Okay, brace yourselves. After ten years and 25 stories as a Tiny Toon fanfic writer, the kitty is branching out into areas unknown. Namely, Loonatics Unleashed. This is my first effort, so please be kind. I char easily. (For those keeping track, this story takes place before the incidents in "The Music Villain".) Disclaimers at the bottom.
ACMETROPOLIS 1: "Truce" by furrball
Chapter One: The Truce
---
KA-BOOOM!!!
The explosion shook the very foundation of Acmetropolis Galactic Prison (which, considering it was on a floating rock in the orbit of Acmetropolis, was a pretty neat trick in itself.). "Wh-what happened?!?" Paula "Weather Vane" Hayes asked, panic-stricken, as lights flickered, the very building itself started to crumble, and people ran every which way.
"Two replies, okay? Who knows and who cares?" Mallory "Mastermind" Casey yelled as she passed by Weather Vane's now open cell, grabbing the girl by the arm and pulling her out just as her ceiling came down. "Come on, girlie, let's go! This is giving me a headache!"
"Hey, wait a minute, I'm not going anywhere! Especially with you!" Paula demanded angrily. "Remember what happened the last time?"
"The last time, we didn't have a say in it 'cause we got dragged through a wormhole, remember, girlie?" Mallory countered, as Drake Sypher and Massive ran right by them.
"I remember, and don't call me 'girlie'!" Weather Vane shouted, just as Massive grabbed her wrist and literally dragged her off the ground behind him. "HEY!"
"Sorry, Weatherbabe, but the Escape Express is leaving and there's a shuttlecraft with our names on it!" Sypher shouted. "Let's go before they notice we're gone!!"
Weather Vane closed her eyes and put her free hand over them. "I just know this is going to end in disaster…"
As the foursome got into a shuttle and escaped, they didn't even notice a spaceship on the other side of the rapidly crumbling prison turn on its cloaking device and follow them invisibly, leaving their wreckage behind.
"Well, we're clear," Sypher declared. "Where to, folks?"
"I want to go back to jail," Weather Vane whined, rubbing her wrist to get the feeling back in it.
"Nobody asked you, Weatherbabe…"
"Oh, don't be such a wuss," Mallory chided her. "Besides, you're giving my headache a headache."
It was at that exact moment that the pursuing craft fired at the foursome. "What the…?" Massive asked.
"They're firing at us!" Weather Vane screamed. She really didn't want to be here now.
"Aren't they supposed to give us a warning first?" Mallory asked, suddenly starting to share Weather Vane's panic.
"Usually, yes," Sypher agreed, operating the rear camera. "Guys… what in the world is THAT?!?" The foursome looked in surprise as their pursuers decided to show themselves.
"It isn't the cops, that's for sure!" Massive declared. "Drake! Evasive action!"
"Right! Hang on to your lunch ladies!"
"Umm, Drake?" Massive asked, one eyebrow raised.
"What?"
"Comma."
"Oh, right," he grinned sheepishly. "Hang on to your lunch, ladies!"
"Hey, I'll bet they had something to do with the destruction at the prison," Mallory noted.
"Well, why don't I just put on the brakes and you can get out and ask them, huh?" Sypher countered as he continued to evade the mystery craft to the best of his ability. "Man, I wish this thing had some firepower!"
"Right now, I'll settle for a barf bag," Weather Vane said queasily, just before the ship was rocked. "WE'VE BEEN HIT!!" she screamed again.
"We know," Massive grumbled, as the surface of Acmetropolis rapidly rose up in the windows. "Hang on tight, folks… we're going down…"
---
"Loonatics, we have an emergency down at the Acme Railyard!" The familiar hologram of Zadavia addressed the heroes of Acmetropolis.
"What now, a little group of puffer bellies all in a row?" chortled Danger Duck.
"DUCK! This is serious! Get with the program!" Zadavia ordered him sternly.
"Yes'm," the maladjusted mallard mumbled.
The group studied the video closely. "Well, look who stepped out for a breath of some fresh air, guys. Massive, Mallory, Sypher and Weather Vane!" said Ace.
"The not so fab four, eh?" Tech sighed. "Why do they bother?"
"You think they'd have learned by now," Lexi replied. "How'd they get out?"
"An explosion at the prison," Zadavia replied. "As far as we can tell, it was an accident with the main power generators. From the security video, it looks like Weather Vane didn't want to go with them."
"Last time, none of them wanted to go," Tech recalled. "They all look a little worse for wear, actually…"
"Their shuttlecraft crash-landed not far from the railyard," Zadavia said.
"Note to Acmetropolis Air Force," muttered Duck. "Don't hire these guys."
"Hey-Ace-isn't-this-where-Deuce's-robot-army-is?-Do-you-think-they-know-it's-even-there?-Oh-man-if-they-find-it-they're-gonna-be-unstoppable!" Rev worried.
"Eh, I don't think any of those four have ever hoid of General Deuce," Ace noted. "They were all in prison while that was happenin'."
"Oh-yeah-right-so-they-were-my-dumb."
"Wait a minute, Rev," Tech noted. "Maybe not so dumb after all. They may not know those robots are there, but with Mallory on the loose, we can't take that chance."
"Indeed, Tech. They must be captured before they discover those robots!" the Frelengian observed emphatically.
"We're on it, boss lady!" Ace said.
"Good. Zadavia…"
Tech interrupted the 'boss lady' before she had a chance to finish. "One moment, Zadavia."
"Yes, Tech?"
"How extensive is the damage at the prison?"
"I'm glad you reminded me," she replied. "Observe." The video screen filled with the picture of the Galactic Prison, which was now a floating pile of rubble.
"Yikes!" Tech said. "Are you sure that was caused by the generators?"
"At this point, they're not sure what to think. The warden tells me that it was basically, to use a phrase, 'every man for himself'. The good news is that everybody has safely been transferred to a secondary prison site."
"And the bad news is that four of 'em weren't," Duck amended. "Well, at least we know where they are."
"Correct, Duck! I suggest you get moving before they do. Zadavia out!"
"Okay, Loonatics, we got a special delivery for Acmetropolis Prison's lost and found department. Let's jet!" Ace grinned.
---
"Another day, another battling the same stuffy old villains," Duck yawned as the Loonatics zeroed in on the Acme Railyard.
"Eh, I dunno, personally I like my villains with that fresh new hovercraft smell," Ace countered with a grin on his face.
"Yeah, well, you're just weird," Duck replied.
"Speaking of weird smelly villains," Lexi smirked, "there they are!"
"Okay, gang, let's give 'em a fight they'll never remember!" Ace said, as the Loonatics landed in the middle of the foursome, who - incredibly - had the nerve to look surprised.
"Oh, man, not you guys again!" Drake Sypher groaned.
"Sorry to disappoint ya, Sypher, but the fire department was out," Ace shrugged, "so you have to settle for us!"
"Boo-hoo, I'm so sorry to hear that," Massive chortled, pairing off against Rev, who wasted no time (as usual) going into his Infinity maneuver, running figure eights around him and giving the big guy no chance at all to use his powers. "Oh, hold still, will you?"
"Sorry-but-mom-always-told-me-never-to-take-orders-from-bad-guys-and-you-should-always-listen-to-your-mother-because-you-know-they-say-a-mother-is-a-bird's-best-friend," Rev grinned.
"Hey, Weather Vane," Lexi taunted her chosen opponent, "I see you found a location that really suits your style… whatever that is!"
"I knew it," Weather Vane countered, standing there as if she really didn't want to be a part of this (which she didn't). "Disaster."
"That's your style! Thanks!"
"Please, can't I just go back to jail now and get it over with?" Weather Vane asked.
Mallory faced-off against Tech and mimicked a phone call. "Hello, Animal Control? I'd like to report a rabid dog at the Acme Railyard," she cackled.
"You are really pushing your luck, Mallory!"
This standoff could have gone on for quite some time, except for something totally unexpected. Suddenly a spaceship appeared above them that was without doubt the most hideous thing any of the combatants had ever seen. "What in the heck is THAT?" Ace asked.
"Oh goody, my limo's here," Duck deadpanned.
"That sounds about right," Drake said, only he wasn't grinning. "Hey, guys, isn't that…?"
"It is…" Mallory said weakly.
Suddenly a beam of fiery orange light shot from the ship. Before anybody else could react, it focused on Weather Vane and pulled her up towards it. "Guys? A little help here?" she shouted.
"Duck!" Ace exclaimed.
