Thanks so much for you guys who liked my first chapter. I hope this chapter will shed some more light about the Loonatic's situation, and Tech's. However, it is kinda long because I couldn't find a way to end the chapter appropriately. Oh well. However, there will be a wonderful surprise near the end about Tech. You'll see… Enjoy!
Loonatics Unleashed © WarnerBros.
"Rev, Duck! Glad to see you guys." Still in hot pursuit of the fleeting villain, Ace was relieved to get some back up. Not that he can't handle the guy himself, but from what he did to Lexi, he had to be very cautious.
"No-problem-Ace-not-that-you-wouldn't-seeing-how-you-called-us-and-how-slow-you're-running-Man-how-can-you-catch-anyone-running-like-that?"
"Heh." Rev was always one to relieve tense situation. Not only a great fighter, but a great asset to the team. Sometimes Ace wonders how all of them get along in such a feisty bunch such as they were. "Great to see you too Rev. Mind cutting' ahead while me and Duck corner him from behind?"
"No-problem!-On-my-way-Over-and-out!" Rev quickly raced through an alternate route to make Ace's two-pronged attack a reality. "Duck?" Ace turned to call the mallard behind him.
"Yeah, Ace?"
"Once me and Rev catch up to this guy, do you think you can hide for a bit?"
"Sure… but isn't the point of a pursuit to corner the criminal, not to hide from him?" Duck asked with his usual sarcastic tone of voice. "That's not it Duck. He ambushed Lexi back there and I don't want to give him an opportunity to escape."
"Ahh! Got ya."
"Good. If anything goes wrong, do your quacking thing and catch him off-guard." With all the crazy villains they faced before, none had given them the slip this quickly. However, this guy overlooked Rev's global positioning abilities… or was he expecting it? Ace had a bad feeling about this as they entered an alley between two large complexes. With such a narrow passage way, the duo soon spotted the figure up ahead. Rev soon appeared on the other side of the alley to block any chance of escape.
"Right on cue Rev!" Ace waved approvingly. "Did-you-ever-doubt-me?" With the pursuit coming to its end, Ace and Rev closed in on the perpetrator. "Alright Doc! You're coming with us to serve your sentence for the system crashes and for hurting our friend." As if not heeding their words, the man just stood there. Ace began to wonder from the awkward silence if this guy managed to place another dummy. But how exactly would he be able to do that? Ace saw him run down through this very alley. Even without his optical enhancements, there was no possible way he could have managed a switch, especially if the figure in front of him had such life-like motions. Fortunately confirming that he wasn't hallucinating, the masked figure began a slow and sinister laugh.
"Ha ha… ha ha ha… Mahahahaha!"
"Hey-what's-so-funny-smart-guy?-Have-you-lost-it?-We-have-you-cornered!" The man merely smiled with an evil grin as he spoke with an unusually terrifyingly deep, and menacing voice.
"Cornered? I'm afraid your mistaken." Ace froze as he began to speak. The hacker's voice was different. It had a lower pitch than from the previous encounter along with a more sadistic tone. Ace's usual firm nerves of steel grew nervous at the sheer enigma who stood there, constantly becoming more mysterious with every passing second.
"W-Who are you! What do you want!"
"Nothing that you need to know. Besides, you should be more concerned about that girl than me… rabbit." From that statement alone, Ace's body filled with anger. Maintaining calm and coolness was a trait Ace always managed to perform consistently during battle. However, this situation made him turn for the worst. Not only had he injured Lexi, but that cocky, inconsiderate attitude only outlined the smugness exhibited by this man. Ace couldn't stand for anyone who was so amoral and easily disregarded the safety of others. The enemies he faced in the past couldn't compare to this guy's egocentric attitude.
"Nothing!" Ace began with an outburst of pure emotion. "You hacked into this city's news network with a virus, dragged us out here with an ambush, hurt my friend, and you think I don't need to know?" Ace's eyes began to burn with an inner raging fire. The intensity of his inner aggression filtered through to his eyes as it began to illuminate the alleyway.
"People like you make me sick. All of you criminals are alike. Disregard for others, no respect for the law, and selfishness that clouds every waking moment of your lives." Ace began to walk towards the figure with heated fury in his eyes. "Enjoy being behind bars." With one final utterance, Ace unleashed his most devastating laser attack ever unleashed. The man smirked with a wicked grin as the laser fast approached. With a result that stunned Ace, his attack went right through what seemed like a hologram. Blinded by rage, Ace had forgotten that missing this shot would put Rev in the line of fire. Wide-eyed with fear, Ace could only watch the beam as he called out to his friend.
