Acmetropolis, California, March 15, 2772.
It had been several days since the meteor fell and Tech and had been spending time in an abandoned junkyard, testing our powers to see what our limits were. When Tech started his tests, I was fascinated to see that not only did he possess magnekinesis, he also had the power of molecular regeneration. With those abilities, he could not only levitate and crush anything metallic, but he could also heal and reform himself from any kind of damage. Needless to say, he wasn't keen on testing his power of regeneration since he still feels pain when he does get hurt. As for me, I have discovered that the meteor had given me two abilities. The first ability is amorphous physiology-my body has become a liquid substance with elastic properties that can shape-shift into any form I can think of. My second ability is power mimicry. By just touching a person, I can copy their talents and abilities and use them for myself. I discovered the second ability the hard way when I bumped into Tech by accident and then stumbled backwards onto a live power cable. I was electrocuted and disintegrated into ashes, scaring the hell out of Tech and me in the process. Seconds later, I reformed back to normal, discovering that I had luckily mimicked Tech's power of regeneration, along with his family history of bad luck.
When we took a few blood tests, we were dumbfounded to discover that our genetic code had been greatly altered at a cellular level. We were shocked that our bodies were so drastically changed by the meteor but the scientists in us were simply giddy with excitement, knowing that this was the discovery of the century. Tech and I decided to run more tests to make sure that there were no further mutations.
Back in the junkyard again today, I was playing around, forming my body into a ball shape and smashing myself into a wrecked car. Tech was taking notes on his holographic wrist computer.
"How did I do?" I asked, after I had liquefied and reformed back into my human form.
"Fascinating, I have never seen anything like this before. From what I can see, you can morph into different shapes flawlessly. Let's try something else. How about transforming into me," Tech suggested.
I nodded and focused on changing into an exact replica of Tech as I felt my body shifting into a different shape. When I was done, Tech was staring at me in awe.
"How about now?" I asked, and my eyes widened when I heard Tech's voice coming out of my mouth.
"See for yourself," Tech said, pointing to a mirror with a look of amazement on his face.
I walked over to the mirror and I was astounded when I saw my refection. Instead of seeing a casually dressed 5'9" tall, 25 year old human male with blond hair and green eyes, I saw Tech staring back at me with a look of astonishment on his face. What really amazed me was that there was no difference at all in detail and that I had perfectly replicated Tech's clothes as well. Tech walked over to me and we both looked at each other.
"Incredible, it's like looking in a mirror. Nothing's out of place, not even the slightest detail and you can impersonate clothes and voices as well. If I didn't know any better, I would have mistaken you for a clone," Tech said breathlessly.
I looked back in the mirror and started feeling my new fur, tail, ears, and muzzle, discovering that not only did they look the same as Tech's, they even felt the same.
"This is amazing. I can shape-shift into different forms so perfectly that nobody would be able to tell the difference. This ability would be perfect for infiltration," I said gleefully.
I shifted back to my human form and I started thinking about the repercussions of what I could do. From what I could tell, when I transformed into another person, I was such an exact replica of that person, right down to the clothing and voice that nobody could tell the difference. What scared me was the thought that if someone else had this ability and wanted to use it for evil, they could commit a crime in the shape of an innocent bystander, framing someone else for their crime. It was like that famous quote from Spider-man, "With great power, comes great responsibility." I knew that I needed to make sure that I would never abuse something like this and never become like Mallory.
Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from a public communications booth nearby, as if someone were calling. Tech and I stared at it in confusion.
"What the Hell? Who could that be?" I asked Tech, who gave a shrug in response.
"I don't know, let's find out," Tech said.
Feeling dubious, Tech and I walked over to the booth. I pushed the on switch and the screen lit up but was all static and I couldn't see anyone.
"Hello?" I asked hesitatingly.
"Hello Ethan, I've been trying to contact you and Tech for a few days now," A calm female voice said.
"Who the Hell is this? Why are you trying to contact us?" I questioned, not liking that this person knew who I was and could be watching us right now.
