No matter what he did to the poor thing, it never seemed to experience any pain. Sure, it reacted to everything he made it do, but it always recovered seconds afterwards. He had done countless tests on it, just as he had done with his other mice, but this one was different. It always recovered even after the worst experiments. Even when he had snuck small iron particles in its food, it had just chewed on them like they were a part of its meal. Or the time he had zapped it with an electric shock; its fur turned ash-grey and stood on end, but it had merely shaken it off as if it had never happened. And not to mention when he had stretched out its limbs, and then dropped it to the floor but it hadn't died.
Yes, Kirk had always known the mouse was extraordinary, the way it looked was enough proof: its huge blue eyes instead of red, abnormally large red nose, and chubby snout gave most away. But if there was anything that made the mouse different from any being he had seen, it was the fact that it was able to communicate with him. The mouse could actually talk, laugh, shout, show emotions, and walk on its hind legs, as if it was a human being. Kirk had tried explaining this numerous times, but was always left with no results. Even his superiors were left dumbfounded when it came to analyzing the thing.
But still, despite the fact that the mouse was so astonishing, Kirk had found out over the years that it was a total numskull. The way it talked, its childish behavior, its random little exclamations… It all underlined that if it was human, it would've had the IQ of a sugar cube – that was for sure. And yet, Kirk wouldn't want it any other way; Jerry was the perfect lab mouse.
Like every night, Kirk was sitting in his lab, reading over his reports for the day. His one dream and goal had always been to become the greatest scientist ever to walk the face of the earth, and with a lab mouse like Jerry, he just might be able to achieve it. He looked over to Jerry's cage, and as usual, he was just running in his exercise wheel. With his huge eyes, he looked up at Kirk and smiled in a silly way.
"Gee Kirk," he said in his goofy British accent. "What are you gonna do tonight?"
Kirk grinned at him, and with his own powerful voice, he replied. "The same thing I do every night, Jerry. Try to become the greatest scientist of all time!"
Chapter 4 – Eject, Ajaxian!
After everything that had happened before, Lexi was finally relaxed – mostly because she had managed to fall asleep for a few hours. She opened her eyes drowsily and rubbed her head. As she propped herself up with an elbow, she realized that she wasn't in the Warners' living room anymore. In fact, she was lying in a bed. A bed unlike any other she had ever seen. It was rectangular and made of wood, with only plain sheets covering it. Lexi sat up and ran her hand on the fabric, and felt that the mattress had a surface similar to an egg crate. Wow… Was everything in this house antique?
Lexi stood up from the bed and stretched before straightening her clothes and walking out of the room. She looked around and noticed that the bedroom she had been in was placed right next to the spot where the old desk was. To her right was another one, and to her left was seemingly a bathroom. Lexi carefully stepped out of the corner and into the long hallway of the house. She heard the boys talking in the kitchen and went inside.
There, Gus was showing Tech a little steel box which had a long cord attached to it. Lexi tilted her head, and saw that so did Tech. In the middle of the room, there was a round table, where the rest of the boys were sitting.
"Seriously? This is a toaster?" Lexi heard Tech ask as she sat down next to Ace. "This little box?"
"Oh, you'd better believe it, my boy!" said Gus and laughed as he turned around to point at the rest of the team. "In case you haven't noticed, your teammates are all eating the toast that came from it!" He turned back and smiled at Tech, who was still looking at the toaster in disbelief. "Ah, twentieth century technology… Gotta love it!" he added and finally sat down with the others. Tech examined the toaster for a few seconds before shaking his head and joining as well.
The eight of them all had their breakfast in Warner brothers style, as Lexi had now dubbed everything that was done like 800 years ago. There was a silence between them all, and even though they were eating (which would be considered a good enough excuse for the silence), Lexi felt sort of uncomfortable in it. Stillness kept creeping in on them, making even the tiniest munch or the littlest gulp sound like a small bomb. Lexi looked up from her toast and bit her lip awkwardly, begging whatever spirit that was in the house to make someone speak – she certainly couldn't think of anything to say.
Lexi's ears then perked to the sound of someone slamming a glass on the table. She turned her head slightly to see where the sound had come from, and was greeted by a lip-smacking Ace who apparently had eaten his filling. He heaved a sigh and then leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head.
