The Price of Youth
RATING: G
SUMMARY: Determined to rule the Saurian Empire forever, Dragaunus tries to find the Elixer of Youth, with some very hilarious results
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: I NO OWN. NO MONEY. NO SUE.
"These experiments are absolutley crazy, Tanya."
Missie glared at the team scientist as she dumped a few more chemicals into the mixture. "Nonsense, Missie. This mixture will
work marvelously. You'll see."
Missie gave an exasperated sigh and turned to the Saurian beside her for help. "Don't *you* think it's crazy,
Wraith? I mean, you of all Saurians should understand that."
Wraith laid a hand on her shoulder and held a finger to his lips. "Don't question it. Dragaunus is watching."
"Through Tanya!" Missie said angrily and threw herself down on the pile of cusions in the corner. Dragaunus had
made their prison top-notch. "I've tried getting through to her. She won't listen!"
Wraith sighed, and slowly, limped over to the corner and sat on a stool beside her. "She can't listen, Missie."
Missie's eyes grew soft, and she looked at Tanya miserably. Their situation was actually rather funny. If she hadn't
been living it right now, she probably would've been rolling around on the floor laughing.
Dragaunus was determined to find an elixer for eternal youth, so that he could rule the Saurian Empire forever. Wraith
had had his doubts from the beginning, so when the ducks had attacked the Raptor, and Wraith had been conked over the
head, causing him to have partial memory loss and turn good, Draguanus figured he just couldn't use his help. So he'd captured
Tanya and somehow brainwashed her into thinking the Dragaunus was the good guy and that Tanya's job was to create this
elixer. At first Tanya seemed hesitant to comply, so he'd captured Missie and stuck her and Wraith with Tanya to 'assist'.
Well, they hadn't done much assisting, but Tanya was working now.
"Tanya," Missie decided to try again when suddenly an explosion rocked the room and black smoke began to fill the
air. What was happening? Missie was chocking, her legs had gone wobbly, and she felt weak. All was dark, and she was
falling.
But Wraith managed somehow to pull her out of the smoke, and he then crawled forward to find his daughter-in-law.
Tanya was couging something terrible, but when she looked up, her eyes had lost their glazed look. "Wraith?" she coughed.
"What's going on?"
Wraith reached a hand forward, and pulled Tanya's elixer out. "Is that it?"
Tanya gave him an odd look, then slowly nodded. "The elixer of youth? I think so." her gaze then fell on her unconcious
team member. "What happened?!?"
"Your 'elixer', I belive." Wraith calmly slapped Missie's cheek, and she moaned and opened her eyes.
"Mommy? I don't want to go..." Missie seemed only semi-conscience, but another slap from the Saurian fixed that. "Tanya? Tanny? You okay?"
Tanya nodded. "I just wonder what Dragaunus will think about his elixer."
"I think I want to investigate it," Dragaunus's booming voice suddenly rang out across the room, and with a few strides,
he was in the room, and he scooped up the vial with the elixer. With a dramtic swig, he downed the mixture. Nothing
happened.
"Why don't I feel any change?" he roared.
Missie got a smug look as she stood up. "Well naturally you don't expect an elixer of everlating youth to start taking
effect immedietly, do you? You have to start getting older in order to do that."
Dragaunus never liked admitting that she was right and he was wrong, but this time he had to. "True, true."
He then turned and strode back out. However, this time, obviously feeling smug, he forgot to close the door behind
him. Missie helped the other two up, then with a quick look around, snuck out the door, and down the corridor.
She didn't get far, however, before she was doubled over laughing at the sight that met her. Dragaunus, standing
dwarfed in a sea of huge garments, stood bewildered in the hallway. He was about two and a half feet tall, and appeared to be
entirely a small child.
He glared at her and put his hands on his hips, a difficult thing to do considering his cape was now like a huge and
heavy toga. "It is not funny!"
Missie was gasping for breath, so hard was she laughing. "Oh, but it is!"
Dragaunus, enraged, went at her, fists flying, but she simply put her hand on his forehead, and he swung in vain, just out
of reach.
Seige, who had heard the commotion and came to investigate, also burst out a roar of laughter. He took Dragaunus by
the back of his cloak and let him hang just in front of him, again just out of reach as he mocked him. "So the boss ain't so
powerful anymore, is he? Just a little wimpy baby!"