"Right!" He quacked up to the beam and almost intercepted the unwilling passenger, but then the beam swung around, using Weather Vane for ballast, and knocked Duck out of the skies. "OOOOF!"
"HELLLPP!" Weather Vane screamed, struggling to get out of that tractor beam, which from all appearances had neutralized her powers. They tried everything they could think of, but nothing could free her from it. Before they knew it, she was in the ship, and the hatch closed. Both groups stared upward as they saw brief flashes of lightning emanating from inside the spaceship that could have only come from one person.
"Well, she's a fighter, I'll give her that much," Ace noted.
"Hey, isn't this the part where they zoom off for galaxies unknown?" Lexi asked. "Why are they still just hanging around?"
"It can't be to enjoy the sunset," Massive noted.
"Heads up everyone, they're opening again!" Ace shouted, and everyone half expected another tractor beam. No such luck. A limp figure could be seen falling from the entrance.
"It's Weather Vane!" exclaimed Tech.
"Don't worry, I've got you!" Massive yelled, stepping right in her path and bringing her down safely with his gravity manipulation powers.
"Now that's the foist semi-useful thing he's ever done with that," Ace noted.
Massive waved his hands in front of Weather Vane, who stood rigid, her eyes closed, like a statue. "Hey, are you all right? Say something…"
Weather Vane opened her eyes at that point. Her breathing was labored, rushed, almost as if she'd awakened from some hideous nightmare. Her eyes were wild, almost feral.
It was her screaming that unnerved everyone. There was no earthly way to describe it.
Massive, not knowing what else to do, pulled the poor girl close to him and held her while she let it all out, instinctively stroking her hair and whispering calming words to her until she settled down as much as she could, finally sobbing quietly into his chest.
"Thus begins a beautiful friendship," Duck said. "Or whatever it passes for."
"Um, you guys are all gonna think I'm due for a vacation for saying this," Ace ventured, "but… can I propose a truce here?"
The three megavillains – those who still had their sanity left – looked first at each other, then at Weather Vane, then at the Loonatics, then back at Weather Vane, and finally at Ace.
"Truce," they said.
"Good. Rev, Tech, go get the jet!"
"Right," they said, zooming off to do just that.
"What happened to her up there?" Mallory asked.
"One thing's for sure, we're never gonna know by just standing around here," Ace said. "Massive, you think you can keep her calm a little while longer?"
"I'll do my best," he replied softly, still holding a sobbing Weather Vane close.
"Good," said the bunny as Tech and Rev landed their jet. "Guys, you're about to get a once-in-a-lifetime invite…"
---
"I came as soon as I could, Ace, what's the… problem?" asked a beautiful blonde humanoid, temporarily stunned as she recognized the guests.
"Yeah, those are who you think they are," the bunny replied. "Massive, Drake and Mastermind, may I formally present our boss, Zadavia."
"Hi," they said, shock still on their faces.
"Um, hello," she replied, before turning again to the bunny and asking through clenched teeth, "Ace, what are they doing here?" A scream from the medical bay punctuated her question, and Lexi ran out to meet them.
"It's bad, Ace, Weather Vane's come out of the tranquilizer and Tech can barely keep her strapped down…"
"So I hear," Zadavia noted. "What happened?"
"She was kidnapped by some spaceship and when they dropped her down to earth, she was a screaming wreck, that's what happened," Drake replied, worry evident in his voice.
"She was lucky Massive caught her," Mallory added, before Weather Vane's screams intensified. "If you call this luck."
The Frelengian frowned. "This sounds all too familiar… I'm going in," Zadavia said in that soft-yet-serious voice. "I may be able to help her." She sensed what was on the others' minds and turned around sharply. That alone got their attention. "I want all of you to listen to me very carefully," she intoned. "If I'm right, she's just been through a very traumatic experience. No matter what you may hear in there from this point on, do NOT… I repeat… DO NOT open those doors! Is that understood?" Both groups looked at each other and nodded to her. "Good." Without another word, she went in to the medical bay, ushering Tech out as she did so. Weather Vane's screams intensified even louder - briefly - as the doors opened and shut.
Rev made no effort to speak at his usual rate of speed. "Poor girl. Tech, what do you think happened?"
"I don't know," Tech sighed, "but it must have been horrifying to generate that kind of reaction…"
"Wait a minute," Lexi silenced them. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what, bunny babe? I don't hear anything," Sypher whispered.
"Exactly," Lexi replied. "Whatever Zadavia's doing in there must be working…"
"Okay, guys, we can breathe easy for now," Massive suggested… just before an even more hideous scream could be heard emanating from the sick bay.
"I don't think it worked," Mallory observed.
"Wait a minute!" Tech exclaimed. "That's not Weather Vane!"
"It's ZADAVIA!" Ace declared. That was all the impetus Danger Duck needed, dashing purposefully to the sick bay entrance. "Duck, where are you goin'? She said not to open those doors!"
"Yeah, well she didn't say I couldn't quack in there!" Duck replied angrily, quacking in the bay before he could be stopped.
"I'm confused, here," Sypher asked. "Since when is it one rule for you guys and another for the duck?"
"With him, all the time," Lexi winced, as Zadavia's screams mounted in even greater intensity. Suddenly, Duck quacked back out, and braced himself against the doors, panting heavily. Both he and his black uniform had turned completely white.
"DUCK?" everyone asked.
"She's right, don't go in there," he rasped. "It isn't pretty!"
Then he fainted.
Slam picked him up and set him down on the couch - beak down and tail up – just as the screaming finally stopped. Everyone held their breath until the doors opened and Zadavia stepped out. "That should do it," she said softly. Obviously whatever had frightened Weather Vane out of her wits, Zadavia had just experienced herself. She looked for the entire universe as if she'd just come out of the other side of a nervous breakdown, but was still functioning. The group looked on as she sat down next to Duck. "What… happened to Duck?" she asked, recovering quickly.
"Maybe you should get him to tell you," Sypher noted.
"Never mind, Mr. Sypher, I think I already know," Zadavia replied with a tone of suspicion in her voice, turning to the mallard. "I did ask you not to go in there, didn't I, Duck?" she reprimanded him severely.
By now, Duck's appearance had also returned to normal. "Yes'm," he muttered, bowing his head.
"Well, never mind. Trust me, what you saw in there wasn't nearly as frightening as what Weather Vane saw." She turned her gaze on everybody. "And before you ask, trust me… you really don't want to know."
"Can't you at least give us a hint?" Ace asked.
"I could," Zadavia sighed, "but I don't want Weather Vane to be here if I do."
"What was going on in there, anyway?" Massive asked.
"Have you ever heard of Frelengian Memory Absorption?"
"No… but I take it it has something to do with whatever you did to Weather Vane…"
"That's right. Among the many powers my race possesses is the ability to extract bad memories from someone and absorb them into ourselves, and then release them."
"That must be what I saw in… um, yeah…" Duck said, before he remembered that Zadavia was still put off with him about that.
"Correct," Zadavia said. "And believe me when I tell you, that was nothing compared to the real thing. I was able to remove that portion of her memory from where she was taken aboard the spaceship until the absorption ended, so she won't remember a thing; but the first few minutes are crucial, so it is imperative that you don't remind her, is that understood?"
"I get it," Massive said. "If she asks, lie to her."
"Call it whatever you want," Zadavia sighed.
"In other woids, the truth might be just too painful," Ace nodded. "We got you, boss lady. How long before we can see her?"
"Let me check on her," Tech said, reentering the sick bay. Even though she was one of the Loonatics' most unpredictable foes, Tech still couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her in her current state. They'd had to strap her down to the bed, in fact. Finally, he undid the straps. As the last one fell to the side, Weather Vane finally woke up. Sure, she still had the worst case of pinkeye ever recorded, but she appeared calm, almost peaceful… yet confused.
"Wha… where am I?"
"You're okay, Weather Vane, you're in our sick bay," Tech smiled. "Nothing to get excited about."
"I remember being pulled aboard a spaceship of some kind and then…"
"Yes?"
Weather Vane shook her head. "Um… I can't remember. Next thing I know, I'm in here. What happened?"
"As I said, nothing to get excited about. Really. Feel like getting up now?" Tech asked, offering a paw.
"I… I guess… hey, you know, you're really nice. It's a shame we're on opposite sides."
"Yeah, isn't it?" Tech sighed, escorting her to the main area. "Everybody, look who's back…"
Weather Vane stared in shock. The last thing she expected to see was the Loonatics and the other megavillains in the same room. "Huh?"
"Hey, welcome back," Lexi smiled, unexpectedly hugging her like a long-lost sister.