"Rev!"
Rev was watching the whole thing before Ace exploded with unprecedented anger. He was fearful for what this man was doing to his friend. He'd never known Ace to be that temperamental, especially during a mission. However, things took a turn for the worst when Rev looked dead-eyed on the beam attack. With only a split second, Rev quickly tried to evade the piercing shot. Unfortunately, the beam struck the ground before Rev could speed away safely and was caught in the blast.
"Ahhhhh!" Rev was blown away by the strike and sent hurling towards the building behind him. Ace just stood there, frozen in time. One careless mistake almost cost his friend his life. The mental anguish that began to stir made him forget about the enemy. And with another careless mistake, Ace suddenly realized his predicament.
"Such a temper…" The hacker spoke, quietly mocking him. The distraction with Ace's attack had him positioned right behind Ace. Beating himself mentally, Ace stood nervously as he waited for an attack to strike him. "Someone could get… hurt."
"I don't think so smart guy." Ace brightened as he recognized that unwitting remark. Duck had followed orders perfectly and quacked right behind the hacker. "I think you need to go to sleep." Duck wound his punch and shot his fist toward the man's head. And yet again with that evil smile, Duck's attempted assault went right through the hologram-like projection. Ace didn't know what happened, but only felt a sudden impact that led to a blissful fall into darkness. Duck had struck his unintended mark and punched Ace right in the back of his head. "Ahh!" Duck yelped with guilt. "Chief! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" With another distraction created, the man appeared behind Duck just as he had done with Ace. However, this time… he was real.
"Bad aim…" Ducks eyes grew wide with fear as he blacked out with a swift jab to his back.
-----
Tech continued to stare blankly as he peered into the sky. A faintly visible speck caught his eye as it plunged towards the earth. The dummy continued to plummet from the sudden violent burst of speed given by Tech into the air. As though being drawn towards the object, Tech continued to stare as it finally met the horizon. Questions raced through his mind, more so than usual. First it was the strange pain he felt back at the tower, now the bomb that was about to explode didn't. Could it have possibly been a fake? A proxy of a dummy? Tech recounted over and over the events that took place. Everything seemed to exhibit an eerie feeling. And as if on cue, the pain he felt from before shot through his body. Tech clutched his arms as they felt born of molten fire. The searing pain was much more intense, but this reoccurring pain stopped sooner.
"Huh.. huh… huh… what's happening to me?"
Tending to Lexi, Slam tried to awaken his falling comrade. Unfortunately, the only signs Lexi was giving only came out in brief spasms and moans. Slam began to grow anxious and wondered if Tech managed to disable the bomb. Gently grabbing Lexi into his arms, Slam carried her outside as he noticed Tech crouched on the ground. He hurried to his side, fearing for his friend's well-being as. Tech continued to stare into the ground not even noticing Slam rushing to his side, as he was flushed with sweat.
"Eh eh!" blurted Slam as he nudged Tech with Lexi in hand.
"I-I'm alright Slam…" Tech unnervingly said as he tried once again to recover from the unusual affliction. Noticing Lexi in Slam's arms, his concerns were displaced toward concern for Lexi. "Is she all right?" Slam only shrugged with a worried face as he too stared at Lexi's limp body.
"This isn't good. We'd better take her back to HQ. She might have a severe burn judging from the blast of the laser. Slam, can you please turn her over?" Slam nodded and gently turned Lexi onto her front side. Tech began to examine the marks left on her body from the laser. From what was presented, the laser looked to be more of a blast charge than a shot. The wide radius of the burn indicated a non-conventional weapon that wasn't offered to the general public. Fortunately for Lexi, the burns weren't as deep as they could have been but still caused considerable damage to her fur and skin tissue.
"Thank goodness it's nothing serious, but we'll have to treat her quickly before there's an infection." Tech flipped his backpack onto the ground and quickly searched for his first aid kit. Even though gifted with super powers, Tech thought it better to be safe than sorry if anyone on the team were to be injured during a mission. "In the mean time, Slam? Can you retrieve the dummy I launched over there," Tech asked as he pointed toward the direction of the robot. "Something strange is going on and I need it to figure this out." Slam immediately complied as he turned into tornado mode and ran after the discarded dummy. Finally grabbing the kit from among his other gadgets, he quickly applied a salve to the burns. Lexi immediately grimaced from the burning sensations as Tech slowly rubbed the salve. "Hang in there Lexi, this should only take a minute." Tech grabbed the bandages and applied them to cover her wounds. All the while, Lexi groaned from the extra pressure and attention given to her wounds.