Missie instanly grew sober. "C'mon Seige, put him down."
Dragaunus was beginning to look like he was havig trouble breathing, being hung from his clock that way. Seige just
shook him and laughed harder. "Y'know, I could take over the Saurian Empire now, and you couldn't do a thing about it."
Dragaunus was really having trouble now, puffing and weazing. "Seige, put him down!"
Seige ignored her. "I could just let you chock, hanging there, and no one could do a thing about it."
"Seige! PUT HIM DOWN!!!!" Missie tackled him, but he just shoved her back against the wall. She spotted
Chameleon, standing in the doorway with a bewildered expression. "Chameleon! Save him!"
Chameleon looked hesitant, but when he glanced at Missie, he saw her mouthing a phrase that she had given to him a
long time ago, that he was bound by an oath to obey her when she gave him that command. He nodded slightly, and suddenly
his arm straetched out. "That's not it, Seige. Ya gotta...give him to the Guardian!"
Missie caught Dragaunus, and trying to keep her hands free, she tossed him up on her shoulders and took off in a run.
Dragaunus, being, after all, a small child, was startled, and clapped his hands on her face.
"Hey!" she yelled, "Not the eyes! Not the eyes! I can't see!"
He quickly let go, but as they swung around a corner, Missie leaning over so far that her hands brushed the floor, he
leaned back and tried to grab whatever he could to keep from flying away. Which of course, was the pigtails that made her
bangs.
"YEOWCH!" she cried in a yell that far surpassed the last. She grabbed him off her shoulders, and out of lack for any
safer place, stuck him under her arm and raced down the corridor like a football player with the ball.
Soon she ended up in an area of the Raptor she didn't recognise, and lifted Dragaunus so that she looked him squarley
in the face. "Alright, now where?"
He looked around for a moment, then pointed to a doorway. "In there."
Missie dashed inside the automatic doors and locked them behind her. "What is this place?"
Dragaunus sighed. "My quarters. I need to get changed into something I can actually wear."
Missie nodded. "True."
Dragaunus cleared his throught nervously. "I, uh, keep a chest, full of, well, my baby clothes."
Missie cooed, "Aww, the little Overlord's baby clothes? Are they cute little frilly blue sailor suits and little yellow
booties?"
Dragaunus snarled. "Hardly." he walked to a corner in the room and struggled with the lid on a large chest. Missie
flipped it open for him, and he rooted around in it.
How's this?" Missie asked, picking up an ornately decorated blue coat, on that looked like it was a ceremonial coat or
something.
Dragaunus looked agahst. "I can't wear that! I could barely wear it as it was back then!" He finally pulled out an outfit
which he quickly stuffed in the folds of his cloak. "See if you can find a pair of shoes. My feet are tender, as all small Saurian
children feet are."
Missie nodded. "I know. Sure, I'll find something."
He hurried off, and came back a couple minutes later. Missie handed him the shoes without turning around, as she was
fasinated by the contents of the chest. "These were the best I could find, though they look an awful lot like an old-fashioned
pair of saddle-shoes."
Dragaunus pulled them on, but when tying the laces, he got his claws caught. "Uh, do you think you could tie the
laces?"
Missie turned around. Her jaw dropped, and she burst out laughing. Dragaunus tapped his toe. "Sure, sure, laugh it
out."
He wore a blue sailor suit. It was something you expected to see on an innocent little baby, not on the Overlord of
the entire Saurian Empire. Missie giggled as she bent over to tie the shoelaces, finding the whole situation extremely funny.
Dragaunus continued to glare at her angrily. "Must you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just, well, awfully funny." She straitened up, and turned to pick up a folded dress she'd found among
the other clothing. "What's this? This certainly doesn't look like something a Saurian child'd wear. I mean, I may not be a Saurian, but I pride myself on the limited knowledge I do have of them."
Dragaunus's look was slightly wistful as he stroked the softly brocaded materiel of the dresss. "It was my mothers." he
sighed, and slid his fingers over its blue surface. "Her wedding dress. She died when I was young, so I don't really remember
her very well. My step-mother tried to wear it once, but she looked so abysmal in it that my father packed it away."
"Wow," Missie said softly. "I never realised."
