Acmetropolis 4b: The Turncoat Revised Version

by furrball

Inflictus rears his peroxide head again. Good thing, too... Revised with additional dialogue by ontheair. Rated T for toast, which I'll be if I don't give him credit! HOP ForcexLoonaticsxOC.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a continuation of the Loonatics Unleashed story "Inflictus". If you haven't done so already, read that one first. Then the events in this story will make a bit more sense. I hope. If you have, then settle back for one crazy ride…)

Acmetropolis 4 – "The Turncoat" by furrball

---

Chapter One: "A Delayed Departure…"

---

"Well, gang, take a good last look at the place," Ace said as the Loonatics stood around in their soon-to-be former headquarters in the Acmetropolis Tower. "I thought we'd never get the last of that stuff moved outta here!"

"Speak for yourself, pal!" Duck groaned, carrying a large box of assorted stuff and junk (and with Duck, sometimes it was hard to tell which was which).

Lexi cast a smirk in the waterfowl's direction. "You still aren't going to cart all your Misty Breeze junk off to Planet Blanc, are you?"

"It's not 'junk', as you so insensitively call it," Duck replied. "I prefer to think of it as treasured mementos!"

"Mementos for the demento," Lexi chortled.

Slam laughed derisively at Duck's expense.

"Now, Lexi, be nice," Ace grinned. "Anything to make Duck's incarceration—er, stay on Blanc more bearable—er, enjoyable…"

"Actually, you got it right both times," Duck griped. "To think I'll have to give up my watching the lovely and talented Misty Breeze because they don't have television on Planet Blanc…"

"Yes, but who needs TV when you know it would interfere with your quality time with Tweetums?" Tech snickered.

Duck graced the coyote with his dourest expression. "You really know how to hurt a guy… you sadist!"

Tech pointed to himself and adopted an over-the-top air of innocence. "Who… Moi?"

"So, Ace, any regrets about leaving Acmetropolis?" Lexi asked.

"Just one," he muttered. "We caught practically every villain in the book except for one… Inflictus."

"Oh yeah, him," the fembunny growled uncharacteristically. "I don't care if that phony heart attack he laid on me was accidental or not, I still want to give him a knuckle sandwich… and not necessarily an accidental one," she added with an innocent smile.

"Yeah, well, we haven't seen anything of him since then, so maybe we can file that under missed opportunities," Ace replied.

"Um, we?" Lexi asked teasingly.

"What, you think you're the only bunny around here who still wants a piece of him?" Ace grinned in response. "Oh well, nobody gets a poifect record all the time," he sighed, casting a last look around HQ. "Ya know, I'm gonna miss the ol' place, Lex; the training room, the slightly malfunctioning toaster, Zadavia springing up from the conference table saying…"

"Loonatics, we have a dire emergency," Zadavia said, as she – to use Ace's words – sprang up from the conference table in hologram form one last time.

"Why can't they ever be just happy emergencies?" sighed Duck.

"Hey, boss lady, we were just thinking about ya," Ace smiled. "What's up?"

"The Actinoid Curium 247 is gone."

From around the conference table could be heard six voices saying "YIPE!" all at once.

"The whole isotope?" asked Tech.

"Yes. You know what will happen if it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"Um, not to belabor the point, but something tells me it already has," Lexi noted dryly.

"Poifect. Our last day here and this has to happen. Not to worry, Zadavia, we're on our way," Ace said. "Tech, you haven't packed up those Curium-proof exo-suits yet, have you?"

"They're ready and waiting, chief!"

"Good," Zadavia replied. "You're going to need them."

"What about our friendly neighborhood Bunny Brigade?" Duck asked.

"You still can't come to terms with them calling themselves the HOP Force, can you?" Lexi giggled.

Zadavia raised an eyebrow in Duck's direction. "Good point, Duck. I'll have to warn them to stay away from the vault at all costs."

"Wait a minute, Zadavia," Tech reminded her. "Since Mallory didn't get her powers from the meteor, she won't be affected."

"Duly noted. I'll tell the doctor to send her and leave the others behind. Zadavia out!"

You could see the joke forming on Duck's beak before Zadavia's hologram had even disappeared. "Leave the others' behinds where?"

"I heard that, Duck!" Zadavia said, quickly reappearing. She was not amused.

"Oops."

"Gang, we got a rock no-show to investigate. Let's jet!"

In the matter of a few minutes, the Loonatics were suited up and flying out of their HQ on their way to the vault, where they met Mastermind and several of the security guards. "Boy, they really did a number on that vault," Duck noted.

"Eh, what vault?" countered Ace as the group made a three-point landing.

"Well, look at what the piñata dropped," Mallory cackled upon seeing the outfits.

"Stow it!" Lexi snapped.

"All right, that's enough," Tech said. "Mallory, these outfits are designed to protect us from any Actinoid Curium 247 residue."

"I know I'm going to come off sounding like Drake, but… what's Actinoid Curium 247?"

"It's a big red isotope that can be a big red headache if it ain't found quickly," Ace said. "For both our groups! Tech, you bring the Curium tracker?"

A look of ashen horror crossed the coyote's muzzle. "No…"

"You forgot the Curium tracker?" Duck exploded. "For crying out loud, Tech, all you had to do was bring the Curium tracker… well, that, and the sandwiches…"

Slam confronted Tech. "You forgot sandwiches?!?" he growled.

"Easy, big guy, Duck was making a so-called joke," Lexi said soothingly, while casting a sharp glance in the mallard's direction.

Ace smiled one of his inscrutable smiles. "Don't worry about it. We'll just go with plan B, then. Hey, Mallory, think you can improvise something that can track it down for us?"

"Hmm… let me think… radioactive isotope in the Curium substrata… they all have different qualities, and yet each is basically just like the other… in other words, you find one, you find 'em all… I just might," she smiled, directing her view towards some idiot who was driving his hovercraft and talking inanely on a cell-phone. "This won't take but a moment," she said; activating her hover board, she quickly surfed beside him and yanked the phone out of his hand.

"Hey! What?"

"Pull over! Don't you know it's illegal to drive and yak on these at the same time, kid? You're lucky I don't turn you over to my friends over there!" she snapped, pointing to the Loonatics, who smiled and waved.

"The--the Loonatics?!?" he gasped.

"Don't worry; I'll buy you a new one when it's over. Now get going!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" With that, he saluted her and zoomed off, while Mastermind made a quick phone call before rejoining her counterparts.

"Um, you're not going to get him a replacement phone, are you?" Lexi grinned.

"Nope!"

"You just turned him in to the police, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"What for?"

"Doing 125 mph in a 70 mile zone."

There was a slight pause before Tech chuckled. "Mallory, I never thought I'd say this again… but I like the way you think!"

"Why, thank you, Tech," she bowed. "I try. One Actinoid Curium 247 tracker, coming up!" With that, she quickly disassembled and reassembled the cell phone until it was no longer recognizable as such. Then, shooting a small bolt of energy from her fingertips, she activated the device and handed it to Tech. "There you are!"

"Astounding!" the coyote marveled. "Well, team, let's get looking!"

Cautiously, the seven made their way into the vault… what was left of it, at any rate. "You were right, Duck," Lexi noted. "They really did a number on it!"

"From the looks of it, I'd say that number is 'X the unknown'!" Duck replied. "Check out the security cameras!"

"What's left of 'em," Ace added. "Mastermind, you and Duck come with me. The cameras may be gone, but perhaps there's some video evidence left. Anything, Tech?"

"I'm getting a reading from that hole in the floor, but nowhere else, chief! It's as if it just… vanished!"

"Well, keep looking. You never know. Lexi, go outside and talk to the guards."

"Right!"

"Come on, let's go…" The trio went on their way, and was back within the space of a minute.

"So-what-happened-Ace-did-you-find-any-video-evidence?"

"There's nothing to find. Literally! Tech, Rev, you guys gotta see this for yourself."

"Okay," the coyote shrugged, following the others back to where they'd been. Then his jaw dropped. "But… but that's impossible!" he exclaimed. However, Ace was right. There literally was nothing to find… because the entire security room was gone!

"No more impossible than a meteor slamming into Acmetropolis," Mallory noted, as the rest of the party joined them.

"Whoa! Whole lotta nothing going on!" Lexi noted.

"&&!$!!# Room-go-bye-bye?" Slam asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," Ace said. "Gang, somethin' big is in the woiks, and whatever it is, I don't like it! Lexi, you get the statements from the guards?"

"Right here," the fembunny smiled, hoisting her voice recorder.

"Good enough," Ace replied, activating his wrist communicator. "Hey, Zadavia?"

"Yes, Ace?"

"Tell the doc to gather the rest of the Force and bring 'em over to HQ. We've got problems, and we're gonna need all the help we can get!"

"I'm on it, Ace! Zadavia out!"

---

"The whole room? That's not possible!" Sypher exclaimed after the two groups of heroes had reviewed the evidence (what little there was).

"Hey, we wouldn't've believed it either if we hadn't not seen it ourselves," Duck replied.

"Um… yeah, I think I got that…" Sypher said, scratching his head in confusion.

"They must've really wanted to start their own 'no clue left behind' program," Paula noted.

"Agreed," Zadavia said. "Whoever took out the video room and the Curium 247 knew what they were doing!"

"Zadavia's right," Dr. Hu echoed. "You all need to be extra careful. Until it's found, I fear for all your safety."

"But, Doc, what if we're needed for something?" Massive asked.

"Don't worry about it," Tech replied. "Velvet?"

The former Black Velvet picked up the line of conversation. "Tech and I have been working on that."

"Whad'ja do, make some more exo-suits?" Duck asked.

"Basically, yes," Velvet replied. "The HOP Force will be getting special exo-suits unique to our particular powers. Massive's, for example, has special gravity-controlling gloves. The right hand raises and the left hand lowers. The difference is, they act independently of each other, so you don't have to do both at the same time."

"Hey, I like that!"

"I thought you would. Mine will have special sonic-force gloves. Paula, you and Drake were, admittedly, a little harder to replicate, so we had to compromise a bit."

"I can't wait to hear this one," Sypher sulked.

"Don't get your shorts in a knot," Paula replied. "Assuming you wear them. What did you do?"

"Yours come with special gloves," Tech said, handing them to the two remaining HOP Forcers.

"You must have used up all the material on Massive's," Drake snickered. "Check this out, the tips of our fingers are exposed!"

"It was the best we could come up with, guys," Velvet replied. "They'll offer as much protection as possible while still allowing you to use your regular powers. This does, however, mean you'll still be in the greatest danger if you get exposed to the Curium. Sorry."

"Well, it's okay," Paula shrugged and smiled. "We'll just keep our fists closed until we need to open them."

"Good enough. Mallory, of course, doesn't need one since she wasn't exposed to the meteor, so the Curium won't affect her."

"Just lucky, I guess," Mastermind shrugged.

"Okay, I guess that's all for now," Ace said, "unless anyone has anything they'd like to add?"

"Just be careful, all of you," said Zadavia. "Until we find the Curium, you shouldn't take any chances."

"I hear that, boss chick," Sypher noted…

---

Chapter Two: "Transformation…"

---

Some time later, General Artemis Augustus Qurrg impatiently paced back and forth in his laboratory. To look at him, one would never know he was one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe; but that was only because of the effectiveness of his disguise. He stopped his pacing and mumbled to himself. "Humans! I have no bloody use for them at all!… well, maybe as finger food," he laughed.

"Keep that attitude up and you're never gonna find anyone who'll work for you, Kurgy ol' boy!" came a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

The Selzerian didn't even bother to turn around. "I told you before you will address me as GENERAL QURRG, is that understood?"

His lackey kept a respectful distance in the shadows. "Yes, your lordship," he sneered sarcastically.

"I said… hmm. On second thought, I like that title. That's acceptable."

"I'm so darn happy," the human said unenthusiastically, finally stepping into the light, revealing himself as a tall man in his early 30s with a shock of blondish-white hair. He was dressed in black boots, turtleneck and trousers over which he wore a long blue denim duster. On his face was perched a pair of white wraparound sunglasses with a single light gray stripe lens.

Inflictus.

"Let's see the weapon, already…" he grumbled, as if he were about to inspect a gallon of sour milk.

"Patience, human. I haven't finished with the main component yet," Qurrg said irritably. "The housing is there on the table to your left."

Inflictus approached it with a skeptical glare that seemed to penetrate the wraparound shades he was wearing. "Humph. This looks just like your last one. What's the difference?"

"Suppose you tell me," Qurrg replied.

"Well, let's see," Inflictus said, giving it the once-over. "Weighs about the same, although I suspect that'll change when the fuel rod – or whatever you call it – is added. Nice little sight you got there on the barrel," he added, inspecting it closely. "You can probably fire it at a mastodon a mile away and never miss."

"Precisely. And speaking of same, notice anything missing?"

"Hmm, not so… oh, wait, I see it now, or not. The symptometer – is that the word? – is gone. What gives, General?"

"Ah, I wondered when you'd finally notice, Inflictus," Qurrg smiled. "It's not there because it won't be needed. Just point and shoot. Even you can't miss with this one, especially considering the… um… game you're going to be hunting."

"And that would be?"

"Well, originally, the plan was for you to go after the Loonatics. I know how morally ambivalent you are about hunting your own species, but I figured those animals pose no problem for you."

"Read me like a book, General," the human shrugged. "So why the shift?"

"Let's just say I have some… inside information, let's call it… that they and their new allies will be wearing protective suits…"

"New allies?"

"The HOP Force," Qurrg said, operating a remote controlled video monitor. "Ordinarily, that would make this weapon useless."

"So why even bother?"

"Because, dear boy, two of their suits have what I believe you'd call 'Achilles' heels'… or in this case, hands." He briefly zoomed in on Weather Vane and Sypher. "The male is of absolutely no importance whatsoever… to anybody…" He then focused on Paula. "… but that girl is the most dangerous one of the five. Aim for her hands, and don't miss."

"What if she dies?"

"What if?" Qurrg countered. "If that happens, the rest will be demoralized, at the very least. They all care too much about her… well, time to load the weapon." The Selzerian walked to a far corner of his lab and switched on some lights which illuminated a giant centrifuge, in the middle of which was a large red rock. "Behold the, as you put it, fuel!"

Inflictus briefly removed his shades and craned his neck for a better view. "What in the name of dirt is that?"

"That is Actinoid Curium 247. This is what will power that weapon. It's a rare isotope that can permanently strip the Loonatics of their powers… and by a happy coincidence, most of the HOP Force as well… particularly Weather Vane," he seethed, switching on the centrifuge.

As Qurrg stood by, Inflictus felt slightly dizzy – and not just because the General made him nauseous. The room glowed bright red, and the glow seemed to penetrate the human, who felt searing pain shoot through him.

