Loonatics Revamp Rise of the Loonatics Episode 1 (Saved)

Chapter 15

None of them talked as the military truck drove around the city to God knows where. When they asked the raccoon – who Ace recognized as a Colonel by the eagle insignia he wore on the right side of his chest – where they intended to bring them, he quickly shut them up and ordered them to not ask further questions, else they would be arrested for resisting authority. With a dozen soldiers around them and equally as many firearms, the six young adults judged it wiser to obey than try to escape. They climbed inside the first truck under the Colonel's watchful eyes, while Alonso and Rip were brought to the second truck. The Guardian Sword Ace was still holding was promptly confiscated, the Colonel clearly not wanting to risk them attacking or escaping with it. The young man could only watch helplessly as the raccoon walked away with it before the doors were closed on him.

They'd been driving for a long time now, but Ace couldn't tell in whether they were still inside Acmetropolis or not as the back of the vehicle, where he and the others were sitting silently, had no windows. He looked up to see how the others were handling their situation.

Lexi was sitting in front of him, looking at her hand but not really seeing them either. Now that he thought about it, maybe the cream-colored rabbit knew something about their destination or whatever the army wanted to do with them since she could hear their thoughts. But then he noticed the tired look on her face and her distant gaze. They all had it rough today – and Ace had to admit he was partly to blame since he was the one who proposed them to go inside the building and they all nearly died trying to save those who were still stuck inside. But Lexi's energy, because of her telepathy, might have been way more strained than the others. He heard her sigh and he turned his eyes elsewhere, looking at the person beside her.

Slam was slightly hunched forward, but his eyes were wide open and looking at the floor. His whole body was covered with wounds, some with a little blood coming from them, but not enough to be deemed severe. Thinking that the big guy nearly died under several layers of ruins made the grey rabbit shiver. The Tasmanian devil was lucky his powers saved his life – and the professor he was protecting's too. He hoped he would be looked after once they got... well, wherever they were going.

Next to Slam, on the other end of the back of the truck, his back against the cold, metallic wall, was Duck. With his teleporting power, he managed to escape before the science faculty collapsed. Ace was both relieved at this and mad at the guy; he could have taken the time to rescue his teammates before teleporting out of the building! But judging by how sleepy the black duck looked, his head tilting forward and his eyes dropping little by little, maybe using his powers too much proved to be exhausting. Ace himself felt tired, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the drop of adrenaline or because he used his powers a lot today and wasn't used to it yet.

Now right next to him was Rev. The first one on the scene, and who didn't hesitate to rescue whoever was still inside the science faculty before the others were even there. His bright blue feathers were covered in ashes and he looked just as tired as everyone else, despite being so full of energy earlier that day. Feeling Ace's eyes on him, he turned his head to look at him and gave him a little smile. Not bright nor too optimistic, but as a way to say, "we're going to be fine". Ace returned it, or at least he hoped his own smile matched the birds. It was good to see at least one of them tried to keep his head high after that eventful day.

Last but not least was Tech. He scooped himself at the far end of the truck, his arms tucked against his chest, one shoulder against the wall. If Lexi was worse to wear, Tech looked like he had been in hell and back. His eyes were just... unfocalized. Like he found the switch for his brain and turned it off. For Ace, it was now clear the guy was different, although he still wasn't sure how much. Despite that, the rabbit was still impressed with the coyote, who didn't hesitate to come to his professor's rescue even with all the dangers it represented. He was proud of him; in fact, he was proud of every one of them.
Now he just hoped whatever awaited them wasn't worse than what they had to go through earlier.