Ch.15: The Star Child
Silence consumed the court as the King and Queen of Mars worked tirelessly to settle the chaos that had recently besieged their home. Plucky and an injured Pinkster were set away in jail, along with Prince Melvin who conspired the whole assault.
Both Danger Duck and Daffy were sent to the emergency room, where the medics worked fast to heal their wounds so that the methods of toon physics would make their injuries heal faster.
"This a horrible day indeed," said King Marvin solemnly.
"Yes my love" said Queen Tyra'nee, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder " I feel the same."
"To think our own son would betray us like this" said Marvin " Commander Z-9, he will pay!"
"He will be punished" said Tyra'nee " but right now, our focus needs to descend on a different course."
Meanwhile, inside the dungeons, a disgruntled Plucky, with his helmet removed, mulled over in saddened silence about the horrific events that had happened this day. Almost mockingly, his mind turned back to that moment when Danger Duck was shot.
The scene had been very horrible to watch. Blood spurted through the air as the brave ACME hero fiercely collapsed on the floor, having saved Dodgers from certain death. Both Plucky's and Dodger's mouths were wide open with shock at what Danger did.
Plucky turned and glared in rage at the smiling Darkstar, who held his smoking pistol still in hand. He took in a little pleasure when Kim came in later to bite Darkstar on the leg. Although she was still a pup, that kid had some serious bite.
Dodgers face was hard to read. His eyes traveled to and from Danger's bleeding body to the yelps of pain flying from Darkstar's mouth. After a few seconds of indecision, his eyes narrowed into flames, and he set out to tackle Darkstar, just as the foul duck managed to grip Kim off of his leg.
Surprised at the tackle, Darkstar dropped Kim, and rolled to get free of Dodgers grip, before laughingly running outside. Dodgers and Kim growled and chased after Darkstar, with a reluctant Plucky following behind.
Plucky knew instantly where Darkstar was heading, to the ship they had hidden close to the palace. If he reached it and took off, they would never get back at him for possibly killing Danger.
While running, Dodgers tried to blast Darkstar with a few rounds from his gun, but the murderous fowl managed to avoid every blast. Kim was growing more furious the further she ran, the white fur on her body glowing like a star.
Suddenly, the young wolf seemed to gain a burst of speed, and charged at Darkstar again, this time biting him the arm. Plucky couldn't believe his eyes on how fast Kim had become. There was certainly more going on with this young pup than meets the eye.
Taking advantage of Darkstar's hesitation, Dodgers tackled the fowl, knocking the gun away from his hand. With Kim still maintaining her grip, Dodgers struggled against Darkstar, throwing a few punches to the face.
The villain would not be so easily defeated however, and he drew out a knife hidden on his belt. As Dodgers raised his fist for another punch, Darkstar jabbed quickly with his left hand, hitting the space hero in the chest.
Shock registered on Dodgers face, as Darkstar rolled out from under him and stood back up, watching with pleasure as he saw the hero bleed and fall to the ground. Kim was still biting fiercely upon his right arm, Darkstar ripped her teeth away from his shoulder, and grabbed the little wolf up by the neck.
"You're coming with me!" said Darkstar.
"Stop!" yelled Plucky, still horrified by the sight of seeing both Danger and Dodgers go down.
"Bye Traitor!" responded Darkstar, and ran off the rest of the way to the ship.
Plucky took off a short distance after him, but suddenly paused realizing that he couldn't leave Dodgers or Danger behind. These heroes were the key to Daffy Duck's legacy. Without them, that line would end. They had to be rescued, whatever the cost.
Braking out of his flashback, Plucky turned his attention back on the drab bars of his jail cell, wondering if any process was being made upstairs in the emergency ward.
"Please, if nothing else, let one of them survive,"
Meanwhile, inside the medical center, Ace and the other Loonatics stood silent as Tech and the Martian doctors worked side by side to save the two patients lying on their beds. All the technical terms slipped right by Ace's ears, as his worry overshadowed any conscious thoughts at this time.
His blue eyes gazed down towards Duck, hoping beyond hope that his teammate would be okay. Although annoying most of the time, Duck was a great on whom you could rely on whenever a pinch came into play. It had horrified Ace when he saw both him and Dodgers bleeding right beside an exhausted Plucky.
"I thought there was something off about him when he saw him on Planet Blanc" thought Ace " but I can't believe that it went this far."
It was fortunate right now the green duck was now downstairs with Pinkster and the rest of his crew, Ace never wanted to see any of those creeps ever again.
Just then, a beep was heard, and Tech yelled out joyfully in triumph, as the healing process was complete and both ducks started to awake from their unconscious state. Martian technology really was amazing.
"I really got to ask these guys for some pointers so I can replicate this thing when we get home," thought Tech.
"Uhh…what happened?" asked Duck, holding his head.
"You're okay!" yelled Lexi, suddenly surprising her friend with a hug. Slam was eager to join in too, and crushed his friends with his arms.
"Whoa easy guys!" gasped Duck, struggling to get out " Can't breathe."
"It's good to have you back Duck" said Ace smiling " We thought we lost you for a bit there."
"Yeah, you had us worried sick!" spoke Rev " Well, not really sick. Can worry really make you sick? There have been several reports on stress about…,"
"Can you stop talking please!" yelled Dodgers to the road runner " Boy, you're more of a pain than he used to be! At least back then the only word he knew was 'beep'."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Ace.
But before the duck could explain, the King and Queen walked in, pleased to see that their patients were awake. After Dodgers received a grateful hug from Queen Tyra'nee, and all the Loonatics received thanks for their help defending Mars, the two royals quickly related the dismal results of the aftermath.
Danger and Dodgers were both mortified to learn that Darkstar had managed to get away, and Duck even more so when he learned that Kim was taken along for the ride.
"We have to go save her!" he yelled out.
"But how?" asked Lexi " We don't even know where he went?"
"He knows" said Dodgers in a low voice that made everyone turn their eye on him " Take me to Plucky, it's time we had a talk."
Later, in the dungeon, Plucky received a surprise when the door to his cell finally opened, allowing Duck Dodgers to step into the room. The sight of the hero still alive was a relief to his senses, but Plucky could instantly tell that this was more than a social call.
"Don't be so shocked" said Dodgers " I know who you are. You look just like him instead taller and buff."
"There are similarities in you too Duck Dodgers" said Plucky " you're the spitting image of Daffy in every way. My grandfather told me many stories about his old mentor, seeing Daffy's light shine through his descendants is a torch that I can't let burn out."
"I wouldn't exactly call myself a descendant" said Dodgers " but for someone who wants to preserve the looney line you're sure going through a great effort to destroy it. Why?"
"Master Rasvim" said Plucky " One day, this villain just suddenly decided to come out of nowhere and attack our home. He was searching for something, and would do anything to get it. I offered up my service to help him find whatever he was looking for in order to end the invasion on Tiny Toon. He agreed, and I've been working for Rasvim ever since."
"What's he looking for?" asked Dodgers.
"The Star Child" said Plucky " a being capable of causing great life or destruction. It is said that the power of the universe runs through those kid's veins, and when harnessed to their full potential, anything can be achieved."
"I have relentlessly attacked and destroyed many planets in order to find this child for Rasvim, but now I fear, that she is in Darkstar's hands."
Meanwhile, far away on the other side of the galaxy, Darkstar was bowing down before Rasvim, holding out a struggling Kim in his hands.
"Success My Lord" said Darkstar " the Star Child is finally ours."
"At last," grinned Rasvim, and the monstrous jackal laughed out into the night.