I don't own Loonatics Unleashed

Enjoy!


It was a night well spent and Ace hoped that he and the rest of his teammates were able to do it again. Just like all good things, it had to come to a temporary end. The team had dedicated most of their morning to training and now, they were waiting for Lexi and Duck to return from a newly opened restaurant in Chinatown. He wondered what was taking them so long, unless they had decided to partake in the festivities that were happening. He was aware of there being a celebration of the Year of the Monkey down there, but he hoped that his teammates wouldn't be too long. Not to mention that Slam's stomach was beginning to complain of hungry it was.

Ace didn't realize how long time had gone by when Lexi and Duck walked inside HQ. "You wouldn't believe what happened!" Duck dramatically stated as he marched towards his team. Looks like the days of peace and quiet were over…for now.

Oh, here we go Ace thought as he looked from Duck and over to Lexi for confirmation.

"My sentiments exactly," Lexi jumped in and approached her team, "we were just about finished grabbing our food when we felt an earthquake happening."

"Not only that," Duck added, "but a whole new mountain grew right in front of us!"

That didn't sound good at all. "Rev," Ace said to the roadrunner, "pick up the satellite feed in Chinatown."

The roadrunner nodded as he quickly pulled up the feed on the screen and the group gathered in front of the screen, taking in the details of the mountain that had suddenly grew from the ground as if it was a plant. "So, this mountain just grew out of nowhere? Like that?" Ace asked them.

"I'm pretty certain it wasn't there before," Duck matter-of-factly said.

Rev was mesmerized by the size of the mountain as he continued to stare at it. It was quite at a convenient location where they could put in a couple of hours of skiing and then head down to the bottom of the slop from some Chinese food. "Yeah-weird-huh?-Now-we-can-go-skiing-anytime-we-want-without-ever-having-to-leave-downtown-when-we-work-out-an-appetite-at-the-slopes-we-can-stop-for-Chinese-takeout-at-the-bottom.-Man!-Acmetropois-has-everything."

Having heard of the mountain that had randomly appeared in downtown, Tech had immediately retrieved a model of Acmetropolis. He had built the model during the days when he didn't have the motivation to create any of his devices. In this line of business, he believed that it was important to have a representation of the city to locate where villains would be lurking about or how to put the city back together after an unfortunate event. He wheeled in the Acmetropolis city look-alike towards the group. "I've gone over it again and again but I can't figure out what would have caused that kind of geologic instability."

"Oh, I don't know," Duck jumped in, "maybe something like a giant meteor hitting the Earth, hmm? Ring a bell?"

"I don't know about that," Miranda disagreed with Duck as she shook her head, "a meteor would have wiped out all downtown. It was lucky the first time when it hit the water."

Tech did not appreciate Duck's tone of voice but he wasn't going to let the mallard's attitude interfere with his thought process. "I agree," he said as he looked over at Miranda, "but I wished I had a little more time to build a more detailed model. This was a total rush job."

Lexi's ears perked up when she heard a little train horn coming from the model. What did he mean that this was a 'rush job?' The way that he had designed the model was fantastic. She looked down as she spotted a little train cruising by the tracks. "Tech, the little elevated trains are actually running," she said as she checked her watch before adding, "and on time."

At least there was a teammate that appreciated the hard work that he put into these models. "Okay, now normally when there's tectonic activity, the plates of the Earth's crust move like this," Tech demonstrated as he pressed a button on his model. The model began to shake back and forth as Tech continued to press the button and continued, "no matter how many variations I try, there is nothing that would account to this."

The ground from the model of Acmetropolis lifted as a mini replica of the mountain that they had on the satellite feed formed. Slam was astounded by the material of the model as he licked his lips and took a portion.

"Uh Slam," Ace said, his eyes almost popping out their sockets when he saw the Tasmanian devil take a bite out of it. Man, this guy could eat anything and everything. "I believe that's mud you're eating."

"Actually," Tech spoke up, "I ran out of soil and used hot fudge."

The aroma of the sweet treat made its way to Lexi's nose as she looked at the mountain. She took out a portion of the fudge and bit into it. "With nuts."

