Loonatics Extreme 4

Chapter 4: The Tale of the Cat and Skunk.


Meanwhile, in the centre of Acmetropolis, on the 125th floor of the “Loonatics Tower,” Ace and his team, along with Tweetums were starting to pack things up. Everything was going well, until they heard a scream from the laboratory. Tech E. Coyote was standing, devastated, over one of his inventions. He’d apparently broke it while trying to pack it carefully. He was so upset that not even Ace was able to think of a way to calm him down.

“Aw gee, Tech! I’m sorry that happened. Look! You need to take a break......calm down.  You’re so stressed you’re making mistakes. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.” –Ace tried to soothe their genius member.

“How can I be calm, Ace?! I spent almost a month developing that “Electro-Proton Eliminator 39X” and now it’s ruined! If there’s anything worst than not being able to develop a weapon or a gadget, it’s breaking it before you even get to test it!” –Tech snapped in exasperation.

“Tech… you built it....you can fix it. If there’s someone who can fix anything, that someone is you! That’s the genius you are! Now relax... calm yourself!” –Lexi urged him in a gentle voice, as she passed her hands over Tech’s face, making him feel a little better about himself.

“You’re right… I know I can fix it, but it’s so hard to build things and then break them by accident. Anyway, I have to focus on how we’re going to transfer the building to Blanc without damaging it.” –He sighed getting to the real concern distracting him.

“And how are you going to do that, “braniac”, hmm?! It’s not that I don’t have any faith in you, but how are you going to transfer a building as tall as this one to a planet that is millions and millions of light-years away from here?” –Danger Duck asked, not able to withhold his sarcasm as he looked at himself in a pocket mirror in his left hand while his right held Tweetums, who was thoroughly enjoying his tour around the Loonatics Tower.

“Well, it is really very simple, Duck. You see I created a powerful magnet that will use the energy of the fusion chamber, which provides energy to the tower itself to move the building. Try to imagine a giant magnet that creates a magnetic field around the infrastructure of the building, levitating it and making it possible to be transported through the wormhole and put anywhere you want. I called it, the “Magna Transportation Field, or “MTF” for short.” –Tech said proudly.

He showed them the prototype of the MTF on one of the many computers in the laboratory. “Rev is down at the base of the tower assembling it and Slam is helping him with the heavier pieces of equipment. At Rev’s velocity, I would say that it’s just a matter of hours before it’s completed.” –Tech told them while patting himself on the back for thinking of it.  He turned to the video wall comm. and contacted Rev, “How are things going down there, Rev?”

“Just fine! We’ve almost finished putting the magnetic stabilizer in the titanium infrastructure and were about to connect it to the power grid, which will be very dangerous, since we can’t turn it off, you know? And while I do that, Slam is going to make sure that the pulse quarks system is connected to the positron energy quartz, which will serve as one of the three units that will transfer the energy from the fusion chamber of the building and convert it into an energy pulse. We still have a lot of work to do, but I would say that in two hours and thirty-seven minutes and twelve seconds it’ll be finished, that is of course if we don’t take any breaks, but if we do then it will take us about…” –Rev reported in his rapid, hyper-speed voice.

“Slow down there, Rev… I think we got the message. Take all the time you need because we aren’t in a rush you know? Once you’re finished, call me, because I want to inspect everything. Remember to follow my plans to the letter. I don’t want to dismantle everything and put it back again because you or Slam forgot to put a safety ring somewhere, ok?” –Tech warned ensuring they understood the importance of taking it one step at a time.

“Blarahashagh… Don’t worry.” –Slam assured him in his scrambled language. The comm. blinked off.

“I just hope those two know what they’re doing. I don’t want to explode while I’m in a wormhole, especially when all my stuff is inside this building.” –Duck muttered worriedly.

“Come on, sir Duck! You told me you would give me a guided tour through your headquarters. So far the only places little ole me has seen were your room and this lab” –Tweetums said impatiently.

“Hold your feathers bird! I already told you I would give you a guided tour and I will but you have to be patient.” –Duck said as they entered the elevator. –“And one more thing, you’re despicable, did you know that?”

“It’s not my fault I’m only three and half parsec old.  I’m supposed to be like that.” –Tweetums answered in his usual cheerful voice as the elevator doors closed on them.

