Loonatics: United

Episode 20: Disruption

The Loonatics were looking attentively at the news program of the morning on the lounge's TV; the screen displayed images of the incident of the previous night with Magnus Maxfield as the reporter's feminine voice narrated the events. "It is yet unknown where this new threat comes from, and since last night there haven't been any more signs of him." Ace turned off the TV with the remote and glanced at the window. "I'm sure it won't be the last we'll see of him, so we have to be prepared for the next strike, how is that going, Tech?"

"It's been difficult for Susan and me to find a viable solution, but don't worry, boss, we are getting close." Tech stood up from the couch. "She is in the lab, I better check if she has found something useful."

Duck waited for him to walk far enough from them. "Ace, do you think is a good idea to let them work together? I mean, he can get distracted."

"Two brains are better than one Duck, besides, you always get distracted during missions and we don't say anything about it." Lexi replied.

"I just find it weird to see him that happy." Duck argued.

Susan was standing before the lab's touch surface, reading articles and taking notes with its tactile functions. She heard Tech entering the room and approaching her. "Before you ask, no, I still haven't come up with anything."

"Mind if I check something?" Tech asked, and Susan moved to let him manipulate the surface. He found a close-up picture of Magnus from the news database and zoomed the image towards his chest. "Do you think that could be the source of his power?"

Susan leaned forward to get a better look. "Honestly, I see it more as a container, whatever is powering him up must be inside of it."

"See that blue glow?" Tech zoomed directly at the container. "Some level of light is lower at the center." He glanced at her. "You are right, something is inside of it."

Susan nodded, then she and Tech focused again on the image. "The question is…"

"What." They both completed the phrase.

Susan chuckled. "There are things that never change, isn't it?"

"Like what?" Tech asked.

"We, working together, the ideas mixing and turning into a consensual answer." Susan smirked. "Like a few years ago."

Tech smiled her back. "Me completing your…"

"Phrases." Susan said and both of them shared a laugh. "Despite this whole, unfortunate situation, I am very glad with this new chance that I had to see you again, maybe when all this madness is over we can, go out somewhere."

"Sure, it's not like if I knew lots of places to go besides my lab but we can try." Tech replied. "And to be honest, I got very excited when I knew you were returning to the city."

"Well, I am here just to do this congress stuff but maybe I have found a reason to stay." Susan wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Won't you miss Alumia? I heard it was great this time of the year." Tech blushed and put his hands over her shoulders.

"That's true, but that place ain't got everything I want in my life." Susan started to lean forward, same as Tech, before they could kiss Duck interrupted the moment as he entered the room with alarm.

"The fat guy is attacking the Chroma Tower!" Duck raised an eyebrow as he saw them. "What is going on?"

"Oh." Tech moved away from her and made up a cough. "Nothing, we were just, discussing, scientific, things, Duck."

Duck rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up before Ace starts yelling at me." He walked out of the lab.

Tech scratched the back of his neck. "Uhm, I must go, can you stay here and continue researching?"

"Sure, just take care, okay?" Susan said.

Tech nodded and kissed her cheek, then he took his jet-pack from a table behind him and put it on, then he left Susan alone in the lab.

The Loonatics were flying between the city's buildings. "Alright team, there are over a hundred apartments in that tower and the people are trapped, our priority is to take them all out to safety." Ace said then they landed on the rooftop of a building nearby the situation. "Tech, Duck, Rev, you three will find a way into the tower and rescue all the people you can, Lexi and I will try to destroy the branches and last but not least, Slam, I need you to do your tornado around the branches to see if you can weaken their strength."

"And who is going after Magnus?" Tech asked.

"Priorities first, Doc." Ace responded then he reactivated his jet-pack. "Come on, Lexi!" He flew towards the tower followed by her.

"You heard him, let's find a way in." Tech commanded and they all used their jet-packs to head towards the bottom of the building. They landed in front of one of its sides, which was covered with branches, Rev ran a few times by it to do a quick check so he could find an entrance.

"And?" Duck asked after Rev returned with them.

Rev shook his head. "It is sealed similarly to a can of soda, not one of my best analogies, but I think it works to illustrate our…"

"Enough." Duck took a step at the front. "You forgot I have the master key." He generated two orbs from his hands and threw them towards the branches, the orbs exploded and made a brief entrance before more branches generated and resealed the aperture Duck had opened. "Oh come on!" Duck sighed. "The easy way then." He got in between Tech and Rev and put his hands over their shoulders and teleported along them beyond the wall of branches. "Your welcome." Duck walked forward and made another pair of orbs then threw them towards the emergency exit they had in front, destroying the metallic door completely and leaving a hole for they to pass through. "Your welcome again."

