Loonatics: United

Dark reality

Episode 105: Weird dawn

Ace started to open his eyes, he looked around him with confusion and fear, everything was pitch black, even the ground, pure darkness. He got onto his feet and looked for his friends, glaring around with worry, taking steps to the nothingness. "Lexi!" He screamed then waited for an answer, which never came. His voice echoed for a long moment. "Hey!" Ace screamed stronger, not getting any response. "What the hell?" He said with concern.

Ace kept walking, not seeing any changes on his surroundings whatsoever. All of a sudden, Tech appeared laying on the ground. Ace gasped and hurried towards him, approaching him and crouching to help him stand up. Tech gasped and his eyes widened when seeing his friend. "Boss." He said with relief while Ace helped him stand up.

"Doc." Ace placed a hand on his shoulder. "Where are we? Where are the others?"

"Ah..." Tech looked around, thinking for a moment and shrugging afterwards. "I don´t know."

"Dang it." Ace rubbed his face. "I thought that was the end, Doc."

"The explosion?" Tech raised an eyebrow while looking around. "Maybe it was."

"What do you mean?" Ace inquired.

"I mean..." Tech sighed and shook his head. "Let´s not jump to conclusions until we find out more about this place."

"How? It´s all pitch black, how c…?" Ace´s eyes widened when seeing a sandy area with dunes appearing at the distance. "Tech..." He pointed at it.

Tech turned and raised an eyebrow when seeing a room with hovering chairs, exactly on the same spot where Ace was seeing the dunes. "That room?" He took a step forward while narrowing his eyes. "It looks like a classroom."

"What?" Ace expressed with great confusion. "No, no, the dunes, the sand."

Tech looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Don´t you see the classroom, then?"

"No, it´s just like a desert or something." Ace replied.

Tech looked at the place again. "Interesting." He briefly glared at Ace again and gestured at the place. "Let´s head there and see."

The two Loonatics walked towards the place, which started to take more shape. "Do you see the palm tree?" Ace asked.

"No." Tech replied. "I just see a locker." He pointed at the metallic, white locker he was seeing. "Right there, on that corner."

"No, that´s a palm tree." Ace said.

"Well, it´s safe to assume that we´re obviously seeing different things in the same spot." Tech replied. "It´s fascinating."

"Fascinating?" Ace inquired. "This doesn´t even make any sense!"

"That´s why." Tech argued.

They finally arrived at the place, Ace was standing over pure, clear sand while Tech stood over a solid, gray floor. Tech approached one of the hovering chairs and rubbed it with his hand. Ace raised an eyebrow. "What´s up with those rocks?"

"For me, these are chairs." Tech got thoughtful for a moment. "Used in schools."

Ace sighed. "Maybe I´m just dreaming." He sat down on one of the rocks while shaking his head.

"Guys!" Lexi shouted from afar.

Ace gasped and stood up, looking for her with his gaze. "Lexi!" He saw her rushing towards him, she approached him and hugged him strongly, crying and stroking his back.

"Hey." Ace caressed her head. "I´m here, baby."

"I thought I was all alone here...I´ve been walking for days!" Lexi cried deeply. "I thought I´d lost you all!"

"Days?" Ace inquired with concern, stroking her hair. "How many days?"

Lexi sobbed. "I...I´m not sure, maybe two or three."

Tech scratched his lower jaw, looking away with a reflective glare. "We must be in some kind of...advanced simulation room."

"How do you know?" Ace asked, slowly breaking the hug with his girlfriend.

"I don´t know." Tech said with a straight tone, then he took a deep breath and exhaled. "It´s just a quick theory, which we can´t even prove." He brought his hands to his head and sat down on one of the chairs. "Two days...we´ve just appeared here, Ace, why would they bring Lexi here days before us, with what purpose?"

"They?" Ace inquired.

"Well, it´s possible that someone put us in here." Tech said. "I mean, that must be the case."

Ace sighed. "But who?"

"Hey! I´m here!" Duck was among them all of a sudden, desperate and angry.

"Woah!" Tech jumped off his seat by the fright. "You scared the heck out of me!"

