leghorn, the owner of the Acme Rangers, as well as the Acmetropolis Hurricanes, among other things, was also there; ready to throw the first ball into the court yard to signal the start of the game.

Besides being the most important name in the sports industry of the city-planet of Acmetropolis, Mr. Leghorn was also a successful businessman, owner of many enterprises. Although he was always busy, he felt it was his duty to be present at every game of his teams, not only to throw in the first ball, but also to show his support. He was dressed in his usual white suit and was waiting for the players to enter the court to begin the game.

Basketball evolved quite a bit since its creation, back when Acmetropolis was still called Earth, in the beginning of the 20th century. Over the years new rules were implemented, changes were made in the courts, and new kinds of equipment were being used by the players. The changes were done, with the intention of turning the original sport into a sport that most civilizations, all over the Universe, could play without any problems.

The changes made were the court size, which was now five times bigger than the original, the players used sneakers that had a gravity device, which was activated if needed, the ball was made from a special rubber that made it bounce a lot faster, making it very difficult to catch sometimes.

The biggest change was to the court itself by the use of powerful and realistic holograms which could duplicate the exact weather and geological conditions that existed in one specific place. One minute, the court was turned into a volcanic plain, and on the next one, it could be a huge glacier, or anything else.

Despite all the changes, the way you played the game was almost the same. Each team had five players in the game and the goal for victory was to score more points than the other team.

Finally, the two teams entered the court. The Hurricanes were wearing lime-green and grey uniforms with the emblem of the team on their shirts. The Tridents wore blue and white with their own emblem.

The Tridents were aliens called Glavatronians. They resembled fish-like humanoids and although their civilization lived underwater, the Glavatronians could breathe air. They were known as a gentle and humble people and highly respected people. Besides philosophy, music and poetry, their favourite national hobby was basketball.

The crowd howled when their teams came on the court. When the players were in their positions, Mr. Leghorn grabbed the ball and with a majestic swing of his arms, he threw the ball into the air. The ball was caught by the Hurricanes' captain, and the game was on.

The court changed into a desert, which was bad for the Tridents because they were not used to play in that kind of location. The Hurricanes were not used to playing in a desert either but they at least knew what to expect.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard and a large hole appeared in the Dome ceiling. Pieces of it came falling down on some of the spectators causing a panic. Fortunately, no one was hurt, though panicked, the people had froze for one crucial moment and during that moment five tall figures floated through the hole and down to the court between the two teams. The five were aliens, each a different colour from the other, but were obviously from the same species. The apparent leader of the group looked around with disgust and announced loudly…

"Okay, guys… Let's teach these sissies how to play basketball!!"

All of them were quite tall. They were all dressed in red and black basketball uniforms with the number 00 on their jerseys and their names on the back. The three male aliens were built bulky while the two female aliens were more slender.

The orange male was called Blackjack and seemed to be their leader. He was very tall and quite bulky on the upper torso and arms and had no hair. His sardonic smile and red eyes gave him an insane look.

The green male was named Bourré. He was even taller than Blackjack and looked like a mountain of muscles. He was so muscled that his chest pushed the shirt to its limit. He had green eyes, a few tribal tattoos all over his body, and had red hair with a crew cut. His teeth were so pointy that he looked like a piranha, waiting to carve its teeth on a defenceless prey.

The red male was named Baccarat, and was the shortest and the leanest of the males, though he was still quite muscular. His legs and arms were quite long, when compared to his torso. He had red eyes and his smile, just like the smile of his partners, was quite sardonic, even maniacal.

As for the females, the blue one was named 21. She was the tallest of all of them. She had blue eyes and long blond hair. But her eyes had a fanatical look, making her look really insane.

The second female and last member of the team was Poker. She had purple skin as well as purple eyes. She had short curly dark hair. She was shorter than 21, but was as beautiful as her. They were very different from each other, but they had one thing in common, their smiles made them look really insane, crazy and evil.

"You got it, Blackjack!" Poker shouted as she swiped the ball from one of the Hurricanes and strong-armed him across the court like he was a rag doll and weighed nothing.

With the ball in their hands, they started to play with each other.

The two legitimate teams and the audience gaped for several minutes. 'Who were these guys?' was the same refrain flowing through all the watchers minds.

