Loonatics: United

Episode 44: Cataclysm, part 8

The battle was still going between the red armored wolves and the men of Hill and Rebecca, the holographic barrier managed to protect them from several attacks like cars and huge pieces of debris that the wolves threw, but some brave soldiers and policemen got killed easily when exiting their cover and trying to confront them.

Rebecca managed to meet with a small group of soldiers that hid in an alley next to the building, she was standing by her hoverbike, trying to make up a plan. "They'll find us here, eventually, we must break into this building. It's the only way to end this"

"Don't you think we've tried, lady?" A soldier said. "The walls are reinforced, not even our weapons can destroy them."

"Any vents or windows we could use?" Rebecca asked.

Another wolf shook his head. "We've checked twice, there's no way in."

Rebecca thought for a moment, then she glanced upwards. "Maybe there is." She got thoughtful again, then she nodded at her own idea and started to setup her wrist-comm.

"Who are you calling?" A soldier said.

"The Loonatics." Rebecca responded.

The wolf's eyes widened. "Are you kidding me?! Those traitors?!"

"I don't care about whatever business you have with them." Rebecca waited for a response with her snout close to her comm. "We need their help, like it or not."

The wolf stood up from the ground, grunting and approaching her. "I'm not accepting any hel…"

"Shh!" Rebecca expressed, gesturing at him. "Ace, it's Rebecca Moon, do you copy?"

"Ace here, what's the matter?" He said from the other side.

"The President has been kidnapped." Rebecca answered. "We need your help to free him."

"I would be glad to help, Rebecca." Ace sighed. "But we are dealing with some issues of our own here, maybe The Eye could help you."

"They called us, Ace." Rebecca responded. "We are still too few for this."

"Too few?" Ace asked. "What exactly are you dealing with?"

The wolf that had disagreed with Rebecca got impatient and took her arm to reach the comm. "Listen, hero! Quentin's men have taken over! If you don't come here and…"

"Those guys?!" Ace exclaimed. "This is…" He sighed. "Okay, now I understand, don't worry, I'll see what I can do."

Rebecca pushed the wolf and approached her comm again. "Thank you, Ace." She heard a noisy explosion, which made her to turn a bit, then she went back to the conversation. "Soon, please."

"Sure, Rebecca." Ace replied. "Hold on." He cut the communication.

In the lab, where Tech was diagnosing Matt and Anne with a remote that scanned them with a green, projected light, Ace was sitting on a white chair while glancing at the large window. "Slam, Matt." He said.

Tech finished scanning them, he checked the device's small screen, which showed they didn't have grave wounds. "Good news, these are only superficial." He smirked at them.

"Well." Matt gasped and rubbed his arm. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He approached Ace. "What is it, Ace?" Slam had gotten behind him.

"The President is in trouble, Rebecca needs your help to save him." He stood up from the chair and looked at them both with a straight face. "So The Eye." He sighed and gave small steps in front of them. "They are fighting with the Renegades, they won't get out of this one without you."

"The…Eye?" Matt inquired with a tone of hesitation.

Ace nodded and glared at him. "Yes, Matt. I know you still have issues with Hill, but th…"

"No, I mean, maybe we ended with some trouble, but, uhm…" Matt got interrupted by Ace's sigh.

"The point is, that Slam and you have super strength." Ace stated. "I can't think of a better reinforcement."

"But what about Quantal?" Anne joined the conversation from her spot, she was standing next to Tech.

"The rest of us will deal with that." Ace replied. "When the others return."

"He is right, Anne." Tech said. "We'll have a better chance to defeat them if we are complete." He looked at Ace. "Besides, we need Lexi and Ace together to use the wave cannon and bring down Magnus."

Slam growled in acceptance of Ace's orders, thundering his fingers and patting Matt's shoulder quite aggressively, making him to rub it.

"Then is decided, go help Rebecca, we'll wait here for the rest." Ace commanded, then Matt and Slam nodded and exited the lab.

"Alright, boss." Tech crossed his arms. "What's next?"

Ace shook his head. "We can't reclaim Quantal without the others." He activated his comm. "I'm calling Lexi." He waited impatiently for a response.

