I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I know I did. And, since the weekend is almost over, I decided to post a little present. Tadah! The third chapter!

I'm still amazed every time. Honestly, I didn't expect any reviews when I posted this story. I feel so happy that there are people who actually would take the time to read this. Thank you guys so much!

Anyway, I kept Tech's eyes gold in my story. I hope no one has a problem with that. I swear I couldn't tell that they were olive. But that's beyond the point.

I just realized that I've never put up a disclaimer for this story. Whoops. But you all know that I don't own Loonatics Unleashed, right? Okay, that's good. Anyway, on with the story!

"You're needed in downtown Acmetropolis, Loonatics," the familiar voice echoed as the hologram of Zadavia appeared before them.

The heroes were gathered around the table as usual, awaiting their instructions from their boss. But the hologram looked on silently for a long moment.

Finally, she said, "There appears to be someone missing…"

The five shifted uncomfortably, exchanging glances before Ace replied, "Uh…yeah…y'see, Tech hasn't been…feeling well these past few days."

"Oh dear," the woman said, though it was hard to determine how she really felt by the matter.

"Yeah. So, um…maybe he should sit this one out," the leader suggested.

"Well, you may wish to consult Tech about that," she answered, "considering that he and Rev recently faced the problem."

Before the five could ask for clarification, the hologram of the woman was replaced by one of a man clad in black leather, firing a laser at whatever building happened to be there. A smirk was present on his tan face and his violet eyes, in Ace's vision, seemed to dance at the destruction he was causing.

"Oh-hey-wait-a-minute-I-know-that-guy!" Rev said suddenly. "That's-the-bank-robber-Tech-and-I-saw-a-week-ago!"

"That's the bank robber?" Lexi asked, watching the hologram.

"Bank robber to psycho…That's a quick upgrade, doncha think?" Duck muttered.

Suddenly the man laughed as another building collapsed at the wrath of his laser. "Come on out, Loonatics!" he called, destroying yet another building.

"It seems that he is simply trying to lure you out," the voice of Zadavia said as the image of the woman once again replaced the one of the man. "The reason is unknown, but in any case, he must be stopped."

"Right," Ace replied, nodding. "We'll take care of it."

The woman nodded in return. "Just be careful, Loonatics." And the hologram disappeared.

"If he's so eager to meet us, why doesn't he just come here?" the duck asked suddenly. "Not like we're hard to find, unless he just doesn't see the giant tower in the middle of the city."

"Maybe he's just shy," the leader said sarcastically before turning to Rev. "You wanna go get Tech?"

The roadrunner nodded and sped to the door. As soon as it opened, however, he was tackled to the ground.

"Rev!" Ace said, startling the other three. But just as he was about to shoot at the force, his eyes widened and he froze.

Tech snarled as the roadrunner struggled beneath him.

"Whoa!" Lexi said. "Tech, what are you doing?"

The coyote only responded with a low growl as he finally glared up at the other four with wild black eyes. But with the distraction, the quickster threw the other off him as he did a backwards summersault. The coyote hit the ground, sliding back a bit on the smooth surface.

Getting to his feet quickly, Rev turned and watched his friend get up as well, glaring at him. But just as the other looked about ready to jump at him, Slam grabbed the coyote, immobilizing him with his large arms. Tech snarled as he struggled against the powerhouse, snapping his teeth at the air.

"Talk about a mood swing," the show-off commented dryly. "Last I saw him, he looked about ready to fall asleep."

"That's really weird…" Ace said softly as he watched the coyote thrash about. "I know he's been acting really weird lately, but I've never seen him act like this before…"

As the others agreed in some way or another, Rev looked away and fidgeted nervously.

That behavior did not go unnoticed by the leader. Whether it was lying or having something to hide, he knew that there were certain visible actions. And he didn't need his optical enhancement to see the roadrunner was exhibiting those signs.

"Rev…" the rabbit said slowly, "did you know anything about this?"

The quickster knew he had been caught, yet still couldn't bring himself to say anything about it. "No-not-really…" he replied, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke.

And the leader didn't Lexi's special hearing to know that the other was definitely lying. "Rev, has this happened before?"

Feeling the burning gaze of the normally cool blue eyes, the roadrunner turned slightly so that he was facing away from the other.

But Ace was getting impatient. He walked over until he was standing beside the other Loonatic. "Rev," he said in a forceful tone, "what is going on?"