"Um, right… thanks…" She eyed the fembunny suspiciously. "Did the planet go off its axis again?"
"Not that we know of," Ace smiled.
"Well, then…"
"We called a truce," Massive shrugged.
"I must have been out when that happened," Weather Vane said, sitting down on the couch next to Zadavia.
"Actually, you were," the Frelengian smiled.
"Hey, I remember you! Your name's Zadavia, isn't it?" the villainess said, recognition coming to her. "You were being held prisoner by your brother…"
"Optimatus," Zadavia sighed.
"Yeah… ooh, there's a name I never want to hear again!" she shuddered.
"Well, what do you know?" Lexi giggled. "At least we agree on something!"
"I guess we do… so now what?"
"Good question," Sypher noted. "Are we gonna pick up from where we left off, you gonna cart us off to jail again, or what?"
Ace thought about it briefly. "Naw, neither one."
The megavillains stared at the bunny as if he were nuts. "HUH?!?"
"The truce ain't over yet, guys…"
"Good point, Ace," Zadavia replied with a smile on her face. "Um, Lexi, why don't you and Weather Vane… take in the air or something?"
"Okay, we can take a hint, we know when we're not wanted," the blonde bunny smirked knowingly. "Come on, Paula…"
"Where are we going?"
"Does it matter?"
"No, I suppose not…"
"Good. You just gotta see this…"
As the two left, Ace turned a wiseacre expression to Zadavia. "Okay, what's up?"
Zadavia fixed her green eyes on Ace. "I was right. Something terrible did happen to her aboard that ship…"
"I get it, and you don't want her to relive it again, we gotcha," Massive said.
"Since when do the bad guys get to join the confab?" Duck asked.
"Please, Duck, when it comes to bad, what Weather Vane experienced was far worse," Zadavia sighed. "Massive, Mallory, Drake, please, be seated… and no tricks, now. Remember, what happened to her could have easily happened to any or all of you. I know… because it happened to me as well."
"What?" the Loonatics gasped.
"We got ya," Sypher replied. "But what happened? Who were those people?"
"Those weren't people. I'm going to tell you something," Zadavia said, fixing a cold stare on all assembled. "And I promise you one thing in writing… when I'm done, you're all going to wish I hadn't!"
"Can we have a collective 'gulp' right now?" Duck asked nervously.
---
"I'd had my suspicions when you described what happened to Paula, and the memory absorption only confirmed it," Zadavia said. "Have any of you ever heard of the Selzerians?" Her question met with a room full of blank stares. "I thought not. They're the most unrepentantly evil race in the known universe. They live for three things: death, destruction, and interplanetary war." She raised her hands forward and projected a holographic image of a Selzerian in their midst.
"Hmph. Just a big lizard," Sypher noted derisively. "They don't look so tough."
"Obviously, Mr. Sypher, you have never been on the business end of one," Zadavia replied, flashing another hologram of a Selzerian with its jaws wide open.
"YIKES!" Ace said, briefly leaping into Massive's arms. "How many sets of choppers do they have? Five?"
Zadavia rolled the right leg of her outfit up to above her knee. "I counted six, myself," she said dispassionately. "As you can see, I still bear the scars from my encounter with them." She rolled her uniform leg back down. "Any questions so far?" The room remained absolutely silent. "I didn't think so. We'd dispatched an embassy ship to the planet Selzer when we'd first learned of their existence," she continued. "I wish we hadn't…"
"The ship never came back, did it?" Tech asked.
"Oh, it came back, Tech, along with half of the party…" She fixed a cold stare at the coyote that sent shivers down his spine before she'd even finished the sentence. "…What little remained of them." Zadavia bowed her head. "My parents were part of that party," she said sadly.
"My word…" Mallory whispered.
"Needless to say, my brother and I were sheltered away to protect us should the Selzerians have decided to come calling, which, as you saw, they did. I was only 12 at the time. I've tried to block out as much of that memory as I could, but as you can see, carrying those scars doesn't wipe it out completely. I could regenerate and remove them, but I've chosen to keep them all these years as a reminder."
"A reminder? Of what?" Massive asked.
"Ultimate evil, Mr. Massive! Of all the miscreants in the universe, present company included, they pale in comparison to the Selzerians."
"Gee, how'd you ever get out of there?" Duck asked.
"Believe it or not, you can thank Optimatus for that," Zadavia smiled.
"Big brudder to the rescue, eh?" Ace asked.
"Exactly," Zadavia said. "He risked his own life to save me. I learned the memory absorption maneuver from him. Ironic, when you consider all that happened later."
"That's the word I'd use," Mallory said.
"Agreed. One should never be exposed to that kind of horror at that age, or any age. What Weather Vane saw on that ship is what I saw then… only worse."
"I think the word she's avoiding is 'slaughterhouse'," Sypher suggested.
"You're absolutely right," Zadavia sighed. "Even people with strong constitutions… the ones who've survived… have been known to go permanently insane after only five seconds in a Selzerian scout ship."
Sypher directed his gaze at Mastermind. "So, tell me, Mallory, when were you ever aboard a Selzerian scout ship?"
Mallory responded with an elbow in his gut. "WATCH it, copyboy!"
"Guys, if we can hold down the comedy?" Ace said. "This is serious stuff here! Zadavia, you were about to say?"
"I was about to say I'm amazed Weather Vane emerged as unscathed as she did, physically." She turned again to Tech. "Bringing her here was exactly the right course of action, as I was still able to get to her in time. If I hadn't…"
Massive raised a hand. "Please, don't say it, ma'am, we get the idea."
"If that was a scout ship, I'd hate to see the armada," Tech noted.
"Not much chance of that happening, Tech," Zadavia warned him. "They can destroy a planet with only one death bomber. You wouldn't even notice the armada. You'd never live that long."
"Duck, I'll take you up on that 'gulp!' now," Tech shuddered.
"We all saw some lightning inside the ship after she'd been taken aboard," Mallory said. "Could that have been her?"
"Yes it was, Mallory," Zadavia answered. "She has very quick reflexes…"
"And she knows how to use them," Sypher noted.
"For her sake, she should have been faster," the Frelengian nodded sadly.
"Unfortunately, this leaves us with a slight problem, boss lady," Ace said. "Those Selzerians know we're here…"
"True, and they won't give up that easily. Actually, they won't give up at all."
"They won't rest until we're dead, is that it?" Massive asked.
Zadavia fixed her gaze on him. "More like until you're destroyed… and devoured…"
Slam made a face like he was actually going to lose his lunch. For the last three weeks.
"Well, they're not gonna take me without a fight!" declared Massive.
"Same here!" added Sypher. "No giant lizard's gonna invade my planet!"
"Um, your planet?" Duck asked. "You'll excuse me if I ask to see the deed of ownership, pal…"
"That's very noble of you clowns," Mallory noted with a raised eyebrow, "but we're not going to be able to accomplish a lot if we're back in prison, you know!"
"Why is it villains always wanna jump the gun on truces?" Ace grinned.
"Come again?" Mallory asked.
"Okay, look. We'll be the foist to admit we're not card-carrying members of each other's fan clubs, not by a long shot; but we also gotta admit right now that we can't let those Selzerians get away with this! Whatever they did to Weather Vane, it's only gonna be woise for the whole planet… heck, the whole galaxy… unless we combine forces to stop them!" Ace declared passionately.
The three megavillains looked at each other. "Well?" Massive asked.
"Sounds nuts to me," Sypher said. "I'm in!"
"Well, if that's the measuring stick we have to go by," Mallory grinned, "count me in as well!"
"Add me to that list, Ace," Zadavia declared.
"Oh-kay, boss lady's added. Somebody's gonna have to tell Lexi what's going down…"
A sharp "A-HEM!!" from the back of the room drew their attention, and the group turned to see both Lexi and Weather Vane standing in the doorway. "I already know, thanks," the fembunny grinned.
"I thought you two were gonna take the air," Ace said.
"We thought about it, but we didn't like the looks of it and we put it back," Weather Vane shrugged. "Besides, it was carrying fruit fly."
"Now is that a considerate villainess or what?" Duck smirked.
"How long have you been standing there?" Zadavia asked, a worried expression on her face.
"We just got back," Weather Vane smiled. "Anybody ever tell you guys you have a way cool training room?"
"You took her to the training room?" gasped Duck.
"Chill, mallard, Lexi was with me the whole time," the villainess added.
"That's right, guys. You know, for a bad girl, she's actually pretty good!" Lexi giggled. "I wouldn't mind pairing up with her in a dark alley some night… provided we were on the same side, of course."
