Author's note: I'm not sure if I've said it already but this is the reason that the rating is a K+. Reading through it now, it doesn't seem that bad but at the time it seemed much worse. I'm just parinoid that way. Well, that's all I have to say so I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.
Duck sat with a huff on the park bench. Ace could be so stubborn sometimes; even when he'd made it clear that he was willing to take the risk to get Rev back, Ace had still been hesitant. While Duck was flattered to hear how much he knew he was worth to the team, sometimes enough was enough.
With a sigh Duck looked around the forest where their team member had disappeared. Though it went against his personality, Duck couldn't help but miss the annoying roadrunner. He guessed living with someone for two years would do that to you. It was the same with all his teammates: though he'd argue and complain about rescuing them, it was all just a face. He'd still go out of his way to help get them back; like when Aldopho had taken Ace or when Tech had been kidnapped by Black Velvet. In fact, he realised as he thought about it, they'd had to rescue every single one of their team members at one point or another in their career as superheroes.
All of a sudden he was brought out of his musings by a soft click.
Acting instinctively, Duck quacked away and a second later a small fuzzy projectile flew right though the spot where Duck had been.
Cheated of his prey, the robot growled; discarding secrecy in favour of force as it stepped out into the open.
Duck, who had just reappeared, let out a yell, "Now, Tech! Now!"
Tech fired up his portable EMP generator and a large surge of electricity jumped from the device to the charging robot, causing its circuits to overload.
"Well, that went well," Duck commented as the remains of electricity died away and the charred machine collapsed to the ground.
"Hey Tech," Ace asked, stepping out of the forest where he and the others had been hiding, "are you sure you can get a signal out of dis thing after you shoit circuited it?"
Tech scoffed, his paws already attaching wires and typing in commands, "Are you kidding? I specially reprogrammed the EMP to release a pulse at a voltage that would disrupt the robot's commands but leave his software intact. If I can't get the coordinants for the Birdwatcher's base from this thing, I'll give up inventing for good." He let out a triumphant cry as his screen lit up with a glowing dot. "According to the robot, we'll find Rev at approximately 257.49km North, 19.67km East and 3.82km up."
"So how do we get there without drawing attention to ourselves?" Lexi asked.
"That's what I'm working on now," Tech replied. "I'm currently reprogramming the robot to emit a return signal, causing it to head back to the base. We can hitch a ride on it, that way no one will be aware of our arrival until it's too late to stop it."
Ace smiled, "Tech, you are a genius."
Tech shrugged, "Of course."
Rev unscrewed the cover in front of him quickly and efficiently, before sliding it up and inside the air duct with him. Now, with nothing blocking the vent, Rev had a clear view of his brother below, slumped against the wall of his cell.
He jumped up in surprise as Rev landed in front of him.
"Rip!" Rev said excitedly.
As Rip's surprise melted away, it morphed into a look of horror, "Rev? What are you doing here? Go! It's a t-"
Before he could finish, both he and Rev were grabbed from behind.
They were pulled apart by the robotic guards; two tightly holding Rip and the other two pinning the struggling Rev to the ground.
Despite his strugglings he still managed to throw a glare at the Birdwatcher as he entered.
The villian stopped in front of him, a smug smile painted on his face while his eyes above were as cold as ice. "So you thought you could escape, huh?" he asked Rev softly. "Sorry to disappoint you but no one has ever – or will ever – escape from me."
He picked up Rev's drill from where it had fallen, "It was a very good idea, I'll give you that much. You might even have pulled it off – if you weren't been so attached to your brother. Fortunately for me however, you are."
Rev's eyes narrowed as he saw his brother's head droop, obviously blaming himself for what had happened, "Don't-listen-to-him-Rip.-It's-not-your-fault.-We're-brothers,-family.-And-family-does-that-for-each-other.-I'm-willing-to-face-whatever-consequences-there-are-for-my-actions-because-it-was-my-choice."
The Birdwatcher laughed, "That's very touching, however you are right: you are going to have to face the consequences. You see, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson. It's nothing personal; I just can't afford for it to happen again." His smile fell off his face, "Go at it boys."
