Dude! I can't believe how close I am to having 1337 hits. I can honestly say that I'd be happy if that was all the hits I ever got, but I am kind of hoping to get over 9000, for obvious internet jokes. Not that it'll happen. XD Anyway, here's the chapter; ENJOY IT! XD
Alarms sounded as the glass shattered, shards from the broken window cascading over the once pristine bank floor. A young man stood among the wreckage, bare feet treading over the glass without care. He was stoic in his resolve, moving swiftly toward the vault. No matter how strong the lock was, it would only be a minor inconvenience. Striding casually toward the enormous safe, he placed his palms flat against it, eyes closed in focus. If anyone had been at the bank – which was doubtful given the late hour – they might have observed the skittering of the shards of glass, or the heavy rumbling that echoed through the bank. However, it all stopped with a simple click, the door to the vault swinging open soundlessly. Immediately the lights went on, security cameras training themselves on the teenage boy.
He failed to notice, and proceeded to pilfer the vault, thrusting copious amounts of money into a knapsack he'd brought with him. Once he was satisfied, he left the large safe, clearly expecting to make a clean getaway. However, seven anthropomorphic citizens of Acmetropolis stood in his way. Their leader took a step forward, his ever-present sword in hand.
"Isn't it past your bedtime, kiddo?" Ace grinned, watching as the teen took an aggressive stance, "I guess we'll have to tuck you in, then." He ignored the scoffs from two of his fellow teammates, knowing full well that it had been Rip and Duck. They were the only ones who made fun of his heroic catchphrases, or at least were the only ones who made fun of them in front of him. In any case, the teen quickly shifted into a crouching position, placing his palms face down on the cold stone floor. Almost immediately, the building began to rumble, sonic vibrations pulsating through the floor. The force of the tremor made it difficult to stand, but it was harder to avoid the debris that was shaking loose from the ceiling.
"I guess he doesn't wanna play nice," Ace noted, activating the Guardian Strike Sword, "Well, let's show him what we're made of!" The rabbit cut through a chunk of falling plaster, preventing himself from being flattened for the time being. Cracks were forming in the support pillars, and it seemed that Tech was the first to notice. However, he was much more shocked when he understood the situation.
"Guys, he's trying to bring the building down on all of us! We've gotta get out of here!" Tech shouted, looking hurriedly toward the exit. Rip was the first to react, reaching out to touch Lexi and Slam, quickly pulling the two of them through his shadow and into the dimly lit streets outside of the bank. Duck naturally quacked himself
outside, while Ace, Rev and Tech quickly ran out through the window. However, even when they'd gone outside, the tremor still continued, the building quivering and crumbling from the stress.
"Oh-my-goodness, he's-not-even-trying-to-stop! I-think-he's-going-to-bring-the-building-down-on-himself! I've-gotta-do-something; be-right-back!" Rev shouted, running as fast as he could back into the crumbling building. Tech shouted something, but his words were lost to the sound of the bank collapsing. He howled his friend's name, and was about to run to the rubble when Rev replied with a simple "yes?" The Loonatics looked at Rev, evidently surprised at how quickly he'd gotten in and out of the falling building; there were still scorch marks on the pavement from his faster-than-usual rush to the rescue. In any case, he gently put the teen down on the pavement. However, the seven of them groaned in unison, realizing they'd just followed another red herring. It was obvious that the teenager was another victim of the mysterious, doll-eyed man. He was clad in a band t-shirt and a pair of pyjama pants, and his bare feet were bloodied by the broken glass.
"I can't believe it," Tech grumbled in disbelief, rubbing his forehead, "Whoever this guy is, he's got serious issues. I mean, he was willing to sacrifice an innocent kid in order to kill us!" The others seemed to agree, nodding uncertainly. This young man marked the fifth victim of the doll-eyed man in the last 2 months, not counting the Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker incident. It seemed that the strange criminal's only goal was to kill the Loonatics; after all of the places his victims had attacked, he could have easily become quite wealthy. A yawn from the youngest member brought Tech out of his reverie, the current time coming back to him instantly.
"Rev and I will take this guy to the hospital; you five should all get back to the tower and rest," Tech volunteered, picking up the unconscious teen despite the obvious fact that he wasn't fully capable of sustaining the weight. The others just shrugged tiredly and activated their jetpacks, flying back to their headquarters. Rev offered to help carry the teen, but Tech pointed out that Rev needed his arms free to fly. Thus, the two friends flew in silence toward the hospital, traveling at a slower speed than they usually did. They'd already caught the criminal; there was no need to rush. Despite the ungodly hour – 3:16 AM, to be precise –, the two seemed wide awake; or at the very least, they were capable of remaining conscious. They might have noticed that the smog had cleared enough to see the stars if they hadn't been so focused on their goals. It was a beautiful night.
The coyote eventually had to land on a nearby rooftop, laying the teen down so he could rest. He wasn't exactly gifted with physical prowess; there was no way he could carry the boy all the way to the hospital without stopping to rest. After a minute or so, Rev joined him; he would have been there instantly, but had flown on ahead without his friend. They sat on the rooftop together for a few minutes, the silence between them permeated only by the sound of passing vehicles and aircraft. For some, the silence may have been uncomfortable, but between the two friends, a little quiet was nothing. Tech welcomed the stillness; sometimes Rev spoke too much for his liking. Perhaps to spite that thought, Rev piped up again, eyes skyward.