Not willing to let these intruders mess with their game, the two teams began to pursue the five. By unspoken agreement, the teams joined together against the intruders and began to play.

But despite their best efforts, the Hurricanes and Tridents couldn't get the ball away from the five. It was a shock to everyone as they watched their favourites get trounced so badly. In a matter of minutes, the five had scored seventy-five points without even breaking a sweat.

The five's stamina, abilities, and tactics allowed them to wipe the floor of the two teams. Still, like the good sportsman they were, the two home teams continued on gamely trying their best to defeat the invaders but to no avail.

Finally, Mr. Leghorn couldn't bear to watch any longer and stopped the game. He wanted to know who the heck these five players were and why they were here. He grabbed a microphone.

"Listen up, I say, listen up! Who are you and what do you think you are doing?" He demanded, making the unknown team turn their faces toward him, at the same time, a cloud of smoke hit Leghorn in the face, making him cough.

"They are with me, Leghorn." A voice said, coming from behind him.

When Leghorn turned around, he saw a small and rather chubby, bald dark green guy, smoking a cigar, with a rather diabolical smile on his face. Compared to Leghorn, the little guy was a midget. He was wearing a black and purple business suit, holding a cane in his left hand. He was none other than Mr. Leghorn's business rival.

"Swackhammer!" Leghorn exclaimed, surprised to see him there, in his private box seat.

"It's Swackhammer the IV, to you Leghorn." the businessman said. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I'm here to honour our deal."

"As a matter of fact you are. And what are you talking, I say, you talking about, Swackhammer? I don't remember doing any kind of deal with you, and believe me when I say that I would remember, I say, would remember that." Leghorn said, affronted.

"Let me put this in another way so you might understand it. It wasn't exactly a deal, it was a bet. You bet against me that your basketball team, the Acmetropolis Hurricanes would be able to defeat my team, the Monstrosity Crushers. If your team won the match, you would get ten percent of my empire, but if my team won the match, I would get your entire empire. We made the bet on my last business party in Nerdluck. I have to say by the looks of it, my team has just wiped the court with your two teams. Looks like I win the bet." Swackhammer declared with an evil grin as he blew another nasty smoke cloud into the air.

"I never, I say, I never would have agreed to such a thing! And you know it! Besides you don't have any proof that bet was legal." Leghorn fumed in annoyance.

"On the contrary, Leghorn, you agreed with it, and you even signed it. Maybe you don't remember it clearly, but you signed it. And I got all the proof I need on this disk here." Swackhammer told him, waving a small disk in his face.

Leghorn did not know how to react to that. He expected every kind of answer from Swackhammer, but not that one. He didn't know what the disk contained but felt it couldn't be good.

Needing time to think, he reached for his phone and called his head of security. He told him that he was going to announce the game was being cancelled and that everyone would get a refund. He wanted his security to insure everyone was taken care of and cleared the Dome quickly.

That done, he hung up and took up his microphone again and said:

"Attention, I say, attention. Due to problems beyond our control, this game is cancelled. You will receive a refund… a refund I say. Please exit the Dome quickly and quietly. Thank you for your patience." He clicked off the mike and turned to Swackhammer again.

"Perhaps we should discuss, I say, discuss this in a more private place. If you could do me the small favour of following me…" Leghorn said, as he politely as he was able under the circumstances, pointing the way out of his personal box seat.

"Certainly, after you…" Swackhammer said equally polite.

He and Swackhammer made their way through the many corridors in that part of the stadium. Finally, they arrived at Leghorn's office, which was more than a simple office. It was a giant suite that was built and decorated to hold social events, like press conferences and other things. It was equipped with a cocktail bar, a huge TV screen and there was a long table with many chairs all around it, in one of the other rooms. This last one was usually used by Leghorn for meetings with his associates and business partners. All in all, it was a very beautiful suite. They closed the door behind them, and then Leghorn went to the cocktail bar.

"Can I offer you something to drink? A scotch or maybe a glass of wine?" He asked as he got himself something.

"I think I will have a scotch, thank you." His guest said as he finished his cigar and accepted the glass from Leghorn. "First of all, I apologize for what my team did to your stadium… They like to do this kind of entrance. You don't have to worry; they will pay for the damages with money from their salary."

