Mind Over Matter
Loonatics and all related characters, places, etc. belong to Warner Bros.
"We're all mad here." -Cheshire Cat, "American McGee's Alice"
"Zzz...Hey, doc...pass me those carrots will ya?..."
Ace mumbled blissfully in his sleep. The rabbit was sprawled over his bed, the sheets hanging off the sidefrom his constant shuffling around. His ears were drooped past his shoulders causing him to suck down and blow up his left ear with every snore.
He was having the most wonderful dream. He was lounging around a giant pool, surrounded by beautiful women and all his enemies were in little bow ties waiting on him as his own personal butlers. Mastermind was massaging his feet and Sypher was filing down his finger nails.
"More carrot juice sir?" Massive asked, presenting a glass. "Thanks Mass. Keep up the good work."
Ace was about to take a sip of his favorite drinkwhen a loud ear piercing scream awoke him from his fantasy. He nearly fell out of bed when another one echoed through out HQ. Hopping to his feet, Ace bursted out of his room to find Slam, Rev, Lexi and Duck in the hallway just as confused as him.
"Ugh. Who's the baby that woke me from my winning a million dollar dream part twenty?" Duck asked, more than annoyed. Again the scream was heard. It was enough to make their fur and feathers stand on end. Lexi looked around and asked,
"Where's Tech?"
They all gave each other the same concerned look and bolted for the genius's room. Slam punched the door in, crumpling it like paper.
"You could have pressed the button you know." Duck pointed out but no one was listening. Entering the room, the team saw Tech thrashing around in his bed like he was being attacked. His muzzle opened up letting out another terrified scream of agony. Ace grabbed the coyote by the shoulders and shook him hard.
"Tech! Wake up! Your having a nightmare!" He shouted. Tech's eyes shot open and he stop screaming. He just lay there, panting. Ace and the others had a look of relief on their faces when he came too.
"Jeez Tech, way to give a guy a heart attack." Ace joked. Tech just stared up at Ace, not moving. Ace gave him a puzzled look.
"What?"
As soon as those words left the team leader's mouth, Tech wrapped his hands around Ace's neck and forced him to the ground. Lexi and Duck tried to pry Tech off but he was surprisingly strong.
"Tech-let-go-!-What-the-hell-is-a-matter-with-you?-Your-killing-Ace-dead-belly-up-nadda-no-more-..."
"Not helping Rev!" Duck grunted back at his fellow avian. Ace was gasping for air as Tech's hold tightened. Lexi knew he wasn't going to last much longer.
"Sorry Tech. Slam!" She shouted to the purple giant. He grunted in response and drove a big mean fist across the coyote's jaw, knocking him out. Ace clutched his throat and sucked in the oxygen greedily.
"What..in da world...was that about?" Ace choked out.
"Maybe the professor's been spending way to much time in the lab?" Duck said. Slam picked up the unconscious Loonatic and set him down gently on the bed. He had a guilty look on his face for hurting his friend. Lexi patted his back and concealed him.
"It's ok Slam. If you hadn't knocked him out then we would had to use our powers and that would have hurt him much more." The Tasmanian smiled, feeling better that what he did was justified.
"Wow-that-was-totally-weird!-I've-never-seen-Tech-like-that!-He-was-all-crazy-and-bug-eyed-like-some-sort-of-monster!"
"Yeah. I noticed." Ace mumbled, rubbing his throat.
"So what do we do with him?" Duck asked. "Let's let him sleep it off. Maybe he won't be so nuts in the morning." Ace answered. The others nodded in agreement and gave the coyote one last look before heading back to their own rooms.
Tech's alarm clock went off causing him to slowly open his eyes. Instead of being greeted with that feeling of a new day beginning, he instead felt his jaw feeling very sore and slight headache. He rubbed his jaw wondering what could have happened to it. Perhaps he slept on it the wrong way if at all possible. He didn't put much thought in it. He was fighting super villains for a living after all.
Sitting up, he stretched and changed into uniform. He slipped his boots on when he noticed the huge gap where his door used to be. Tech raised a brow in curiosity and stepped out into the hallway. The others doors seemed to be in tact. Slowly, he made his way to the mess hall.
When he entered, the team looked his way, no longer interested in their breakfast. "Does anyone have an explanation as to why my door is missing?"
No one answered. The room was silent. Even Slam had stopped eating. Tech looked at each of them and they all avoided his gaze.
"Am I missing something here?"
Ace cleared his throat and approached Tech. "Tech...do you remember anything from last night?"
"I remember working on one of my micro processor chip then going to bed around eleven. That's about it. Why?"
Ace scratched the back of his head nervously. "Last night there was an...incident." Tech looked surprised and a little annoyed. "There was an attack on HQ and nobody woke me?"