"Well, I'm glad that's over." Tech began trying to get everything back into his kit, when Lexi started to stir from a painful slumber. She slowly opened her eyes as flashes of events that led to her black out raced through her mind. "T-Tech…" Tech perked his ears as he heard Lexi's voice. He turned and was happy to see her conscious again. "Lexi. You shouldn't move. You have severe burns that need to be properly treated."
"Tech… what happened?"
"You were shot by a powerful electromagnetic discharge." Lexi smiled as best she could from the pain in her back as she tried to speak to the coyote. "Tech… English please?"
"Oh, sorry…" Tech shyly said. "You were hit by a laser blast from behind by the hacker. Ace, Rev, and Duck are after them right now."
"Where's Slam?"
"He should be coming back pretty soon. The bomb that was set to go off didn't explode so I asked Slam to get it so I could examine it."
"What bomb?" Tech suddenly remembered that Lexi was knocked out before the hacker revealed the nature of the dummy. Knocking himself on the head a bit, Tech replied considerately with the foreknowledge. "Oh sorry again… the dummy that you, Ace, and I had mistaken for the hacker was actually a time bomb. Although, it didn't explode so it must have been a proxy."
"How long have I been out?"
"You weren't out for long. Maybe only a few minutes. You certainly seem to have incredible stamina from being a gymnast because that blast was more dangerous than a normal laser shot." Lexi smiled softly at Tech for the compliment. He had always been a sweet and kind-hearted guy. She was continually amazed, day to day of Tech's uninhibited responses of compassion and sincerity. Lexi slowly moved her arm to gently grasp Tech's hand. He took notice and looked into her shimmering green eyes. With a slight tear running down her cheek and a faint smile, Lexi breathed her last words before falling back into unconsciousness.
"Thanks… Tech…" Lexi whispered as she finally collapsed from the energy consumed by her body to relieve the pain. Tech slowly, but firmly held her hand with both of his. Suddenly a flashback flew through his mind's eye. A body lain on the floor. Tech was taken aback from the mental image and a lone tear ran down from his stern, fixed eyes. "Lexi… hold on." Slam soon returned with the mangled mannequin and dropped it next to Tech. Looking back and forth between Lexi and Tech, he noticed that something happened. "Eh bleah uh?"
"Slam… Lexi's out cold for now, but she'll have to get back home soon." Tech slowly raised Lexi and placed her in Slam's arms. "You go back to HQ and take Lexi into the infirmary. I'll go after Ace and the others." Slam nodded solemnly as he began to leave. "Don't forget this." Tech grabbed the robot on the floor and tossed it onto Slam's back. Tech reached for his backpack and ran off to find Ace and the others.
------
The man stood there as he landed a finishing blow. Duck was in shock as he soon fell to the ground in a heap next to Ace. The man smiled as he looked on at the fallen heroes. "… pathetic." The man turned to walk away, but was suddenly taken by surprise. Rev recovered quickly from the little skirmish and at a high speed, struck the man from behind.
Thunk!
With all the inertia created by Rev, the man was violently projected by a couple meters. However, the man would have flown farther, but seemed to be of metal as Rev soon discovered while shaking his hand furiously. "Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!-What-in-the-world-are-you-made-of?-lead?-Geez-That-really-hurt!" The man slowly regained his stance and turned to face his speedy attacker.
"I applaud you for catching me off-guard. Let me show you my gratitude."
"Oh-no-thanks-that's-okay-I'd-rather-not-have-your-gratitude." The man went into his trench coat and pulled out a metallic ball. It was the size of a soft ball with tiny porous openings covering the entire surface area. He raised his arm intending to throw it when Rev spoke. "Are-you-telling-me-your-resorting-to-throwing-stuff?-Some-genius-you-are-I-can-dodge-that-easily.-heh-I-expected-better." The man gave his evil grin as he readied to the device.
"And I expect you to squirm."
