Loonatics: United

Confrontation

Episode 109: Ideals

The team was in the lab, discussing about the new heroes that had appeared in Acmetropolis. "I feel kinda replaced, you know? Not that those guys can even compare to me but, still." Duck said.

Ace sighed. "No one's being replaced, Duck, they're just another bunch of guys with powers, and they wanna help so, what's the problem with that?"

"I still don't like that slogan, though, 'Acmetropolis newest heroes', sounds almost like a challenge." Lexi opined.

"Yes, quite arrogant if you ask me." Tech added.

"Did you know they have a speedster as well? It feels weird." Rev said.

Duck chuckled. "The girl turns into smoke, that's even weirder. Who'd want the power to turn into a deadly fart?" His comment made Slam and Rev laugh.

"Duck." Ace warned then let out a sigh. "As long as they have good intentions, there's no reason for us to be worried."

"We should keep an eye on them." Tech stated. "Just in case."

"For sure, Doc." Ace replied.

One week later, in the afternoon, a white ferret with a brown coat and a hat of the same color was walking over the sidewalk, heading to a bank. He entered through the automatic doors and then got his hand in his pocket, then he took out a metallic, disc shaped device and pressed a button on its surface, then he threw it at one of the walls, making the people there gasp and back away with surprise and confusion. The disc hit the wall and got stuck there, then it began to make a beeping noise while a red light on it blinked. Before the people that were in line could run away from the device, it exploded, killing them all and destroying the wall. The alarm started to buzz and four guards rushed towards the ferret with their weapons pointing at him.

The ferret took a small sphere from his pocket and pressed it then threw it rapidly towards the guards. The sphere exploded right when it approached them, killing the four guards instantly. The ferret smiled while walking towards the opening on the destroyed wall, which led to the safe, the people rushed away from the place with screams of terror. He entered the safe and took a bag from his coat then approached the pile of quasar linium that laid over a large, white table and started to put the bars of the valuable metal inside the bag. When he got the bag full, the ferret exited the bank hurriedly, running between the crowd over the sidewalk, hitting and pushing anyone that got on his way.

The ferret got in an alleyway, looking over his shoulder and smirking cockily, he then looked back to the front and his eyes widened when seeing the Maniacs standing ahead. "Going somewhere, filth?" Vale inquired, walking towards the ferret with confidence.

"Yes, I am." The ferret smirked and got his hand in his pocket, raising an eyebrow while looking for another explosive, only finding out that his pocket was empty. "What the..?!"

"Too slow, scoundrel." Vale said while pointing at his comrade, Randy, who was standing next to him, holding the explosives.

"What?!" The ferret gasped while touching his coat with confusion. "How?" His ear twitched when hearing sounds of propellers and steps behind him, so he looked over his shoulder. "Oh, you too?!"

"Surrender." Ace ordered.

"Hey, we got this under control." Vale said and looked at Edison, gesturing at the ferret. "Finish this." Edison nodded and then started to walk towards the ferret, with a cold glare.

"Uhm, okay…okay! I surrender, guys!" The ferret kneeled down while raising his arms, dropping the bag and looking at Edison with fear.

Ace took a step frontwards. "It's alright, we're taki…" All of a sudden, Edison rushed towards the ferret and let out a beastly roar towards him, disintegrating him in an instant. Ace gasped. "Wh…" He looked at Edison with a frown. "Why did you do that?!"

Edison crossed his arms, looking at him with an eyebrow raised. "What? Eliminating the menace?"

Ace growled while taking a step forward. "He was surrendering!"

"Our job is to keep the city safe." Vale said. "We take it quite seriously. Unlike others."

"Had a good time in Alumia?" Edison looked at them mockingly.

"It's no good to leave an entire city vulnerable." Akinyi added.

"That has nothing to do with you just going around killing people!" Tech exclaimed.

"We do what has to be done, Loonatics!" Vale exclaimed. "Whether you like it, or not!" He turned and began to walk away, along with the rest of the Maniacs.

"This is not ending here, you hear me!" Ace warned. "Hey!"

