(sighs) Alright. First and for most, I really shouldn't be writing this, because I'm in the middle of a bunch of other stories, I'm moving in for a new year of college in two days, and I need to be drawing as much as I can so my artist alley table at AAC this year is ready to go. However, I went and rediscovered Loonatics. And thus this story stated forming in my head. It was a good show in its own way (when you stopped comparing it to looney tunes itself and looked at it as its own show.) but one thing I wish they had more of is the relationships between the characters, besides the occasional show of affection and bantering. I wanted them to really delve into the bonds that the team had. I'm hoping this story will not do a better job of explaining it than the show did.

Also, I have two OC's in this story. And yes, one of which develops feelings for Rev, but I haven't quite decided if these feelings will go unnoticed and one-sided or not. It depends on how people respond to the character. To all the rev/tech fans out there that might be reading this, I have nothing against this pairing. I'm not denying or admitting whether or not Tech or Rev are gay, I just don't personally see them that way. To me, their kinda like Sam and Frodo from lord of the rings (yet another pairing that I get people's points on, but don't personally see) to me their more like brothers than anything. Again, nothing against the pairing (I've even read some really well written Tech/Rev stories) but y'know, Hopefully everybody likes Tora.

Sorry if the first chapter is boring, but everything has to be set up for the plot to make any sense. It will get even more entertaining as events start to take place, I promise.

Anyways, that's enough with the boring info, on to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Loonatics unleashed. The only people I own in this story, are Tora, and Calvin.

Zadavia was feeling a bit conflicted at the moment. Usually the Frelengian princess was self-assured in any decision she ever made, regardless of what it entailed. However, ever since she became involved with the Loonatics, she found herself questioning more and more about the way she thought and acted that she often wondered who indeed had the better impact on who. She on the Loonatics, or the Loonatics on her.

She held a great amount of respect for each of them, even a certain Danger Duck, though no one would have thought so. She often thought it was unfair, but necessary to ask the 6 young Acmetropolins to assemble the team. None of them at the time could really be called children at the time, Tech was the oldest, being a grad student of the Acme Tech university at 25, with Ace and Slam relatively the same age with the difference of a few months at 23 and 22. Duck and Lexi were both college students at the time of the meteor's strike, Lexi being somewhat older at 21, and duck at 20. Out of all of them, Rev was the baby, at 17 and a half when the meteor fell on Acmetropolis. Even so, Zadavia new that their choice to join the Loonatics would affect the course of their entire lives.

Not only would they be putting themselves in mortal danger, but also put a great amount of stress on their families, and if they weren't careful, could potentially put them in danger as well. Whatever plans each of the Loonatics had for their lives beforehand had to either be put on hold or permanently discontinued for the greater good. All 6 had risen to the challenge, and Zadavia couldn't be any more proud of them.

Accompanying that pride and respect, Zadavia also expected an awful lot of them very fast. Each of them had to undergo rigorous training to make sure their forms could withstand the burden of whatever attacking force came to their planet. They also had to learn how to control their newly endowed powers, which for some came easy, for others it was more difficult. At the same time as all that, they had to learn how to operate together as a team.

With all of this, one would think it would be easy to keep their living quarters clean.

To be fair, most of the time it was easy. When there wasn't a large battle or attack that diverted the 6 Loonatics attention and abandoning whatever mess had been made. Sometimes they came home they were just either too injured or exhausted to clean up what they had left. In exchange for saving the city, Zadavia could be understanding about this.

Even still, while each of the Loonatics were responsible for his/her own room, it was essential that the rest of the HQ be kept clean, for their health if nothing else.

So Here was Zadavia's predicament, did she take matters into her own hands and hire a cleaning lady? Or did she crack down even harder on the team than she already had?

After seeing the main living/kitchen area in shambles after an 'argument' between Rev and Duck, Zadavia's decision came to her rather quickly. Cleaning lady it was.

But this hired help couldn't be just anyone off the street. Like Duck liked to brag about so much, the Loonatics had collected a descent sized fan club, some that branched out for each of the members individually, and she was afraid that if she was not careful with the advertising, she would end up hiring a crazed and raving fan (Slam's fans had the tendency to be a bit rabid if left to their own devices…). That would not succeed Zadavia's goal of keeping the HQ clean, all it would do was thoroughly destroy the teams personal space and privacy.

