Loonatics: United

Episode 78: Shared Sentiments

In the early afternoon, the Loonatics had returned to the HQ, Duck was sitting on one of the chairs of the lab´s central table while Tech wrapped his wounded shoulder with a piece of the blue bandage that he had used to cure Rev´s leg in the past, a lightly glowing experimental gauze. The gauze secured itself on Duck´s shoulder and its glow became greater. "That should do for now." Tech smirked at him.

Duck moved his arm back and forth as a test, nodding rather impressed as he was feeling no pain. "Okay, yeah...thanks man." He hopped down the chair, still moving his shoulder to confirm the gauze´s effectiveness. "I could´ve just waited for this instead of suffering Rev´s stitches."

Rev was present, resting against a wall with his arms crossed. "Your welcome." He said sarcastically with a straight face.

Tech chuckled. "Well, that actually helped me apply the gauze more appropriately, without mentioning you were literally bleeding to death."

"Yeah, yeah, you don´t have to remind me of my incompetence." Duck said rather upset.

"Incompetence not, Duck." Ace had just entered the lab, walking towards his comrades. "But amiability, that´s what you showed today." He stood before him and placed a hand over his unharmed shoulder. "Thanks, man."

Duck got thoughtful as he wasn´t accustomed to get gratefulness or compliments from anyone. "Uhm, yeah, no problem." He shrugged.

Ace chuckled then looked at Tech. "Will we have him for the next strike?"

Tech nodded. "Of course, that gauze is healing him as we talk, he should be good."

"Alright, thanks." Ace sighed and looked at the laying, dead sabretooth over the central table. "Got any intel from our guest, Doc?"

"Quite some, yes." Tech got before the table and used its touch surface to bring up a set of three dimensional windows that showed several types of data, including a three dimensional scan of the creature, turning indefinitely. "I discovered something...interesting in his DNA." He did a gesture with his fingers over the surface and a rotating model of the creature´s DNA expanded in front of the four Loonatics. "The backbone of this structure has a peculiarity compared to a normal sabretooth´s DNA, it is..." He scratched his chin briefly as he wasn´t sure on how to explain. "Well, signed, so to speak. Two times, actually."

"You lost me there, Doc." Ace expressed.

"He lost me when he said 'DNA'." Duck said.

Tech sighed, pointing at a part of the backbone of the DNA model, a set of raised dots over its gray surface. "Look at these dots, they are written in a braille like language, which translated say no other thing than 'Otto the Odd'."

"Wait..." Duck raised an eyebrow. "The little circus, space guy?"

"I believe Derek actually based his creations on Otto´s, modifying their composition to his taste." Tech explained. "Not sure how he could manage to find his research, though."

"Well, that means we can use the same weapon we defeated Otto´s beasts with, right? What was its name?" Ace looked at Tech with inquiry.

"The DNA De-Scrambler, but..." Tech rotated the DNA model with a gesture, showing the opposite side, which had a different set of dots. "This is a different sign, its translation is 'Derek Dune'. He modified the code and made it way more complex, a very hard task, I should say. That means our old weapon won´t work this time." He explained.

Ace remained thoughtful, looking at Tech. "Then we stay with the old fashioned way, right?"

"That´s correct, boss." Tech responded.

"Oh and that´s just the way I like the most!" Duck thundered his fingers.

Ace sighed while nodding slightly. "Okay, then." He looked back at the holographic windows over the table. "The next one, what about it?"

Tech opened a different set of windows over the table, displaying an information chart and a model of what appeared to be a pterodactyl mixed with an eagle, red feathered. "Neo Phoenix, advanced visual abilities, enhanced flight and flame throwing." He looked at his boss.

Ace sighed with disbelief while shaking his head a bit. "This one will be tough."

"And I´m afraid to say...that this guy is bulletproof, just as the first one." Tech said. "But..." He made the model´s neck, thighs and nape to be surrounded by red circles. "These spots are exposed. In order to make it fly, Derek had to leave those places unprotected, as these charts state."

Ace tilted his head a bit while scratching his chin, thoughtful while studying the looks of the model. "Shooting practice at the training room, in two hours." He looked at his three comrades, who nodded in obedience. "Someone go tell Slam, I´ll tell Lexi."

"Okay." Rev left in a rush then returned about eight seconds later. "Just told him, he was in the middle of a nap and threw me a pillow but I dodged it."

Ace nodded at him. "Thanks, Rev." He looked at Tech, also nodding at him. "Doc." Ace then exited the lab.

Lexi was at the lounge, sitting on the couch that faced the TV, she turned as she heard Ace´s steps, looking at him with a smirk. "Shooting practice, huh?"

Ace chuckled. "Weren´t you watching that?" He gestured at the fashion program on the TV while resting his crossed arms over the couch´s support.

"I´m multi-task." Lexi grinned at him. "Which added to my super hearing..." She chuckled and placed a hand on his arm.

Ace let out another brief laugh and kissed her forehead. "It´s incredible sometimes I still forget that." He suddenly jumped onto the couch, sitting right next to her, sighing and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Now this was a tough day." Lexi stroked his ears.