Qurrg neither knew or cared about that. He was too concerned with his weapon. He switched off the centrifuge and checked his handiwork. The rock had now been ground into a fine red powder. He flipped another switch, and the powder mixed with a small amount of resin. He flipped yet another switch, and the resultant mixture baked into a large wafer that would just fit into the stock of the weapon. He pushed a button, and the wafer rapidly cooled to 35 degrees. Finally he shut the machine off, opened it up, withdrew the wafer, crossed over to the table where the weapon lay on its side, snapped open the stock, inserted the wafer and closed it shut. Inflictus, meanwhile, was still trying to get his equilibrium. Again, Qurrg neither knew or cared about that.

"You… you should warn someone when you're about to fool with radioactive material like that," Inflictus gasped.

"Oh, didn't I mention that before? I'm sorry," Qurrg smiled. "Here's your weapon, Inflictus. Take it and go."

"Yeah, right," his lackey grimaced… and then, to their mutual surprise, he disappeared completely. Even Qurrg, who usually was never astonished by anything, was momentarily flabbergasted. Inflictus suddenly rematerialized just a few inches away from him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU…?"

Qurrg had let his surprise lapse by now. "Perhaps I should have waited until you weren't here before I did this…"

"YOU THINK, PAL?" Inflictus snapped angrily, clutching Qurrg by the throat and throwing him clear across the room. The Selzerian landed on his feet and took it all in stride.

"Impressive," he muttered. "I suspect you've never been able to do that before, either." He calmly walked up to Inflictus, drummed his fingers on his chin, and then without warning, grabbed a dagger and drove it straight through the surprised human's heart. He fell on his knees in shock, which intensified even more when Qurrg withdrew the knife. The blade bore no trace of blood whatsoever!

"Actually," gasped the human, "not really…" He rose to his feet and tried to take this new development in. "I should've been dead!"

"Call me 'pal' again, and there'll be no 'should've' about it," Qurrg muttered.

"Understood, General," Inflictus sighed.

"That's better. In fact, it's better than 'better'," Qurrg chuckled. "Now I have two weapons against those meddling heroes. The Afflicto-Ray, and you!" He drew in a deep breath of satisfaction. "And with them out of the way, the universe will be ours! I suggest you get going now…"

"I'm already gone," Inflictus replied, disappearing in the blink of an eye. The next thing he knew, he was back in his office. It wasn't exactly a smooth arrival; he collapsed in pain the second he appeared. He cringed, gritted his teeth, pulled himself up, and sat down, catching his breath. Something was definitely wrong here, he thought. He stood back up, passed a mirror on the way to his desk, removed his shades, paused to look into it, and did a double-take.

The irises in his eyes, which were once blue, were now starting to turn red.

He sat down at his desk, turned on his computer and did a search for 'actinoid curium 247 exposure'. What he found didn't make him any happier. "Great," he muttered, getting up to pour himself a cup of black coffee. "The things I go through for undercover work…" He took a sip and tried to concentrate on what he knew so far.

What he knew wasn't exactly pretty.

The Selzerians were planning an all-out war on Acmetropolis… and two other planets. He knew from personal experience what that could mean. He also knew that the very heroes who could do something about it were the same ones Qurrg had ordered him to attack.

It was probably lucky for the universe that he didn't really work for Qurrg; just the opposite, in fact.

But for all he knew, he had no idea what Qurrg had against this Weather Vane person. Actually, he thought, she looked kind of cute, even if she did have blue skin and lavender hair.

And he was going to have to shoot her.

The things he did for undercover work really stank sometimes, he thought…

---

"So, Tech, what's cookin'?" Ace asked, as the coyote and Mallory sat at the main computer.

"You gotta see this, Ace!" Tech replied. "Mallory cooked up a brand-new algorithm to detect the Curium 247."

"Um, I'm more of an action hero-type, guys. This scientific stuff is way over this bunny's head!"

"That's okay," Mallory said seriously. "Not everybody can be the brains of this outfit." She took a beat, and then both she and Tech indulged in a rare snicker.

"I think I liked you better when you were both enemies," Ace muttered. "Show me whatcha got."

"All right," Mallory replied, entering some numbers into the computer. "Using the sample you have in the protective vault, and based on the readings from the detector, I was able to create a program that can sense that particular isotope and find it anywhere, no matter how small or how well shielded it is. Observe!" An animated grid appeared on the main screen superimposed above the tower. Ace watched, fascinated, as the graphic of the tower increased and the grid decreased until it zoomed in on the vault where the sample was kept. "Bingo! Now if the stolen Curium is anywhere in Acmetropolis, all we have to do is widen our search grid like so, and…" The trio watched as a grid appeared over Acmetropolis City; then, to their amazement, the grid activated again and zeroed in on a particular section of town!

"Heyyy… nice woik, Mall!" Ace said, obviously impressed. "Tech, where is that?"

"Sector 14, chief."

"Let's have a boid's eye view of that."

"You got it, Ace," Tech said, switching the view to regular satellite surveillance of Sector 14, and zooming in until they spotted someone moving around in the shadows between the buildings. "Let's bring him a little more into focus and…" Tech drew a sharp gasp suddenly. "Um, Ace, does that blue denim duster look familiar to you?"

Ace peered in for a closer look, and almost couldn't believe it. "Well, whaddaya know?" he exclaimed. "It looks like we're gonna get our perfect record after all." He switched on the desk-mounted microphone. "Attention, Loonatics and HOP Force! Curium found in Sector 14! Suit up and prepare for battle! Ace out!" He switched off the mike. "C'mon, guys, let's jet!"

"Ah, life would be so dull if it weren't for science!" Mallory smiled as she leaned back in her chair; then she did a double-take when she found she was alone. "Hey!" she yelled, making a mad dash for the exit. "Wait for me!"

---

"You really think it's him, Ace?" Lexi asked with a mixture of trepidation and determination as the two groups headed for Sector 14.

"Lex, I'd recognize that long denim coat anywhere!" he replied, before turning to the others. "Guys, be careful and don't let him get a clear shot at ya, whatever ya do!" The others all nodded silently. Getting just within vocal range, Ace yelled, "Hey, you down there! Didn't we see you tryin' to blow up a bank last year?"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Loonatics," said the voice from the shadows. "And I see you brought some playmates to the party! Good. I need the extra target practice!"

"The only thing you're going to need is a new set of training teeth!" seethed Lexi, adding as an aside to Ace, "Yeah, that's him all right…"

"Who the heck is that?" asked Massive.

"His name's Inflictus, if I remember correctly," Ace replied. "Hey, Inflictus, don't just hide there, come on out so's we can all get a good look at'cha!"

"Just before we throw up," added Duck.

"What, and spoil my fun? No way!"

"Okay, if that's the way you want it," Ace growled.

"Y'know, I don't know the name, but that attitude sure sounds familiar," Sypher noted.

"Yeah, he's almost as annoying as you are," said Weather Vane.

"If that's who I think it is, then you don't know the half of it!" Drake grimaced.

"Think you can get close enough to take him out?" Velvet asked.

"Forget it, Vel. Last time I saw him, he didn't have any powers of his own," Sypher replied.

Vel reacted with surprise. "Last time… you mean you know this clown?"

"I'm afraid so," Sypher muttered. "Hey, Donny, long time, no see!"

"Wha--? Drake? What are you doing with these losers?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? Protecting the city from you, big brother!"

"Big brudder?" Ace asked.

"Here we go again," Lexi shrugged.

"Hey, Sypher, you think you can lure him out in the open?" Weather Vane asked.

"Believe me, Weatherbabe, I know just which buttons to push with this jerk," Drake frowned. "How long are we talking here, cuteness?"

"Just long enough for me to take him out…"

"Be my guest, but be careful," Drake nodded, and waited for Paula to get into position. Hopefully it would be a safe position. He lowered his hover board just a bit, smiled wickedly, and proceeded with the one surefire way he knew to bring his brother out into the open… taunting him. "You know, I never really forgave you for what you did that day the meteor hit, but now I guess I oughta thank you!" he yelled.

"What is he yakking about?" Duck yawned.

"Go on, Donny Boy, tell them!"

"Don't call me 'Donny Boy'!" Inflictus snarled.

"TELL them how you locked me out of the house that day while you ran to the safety of the basement!"

"Get your facts straight! I didn't lock you out; that door always had a defective latch, you know that! By the time the meteor hit, it was too late to get you. And for your information, I didn't run!"

"Oh, that's right… you hid! DIDN'T you, Donny Boy?"

"I thought I told you not to call me that! My name is Inflictus!" he roared, finally emerging from the shadows.

"Your name is MUD!" Drake shouted. "NOW!!"

Weather Vane raised her hands to send a small zap of lightning at Inflictus, but he was too quick for her, pulling a weapon that looked like a super-soaker from his duster and firing it at her, directing a bright red beam at her hands before anybody could stop him. "AAAAAAUUGHHH!!!" she screamed, falling off her hover board and hurtling towards the pavement at a frightening speed. As she fell, her skin reverted to its normal flesh tone.

Duck quacked to where he thought he might intercept her. His timing was letter perfect, catching the falling girl in mid-air, and then quacking the two of them to a safe spot on the ground.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Inflictus saw the rescue and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He would have never forgiven himself if Duck hadn't caught her; having the girl die might have been part of Qurrg's game plan, but it wasn't part of his. Of course, there was a lot he wasn't exactly forgiving himself for at the moment, but he also knew that he couldn't afford to blow his cover. "How do you like me now, Loonatics?" he roared.

"Frankly, we don't, Donny Boy!" growled Massive, using his right hand to raise the villain in the air and then thrust him towards a monorail pillar. At the last second, however, Inflictus broke free and sailed in the air of his own accord. "HUH?"

"He's never done that before!" noted Ace.

"Give the bunny boy a carrot!" Inflictus crowed. "I understand your Actinoid Curium 247 has gone missing. You prob'ly figured out by now that this new Afflicto-Ray is powered by same. What I didn't figure out was that rock not only takes away powers, it also gave me some!"

"This is leading up to something, right?" Mastermind challenged him.

"Indeed… namely, run for your lives!!" he replied, aiming his Afflicto-Ray in their direction.

"Scatter! He can't hit all of us at once!" Ace ordered. The group lost no time in complying.

"I'll be back, losers!" Inflictus shouted gleefully, just before – to the amazement of all – he disappeared completely!

"Let's not wait around until he is," Ace suggested…

---

The mood in Loonatics HQ was extremely tense, with Sypher feeling it worse than any of the others. "Man, I shouldn't have let her talk me into letting her do that!" he berated himself. "Why didn't I stop her?"

"For what it's worth, Drake, somebody had to try something," Lexi said.

"I know, but… but why her?"

"I guess she figured she'd have the clearest shot at him," Velvet replied. "Hey, nobody knew what was going to happen…"

"Yeah, but what were the odds?"

Zadavia entered the room at that point, accompanied by Tech, who addressed Sypher. "They're too astronomical to even try to calculate. You shouldn't blame yourself, Drake. You all knew this job was going to be dangerous when you took it, so did she."

"I guess… oh, Duck, thanks for catching her."

"Part of the job description," Danger sighed. "Hey, Tech, how is she?"

"Stable. You can see her if you like."

"I'll… I'll pass…" Sypher muttered.

"After she asked for you? That's not very polite," Tech noted.

"She… she did? Well, in that case…" The group entered the medical bay where Paula was resting as comfortably as one could after an ordeal like that.

"Hi, guys," she said weakly.

"Hey, girlfriend, you okay?" Lexi asked.

"I'll live," Paula shrugged, "I guess. What was that weapon, anyway?"

"He calls it an Afflicto-Ray. The first time we encountered him, he used it to give me a fake heart attack." Lexi paused, remembering their first meeting. "Guess he's graduated to the harder stuff now."

"So, when will it wear off?"

Lexi bowed her head sadly. "It… it won't, Paula. Apparently, he's the guy who took the Curium 247, and…"

"I… I'm not going to get my powers back, am I?"

Lexi shook her head and briefly hugged Paula. "Not this time, girlfriend."

"Well, nothing left for me to do but write my memoirs," Paula joked bravely.

"They'd better be volume one, lady," Sypher countered.

"Actually, I'm planning on making it a five volume set with complete multimedia presentation," she smiled. "Drake, I know you've been beating your head against the wall over this…"

"I wondered what explained that hairstyle," Duck grinned.

"Touché, Duck…"

"Anyway, it's probably safer than having Massive do it for you."

"Perhaps, but it doesn't hurt any less…"

"What I'm trying to say is, I'm the one who took the risk, it's my fault. Don't dwell on this, okay, Drake?"

"If you say so."

"That's better. Listen, you guys'll catch him. It's just a matter of time. I'll see the rest of you guys later, all right? Ace, Tech, Zadavia, could you hang around for a minute?"

As the rest of the group left her room, the three turned around and joined her at her bedside. "Eh, as Drake would say, what's on your ever-lovin' mind, cuteness?" Ace smiled.

"Thanks for the flattery, Ace," Paula giggled, before turning serious again. "I was just thinking, guys… not counting Drake, Inflictus had never seen me or any of the Force before, right?"

"Up till now, yeah."

"So how did he know where to aim that weapon of his at, huh?"

"Only one possible answer," Tech muttered. "He must have had inside information!"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Paula replied, with a worried expression. "But you know what that would mean, guys… and I don't want to believe it…"

"Neither do I," Ace frowned, "but it's the only answer that makes any sense!"

"Chief… You mean…?" Tech asked.

"Exactly, Tech. Somebody told him… Somebody here."

"I agree," Zadavia added, worry etched across her face.

Paula gasped. "You… you don't think Tech…"

The bunny in black turned and smiled at her. "Relax, Paula. After all the trouble he went through to save your life before, I really don't think he'd toin around and do a thing like that to ya. It ain't like him. As far as I'm concoined, he's in the clear."

"That goes for me as well, Ace," Zadavia said.

"Thanks for the votes of confidence," Tech smiled.

"Anytime, Tech. I know I sure didn't, and I can't think of any reason for Lexi, Rev, and Slam to, either," Ace added, just as Duck re-entered the room.

"Any reason for them to what?" the mallard asked.

Zadavia decided to try the direct approach. Placing her hands on the duck's shoulders, she crouched down, looked him in the eyes, and asked him point blank, "Duck… I need you to be honest with me."

"Um, okay," he said uncertainly. "Whaddaya wanna know?"

"We're thinking that Inflictus couldn't have known to fire at Paula unless he had advance information…"

"You know, I was thinking the exact same thing…"

Zadavia continued to look him in the eyes. "Duck… did you feed that information to him?"

Duck stared at her as if she'd just called him every dirty Frelengian name she could think of. "What would I want to do a thing like that to Weathergirl for? I like her, for crying out loud… well, now that we're on the same side, that is. Previously, I thought she was a total whack job, but that was before I got to know her, of course…"

"Gee, with friends like this, who needs enemies?" Paula muttered sarcastically, her arms folded across her chest.