"Of course," Weather Vane echoed.
"That's it! I officially declare this truce over!" Ace said.
"HUH?"
"Well, certainly. We can't have a truce if we're gonna be teammates, now, can we? C'mon, Weathergoil, I wanna see just how good you really are…"
---
Chapter Two: The Whole Truce
---
Admittedly, Lexi broke all sorts of written and unwritten protocols by allowing one of the villains into their training room, and under normal circumstances, she deserved to catch royal heck from both Ace and Zadavia for doing so; but these circumstances were far from the norm. Tech stood at the controls, while the others stood off to one side like a cheering section. "Ready?" he asked Weather Vane.
"Ready!" she replied.
The scenery suddenly shifted to a replication of a deserted downtown Acmetropolis. "Aaaaand… GO!" Tech said, pressing a button. Before Weather Vane's eyes came an assortment of shadow warriors, hideous monsters, and the like. She dispatched each of them in near-record time using nothing more than her weather powers. "Impressive," Tech noted with a subtle smirk on his face.
"Why, thank you," she bowed.
"Don't rest on your laurels yet," the coyote warned her, sliding a control up a notch. "Now it really gets hairy!"
"Bring it on!"
"You got it!" he said, pressing the button. Now the scenery started slowly revolving around her.
"Wha?… okay, don't panic…" Weather Vane saw a form advancing from behind a building and almost shot a bolt of lightning at it, but stopped when she recognized it as an elderly lady. "Devious, Tech!"
"Thank you, I try," he replied. "Oh, don't turn around."
"Why? What…?" Instinct took over common sense, and she turned around anyway, only to be faced by a team of Martians. She unceremoniously landed on her back. "Nice try, Techie!" she growled, zapping them into training room oblivion… and on it went.
"Hey, not bad, Weather Vane!" Ace declared.
"Amateur," Duck snorted.
"Okay, let's have some fun with this," Tech grinned. "Lexi, remember that remark you made about pairing up with her in a dark alley?"
"And once again, Lexi's words come back to bite her in the butt," Duck chortled, receiving a dope slap from Zadavia. "Ow!"
"I think I know what's coming," Lexi said, taking her place beside Weather Vane on the floor. "Ready?" she nodded.
"As I'll ever be," the villainess replied.
Tech pushed the button, and suddenly the two females were thrust into a simulated dark alley. "Don't count on it," the coyote grinned sadistically, pushing another button. The pair took turns using every power at their disposal to dispatch every imaginary baddie Tech had in his computer. During a lull in the action, they even high-fived each other before they were caught in an unexpected set of lights that seemed to be advancing on them.
"LEXI! LOOK OUT!" Weather Vane screamed, pulling the bunny to safety as an imaginary eighteen-wheeler rolled right through where they would have been standing.
"My hearing, remember?" the bunny said, shaking her head.
"Oh. Sorry," Weather Vane grinned sheepishly.
"Hey, forget it… and thanks," she smiled. "Tech, what was that?"
"An old diesel-guzzler from the 20th century," the coyote smiled. "Good reflexes, Weather Vane!"
"Thanks," she said, wiping her forehead. "You really know how to give a couple of girls a workout! Not to mention boosting their heart rates…"
"You're welcome," Tech replied. "You know, you might have made a pretty good heroine at that."
"'Might have'? Hey, I'm still young," Weather Vane exclaimed petulantly. "I've got time!"
"Can we hold you to that?" Ace chuckled. "Okay, goils, hit the showers, you've oined it. Who's next?"
Soon the training floor was filled with every combination of both Loonatics and megavillains imaginable, the end result of which was, that they all agreed on one thing.
Namely, if it came right down to it, Weather Vane stood the best chance out of the four villains of dealing with nearly anything.
Of course, 'nearly anything' excluded Selzerians.
Unfortunately…
---
"Well, how'd you guys do in there?" Weather Vane smirked, before getting a good look at her fellow villains and taking in a sharp gasp. They looked like heck warmed over.
"We took a vote and it's official," Sypher said wearily. "We've unanimously elected you 'Queen of all you kick butt'!"
"You were right," Massive noted. "That was some workout!" He turned to the Loonatics. "And you guys go through this every day?"
"Yep," Ace answered. "Keeps us on our toes… um, Mallory, you all right?"
Mastermind grimaced and held a hand to her head. "Just another headache, comes and goes. Nothing to worry about."
"If you're sure…" he said, receiving a curt nod in reply. "Now, why don't you recap what happened?"
"This morning? Sure," Mallory shrugged. "There was this explosion at the prison, and I barely got Paula out of her cell in time before it collapsed… for which I still haven't received a 'thank you' yet…"
"You think it might have been the power generators?" Tech asked.
"An explosion like that? Don't kid yourself! It had to be something else… like that spaceship…"
"You mean the one that caused us to crash and…?" Sypher said, before a quick warning glare from Mallory cut him off.
"Wait a minute; don't leave me in the dark here!" Weather Vane said. "You mean that's the same ship that kidnapped me?" She received a room full of nods. "What was it?"
"We'll have to tell her sometime, won't we?" Duck noted.
"I guess you're right, Duck," Zadavia sighed. "It was a Selzerian scout ship."
"But why did they destroy the prison? And why would they go after us? "
"Of course! Now it all makes sense!" the Frelengian declared.
"Not to me it doesn't," Weather Vane countered. "Why would they do it? And just who are these… Selzerians, was it?"
"Yes," Zadavia said. "The scout ship was probably assigned to destroy the prison because they didn't want to leave any survivors before the main ship arrives to destroy Acmetropolis, and you were seen as survivors to them."
"So they kidnapped me because they thought I was a witness? You're right, now it makes sense… sort of… but why didn't they go after the others?"
Sypher shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they took one look at you and decided it wasn't worth it?"
"Ha, ha, not funny, Drake!" Weather Vane snapped angrily. "If you're going to lie to me, at least steal some better material!"
"She's right," Lexi said. "We've got to tell her everything, guys."
"Allow me," Zadavia said, beckoning the confused villainess to follow her. "Ace, may we use your dojo?"
"Be my guest," he smiled, and waited until he was sure the two had left. When he turned to face the rest, his smile had disappeared completely.
"Okay, bunny dude, lay it on me, I deserve it," Sypher groaned. "That wasn't a very good joke…"
"No, Sypher, that's not what I'm thinking about right now. Did you hear what Zadavia said? 'Before the main ship arrives'? That can only mean one thing…"
"A Selzerian death bomber?" gulped Duck. "We're DOOMED! DOOMED!" He paused briefly. "Well, isn't anyone gonna tell me to shut up?"
"When you're right?" Tech asked quietly.
"Great," Duck mumbled. "I'm finally right about something and it turns out to be this…"
---
In the center of the floor of Ace's dojo, Zadavia and Weather Vane sat facing each other. The Frelengian wore a look of pained sympathy as she explained exactly what had happened to the villainess, and what they were all now up against. Weather Vane wiped her eyes, but couldn't stop the flow of tears. "So that's why you didn't tell me… You know… (sob) I'd heard that saying 'ignorance is bliss,' Zadavia, but… (sob) I never knew what they were talking about until now… looks like we really went from the frying pan into the fire this time, didn't we?"
"I'm afraid so, Paula," Zadavia sighed. "Forgive me…"
"It's all right, I understand… just promise me one thing…"
"What?"
"When this is all over, don't keep any more secrets from me ever again, okay?" Weather Vane managed a weak smile.
"I promise," Zadavia smiled. "I think it's best if you stay behind…"
"Nothing doing," Weather Vane countered. "I'm in this, I might as well see it through. Besides, how are you going to save Acmetropolis without me?" she added with a smile as Lexi peeked in.
"You two okay?" the fembunny asked.
"More or less, Lexi," Weather Vane replied as she helped Zadavia up and the pair joined her at the door.
"Zadavia filled you in, then?"
"On everything," she nodded in reply. "I'll be fine. Just give me a few more minutes to compose myself, okay? We're going to have a tough job ahead of us."
"Um… 'we'?"
"Yeah," Weather Vane grinned. "Somebody's gotta watch your back while you go kick lizard butt, right?"
"I guess we owe you that much," Lexi smiled. "Meet you in the rec room, okay?"
"Okay," Weather Vane replied…
---
Exactly three minutes later, Weather Vane rejoined the others in the rec room, a serious expression on her face. "Hey, you compose yourself real fast," Duck noted.
"I know," she said. "All right, what's the game plan?"
