Okay, so here is where you get most of your questions answered...what everyone's plans are that is...so read on my friends who are kind enough to suffer through this suckish story, read on!

Ch. 7: The Plan Begins

Everyone was gathered around a camp fire. Mastermind was fiddling with Pen Drive II; Syfer was stuffing his face with a big bag of chips, or jerky, or something to that effect; Massive had his arm around Weather Vein, both of whom were looking at Dare who was observing some device he created to monitor the Loonatics and his 'creatures'; and Sykes…he was staring into the fire intently, a look of deep thought etched on his face.

"Feel like sharing with the rest of the class?" Mastermind asked, looking up at Sykes.

"Are you sure we should wait till morning? Why not hit them hard and fast, while they're still weak? Why bother giving them blankets and food? Isn't the whole point to destroy them? Especially Ace, if he gets just the tiniest bit of energy, he could be a very dangerous opponent. Syfer, and I hate to say this, might have a point. We shouldn't waste any time, we should get on with the plan now, before they have a chance to try anything funny."

"You worry to much." Weather Vein told him. "No way can they escape, Mastermind designed that prison to a T, compared to Tech's original blue prints; and she added in some modifications."

"Plus, the mutt's locked up in a stone cell, no possible way can he break free from it, there's absolutely no metal for him to manipulate into one of his little toys." Mastermind reminded them.

"Also, even if they were at full strength, the plan is so full proof, with your military tactics in play and my monsters, even at full strength they'd never be able to win." cackled Dare.

"We gave them fuel for them to recharge just enough so that they could put up an interesting fight, but still not enough to pull any magic tricks." Syfer added, his mouth full of whatever he was eating.

"And since when has Syfer ever been right about anything?" Massive asked. They all, with the exception of Syfer, laughed.

"You just watch, come tomorrow, I'll have them out of the equation before you guys even break a sweat."

"You talk big, but all we want is for you to not fail us. I'll be monitoring, and if just one Loonatic manages to defeat any of you," here Dare glared at not only Syfer but at all of them, "the plan will fail and they will win."

"We won't fail, I WILL have that sword and Ace's head." Growled Sykes, eyes flashing menacingly from the fire light. No one dare oppose him. Mastermind looked sideways at Syfer, raising an eye brow.

"You know you'll get sick if you eat too many of those at once." She told him coolly.

"I've eaten more than this at once before and nothing ever hap-" but Syfer's last word was cut off by his face going green and him twisting around behind him.

BLAH!

Tech whipped the remainder of the blood off his mouth as he straightened up again. The nanites were making their way through his system. He remembered reading about the complications the experiments were having. Instead of working through the blood stream and extracting any foreign object from their destination, or keeping a heart valve open, or restoring a damaged organ as was their purpose, they begin to destroy the body from the inside out, starting with the immune system.

"Oh, those lovely little demons are inside of you now." Mastermind's words echoed in his head. He let out a growl.

Rev muttered in his sleep. It was obvious from his screwed up expression that he was having a repeat of his nightmare. He had his head on Tech's shirt, which Tech had given him to use as a pillow. He also hadn't wanted to get any unnecessary blood on it if he could help it. He scooted back over to where Rev was, kicking the food tray as he did so. The water he hadn't had a chance to drink teetered dangerously before Tech grabbed a hold of it. He sat next to Rev, pulling the thin blanket up over his shoulder a little more snuggly.

About two hours before, their 'hosts' were kind enough to bring them a blanket and food. Tech was explaining to Rev about Mastermind injecting him with nanites, and it was right around the time he started experiencing the first pains of them. The wall where Rev had examined opened up and Massive walked in carrying two blankets over his arm and a tray of dried meat, stale bread, and ice cold water in his hands.

"Here." He muttered as he dropped the tray on the ground and slid it with his foot over to Tech; then he tossed the blankets and they landed on top of Rev. Rev pulled them off and tried running out of the room before the doors closed again. Too late, WHAM!

"Rev!" Tech cried and hurried forward to check out the damage. The doors opened again and Massive stood their laughing.

"Guess he's not as fast as he thought." Tech growled at him. He gently lowered Rev's head to the ground and charged at Massive. Massive just raised his hand lazily and Tech slammed to the ground, leaving a shallow indent of his form in the stone. The doors closed again, but Tech could still make out Massive's laughter as he walked away.

A flash of green light filled the room as his regeneration powers took place. He sat up and looked over at Rev. He was just sitting there, dazed.

"You okay?"

"I think so."

"Come on, we better eat something. If they're giving us a chance to refuel, we better take it now. Who knows what they're planning." Tech left the stale bread to Rev while he worked on the dried meat. Rev took a few sips of the water, but after feeling the ice almost burn his throat, he had to put it down. Tech persuaded him to lie down and get some more rest.

"What about you?" Rev asked, looking concerned.

"I'll be alright." Tech assured him. "I'll get some sleep as soon as you're comfortable."

Now, he stroked Rev's sleeping face as yet another green light filled the room. He had been suffering from the nanites' attacks, and re-healing himself for more than an hour now. It was all he could do to keep up with the tiny robotic monsters. He grabbed the second blanket and wrapped it around himself. He laid down next to Rev, gently placing his paw on his waist.