"Not exactly..." Ace muttered. By this time Duck was getting impatient and decided to make things "easier" on Ace. "You were screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night and when we came to wake you up, you went all Norman Bates on Ace. There, I said it."
Ace gave Duck a dirty look then turned back to Tech who had an even more confused look on his face.
"Last night, we heard you screaming so we all came to see what was wrong. Slam tore the door down because we were afraid you were being attacked. It looked like you were having a nightmare so I tried to wake you up. When I did, you went completely a-wall and tried to strangle me. Duck and Lexi couldn't pry you off so Slam had to knock you out."
Slam averted Tech's gaze and suddenly became very interested with his shoes. Tech looked back at his hands as if trying to see what happened in them but could not remember a thing of what Ace had just told him.
"I'm sorry Ace but I don't recall any of that happening."
"Are you sure Tech? You were wide awake when it happened." Lexi asked. Tech just shook his head.
"I was sure I was asleep all night."
Rev zoomed up next to Tech and peered into his eyes as if he was examining him. "How-could-you-not-remember-what-happened?-You-had-Ace-in-a-death-lock-and-was-strangling-the-life-out-of-him!-Are-you-sick?-Does-your-head-hurt?-Did-Black-Velvet-use-that-brain-thing-on-you-again?"
Tech pushed him away annoyed. "I told you, I DON'T remember anything like that happening. Look Ace, I'm sorry if something happened to you that may have been caused by me but I honestly don't have a clue on what your talking about."
"It's alright Tech. We're just worried about you." Ace stated.
"I'm sure I'll be fine but thank you for your concern."
Tech sat down and fixed himself his own meal and the Loonatics carried on with their morning as if nothing had happened. Although Tech could not help but think if everyone was pulling his leg. But it wouldn't make sense if they were. Duck was the only real prankster and Tech highly doubted he could get Ace, Lexi, Rev and Slam involved.
So that only leaves him with the option that they must be telling the truth.
But how could he not remember any of it? Random physical acts in an individuals sleep were not uncommon but this was the first case of a strangling Tech had heard of. His thoughts were interrupted by a common question asked by Ace.
"So, got any new toys for us."
"They are NOT toys Ace. And I have been working on a few new projects but they are not yet complete." Tech answered taking a bite out of his toast.
"Sounds good doc. I'm gonna hit up some training exercises. You up for a few rounds Lex?" Ace asked, stretching his arms. The pink rabbit gave him a playful smile.
"Only if you can keep up."
Ace chuckled and the two left for the Training room. Rev zoomed up next to Duck and barraged him with a series of questions.
"So-Duck-you-wanna-see-a-movie?-Play-some-video-games?-Catch-a-game-on-the-tube?-Or-how-bout-that-new-pizza-shop-down-the-street?-I-was-never-a-big-fan-of-anchovies-but-some-people-really-like-em-for-some-reason-..."
"Alright! We'll go! Just...keep the speech down to Mach one ok?" Duck finally agreed. The two left the room and Slam was fast asleep on the couch. Sighing, Tech stood up and headed to where he spends most of his time. His lab.
Pressing the button on the wall, the door slid open to reveal Tech's world and sanctuary. Dozens of gadgets, all shapes and sizes decorated the room. Test tubes, beakers, screws, drills, welding wrenches were naturally abundant. Near the far left side of the lab, was a giant computer which held hundreds of useful data on Acmetropolis. In the center was Tech's work bench where he's spent countless hours tinkering with something. The green coyote let out a breath of relief to be back in his niche.
Sitting down, he pulled out his tools to start working on his latest project when suddenly a loud explosion rocked him off his stool.
Dust and grime were everywhere as Tech coughed loudly and grabbed his head in pain. The sound of heavy footsteps crunching over plywood and class were heard, coming closer to the fallen hero.
"Aw, Puppy had a little spill?"
Tech recognized the deep, harden voice from anywhere.
"How'd you get past security Massive?" He coughed out. The hulking super villain put on a wicked grin. "Wasn't hard. You boys really need to update that thing."
Tech's hands started to flow bright green as he summoned his powers. "Really? We'll update this!"
Green bolts of light hit one of the new speed bikes he had been working on and it started to levitate. With out hesitation, Tech cast the heavy bike directly at Massive. The bike struck him and another loud explosion formed from the impact.
Tech squinted to see through the smoke but it was useless. He would have to wait until it cleared. But the giant fist that connected with his nose was not as patient. Tech flew back a good ten feet and crashed into his bench, sending tools and blueprints everywhere.
"Nice try fuzz face. But your little tricks won't work this time."
Massive emerged from the smoke unscathed and that grin still on his face. Wiping some blood off his muzzle Tech stood up although quite dizzy from the blow. Tech again summoned his powers and threw whatever metal objects were lying around towards Massive. They bounced harmlessly off him.
"My turn."