"So what do you guys think of our ancestors?" he asked his team mates with his usual grin on his face. Good old Ace, always ready with a conversation. "Pretty cool being a descendant of someone so successful, eh?"
While chewing, Tech nodded and gave a small "Mhmm!" in agreement. He managed to swallow before he spoke. "Oh yeah! Well, maybe Bugs was a bit more successful than the others, but it's still interesting as heck to see how much we have in common with those guys!" he said, and Lexi could've sworn his tail had started wagging slightly.
"Bugs, schmugs!" Duck suddenly scoffed, batting both his hands as he did so. "He wouldn't have been booming if it hadn't been for Daffy! That duck saved his puny rabbit-butt's career!"
"You mean by constantly getting beaten up, shot, blown to pieces, crushed, and whatnot?" Ace asked smugly, making it difficult for Lexi to hold down a snort.
"Not just that, but also being his right-hand man all the time! He was the main character in that comedy duo!" Duck proudly proclaimed, ignoring Ace's obvious pin-pointing. "You saw it all the time in those… what's-his-name's cartoons, didn't you?"
At that point, Lexi's ears perked again, and she sharply turned to Duck. "Wait- what? How do you know that?" she asked him a little harsher than she had intended.
Duck winced a bit and his proud posture slowly leaked down again. "Uhh… The old cartoons those guys were from?" he attempted. "You know, our- our ancestors, they were toons. Surely, they were in cartoons too, right?"
"That's not what I meant," Lexi pouted and turned to the others. "Guys, how does Duck know that?"
Slam bit his tongue and rolled his eyes upwards innocently, slyly pointing at Tech who merely sighed. "Look, Lexi, here's the thing," he said, instantly giving in. "Last night, after you sat down on the sofa, you feel asleep like this," he snapped his fingers to underline the last word's effect, "so we moved you to the guest room. Then the brothers here figured that we could watch old Looney Tunes cartoons to pass the time." He let out a small laugh. "And I don't want to be mean, but I gotta tell you that we had a heck of a time doing it."
Lexi pouted, almost without knowing, and narrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, is that so? Well then, how come you didn't wake me up? Now I'm the only one who hasn't seen my ancestor in action." She paused, and then realized she could add more to that statement. "Actually, I'm the only one who hasn't seen any of them in action!"
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Lexi turned to Ace again, whose face screamed at her to chill. "Aw, c'mon, Lex," he said as kindly as his nasally voice let him. "It's not like it was just a one time thing – the brothers have all the cartoons on files!" He nodded in the Warners' direction. "And heck, they even have a whole bunch of collections. One by year, one by star toon, one by theme, one by director slash animator; it's amazing!"
"Yeah, and besides, we can all watch it again today!" Rev added with a wide grin, obviously excited to seeing the cartoons again. He then raised his arms in a half-shrug and added: "And hey, we haven't even watched the movies yet! That means none of us has seen Lola!"
Knowing that none of her teammates had seen her own ancestor, Lexi's mood brightened slightly, although she was still a little grumpy at them for not waking her up. Who in their right mind just takes a sleeping person out of a room where they clearly want to stay in and join in what's about to happen? Honestly! Lexi didn't even want to know which part of the male brain caused them to be such doofuses.
As time passed, the Loonatics and the Warners all finished their breakfast one by one, and then parted to explore the Warners' house. Nothing was really happening in the town where the Loonatics were, and slowly, they each started wondering why the Warners had brought them there in the first place. Standing by a window and looking out to the streets, Lexi wondered that very thing. Sure, they had wanted to tell them about their ancestors and how successful they were, and just how alike they were, but was there anything else to it? Couldn't they have just told the team while still in Acmetropolis?
Lexi was driven away from her thoughts when she suddenly heard someone breathe very fast and hard, and turned her head. Rev was pacing in the hall, shaking a bit, looking like he had a huge desire to bite his non-visible nails. He kept looking out the window where Lexi was standing, and while pacing, he kept bolting towards the front door as if to run outside, but always backed out the last second. Tech was watching him, and after a few seconds finally decided to walk up to him.
Still pacing frantically, Rev barely noticed when Tech put one hand on his shoulder to stop him. When he felt the touch, however, he immediately halted and looked his friend in the eye. The rest of the team was now looking at the two, all of them asking Rev without words what was up with this sudden change of behavior.
