I don't own Loonatics Unleashed

Enjoy!


Unbelievable. Had one year already passed since the first meteor hit Acmetropolis? Ace couldn't believe how quickly time had passed and how much his life and the life of his teammates had changed. About a week ago, after defeating Dr. Dare, the superheroes had received a personal letter by the mayor for the anniversary of the meteor strike. They were asked to present themselves in Acmetropolis Park in front of the town and receive an honorary plaque for the heroic deeds that they accomplished in saving the citizens as well as Acmetropolis.

The Loonatics stood on stage as the mayor stood behind her podium, speaking to the crowd that had gathered in honoring the Loonatics. "…Which is why we are gathered on this day, the one-year anniversary of the meteor's impact. Adjusting to this strange new world has been difficult for all of us."

In the group, Slam Tasmania was beginning to nod off but Lexi as fast enough to give him a nudge with her elbow before he fell into a deep sleep.

"Fortunately," the mayor continued, "we have had help from seven extraordinary individuals, who have watched over and protected us. And now to accept this small token of our appreciation—" as the mayor was about to hand over to the plaque to a member of the group, Duck quickly ran towards her and grabbed the plaque in his hands.

"Thank you, thank you!" Duck interrupted her as he held the plaque close to him, "you know there are so many people in my life who have made this incredible honor possible. But enough about them! As you know, there is a lot of hard work—hey!" he exclaimed when he felt a strong force pulling in towards back the group.

Miranda, who had tried her hardest not to feel embarrassed by Duck's shenanigans, used her telekinesis on the plaque. Even though Duck didn't let go of it, she pulled him towards the group and took the plaque from his grip. "Lighten up," she whispered to him, seeing the look of agitation in his eyes. Miranda didn't think any more of it and handed the plaque back to the mayor.

"This is for the team's leader—Ace Bunny!" the mayor announced as Ace calmly walked over to the mayor and gladly took the plaque in his hands as the crowd and the Loonatics, aside from Duck, began to cheer for him.

Ace felt honored to be bestowed with this plaque. Even though the leader was the one that got the most praise, he knew that he wasn't the only winner but his whole team was. Without them, all their accomplishments wouldn't be possible. "Thank you very much mayor," Ace thanked her, "good thing it's not every day that destruction reigns…upon us?" he said as he looked up at the sky and noticed red rocks falling out of the sky.

The Loonatics noticed a change in the atmosphere and held out their hands, catching onto the rock looking objects. "Great," Lexi complained, "a hailstorm and me without my umbrella."

Tech looked down at his hands and observed the odd looking 'hail.' "This isn't hail," he said, "they're rock pellets…and they're not even from this planet. It's a meteor shower."

"And I don't think an umbrella is going to help," Ace added and noticed the crowd of people beginning to panic and holding objects over their heads so they wouldn't get hurt by the falling rock.

The speed and size of the rocks began to increase as the Loonatics quickly sprung into action. Lexi used her brain blast on an incoming meteor, destroying it in small pieces. Ace used his laser vision and Miranda used her telekinesis to keep the rocks from falling on the civilians. "Coming to you Slam!" she said as she sent the rock over to the Tasmanian devil who gave it a great punch, destroying it into little pieces.

"I thought the weather called for only partly rocky!" Ace commented as he destroyed the meteors, especially one that almost hit the mayor.

Tech created a shield around him and Rev. "Rev, fetch my Neutron Cannon," he said to the roadrunner who immediately ran to HQ and came back with a couple of devices in his arms. The coyote looked at roadrunner when he saw the number of devices that he had in his grip.

"You-didn't-say-if-you-wanted-the-Defracting-Neutron-Cannon-or-the-Beam-Splitter-Neutron-Cannon-or-the-one-that-goes-GAH!-GAH!-GAH!-GAH!" Rev said.

It didn't matter which one it was. All he wanted was something that would destroy the meteors. Tech reached over to grabbed and grabbed on the devices and fired on as many meteors as he could.

The whole team was trying to destroy as many falling rocks as they could, but there was so much that they could keep up with. "Slam!" Ace yelled over to the Tasmanian devil, "set your spin cycle on suction!"