"Hey-Tech, have-you-ever-seen-the-stars-shine-this-brightly-before," Rev asked, pointing up at a break in the smog and clouds, "I've-gone-to-the-observatory-before-but-it's-never-been-this-pretty-before." The roadrunner cast a
fleeting glance at the coyote after making his comment, looking back at the sky when his friend looked at him. A small grin formed on Tech's face, but he said nothing for a moment. After another minute of silence, the coyote raised his own hand up, index finger outstretched toward the sky.
"That's Cassiopeia," Tech stated, making eye contact with his friend before looking back at the cluster of stars, "I don't think I've ever really had the chance to see her constellation without a telescope before. They do look quite lovely tonight... well, technically, this morning, I suppose." He chuckled in geeky fashion, his laughter united with Rev's moments later. The roadrunner's laugh didn't sound quite as silly, but it did sound somewhat... awkward. Tech, fortunately, didn't seem to notice, deciding to lean back and drink in the night sky. After a few moments, Rev followed suit, his feathery hand brushing up against Tech's for a moment. Noticing what had occurred, the roadrunner withdrew his hand, sitting up straight as he had been earlier.
Tech was about to ask Rev what was wrong, but a loud groan from the unconscious teen prevented him from doing so. He'd have to ask his friend about it some other time. Carefully, he picked up the teen again, activated his jetpack and flew toward the hospital. Rev was flying beside him the whole time, keeping an eye on the coyote should his strength waver again. However, every time the genius looked at him, the roadrunner looked away embarrassedly. The coyote couldn't quite figure it out; why would Rev be embarrassed by something that had occurred accidentally? Mentally shrugging, the coyote decided not to give it much thought; sometimes Rev did strange things. Twelve minutes later, the two anthropomorphs arrived at the hospital, where Tech gratefully handed off the teen to a few nurses with a stretcher. Another five minutes were spent explaining the situation, and once that was finished, the two heroes returned to the tower, heading back to their respective rooms to sleep.
Normally, Tech would have gone to his lab, but he wasn't focused on his work at the moment. For some reason, Rev's actions on the roof remained foremost in his mind. He may not have been a psychologist, but he knew his friend well enough to find the behaviour odd. What could have gotten his friend so flustered over a mere brushing of hands? Perhaps it was just the chance that his action could have been interpreted as an attempt to hold hands. When the genius thought about it, he realized that he would probably have been embarrassed too. They were best friends, after all; it would've have been awkward. That was probably the best explanation, considering how eager the roadrunner was to return home. Satisfied with his analysis, the coyote rolled over onto his side, closing his eyes as he attempted to drift off to sleep. At first, he found it difficult, but once he began thinking of his lab, he soon coasted off into slumber, dreaming of the inventions he and Rev could make together.
The Loonatics arrived at the hospital at around 10:30 AM, passing by the waiting room on their way to visit the teen they'd apprehended earlier that morning. Rip walked casually behind the others, wearing his usual street clothing rather than his uniform; to be honest, he found its spandex confines to be rather... confining. In any case, they arrived in the adolescent's room, filing in and closing the door behind them. Ace stood at the foot of the injured boy's bed, Lexi and Duck by his side. Slam took a seat next to Rip, since neither of them got involved with
interrogations. Although Slam's reason was simply a language barrier, Rip had been deemed "not experienced enough" to ask these victims simple questions. Since when did someone have to be experienced to ask someone something? He grumbled quietly at that thought, folding his arms across his bony chest. Rev and Tech were seated at the other side of the small room, both apparently in deep thought. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight to the teenaged roadrunner; the two were together quite frequently, and they were either conversing or hypothesizing.
"Alright," Ace began after a short moment of silence, resting his hands on the bed's metal footrest, "Do you remember anything that happened before you robbed the bank?"
"I robbed a bank," The teen asked in response, eyes wide with surprise, "But... when? I went to bed at midnight."
"You don't need to play dumb; we know that some weird guy in black was making ya do it." Ace explained, although the teen continued to give him a doe-eyed stare, "I mean... you don't seem like the type of guy who'd bring down a bank just to kill us." Clearly, the lagomorph wasn't good at settling one's nerves, since the young man looked even more nervous. Rip rolled his eyes at the rabbit's behaviour, not exactly impressed. It was quite obvious that he was inexperienced when it came to dealing with teenagers. However, the teen's expression seemed to shift slightly, changing to a look of recognition.
"I... I remember now," He said, rotating his lip piercing as he spoke, "I woke up because a gust of wind blew into my room through my window. I was pretty sure that I'd closed it, but I guess that it was that guy you were talking about. Anyway, when I turned around, he was looking right at me. Then, his eyes did some weird... flashing thing, kinda like a camera. But... I can't remember anything after that. It's weird; it's like I know what happened after, but I can't remember... you know that feeling, right?" The rabbit nodded, thanking the teen for his time. If that was all the information that could be obtained, then there was no use in asking further questions. With their interrogation – if one could call it that – finished, the superheroes left the hospital, flying back toward the tower.