"I meant 'total whack job' in a nice way…" Duck protested.

"Um, are you sure honesty was the best policy here, boss lady?" Ace asked.

"Well, he may have volunteered more information than was absolutely necessary," Zadavia smiled, "but at least he's honest… perhaps too honest… but we can eliminate Duck from our list of suspects."

"How are ya feelin', Paula?" Ace asked.

"I've been called worse things, I suppose… OH! You mean…" she giggled. "I think I'd like to go back to the estate, if it's all the same to anybody else."

"Tech, you wanna take her home now?" Ace asked.

"Sure," the coyote shrugged, helping Paula out of bed.

"That's a good idea, Ace," Zadavia said. "Take her back home, Tech. She can recuperate there. Then meet the rest of us back here."

"You got it," Tech said, and the two left the room.

After they had left, Zadavia turned to Ace and Duck with a worried expression. "I need to talk to both of you."

"That's why we're here," Ace reassured her. "What's up, Zadavia?"

She paused and turned serious. "I don't think whoever gave the information to Inflictus was one of the Loonatics," she said stoically.

"Wait a minute," Duck gasped. "You're not saying…"

"I'm afraid so," Zadavia said in a half-whisper. "It saddens me to say this, but I fear our turncoat may be one of the HOP Force. I need you to keep this just between us for now, understood?" Ace and Duck nodded silently. "Good. There's something else. I finally think I know where I've seen that so-called Afflicto-Ray before. I just wish I were positive."

"You're not a hundred percent sure," Duck added.

"No; but fortunately, I know the one person who can identify it – without question," Zadavia declared.

"Um, who is this person, boss lady?" Ace asked.

"Optimatus."

"You mean…?"

"Yes, Duck. When Tech returns, we're going to Freleng… and on our way, we may uncover a traitor in our midst…"

---

Inflictus, meanwhile, had reappeared in his own office. Setting the Afflicto-Ray down on a desk, he briefly collapsed, closing his eyes in pain. He wished he could take an aspirin or something, but that wouldn't help him.

He was dying, and now he knew why.

There was a cure, but he couldn't take advantage of it.

Not yet. His job was far from over.

He removed his wraparound shades, looked in a mirror, and cursed to himself.

The irises in his eyes were getting redder. If they turned black, there'd be no hope, but fortunately that hadn't happened. Yet.

He reminded himself that it wouldn't get worse if he'd only pace himself and use his powers just once in a while. If he didn't have to use them at all, that would be even better; but 'better' at this point was merely a subjective term.

He poured himself a cup of black coffee, sat down, and tried to consider his options. Somehow, black coffee helped relieve the headaches.

He truly regretted firing on Weather Vane like that. He cast a contemptuous glance at the Afflicto-Ray. 'Stupid weapon, dumber name,' he thought. At least the thing worked… too well.

If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that silly duck.

Just like before, he was there to save the damsel in distress in the nick of time, as in those old western movies he used to watch when he and his brother were kids.

His brother. That was something else Don Sypher hadn't counted on. The last he'd heard of Drake, he was in Acmetropolis Galactic Prison; and now here he was, aiding the Loonatics, of all things!

He'd laugh, if he didn't feel so crummy. If he'd thought he was going to have a tough time convincing the Loonatics and their friends that they were actually on the same side before, now it was going to be impossible.

But a job was a job, and he still had two things to do before his job was over.

He reached in his duster, found his favorite mirrored pilot shades and put them on, turned on his computer, and searched all the available galactic maps until he found the exact location of the planet he was looking for. He pulled a PDA from his coat, entered the co-ordinates, and plotted his strategy. He'd been practicing this particular maneuver for months on the computer, and now he was going to perform it for real. He just hoped he wouldn't incur too much damage in the process; but for the safety of the universe, he had to do this.

And then, there was General Qurrg.

Don really hated him. He had good reason. He'd had plenty of chances to rid the galaxy of him, but those weren't his orders.

He thought he should at least warn the Loonatics that one of their new allies was not who they seemed to be, but was in fact a wanted war criminal.

He also thought of his old friend and mentor, a visiting scientist who'd encouraged him to go for his dreams, and how heartbroken he was when the man died minutes before he could save him.

He thought, finally, how strange it was that everything in his life was tying itself together like this. His mentor had often mentioned a friend of his, a beautiful blonde woman from a faraway planet, who had piercing green eyes. He briefly rolled her name over in his mind.

Zadavia…

For his mentor, and for his friend, he had to do this.

Otherwise, there'd be nothing to save.

He looked again at the Afflicto-Ray, ran a hand through his hair, and hoped when it was all over, that someone would just take the darn thing and shoot him with it.

Ten seconds… just ten painful seconds… and it would all be over.

He just hoped that, if there were any justice at all in this mixed-up cosmos, that shooter would be Weather Vane.

He also hoped, if it were her, that she wouldn't be tempted to count to eleven…

---

Chapter Three: "My Planet Was Gone…"

---

600 parsecs from Acmetropolis was the home planet of Zadavia – Freleng. It was towards this planet that Zadavia's sleek white cruiser flew, carrying the Loonatics and most of the HOP Force, Paula safely recuperating back at the Hu estate. As far as the two groups knew, they were heading there to get some information from Zadavia's brother, Optimatus, about the origin of the Afflicto-Ray.

The truth, however, was a little more sobering. What Zadavia didn't tell them was that the trip to Freleng was totally unnecessary. She already knew the origins of the weapon; and while she had told them that that was the reason they were going there, Zadavia was, in fact, holding out on them. She had told Ace and Duck that she suspected one of the members of the HOP Force was responsible for feeding information to Inflictus which enabled him to attack Paula with his Curium 247 Afflicto-Ray, robbing her of her powers. If that were the case, she intended to find out the answer as far away from Paula as possible, adhering to the belief that there was, indeed, safety in numbers.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to even Zadavia, other spaceships were also heading towards Freleng. The first looked almost tropical, and completely otherworldly… almost like a flying gourd.

The second, however, just looked dangerous.

Like a dragon.

In the tropical ship, the navigator spoke to her commander. "Planet Freleng in view, my queen. Range, 100 parsecs."

"Excellent. I'm looking forward to seeing my old friend again," the queen replied, and then reacted sharply when she saw the dragon cruiser. "Wait, what's that? 10 parsecs and closing in?"

The navigator peered in her viewfinder for a closer look. "It's an Orion class ship, your highness. Shall we open hailing frequencies?"

"Not just yet… let's remain stationary until we know for sure…" Suddenly, her eyes opened wide. "What are they doing?"

Her navigator turned with a frightened expression. "My queen, they're… generating a wormhole! They're…"

"I see that," the queen said nervously. "Full reverse or we'll be caught up in it as well!"

"Full reverse!" echoed the navigator. The first ship backed away with all the power at its disposal, an unwilling spectator to what was happening. In the space of less than two earth minutes, it was all over.

The dragon cruiser zoomed away. "Shall we pursue, my queen?" asked the navigator.

Before their eyes, the cruiser suddenly disappeared. "Pursue where?" the queen asked sadly, as their ship was left alone… almost 100 parsecs from where planet Freleng once stood…

---

Zadavia's cruiser hurried along at a rapid pace. "We should be reaching Freleng in a few minutes," she noted.

"I can't wait to see it myself," Lexi gushed.

"We're not here for sightseeing, Lexi," Zadavia gently reminded her. "This is very urgent business."

"Okay, folks, get ready, that's planet Freleng straight… nowhere?" Tech said in confusion.

"What?" Zadavia asked, startled.

"600 parsecs from Acmetropolis, but there's no planet," the coyote replied, worry crossing his features.

"This… this cannot be," Zadavia whispered, her features paling. Suddenly, she said, "Excuse me," in the coldest tones any of them could ever remember, and walked to the solitude of her cabin. The only sound for several minutes was that of the doors whooshing shut.

The two squads exchanged worried glances.

Eventually, the doors of Zadavia's cabin opened and she rejoined them, but it was a far different Zadavia than they were used to. Instead, she looked shattered. The confidence, the warmth, everything they knew about her… all of it was gone. She might just as well have been a robot. She sat down and stared straight ahead at nothing or no-one in particular, tears slowly making their way down her face.

Lexi approached her cautiously. "Zadavia?"

The Frelengian spoke, but her voice was barely a whisper. "I… I've failed, Lexi. My people… my home… I failed. I should have stayed behind…"

"Zadavia," Sypher said, approaching her tentatively, "you didn't fail them. You did what you needed to do."

Zadavia looked up, blinked away a stray tear, and attempted to smile. "No… no I didn't. Drake, everyone, I have a confession to make…"

Before she could reveal just what that confession was, however, Ace spoke up. "Hey, look ahead, we got a ship just hangin' around about 100 parsecs or less away from us. Think they might know something?"

"I say we find out," Massive replied.

"Okay. Deflector shields up… just in case. Open the squawk box."

"If you mean hailing frequencies…" Tech sighed.

"Yeah, them too."

On the other ship, the navigator spoke. "There's a second ship opening hailing frequencies. Shall we respond?"

"Let me," the queen said. "But prepare to fire at my signal."

Back on Zadavia's ship, Ace said, "Lexi, you're good with people, you hail them."

"Okay," the bunny sighed. "Um, hello? Can we talk?"

"'Can we talk?' What kind of hailing is that?" Duck asked.

"Hey, I don't work well under pressure, okay?"

"Now's a fine time to cop to that one!"

On the gourd ship, the crew didn't know what to make of this conversation. "Your highness, shall we open fire?" the navigator asked.

The queen rushed to the console. "No! Believe it or not, I think I know those voices! Lexi? Duck? Is that you?"

Back on Zadavia's ship, the pair stopped their bickering long enough to reply. Apparently whoever was contacting them knew them. "Yes?"

The picture of the other ship's commander appeared on the view screen. "It's me. Queen Athena."

At the sound of her voice, Zadavia perked up. "Athena?"

The queen was, to put it mildly, shocked. "Zadavia! Is it really you?"

"It is," she replied.

"Wait a minute, you two know each other?" Lexi asked.

"Zadavia and I are old friends, Lexi," Athena replied.

"I wish you'd have told us that the last time we met," Duck groused.

"Athena, what are you doing here?" Zadavia asked, relieved to see her again.

"I was on my way to see you."

"You should've steered a little foither then, your majesty," Ace replied. "The boss… er, Zadavia's been on Acmetropolis the past few years."

"Ah yes, Ace, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"You look much better when you're not wearing Lexi's clothes," Athena smiled.

Ace could feel the rest of the party staring at him. "Eh-heh… yeah. Anyway, we were on a special mission to Freleng, but when we got here… no Freleng!"

"We saw," the queen replied, repeating her eyewitness account of the planet's disappearance. "We would have pursued them, but they warped away before we could even give chase. We're sorry, Zadavia…"

"No, don't apologize, Athena, you took the wisest course."

"Dragon cruiser and woimholes, eh? It almost sounds like Optimatus is up to his old stunts, except for one thing…" Ace said.

"Yes, he's still back on planet Freleng," Tech noted, "and according to Zadavia, he's been behaving himself, so it couldn't be him."

"That gives me an idea," Zadavia said, hope emerging in her voice. Closing her eyes and placing her fingertips to her temples, she said, "Zadavia to Optimatus… Zadavia to Optimatus… if you can hear me, come in, Optimatus…"

All eyes watched as a rainbow-colored hologram of Zadavia's brother emerged in the center of the ship. "Zadavia! Thank the stars!"

"Boy, you've really got him trained," Mallory said.

Optimatus smiled at that remark. "Ah yes, Mastermind. You look… different, somehow. And the Loonatics as well. Greetings."

"Um, hi yourself, Optimatus," Ace nodded.

"When that dragon cruiser pulled us through that wormhole…"

"Yes, brother, I feared the worst, too. How much damage has the planet sustained?"

"None," Optimatus replied.

"None?" asked Duck. "Not even a scratch?"

"Not even, as you put it, a scratch. It's as if whoever dragged Freleng through the wormhole was deliberately trying not to harm us. Strange!"

"Or maybe they're trying to protect you from someone," Athena noted.

"The least they could've done was ask," Sypher noted.

"Maybe they just didn't have the time," Ace countered. "But Freleng's okay otherwise?"

"Yes," Optimatus replied.

"Ace, you just gave me an idea," Tech said. "Maybe whoever it was that did this moved Freleng in time, but not in space!"

"Please," Duck chortled. "That is so bad sci-fi!"

"Perhaps," the coyote replied, turning to Duck, "but how else can you explain the clear connection Zadavia's getting?"

"Um, well…"

"A time shift! Clever!" Mastermind noted. "Whoever would be looking for Freleng could be right on top of it and never even know it's there!"

"Exactly!" Tech exclaimed. "Dr. Chroniker wrote all about it in his Master's thesis!"

"Of which you just happen to have an autographed copy, of course?" Duck sneered.

"Of course," Tech smirked.

"I knew it…"

Ace said, "Okay. We're gonna have to cut this visit short, folks. Queen Athena, it was nice chattin' with you again, but I think we should all get moving. If someone really is looking for Freleng, then I get the feeling our being here will lead 'em right to it, and that's the last thing either we or our mystery friend wants."

"I agree," Zadavia replied.

"So do I," Optimatus echoed.

"You're right, Ace," Athena also agreed.

"Okay. We'll see each other some other time," Lexi added.

"Looking forward to it, Lexi," Athena nodded. "Farewell… and good luck, my friends." Her visage disappeared from the screen just before her ship turned around and headed off in the direction it had come.

"Good luck to you, too," Optimatus added, before he, also, signed off.

"So, Ace, you gonna tell Dr. Hu what's been going on?" asked Duck.

"Hmm… nah, just let him know we're on our way back. We can fill him in on all the details later…"

---

Chapter Four: "Confrontation…"

---

When you're a superhero who's lost your powers, sleep doesn't come easy. Paula Hayes certainly felt that way as she woke up in a cold sweat from a nightmare she had just had. It was the same one she'd lived through just a few hours earlier. The one where someone calling himself Inflictus… Drake's own brother… robbed her of her powers and practically laughed while she fell to the surface below.

Only in the nightmare, Duck didn't catch her in time.

She drew up her legs, cradled her head against her knees, and wept softly. Finally, after a few minutes of this, she wiped her eyes and reflected on the state of things as they were. It was only a nightmare, she told herself. Duck did catch her. She was still alive.

But she would never be Weather Vane… ever again.

Paula finally got out of bed, put on her bunny slippers, and decided to go to the kitchen. She'd heard that a glass of warm milk would help you sleep. She really needed to try that tonight.

