Note: It has been a while since the last update for this story. It's also kinda hard to come up with an idea for a chapter. However, as the story continues, more ideas come to mind and the opportunity presents itself, allowing for more chapters in the future. And from the support of readers and followers, I am able to continue writing and expand on certain ideas I might have forgotten about. If anyone is still reading this story, I hope you're ready for what happens next. Hopefully, the time before a new chapter is worth it.
Now that I have said that, it's time for chapter twenty-six.
Chapter 26: The Call
A day after the fight with Massive, the Mighty Loonatics decided to take it easy. They had been doing all sorts of stuff since Ace had come back to Acmetropolis, so they wanted the leader of the original Loonatics to relax. Of course, he was going to return to Blanc the next day, but that didn't mean that he could take a break for a day. The new recruits (mainly Diane and Simon) insisted, even having the yellow rabbit join them on the couch. For a majority of the day, the veteran and his team's successors talked about what they could do if they saw each other again. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were made by the Mighty Loonatics, who felt like they owed it to Ace.
When night rolled around, the Mighty Loonatics went to bed, wishing Ace luck on his trip back to Blanc. The leader didn't need to leave until morning, but he figured that by teleporting a little bit earlier, he would get back to base the same time his teammates had after their respective turns. As he went down to the first floor of the building, the yellow rabbit got the device ready, intent on using it the moment he was out of sight. No one was in the hallway, so he was free to use it. Even if the sound of the device woke someone up, the buck would be unable to apologize. After all, he would be on Blanc shortly after he activated the teleportation device.
Before he teleported to Blanc, Ace heard something in his head.
Goodbye, Ace. Diane's voice echoed in his mind. And thank you for everything!
Smiling after hearing that telepathic message, Ace turned on the teleportation device, setting his destination for Blanc. Once the device activated, he was engulfed by a bright light, which meant that he was teleporting out of the room. The noise from the device woke up those who resided on the first floor, but they did not get out of their rooms to check it out. Rather, they assumed those who worked at the building would check to see what was wrong. None of them knew what the real source of the noise was, so they were in the dark about it. However, some remembered that Acmetropolis had a "special visitor" and the noise had been heard several times before.
On Blanc, a few workers were near a teleportation device. All of a sudden, the device activated, with a silhouette being seen in its center. While anyone would have freaked out over such a thing appearing in a device that allowed someone to travel the universe, the workers were calm, knowing full well who the silhouette belonged to. The shadows soon became replaced with color, a pair of blue eyes being the first to be seen. After that, a bright yellow appeared on the silhouette, with it being fur on an animal and not skin. The only darkness was on the person's clothes by the time they had finished teleporting, his familiar yellow fur and blue eyes shining like polished gemstones. None of the workers were frightened, as they knew who this person was: Ace Bunny.
"What's up, Doc?" Ace spoke.
With him back on Blanc, the workers moved out of Ace's way, knowing that he had to meet up with his teammates. He was the leader of the Loonatics, after all, and he had just finished watching over the new recruits on Acmetropolis. Each member of the team had a turn in order to work with their replacements, so that they didn't spiral out of control and lose control of their powers. Their time with the Mighty Loonatics turned out to be successful, aside from a few incidents, including the violent death of Howard Jaffe. Ace's went well, given how his time with them wasn't too crazy. Aside from the youngest member transforming into a giant wolf monster, his turn was pretty decent.
By the time he had entered HQ, Ace hoped to speak to everyone about his time with the Mighty Loonatics. However, no one was there, not even Zadavia or Sylth Vester. With that in mind, Ace assumed that his teammates were in the kitchen or something. If not, then they were possibly in the communications hub, checking if there were any distress signals in the universe. Either way, the yellow rabbit was intent on speaking with them, so that he could discuss what he found out from the new recruits. It had been a pretty crazy time with them, but he enjoyed hanging out with them, a feeling his teammates had.