"My name is Zadavia and as for why I am contacting you, that will be explained in time. For now, five other people that have been changed by the meteor like you and Tech have are going to be coming over to the junkyard to meet you two. I'll watch and let you all get acquainted," Zadavia explained.
And just as she said that, I heard more than one person coming toward us. Within a few seconds, five anthros appeared from around the corner and came toward us. I recognized them from our first night at the stadium. They were the male and female rabbits, the road runner, the duck, and the Tasmanian devil.
"Those are the two people that Zadavia talked about? They don't look like much," The duck said rudely, his voice holding a slight lisp.
"Be nice Duck. Sorry about him, he can be a bit of an asshole. Name's Lexi Bunny." The female rabbit said.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ethan Matthews and this is Tech E. Coyote," I said.
"Good to meet you Doc. My name is Ace Bunny, no relation to Lexi over here and these three are Rev Runner, Daniel Duck and Slam Tasmanian," Ace said, with a strong Brooklyn accent.
Suddenly, Rev was instantly in front us Tech and I, shaking our hands rapidly.
"It's really nice to meet you two, this is so amazing, I thought I was the only one with super powers until Zadavia contacted me and told me where to meet with the others. I could see that I'm not the only person with super powers, this will be interesting. Do you have superpowers too? What's your power? Mine is-" Rev rambled on in a never ending rapid fire speech until Tech clamped his hand on Rev's beak, out of irritation to shut him up.
"Yes Rev, it's nice to meet you too but how did you get over here so fast? You had to be standing a few feet away from us," I asked him as Tech was taking his hand off Rev's beak.
Rev didn't say anything but literally zoomed around the junkyard at such an extremely fast speed that all I could see was a blur. He was going so fast that I thought that he was going to break the sound barrier until he came to a sudden stop in front of us.
"Well, what do you think?" Rev asked us.
"Incredible, you were moving so fast that you could have gone faster than the speed of sound. How about the rest of you?" Tech asked the others.
"Watch and observe," Daniel said smugly and he literally vanished in a second before appearing next to us and teleporting back to his original position. Tech and I stared at him in astonishment.
"Hold your applause, 'cause this handsome duck has more to show you," Daniel said arrogantly before a flaming sphere of energy appeared in his hand. Before anyone could stop him, he threw it at a wrecked car which immediately exploded, forcing me, Tech, and everyone else to drop to the ground, covering our heads.
"Fucking Hell!" I yelled in panic.
"Jesus Danny! Are you trying to fucking kill us?!" Lexi shouted in a pissed off tone, while we were getting up off the ground.
"Huh, must've put too much power into it, oh well," Daniel commented in a nonchalant tone before he asked Tech and I, "What do you think? Pretty amazing for someone as awesome as myself."
Glaring at the egotistical asshole, I snapped in irritation, "What the Hell is wrong with you, dumbass?! We could've gotten killed!"
"Well sorry if I just wanted to show everyone how awesome I am," Daniel said snidely.
My eyes widened in fury and I was about to walk over there and knock that arrogant douchebag into next week when Tech put his hand on my shoulder and he shook his head, sending a silent message that it wasn't worth it and I took a few deep breaths to calm down.
"Okay, now that everyone has calmed down, let me show you two what I can do," Ace said. He fired lasers from his eyes at the ground a safe distance away from us, leaving two small smoking craters.
"Holy shit. That's impressive," Tech said.
Tech and I looked at Slam, who babbled some sort of gibberish and spun around until he turned into a small tornado and smashed into a car, sending it flying a few feet away. He stopped spinning and grinned at us, still babbling.
"That's awesome, but what is he saying? What language is that?" I asked in confusion.
"I don't know," Lexi answered with a shrug, "It's just the way he talks. Now my powers are simple. I can hear anything at a great distance and I can fire a concentrated blast of psychic energy at a target. What are your powers?"
"I possess the abilities of magnekinesis and molecular regeneration," Tech explained, and Daniel stared at him in confusion.
