Loonatics: United

The Wrath of Tenebrous

Episode 128: Change

Ace and Kufai walked with cautious steps on the rocky paths. "How long is this going to take?"

"As long as you want." Kufai responded. "How fast are you mopping?"

"I don't know." Ace said.

They entered a crack that divided a tall, black and rocky mound. The side walls were covered with climbing plants, water ran gently over their black and rocky surface. "I really like this side of my kingdom." Kufai's voice echoed in the crack. "It brings some peace to me every time I visit it."

"Good." Ace said with disinterest, they climbed a small elevation, Ace got helped by Kufai. "So…" Ace gasped when getting his feet on the ground. "…Am I the only one doing this?" They kept moving.

"What do you mean?" Kufai was glaring at the white, glowing spots on the walls.

Ace sighed. "My…teammates, are they doing this too?"

"No." Kufai replied.

"And why do I…?" Ace got interrupted.

"Hush." Kufai mumbled. "There's a family of Murtoises living here." He looked at him over his shoulder. "And believe me, you wouldn't like to know them." They kept walking, now more cautiously and silently.

On the meantime, Lexi was kneeling down in a mildly lighted room, the walls and the ceiling were white while the floor was dark red. A lioness, who wore a white dress, was before her, on her knees as well, holding and studying Lexi's wounded hand, having taken off her torn apart glove gently, revealing her ivory furred hand. "Oh my…" The lioness said when seeing her riven fingers. "You should've come earlier."

Lexi sighed. "I'm okay, I've had worse."

"Even so." The lioness took a small wooden bowl from the floor, then she got her fingers on it, taking out a bit of the white paste it contained. "May I?"

"Sure." Lexi replied.

The lioness began to spread the paste on her hand gently, making her groan. "It hurts a bit, I know."

"Mhm." Lexi expressed.

"I'll check your friend later on." The lioness said. "How bad is he?"

"Oh, Ace? He's fine, we have a friend doctor so he took care of him already." Lexi replied.

"What a blessing." The lioness massaged Lexi's hand delicately. "Still, a second opinion won't hurt."

"I guess." Lexi gasped. "I mean, he looks fine from the outside."

"What do you mean?" The lioness asked.

Lexi sighed. "Every time he feels defeated, this, uhm, attitude shows up on him." She shook her head. "Apathy, gloom."

"Hmm." The lioness expressed. "Kufai will help him with that. I'm a healer of the body, not the soul."

"I see." Lexi gasped a bit. "So, will Kufai heal his, uhm, soul?" She inquired with disbelief.

"Well, not precisely him. We're just means for a greater purpose, He uses our abilities, our minds and our strength to fulfill that purpose." The lioness explained.

"He? You mean, like…God?" Lexi inquired.

"Mhm." The lioness said. "I heard you're from Acmetropolis."

"Yes." Lexi responded.

"A big city, huge buildings, noise everywhere." The lioness took a piece of bandage she had next to her. "That can make people forget."

"It's very…noisy, yeah." Lexi groaned, feeling a heat on her wounded hand.

"It's okay, I'm almost done." The lioness began to wrap Lexi's hand with the bandage, gently and carefully. "This is a quiet place, as you may have noticed already." She chuckled. "It's good to meditate, to hear His voice from the silence."

Lexi was deeply intrigued. "I…I know He, uhm, knows everything and all. I just wish I had the time to, well, catch up." Lexi chuckled. "You know what I mean?"

"I do." The lioness finished covering her hand with the bandage. "Well, maybe this is the time for that, don't you think?"

Lexi sighed. "Maybe."

"Look, just close your eyes and let all flow." The lioness winked at her. "It works every time."

Lexi smirked at her. "Okay." She chuckled gratefully. "Thanks."

"It's nothing." The lioness embraced her.

"Oh…" Lexi chuckled, hugging her back. "You're all very nice here." They both shared a brief laugh. "Uhm…what's your name?"

"Zaji" She responded, then broke the hug slowly, looking into Lexi's eyes amicably. "Be careful with that hand and it will be as good as new in a couple of days."

"Alright." Lexi smiled at her.

Duck was laying down on the rocky and grassy ground, playing with an orb he had cooked, throwing it upwards, catching it, and so on. "So bored." He said to himself. "Where did everyone go? There are no bars or dance clubs here to pass the time." Duck sighed. "And now I'm just talking to myself like an idiot, great." He kept throwing and catching the orb. "Great. Great….gr…eat. Great, great." Duck chuckled. "What a weird word."

"Hey!" A childish voice said.

"Woah!" Duck caught the orb, stood up and adopted a defensive position.