Before his eyes slammed shut from exhaustion, he couldn't help thinking about the others. Ace, Lexi, Slam. Where were they? He thought about Duck more than any of them though, he couldn't get his expression of pain and determination out of his head. He mentally kicked himself. What was it that Duck had experienced? And why did he get the feeling that he should already know?

Duck opened one eye wearily. Slam was still fast asleep, the two blankets twisted around him, a low snore rumbling out of his open mouth. Duck made a look of disgust at this unattractive sight and rolled over. His bill hit the cup of water he had laid aside and he quickly caught it before it fell. Sitting up he looked around. The elongated shadows that had been on the walls were gone. That meant that the creeps were asleep. He wondered if anyone was out there keeping watch in the darkness. He doubted it. If anyone was given that task, it would have been Syfer and he was more of a blunder than Duck was, so he was likely to be fast asleep in any case.

Duck put his hand in the glass and fired an egg. The water exploded out and Duck was quick to catch every drop in the glass again. He now held a glowing orange liquid in his hands.

"Wha-?" Ace's voice came from the gloomy darkness. It was almost pitch black in the cave, but he could see the dim glow of Duck's 'energy water'. "Whatcha ya gots Duck? Orange Juice?"

"Go back to sleep Ace, it's nothing." Duck said evasively.

Ace shrugged and rolled over, Lexi moaned and pushed him back a little but still kept her hold on him. With in moments he was back asleep.

Duck had concocted an addition to his plan when Massive had thrown him the blanket and Duck realized that solid objects could get in through the shield.

He went up to the side of their prison and put a hand on it and pushed. He couldn't pass through it, but he hadn't really expected to. He did however, toss the liquid at the wall and to his surprise, it hit it and fell on the floor. He screwed up his face in frustration. That didn't make any sense. If solid objects could pass through the shield, then why couldn't it pass through now? Maybe because water isn't a solid object? A sarcastic voice asked in his head. He lifted the glass and threw it at the wall. It did the same as the water. It wouldn't go through. Why the hell won't it go through? Duck thought angrily. He calmed his breathing and tried to clear his head. Maybe the shield was kinda like those two sided windows or tinted glass; with the window you looked through one side and you saw what was on the other side, but take a look on the opposite side and you just see your reflection; and with the tinted glass, light goes through one side but not the other. Yes, maybe this shield was the same in the sense that objects could come in, but not out. That made sense…didn't it?

He shook his head. Well, he hadn't really expected it to work, but he had to try. He walked over to Slam, better just stick with plan A. He bent down and gently shook the devil awake.

"Hey, big guy, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to ditch this party."

Slam blinked up at him sleepily. "(Now?)" he grumbled.

"Now's the only chance we'll get." Duck told him.

Slam grumbled more, inaudible, words and got to his feet. "(Where do I go?)"

"See that panel?" Duck asked, pointing to a large mass in the darkness. Slam nodded. "Right behind there should be fine. You think you can do it?"

Slam nodded and stretched. He then twisted and his legs were replaced by a small tornado. He jumped in the air and dived, carving a sizable whole in the floor which Duck immediately covered up with one of the blankets. Slam came out on the other side and walked up to the prison where Duck stood waiting. "Good job, Slam." He said. "Now, all I have to do is come out and see if I can figure out how to free Ace and Lexi." But before he could even walk to the opening Slam had made, a light came into the cave.

"I don't think so, Duck." A cold voice said. Slam turned around and both he and Duck stared at Syfer. Slam charged but Syfer pointed some sort of gun device at Ace and Lexi's sleeping forms. "I'm sure you've realized by now, though I am talking to the two dumbest Loonatics so it wouldn't surprise me if you haven't, that objects are able to enter those holding chambers of yours, but can't escape. That being noted, one move and I'm sure you'll be able to guess what would happen if I pulled this trigger." A nasty smile was playing on his lips. "Not the way I'd like to end things, but I dare you, try me."

Slam stopped, looking back at Duck who was shaking. "Stand down Slam." He said quietly.

"Smart move." Syfer sneered. "Now, you." He glared at Slam who returned the look. "Get back into your cage like a good little prisoner."

"Don't bother with it Slam, just get your ass back in here." Duck said quickly as Slam reacted to the word 'cage'. The devil let out a low snarl. "You can rip him to shreds later." Duck assured him, glaring as much hate as possible at Syfer.

"You can try." Said Syfer darkly, smiling evilly at Duck. "But both of you come here. Now that there's a doorway in your cell, you'll have to come over here and share with the two bunnies."

Lexi stirred as she heard their shield drop. She looked up and saw Duck and Slam walk in. "Ace." She muttered, shaking Ace awake. He groaned and opened his eyes.

"Duck? Slam?" he said tiredly. "What's go'n on?"

"Duck and Slammy here were trying to leave, so now they have to stay with you two because they broke their own cell." Syfer said, his weapon still pointed at all of them to keep them from moving. "Now, no one else better try anything. You just have a few more hours before the games really begin." He put the shield up again and walked out of the cave again.

