New Kid On The Block
Chapter 13 – Heavy Metal
Hey Everybody! Hope you're all enjoying your new year so far :) So as usual I wanna thank you guys for your continued support in your reviews, they really help me out and make me all fuzzy inside ;) And to say thank you to all of you individually, im going to start personally replying to all of your reviews here in my author's notes (Thank you to Loonaticslover13 and CrazyCartoonistOtaku for the idea) so here we go!
Loonaticslover13: Thank you very much for your review, I always really look forward to hearing your thoughts. Ikr! Poor lad! But his ordeal is far from over! And thank you! Epic is an awesome word for you to use :) I don't know if you have seen it but I sent you a review on chapter 3 of One in a Million explaining the whole "Commended" fiasco ;) And you are most welcome :)
Lucy Of Fairy Tail: Thank you for your continued reviews, they really are heart-warming and im glad you're enjoying the story. Haha, im trying to update as regularly as possible, so please be patient! ;)
Luna246: Thanks a lot for the review, im glad you like that part, I took a lot of time to think about how to describe the struggle Blaze went through as he stopped the missile so im glad you liked it :) Oh really? I think you should get your gut looked at by a doctor then! ;) Haha only joking, thanks again :)
Anyway, onto the action! So last chapter the Loonatics were successful (just!) in halting the large missile which had threatened the safety of Acmetropolis. And just when the mission seemed in the bag, a new challenge has presented itself to our anthro heroes. What is this new threat? And will the Loonatics overcome it? Well it's time to find out! Hope everyone enjoys :)
The thick, black smoke caused by the mysterious explosion finally cleared and revealed the last thing that the Loonatics wanted to see at that moment. "I told you those hunks of tin were around!" boasted Duck "I'll collect my winnings from the bet later on." He added sarcastically.
They all shot irritated glances at the mallard and Slam growled slightly, but they had bigger problems to worry about right now, much bigger. Hovering threateningly about 200 metres in front of them, were ten quite large robots. They were black in colour, and were at least twice the size of Slam; all of them stared at the Loonatics with a single, rectangular shaped red eye.
"Man, wat did dese guys have fer breakfast?" frowned Ace with his thick Brooklyn accent, referring to their size. "Wat are de scans pickin' up Tech?" the bunny asked as he turned to Tech, who was already looking thoughtfully at the small computer screen on his arm.
Tech looked at the screen with a surprised face. "The scanners aren't coming up with anything!" he exclaimed as he tapped the screen frantically. He did another scan on the robots again to make sure his computer hadn't glitched, but the result was the same. "Nothing! It doesn't say what elemental metal they are built from, no weapon readings, it's not even showing any size readings!" the coyote said, clearly frustrated. The others exchanged surprised looks; it was extremely rare for one of Tech's gismos to malfunction, or was it something more than that?
Ace looked nervously over at the robots, which just floated contentedly, rooted to their spot, daring the Loonatics to make the first move. I dun like dis thought Ace. He knew he needed to think of a plan.
Next to him, Tech was doing the same thing. The coyote noticed that a large hole in the side of the missile had been left by the explosion. That was his way in he decided. "I only need a few seconds to get in Ace" Tech observed as he shot a glance at the bunny before looking back at the large hole in the missile.
Ace followed Tech's eyes until he saw what the coyote was looking at, he subtly smiled as an idea came to him. He turned and looked at the team to state his plan of action. "Okay gang dis is how we gunna do it…" he began.
But before the bunny could utter another word he was cut off by Duck, who stormed in front of the Bunny, displaying a look of disbelief. "You're not seriously considering taking those overgrown soda cans on are you?" he shouted as he pointed to the robots. "I'm too young to die! I've still got so much to do in my life! I still have to marry Misty Breeze!" cried the mallard helplessly.
Lexi's patience snapped and she lost her temper. "Can it Duck!" she berated angrily, and gave Duck a brain blast to the hind quarters which caused the mallard to yelp. "Carry on Ace." Said the doe as she calmed back down giving Duck one final filthy look. The others all looked at Ace, awaiting him to continue, apart from Duck who was rubbing his feathers and scowling at Lexi.