"Ah!" A little kid was standing before him, a skunk, who wore a gray T-shirt and brown shorts. He shielded himself with his arms.

"Oh, hey." Duck adopted a more casual position. "Uhm, sorry, you scared me." He chuckled. "What's your name?"

The kid uncovered himself slowly. "I…I'm Jonfai."

"That will be hard to remember. Uhm, I'll call you 'J', what do you think?" Duck replied. "Like, 'Jay', you know?"

"Okay." Jay said. "And what's yours?"

"Duck." He responded.

"Yeah I know you're a duck, but your name, what is it?" Jay inquired.

"That's my name, 'Duck' is my name." Duck looked at the kid with a friendly smile.

"Oh, weird." Jay chuckled. "Okay, Duck. Uhm, I want to play something, but…the other kids don't want me to play with them." The little skunk lowered his head.

"That sucks." Duck spoke empathetically. "The same happened to me at the orph…the, uhm, school." He thought for a moment, looking away. "So…" Duck glared back at the kid. "What do you wanna play?"

"Hide and seek!" The kid jumped with excitement.

Duck chuckled. "Alright! I count!" He covered his eyes with his hand. "Ten…"

"Ten?! B…" The kid looked around and rushed away in order to find a place to hide quickly.

Meanwhile, Tech and Slam were exploring the village. "All these houses appear to be built with scraps. Yet, they look appealing, well…constructed, you know?" He looked at Slam, who wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. "It would be nice if you listened once in a while, big guy."

Slam growled, saying he was hungry.

"You are always hungry." Tech rolled up his eyes. "Let's just enjoy the scenery, shall we?"

The Maniacs and Rev were before a huge lake, located in a clearing, surrounded by the tall and green trees of the jungle. Vale was whistling a melody. "Can you guess that one, Aki?"

"Nope." Akinyi was laying face up over the rocky ground.

Rev sighed. "You guys wanna do something?"

"We are doing something." Akinyi said.

"No we are just like resting that's all, passive, you know what I'm saying?" Rev inquired.

Edison sighed with annoyance. "Then why don't you and Randy race or something?" He was laying down with both hands behind his neck.

"Oh…that's not a bad idea!" Rev looked at Randy, who was sitting with his legs crossed. "What you say?" Rev walked towards him.

Randy looked at him. "Uhm, yeah…I…I guess."

"Alright! Let's go!" Rev grabbed his arm and made him stand up. He pointed at the lake. "Two thousand laps on the lake." He used his super speed to go get a rock, then he placed it on the ground, near to the water. "And that's the line, okay?"

"Yeah, cool." Randy walked towards him, getting his feet in the water just as Rev.

Edison rolled up his eyes. "I had to open my mouth." He mumbled.

"Wanna bet, Aki?" Vale looked at her.

"I value my money, so no thanks." Aki replied decidedly.

"You're so boring." Vale got onto his feet, interested to see the race between the two speedsters. "To the count of three, guys."

Edison sighed and straightened in order to see the race that was about to happen. "Whatever."

"You got this, Amigo!" Akinyi was still resting, with her eyes closed.

"Alrighty, guys." Vale clapped a single time. "One…"

Rev activated his superspeed, as well as Randy. "May the best win!" Rev looked at Randy and winked at him.

"Okay." Randy smirked at him then looked at the front.

"Two…" Vale said. The speedsters were focused, feeling the energy running through their bones, muscles and veins. "Three!" Rev and Randy started to run over the water, their feet stepped on it as if it was a solid surface, the blue and green of their surroundings was a delight to their eyes, the flow of the wind stroked Randy's fur while doing the same with Rev's feathers.

Ace and Kufai arrived at the place, a small village located in an internal oasis, the rocky ceiling covered with hanging plants was their shelter, as well as the rocky walls that surrounded the houses, built with metal scraps just as the ones in the main village. Fires were distributed all over the place, lighting it moderately. "This is 'Oko'. Kufai said as they walked between the people and the houses. "It means 'tear' in the ancient dialect of our kingdom."

"Tear?" Ace looked around with curiosity and amazement.

"Oko is linked to tragic events." Kufai responded. "Nonetheless, it's highly sacred for us. Because pain often leads to change. Good change, in the heart and the soul." He looked at Ace. "If you let that happen, of course."

Ace got thoughtful, looking away, seeing the people there, working, resting, cooking, chatting, all sorts of mundane and ordinary things. "This is…different."

"Hm?" Kufai raised an eyebrow while looking at him. Ace didn't add anything to his statement. Kufai then looked back at the front. "The bonds, hard work and faith make communities strong, bunny." He said. "That could make marvels where you live. If they wished to change."