Tech sighed as he hopped off the bus, luggage in hand, and looked up at the aerospace depot with dread. He was reluctant to leave Rev behind, but he knew Ralph wasn't entirely wrong. Yet that didn't ease the pain the canid felt as he followed Ace and the others out to where the Mark 1 Jet had been parked behind the depot.
"Well, there she is." Rev said shakily as he walked up to the group with Harriet trailing close behind, "That's the Mark 1, eh?" Harriet peeped curiously, "I honestly thought it'd be bigger."
"It's roomier inside than it looks on the outside," Ace explained. "Ah… I see." Harriet drawled. Tech sighed heavily and shook his head muttering to himself, "This is just insane." "I'm so sorry, Tech," Rev apologized, "But Pa does have a point. Trust me, you do not want to see just how stupid the people around here can get. Best if you just head home now and lay low until the worst of this blows over."
"I guess," Tech said with a shrug, "Look, just don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" Rev looked at Tech in confusion as Tech continued, "I get it; this is your home town, you know these people better than I do. I just wish I didn't have to justify my own existence to these people. It's absolutely crazy."
"Believe me, it could be a lot worse," a voice pipped. Everyone turned around to see Ralph sitting in the driver's seat of the Runners' family car, "Rev, better make the goodbyes quick," Ralph continued, "You've got to get back home and rest up; got a big day tomorrow."
"Big day?" Lexi questioned, "What are you talking about?" "It's not a big deal, Lex," Rev dismissed, "Pa just wants to swing by the office tomorrow before taking me to my PT appointment. The office isn't too far out of the way, so it's not a huge inconvenience."
"Are you sure you're going to be up for it, Rev?" Tech asked gently. Rev look over to his parents for a second and gave a bit of a forced smile and chuckled saying, "I'm… sure I'll be fine. Right now, Tech, you are the one I'm worried about."
Tech raised a brow as Rev rubbed his arm nervously and continued, "Go home. Get a decent night sleep in your own bed. And… send me a text when you get back to HQ… let me know you got home, okay. Okay?"
Tech nodded and put his luggage down before wrapping his arms around Rev in a gentle hug. Rev's beak took on a slight blush as he returned Tech's embrace and smiled blissfully as they separated after a few seconds. Ralph watched as Rev gave all of the other Loonatics a quick hug before backing away from the jet as everyone got on board. Tech flexed his powers and brought his luggage up into the jet before the cockpit closed up.
As Ace started up the jet's engines, Tech turned and looked out the window to see Rev, Rip and Harriet waving goodbye. "Hey, look," Tech said pointing out the waving roadrunners. Tech felt a smile creep across his face as he slowly waved back; his smile grew wider when he saw all of the other Loonatics waving back, too.
Despite the levity of the moment, Tech couldn't help feeling a nagging sensation in the back of his mind. Something just didn't feel quite right, but he wasn't sure what. As the jet rose up high into the air, Tech pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his photos, smiling at the last few showing him and Rev at Acmetropolis General with Lila and Alice.
He could feel Rev's contagious good mood emanating from the picture; it was strange, but comforting. Tech looked around to check if the others were looking his way before whispering, "Home's not going to feel much like home without you, buddy. I really hope you get better soon."
Tech took a deep breath and sighed as he tucked his phone away and turned to look out the window at the clouds and the now orange-red sky. The sun had begun to set, and Tech could feel his exhaustion catching up to him. Tech's eyes were heavy and he simply couldn't fight it anymore; he reclined his chair a little, figuring he'd catch a few Z's on the flight back to the tower, and closed his eyes. Sleep quickly set in and as his vision faded to darkness, he though he heard a strangely alien yet familiar nose calling from the distance. "Meep-Meep."
Tech gazed around the vast emptiness around him; it was dark, but not pitch-black darkness that surrounded him. The air was cool and smelt faintly of sand and cactus blossoms; it was a very comforting aroma that felt very familiar. And yet, it wasn't quite the same.
As Tech took a look around the hazy dark expanse around him, he couldn't help but notice the faint aroma was getting closer. His ear twitched as a soft voice called out from the distance, "Meep-meep!" "Rev?" Tech called, looking all around in hopes that he'd catch sight of his good friend, "Rev, is that you?"