Meanwhile, Rev was still working on the computer, configuring lots of things, pressing keys, plugging and unplugging cables and cartridges while moving fast before the console. Lexi was resting against a wall next to Duck. She received the transmission and activated her comm. "Ace?"

"Oh, Lexi, I'm so glad to hear you." Ace said. "How are things going up there?" His voice sounded quite blurry.

Lexi sighed. "So so, we got attracted by the ship and now we are trapped."

Ace gasped. "Trapped?" He let out a sigh. "I should've gone with you, I knew th…"

"Don't worry, Ace, we're fine." Lexi reassured. "Rev figured out how to destroy the ship, he is working on that right now."

"How long will that take?" Ace asked.

Lexi sighed and shook her head. "I have no idea."

Ace responded after a few seconds. "I understand. Just be careful and keep us updated, okay?"

"No problem." Lexi said, cutting the communication.

"Love y…" Ace found out the transmission was cut, he just put eyes of disappointment and turned to look at his team. "Get ready, we are helping them out."

"How are we heading to space? They have the jet." Tech said.

"Not them, Doc." Ace replied. "Rebecca and The Eye, that's the only thing we can do now." He glared at Anne. "Anne, you'll stay here with Peyton, just let us know if you get any news."

Anne sighed and lowered her head. "Right."

Ace glanced at his sides, with his eyebrow raised. "Uhm, and Peyton?"

"At the lounge." Tech answered.

"Good." Ace said. "It's time to get going, then."

At Quantal, in the throne room, Quentin and Heather were sitting on their thrones, holding hands and looking at each other's eyes. "What will be our next move?" Heather asked.

Quentin grinned. "To prosper."

"I'm serious." Heather replied.

Quentin gently squeezed her hand a bit more. "So am I, love. We are now rulers of an entire city, we can do whatever we want."

Heather glanced away from him. "They will return, Quentin." She slowly looked back at him. "The Loonatics."

"Don't you worry." Quentin said. "We'll deal with them, this time for good." He smirked. "Then you and I will only live to thrive." He stood up a bit and kissed her forehead, then sat down again and caressed her cheek. "You don't like the idea?"

Heather remained thoughtful for a moment, then she took his hand, the one that was over her cheek. "I do."

Quentin smiled at her then kissed her. "A bright future awaits us."

Slam growled at Nate and Kyle from the distance while throwing debris at them, they destroyed the improvised projectiles with their raised fists, in the battlefield outside of the tower of the President's office. Troy was dealing with the several soldiers that dared to battle him, killing them with a single punch while his armor protected him from the shots of their weapons, then right when Troy was about to smash a laying soldier with a huge piece of concrete he was lifting, Matt tackled him and brought him down, then the soldier escaped from the peril in a hurry.

"Did you really think you would get away with this?" Matt punched him repeatedly on the snout while holding his neck under his arm.

Troy grunted. "I only act when I'm sure." He gasped and with his foot took impulse, passing over Matt and kneeling down next to him, having undone the hold. Troy grasped his neck and started to choke him. "And I'm sure I'll reign this city!" He punched him. "I'm sure about that!" He violently lowered his head onto the concrete while still choking him, the concrete broke by the hit.

Matt groaned and gasped. "You…have no idea…" He backed his head a bit. "With who I've dealt with." He screamed and hit Troy's forehead with his own, cracking his helmet, making them both to bleed, Troy yelled by the strong pain he felt and fell to the ground covering his head, gasping.

Matt gasped and got over one knee, trying to get fully up. He slowly managed to put one foot over the ground, then with another gasp of effort he stood up completely and began to walk towards Troy cautiously. He took small steps towards him, he was still groaning by the wound, but he suddenly began to regain some strengths and with a scream of rage he got into his feet rapidly and threw an erratic punch at Matt, which he barely dodged, but then he threw another one and this time managed to hit his face.

Ace and Tech arrived, flying over the battle with their jetpacks. Ace noticed the brawl between Matt and Troy, he saw that the soldiers and policemen behind them had a clear path to take and enter the building but they were still too hesitant to even get close to Troy or the other two Renegades. He activated his laser vision and started to shoot it at the space between Matt and Troy and the armies of The Eye and the AHP, who backed away a bit when the laser got before them. Ace looked at them and pointed at the path he had noticed.

