Loonatics: United

Episode 84: Paroxysm

Ace was about to approach the snake and his comrades, his glare was totally focused on the flying beast and all he could think about now was on destroying it once and for all, to finally free Acmetropolis from the yoke of those terrible creations. Rev heard the propellers from Ace´s jetpack and looked at him over his shoulder. "Ace!" Rev exclaimed with relief, his boss got among them in a blink.

"Hey, Rev! What did I miss?" Ace asked, hovering next to him.

"Oh not too much we just came up with a plan to blow up that thing to pieces, Tech is making a bomb right now in the l..." Rev got interrupted by Tech´s arrival.

"And it´s ready, boss!" Tech got next to Ace, flying while holding the bomb and the remote.

"Great." Ace praised, nodding at Tech. "Will it be enough?"

"That ugly beast is no match for the blast radius of this baby!" Tech replied in a boastful tone. "Still...there´s only one way to find out."

Ace looked back at the front, passing by the last of the city´s tall buildings, entering the desert zone of the city. "Where´s Duck?"

Rev chuckled. "Who do you think is bothering that thing?"

Ace laughed briefly. "Alright, guys. Let´s get this over!" His statement made Slam to let out a loud battle growl.

Duck switched his gaze from the front to the monster constantly. "That´s all you got, artificial abomi..?" He teleported rapidly to a further point when the snake tried to roast him with its fire breath. Duck then started to laugh mockingly. "You´re pathetic, little garbage!" He kept flying with no pause, above the great dunes of the desert zone.

"Boss, my hands are full here, press my comm, please." Tech requested.

"Sure." Ace got closer to Tech and pressed his comm.

"Hey, Duck." Tech said. "Duck." He insisted.

"Yeah?" Duck said from the other side.

"I think we are far enough already." Tech informed. "Just keep it busy right where you are."

"Roger that." Duck replied.

Tech looked at Ace and gave him a firm nod. "This will be over soon, boss."

Ace glared at him then nodded back. "Thanks, Doc." He dearly felt the support of his comrade.

"Woah!" Duck exclaimed while evading the monster´s tackles with the help of his jetpack. "I´m getting bored already, you know?!" He mocked. The beast was swirling upwards, chasing Duck who was flying in that direction. The other four Loonatics finally arrived, surrounding the beast.

"It is time." Tech flew towards Ace and handed him the bomb and the remote. "Just throw the bomb, and press the black button." He smirked at him. Ace studied the looks of the bomb for a moment then he looked at the beast, who was still chasing Duck.

"Could you please hurry?!" Duck exclaimed after the fire breath of the snake almost reached him.

"Alright." Ace said with a firm tone.

"After you press the button, we´ll have only ten seconds to get away before the bomb explodes." Tech informed.

"Got it." Ace nodded at Tech with confidence then stopped waiting and finally accelerated towards the beast. He flew up a bit to have a better spot to throw the bomb from. There was no error range and he knew it, Ace had to be precise in order to ensure the beast´s demise. "Duck! Get away from that thing!"

"With pleasure!" Duck avoided another fire attack from the swirling snake and teleported away from it, appearing among Tech, Rev and Slam.

"Now it´s just you and me, scaly trash..." Ace spoke with rage and determination. "...Just you and me!" He exclaimed while pressing the button as he was already hovering over the beast, ready to throw the bomb. The snake let out a noisy growl while flying towards Ace with the intention of charging at him. Ace flew upwards and backed his arm, looking at the beast while frowning hostilely. "See you never...putrid slug." Ace finally threw the bomb and accelerated towards his comrades, who were flying away from the forthcoming explosion.

The bomb bounced several times over the beast´s hard and scaly surface, until it emitted a single beeping noise, then it exploded grandiosely, the shockwave tore up the surrounding dunes while the huge and spherical blue fire expanded rapidly. A loud screech of pain was briefly and weakly heard behind the intense blare of the explosion. The five Loonatics were looking at it from the distance, still hovering over the dunes of the desert zone. A couple of minutes passed before the remnants of the explosion vanished, leaving only a dense, blueish smoke coming out from a gigantic crater. "Well...it´s a wrap, right?" Duck spoke with a doubtful tone while glaring at his comrades. Ace was looking directly at the crater, with a straight face. He really wanted to believe that the monster was annihilated and just go back to the HQ after a work well done, but he wasn´t sure at all, the sudden peace and silence didn´t convince him nor the vanishing smoke floating in the air. Ace accelerated towards the crater all of a sudden.

"Boss! Wait!" Tech exclaimed then also accelerated.

Duck rolled up his eyes. "Here we go again..." He followed them along with Rev and Slam.

They entered the crater one by one, with Ace being the first one to get inside the deep and dark place that the bomb had created. The rocky walls of the crater had enormous openings on their surface and there were many hilly levels and paths from one place to another, all created accidentally by the explosion. The five heroes kept flying downwards, getting fully submerged in the darkness until reaching the bottom, carefully landing their feet on the unknown, rocky surface, deactivating their jetpacks. "Duck." Ace commanded then Duck cooked a pair of orbs, illuminating their surroundings, revealing the tall walls of rock and sand as well as more newly made openings and paths.

After a pair of minutes, Tech decided to break the deep and cautious silence that had been present. "It survived." He spoke with fear and disappointment.

Ace clenched his fists. "Well..." He frowned. "I won´t mind teaching it a lesson again." He looked at Rev. "Explore the place, Rev. It's better that the rest of us stay here. If you find it, bring it."

Rev gulped. "And...if it finds me first?"

"Same order." Ace said with a straight tone.

"O...kay, yeah, sure..." Rev scratched his neck while looking at the great openings around them. "So...should I start from a particular p..."

"Just go, featherbrain!" Duck exclaimed, making Rev to finally start exploring, leaving his signature red trace all over the place.

Ace sighed with frustration while shaking his head. "Dang it..." He slowly sat down over the ground, closing his eyes and starting to breath deeply.

Slam growled with empathy and sat down next to him, patting his back rather heavily, making him to cough a bit.

Ace chuckled and looked at him with a smirk. "I guess I´ve been some sort of burden these days." He looked at Duck and Tech. "I´m sorry."

Tech sighed, shaking his head while resting his back over a wall, glaring at the rocky surroundings. "Boss...since we met, each one of us have been through many difficult circumstances..." He switched his gaze at Ace. "...and you´ve always supported us in those times."

Duck was hesitant to speak but finally decided to do so. "We would be jerks if we didn't return the favor, man. I mean sometimes I´m a jerk with you and everyone but you get what I mean."

Ace giggled. "I get it, Duck." He smiled at his comrades with gratitude. "I don´t deserve partners like you, guys."

"Come on." Tech said. "We are a family, Ace. It´s not a matter of merit. That´s just how things are. In good and bad, we´re a team and nothing should scare us, because there will always be someone there to pick us up. And you´ve been that person many times, boss."

Slam growled with concur and hugged Ace strongly, squeezing him nonchalantly.

Ace coughed while struggling to breathe. "Thanks...big guy..." He inhaled deeply while patting his shoulder. "Alright..." Slam finally broke the hug, making Ace to gasp and breath in and out with relief. When he recovered his breath, he looked at his comrades once again. "Thank you, guys." He smiled at them thankfully.