"Selzerian scout ships have a weakness," Zadavia advised them. "They can only attack directly from the front."
"This is a weakness?" Sypher asked doubtfully.
"I was about to say, Mr. Sypher, that the front is where their weapons are located. They can't fire in any other direction…"
"I get it," Tech said. "We come at 'em from two different angles! Brilliant!"
"As long as none of those angles are in front," Ace noted. "We'll have to sacrifice one of our jets to act as a decoy. Tech, can we do that?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, Chief! How are their scanning capabilities, Zadavia?"
"That may be a problem, Tech," the Frelengian cautioned him.
"Pity you haven't got any mannequins lying around," Mallory noted.
"Hey, as a matter of fact, we do! I wondered when we were ever going to get around to using those things! Good thinking, Mall!" Tech exclaimed.
"Thank you."
"I get it. Fill the dummy jet with the dummies and let the lizards go after it, while we go after them! I like it!" Ace exclaimed. "Rev, any sign of 'em?"
"They're-still-hovering-above-the-railyard,-Ace-they-cloaked-themselves-but-of-course-I-could-spot-'em-like-that…"
"Of course," Duck sighed. "Say, why haven't we seen the big ship yet?"
"They're probably still waiting for the 'all clear' signal from the scout ship," Massive guessed.
"Exactly," Zadavia replied. "The Selzerians are creatures of habit. Until they hear from the scout ship, they remain at home base."
"And if they don't hear from the scout ship, then they don't show up at all?" Ace asked.
"Precisely, Ace!" the Frelengian declared.
"Sounds like a crummy way to run an invasion," Sypher shrugged.
"Perhaps, Drake, but the Selzerians have never been defeated," Zadavia said.
"Then it's just about time to put an end to their streak," Ace smiled.
Weather Vane nervously raised her hand. "Excuse me, Ace?"
"Yes, Paula?"
"How do we know they haven't contacted them already?"
The bunny in black sighed and looked at her sympathetically. "We don't. That's a chance we'll have to take."
"I see…" she gulped. "Well, let's get on with this. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can return to a nice, warm jail cell."
"Simple girl, simple pleasures," Mallory smirked.
"And it's our job to see she gets to enjoy them," Ace noted. "Okay, everybody… we got a date with some really bad dudes. Let's get to it!"
---
"Okay, that's the last of them," Tech sighed as he and Weather Vane strapped the last of the dummies in place. "Thanks, guys."
"Any time," Massive said. "Seems a shame to waste a nice jet like this on those lizards."
"If this works, it won't be a waste," Zadavia noted. "Besides, we can always get more. Everybody stand back. We need to test this. Rev?"
"Right," he said, pressing a button on a Frelengian remote control device which fired up the jet, then operating the direction balls to make sure it worked flawlessly, which it did. "A-OK!" he said, landing the jet and shutting it off.
"Whoa, that's pretty cool!" Drake said, visibly impressed. "Sure beats the steering wheel! What's with the joystick in the middle?"
"That's our little surprise," Tech said. "We've fitted this jet with enough high powered explosives to blow the Selzerians into non-existence. If nothing else, we use it to ram it into them and hope to heck it works! Well, time to take off, everyone. We'll be flying in that white cruiser over there."
Drake took one look at it and almost drooled with envy. "SWEET! Man, you guys got all the good stuff!"
"And we get twenty to life, depending on good behavior," Weather Vane sighed. "It's all about career choices, Sypher. Come on…" Shortly the two groups were seated in the white cruiser.
"Okay, folks, hang on," Ace said. "Rev, let 'er go!" The road runner pushed a button that opened the door to the orb, and the black jet rose up and out, on a pre-arranged path to the railyard. "5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Now!" The white jet also rose out from the orb, following a different path, but with the same destination as the black jet. "How's it looking, Rev?"
"GPS-shows-they-haven't-budged-an-inch-Ace-still-just-hanging-around…"
"Okay, let me know the minute our decoy is in their range…"
All eyes aboard the white cruiser watched from what they assumed was a safe distance as the black jet approached the railyard, guided by Rev's GPS as much as the remote control. "We're-in-range-now,-Ace!" the road runner said.
"All right, time to bring 'em out of hiding!" Ace declared. "Fire!"
Rev pushed a red button on the remote and watched with a sense of satisfaction as a laser bolt from the jet hit the Selzerian scout ship. The scout ship uncloaked itself and fired back at the black jet; however, Rev maneuvered it out of the way, making sure the white cruiser stayed well in back of the Selzerians. "Now-Ace?"
"NOW, REV! RAM 'EM!!"
Quick as he could, Rev pulled back on the joystick and then forward, causing the black jet to crash headlong into the scout ship, resulting in one huge explosion. "All right! Way to go, Rev! You… didn't… do… anything," Sypher said, his voice falling off as the Selzerian scout ship still stood in mid-air.
"Well, scratch one jet," Mallory shrugged.
"I think we needed some more powerful explosives," Tech muttered.
"I think we need to get out of here," Ace said. "Slam, take us to the desert! Now!"
Slam grunted something unintelligible that ended with "Okay!" and the cruiser took off, with the Selzerians in hot pursuit.
"Didn't quite work the way we thought it would, did it?" Duck pondered.
"Eh, not exactly," Ace ventured in response. "Lexi, Slam, evasive action!"
"You got it!" Lexi replied. "Slam, that cloud bank looks like a nice place to catch our breath!"
"Roger!" Slam replied, and after some more evasive maneuvering, the Loonatics and company found themselves buried deep in the middle of the cloud bank.
"Well, now what?" griped Mallory. "Do we wait for them?"
"Mondo negatory on that, Mall, that's the last thing we wanna do!" Ace replied urgently. "Rev, any idea where they are?"
"Ace? They're about a mile above us," Rev gulped.
"And this cloud bank can only hide us for so long…" Tech noted.
"Hey, if it's cloud cover you guys need, all you have to do is ask," Weather Vane smiled.
"Of course!" the coyote declared. "Paula, you think you can bury those lizards in it?"
"Look who you're asking!" she replied, unstrapping herself from her seat.
"Then go for it!"
Weather Vane stood, raised her hands and concentrated, and enveloped the Selzerian ship in a thick cloud covering that seemed to go wherever it went.
"Hey, nice job, Weatherbabe!" Sypher exclaimed.
"If you think that's something, wait till you see what I do for an encore!" she smirked, raising her arms again.
Unfortunately, the Selzerians had a few tricks up their sleeves as well. Before they knew what was happening, Paula was bathed in an eerie orange light… and then disappeared.
"Something tells me this isn't what she had in mind," Duck muttered…
---
Chapter Three: Nothing But The Truce
---
Weather Vane was one frightened villainess. She kept her eyes closed tight as much as she could, and wished to whatever deity she professed to believe in that she could do the same with her hearing. 'Well,' she thought, 'if I'm going to die, I might as well do it fighting!' Trying to ignore her surroundings, she fired lightning bolts at anything that even remotely looked like a Selzerian; to her credit, she actually managed to pick a few of them off, while desperately hoping against hope that she could find the controls that could teleport her to the Loonatics' jet or, barring that, crash this horrid ship into the nearest mountainside.
What made it hard for her to concentrate were the screams. Apparently she wasn't the only poor unfortunate trapped aboard this ship. As she made her way down the hallway, something ominous became embedded in her brain.
One by one, the screaming from the other prisoners… stopped.
Weather Vane gulped… hard. Since she had already seen Zadavia's scars, she knew exactly what was going on… and unless a miracle happened, she would be next. 'Scout ship, nothing, this is a death ship!' she thought. She cringed and accidentally bumped against a door in one of the cabins, opening it. She couldn't stop herself from looking inside, and by the time she did, it was too late.
She recoiled in horror, backed out, and bumped right into a Selzerian, who placed its hand over her mouth while it plunged the business end of a syringe into the back of her neck…
---
"Any ideas?" Ace asked softly.
"You mean besides rescuing Paula and blowing that ship to kingdom come?" Massive replied. "Not a one."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Ace said, noticing in the meantime that Danger Duck had already unstrapped himself from his seat. "Eh, going somewhere, Duck?"
"Where do you think?"
"Duck?" Lexi asked. "Are you… sure?"
"You just get this thing close to that traveling cloud and let me worry about the rest, okay? Gimme five minutes. If we're not back by then… you know what to do…"
"Only five minutes?" Ace asked, without his usual grin.
"All right, you drive a hard bargain," Duck sighed. "Make it ten. That should be enough time for anybody." The others all exchanged worried looks. This was practically a suicide mission… and Duck was volunteering for it?
