Fortunately, the other Loonatics were too busy to notice. Tech was using his magnetic powers to keep Ed at bay. Suddenly, Slam, then Ace fell atop him.
"Sorry" Slam replied.
"Get me out of here!" Ember ordered Ed.
"How dudette?"
"Use my guitar."
"But you said I'm not allowed to use your…"
"Just do it!" Ember shouted.
Ed shrugged and fired a blast from the guitar at the ectoplasm holding Ember, effectively freeing her. Ember quickly regained her guitar and faced the fallen Loonatics.
"Let that be a lesson to you" she said, "you will never be able to defeat the combined forces of Ember & Weather Vane. So get ready Acmetropolis, because the reign of the young is coming!"
And with a swirl of blue flame, the evil singer disappeared. Weather Vane also concealed herself in fog and disappeared; Ed simply looked around for a few minutes, then fled.
"Okay, this day good have gone better" Tech replied.
"Not ta worry Tech, I think I have an idea how ta beat Ember, but we'll need that hourglass thing of yours."
"I'm afraid we've got bigger problems chief" Duck replied.
"Yeah-those-other-villains-kidnapped-Lexi" Rev replied.
"Great, just great" Ace replied "well, we gotta go save her. Rev, can ya find her on yer GPS system?"
"No-problem-Ace-this-thing-can-find-anybody-in-the-whole-wide-world" Rev replied, activating his built-in GPS. "They're-headed-towards-an-old-warehouse-downtown."
"Then let's move" Ace said, "we'll get another shot at the dangerous duo."
"How about we forget this whole thing and just get some pizza?" Duck asked, which earned him several glares from his teammates. "I was just throwing an idea out there."
The Bean Brigade members were still on their way back to their warehouse headquarters. In order to keep their hostage from escaping, they secured her with a pair of futuristic handcuffs they had "liberated" from a police officer. Ottoman had tired of the girl's lip and had used the green ribbon wrapped around her ears to gag her. Lexi knew she could use her brain blasts to take down her opponents, but as long as they were so close, she didn't dare. Besides, with her hands manacled behind her, fighting them was going to be a difficulty. But she wasn't worried; she knew Rev had a built in GPS system and that her friends would be there to take down these jerks.
"I still don't understand why we had to take the girl hostage" Ottoman said, "she's been nothing but trouble."
"Perhaps" Control Freak said, "but if her friends do in fact have the Sands of Time, we can ransom her in exchange for it."
"Makes perfect sense" Jack replied.
Control Freak was about to say something in reply, but was stopped by the sounds of jetpacks from above. Before he could even react, the Loonatics popped down in front of them.
"Hi there" Ace said, "I think you've got someone that belongs to us."
"You want the girl bunny back?" Control Freak asked, "give us the Sands of Time."
"Why should we?" Duck asked.
"Look, you probably know we don't belong here" CF began, "we're criminals from another time. If you give us the Sands, we'll be out of your hair forever."
"He has a point Ace" Tech said, "this isn't their world. Besides, if they stay here too long, they could cause disturbances in time."
"Well I don't like it, but I guess we have no choice" Ace said, "okay Tech, give 'em the hourglass." Tech tossed the Sands of Time to the villains, with Jack grabbing it.
"Hey it's fixed!" the young boy genius exclaimed happily.
"Yeah I took the pleasure of repairing it" Tech said, "it was a little hard to figure out, but hey, I am a genius."
"Okay, now give us Lexi" Ace ordered.
Temblor complied, pushing the manacled bunny towards her friends. "You okay Lex?" Ace asked, as he untied the gag from her mouth.
"That was my favorite ribbon!" Lexi exclaimed, "you jerks are lucky you're not staying here!"
"Well, we'd love to stay, but we do have things to do" CF said, "thanks for the memories."
"Hold on a second" Ace said, "yer not leaving till ya take Ember with ya."
"We wanted to take Ember, but she doesn't want to go" Jack explained.
"She likes it here," Slipstream added.
"You got that right!" came the familiar voice. The Loonatics barely had time to turn around before Ember blasted them.
"Did you think we we're going to let you Losertics get away with us?" she asked, as Weather Vane & Ed came into view.
"Okay, I'm beginning to get really tired of this!" Duck exclaimed.
"Great, I forgot the Ghost Blaster" Tech said, "how the heck are we gonna stop Ember now?"
Ace noticed the Bean Brigade members, "eh, I've got an idea doc" he replied "Lexi, when I say 'now' you and Slam blast Weather Vane with everything ya got."
"You bet Ace" Lexi said, with Slam grunting in agreement.
Ace then flew up to confront the villainess "when are ya gonna learn that crime doesn't pay?" he asked.
"I'm tired of you miserable Loonatics!" Weather Vane exclaimed, "it's time for you to say goodbye!"
"I was thinking the exact same thing" Ace replied, "now!"
Lexi and Slam flew upwards and blasted her with a powerful tornado spin and repeated brain blasts. As expected, she was knocked from the air, falling unto Motor Ed, and attracting the attention of Ember.
"What the heck is going on?" she asked, approaching her fallen allies.
"How is this gonna help Ace?" Duck asked.
"Just wait a minute" Ace replied.
The Bean Brigade of course, noticed the whole fracas and decided it was wise to blow the place.
"Get us out of here before those guys blast us!" CF ordered.
Jack nodded and held up the Wu "Sands of Time!" he shouted. Instantly, everyone in that immediate vicinity was transported back in time. And unfortunately for her, Ember and her entourage happened to be among them. The Loonatics watched the villains disappear.
"Well, that's the last we'll be seeing of them" Ace said.
"And of Weather Vane too" Lexi added.
"But I'm worried" Tech said, "what if the presence of a future villain in the present causes irreparable damage to the timestream?"
"Why can't you ever just enjoy a victory?" Duck asked.
With a flash of light, the Bean Brigade appeared back in the present, right inside their old headquarters.
"We're back!" Jack exclaimed, kissing the ground, "oh man, I've never been so happy to see this old place!"
"Glad ta see you too, Spicer" Hannibal said, entering the room "what kept ya?"
"We had a little 'incident' with the Sands of Time" CF explained.
"Well never mind that now" Hannibal said, "I see ya returned with my Batman villains." Then he noticed Weather Vane "and someone else, apparently."
"Oh that's Weather Vane" Herring explained "she's this bad guy we met in the future after the Sands were…"
CF and Jack quickly put their hands over his large mouth. "That is to say, she's one of Ember's friends" CF replied.
"Well any friend of Ember is always welcome here" Hannibal said, "now then, take some time ta recover from yer time travel adventure. Then I want all of ya ta pack a bag, cause we're heading ta New York City."
Next Time:
The Bean Brigade travels to New York to obtain a powerful amulet. While there, Hannibal decides to face off against the city's protector, the American Dragon, whose grandfather had beaten him years ago. Will Jake Long be a match for the larcenous legume? Or will the Bean Brigade achieve their evil plan? Find out in the next story "An American Dragon in New York."