Loonatics: United

The Wrath of Tenebrous

Episode 138: Wind of war

A constant beep echoed inside the darkness of the ship, Alfons opened his eyes quickly and got off the bed, he then stretched and walked towards his bodysuit, which was folded over a desk, putting it on. He then exited the room, the lights of the large hallway went on, the outlanders screeched by the continuous sound, Alfons' steps were fast and expectant. He arrived at the cockpit, heading to the main console, standing before it while reading the message on the screen.

'Object located. Confirm destination: Tavasi'. A render of the Loonatics' jet was shown below the text. Alfons let out a brief chuckle while shaking his head. "At last, piece of junk." He pressed a button on the console, confirming the destination. The ship accelerated, en route to the Tavasi system. "Brace yourselves, freaks."

The days in Apilex became shorter for the ten heroes, the routine was palpable, Ace's intense training with Kufai kept going, making him stronger and wiser with each lesson, Lexi found peace in the silence that commonly surrounded her, Tech and Slam kept helping the locals with their daily chores, Rev and Duck passed the time with the Maniacs, usually with Vale and Randy, as Edison and Akinyi liked to take long walks together, sometimes being stealthily followed by Randy, who just checked that nothing too 'romantic' was going on between them.

One afternoon, as the orange of the sun still shined behind the mountains, Ace and Kufai were standing on a tall mound, a few meters from each other. Kufai wielded a silver sword, while Ace wielded the Guardian Strike Sword. They had taken off their shirts, they only wore their white pants. "A legendary relic has been given to you from above, Bunny." Kufai swung his sword. "Use it with respect, with gratefulness." He took a step forward, same as Ace. "To protect. To preserve."

Ace nodded at him. "I will."

Kufai made the signal, followed by Ace. He narrowed his eyes, locking his gaze in Ace's. Kufai took a deep breath and then let out a scream of battle, same as Ace. Both swords clashed right when the Guardian Strike Sword revealed all of its blades, Kufai swung his sword strongly to the right in order to uncover Ace's torso, but Ace rapidly covered himself again with the sword's blades, he then backed his sword a bit and pushed the tip of Kufai's, then swung strongly at it, uncovering Kufai, Ace jumped and kicked Kufai's chest with both feet, then landed with one hand over the grass, Kufai stumbled then Ace rushed towards him, Kufai dodged him, then he kicked Ace's side, who groaned and then faced him, bending backwards just in time as Kufai threw another kick. Ace crouched a bit and then kicked Kufai's shin, making him gasp, Kufai then raised his sword and swung it towards Ace, who blocked the attack with his sword as he was getting onto his feet, when fully standing up, Ace swung his sword upwards and then kicked Kufai's thigh.

Kufai jumped to avoid a swing from Ace, then he swung his weapon towards Ace's neck, Ace then rolled backwards and got in a crouching position, Ace waited for Kufai's next move, getting shielded by the blades of the Guardian Strike Sword. Kufai started to walk in circle around him, swinging his sword menacingly, Ace followed his movements and steps with precision. Kufai ran towards him and jumped with his sword raised, Ace then dropped himself to the ground, laying face up, then he got both feet on Kufai's abdomen and with a strong leg movement he threw him a few meters away from him. Ace stood up rapidly as Kufai fell over the ground with a groan. Ace rushed towards him and with a graceful jump, he got right over him and raised his sword, then with a final, vigorous scream, he swung his sword violently towards his chest, stopping right when the tip of the largest blade touched Kufai's fur.

Ace breathed in and out intensely, as well as Kufai, looking into his eyes. Ace made the two extra blades of the Guardian Strike Sword hide again, then he offered Kufai his hand and helped him stand up. Kufai was still recovering his breath, looking at Ace with pride and worry at the same time. "Ace." He gave him a nod of approval, getting closer to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "With God's permit, I name you…warrior of Apilex."

Ace let out a chuckle of thankfulness. "It's an honor, Kufai." He bowed his head.

Kufai smirked and patted his cheek amicably. His smirk disappeared suddenly. "When the time comes, what will you do?"

Ace sighed, looking away for a moment, feeling a lump in his throat. "I don't know."

"Hm." Kufai looked into his eyes for a moment. "Son, look at me." Ace glared at him, with tears already forming in his eyes. "You'll do the right thing."

"How do you know?" Ace replied with a broken voice. "I hate him."

"For you…it's impossible to forgive him, I know." Kufai placed both hands on his cheeks. "But not for God…pray, until the time comes, pray. He will help you with that."

Ace lowered his gaze. "Okay." He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "Okay, I will." He nodded and looked back into Kufai's eyes, a tear escaped and traveled over his fur.

Kufai hugged him tightly. "I'm proud of you. My warrior."

Gale, the mechanic that had lent the transporter ship to the team, laid on a chair in his warehouse, snoring, with a piece of oil stained cloth covering his face. A loud noise made him wake up abruptly. "Ungh..." The bear yawned and got up from his chair, his eyes widened when noticing that his surroundings were covered in a big shadow. "What the heck?" He walked with quick steps and exited the warehouse, looking up as he reached the platform, he gasped when seeing the bottom of a black, gigantic ship right above him. "Uhm, son?!"

