Thanks for all the reviews! You guys have been really great, and I really appreciate the time you take to read and review for my story. It really means a lot to me.

So here is chapter six of my story. Just so you know, it is not the last chapter (and when you get to the end of this, you'll see why). Just letting you know.

Still waiting to see the Black Velvet episode. I really, really, really want to see it. But yeah. I'll just have to wait until they decide to show it...if ever...

Hmm...I had something that I was going to say, but I can't remember it now. Oh well...here's the sixth chapter!

"Warning…" the computerized voice echoed around the room. "Detonation sequence has been activated. Self-destruction in T-minus 5 minutes…"

The floor beneath them began to quake violently as a piercing alarm sounded in the metallic room. On the computer screen, the numbers on the clock began to descend second by second.

Ace knew that they had to act now.

When the alarm finally died down, the leader said, "Lexi, Slam, see if you can bust down that door."

The two nodded before running to the still-glowing exit.

Turning to the roadrunner, he said, "Rev, try and find another exit somewhere."

"You-got-it!" the quickster replied with a quick salute before speeding off.

"What about me?" Danger asked.

Looking at him, Ace thought for a moment. Then he said, "See if you can teleport outside and try to find a way to get the door open from there."

"Okay…" The mallard's eyes began to glow before he vanished in a stream of smoke.

When the other had gone, the rabbit looked towards the door where Lexi and Slam were. The acrobat stood in one spot, her familiar pink orb between her ears firing at the top of the door while the powerhouse, in his tornado form, was pounding up against it, moving a few feet back before rushing in and pounding it again.

But in his sight, he could see that nothing they were doing was working. This worried him a bit. What force could possibly keep Slam from breaking a door down?

Bringing his wrist up to his mouth, the leader said, "Hey Duck, tell me you've got some good news…"

There was no answer from the show-off. Frowning a little, he spoke again, "Yo Duck! You there?"

For a moment, the only response on the other end was silence. Finally, the duck's voice came through. "Geez, give me a break, will ya? I got stuck and couldn't answer…"

"Stuck? On what?"

"Surprisingly, the walls are really thick. When I quacked, I got stuck between the outside of the lab and the inside of this…thing…"

"Thing…?" Ace didn't like the sound of that. "What thing…?"

"Well…Y'know that glowing effect-thing on the door?"

"Yeah…"

"Well….it's around the entire lab…And I gotta tell ya, the space between the lab and the glowing thing isn't a whole lot. If I wasn't in such great shape, I wouldn't have fit in it at all…"

The leader frowned, wondering what the glow was. But to the show-off, he replied, "Just keep trying to find a way out…"

"…'Kay…"

As he lowered his arm, he heard a voice a little distance away say, "I don't think we're going to find one…"

Blinking a little, he turned to see Tech standing at the computer consol and staring up at what looked like blueprints. Above them was the timer that continued ticking down. He quickly headed over to the coyote's side, a little surprised that he hadn't seen the other get up in the first place. He had thought Tech was still on the ground. "What do ya mean?" he asked.

"The glowing effect that Duck was talking about," the genius replied, his golden eyes focused on the screen. "It's an energy field that's holding the entire lab together. That's why Lexi and Slam can't break the door down. And even though he was able to somehow squeeze in-between the field, Duck won't be able to do anything either since it's surrounding the entire lab."

"How can it hold the lab together like that?"

The sudden angered look that filled the coyote's feature startled Ace a little. "With magnetism…" he replied softly.

"What?"

Finally Tech looked at the leader. "Do you remember how Punnet had said that it was because of me that we'd find it hard to get out?"

Assuming Punnet was the name of the late-villain, Ace nodded.

"Well that's because he used my energy to create the field," the coyote stated as he typed a few things into the consol, causing a few more lists and blueprints to come up. "He had absorbed my energy every time I used my powers and stored it away, increasing its effects and the magnitude to serve as a type of shield which he programmed into the detonation sequence. The shield holds the lab together and doesn't deactivate until the last second before the place explodes. Since the field is made of energy, Duck managed to squeeze through it when he teleported, but just by a little. And it's so powerful that not even I can negate it even though it's my energy."