Edison stopped walking and looked at them over his shoulder. "Is that a challenge?" He turned and tried to walk towards them, but Vale placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from doing so.

"Let's just leave already, it's not worth it." Vale said.

Edison looked at them with a daring smile. "Wanna end up like that guy?! Try me then!"

"Ed!" Vale grasped his arm strongly while looking at the Loonatics. "Ignore them." He glared at his comrade. "They're done."

"You think you can do anything you want only because you got powers?" Lexi asked, frowning at them.

"Hey, look! The Maniacs!" A childish voice said from a group of people that entered the alleyway, rushing towards them, passing by the Loonatics while yelling praises and words of admiration at the Maniacs.

"Hi, little buddy!" Akinyi crouched before a kid that approached her, he was holding a pen and a magazine.

"You're the leader, right?" A meerkat asked Vale while holding his camera in front of them to take a picture, putting his arm on his shoulders. "Say cheese!"

Edison looked at Lexi while a pair of women, a cat and a fox, hugged him all of a sudden, yelling with excitement. "I think we can!" He winked at her while blowing her a kiss.

"You s…" Lexi clenched her fist, starting to walk towards him.

"Lex." Ace grasped her arm, stopping her. He looked at the event with great confusion and disbelief. "Come on." He said with disappointment and then looked at her. "Let's just go home."

"But…" Lexi pointed at the Maniacs. "What ab…"

"I know exactly what to do." Ace replied, with a confident tone.

German Gillian, president of Acmetropolis, was in his office, sitting at his desk. The blue suited raccoon was reading some documents on his tablet. His ear twitched when hearing a pair of knocks on the door. "Come in."

The door slid rightwards and the Loonatics entered the place. "Good afternoon." Ace greeted.

"Oh, hey!" German stood up from his chair. "Good to see you, Loonatics." He sighed. "I'm so glad you are safe and sound, those rumors got us very depressed to say the least." German looked at them with a smile. "You're an important part of this city and its people."

"Thank you, sir." Ace replied. "We appreciate it."

"Oh, it's nothing. That's just the truth." German placed both hands over the table while sitting down again. "Well, what can I do for you?"

"The Maniacs." Ace responded. "They…they're dangerous."

German raised an eyebrow. "Oh, the new heroes, yeah, I had dinner with them and their, uhm, boss a few weeks ago. They're very passionate about the safety of Acmetropolis." He looked away while nodding at his own words. "Good people."

"With all due respect…They're everything but good, sir." Tech said.

"Oh…that's strange, I mean, they have dismantled lots of criminal cells and taken down very dangerous people." German said, looking at the Loonatics with a straight face. "While you were gone."

Ace sighed. "Those guys are killing people, are you aware of that?"

"Yes, bad people, indeed." German replied.

Ace raised an eyebrow. "And? It's still murder."

German raised his shoulders. "The city is safer, they're doing the job. Have you seen the charts?"

"I don't care about damn charts, those guys can't be out there just doing what they please." Ace was starting to get very frustrated.

"Hey!" German stood up again, looking at Ace with a look of warning. "Don't you think you can come here and throw curses in my presence."

Ace let out a sigh. "And when you told us to go to Quantal? When that woman was killing criminals?"

German stood silent for a moment, keeping his eyes locked in Ace's. "Different times." He turned, with his hands behind his back, looking at the skyscrapers through the large window. "This city needs them. I'm done with the scrupulous, the righteousness. We have to take real actions." He nodded slowly at his words. "And these guys are providing them."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Lexi questioned.

"Yes, I am, insolent girl!" German turned while frowning at Lexi.

"Hey!" Ace took a step to the front. "Don't talk to her l..!"

"Ace." Tech spoke with a loud tone, trying to ease his boss' temper.

Ace looked away, slowly unclenching his fist. "So, you're doing nothing?"

"Yes." German said daringly. "You're right on that one, boy."

Ace lowered down his gaze, then he looked back at German. "I warn you, Mr. President, that things will not end well if you keep trusting them."

"Get out of my office." German said and sat down on his chair, taking his tablet to keep reading his documents.

