*Sigh*

Hi guys. I know this is the absolute worst update I've ever done. But please understand that this time I really had no motivation at all. My life's turned into some Korean drama plot, I swear. I'll spare you the long and boring details, but let's just say that despite the fact that I'm supposed to be having exams in secondary school now, I'm leaving for Melbourne tomorrow, where I'll be staying for a week to take care of some stuff regarding the American side of my family (who have recently moved to Melbourne) before I return back to Kyoto forever. It's really hit me hard since I'll be the only one going back, so It's unlikely that I'd see my half-brothers and stepmom for a very long time, at least in person. I've been kinda depressed over it all, so I hope you'll forgive me for the slowest update of my life. I'll probably be able to update when I'm back in Japan, but please understand that things are gonna take some time to get used to for me.

As for this chapter, after being inactive for so long I forgot some details of the story, so I had to go back and read the previous chapters I posted to see what I had forgotten, which contributed to the slow update. Still, with my on and off writing schedule these days, it still isn't a good chapter, so I apologize beforehand.

Review replies:

Special Note to all: Thanks everyone who supported me with this story. I may not have had much motivation to actually write, but the reviews, favourites, follows and increasing views were one of the only things that kept me going. It was, and still is, very nice to know that there are people who enjoy my work even though it's far from perfect. My story may not be very popular, but I'm quite satisfied with all this. Thank you all so much once again.

BP-504Skylar: Sorry for being slow, especially since it made you feel like it's getting intense. And Chaos is just the angst character of this story, so yeah he's not gonna have it easy at all. But feel free to feel sorry for him. I mean, he can't be the only one who's experienced the guilt of doing something wrong and wanting to fix things. I know I have. To be honest, even from the first story, that was my plan for him in this sequel.

sarahtan556: Welcome! Don't be shy about anything, I'm always happy to receive feedback from my readers. Seriously, it makes me really happy. You have no idea how much I appreciate you guys. And for the comment about this being a movie? I'm shocked, because someone else said that on my first story. It makes me feel proud that you think that way! Thank you!

There you have it. Now you can start reading. You know, just typing this author's note to you guys already cheers me up. Love all you wonderful people!

PART TWENTY-FOUR: BETRAYALS AND TRUTHS

Duck watched as Lexi tightened the handcuffs firmly on Nutrix's wrists, checking a few times to make sure they weren't too tight or too loose. The last thing they needed was for the plan to backfire by letting the Blue Guardians see that Nutrix wasn't actually their prisoner...not exactly at least, and in case it did backfire due to the Blue Guardians figuring out that Nutrix was the traitor of the group, they would need the handcuffs to be removed quickly so they could all escape the base safely, and hopefully, with everyone intact. Still...it was a little difficult to have to get a specific firmness on those things, since they were more manual than automatic.

In any case, the mallard was getting impatient but he was in no position to complain. Heck, if he did, he's have two annoyed ladies to deal with, and considering the tense situation, he did not need anymore stressors than necessary. Besides, he had to admit, he'd probably take even longer because he was quite useless when it came to a lot of Tech's advanced technology. He settled for folding his arms across his chest and tapping his foot; a silent request for them to hurry up while making sure not to directly annoy them by saying anything wrongly. It took about a full three minutes for the handcuffs to tighten to what was considered "just right", but that was fine. Nope, no problem at all...

"Are you done?" Duck asked without thinking when Nutrix was just staring at her bound wrists after the two girls were "done" with the handcuffs. Lexi shot him a slightly irritated glare, but she didn't comment, which was pretty much a silent blessing. She let out a sigh and folded her arms across her chest, mirroring Duck's own pose.

"We're done. So, shall we move?" she asked for confirmation. Duck realized it was something like "protocol" for her to even ask that, something Ace often did to make sure the team was ready and fully prepared before they charged into a mission, but he could not help but feel just the tiniest bit offended at the look she was giving him, though he honestly couldn't even tell what kind of look that was. Something mixed between the apologetic, annoyed, concerned and just plain "say-another-word-and-I'll-kill-you"-kind of look. Duck rolled his eyes. Only she was capable of making such an expression. And dang, it was effective. Duck, despite his usual character, could feel himself succumbing to the intensity of that stare.