"I'm sorry, what? Do you think you can explain it without the geekspeak?" Daniel asked rudely, causing Tech and I to glare at him for the geek comment.
"Okay asshole, let me dumb it down for you. Basically I can not only levitate and crush anything metallic, I can reform and heal up from any kind of damage or disintegration," Tech explained in irritation.
"As for me, my abilities are amorphous physiology and power mimicry. Basically, my body has become a liquid-like substance that can reshape and flow into any form I desire, I can also replicate clothes and voices, making me a perfect infiltrator. As for my second ability, I can touch someone and copy their powers and talents and use them for myself. I've already copied Tech's powers so don't be alarmed if I get disintegrated by something," I explained.
"Oh yeah? If you can shape-shift into a different form, then prove it," Daniel challenged.
I smirked and shifted into a perfect copy of Daniel. As the others laughed, Daniel bristled. To add insult to injury, I said in the duck's voice, "My name is Daniel and I am a douchebag. Do any of you feel a breeze?" I turned around, pretending to look for a breeze to reveal a human-looking ass under my tailfeathers.
Everyone dissolved into laughter as Daniel grumbled, "that doesn't look anything like me. You're despicable."
I shifted back into my own form, laughing with everyone except the duck who walked away fuming. Laughing together had broken the ice and I felt like we would all become good friends. Even the cranky duck.
"Okay, now that we know what our abilities are, how about we talk about what we did before the meteor hit the city," Tech suggested.
"Good idea, Tech. How about you and Ethan tell us what you did before," Ace said.
"Tech and I were Seniors at Acme Tech Institute. Actually, just before the meteor hit, we were presenting our senior thesis, but one of the professors got impatient and accidentally started the self destruct mechanism. When it exploded, it damn near killed us all in the process. We got kicked out because of it and that's when we saw the meteor falling from the sky. How about you Ace?" I asked.
"I was a martial arts movie stuntman that wanted to be something more then a stunt double but my former boss didn't see that and kept having me do the same old thing. I was on set when the meteor hit the city," Ace explained.
Lexi chimed in, "I was a student at the Acme University trying out for the cheerleading squad. I showed the judges my incredible gymnastic skills, impressing two of them but the third one, who was the head cheerleader, rejected me because she was jealous of my skills. When the meteor hit the city, the University was pretty much destroyed and a lot of my classmates were killed by the shockwave."
"God, I'm sorry to hear that," I said sympathetically before I looked at Daniel, who had cooled down a bit and come back to join us. I tried to make peace with him by including him in the conversation and asked, "How about you Daniel? What did you do?"
"I was a heroic life guard that was always on the lookout for danger and ready to help those in need," Daniel boasted dramatically.
"No you weren't, I saw you at the stadium. You were wearing a poolboy outfit. Nice try though," I said, resulting in Daniel sputtering. So much for making peace.
"All right fine, I was a poolboy. Go ahead and laugh but I wanted to be a life guard so I could help people. That's how great I am," Daniel said arrogantly.
"Is this guy fucking serious? He's got an ego the size of Lady Liberty," I thought, looking at Daniel unamused.
"Anyway, how about you Rev? What's your story?" Tech asked.
"I used to work at a Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack as a delivery boy. I was making a delivery when the meteor hit the city," Rev explained quickly.
"Wow, that must have been rough. And what did you do Slam? When I saw you at the stadium, you were wearing wrestling gear," I commented.
Slam broke out into a long unintelligible explanation. In confusion, Tech and I looked the others for help.
"I don't mean to be offensive to Slam, but what did he say?" Tech asked, looking at anyone to translate what Slam said.
"He said that Ethan was right. He was a professional wrestler, and was actually in the middle of a match when the meteor hit the city," Lexi translated.
"Okay, now that we've all become acquainted, let's talk to Zadavia and figure out why she brought us all together," Ace said.
I nodded and went back to the communicator screen and said, "Zadavia? Are you still there?"