"How do you know all this?" Ace asked, looking from the screen to the coyote.

Shaking his head slightly, Tech typed a few more things before the blueprints disappeared and left just the counter and the warning sign. "Punnet 'conveniently' left them here for me to find."

"Didn't he say that there was some kind of access code or somethin'?"

"Those are for programs such as the detonation sequence. But I think he wanted me to find these things…"

Though he was curious as to why the villain would do that, the leader felt that there were more important matters to address to. "Think you can hack in and shut the program down?"

"I…can try…" Tech replied softly, beginning to type on the consol.

And Ace watched the coyote carefully, a little perplexed by the other's response. Normally the genius would have replied with enthusiasm and confidence in his abilities to figure it out. But the answer he had received seemed hesitant, almost doubtful. It didn't seem at all like Tech's usual behavior.

The coyote continued to type on the consol before a small window appeared, asking for the access code. As he continued to type on the bar line, Ace glanced at the clock. Four minutes and counting.

"Incorrect access code," the computer suddenly displayed. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Tech attempted again. "Darn it!" he spat as the computer again read, "Incorrect access code."

"What?" Ace asked.

"My hand slipped…" the coyote muttered, resuming typing on the consol.

The rabbit blinked slightly. 'Slipped on what?' he wondered.

"Incorrect access code," the computer said again. Rubbing his forehead, Tech input another attempt. But the computer just displayed the same message.

"Eh…" Ace said softly, "I don't mean ta rush ya Tech, but…"

He jumped slightly when the scientist suddenly slammed his fists down on the consol. "Darn it, I can't do this!" he said in frustration.

"C'mon Tech, sure ya can. I've seen ya figure out lotsa things that seem more complex than a simple access code."

"I can't do it, Chief…" Tech replied softly, shaking his head. "In my current state…I-I just…I can't do it…"

Ace knew something was definitely wrong. The laser was supposed to turn the other back to normal, wasn't it? But this was definitely something that couldn't be fixed just like that. For as long as he had known the scientist, for as long as they had been on the same team, he never knew the other to simply give up when it came to any type of machinery or technology. Tech's natural fascination with things like that always drove him to exploration and gain of further knowledge. Not for power or ego, but simply because of pure enjoyment of learning and creating. That was just who Tech was.

So for the genius to simply accept failure, for him to say that he 'just can't do it', and the fact that the other's body seemed to be trembling slightly, Ace had to wonder what Punnet had done to him aside from trying to control him.

He gently placed a hand on the coyote's shoulder. "Tech…" he said softly, "look, I know you can do this. We're all just doin' the best we can here, and that's all I'm askin' of you. I know you can figure somethin' out. Findin' the access code…or dismantlin' the computer to stop the virus. If anyone's capable of doin' it, I know it'll be you."

Tech kept his golden eyes focused on his fists that still rested on the consol. "E-even if I thought I could…" he replied, "it would take some time."

'Even if' was still a very defeatist attitude, and it made Ace a little more worried. "How much time?"

Glancing up at the timer, the coyote said, "More than three and a half minutes…"

The leader frowned deeply. "Too bad that's all we got," he muttered. "Isn't there anythin' else?"

Beginning to shake his head, the genius stopped and blinked a little as he once again looked at his fists. Then he glanced behind him at the discarded laser still on the ground. "Hold on…" he said, heading to the item.

Puzzled, Ace followed him, watching as the other knelt down beside the weapon.

Pushing a button, Tech opened the top cover, his golden eyes quickly looking through the complicated wiring. "I think I have an idea…"

And the rabbit watched the other remove the communicator on his wrist, revealing a smaller device. Removing that as well, Tech then slipped the communicator back on.

"What's that?" Ace asked.

"It's a portable shield I built a while ago…" the scientist replied, opening the top hatch of the small gadget.

"A shield huh?" the leader said, slightly hopeful.

"Yeah, but on its own it wouldn't be enough. This particular prototype is just enough to shield one person, and only in the direction it's aimed at. I could protect myself in front, but I'd still get hit from behind."