"Jeez I was just asking..." Duck mumbled, just low enough to avoid being heard by any normal person, but Lexi caught that easily with her super-hearing. She frowned even more, if that were possible, but again, said nothing about it directly. She just sighed and began to walk forward with Nutrix, who gave Duck a somewhat sympathetic look. Ugh, as if he wanted any form of pity from her. He wordlessly followed the two girls, wondering how on Acmetropolis did he have to end up stuck with the double trouble team.

Enough about that though. Regardless of the...unpleasant...circumstances, they still had a mission to complete. A mission that Duck may have considered to be one of his personal hardest. One he would've liked to avoid, that is, despite the mission's success meaning saving Ace.

'That guy's hardly Ace anymore though...' he thought solemnly to himself. He frowned, though the girls didn't notice. Duck shook his head. He knew it wasn't Ace's fault. Heck, he knew it wasn't even Chaos's fault. Yeah, he didn't trust that Ace replica, but he wasn't blind and he wasn't stupid. He could see the pain Chaos had shown during the earlier incident when Ace was taken. To be honest, Duck couldn't get that expression out of his mind. It had been one of horrified guilt and anguish. No matter what kind of person you were, that was impossible to fake. And as if he had needed further proof, Duck had seen Chaos's body fading even while he was unconscious. He wasn't sure anyone else noticed, but that had been enough for him. As much as he still hated Chaos, Duck could no longer deny that his words were no less than the absolute truth. As much as he hated to admit it, Duck had made his choice to at least try to trust Chaos. It wasn't gonna be easy, but he would try.

"Duck!" Lexi's urgent hiss caught the mallard's attention. He blinked and shook his head a little, then looked at the two girls who were already heading inside the building. Cursing himself for getting so distracted, Duck ran a little forward to follow them in. He mumbled a quick apology, only because he was sure Lexi would have a problem if he didn't, but fortunately the female bunny only nodded in response.

Once they were inside, the act began. There was a panel next to the inner door, just in front of the main entrance. Duck wondered why they decided to put in double doors, and Nutrix explained that it was due to the fact that Regina wanted to be able to trap any intruders between them if they tried to get in. The mallard didn't like the reply. It seemed pretty ominous. Though he had to secretly admit that the idea wasn't half bad. Hey, he's a video-gamer. They tend to like crushing their opponents. Figuratively (mostly, at least).

In any case, Duck was still sticking to his gut instinct regarding the fact that the whole enemy infiltration thing was a bad idea. He simply could not shake that feeling away. He had to constantly convince himself that it was the best thing to do in their situation, but it wasn't an easy task.

"Okay, we're here. You ready?" Nutrix said after a few minutes, when they arrived at a large set of closed doors. Lexi and Duck shared a quick look, probably to give themselves and each other some moral support, before they simultaneously nodded. Nutrix returned the nod, an unsure look in her eyes, which unsettled the mallard even more. For some reason, her eyes betrayed something she was feeling, though Duck couldn't really place his finger on what it was. But they had no time to think about it.

"Remember the act." Nutrix reminded, and the two Loonatics nodded, though Duck did so with more force than necessary, probably. The feeling of dread he felt in the pit of his stomach was stronger now, as if he subconsciously knee that of anything was going to happen, it would happen soon. Very soon.

"Ready Duck?" Lexi asked, and Duck gave her a thumbs-up despite himself. He could no longer find his usual sarcastic and egoistic side inside himself. It had abandoned him right there and then, which was starting to make the poor mallard panic. But he complied with Lexi nonetheless.

If only he hadn't.

On cue, Lexi blasted the doors open with her brain blast while Duck added onto the damage with a few explosive type eggs. The doors must not have been too sturdy, since they went down after only thirty seconds.

Wait, did he just blame the doors for being weak instead of mentally gloating on his own strength? Man he was out of it.

Lexi made a decent actress. She kicked Nutrix inside, though still holding her by the cape, to make it look like she was controlling the Blue Guardians nurse's movements.

"Hey Blue Guardians! We caught your little friend sneaking around in our tower!" she shouted in a fierce tone. Duck had a feeling that she wasn't faking the rage in her voice.

"If you guys don't return our comrade to us, your comrade will be sitting in a jail cell for the rest of her life in the maximum security prison!" Lexi continued, "If you want your precious healer freed, give us back the bunny!"

