Loonatics Unleashed:

"Silent Conspiracy"

(This story is post Season Two – after the cartoon series.)

Rated T for Intrigue.

Disclaimer: Loonatics Unleashed, Duck Dodgers in the 24th and ½ Century, Looney Tunes, and all related Characters and Elements are trademarks of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Other references, lyrics and quotes belong to their individual artists, authors, copyrights, or trademarks.

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Dispensing with the formalities, the mayor took out a small, palm-sized disk and pressed the play button on it. Rev returned as the recording began to play. Scratchy, and with no accompanying hologram, the recorded voice detailed the lies that the mayor wove about herself. Ace glanced at the tabloid lying on the ground, then back up into the mayor's worried face. No one ever took tabloid news seriously. Why was the mayor so concerned?

An odd look crossed Danger's face. He listened intently, more interested in the stammering voice than in what it said. Suddenly realization struck. "That ain't the recording stuttering, that's Pinkster."

"That's right- That's ri-rig- That's- . . . Got it in one." Stepping out from behind the hedgerow, carrying the biggest load of heat that the Loonatics had seen since their first encounter with the three member gang, was Pinkster and his torpedoes. Or rather Pink the Pug as he liked to be called now. The porcine anthromorph was even shorter than Danger, pink, and had a nasty scowl on his jowls. The equally short Stoney the Stone, in his grey gangster suit and tall hat, and the huge hulk of a man Bugsy the Bug, in his too small black suit and beret hat, flanked him. All three crooks were packing all the ordnance that they could carry . . . and all of it was pointed straight at the Loonatics.

"Pinkster? But . . . but you're in prison! We were just there!" Danger Duck protested flabbergasted.

"What a sap- What a sap- What a . . . palooka." Pink the Pug's face turned even uglier and he clicked off the safety from his handgun.

"Uh, duh boss was right, boss . . .uh . . .." A look of incredible denseness crossed Bugsy's face as he tried to sort out his own words. It was way too confusing having more than one boss.

"Shut up. The Loser-tics were so interested in their traitorous coyote that they totally ignored the rest of us prisoners in the poky."

"Okay, boys, open fi- open fire- open fir- . . .. Shoot them!"

Laser strikes, impact shrapnel, and concussion blasts peppered the ground at the Loonatics' feet. The guardians of the universe scattered, leaping out of the way. The micro-mob only had the three members, and none of them had superpowers. As the Loonatics flipped and rolled through the maelstrom of firepower, their main problem was in apprehending the criminals without using undo force and injuring them. A string of bullet holes striped the side of the Loonatics' supersonic transport.

"Rev, get da mayor ta da safety of her office," Ace ordered. "Slam, set your spin cycle to suction."

As the two Loonatics set to their tasks in whirlwinds of red and purple, Ace brought Duck and Lexi up with him. The corner of the yellow toned bunny's mouth twitched into wry a smile. It was a good thing that he was something of a strategist. Without that and some leadership skills, he could be easily replaced on the team with a laser pistol. Firepower was all well and good, but when it came to differentiation, others of the Loonatics proved more versatile. As soon as Slam dumped the weapons he'd suctioned off of the crooks, the three brain blasted, power egged, and eye lasered the pile into slag.

"AH!" Stoney and Bugsy ran around in hysterics, distracting the Loonatics while their adoptive son surreptitiously removed a remote control from his vest pocket.

At the top of the sunburst-capped monolith fountain, an oval iris opened to reveal a focusing lens. Pink the Pug's sinister laugh echoed around the Acmetropolis City Hall Plaza. "D-d-d-did I forget to mention that those pea-shooters you just slagged were decoy- decoy- dec- red herrings?"

A bright stab of golden lightning jabbed out from the monolith. The radiant energy struck the pavement, splattering rainbow sparks, but not causing any structural damage to the park. Luckily the beam was tightly focused and the effects were gone at the speed of light.