Miranda perked up at the ingredients. She took a portion of the mountain and bit into it. "Not just any nuts, but walnuts!" she said, "a project you can eat," she emphasized as she took another bit of the model, "and this is a lot better than those ab-inducer bars."

"Speaking of nuts," a familiar voice rang out to the group as Zadavia's hologram appeared on the screen, "this attack was the work of Dr. Thaddeus Dare."

"Thaddeus Dare?" Tech echoed the name, "'nut' is an understatement."

An image of the doctor was shown on their screen as Zadavia continued, "a reclusive and rather odd scientist but brilliant, nonetheless. Dare was convinced that one day we would find a way to control all forms of rock."

"Say what?" Duck interrupted, "control rock? Hello! Party of one!" he spun a finger around the side of his temple to indicate the insanity of this potential villain.

Miranda rolled her eyes and facepalmed at Duck's gesture. "Let her finish Duck."

Then, a video frame of the meteor hitting the Earth was shown to the team. At the sight of that, a feeling of nostalgia took over the team. It was a day that they would always remember as a life of death situation, but it had a bittersweet ending to it.

"He was hideously disfigured when the meteor crashed. He went crazy and his rock experiments grew reckless. He was finally banished by the scientific community and disappeared," Zadavia finished.

Man, to be affected by a meteor and go through such an ordeal was a difficult thing to get through. However, to go all evil just because of being banished by a community was a whole other story. "Let me guess," Ace spoke up, "a guy that into rocks went underground, right?"

"Indeed," Zadavia agreed, "deep underground. I believe he's preparing to take his revenge on the world that rejected him and he may have just found the ultimate means."

At the screen, a rock illuminated in a green light with the shape of a serpent in the middle of it. "The Jade Serpent crystal," Tech said.

"Yes," Zadavia nodded her head, "the crystal that was housed in the science tower which sunk underground today."

Ace surveyed the rock on the screen. "What's so special about this nugget?" he asked Zadavia.

"It's an ancient gem that has a unique atomic structure, said to contain untold energy. If Dr. Dare somehow harnesses the power of the crystal, there is no telling what he might do," Zadavia explained. "You must find Dr. Dare and stop him. Zadavia out."

It seemed with every villain that they had faced, there was always a mystery around them and what they could be capable of if they got a hold of an object. But with rocks, that was a weapon that would be extremely destructive. "Alright gang!" Ace confidently said to his team, "let's jet!"

This was going to be a mission like no other. Instead of taking off into the skies on their jetpacks or Zoomatrixes, the Loonatics relied on a vehicle that Tech had designed just for going underground. The vehicle drilled underground as the team tried to find where Dr. Dare was hiding. Ace said his praises to Tech, giving the coyote a boost of confidence in the machine that he had built. Tech steered the vehicle from one direction to the next, making sure that he drilled whatever rock was in their way. The rest of the Loonatics, who were safely strapped within their seats, leaned towards the way the vehicle moved.

Miranda hung tightly onto her seat, feeling as if she was going to fall off. "Ugh," she groaned as she put a hand on her stomach, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Duck felt his seat vibrating beneath him and he snapped at Tech, "quit doing that!"

"Don't worry," Tech calmly said, "I've been working on my Mobile Maga-Mover for a while. I just needed a good excuse to take it for a spin. Good thing I got almost all the kinks worked out."

Whatever those 'kinks' were, it did not rest easy with the Loonatics, especially Duck. "Wait a minute, did he say 'almost?'" he asked as he looked over at Lexi.

Lexi didn't answer Duck, for her eyes caught onto something familiar. "Guys heads up," she said as she pointed in front of her and the rest of the Loonatics looked.

"The city is upside down," Duck commented as he looked out the window of the vehicle, "or is it my stomach." He looked over when Miranda groaned. "Jeesh, you don't look so hot," he commented and placed a hand on her back before helping her to a sitting up position.

As the vehicle headed deeper underground, Ace looked at his surroundings at all the familiar buildings that were underground. "So that is where all the buildings went."

"Hang on," Tech suddenly spoke up as he accelerated the speed of the machine, "going down!"

The speed that the vehicle was digging through the ground made Duck a bit weary. How far did they have to dig until they reached to the Earth's core? That was question for the coyote and Duck couldn't help but ask, "and we're…how many miles beneath the Earth's crust?"

