Loonatics: United

The Wrath of Tenebrous

Episode 132: Breath of life

Ace Bunny finished the task that Kufai had given to him. Rai accompanied them to the door. "Thanks for taking care of my husband, I appreciate it very much." Rai placed a hand on Ace's shoulder.

They exited the house. "It was nothing, ma'am." Ace replied, smirking at her slightly.

"I'll come back tomorrow, Rai." Kufai said. "Watch over him, okay?"

Rai chuckled. "It's what I've been doing for years, my King."

"Alright." Kufai stretched her hand and kissed her cheek. "Have a good night, you both." He smirked at her.

Ace and Kufai walked away, then they exited Oko. "Uhm, Kufai." Ace asked.

"Mhm." Kufai expressed as they passed by the white glowing dots of the crack.

"Rondar told me that you were a warrior." Ace said. "Is that true?"

"Yes." Kufai smirked briefly.

"Oh, cool." Ace looked away with hesitation. "And, what kind of warrior?"

"A warrior of God, that's who I am." Kufai replied.

"Okay." Ace nodded while scratching his nape. "I mean, you know how to fight, I assume."

"You could say that, yes." Kufai chuckled. "I built my own skills based on experience…and a lot of pain."

"I see." Ace responded. "I know some martial arts, I've been practicing them for years."

"Nice."Kufai said.

They got out of the crack, arriving at the sloping path with the great abyss at their side. Ace finally decided to go straight to the point. "Kufai, is there any chance that you could, well, teach me?"

Kufai stopped his steps for a moment, smiling and looking at Ace over his shoulder. "What do you think I've been doing all this time?" He winked at him.

Ace raised an eyebrow, feeling unsatisfied by his ambiguous answer. They arrived at the village, the sun was hiding already and the moon was showing up shyly in the sky. Ace and Kufai arrived at Ely's house, standing before the door. "You should head to sleep earlier tonight, you will need a lot of rest for tomorrow." Kufai said.

Ace sighed. "What are we gonna do?"

Kufai chuckled. "Don't worry." He winked at him. "You'll like it." He placed a hand on his shoulder amicably then walked away. Ace watched Kufai leave until losing sight of him, then he turned and got in the house.

"Hey, what's up, boss?" Tech inquired, he was having some coffee while sitting on the couch.

"Eh, I don't know." Ace sat down next to him while resting his head on the support, sighing with exhaustion. "What about you?"

"Not much." Tech took a sip from his coffee. "I helped a local build a shed."

Slam exited the kitchen, eating a giant piece of meat, which appeared to be a leg of some native animal. He growled with his mouth full while approaching his friends.

"And Slam helped a bit, yeah." Tech said. He glared at his boss with worry. "You better?"

Ace sighed then nodded slightly. "I think so."

"Good." Tech patted his shoulder then took another sip of his coffee.

"Where's Lexi?" Ace inquired.

"I think she's taking a nap." Tech replied.

"Was." Lexi exited the room, yawning while stretching.

"Hey." Ace smirked at her.

"Hey." Lexi smiled back and approached him, sitting down on the couch while wrapping his shoulders. "You okay, baby?"

"Mhm." Ace kissed her. "Just got better."

Lexi chuckled. "Nice." She kissed his cheek tenderly. "Where have you been?"

Ace sighed. "Some sort of cave-village, I, uhm, cleaned poop."

"Oh, like…for real?" Lexi raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Some sort of community service, I guess." Ace shook his head. "And I…well I did some other stuff." He rested his head on Lexi's arm.

"Aw, long day, huh?" Lexi caressed his ears playfully.

"Yep." Ace expressed. "And tomorrow might be even longer." He yawned.

"I could help you guys out, if you want." Lexi proposed.

"I don't know, I think I have to do…whatever this is on my own." Ace replied, closing his eyes as he was starting to get sleepy.

"Hm." Lexi kept caressing him. "Okay."

Ace got asleep rapidly, so there was a brief silence between them. Tech finished his cup of coffee. "This is a lovely place." Tech opined. "Don't you think?" He looked at Lexi.

"Yeah, it's cool." Lexi looked around. "People are very sweet here." She let out a brief chuckle. "Can't say the same for Acmetropolis."

"And you say it." Tech replied.

Ely arrived, exiting the kitchen with a tray full of bread and meat. "Dinner is ready!"

Slam woke up right away, as he had fallen asleep just as Ace did.

