"The Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. The Black Death was estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged."

"Wow Rev! This stew is actually good!" Tech swallowed the spoonful of the beef stew.

"Yeah Rev!" Ace agreed as he slurped it with a tasteful pleasure.

Slam placed his completely clean white bowl on the glass table after he licked every drop of the bronze coloured stew, proving his satisfaction of the meal.

"Aw shucks guys." Rev blushed as he rubbed the back of his long neck. "I just followed my mom's recipe to a tee. I was kinda worried I might have put too much beef or the actual stew inside but at least I know I didn't put too much of the spices otherwise your mouths would be on fire and-"

"It's fine! No need to share the secret ingredients of the mystery stew." Duck frowned at the roadrunner as he put his bowl down onto the table.

"Well it looks like we devoured that meal." Lexi smiled as she started collecting up the dirty crockery and cutlery. "I'll wash up with the chef."

"Hey look!" Rev picked up the pot with the remainder of the stew. "There's some stew left. Maybe we could save it for tomorrow morning."

"Before Slam gets to it? Unlikely!" Duck chuckled before he heard growl from Slam behind him.

While the mallard tried apologising to the tasmanian devil, Ace approached Lexi when she gathered the next set of dirty plates to be cleaned. With a worried expression on his face, he plucked up the courage to interrupt the female rabbit.

"Um... you're still not mad at me, are you? About that mission?"

Lexi sighed as she turned to Ace with a soft smile on her face.

"I'm over it Ace." She replied. "I understand you had to do what needed to be done."

"So we're okay den?" He asked just to double check. He knew that women needed to be handled delicately and Lexi was no exception.

"I'm cool with it Ace. Don't worry."

"Well dat's a relief." Ace exhaled. "I just didn't want to leave ya as dough everything's alright when they're clearly not."

"Ace." She giggled. "I'm okay. Stop worrying over silly little things. You did the right thing. After I've done this, we'll play pool okay?"

The male rabbit smiled as she carried the crockery off into the kitchen where Rev was waiting with the empty dishwasher after putting the pot of stew in the fridge.

The creaking door opened, breaking the silence in the darkness inside the headquarters. Slam's head carefully peered out of his room and scanned the area to make ure he didn't disturb any of the other Loonatics. After a few seconds of nothingness after the door squeaking, he was satisfied none of the others were disturbed. The Tasmanian devil tiptoed across the hallway whilst trying not to make any more mistakes that could jeapordise his mission. His target? The kitchen.

Slam crept around in the darkness until he found himself at the desired location as he did many times before. He felt around different shaped appliances until his hand finally touched upon the familiar door handle. Pushing it down, he pulled the door open to reveal a glow of white light. His eyes gleamed at the treasure trove of food in the fridge until he found the stew that was supposed to be saved for tomorrow morning. Licking his lips, he carefully handled the pot out of the fridge. Once closing the door, the Tasmanian devil grinned before opening his mouth wide open and poured the contents into it. Slam licked around the outside of his lips making sure he caught every last drop of the stew. He had to swallow harder than he did the first time as there appeared to be more of the beef chunks in it. But he figured being left in the fridge for a few hours tended to harden the food and therefore it was more difficult to eat. But that concern never crossed his mind as he could chomp on anything hot or cold. He was a little worried about how his friends would react to the empty pot of what once was beef stew but he felt that it was something they would easily forgive him for as they did it often (it took Duck the longest to get over little things like that but even he couldn't stay mad at him forever).

Slam turned away from the kitchen to slip back into his bedroom unnoticed when he coughed. He assumed that he needed to clear his throat until he coughed a few times more, each one growing more louder and violent. It started to swell into hacking and choking as the Tasmanian devil clutched to his throat and stomach. He desperately inhaled and exhaled to clear whatever it was blocking his windpipe but it grew more painful inside of him and he struggled to breathe. He slumped onto the floor still wheezing in desperation. He tried to form words to call for help but the choking prevented him from doing that. Finally, the Tasmanian devil collapsed. The struggle for air turned into silence and his body became a lifeless corpse in the darkness.

END OF CHAPTER 1.