Slam spun around and began to vacuum as many rocks as he could whilst Rev ran towards the crowd and grabbed the citizens as he took them to a safe location. Duck managed to save the mayor from a falling meteor and he teleported her to a tree and placed her on a tree branch, which was fragile enough for her to fall to the ground. Once the meteor shower had stopped, the ground and the trees in Acmetropolis Park were destroyed.

The Loonatics looked at the sight in front of them. They couldn't believe that this had been a repeat of last year, only not as devastating. Ace didn't want to think of the number of flashbacks of those who survived the meteor felt. Even he felt like he had been transported back when he hit by the shockwave. The Loonatics immediately headed back to HQ to investigate about this strange meteor shower. Due to Tech's quick thinking, he had pulled up some satellite feed of the previous meteor that had hit the Earth and the one that was floating into space.

"Okay Tech," Ace said as he looked over at the coyote, "time to make it with the big words."

Tech pressed onto a button on a remote and pulled the satellite feed on the meteor that had hit the Earth about a year ago. "The meteor that hit Acmetropolis about a year ago is only a trial run. This one is five hundred times the size of the original."

"Kind of makes you missed the good ol' days, right?" Ace said, trying to keep the issue lighthearted before Duck's voice rang within the group.

"Oh great!" he yelled, "when the next one hits, everyone will have superpowers! I don't need that kind of competition."

Lexi rolled her eyes. "When this one hits, there won't be anyone…period," she emphasized. Just the thought of this type of meteor hitting the Earth made her weary. Where were her parents and best friend going to go? Even if they were to get out of Acmetropolis, there was no knowing how further the shockwave would travel to affect the whole Earth.

When she said that, Zadavia's voice rang into the room. "You're absolutely right Lexi." Her hologram appeared to the group and she continued, "which is why you have to journey into space before that meteor hits Acmetropolis."

Duck ran towards the table. "Well don't you worry about that Boss Lady; we laugh at danger. Besides, what's so scary about a little space voyage?"

Rev ran besides Duck when he asked that question. "Well…" he slowly dragged out the word, "there's-cosmic-rays-air-loss-engine-failures-zero-gravity-deadly-aliens-black-holes-supernovas—"

Duck let out a sigh when Rev ruined his moment. "See?" he said to Zadavia, "laughing already."

"Not to mention radiation," Miranda added.

"I'm practically cackling," Duck sarcastically said.

Having no more to say to the group, Zadavia's hologram disappeared from the team. The moment that she was gone, the team dispersed into their rooms to prepare for their voyage into space. Ace was busy in the stimulation room getting prepared to fight with whatever was out there. He was too intense into his training that he didn't notice Lexi standing right behind him with a towel.

Lexi turned off the stimulation mode when Ace had successfully defeated one of the robots. He had been in the room for hours and he needed to have his break. "Couldn't sleep huh?" she asked him, "I usually count sheep, but that's just me."

Ace fell back on his feet before saying, "this is the biggest mission we have ever been on. Gotta be ready for anything."

Lexi looked at fatigued features and the sweat that was pooling all over his face. "You always land on your feet," she said as she threw the towel towards him and he gladly took it.

"I've had a lot of practice," Ace said to Lexi and couldn't help but reminisce about the days when he only worked as a stuntman. Even if he had not been successful at his job, all those years of training had gained him the flexibility and the concentration that he needed for this job. It was as if he already knew what he was meant to do, but without realizing it at first.

Seeing the faraway look that Ace had in his eyes, Lexi gently waved her hand in front of his eyes, snapping him out of it. "And look at how far you've come," she said with a slight smile upon her lips. "It's crazy to think how our lives would have been if we weren't affected by the meteor."

Ace nodded his head to her. "Yeah, we wouldn't have been working together that's for sure."

Lexi raised an eyebrow at his words. "Oh yeah?" she asked him, "do you think we would have met again?"

"Possibly," Ace answered her, "hopefully you still wouldn't have been too upset with that 'doll' comment."

When Lexi thought about, she couldn't believe how naïve she had acted when he given her a simple compliment. Now that they were working together, and that he was the first in command, she was glad that she had let go of it. "It's been a year," Lexi said, "I'm over it."

"I'm glad," Ace said as he placed his staff on the floor and leaned into it, his eyes never leaving Lexi's.

Lexi looked at him for a moment, trying to find the right words that she wanted to say. However, the silence that passed between them only made it awkward for both. Taking a deep breath, Lexi said, "I'm gonna go and see what Miranda and Duck are up to. Gotta make sure that the team is on top of these meteor showers."