A light chuckle escaped Tech's mouth. He had taken the Earth's crust into consideration when he designed this machine. "Don't worry," he assured Duck, "this thing is built with ultra-titanium double shields. Trust me, nothing can stop us."

The vehicle suddenly came to an abrupt stop as the Loonatics lurched forward on their seats. Miranda put a hand over her beak, feeling that she was going to hurl any second.

"What was that?" Duck panicked.

"A lot of nothin'," Ace answered as he unbuckled himself from his seat and walked towards his team.

"I don't understand," Tech said, "this baby should be able to smash through any kind of rock."

Lexi gasped when she saw something move from her side of the window. "And…what if the rocks smashes back?" she asked.

Tech looked over his shoulder when he saw a rock moving from the ground and turning into a gargantuan sized boulder.

"Tech," Ace said, trying to keep his voice steady after seeing those creatures rising from the ground, "get us out of here!"

"The sudden stop must have short-circuited the engine!" Tech explained, trying to find an answer to what may have caused his machine to stop and how to make it work again.

The rock creatures began to form a barrier around the vehicle, preventing any form of escape for the Loonatics. Tech pulled onto the levers of the vehicle put it wouldn't budge.

"Tech," Ace said, the panic clear in his voice, "can you reverse us out of this hole?"

"Yeah, as in…back up now!" Duck urged him.

Tech pulled onto the levers once more. "Well, I would if I could."

Duck felt his stomach drop when Tech said that. "No reverse?"

A rock in the shape of a hand suddenly tore through the top of the machine and reached inside. The hand made its way towards Lexi and grabbed her, pulling her out of the vehicle. "Guys!" she yelled, "a little help!"

Miranda said as she jumped out of her seat and headed over to the gaping hole that was formed on the roof of the vehicle. "My God," she said and Duck got in front of her in case another hand was to reach down and grab one of them.

There was no way that rock was going to take a teammate from them, especially when that teammate was Lexi. Ace felt a nerve tick, but he had to keep himself calm. He and Rev ran towards the door and opened it. "Let's rock!" Ace said to his team.

As the rock creatures began to corner the Loonatics, Duck transported in front of the rock that held onto Lexi. He threw his arms in the air and unleashed a powerful force of power orbs towards the rock as if let go of Lexi. Thanking him for his help, Lexi went to take care the rest of the rock creatures whilst Duck was left dealing with the one that had taken Lexi. Playing hide-and-seek with the rock, and confusing it, was a much better approach at waiting for the right moment to attack. When that moment came, Duck threw a power orb towards it, knocking it on the ground.

Slam was up against two rock creatures. He cycled towards one of them, knocking it to the ground. With the other, he power cycled towards it and used all his strength to push against it before grabbing it by the hands and throwing it to the other side of the ground.

Rev sped through the rock creatures, as he tried to gather all of them into a group. The rock creatures ran towards him and once they were close to him, Rev ran away from them causing them to crash against one another.

Behind Slam, a rock creature that was bigger than the others came out from within the walls of the underground. Slam used all his force to push the rock creature away from the group and he watched as the creature slammed against a wall and fell on the ground.

These creatures were too heavy for Miranda to move with her telekinesis. She focused her eyes onto a stalagmite as she used her eyes to tear it away from the others. She sent the stalagmite towards the rock creature and speared the rock creature in the middle. The moment the stalagmite made contact with the rock creature; she saw the rock creature burst in front of her eyes. "Oh yeah," she cheered, "rock and roll!"

Lexi was up against another rock creature as she flipped out of the way and brain blasted a stalagmite that the rock creature threw at her. The rock creature approached her and Lexi scrunched her eyes at it. "You're getting on my nerves!" she seethed and jumped out of the way before it attacked her. She felt herself cornered by the rock creature and glared at it, "and you don't want to see me mad." She used her brain blast on the stalactites as they buried the rock creature. "I warned you!" Lexi said and ran away from the falling rocks before one of them fell onto her.

Ace used his laser blasts against a rock creature and once he defeated it, he went over to help Slam who was difficulty going up against the largest rock creature. When he arrived, he watched as the Tasmanian devil was putting up a lot of fight against the rock creature. "Yo!" he yelled and got the creature's attention, "what's up, rock? Drop the devil and back away!"