She wished the others were here; but the rest of the gang were heading towards Freleng, and the doc had some business to attend to elsewhere, so she was left all alone. This putting up a brave front was draining her emotionally, and she really needed somebody to talk to. Even if it were only Drake; that would still be better than no one. As she went to the door, she caught her reflection in her dresser mirror. 'Well, maybe it isn't so bad being normal again,' she thought to herself.

She went to the kitchen and got that glass of milk.

That's when she heard the voices. Strange, she thought she was alone. Setting the glass down, she padded quietly to where she thought they were coming from… and received the shock of her young life.

"They should be back in Acmetropolis's orbit soon. What are your instructions?"

"You know perfectly well what they are, Inflictus."

Paula clapped her hands over her mouth to hold in the sharp gasp. It couldn't be!

Dr. Hu? Their mentor? Their… friend? In league with that… Inflictus? No!

Inflictus spoke next. "What about the girl?"

"Paula? Don't worry about her…"

"Just because she's powerless doesn't make her any less of a threat, you know…"

"Duly noted. Trust me, she'll never be missed. I'll handle her. You have your orders, carry them out."

"With pleasure. Inflictus out."

Doctor Sakamoto Hu sighed and switched off the holographone. As he turned around, he saw Paula staring at him, tears flowing freely. She was standing by a Ming vase that was nearly half as tall as she was, and maybe half her weight. "Doctor? How… how could you?" she asked, grasping the vase for support. She felt she would collapse any second if she didn't.

"Oh, Paula, how long have you been standing there?" Hu asked pleasantly.

"Long enough…" Paula's tears gave way to a quiet rage. "We… we trusted you…"

"Yes," the doctor noted. "That was your first mistake."

"I see… I suppose you're going to kill me now?"

"Now really, Paula, why would I do a thing like that?"

"Because you're secretly evil?"

"Yes, I suppose that would do it," Hu smiled, and then pointed a weapon at her. "But you see, Paula, I'm not going to lay a finger on you. You're going to die of a heart attack at the ripe old age of… 23, is it?"

"I'm 21. Let me guess… an Afflicto-Ray? Lexi told me all about that…"

"But she didn't tell you that I've been working on a newer version. You see, the original only made you think you were dying. This one actually does it by making the body turn on itself. Not as messy as old-fashioned bullets, either. No, your untimely death will be attributed to 'natural causes brought about by stress'. Tragic, really, to lose someone so talented and pretty as you at such a young age, but that's, as they say, the hero biz." The doctor smiled wickedly as he prepared to squeeze the trigger. "What? No last words?"

"I was always taught that actions speak louder," Paula whispered.

"Have it your way, then," the doctor shrugged.

"Okay," Paula grunted, suddenly hefting the doctor's cherished Ming vase at him and running like the wind. It was a sloppy throw, but it accomplished its purpose. Instinctively the doctor dropped his weapon and caught the vase.

"Hm, not bad, Paula…" he mused as he put the vase down, picked up his Afflicto-Ray, and began to search for his quarry…

---

Paula had never been as afraid as she was at that moment. All this time, she never would have suspected the doctor. She had to get away… but how? She passed by her open door, and then she saw it, lying on the dresser in its collapsed state.

Her hover board. Perfect. She dashed in quickly, grabbed it, muttered a silent thank you to Velvet and Tech, and dashed back out. She had just passed the holographone when the doctor appeared in front of her, blocking her escape.

He wasn't smiling.

He raised his Afflicto-Ray and aimed it directly at her heart.

"Such a waste," he hissed. "Goodbye, Paula."

Paula didn't say a word. Instead, she pressed the red button on her hover board and watched as it rapidly expanded to its full size, catching the doctor in the forehead and knocking him out cold!

"So long, screwy, see you in Saint Louie!" Paula panted.

She was almost out the door when the holographone came on, and Inflictus could be seen. "Wait!"

"Inflictus?!?" Paula said, shocked that this guy would dare contact her personally.

"Weather Vane! Thank God you're alive!" He almost sounded relieved.

"Alive, yeah, but I'm not that girl anymore, no thanks to you. What do you want?"

"I have something to tell you…"

"Make it fast, would you? Doc Weird here could wake up any second, and I have to run for my ever-lovin' life…" At that precise moment, the doctor stirred. Paula dropped her board, lifted his Ming vase with all her strength and smashed it over his head, sending him back into dreamland. "Okay, I got a few more minutes, start talking, and it better be good. What's up?"

"The doctor's got a trap set up."

"You're telling ME?"

"It's not just you guys, he wants to destroy Freleng."

"FRELENG?!? That's Zadavia's home!"

"What?" Inflictus reacted as if he'd been slapped with a live high-tension wire. "Zadavia's still alive?"

Now it was Paula's turn to be shocked. "You… you know about Zadavia?"

"Believe me, I know a lot more than you think… and if the doc finds Freleng, it's gonna be big trouble! Just get outta there, it's not safe for you or the HOP Force anymore!"

"I… I don't understand. Why should you care? And why are you telling me all this?"

"Let's just say when it comes to an interplanetary bloodbath, count me out!"

Paula gasped as she tried to take this in. "Interplanetary… it could be that big?"

"Bigger if we don't stop the doc! Now GO! WARN THE LOONATICS!"

"Um, right… how?" Paula really wished she were Weather Vane at this point; at least her alter-ego could handle this better.

Inflictus spoke calmly and reassuringly. "Don't panic, Paula. Listen up, okay? I've got my dragon cruiser in a parking orbit just outside Sector 42. You can't miss it. You should catch sight of their jet as it comes in from there."

"Of course. I'll meet you there. Gotta go!" she said hurriedly, nearly making it out the door when Inflictus gave her a sharp whistle. "What now?"

"Your hover board, remember?"

"Oh! Thanks," Paula smiled in embarrassment, grabbing her board, running out the door and taking off for dear life, still dressed in her PJs and bunny slippers. As she sailed through the Acmetropolis skies, she wondered what she would do when she found that cruiser. In time, she didn't have to. When she arrived at Sector 42, the dragon cruiser was right there. As she pulled up alongside it, she saw Inflictus in the navigator's seat, obviously preoccupied with something. She cautiously pulled up close and tapped on his window, getting his attention. He pressed a button on his dashboard, and Paula drew in a sharp breath as the ship changed appearance to a Frelengian stingray fighter. Inflictus pushed another button, and the cockpit opened wide. He turned, leaned his head on one hand and smiled at her.

"Hi, miss. So, do you surf here often?" She might have been crazy, but she could have sworn his tone wasn't mocking or threatening. Rather, it was friendly, conversational.

"Only when I'm in the neighborhood," she shrugged, with a bit of a smile. "And yourself?"

"Sorry, I haven't sky surfed in a long while. My day job won't allow it… listen, Weather Vane, I'm really sorry about what I did to you earlier," Inflictus sighed.

"Call me Paula, okay?" she smiled, offering her hand.

"You sure you want to risk doing that? You might not get it back…"

"Yeah, I'm sure; besides, unlike the doc, if you'd really wanted to kill me, you would've done it by now, I guess," she replied.

He smiled warmly and accepted her handshake. "I can't argue with that. Anyway, I make it a rule. Never kill the good guys. You don't know when you might need them. Oh, call me Don, if you like."

"Okay… Don… How'd you change planes, anyway? I thought dragon cruisers couldn't do that."

"They can't. This is actually a captured Selzerian death bomber. Don't worry, I'm not going to use it on you or the Loonatics… is something wrong?" he added, noting that Paula's demeanor changed dramatically into one of near fright.

"The Selzerians? Again?" she asked, stunned.

"You've heard of them, then," Don frowned.

A chill ran through her, and she shuddered. "Unfortunately, we've met."

"And you lived to tell about it?"

"Barely… from what I can remember…"

"Well, hey, then, park your hover board and come in. Your friends won't be arriving for at least a half hour, anyway, and it'll give us a chance to compare notes…"

Paula shrugged, drifted into the jet, and hoped she hadn't just made a big mistake as the cockpit closed. Don reached into his duster and pulled out his pilot glasses, replacing his wraparounds.

"That feels a little better," he said. "I'll be right back…" Maintaining an automatic parking orbit, he briefly left his seat, disappeared for a few seconds, and returned with a couple of steaming cups. "Hot cocoa?"

"Um, sure…" Paula said as she accepted one. Inflictus sat down next to her as if they were old friends discussing the weather.

"Sorry I don't have any of those little marshmallows," he shrugged.

"Oh, that's okay," Paula replied. "I'll just drink it nude." She noticed a small smirk on her host's face. "What?"

"That, I'd like to see," he replied, then brought his left hand to his face. "Oh, I'm sorry, that's an awful thing to be saying," which caused Paula to laugh.

After they both regained their composure, Don said, "Anyway, I modified this heap of junk as much as I could, but it's still on its last jet engines anyway," he shrugged. "Selzerians. I think the universe would be better off without them and their so-called technology. Like that stinkin' torture weapon of theirs… sorry, I didn't want to put you off your cocoa, Paula."

"Oh, that's okay," she sighed. "Listen, Don, how long have you known about those lizards?"

"Long enough," he frowned. "And what I know, I'd really rather forget." He paused and briefly changed the subject. "So Zadavia's still alive… I'm glad to hear that."

Paula couldn't contain her curiosity. "Forgive my being nosy, Don, but where do you know Zadavia from?" He reached into his duster, pulled out the picture from his desk, and handed it to her. Paula's mouth dropped. "My gosh… that's her… and the doc! Where did you get this?"

"It's a long story, Paula," Don smiled. They spent the next twenty-five minutes discussing everything under the sun, including the Loonatics, Zadavia, hover board surfing, coffee mugs vs. tubes, etc. And as they talked, Paula got the strangest feeling. Nothing she could put her finger on, at first, but eventually it hit her. As weird as it seemed, she actually felt… safe with him. Never mind that he was the guy who took her powers from her. Their conversation would have continued except for a beeping emanating from Don's dashboard. "Oops! Got to cut this short…"

"Trouble?"

"That depends on how your friends'll react to seeing me," he shrugged. "It was nice to finally meet you, Paula. I just wish it had been under different circumstances. We'll have to do this again some time."

"Like, when we aren't figuring out how to save the galaxy from space lizards?" she asked.

"Agreed," Don smiled, and briefly adopted a goofy voice. "Well, I've gotta go be the 'big bad Inflictus' again. You'd better go and get their attention…"

"Right."

"Oh, and Paula?"

She turned around before reactivating her hover board. "Yes, Don?"

The other Sypher brother smiled and slightly raised his eyebrows. "For what it's worth… I really like those bunny slippers…"

---

"Home sweet Acmetropolis," Tech said as Zadavia's ship reentered the planet's orbit. "Can't beat it."

"Yeah, the pallid sky, the eternal twilight, the crazy chick in her PJ's on a hover board next to that dragon cruiser… HUH?" Duck said.

"That's Paula!" exclaimed Lexi. "What's she doing?"

"Duck! Go get her!" Ace said.

"Right-o!" He quacked out and joined Paula, much to her surprise. "Nice outfit, kid! But didn't they have any slippers in waterfowl?"

"Duck!"

"We'll talk later, kid, I got orders to bring you in!" he smiled, wrapping his wings around her waist and quacking the two into Zadavia's ship.

"Eh, nice recovery, Duck!" Ace said, as Tech operated a tractor beam to bring in Paula's hover board. "Likewise, Tech. Those things ain't cheap!"

"Especially the way Velvet builds 'em," the coyote grinned.

"Paula, what's going on?" Velvet asked.

"It's… it's the doctor…"

Massive reacted with a start. "The doc's in trouble? Don't worry, we'll…"

"Gordon, shut up and listen to me! WE'RE the ones in trouble! The one who leaked the info about our exo-suits? It was the doc!"

That was good for an en masse "WHAT?!?" all around.

"Paula, do you know what you're saying?" Drake asked.

"Sypher, I heard him confabbing with your brother earlier tonight, and when I confronted him, he… he tried to kill me…" she said, fighting the urge to break down in tears.

"Who, Don?"

"No, Drake, the doctor!! Your brother's on our side!"

"What? Are you sure?" Tech asked, unconvinced.

"Yes! He told me the doctor wants to destroy Freleng!"

"I don't understand it," Zadavia gasped. "We've been friends for years…"

"Then this is where that friendship ends," Ace growled. "I have no doubt that's Inflictus in the dragon cruiser." It was then that Inflictus opened fire. "Doubts erased, folks. Lexi, Slam, take him out!"

"No-wait-a-second-Ace-that-wasn't-an-attack-blast-more-of-a-hailing-blast-you-could-tell-by-the-angle-he-was-deliberately-trying-to-miss-us," Rev said.

"He's right!" Paula said urgently.

"Sorry, but we can't take that chance," Ace snapped. "Open fire!"

If things couldn't get any crazier, they were about to, as Inflictus addressed them on the view screen. "Whoa, I wouldn't do that, Ace. Not unless you want to sacrifice Planet Freleng to the doc…"

"What have you done with my planet?" Zadavia asked.

"I tucked it away for safekeeping, honest… you must be Zadavia."

"Yes…"

"You call what you did 'safekeeping'?" Tech asked.

"Hey, listen up, coyote! The doctor wants to destroy Freleng, but he can't do it if he can't find it, right? And only I know where it is."

"I told you!" Paula exclaimed.

"Well, he does have us over a barrel," Sypher muttered.

"This is your crummy brother we're talking about?" Massive reminded him.

"So what's your point?"

"I'm-beginning-to-wonder-whose-side-he's-really-on," Rev said.

"Hey, Donny Boy, just for my scrapbook," Sypher said irritably. "Whose side are you on?"

"Well, let's put it this way… it's sure not the doc's!"

"Can't wait to hear the explanation," Sypher snorted. "Don't let the doc hear you say this!"

"Don't worry about that, squirt. I'm scrambling this jibber jabber so he can't listen in. Can your ship do hyperdrive?" Inflictus asked.

"Is he kidding?" Duck asked to no one in particular.

"Listen up. Paula sent him into snooze control, but he's gonna wake up any second, and he's gonna want to see you guys go kaboom when I blast you out of the sky, so you'd better get ready to boogie, 'cos I gotta make this look convincing!"

Ace shot a questioning glance at Paula, who nodded emphatically, and then addressed Inflictus. "In other woids, get out of town and come back later, right?"

"You got it, Ace. A couple of minutes should be good enough. Now buckle up in there, this is gonna sting… especially if I get this wrong."

"Um, tell me somethin' just before you allegedly blow us all to smithereens, pal," Ace asked. "Is the doctor really in on this?"

"Who do you think came up with the Afflicto-Ray in the first place? Me?" Inflictus shrugged. "I'm just a pilot. Sorry, folks, but I'm not that brilliant!"

"That confirms it, then," Duck snapped. "You can be that stupid!"

