Ch.6: Danger Zone
Change coursed through the universe, bringing with it a rare eon of peace and prosperity.
Mars and Earth had finally lain their guns to rest, and now, both Marvin and Daffy were working together to forge a place where all the descendants of the Looney Tunes could live. A transformed Earth, now titled Acmetropolis.
Here, both toons and humans could live in peace. Though, not all of the descendants were not willing to risk this trip to paradise, and chose to stay on the separate planets they've come to call home.
Daffy and Marvin never forced them to leave, and brought whoever they could get back to Acmetropolis.
When their mission was finally complete, Daffy and Marvin split on their separate ways. Marvin returning to Mars, while Daffy settled on Acmetropolis.
Tinana had graciously offered to let Daffy stay in her apartment, and the duck accepted the invite with open arms.
The future was beginning to look bright for the toons again. Daffy just wished he had a descendant of his own to put in the mix.
Earth continued to change after that, and the process of reintegrating Looney Tunes back into society was slow. Not everyone on the newly named Acmetropolis was that thrilled to have Looney Tunes come back into their lives.
A war broke out mid 26th century, that tore apart the reformed bond between humans and tunes. Prejudice was looked upon their race, and continued on until a meteor finally struck down in 2772, bringing with it heroes who called themselves the Loonatics.
Having all been mistreated in the past, this group of six descended down from the main line of characters that once starred the Looney Tunes series, dedicated their lives for heroic pleasure and glory, conquering the bad guys so Acmetropolis would continue to stay sturdy and safe.
Their great victories had done tons of good in getting rid of the hatred against the toon race, although some people still harbored some resentment. The Loonatics had even graduated to a higher calling now as Guardians of the Universe, taking many more planets under their care instead of just home. Life indeed was looking bright for the super hero team.
However, even the brightest future can hide some dark clouds. And shadowed secrets have a way in catching up to your heart. The Loonatics were about to be faced with their ultimate test, and lives of everyone, human and toon, would be left on the line.
"Oh Mr. Duck!" sung out Tweetums, sitting in his little bubbly bath "Time to get out!"
"Coming Your Royal Fluffiness," groaned Danger Duck, strolling into the room with a stack of robes and towels in hand.
Man he hated this part of the job, playing babysitter to some mangy yellow parakeet, while all the others were having their fun finishing up the new HQ the team decided to build on Planet Blanc.
Sure, he may have been the first one to ever be knighted by the new King of Planet Blanc, but attending to your Royal Sire while he was in the bath definitely wasn't among Danger Duck's favorites in the job description.
Luckily the horror only lasted a few moments as Tweetums dried off, put on his royal robes, and walked out. He'd surely call if he had anything else for Danger to do, so before he could follow His Majesty's orders once again, Danger quickly saw himself out the palace, and decided to check up on how the other Loonatics were doing.
Passing through the left side corridor, Danger Duck found himself passing through the dungeon cells were King Tweetums prisoners were kept. Among them was a demented grandma, and the bad ol' putty-tat.
Ignoring the old hag, Danger found himself passing closer to Sylthvester's cell, where the large black and white cat was just finishing his meager lunch. It didn't take long for him to spot.
"Hey pal" said Sylthvester " long time no see. Just get back from the royal birdbath?"
Danger groaned in annoyance as he fought off Sylthvester's comments. Though he and the cat weren't exactly friends, especially after the whole betrayal thing when Planet Blanc was being invaded, they both had some similarities, like their hatred towards a yellow bird. Neither one of them could forget the scars they carried because of the King, but Duck had to admit his anger was growing thin.
"Don't see how that's any of your business" responded Danger " Drumstick is done with me for the day, so I'm off to see my friends,"
"You must have really got on Tweetums good side to have him trust you so," said Sylthvester.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Danger, confused.
"Well not only are you a knight" said Sylthvester " but you're also the guardian of the gem that controls Wormhole Central. I would have been on his good side too if I hadn't ratted you to that creep Duce,"
"Hmph" said Danger " What you trying to do, get an early parole? Sorry cat, not happening. So long Sylth,"
With that said Duck walked away with a growling cat behind him.
After walking for a few more minutes Danger Duck could finally make out the beauty of the new HQ. Tech had really pulled out all the stops when he designed this baby. The place looked almost like the old tower, only in a sleeker, more modern design.
Ace and Lexi were standing outside the door of HQ, while Rev and Slam were busy polishing Zadavia's ship, which the boss lady had left behind. The Tasmanian devil and road runner seemed to be having some kind of argument about polishing rags when Ace finally spotted Duck.
"Hey Duck" called Ace " like the new digs?"
"Yeah" said Duck " it sure is going to be nice to have a room away from the palace,"
"I thought you liked Tweetums Duck," teased Lexi.