"Would you knock it off, Swackhammer! I know you don't care about what they did to my beautiful World Dome… so, let's just end this once and for all! What proofs do you have that I made that bet with you?!" Longhorn demanded impatiently.

"Very well, I tried to be polite but since you spurn my attempt, let me show you the undeniable proof of what I said." Swackhammer said as he got the disk from his pocket and inserted it a disk player that he had in his other pocket.

With a press of a button, the disk player started to display a hologram. At first, the image was not very clear but after a few seconds the image became as clear as crystal. The figures in the recording were Swackhammer and Leghorn, who seemed a little drunk. They were surrounded by several people, who looked quite interested in what the two businessmen were talking about. They were both talking and Swackhammer was holding a piece of paper in his hands.

"So, do we have an agreement, Leghorn?" The Swackhammer on the screen asked.

"You can bet everything, I say, everything you have… hic… Swackhammer! If my team… hic… defeats your team, I say, your team, I will get ten percent of your empire… And if… hic… your team defeats my… hic… team, you will get my entire empire! And believe me, when I say that… hic… I will be glad, I say, glad to… hic… get those ten percent from you." Leghorn heard himself say then his image signed the paper with a pen that he had in his pocket.

"We will see about that, Leghorn." The screen Swackhammer said and a moment later the hologram ended.

Leghorn was even more confused than before. He took a few seconds to figure out what had happened. Suddenly, it came to him like lightning in the head. He had drunk too much that night and Swackhammer, the sneak, took advantage, making him sign a crazy deal like that.

"You know quite well that I usually drink a little too much at those parties and do stupid things. As a lawyer, you know that when a deal is made there are certain things that have to be established. Both party's to any agreement must be sober and in full cognizance of their actions." Leghorn told him coldly.

"Not according to the Nerdluckian laws, my friend. And like you said, I'm a lawyer, and I know the laws of my planet." He smirked as he took a paper from one of his pockets and began to read. "According to Article 347, of the Nerdluckian Justice Codes, to wit: 'Any kind of agreement, contract or bet that is made on Nerdluckian soil, which includes the four planets of the Nerdluck system and all of it moons, is valid, whether or not both parties are in full cognizance of their actions.' In other words, even if I was drunk also, the bet is still legal, and there is nothing you can do to change it." Swackhammer declared firmly, smiling when Leghorn dropped his glass of whiskey on the thick carpet. His mouth gaping in horror and shock.

He quickly snatched the law from Swackhammer's hand and read it quickly. His shoulders dropped, it was all there in black and white. He was devastated. He had just lost his entire empire to Swackhammer and there was nothing he could do about it.

That is, until the little man approached him and said, "Hey, I'm a nice guy and I like giving second chances to people. So here's the deal…" He looked Leghorn straight in the eyes, "I want your empire but I want it fair and square. My proposition is this… your present team was completely squashed by my team, so I'm going to give you two weeks to come up with a new team to challenge mine. We'll have us a rematch on 'Swackhammer's Colossal Sports Moon' at the end of those two weeks. The winner will take what that contract says. I'll even allow you to train your new team there so you don't have to worry about it. What do you say… do we have an agreement?" He asked watching Leghorn closely.

"And what happens, I say, happens if I don't accept?" Leghorn said bluntly.

"Simple, you automatically lose your empire to me. As you can see, I'm giving you the possibility of winning it back, my friend." Swackhammer said easily.

"Then I accept, I say, accept your challenge… but only because I don't have any other choice." Leghorn said gloomily, sealing the deal by shaking his rival's hand.

" Excellent! Remember you have two weeks so I suggest you get started finding a team that can beat my Monstrosity Crushers." He warned. A grin of triumph on his face, he prepared to leave. "I must be going now… I wish you luck in your 'quest' Leghorn. Remember… two weeks." With that Swackhammer left Leghorn's office, closing the door behind him.

Leghorn heard him outside in the corridor, laughing like a maniac. He had good reason for his humour, for he'd put Leghorn between a blade and a wall. Leghorn knew even before he sealed the deal, that he'd made a deal with the devil himself.