"Oh…"

"But," the coyote added as he slipped the arm laser on, "if I merge it with this, I should be able to increase the power and circumference of the shield to be able to withstand the explosion."

Ace looked at the counter, then back at the other. "You think you'll be able to do that in three minutes?"

"I should be able to…"

"'Should' doesn't sound very convincing."

"Well, it's all we've got." But as Tech reached into the laser to begin the adjustments, he pulled his hand back quickly as the device shot electric sparks out in protest.

The leader's eyes widened slightly. "You okay?" he asked.

Shaking his hand to cool down the stinging burn, the other hero nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. Holding his hand in front of him, he frowned deeply as it trembled a little. "If I was at my best, this would be no problem. But in my present condition, I'm not so sure…"

"There's gotta be somethin' you can do."

Tech sighed softly. "I don't know Chief. With the way I am now, I'm not sure I can do this fast…enough…" the coyote trailed off as he thought. Suddenly he brought his communicator up to his mouth. "Rev," he said, "I need you to get back here now!"

A second passed before the roadrunner appeared before the two. "Whatcha-need-Tech?" he asked.

The scientist grabbed the other's wrist and pulled him down so Rev was kneeling in front of him. "Listen Rev," he said, "I need your help to fix this laser into a shield that'll protect us from the explosion. If I tell you exactly what to do, do you think you'll be able to know what I'm talking about?"

"Oh-yeah-you-bet!-I'd-be-disappointed-with-myself-if-I-didn't-know-since-I-spend-a-lot-of-time-hanging-out-with-you-and-I-normally-help-you-out-with-stuff-around-the-lab-anyway."

"I'll leave that to you guys then," Ace said. "You got less than three minutes."

"Don't-worry-that-should-be-plenty-of-time!" Rev said confidently as he already began working on the laser.

"Concentrate Rev," Tech said. "First we gotta cut the power of this thing before we start messing with it…"

Deciding to let them work on that, Ace headed to where Lexi and Slam were resting after their numerous attempts on the glowing green door. "Anything?" he asked.

"Not at all," the bunny replied. "Not even a dent!"

"Etha ble strong," Slam grunted in agreement.

Frowning, the rabbit then spoke into his communicator. "How 'bout you, Duck?"

"I got nothin' over here…" the mallard answered. "Whatever this is, I don't think it'll let up any time soon."

Glancing back at the counter, Ace thought for a moment before saying into his communicator, "Okay Duck, I got a special mission for ya."

"Oh joy," came the sarcastic response.

"Just listen up. Tech and Rev are working on something that'll help us out, but we're running short on time."

"Yeah…"

"Since there's no point in trying to break out, you're done here, Duck. No matter what, in about five seconds I want you away from here, got it?"

He ignored the surprised looks Lexi and Slam gave him. In his mind, he knew he was making the right decision.

There was a momentary delay before the show-off spoke again. "What?"

"You heard me Duck. I want you to get away from here before the place explodes. I mean, with the walls as thick as they are, you can't teleport us out of here. Heck, you could barely teleport yourself…"

"Hey!"

"My point is, you might as well use that 'quack' of yours to get yourself to safety. In the slight chance that we don't make it out, at least someone will be left."

"But…!"

"Get going Duck. That's an order."

There was silence for a good moment. Then, with much obvious hesitation, Duck retorted softly, "Well, you don't hafta tell me twice." And then more silence followed.

Ace could feel Lexi's steady gaze on him. "There's no point for all of us to be caught in the fire," he said softly. "If there's a chance to save at least one of us, then we might as well take it."

"I got it Ace," she replied just as softly. "You don't need to explain."

"Yo Chief!" Tech suddenly called from where he and Rev were still at. "We got it!"

Looking over, Ace quickly headed to where they were at, Lexi and Slam following right behind him. "Less than a minute left," he muttered, a joking smile on his face. "Cuttin' it kinda close, doncha think?"

"Sorry-that-was-my-fault-I-crossed-some-wrong-wires-and-it-took-a-little-longer-than-expected," Rev said quickly.