The man launched the ball towards the roadrunner, but Rev dodged it easily with a quick sidestep. "Whad-I-tell-ya?" The man quickly pressed something in his palm as the metallic ball simultaneously froze and hovered in mid-air. The ball began to spin and accelerate within a couple seconds. As the ball spun, water escaped through the porous outer shell and sprayed Rev. Rev was taken aback when he suddenly felt water droplets hit his feathers from behind. Rev saw the man grin for the last time as he pressed another button. The ball unleashed a high voltage of electricity as the malicious purpose for the water was soon revealed.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Tech's ears shifted as he heard his friend's ear-piercing scream. "Rev!" Tech ran double time as he soon reached the alley. Upon spotting the entrance, the glow from the electricity still emanated as Tech caught a glimpse of the man's sadistic smile. Suddenly, he disappeared and left the scene with Tech's friends crumpled on the floor. But to his horror, the effects of the metallic ball still affected Rev as Tech watched his friend continue to be electrocuted. "Reeeeeev!" Tech immediately unleashed his powers to try and remove the floating ball away from his friend. But instead of having the intended effect, the ball suddenly stopped and fell to the floor. Rev fell onto his knees as he spotted Tech. "… T-Tech…" Then from exhaustion, Rev shut his eyes as he fell forward onto the floor.
"Rev!" Tech frantically rushed to his teammates' side. He took Rev's pulse to see if the electrocution didn't interfere with his basal functions. He sighed with relief as Rev's heart still beat, but with a faint pulse. Tech's eyes began to water as he continued to examine Ace and Duck. With all that has happened, Tech felt as if his world was crumbling. This new menace defeated three off his friends alone. Tech shook from the coldness of the air, but also from the thought of that man. He left a sharp and crisp mental image in his mind. Tech felt overcome with grief as the scene played again and again in his mind. But he couldn't get distracted now. His friends needed him and he must be there for them. Tech began to take out several pieces of thin malleable sheet metal and placed each of his friends on one of them. Getting his jet pack ready, Tech focused and used his magnetic abilities to transport his friends back home. Though his friends were alive, his tear stained cheeks were never given a chance to dry as he flew back home.
"Hold on guys…… hold on…"
------
"Hey Teeech, I need some more cereal."
"I'll be right there Duck, just quit your griping." The next morning brought moans and groans from the headaches and pains. Since Slam and Tech were the only ones who weren't injured from the fight the night before, both were busy trying to meet the needs of their friends (mainly Duck's). Slam had some difficulty handling all the orders, while Tech was busy trying to attend to everyone's conditions. However, Tech couldn't help but comply to his ailing friend's request when he himself did nothing in the battle.
From all the injuries sustained, the Loonatics would be slightly out of commission for a little while. Tech went into the long hours of the night trying to properly treat the team. Ace only had a minor head trauma caused from Duck's misguided punch. The injury wasn't as bad as it seemed however. A slight bruise and swelling combined with a headache was the worst of his afflictions. "Ahhh…" Ace flinched as he slowly placed a new bag of ice on the back of his head. "That really hurt Duck. Whad' ya do? Hit me with a brick?"
"I already said I was sorry. Be glad I didn't intend to kill him. Besides, your not the one who's back is broken." No one could argue with Duck on that statement. The man had hit him in the center of his spine and almost caused a slip disk. Tech had to adjust his posture and slightly add pressure to move his vertebrae back into place. The experience was quite painful and Duck still shivered just thinking about it. Ice was also placed along his back as he laid front forward, watching TV.
Lexi was fairing a bit better than the others, but the burns still remained. Once she regained consciousness that morning, she already had her feisty attitude back with a vengeance. "That guy is gonna pay for what he did to me! If this leaves a mark, I'm gonna personally strangle him all the way to jail!" The others were glad that Lexi wasn't brought down by her current condition, but encouraged her to take it easy for now. "There, there Lexi calm down," Tech tried as he might to settle the restless bunny down. "You'll have plenty of time to get him back, but you're lucky he didn't do much worse. If he had increased the intensity, the blast could have penetrated through your subcutaneous membrane and damaged your spine." Tech finished with the blender as he poured the contents into a tall glass.
"Tech…" Lexi asked. "How's he doing?"
"He's alright. He'll make a full recovery soon." Tech turned his back and walked toward the hallway to the infirmary. As always being alone with his thoughts, Tech's memory raced back to last night. That smile. That evil sadistic smile. It haunted his mind. Though it was only a quick glance, he could never forget. That face morphing into the agonizing expression of Rev's face, being electrocuted. Anger burned within in him. Never will he allow his friends to be put through such torment, ever. It was one of the convictions he continued to hold onto.