Rip rolled the teen's words around in his head, mulling over what he'd said. He was the first victim who couldn't remember any of what had happened after meeting their hypnotic foe. As he thought, he recalled the other stories; the first victims – The butcher, baker and "candlestick maker" – could remember nearly every detail vividly, save for a few patches. Every victim after those three seemed to have larger chunks of their memories regarding those incidents missing. That could easily be explained as mere progression – the doll-eyed man was getting better and better at wiping memories as he moved from victim to victim. In itself, that was problematic: as he got better, any clues to his whereabouts, appearance or identity would cease to exist. This was quickly becoming a bad situation.
When they returned to the tower, the young roadrunner continued to ponder the dilemma, trying to think of a possible solution. Tech or Rev could probably think of something better, but he wanted to finally be of use to the
team. You see, ever since being formally "accepted" onto the team, Rip hadn't been able to do much on the field. According to Ace, he was "in-training," and as such needed to hang back and observe, lest he get in the way. It made him angry; he'd proven his capability in battle before. Hell, he'd even managed to defeat the Loonatics single-handedly; of course, he'd passed out and required medical attention, but a victory was a victory. He mentally shook himself, retraining his focus on the case at hand. How could they –he – find a solution to the problem? That was when an idea came to him; they'd need to question the doll-eyed man's first victims again. It seemed so simple. If they remembered the most about the incidents, surely they'd be able to remember the most about the man causing the trouble.
However, when Rip expressed this idea, he was summarily shot down. Ace explained that they'd already asked the initial victims and had learned all they could from them. There was no point in bothering them anymore. Naturally, this led to a heated argument, which ended in Rip's idea being summarily rejected. According to the leader, Tech was going to do a crime scene analysis of the teen's room, in hopes of finding the doll-eyed man's fingerprints. Indeed, it was a better course of action, but the rabbit could've simply said so without cutting down his idea. Frustrated, the adolescent stormed back into his room – or, more accurately, his and Rev's room – and slammed the door shut.
He seated himself sulkily on his bed, muttering immature and inappropriate things about Ace, tossing in obscenities where they were due. After about a half-hour of his private rant, he sighed, realizing just how immature he was acting. Sulking and complaining wouldn't get anything done. The rabbit was right, anyway; they couldn't bother those people again when they'd given all of their information. It would just be insensitive. Rip only wished that his idea had been responded to in a "good effort" way, rather than a "no, that's stupid" way. Trying to keep a level head, he forced his thoughts elsewhere, choosing to direct his attention at the floor. There, he noticed that something had fallen on the floor; it had probably happened when he slammed the door. Standing up, he approached the fallen object, realizing that it was a stuffed animal as he drew closer.
A grin formed on his face as he picked it up, realizing it would give him something to poke fun at his brother over; Rev already knew copious amounts of embarrassing facts about him. It had taken him months to live down the moulting story his brother had "accidentally" told at his birthday party three years ago. In any case, he inspected the doll further, noting a green triangle emblazoned on its chest. So, it's a Tech doll, Rip thought, smiling amusedly, I guess he must have one for all of the Loonatics. He gently squeezed the doll, snickering softly when it made a loud squeaking noise. However, in that moment, he experienced something strange.
The environment seemed to shift around him, fading into a monochromatic portrayal of the brothers' bedroom. A black and white version of his brother now sat on his bed, looking down at the doll with a smile and squeaking it. Moments later, after looking around, he gave it a hug, only to burst of coughing due to an enormous cloud of dust. Rip watched as the scene unfolded, flabbergasted by what was occurring. Then, almost as suddenly as it had happened, it ended, returning the teenage roadrunner to the colourful world he usually inhabited. He threw the doll back onto Rev's bed, genuinely afraid of what had just happened. What on earth was that? It was like a flashback in a cartoon, except he was just there, watching the scene unfold.
Suddenly, a little light flicked on in his head. Perhaps that was another ability that had been triggered by Tech's invention? If it was, then maybe he could go to one of the crime scenes to gather information. Hell, if he could do that, maybe he could even get a positive visual ID on the man who was going around hypnotizing people. Changing back into his normal clothes, the roadrunner prepared to go into town. There really was no point in questioning the man's initial victims; he could just find some way to experience another flashback where they were first hypnotized. However, he reasoned that he'd need an item to stimulate the look into the past. After all, he'd never witnessed anything like that before he picked up Rev's doll. So, if his reasoning was correct, he'd need to find something the doll-eyed man had touched. In an instant, he knew exactly where he needed to go; Penta Graham's, the occult store.
Well, there it is! Chapter 10, in its entirety. Sorry if it took a little longer than usual; university's keeping me busy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, feel free to let me know if I messed up on any details; I'll edit them as necessary. Also, I hope none of the fluff was lame or too forward. I don't want my fic to seem too assuming of their relationship, even if it's a TechxRev story. Anyway, thanks for reading!