Gale´s son arrived almost immediately. "Hey, what the hell is that?"

"I don't know." Gale scratched his nape. "I thought you had brought it."

"No." Alfons said from behind, walking towards them casually.

Gale turned and gasped with fright while looking at Alfons, putting a hand on his chest. "You scared me, man." He looked at the ship then back at Alfons. "S…sorry but, we don't have enough space for this ship. Sorry for the inconvenience." The bear stepped back a bit, same as his son.

Alfons stopped walking right before them. "The Loonatics. They're here, lead me to them." He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Gale's neck.

"Dad…" The son said with great anguish.

Gale gulped. "They left."

"The jet is here, I traced it." Alfons replied, getting the tip of the sword closer to his neck.

"They left it here, I gave them another vehicle. I don't know where they went, I swear." The bear had started to tremble.

Alfons growled. "Trace that vehicle, now!" He forced him to take him to the warehouse, were Gale began to type the ship's data in the computer. "Quick!"

The bear gasped. "I'm going as fast as I c…"

"Shut up!" Alfons exclaimed.

The son approached a toolbox that laid on a corner, taking a wrench cautiously, then he began to take stealthy steps towards Alfons.

The computer emitted a beep. "Done." Gale breathed in and out with anxiousness.

Alfons pushed him, glaring at the words on the computer. "Apilex." He smirked.

Gale gasped while getting onto his feet, his eyes widened when seeing his son standing right behind Alfons, readying the wrench.

Alfons turned and grasped the boy's neck, who let go off the wrench. "What were you gonna do, huh?!" He pierced his stomach with the sword, making him scream and cough blood violently.

"No!" Gale cried out loud. "Son!"

Alfons took out his sword from the boy's body and dropped him on the floor, then he walked towards Gale. "Thanks for the help." He swung his sword at the bear's neck, beheading him, contemplating the fountain of blood that came from his neck for a moment. He then began to walk away from the place, in order to go back to his ship, but he stopped his steps all of a sudden.

Gale´s son kept coughing blood, dragging himself over the pond of his own blood, which rapidly mixed with the pond of his father. After a last and useless effort, he died a few steps away from Gale's corpse. The floor got completely covered in red.

Alfons was thoughtful. "Hm." He turned and walked over the blood covered floor that stained the soles of his suit. He approached a door that was at the bottom of the room, which opened automatically before him. The lights went on, he was now in a big hangar, with a pair of ships laying there, one of them was the jet of the Loonatics. Alfons let out a chuckle. "Oh, this will be a hell of a surprise."

Meanwhile in Apilex, the night had arrived. Kufai, Ely, the Loonatics and the Maniacs, as well as some of the locals, including Duck's friend, Jay, were sitting and eating around a bonfire in the middle of the village. The flying creatures and insects of the night made the ambient even more calm and tender. Kufai munched a bit of the piece of meat he had cooked with the fire's heat, he was using a long wooden stick for that just as the rest. "I have good news, the last component of your ship arrived this morning."

The heroes felt a sudden sadness in their hearts. Tech glared at Kufai and nodded. "Thank you so much."

"It's our pleasure to help, Coyote." Kufai smirked at him. "You'll be good to go tomorrow."

Tech glanced away while feeling the nostalgia that his comrades were feeling too. "You've been extraordinary hosts." He smiled while looking at the faces of the locals. "All of you."

"You leaving, Duck?" Jay grasped Duck's arm, looking at him with sadness.

Duck sighed. "Unfortunately."

Jay glanced down. "You're my only friend in the world, why do you have to leave?"

Duck patted his back gently. "Because there's something that we have to do. Something important."

"Do you all have to go? What if only you stay?" Jay inquired.

Duck chuckled. "It doesn't work that way. We are a team, and we count on each other, they count on me, and I count on them. Not only that…the universe counts on us right now, and we are the only ones who can save it."

"Oh." Jay said with disappointment. "But, will you ever return?"

Duck looked into his eyes and patted his head. "You bet, buddy."

Ace had his gaze lost on the burning and bright flames of the fire. "All I have are words of gratefulness for you and your village, Kufai." He switched his gaze to Kufai. "It's no coincidence that we arrived here, now I understand it."

Kufai gave him a nod of concurrence. "This will always be your home." He glared at the heroes amicably. "The universe needs heroes, its decadence increases as we speak and you all have received these wonderful gifts to fight against that." Akinyi put her hand on Edison´s knee, they both shared gazes of hope between each other. Randy was looking at them with a straight face.

"Back to reality, fight against a mad snow leopard that wants to take over everything." Rev sighed.

"He's no stronger than all of us." Vale glared at his comrades with a look of conviction.

"You're right." Lexi nodded at him with a smile. "He's messed with the wrong team."