The demand was met with silence, and Duck wondered if there was even anyone home to make the demand to in the first place. He cursed himself for the oversight, even though he wasn't exactly that involved in the planning. But then Lexi's ears perked up, no doubt her super-hearing was kicking in. Then, someone literally decided to drop in on them. He landed in front of them in a crouch before standing up with a particularly arrogant look on his face. Instantly, Duck knew that this guy was his counterpart, the flame-wielder Ardor. Like the others, he looked human enough, but, also like the others, he obviously had a pretty weird obsession with the colour blue and medieval wear.

"Huh, so you did get caught after all." Ardor mocked, folding his arms across his chest with what looked like a disappointed scowl on his face. "Frankly, I'm wondering if I should just leave you here, seeing as you could hardly even do your job right."

"So you'd abandon your own comrade?" Lexi questioned, her eyes narrowing as Nutrix and Duck remained silent, both wearing angered expressions on their faces. Ardor stared back at Lexi, looking bored but somehow managing to maintain a certain degree of intensity in this own gaze as well. Then he began to chuckle.

"No no, nothing like that." he said, and Duck's gut instinct immediately went crazy.

Something was very wrong.

"But you know, I never expected you Loonatics to be so...gullible."

As soon as Ardor's words left him, Duck felt a sudden presence behind him. Reacting faster than he had ever done so in his entire life, he turned around, just in time to dodge the lethal strike of Veneficus's dagger. Lexi was also fortunate enough to avoid a similar strike from Bellator's spear. However, she wasn't as lucky, as the spear was a lot larger than a dagger. The blade of the spear had slashed her right forearm, all the way up to her shoulder. She yelled in pain and Duck rushed over and grabbed her, quickly quacking a short distance away, though for some reason he didn't leave the room.

Back where the Blue Guardians were standing, Duck's eyes widened when Nutrix snapped off the handcuffs as if they were made of paper. She flexed her wrists slightly before looking up at the two. A chilling sensation rushed through the mallard's body when the realization finally hit him.

"You...you..." he stammered, his suspicions and fears finally becoming the reality he hadn't wanted to see happening.

"Sorry Duck, but I'm a girl on a mission, and I'm not about to let that mission fail." Nutrix said coldly. Before either Duck or Lexi could respond, three copies of Nutrix appeared around her while Veneficus disappeared. To Duck's shock, the Blue Guardians wizard manifested himself behind them, sending a powerful roundhouse kick towards them so swiftly, they had no chance to dodge. Lexi let out a sharp scream as she was thrown out of Duck's hold, blood pouring out of her wound as the two were sent flying to the side. Ardor laughed mockingly before he summoned a flame in his hands, the same way Duck would summon his own explosive eggs, and threw it at them. Duck could hold back a yelp when the small flame erupted into a blazing ring of fire that trapped him and Lexi within it.

"Oh, and don't try and quack your way outta that." Ardor mocked, waving his finger as if he was scolding a bad child. Duck felt the rage boiling inside of him, and in his fury he summoned one of his eggs and threw it at his double. Ardor did nothing to dodge, but he didn't have to. The ring of fire flared up and blocked the egg, which exploded on impact. Duck inwardly cursed. If only that one had been successful...it would've at least distracted them for him to come up with some sort of plan...

...but Duck was nearing the verge of his sanity.

It was too much. Ever since losing Ace, he had become like a different enough person, but once this whole Blue Guardians fiasco came into his life everything rational in his head had gone berserk. The incident filled him with multiple feelings; sadness, anger, joy, hope, confusion, worry...it was like an raging, stormy sea in there. Duck had never been the particularly emotional type, so he had always managed to get by without such troubles. But he had never really lost someone he actually cared about. Who was there? His adoptive parents? His childhood friend Pinkster? None of them were people that he truly bonded with. His adoptive parents hadn't found it that easy to take care of an anthro child, which resulted in him doing all those odd jobs. And Pinkster turned out to be a maniac. The Loonatics were the first few people that ever really made him feel like he could just be himself. He realized that when they lost their leader.

So right now, the mallard was unable to find it in himself to do anything more. He had thrown first, without really thinking about his actions, and it proved fruitless. But what...just what could he and Lexi do now? The female bunny behind him was wounded badly and she wouldn't be able to fight even if they did get out. So what...

"...you lied to Chaos..." Lexi suddenly began to mutter, and it took Duck a few seconds to realize that she was shooting a hateful glare at her counterpart. Nutrix turned to them, and her gaze seemed to soften the slightest, but maybe that was just Duck's imagination...?