Zadavia pulled up a template on her high tech frehelangian computer, and set about designing the perfect add.

/

Now, you are probably wondering who I am. No , I'm not any of the heroes' of this story, nor am I the afore-mentioned cleaning lady. I'll introduce you to her in a bit.

Right now I'd like to introduce myself, because as humble as I am, I pride myself in knowing that none of this entire story would have happened if I hadn't taken action when I did.

The name is Calvin, just your regular run of the mill human living in the twenty-eighth century. At 23 I was following my dreams of being a super famous fashion designer/photographer (I dream big, honey.) and living in a two bedroom flat in east side Acmetropolis.

I was and am also gay as the fourth of July. And proud of it.

It's not all that hard to tell, I don't exactly make it a habit to hide my fabness (unlike some people I know) the day this all started I was wearing custom made red skinny jeans with dark navy blue converse sneakers, and a black tank on, accentuating my lean chest perfectly with my suede jacket with faux fur lined neckline and cuffs. Sure a few guys made a few 'queer' and 'faggot' comments under their breath as I walked bye, but I just flipped them the bird cheerfully (weird I know, but that's the effect I want to be honest) and would go on my way. They were just jealous that I could pick up more girls than they could in a life time, and I'm not even interested.

I know I know, half of you are probably looking at your computer screen thinking 'where the heck is he going with this?' patience my pets, all will come in good time. In fact I think it's about time I introduce the real heroine of my story, even if at the time this all took place, she had trouble believing she was hero material.

I was coming home for a brief amount of time, dropping off a fresh roll of film before I went grocery shopping. There had been a shoot earlier that day for a new line of clothing one of my more experienced employers had, she liked me and my work and offered to pay me double my normal amount. Ya don't say 'no' to a job like that. Even if you have to get up at 6 in the freakin' morning and go (cough) anyways.

"Toooooraaaaaa!" I sang down the hall towards the room all the way at the end. I heard a bump and snickered to myself. I love my best friend dearly, but it was both hilarious and adorable to scare the crap out of her when I came home unexpectedly.

I went to investigate the damage I had caused, walking to the door at the very end fo the hall and turning the knob. I looked inside to find a relatively plain room, one or two posters positioned neatly on the walls and perfectly straight, soft pastel colors giving it a peaceful setting. A large set of dresser drawers with matching vanity was overtaken by a rather large collection of CD's and music and books. A small writing desk was tucked into the corner of the room by the closet had a small rolling chair pulled out of place under it.

The only thing about this room that seemed out rightly abnormal, was the fact that no one seemed to be there. Even though there most definitely was a sound coming from here before.

Not deterred by this, I cocked my hip to the side and folded my arms, mock scowling into the room,

"You might as well show yourself. I know you're there Tora."

There was a pause, and then as if nothing had seemed amiss before, my best friend was there, sitting at her desk. She had rematerialized after turning invisible, Clothes and all.

Cool huh? I thought so.

Tora wasn't like me, in more ways than one. She wasn't human, she was a mouse, one of the cities' many Anthros that have been around since forever. She was brown with Wavy dark hair and big and gentle brown eyes, I could go on and on about how gorgeous I thought she was, but I suppose I'm a bit biased. After all, I am her best friend/self-appointed big brother/ fashion adviser (even if she doesn't want it.) / photographer (again, usually against her will.) Besides, someone had to tell her she was beautiful, The girls confidence had gone completely down the tubes in the past few years (more on that later on, I promise)

She turned in her chair towards me, giving me a sheepish smile in apology,

"Hey Cal. How was your day?" she said softly.

I gave her a grin and plopped on her bed, stretching my arms over my head. "Fantastic, Miss Labeuff says I got great potential. I smell a second job!"

Tora smiled, her small hands folded in her lap and eyes lighting up just a bit in happiness for me, "That's great Calvin, I know how hard you've worked for this."

I beamed at her, "Damn straight!"

I leaned forward to see what it was Tora had been doing all day. Todays computerized daily news displayed on the touch screen tablet installed with most writing desks nowadays. I could see the job section, marked with small red circles randomly, a lot of them had big x's over taking them. Poor kid had been spending her day job hunting again, with little success as it looked.

The problem with Tora is that she is one of those kids who was having trouble finding her calling in life. She was 18, just finishing up high school by home schooling herself because of…events during school a few years ago, and yet she couldn't find one thing she was abnormally good at, one thing she could make a career out of.