Entering the kitchen, Ace saw that his teammates weren't in the room. It was rather odd, considering how it was the right time for breakfast. Slam, of course, was the one who one would expect to be in the kitchen during a meal, although he ate whenever he wanted to. With no one in the room, Ace decided to head down to the communications hub, thinking that everyone was there. It didn't seem likely that they would be anywhere else, considering how they were given the task of finding out why they had received an acceptance message from the Frelengian Army. They hadn't been able to pinpoint who had sent the message and for what purpose, not even Tech knew where it came from.
Once he reached the communications hub, Ace entered the code for the door. After that, the door came open, revealing the rest of the Loonatics working with the machinery. Lexi was looking over the data that was collected from each call the team had gotten, presumably to check and see if the message from the Frelengian Army had actually been sent by a previous caller. Duck was checking the answering machine, in case there were any calls they had missed. Slam seemed a little puzzled, due to technology not being one of his strengths. Tech and Rev were working on the wires and circuits, checking to see if they were all still intact and not damaged.
"How's it going?" Ace spoke.
"Not good." Tech said. "Not good at all."
"We still haven't found the source of the call, Ace." Lexi spoke.
"Even-though-we've-looked-everywhere-it's-like-the-call-had-never-existed!" Rev said. "We've-heard-it! It's-almost-as-if-we-had-never-received-it-at-all-going-by-the-call-history!"
"Calls don't erase themselves," Duck said, "so why can't we find this one?"
Slam grumbled, shrugging his shoulders. Ace walked up to the answering machine, seeing that his teammates were correct when they said they couldn't find the source of the call. They had heard it, plain as day, and there was no sign of it in the data collected from their contacts. Whatever was going on, the Loonatics needed to figure out why they had received it and where it could have come from if it truly wasn't from the Frelengian Army. Like Duck had said, calls weren't automatically erased within the time they had been ended. Something was going on, something that was beyond a simple telemarketer or prank call.
Zadavia walked into the communications hub, seeing as the Loonatics were gathered in there.
"Everyone, head to the main room." She spoke, urgency in her voice. "There is someone on the communicator and he needs to speak to you. All of you."
Knowing that it was serious, the Loonatics left the communications hub and began to walk to the main room. Tech closed the door to the hub, but not before Zadavia left it. As the team walked through the hallway, she teleported to the main room, so that she could speak to the caller. The Frelengian had to do so, considering the importance of the call. Not only did she know this person well, but they were close friends. With that in mind, she only hoped that the caller would think of the Loonatics the same way she did.
"Sorry about that." Zadavia spoke. "They're on their way here, I promise!"
Once the Loonatics came into the main room, they were surprised by who their caller was. He was a dark-skinned man with graying hair who looked like he came up to seven-feet-tall. The man was dressed in a military outfit, showing that he was a member of an army. Which army it was, the team couldn't tell. None of the soldiers on Acmetropolis had worn such an outfit, so it was clear that the caller was from a different planet. Judging by Zadavia's expression, it wasn't hard to see that she knew who this soldier was.
"Everyone, this is Jeremiah Weiss, General of the Frelengian Army." Zadavia spoke. "He wants to speak to you."
As Zadavia walked away, the Loonatics were surprised that they were having a conversation with the General of the Frelengian Army. Seeing as he was a member of the military, the team saluted him. It was something they would do for the soldiers back on Acmetropolis, so it wasn't something they would forget. However, General Weiss didn't exactly look thrilled to be saluted.
"There's no need for a salute, Loonatics." He spoke. "Don't think of this as a military meeting, just a social call."
"Why are you calling us?" Lexi asked.
"I'm calling because Zadavia told me that you received an anonymous call, saying that the Frelengian Army had received a recruitment letter from one of you." General Weiss said.
"You have to believe us, General," Tech spoke, "none of us accepted an offer to join your army. We have been busy as a team, so none of us could have written a letter and sent it to Freleng."