Zadavia sighed deeply. "Good luck, Duck," she said.
"Thanks," he smiled grimly. Danger Duck concentrated as hard as he could and quacked aboard the scout ship. If he had any chance at all of rescuing Weather Vane, this was going to have to be it, and he knew it. No margin for screwing up this time. He told himself he could take it; after all, wasn't he the world's number one fan of scary sci-fi movies? If nothing else, he could always convince himself he was on a movie set. Surprisingly, that little self-delusion actually helped him keep his mind on his task.
He wished he had Rev's GPS at the moment. It would be so much easier to find her that way. He quacked into one of any number of rooms, and gasped quietly. Weather Vane was inside, handcuffed and suspended from the ceiling, and looking like she'd seen better days. She turned her head slowly at that moment and saw him. It was obvious, even to Duck, that she was in extreme pain. "Duck," she whispered, "get out… save yourself… it's too… late for me…"
"What did they do to you?" he gasped.
"I'm… dying… poisoned… go… they're… coming for… me…"
"Not until I get what I came for," he declared.
"Wh-what's that?"
He looked her in the eyes and smiled. "You." He quacked from her sight, only to reappear clinging to her. "Hang on tight, we're outta here!" He quacked again, and reappeared outside the scout ship, still holding Weather Vane. Instantly he fired up his jetpack, which made holding the girl a little tough to do, but he managed it.
"There they are!" Lexi exclaimed.
"I see them," Ace replied, "but he's not gonna be able to hold her for much longer…"
"Let me worry about that," Zadavia said, disappearing from their midst and suddenly appearing beside the pair, enveloping them in her cloak and transporting all three of them back aboard the Loonatics' jet. "Good work, Duck!" Zadavia smiled.
"Don't congratulate me yet," he said seriously. "She's been poisoned…"
"What?!?" Tech asked. "Rev…"
"Already-on-it," the roadrunner replied, zooming to and from the jet's medical bay with a small case in less than an instant. "Here-you-go…"
"Thanks," he said. "I can only slow its progress until we can positively identify it, but it should keep her alive… I hope," he sighed, pulling two syringes from the case. With the first, he drew a blood sample, and with the second, he injected Weather Vane with the stopgap antitoxin. She was in so much pain from the poison, however, that she didn't even notice.
"This… is… what I… deserve…" she gasped, tears flowing down her face.
"No, it isn't!" Duck declared, holding her hands. "Hang in there!"
"They're getting away!" Lexi yelled.
"Not if we can help it," Ace said through gritted teeth, and gave chase. "Duck, you stay with Weather Vane. Massive, Sypher, you ever fire one of these things?" he asked, indicating the cruiser's missile controls.
"Not yet," they grinned.
"Well, there's always a foist time," Ace shrugged as the scout ship turned around and changed tactics.
"They're coming straight for us!" Lexi yelled.
"This is it," Ace muttered. "Guys, you both had better be one good shot, 'cos one's all you're gonna get!"
"Right," Massive glowered as the scout ship came in his sights. "THIS ONE'S FOR PAULA!" he yelled, and they both pressed the buttons that sent two thermonuclear missiles straight into their target.
"Bullseye! We got 'em!" Sypher shouted.
"Now let's get the heck out of here!" Ace said, turning their jet around and taking off just as the Selzerian ship exploded, crashing just within the boundaries of the Acmetropolis desert.
Any sense of celebration they might have felt, however, was tempered by the fact that one of them might not survive the trip back home…
---
Tech had been poring over the blood sample taken from Paula, trying to identify the particular poison the Selzerians used, when Zadavia entered the lab. "How's it coming?" she asked.
"It's not," Tech sighed, casting a baleful glance at Weather Vane, who was lying unconscious on the gurney, Duck still holding her hand. "We're losing her, Zadavia. I… I can't identify it."
"Maybe I can," she said, peeking through his microscope, and pulling away briefly with a start. "Tech… am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
"I think so," the coyote replied softly. "Whatever blood type this is, it's not… well, it's not from here. But that's not important right now. Can you identify the poison?"
"Give me another few seconds," she said, peering through the microscope again, her brow furrowed in concentration, until finally, recognition came to her. "Yes… of course! Tech, I know what this poison is! It's Zappanian desert scorpion poison!"
"But that… that's the deadliest poison in the known universe!" Tech exclaimed quietly. The last thing he wanted to do right now was alarm Duck. "There's… there's no antidote for it."
"Yes, there is," Zadavia smiled purposefully. "I lived through it, so can Paula. I'll need the following ingredients…" She rattled off several items, making sure Tech had enough time to get them. Then she measured each one precisely in a beaker, and filled a syringe with the antidote. "Hurry, Tech…"
He quickly injected the fluid into Weather Vane's arm and waited for any results at all. They weren't long in coming.
Weather Vane stirred on the bed like a fish out of water, fluttered her eyes, and took heavy gasps of air until she could breathe normally.
"You'd better go now, Tech," Zadavia told him, as she prepared to perform the Frelengian Memory Absorption on Weather Vane again. "You too, Duck. This is not going to be pleasant…"
They nodded and left her alone. No matter how much Tech's scientific curiosity would have been satisfied, not to mention Duck's nosiness, they knew she was right. Anyway, they were already in the elevator when the screaming started…
---
The doors opened to the main conference room, and Zadavia staggered in, looking tired, her eyes red and puffy from crying, which she'd obviously been doing furiously. Massive instinctively caught her as she fell and guided her to the couch. "There you go, ma'am," he said, reaching for a tissue and gently wiping her tears.
"Thank you, Massive," she smiled weakly.
"Geez, you look like you've looked better," Duck noted.
"Under the circumstances, I'll take that as a compliment," Zadavia sighed. "The good news is, Paula's alive. The antidote worked." The rest all breathed sighs of relief at that news.
"How did you know what to look for?" Rev asked.
"Remember, I'd been kidnapped by the Selzerians myself. They always poison their victims before…" She instinctively looked down at her right leg. "Duck got to her just in time, that's the important thing."
"That, and a little thing called 'Selzerian scout ship go boom and fall down'," Ace noted with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, bunny dude," Sypher grinned. "They'll think twice before they mess with us again!"
"Eh, 'us'?" Ace chortled.
"I wish I had your confidence, Mr. Sypher," Zadavia warned him. "Hopefully, you're right…"
"So, when can we see Weather Vane?" Mallory asked.
"She's still a little out of it," Zadavia replied. "The effects of the antidote and the memory absorption were particularly harsh on her."
"From the looks of it, that memory thing didn't exactly do you any good, either…" Sypher noted.
"I'll be fine, Drake, thanks. Fortunately I never retain the memory I absorb, so I won't recall any of it. I… I really don't think I'd want to…" There was no way she could tell them. While the memory absorption was useful, it was still by no means perfect. There were some images the Frelengian was not able to let go of. What Weather Vane saw aboard that ship… especially in that room… would remain locked away in Zadavia's subconscious for days to come. Maybe for the rest of her life.
"Can't we at least say 'goodbye'?" Massive asked. "Since we are going to have to go back to prison, that is…"
Tech nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's all right…"
---
Weather Vane stirred in her bed again and weakly opened her eyes to see the Loonatics and the other megavillains. "Oh… hi, guys… pardon me… if I don't… get up," she laughed, still feeling the effects of the antidote.
"That's okay," Massive said softly. "We just came to see how you are… and to say goodbye…"
"Then the truce… is over?" she asked. "Did we… win?"
"We sure did," Lexi smiled.
"I'm sorry I… missed it…"
Duck shrugged. "It was a whole lotta nothing, anyway."
"If you… say so… what am… I… doing in… here, anyway?"
"You chipped a nail," Duck smiled.
"Did I?"
Sypher hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Hey, we'll have to do this again sometime."
"Why do I… get the feeling… I'm not looking… forward to that?" Weather Vane laughed. "See ya, Drake."
"Get some rest, will you?" Mallory ordered, clasping Paula's hands.
"Sure thing, Mall," she replied. "Do something… about those… headaches, okay?"
Massive approached her and, for the life of him, honestly didn't know what to say. As it turned out, he didn't have to. Paula wrapped her arms around him and, inexplicably, started crying. Massive responded by gently stroking her hair.
"I don't… know why I'm… saying this, Mass, but… I love you," Weather Vane sniffed, planting as much of a great big kiss on him as she could in her present condition.