"I like him alright" said Duck " like to flush him down the toilet if he makes me sing that bathtub song again! Being a knight isn't really all its cracked up to be,"
"Hey" said Ace " you wanted to be a hero, deal with it,"
"Hmph, some hero" thought Duck " knight to a giblet and his army of robotic eggs,"
Before Duck could think of many more 'kind' words to describe his King, Tech suddenly came racing out of the new HQ, huffing and puffing about an urgent distress call he had just received.
"Sounds like we've got our first mission gang!" shouted Ace " Let's move out!"
With that said, the guys moved over to where Rev and Slam were still fighting. After a brief brain blast from Lexi, the two broke up, boarded the ship with the others, and took off on their first job as Guardians.
Planet Tumult, usually a peaceful, was unfortunately living up to its unlucky name as a deadly, dark-clothed assassin stood on a rooftop blasting the city to shreds. Fire seemed to bustle from every broken corner when the Loonatics arrived, and Ace immediately locked eyes onto the trouble-maker.
"Looks like we have a challenge" said Ace " Rev, Duck, you're on rescue patrol! Tech, Slam, see what you can do to put out that fire! Lexi, you come with me,"
Orders given, the Loonatics quickly hopped out to carry on their separate jobs. Tech and Slam immediately set to work in putting out the blaze using tornadoes and gizmos to stop the flame from spreading.
In the town itself, Rev was moving fast, using his super speed to pick up any frightened citizen he could find. Duck handled the places where the speedster had trouble getting to, quacking into the interior of building to pull out some some poor citizen that unluckily got buried under rubble.
"I think we've got all them," said Rev.
"Great" said Duck, wiping his brow " now let's go help Ace and Lexi,"
Rev sped off ahead while Duck ran after him. He had only went a few yards or so when the familiar sound of crying suddenly caught his ear. It was coming from a collapsed house nearby.
Groaning at the thought of having to rescue another citizen, Danger Duck quacked into the house and found himself in a dusty, dark room. Coughing through the wisps of smoke that wafted in from outside, Danger hurriedly climbed his way towards the crying, and then stopped in shock with what he saw.
Barely two feet away a young, white wolf with soulful, blue eyes sat shuttering in tears as she kneeled over the bloody forms that could have been her parents. From the way the bodies looked, the two adult wolves were only recently killed, maybe even before the whole disaster on this planet began.
Knowing just how it felt to be an orphan, Danger Duck approached the young wolf cautiously, and quacked her to safety with a gentle touch. The bodies of the parents were left behind.
Meanwhile, while Duck was busy comforting the young wolf, Ace and Lexi were faced with a challenge of their own, dealing with an assassin who apparently had critical aim. They had managed to face off against some attacks, but so far the battle was going south in their favor.
"We need a better plan Ace" said Lexi, looking towards the male rabbit " How can we take this guy out?"
"We need some kind of distraction," said Ace.
As soon as he said that, Rev Runner came speeding through. Utilizing the unpredictability of his movements, Rev danced around the deadly villain making him fire wild. Seizing their chance, Lexi and Ace let out a combined blast attack and struck the assassin down.
The villain stumbled and dropped his weapon, growling that he had so easily met defeat. The three Loonatics were about to corner him when all of the sudden the assassin decided to pull a sneaky and threw a highly explosive tear gas bomb on the ground.
Blinded by the stinging gas, the Loonatics tried very quickly to regain their burning eyesight, but by the time they did the villain was gone, and not a trace could be seen.
Things calmed down after the villain's departure, and the citizens gratefully thanked the Loonatics for saving their world. However, when Danger later arrived, carrying in the sad wolf girl, all the citizens joy instantly turned into frustration.
"The monster still lives!" shouted one citizen.
"Kill her!" shouted another.
"It is because of her that this was done to us!" said the leader.
"Whoa, wait a second Doc" said Ace " aren't ya'll being a little hard on the kid,"
"She's not a kid, she's a devil!" said the leader "We took care of the villains who spawned her, and shortly after one of her agents came for revenge. She mustn't be left alive!"
"So it was you?" said Danger, angrily stunned " You guys are the ones who murdered those two wolves I saw! You're the ones who killed her parents!"
The Loonatics were equally as stunned as Duck and shared the mallard's outrage at making a child an orphan simply because of some superstitious belief.
"We can't leave her here," thought Ace, and with no agruement from his friends it was quickly agreed that the wolf would accompany them back home. After all, there was more than enough room on Planet Blanc.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, far away from the planet which the Loonatics saved, the assassin bowed before his master, who stood clawing his fingers impatiently on a star. The Star Child had eluded his search yet again, and things looked very grim for his upcoming scheme.
"I shall not miss again" he mumbled " one way or another, ultimate power shall be mine,"