"Get moving! There's a free path to the tower, I'll keep covering you!" Ace told them.

"But the Reneg…" A soldier was interrupted.

"Trust me!" Ace replied, maintaining his laser in the same spot, moving it back and forth slightly to make a barrier between them and Troy, to impede him to see them. The soldiers and policemen finally obeyed him and began to take the path to the tower's principal door.

Hill didn't want to take the path as Ace had been the one who cleared it for them, but he knew it was the only way and just growled while heading there followed by another group. "Forget your pride, fellow." He murmured to himself while shaking his head.

Rebecca, along with other policemen, was taking care of the wounded soldiers both of The Eye and The AHP on a improvised area they had made with some of their hoverbikes arranged in circle, with the holo-shields still activated which created a dome of protection over the several wounded men that laid on the ground. Through the blue, holographic dome, Rebecca spotted the soldiers and some of her men rushing towards the building's entrance, she received a transmission on her comm and answered it immediately. "Moon here."

"Captain, we are reaching the door." A male voice said. "I suggest you to come and lead the…"

"I'm busy here." Rebecca said while putting a bandage on the leg of a soldier. "Just follow t…"

"G…go." The wolf pointed at the front while looking at her. "Th…" He groaned. "They need…you."

Rebecca looked at him in silence for a moment, then she sighed and stood up, glaring at the others that were helping with the wounded. "Don't leave them alone, understand? No matter what you hear or what happens." She gave them a look of warning. "These brave men are your responsibility." They just nodded at the command and kept attending the wounded, this time with more efficiency. Rebecca walked through the holographic dome and exited from it, as her suit had a built in authorization code to pass, then she started to rush towards the building, spotting the path that Ace was still clearing with his laser vision. "Wait there." She said through her comm. "I'm on my way."

Kyle and Nate threw more and more debris and destroyed vehicles at Slam, who received the hits hard but kept walking towards them nonetheless. "They are getting too close!" Nate said while spotting the men heading to the door.

Kyle growled and let go off a huge piece of concrete. "And what do you want me to do?!" He glanced away and his eyes widened when seeing Slam jumping before them. "Oh n…" Slam punched the ground with his clenched fists, roaring monstrously, the impact broke the concrete and made Kyle and Nate to fly towards the building, smashing onto the wall and falling heavily to the ground. While still groaning and trying to recover, Tech approached them, hovering with his jetpack and carrying a pair of lampposts with his magnetic abilities, he put the lampposts over them and wrapped them around the two red armored wolves, who began to move with desperation as they tried to free themselves from Tech's improvised hold. Slam then approached the groups of soldiers and policemen that rushed towards the building and escorted them there with surveillant eyes. Matt was still brawling with Troy, they were both already fatigued by the fight, but Matt really wanted to end it, so he punched his face twice, breaking his helmet completely as it was already damaged, then kicked his stomach, making him to groan and get over his knees.

"It's over, Troy!" Matt cleaned a bit of blood off his snout when managing to control his adversary, who was sighing and struggling to get up. "I say it's over!" He punched him again, Troy then fell and laid on the ground.

"You think you are…a hero?" Troy gasped, his gaze was lost on the destroyed concrete. "You are nothing, youngling." He tried to get on his knees again but Matt kicked his snout and got him unconscious. He glanced at him cautiously for several seconds, then he began to walk away from him, heading to the building's entrance.

Meanwhile, Tech and Ace were flying with their jetpacks towards the rooftop of the tower, they arrived quite quickly and landed there safely. They both glanced at every corner of the roof and found a hatch just in the middle and approached it. "After you, Doc." Ace said, Tech nodded and opened the hatch, then he and his boss entered and went down the brief staircase that led to the last floor. They walked hurriedly through the hallway. "How can we reach that apartment in time?

Tech stopped walking and smirked while pointing backwards at the elevator that was just behind him. "I think I got the solution, boss."

Ace chuckled. "Maybe I'm a bit too accustomed to complicated things."