Seeing that the creature was distracted, Slam used his cyclone power and escaped from the creature's grip. The rock creature picked up some rocks and threw them against Ace, who successfully destroyed them with his laser vision. Then the rock creature began throwing rocks at Slam, causing him to slide over to the edge of the cliff until he fell.

"SLAM!" Ace yelled as he saw his teammate fall. Anger filled him as he directed his lasers towards the rock creature. He directed the rock creature towards the edge of the cliff and giving him one last blast with his lasers, the rock tipped over and fell off the cliff. Ace looked down at the cliff and saw that he had destroyed the rock…until it began to move. "Man…" he said to himself, having a feeling that the rock creature was going to return more angrier than ever. Just then, Ace caught sight of Slam and a sigh of relief escaped from his lips. "Hey Slam!" he said to his teammate, "you okay? I'm sorry about dropping a rock monster on you there, buddy."

As the rest of the Loonatics continued to fight against the rock creatures, Ace looked down at his telecommunicator and spoke to Tech, who was in the vehicle. He communicated to Ace that the rock creatures were probably being controlled by the Jade Serpent Crystal and that he had found a way on how to start the machine. Before any of the Loonatics knew it, they jumped out of the way as Tech approached the rock creatures with the vehicle, destroying whatever one stood in his way. After the rock creatures had been destroyed and there was no risk of others coming after them, the Loonatics gathered around with one another.

"So, what were those things?" Lexi asked the group.

"Reminds me of some of the guys that keep calling you," Duck said to her, "except the rocks have more personality." His laugh didn't last for so long when Lexi brain blasted his tail feathers. "Yeow! Watch the feathers!"

Miranda gave Lexi a nudge with her elbow and held out her hand as Lexi gave her a low-five.

"So those rock guys are the security guys, which means we are pretty close to Dare's lair," Ace said. Why else would they be attacked by these random rock creatures? There was always a reason for everything.

"You're not close," an unfamiliar voice said, making the Loonatic be on high alert, "you're here! And just in time to see the power of the Jade Serpent turn Acmetropolis upside-down." As the voice spoke, buildings from Acmetropolis began to sink underneath as the Loonatics noticed the buildings in front of them.

Ace looked at the buildings around him. He feared that with all these buildings winding down here, there was nothing left up there. "Tech," he said into his telecommunicator, "what's going on?"

"I told you he was a crackpot," Tech's voice came through the telecommunicator, "let's get going!"

Before the Loonatics tried to flee, a rock rose from underneath the ground and a man that sat on a rock-shaped throne, which they didn't need to assume it was Dr. Dare, looked at the superheroes before saying, "I hope you've enjoyed your visit down here because it's now your permanent residence. In fact, soon all of Acmetropolis will reside underground and I will live in peace on the surface."

Miranda looked up at the doctor as he proudly sat on that rock-like throne of his. "This dude brings a whole new meaning to the word 'geologist.' This is ridiculous!"

Dr. Dare growled as he turned his eyes over to the female duck. "You won't be laughing for long when you're buried in stone, duck!"

A beam of green light escaped from his scepter towards the Loonatics. Ace threw an arm over his eyes and the other did the same, trying to block out the blinding light. Rock began to fall on top of them. "Take cover!" Ace ordered the team as they ran inside Tech vehicle. Before Tech was ready to move the vehicle, it was covered in a rubble of rocks as Dr. Dare escaped from underground.

The vehicle didn't remain under the pile of rocks for long. Slam used as much of his force as he could and power cyclone-d through the rubble, freeing the vehicle from the rocks as quickly as he could. Once he made sure that the vehicle was free to move, he headed back to meet his others.

Ace praised Slam for his hard work before getting back to business. "We gotta get back up to Acmetropolis before—"

He was interrupted when Zadavia's voice came from the screen. "Before there is no more Acmetropolis," she said to the team, "Dr. Dare in continuing to turn the world inside-out. You must hurry! If you don't do something quickly, this madman is going to bury us all!" her voice sounded urgent as a scene of panicked citizens was being flashed on the screen.