"Sure thing," Ace said, "I'm gonna practice a little more before showtime!" he said as he watched Lexi walk out of the room. Once she was gone, he placed his head on a wall and shut his eyes. He had the courage to fight monsters and villains, but he couldn't find the courage to tell her how he felt.


In the security room of HQ, Duck and Miranda were keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of a meteor that may potentially fall. Miranda had settled herself onto a chair, trying her best not to fall asleep, as Duck looked out the window. He couldn't believe that a full year had passed since he and Miranda had to live that fateful day. Even though it had ended on a positive note, the trauma that they both went through was something that he didn't want to relive. Every night, even though he would only think of it when he was by himself, he was grateful that he and Miranda were alive and made it through. With this meteor, especially one that was five hundred times the size of the last one, he didn't know if he was going to have anytime. It had been a year and he needed to act on it now.

He approached Miranda and took a hold of her hand. "Miranda, I need to—"

"Any sign of more meteor showers guys?" Lexi asked as she walked towards the two ducks. She stopped in her tracks as she looked at Duck, who quickly let go of Miranda's hand, and Miranda who stood up on her feet. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked them.

"No," Miranda shook her head, "no sign of any."

"Nope," Duck confirmed, "but the handsome superhero stands calm, yet focused, confident should danger arise he's ready to protect the lives of—"

"A simple 'no' would have done, Duck," Lexi interrupted him, seeing that he was going to go on a long monologue about himself, "have you always been like this?" she asked him.

"Yes," Miranda answered and chuckled when she saw Duck glaring at her, "don't look at me like that, we've lived for a year."

Duck rolled his eyes at her. "Stoic and resolved to be the best superhero ever? Why yes," he then answered Lexi as he began to reminisce about the days when he worked as a pool boy. The fact that he was not working there anymore lifted a large weight off his shoulders and he wondered what the 'lifeguard' thought of him now that he was the one guarding the lives of others. He then shook his head, as he felt himself coming back to reality.

Lexi smiled at the mallard. "Wow," she said, "you've come a long way since diaper duty."

"You've got that right, toots," Duck said, "you've gotta be fearless when you step into the spotlight like me."

Miranda jumped off her seat and joined Lexi and Duck. "I know what it's like being in the spotlight," Lexi said. The days of when she was had tried out as a cheerleader, under those blinding lights when she had performed in front of Stacy and others, and the rejection that she had faced, she felt that it had only made her stronger in the end. "I'm ready for this mission," she said, "and I know I'll be as brave as you Duck," she said as she looked over her shoulder and smiled to her teammate.

"Dare to dream, Lexi, dare to dream," Duck simply said to her.

And way to ruin a good moment Lexi thought as she fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll leave you guys to it," she said to the two ducks and headed out of the security room.

Daring to dream was always something that Miranda had done, but her dreams had not always worked out in the end. Wanting to create a name for herself as a professional hip-hop dancer she had been stuck in the back of the group under Olivia Mink's hierarchical group. Before they had left for their competition, the shockwave from the meteor had sent the group flying in the air and Miranda had hit her head on the pavement where it had taken her weeks to get up. Now that she thought about it, she had only been in the dark until she had finally awoken and the only one that was there when she did was Duck.

"Miranda?" Duck asked as he got a hold of her arm, "Miranda, hello. Is anyone there?" he asked as he moved his hand in front of her eyes, snapping her out of her daydream.

Miranda shook her head and looked over and Duck with a smile upon her beak. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her. He knew that he couldn't read her mind, but she hoped that her actions were more than enough for him.

At first, Duck was surprised by her sudden hug but they were the kinds that he always adored. When he could feel breaking away from the hug, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her, "I want to talk to you about something serious," he said to her.

"What is it?" she asked him.

He reached down and grabbed both of her hands in his. "I don't know how long we have with this new meteor coming in Acmetropolis and I don't want to lose the opportunity for this. Ever since last year, I feel like our days have been numbered and there is never going to be the right time to say it. The last year with you has been the craziest. Never did I think I would go through something like that. My life has changed, not because of the meteor, but because of you. I never thought that I would love someone more than I love myself. What I'm trying to say is…" he looked down, wondering which knee it was that he was supposed to kneel on and instinctively, he knelt on his left knee. "Will you marry me?"