"Well then stop ignoring me! I´ve been trying to be part of this conversation since you arrived!" Duck argued.

"Wait, you were here all this time?" Ace said with confusion.

"Heck yeah!" Duck said with annoyance.

"Interesting." Tech said.

"Why is this interesting? This is...uhm...what the hell is this, guys?!" Duck inquired.

Lexi had calmed down a bit, she was holding Ace´s arm. "Maybe a prison." She looked around. "A strange prison."

"It´s a good theory." Tech said. "Uhm, Lexi, do you see a classroom here? Sand, maybe?"

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "No. This is a living room, isn´t it?"

"Living room? It´s a freaking wine storage room, don´t you see all these barrels?" Duck pointed at the hovering chairs, which were just rocks to Ace´s eyes.

Lexi raised an eyebrow, as all she was seeing were puff sofas. "Barrels? Sand?" She sighed with great confusion. "What is going on here?"

"We all have the same question, Lexi." Tech said then looked away with a thoughtful glance. "The quantum motor..." His eyes widened. "Could it be possible?"

"What?" Duck asked desperately.

Tech grunted. "Wait!"

"Woah, calm down, pal!" Duck replied with a frown.

"Let me think, let me think!" Tech responded and turned, taking a few steps away from them, starting to whisper to himself. "Quantum motor...maybe it turned..." He sighed, rubbing his face while shaking his head. "There´s no proof of that but..."

Lexi embraced Ace, placing her head on his chest. "I just wanna go home, Ace."

Ace kissed her head. "We´ll find a way out of here, Lexi. I promise."

Tech was now doing complicated math in the air, making gestures with his fingers, scratching his nape and his lower jaw while calculating in his mind. "Quantum anomaly...Jacobs..." He nodded at his own statement. "A quantum anomaly maybe."

"Done?" Duck asked with a deliberately annoying tone.

Tech growled. "Almost." He replied seriously. "I think." Tech mumbled softly and with uncertainty.

Duck sighed. "This must be a trap from that idiot."

"Who?" Lexi inquired.

"Well, that guy, Alfons." Duck replied.

"I don´t think so." Ace opined, sitting on one of the rocks. "I think this is way beyond his capacities."

Lexi sat down next to her boyfriend, on a puff sofa. "But who, then? And why?"

Ace sighed while shaking his head. "I hope Tech finds som..."

"I think I got it...well, in theory." Tech interrupted, walking towards them. "You see, there´s something called 'quantum anomaly' in fourth gen quantum physics, it´s basically a one in a million event that happens when certain factors collude in a precise moment in space time, creating a specific set of reactions, which conform the anomaly." He sighed. "It´s way more complicated and technical than that but it´s the only way you could understand."

"Why, thank you!" Duck replied sarcastically, rolling up his eyes.

"Okay, so...you think this place is one of those, uhm, anomalies, right?" Ace raised an eyebrow. "Just something that happened randomly."

Tech scratched his lower jaw then shrugged and nodded at him. "Well...yeah, basically. As a quantum motor exploded right in front of us, it´s a very valid theory."

"And how do we get out?" Lexi asked.

Tech sighed. "That´s a very good question." He scratched his nape. "Some authors say that these anomalies can be, well, fixed with the necessary amount of energy." Tech looked away. "That if this is indeed a quantum anomaly."

"Energy?" Duck scratched his forehead. "Like, my orbs, for example?"

"Mhm." Tech replied. "Ace´s laser vision, Lexi´s blast." He pointed at himself. "My magnetic powers...Rev´s speed, Slam´s tornado, those generate a huge amount of energy, even more when they are used together."

"Do you think that´s our ticket out of this place?" Ace got onto his feet while looking at Tech with a decided look.

"In theory….yes." Tech replied.

Ace looked away with concern. "But...Rev and Slam. We have to find them first."

"Maybe they´re not even here." Duck supposed.

Tech sighed. "That could be true, but also...they could just be too far away from us, we don´t even know how big this place is."

"And what if we do it without them?" Lexi proposed. "Then we rescue them from the outside, if that makes any sense though."