"...obviously I lied to him. I mean, I can't possibly love another part of myself can I? We were all borne from that core of ours..." Nutrix said coldly, but before she could finish Lexi interrupted her with a rage Duck had not wanted to ever see again.

"I don't mean that! I mean the fact that he trusted you when no one else did, when he was alone! And all this time you were using him?!" she shouted, clearly trying her best to ignore the pain. Duck wasn't sure what she was doing, maybe she was just as disoriented as he was?

"Don't give me that nonsense!" Nutrix snapped back, "Of course I was using him, just like you are now! All you and your little friends care about is the 'real' one, Ace Bunny! Chaos and the rest of us were copies, fakes of you all! You will never understand how any of us feel! And yet Chaos, our core, plans to destroy us?! He's the one who betrayed us!"

Duck zoned out at the remainder of their debate, all he heard was muffled screaming between the two girls while thoughts raced in his head at Nutrix's words. An overwhelming sense of guilt washed over him, but why? What was he feeling? Why was he feeling it? He'd done nothing wrong after all, so why did what Nutrix say seem to piece him like a thousand needles?

Was it...was it because...

"Enough of this nonsense. Nutrix, time to go!" Veneficus said firmly, and the Blue Guardians nurse shot him a glare but didn't argue. She turned back to Lexi.

"I'll get my chance, so you better prepare yourself Lexi!" she declared as she followed the rest out.

"Wait! I'm not done!" Lexi protested, but the blue-themed group had already rushed out. Duck's eyes widened as Lexi found herself at the edge of the ring of fire, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Get back here! Get back here TRAITOR!"

~X~

Tech pounded on the doors of tiny room. He cursed, how the heck had he allowed himself to be so stupid?! Nutrix had tricked him after all. She had tricked them all. The second everyone else had left, leaving him and a copy of Nutrix's to monitor the situation as well as act as backup if it were really necessary, Tech found himself electrocuted by something, somehow catching a glimpse of familiar green eyes laughing at him just before he passed out. When he woke up he was trapped within a small room somewhere inside the tower. He wasn't sure where he was because everything seemed to have been shut down, and even with his electromagnetic powers, he couldn't seem to open the door.

"Argh you idiot!" he yelled at himself. He should've seen it all coming, but no~! He had to give that stupid Ace replica and his little companion! Why did he bother to trust them at all?! One of them was the reason they were even in this mess, the reason Ace was gone! Even if he was alive, what good was it if all his memories were gone?! If anything that may be even worse! It was like everything was mocking them, giving Ace back only for him to be a completely different person as a result. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair.

"Darn it! Someone let me out!" Tech yelled again, letting his fury consume his thoughts. He punched the unopened door, a vain, frustrated attempt to get out. But there wasn't anyone left in the tower to hear him right? They'd all left to try and get Ace, no…"Jack", back from the enemy stronghold. But with Nutrix leading them there…what was going to happen to them? It was a trap, Tech knew it was, but there wasn't anything he could do if he couldn't get out. If only he could contact them…

…wait. His communicator attached to the wrist of his suit…why didn't he think of that?

"I'm losing it…" he muttered to himself as he frantically turned it on, hoping that it wasn't disabled like everything else around him. But he didn't really need to.

Suddenly, Tech's coyote ears picked up a strange sound. It was like someone was dragging a heavy metal crate across a steel floor. (That kind of painful screeching couldn't exactly be mistaken for anything else so easily.) It sounded close, right outside the door in fact. The screeching sound of metal on metal was sharp and Tech felt like his ears may bleed. There was a sudden crash, loud and sounded as if there was glass breaking, then nothing.

Eventually, the door opened. Tech instantly got into a defensive stance, fearful that it may be an enemy. The only thing that stopped him from tackling the culprit behind his release was the small hope that one of the Loonatics had stayed behind or something.

In a way, he was right.

"Er…what's up doc…?" Jack asked nervously, looking at the coyote guiltily, like he was a child who did something wrong. He also looked a little shaken, though that may have been Tech's own imagination. The coyote let out a sigh of relief and stepped out the door to stand next to his former team leader. He glanced around. He was probably on one of the lower floors of the tower. After confirming that, he turned to Jack.