It was like her voice had been taken away from her upon Duck's proposal. Wow! she thought, her eyes never leaving Ducks. Ever since they had moved in together, she had never thought of being with anyone else but Duck. Of course, he had some things that he needed to work on mostly on his attitude, his greed, his jealousy, and a bunch of other things but that didn't mean that she didn't love him any less. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes! she heard his thoughts. "Yes," she said to him.

"Oh no," Duck said as he let go of her hands and took a couple of steps back, "I ruined—wait, you said 'yes?'" he asked her.

"YES!" Miranda yelled with some much happiness in her voice.

Duck ran over, grabbed her in his arms, and lifted her off the ground. "SHE SAID 'YES!'" he yelled, not caring how loud he was before he passionately kissed her.


After two hours, the Loonatics gathered in Tech's lab as he presented to them a space vehicle that he had built while everyone else had been busy training. "Presenting the Tech E. Coyote Space Stream 8000!" he proudly said and pulled on the ropes the reveal a flying saucer.

"Kind a retro isn't it?" Duck asked as he looked at the flying saucer.

"In fact," Tech said as he took out a diagram of the flying saucer that he had designed and held it in front of Duck, "it is just the thing we need to destroy that meteor."

However, Tech had designed this vehicle, Ace knew that it was bound to work. He and the rest of the team got inside the flying saucer and strapped on their belts. Just like all his devices, Tech was proud of what he had designed and he wished that the professors at Acme Tech University could see how far he had gotten. However, it was not just his professors but also of his dear friend, who never got the chance to see how much he had progressed. After some minutes of reminiscing, he pushed on the button of the flying saucer and it took off into the skies and into outer space.

"Perfect take off," Tech said.

"Great job Tech," Ace praised him.

"It may be retro but it's cool," Lexi commented.

"Yeah, cool," Duck said as he leaned back in his seat, "for a flying dinner plate."

The farther they got away from the Earth, the more the speed accelerated once they were into space. "It should be a smooth ride from here," Tech said to the team. He looked in front of him and squinted when he saw a strange form of light heading towards the flying saucer. "Brace yourselves, we're approaching light meteor shower."

The flying saucer got in the middle of the flying saucer, causing the machine to vibrate against it. "Uh Tech?" Ace said, "why did it sound like the engines stopped?"

"Well," Tech said, "that would be because the engines just stopped."

Well…that didn't sound good at all. The flying saucer hovered in space for a slight second before it began to fall back onto the Earth. The Loonatics screamed inside. "We're doomed!" Duck yelled, "completely and utterly doomed! Miranda, hold on!" he yelled as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, causing Miranda to flinch at the amount of force that he had in him.

"Not helping, Duck!" she yelled.

Tech remained calm as he turned his attention over to the roadrunner. "Rev," he said, "log into the lab. Upload a copy of the control system software so we can reboot the system."

Keeping himself level-headed, Rev used his speed as he logged into the lab at HQ and began the reboot. "Done-done-and-wait-a-minute-wait-a-minute-wait-a-minute-done!"

The reboot uploaded as quickly as it could and before the flying saucer fell into the pavement it swooped into the sky. The Loonatics let out a sigh of relief as they headed back into space. Tech looked at his screen, to make sure that they weren't going to have any more issues. "It should be smooth sailing from here on out," he said to the team.

"Yeah, yeah," Duck gruffly said to the coyote, "I hope this is the good and not the smooth!"

"If Tech is taking care of it," Miranda said, "it is the good smooth of course."

Tech shook his head at Duck's comments as the flying saucer passed the asteroid belt. "Once we pass the asteroid belt, we should be able to see our target."

"If our target doesn't see us first," Ace spoke up.

"Hey-you-don't-have-to-worry-about-that-Ace-because-Tech's-has-spotted-a-course-that-allows-us-to-avoid-contact-with-any-large-object-and-the-one-to-do-that-is-my-man-Tech!-And-besides-the-statistical-probability-of-an-impact-here-is-extremely-minute," Rev said until an asteroid hit the flying saucer, causing the vehicle to vibrate.

Ace felt an incoming headache after the impact. "You may want to recheck those numbers," he said as a couple of more asteroids began to hit the saucer.

"And recheck why those rocks are using us as a punching bag?!" Duck panicked.

