I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
A black cauldron bubbled violently in the outskirts of Acmetropolis. Myrtle Lezah thought that she had made the greatest decision in situating herself away from the city and in a place that was secluded and peaceful. Who would be able to concentrate with all that noise that was happening within the city? Out of all the places that she could have gone to, why had she chosen Acmetropolis specifically? With this world that kept on changing, there were some parts that continued to remain primitive, and that included allowing witches to be part of the society. Not all witches were as mischievous as stated in fairy tales or history books, but she fit the persona. After discovering that her ancestors had suffered in the early 1600s in Salem and how many had tried to flee before being caught, she couldn't believe that people had been so cruel to her family. That could have been one of the many reasons as to why her ancestor's powers switched from using them for good deeds into something that was more malicious, the most popular one being Witch Hazel. Myrtle had always looked up to her and learning of how she used her magic for a little mischief here and there, she became intrigued to discover that it was more powerful doing a misdeed than it was to do a good deed. After all, a well-behaved woman never made history. As for Acmetropolis, this was a city that had gone through quite a lot in the past couple of months but it gave her the advantage of wreaking more havoc while most of the population were distracted of wanting to replace it back to the way it was.
After having seen that female rabbit and roadrunner, she thought that they were the perfect victim to use in her scheme. She couldn't believe how gullible they had been to fall for her lies. Those trees were not going to grow in a matter of weeks. She wasn't going to waste her time with that. In a matter of hours was a decent amount of time. It was just perfect amount of time for those trees to bloom and grow those sweet-smelling fruits that were simply irresistible. After that, she couldn't wait for her visitors to arrive where she could give them quite the welcoming party. Humans needed their share of food to survive, but she needed something more.
There was a sudden knock on her door as she slowly walked up to it whilst holding her cane. Her eyes lit up when she noticed a familiar face. It was that grumpy coordinator who had chased her away every time she saw her. "Ah, you've seemed to have found my little nest," Myrtle smiled at her, showing her crooked teeth.
"It wasn't that hard considering the bristles your flying broom left behind," the coordinator said to her. "Take this." She threw the bottle that landed right in front of Myrtle's feet as some of the liquid seeped out and onto the floor. "And if I see you near my volunteers again, you're going to have both the cops and the Loonatics right by your property you old witch!"
She said 'old witch' as if it was meant to be an insult. What a trivial offense. A light chuckle escaped from her lips as she looked at her. She could handle the police but these…Loonatics? She had an idea of whom they might just be. Two of them clearly seemed out of place back in the park. Such a strange, strange town. No matter though. Once she was through with them, the city would be begging for another superhero. "What a feeble threat," Myrtle then said to her, "I am shaking in my shoes." She looked closely at the coordinator, taking in her youthful appearance. It was too bad that her personality didn't match her beauty. Myrtle could tell that a woman like her was going to wind up all alone with thirty adopted cats. She had crossed that off her list many years ago. Why waste such a good opportunity?
She reached into one of her small satchels and blew on the powder that was on the palm of her hand towards the coordinator. The woman before her choked at the aroma of the powder and her eyes began to water from the sting.
"I can't see!" the coordinator yelled as she tried to rub the powder off her eyes, only making it worse for herself.
"That's perfect," Myrtle said as she reached over and pulled the coordinator inside her home and shut the door behind her. "Now remain still whilst I entrap your youth within me."
There was a spell that would give her the power to do that. She had memorized that ever since she had learned that she was able to do something like that. One of the greatest things about this spell was that there were no potions or other ingredients required. Only herself and a beautiful young woman. After reciting the spell, Myrtle's eyes were set on the coordinator and before she was able to react, Myrtle formed her lips into a 'o' shape and began to swallow the essence from the coordinator until she was nothing but a decayed body.
She let go of the other woman and then looked at her appearance in the mirror. The crooked teeth were gone but she still had a couple of wrinkles around her face. No matter. She was going to become beautiful again when the women of Acmetropolis came marching on her doorstep.
Lexi Bunny had decided to stay outside and observe the trees that were fed with the concoction. Even if that witch had said 'weeks,' her intuition told her to just remain there and see what would happen. She couldn't believe that she was doing something so boring. She would have rather been at HQ training or playing some video games with her teammates. Keeping her eye on one of the tree branches, she perked up when she said a little bud forming and a small flower sprouting out of it.
"Whoa," she said as she stood up on her feet and approached the tree. Soon enough, the tree sprouted more leaves and flowers, where this wonderful aroma came close to her nose and she was mesmerized by how lovely it smelled. Once the tree was in full bloom, a small fruit hung from one of the branches which was high enough for anyone to reach. The fruit was a bright red apple and Lexi had never one that looked so shiny. She reached over but then pulled back her hand, remembering that this was coming from a tree that was fed with that strange liquid.