"Whoa! What-is-that?! Never-mind,-I-think-I-know. Not-to-alarm-you-guys-unduly-or-anything,-but-this-really,-REALLY-is-something-to-get-duly-alarmed-at. Whatever-you-do,-just-don't-get-hit-by-the-light!" Rev returned from seeing to the mayor's safety in time to see the debut firing of Pinkster's weapon. The roadster dashed fiery circles around the plaza, trying to draw fire from his teammates without getting hit himself. "'Cause-unless-I-miss-my-guess,-that-is-an-Actinoid-Curium-247-ray-cannon-which-can-strip-the-powers-right-outta-you-before-you-can-say-'Jack-Robinson'-five-times;-which-in-my-case-is-pretty-fast."

"Ya got that right, birdbrain!" Pink the Pug turned his remote control to high scattering the Loonatics again. It had been pathetically easy to mastermind replacing the curium in its security vault with a hologram and then install the real 'McCoy' in the waterworks under the plaza. The porcine gangster indiscriminately fired at whatever Loonatic he could get in his sights. "After we clean up Acmetrop- Acmetrop- this place's super powered trash, we're going after Zadavia and her brother fer starting this whole me- mess- mes- this whole thing. Now hold still so I can blast ya!"

"Duh, uh, Pug? The boss said to let that one Loonatic alone." Bugsy reminded the pink anthropomorphic pig.

"A- a- ask me if I care?" Pinkster's scowl deepened at the reminder. Then letting his lust for revenge get the better of him, Pink the Pug turned the controls, specifically targeting his old pal, Duck. Everywhere that Danger quacked, the curium beam struck. The fowl's shouts of alarm at his multiple near hits brought a smirk to Pinkster's snout. "Hit the duck and win a prise- a prise- a-a-prise- . . . win a trophy!"

"Shut up, the both of yas." Stoney stepped between his two gang members. Revenge added zest to a caper, but being blinded by it was dangerous for any crook. "We's gotta ice these Loonatics before they put us on ice."

"Classification:-Rare-Earth-Crystal-Structure,-curium-is-a-radioactive-element-that-was-discovered-by-Glenn-T.-Seaborg,-Ralph-A.-James-and-Albert-Ghiorso-in-1944. It's-an-isotope-byproduct-of-plutonium-239-after-high-energy-helium-ion-bombardment. Cm-96-is-used-as-an-alpha-particle-source-for-Alpha-Proton-X-Ray-Spectrometers,-and-is-also-an-experimental-thermoelectric-power-source." After the Loonatics' assignment to safeguard the curium back when they first met Danger's old friend, Pinkster, Rev and Tech did some reading up on the substance.

Pink the Pug was so intent on 'powering down' his old bud, that he practically ignored the rest of the Loonatics. The altercation was fast becoming a stalemate. The gangsters couldn't seem to hit the Loonatics or escape, but the anthropomorphic heroes also couldn't get close enough to arrest them. Slam felt particularly useless in this fight. At least Ace and Lexi tumbled and rolled, kicked and chopped, keeping the Terror Trio penned in the center of City Hall Plaza, but all the purple Tasmanian devil could do was spin out of the way and try not to get hit. Even he couldn't spin fast enough to outrun electrons.

If it would save his friends, Slam would gladly take the hit for the team. Of all the Loonatics here, he was the one who could most afford to lose his powers. Sure he'd be sad not to tornado and stuff anymore, but at least he had his wrestling career as a fallback. The others didn't have anything. Prior to super hero-ing, Ace was an under-appreciated movie stuntman, Rev a fast food delivery boy, Danger Duck a pool cleaner, and Lexi a student who failed to make the cheer leading team.

"Actinoid-Curium-247-is-an-isotope-unique-to-the-Merry-Melody-galaxy. With-a-half-life-of-over-a-millennium-and-a-melting-point-of-1613.15-Kelvin,-that's-1340.0 °-Celsius-or-2444.0°-Fahrenheit,-its-not-only-dangerous,-it's-also-pretty-hard-to-get-rid-of." Rev continued his one-sided conversation.

"Half-life!?" Danger Duck puffed. All this quacking was wearing him out, but he didn't dare stop and make himself a stationary target. "What about my WHOLE life! The cosmos is doomed without the might of Danger Duck."