The two robots immediately sprang into action, kicking and punching the downed roadrunner with a brutal efficiency.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" Rip shouted, struggling in vain against his captors as he tried to go to his brother's aid. After a minute of struggling, Rip turned away from the scene, unable to watch the guards beat up his brother.
Finally the Birdwatcher called the guards off and they pulled Rev to his feet, his body now covered in cuts and bruises. Blood dribbled down his beak, and judging by the angle of his left forearm, it was broken. But he didn't let the pain show and he defiantly met the cold stare of the Birdwatcher.
The Birdwatcher sneered, "I told you my guards didn't like it when someone tried to escape. So now that you know the punishment, I expect you not to try and escape again. Got it?"
Please Rev, just back down this once, Rip pleaded silently. Don't try and be the hero for me.
But Rev stood resolute, his gaze never wavering and his stance clearly indicating that he would, by no means, stop trying.
The Birdwatcher's met his stare, "So be it: if you won't choose not to escape, I'll just have to make sure you can't – permanently."
He barked some orders to the robots, causing them to seize Rev and start after their master.
Rip found himself thrust backwards as his captors joined the barrier around his brother.
"Rev!" Rip cried, running to the edge of his cage. But he could only watch helplessly as his echoing cry trailed after the retreating form of his brother, before both disappeared.
Ace clung to the robot as the wind whipped his ears round his head. Around him Lexi, Duck and Slam clung on also as Tech steered them through the bright blue sky.
As they passed through a cloud bank, the view on the other side made them gasp: a huge ship loomed ahead of them, perfectly hidden inside the natural cloud formation around them.
As they approached, a small door opened up in the side and the robot – Loonatics and all – passed through without incident.
Once inside they were met by a pontoon of guards, obviously sent to escort the captured Duck had the robot been successful. However, the Loonatics were ready for this and before the guards could attack, Tech sent a blast from his EMP causing the robots to shut down.
"There: we're inside and no one knows we're here," he stated smugly.
"Nice work," Ace commented as he jumped off their hijacked robot. "Have you managed ta get our communicators working yet?"
Tech pursed his lips in a frown, "Unfortunately no: I'd need access to the main frame of the ship to do that."
"No helping it, we'll have ta stick together. Come on let's go."
The guards dragged Rev down a long corridor, navigating the twists and turns with ease before stopping in front of a large metal door. Carefully, the Birdwatcher opened it, giving Rev a full view of what was inside. He blanched. The room looked like something out of a horror movie: there were several operating tables throughout the room, both large and small, and several empty cages hung from the ceiling. But it was the walls that caused Rev to shudder: they were covered with every possible operating devise Rev had ever seen, plus some he didn't even want to.
Sickened, he averted his eyes. He had to get out of here. Mustering all his energy, Rev made a sudden dash forward, causing the guard's now slackened grip to lose hold of him. Even with all the cuts and bruises he'd sustained, plus a slight limp, Rev's super speed carried him out of the robots' reach.
Excited by his success, Rev started towards the door but a sluggish feeling overtook him. His speed slowed and he fell to his hands and knees as his energy drained. With considerable effort he raised his head towards the smirking Birdwatcher.
"What's happening?" he asked, noting that his voice sounded normal.
The Birdwatcher lifted a bright glowing container. "Curium 247," he explained. "Powerful stuff: even a single touch is enough to kill you, while being in close proximity to it is enough to temporarily drain your powers and your energy."
The two guards pulled the limp roadrunner up and over to one of the operating tables. Once he was secured, the Birdwatcher put away the Curium before standing over the helpless avian.
"Don't worry, you're still one of my priceless possessions so I'm not going to damage you – much. I'm just making sure you can't escape again; and that means eliminating your ability to fly. Unfortunately, I can't clip your wings like I would for other birds, but that's okay because I have a better solution." He walked over to a nearby tray and lifted up a large syringe, filled with a strange black liquid. "This is a very unique substance called Eulurium, I'm not sure if you're heard of it? It has the distinct property of being a liquid under normal circumstances unless the molecules are vibrated at rapid speeds; then it becomes a solid. Chemically unreactive too: meaning once in your blood stream, it will be permanent. The substance will be ineffective, unless you try to fly, then it will cause your arms to become too heavy for lift. Oh, did I forget to mention that it'll be extremely painful as a solid?" His smirk grew, "The only problem is that it will inhibit your super speed too, but that can't be helped. It was the value of it that I cared more about anyway."