"Everyone," Tech said as he looked at the team, "into your intercosmic space suits."

Upon those words, the Loonatics immediately changed into their space suits in case they were to head outside of the saucer. "Wait a second," Ace said, "where's Slam?" he asked when one member was missing.

Lexi looked into the screen and pointed. "He's already outside," she said as they witnessed the Tasmanian devil batting away any rocks that threatened to come towards the saucer. "I haven't seen Slam having this much fun since his old days in the wrestling ring."

"Slam, watch out!" Ace yelled as he saw Slam get hit by a large meteor and sent him away from the saucer.

Slam felt himself floating away, thinking of the days when he was a wrestler having a hard time trying to make a name of himself with a manager that he despised. Even though others had a terrible experience with the meteor, to him it was his savior and it had gotten him out of something that he had suffered through.

"Alright Slugger," Duck said as he floated at Slam's side and placed his arm over his shoulder while Rev floated over to his other side and did the same, "way to save the day."

"Let's get him back in the ship," Ace said as Duck and Rev guided their teammate back inside.

Lexi headed over to her seat and spotted something on her screen. "Meteor straight ahead," she pointed out to the team.

"Yeah," Ace said as he looked up and saw the meteor that they were approaching, "and it's bi—whoa!" he yelled when they flying saucer crashed against the rocks of the meteor from underneath.

"Are you sure we can destroy that thing?" Duck asked.

"Yes," Tech responded as he looked into a blueprint of a device that he had designed, "to ensure destruction before it reaches Acmetropolis, I've designed this device which will amplify Ace's laser by a full of factor of…you guessed it, googol."

Duck blinked at that word. "A goo—wha?"

"A-googol-is-a-number-one-followed-by-a-hundred-zeros-and-was-invented-by-American-mathematician-Edward-Kasner-born-in-1878-died-in-1955-the-reason-why-they-call-it-a-googol-is-because-Kasner's-nephew-Milton-who-was-eight-years-old-at-the-time-asked-him-what-name-he-would-give-a-really-big-number—" Rev was enthusiastically telling Duck a history of the term 'googol.'

"Okay! Yawn. Really bored now, stop," Duck said to Rev and received a glare from him.

They really needed to do something about the rambling and the fighting in this team. Ace was glad that out of Rev and Duck, everyone else was focused on the meteor that they were approaching. He steadied the amplifier towards the meteor. "Here goes nothing!" he said as he shot his lasers into the amplifier and it hit the meteor causing the chunk of rock to explode.

"Whoa," Lexi admiringly said, "Ace you did it!"

Duck looked back at the screen and saw the dust beginning to settle, only to see that meteor hadn't been destructed at all. "Whoa Ace, you didn't do it!"

Tech glanced at the screen. "The blast only peeled off a layer of atmospheric dust. Impossible!"

"So much for that 'googol,'" Miranda said.

Ace swiveled around his chair and looked at the coyote. "Maybe Tech but if we don't do something fast, Acmetropolis is going to be nothing but a big pile of atmospheric dust!" It was only a matter of time when the meteor did and they needed to act as quickly as possible before it happened. Ace looked at the screen along with Tech. "There's something screwy out here," he said, "first the saucer cut out, then those asteroids came after us, now that hunk of rock turns out to be laser proof."

Tech looked up at Ace expectantly.

"Time for Plan B," Ace said.

Having heard him, Lexi said, "next time, let's start with Plan B."

Ace approached the pedestal that raised from the middle of the vehicle. "We land on the meteor, plant these explosive charges at precise stress points, and then escape before the big kaboom!"

"Okay-put-on-your-intercosmic-space-suits-come-on!" Rev said to the team as they all got ready to head out of the saucer and into the meteor.

Ace turned his attention over to Rev and held a bag of the explosive charges towards him. "Rev you're the fastest, so we're counting on you to plant most of the charges."

Rev took the bag. "You-can-count-on-me-Ace-they-don't-call-me-the-Speed-Demon-of-Acmetropolois-for-nothing-but-of-course-I-haven't-always-been-the-fastest-that-another-story-that-happened-a-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-long-time ago."

Memories. Sometimes they were good and sometimes they were bad. As for this one, Rev had always tried his hardest to make the best of it, especially when he was working at the Quick Wrap Sandwich Shack. The meteor got him out of that job and into one where he was making a difference to the people. I'm-faster-now,-and-I-can't-fail! he thought to himself. "You-don't-have-to-dock-my-pay-this-time-Cookie."