Without wasting another second, the Loonatics strapped themselves onto their seats as Tech drilled them upwards from underground. At least going up was a lot easier than going underground and Miranda was glad that she didn't feel the same sickness as she did before. The moment that the vehicle appeared from underground and into the city, Ace and Lexi were the first one's out of the vehicle.

"Nice driving Tech," Ace praised the coyote, "looks like we're—" he stopped and looked at the unfamiliar surroundings of Acmetropolis. "A little late." In front of them, there were no buildings and the citizens of Acmetropolis were distraught at the loss of their homes, businesses, and many others.

"It's Acmetropolis," Lexi said, horrified at what she was seeing.

"Talk about an extreme makeover," Duck spoke up, as he made a face at the distasteful city.

"My business is gone!" a voice from the crowd yelled, and it was a voice that Rev Runner immediately recognized. "It's gone, ruined! And just when it was starting to get better!"

Tech looked over at Rev, having a feeling that the roadrunner wanted to head over and help the friend that had rejected him. "Rev," he said to the roadrunner, who turned his attention over to the coyote, "we're almost there and I need you to focus. We can help her later." And by 'we' I mean you Tech had wanted to clarify.

Rev gave Tech a nod of his head. He was right, he needed to focus his mind on this mission.

As Tech's eyes scanned the deserted city, he looked over at a glowing light that rested on top of a mountain. "Dare's using the Jade Serpent to turn the world inside out, so we've gotta use that gem to reverse it!"

The Loonatics hopped on their Zoomatrixes and headed up to the mountain slope to there the Jade Serpent Crystal remained. The first to arrive on the mountain was Rev and the rest of the Loonatics joined him on top of the mountain. On the mountain was a building that led on the inside, but that didn't mean that the building wasn't protected. The same rock creatures awoke from their slumber when they felt the presence of the Loonatics.

"Oh great!" Ace said as he looked at the rock creatures, "it's the Rockettes again, gang. Slam," he looked over at the Tasmanian devil, "teach them how to twist."

As Slam power cyclone-d towards the rock creature, the creature turned into sand the moment Slam's fist contacted it. The rest of the rock creatures held the palms of their hands towards the Loonatics and shot sand towards them. The force coming from the sand pushed the Loonatics away from the mountain but Slam wasn't going to let them get away with it. He used his strength and threw the rock creature onto the ground and headed towards his teammates that fell off the cliff. He sucked them up in his cyclone and directed them back to the top of the mountain.

Having had enough of these creatures, Lexi ran towards one of them and brain blasted the ground close to its feet. The blast created a shockwave and the rock creatures toppled off the building and crashed on the ground below them.

"Nice blasting Lexi," Ace said as he and the rest of the teammates headed inside the building. "Time to shut that crystal down." The room was filled with a green light and in front of them was the Jade Serpent Crystal. "There's that crystal that has been causing all this trouble," Ace said as he pointed to it.

Duck teleported towards the crystal. "So how do reverse this thing?" he asked as the rest of the team gathered around him.

"This is just off the top of my head," Tech said, "but I'd say you can do it with a quanti-amplified charge of intense electromagnetic radiation."

He was a genius indeed, but it would be easier and a lot faster to get his point across with simpler words. "Do you mean light, Tech?" Ace asked him.

"You make it sound boring," Tech said.

As Ace walked around his teammates, trying to see what they could do to this crystal, Dr. Dare's voice floated towards them.

"The Loonapests," he said to them, "I thought I buried all of you down below."

"Haven't you learned?" Lexi jumped in, "down is the new up."

"Yeah we would have called first," Ace joked, "but you were unlisted."

"And we're going to stop your insidious plans stone cold," Duck added.

"So get ready to rock and roll," Miranda smirked as she cracked her knuckles threateningly towards the doctor.

Dr. Dare couldn't help but let out a pompous laugh towards the joking attempts that those two ducks made. "Stones are my domain, ducks," he smirked as he waved his hand towards some gems that were in front of him, "but there is no reason you all can't join my little rock groups."

The Jade Serpent Crystal brightly shimmered and its light shot towards the Loonatics. The Loonatics felt their feet glued to the ground as some form of material moved upwards, holding them into place. "Hey!" Ace yelled as he looked down at what was happening, "what's with the rock candy?"