For a while there I was afraid she was gonna be one of those paper pushers that got stuck behind a desk all day, when I knew she had so much potential to shine elsewhere ( I was just having trouble finding the WHERE) when that freaky meteor hit a year and a half ago. Then Tora suddenly started doing the whole David Copperfield thing (we both spent a good half an hour freaking out and screaming the first time she did it, mostly because she didn't know how to rematerialize immediately.) and the Loonatics showed up. Anthros, just like Tora were using their newfound powers to be superheroes and protect Acmetropolis.

The first time I saw them flying overhead in the sky, I got this feeling in my gut, and I found a smile. I had found Tora's 'elsewhere'. Now here come's the main problem, she refused to agree with me.

I leaned back on my hands and crossed my legs, lingering in the comfortable silence that had settled with both of us. Tora was leaning on her folded arms on her desk, staring at a poster of the Loonatics I had gotten her as a freebie at the local market.

I smirked, "so which one's your beau of choice?"

She must have been pretty deep in thought, because she blinked like she didn't understand the question.

"Wha?" she looked back and forth between me and the poster, and suddenly blushed a vibrant red, "N-none of them! I'm just looking at the poster!"

"Uh-huh. Are you sure? I seem to catch you looking at the Rev guy more often than not. He is kinda cute."

Tora looked mortified and shook her head vigorously, waving her hands in a telltale "no-way, no-how" fashion.

"H-His uniform is red! You know as well as I do that red is one of the colors that draws the eye the most, it has nothing to do with that really!" Her voice was cracking as she didn't usually speak all that loudly. It was adorable.

I sighed good-naturedly and reached over to pat her on the head, "I know kiddo, I'm just teasing. Settle down before ya have an aneurism."

Tora was smart, not like overly book smart, but people smart y'know? She didn't really develop a crush willy-nilly when she didn't even know the person. She would get embarrassed when I'd make her admit a guy was handsome, but other than that her feelings didn't really extend too much farther unless she had met him.

After all you could spend an eternity looking at a picture of someone famous, you could fall steadily more in love with that picture and the person you make them up to be, but in real life there's a good chance they aren't at all who you thought they'd be.

Tora had been through enough hurt already to not want to put herself through more of it.

I've known Tora since we were really little, and she's always been kind of reserved. More of an observer than a talker. She was sweet natured and timid, but gentle as a hummingbird to a flower, and I loved her for it.

But unfortunately, the world has adapted to a sort of 'dog eat dog' personality out there. Tora's nonobjective personality, accompanying the fact that she was our school systems only anthro, made her an easy target. I did my best to protect her, but there was only so much I could do being a few years apart, and I had to graduate sometime.

I can't even go into detail the amount of torture she went through that year after I did.

All I'll say is that evening had ended with her begging me, while sobbing, not to make her go back.

I didn't blame her one bit for it.

I was afraid that if I didn't act soon, I'd lose everything that was Tora before that. So I signed her up for a self-schooling program and got her out of there. But the bullying had accomplished it's goal. It had crushed her spirit.

She was terrified of people now, scared that everyone would call her a freak, even more so now with her powers. Her eyes didn't' light up like they used to. It was like she was the flame in an oil lamp, and someone had turned her down so much that she was barely flickering there anymore.

And that terrified me, because I've known, ever since we were little, that she was destined for greatness.

That's why I want her to join the Loonatics. Because I know if anyone can help Tora come out of her shell, get her light back, it was them.

She was staring at the poster again as she calmed down, and I was surprised to hear her speak.

"I really do admire them though." She said wistfully,

"Why?" I asked, not wanting to scare her away from what could potentially be a revelation,

She smiled to herself, a little sadly, "Because they aren't afraid to be who they are."

I gave her a soft look and stood, coming over to wrap my arms around her, and joined her in looking at the poster,

"…You could be up there with them you know." I gestured to how all 6 members of the Loonatics posed heroically. I tried to imagine my little Tora, standing off to the side. Small but a confident set to her shoulders instead of slumped and folded in on herself like she was now

I felt her sigh, "No Cal, I can't." We had had this conversation over and over again.

I squeezed her a little, pouting, "Why not?"

She looked sort of frustrated, more at herself than me," Number one, my power is utterly useless. I can turn invisible, great. I can hide form the bad guys, but what about my teammates?"