Ace looked at Duck. "You tried to escape?" he asked him confused. Slam nodded.

"I had Slam dig a whole out. I figured that the floor wouldn't repel our powers, and I was right. I had him dig out to behind the panel there. I was going to follow him and get you two free, then I figured we'd find the other two and get the hell out of here." Duck explained shortly. "But as you can see, the plan backfired. I thought that if anyone was on guard it would be that idiot, and I was right. But I was wrong about him being asleep on watch. I think the word backfire is an understatement actually."

"Duck-" Ace began.

"Look," Duck said. "I know I screwed up, I'm sorry it won't happen again."

"Duck." Ace said again. "You came up with that all by yourself?"

Duck glared. "I DO have a brain, despite what everyone thinks." He said defensively.

"The food."

"Was to give us some energy, yes. I figured the reason we couldn't really use our powers was because of the sedative…it weakened us too much."

"And…the blankets."

"Really was to cover the whole to muffle the sound of Slam's digging."

"Wow Duck." Lexi said, sounding generally impressed. "Who knew you could figure all that out?"

"As I said, I CAN do some things right if given the chance." He said, now sounding down right angry. "I'm not as useless as you guys think I am."

Ace raised an eye brow. "Who said you were useless?"

But Duck didn't answer. He lowered his gaze and turned around. "We better get some more sleep. They're up to something, and we're gonna need to be at full strength if we even hope to get out of here." He curled up as far away from them as possible. Ace looked at the other two, both Slam and Lexi returned his startled glance. None of them knew what Duck was talking about, but decided that now probably wasn't the best time to talk about it. He was right about one thing, they needed to get more sleep in order to be at the top of their game for whatever they were going to have to face later.

Slam slumped down against a wall and closed his eyes. He was back to sleep in minutes. Ace and Lexi cuddled up again and drifted off pretty soon as well. Only Duck found it hard to fall back to sleep. Even when he tried his hardest to do something right, they still didn't believe that he could. They still thought him stupid and a dead weight. Even the bad guys knew he wasn't good enough to be on the team. "But then, I am talking to the two dumbest Loonatics." Syfer's words rang in his head and he covered his ears to try and block the sound. Silent tears ran down his cheeks. Why did he have to be such a mistake all the time?

"Tech-wake-up." Rev was talking faster now. He shook Tech's shoulder slightly as Weather Vein opened the door to their stone cell. Tech sat up disorientated.

"Uh?"

"Come on, time to reunite you with your dear friends. I'm sure you'd love that." She said in almost a board tone. Rev and Tech looked at each other, wondering the same thing. What are they planning now?

She led them down a long tunnel that opened up in to an open room. On the far side they saw the opening to the cave they were in.

"Tech! Rev!" Lexi's voice rang out in the silence and she made to run to them, but Sykes pointed a weapon at her and sneered at the other two.

Rev gritted his teeth. He knew he could grab that weapon away from him faster than the man could blink, but he also knew that Sykes wasn't the only one armed and Rev wasn't strong enough yet to grab everything before they all fired. So he stood his ground. Tech wanted to grab all of their weapons at once, which usually wouldn't be a problem, but knew he'd never grab all of them nearly fast enough in the condition he was in. He was still having to concentrate on healing himself every five minutes or so. He had just finished repairing some internal damages that the robots caused while he was sleeping. Both he and Rev walked over to the others, glaring at Sykes, Mastermind, Syfer, Massive and Weather Vein, as the they did so.

"Where's Dare? Doesn't he want to be a part of this anymore?" Tech asked, looking at Mastermind.

"Oh, he's around." She replied.

"But really, it's us you lot have to deal with." Sykes explained.

"Yeah, we each have a bone to pick with at least one of you freaks, and we've decided that it's finally time we take care of things once and for all." Massive said gleefully.

"Bring-it-on-tough-guy." Rev said, his eyes glowing red from the furry that was building inside of him. He'd prefer nothing better than to break every bone in that man's body.

"Cool it Rev, we can't afford ta split up." Ace commanded.

"That's too bad." Mastermind said sneeringly. She snapped her fingers and loud thumps were heard, shaking the ground. The Loonatics all cried out as they lost their balance and fell down, hard, on the stone floor. Huge stone panels started coming down from the ceiling, separating all of them.

They all screamed out again as they tried reaching one another before they were cut off. Ace reached out for Lexi but was too late. Duck and Slam tried reaching out for Ace but both of them were trapped. And Rev tried to get up and run to Tech but ended up smashing into the wall that crashed down between them. Tech heard his muffle cries of pain from behind it. No sooner had all of them been separated then the floor began to sink, carrying all of them down to underground arenas.

When the earth finally became still again, each of them found themselves face to face with not only a member of the Evil Ken Evil gang, but with an eight foot, stone giant with firy eyes and lave trailing over their bodies.

"Oh shit." All of of them said at the same time.

Poor Duck, it was a good try though and coming from Duck a pretty decent plan don't you think? Lets hope they all have enough energy to stand their own though or they're all gonners! keep reading and see how they do against their apponents. oh, and as always, review plz! ^^