"What-we-really-need-is-some-super-thick-lead-for-shielding,-though-if-we-get-it-far-enough-away-it-wouldn't-affect-us-either-since-the-Inverse-Square-Law,-which-states-that-doubling-the-distance-between-the-radiation-and-the-subject-results-in-only-one-quarter-of-the-radiation-hitting-the-subject,-would-come-into-effect. But-since-we-really-can't-just-abandon-Acmetropolis,-that's-not-really-an-option. Of-course-if-we-could-bury-it-deep-enough,-that-might-do-the-trick-as-well." Rev sped between Bugsy and Stoney, his beak running as fast as his feet. Rev's grin turned cunning. His teammates were more or less used to his rambling, but his rapid fire facts were driving the micro-mob to distraction. He waited a nanosecond until Pinkster clapped his hands to his aching ears, then darted forward. "And-you-don't-really-need-this-now-do-you? So-I-think-I'll-just-take-it-off-your-hands,-thank-you-very-much!"

The rampant energy blasts ceased, but the Loonatics' cheer was cut short when Rev failed to get the cannon powered down. In fact, the whole monolithic fountain began glowing red hot, evaporating the water into clouds of steam.

"You're too late, Loona- Loona- Loona- . . . heroes!" Pink the Pug pulled out a secondary remote control and jammed a stout finger on the self destruct button, locking the Curium Cannon into overload. Only Tech might have had any hope of defusing the cannon that was rapidly turning into a bomb. "You've got thirty seconds until bo- boom- boo . . . until critical meltdown!"

Seeing his chance, Slam powered up his tornado maximizer full force and spun around the monolith fountain-cannon. The devil cut through the concrete base with his vortex and drilled down deep into the foundation below, pulling the Curium Cannon with him.

"Way ta go, Slam!" Ace exchanged a brief hug with Lexi before he caught himself and reverted back into 'leader mode.' "Rev, track Slam on yer internal GPS and tell him when he's deep enough."

"Hurry,-Slam,-you-need-to-go-another-three-thousand-feet-and-you-have-only-a-few-seconds-left-so-need-to-go-faster-or-you-won't-have-time-to-get-yourself-out-of-there-before-it-blows." Rev was practically screaming into Ace's wrist communicator, his still being broken from when he'd ripped it out for Zadavia to use back when they were battling the music villain on Freleng, and then again when he was avoiding Danger. The speedster had gotten Slam's working again okay, but shorted his when he forgot to connect his static band before starting repairs. "And-take-a-couple-of-90-degree-turns-while-you're-down-there. Radiation-travels-only-in-straight-lines-and-the-added-bends-will-absorb-more-of-it."

"Okay, boys and girls, as soon as Slam resurfaces, throw everything you got at the tunnel opening and seal it off ta plug any radiation leaks."

Lexi looked in concern at her watch. "Ace, he's not going to make it. Slam either has time to get the curium deep enough or to stop now and get out of there, but not both."

"Slam! get outta there NOW!" Ace ordered through his wrist communicator. As much as the Loonatics needed their powers, they weren't worth losing Slam's life over. Even if the Tasmanian devil survived the explosion, that deep underground without his powers to spin himself back up to the surface, he'd suffocate before a rescue crew could get to him.

"Ppptttte rrhhng, no way." Slams voice came faint over Ace's communicator, nearly illegible over the noise of his tornado drilling. "Rrhhng ppptttt deep enough."

"Slam, no!" Lexi yelled. "You still have time to get out if you come now!"

"It's a far better thing he does now, than he's ever done before." Striking a melodramatic pose, Danger misquoted the old classic work by Dickens. A brief wind tugged dramatically at his tuft of black feather on his head. The bunnies' ears blew briefly to the side before uprighting themselves again. Steam and dust swirled from the hole where the monolithic fountain used to stand. Seconds ticked by. "Better him than me."

"Duck." It was incredible the amount of disapproval the pink and black clad lagomorph could inject into one word.

"Don't worry, Lexi. We'll hold a banquet in his honor. He'd like that," Danger assured his female teammate. The mallard checked his own watch. Mere seconds before detonation, he powered up a couple of fire eggs to throw at the tunnel entrance.