Rev finally turned back to the rabbit. "I-really-don't-know," he answered honestly, "that's-what-I've-been-trying-to-figure-out-this-past-week-while-Tech-was-acting-really-weird-and-it's-not-really-his-fault-so-I-didn't-want-to-say-anything-that-might-get-him-into-trouble-and-"

"Okay, okay, wait a minute," the rabbit said. "Did you know about this?" He emphasized the last word as he motioned to the devil behind him that still held the struggling coyote back.

Glancing from Slam to Ace, Rev slowly nodded.

Ace groaned, rubbing his temples. "Okay…so you knew…but you didn't bother to tell anyone?"

"Well-I-wasn't-sure-what-to-say-and-besides-it-wasn't-really-important-I-mean-I-wasn't-hurt-the-other-times-so-I-"

He gasped, shutting his beak with his hands as the leader looked at him with startled eyes. After the meteor hit and they had gained their powers and Rev gained his fast-paced speech, Tech had always warned him about running off at the mouth. Now he understood why.

"Other times…" the leader said. He wasn't asking for confirmation in that statement. "How many 'other times'?"

The roadrunner looked down at the ground. "I-don't-know-like-I-was-supposed-to-keep-track?"

"This isn't a joke, Rev!" Ace snapped, causing the other four to jump slightly. "Do you have any idea how much trouble this causes?"

"Toldja so…" the show-off quipped softly.

"Can it, Duck!" the rabbit said, glaring at the mallard before turning back to the roadrunner. "Rev, why didn't you tell anyone? I told you to keep an eye on Tech so you could tell me if something like this happened!"

"I-I…I-didn't-wanna-get-him-in-trouble…" the quickster replied softly.

"You didn't want to get him in trouble…" Ace rubbed his temples again. "Okay, fine…But did you ever think about what could have happened if you couldn't fight him off? If he had actually hurt you?"

Rev winced a little, actually never having thought of that. He'd always figured that he would be able to protect himself or that the coyote would snap back to normal. It had never occurred to him that his friend would – or could – ever harm him, even with the strange behavior that the other was demonstrating.

"If he had actually managed to hurt you," Ace said, "not only would he have gotten in trouble, I would have had to explain to him why. How do you think he would have felt knowing he was responsible for something like that?"

Ace suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning slightly, he looked over at Lexi. She frowned, shaking her head before motioning back to the roadrunner. As he looked back at the bird, whose eyes were downcast and a small pained look was etched into his features, the rabbit sighed softly. Despite his sense of humor, he always knew that he had a strong serious side. Usually that seriousness allowed him to keep a cool attitude with whatever challenges they had to face. But this was one of those rare times that he had lost his head.

"Listen Rev," he spoke softly, trying to regain his composure, "I know you're worried about him. We all are. I mean, it's obvious that there's somethin' really wrong with him. But if we're gonna help him, then we gotta do it right, okay?"

Looking up at the leader, Rev nodded slightly.

"Ahem…" Duck said suddenly, "I don't mean to break up the moment, but I think something's happening to Tech."

The two turned slightly in time to see the coyote's body suddenly falling limp. They all held their breaths for what seemed to be like hours, waiting for the other's next move. Then, the scientist groaned softly, and Ace nodded to Slam. The devil carefully set the other onto the ground, and the leader knelt beside him.

"You okay, Tech?" he asked softly.

"I feel like I just fell off a cliff," the scientist muttered, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

The rabbit glanced at the others quickly before answering, "I don't know…I guess you were sleepwalking or…something…"

Tech looked up at him. "Sleepwalking?"

"Yeah, I guess. Last we checked, you were sleeping. Then you just kinda came in and woke up."

Frowning, the scientist shook his head. "But chances of sleepwalking at this age are…"

"Well, I'm not sure how else to explain it," Ace said quickly, not allowing the other to finish. "Anyway, we just spoke with Zadavia earlier and we got a little situation."

Tech continued to rub his head, still feeling a little tired and confused. "Oh?"

"Yeah, there's a guy blowin' stuff up downtown that's callin' us out. And Rev says he's the same bank robber that the two of ya saw a week ago."

The coyote perked up a little and looked at the other. "Oh yeah?"

The leader nodded. "You feelin' okay to come?"

Slowly Tech got to his feet. "Yeah, definitely."

Getting up as well, the rabbit frowned. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the genius replied, waving aside the other's concern.

"Okay then. Let's head out, Loonatics!"

Rev sped off first, followed by Slam and Tech. Duck eyed the rabbit cautiously before running off after them.

About to follow, Ace stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned to face Lexi.

"Why didn't you tell him?" the bunny asked, looking at him with critical emerald eyes.