"What are you even doing here?" He asked, not because he didn't want the rabbit there, far from it actually, but because he was sure Jack was taken away. There was no way he could've gotten back so quickly.

"I…er…well, it's a long story…" Jack answered, not making eye contact. Clearly, he wasn't sure what to say. Tech wasn't sure of his own words either. But then again, he didn't have time for words.

"Alright fine. Just stay here and hide yourself. I need to go find my comrades." Tech said, turning away and beginning to fiddle with his communicator. It was still working, thank goodness, but again, before he could start to actually use it, Jack interrupted him.

"Wait a sec." he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out something, hidden in his fist, before he showed it to Tech, whose eyes widened with surprise when he saw that it was that crystal fragment he had kept in his lab since the incident. Instantly, Tech was filled with rage upon seeing it. That stupid stone was the cause of everything, it was what caused everything to come apart with everyone. He hated that stone. But why…

"Why…why do you even have that thing…?" he said in a cold voice, unable to prevent his emotions from going haywire otherwise. Jack evidently flinched, but he took a deep breath before continuing to speak.

"I found it in yer lab…" he admitted, "I was transported here by one of da Blue Guardians. Believe or not, he was da one who saved me from d'ere."

Tech's head snapped up to look Jack in the eye. "What was that?"

"Look, I know d'ey're yer enemies but…" Jack tried to say but Tech was too wound up.

"Of course they're enemies! How could you have accepted help from them!?" Tech snapped, mentally as well, "Do you have any idea what those guys have done to us!? Wait no you don't because you don't even remember anything do you Ac- " the coyote yelled, but he suddenly stopped. He almost called Jack "Ace". Sure, that was his real name. But Jack didn't know that yet. And what…what did Tech just say? Oh no, he let his stupid hatred get the better of him again. To think he'd lash out at the one who was the most affected by everything…and that look Jack was giving him, a look of guilt that shouldn't have been there, Tech couldn't believe what had come over him.

"I'm sorry I…" he tried to say, but Jack shook his head.

"It's fine…and yer right. I dun remember anythin'." Jack said with a sorrow in his voice that Ace had never used, "But I wanna know Tech. Who was I, what was I? all d'ese questions…I've been askin' d'em fer too long. I need answers Tech, and dat Blue Guardian dat helped me told me I'd find d'em here. And obviously, dis little stone has somethin' ta do with with. What is dis Tech? Please, tell me what you know."

"I…" Tech was at a loss for words. Despite the threat to his friends who were attempting to infiltrate the Blue Guardians base, he couldn't find it in him to ignore Jack's request. But at the same time it felt wrong to just tell him…if that could've solved everything why didn't they just do it in the first place and saved everyone some trouble right? But the coyote knew it also wasn't that simple. Maybe there was just supposed to be a right time and a right place to tell him?

"Listen Tech," Jack continued, "Afta bein' in dis tower, so many weird thin's have happened ta me. When I got here, I started ta rememba somethin's. I know…every mornin', Slam eats at least three portions of breakfast, Rev likes ta have at least six glasses of some juice while Lexi and Duck just sit around eatin' toast, with yerself in the corner fiddlin' with some of yer 'toys'. How could I know dat Tech? Please tell me, who was I?"

His memories were returning?

Tech felt a fierce sense of relief all of a sudden, like a heavy burden had been lifted off him. Ace was going to come back to them. He was going to get better. Things would be okay!

…at least, he hoped so. But for once, Tech decided not to be too logical about it.

"Alright. Follow me. I'll tell you everything."

Okay.

Done for now. It'll be around the 7th October before I can have access to a proper computer and start typing again, since I won't start school in Kyoto again until the next semester starts, which is around April I believe (I get mixed up with the Singaporean and Japanese school schedules a lot). Hopefully life will be back on track enough for me then.

As for the story. Yeah. It happened. I made Nutrix the bad guy and Rector the real traitor of the group. Just so you know, when Nutrix mentioned a "traitor" in the Blue Guardians a few chapters ago, she didn't actually know of Rector being the one helping out the Loonatics, or just Jack. She just made that up to make the Loonatics trust her a little more, only for it to be real. In any case, I have been dropping hints that Nutrix was lying to the Loonatics, but you have to look closely and reinterpret some scenes. I just hope it wasn't too subtle, because I didn't want it to become like things were all okay then I drop the bomb on you. No. Don't want that at all.

Xyla out.