"Wait, where's Rev?" Ace asked. The Loonatic leader hesitated blocking off the tunnel, knowing that Slam was still down there.

"Right-here,-Ace." The errant breeze that earlier had mussed their ears returned. This time hauling a large purple form with it. When Rev realized that Slam was running out of time, the speedster raced down the tunnel to bring him back. "What-are-you-waiting-for? Seal-off-the-tunnel. Even-though-Actinoid-Curium-247-is-mostly-just-a-danger-to-powered-individuals-like-us,-radiation-is-still-a-carcinogen-that-could-harm-even-ordinary-citizens. And-even-if-in-the-twenty-eighth-century-we-have-good-radiation-decontamination-techniques-and-even-better-medical-treatments,-it's-better-safe-than-sorry."

Just as Ace, Lexi, and Duck sealed off the opening, a dull thump sounded, indicating the cannon detonated far below. A small section of paving, not much larger than a pothole, sank as the tunnel that Slam dug collapsed, completely burying the curium miles below the surface.

"Well, that was somewhat anti-climatic. I was expecting a bigger boom than just a bump that set off a few car alarms." Lexi looked around the City Hall Plaza, then smiled at her teammates. Except for the indent where the monolithic fountain used to stand, they didn't even have much collateral damage. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I've had enough excitement for our first day back to Acmetropolis."

"Uh, what do we do, boss? What do we do?" Bugsy twisted his beret style cap in his hands.

"Shut up. The jig is up. We gotta make our getaway." Stunned by the sudden change in their fortunes, the gansters took off running.

"I don't think so, short stack." Ace stood with his fists on his hips. "Lexi, let's you and me take down 'Mutt and Jeff.' Slam and Rev, get da pink munchkin."

"No, Ace. Pinkster was my friend. I'll get him" Danger quacked on top of his childhood pal. "Sorry, pink-stuff. But no one scrambles this duck's eggs."

"Ha! Guardian strike sword, attack!" Ace waited until his teammates rounded up the gangsters then activated his sword. Power snaked out along the ground, crackling around the gangsters and forming a temporary force barrier to contain them.

In next to no time, the micro-mob of Pink, Bug, and Stone was safely encapsulated in gluco-gel ready for their trip back to prison. Bugsy was encased from neck to leather gaiter spats; Stoney and Pink were on his shoulders. While waiting for the police to arrive, Rev took Slam over to the supersonic transport to see what damage it had sustained in the battle.

"Uh, Boss? Da boss sure ain't gonna like dis!"

"Shut up."

Ignoring the other two gangsters, Danger Duck walked up to his one-time friend. "What happened Pork Chop? You didn't used to be like this." Still upset that Pinkster actually turned bad, Danger nonetheless slipped into old habits. Calling his old friend by his nickname seemed to make him less of a criminal.

"This happened." Working a hand free of the gel, Pinkster tossed a holo-cube photo at the action hero duck. Turned one way, it showed the Mayor of Acmetropolis when she gave the Loonatics an award at the one year anniversary of the meteor strike. When turned the other way . . ..

"What? I don't get it." Danger flipped the cube around in his hands. "It's just an old picture of Zadavia and her court, with General Deuce and Rupes Oberon before their betrayals, . . . and the mayor standing in the middle of the front row . . .."

"Y- Y- You don't need super powers to be a super tactical genius to see the mayor's conspira- conspria- . . . subterfuge with Zadavia!" Pink the Pug and his gang not only got a free ticket out of prison in exchange for taking out the Loonatics, but they also got information on the mayor of Acmetropolis and her 'secret dealings' with an alien planet. It only made sense that they sweeten their deal with a little extortion of the mayor for being on Zadavia's court.

The pig's use of the word 'genius' caught like ground glass on the Loonatics' ears and they missed most of what he said. It was incredible to think, but they couldn't help but wonder if Pinkster's higher boss wasn't somehow Tech. But that couldn't be right, could it? If Tech could manage to get the three gangsters sprung from prison, why not himself? And it wasn't like the coyote to use others to do his work for him.