"Who's Cookie?" Ace asked him.

Having realized what he had just said, Rev snapped out of his memories and realized that he had said that to his leader. "I-mean-Ace," he sheepishly grinned.

The saucer landed onto the meteor and the Loonatics floated out of the aircraft and onto the meteor where they began to plant the explosive devices on the sensitive spots. Duck and Miranda landed on an area of the meteor and confirmed the spot where they were to plant the device. At that moment, the light that had attacked the flying saucer directed itself towards the ducks.

"Now the brave space ranger precisely places his charges. If he is off my one micron, the entire mission will fail," Duck narrated as he placed one of the explosives as carefully as he could.

Miranda had finished by placing her explosives and spotted the light that was making its way towards Duck. "Does you mission involved fighting against this space light?!" she yelled after hearing Duck's narration.

Duck turned around and saw the light transforming into small rocks in the form of a tentacle. Duck's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he jumped out of the way. He teleported away from the tentacle but it was a terrible idea when he found himself inflated in outer space. He quickly transported back only to get crushed on the ground from one side to another.

Miranda growled when she saw the monstrous tentacle doing that. She used her telekinesis and combined all of them together into the form of a fist. She used as much strength as she could and sent the first towards the tentacle as it slammed against the tentacle, causing the rocks to plummet to the ground.

Duck felt himself falling on the ground, exhausted from the beating that he had gotten. "Way to save the day," he tiredly said as Miranda threw his arm over her shoulders and went to head back for the aircraft. After all of that, she couldn't believe that her telekinesis was able to do that.

The other Loonatics had their share of challenges with the light. No matter how much the light tried to stop them, they were able to successfully plant the explosives and make it back to the aircraft.

"The explosives are about to blow," Tech said as he made his way inside the spacecraft, "we gotta get out of here." He turned on the flying saucer as it floated up from the meteor and into the skies.

The explosives all reached its countdown and simultaneously exploded, sending nothing but rock back into space. Ace turned around and looked at Earth as a smirk came upon his lips. "Well, whatta ya know?" he said, "it worked."

"You say that like you're surprised," Tech pointed out. Even Tech had the feeling that Plan B was going to be a success.

Having heard of their success, Zadavia's hologram appeared in the center of the aircraft. "Congratulations team," she said to them, "Acmetropolis is breathing a very big sigh of relief right now."

"Hey there Boss Lady," Duck said to her, "didn't think that we could do it, huh?"

"Oh Duck," Zadavia said good-naturedly to him, "I've always had faith in the team…well, most of the team."

Ace couldn't help but express his thoughts. "Mission may be accomplished," he spoke up, "but it got me thinking, what was that cosmic energy? There's something big going on. Something really, really big."

As cryptic as that sounded, Lexi's intuition said the same thing but right now, they couldn't go off on their assumptions. It was only a matter of time until this 'big thing' happened. All she knew is that they were going to be prepared for it but right now, Acmetropolis was going to be a city under their guardianship until it was over.

Once the aircraft landed back at HQ, the Loonatics were happy to finally be back. All of them were exhausted and knew that they were going to meet up with the mayor once again to finish their event before it was interrupted by the meteor shower. As the Loonatics retired for the night, Miranda wasn't sleepy and was keeping her mind occupied with a show that was playing on television.

Duck walked to her side and sat down next to her. "I have something for you," he said as he took her hand and placed the golden band with a small diamond on her left hand. "Now it's official."

Miranda adored the ring. "It's beautiful," she said, "however did you manage to get it?"

"I've always had it," Duck said to her, "it was my mother's. It was one of the many possessions that were found in the rubble after putting the fire out. She wasn't wearing it and everything they found were given to me at the orphanage. I've kept this with me…hoping to give it to the right girl when the time came."

Miranda was glad that she had been that girl. She smiled as she looked down at the ring. "I'm honored to wear it," she said to him. Even if she hadn't known Duck's mother, the ring made her feel some form of connection with her. "I love you," she said as she threw herself onto him and hugged him tightly.

He returned her hug and was glad that he had finally found the courage to do something that he thought was either going to backfire or that he wasn't able to do. Just like all missions, this one was finally accomplished.