Tech shrugged, with a look of doubt on his face. "We could try, but I doubt we create enough energy to fix the anomaly without them."

Meanwhile, Rev was walking while looking at the plain darkness that surrounded him. "Hello?!" He yelled, with his echo being the only response. "Am I dead?!" Rev inquired then shook his head and chuckled a bit. "Nah, this couldn´t be heaven...or hell." Rev scratched his beak. "Could be purgatory, though." He thought for a brief moment and made a gesture of dismissal. "Come on, Rev, what are you thinking? This is obviously a...uhm...thing, maybe just a weird thing. That surely is, yeah." Rev began to hear voices. "Guys?" He mumbled and tilted his head a bit to hear better. "Wait...dad?" He recognized the voice of his father.

All of a sudden, Rev saw how his father, Ralph Runner, was arguing with his younger brother, Rip. There was nothing around them, just the darkness and emptiness of the place. "Hey!" Rev tried to get their attention, but they ignored him. "What the heck is this?" He mumbled and hurried towards them with his super speed as they were quite far away from him. He stopped running right before them.

"You´re just a lazy, brat, Rip, that´s what you are!" Ralph poked Rip´s chest aggressively.

"That´s not true! I´m forming my band!" Rip argued.

Ralph chuckled mockingly. "A band, a freaking band, with your grubby friends, right?"

"Hey, guys, calm down!" Rev tried to place his hands on their shoulders but they went through them as if they were mere holograms. "What the..?"

Rip punched Ralph on the face. "Those friends are more family to me than you will ever be!"

"You disgraceful punk!" Ralph rubbed his beak while approaching Rip and grasping his blue colored crest.

"Gah!" Rip exclaimed by the pain.

"No, dad!" Rev tried to stop Ralph but he just went through him. He just stood there as he knew he couldn´t do anything, looking with sadness. "Please, please." Rev started to remember the scene he was just witnessing.

"You wanna know what happens to lazy punks here, Rip, you really want to? I´ll show you then!" Ralph threw him strongly onto a wall.

Rip smashed the wall violently and groaned when falling to the floor, starting to cry. "Please."

Ralph imitated his crying with mockery. "Be a freaking man already!" He kicked his face. "You gonna keep crying?!"

"No!" Rev got on his knees, with tears running down his face. "No." He began to cry. "Why?"

"Mom!" Rip yelled with desperation.

Harriet Runner arrived in a hurry. "Ralph, what is going on here?!"

"I´m fixing this trash of son you have!" Ralph exclaimed with a frown, pointing at Rip.

"It´s your son too, Ralph! You should treat him as such!" Harriet got in between them.

"And what do you think I´m doing, Harriet?! Now, move!" Ralph yelled at her while clenching his fist.

"Please don´t." Rev said with a broken voice.

"No!" Harriet extended her arms. "You´re not touching him, Ralph!"

Ralph screamed with rage and punched her in the eye. "Now´s your turn, little brat." He crouched and started to punch Rip repeatedly while Harriet laid over the floor, crying and groaning.

"No! No! No!" Rev cried bitterly. "Go away! Go away now!" He kept crying, covering his face and laying over the pitch black ground. "No more..." He sobbed. "...no more."

Suddenly, Rev felt how he was being lifted from the ground. Now standing on feet, he opened his eyes and saw Slam smiling at him compassionately, letting out a growl of comfort.

Rev sobbed. "S..Slam..." He hugged him strongly, crying deeply, letting out tears of great sadness. Slam hugged him back, knowing he had to comfort him, even if he didn´t know why.

The Maniacs

Episode 2: Assault, part 4

Edison stood before the tall post, metallic, with three gray spheres being part of its structure. The lasers came out from each one of those spheres, just as with the rest of the posts. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath then let out a powerful, beastly roar at the post, disintegrating it completely. The lasers vanished afterwards and the alarm started to buzz.

"Good job." Vale said and looked at his comrades. "Come on!" He gestured at one of the buildings. "Focus and stay together!"

Author´s note: Hey! Things just got extremely weird, right? And they will get even weirder so stay tuned for the next episode of 'Loonatics: United' next Friday!