Now Massive really was tongue-tied, but he still managed to get out a shaky, "Actually, my name's Gordon… and I love you too, Wea… Paula…"
---
"So, guys, any particular problems with our prodigal prisoners?" Ace chuckled as Tech and Rev returned from delivering the threesome to the secondary prison site.
"There he goes, being smug in his alliteration again, as always," mumbled Duck.
"That's-the-weird-part-Ace… not-a-bit!"
"Really?" Lexi asked, her mouth agape. "Now that is surprising!"
"Oh, no more surprising than them actually being heroes for a change," Tech smirked. "Actually, I think it kind of rubbed off on them!"
"Please! Can you really picture them as heroes?" Duck asked sarcastically.
"There are stranger things, Duck," Tech noted.
"Actually, all things considered, they didn't do so badly," Ace said. "If they can straighten themselves out, they might actually be heroes someday, given time off for good behavior and all that. Speaking of which, Tech…"
"Zadavia and I spoke to the warden about that. The time off has already been subtracted from their present sentences, considering that they helped us defend Acmetropolis."
"Weather Vane, too?" Lexi asked.
"Yeah, her too," Tech smiled. "Double, on account of the fact she really didn't want to escape in the first place."
"Do the others know that?"
"Um… no," Tech grinned. "I guess we'd better tell her…"
The Loonatics stepped into the sick bay, where Weather Vane was propped up on her bed, reading a magazine. "Hi, guys," she smiled weakly. "What's… the good word? Will I… live?"
"Yep," Ace smiled.
"That's good," she sighed. "I… I've been doing… some thinking… actually, a… lot of thinking… I know I'm… going to have… to go back… to prison…"
"Only when you've recovered," Tech said. "That antidote takes time to work. Zadavia told me that you should be with us for at least four or five more days before you can travel."
"I… can wait…" she shrugged, before a puzzled look suddenly came to her. "An anti… dote… for what?"
Tech grimaced. He wasn't supposed to tell her that. Fortunately, Duck came to the rescue. "Sypher cooties," the mallard grinned.
"We gotta tell her, guys," Lexi said, approaching her. "It was Zappanian desert scorpion poison, Paula. You're lucky to have lived through it."
"Yipes!" Weather Vane whispered. "I guess… Hey guys… did I really… tell Massive that I… I…?"
"His name's Gordon, remember?" Lexi giggled. "And, yes you did… girlfriend."
A tear ran down Weather Vane's cheek. "'Girlfriend'? You… mean that?"
"Sure do," the fembunny smiled, gently hugging her. "And if I remember, he told you the same."
"What, that he was her girlfriend? That's just weird!"
"Duck, you are so not helping!" Lexi glared at him.
"Whoa… I guess… we wouldn't have… said that… if it… wasn't true…"
"Yeah, but in your case, it mighta been the drugs talking…"
"DUCK!" Lexi seethed.
"WHAT?!?"
"And for what it's worth, Weathergoil, you managed to get a good chunk of your sentence reduced for helpin' us. Matter of fact, you all did."
"Really? That's… good… Ace…"
"We thought you'd like that," Rev said, speaking normally.
"Thanks… you guys."
"Now, what were you thinking?"
"Well, when I… get out eventually… Tech, you remember… how I said it… was a shame we… were on opposite sides?"
"Yeah, I remember…"
"Do you think… it would be… too late for me… to start over and… do what you guys do?"
"What, be a hero? Hey, it's never too late, Paula," the coyote smiled.
"And just think, with that reduced sentence, it may be even sooner," Ace smiled. "So you got at least one thing to look forward to right there!"
"Two, if you're counting you-know-who," Duck said.
---
Several days later, the Loonatics returned from a routine patrol. "So, gang, any ideas?" Ace asked.
"Hungry," Slam replied.
"Besides that," the bunny grinned.
"Well, Chief, I was just thinking, those Selzerians haven't shown up again," Tech replied.
"I'd almost forgotten about them," Lexi said. "Maybe we should contact Zadavia and see if she's got any suggestions for an early warning system of some kind, just in case."
"Good idea, Lex," Ace said.
"Which-reminds-me,-our-temporary-comrades-have-also-been-unusually-well-behaved," Rev noted. "Maybe-the-idea-of-them-being-heroes-really-stuck-with-them…"
"We'll see," Duck replied skeptically… and then started sniffing around. "Hmmm… something smells good…"
"Yeah," Lexi grinned. "Did somebody buy some food-scented air freshener or something?"
"Naw, it's gotta be coming from the kitchen," Tech said, and then reacted with a suspicious start. "Wait a minute, gang… we're all in here, so…"
"Come and get it!" Weather Vane smiled, peeking through the entrance. She was wearing a blue checkerboard apron over her usual outfit.
"Now, Paula, you're supposed to stay in bed until you feel better," Tech said. "Coyote's orders!"
"Relax, I'm feeling much better already, honest," she said.
"She must be," Duck noted. "She's forming complete sentences now!"
"Anyway, I wanted to say thank you for putting up with me, and I thought I'd make you all a little dinner," she giggled. "Slam, leave enough for everyone else…"
"$$#!…okay."
"Whoa! Where'd you learn to cook?" Lexi asked.
"My aunt and uncle have a small farm on the outskirts of Acmetropolis," Weather Vane explained as she served up the portions. "There you go, just the right food for growing superheroes," she added with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Served with old fashioned country charm by our friendly local supervillain," Duck chortled.
"Ex-supervillain, if you please, Duck!" Weather Vane corrected him. "I've had a little more time to think about it, and I want you guys to be the first to know… I've decided to go straight when I get out. Maybe it isn't too late for me to start over after all… if you think Acmetropolis can stand the shock."
"Hey, our training room's always open for you," Ace smiled.
---
After dinner, Weather Vane bade her goodbyes to the Loonatics and then left with Tech to return to Acmetropolis Galactic Prison. Tech couldn't help but notice that every now and then, she kept looking wistfully back towards the tilted city/planet. "Something wrong, Paula?" he asked.
"No," she sighed. "Just thinking… Tech, do you really think I'd make a good superhero?"
"Given another chance? I think all four of you could," he replied as the prison came into view. "Anything's possible."
"I hope you're right…"
"Confidentially, Paula, so do I," the coyote answered, flipping a switch and speaking into his headset microphone. "This is Tech E. Coyote in Loonatic One requesting permission to land."
"Permission granted," the voice over the intercom replied. "The warden's been waiting for you."
"Oh? Well, I guess I'd better go see what he wants, then," he chuckled as the jet landed.
"Well, here we are, home sweet prison, or something like that," Weather Vane joked, as she and Tech departed from the Loonatics' jet to find the warden and several guards waiting for them. "Ah, my public, how they love me," she giggled.
"I see they missed you already," Tech smirked.
"Tech, thank goodness you're here!" the warden exclaimed.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"It's Mallory…"
Tech rolled his eyes. "Oh dear, what's she done now?"
"She collapsed this morning and we haven't been able to revive her."
"WHAT?!?" Tech and Weather Vane gasped in unison.
"She'd been complaining of headaches ever since she got back," the warden said.
"Yeah, she said something like that the last couple of days," Weather Vane noted. "I also thought her head was getting a little too big… and I don't mean that in an ego-type way…" she added softly. "I had a distant cousin who died from encephalitis…"
"Swelling of the brain, of course," Tech declared quietly. "I knew this was going to happen to Mallory someday. Is she in the hospital ward now?"
"Yes," the warden answered.
"Okay, I trust you've got a surgical team standing by?" Tech asked, receiving a curt nod from the warden. "Good. Paula, this is where we're going to have to part company now," he added.
"Of course," she said, putting on as much of a brave face as she could, hugging the coyote as the lights flickered. "What's going on?"
A prison doctor came rushing in. "Warden, we've got a problem in the hospital wing. Our emergency generator's going out…"
Tech smiled smugly as he looked at Weather Vane. "Paula, could you be our standby generator?"
"ME?" She thought about it for only a second. "I could do that. I'll even be a sit-down generator if you get me a chair! Just plug me in and call me Consolidated Weather Vane."
"Good girl."
"You think she could do it?" the warden asked.
"I have no doubts," Tech smiled. "Come on, let's go…"
---
"These aren't exactly flattering," Paula joked as Tech slipped a jury-rigged set of attachments to her fingertips, "but I suppose they'll do the job…"
"They'll have to," Tech replied, making no effort to disguise the urgency in his voice. He didn't need to. They both knew what was up. "Ready?" Paula nodded. "Okay, everybody, stand back. Paula, let's do it!"