Opening the door quietly, Tech peered into the infirmary to check on Rev. He had still lied in bed, very still since last night. Tech slipped in as he thought how much Rev went through. The experience might have taken a harder toll on his body than Tech previously thought. Rev's fast metabolism and energy should have had him at least conscious by now. Tech set the glass down as he began to become slightly worried until he noticed something peculiar. Rev's cheeks seemed to be slightly bloated the last time Tech came in. Upon closer inspection, Tech soon received a most sudden surprise.
Goosh!
"Ahhhh! Rev!"
"Hahahahaha!-Got-ya-Tech!" Rev was laughing his head off at the expense of the wet coyote. Tech couldn't have imagined a more ostentatious recovery than he received from Rev. He couldn't help but laugh along with his dear friend.
"You sneaky bird! You were faking being asleep!"
"Hahahaha-Didn't-think-I'd-be-up-this-way-did-ya?-Man-you-should-have-seen-your-face-it-was-priceless!-I-knew-your-keen-eye-would-get-you-closer-for-the-perfect-shot." Rev continued to wriggle in his bed with excitement from the long night. "So that was it. You put that water in your mouth to bloat your cheeks so I would notice." Rev continued to laugh as he nodded in agreement. Tech's stress was completely lifted with this new turn of events. Rev was always there to give a witty comment and trivialize even the most dire of circumstances. Tech was so happy Rev was back to bring laughter to the team. It had been studied that laughter was a supplemental cure for almost all ailments and resulted in a healthier life. Tech couldn't agree more.
"Settle down Rev," Tech continued to chuckle as the bed continued to shake. "You've been through a lot so you're going to need to rest for a bit." Rev quieted slightly, but mostly didn't heed his wise friend's advice.
"Awww-I-don't-wanna-I've-been-couped-up-here-in-bed-all-night-and-morning.-Can't-I-get-some-excersize-Tech?" His energy never ceases, and neither did his enthusiasm. "No, you have to stay in bed, but don't worry. You should be able to be up and about by tomorrow."
"What?-A-whole-day?-You-gotta-be-kidding-me?" Rev continued to whine. Tech sees this was going nowhere fast and decided to do something to calm him down.
"Relax, relax. I've brought something that might cheer you up." Tech handed the glass to Rev as his eyes began to shine.
"Tech-Tech-Tech!-Is-this-my-super-duper-pick-me-up-energy-shake?"
"Yup. I thought this might lighten your mood, considering its your favorite beverage for the morning. I sampled some you saved and analyzed it for the ingredients."
"Oh-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-Tech!-Your-the-coolest-person-I-know." Rev began to greedily drink the concoction as he savored his favorite drink. "Wow-this-is-amazing-Tech-Though-it-needs-a-bit-more-oranges-and-you-might-want-to-add-a-pinch-of-salt-but-man-this-is-close-to…" Rev froze as his rapid speech stopped in mid-sentence. He turned to Tech and saw him grinning mischievously.
"Hey!-Why-are-you-giving-me-my-super-duper-pick-me-up-energy-shake-when-you-want-me-to-calm-down-Tech?-Tech?" Tech continued to smile as he made his reply.
"I simply wanted to give you something you like so you wouldn't feel like you were stuck in bed for so long. Besides, a good panacea is being happy." Rev didn't believe one word Tech said and glared at him intently.
"Oh-no-you-don't!-You're-not-gonna-talk-your-way-out-of-this-one.-What-did-you-put-in-here?-Huh-huh-huh?" Tech finally conceded to Rev for discovering his true plot.
"Alright, you got me Rev. I added some vitamin supplements so that your body would be able to recover faster." Rev was surprised to hear this response. He was certain Tech would have put something in his shake that he wouldn't want without his approval. "Really?"
"Yup… and a mild-sedative," Tech murmured quietly.
"What?" Rev yelled in surprise from quickly picking up on those whispered words. "I-knew-it-I-knew-it-It-was-too-good-to-be-true!-Tech,-you-fiend!" Rev squirmed and squirmed, while Tech smiled playfully. "You're going to be fine Rev. Calming down isn't gonna kill you is it?"
"It-will-if-it-was-induced-by-you!" Rev protested. "I'm-going-to-get-you-for this Tech!" Rev's speech began to slow as he spoke normally. "No! It's happening already? What kind of sedatives were those?"
"Oh, you like them? I made them myself. Fast acting, fast relief for all that extra energy." Tech happily chirped.
"You, you won't get away with this."
"Oh don't worry Rev. It's just enough to get you through the day. And as I said, it's mild. Besides, with your hyperactive body, you won't be able to stay in bed for more than a few hours." Rev pouted as he finally conceded defeat to Tech's clever tactics. "Fine! But mark my words, your day will come Tech!"