She moved out of my arms and gave me a deeply sorry look, "I'm not like them Cal, I'm not brave, I'm not strong. I'm a coward and I'm not going to pretend I'm anything but."

She turned resolutely back to her desk, "Let's not talk about this anymore okay? I have to keep trying to find a job."

I sighed exasperatedly, hating the way she talked about herself. I hated the people who made her believe all that crap was true, and most of all I hated how It seemed like I could do nothing to help her.

Dissatisfied, I leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, "Alright sweetie, I'll leave it alone for now," I said resignedly, "I gotta go pick up some groceries, I'll be back in around an hour."

She nodded her head with an absent 'mm-hmm' and I turned to exit the room but paused at the door, a mischievous grin on my lips,

"I still think you'd make a cute couple. You and the road runner."

Tora promptly face planted into her desk in embarrassment, her ears tinged a tomato red and I snorted.

The road runner's great great great grandson ;and Speedy Gonzalez's great great great granddaughter. A match made in heaven.

I walked out of the house at a brisk pace. It was the middle of fall, and it was starting to get nippy outside.

Inside my head was a mess of ideas, ideas for my job, ideas for what Tora could make for dinner (I cant cook worth a crap, and Tora's isn't five stars worthy but it's certainly better than fast food and whatever the heck I could muster up.)

And along with that, I was trying to think of ways to get what I wanted the most, for Tora to be happy. What can I say? I'm a stubborn guy.

As the grocery store came into view, so did a local communal holo-communications board. Ads would slide across the surface at timed intervals, it saved space and paper. Normally I bypass the cheesy ad boards, but this time, something caught my eye.

A bright blue and green ad, with yellow lettering read

Janitorial Services Wanted.

Employee must be well organized, able to clean a large sized apartment, and , if the need may arise, able to cook a full meal.

For more information, contact (***-***-***) [1]. Doing so in private is heavily advised.

I had taken out my cell phone and was dialing the number before I even registered what it was I wanted to do.

Before I could press 'send' I remembered what that the employer wanted me to call in private, so I ducked into a small library unit, and went towards the back, where cell phone use was permitted and so I wouldn't bother anyone else. It was a Sunday, so the library was pretty much abandoned anyways.

I pressed the send button, and waited for the call to go through. There was a dial up tone, and I flipped my phone so it was lying flat in my palm, and the hologram face of whoever picked it up could be displayed.

Imagine my surprise, when a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and glowing white eyes came up. In fact, it seemed like everything about this lady glowed, even the hologram she emitted made the somewhat dulled corner of the library I was in shine a little brighter.

I'd have to ask her how she did that, when I could, after all it takes a lot to dazzle me. Actually, something about this celestial looking lady looked really familiar.

"Hello Acmetropolis citizen," the woman greeted stoically, and I blinked, finally recognizing who she was.

"You're Zadavia, aren't you. You're the lady that works with the Loonatics." Whenever there was a major crisis around the city, and it seemed like the Loonatics were losing or having trouble, Zadavia's face would pop up on holo-boards and TV's alike to help them out. It wasn't as if the Loonatics were the only ones who could see it, eventually someone would have to notice her.

The woman seemed vaguely surprised, raising an eyebrow, "I am. And I presume you are the one who responded to my Ad for janitorial services."

"I-well no that was for…" I stopped and Zadavia seemed to realize I was gathering my thoughts. She waited patiently, looking bemused as I closed my eyes and let my head catch up with what was happening, what this meant.

I now had a direct link to the head behind the loonatics, something each of their fan clubs had not been able to accomplish at all in a year and a half.

I let a mischievous smile stretch across my face, this was just too. Perfect.

"Sorry about that, it's been a crazy day, had to give myself a minute to think," I apologized quickly, like it was normal, "I did call in response to your Ad, but it's not me who wants the job."

Zadavia seemed confused and even a little alarmed, but the grin never left my face, "I'm calling you on behalf of my best friend, Tora."

Cal is such an evil little turd sometimes lol. Anyways, the first chapter is finally done. I hope everyone liked what they read. If you review, be sure to be constructive with your criticism please. Actually a review for encouragement would be nice too. Just let me know if I'm getting too long winded in my story. There's a lot of details I want to fit in there but I don't want the story to get boring.

Loonatics will actually show up in the next chapter, I promise. But at least they were mentioned a lot in this one.