"It was an agree- an agree- a conspiracy between the two planetary leaders. Zadavia got her person put into the Acmetroplolis leadership," the porcine anthromorph insisted.

"No way!" Lexi interrupted. The pink bunny found the gangster's rationalizing nothing but a pack of rational lies. Even if it turned out to be true, the Terror Trio were not as altruistic and patriotic as they claimed. They were still nothing but a gang of thugs jealously trying to steal the Loonatics' powers so that they could more conveniently plunder the populous. "Since she became mayor, she's met the planet's power needs, made it safer from crooks like you, improved the pedestrian infrastructure, reduced taxes, and . . .."

"AND that doesn't change the fact that the mayor's not an Acmetropolis citiz, citiz, citiz, . . . that she's an alien!" Pinkster insisted.

"Old bacon bits has a point, there," Danger murmured to himself. Seeing Ace's stern glare, the mallard quickly spoke up to defend his statement. "No, really Ace, think about it. When Zadavia took refuge under Acmetropolis' waters, the mayor provided the Freleng princess under-the-table access to all of Acmetropolis' security networks. Now it doesn't mean that it was a conspiracy, not a sinister one anyway. And through their cooperation, the citizens of Acmetropolis and Freleng and later even Blanc, were kept safe. Of course, we do that now, so it isn't really necessary anymore."

Ace shook his head and walked away, leaving Danger to trail after him to continue pressing his point. He absolutely refused to argue with the delusional mallard. Zadavia would straighten everything out once they got back. But first he had a few loose ends to tie up. He'd clear it with Tweetums, but he'd like a day or two to make sure the danger here was really past. After turning the micro-mob over to the authorities, the Loonatic leader approached Rev and Slam working on the Loonatics' transport. Slam held the large vehicle above his head while Rev worked on the engine block from underneath. The roadrunner pried out a piece of shrapnel with a pair of pliers. "Eh, what's up, Docs? Besides da transport dat is."

"Okay,-that's-good,-Slam. You-can-put-it-down-now." Rev reconnected a few wires, barely dashing out of the way when the purple Tasmanian devil unceremoniously dropped the transport. It felt odd to be the one in charge and giving orders. Tech usually did that, but the roadrunner was adjusting. "Oh,-Ace,-good-you're-here. Start-it-up-would-you?"

Ace, Lexi, Slam, and Duck jumped into the supersonic transport and Ace punched the ignition. The engine coughed once, then backfired through the ventilation, filling the whole passenger compartment with smoke.

Rev popped open the exterior access panel, then grinned sheepishly. The gadgeteer quickly uncrossed his wiring. "Oops . . .. Shall-we-try-that-again?"

"Yes," Danger quacked out, coughing from the smoke. "This time without the 'oops.'"

Ace tried the ignition again, and this time the transport rose a few inches into the air. "Hey dere, Rev? How about ya going ta visit yer family while we're here? Dat goes for alla ya. Take a little R&R since t'ings are settled down for a bit. Dis is our home planet after all. We can meet back at da old tower in a couple of days."

Yellow Triangle.

"All right Mallory, here's the deal," Tech began. Once the guards finished their rounds, which involved more pain on his part, they left for other duties. The coyote was careful to keep their plans from the guards. The prisoners were monitored at all times, but not all the time by sentient beings. The surveillance equipment, of necessity, was outside the cell. With the distortion and distance provided by the forcedome, they wouldn't be heard as long as they kept their voices down. "As soon as you hit dirt-side, go directly to the old Loonatic Tower. Do not . . .."

" . . . Do not pass 'Go.' Do not collect $200, . . . yeah, yeah I got it." Mallory rolled her eyes at the coyote. Fine that he expected her to be his 'Get out of Jail Free' card, but did the pooch have to lecture? It wasn't like Tech had the Monopoly on good escape plans.

"This isn't a game, Mallory," Tech barked. "You go directly to Loonatic Tower or you go directly to jail. Plain and simple, deviate from the plan . . . ANY part of the plan . . . Mallory, and you will find yourself back in this cell before the day is out."