"Meep-meep!" the voice called again. Tech spun around as a faint light rose up to slightly illuminate the area around him. Tech squinted to try to make out what he was seeing approaching him from off in the distance. As the bright object came into view, Tech's eyes widened in awe and pure shock.
Tech shivered as a ghostly creature came close to him. It was a wild roadrunner, but not like any he'd ever seen before. It stood a bit taller than eye level to him, its body covered in sleek, sky-blue feathers while its head sported a lovely crop of deep lilac and royal blue crest feathers, indicating it was almost certainly male; its legs were covered in thick, scaly flesh and were the same bright orange hue as its beak. As Tech gazed into the beast's eyes, he could make out the bird's beautiful green-blue irises staring straight back at him; Tech could see the thought and intelligence stirring behind them, a sign that this roadrunner was no ordinary wild.
As Tech took a half step forward, he couldn't help but see the resemblance. A shiver ran down his back as he quietly asked, "R-Rev?" and the bird slowly shook his head. Tech took another small step forward and asked nervously, "W-what… what do you want?"
The roadrunner got close to Tech and let out a soft trill. Tech tentatively reached out and held out his hand to the roadrunner, flashing a cautious smile as the apparition let out a click with his beak. "What do you want?" Tech whispered, catching the bird's attention, "What do you need?"
Suddenly, the bird became frantic and backed away, glancing around and making various chirps and clicks as he glanced around the dark expanse that surrounded him and Tech. "What? What's the matter?" Tech asked. The roadrunner turned and slammed into Tech, knocking him over and standing over him, squawking as his eyes widened in fear. "What!? What's wrong!?" Tech called. The specter turned and got in Tech's face, letting out a series of fearful shrieks. Tech shivered as the bird continued to squawk and cry, stomping its feet on the ground in a frenzy, almost as if it wanted to run away yet was being forced to stay put.
"What's wrong with you!?" Tech wailed, pressing his hands over his ears to try to muffle the bird's panicked screams. As the roadrunner continued to squawk, it's voice began to change, growing higher in pitch until it sounded eerily familiar. "S-Se-Save," Tech lowered his hands and lifted his head, raising a brow and turning his ears forward as the creature attempted to speak. "What? What are you saying?" Tech asked softly. "S-s-save… save him, Tech," The roadrunner rasped, "H-he… is… c-c-coming! He's coming!" "He? He who?" Tech asked.
The bird shook his head furiously before letting out another terrifying shriek. Tech turned onto his front and shielded his face as the roadrunner took a few steps back before charging, leaping over his head before dashing away, stirring up a cloud of dust and mist in his wake before vanishing completely into the distance.
As Tech stood up, he thought he heard another voice rising up over the darkness. "Tech? Tech!" Tech turned and saw another soft light flickering in the distance behind him. "Hello!?" Tech called. "Tech, wake up! Wake up!" Tech let out a shriek as the light in the distance rapidly grew bigger and brighter; the coyote fell back as the light enveloped his vision, blinding him and sending him flying backwards into pitch black darkness.
"Tech, Tech! Wake up, nerd-o, we're home." Duck quacked. Tech let out a scream as he jolted up in his seat, knocking his head against Duck's with a painfully audible bonk. "Ow!" Tech groaned. "What happened? Where am I?" Tech moaned.
"Come on, genius," Duck lisped, "We're home. Time to get off the boat." "B-boat? What boat? I thought we were taking the jet." Tech groaned. "Oh good grief," Duck said rolling his eyes.
"Tech, what's wrong?" a voice called. Tech turned to see Lexi, Ace and Slam standing behind Danger, looking down at him with concern. "Did you have a bad dream, buddy?" Ace asked. Slam offered Tech a hand and pulled him onto his feet. Tech moaned and rubbed his forehead before saying tiredly, "I'm… not sure, Ace." Tech paused, pulled out his phone and opened up the photo he was looking at earlier and sighed before saying, "Maybe my concerns just… kind of got to me. Still… it was so strange. So… almost real. Ominous."