Loonatics: United

The Wrath of Tenebrous

Episode 115: A unexpected journey

The Loonatics and the Maniacs were in the lounge of the HQ. "I'll get the jet ready." Tech said.

"Wait, the guy's gone, he is not our problem anymore." Vale said.

"He's jumping from planet to planet causing chaos, I'm pretty sure it's our problem." Tech argued.

"Have it your way, then. Our part is done." Vale started to walk away towards the open window, followed by Akinyi.

"Wait." Randy said hesitantly.

Vale looked at him over his shoulder. "What?"

"I…I wanna go with them." Randy opined. "They will need help."

"Well…we're capable enough to handle t…" Duck got a bump in the head from Lexi. "Ouch! Why do you always do that?!"

"Randy, our job is to protect the city, not the entire galaxy." Vale argued and turned, pointing at the open windows. "Let's go, Jeremy is expecting us."

"Come on, amigo." Akinyi said.

"I…I'm sorry, I…" Randy got interrupted.

"Let the kid come with us." Ace said, looking at Randy with respect. "He'll be of great help."

Vale sighed. "That's not a decision you can make, Randy. We signed a contract, we do as Jeremy says, and he wants us in the HQ right now!"

"I'll go with them too." Edison spoke with hesitation, yet with a tone of conviction. Duck looked at him with a glare of confusion.

"Excuse me?" Vale inquired.

"As you heard. Someone has to stop that brat." Edison replied.

"We signed a contract, Ed." Akinyi said.

"I don't care, I'm not his freaking servant." Edison crossed his arms and took a step forward. "I'm not a mercenary."

"Woah, are you saying I am?" Vale asked with annoyance. "Ed, I'll not answer for you if the boss g…"

"Screw him." Edison said, making a gesture of disdain. "What is he gonna do, fire me?"

"Probably." Akinyi responded.

"I'll take the risk." Edison looked at Randy and the Loonatics for a moment, then switched his gaze back to Vale and Akinyi.

Ace looked at them. "Come with us, this guy ain't joking, we know him well. The fate of dozens of planets is at risk."

"We are not the guardians of the universe, damn it!" Vale exclaimed. "Jeremy will not tolerate this, it's not in our contract." He sighed. "If you two want to lose your jobs, fine, I don't give a damn." Vale turned and called his hoverboard, getting on it once it arrived.

"Aki." Randy said. "You should come as well."

Akinyi sighed while shaking her head. "I need the job, Amigo. Sorry." She called her hoverboard and then got over it, then she and Vale left the HQ.

Edison got thoughtful for a moment then looked at the Loonatics. "What now?"

"Tech is preparing the jet." Ace replied. "We'll leave as soon as it's ready."

Edison nodded. "Okay. And what's the plan?"

"Kick the dork's tail." Duck replied.

"That's not a plan, how are we going to do it?" Edison asked.

"We'll enter the ship again, free the outlanders and apprehend him." Ace responded.

"Free them? From what?" Edison asked.

"He's controlling them, and I'm sure it has something to do with that sword he wielded." Ace answered, getting lost in his thoughts for a brief moment. "I gotta go get something." He walked away from them.

"To be clear, we are not teaming up. This is just a temporary, uhm, collab, understood?" Duck said warningly.

"Whatever." Edison replied with disdain.

"Woah those extra seats in the jet will be useful already." Rev added.

"Yeah, too bad we'll have to burn them after you put your tails on them." Duck chuckled mockingly and walked away.

Edison sighed. "I want to kill that guy so badly."

"You wouldn't be the first." Lexi said jokingly, looking at him with a look of warning afterwards. "But you touch a single feather of him, and I'll make you pay."

Slam growled, thundering his fists menacingly, concurring with Lexi.

Edison shrugged and started to walk away. "I wanna see you try."

Lexi switched her gaze to Randy. "And…why are you so silent, bud?"

"Uhm…I'm just like that." Randy replied, rubbing his arm.

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "Hey…I think I've seen you before, now that I think about it."

"Oh, yes, I, uhm…I delivered pizza back in the day." Randy replied.

"You delivered food too?" Rev raised an eyebrow. "Man are you like my doppelgänger or something?"

"Dope-what?" Lexi inquired while looking at Rev with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh it's a term used w…" Rev got interrupted.