Ace resumed with telling the others his idea. Ace's plan was that Slam and Duck would go first and act as a diversion to the robots while Tech sneaked into the missile to disarm it. Then Ace, Lexi and Blaze would move in and try and take out as many of the bots while they were still held up with trying to stop Slam and Duck. And then once the confusion had worn off, they would draw them down towards the asteroids where they would have more of a chance at beating the robots.
It was time to put this plan into action. "Alright den. Slam, Duck, you foist boys." stated Ace coolly.
Slam grinned enthusiastically and nodded, the big Tasmanian devil always relished a fight. Sometimes he even craved it more than he craved food! But that was pretty rare. He mumbled something inaudible which sounded like "Ready Ace."
Duck had started to protest about having to be the bait again, but after a sharp nudge and growl from Slam, and a look that could've melted the sun from Lexi, he reluctantly gave in. Slam eagerly jetted off towards the robots, which still floated idly, motionlessly waiting for them. "I hope you all appreciate the sacrifice I'm making." Announced Duck sourly before jetting after Slam.
Ace watched them go for a few seconds before turning around to look at the others. Then he noticed Blaze, the tiger was breathing heavily and was looking down at his feet with a look of shame, no doubt because of what had happened. "Dun worry Blaze, you couldn't help it." Ace said reassuringly, he could sympathize with Blaze about the trauma that the tiger had experienced in the past, for he had faced similar things when he was young.
Blaze slowly raised his head and looked at Ace, his captivating golden eyes loaded with sorrow and guilt. "Thanks chief." Came his quiet reply, but he couldn't bring himself to smile at his leader, not after he had reacted the way he did.
Although Duck was quietly anxious, he was determined not to let the team down. "Ready Slam old buddy?" he asked loudly as he jetted alongside the Tasmanian devil, trying to banish his anxiety. Slam released a massive grin as he growled his agreement. "Then let's rock!" the mallard yelled.
Slam needed no further encouragement, his eyes turned purple as he span into a tornado and raced ahead. One of the bots suddenly reacted to Slams aggressive move by launching himself at the oncoming Tasmanian devil. Slam unleashed a roar as he and the robot collided. Slam came off best as the bot was sent spearing backwards.
Duck "quacked" into the action and appeared right in front of one of the bots, two eggs in his hands. "How do you like your eggs sir?" Duck asked sarcastically. The robot immediately swung at Duck only for his metal fist to strike nothing as the mallard teleported behind him. The bot turned around to face a grinning Duck who stared back with orange eyes. "Im sorry was that scrambled or poached sir?" taunted Duck with an evil grin. The bot swung a second time but Duck once again quacked to safety. "Okay then here's your order, metal head!" came Duck's voice again. The robot looked up and was greeted by the sight of Duck hurling the fiery eggs at its face. "Hope you enjoy your meal!"
The others watched as Slam and Duck engaged the robots. "Dat's our cue!" began Ace. "Ready Tech?" he asked as he glanced at the coyote.
Tech nodded. "Born ready chief." He stated confidently.
"Ready guys?" Ace inquired as he turned to look as Blaze and Lexi who nodded. Ace then spoke into his communicator. "Rev, u ready te back us up if tings go south?"
Their communicators came to life with Revs usually lightning quick voice. "No-sweat-Ace-If-there's-any-hiccups-I'll-be-there-before-you-can-say-peanuts!-and-on-the-topic-of-peanuts-don't-you-just-love-peanuts?-cos-I-know-I-love-peanuts-and-boy-i-could-do-with-some-peanuts-right-now-and-actually-I-need-to-talk-to-Tech-about-installing-a-mini-fridge-in-the-ship-so-we-ca-" but as usual Rev had to be interrupted before he launched into a full blown memo.
"I'll take dat as a yes Rev." stated Ace with a playful smile and a slight shake of the head, the others smiled at his reaction. "Alright gang, lets jet!"