"Yes, yes, I know." Tech said calmly. After getting Rev settled down, he began to activate the anti-gravity capabilities of the bed. Rev quickly took notice and grew even more suspicious. "Hey! What are you doing now?"
"Relax Rev. I'm taking you to the others because we'll be discussing about how to deal with… the new threat." Rev immediately brightened by this news. "Alright! It's time we figured something out to defeat that jerk for shocking me silly."
"Well that's putting it mildly."
"Hey watch it you! I'm still going to plot my revenge against you once we've dealt with this guy."
"Of course." Tech simply stated as he pushed the bed through the doorway. Tech and Rev soon arrived in their breakfast lounge, being greeted with cheerful cries.
"Rev, you're all right!" Lexi shouted as she and Slam came over to see him. "Of course I am. I can't be taken out that easily." Rev proudly stated. But at the same time, everyone was surprised when Rev spoke for the first time since last night.
"Rev?" Duck began to ask questioningly, "What happened to your voice?"
Rev simply made an angry expression as he pointed to the culprit behind him. Tech pushed Rev's bed into a comfortable position as he sat down. "That would be my handy-work, right Rev?" Rev only stuck out his tongue at his mentioning.
"Glad to see you join the party Rev," Ace interrupted. "But now we got some serious issues to discuss." The others gathered around as best they could while Ace commenced the meeting. "The guy we faced last night isn't someone to take lightly. He perfectly ambushed us and had Lexi injured. But even with taking her out, he still managed to defeat Rev, Duck, and me by himself." Everyone nodded silently as Ace continued. "Now we know from what he has done that he can hack into high-level security networks." Ace paused as he turned to Tech with a serious eye. "You also mentioned the laser gun he used wasn't conventional. Right Tech?"
"Correct." Tech stood as he took the floor. " From what I have determined from examining the burns on Lexi's back, the weapon must have been home-made. But even I don't understand how he can make a weapon like the one that struck Lexi. Even with a laser blast, the burns shouldn't have been able to be that severe. With the mechanics I've encountered building laser weapons, it is very difficult to optimize the damage created from a laser. In principle, lasers are basically focused beams of light, that with the proper adjustments can make them dangerous. To acquire a blast charge from a laser, there needs to be an even more complex understanding in regards to detail and design. Even I have trouble implementing a blast charge laser weapon. But to demonstrate how ingenious this guy is, our suits for example have some resistance from laser weapons. The laser blast I tested on our suits using a weapon I made had completely destroyed the front side of the suit. However, the back was only partially singed. But what we've all seen from Lexi's injury, the laser blast created a significant amount of tissue damage."
Everyone grew even more quiet upon the words echoed by Tech. This seemingly ordinary hacker even had the technological whiz of the Loonatics second-guessing. Not only had he proven to be elusive in direct confrontations, but also had a comprehensive knowledge of mechanics and engineering. Upon the many mysteries already invoked by him, one question kept appearing in everyone's mind.
"Then…," Lexi quietly began, "do you think… he's another victim of the meteor?" Tech was slowly brought out of deep contemplation as he struggled to find an answer.
"… I don't know, but…" Tech paused as he assumed a firmer and more positive outlook. "I do know that once we figure a plan of action, we'll be able to figure out whether or not he was affected by the meteor."
"Yeah!" the sudden outburst from Rev shook everyone with a start. "No matter what, we'll take him down!" And there was Rev leading the team's emotional outlook. Everyone's spirits lifted as they heard a supportive motion. Not that any of them had any doubts of facing the man again, but it's always reassuring when an affirmation is spoken. Tech nodded affirming with Rev's unshakeable faith. "I agree with Rev. Once we have determined his weak spots, we'll be able to more accurately form a strategy. But first, we'll have to analyze all the data we can from the first encounter. We don't want to have any more injuries than necessary."
"Right." Ace seconded Tech's rational proposal. "So from what we've seen from the battle is that this guy can construct powerful weapons, but seems to avoid direct combat with those holograms of his. He is also clever at anticipating our moves and attacking when our guard is down. Anything else guys?"
"Oh I have one Ace!" Rev shouted as he remembered the painful experience from the previous night. "When you guys were all knocked out, I managed to land a high-speed punch on his back when he wasn't looking." Ace and Duck were immediately surprised by this report. The two of them had been unable to get anywhere near him and Rev managed to make a surprise attack when this man seemingly had the advantage of predicting their moves. "How did you do that?" Duck asked with his mouth agape. "I wasn't even there when you guys cornered that sadistic freak, but he still managed to avoid my attack."
