Loonatics: United

Compromised system

Episode 148: Gray business

"I told you it was a bad idea!" Duck told Ace.

"Just do your job, Duck." Ace activated his jetpack and flew towards the warehouse, followed by Tech and Lexi.

Duck grunted. "Yeah my job's always to clean someone else's crap as I see." He teleported.

"Come with me, Randy. He is surely trying to escape already." Rev rushed with his super speed and entered the warehouse, being closely followed by Randy as he requested.

"Do your thing, big guy…I have an idea." Akinyi winked at Slam.

Slam growled with confusion, then just shrugged and did as she asked, activating his tornado. Akinyi jumped towards him and adopted her smoke form, becoming part of Slam's signature phenomenon.

"Go, go!" Akinyi commanded and Slam started to take them both to the warehouse rapidly.

Sylth was firing at the heroes with a laser machine gun he had taken. "Get your tails out of my business, Loonatics! There's nothing for you here!"

Ace dodged the shots of Sylth's weapon gracefully with evasive movements he performed with his jetpack, also avoiding parts of the warehouse's big structure. "We just want to talk, Sylth!"

"Yeah, right! Do you think I'm stupid?!" Sylth kept firing.

Duck appeared sitting over his shoulders. "Actually, yes!" He grasped his whiskers and started pull them upwards.

Sylth yelled by the pain while dropping his weapon in order to get Duck off him. "Gah! Leave those alone you son of a…" Duck teleported away from him, then Randy rushed towards the laying weapon and took it then threw it to Rev who was rushing over one of the walls.

Rev received the weapon successfully and then jumped onto the ground, giving Randy a thumbs up after they both stopped using their super speed, several meters away from Sylth. "Nice throw, kid!"

"Oh, thanks! Nice…catch!" Randy responded from the other side of the place.

"It's eight against one what the h..?!" Sylth suddenly found himself trapped inside Slam's tornado, feeling constant kicks and punches coming from all directions. "Oof!" He received a kick in the stomach.

Akinyi chuckled mockingly while hitting him with her smoke form. "I knew it was gonna work! But it's way funnier than I thought!" Slam's tornado was also hitting Sylth strongly. "We make a good team, hun!" Slam grunted with concur then stopped using his tornado while Akinyi returned to her normal form, dusting off her hands.

Sylth was hurt and dizzy, barely being able to stand on his feet while rubbing his head. "I'll put a bounty on your heads you all! When I rec…" His eyes widened when seeing Lexi flying towards him with her jetpack. She punched his chest as soon as she got right before him, making him fly several meters away. Lexi deactivated her jetpack and landed on the ground. Sylth smashed the window of the big office that was located at the bottom, entering and falling painfully over the black floor, groaning while trying to get up.

Tech rushed towards the place followed by the others. The automatic door slid open as they approached it, letting them enter the office one by one. "Sylth." He said while crouching before him and offering him his hand. "Let's talk about business, shall we?"

Sylth raised an eyebrow while looking at him with great confusion, switching his gaze to the rest of the heroes for a moment. "Uhm, wait am I not in trouble?"

"For now." Lexi crossed her arms while smirking at him cockily.

Sylth took Tech's hand, letting him help him get onto his feet. He patted his clothes a bit to let the pieces of broken glass fall over. "You should've started from there, man." He briefly placed a hand over Tech's shoulder then looked through the broken window. "Damn it's the third time this month, I just got that fixed last week." He said while pointing at it.

"Well, maybe if you learn to listen before shooting…" Ace said.

"Fair enough." Sylth began to walk towards the living room that was on the other side of the office. "Anyway, what do you need now, Tech? More propellers, tools maybe? You asked me for a thermal condenser last time you mailed me."

"What?" Duck looked at Tech with an eyebrow raised, same as the others.

"Uhm, Doc?" Ace crossed his arms while looking at Tech with a subtle face of disapproval. "What is he talking about?"

"Uh…" Tech scratched his nape. "Well I…" He sighed. "He has very good prices, man!"

Sylth chuckled while opening the door of a fridge that was next to the couches of the living room. "The best in the galaxy!" He took a bottle of beer and opened it with his teeth, then took a long sip from it. "He's actually one of my best clients."

Ace gave Tech a last look of disapproval, then sighed and glanced back at Sylth Vester. "We need robots. Tech says you can provide them."

"Well, your friend is right as always." Sylth walked casually on the living room while taking occasional sips from his cold beer. "How much do you need? A couple of battle bots from Freleng's Great War arrived this morning, good quality machines. Or maybe you're looking for something more modern…" Sylth scratched his lower jaw. "Hm, I have some seven-gen Blanc royal guards, how about that?"

"We'll need more than a couple of robots." Tech said. "Three dozens will suffice…I hope."

"Woah." Sylth chuckled. "Three dozens?! You making an army or something?"

"That's exactly the case." Tech replied.

"Things are that tight in Acmetropolis, huh? What is it this time?" Sylth took another sip from his beer.

"Not Acmetropolis." Ace intervened. "Rojus."

Sylth coughed as he choked a bit. "Ro…Rojus?" His face showed great confusion. "What is your business in that place?"

"The AI. We want to destroy it." Ace responded. "You don't know what happened there, I suppose."

Sylth let out a brief laugh. "You kidding? That thing banned me from the planet!" He chuckled while shaking his head. "I guess it feared I could arm its people with my stuff or something. Thing I would have done with pleasure…for the right price, of course. I'm a business man as you have noticed."

"Well, enough talk then." Ace took a step at the front. "Let's get right into business already."

"Hm." Sylth smirked at Ace while briefly pointing at him. "You haven't changed a bit, Bunny."

"You'd be very surprised." Ace smirked back at him. "Do you have what we're looking for?"

Sylth shrugged while walking away from him. "It depends. Do you have the money to pay for this…army?"

"We don't have the money." Tech said.

Sylth laughed mockingly. "Then why are you wasting my time? Go home."

"Wait." Tech said with a straight tone. "I have another way to pay you."

Sylth turned to face him and took another sip from his beer. "Oh really? Spit it out then."

Tech took a deep breath then let out a long sigh. "You have good relations with Archetype Defense, am I right?"

"Yes I do." Sylth confirmed. "Old business partners."

"Good. Then I bet they would be greatly interested in some of my patents." Tech said rather hesitantly. "Imagine the juicy commission you could charge for that deal."

Sylth's gaze widened for a moment. "Wha…you want to give away your inv…?"

"License." Tech corrected with a straight tone. "Just license, Sylth. Fifty patents, five years of unlimited use."

"Doc, I don't think this is a good idea." Ace mumbled as he got behind him.

"What's yours, then?" Tech inquired, mumbling as well. Ace thought for a moment, then sighed and backed away from Tech, shaking his head.

"Hm." Sylth nodded as he scratched his lower jaw. "One hundred patents, ten years. And it's a deal."

"No way." Tech crossed his arms, keeping a serious glare. "Fifty, and five years." He walked towards Sylth and stood in front of him, extending his hand. "And you give us three dozens of your best battle bots, perks included, we got a deal?"

Sylth narrowed his gaze and took the last sip from his beer, he then shook Tech's hand. "Alright, Coyote. We have a deal."