While Ace, Lexi and Blaze all set off to join Duck and Slam, Tech began to make his way over to the missile, trying to cause as little a scene as possible, if one of the bots saw him, this already tricky mission would get a whole lot more difficult. After a short while, Ace, Lexi and Blaze arrived to join their teammates. There was a flash of orange as out of nowhere, Duck "quacked" in front of them. "Bout time you got here!" he complained, a bead of sweat running down the side of his head.
"Keep your panties on Duck!" joked Lexi with a laugh.
Ace looked over to the missile and saw that Tech had landed on the missile and was moving into position. "Alrighty guys, let's get stuck!" yelled Ace as his eyes turned yellow, they all leaped into action.
Over on the missile, Tech was making steady progress towards the large hole. The explosion had created burn marks and bits of debris embedded in the missiles metal plating Tech noted. He was crouched so as to limit the chance of him being seen, he was almost there.
Not far away, things were starting to heat up. As they had joined the action, Ace and Lexi had managed to destroy a bot by hitting it at the same time with their respective laser and brain blasts. But other than that, not much had happened.
Slam was toughly wrestling with one of the large bots, managing to hold his own despite the metal giant's size advantage. Duck was being pursued by two of the bots; the mallard simply "quacking" here and there keeping them distracted.
Ace and Lexi kept together and were having to fight off four of the enormous robots, they were just managing for now but they wouldn't be able to hold out for long. "How long are we gunna just stand here and let them use us as a couple of punching bags Ace?" inquired Lexi as she smoothly dodged one of the robot's clumsy swing.
Ace laser blasted one of the bots he was fighting causing it to fly backwards before delivering a powerful kick to the chest of the second one. He darted a quick glance over to the missile, Tech was almost at the opening now. Cmon Tech willed the bunny, recognizing that the robots were slowly starting to overpower them. But Ace had no more time to think as he was suddenly grabbed from behind by the bot that he had kicked. Fer such big guys, dey move pretty quick the leader of the Loonatics thought grimly, but then he noticed alarmingly that the bot that he had laser blasted had recovered and was pointing his arm cannon straight at the bunny. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, he started thrashing around trying to free himself but the bot was too strong. "Cmon, not now!" Ace yelled frustrated. I can't die teday (today) he said to himself determinedly as he looked over at Lexi, his strong feelings for her flooding through his mind. Not… teday…
Lexi flipped backwards to avoid a hammering blow from the bot she was facing, she countered the robot with a brain blast that sent it crashing backwards. "Thank you for attending Ass Kicking 101" smirked Lexi. It was then that the doe looked over at Ace to see her leader in the iron grip of one of the bots.
Ace continued to try and resist the robot's hold but it was no use. The bunny then turned and looked straight at Lexi, a look of hopeless resignation in his sapphire eyes.
Lexi tore her gaze away from her leader long enough to notice one of the robots with its arm cannon pointed threateningly at Ace, poised to fire. "Ace!" she cried desperately. Without a moment's hesitation, she dashed his aid as the robot fired, the fiery ball of plasma darted towards the helpless Ace. Lexi finally got within range and smash kicked the bot holding Ace straight in the side of the head, sending it flying.
Ace just managed to dodge the plasma projectile by launching himself out of the way. "Tanks Lex" he said gratefully as he regained his composure. A second projectile came hurtling at Ace, but he again dodged it. The bunny glared at the robot that had almost killed him twice and then, gritting his teeth, he flew full pelt at his target. Ace dodged two more projectiles before drawing his Guardian Strike Sword. Another ball of plasma exploded out of the robots arm cannon and came searing at Ace, but this one would be the last. The leader of the loonatics effortlessly deflected the projectile with his sword, sending it flying back in the direction it came from. The robot was left seemingly dumbfounded by this sudden turn of the tides and remained frozen like a statue as its own projectile came crashing into its chest and exploded. The explosion had severely damaged the robot's metal armour leaving large holes and now a lot of the bots inner wires were dangling idly from these holes.