"Yeah, well, don't go feeling all sorry for me now. I am the Saurian Overlord."
Missie shrugged. "Have it your way."
Both were silent for a moment. Missie looked around the room curiously, as Draguanus nervously worried the hem.
Suddenly, he broke the silence as he shoved the dress at Missie. "Here. Put it on. I only saw my mother in it once, and I want
someone to finally be able to do justice to her memory."
Missie looked at him in surprise as she took the dress. "Seriously?"
"Would I say it if I weren't?"
Her face lit up in a radient grin. "Thanks!" She lept to her feet. "Be right back," then raced off.
She returned a few moments later, smoothing the fabric carefully. Dragaunus looked her up and down, and shook his
head. "The duck aspect totally ruins the effect."
She gave him a wry look, and smoothed the front of the fitted bodice. "Hmm...maybe it'd look better if I had a tail."
Dragaunus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you just have a hole in the rear end, and that's hardly
flattering."
Missie rolled her eyes, and crossed the room to a large mirror. She looked at herself critcally, and Dragaunus finally
walked over, trying to see what the problem was. "What is it?" He dememanded.
"I don't know..." Missie said slowly. "I look like someone I recognise from a long time ago. I can't remember who,
though."
"How long ago?" Dragaunus finally asked, almost hesitantly.
"Oh, about 15 years or so," she said with a shake of her head. "On Earth. You certainly wouldn't have heard of her."
"No," he agreed. "But history might. C'mere." He led her towards a large cupbord across the room, and pointed to the
top, where several books sat, dusty and untouched. "Can you reach that big black one?"
Missie reached up easily, and pulled down the heavy book. "This it?"
"Yes, that's the one. Here." he watched across the room and tried to pull himself up onto a settee that sat resdeplendent
against the wall. Missie set the book down, and carefully picked him up and set him on the seat. He grimaced, as if he
wanted to snap at her, but kept quiet. She sat down beside him, and opened the heavy cover.
She looked with surprise at the first page, and her finger traced the deep red that stained the page. "Is this-is this
blood?" She managed.
Dragaunus shrugged. "Oh, I suppose so." he began to turn pages. "Look, history of the Saurian empire. Bet you never
read back this far, huh?"
Missie gave him a sideways look. It seemed that childish behaviour and speech was permeating his former iron-
clad wall.
She shook the thought aside, however, and turned to the book. Carefully coulored and painted pictures graced the
pages, pictures of long-dead Saurians. Suddenly, Dragaunus stuck a claw between two of the pages, and held them open. "Will
you look at that!" he cried.
Missie's emerald eyes widened. The picture she was staring at looked scarily like herself, wearing a blue dress almost
identical to her own. The only difference was that the figure was a Saurian with black hair, and her dress was warmer looking, with much
more fur, as if she lived in a colder climate.
"Who is she?" she finally asked.
Dragaunus scanned the page that accompanied her. "It says she was a leader in the Saurian revolution."
"The Saurian Revolution?!?" Missie repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah, some decided they didn't like the rule of the Overlords, and they revolted against it. They still live in the
mountians, fighting the rule in secret ways, from what I hear."
"Really?" Missie gasped.
"Oh yeah," Draguanus said flippently. "Here. Her name is Calaya dan Calin."
"How long ago was this? Missie demanded.
"Oh, this was written 20 years or so ago, but she suppossedly existed hundreds of years ago, and this was just written recently. She was an interesting Saurian legend, really. It says here that it was believed that she
could change time so she could skip around in time. No one knows how she did it-she refused to tell."
"Hmm." Missie wrinkled her brow. "Odd. It almost sounds like she was a Guardian."
Dragaunus laughed. "As if! She was a Saurian! Not a Guardian."
She sighed deeply. "I disagree with you, Dragaunus."
Draguanus sniffed. "Who cares? I'm the Overlord."
She drew herself up angrily. "Maybe I should have left you to Seige, little brat!"
Dragaunas was angry, very much so. "Why you..."
Suddenly he was interrupted by a line of light appearing across the room, and a Saurian shape stepped sideways out of
it. She turned, and they found themselves staring directly at the image from the book. Calaya stepped forward, and took
Dragaunus' hand. He looked at her in surprise, but Calaya just smiled. "Greetings to you, my child."
