Loonatics: United

Episode 54: Cruelty and Amity

Susan opened her eyes slowly, seeing blurry at first, but her sight began to get clearer after a couple of blinks. She gasped when finding out she wasn't home, adopting a sitting position as she had been laying on the gray, old couch she was on. The place was barely an apartment, the walls weren't painted and there was no floor, just plain concrete, a light bulb hung from the ceiling, she glanced at her sides briefly then stood up from the couch rather quickly, having spotted the door next to the other rooms, which had no doors.

"Leaving already?" Dan suddenly exited from his room and got in her way, frightening her and making her to back away a bit.

"She's got no manners, I see." Darcy came from the other room, getting behind her.

Susan looked at them both, letting out a broken gasp. "Please, let me go."

"We will, don't worry." Dan placed a hand on her shoulder. "But first, you must do something for us, remember?"

Susan growled with desperation. "Whoever you're looking for, I'm not th…" Dan covered her snout with his hand.

"Hey…" Dan warned, raising his free hand and making it to glow. "Just sit down, and let me explain it all to you, alright?" He smirked at her, Susan didn't say a word, she just lowered her glare as a reply.

Dan nodded and chuckled briefly. "Good." He slowly uncovered her snout, gesturing at the couch, Susan kept her glance on his eyes and his sister's while walking backwards. She sat down on the couch again, still glancing at the two hyenas.

Dan sighed and put his hands together, glaring down and walking in front of her. "Okay, where should I start?" He glanced upwards, seeing the mold on the ceiling and the leaks, the webs hanging on the corners and the windows opaqued by the years' grubbiness. "Since we were kids, my sis and I dreamed with a better life. Even at that age we knew there was something better, something more than the dumpster we lived in." He locked his gaze on the window. "My parents did everything they could." He slowly lowered his gaze, looking at the stained floor. "But it wasn't enough."

Darcy intervened. "Have you ever slept on the street, Susan?"

Susan didn't answer at first, but then knew Darcy was really waiting for a response. "No." She said. "I haven't."

"And that was our life for many years." Dan turned his glare at Susan, with his hands behind his back, walking. "But then, a unique, precious opportunity arrived. HarmNix pharmaceutical found us and saved our lives!" He exclaimed with sarcasm. "Money, food and bed, all in one place! No studies needed!" He stopped walking for a moment, clenching his fists. "It was an offer only a fool wouldn't accept." Dan said. "And still…" He glanced at his surroundings. "It wasn't worth it." He got thoughtful, shaking his head gently while lowering his head. "It wasn't worth it at all." Dan turned and walked towards Susan. "Look what we signed for." He got before her and gestured at himself.

Susan looked at the glowing lines of his suit. "Maybe there's a cure."

Dan chuckled. "You don't understand, Ms. Sanders. This is the cure. For us, for them."

Susan raised an eyebrow. "I…I don't understand."

"People like us." Dan pointed at himself and his sister. "There is one thing they've never dreamed with…" He raised his hands, with his palms facing upwards, making them to glow greatly. "…power."

Darcy got next to him. "We want to share it, Ms. Sanders."

"What?" Susan inquired with disbelief after figuring out their plan. "You want me to make everyone like you?"

Dan chuckled and snapped his fingers, pointing at her. "I knew you were the right one."

Susan thought for a moment, then she shook her head and lowered her gaze. "I'm not doing that." She looked at him with conviction. "I'm not."

Dan sighed, covering his face. "Ms. Sanders…" He expressed inconvenience. "…you don't know how badly I wanted to avoid what I'm about to do."

Susan instinctively got her back closer to the couch's support, looking at Dan with fear. "I wont help you."

"Well…" Dan raised his hand, its green glow dazzled Susan a bit. "…at least I have to try, don't you think?" He approached her, crouching and grasping her neck, the intense heat that emerged from his hand took her to an intense pain, her fur and skin weren't burning, but she felt like if it was the case, screaming and struggling as Darcy was holding her, sitting down next to her, she cried and moved with desperation.