"Very tough, I would say." Ace replied, sighing afterwards. "And you won´t believe what Doc just showed me."

"Let me guess...a flame throwing pterodactyl." Lexi pretended to guess, almost letting out a silent chuckle.

"Wha..." Ace sighed with some shame. "Super hearing, of course." They both shared laughs of amusement.

"Wow, you forgot again? That´s kinda sad, you know?" Lexi laughed.

"Oh, I bet there are lots of things you don´t remember about me either." Ace said in a challenging tone.

Lexi raised an eyebrow in a daring manner. "Oh really? Try me."

Ace started to think, occasionally looking at the ceiling. "Uhm...nah, that´s kinda obvious." He kept thinking then sighed with a bit of frustration. "Wait..."

"Clock is ticking." Lexi said and they both chuckled.

"We never put time in this, hold on..." Ace argued. "Oh...I think I got a good one." He looked directly into her eyes.

"Guessing by that look, it should." Lexi replied.

"What are the names of...my parents?" Ace put a confident glare.

Lexi sighed with subtle annoyance and closed her eyes for a moment. "Another one..."

"Nope, that´s my question." Ace insisted. "And I want their last names."

Lexi looked at him with a rather straight face. "Like, really...Ace Bunny?" She grinned a bit then both bunnies laughed for a moment. She let out another long sigh and finally started to think about Ace´s parents, trying hard to remember their names. "Your mom...hmm...it started with 'L', that I´m sure...quite sure...uhm..." Lexi made a grin of confusion. "Also...not a common name."

"You´re on the right track, pretty. Keep it up." Ace chuckled.

Lexi was thinking of all the uncommon names with 'L' she could remember. "Loa?" She looked at Ace with hopeful yet unsure eyes.

"Nope." Ace replied with some satisfaction. "Not too far, though."

Lexi sighed. "Can I have a clue?" She put a pleading face. "Please?"

Ace pretended to give some thought to her question then finally nodded. "Alright...it has a 'Z'."

Lexi´s eyes widened. "A 'Z', what kind of nam..."

"Hey, my mother´s name. A beautiful one, actually." Ace interrupted with a joking tone.

"Hmm...L...Z...beautiful..." Lexi tried to associate those letters and word with the face of her boyfriend´s mother, as she remembered her, a gray furred bunny with long, straight brown hair and ocean blue eyes. "Loz..." Ace nervously bit his lip as he knew she was close to getting the name right. Lexi´s eyes widened. "Lozen! Lozen Bunny!"

"Oh...you´re right." Ace expressed with playful displeasure. "But there´s still one left." He switched to a confident look.

"Your daddy...uhm..." Lexi began to scratch her chin, looking upwards while trying to remember the name of Ace´s father. "Lozen and..." She sighed. "It started with 'B', right?"

"Mhm." Ace nodded.

"Okay..." Lexi kept thinking. "Bo..."

"No." Ace chuckled.

Lexi grunted slightly. "Wait." She now pictured Ace´s father in her mind, remembering his serious face, light gray fur and dark green eyes, as well as his small, rimless eyeglasses. "Ble...Bad..." Lexi took a deep breath, having the name in the tip of her tongue. "Badi...Bad..." She gasped. "Baden Bunny!" She looked at her boyfriend with a grin of success.

Ace let out a rather playful grunt. "Yup, those are the names." He chuckled along with his girlfriend, then let out a deep sigh. "I kinda miss them, you know?"

"Kinda?" Lexi began to stroke his ears and head again.

Ace sighed with nostalgia. "Okay, quite a lot, actually." He adopted a melancholic glare into his girlfriend´s eyes. "Yes, sometimes I think about bringing them back here, but I guess is not a good idea." He chuckled subtly. "Knowing the craziness we live here, I prefer them to be safe, you know?"

Lexi nodded slowly. "It´s for the best, sweetie. I think only Rev´s parents live here, the others´, including mine, they all live in other planets, far from this, well, craziness, as you said."

"Yeah, I know. Still, I want to see them again." Ace looked at her with a thin smirk. "Maybe just for one day."

"We could arrange a video call, all the way to Makria." Lexi said reassuringly.

Ace chuckled. "You actually remember where they live." He sighed again. "Maybe...but it´s still not the same, when was the last time you hugged yours? You know, Kyzir and...uhm...Jaxlyn?" His smile got a bit larger.

Lexi´s eyes widened. "Woah, first try..." She kissed him briefly. "Not bad at all."

Ace kissed her back. "So, when was the last time? The last time you hugged your mom, your dad." He looked away while sighing. "From my part...I don´t remember...maybe even way before they left...before we took this...job." He lowered his gaze with shame. "That I´m sure."

Lexi also had her glare lowered, trying to remember again, now regarding Ace´s question. "I don´t know, maybe when I was just a little girl." They both shared nostalgic looks. "But you have no idea how many times I´ve wished them to be here."

Ace hugged her, also receiving a warm embrace from Lexi. "Well, maybe one day." He closed his eyes while resting his head over her shoulder. "For now...all we got is us."