I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
The moment that Ace had asked Duck where Tech and Rev had gone off to, Duck debated whether he should tell him. After the way that he was treated, why should he give this rabbit the satisfaction? He knew, however, that if he wasn't to say anything Tech and Rev would get into trouble and the blame would be on him yet again. He couldn't bear that level of embarrassment again. "He said something about a friend that he had to see. An experiment about something."
Communication, that's all it took and Ace appreciated that Tech had at least told someone on the team. "How long did he say he would be?"
Duck shrugged his shoulders. "He's been gone over an hour and a half."
As if on cue, Ace looked down at his watch and was aware at what experiment Duck was referring to. After Tech confided in him that he had given that tick to his friend, Ace hoped that they would have some answers soon. "Should one of us go and check in on them?" he asked the team
Slam was the first member to agree. Even if they were able to handle all those ticks individually, it wouldn't be right to not check in on their fellow team members. What if something were to happen to them that they would be able to prevent?
Ace looked over at the Tasmanian devil and gave him a nod of his head. "Ya read my mind too big guy," he said to him. He looked down at his wrist and pressed the telecommunicator button, hoping that either of them would answer. The small screen went from static to Tech's face being shown to the screen. "Tech!" Ace exclaimed the moment he saw the coyote appear. "Duck told us where you guys went, are you still there?"
"We were just coming over to HQ," Tech communicated back to him. "Ace, I'm afraid I don't have any good news."
"What else is new?" Duck's voice echoed through the telecommunicator and he earned a bunch of glares from his teammates.
Tech wasn't fazed by Duck's reaction. "When Rev and I got here the lab as a mess. We were looking for Quinn and next thing we see, she's attacking one of the students."
Ace gaped at that fact.
"And-she-attacked-Tech-too-before-disappearing-underground," Rev jumped into the conversation as his face showed up on the screen.
Tech bough his arm towards his features so that Ace could see him. "It wasn't like Quinn," he continued and shook his head, "her voice didn't sound the same. It's like she was…possessed.
"Wait right there," Ace said to them, "we are coming." Once he shut off the telecommunicator, he looked at the rest of the team. "Ya heard the coyote, let's jet."
It didn't take too long for the team to arrive to the university. Most of the student population had dispersed as they either headed back home or to their dorms. Considering the events of the day, classes had been cancelled and the only personnel allowed into the laboratory were the police or the Loonatics. Tech and Rev looked up when they heard the familiar noise of the jetpacks coming towards them. Ace was the first to land and the rest followed. "What have ya got Tech?" he asked as he ran towards the coyote and the roadrunner.
"She jumped right inside," Tech said as he pointed to the chasm that Quinn had created.
"And-we've-been-watching-it-before-you-guys-got-here," Rev jumped in, "she-hasn't-come-out-yet."
Ace looked at the details of the hole that she had created and shook his head. "She must be really strong to have created such a hole," he said. "Unless…you said that she was possessed, yeah?"
Tech nodded his head. "Yeah. I highly doubt that she was able to do it on her own. Whatever it was that possessed her, and I'm afraid I know the answer to that, will be very strong for us to defeat."
"Not unless we put all of our powers together," Ace said to Tech and then looked back at the team, knowing that everyone was present. If their powers were a bit strong on their own, imagine the potential that they would have if they all put them together.
Lexi walked up to the team and nodded her head. "I agree," she nodded her head to them, "I say that we get in there and find her before she stirs up any trouble."
"It's not Quinn who's doing it," Tech said, making sure that he could clarify it as clearly as possible. The last thing he wanted was to see Quinn getting hurt, but he knew that this was something unavoidable. If they were going to stop that tick, then someone was going to have to get hurt.
Seeing the look of distress upon his features, Lexi placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll help her the best way that we can."
Ace crouched down the ground and jumped inside. The rest of the team followed but as Slam was about to jump inside, he hesitated. Sure, the whole was big enough for the five of them but it was a bit small for him. Forming his hand into a fist, Slam punched the ground and created a bigger chasm. He jumped inside and joined the rest of the team as they made their way underground.
Being underground was like being part of another city, and one where it didn't have such an appealing aroma. It was dark and the Loonatics couldn't see anything. "Wait a minute," Ace said as he stopped walking and tried to make out of anything in the dark. Just then, his eyes turned a bright yellow color and he was able to make out the details. "Would ya look at that?" he said, "even the suits come in with their own night vision."
Tech was glad to hear that. The next thing that they needed was to bump into different places underground and potentially walk into a trap that was waiting for them. He looked from one direction to the next, hoping that he was able to see her.
Duck kept his arm over his nose to block out the nauseating aroma. "Ugh," he groaned, "how much longer do we have to walk down here?" he complained but got no answer from the team.