With this new information, Tech grew more intrigued by the minute. Apparently a lot of things happened while he was with Slam and Lexi. Ace and Duck mentioned to him earlier that morning about how he always seemed to one step ahead of them. However, with the events Rev disclosed revealed a very interesting aspect. Using only a simple construction of psychological profiling, it dawned on Tech that this man had a superiority complex. Judging from his pervasive whereabouts, one strike finishes, and sadistic nature, this man's Achilles' heel was his over-confidence. That must have been it. Tech now knew how to exploit him and eagerly waited to share this new development when he froze at Rev's words.
"Aww, it wasn't too hard, but you should be glad you didn't. When I punched him it felt like hitting solid lead."
--------------------------
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"
"No it's okay, don't worry about it. Besides, it's not like that could have broken my back. Some bullies back in high school said it felt like hitting solid lead."
--------------------------
The flash back came hard and fast. Tech was stunned into submission by those replay of words. His pulse raced as this new information arose from Rev's depiction. He couldn't believe it. Almost spontaneously, Tech quickly asked a question to disprove his assumption. "Rev, where did you hit him?" The sudden rise of curiosity sparked interest in the others as they noticed the coyote's frightened face. Caught off-guard by the question, Rev stuttered as he peered into wide-eyed realization. "… uh-uh I think I hit him near his right side." Tech breathed a sigh of relief as his theory was not confirmed.
"Tech? What's the matter?" Ace asked. "Something catch your attention?"
"N-no. I was just imagining things." Had he been correct, Tech would never be able to fathom of how it could happen. It was impossible. How could he have let that evil man's peculiarity desecrate his fond memories? An internal punishment began to be waged inside his heart. He never wants the past to become an occurrence in his future, never. He steadied his unsettling thoughts as he shoved them from preoccupation. "…That is something we can use." The others waited in anticipation for Tech's insight as he continued.
"Since Rev managed to hit him, it at least indicates that he is vulnerable to error. And from what Rev tells us, this man can't be any ordinary person. The man must be some kind of android or cyborg if I had to guess."
"But Tech," Duck asked with uncertainty. "How did you come to that conclusion? Couldn't he have just worn armor or something?"
"I'd agree with you, but it is very unlikely. With Rev's speed, the impact of his attack would have bent any armor. However, it wasn't, right Rev?"
"Nope. It was really solid, like he was made of metal or something"
"Exactly. We can safely assume that he has been bioengineered with a mechanical body. From the conclusions we made earlier about his ingenuity, he would most likely be dependent on technology. Thus we can rule out the possibility of him being a super-human from the effects of the meteor."
"Oh, so then we could defeat him if we disable his technology, right?" Ace reasoned.
"That would certainly guarantee an easier time of defeating him, if nothing else."
The prospects of exploiting this weakness was entertained in the thoughts of the Loonatics, but was considered more seriously by Lexi. The night before, Tech had mentioned about a bomb that was part of the dummy. If this android/cyborg was technologically dependent, he would probably be more careful about making such things as destructive as a bomb. Even though Tech said it might have been a fake, it was something strange that siphoned her attention.
"What about the bomb Tech? Was it really a fake?"
In all the high spirits, Tech completely forgot about the dummy he examined. He surprised even himself that he didn't address such an interesting oddity he discovered. "Oh, thank you Lexi. I completely forgot."
"The bomb?" Rev and Duck wondered in the dark.
"Oh, I thought Ace mentioned it to you Duck?"
"Yeah right. Like he'd mention anything to me." Duck sarcastically sneered at the leader. "Heh. Sorry 'bout that. Guess I sorta forgot too."
"Yippee, let's hear it for absentmindedness."
"Anyway…" Tech spoke, trying to get their attention. "The bomb I had Slam bring back actually was designed to explode at a specific time. The odd thing was that it failed to detonate. When you guys were asleep, I examined the dummy and found that the electrical circuitry was completely disrupted. In simple terms, something tampered with the detonation sequence and completely erased the original settings."
"Then do you know what tampered with it?" Lexi asked eagerly.