Weather Vane concentrated her lightning power and watched, amazed (as did everyone else) as the power came back on. "Hey, what do you know? Warden, how long do I have to keep doing this?"
"As long as necessary until they get the generators going again," he replied.
"Gotcha! Tech… you can save her, can't you?"
"I'll do my best," he smiled. "You just keep the electricity coming."
"You got it!"
"Good. Okay, lead me to that operating room… I'm going in…"
---
"…and that should do it," Tech said as an intern mopped his brow for him. "Thanks," he nodded appreciatively, admiring his handiwork and reflecting how far medical science had come since the dark ages of the 20th century, when brain surgeons had to use antiquated things like saws, sutures and the like instead of today's more convenient hand-held lasers that could not only allow access, but - with a simple flick of the switch - replace needle and thread with a simple beam, allowing the patient to be up and around almost as soon as the surgery was over, with no visible scars to show for it. "I don't know whether Mallory's going to thank me or strangle me for this, but…"
"Tech?"
"Yes, warden?"
"How'd it go?"
"Complete success. I reduced her brain size back to normal, and she's breathing on her own. The only drawback is, Drake won't be able to make any more jokes about having to buy a lampshade for her head," he chuckled. "How are they coming with the generators?"
"They're ready to switch them back on," the warden said.
"I'd better warn Weather Vane, then," Tech noted. "Otherwise she's going to think they've brought back capital punishment!" He spoke into a nearby communicator. "Paula?"
"Here, Tech, how'd it go?"
"She came through it. We did it!"
"All right! Can I take these silly things off now?"
"Hang on… okay, I'm getting the signal that they're ready to switch back to full power. On my mark… 3… 2… 1… MARK!"
Weather Vane quickly ripped off the attachments at the same instant the power was restored. "Whew! That kind of tingled!" she laughed.
"Don't tell me you want to do that again!"
"Are you kidding? Do I look like the kind of girl who'd fool around with electricity? Wait, don't answer that!"
"Okay, I won't… hang on, she's coming out of it…" Tech said, turning his attention to the form on the operating table. "Mallory? How are you feeling?"
"I thought I smelled dog breath," she joked weakly. "What… what happened?"
"In entertainment terms, your brain was getting too big for the room," he replied.
"That's entertainment?"
"Um, depends on who you ask…"
"Encephalitis, right?"
"Mallory, you knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Those headaches were the tip-off."
"I suppose you did a little head-shrinking on me?"
"Would you rather be dead?"
"I… I…" She didn't have an argument for that. "No… I guess not," she sighed. "Thank you, Tech."
"You're welcome."
"At least Drake won't be able to make any more lampshade jokes about me… what's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing… I guess great minds really do think alike…"
"Tech?"
"Oh, sorry, Paula."
"Weather Vane? Is that you?"
"Yep, it's me! So, how you doing?"
"I'll live," she smirked. "And you?"
"Can't complain," she shrugged. "Considering the surroundings, of course."
"Of course… Hey, Weather Vane?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you made it, girl."
"Same here, Mall…"
"Thanks… oh wait, the dog wants to speak. Speak, doggie!"
"That's not funny, Mallory!" Tech grumbled.
"Oh, I don't know, I thought it was kind of amusing myself," she cackled.
Tech sighed in resignation. He'd just saved her life and this was the thanks he received? He decided to cut his losses and accept it. "I know, you just couldn't resist it… Good job, Paula."
"Thanks, Tech. I can't wait to see what Mallory looks like now."
"Let's just say you'll be surprised," Tech noted.
"Oh goody, I like surprises… long as they're not too surprising," Weather Vane giggled. "Well, I gotta get back to my cell now. Thanks… for everything."
"Same here, Paula," the coyote smiled. "You too, Mallory."
"If you say so," she smirked. "I'm tired. Surgery takes a lot out of you…"
"Especially if you have an incompetent doctor… come on, I'll accompany you to the recovery room."
"I didn't know they allowed… oh, the heck with it," she smiled. "The least I can do is cut you some slack…"
---
As time went by, The Loonatics went about their business of saving Acmetropolis from the likes of every villain they could, but they couldn't forget the incident with the megavillains and the Selzerians. It affected each of them differently, but it did affect them, as it did the megavillains themselves. The two groups would never think of each other in quite the same way again.
After what they went through together, they couldn't.
Mastermind, for example, briefly thought about sending Tech a dog collar, but upon reflection, finally decided to lay off the dog jokes altogether… at least for a while. He deserved at least that much.
Massive, on the other hand, wondered just what the heck he had gotten himself into. Regardless of what he had heard about how romances of this type never worked out, he couldn't stop thinking of Weather Vane, or how close he had come to losing her before he even knew he'd gotten her; one thing was certain, though – if the opportunity ever came that they should both be released, he was determined to do everything to make her happy. She deserved at least that much.
Sypher found that - no matter how much he tried - he wasn't the same egotistical self-centered glory hog as before. Now he was a different one.
Paula determined to make good on her promise, no matter how long it took. True, it might come as a shock to Acmetropolis; but who cared what they thought? If the chance ever came, then she'd be the best darn weather-manipulating heroine there was… whether Acmetropolis wanted her or not.
But in her underwater grotto, Zadavia was affected too, after regenerating her right leg to remove the scars. She tried pushing the incident to the back of her mind, but found that she couldn't.
The premonitions were just too strong.
Now that the Selzerians knew Acmetropolis was here, it would only be a matter of time before they came back, and next time, they wouldn't bother with a scout ship. They might even send a whole armada of death bombers, but they would be back.
She also thought of the megavillains…
and how one of them would ultimately die…
(to be continued…)
---
Well, there you have it. Apologies for being heavy on dialogue and scant on descriptive narrative, but sci-fi/action/adventure is new for me. (And the crowd who've read my Tiny Toons "Parallels" trilogy reply, "BULL!")
Story originally written and © July 2-3, 2007 by Jerry D. Withers. Slight revisions © August 28, 2007 by same, with major revisions © Sept. 12, 2009. All rights reserved. "Loonatics Unleashed", "Acmetropolis" and all related characters and indicia are ™ and © 2005-2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. The Selzerians created and © 2007-2009 by Jerry D. Withers. This fan fiction series "Acmetropolis" is loosely inspired by a line from Fire-Bandicoot-Coyote's story "A Christmas Carol".
Coming soon… the saga begins anew in "The Reluctant Heroes"… see you then.
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In case you missed them the first time, here's the original reviews to Acmetropolis 1: Truce
Black Oracle /2007-07-06
ch 3 This was a good read furrball. You handled the idea of the Loonatics' villains turning good quite well. Nothing like extreme circumstances to bring rivals together! I take it you're a Weathervane fan then? Nice writing here furrball!
Youkomon /2007-07-06
ch 3 I found this to be quite a refreshing read, considering how season two seemed to almost forget the existence of these four villains.
And I must commend you on your characterisation of those four. You gave Mallory that vital spark with the recurring dog jokes and I found Syper's excitable personality traits to be well reflected. I have to admit one of favourite moments was the brief dialogue exchanges between him and Mastermind in the first chapter with the 'grammar' joke. It also helped reinforce the idea of this being a fanfiction and the fact that you were willing to poke fun at yourself, so to speak.
Haha, I can you tell your favourite is Paula though. I like how you seemed to remember that she did have a human identity before she became Weather Vane and this was shown a few times, especially in the snippet about her grandparents owning a farm. I have to say, I don't mind the 'romance' genre between her and Massive. It was rather...endearing, in that you didn't go over the top with it and left it as a simple addition to the story rather than a main element. (It also makes a break from having to read romances set exclusively between the main 'good-guy' characters as is often the case!)
Also, lastly, well done in not jerkifying Duck. You gave him a solid show of bravery and abrupt gentleness (as shown in his scenes when he's comforting Paula such as holding her hand etc.) whilst keeping his sarcastic personality believably in character. Kudos to you.
SSBFreak / 2007-07-13
ch 3 For a first fic, you have done an amazing job (a HECK of a lot better than my first SEVERAL fics). I love how you more centered it around the villains that no one seems to notice, despite them being the only villains besides Optimatus and Deuce to appear on more than one occasion.
Over the past while, I have to say that Weathervane's been growing on me, and after reading your fic, I think I'm starting to like her even more.
Like I said, I love your stuff. Keep it up!
acosta perez jose Ramiro / 2007-07-24
ch 3 Very good story. Excellent job here.
Any chances of posting Rhubella's stories in the TTA section? That would be cool.
Keep the good writing.