"I don't know… should we trust him?" Zadavia asked.

"Right now, you don't have much choice, your highness," Inflictus replied. "Meet me on the other side of the planet after the light show and I promise you, I'll explain everything."

"You'd better," Drake snapped.

"Hyperdrive set, Ace!" Lexi said.

"Good. Get ready to test the big bang theory, everybody!" Ace ordered.

"On my mark," Inflictus added. "3… 2… 1… MARK!" With that, he opened fire with a single blast from the dragon cruiser guaranteed to blow the Loonatics and co. into another dimension, while simultaneously ejecting some spare parts from the garbage chute to heighten the deception and sending some fuel barrels along with it, as Lexi hit hyperdrive.

Their timing was perfect.

As Dr. Hu awoke, he looked out of his window to see the dragon cruiser blasting the Loonatics out of the sky. He then looked to his right and saw his Ming vase in pieces on the floor…

---

Chapter Five: "Disclosure…"

---

Several parsecs above the other side of Acmetropolis, the Loonatics and HOP Force waited anxiously for Inflictus' dragon cruiser to arrive. "I knew it, he stood us up," Duck sighed. "Well, nothing to do but go home, watch sad movies and gorge ourselves silly on ice cream…"

"Sounds like a plan to… Wait, here he comes!" Paula said, as the dragon cruiser finally parked alongside the other ship.

"I don't know, do you really think we should let him in?" Drake growled. To their surprise, the question became a moot point when Inflictus suddenly transported himself in the midst of them. "Never mind," Drake added, unconcerned that his older brother briefly collapsed in pain before shaking it off and getting back to his feet.

"Good, you made it," Inflictus said with a sigh of relief. "That was some mighty fine hyperdrivin'…"

"The name is Lexi, remember?" the blonde bunny asked crossly, just before she decked him!

From his position on the floor, the elder Sypher shook his head until the cobwebs cleared to find himself looking up at an assortment of animals and humans who weren't really all that happy to see him. "Um… yeah… so that's what a rabbit punch feels like…"

"I think we can all take him at once," Drake smirked.

"Whoa, wait, hold on, squirt, I come in peace!" Inflictus said, raising his hands.

"How'd you like to go in pieces?" growled Massive.

Inflictus reacted in disbelief. "Gordon? Gordon Paine?? Is that you???"

"The name's 'Massive', jerk…"

The other Sypher quickly regained his wits… and his wit. "Okay. So you're a massive jerk. I knew that."

"Wait a minute, you've met before?" Paula asked incredulously, shifting her gaze between the two antagonists.

"Yeah," Inflictus said as he got to his feet. "Gordon was an all-star player on the Comet City Varsity football team three years running! I took a lotta tackles from this guy… matter of fact, I still have the cleat marks to prove it!"

"I knew it, sports does lead to crime," Duck muttered.

"We can reminisce about the good old days later," Ace said, "but right now, we got a lotta questions that need to be answered, so start talkin'… and remember, I can't guarantee these guys'll be as patient as I am!"

Inflictus exhaled and shrugged. "Fair enough, Ace. The Doctor's got it into his noggin to start an intergalactic war the old-fashioned way," he said, reaching into his duster. The others were prepared to attack at a second's notice, but breathed a mass sigh of relief when he pulled out a holocard instead. "What?!?" the elder Sypher asked innocently.

"Eh, nothin', doc," Ace replied.

"Don't tell me you guys are holocard shy," Inflictus smiled as he handed the card to Tech, who inserted it into the ship's computer. Immediately the image of a jet appeared in their midst… and not just any jet, either.

"That's an Acmetropolis Air Force fighter jet!" Tech exclaimed.

"Wrong! It only looks like one. Check the next image. It's actually a Selzerian death bomber."

Tech went to the next image, and shuddered as the plane morphed into the ultimate instrument of interplanetary destruction, as did everyone else. "So that's what one of those looks like…"

Paula likewise cringed. "I thought the scout ships were hideous enough."

Inflictus turned with a start. "You've been in one, Paula?"

"More times than I care to attempt to remember," she replied softly.

"You never explained, just who or what are these Selzerians?" Velvet asked.

"The Selzerians live on the other side of the universe, Velvet," Zadavia explained. "They're masters of deceit and disguise, and all they live for is interplanetary war."

"Actually, she left out 'death and destruction', but otherwise Zadavia's right on all counts," Inflictus noted. "Their death bombers are the deadliest weapons ever made. Just one can destroy an entire planet. A whole fleet… well, you do the math."

"There must be a mistake," Zadavia declared. "The Sakamoto Hu I know would never think of harming Freleng… or anything!"

Inflictus sighed and bowed his head. "Yeah. That's the same one I knew."

"Wait a minute, I'm confused, here," Mallory said, bringing a finger to her lips. "You know Hu?"

"I did…"

"But why would the doctor get involved with them?" Paula asked, stunned. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"It does when you consider he's a Selzerian himself," Inflictus replied to their shock.

"WHAT?!?"

"His real name's General Artemis Augustus Qurrg, he's one of the universe's ten most wanted war criminals, and the intergalactic justice agencies would prefer it if he were captured dead."

"Qurrg…" muttered Zadavia, clenching her hands into fists.

"You've heard of him?" Inflictus asked.

"I wish that were all," the Frelengian said, turning pale. "He kidnapped me when I was 12 and almost had me for an… appetizer, I believe you'd call it?"

"Whoa!" Inflictus said, pulling up his right trouser leg, revealing the telltale scars. "Looks like I'm not the only one who has a score to settle with him."

"Holy crud!" Drake whispered. "You, too?"

Inflictus bowed his head again and spoke softly. "And if anyone asks, I do have a personal stake in all this. Unfortunately, we found the real Dr. Sakamoto Hu three months ago… or, rather, what was left. The minute we heard he was missing, we launched an all-out search for him. I was in charge of the main rescue party. Unfortunately, the Selzerians got to him first. I understand you were close friends, Zadavia. He was mine as well." He handed her the photo, which she stared at in disbelief. "He spoke of you often. I'm sorry."

"Wait a minute," Paula gasped. "Three months ago? That would have been…"

"Before all that business with the Doomsday Bomb," Lexi completed her sentence for her. "Which means if this guy is right, then…?"

"Then we've been sitting ducks all this time and never knew it!" Massive growled.

"You weren't kidding about them being masters of disguise," Drake glowered.

"It was the real Dr. Hu who encouraged me to go into my day job," Inflictus said, reaching into his duster again and pulling out a wallet, which the others passed around, not quite believing their eyes. "My card."

Drake gasped the loudest. "Captain Donald Patrick Sypher, Acmetropolis Military Intelligence?"

"So that explains how you know so much about the Selzerians!" Tech exclaimed. "Not to mention, us!"

"Exactly, Tech. This isn't the sort of info you can just pick up off the street, you know!"

"You mean you're not really a criminiminal?" Duck asked, shocked.

"You sure could've fooled us," Ace smirked.

"As I recall, Ace, I did," Don smiled in return.

"How come you never told us, then?" Duck asked.

"Well, if I did, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it, Duck?" He took a beat or two before saying, "Um, I'd like my wallet back, Paula?"

"Huh? Oh… sorry, Don," she blushed. "You just look so… different…"

"Thank you," he grinned, flipping his fingers through his hair. "Peroxide."

"Captain," Velvet asked, "you mentioned their bombers. Is that their only weapon of choice?"

"Unfortunately, no," he replied. "Tech, next image?"

"You got it, Captain," the coyote replied, and drew in a sharp breath as he recognized the holographic image.

"Look familiar, anybody?"

Paula and Lexi gasped. "The Afflicto-Ray!"

"Yep. Portable and practical, depending on who you ask, if who you're asking is a Selzerian. Qurrg originally designed it as a weapon of political torture. It worked on the mind by making its victims think they were undergoing anything from a minor heart attack to a major seizure. Our military found one in the ruins of a crashed Selzerian scout ship located just within the borders of the Acmetropolis desert."

"The Acmetropolis desert?" Massive echoed. "Hey, Drake, that sounds like the one we brought down!"

"Really? You guys were responsible for that?" Capt. Sypher asked. "I take back that 'losers' crack. You're braver than I thought!"

"Well, of course we are!" Drake noted, quickly adding, "How so?"

"I've never heard of anybody taking on the Selzerians and winning before!"

"Eh, it was touch and go there for a while, Captain," Ace shrugged. "So how did you come by that piece of hardware?"

"I was assigned the task of figuring out what the heck it was and what it could do. My superiors came up with the less-than-brilliant idea of testing it on you guys. Sorry. Military intelligence. One of the great oxymorons of all time, along with jumbo shrimp and diet soda."

"Yeah, explain to me the logic underlying that conclusion, would you?" Tech muttered.

"They figured with your superpowers, it would be safer than testing it on our own soldiers, or ordinary civilians. I was for telling you at the outset, myself, or even getting Tech to try identifying it…"

"I wouldn't have been much help then, Captain," Tech shrugged. "I'd never seen it before in my life."

"But I had," Zadavia said. "When I was kidnapped by Qurrg, I saw that weapon aboard their scout ship." She turned to the two groups accompanying her and bowed her head. "That was the confession I was about to make… I'm sorry for not telling you earlier…"

"I should've asked you then, Zadavia," Capt. Sypher exhaled. "You would've saved me a whole lot of ethical headaches, at least."

"Understood. So what happened with you?"

"Obviously, I was overruled, proving even Captains don't get no respect. My superiors dreamed up this stupid 'Inflictus' character and phony bank robbery, complete with practice bomb, and, well, the rest is history. You wanna complain, see Colonel Trench."

"I think maybe I'll just do that," Ace grimaced.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for reminding me," Lexi grumbled. "When you staged that robbery, it was real considerate of you to use me for target practice!"

"Sorry about that, but you were the only logical choice. I figured if I used it on Rev, he'd never get the bomb out in time, and Duck, well, he's not the type to stand still in one spot for too long. You, at least, Duck could transport to the hospital and you could both get out of there before Rev found the bomb."

"Wait a minute, hold on… you were planning on Duck getting me out of there?" Lexi asked, confused.

"More like counting on it, Lexi. Unfortunately, it was my first time using it. I was trying to give you a mild stomach ache, honest," he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry again. I later found out there's no such setting. The Selzerians don't really deal in subtlety."

"Speaking of which," Tech said, ears folding back.

"Oh yeah, about the bomb. It was a practice one, like I said, complete with a remote control. I would've shut it off before it exploded, but I understand Rev slipped on a… banana peel, was it?" The road runner nodded in embarrassment. "Nothing I could do about litterbugs, either… well, nothing legal, anyway."

"So let me see if I can connect the dots, here," Ace said, bringing a finger to his chin. "You never actually had any intention of robbing the bank or blowing it up?"

"Right on both counts, Ace. The whole thing was a smokescreen to see what kind of weapon this Afflicto-Ray really was. If it fell into the wrong hands, it could've been big trouble… assuming they could've read Selzerian, of course."

"Okay, that was then, but what about now?" Massive growled. "Paula's lost her powers because of you!"

"Only temporarily," the captain replied. "The doctor took blood samples from you when the HOP Force was officially formed, right?"

"Right," Drake replied, "only it turns out he's not the doctor, he's a Selzerian."

"Bright boy," Capt. Sypher said. "Qurrg wants to try and figure out just what makes you guys tick, and if he can analyze those blood samples before we can stop him, then all your super powers aren't gonna amount to diddley squat!" He turned to Paula. "What you have going in your favor right now is the fact that the Selzerians are fighters rather than scientists. Sure, they can build death bombers and Afflicto-Rays by the thousands, but when it comes to things like genetic mutation and DNA studies and the like, they're just not that smart. Also, Qurrg's been so preoccupied with his other plans, that he sort of put analyzing the samples on the back burner, so to speak. And just so you know, he keeps them in that cold storage unit next to the ER. If you can get your blood sample injected back into you, Paula, you should get your powers back."

"He's right, Paula!" Tech noted. "It's a chancy move, and it might be a little chilly, but it can work… if you're willing to risk it."

"Hey, if it means I'll get to be Weather Vane again, I'd welcome a bit of cold!" Paula smiled.

"I thought you liked being normal, cuteness," Drake said.

"Yeah, well, normalcy's overrated, anyway," Paula shrugged cheerfully.

"Tell me something, Captain," Zadavia asked. "How did you ever get involved with Qurrg in the first place?"

"Shortly after that business at the bank, we at M.I. learned about Qurrg and that he was planning something big, so I was assigned to approach him as 'Inflictus', gain his confidence, find out what he was up to and report my findings. Understand, I had mixed feelings about that; nearly having been his lunch previously, I thought for sure he'd have recognized me."

"But he didn't?" Drake asked.

"I'm still not sure. I do know seeing him as the doc that first time was upsetting to me. I was lucky I didn't blow the mission right then and there."

"I really wish you had, Don," Paula said softly.

"I know, Paula. I wish I had, too, all things being equal; but I was there to get information, not to assassinate him."

Mallory directed a question to Inflictus. "Captain, you said the new version of the Afflicto-Ray actually gave you super powers?"

"Make that the second version, Mall," Paula corrected her.

"What?" Capt. Sypher asked, startled. "Qurrg's got a newer one?"

"Yeah… that's the one he would've killed me with… I'll explain later. So what exactly happened to you?"

"A one-in-a-million freak reaction from exposure to the Curium 247 concentrate," the elder Sypher sighed. "And unfortunately for me, that wasn't the only side effect."

"What are you talkin' about?" Drake asked.

Inflictus removed his wraparound shades, revealing the red irises. "Actinoid poisoning. Also one-in-a-million. Every time I use my powers, it keeps getting worse. And unfortunately, in order to avoid blowing my cover, I have to use them to prevent Qurrg from getting suspicious."

"How bad is it?" Zadavia asked.

"In my case, progressively fatal. That's why I have to limit my powers to things like flying and disappearing and the like. Not as bad that way; but it is still prolonging the inevitable. In short, I'm killing myself to save the universe… literally."

"Let me guess," Massive said. "There's no known cure, is there, 'Duke'?"

"'Duke?'" Paula asked.

"Old high school nickname… Oh, there's a cure. Problem is, I can't administer it myself. Somebody else will have to do it for me."

"What is it?" Lexi asked.

"You ever hear the phrase, 'the hair of the dog that bit you'?"

"Oh-yeah-it-was-an-ancient-hangover-cure-where-you-had-to-drink-an-alcoholic-beverage-in-order-to-relieve-the-headaches-and-all-that-other-stuff-though-frankly-I'd-stick-to-plain-old-aspirin-myself-that-is-if-I-were-a-drinking-bird-which-of-course-I'm-not," Rev noted.

"Maybe I'm going nuts, but I swear I nearly understood all that," Capt. Sypher chuckled.