"You'll become my personal statues. A commemorative of what once was, not that I am paying tribute to you!"

Miranda clenched her teeth as her eyes brightly shined and pulled the specter out of his grip, knocking it to the other side of the building. "My specter!" Dr. Dare yelled as he ran to reach for it.

Ace used his laser beams as he hit the ceiling of the building which ricocheted and hit the Jade Serpent Crystal.

"No!" Dr. Dare yelled as he saw the Jade Serpent Crystal losing its power in keeping the Loonatics intact. The substance that had trapped the Loonatics receded and freed them from their spots. He wasn't going to let himself be caught by these animals dressed it costumes. He turned around and fled from the Loonatics.

Ace helped Lexi as he lifted her in the air and she flipped to the top where Dr. Dare ran away. She jumped in front of him and kicked back down towards the group.

When he fell, Miranda used her telekinesis and floated the specter back in the air. "I'll take that," she said as she tried to grab for it but Dr. Dare pushed her out of the way and retrieved it back.

Ace pulled out a weapon and headed towards Dr. Dare with it, partaking in a 'swordfight' with him until Ace was able to subdue him.

Dr. Dare immediately got up from the ground and held his scepter towards the Jade Serpent Crystal. "The power of the crystal is mine!" he yelled as his scepter began to vacuum in as much of the power as it could hold. He held his scepter towards Ace as it shot towards him. Ace held his sword in front of him and the power of the crystal deflected and hit Dr. Dare, turning him into a rock statue.

"What a stiff," Ace said as he gave his teammates a thumbs up at their accomplishment.

With Dr. Dare being frozen into place, the Loonatics walked over to the crystals. Tech surveyed the shape of the crystals, knowing that he was able to reverse them with just a simple wave of his hand. The moment that he did that, the building began to quake as the Jade Serpent Crystal brightly illuminated and replaced all the mountains with the Acmetropolis buildings back into their rightful places.

"Oh look!" Duck said as he pointed across the city, "I think I see new Chinatown from here. Eggrolls on me, Slam," he said to the Tasmanian devil who was thankful for the offer.


After getting their order of eggrolls and various Chinese food, the Loonatics were gathered at HQ with the food neatly laid out on the table. Lexi enjoyed the aroma of the food as she said, "we should save new Chinatown from destruction more often. A year's worth of free takeout, excellent."

Zadavia's hologram appeared on the screen. "The calls of thanks are still coming in," she said to the team, "I also wanted you to know that Dr. Dare is enjoying his new life as a statue in Acmetropolis Park."

"I'm sure the pigeons are thrilled," Ace couldn't help but add.

"And we're receiving reports from all over that things are returning back to normal," she debriefed them.

"Hey," Ace said as an idea came to him, "you sure you don't want to join us for some of this food?"

Miranda took a bite out her vegetable dumpling and held her chopsticks in the air. "Highly recommend the dumplings!"

A light chuckle escaped Zadavia's lips. "It is so sweet of you to include me. As it happens, I am a little hungry."

Just then, Duck appeared between Ace and Lexi and in front of Zadavia. "Finally!" he said, "some real face time with the Boss Lady. We can discuss new costumes, a good dental plan, a personal biographer—"

"Alas," Zadavia interrupted him, "some other time. I have other commitments. Zadavia out."

Once her hologram disappeared from the screen, Duck couldn't believe how abruptly she had left. "Was it something I said?" he asked the group.

"Who? You Duck?" Ace asked him, "nah, when have you ever said the wrong thing?" He looked over at the food and it was a better idea to start eating it before it got cold. "Let's eat!"

Upon him saying that, Slam twisted around and vacuumed all the food in his mouth, leaving nothing but a set of dirty dishes in his path.

"I'll place another order!" Miranda offered as she chewed on the dumpling.

Duck cringed when she spoke with her mouth full. "Ugh," he said, "does anybody have a towel? Honey, you gotta chew with your mouth closed."

Not liking that one bit, Miranda pushed a dumpling into his beak. "I think you're the one that needs that towel now…honey," she said as she walked away to place another takeout order for the team.

At least they had free takeout for a full year…and all the dumplings that she and the team were going to enjoy.