Even Lexi didn't enjoy being in this area of the city, but she knew that their duty as superheroes was to ensure a safe environment for the city. She kept her ears open, hoping that she was able to pick up the skittering sounds or anything that sounded threatening. Thus far, she got nothing.
Ace felt a bit dismayed the longer they continued to search. He had kept his eyes peeled for anything and waited for Tech to say something to the team. When no one spoke, that was evident that this woman was nowhere to be seen.
Lexi suddenly perked up when she heard a noise coming towards her direction. She turned around to see what it was but saw nothing there. That was odd. The noise had been loud enough to seem like it was close to her but there was nothing there.
"Uh-guys?" Rev's voice suddenly spoke towards the group as they turned around to see Rev caught from behind. One arm was tied around his waist and the other around his neck, keeping him in a tight hold. "A-little-help-here?" he nervously said to the team.
The perpetrator peeked out from behind Rev and there was a malicious smirk upon her lips. "Well, well, well," Quinn said as she looked at the Loonatics, "how kind of you to drop by."
"Enough with the formalities there, sister!" Duck spoke up and walked towards the wolf, "let the bird go!"
"Why would I want to do that?" the wolf asked him, "so that you can get to me? Good luck with that superhero."
There was no way that Tech was going to let a possessed Quinn hurt Rev. The coyote walked up and stood right next to Duck. He was angry that Quinn had been a victim due to his actions, and he was willing on making things right. "Quinn," he spoke to her, "this is not you. You need to fight that tick in your mind. You're letting it take control over you."
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Without this body," she began, "I wouldn't have been able to survive. Now that I have found my host, I will make sure that none of you stand in my way. And why don't I try it out with this little roadrunner right here?" she asked as she pulled Rev closer to her, "I heard that roadrunners taste a lot better than that human did."
"Quinn, no!" Tech yelled.
Slam couldn't witness seeing a new friend getting attacked like that. He twisted around, forming that little tornado and immediately made his way towards Quinn and Rev. He hit them both in the middle, sending Quinn in one direction and Rev in the other.
"Rev are you okay?" Lexi asked as she ran over to the roadrunner and helped him up and he managed a nod of his head. Thank God for Slam's quick thinking or he would have been food for her.
Quinn swiftly got up from the ground and crawled on a wall as she faced the Loonatics. Good, all six of them were grouped together and she hoped that this would be easy. She started to make a noise from her teeth and before the Loonatics knew it, they were surrounded by a cluster of ticks.
"Great, they are back again!" Lexi complained as she stood in a fighting stance and kept herself alert.
"Here's what we're gonna do," Ace said, "we're gonna combine all our powers together to get rid of these guys. One of us must go get her!" he said as he pointed to Quinn who was crawling along the wall and trying to get away from them.
"I'll go," Tech said. "Be careful you guys!" he jumped away from a cluster of bugs that were crawling towards him and headed into the darkness to go after Quinn.
Ace hated that crawling feeling on his leg but this was no time to panic. He closed his eyes and opened them and the bright laser escaped from his eyes and towards the ticks. Lexi used her brain blast and combined it with Ace's. Duck jumped into the battle and began to throw his power orbs, as they changed into a thick consistency, trapping some of the ticks that had managed to get out from Ace's and Lexi's attack.
Rev and Slam linked their arms together and began to spin around creating a fiery tornado as Slam led them towards the ticks. The heat from the fire and the speed from the tornado was potent enough to incinerate the ticks and crash some of them against the wall. Whatever ticks were leftover, Duck hit them with his power orbs and they were disintegrated.
Lexi let out a puff of air and placed her hands on her knees. All the strength that she put into that brain blast made her feel exhausted but they did it. "Is that the last of them?" she asked.
The number of bugs that they had defeated was astounding, but Ace believed that they were home free. "Yeah," he answered, "now let's go and find Tech."
Tech made sure to keep his instincts on high alert. With the abilities that Quinn had, he knew that he'd miss his opportunity to subdue her. He kept his night vision sharp within the darkness, but he had trouble hearing for the sounds that she made. From the walls, he didn't see her crawling but that didn't mean that she wouldn't pop out of nowhere.
In the directions that he passed by, he tried to see what he could use against her. Something to keep her locked inside whilst they found someone to extract the tick out of her head. He still couldn't believe that she had fallen victim to that! He stopped in his tracks when he heard noise and perked up his ears. He wished Lexi was here with her super hearing. The noise was getting closer and closer and as he was about to attack, he noticed a small rat scurrying past him.
Phew Tech thought. He turned to pursue Quinn once more when his face was met with a fist. Tech pummeled to the ground but quickly regained his strength. He didn't need to see who it was. That fist felt familiar the first time he was hit with it.
"Wow, you're very persistent," Quinn said. "If I'd knew you'd wanted to play catch, I would've thrown a stick at you."