"The army is well-aware that none of you have accepted an offer to join." The Frelengian said. "Like you, we have been doing an investigation to see where the call had come from, who could've made it and why it was addressed to you and no one else in the galaxy, which includes those who actually wrote a letter asking to join."
"I feel sorry for the poor suckers who actually join the army." Duck snarked.
"You'll-have-to-excuse-Duck." Rev spoke. "He's-always-been-a-grumpy-sarcastic-mean-selfish-egocentric-crabapple."
"And he means well, trust us." Lexi said.
"I understand." General Weiss said. "Now, I must ask, do you have a theory on how you could've received that message?"
"Maybe it could be one of the villains we fought in the past." Ace ventured. "Do you want us to head back to Acmetropolis and interrogate them?"
"No need." The Frelengian said. "I've already sent an informant to conduct research on that planet. He'll be investigating the prison tomorrow. That being said, I don't see how the villains you fought on Acmetropolis could've caused this affair."
"It could be possible that this is the work of a villain we have never fought before." Tech spoke.
"That, or a glitch in the software in our base caused the message to reach your HQ." The General said.
"Either way, I hope that the new recruits can handle themselves without our help." Lexi said.
"Yeah, we've worked with them enough." Duck spoke.
"It would still be a good idea to check on them every so often." Tech stated.
"Listen up, Loonatics!" General Weiss spoke. "My army will continue to investigate this strange event. You may investigate it as well, but you shouldn't let it keep you from doing your duties as superheroes. Whether it's the work of a terrorist, hacker, or a mere glitch, we must find out how the message got sent and how it managed to delete itself."
"General, someone wants to see you!" Someone called from off-screen.
"I'm going to go now." He said. "I'll talk to you if something comes up. Farewell, Loonatics!"
Once the call had ended, the Loonatics knew that they needed to find out what had actually happened. Was the call from the Frelengian Army part of a villain's evil plan? Was it merely a glitch in the software of not only their HQ, but also the military base on Freleng? In either case, the team needed to find out the truth before something bad happened. For all they knew, a villain was on the prowl, doing everything they could to hinder them from protecting the universe. If the villain was far too much for them to handle, then they would need all the help they could get.
Walking to the communications hub, Tech knew that his teammates needed to continue being a hero. As for him, he needed to find out what had actually happened, considering how the message had deleted itself before the Loonatics could investigate it more. The Frelengian Army was doing an investigation as well, with it seeming more likely that they would find out how the team had received the message. However, that did not mean that they couldn't investigate it as well. Of course, one of them would have to go back to Acmetropolis and work with the Mighty Loonatics in order to prepare them for an incoming crisis. They needed all the help they could get, even if they couldn't form an army.
Down on Acmetropolis, the shadowy entity was overlooking the city. He had overheard that Ace had went back to Blanc, leaving the Mighty Loonatics by themselves. While it seemed like this would leave the new recruits defenseless, the entity knew better than to try and attack them. He only tested two of them, but it was unlikely that the rest of the team would be slouches in terms of power.
"Now the new team is by themselves again." The entity spoke to himself. "Looks like I'll have to deal with them as quickly as possible. The old Loonatics should be preoccupied, so they won't intervene in my plan. By the time they come back to Acmetropolis again, they'll see their trainees dead on the ground!"
Using his powers, the entity teleported out of the area, so that no one could see him. With him gone, the sun began to rise over the city. However, something big was about to happen, and nothing was ever going to be the same. With the Loonatics back on Blanc, the Mighty Loonatics would be forced to face it. That is, unless, a member of the old team, if not all of them, came back. If that were to happen, then the crisis would be halted, if not completely stopped.
Note: Well, the Frelengian Army is now involved in the investigation of the strange message, meaning that the Loonatics have an additional hand. Can they find out the true cause of it? Does the mysterious entity have something to do with it? Who is he really? Are the Mighty Loonatics going to face him next? Will the original team come back to Acmetropolis again?
Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!