Ch.9: Quivering Bonds
It was chaos in the tower as both light and dark sides clashed. Ace growled, grunting as he confronted his counterpart, deflecting an incoming laser blast quickly with his sword. The rest of his team quickly engaged with their dark doubles as well, while Danger Duck stayed close by to Paul, watching to make sure that the scientist didn't flee away from the scene.
The professor didn't dare make that foolish choice. He had seen the destructive power of Danger Duck's clone first hand. There was no chance he would get on the original's bad side, even if he was back to being good a hundred percent.
Agreeing to help the General for making the military some Loonatics clones had been the biggest mistake Paul surgio had ever made. In the beginning, he had been fascinated by the science, and was swayed by the excitement of creating life, especially since these were super-powered clones.
However, the act of playing God had delivered grave consequence. Their personalities were erratic, out of control, and their powers hazardous to every being.
Watching the ongoing duel, Paul observed the originals struggle to overcome their deadly doppelgangers, feeling terrified and guilty for what he had done.
"Ace!" Lexi yelled, as she got blasted back from her counterpart "This isn't working! They're stronger than us! And they have a counter for every blow!"
"Yeah," Slam agreed, heavily breathing from his own struggle.
Dark Ace laughed.
"Of course we do" said the evil bunny " we've been doing research for weeks, ready to battle you guys as fiendish foes. Every tactic you've perfected, every power, weapon, or maneuver, nothing you come up with will be surprise my team."
"We'll see about that," said Ace to his counterpart, and quickly racked around in his brain, trying to think of a plan.
Shifting his eyes rapidly across the battle, Ace took note, identifying what was currently troubling each member of his team.
Slam was caught in a power struggle against his dark version, while the two Rev's seemed to be running around, trying to outmatch each other in speed. Tech tried to get the upper hand on his double by throwing objects and making a grab for one of his inventions, but Dark Tech was smart, sending out a scramble signal to disable nearly any and all inside machines. The coyote would have to rely on his skills and battle head on, a situation that Ace knew that Tech didn't like to do.
Lexi shifted in closer to Ace as they were pushed further and further back by their evil counterparts. Dark Ace grinned wickedly, knowing that the Acme heroes were close to reaching their end.
Ace kept a tight grip on the Guardian Strike Sword, ready to use it to defend his friends, as they were pinned down near the center of the room.
"Now," growled Dark Ace, and Dark Tech threw out a bomb as Dark Lexi blast, exploding it to leave helpless heroes struggling painfully on their feet.
"What was in that bomb?" thought Tech, as his dark counterpart grinned.
"My own invention" he explained " Do you like?"
Tech growled.
"Now Duck" said Dark Ace, turning to his new teammate " It's your turn. Destroy them now!"
"Wait!" said Ace " What did you even do with him?"
Dark Ace held one hand, stopping duck as he approached.
"I guess there is some time to explain," said Dark Ace, while Dark Slam took over Surgio duty. " You see, we were created because you were gone, leaving Acmetropolis undefended while you were flittering about through space. Our original purpose was to serve under the military, stepping in to help only when something major was going down. However, we weren't trusted, and were treated more as tools than living beings,"
"I hated how we were treated" Dark Ace continued " because we were copies, we were expendable creatures to be deposed on a whim. There were even small chips embedded in our skin, designed to torture us if we talked back or did anything that seemed out of control. Through our suffering, they took delight, why not return that pain to them?"
"So we rebelled, and escaped. We took over the tower, knowing it would be abandoned since you were gone. For a moment, escape was enough to satisfy us. Then we found Danger Duck's room,"
"We were shocked. The military didn't mention to us that we had a sixth member on our team. So we planned to take the original, taking over Acmetropolis on the way as revenge for being used."
"We never found anything out about your new hiding place, but we did find out plenty about Duck, and all of you."
At this point Dark Ace stopped, looking genuinely upset as he glared down at the helpless Loonatics struggling at feet. Dark Tech's bomb would keep them stunned for a few minutes longer, so he had to wrap his speech.
"If there's one thing I know" said Dark Ace " it's how it feels to be mistreated. No one on my team will have to suffer through that with me. Duck will never have to feel like he's an outcast again. We respected you as heroes, but when we discovered more about Duck, we realized that all of you, especially your boss, put this mallard through so much pain,"
"Now the time has come to return the favor. Go on Duck. Kill. Take revenge for all of the suffering they've put on your hands."
With that said, Duck continued his approach, stopping in front of a paralyzed Ace, who looked up to his friend with sorrowful eyes. Emptiness was the only response, as power orbs lit up fiercely in each of the mallard's hands.
He had to do something. Quick.
He reached for his sword, when it was kicked to the side by a smug-looking Dark Lex, leaving them open to their doom.
Was this really the end? To be killed by a own member of their team?
Ace closed his eyes, praying for Duck, while at the same time, trying to deny that this was his fate.
"Do it!" yelled Dark Ace again, but that's when tides took a turn.
Turning around quickly, Danger Duck blasted his power eggs at his new teammates, leaving the Dark Loonatics stunned on the floor.
"You also planned to use me as a tool didn't you Ace?" said Duck, eyes glaring red/orange "Well, that's not happening anymore. The only thing you were right about, was how satisfying it will be to make all of my enemies pay."