"Rev, buddy, what's the matter?" Tech asked calmly. He took a closer look at the road runner in front of him, his eyes widening a bit. "I think your facial feathers are turning white. What's going on?"
Rev grabbed Tech's upper arms and pulled him closer, emphasizing his stress. Tech was taken aback, and let out a small yelp when this happened. Without taking a breath, Rev's words burst from his beak in streams, each sentence mixing in with the other. "Don't ya see, Tech? Here we are, all six of us, in some house with some guys we have no idea who are – well, now we kinda do, but that's beside the point – just because they wanted to tell us about our ancestors! Hasn't anyone noticed by now that we don't even know where we are, or how far away from Acmetropolis this place is? For all we know, this could be another planet! And- And while we're here, who knows what could be happening over in Acmetropolis? Maybe word has spread out that we're not there, and now all the criminals and bad guys are roaming free without anyone to stop them!"
It wasn't until that very moment that the Loonatics realized that Rev was right. In all the confusion and curiosity, they had all forgotten about their duties as Acmetropolis' saviors. Having burst like that, Rev calmed down a little, only to spread out his worries and stress to the rest of the team. Even Duck looked like he was bothered about leaving the city on its own. Ace slapped his own forehead.
"Ugh! How could we have been so stupid?" he cried, raising his hands to tug on his ears, but backed out the last second. He opened his eyes and looked at the Warners. "Even me! I was so busy wondering about what was with those hoodies, I forgot about protecting my own city!"
Gil and Gus both paled at hearing this, presumably because only now did they comprehend the situation. They looked at each other and bit their lips. "Er… We- well, look at the bright side!" said Gil, attempting to calm the Loonatics down, who were all frowning at them (Lexi could even hear Slam growl slightly). "You- You're still on Acmetropolis! You're just not in it!" He grinned stupidly, elbowing his brother to join him.
"Yeah! Yeah! That's right!" Gus continued, immediately understanding Gil's hint. He backed a bit, seeing that Tech took a step forward with a fierce look in his eyes. "You're not on another planet or anything! Heck, you're not even in another country!"
"Doesn't matter," said Ace, his forehead furrowed. "We know we're descendants of the Looney Tunes, we know we're toons, we've seen them in action – well, not all of us have," he added when he heard Lexi clear her throat beside him. "But still, we got the point. I mean, I know you're big fans of us and all, but still. You've said what you were gonna tell us. Now can you please take us home again? Who knows what could be going on over there? And we're over here, and know nothing about it."
--
The long rows of army troops marching down the long streets seemed to stomp the solid concrete to the point of making several cracks. Never in history of Ajaxian had anyone seen such a large army. Not since all those years ago, and that army had been at least three times smaller. People gazed at it, trailing their eyes from the front rows to the back, wondering just how long they were. Hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers of all kinds marching into dozens of spaceships, all equipped with identical weaponry. The soldiers themselves all proudly held their heads up high and chests out, making every person who saw them think that they were more than ready to go on this mission.
All except for one. Only one soldier looked like he had been pushed into the army against his own will. Not that more than less of the soldiers hadn't been pushed into the army, but at least they managed to hide it with dignity. Placed in the front part of the rows, he on the other hand unintentionally drew attention to himself as his rows walked by the people in town. His head was almost dug into his jacket, his shoulders raised as if to hide his identity. He kept feeling the weapons in his belt with shaking hands, not believing this was happening. Each time he did so, his flat bill quivered and his once soft and white feathers stood on end, his skin underneath tingling.
He had been given a special assignment in the mission, but he just knew he'd never be able to pull it off. How had he gotten the assignment then? Because he was a pushover, that's how. The fairies wouldn't take no for an answer like every other time, so it was obvious that his master was determined to have him along.
As his group of troops reached their ship, Derion heaved a sigh. He really didn't want to be there. Just by hearing the point of the mission, he knew he would die. No matter how well the army would do, no matter if they'd manage the mission, no matter if he'd do his assignment. Nothing mattered. He would die. He was sure of it.
Derion looked over at his partner, who grinned at him proudly. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and punched him in the arm playfully.
"Cheer up, man!" he said, still grinning. "You're gonna nail this mission, Der! I just know it!"