"Well, I really don't think any of this is his fault," the rabbit replied. "He doesn't seem aware of any of it. But if he isn't, he definitely will be if we say something." He folded his arms across his chest, tapping his fingers on his arms. "Until we can figure out what's going on, I want to keep Tech in the dark about it and find out if he really doesn't remember anything. The less involved he is in everything, the better it will be for him in the end."

"So what do we do if he does something like that while we're out there?"

Ace frowned as he took a moment to think. "We'll just have to watch him. Probably keep Slam nearby to hold him down if anything should happen." Then he grinned slightly, making a motion with his head. "Now c'mon, we better get going."

The acrobat sighed softly as she ran out after him. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Ace," she said.

Glancing back at her quickly, the leader frowned. 'So do I,' he thought.

The Loonatics landed in the broken street, looking around at the destroyed buildings and all the smoke that rose into the air. But there was no sign of anyone there.

"Looks like someone got tired of waiting…" Duck said, turning over a broken piece of concrete with his foot.

Ace turned to the roadrunner. "Can you pick up anything Rev?" he asked.

The quickster's eyes began to glow crimson as a holographic map appeared from the large red triangle on his chest. "Well-let's-see-I'm-not-picking-up-anyone-which-is-good-I-guess-when-you-think-about-it.-Oh-wait-I-think-there-is-someone-here…" A red dot abruptly appeared on the holographic map before it disappeared and Rev's eyes returned back to normal. Turning slightly, he then pointed to the remains of a nearby building. "Right-there!"

Ace frowned slightly. Under a pile of rubble meant victim, not villain. "Okay, Slam, Rev, and Tech, whoever's under there, you dig 'em out. Lexi and Duck, let's look around and see what we can find."

Tech watched the other three go, his brow furrowed before he followed the remaining two towards the rubble. He was confused as to why the leader had told him to help dig out the person under the pile of rocks. The building appeared to be made of stone, and though there were some trace elements of metal in them, there wasn't enough to allow his powers to pick the rocks and move them.

He could use the energy of his magnetism to blow away the rocks in a similar fashion of a laser. But without knowing how deeply buried the person was, he was afraid of hurting whoever was trapped underneath.

Watching as Slam assumed his tornado form and crushed rocks that way while Rev began moving one rock at a time with his speed, the scientist decided that the only way to help was to actually dig. He frowned but went to the rock pile, beginning to move the smaller rocks with his hands. He'd let Slam deal with the really big ones.

Tech then began to wonder if the person buried underneath was conscious. Or worse. Was the person even breathing?

"Hey!" he called into the rocks as he continued to dig. "Are you all right there? Can you hear me?"

There was no answer. The scientist frowned, wishing for that one moment that he had Lexi's hearing to know if this person was still alive or not.

He felt a pair of eyes on him and motioned for Rev to keep going with his work. If there was a hope that the person was alive, someone had to talk to keep the person with them. And with Slam's unintelligible speech and Rev's hyperactive mouth, it would most likely be him. At least he could help out in some way other than just lamely digging away like a dog.

"If you can hear me," Tech continued to call into the rocks, "we're going to get you out in a minute. Just hold on."

There was still no answer. The coyote then increased the rate of his digging, which in turn signaled to Rev and Slam to speed up their efforts as well.

Soon all the smaller rocks were moved away, leaving only a giant boulder that covered a hug hole in the floor where the building once stood. As he and Rev backed away, Tech nodded to Slam, who replied with a few grunts. His crimson eyes began to glow violet as he grabbed the rock and threw it aside. No sooner had he done that, though, then two blood-red beams shot out of the hole, hitting the devil and roadrunner square in the chests and sending them flying back through the air.

Tech gasped. "Slam! Rev!" he called, about to head to where his teammates had landed to make sure they were all right. He froze, however, as blue electricity surrounded him. Falling to his knees, he wrapped his arms around his body as the electric burn soared through him and threatened to rip him apart.

"I suppose I should be lucky that you're all the superheroes types," the coyote managed to hear a voice say over the low buzz of the force that encompassed him as well as the rapid beating of his own heart. "Good thing I decided to set up that little plan, though I didn't think that you would be one of the ones to 'dig' me out…"

Despite the pain he was in, the scientist looked up at the figure that stood before him. "You…" he growled.

The 'bank robber' smirked slightly, brushing back ebony strands from his round, tan face. "Me," he replied smugly. "How are you feeling?"

Tech didn't answer, instead gripping his head in his hands and shutting his eyes. Something was wrong. Really wrong. He could feel something happening, something bad. It wasn't like this the last time it happened. Something was pulsing inside him, beating through his blood along with his heart.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open, revealing a coal color in place of his normal gold hue. A vibration struck something in the recesses of his mind as his mouth opened, letting loose a mix between a painful scream and an eerie howl.