"I don't tend to say this, but good job, Duck." Tech said while the three of them got inside the building.

Outside the upper side of the building, Ace and Lexi were flying around it while trying to disintegrate the branches with their respective powers. Ace had shot his laser vision towards a spot but it had no effect. "Any progress?"

Lexi shot her brain blast towards a pair of thick branches which didn't even move with the attack. "These things are very resistant to our powers, Ace!"

Ace was hovering in front of their target, thoughtful, then his eyes widened. "Lexi, the theater!" Ace looked at her. "Remember! We got to combine them!"

"You are right!" Lexi began to shoot her brain blast again towards the branches around the building, then Ace aimed his laser vision towards the ending point of the line of her ability, a sphere began to appear like the previous time they had done the same movement, then it exploded and destroyed a great quantity of branches, leaving that area uncovered.

"We did it!" Lexi celebrated.

Ace pointed towards the hole they had opened. "They're still growing, only slower."

"Will it be enough to free the building?" Lexi asked.

Ace nodded at her. "I think so, let's do the same in other areas…" He was suddenly hit and thrown towards a building by a long branch which had been moved towards him by Magnus, who was inside a small dome he had constructed with branches on the rooftop of the tower. Blue rays were exiting from his gloves towards the inside of his refuge while he was sitting on the roof with his arms and legs crossed. Ace broke through the glass of a skyscraper's window and landed heavily over the floor of an office, making some employees to run away scared. He was laying over pieces of desk and glass then he started to stand up slowly. Lexi was evading the hits of more branches, Ace ran towards the edge of the window he had broken and activated his jet-pack.

Meanwhile, Rev was gathering people from the destroyed apartments as he ran and dodged the branches. "Sorry people but I have to do this to prevent you from being crushed by this guy's powers or by the building or by both."

Tech was levitating huge scraps of metal to let the people escape below them. "Come on! The exit is over there." He said as he struggled to keep the metal floating.

"Trust me! Take your hands!" Duck commanded, and the people he was helping followed his order. "Good job, now take mine." He said to a female cheetah that was next to him, she nodded and took his hand, then Duck teleported himself and the entire group of people outside of the building.

Slam was throwing tornadoes with his hands at the branched tower, he growled after noticing it was not damaging it at all. He then turned himself into a tornado and started to hover around the tower.

Tech lowered down the metal he had been lifting then Rev got in front of him after running. "There are no more people inside I've already checked twice."

"Where's Duck?" Tech asked.

Duck teleported next to them. "It's done, they are already outside, and safe."

"You want the tough way? You got it." Magnus said and uncrossed his arms then threw more rays inside the dome.

Ace and Lexi were flying as they tried to reach the dome-like structure where Magnus was hiding but then dozens of branches with sharp spines grew from it. "Ace! At your right!"

Ace turned his gaze towards the spiked branch that was after him and rapidly used his laser vision to try to burn it out, but he had reacted too late as the branch hit him hardly and sent him to the rooftop of a nearby building.

"Of course it was about to get worse!" Duck said as he jumped over a spiked branch that grew from the floor.

Tech constructed a wall of metal to slow down the branches' growth. "Duck! Get us out of here; we are cornered!"

"Yeah, I don't want to die being smashed by deadly branches with spikes which act like if they had a mind of their own under an apartment building that's just too specific!" Rev was rapidly dodging the random branches that grew below him.

"I know! It's hard to…" Duck crouched to evade a branch that went through the two walls at their sides. "Reach you…" He teleported behind Tech and Rev and grasped their arms. "Finally!" He made the three of them to disappear from the place before the entire building started to collapse.

"Ace!" Lexi exclaimed with worry and didn't prepare to get hit by another branch on her jet-pack, which started to malfunction from one turbine and she couldn't control it, the jet-pack took her towards the rooftop where Ace was laying and she landed hard over it. She stood up slowly and dropped her damaged jet-pack; she approached Ace and kneeled down next to him, then noticed he was still conscious. "Ace, you are hurt!" She cleaned a bit of blood that came from a cut on his snout with her hand.

Ace coughed. "Don't worry." He groaned as Lexi helped him to stand up. "A few stitches and I'll be like new." They were both looking at the falling building, the concrete turning into ashes and a huge trunk revealing itself behind the dust. Tech, Duck and Rev saw them from above and landed safely on the rooftop with their jet-packs, Slam had also joined them after using his tornado to get over there. The team kept glancing at the chaos for a couple of minutes, then Ace turned backwards and looked at his comrades. "Loonatics, this is war."