A couple of park visitors stopped as they looked over to the tree, truly mesmerized by such a beautiful sigh. One of the young women of the group bounded up to the tree and she delicately plucked the apple from the branch. Her group of friends followed as they mimicked their friend's excitement.
Hold on Lexi thought as she looked at the familiar woman who had plucked out the fruit. "Stacy?" she called her name but the woman didn't listen to her as she held the fruit towards her lips. "Wait!" Lexi yelled as she held her arm towards the woman, "don't eat it!"
Crunch. Too late. The apple was crisp and juicy once the woman bit into it. She swallowed the sweet fruit and without saying another word, Stacy and her group of friends clustered together and proceeded on their walk.
Lexi couldn't help but see how strange that looked. There were no words exchanged between her and her group of friends. The fruit might have been that good that it had left them speechless. However, Lexi knew that wasn't the case. She held her arm towards her face and pressed on the telecommunicator button.
"What's up Lexi?" came Ace's voice.
"Ace," Lexi said as to the telecommunicator, "something weird is happening at the park."
"Tell me," he said.
"One of the trees sprouted flowers and apples. A group of girls picked the apples and ate them. Now they left in a huge group."
Ace raised an eyebrow at what she was saying. "That doesn't sound like its serious," he said to her.
"But they acted weird," Lexi said to him, "they were talking and laughing with one another and when they left, they weren't even speaking. It was like…they were possessed by something."
"What about the other trees?" Ace asked her, "have they sprouted?"
"No," Lexi shook her head, "this was the only one that did." She looked ahead of her in the direction where that group of girls disappeared. She caught sight of one of them and saw that they were heading in a completely different direction and out of the city. The only time people ventured out of there was with a vehicle and those girls didn't have anything on them. "Hold on," she then said to the telecommunicator, "I think I may have a lead."
"What are you doing?" Ace asked her.
"I'll get back to you, Ace," Lexi said as she shut off the telecommunicator and followed the group. She hurried as fast as her legs could carry her but making sure to be kept out of sight. She couldn't believe how far Stacy and her friends were able to walk without complaining that it was hurting their feet. When she witnessed the group, she noticed a small house in the distance. Getting a little closer to the house, Lexi saw the group heading inside. Keeping her distance, Lexi waited for what seemed like a long time before deciding to get up close to her house. She tried her hardest to keep herself from being spotted as she crawled over by the windowsill. She lifted her eyes over to the window and her eyes widened at what she saw.
There was Stacy, being held by the throat by that redheaded witch. She saw as her face went from its normal pigmentation into a pale white color to the point where she was dropped lifeless on the floor. Lexi quickly ducked from being spotted when the witch released Stacy and she twirled around and look at her reflection in the mirror. "Oh, to be young again!" she heard the witch sing, her voice sounding more youthful than she did before.
Lexi quickly hit the button the telecommunicator and Ace popped up on the screen. "Ace," she whispered, "we have a situation outside of Acmetropolis. You and the team better hurry here!"
She sounded frantic and by that, Ace knew that something serious was going on. "Where are ya?" he asked and motioned for the team to get ready.
"The outskirts of Acmetropolis. There's this house that looks like a cottage. Just keep heading north from where you are until you're out of the city," Lexi explained.
"On it," Ace nodded his head to her. "Come on guys, let's jet." At HQ, the rest of the Loonatics prepared their Zoomatrixes and jumped on the motorcycles. "Miranda you can ride with one of us until we can get you one," Ace offered.
"Whoa!" Duck jumped in when he heard that. "No, absolutely not. One of us needs to stay with her here. She's not qualified to fight."
"Excuse me?" Miranda almost shouted at Duck as she took a step towards him, her hand formed into a fist.
Ace bowed his head in front of the motorcycle. "We'll talk about this later, Lexi is waiting for us!"
You're getting so annoying! she wanted to yell at duck but she wasn't willing to go against Ace's orders and fight with Duck. She walked away from his Zoomatrix and walked over to Slam. "You mind me riding with you?" she asked him.
"No," Slam answered her, delighted that he was going to have a partner by his side. He gestured for her to get on sit first and then he jumped in front of her and waited for Ace to give the signal for them to leave.
Lexi hoped that the team wouldn't take such a long time to find the cottage. She looked back inside the room. The only things that she saw were the lifeless bodies but the witch was gone. So much for keeping her in here Lexi thought. She pulled away from the window and turned around where she came face to face with the witch.
There was a smirk upon the witch's lips as she approached Lexi. "Such pretty, pretty fur," Myrtle said as she took a step forward, causing Lexi to take a step back.
"Take one more step and I'll brain blast you into next week," Lexi threatened as she got into a fighting stance, about to unleash that brain blast.
"Ah," Myrtle cooed, "so one of the Loonatics has found my little hideaway." She reached inside her pocket, "I just for you to keep that a secret, alright dearie."
Lexi didn't have a moment to answer her for a lavender powder-like substance hit her nose and she felt herself kneeling on the ground.