She did not just refer him to a dog. Tech was not willing to argue with the parasite and let it get the best of him. "Whoever you think you are, you are going to pay for taking advantage of my friend," he growled.
Quinn dramatically rolled her eyes. "My mistake, I forgot to introduce myself. Please, call me Ixodida."
"I could care less what your name is," Tech said, "get out from my friend!"
"Let me think about that," she said as she tapped her chin with her finger, "how about…no!" she then unleashed herself towards Tech and the two of them plummeted to the ground.
The moment Tech felt his head making contact with the pavement, he thought he was going to lose consciousness but he was glad to have that strength. With as much of it as he could muster, he flipped Quinn over and pinned her to the ground. He put as much of his strength onto her wrists to keep them there. Just then, he felt Quinn's legs grabbing around his waist, locking him in place, and using her strength to roll him off her.
Tech rolled to the opposite side of her and evaded her attack when she attempted to jumped towards him. He was going to have to tire her out. "Come on, Ixodida," he spoke to the tick possessing the wolf, "give me your best shot."
With every single assault that she sent towards him, Tech defended himself against them. The more that he did, he felt himself growing more tired than she was. Where are those guys? he thought of his teammates. He stopped by the wall and once Quinn was a good distance close to him, he jumped out of her way and she punched the wall. Her fist was caught inside the hole that she created and Tech immediately ran towards her and grabbed her arm in a hammerlock.
A light chuckled escaped her lips as she said, "try again." She pushed herself backwards and ran backwards until she trapped him onto the other side of the wall. Tech crashed against the wall but he had her arm in a tight hammerlock and wouldn't let go.
"Tech!" he heard Ace's voice coming from the shadows as him and rest of the Loonatics appeared. "Ya got her!"
"Yeah," Tech breathed from behind the wall where he was trapped in, "and we need to get it out of her…fast!"
"How?" Slam asked.
Upon that question, a small smirk came upon Quinn's lips. "Now you're all in a very tight predicament," she spoke. "Did I forget to mention that if you kill me, you risk killing my host. And if I were to escape my host, she also dies."
Tech's jaw dropped when the parasite stated this. "What?!" he yelled. Anger took over his body as he pushed Quinn off him, turned her around, and grabbed her throat with his hand. He pulled her forward and glared at the parasite. "What do you mean she dies?"
There was that grin that made Tech want to punch it off her face. "My kind is a parasitoid, unlike our ancestors from Earth. Your little friend didn't get the chance to discover that once I took over her mind. I've been feeding off her and growing stronger by the minute. Once I am out of here, she is nothing more but a corpse." There was a moment of silence that passed by them before she spoke once more, "not to mention that you're hurting her too."
Tech felt his grip lessen on her throat but not enough to have her flee. He looked up at Ace, pleading to him what they should do. He wanted to get rid of this parasite but he didn't want to see his friend dying. If they were to let her live like this, then the citizens of Acmetropolis would be in danger. If they were to arrest Quinn and have her living with this parasite, it was going to eat her away until she was finished…and that was the worst torture he could put her through.
This was the hardest decision that Ace had been faced with. He had been through tough choices before but a life-or-death situation was something that he hadn't wanted to be faced with. And this was a delicate situation where the luxury of taking the time to think of vote didn't exist. As a superhero, it was about thinking of others first and then oneself.
Tech looked into Quinn's eyes once more, trying to see if she was able to recognize him. Come on he thought as he looked at her show me that you're still there. There was nothing. There was no change in her eyes, but still that diabolical beady-eyed look that was waiting to be released or meet her end. "I am so sorry," he said as he released her from her throat and held her to the ground. "Now, Ace! Do it!"
The moment that Ace's laser, Lexi's brain blast, and Duck's power orbs began to hit Quinn's body, Tech jumped out of the way and watched as her body began to writhe in pain. The light was blinding but powerful enough to subdue the parasite. After a while, the light decreased and a skittering noise was heard coming towards them. The tick had removed itself from Quinn and was going to attack the group. The tick crouched to the ground and jumped towards Ace, only to be brain blasted by Lexi the moment that she jumped in front of him.
"Thanks," Ace said to the female bunny.
"Don't mention it," she smiled to him.
Just like the tick had warned them, Quinn was not moving. Tech walked over to her and sank to his knees when he saw her unresponsive body. He reached over and picked her up from the ground and felt for any sign of breathing…but there was nothing. He couldn't believe it; she was gone and there was nothing that he could do to bring her back.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and didn't bother to look at who it was. Then he felt another hand on his shoulder and felt the presence of his teammates. The support that his teammates showed him was indescribable. They didn't need to say anything, but their presence showed that they were there for him.
After a long while of silence, Ace gathered the courage to speak. "Come on Tech," he said to the coyote, "let's get her outta here." He didn't want to continue the sentence of where she was going to go after, but he hoped that she would rest in peace.