Ace ran as quick as he could back to where they had left the other three, Lexi and Duck following after him. They had managed to walk quite a distance looking around for anything when they heard what sounded like a dog howling. It wouldn't have meant much except Lexi said that, underneath the dog tone was Tech's pain-filled voice.

Arriving at the scene, the leader froze when his eyes came across Rev and Slam lying unconscious by a broken wall. As Lexi and Duck ran to aide the others, he stood and looked around. If Tech wasn't nearby or unconscious as the other two were, he would have to assume the worst.

There was a deep sinking feeling in his chest as he headed to the others. Rev and Slam were fine it appeared, but the fact that Tech wasn't to be found left him no comfort.

"I wonder what happened to them," the acrobat said as she and the mallard got to their feet.

"I don't know," Ace replied, looking down at the unconscious, "but I have a really bad feeling about this…especially since Tech isn't around."

"You think that's connected somehow?" Duck asked.

Before Ace could give some witty reply, a car slammed into them, knocking them through the already broken wall and pinning them to the ground. Gasping, the three began to struggle as Ace felt another twist in his stomach that accompanied the sight of the familiar emerald glow surrounding the car.

The vehicle suddenly pushed into them heavily, crushing them into the ground. Duck's eyes began to glow orange as he teleported from under the car to right next to it. Placing a hand to his chest, he sighed heavily.

"I like breathing, thanks," he muttered to no one in particular. But as fire-glowing orbs appeared in his hands, a metal pipe swung at him, hitting him square in the face and sending him flying several feet away. The only think that stopped him from flying father was another pile of rocks. He hit them, lying there unconscious.

Meanwhile, the car continued to crush the two as it was pushed further into the ground. Clenching his teeth, Ace's eyes glowed before firing a laser and destroying the car. Smoke covered them as pieces exploded everywhere around them. Panting for air, the rabbit got to his feet. Suddenly he heard a pained cry belonging to his female counterpart.

When the smoke cleared, the leader's eyes widened when he saw Lexi's still form slumped against a wall.

Another figure came just into his side vision. Scowling, Ace turned, his eyes beginning to glow as he and Tech stood a few feet away and stared each other down, both poised for attack.

But the leader didn't want to attack the other if he could help it.

"Tech," he pleaded, "you gotta stop. Don't do this…"

The coyote only responded with a low snarl as he bared his teeth. Ace clenched his fists. He felt that reasoning wouldn't work with the other, but certainly fighting couldn't be the only way to snap Tech out of it.

Before either Loonatic could do anything, however, a crimson beam struck the coyote in the back and sent him crashing into the ground.

"It seems that little session wasn't as I'd hoped either," a stunned Ace heard a voice say. Looking up, the leader frowned as he recognized the man as the one in the hologram that Zadavia had sent them to find. It took a moment more for him to absorb the man's words.

"Eh…what do you mean 'little session'?" the rabbit asked curiously.

The villain walked over to stand by Tech's body, his fists resting on his hips. "Well, the last time I tested my device out, Tech would forget when he changed. This time, it appears as though his rational mind seems to be lost, and yet the memory of his powers remains."

A few seconds passed before the rabbit realized what he meant. "You're the one responsible for what's been happenin' to Tech!"

Scoffing, the man shook his head. "It took you that long to figure it out? Think about it; First I appear and rob the bank that just happens to be by the very movie theater your friend was at. Soon after that, he begins to act strange. Then I call you all out here and he acts stranger than before. And you had to wonder?"

Ace glared at the man. "But why? What are you planning on doing?"

Smirking, the man pulled something out of his leather jacket. "I'd tell you…" he said, "but…I really don't want to." Suddenly he threw down a metallic orb which exploded as soon as it touched the ground. Smoke filled the area, obscuring the rabbit's vision and causing him to cough.

In a matter of minutes, the dark cloud had cleared. But as Ace looked on, he found that the man – and Tech – had vanished.

TBC

I apologize for any spelling and grammatical errors. I finished typing this up and posting it at 5 in the AM. And if you're wondering what the hell I'm doing up at that hour...I honestly couldn't tell you. I guess I really wanted to get this chapter out for all of you to read. Happy late Turkey Day.

I also apologize to anyone who disliked Ace's character in the beginning of the chapter. He did seem kind of mean (least to me, he did). But he was just concerned, that's all...Why am I trying to explain? (needs sleep)

This was actually a rather difficult chapter to write, especially the beginning of it. I'm not really sure why. But it's written and up. Hope you all enjoyed it. Please review and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Later.

(needs to go to bed)