I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
Duck didn't realize how much time had passed when Tech decided to head back to HQ. Duck had to admit that he was growing rather impatient being stuck in a place where they were exposed to only seeing people who were medically ill. Even though hospitals served their purpose in helping the community, just being in that atmosphere made Duck feel depressed. He was glad when Tech came to his decision to leave. The two walked silently down the halls of the hospital, in the complete opposite direction where Duck had come from.
Once they were out of the building, Tech took a deep breath and breathed in the cool air of the early evening. "Sorry if I took much of your time, Duck," he apologized to the mallard.
Time was precious to Duck, but even he was aware that Tech needed someone there for him no matter how much time passed. He slowly shook his head at the coyote. "Don't worry about it," he said to him. He didn't know what else to say. He didn't know his friend well enough to say anything about her and this was a sensitive subject for Tech. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked him.
Other than bring Quinn back, no Tech thought. He looked at Duck somberly and shook his head. "Thanks Duck. I just want to forget about today."
"I'll get us there faster," Duck said as he took a hold of Tech's arm and teleported away from the city and into HQ.
The moment that they appeared in the lounge area, Slam was taken off guard and he let out a noise of surprise almost spilling his drink of Duck and Tech. "Whoa!" Duck yelled as he held his hand towards the drink and tipped it backwards, avoiding any liquid from spilling onto them. "Warn a guy will ya?" he said to the Tasmanian devil.
Both Lexi and Ace looked over at the commotion as they headed towards the group. "Ya made it back," Ace said.
"Of course, we did," Duck spoke up, "where else would we go?"
Good ol' Duck Ace thought as he gave the duck a lighthearted smile. He walked past him and over to Tech. "Take all the time you need," he gently said to him.
Tech appreciated Ace's kindness but he wasn't going to let grief incapacitate him from being there for the team. However, now that the events of today were over and hopefully there wouldn't be a call for them, he wanted to be alone. "Thanks Ace," Tech smiled to the rabbit. "If you don't mind, I just want to head over to the lab. Keep my mind busy before heading to bed for the night."
Ace couldn't imagine being in the same place as Tech was. He understood that the coyote needed some time to himself and he respected that. "Like I said, take all the time you need." Giving him one last reassuring pat on the shoulder, Tech gave the rabbit a nod of gratitude as he walked away from the group.
Lexi sympathetically looked at Tech as he walked past her. She headed over to Ace to ask about Tech but then caught him talking with Duck.
"You okay, Duck?" Ace asked the mallard.
Duck shrugged his shoulders. "I'm okay," he said to him.
"And how is she doin'?" Ace asked him.
Duck was caught by surprise upon Ace's question but then remembered that he had told him about Miranda. "She's awake," he said to him, "she'll be out next week."
Ace brightened at that news. "Well, that's great!" he said to him. "I bet you're very happy about that."
He wasn't happy. He was overjoyed that she would finally be out of there and back home. It would make it harder for him to see her everyday but he was willing to pay her a daily visit back at the apartment. Of course, the idea of asking permission to do so sounded very naïve to him, but he wanted to avoid another confrontation with the team.
"May I ask who 'she' is?" Lexi asked the group.
She didn't have any bad intentions for asking such a question and why should he keep his girlfriend a secret? "My girlfriend," Duck answered her, "when the meteor hit, she had been in a coma for weeks."
Lexi was shocked when Duck said that. She couldn't believe that she had been hard on him when the team confronted him for missing out on the mission. "Oh man," she said with a shake of her head, "I'm sorry to hear that Duck."
At least she apologized for her brash behavior. "Apology accepted Lexi," Duck said to her, which caused her to raise an eyebrow. "I may need to be with her when she's discharged next week. Hopefully the Boss Lady is fine with that."
"I'm sure that she will be," Ace said to him, "now that you're learning the secret of good communication."
"Speaking of 'good communication,'" Lexi spoke up, "where is Rev?" Both her and Ace turned their attention onto Duck.
They were taking this 'good communication' thing way too seriously. "He wanted to pay a visit to his family," Duck answered her, "he just wanted to make sure that they were alright."
Ace gave Duck an appreciative nod of his head. At least they knew where one team member was. He then looked over to the round table when he heard that familiar flickering sound coming from the intercom. "Zadavia is callin' us," he said as the four Loonatics made their way over to the table and Zadavia appeared.
Let's hope it's not another life-or-death situation Duck thought.
"Loonatics," Zadavia spoke to the team. She took notice that two members were missing but Ace quickly filled her in of their whereabouts. "I will keep my briefing short. I wanted to congratulate all of you, especially Rev and Tech, for your heroic efforts. In a position such as yours, there are difficult choices that must be made. With great power comes great responsibility and all of you, once again, acted valiantly to ensure that the thousands of lives were not wasted by those ticks." She took a deep breath and looked at the team once more. "Please extend my sympathies to Tech. I will need to speak to him after he is ready. Once again, thank you for your efforts. Zadavia out."
It was a very bittersweet meeting. Each member of the team appreciated Zadavia's respect for them knowing that they wouldn't always be saving lives was a reality that they were going to face. For Ace, he had made his mission to help others ever since he had put on his uniform. Lexi knew that she was given these powers for a reason and she was willing to do everything she could to put them in good use. Slam had gone from being seen as a monster to being seen as a hero and that was more than he could ask for. As for Duck, no matter how egotistical he was in the eyes of others, he also had his rare moments of being altruistic.
Ace let out a sigh and ran his hands over his head. "Just like Zadavia said," he spoke to three of them, "great power comes with great responsibility."
Lexi nodded her head in agreement. She couldn't believe how quickly things had changed. The only things that she had been responsible for before becoming a superhero was making sure that she had finished her homework and projects on time. Now the lives of others depended on their hands and it was like the whole city of Acmetropolis was watching and depending on them. Whatever the case would be, she was going to make sure she was well prepared the no more lives were lost as long as they were the superheroes of Acmetropolis.
