I don't own Loonatics Unleashed
Enjoy!
Their bodies ached in pain when the heroes arrived at HQ. Ace felt like he was ready to collapse onto the couch and never get up until the next morning…or whenever his body decided he ought to wake up. His rest was going to have to wait until they could figure out who this new villainess was. Out of the ones that they faced; Ace had to admit that a villain with no special form of superpowers was able to outdo them. Whether it was the years of experience that she had as a thief or that she had just gotten lucky, Ace wanted to get to the bottom of this before her other heist…or before anyone else got hurt. Ace flinched when he felt his cheek starting to sting once more. The scratch was superficial but enough to grab his attention. "Lexi," he said as he faced the female bunny as she gave him her full attention. "You and Miranda are the least hurt out of all of us. Think you guys can make sure that the rest of the team is doing fine?" he asked her.
Tech was recuperating from the shock that he had received, Slam had a sprained ankle, Rev's beak needed some tending to, and Duck was already being taken care of. She approached Ace and bought her hand towards his cheek. Her fingers delicately traced over the area where he had gotten scratched. "Who's going to look after you?" she asked him.
Ace felt his chest beginning to heat up from the proximity that she was in. He had to admit, that it was very sweet of her to be showing care towards him over something that he knew was going to heal in no time. "I'm sure my handsome face is going to be just fine," he said to her with that signature upon his lips.
"Careful Skipper," Lexi said to him, "you're going to turn into Duck with that personality."
A laughter was exchanged between them and Ace wondered why they couldn't have this form of conversation back at the bakery. It was just natural. He looked as she reached down and pulled his hand, guiding him over to a chair.
"Sit," Lexi said to him. "You don't want to scare Zadavia with that scratch."
There was no way he was getting out of this. He may be the leader, but she was second in command and when she gave him 'the look,' he knew it was better to argue with her. "Alright Lex," he said as he sat down on the chair, "do what ya need to do."
Good Lexi thought to herself as she walked over to the other side of the room and pulled out a first aid kit. She pulled another chair and set it in front of Ace before taking her seat. The started off by wiping the wound, but when he flinched she mumbled an apology. It wasn't an injury that required a lot of attention, but Lexi made sure that she took her time in doing it. After a while, she finished by placing a small bandage where the scratch was. "All set," she said to him.
"Thanks," Ace thanked her, "didn't think it would take that long for a small scratch."
She knew that he meant well by his words. Lexi closed the first aid kit and placed it back on its rightful place. Her little plan of showing her gentler side, especially to the rabbit that she had her eyes on, had worked. Not only was it the plan that she wanted to accomplish, but she also wanted to make sure that he was alright. "I'm gonna go and see if Miranda needs any help," she said to Ace, "you let us know what Zadavia says, okay?"
"You got it," Ace said and he watched her walking out of the room. Once he was gone, Ace spun towards his table and let out a sigh. If only it could have lasted longer. Don't get distracted now Ace scolded himself as he looked over at the intercom machine in front of him. He simply pressed a button and Zadavia's hologram appeared.
"Ace?" she asked as she looked at the rabbit in front of her, "is everything alright?" It was unusual for the Loonatics to contact her at this time of night. It didn't go unnoticed when she caught sight of the Band-Aid that was upon his cheek. "What happened?"
"I ain't gonna keep you for long so I'll cut to the chase," Ace said to her, "Miranda ran into a robbery at a jewelry store. She called us but when we got there, there was this villain that we had never seen before…dressed in a cat outfit."
Zadavia raised an eyebrow when Ace mentioned that. Strange…out of all the villains that she had seen the Loonatics face, this one was quite odd. "I assume you weren't able to get an identity out of her."
Ace nodded his head at her. "You got that right, boss," he said to her, "I guess none of us thought in taking that mask off of her." He couldn't believe how naïve they had been in not doing that. "The one thing I can say about her was that she called herself something…it ain't comin' in my head, I don't speak French."
Zadavia gave him a slight nod of her head. "At least we have one clue that we can investigate," she said to him. "But how is the rest of the team doing?"
"They're as okay as they can be," Ace said to her, "Slam sprained his ankle, Rev got a scratch like I did…but Tech and Duck got it the worst."
"What happened?" Zadavia asked him.
"Tech got electrocuted when he tried to lasso her towards us. He was able to regenerate but he wasn't doin' too well after that. As for Duck, he got thrown onto a glass case when he tried to stop her and had glass shards all over himself. They're being taken care of now," Ace explained. "All I can say is, we tried our best to stop her but," he stopped and shook his head, "we might have if Miranda didn't let her nerves get to her."
"And what did Miranda do?" Zadavia asked.
"When Duck got thrown on the glass case, she used her telekinesis and sent glass shards towards our opponent. I get why she would do it, but it was dangerous! It was like she was going to kill her or something." Ace felt that he was tattling on his teammate, but it was his responsibility as a leader to debrief Zadavia just like it was her responsibility to know what happened in today's events.