As he drew near, Ace drew his sword back over his shoulder. "So long rust bucket." The bunny uttered in an almost evil voice, and then with both hands he sliced downwards diagonally, cutting the disabled robot in half like a lemon. Two down, eight to go.
Of all the Loonatics, Blaze was struggling the most. He was still exhausted from stopping the missile, and even the adrenaline coursing through his body at that moment wasn't giving him enough to deal with the bots. He was just managing to dodge the attacks from the two robots that he was facing, but he couldn't keep it up much longer and eventually, his defences finally broke.
Blaze had decided that maybe if he went on the offensive he could get some ground back, but this was a bad decision. As he blocked a blow from one of the bots, he drew back his fist and thrust forward, but the slowness of his punch made it easy to dodge and before he had time to pull back his hand it was grabbed by the bot. Blaze then helplessly looked up at the two robots who stared back at him with their blood coloured electronic eyes. Uhoh not good! He reasoned desperately. The second bot then leaned forward and smashed his hard metal head into Blaze's. The dazed Loonatic slumped backwards from the impact of the head-butt and his vision went black.
"Nice one Ace." Commended Lexi as she joined her leader.
Ace turned and wryly smiled at his teammate, and secret crush. In that moment, as he had literally stared down the barrel of a gun, he had never been so scared. Not because he faced death, but because he faced the idea of never being able to tell Lexi how he felt. "Tanks Lex." He began with a modest voice as he sheathed his sword. "And tanks again for de save back dere."
Lexi blushed slightly but managed to smile. "No problem skipper."
Both of them looked over at the missile and saw Tech waiting not far from the object opening. "Ye ready Tech?" asked Ace as he spoke into his communicator.
"I'm in position." confirmed Tech, the communicator crackling slightly.
"Okay Tech, just hang in dere a sec." Ace told Tech. "Loonatics, regroup!" he commanded to the others. "Let's go Lex."
Ace and Lexi joined Duck and Slam; they all formed a circle with their backs to eachother. "These guys are getting on my nerves." complained Duck angrily, his eyes still blazing orange.
Slam looked around and noticed that one of them was missing. "Wbhdh Bluvi?" the Tasmanian devil asked, concerned.
"Slam's right, Blaze isn't here!" exclaimed Lexi as she scanned around for the tiger.
Ace also searched around for his friend. "Dere he is." The bunny stated as he locked onto Blaze, the tiger was floating aimlessly not far away and worryingly, he wasn't moving. But before any of them could go to the aid of their friend, the robots completely surrounded them and began closing in, strangling any chance of escape. "Tech! Go now!" Ace shouted into his com as the bots came closer, their pace increasing.
Tech responded immediately by abandoning his stealthy crouch and ran towards the hole; he dropped down as he reached it. It was completely dark inside the missile so Tech had to activate his night vision. The coyote looked around curiously; he was in some kind of empty storage compartment which he presumed was where the robots had been stored before they had broken loose. On the other side of the compartment was a large door. He walked over to it and gave it a sturdy push to see if it would open? It didn't even budge. It was then that Tech realised that it was locked from the other side. But for the genius coyote, this was but a small obstacle. Taking no time at all, Tech hacked the door's electronic lock with his small computer or his forearm by breaking the lock's code, the door beeped before sliding open. He was in.
Outside the missile, Blaze slowly opened his eyes. Despite taking a massive blow to the head, Blaze had somehow managed to remain fully conscious, even though he blacked out momentarily. He gazed around, bleary eyed and saw his teammates completely surrounded by the bots not far away. He was about to go to the aid of his friends but he decided to take one more look around to make sure that all the bots had been distracted, but to his dismay, they hadn't. Blaze frowned as he noticed one of the large robots heading for the hole in the missile. Tech's in there! realised Blaze. The tiger instantly forgot about the pain and exhaustion he was feeling and set off after the stray robot.
Ace quickly turned to look at Slam who was growling at the bots warningly. "You're up Slam!" Ace said, keeping an eye on the closing robots at the same time.