In the mothership, Rev was still setting up lots of stuff in the computer, thing that began to get Duck impatient. "Oh man could you just finish that up already?" Duck stood up as he was laying on the floor with his back rested on the wall. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Why is it taking you too long?" He walked a bit towards Rev, who had stopped using his super-speed. "I made you a question!"

Lexi growled and approached Duck. "Give him some time, Duck!"

"He has gotten time, Lexi!" Duck frowned and pointed at Rev with his hand. "And see, nothing happens!"

Lexi pointed at Duck warningly. "If you think you can do it better, then go on!" She waited for a response, then sighed angrily and returned to the corner where she had been waiting, she rested her head against a metallic column while glaring away. Duck couldn't make up an answer for that, so he just stood there, silent, then he shook his head and began to return to his previous spot, but then Rev spoke and made him to glance at him instead.

"I think I've figured it out." Rev said while pressing some keys on the big keyboard, and after writing some commands, he looked at the screen and pressed the equivalent to the Enter key. Nothing new showed up on the screen.

Duck yawned and crossed his arms. "I'm waiting."

"Duck." Lexi warned.

"Wha…" Rev raised an eyebrow and pressed the key twice. "It sh…" The room started to tremble violently.

Lexi gasped, holding from a pipeline that went all the way from the ceiling to the floor. "Rev, is this, uhm, normal?"

Rev held tightly from the edge of the console, writing commands with his free hand, looking from the screen to the keyboard and vice versa repeatedly, with eyes of true concern. "No I mean I was sure I deactivated all the protocols maybe is just a…" His eyes widened when an emergent window appeared on the monitor, with the text 'Security Protocol Activated. Early Arrival: System S2005: Acmetropolis.' The ship started to move faster towards the planet, the monitor was showing live images of the ship heading there.

Lexi let go off the pipeline by the strength of the tremble, managing to place her hands on the wall where Duck was also holding from. "Maybe not all of them."

Rev started to hyperventilate. "I messed up I messed up I messed up!" He let out a desperate growl.

The lights of the place turned red along with the rest in the ship's inside, the tremble got stronger and explosions began to occur inside the room. Duck teleported from spot to spot and then he got next to Rev, watching over his own balance. "What did you do?!" Duck asked angrily.

"I…I thought it would work." Rev was still holding from the console's edge, looking at his comrade with a glare of fear and apologize.

"Guys!" Lexi rushed towards them, trying to maintain balance by the strength of the tremor. "We must get out of here! Now!"

"No! I can fix it!" Rev exclaimed with a broken voice, pressing several sets of buttons on the console.

"Forget about it, Rev!" Lexi took his arm. "We must go!"

Duck grunted. "I knew it! Tech would have done better!"

Rev frowned and growled angrily, freeing himself from Lexi's hold, then rapidly turned at Duck and pushed him. "Shut up!" He put a finger on his chest and looked at him menacingly. "Would you've done it better?! Tell me!"

Duck pushed his hand away from him. "Maybe not but I'm sure I wouldn't have condemned an entire planet! Acmetropolis is dead and it's your fault!"

With no previous warning, Rev punched Duck in the beak so hard he made him to fall to the floor. Lexi gasped and approached Duck, helping him to stand up. Duck moved her away from him aggressively. "Let me go!" He rubbed his beak.

Lexi looked at them both, upset and disappointed. "What's wrong with you two?! We are a team! Don't you know what's in stake here!" She gave them a look of scold and authority, both had their glance away from the other's. Lexi grunted and sighed with frustration then gasped and glanced up when hearing the big explosion that occurred on the ceiling. "We don't have time for this nonsense! Let's get out of here!" She looked at Rev. "Now!" She exclaimed.

Rev began to use his superspeed, he then held Lexi with his arm then turned his glare back, looking at the almost completely still Duck, he frowned and ran towards him, holding him with his other arm, then he headed towards the door behind the file racks, which started to explode one by one in a domino effect, the ceiling and the walls got destroyed by the intensity of the several explosions, he finally reached the door, which had been left open and when barely exiting the place, behind him a final explosion occurred, which destroyed the file room completely.