The Loonatics raced through the barred corridors of the Birdwatcher's ship, glancing at, but not wanting to take in the sight of all the forlorn feathered bundles that surrounded them.
Suddenly, Lexi stopped as her ears picked up the faint sounds of a struggle.
"Guys wait!" She called to the others.
Realising she'd stopped, Ace, Duck, Tech and Slam closed the distance that had grown.
"What is it?" Ace asked.
"Something's going on up that way," Lexi stated, pointing down the hallway to her left. "And I'm pretty sure Rev's involved."
"Bghalghbgh-come on," Slam growled before taking off down the corridor, the others hot on his heels.
With Lexi giving directions, the Loonatics navigated the twists and turns easily, before arriving at the previous scene of commotion.
In the cell in front of them stood a distraught, purple roadrunner. He stood clutching the bars as if his grip alone would cause the bars to crumble so he could go free.
He gasped when he saw them, "Loonatics!"
"Rip!" Lexi exclaimed, pleased.
"Don't worry, we'll get you out of dere," Ace promised, "Now stand back."
Hastily, he moved out of the way and Ace shot a laser beam at the cell; neatly melting out a large square.
Ignoring the clattering bars falling round the entrance, Rip shot out of the cage before pulling urgently on Ace's arm. "Come on, we have to move: Rev's in trouble!"
"What?"
"How do you know?"
"Where is he?"
"Is he hurt?"
"Do you know where he is?"
The distressed Loonatics' questions bombarded him from all sides but Rip simply brushed them off.
"Come on. I'll explain on the way."
He took off quickly with the Loonatics on his heels. His speed, however, worried them: they had never seen the bird move so fast before. That could only mean that something was seriously wrong.
"Alright Rip, spill: why is Rev in trouble?" Ace demanded.
So, as they raced through the corridors, Rip started to explain, "Well Rev escaped, see. Except the Birdwatcher found out and knew he would come rescue me next so he set a trap. They caught Rev but he was still being defiant so the Birdwatcher said he was going to make sure Rev couldn't escape again - permanently."
Tech felt his stomach tighten at the implications of what that meant but a question pressed itself on his mind, "So how do you know where to go?"
"We passed the Birdwatcher's experiment room when I first came here. The door was open when they marched me past so I saw what it contained. I just figured that's where they were taking him."
Suddenly he stopped. "This is it," he stated. Before them was a large iron door.
"Slam, you're up," Ace instructed. Nodding, the Tasmanian Devil pulled at the door, making the metal buckle and deform. Wenching it away, Slam threw it to the side leaving a gaping opening before them.
The Birdwatcher looked up in surprise at the intruders as they entered.
"Oh-guys-I-must-say-I've-never-been-happier-to-see-you," Rev called from where he was strapped down on one of the tables.
By this time the Birdwatcher had overcome his astonishment, "Loonatics: what an unexpected surprise. I must commend you on your ability of finding my lair, no one has ever been able to do that before."
"Yeah nice place," Ace's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Now, I believe you have something of ours and we want him back."
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that: I've become very attached to him. Guards!"
At their master's call, three robots jumped out of the shadows to attack the group.
Tackling the one flying towards Rip, Slam smiled. It was about time he got some payback for the fight in the park. As Slam preoccupied one guard, Tech and Duck worked together to take down the second while Ace and Lexi were efficiently dispatching the third. All in all, it wasn't looking good for the robots.
Just as Slam was pulling back his fist for the final blow, he felt his strength leave him and he collapsed onto the ground. Around him, the other Loonatics fell to their knees, weakened by the strange force.
Wearily raising his head, Slam focused on the gloating Birdwatcher as he lifted high the container of Curium 247.
Dun dun dun! So this has got to be one of my favourite chapters, I just love the suspense and build up. Unfortunately there isn't many chapters left to go, for which reason I'm really sad but I'm also excited because that means I can start working on a new story. Anyway, reviews would be wonderful: so please review. :)