"So, let me get this straight," Duck said. "You gotta go get drunk?"

"Not that easy, Duck; besides, I'm a teetotaler. Never drink anything stronger than coffee," the Captain smiled. "The only cure is exposure to some more Curium 247. That sort of cancels out the previous one; so what I need is for someone to blast me with that Curium Afflicto-Ray. Sounds crazy, I know…"

"Hey, if you like, Duke, I'll do it for you now," Paula said.

"Sorry, 'Surfer Girl', no can do," he sighed. "I have to maintain this charade until Qurrg is securely behind bars. If I'm still alive after that, you get first crack, I promise."

Paula fixed one of those looks at him. "'Surfer Girl'?" she giggled.

"And for your added information, General Qurrg was the actual brains behind the theft. He also jettisoned the video room into a black hole. You're never going to see that again." He took a deep breath and continued. "If I hadn't alerted the technicians, they would've gone with it as well. Sometimes, intelligence work does pay off. As the doc, he told me all about the Achilles' heel in your exo-suits."

"Whaddaya know," Ace gasped. "You were right, Paula!"

"Sweet," Drake muttered. "Thanks for giving us plenty of warning, jerk!"

"Look, if I'd told you then what I'm telling you now, would any of you have believed me?" the other Sypher countered. The others looked at each other and shook their heads. "I didn't think so. Anyway, Paula made the perfect target."

"Gee, thanks a lot," she frowned. "I preferred 'Surfer Girl'. Why me? Was I that expendable?"

"Only to Qurrg. Anyway, when I shot you off that hover board, you have to remember who was closest enough to catch you."

"They all were…"

"True, but only one of them could've caught you without the both of you getting killed."

Paula's jaw dropped in astonishment. "DUCK?!? You mean you knew Duck would be the one to rescue me?"

"Again, I was counting on it. Like I told him before, he's predictable," the Captain smiled. "Good thing, too."

"Okay, so much for ancient history," Velvet said. "What about the present?"

"Like I was saying, the doc… or rather, the Selzerian calling himself the doc… wants to start a galactic war, and he figures the best way to do that is to blow up a couple of planets with a death bomber designed to look like an Acmetropolis Air Force jet."

"So, why doesn't he just blow up Acmetropolis and get it over with?" Duck asked.

"Unh-unh. Not good enough. He wants to make sure he involves at least three unsuspecting planets. That's how the Selzerians operate."

"He's right," Zadavia added.

"You say three planets?" Ace asked.

"Correct, Ace. He plans to start by attacking Freleng with an Acmetropolis fighter jet -- "

"Disguised, of course," added Tech.

"So that's why you hid Freleng in the wormhole!" Mallory declared.

"Right. Anybody here familiar with Dr. Fidel Chroniker's treatises on time shifting?" Tech smugly raised a paw. "I might have guessed," Capt. Sypher grinned. "I'd read them as well, and was able to work out a feasible way to use it to hide Freleng, displacing it in time, but not in space."

"And you said you weren't that brilliant," Tech chuckled.

"Thanks. The tricky part was in not harming the planet," he sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't know how successful I was at that…"

"Allow me to set your mind at ease, then, Captain," Zadavia smiled. "According to my brother, it came through the wormhole without, to use Duck's words, as much as a scratch."

"Whew! That's a load off my mind, Zadavia," he replied.

"So, bro', worst case scenario. Supposing Qurrg attacks Freleng, what's his next move?" Drake asked.

"Then he plans on attacking Acmetropolis by disguising the bomber as a jet from a third planet, which he intends to blast with a Frelengian fighter; then he'll just sit back and watch while all hell breaks loose, after which he and his goons will swoop in and, to put it bluntly, have some free snacks."

Ace counted on his fingers. "Acmetropolis… Freleng… what's the thoid planet?"

Capt. Sypher's answer sent shivers down everyone's spine. "Planet Blanc."

"Blanc? But that's our headquarters!" Duck gasped.

"Really? I wasn't aware of that," Capt. Sypher mused. "I must be slipping in my old age. Let me see if I get this one right… Is The Royal Tweetums still in charge?"

"Much to Duck's everlasting chagrin," Lexi smirked.

"Okay. You're gonna have to tell him to prepare for a possible Selzerian attack, just in case."

"Right!" Lexi said.

"What about us?" Drake asked. "You think you were able to fool him with that explosive stunt earlier?"

"I don't know, squirt," the Captain replied. "He didn't get to be a general by being stupid. Sooner or later he's going to figure it out, so the only course left open is to take him by surprise as soon as possible."

"It would help if we had something else going in our favor," Velvet observed.

"You do," Capt. Sypher smiled. "Qurrg's a master of disguise, like all Selzerians, but he's also old, and it's difficult for him to shift back and forth. And one other thing… Selzerians in disguise tend to take on all the physical attributes of whatever they're passing themselves off as. The problem for them with that, depending on what they're disguising themselves as, is they may actually be weaker in their disguised state. Humans are their worst choice. For Qurrg, doubly so. He's been stuck as the doctor for quite a while now and can't get out of it."

"So that explains why I was able to knock him out earlier!" Paula exclaimed. "Twice, yet!"

"Twice?" Massive asked, astonished.

"Once with the hover board and the other with the Ming vase…"

"Yeah, I saw that," the Captain grinned. "Quick thinking, 'Surfer Girl'!"

"Gee, now I'm back to 'Surfer Girl' again," Paula giggled. "Thank you, Don."

"Oh, call me 'Duke'," he smiled in response. "I'm going to retire when all this is over, anyway, if I live through it. Speaking of which, we'd better get moving."

"Right," Ace agreed. "Just for my own peace of mind, Doc… er, Duke, how will we know that's really Qurrg?"

"A quick blast of electricity will change him back… yes, Lexi?"

"Paula zapped him before when she had to act as a defibrillator, so how come it didn't work on him then?"

"Good question. A defibrillator doesn't carry nearly the charge needed to effect the change. No, something like that, you'd need a lightning bolt."

A devilish smile played across Paula's lips. "Oh, really? Listen, if I get my powers back, I'll be more than happy to zap him for you! No charge."

"Good girl, but bad pun. Just don't go too overboard, Paula, we want him alive." Capt. Sypher replied. "Oh, one final thing, before I forget. For heaven's sake, watch your steps! You can't drop your guard just because he's disguised as someone you trusted. The second you do that, you're all dead. That's not an exaggeration, either. As bad as any Selzerians you may have fought before were, Qurrg is a thousand times worse. I speak from experience, and I'm sure Zadavia can back me up." He exchanged glances with the blonde Frelengian, who nodded with a worried expression.

"The captain's right, everyone," Zadavia said. "Believe me, you have no idea what that monster is truly capable of. If he feels he's cornered, he won't hesitate to do away with you… and that's while he tortures you. Please, I beg of you, be careful!"

The two groups looked first at each other, then at Zadavia and Capt. Sypher. "We will, boss lady," Ace said solemnly.

The captain looked at the group and nodded. "Time to get this show on the road, then. Good luck, you guys. I'll see you on the ground, hopefully." He took a deep breath and prepared to teleport himself back to his cruiser, but stopped when Zadavia placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Please, Captain, allow me," the Frelengian smiled. "No point in continuing to kill yourself like this just to get from point A to point B, after all."

"Thanks, Zadavia."

"Good luck, all of you," Zadavia added, before she teleported herself and Capt. Sypher to his ship.

"Well, gang, time to pay Qurrg a house call," Ace declared. "Let's jet!"

Zadavia and Capt. Sypher watched the cruiser leave. "I suppose we'd better get going, too," he said, turning his ship around and programming a course for Dr. Hu's estate. "So, Zadavia, now that we're on auto-pilot, anything else you want to know?"

"Yes, there is," she replied, fixing her green eyes on him. "Tell me some more about the Sakamoto Hu you remember…"

Capt. Sypher sighed deeply and smiled. "Good times, Zadavia… only good times…"

---

"What are we doing back here?" Drake asked as the group made a quick pit stop at the tower. "I thought we were gonna go back to the lizard hut."

"If you mean the doctor's estate, we are," Tech said calmly as the group headed to the lab. "There's one piece of equipment we still need to bring."

"So where is it?"

"Rev and I haven't built it yet," Tech replied.

"Oh, right…" He leaned down to Mallory. "Bet your danger money on this guy."

"Get lost," Mallory replied. "Need some help?"

Tech thought about it for a few seconds. "Yes… in fact, why don't you and Velvet help out on this one? Gordon, we may need you as well."

"No problem," the big guy shrugged. "What do you want me to do?"

Tech looked around the lab. "We need that big sheet of quadruple strength flexiglass, for starters. The one right over there."

"Gotcha," Massive replied, extending his hand and carefully levitating the sheet, eventually bringing it to rest in front of him. "How's that?"

"Okay, that's good. Just set it off to the side for now. Rev, can you find something we can use for a base and a lid, oh, eight to nine feet in diameter?"

"You-got-it," the road runner said, quickly dashing out and returning with said items. "Sorry-Tech-we-only-have-these-two-seven-footers-how's-that-will-they-do?"

"Perfect! They'll work." The coyote turned to Vel and Mall. "Okay, gals, your turn to shine," he smiled. "I need to make a…"

Mallory read his thoughts in an instant. "Hover base?"

"Exactly! Ladies, the lab's all yours!"

"Right!" Velvet replied. "Mind if we borrow Rev?"

"Go right ahead," Tech smiled. The two women and one road runner sorted through the laboratory like kids in a candy store, quickly finding every single part they needed, and assembling the hover base in a blur of speed that even astonished the coyote. "Not bad at all, ladies. You two should do this more often!"

"Well, we did have help," Vel shrugged.

"We'll discuss the specifics later," Tech noted. "Okay, Massive, stand on the base, would you?"

"Sure," he shrugged, doing so. "Anything else?"

"Not at the moment," said Tech, operating a remote control which levitated the big guy off of the ground a good five feet, and then lowering him back down. "Perfect! If it can carry you, it should handle Qurrg with no problems. Okay, Gordon, bring that flexiglass over here and make a tube out of it, would you? And then put it in the top of that base."

"Okay, one tube coming up," he smiled, bending it to fit inside the hover base until the two edges overlapped. "Hmm… a bit of surplus material, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah… Hey, Ace?"

Ace peered in the doorway. "Problem, doc?"

"Yeah, we need to trim and weld this material…"

"So I see," the bunny smiled. "Gordon, would you mind?"

"Um, sure, but why?"

"It'll be easier for me to do it from the inside."

"Hang on…" Massive quickly levitated and lowered the bunny inside the tube.

"Okay, that's good," Ace said, quickly activating his laser vision and trimming the excess off from inside the tube and then welding it seamlessly. "There you are, a poifect fit… ya wanna let me outta here now?"

"Oh! Right!" Massive said, slightly embarrassed, as he levitated Ace back out of the tube. "Sorry, I was…"

"Don't tell me, you were savoring the moment, right?" Ace grinned. "Don't worry about it, Gord. I coulda got outta there easily, anyway."

"Just as long as Qurrg can't, right?" Paula said as she and others rejoined the rest of the group.

"That's the idea," Tech smiled. "Good work, guys! Now comes the hard part… getting it aboard the jet." He punched a few random buttons on his computer, and the now completed hover cage was bathed in a blue glow, before disappearing completely. He did a quick scan of Zadavia's jet and smiled satisfactorily. "Safely in the cargo hold, folks! Okay, it's just about time to go. Let me finish the… um… capper on this thing," Tech smirked, "and we'll be all set."

---

Chapter Six: "The Conflagration…"

---

Having finished with the hover cage to Tech's satisfaction, the Loonatics and HOP Force, sans Zadavia and Capt. Sypher, returned to Dr. Hu's estate. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Duck asked.

"You heard the cap'n, we take Qurrg by surprise if possible," Ace replied. "But we can't let him know that we're on to him."

"I don't know," Gordon muttered. "Call me suspicious, but I still think he fed us a load of fertilizer just to save his skin…"

"I'd almost go along with that myself, Gordon, except for one thing," Tech admonished him.

"What's that?"

"His I.D. card. It's the genuine article. I should know… I designed it, and I can spot a phony version from a mile away."

"Um, this may seem like a stupid question, Ace, but if Qurrg wakes up and finds all of us trying to hogtie him like a calf in a rodeo, won't he know something's up?" Drake asked.

"He might suspect it, yeah, but that's a chance we gotta take," the bunny replied, trying the front door. "Hm. It's locked."

"Not to me, it's not," Duck declared quietly, quacking inside and opening the door.

"Thanks, Duck," Paula said. "Rev?"

"Way-ahead-of-you-Paula," he whispered, using his GPS to scan the place from front to back, top to bottom, and then some. "Nope-all-clear-not-here-not-a-sign-of-him-good-as-gone."

"Right," Ace nodded, cueing the others to follow him, which they did.

"I don't like it, guys, it's too quiet," Massive noted.

"Maybe he stepped out," Drake shrugged. "You did hear Rev say he wasn't here, after all…"

"Yeah, but still, I'd rather have some concrete proof."

Slam sniffed around the room and then saw it sitting in the middle of the floor. "PIZZA!!" he yelled, making a mad dash for it before anyone could stop him.

"Slam, no!" Lexi gasped. Unfortunately, as Slam came within an inch of it, he tripped an invisible laser trap, and before they realized what had happened, everyone found themselves bound around the waist in steel cables, arms at their sides!

The big Tasmanian Devil grinned sheepishly at his fellow captives. "Uh-oh."

"I suppose you realize this means no pizza for you," Duck sneered.

"Duck," Paula whispered, "quit kvetching and start kvacking – er, quacking!"

"Oh, right!" the mallard said, but before he could affect an escape, he got the bejabbers shocked out of him. "YEAAAAAGGGGHHH!!! Anybody for roast superhero?" he asked weakly.

"I wouldn't try that again, Duck," 'Dr. Hu' said as he stepped out from behind his holagraphone. "The consequences could be mildly fatal."

"Greetings, Doc… or should I call you General Qurrg?" Ace asked.

"I can think of a few more names I'd like to call him," Lexi scowled.

"Since you've found me out, General Qurrg will do just fine," he replied. "And before you ask, Rev, I placed a special shielding material behind the holographone to prevent your GPS from detecting me. I knew you'd be coming back here and I wanted to, um, surprise you. Oh, don't try using your powers to escape, any of you," Qurrg added, and he produced a remote control. "Duck merely got a small sample. The next one who attempts it will find a million volts going through them…"

"I've had more than that go through me on a slow crime day," Tech scoffed.

"You should let me finish, Tech. You can stand it, but what about everyone else?"

"You… you mean?"

"Precisely," Qurrg grinned wickedly. "If one tries, everyone fries."

"You'd do it, too, wouldn't you?" Paula glared at him.