"I am, Ethan," Zadavia replied.
"Okay, now that we know each other, do you think you can tell us why you've gathered us together?" I asked.
"The city needs your help. Due to the meteor strike, people are taking advantage of the destruction, looting and causing chaos. The Military is doing a good job of keeping order but there may be other people that have been changed like all of you and could be using their powers for nefarious purposes. The Military will not be able to stop them, which is why I am forming a team of people with your abilities that will help to keep order in the city," Zadavia explained.
"So, you're basically asking us to become a team of vigilantes?" Ace asked skeptically, "No offense Zadavia, but how do we know that we can trust you? You've just come from out of nowhere and gathered us all in one place. How do we know that this isn't a trap?"
"I understand that you all are wary and you have every right to be. But if you accept this offer, then you will be able to help those in need and prevent the city from falling into chaos. If you don't want to accept my offer, then I'll completely understand. The choice is yours," Zadavia said.
I didn't know what to think. If we accept this offer, then we'll become a team of super heroes like The Avengers or The Justice League. We would be able to assist the first responders, like the Police and the Military that wouldn't be trained to deal with any "super villains" that might appear. We could really help a lot of people. But what if this was a trap like Ace said? I decided to agree to this offer and keep my reservations to myself for now. I looked around at the others, who seemed to have come to the same decision but, like me, were still somewhat wary about this.
"Okay everyone, have we made a decision? Are we going to accept this offer?" Ace asked us.
Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement. I looked back at the phone and said, "Okay Zadavia, we've thought about this and we have decided to agree to your offer. But, if we are asked to do something we don't like in any way, then the deal's off. Is that fair?"
"Yes it is Ethan. Now that you all have accepted my offer, I want you to head downtown. I have modified a building for you to live in and use as a headquarters," Zadavia said.
"She built an H.Q. for us? Damn, she works fast," I thought, amazed at the resources Zadavia must have and wondering what her part was in all of this.
The seven of us left the junkyard and headed downtown. As we walked, Daniel was chatting about how he was going to be famous for being a super hero. I thought about how drastically our lives had been changed by the meteor and that we were about to become some kind of super heroes who could protect the people of Acmetroplis from dangerous threats that the police and the Military wouldn't be able to handle. When we arrived at the address Zadavia had given us, my mouth dropped open in shock at where we were going to be living from now on.
The building was taller than any building in the city. It was as tall as the former world trade center if that was possible. I was looking up at a giant green scepter with a globe at the top of the building. The scientist and the technological genius in me was freaking out in excitement at what I was seeing, I wanted to study the engineering of the building to see if there was any kind of defense grid and/or weapons system.
"Holy shit...Tech, are you seeing this?" I asked in awe.
"I do. We need to study the layout of the building and see if we can learn anything about it," Tech said, looking giddy at the sight.
"Oh great, now the two egg heads have gone completely nerdy on us," I heard Daniel scoff but I was in too much of a good mood to be bothered by his insult, so I just ignored him.
As all seven of us entered the building, we saw on the directory that our living quarters were on the 134th floor. We gathered near the elevator and pushed the up button. The door opened immediately and we all walked in. After ascending to the 134th floor, we exited the elevator into a lavish living space, something like a huge living room. We wandered around to see what else was there.
The 134th floor had a meeting room, kitchen/dining room and bedrooms for all of us and best of all, is that there was a large built in lab where Tech and I could experiment, invent and produce gadgets for the team. Needless to say that Tech and I were pretty impressed at the facilities. All seven of us met back up in the meeting room so that we could talk.
"I still believe that Zadavia built all of this so quickly. She works fast," Ace commented, looking impressed.
"Yes she does. Now we just need to find a way to contact her and thank her for doing this for us," I said.
Suddenly, an alarm came from a console on the table, causing all seven of us to jump. I hesitantly pushed the button that had lit up and the hologram of a woman with blond hair and green eyes appeared, hovering above the console.
"Hello everyone," The woman greeted in a familiar voice.