Slam nodded determinedly as his eyes turned purple.
Ace nudged a deeply concentrating Duck. "Ya ready Duck?"
Duck smirked at his leader "As always, you can count on me Ace." he boasted arrogantly.
The robots were evermore closing in, but they were in for a big surprise. Once Ace felt they had come close enough, he shouted the signal. "Now!" Both he and Lexi put a hand on each of Ducks shoulders, and all of them disappeared into thin air as Duck "quacked" them out of there. They all reappeared down on one of the large asteroids.
Slam uttered a terrifying growl as he spun himself into a massive tornado, sucking all seven of the robots into his purple vortex. Slam shot down to join the others on the asteroid, dragging the helpless robots in tow.
As the door opened, Tech was met by a long, narrow corridor which, as he looked down the end, appeared to end in a large open area. He took a deep breath, and then began cautiously making his way down the long corridor, completely oblivious to the fact that he was being pursued. Like the storage compartment before it, the corridor was completely dark, meaning that Tech had to keep his night vision activated. His heavy boots made a clanking sound as he walked which echoed up and down the corridor. After what seemed like a very long time, Tech finally reached the end of the corridor and came into the open area. With his night vision, he saw that on the wall to his left was a small energy cell with a switch next to it. Tech inquisitively wandered over to the cell and hesitated slightly before flipping the switch. The whole area instantly became bathed in bright light and Tech's eyes were instantly drawn to the middle of the area where his target awaited him.
Slam released his tornado as he arrived at the asteroid; he landed heavily next to Lexi who gave him a thumbs up. The robots, which were finally free from Slam's tornado crashed to the ground in a heap. This was the Loonatics' chance. "Okay gang, dice em up!" yelled Ace, gritting his teeth. All four of them charged at the robots, which were just getting back to their feet. But things were about to turn bad for Ace, Lexi, Duck and Slam.
Back on the missile, Tech stared at a massive, rectangular shaped metal container, which was strapped down and bolted to the floor of the missile. The container was a gloomy dark grey colour and painted on the side of the it, in large red letters were the words: Danger! Extremely Explosive! Tech began to circle the container. "So that's what 100 tonnes of Axovorinium looks like." he thought out loud in slight awe. The coyote went all the way round the container before he found what he was looking for: the detonator. The detonator was a book sized box which had been bolted onto the side of the container which held the Axovorinium. The detonator contained a small, remote controlled explosive device, which when detonated, would set off the Axovorinium, and all hell would break loose. If Tech could remove this detonator, he would effectively disarm the missile, making it safe to transport back to Acmetropolis.
Tech knelt down to begin his delicate work. Tech had to be very precise as one small mistake could end in disaster. First he used a strange looking tool from his case to crack open the front panel of the detonator box. He placed the panel on the ground next to him before looking inside the detonator, and as he had predicted, inside was a small explosive with a remote controlled detonator connected to it. Tech's original plan was to remove the remote detonator from the small explosive, but now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he was taking no chances. Instead he decided to remove the detonator box as a whole from off the Axovorinium container. He used his magnetism to unscrew the bolts that held the box onto the container and he took hold of the box with both of his hands as he unscrewed the last bolt. The coyote buckled slightly, surprised by the heaviness of the box before gently putting the box down on the metal floor next to him and breathed a sigh of relief. Tech was about to report his success to Ace, but then he suddenly heard the charging of a plasma arm cannon behind him. Tech instantly knew exactly what waited behind him, his heart sank…
Oh boy oh boy! Things are heating up now people! So despite successfully disarming the missile, Tech's life now hangs in the balance! Is it the end of the road for our coyote hero? And will Ace, Lexi, Duck and Slam be able to defeat the other robots? Or have the Loonatics bitten off more than they can chew this time? We will find out in the next chapter! :S
Soooo I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! But the action has only just started! Once again thanks to my reviewers for chapter 12 :) Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter and of the story so far, as well as anything else you would like to say :) Have a good day guys! Next chapter will be up ASAP :D