I don't own Loonatics Unleashed

Enjoy!


Work and studying never seemed to stop for Tech. For the past couple of days, he didn't know how many all-nighters he had pulled just to finish his assignments and add the last little pieces of his design that he was going to present for one of his professors. There were days when he felt that he was able to do it all, but all the fatigue had finally caught up with him to the point where he just wanted to take two months of vacation. He had to admit, he was glad that he wasn't tutoring anymore and was able to get things done.

After having that little coffee rendezvous with Rev and his imaginary coworker who didn't bother to show up, he had found out that Quinn had made up her mind, finally, and switched majors. She had been intrigued by evolution and genetics and pursued that as her studies. Tech didn't know why she had chosen such a field, also because there was design in any concept of science but if that was something that she was good at, then that's what mattered.

Once the last class was finished for the afternoon, Tech quickly gathered his items and his mission was head into the empty classroom where his device was waiting for him. He couldn't wait to show it off to his professor and see what he had to say.

"Hey Tech!" came Quinn's voice from down the hallway.

"You're looking mighty cheery today," Tech pointed out as he noticed the wide smile upon her lips.

Quinn whipped out a test that she had taken last week and showed it to him. An A+ was written and circled in red ink. "Ever since I switched majors, I've been kicking every single class in the rear."

Tech looked over the test and saw that every single question that she had gotten was correct. "Congratulations," he said to her and handed back the test.

"And all by myself," she said to him, "no tutors and no extra help." She stuffed her exam back in her bag and looked over at the coyote. She knew that today was a big day for him and she could see that after today, he probably wanted to take a very long nap. "How do you feel?" she asked him.

Exhausted was the first word that crossed Tech's mind. He rubbed his eyes to wear off the sleep that was making its way to him and hoped that he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of his professor. "As long as my device doesn't backfire, everything will go smoothly."

"I'm sure it won't," Quinn said to him, "and once this is all over, perhaps we can meet later for a cup of coffee. I would say to invite our little roadrunner friend but perhaps it can just be the two of us. Canis and Canis. What do you say?"

And he thought he was the biggest nerd in this whole university. "Of course," he said to her.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Good luck Tech," she said as she threw him one last glance over her shoulder and walked away from him.

Even though Tech felt confident in what he was going to explain and show his professor, he appreciated the affirmation that she had given him. He only hoped that it would work for as long as the presentation took place. He shut his locker and headed into the classroom, where he put on his laboratory coat and took off the white sheet that was covering his device.

There it was. His baby. All in its shiny glory and ready to be shown off. "I've worked hard to make you," Tech said as he ran a hand over the glistening metallic texture of the device, "let's show this university what we're made of." He was glad that it was just him in the room, otherwise he would have gotten some strange looks from his peers.

He rested against his device and looked over at the clock. It was almost twelve and all he could do was take a deep breath and wait for the moment to arrive. His eyes scanned his device one last time and he was glad that he was able to catch a little mishap before the professor came in. A piece of cord that he hadn't noticed was hanging out of the device and he went ahead and carefully tucked it back into place. He was glad that he had finished before the professor walked in as he perked up as he moved away from the device and stood face to face with his professor, trying to maintain his professionalism.

"Tech," the professor began with a voice that sounded very bored, "you're keeping us from lunch. Now are you going to perform your senior thesis or not?"

"Of course, sir," Tech said stated to him with great enthusiasm, "and you won't be disappointed. Here she is." He pressed onto a button and waited for the machine to come to life. He heard the familiar humming sound, which was a good indication that the device was working.

Phew Tech thought. He was glad that he had gone with his original blueprints as well as tucking away that cord that he saw last minute. Now that the device was on, Tech looked at the screen and typed away to give it the commands that he wanted. "Just a few slight adjustments."

However, the professor was more intrigued in getting the day's lunch specials than he was about Tech's invention. "Oh," he said in an exasperated tone of voice, "step out of the way son, I'll turn it on myself!" he grabbed Tech by the shoulders and pulled him away from the device.

Tech was taken aback by such behavior. He had worked so hard to impress his professor and get an excellent grade on his thesis and this was how he was going to be treated? He had already turned on the device. Tech didn't understand what else his professor wanted to turn on. Seeing the professor's finger hovering over a button, Tech gasped.

"Be careful!" he said to the man, "I've installed a self-destruct button for extra credit!" It was that apparatus that had taken him a long time to build.

However, it was too late. The device exploded from within the classroom as smoke diffused throughout the building. Tech stumbled outside with a remote control in his hand. He looked over to the classroom where his device had just self-destructed and whimpered, "my baby!" As if this wasn't embarrassing enough, many of his peers looked out the windows of the classroom to see where that noise had come from. And they were all staring at him and his tattered clothes.

Suddenly, his professor stormed out of the building and glared at Tech. "I used to think you were a mad genius now I think you're just mad!" With those words, the professor walked away from him.

Tech fell forward and to the ground as he held onto the remote control. "But it does work! If only someone could see that!" He didn't mean to sound like a whiner, but the idea of working for months on this device and having a teacher insult him like that was humiliating.

He felt a hand grabbing onto his arm and lifting him from the ground. He didn't need to see to realize who it was. It was evident from her gentle touch as she dusted away the dirt that had accumulated on his clothes.

"You did your best," were Quinn's words, "that's all you can do."

"What if my best wasn't good enough?" Tech asked her.

"It has taken you many months to get to it and you did," she said to him. "So don't let some arrogant professor tell you otherwise." She couldn't stand that guy for he had almost failed her in one of his classes. "You're in a strong need for some coffee. Get yourself cleaned up and we'll go."

As he was about to do so, he noticed a flash of light passing by them. Instinctively, he threw an arm in front of Quinn and shielded her from wherever that light came from. Then came the shockwave which was strong enough to throw the both of them many feet away from each other.

"Oof!" Tech grunted as he felt his body landing on a soft spot of grass. He tried to get up but his muscles wouldn't allow him to do so. He turned his head to the side and looked over at Quinn who was lying on the ground, barely moving. Come on Tech, get up he said to himself as he turned himself on his stomach and tried to crawl through the grass. At least there was a little bit of strength in him but the closer he got, the less energy he had. With one final attempt, he reached out and stroked her fingers with his hoping to see if there was some form of movement.

She didn't respond.

Tech took a deep breath and slowly let it out. No, this couldn't be real. There was no way that a meteor hit the Earth. From what he had calculated, it would have taken another thousands of years for something like this to happen. Guess his calculations had been wrong, just like his devices, and his intuition about everything.

I'm sorry he thought as he took one last look at Quinn and felt the dark consume him.