"At any rate, we got it done," Tech said. "Now we were able to change some things, but the size of the shield itself isn't that big, so you're all going to need to get down and stay as close as possible."

With Rev still kneeling in front of the coyote, the other three quickly knelt down elsewhere around him, forming a small circle.

Inhaling deeply, Tech then held the laser above his head and hit the button.

"T-minus 30 seconds until detonation," the computer voice chimed in.

The coyote's eyes were wide as he pulled his arm back, startled that the laser hadn't done anything. "I don't understand, it should have worked!" he said, opening the top cover and looking inside.

"Oh-hey-Tech-didn't-we-have-to-cut-the-laser's-power?" Rev piped up. "I-don't-think-we-turned-it-back-on-did-we?"

"T-minus 20 seconds until detonation…"

Thinking for a moment as he continued to search the inside of the laser, the scientist then nodded. "I think you're right, Rev…" he replied. "We forgot to reconnect the firing cables to the central power core…" He clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval.

"So just connect the cables to the power core already," Lexi said, trying to conceal the sudden apprehension that followed each passing second.

"But that would require reworking an entire section that also has to connect directly to the core!" the coyote said. "Even with Rev's speed, we'd never be able to do that in time!"

"T-minus 10 seconds until detonation…10…9…8…"

Slam began garbling distressed gibberish.

"I'm doing the best I can, Slam!" Tech replied, his mind racing as he tried to think.

"C'mon Tech, ya gotta make this work!" Ace exclaimed.

"7…6…5…"

The coyote's ears were flat against his head as he thought. Suddenly, they perked up. "Got it!" he said as he quickly pulled out a clump of cable wires from inside the laser.

"Here goes nothing…" he said softly.

"4…3…2…1…"

The discharge from the explosion threw Danger farther away from the site than he already was. Gasping, he protected his face with his arms from the dust and rocks that flew at him. He felt the ground hard underneath him in a matter of seconds.

He thought he had gotten far away enough to not be affected by the blast. But with an explosion large enough to destroy the entirety of Acmetropolis, he couldn't have been more wrong. Good thing they were in an empty desert.

Groaning as he lay on his back, the mallard cracked open an eye. Dust blanketed over him and the entire area. If the others were caught in something like that…

Shaking his head, he slowly got to his feet. He couldn't think like that. Ace said that Tech and Rev had been working on something that could help. So of course they'd be all right. Right?

But Ace had also told him to go in case they couldn't make it. So there was always that chance…

Danger shook his head again. 'Better not get ahead of myself…' he thought.

Slowly he began walking through the cloud the covered the entire space, looking around for any clues concerning his teammates. In a worse-case scenario…well, Acmetropolis deserved to bury their heroes.

He was getting ahead of himself again.

As he continued to walk further into the dust cloud, Danger couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he hadn't been with all the others in the explosion. If he had stayed…if he had just tried harder to help…there had to have been something more he could have done.

But Ace had told him to go. Ordered him even. And he could always tell himself that he was just following orders.

Not that it would make him feel any better.

He kept telling himself that there had to have been something he could have done for the other. Something…anything…Even staying would have been better than running away like he had. Sure, he would have been…a little scared, but he really wouldn't have abandoned his team.

He didn't care what other people thought. He'd be the first to admit that he was (a little) selfish and (a bit) conceited. But no one should ever accuse him of being heartless.

The others knew that, didn't they? They knew that, despite the way he acted, he really just wanted to help. He thought they knew, but now he really wasn't too sure. It was difficult to tell by the things he did and said.

But they had to have known something. Why else would they have kept him on the team? Granted, it could have been to keep him from becoming one of the many super-powered villains. But if they truly felt that he was an incompetent hero, why would they worry about him as a villain? So they must have known what he truly thought and felt.

It was only because of the others that Danger acted the way he did. The brave and confident front he put on was because he knew that, with the team, everything would work out. Of course there were times when it seemed hopeless (and he was never afraid to say so), but as a team they could always handle it.

And even though he had always dreamed of being a hero and a leader, it would be difficult to do without the help of the team.