"She's ready." Tech arrived, gesturing away while looking at Randy and his comrades.

They all went to the hangar. Randy was very amazed by the size of the place and the stuff they had there. Edison looked around, trying not to look so impressed. Tech entered the cockpit of the jet and opened the doors, letting his team and the two maniacs get in. Edison sat down on the last seat, in the corner, while Randy did so next to Lexi, who looked at Ace, that was carrying the Guardian Strike Sword with him. "Ace?"

Ace glared at her. "What?"

"I didn't remember you still had that thing." Lexi replied.

"Oh, well I just thought it would come in handy." Ace rubbed the handle of the sword gently.

"I like it when you use it, you look…manly." Lexi chuckled and kissed his cheek.

"Heh." Ace smirked at her. "Then I guess I should bring it with me more often."

"You all ready?" Tech asked from the cockpit.

They fastened their seat belts. "Ready, Doc!" Ace informed.

"Alright, then." Tech activated all the systems, then the jet started to hover.

Edison heard his comm sounding so he got it before his snout. "Yes?"

"Ed, change of plans, we're going with you." Vale said from the other side.

"What?" Edison inquired while raising an eyebrow.

Vale sighed. "Jeremy thinks this will make us look better or something, so he wants all of us to go."

"I see." Edison replied coldly. "Hey, Coyote! Wait up!"

"What?" Tech inquired.

"You wanna get off, kitty?" Duck mocked.

Edison grunted. "They're coming with us, Vale and Aki." He informed Ace.

"Great." Duck rolled up his eyes. "More jerks."

After Vale and Akinyi arrived at the hangar and boarded, Tech took off, flying out of the hangar in seconds. "Have you been to space before?" Tech inquired from the cockpit.

"Never." Vale responded.

"Noobs." Duck shook his head with mockery.

"Wait, won't we need suits or something? You know, just in case." Vale asked Ace with worry.

"Doc's got that covered, we have enough suits for everyone here." Ace replied.

Vale nodded and looked away. "Good."

An uncomfortable silence occurred among them. "So…" Duck spoke all of a sudden. "Why 'Maniacs'?"

"I don't know." Vale shrugged. "The boss gave us that name."

"Hmm, kinda same here." Duck crossed his arms and adopted an arrogant glare. "Yours sounds like a rip-off, though."

"At least we do the job better than you." Akinyi opined.

"Pfft, yeah right, pretty." Duck shook his head. "You got a space-jet?" He looked at her while raising an eyebrow. "How many times have you saved Acmetropolis or other planet?"

"Enough." Ace said with a straight tone.

Lexi looked at Randy. "And, how do you guys work? I mean, you just wait for the menace to show up or you got like, defined targets or something?"

"Uhm…" Randy scratched his neck. "Well, the boss just tells us what to do."

"Oh, okay." Lexi said.

"It's the same with you, right?" Vale inquired.

"Not exactly." Rev said. "We deal with every menace that comes to our knowledge so we usually agree to just go and beat the bad guys." Rev replied.

"That summarizes it, yeah." Lexi added.

"Jeremy gives us some…suspicious tasks, sometimes." Edison said with hesitation.

Ace raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Suspicious?"

"Again with that, Ed?" Vale inquired.

Randy and Akinyi looked at him with intrigue. Edison kept talking. "I see patterns, connections…between our missions. I think there's a lot of stuff he is not telling us, an agenda he wants to comply with." He shrugged and looked away. "Just saying."

"Whatever he wants to do it's not of our business, we're his employees." Vale said.

Duck pretended to cough. "Mercs."

"See it how you want, Duck!" Vale exclaimed with a tone of annoyance. "I don't care."

The jet was exiting the atmosphere. "And…where do you guys get resources from? Does the government pay you? An anonymous benefactor, maybe?" Akinyi inquired.

"It's…complicated." Ace responded.

"How much does he pay you?" Duck asked.

"Not of your business." Vale replied coldly.

"As little? I'm sorry." Duck said sarcastically.

"Shut it, Duck. I'm serious." Ace looked at him warningly.

"I'm kidding, man, relax! I mean, I wanna make them angry of course but, still." Duck sighed and placed both hands on his nape. "This is gonna be a long trip."