"In a heartbeat," Qurrg replied.

"Why do I get the feeling he's going to do it anyway?" Mallory asked.

"Oh, you figured me out," the Selzerian grinned. "You may as well accept your fates, all of you."

"Not just yet, lizard brains," Drake said. "We still have a few unanswered questions."

"Such as?"

"What did you need the Golden Scarab for?"

"Ah yes, that. I needed it to power my rejuvenation machine so I could finally rid myself of this shell. Unfortunately, I didn't count on two things, Mr. Sypher; one, Ophiuchus Sam was dumber than he looked, and two, you are actually smarter than you look!"

"Thanks for the back-handed compliment. So where is it now?"

"In the scrapheap," Qurrg replied. "I'm not known for my patience with failed ideas. Such a pity, it would have been the perfect finish to our destruction of Beetlemania."

"'Our?'" Velvet asked. "Then you were responsible for that?"

"I'm responsible for more than your puny mind could even begin to fathom, my dear."

"Including killing the real Dr. Hu?" Paula gulped.

"Yes; unfortunately, his was such a complex transformation that I've been imprisoned in his persona ever since. I'd heard about his ancestor's work on the Doomsday Bomb, and I was hoping to take advantage of it. Shame it didn't work out."

"Eh, are you pickin' up on a pattern of failure here, Doc?" Ace grinned. "I am…"

"Then the day we found you," Lexi said. "You faked that attack, didn't you?"

"Bright bunny," Qurrg hissed. "I even faked the coma, and you never knew it."

"Like, how on earth do you fake a coma?" Sypher asked.

"It's an old trick Hindu mystics used to slow down their breathing and their heartbeats. I'd explain it further, but I don't think Qurrg's gonna give me enough time," said Tech.

"And that phony Optimatus I trapped in the Doomsday Bomb, who was it really?"

"His name is not important. Just a loyal Selzerian who gave his life for our glorious planet," Qurrg smiled. Sypher thought that if he could move, he'd demonstrate through the use of expressive hand signals just what he really thought of the Selzerian's idea of glory.

"What about the code for the Doomsday Bomb? The one in the bookcase?" Paula asked.

"Oh, that pesky thing? That was genuine enough. My congratulations, Paula, on finally figuring it out."

Paula glared intensely at Qurrg. "Don't speak to me."

"Yeah, she's tired of hearing you talk," Duck added.

"That won't be a problem…" Qurrg replied, approaching Paula and applying a few well placed lightning-fast karate kicks and chops that left her bruised and doubled over in pain, tears rolling down her face.

"That did it!" growled Massive. "You betrayed us, you betrayed Acmetropolis, you betrayed Zadavia… and you made my baby cry. You just went too far!" he roared, breaking loose the bonds that held him like they were nothing.

"Um, his baby?" Velvet inquired.

"How come we never got the announcements?" Sypher smirked.

"Hey, if he can do it, what's stopping us?" Tech asked.

"Besides steel cables? Good question, Fido!" Mastermind replied sarcastically.

"Now's not the time, Mallory," Tech growled.

"Brace yourselves, sports fans, here's a good answer!" Ace said. "Massive, get me outta this!"

"You got it, Ace!" Gordon replied, grasping Ace's bonds and effortlessly snapping them off.

Ace's eyes turned yellow and shot some well placed laser beams on the others' bonds, causing them to break apart like so much weak pasta. "LET'S GET 'IM!" Whirling around quickly, Ace stopped suddenly.

Qurrg had disappeared completely!

"He's fast, I'll give him that," Drake mused.

"I can think of a few other things I'd like to give him," Gordon muttered. "Starting with a fat lip."

Lexi and Tech rushed to Paula's side and gently helped the stricken girl back up. "There you go, girlfriend," the fembunny said softly.

"Thanks, Lex…"

"Okay, gang, spread out, but be careful," Ace said. "Gordon's earlier comment to the contrary, Qurrg can't have gone too far." He turned to the coyote. "Tech, you take Paula and see if you can find those samples."

"Right! C'mon, Paula."

"Right with you, Tech." She painfully followed the coyote to the in-house ER. "What are we stopping here for?"

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Tech replied, handing one to her so she could see for herself. "General Qurrg really did a number on you." He found some antiseptic, cotton balls and bandages. "Here we are."

"Euggh! You're right. Okay, patch me up, and let's get going," she said, as Tech applied the antiseptic to her wounds, causing her to withdraw briefly. "Oooch! That stings!"

"Hold still, Paula. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can find the samples…"

"You're right… I'll… try… unggh…" Tech was precise, but he was also fast, and had Paula's facial wounds bandaged in less than 30 seconds.

"There you are," the coyote smiled, offering his paw.

"Thank you… UNGGH!" Paula grimaced, doubling over again. "I guess he did more internal damage than we thought, huh?"

"That's it, you're staying put!"

"Oh no I'm not!" Paula replied. "What if I'm lying in here and Qurrg comes back? We can't risk that! Besides, Ace sent both of us to find those samples!"

"You're right," Tech smiled. "Come on, lean on me…" They left the ER and went to the next room. "This must be it here," he said, trying the doorknob. "Darn, it's locked!"

"Hang on," Paula said, retrieving a hairpin from her hair. "I knew this was going to come in handy someday…" She lightly touched it to the doorknob, and was knocked to the floor as sparks flew from it. "AAAUGH! It's wired!"

Taking the pin from her, Tech said, "You let me worry about that, Paula. Are you okay?"

"Actually, I'm in intense pain, but otherwise fine," she tried to smile, but couldn't help cringing. Paula knew exactly what Tech had in mind. She just hoped it wouldn't kill him.

Tech was thinking the exact same thing. He concentrated until the hairpin glowed a fluorescent green, and with a wave of his paw, carefully maneuvered the hairpin into the lock. He grasped the doorknob, and received a large lump sum of electricity as a reward for his efforts. "YEEEOOOWWW!!" he yelled, crumbling to ashes before Paula's eyes.

"TECH!" she screamed tearfully. Almost immediately, the ashes glowed that same shade of fluorescent green and reconstituted themselves into one shaken coyote, to their mutual relief. "I… I keep forgetting you can do that," Paula sniffed. "How are you?"

"Have your service call my service, okay?" he replied in a shaky voice as he tried to find his bearings. Shaking it off, he sighed, "I swear, Paula, sometimes this ability is more trouble than it's worth!" Carefully, he touched the doorknob again, closed his eyes tight as he grasped it, and…

Nothing.

"WHEW!" Tech and Paula each breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened without further incident.

"That must have been one of those 'on again-off again' booby traps," Paula observed.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Tech said as he helped the girl back to her feet. "You know, you really should get to the hospital…"

"No time for that right now, Tech," she grimaced. "I'll be fine, really. Let's find those samples."

Tech had to admire her spirit. "After you…"

"No thanks, you first, I insist!" Paula managed a small smile…

---

While Tech and Paula looked for the samples, the others looked for Qurrg, with little or no success. On Ace's orders, they were to maintain communicator silence unless they actually found him. Sypher and Mastermind decided to split up, with Drake waiting in the garage in case he should show up there, while Mallory continued to search inside the house, hoping she could find something metal to use against him as a high-tech weapon.

Of course, what she didn't count on was Qurrg being able to do almost the same thing… turning anything metal into a low-tech weapon.

She peeked around a corner, and WHAM!

Qurrg smashed her across the forehead with a crowbar, knocking her out cold and leaving an ugly gash as a remembrance.

"Well… I guess being a superhero doesn't make you all that invincible, does it, Mallory?" he chortled, running a finger across the gash and licking it. "Hmmm… Type A Positive. Good year," Qurrg observed, before picking the unconscious heroine up and carelessly throwing her into a nearby room – hard. He then closed and locked the door.

He could hear the others searching for him. That was fine by him. He had one trump card, and he was going to play it, no matter what. After all, Qurrg knew more than a little about retrofitting. He pressed a blue button on the wall, and watched as a fine mist spritzed throughout the house from the ceiling sprinklers… only it wasn't water. Then just before he ducked out, he pressed a red button. He didn't stick around to see what happened next, as from what appeared to be smoke detectors, flames shot out and mixed with the mist, setting the entire house on fire!

Down the hall, Lexi stopped short. "Hey, Duck, does it seem hot in here to you?" she asked.

Duck took one look at the advancing wall of flames, and his face fell. "Seem, nothing!" he yelled. "RUN!!"

It wasn't often Lexi took Duck's advice – on anything – but this proved to be one of those exceptions. She almost made it out before a falling beam narrowly missed her. She screamed and turned around, bumping into Duck, who in turn bumped into Velvet, who was trying to go in the opposite direction. "OOF!" Velvet, Duck and Lexi looked at each other, and each got the same idea. Lexi grabbed Duck's left hand while Vel did the same with his right. "Duck, if you've ever quacked before, do it now!" she yelled.

"You got it, girls!" he declared, quacking the three of them out of the inferno and safely onto the front lawn. The trio gasped for air before they remembered the others were still trapped inside.

"ACE! REV! ANYBODY!" Lexi yelled desperately into her communicator, just as Rev zoomed up next to them. "Rev! The others! Where are the others?"

"I-didn't-see-them-there-was-too-much-smoke-" Rev said, almost apologetically.

"This is no time for excuses, pal!" Duck chided him.

The road runner looked at Duck as if he'd been slapped, then his brow furrowed. "You're-right-Duck-it-isn't-pardon-me-I'm-about-to-do-something-either-really-really-heroic-or-really-really-stupid!"

"Rev, you're not going back in there?" Velvet gasped.

"I've got to," he declared grimly, his eyes turning bright red. "GPS on!" he said, taking a deep breath and zooming back inside, cutting a wide swath through the flames while he searched for Loonatic and HOP Forcer alike. All that Vel, Lexi and Duck could do was stand there and look anxiously at each other, with time seeming to stand still and fly by at the same time, before – to their amazement – Rev returned with Ace.

"Where's the others?" Duck asked nervously. His question was immediately answered when a huge hole suddenly appeared from the side of the house, and a large purple and green tornado exited. As it slowed down, they saw it was Slam carrying Massive."Okay, that's two more. How you doin', boss?"

"I've had better days," Ace noted, speaking into his wrist communicator. "Tech! Can you hear me? Where are you?"

"Yeah, Chief, we're in the cold storage unit. We can't find the samples…"

"Forget all that, Qurrg's set the house on fire!"

"WHAT?!?" Paula shouted. "I thought I smelled smoke!"

"Get out of there NOW! That's an order!"

"But…" Tech said, before Paula interrupted him.

Looking at him with those soft brown eyes, she smiled. "It's… it's okay, Tech. I can live with being normal again, really. Right now, I just want to live. Ace is right. Let's cut our losses and go."

The coyote grimaced, but knew in his heart she was right. Maybe it would be better this way. At least it would save her from having to fulfill that prophecy. "Okay, Ace, we're coming. Are the others out?"

Ace did a quick head count. "No, Drake and Mallory are missing! You two get going!"

"Right!" Tech said, grasping the doorknob, then pulling his paw back sharply. "YEOWCH!" he flinched, holding his paw to his chest. "I forgot… never touch a doorknob if there's a fire on the other side! We're kind of trapped in here, Chief. Paula, see if you can find another way out!"

"You got it!" she said, going off to do just that. Her progress was slower than usual due to Qurrg's earlier attack. 'I guess Tech was right,' Paula thought. 'I do need to get to the hospital.' Owing to the construction of the unit, at least the fire couldn't get to them for a while. "Man, there's nothing but refrigeration units in here," she moaned. "Where the heck is the freakin'…" She stopped suddenly as her eyes fell upon one of the units. Behind its glass door, she saw four boxes, colored green, yellow, silver… and lavender… and suddenly, escape was the furthest thing from her mind. "TECH!!" she yelled…

---

Mallory woke up in a daze, with a pounding headache. "Oh, man, what hit me?" she moaned, feeling her forehead, and reacting in shock as she saw the blood stains on her glove. She noticed that her field of vision was rapidly fading, not from loss of blood, but from the smoke filling the room. "No," she coughed. "I can't die… I'm too pushy to die…" The smoke inhalation wasn't going to do her any good either. Almost instantly, she had an idea. This time, it had to be a good one.

It could very well be her last.

She placed the crook of her elbow against her mouth to act as an impromptu filter, sucked in as much air as she could, made her way to the door and screamed at the top of her lungs. "HELP!!!"

No response. She tried again. "HELP!!!" she repeated.

Still no response. The smoke was rising higher. Soon she wouldn't be able to filter any air at all. She cursed herself for being only three feet tall.

She looked around and saw another door on the far side of the room. The smoke didn't seem to be as thick there. She stumbled towards it with all the grace of a water buffalo dancing on light bulbs, but at least she made it. She put her arm to her mouth, sucked in some air, and tried one last time. "HELLLLLP!!!!" she screamed even louder.

No response.

A wave of quiet resignation swept over Mallory at that moment, and she did something she had never done before, ever.

For the very first time in her life, she slumped down, placed her head in her hands… and cried.

It seemed like forever, which was ironic, considering that forever was the one slice of time she wouldn't have anymore.

Then she heard the pounding on the other door.

"MALLORY!!!" a voice yelled frantically.

"DRAKE! (Cough! Cough!)" she yelled. "DRAKE! I'm (cough!) in here!"

"Hang on!" Drake yelled back, as he kicked the door down with one of those reserves of superhuman strength people seemed to possess in crisis situations like this. As the smoke and flames engulfed the house, he yelled, "Turn on your wristlight!" Mastermind did as Sypher suggested, but all she could see was her own beam as the smoke got to her.

Just moments before she passed out completely, she saw a second beam intersecting with her own. "Drake…" she whispered as she blacked out.

"Mall…" Sypher whispered before he, too, was overcome by the smoke…

---

"Paula, this is it!" Tech shouted, grabbing a small lavender box out of the cold storage unit. "Blood sample #1, Paula Hayes!"

"Quick, Watson, the needle!" she exclaimed as she rolled up her left sleeve and applied a tourniquet.

"Huh?"

"You really need to read some Sherlock Holmes sometime, coyote babe," Paula smiled, just before she grimaced as Tech administered the shot.

"Um, yeah…" Quickly, Tech pulled out the needle and bandaged the wound just as Qurrg kicked the door down. He was carrying the Afflicto-Ray.

"What are you meddlers doing?!?"

"Putting an end to this," Paula smiled. "It's payback time, 'doc'!" she added, pounding her fist into her open palm. Instantly, she transformed into Weather Vane, aimed her hands and fired lightning at Qurrg's Afflicto-Ray, which glowed red-hot.

"AAAARRRGGH!" he yelled, dropping it like a good habit. Qurrg turned tail and ran out of the house, only to be confronted suddenly by the last foe he expected. "Inflictus!"