After all, one couldn't be a leader without other people to lead, other people…to help and support him as leader.

"I'm sure they're fine…" he mumbled to himself as he continued walking. He had to keep telling himself that, otherwise it wouldn't be true. And he didn't want to think of about what would happen if it wasn't.

Not getting ahead of himself was harder than he thought.

He was glad when he noticed that the dust was beginning to settle. It was hard for him to look for the others if he couldn't even see his own beak.

When the cloud was finally gone, Danger realized too late that he had just walked to the edge of a giant crater. He gasped as his foot slipped, causing him to slide down the curved walls of the giant hole. But as he headed towards the bottom, he could see the blue-sparking yellow dome that rested in the center of the crater.

Heading towards the dome, the mallard slowed a bit until he finally came to a stop. Dusting himself off, he got to his feet and slowly walked towards the dome where he could just make out the others inside. They were crouched down on their knees, holding their heads with their hands as though to protect themselves from the explosion. The only exception was Tech who knelt in the center, his arm raised above his head. The weapon on his arm provided the source for the shield around them.

The first thing he felt was the relief that coursed through his system at the sight that the others were safe. Placing a hand to his anxious heart, he sighed softly. Then, crossing his arms across his torso, he cleared his throat and lisped smartly, "Just so ya know, I wasn't worried one bit…"

The show-off's familiar voice drew the others out of their protective positions as they slowly opened their eyes and raised their heads. As they looked around and down at themselves, they realized that they weren't dreaming after all. They had survived the explosion.

"All-right!" Rev exclaimed happily as he watched the shield begin to fade. "Wow-Tech-you-did-it!-Whew-that's-a-relief-I-mean-I-know-you-knew-what-you-were-doing-but-man-you-even-had-me-going-for-a-while-there!-I-almost-thought-that-" He didn't finish his thoughts as he glanced at the coyote, whose hand and eyes were once again glowing emerald. In his free hand the scientist held cables that seemed to connect to the laser.

The roadrunner didn't have a chance to ask his friend anything though as the shield faded completely. As the other three got to their feet, the light from the coyote disappeared as well as he collapsed to the ground.

"Whoa!" Rev cried. "Tech…? Hey-Tech!" He began shaking the other gently in an attempt to wake him.

Kneeling down beside the quickster, Ace placed his hand on the scientist's back. A deep frown appeared on his face. It didn't even seem like the coyote was breathing…

Behind him the rabbit suddenly heard Lexi gasp, and he sighed heavily. "I don't suppose that's a happy gasp?" he asked. Part of him wasn't joking.

"Tech's heart…" she said softly. "I-I can't…it's starting to…it's starting to fade…"

It was then that Ace sprang to his feet. "Slam!" he said. "Grab Tech and let's go! We gotta get back to the tower and do somethin' before we lose him!"

TBC

Yeah, I know...I did a vewy bad thing...But you know, I couldn't help it. That's what wanted to be written and my hand is merely holding the pen that writes this stuff. I'm just a pawn, I swear.

If anything is unclear or seems a little off about Tech and everything, the last chapter should (hopefully) explain everything. If not, I apologize in advance.

Want to know something interesting though? The original reason that I had for even writing this chapter was just to write the little scene with Duck. I have no idea why, but I really wanted to, so I created this whole idea just to get him alone and thinking about this stuff. Weird huh?

Of course, when I started developing how the chapter would turn out, I really didn't plan for the chapter to end this way. It just kind of happened. Well, c'est la vie.

I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but I've been trying to post up the new chapters ever week so you all could read them. I mention this now because I won't be able to get the seventh chapter up until sometime after New Year's. I just thought I'd let you all know that since this chapter will be hanging here with that evil cliffhanger for two or more weeks. But the holidays are a time for family, and my dad is flying home from the Philippines so I finally get to see him (he worked there while I live here in the US of A) and he gets to be home for Christmas. That'll be fun.

But yeah, so I'm sorry that I won't be able to post the next chapter until January. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story! Please review, and happy holidays! See you all next time!