Dragaunus' eyebrows raised. "Why are you calling me that? I'm not your descendent!"
Calaya smiled slightly. "Oh, no, you aren't, but you're closely involved in a relationship with one of my descendents." She smiled. "Perhaps you remember Duçula?"
His eyes widened. "She's my consort!"
Her smile widened. "And my grandaughter." She frowned slightly, looking him up and down.
"But you seem a good deal younger than I remember."
Dragaunus scowled, and swung his feet. "Not my fault," he said petulently.
Calaya raised an eyebrow. "I see. It looks like child-like behaviour has affected you yet again, Dragaunus. Now, I'd be
willing to let you go back in time to prevent this...embarressing incident, but..."
"But what?" Dragaunus demanded, like a demanding child.
"You have to promise that we in the mountians can start our own rule, a democray, with our own laws, not governed
by the Overlords."
"WHAT?!?" Dragaunus shrieked. "No WAY!!!!"
Calaya shrugged. "Fine with me, though you do realise your getting steadily younger, don't you?"
In horror, Dragaunus looked at himself. It was true-the sailor suit was far too large, and the shoes that had fit perfectly
a moment before looked comicly large. "Alright!" He cried. "Alright! You can have it! Just help me go back to normal!"
"Alright," Calaya said briskly. "Now, the most important part is to not let yourself see you. Understand?"
Missie and Dragaunus nodded.
"Here, we'll go to about 5 minutes before you captured Tanya. That should give you enough time to replace one of the
chemicals with coloured water, and hide. The second 'you' leave from here, you can come back. All clear?"
"Wait!" Missie said quickly. "Are you really a Guardian?"
"Yes," Calaya said with a smile. "I am. And Dragaunus-"
"Yes?"
"Say hello to my granddaughter for me."
He grinned toothily. "Can do."
***
"But I still want the elixer of Youth," Dragaunus complained quietly later, as they hid in his wardrobe, waiting for them
to 'leave'.
"Shh!" Missie hissed back. "I thought this would've taught you about the price of youth."
"Yeah, I..." Suddenly little toddler Dragaunus shot up in size, reaching his normal 8 foot height, making Missie get
shoved against the back wall.
"Watch it!" She gasped, rubbing her stomach where his knee had jabbed into it.
"Yes!" Draguanus roared, and threw the wardrobe doors open. He stretched, and cheered, "I feel amazing! Now, I
gotta figure out how to take back that deal with the rebels..." Then he marched out of the room.
Missie shook her head at his scheming. Seemed Dragaunus was back to his old self. She took off the dress, and folding
it neatly, put it back in the chest. Then she too headed outside.
***
Dragaunus stretched, relaxing in the swirling waters of his hot tub. He had to get back on that deal, but it might take awhile to think of some fool-proof plan. He looked up at a soft sound, and grinned at the sight of a white feathered, black haired duck sauntering into the room. She shed her robe, and slid beside him into the swirling waters. “So, my lord,” she purred. “It’s too bad your little plan for the Elixir of Youth didn’t work, but we can always try again, can we not?”
Dragaunus smiled, rubbing a claw under her chin. “Of course we can, my dear. By the way, ever heard of a Saurian named Calaya?”
She frowned slightly. “Can’t say I have.”
Dragaunus shrugged, even as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Well, she says hello anyway.”
***
Missie walked into her room, after having made sure Tanya was alright and none the worse for wear for her encounter
with the Saurians. She was fine, but as Missie strolled into her room, she stopped short. Lying on the bed was Dragaunus's
mother's blue dress, and the heavy black book that Calaya had been in.
She darted forward, and picked up the note lying on top. "'Thank you,'" she read aloud. "'You do more justice to this
than me, and I'm not likely to use it. As for the book, I never read. They're yours. Use them in good health, and I still
encourage you to consider quitting those feathered fowl.'" Missie snorted. "Yeah, and I happen to be a duck, Draggy."
Then she finished, "'Dragaunus, Saurian Overlord.'"
She shook her head, and flipped through the pages off the book. She opened to the page with Calaya, and finished
reading the passage about her. "'Calaya is also believed to be the only maker of a working Elixer of Youth'." Missie's jaw
dropped, and she burst out into peals of laughter. And as she laughed, she could swear that the picture of Calaya winked.
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