"Zadavia? Is that you?" Ace asked her.
"Yes Ace, this is what I look like. What do you all think about your accommodations?" Zadavia asked us.
"It's pretty impressive, and the fact that there is a lab for Tech and me to work in is amazing," I said, smiling gratefully.
"It is no trouble at all. I knew that a lab would be crucial to our work and I'm glad you like it. If there is any equipment or supplies you need, you will have it right away," Zadavia said.
"In addition, there are suits waiting for all of you in the lab," Zadavia said.
"You've made suits for us?" Tech asked in anticipation.
"Yes I did. The suits have nano-robots inside the fabric so that they will adapt to your powers and repair themselves if they get damaged in any way," Zadavia explained.
Excited, we all went to the lab and found the suits, along with gloves, belts and boots, arranged on a large table. The suits were black with detail in a single accent color, matching the color of an upside-down triangle on the chest. The different colors were red, pink, yellow, green, orange, purple, and silver.
After putting on the suits, gloves, belts, and boots, and meeting back around the table, we could see that our skin and fur tone had changed to match the color of our suit, I concluded that this was to protect our identities to prevent anyone from going after those we love to get to us.
"Feels nice. Not too tight and not too loose," I mumbled to myself, examining my suit that had the silver color on it and I looked at everyone else.
Ace was wearing the yellow suit and he was moving his shoulders around to see how the suit felt and he nodded, looking satisfied.
Lexi was wearing the pink suit, doing a few gymnastic moves to see what moving inside the suits was like. She gave us a thumbs up to let us know that there was enough space to move around quickly.
Tech was in the green suit, studying it before he walked over to the table to examine it even more.
Slam was in the purple suit, throwing a few punches before speaking in that gibberish language but I could tell from his expression that he was happy.
Rev was zooming around while he was wearing the red suit, ranting quickly in excitement. I shuddered to think what would happen if Rev ever got his hands on any coffee and I swore to keep the coffee locked up so Rev couldn't get at it.
Finally, Daniel was wearing the orange suit, admiring himself in a mirror and talking about how good he looked and how he would make the ladies swoon. I rolled my eyes at his obnoxiousness, but still smiled at how happy he appeared.
All seven of us walked back to the meeting room where the hologram of Zadavia was still on.
"I see you are all wearing the suits. How are they?" Zadavia asked us.
"They're perfect Zadavia. We have the suits and we have a headquarters. Now all we need is a team name," Ace said.
We tried to figure out a name that the people of this city could use to refer to us. Tech, Lexi, Slam, Daniel, Rev, Ace, and I each threw out a suggestion or two, but none of them was quite right. Daniel suggested a few grandiose names but most of them sounded ridiculous. Daniel was really insisting on the name Heroes of Justice, but the rest of us kept shooting it down because of how stupid it sounded. We needed criminals to take us seriously, not to make them laugh at us. Just when I thought we would never come up with a name, Zadavia spoke up.
"I can see that you all are having difficulty coming up with a team name. How about The Loonatics? It fits does it not?" She suggested to us.
I put my hand on my chin and realized just how simple and easy it was for people to remember and I liked the way it sounded out loud. I decided that The Loonatics would be our team name.
"The Loonatics...it's perfect, I like it. How about you Ace?" I asked him.
"I like it too. Okay everyone, does that name sound alright?" He asked and got noises of agreements before he looked a Zadavia and said, "It's official, we are The Loonatics."
"Excellent, and since a team needs a leader, I am nominating you, Ace Bunny. Good luck Loonatics. Zadavia out," She said and the hologram disappeared, leaving us alone.
"What! Why does he get to be the leader when it should be me?!" Daniel exclaimed incredulously.
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're an egotistical asshole for one. Think about that," I remarked sarcastically.
"You're despicable," Daniel retorted, looking crestfallen.
I walked over to the window and looked outside, seeing wrecked buildings, knowing that this was the start of a new beginning for not only The Loonatics, but also for the Californian city of Acmetropolis.