Duck entered the house, letting out a long sigh. "Woah, who would've thought hide and seek was such an exhausting game?" He started to stretch. "Also, hi guys."

"Hey." Lexi expressed carelessly.

"Oh, your other friends haven't arrived yet." Ely said. "We should wait for them."

"Nah, it's okay." Duck said. "Besides, they're not even our friends, they're just our temporary associates."

The Maniacs entered the house right when Duck said that. "I appreciate you as well." Akinyi said sarcastically. "Hey, that looks delicious by the way." She pointed at the tray Ely was holding.

Ely smiled. "We shall begin with dinner, then!"

They all sat together in the living room, Akinyi sat down on the couch, next to Lexi. Ace was resting his head on Lexi's lap, already in a deep sleep. Tech was standing with his back resting on the wall, same as Edison and Vale. Randy was sitting on the floor along with Slam and Duck. They were all enjoying the pieces of bread and meat that laid over the tray on the floor. "Wait…there's one of you miss…" Ely got interrupted.

Rev appeared between them all of a sudden, leaving his trademark red trace behind. "Hello! Oh you guys couldn't wait for me huh? Well let me take a bit of that stuff." He rushed towards the tray and took a piece of bread and another of meat then he sat down next to Randy and stopped using his super speed afterwards. "Bon appetit!" He began to eat his food.

Ely chuckled. "Same to you, dear boy."

"This meat is delicious." Edison opined with his mouth full.

"Yeah, what animal is it from?" Tech inquired.

"Nurkey." Ely replied.

"Hm, never heard about those." Tech munched a bit of his piece. "They're very tasty, that I know." He chuckled.

Vale swallowed the piece of bread he was having. "These two raced together." He gestured at Randy and Rev. "It was fun, honestly"

"Oh, and who won?" Lexi inquired.

Rev placed a hand on Randy's shoulder. "This guy here."

"Woah, you beat Rev? That's impressive!" Lexi praised.

Randy chuckled shyly. "Thanks."

"You're a man of few words, aren't ya?" Duck bit his bread. "You could learn something from him, Rev."

"Haha, you're funny." Rev replied sarcastically.

Slam burped, then stood up and grabbed another bunch of meat and bread from the tray.

"Ma'am, all the things you've done for us since we arrived…I, I just don't know what to say." Tech looked at Ely with gratefulness.

"It's nothing, dear." Ely winked at him. "I live to serve." She looked at Lexi. "Your hand better now, darling?"

"Oh, yes much better. Zaji really knows her stuff." Lexi replied while rubbing her hand.

"I'm glad to hear that." Ely smiled at her. A few minutes passed, almost everyone had finished eating. "Would you like to have some more?"

"I'm full." Edison expressed, rubbing his belly.

"Yeah same here I feel like exploding I mean no literally but you get what I say." Rev replied.

"Okay." Ely chuckled. "Would any of you like to give thanks?

They all shared confused looks, bringing a sudden silence between them. "I'll do it." Lexi said with hesitation.

"Good! Go ahead." Ely said.

"Okay, uhm." Lexi thought for a moment. "Well, thanks God for this…delicious food, the way we've been treated here, specially by Ely, it is really like home here." She chuckled, closing her eyes for a moment. "Thank you."

"Aw, darling, I'll always be here for you all." Ely glanced at the rest of the team.

"Thanks, ma'am." Vale smirked at her.

"Yeah you're dope." Duck spoke with his mouth full, giving her a thumbs up.

They all helped clean up the living room, leaving it ready for Ace, Tech and Slam to take some rest there. Tech stretched out over his quilt, laying down afterwards, exhaling with relief. "Good night, Slam." He said while yawning.

Slam grunted, giving him the same reply. Ace was deeply asleep, laying peacefully over the couch.

The dark, early morning was fresh and silent, until Kufai knocked the door. "Bunny! Wake up, we're leaving now."

Ace rubbed his eyes while yawning deeply, then he stretched and got onto his feet slowly, letting out a sigh. He walked towards the door with drowsiness then opened it. "Hey…" He yawned. "Can I have some breakfast at least?"

Kufai was carrying a bag, made of a white cloth, same as the clothes he was now wearing. He took out a piece of bread from the bag. "Here." He handed it to Ace. "Let's go." Kufai began to walk away.

Ace stood there for a moment, glaring at Kufai, he then let out a sigh while shaking his head, starting to follow him.