"Come on, boss." Tech said, gesturing at the door. "Let's just go."

Ace looked away, thoughtful and worried. "Yeah." He mumbled. They started to walk away.

"Dig on your past, heroes." German said all of a sudden. "In the end…we're all the same."

The Maniacs had returned to their HQ, Edison was taking a nap in his room, having changed clothes just as the others, wearing a pair of jeans and a white T-Shirt. His room was just like the others', minimalistic, with dark gray and blue aesthetic, modern and spacious. Vale was in his room as well, sitting at a small table, writing down the mission report on his electronic tablet, now wearing a pair of black shorts and a gray sleeveless shirt.

Akinyi and Randy were in the game room, sitting over one of the dark gray couches of the lounge, the one that faced a big television. A comedy movie was on, they were watching it casually, not paying much attention to it as they were having a chat together. Randy wore a pair of jeans and a white jersey of the Acmetropolis Forgers, the city's holo-soccer team. Akinyi was wearing black tights and a yellow blouse. "Did you ever imagine you would end up in a place like this?" Akinyi looked at him.

Randy chuckled slightly. "Never. I thought I would have retired as a pizza delivery guy." He looked into her eyes. "You?"

Akinyi shook her head while letting out a brief chuckle. "Nope, I honestly was quite comfortable in my previous job, being a gym instructor is not as exciting as it sounds." She said sarcastically. "You just go, tell some people how to not kill themselves with the machines, say 'Hey! You can do this! I believe in you!" Akinyi laughed along with Randy, then she let out a sigh. "It was fun, I learned a lot there…and met a lot of handsome boys." She chuckled briefly.

"Did anyone there know about your powers?" Randy inquired.

"Oh, of course not. I mean, I could've just told them but, what for, anyway?" Akinyi replied.

"Yeah." Randy looked away for a moment. "There were times when I thought on…well…"

"What?" Akinyi inquired.

"Oh, no, forget it. It's kinda dumb." Randy said.

"And? That makes it sound even more interesting, come on, tell me." Akinyi poked his ribs playfully.

"Ouch." Randy chuckled while blushing. "Okay, well…I thought on joining the Loonatics, I mean, just going there, ring the bell."

"Oh, who would think you almost joined our…rivals." Akinyi said.

"I don't know if 'rivals' is the right word…maybe we can get along." Randy opined. "Just a matter of time, I guess."

"Yeah…maybe." Akinyi noticed that Randy was constantly rubbing his hand. "Uhm, you okay, amigo?"

Randy looked at her. "Oh, yeah, yeah I'm just…thinking."

"Hmm, thinking on what?" Akinyi asked.

Randy shook his head. "That…" He sighed. "It's nothing."

"You look worried, Randy, what is it?" Akinyi insisted.

Randy stood silent for a moment then sighed and looked away. "It's just that…we, well, not me…at least not yet, I hope I never do…" He sighed. "I'm not judging you or Vale, Ed, don't get me wrong."

"But what? What is it?" Akinyi raised an eyebrow.

Randy sighed. "Kill people. You have killed people, and I…I don't think I'll ever do that, I don't want to."

Akinyi looked at him with intrigue. "But, I mean we've…gotten rid of a lot of bad guys, who were making people suffer, remember? The…enslavers?"

"Yes, yes I remember." Randy scratched his nape. "I still think we could have just, sent them to prison or, found another solution."

"Remember what Jeremy told us when he recruited us, we signed to get our hands dirty. And because of that, we are doing so much good here." Akinyi placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess." Randy looked upwards with a reflective glare. "Still…I don't want to cross that line." He sighed while lowering his gaze. "Sorry."

"Aw, amigo." Akinyi hugged him all of a sudden, he blushed and hugged her back, with his eyes widened. She stroked his back. "You're a good man, Randy, and I'll respect your decisions, okay?"

"Thanks." Randy replied nervously.

"No problem. And if anyone here has an issue with that…I'll kick their tail so hard they won't be able to sit in a month, alright?"

Randy chuckled. "Thank you, Aki."