Tech had thought about that very same question throughout the entire night. Like an itch he couldn't reach, Tech couldn't sleep with this unknown variable floating around in his head. Even when he returned to re-examine the dummy, the wiring revealed nothing. There were no clues, seemingly no reason to why the short-circuit occurred. He recounted what happened the night before and stumbled upon something that was right in front of his nose: his powers. That was the only untested variable. Although at the time, Tech thought of it as very unlikely when the assessment was made. However, as night neared dawn, it was the only possible explanation. The bomb was very well made and had a fail safe to prevent tampering. Tech also found that the dummy had been made to insulate the bomb from any magnetic interference. The reasons for such precautions were obvious, but then that would cause all leads to reach a dead end.
With no other options, Tech had to simulate the events in his mind to make solid grounds for a theory to have any basis. He remembered that the bomb was counting down below 10 seconds when he had to resort to launching it into the air. The violent handling could not have caused the electrical disruption for even the rough landing had not managed to damage any of the components. Therefore, the only thing that could have possibly affected the bomb was when he unleashed his powers. Thinking again of how the action was executed and performed, Tech noticed a significant difference. Normally his magnetism would surround the object. However, that time he shot somewhat of a pulse that propelled the dummy even further. And that was what struck the answer.
"… I think… I did."
The team was perplexed by Tech's response. Why was he questioning what tampered with the bomb if he was the one that did it? His teammates became worried if Tech was overworked, so Lexi decided to pose a question. "Umm… Tech? I don't mean to be sarcastic, but if you were the one who tampered with it, then why are you marking this discovery as odd?"
"… I think my powers might be mutating." Now that really was a surprise. The team was entirely perplexed by Tech's statements. They have had their powers for over a year and no mutation had ever happened to them. So why were Tech's abilities changing?
"Wait a sec," Ace stared in confusion. "Your powers are mutating? What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. I discovered this morning that my powers are responsible for the electrical disruption of the bomb. At first I was very skeptical, but it turns out that I am able to generate my own miniature EMP." Even with such exciting news such as this, the effect was dampened when most of the team, excluding Rev, had looks of more confusion. Tech sighed as he explained. "An electromagnetic pulse. It temporarily disrupts all electrical systems from functioning."
"Woah! That's so cool Tech," Lexi chimed. "Yeah, I can't imagine what we'd ever do without it." Duck making his usual smart comment.
"Oh put a sock in it Duck," Rev countered. "That new powers of yours will be really handy against this android, right Tech? Can you please show us? Can you, can you, can you?" Rev continued to plead unceasingly as Tech would always relent to Rev's undeniable curiosity. "Okay, okay." Tech grabbed the remote for the TV and turned it on. He focused energy into his hands and abruptly unleashed a glowing green pulse. The moment the ball of energy hit the screen, the impact disbursed the energy of the pulse and effectively shorted the TV.
"Wow! That's amazing!" everyone awed in unison.
"Yes it is, but I still don't fully understand how this new power developed. I can only make one general assumption that seems to most accurately explain this phenomena."
"What would that be Tech?" Ace asked.
"Well… everyone has internal electricity that flows through their body. This electrical flow is one reason why we have a steady heart beat and how signals are transmitted in the brain and through our nerves. Since my powers deal with magnetic manipulation, the natural electrical current that runs through my body must have interacted with my magnetic capabilities. However, this theory still leaves one question unanswered. After having these powers for over a year, why have they finally decided to interact with my body's electrical flow now?"
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon Tech-but-man-this-will-take-that-android/cyborg-or-whatever-down!" Tech was pulled out of thought when he noticed Rev's speech patterns. The realization was clearly expressed on his face as the others turned towards Rev. Rev only stared with confusion when the attention was suddenly placed in his direction.
"H-hey-what's-everybody-looking-at?"
"Rev, your speaking normally again," Lexi said
"Normal for him anyway." Rev digested what his friend's were saying and it finally dawned on him that Tech's sedatives wore off.
"No-way!-Ha!-Looks-like-I'll-be-off-the-sedatives-faster-than-you-expected-Tech!" Tech conceded as his sedatives failed to contain the roadrunner. "I must have made a miscalculation. Your metabolism must have increased significantly to recover from the strain placed on your body. The sedatives must have traveled through your body faster than it can absorb the sedatives." Tech just sighed and waved his hands in the air. "I guess I won't be tricking you any more today." Rev smiled triumphantly as he beamed with conquest over the genius. The others laughed as this scene unfolded between to seeming rivals. Suddenly, the alarm went off as it signaled an urgent message from Zadavia.
"Oh great. Just what we need." Ace and the others turned around to the holographic projection.