Zadavia had kept her sentiments to herself when she found out about Miranda's abilities and whom her significant other was. Other than this issue, it seemed that she was worked well with the team. When Ace and Lexi were training her, both bunnies had debriefed Zadavia on her training, that she was getting better as well as her temper. The intentions behind her attack were uncalled for, no matter how gallant she tried to be. "I am going to have a talk with her, if it's possible," Zadavia said, "I am sure she is busy attending to Duck."
"Lexi's there too," Ace said, "I can give her a quick call." He looked down at his telecommunicator and dialed for Miranda.
Miranda was glad that Lexi joined her at the lounge. Slam had his ankle propped up on a pillow, Tech was lying down on a couch, trying to relax his mind, and Rev was being tended to by Lexi as she tried to soothe the pain on his beak. As for Miranda, she was busy picking the glass shards off Duck but he squirmed with every shard that she plucked out.
"Ow!" Duck yelled and glared at her, "watch it!"
"If you would stop squirming and whining like a baby, I would be finished by now," Miranda said as she pulled out another glass shard, following up with a Band-Aid. With every glass shard she pulled out, she was filled with more hatred towards that woman. She was glad that no one else on the team read her thoughts, otherwise they were going to be in for a big surprise at the number of words that she was calling that woman.
If I ever see her again she is going to wish she had more than nine lives once I'm through with her. Anger took over her mind once more as she squeezed onto Duck's arm, causing him to squirm at her touch and pull away from her.
"What gives?" he asked as he looked over at her. "I thought you were supposed to be helping me, not hurting me."
Miranda snapped out of her little trance and looked down at her hands. "Sorry," she said as she took a deep breath and looked up at Duck, "the way she threw you like that…towards that glass case and the way you fell down." She shook her head as she felt tears beginning to spring in her eyes at the thought that Duck would have gotten fatally injured from that. She didn't know what she would do if something like that happened.
He sensed her distress and he didn't want her to feel that way. Slowly, and fighting over the sharp stings, he reached over and pulled her close to him. "I'm Danger Duck," he said to her as she buried her face into his neck and he ran a hand over her hair, "I'm not going anywhere."
That was some good reassurance on his end. However, their moment together was interrupted when Miranda's telecommunicator beeped. She looked down and saw Ace's face on the screen. "It's Ace," she said as she pulled away from Duck, much to his dissatisfaction, and bought her hand towards her lips. "What's up Ace?"
"Could ya come to the conference room?" he asked her, "Zadavia wants to talk with you."
Miranda looked up at Duck, who only gave her a shrug of his shoulders. Whatever it was that Zadavia wanted, she hoped that it was something that would make this day end on a positive note. She hurried over to the conference room where she found Ace and Zadavia waiting for her. "Hey Zadavia," she greeted her boss and took a seat, "you needed to talk to me."
"It's been a long night for all of you," Zadavia said, "I will try to keep this brief. Ace just debriefed me on the situation that happened tonight…and that you let your temper get the better of you. Is this true?"
Miranda glanced over at Ace, who was looking at Zadavia than at her. His thoughts were blank on the matter. She couldn't lie her way out of it, especially with Ace sitting next to her. "Y-Yes," she answered Zadavia with a nod of her head. "I know that I shouldn't have but…" she glanced down and looked at her hands, "she really hurt Duck."
Zadavia took a deep breath and gently let it out. She was only trying to protect him, but this was an action that Zadavia couldn't allow. "I understand," she said to her, "but without Lexi's and Ace's intervention, you could have killed her. This is something that we as superheroes do not do, regardless of what has happened."
Miranda furrowed her brows when Zadavia said that. "'Regardless?'" she echoed her words towards Zadavia. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "'Regardless' of what? If Duck died? What am I supposed to do? Just stand there while she gets away with murder!"
Uh-oh Ace thought as he turned his head towards Miranda. Calm down, you don't wanna do this.
"Heaven forbid that it did," Zadavia calmly said to Miranda, "what I'm mostly concerned about is how you're able to handle yourself in this situation. This was not at all heroic on your end."
She could call it whatever she wanted to. Miranda wished that she had given that woman a couple of scratches of her own. "So, you're concerned about the reputation of the team as a whole, and what might happen if one of us messes up, than you are about Duck's well-being," she dared to say that to Zadavia with a glare in her eyes.
Miranda, just stop talking! Ace wanted to yell at her.
"I beg your pardon," Zadavia said to her. "I assure you that this conversation is not about Duck, but about you."
Miranda let out a scoff as she folded her arms across her chest and looked at her. She knew that she had to calm down but the moment that her nerve had been hit, she let her beak run until she was out of words to say. "Admit it Zadavia," she said as she looked at her hologram, "you just see him as a weak link in the group…no matter how much he tries to prove himself to you, even if he got himself hurt for it."