“Let’s just leave those two birds to enjoy themselves. In the meantime, let’s pack a few more things, Lexi.” –Ace said. She nodded and the two of them returned to what they’d been doing.

While Rev and Slam worked to complete the task that Tech gave them, and Duck entertained the Royal Tweetums, a few blocks away from the Loonatics Tower, in a fast food restaurant called “Golden Burger,” something odd was about to happen.

A she-cat had just accidentally dropped one king-size beer onto a customer. The customer was presently complaining about her to the manager. The she-cat was one Patricia Pussycat, a tall, slim, black and white cat, with blue eyes and a black nose. She had an unusual characteristic, her tail was bisected with a broad white stripe making her look like a skunk.....sometimes being mistaken for one. She was dressed in a uniform provided for employees, composed of a red jacket (that had a small name tag) with matching mini-skirt and blue high-heel shoes.

Being mistaken for a skunk didn’t bother her because her best friend was a real skunk. Her friend was standing by her side as usual. Mimi Le Pew knew the manager was going to yell at Patricia again. Mimi was the usual black and white skunk. She was a bit taller than her friend, with a beautiful long and fluffy tail, and wearing the same uniform as her feline friend. Unlike most skunks, Mimi didn’t stink because she had thoroughly covered herself with a lot of perfume. She was nice and friendly, but if anyone around her was hurt physically and or psychologically, she’d retaliate with her main weapon without hesitation.

Patricia, on the other hand was normally a shy cat, but if someone pissed her off she would become very fiery tempered and wouldn’t hesitate to say what was on her mind but this didn’t happen often.

The pair had several things in common. Their quiet, even tempers (except when others or themselves were bullied), possessing a French accent and being sisters by adoption.  A kindly old woman, who was single, had adopted both girls. She had always wanted daughters. She raised the pair until her death. Unfortunately, the woman was poor and was unable to leave anything for the girls so they had to learn to survive on their own. On her dying bed, she made the girls promise to stick together and help each other, no matter what. And right now, they needed to stick together, more than ever.

When both of them saw the manager finish with the irate customer and stride angrily toward them, they stood still, holding each other’s hand and readied themselves for his tirade. They were used to his complaints about their shortcomings. Each time he berated them he made it sound worse than the last time. He was a fat guy with a little nose and black eyebrows, which matched his dark-brown eyes. It seemed like he was always angry with everyone, even with himself.  He was always laying the blame on everyone for whatever was happening, even when the persons were blameless and couldn’t have had anything to do with it.

“You bloody incompetent! That’s the fourth time this week that you’ve done that to a customer. Thanks to you, we just lost one more client to the competition!” –He yelled furiously at her.

“I’m sorry! It was an accident, sir. I swear that it will never happen again.” –Patricia said, in a shy and tiny voice, as if afraid of him even though he was shorter than her.

“You’ve said that before on all the other times you’ve been clumsy. What makes it worse this time is the fact that he was one of our best customers. Thanks to you, he won’t be coming back! This time it’s going to come out of your pay.” –He snapped harshly then turned his irate gaze on the skunk standing there. –“What are you looking at, you perfumed skunk?!” –He snarled at Mimi, who was staring at him with angry eyes.

“She said she was sorry! Why do you have to yell at her like that, huh? What do you have against us? Better still, what do you have against everyone who works here? What have we done to you to makes you so furious all the time?!” –Mimi demanded, glaring at the man.

He reared back stunned for a moment at her temerity. Shocked silence fell and for several long moments, no one said anything. The girls thought the conversation was over but the manager turned red with fury and exploded like a volcano launching into a rant.

“How dare you speak to me that way after all I’ve done for you? I gave you this job because your adopted mother was a friend of my mother and because she made me promise I would give you a job after your mom died. This is the gratitude you show me?” –He screeched.

“And we’re supposed to be grateful for that every single day especially when you rub our noses in it? This job stinks! We’re expected to clean this place from top to bottom, everyday, and worse, we have to serve each customer as if they were some kind of royalty and for all that we get treated like dirt by you and barely paid enough to live on.  Well you can keep this job... we’ve had it! We don’t need your pity, you know? And one more thing, you’re one stupid, egomaniac and selfish bastard, who sucks the life out of the people who work here! Just ask anyone and they will say the same thing if they had the courage!” –Mimi yelled back angrily.