"That's the name, don't wear it on your sleeve," he hissed, raising his own Afflicto-Ray and pointing it straight at the general's heart.

"That's good, we'll take over from here!" Ace said, none too soon.

"Shucks, I was just getting interested."

"Sorry, we like you better when you're bored."

"Okay, I can take a hint. Duck?"

"Right here," the mallard smiled smugly, quacking into place and slipping some extra-heavy-duty handcuffs on Qurrg, while Rev slipped some shackles around his ankles. Stepping out of the way, he shouted, "OKAY, PAULA, NOW!!"

Weather Vane zapped Qurrg with a big bolt of lightning, knocking him over and causing him to hit his head, rendering him unconscious. As he fell, he changed back into his true self.

"Well-what-do-you-know-about-that-Duke-was-right-all-along-he-really-was-a-Selzerian!" Rev gasped.

"A monster, if you ask me," Zadavia said coldly.

"Gordon, you wanna do the honors?" Duke smiled.

"Gladly," he said, levitating and then lowering the unconscious Selzerian into the specially built hover cage, and then lowering the lid on top of it, which Ace then sealed shut with his laser vision.

"There, that oughta hold 'im!" the bunny grinned.

"Um, is anybody forgetting something?" Duck asked casually.

"Such as?" asked Gordon.

"THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE???"

"Oh! Right! Weather Vane!" Ace yelled.

"On it, guys!" she replied, rising in the air and conjuring up a tremendous storm cloud. "Duck! Lex! A little help here!" she yelled as it began to rain.

"Right!" Duck replied, as they joined her in mid-air. "AQUA DENSE!" he added, diving into the midst of the rain and using his 'eggs' to guide it towards the house. "NOW, LEX!"

"You got it!" the bunny said, guiding another one of her brain blasts to the water, increasing its volume and dousing the flames in mere seconds. "Okay, girlfriend, that's… good," Lexi added, obviously exhausted from the effort. Duck quacked over to her, wrapped his arms around her and safely quacked the two of them back down to earth while Weather Vane descended by herself and approached them tentatively.

"Is she going to be okay?" Weather Vane asked.

"Oh yeah, give her a minute and she'll be good to go, right, Lex?" Duck said.

"Make it a minute and a half, okay, guys?" she smiled, wrapping her arms around her friends' shoulders. "That brain blast took a lot out of me that time. Fire out?"

"Yeah, that should take care of…" Weather Vane was interrupted when one of the few remaining doors fell down with a mighty crash, and all were aghast at the sight of Drake stumbling forward, carrying a bloodied and limp Mallory in his arms. Weather Vane's storm had the added – and unexpected – effect of reviving the younger Sypher. "Drake? What happened?" she gasped.

His lower lip quivered, and tears fell from his eyes and splashed on to Mallory's face. "I… I tried to save her…" he whispered in a shaky voice. "I was… too late…"

"Hey, watch where you're splashing, copyboy… koff koff…"

"MALL!" Drake exclaimed. "I thought…"

"Hey, I'm too pushy to die, you know that, don't you?… koff koff…" She looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"I do now," he smiled back.

"Lexi, are you all right?" Zadavia asked.

"Good to go," the bunny smiled, fully refreshed.

"Then get them to the hospital," the Frelengian said. "They've probably both inhaled a lot of smoke…"

"No 'probably' about it, boss chick… koff…" Drake replied.

"Right," the fembunny replied, escorting the pair to Zadavia's cruiser and taking off.

"Tech, did you get the other blood samples?" Weather Vane asked.

"I… I forgot," Tech muttered, embarrassed.

Rev appeared at that moment, a small ice cooler tucked under one wing. "I didn't," he smiled.

"Whew! Nice save, pal!"

As the others rejoined them, they couldn't help but chuckle as Weather Vane and Massive embraced. "Awww…"

"Get a room, you two," Duck snickered.

"Mind your own business, Duck!" Weather Vane shot back, planting a quick kiss on Massive that caused sparks to fly. Literally. "Ow!"

"That might be a problem, babe," the big guy laughed.

"I can fix that," Weather Vane giggled in reply, clapping her hands with a flourish and reverting to Paula Hayes, PJs and all. "How's that?"

"Cute outfit, but what's with those bunny slippers?"

"Aw, you don't wike my widdle bunny swippers?" she teased him.

"Come on…" Massive growled, rolling his eyes. "Man, I hate it when she does that…"

---

Afterwards, the group filled Zadavia and Capt. Sypher in on everything that had happened to them. The Frelengian reacted with concern when Tech described what Qurrg had done to Paula, and approached the girl. "Paula, how are you feeling?"

"The truth? Like I've been whomped by a damned lizard," she replied with a grimace.

"I know how that feels," the Captain said with a sigh. "Been there, done that."

"Hold on," Zadavia smiled, gently placing a hand on Paula's stomach and concentrating. The girl was immediately bathed in a rainbow-colored glow that surrounded her like a cocoon.

Don took off his shades so he could get a better look, and even then he didn't believe it. "Are you sure she's licensed to do that?" he asked Ace.

"You're kiddin', right?"

"Yeah, I am," the captain grinned.

Zadavia withdrew her hand and opened her eyes. "There. How's that?"

To her own amazement, Paula stood up without the slightest bit of pain. "Wow! That feels great!" she exclaimed, as she and the blonde exchanged hugs. "Thanks, Zadavia."

"My pleasure," she smiled, before turning her attention to the rest of the group. "Well done, all of you," Zadavia said. "General Qurrg's going to be spending quite some time in Acmetropolis Military Prison, thanks to you."

"And he might have gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for us meddling kids," chuckled Paula.

"How long do you think he's gonna stay there?" Ace asked.

"Only until his extradition," replied Capt. Sypher. "You have to remember, there's an intergalactic war crimes tribunal that would love to rid the universe of him, and based on all the evidence, they're not going to waste any time doing it."

"That's all well and good," Massive said, "but it does leave us without a headquarters."

"Not necessarily, Gordon," Velvet said. "Tech, baby, tell them."

"Well, since we Loonatics do have to get back to planet Blanc, our old HQ's going to be unoccupied," he hinted, pointing to the tall tower in the center of the city. "I can't think of a better place."

"Since Drake isn't here, I'll say it for him. 'Cool!'" Gordon replied.

"I thought you might like that," Velvet smiled as Rev rejoined them. "What's the word, bird?"

"Sorry, Vel. It's all toast."

"Including the Zoomatrixes?"

"Especially the Zoomatrixes. Sorry."

"Ah well," Tech sighed. "Back to the ol' CAD board…"

"So now what happens?" Ace asked.

"Don't rush things, bunny boy," the Captain smiled. "There's still one or two loose ends here." He took his Afflicto-Ray and handed it to Paula. "You know what to do with it."

"I hope he means that the way I think he does," muttered Duck.

"The way you think, I hope not!" Velvet countered.

"After what I put you through, I figured it was payback time," Capt. Sypher grinned sheepishly.

"How will we know if it works?" Tech asked.

"Check my eyes," the Captain replied. "If she's successful, they should be blue. 10 seconds, Paula. No more, no less. Got it?"

"Got it…"

"And before you ask, there's no chance of leakage from this thing, so you won't be affected. I'll give Qurrg credit for that much; he sure knows how to build a weapon. And don't stop until I say 'now'."

"Check," Paula said. "Um, Duke, you might want to stand away from everyone else?"

"Oops! Thanks for reminding me, 'Surfer Girl'!" He moved well enough away from the group and braced himself. "You may fire when ready, Gridley…"

"Okay, here goes," she said, pointing the weapon at him and pulling the trigger, causing him to be bathed in the red rays of the Curium 247 formula for seven seconds, and collapsing to his knees, screaming in pain. "OhmigoshwhatamIdoing?!?"

"Three… more… seconds…" he yelled through gritted teeth. "NOW!"

Paula quickly released her grip on the trigger, tossed the weapon to Zadavia and ran to the Captain's side. "DUKE!" she shouted.

Capt. Sypher shook off the pain he felt at that moment and slowly lifted his face… and Ace was the first to notice the change. "Are you all right, ol' blue eyes?"

"Never better, bunny," he grinned as Ace helped him to his feet. "Rather, I will be as soon as I regain the hearing in my right ear! Surfer Girl, anybody ever tell you you've got some voice on you?"

Paula blushed bashfully. "Not till just now… sorry…"

"Hey, I prob'ly deserved it anyway for all the trouble I caused you guys. Tech, I trust you can come up with some way of disposing of that?"

"It'll be my pleasure, Infli… Captain. What about the rest of the Curium 247?"

"There is no rest of it," the Captain formerly known as Inflictus replied. "Like I said earlier, Qurrg had to condense all of it just to make enough for that weapon. You destroy it, you destroy it all… WHOO! Man, the things I went through for undercover work!"

"Gee, Duke, it won't be the same without having you to battle," Ace grinned.

"Oh, you'll get used to it," he smiled, handing a piece of paper to Zadavia. "The galaxy's got enough creeps to go around as it is. Here's the co-ordinates for where I hid Freleng, ma'am. I hope your ship has a wormhole generator. And… I'm sorry for being such a dork."

"Please, call me Zadavia, Don. And don't worry," she smiled. "From personal experience, I can tell you the galaxy's got enough of those to go around, too." She turned quickly to Ace. "Ace, what's a 'dork'?"

"Eh, look in the dictionary under 'Duck'."

"Oh, of course."

"What the hey?" Duck asked.

"Speaking of going, that's what I'd better be doing," Capt. Sypher replied. "I've got one last piece of business to attend to before I hang it up for good, and I want to make sure I get it right."

Ace nodded grimly. "The Selzerians."

"Exactly," the Captain said. "We've got numero uno, but the rest are still out there."

"Um, Duke, if you need any help," Massive started to say, but the Captain stopped him.

"Sorry, Gordon, but no. You guys are needed here. I gotta do this one by myself. I owe the doc…" Then he turned to Zadavia. "…and his friend, that much."

"You're going to have a tough time finding them," Tech said.

"Not necessarily, Tech. See, they're still waiting for the attack orders from General Qurrg, so they're all going to be waiting in one spot. That's another thing about Selzerians."

"Creatures of habit?" asked Velvet.

"Rigidly so," Duke replied. "Unless they get the order to move out, they stay right where they're at. And guess where that is?"

"Planet Selzer!" exclaimed Duck.

"Hey, you've been doing your homework after all!"

---

EPILOGUE…

As Zadavia's cruiser soared through the interstellar void that has often been referred to (sometimes jokingly) as 'space', with Ace at the controls, Massive and Duck stared out the windows, the 'big guy' speaking into his wrist communicator. "You know something, Drake? When he isn't being such a total jerk, your brother's actually a pretty decent guy," Massive noted.

From the emergency room in Acmetropolis Hospital, where he and Mallory had adjoining gurneys, Drake sighed in response, "Yeah, well, maybe he'll come back. I hope so."

"So do I," Zadavia replied. "How are you and Mallory?"

"You heard her, boss chick. We're too pushy to die," Sypher said, reaching across and lightly holding Mastermind's hand. Mastermind slapped it away in response. Hard. "OW!"

"I thought I made it clear, copyboy… no patty-fingers!"

Paula had to stifle a spit-take.

"Okay, gang, these are the co-ordinates," Tech said. "Let's hope Duke was right. Here goes…" the coyote concentrated as he entered the numbers into the ship's computer, and then pressed the wormhole generator. "Now!"

The silence in the ship was broken by Paula as a planet came into view, orbited by three moons. "Zadavia, is… is that…?"

"Yes, Paula… it's Freleng…"

"It's beautiful!"

"We think so," Zadavia smiled, concentrating. "Zadavia to Optimatus… come in, Optimatus…"

The holographic image of Optimatus appeared in their midst again. "Zadavia! Welcome home, sister!"

"From the looks of it, perhaps I should say the same to you, brother," she laughed in reply.

"Agreed. Well done, all of you."

"Eh, thanks, Optimatus."

"You're welcome, Ace… one moment…" Optimatus's hologram disappeared briefly before returning again, a curious expression on his face. "I've just had a communiqué from one of our observatories concerning the Selzerians. They report that one of their own death bombers has just destroyed the planet Selzer. Strange."

"Any sign of the bomber itself?" Ace asked.

"They're reporting that they think it was destroyed in the explosion," Optimatus replied.

While the others exchanged worried glances, Paula buried her head in her hands and choked back tears. "Duke…" she cried as Massive held her close.

Optimatus continued. "They also say they thought they saw one of our dragon cruisers leaving the area at the same time… or maybe it was an Acmetropolis fighter jet, but they're not really sure…"

Paula stopped her sobbing just long enough to gaze up at Massive. With a curiously hopeful expression on her face, she repeated that single nickname.

"Duke?"

(to be continued…)

---

Story © October 15-23, 2007 by Jerry D. Withers (Furrball T. Cat). Incredibly updated version © Sept. 12, 2009. All rights reserved. Special thanks to L.M. Withers for pointing out a glaring error in the original story that I missed completely! VERY special thanks to ontheair for his suggestions and additional dialogue in this story. "Loonatics Unleashed," "Acmetropolis" and all related characters, story elements and other indicia are ™ and © 2005-2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and are used without permission. All rights reserved. The characters "Dr. Hu", "General Qurrg" and "Duke Sypher (Inflictus)" are created and © 2007-2009 by ME! All rights reserved. The "Acmetropolis" series is, as usual, based on a line from Fire-bandicoot-coyote's "A Christmas Carol".

Coming up: The power of the mind can be a deadly thing – literally. That's what the HOP Force and Chief Reilly discover when they tangle with a villain who calls himself "Mindbender" (which, by coincidence, also happens to be the umbrella title of the next story). See you then!

And just in case you missed them, here are the original reviews for Acmetropolis 4: The Turncoat…

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-16

ch 1 Cool job with the Loonatics dealing with their personal kryptonite.

Keep the good writing.

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-18

ch 2 Great job with Inflictus and Qurrg; making Drake and Inflictus brothers was a cool touch.

Duck might feel a little offended; he had been risking his life a lot in this story, and yet he was on the suspects' list.

Keep the good writing.

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-20

ch 3 Good chapter. For a moment, I thought this was a Krypton-like disappearance.

Keep the good writing.

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-23

ch 5 Pretty cool job with Inflictus' explanation. Military Intelligence... yes, that's a major oxymoron.

Keep the good writing.

acosta perez jose ramiro / 2007-10-23

ch 6 Nice references, as usual. Paula Doo, where are you?

Great action scenes.

Keep the good writing.

SSBFreak / 2007-10-25

ch 6 In all honesty, I was suspecting Hu from the start. I just never would have guessed that he was the big general in disguise.

Well, since you took down the old versions of your stories, I guess I should start faving the new versions now.