"Please!..." Susan yelled. "…stop!" Her cry was loud and full of agony.

"Tell us!" Dan exclaimed. "What will you do!" He got his face close to hers. "What will you do, Susan!" She kept crying out loud, gasping, with ongoing tears of pain, struggling to get free from Dan and Darcy's hold.

Susan couldn't stand the pain anymore. "Serum!" Dan stopped hurting her when she gave the reply, Darcy held her more gently after so. Susan gasped and sobbed with her eyes closed and her head lowered. "I can make a serum." Her voice was broken.

Dan smiled and got his hand away from her neck then stroked her head. "Was it that hard…Ms. Sanders?" He fully stood up and turned, looking at her over his shoulder. "Rest." He said, making her to raise her glare at him, still full of tears. "You'll get to work tonight." He walked away from her, Darcy then stood up from the couch and followed him to his room.

"Dan." Darcy mumbled. "Where will she make that, uhm, stuff?"

"We'll take her to the labs." Dan responded.

"The labs? But the company is being investigated, you know, for…" Darcy got interrupted.

"I know, sis. That's why we are going at night. We'll deal with this just how we did with the archive room." Dan raised his hand and clenched his fist. "This is just the first step, Darcy. The first step to revolution." He poked his head a bit and saw Susan, crying while covering her face with both hands. "Watch over her." He gestured at Susan then turned and stretched, yawning and heading to his bed, which was an old mattress laying over the floor, with a thin, dirty blanket on it. He laid on it and let out a sigh of exhaustion, Darcy then returned to the tiny living room, to do what Dan had told her to do.

On the late afternoon, Tech was walking in circles at the lab, repeatedly trying to call Susan with his comm, getting always the same beeping response. After several failed tries, he grunted with frustration and walked towards the lab's exit, arriving at the living room and then approaching the button on the wall to open the window, he intended to go to Susan's apartment, but Ace interrupted his action.

"Hey, Doc. Going somewhere?" Ace inquired, this time he wasn't wearing his bodysuit, instead, he had normal civilian clothes, a black T-Shirt and a pair of jeans. Lexi was next to him, also wearing normal clothes, a pair of jeans and a pink blouse.

"Uhm, yes boss. I'll go see Susan, I am…" Tech sighed. "Quite worried."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Why? Is she okay?

"I don't know, she doesn't answer my calls." Tech explained, looking through the window with great worry.

Lexi noticed his anguish and wanted to reassure him. "Maybe she is busy, Tech."

"Maybe but…" Tech sighed and started to scratch his head. "I should make sure…"

"Hey, Doc..." Ace walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "She must be fine." He smirked reassuringly. "Maybe you just need some fresh air, that's all."

"How much did you sleep last night?" Lexi inquired.

"Three hours, maybe two." Tech said.

Lexi chuckled. "And there's the reason."

Tech sighed. "No, Lexi, this is not a sleep issue, I'm worried because she always answers my calls, and I've spent all day trying to call her!" Lexi backed away a couple of steps by his sudden shock. He sighed with regret and looked at her. "Sorry." He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know what to do."

"I do." Ace glanced at Lexi, smirking and gesturing at Tech, getting a nod from her, then he looked back at Tech. "Lexi and I are going to 'The Station', you should come with us."

"No, thanks but…" Tech let out another sigh, glancing again at the window. "I need to see if she is okay."

"Tech." Lexi approached them and gave Tech a friendly smirk. "It will be fun, we'll eat some wings, have some beer…what you think?"

Tech kept looking through the window, but he started to reflect on Lexi's offer, thinking on Susan, knowing she was an extremely smart woman and that she knew what to do in emergent situations, so he took a deep breath and let go a calmer, more stable sigh. "Yeah, it sounds good." He looked at Lexi and smiled at her.