Derion curled up in his seat, forgetting all about having to put on a safety belt. Despite the fact that his partner was so supportive and how he should've felt secure in such a big group, he couldn't help but feel even worse knowing that people were counting on him. Granted, he and his partner weren't exactly the best of friends, but they were close enough acquaintances to trust each other. And since Derion was relied on, he could feel the pressure piling up on his back.
Suddenly, the ship started moving, and it made Derion snap to his senses. He readjusted himself and strapped his seatbelt. Taking a deep breath, he dug his face in his palms, thinking about how badly this mission was going to end up. He would be on another planet. He would not be able to run away.
He would die.
--
"Look, you guys," Gil kept trying. "There's nothing to worry about! We should know too!"
"Yeah! We'd been snooping around the city for days!" Gus added, almost snatching his brother's last word. "Don't you think we didn't think this out first? Your enemies were becoming really ridiculous and easy to beat! We watched you in action!"
The Loonatics all prepared to defend themselves; Lexi was prepared with the excuse: Yeah! But what if those times are over now, huh? What if the real bad guys decide to come back when they find out we're not there? Then what are we gonna do? But the brothers had already thought of more to add.
"It was so obvious how easy it was for you to beat them!" proclaimed Gil. "And it's not like they were that much of a threat to the city. If anything, they were more dirt-plagues than destruction-plagues! No worries!"
Lexi pouted at the Warners. She didn't do it because she was planning on giving a harsh remark, demanding to go home. She did it because the brothers were actually right. For the past few weeks, Acmetropolis had only suffered from one-shot monster attacks, nothing else. And they had been pretty easy to beat, she had to admit. But Ace was far from accepting the brothers' reasoning.
"It doesn't matter, guys," he repeated, folding his arms. "Even if the monsters were easy and just a bunch pathetic one-shots, it could be that they were just warm-ups for something more powerful or sinister. So, sorry docs, but we're outta here. Come on, guys."
Ace then turned around to walk out on the brothers, signaling his teammates to follow him, which they all did eventually. The brothers clearly didn't want them to leave, though, and Gus actually sprung in front of the Loonatics to prevent them from leaving. He dashed towards the front door and spread his arms out to cover it.
"Please, Loonatics!" he begged. "This is the one day Gil and I have been waiting for all our lives! We don't want it to end on a stupid argument like this!"
"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before you went out and practically kidnapped us," said Ace, still frowning angrily. "Also, do you honestly think that we'll stay just because you're big fans of us?"
"Actually, you know, Lexi still hasn't seen Space Jam…" Gil sang teasingly, as if trying to persuade trick the Loonatics into staying a little longer.
Lexi did want to see Space Jam, oh how she wanted to see it, but now that Rev had brought light to another point of view, she thought it could wait. "Not gonna work," she said and joined Ace in folding her arms. "You could've just woken me up last night to show it to me."
The Warners both bit their lips. "Aw, come on, you guys!" Gus whined. "This isn't fair!"
"Neither is keeping us hostage!" Duck suddenly exclaimed. "Now will you just butt out of the way?"
Without hesitation, Duck stomped from the group and shoved Gus out of his way, making the path towards the door a lot easier for the rest of the team. As they walked outside, Lexi took a glance back at the brothers. Both their lips were quivering, and she could even see their eyes beginning to gloss a little. That sight immediately made her feel a bit bad for them. They had just wanted to enlighten them about their ancestry, right? They hadn't meant any harm.
Before she could think of anything else that made the brothers look innocent and pure, Lexi snapped out of her thoughts as she bumped into Duck, who had all of a sudden come to an abrupt halt right outside the front door. Lexi adjusted her position and fixed her hair, mumbling grumpily at the black duck in front of her.
"Hey! What gives, Duck?" she exclaimed. "I thought we were gonna leave this place!"
Duck didn't reply right away. Instead, he slowly lifted a finger to point up at the sky. The other Loonatics, who had all gathered to see what was going on, followed his gesture and looked upwards, trying to spot what he was pointing at. As they did so, they realized that they didn't even have to look for it; it was right there, in the sky.
Dozens of spaceships, shuttles and other spacecrafts roaming towards the ground, their lights and bleeping sounds echoing in the atmosphere. They drew closer and closer every second, and even though they were obviously miles upon miles away, their combined air pressure blew heaving winds at the Warners' street. The Loonatics all gazed at them in astonishment. Where had they come from? Why were they here? And more importantly…
What was up with the big castle-like symbols on all the ships?