“That’s it! That is the last straw… You’re fired, you bloody skunk! Get your tail right off my establishment, before I…” –He bellowed.

“Before what, huh? She just told you we were quitting, you bonehead?! Do you think we’re afraid of you, you big pot of lard?!” –Patricia snarled finally getting angry too.

“Get out of here before I kick you out of here… You’re both fired! Get out of my establishment, before I call the police and make them arrest you!” –He hissed pointing at the front door. –“I knew I shouldn’t have made that promise to my mother! You’re nothing but a pair of freaks!” –He said, his voice dripping with disgust.

“Don’t you dare to call us that!” –Mimi yelled angrily, as she slapped the manager of the restaurant in the face knocking him to the floor. –“We are what we are, and we’re proud to be who we are, and there’s nothing you can say that changes that! Besides, we don’t need this job! Let’s go, Patricia, let’s get out of this hole!”

Both sisters ripped off their name tags and threw them at the manager’s face, who cowering on the floor, shocked and afraid of the skunk. They walked out of the restaurant; slamming the door with so much strength that it nearly broke the glass.

Patricia and Mimi walked briskly down the street until they were some distance away.  Patricia finally stopped and began to cry. Mimi hugged her and tried to tell her that everything was going to be alright. She looked around for a place where they could sit down for bit and calm down. Finally, she spotted a bench in the middle of a small garden. She tugged the cat toward it and they sat down. Mimi held onto Patricia offering as much comfort as she could while Patricia cried.

“What are we…sniff... going to do now, Mimi…sniff? We lost our only job…sniff…and worse…sniff, we don’t have enough money to…sniff… pay the rent! We’re so…sniff… doomed…sniff!” –She moaned in anguish.

“Don’t worry, Patricia. I know things are bad but you’ll see ... we will find a way to set things right.” –Mimi said positively, comforting Patricia, as she hugged her and gave her a big kiss on her left cheek, making her feel a little better.

“Maybe I can help you!” –Said a soft voice from behind them. –“Don’t be afraid! We’re friends and we would like to talk to you, if you don’t mind. I know that this may not be the best time but what I have to say to you is very important.” –The voice softly continued as Mimi and Patricia turned around to look.

The voice that they heard was from someone who appeared from behind the bushes. At first they though that it might be a burglar, or even worse. But as Zadavia came into the open and lowered her hood they recognized her from the television being interviewed with the Loonatics.

As the woman came closer they saw another figure behind her. It was Pinkster. They recognized him as well, as a notorious criminal. They were suddenly afraid and shrank back away from the approaching pair.

“It’s alright girls. Pinkster is on the side of good now and I was not joking about the proposition I wish to offer you.” –Zadavia told the girls soothingly adding a bit of calming power to relax the girls so that they would be willing to listen to her. When the skunk and the cat relaxed, she explained what her plans were and how they were involved.

Both girls listened carefully to what the blonde woman had to say. They were still a little shaken by their nasty fight with their former boss so it took them a little while to absorb what the woman was telling them. What she was offering sounded too good to be true but they knew Zadavia’s reputation. After looking at each other for a moment and seeing a perfect agreement in each other’s eyes they turned as one toward the blond woman and accepted her proposal.

“We don’t know how to thank you for this opportunity that you’re giving me and my sister, Lady Zadavia.” –Mimi said softly, who had tears of gratitude running down her face.

“Don’t thank me, Mimi. You have only yourselves to thank. Pinkster and I observed what happened in the restaurant, and for just a moment I feared we might have to interfere, but then, you two proved that I was right. I have been watching you for some time now. As I told you, the Loonatics need fresh talent and more females to the mix and you and your sister are perfect for the job.” –Zadavia said warmly. The sisters jumped up and gave her a huge hug.

Watching the emotional scene, Pinkster was reminded of the close friendship he and Duck had when they were kids. It made him regret all the bad things he’d done as a criminal. All that emotion had him dropping a few tears as well but he wiped them away quickly not wanting anyone to see him cry. He stepped forward and congratulated Patricia and Mimi, telling them that they would be partners.

“Welcome to the Loonatics!” –Zadavia said smiling. –“Now, we have one more recruit we need to see on the other side Acmetropolis. Let us be off! She told them and took off at a brisk pace. The others followed after her wondering who the last recruit could be.