Grabbing the coyote by the neck, he flung him all the way across the room. Tech hit the wall hard and crumpled to the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, Massive was on him again, throwing him to the other side of the room. If Tech tried to get up, he was greeted with another big fist to the ribs or face. Once more he was lifted into the air and cast into another unforgiving wall.
He struggled to get up but his body was riddled with pain. Massive slowly made his way over, jeering the bruised Loonatic.
"I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed flea bag. You usually put some effort into our fights."
Tech climbed to his feet even though his body just wanted to stop. The coyote was an ugly mess. Blood dripped down his nose into his mouth, his once dazzling uniform was tattered, showing patches of green fur here and there. One eye was swollen shut and the other was having a hard time staying open. But Tech wasn't going to die lying down.
Summoning all his strength, he called forth every bit of power in his body and let loose with the biggest magnetic blast he could muster. Almost everything in Tech's lab came flying through the air and slammed into Massive, creating a small mountain of broken metal.
Tech fell to his knees and coughed up some blood, Spiting it aside, he looked towards the giant metal grave of the super villain.
"How's that for effort you son of a bitch?" He panted.
Tech's good eye widened in horror when the pile of metal started to move and Massive emerged without a scratch on him.
"Gonna have to do better than that." He mocked and landed another fist which knocked Tech unconscious.
"Tech! Guys! In here! Wake up! Please wake up!"
Tech's good eye opened to see the worried face of Lexi staring back at him.
"Lex?..." He asked out loud. Lexi cupped his face in her hands, tears threatening to emerge. "Tech...what did you do to yourself?" She whispered. Tech struggled to sit up and with some help from Lexi he managed to accomplish that.
"What...what do you mean? Didn't you see Massive? Did...did you guys get him?" He asked looking around the lab, which was still a mess from the battle. The lab's door opened and the rest of the Loonatics rushed in to aid their fallen comrade.
"Jesus Tech..." Ace mumbled seeing the state he was in. Rev opened his mouth to say something but oddly nothing came out. He was speechless. Duck looked around the lab then back to Tech.
"See what happens when you look up dirty web sites on your big computer Tech?"
That earned him a slap upside the head from Slam and a menacing growl. Duck rubbed the back of his head in annoyance and took a second look at Tech. The mallard suddenly felt very ashamed for making such a comment towards his team mate in such a weakened state.
"So what the hell happened?" He asked.
Tech looked at them one by one trying to piece together what was going on. "What do you...I just got the crap kicked out of me by Massive and no one saw him?!"
The others looked at each other with worried expressions.
"Tech...Massive's still serving his sentence in jail. There's no way he could have been here." Lexi spoke up. Tech looked around in disbelief.
"Look at me! He was here dammit!" Look at the hole in the wa..."
Tech was silenced as he gazed upon a solid wall where Massive had entered from. There was no hole or any sign of a forced entry. Tech's mind was whirling. This couldn't be. He felt the explosion and the beating. He had to have been there.
Ace kneeled beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tech..." He said softly causing his friend to stare up at him in confusion and fear.
"You came in here alone and...", Ace paused, "It looks like...you've been alone the whole time."
Tech stared at his leader for a long time, letting what he just said sink in. "Ace..you have to believe me. He was here. I fought him. I nearly died from him"
Ace sighed and looked up towards his team. This was really scaring them. Especially Lexi. She was the most sensitive of the group and seeing a friend suffer was anguish to her.
"We're gonna get ya fixed up first ok? Then we'll talk."
Tech tried to speak but he couldn't. The event that just took place had to have been real. He would never do something like this to himself.
He felt himself being lifted up by Slam and taken to the medic room. But Tech was in no mood for resting. He had to find out what happened. Shrugging off Slam and stumbling a few steps, he made his way to the surveillance room. The others tried to bring him back but he ignored them. He needed to know. Nearly falling through the door, he staggered over the control panel.
"Computer, show me Acmetropolis Prison surveillance on inmate 3200567."
The computer screen flashed and a video surveillance of the prison was shown. Tech nearly fell to his knees in shock. There was Massive, fitted with a prison uniform and sitting comfortably on his bed.
Tech couldn't believe what he was seeing. He began to feel dizzy but shook it off.
"Computer, show me surveillance of the lab one hour ago."
The screen flashed again and a new window popped up showing Tech's lab. Tech saw himself sitting down to his bench. He waited for the explosion but it never came. But Tech still saw himself react as if something did happen. He saw himself fall off the chair, talking to "Massive", summoning his powers and attacking midair. He saw himself dish out punches on himself and throw his own body into walls.
The others looked on in sympathy and worry. Tech started to shake uncontrollably and he passed out on his feet. The last thing he saw before slipping into the darkness, were his friends running to catch him.
A/N: Whew! First Chapter done! Hope all have enjoyed so far. Chapter two on the way!