Tech paused a moment to get back on track. Set on automatic upkeep as only a secondary base, the tower still had full security. Being kept too busy as a guardian of the universe, the genius had never gotten around to dismantling the thing. Mostly, he'd forgotten all about it . . . until now. "Ever since first you, then the Sagittarius Stomper managed to get in, I had to drastically upgrade security at Loonatic Tower. Luckily, I have a hack into the base. The code is C4H10O_bunny."

Mallory stared for the space of a heart beat at the coyote. C4H10O was the chemical formula for ether. An involuntary smile twitched at the corners of her lips. Well, at least the code was easy enough to remember. The small human burst out laughing. "The entry code for Loonatic Tower is 'ether bunny?!'"

"Well, it could be important come springtime . . . especially if you want to have an 'ether' egg hunt," Tech replied with a grin. "Besides, I already used the subordinate 'Santa clause' for the off-site ancillary storage unit."

Mallory dropped her large head into her hands, shaking it at the coyote's non sequitur jokes. Tech obviously suffered from a severe case of 'scientist humor' . . . or, more accurately, SHE was suffering from Tech's sense of humor. "Oh, please, spare me."

"Anyway . . . be sure to take the force globe generator that they brought me in with you to use as a shield against the automated weaponry. It's in the guard station right outside the cell. If you keep the control unit with you, you can raise and lower the shield as needed. Remember to grab a space mask on the way out so you don't suffocate in the vacuum of space. And do not stop to play around! just grab a police cruiser and jet." Desperation made for poor choices; Tech knew that. But he was desperate to find out what was happening on the outside. The prison rumors of Pinkster's gang's recent escape and recapture, and the talk of the Loonatics searching for a hidden base of operations within the prison were troubling. Even when on the premises, his old teammates didn't come to visit him.

Knowledge was power. He absolutely HAD to get more information! And if Tech wanted information, he had get someone outside to help him. In desperation, he decided to release Mallory. He just hoped he wouldn't come to regret the choice. "And don't stay any longer in Loonatic Tower than you absolutely have to. That's the first place the Loonatics will go when arriving in Acmetropolis to stop you. It's mostly stripped down anyway, so you won't be missing much. Anything you absolutely HAVE to have, we can get AFTER you spring me. Grab the green pack from my old lab, and scram; it will have everything in it that you need to get me out of here."

"Stop the lecture already. You're not my tutor anymore, sheesh. I know what to do." Mallory crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Then a hint of sadness touched Mallory's eyes. Tech never had been an overly obedient pet dog, but this stint in the slammer seemed to have hardened him. She feared that if this kept up, she would losing her pet permanently.

"Tit for Tat, Mallory." Tech sternly tapped the tiny human on her big forehead, reminding her of their morality discussions and discreetly warning her not to betray him. Then the coyote awkwardly brushed back a lock of Mallory's black hair, surreptitiously placing one of his refined vegi-bots in her ponytail tie. This particular one was the finest, most sturdy one he'd created. "Ready?"

"Ready," Mallory replied with a curt nod of her big head. Or at least she thought she was ready. Seeing a snarling, half-feral coyote leap for her throat made her duck even if the fight was planned. Just in time, she remembered to straighten up as Tech's lunge carried him past her and, using his momentum 'against' him, the small human shoved him into the containment barrier. The coyote fried in it, falling to ash. But the forcefield did short enough to allow Mallory to get out. The girl screamed when she hit the barrier just moments after the dog. The forcefield was already charging up again, but at least it didn't incapacitate her. That was why Tech couldn't escape himself; he couldn't recover fast enough to make it through. Without a backward glance, Mallory grabbed the force globe generator controls from the guard station and took off for the exit.

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A/N No, I did not make up the fact that the mayor of Acmetropolis is an alien. I got the idea from the cartoons themselves. If you want to see the two photos that Pinkster showed to Danger Duck, the one is in the episode "The Meteor Cometh" during the awards ceremony and the other can be seen in the episode "The Music Villain" when Oberon is recounting a flashback to Zadavia.