Ace slapped his forehead with his hands and ran them down his face. Unbelievable. He looked up at Zadavia with an apologetic look in his eyes but he saw that the woman was mostly focused on the female duck in front of her.
Zadavia didn't need anyone to remind her what her thoughts were on the team. On the contrary, she admired Duck for working with the team but it was his personality that always put her off. She was aware of whom she praised and whom she reprimanded every now and then, but it wasn't because she favored them more than the other. "I am not sure how we got to this topic about Duck, when I mostly wished to speak about your actions," Zadavia said to her, with that calm demeanor upon her voice. "In any case, your temper is concerning for the team. Therefore, I am placing you on suspension for the remainder of the month…until you can learn how to control it."
Miranda's lower beak dropped when she said that. "You can't do that! What about—"
"Zadavia out," she said as her hologram disappeared.
"DAMN IT!" Miranda yelled as she slammed her fist against the table, causing the furniture to slightly vibrate from the punch that it received.
Ace jumped away from the table and slowly approached Miranda. "You should've stopped," he said to her but kept himself on alert in case she was going to lash out at him. "I hope you understand why I had to tell Zadavia."
She wasn't dumb. She understood some of these things clearly and she knew that Ace was just doing his job. Just like she had feared for Duck's position on the team, she had placed herself in it and she couldn't believe that she had let her temper get the best of her again. She let out a forceful sigh and didn't dare to turn around and look at Ace. "I…I need to be on my own," she said.
With those words, Ace gave her a silent nod of his head and backed out of the room.
The thought of a successful heist made Fleur elated. Escaping from the authorities in France made it seem trivial against these superheroes. In fact, she had been glad that they decided to drop by when she had finished her little game with those three robbers. Robbers…more like the three stooges.
A delightful laugher escaped her lips as she took a golden bracelet and spun it around her index finger. The way it shimmered under the lights from the bedroom and the way it fit perfectly on her wrist. Yes, she was made for this sort of life and with each outcome, she knew she was going to be successful at it. Slowly, she stood up from her bed after having her little fun of playing with the jewelry and placed them inside the bag before hiding them under the bed with all her little collections that she had stolen back in France.
Just then, the door opened and just like she had expected, Pierre walked inside with a satisfied smile upon his lips. "Chérie, I am happy to say that the Max Arena is almost finished."
She couldn't believe that it had taken so long for an arena like that to be finished. Even though she didn't have exposure to it yet, she hoped to be impressed by it. "That is good news," she returned the smile to him, "have you found your lutteurs?"
"Some have expressed their interests," Pierre said to her, "and none of them didn't require a contract at all. I hope to have a decent number in, say, two months' time."
"Aren't you ambitious," Fleur commented as she got up from the bed and walked over to him.
"Je suis un homme d'affaires," he said to her, "I must be. Especially when I want my soon-to-be wife to be happy and have all the greatest things in the world."
Fleur was able to take care for half of that portion but at least she had some security in her life. She bought up her hand and adjusted a strand of her hair behind her ear, a slightly flirtatious move. Before she was able to bring down her arm, Pierre gently got a hold of it and ran his thumb over the bracelet that she wore.
"Now this is new," he commented and looked over at the design of the bracelet, "and très cher. Did you steal again, chérie?" he asked her.
A little smile graced her lips as she leaned towards Pierre. "You know how much I enjoy it, mon cher. You wouldn't believe whom I ran into."
"Who?" he asked her.
"The heroes of this city," she said to him, "the Loonatics. It was quite the interesting night."
He looked at her up and down, ensuring that she wasn't hurt. He had heard about these heroes. Even though they protected this city, they were not going to stop his plan on accumulating cash through his Max Arena. He just had to be cautious. "And then what?" he asked her.
"Played a little game of chat et souris," Fleur said to him, "and I won the game of course. I always do. Although, I almost got myself hurt from one of them." She looked at him when she saw the look of concern cross his features. "She sent broken glass my way, but she was subdued by her team. I managed to leave without a scratch."
If she had been hurt, even though he was against her stealing, he would have made sure to make it personal. No one dared to lay a finger on her, superhero or not. "Remember what I said about giving La Chatte Cambrioleuse, how you say, a break?" he asked her. "What do you think? Otherwise, you may face the same circumstance again."
If Fleur was being honest with herself, no matter how thrilling it was to defeat the superheroes and get away with her treasure, the thought that one of them had tried to send sharp glass shards her way, made her feel a bit uneasy. It was fun while the game lasted, but she also had to be mature enough to know when to quit. "D'accord," she said to him with a nod of her head, "she'll stay put."
"Give me your word," Pierre said to her.
"J'ai promis," she said to him with a nod of her head.
Of course, a part of him didn't believe that she was willing to keep onto the promise, but it was a relief to hear her say it. It would make it easier for him to focus on his work rather than having to worry if Fleur had gotten herself arrested after a heist.
