Deja Vu
"Babes, you're lookin' at the MASTER of love!" Nose Dive stated proudly. Promptly, Mallory dumped her beer on him.
"You wish, Twerp." She walked off into the other room to join Tanya, who had dumped her beer on Nose Dive only minutes before.
"Good job, Divester! Now you've scared both of the girls off," Wild Wing said moodily, throwing his hands into the air. Nose Dive ignored his brother and looked down at his wet clothes.
"Why'd they both have to be drinking beer? This is my favorite shirt, Man!"
"If you would quiet that annoying inner voice of yours that says "I'm Horny," perhaps you would end up wearing less beverages." Grin said calmly, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"You're just pissed because Tanya left without inviting you along to keep her company as she installed new virus definitions on Drake 1," Node Dive jaunted.
"Bite me," Grin replied darkly, attempting to meditate again. Wild Wing laughed.
"I might have to agree with the Divester on that one. Hey Duke, don't you think that-" Wild Wing paused and looked around the room, "Duke? Now where'd he disapear to?" Nose Dive shrugged his shoulders and yawned lazily.
"I didn't see him leave. Last time I remember seeing him was when you were talking about Jen." Wild Wing frowned--Jennifer was one of Wing's old girlfriends. The guys had been talking about their ex-lovers, but why would that offend Duke?
"It's not like him to just get up and leave like that without telling anyone," Wild Wing pondered outloud, stroking the mask on his face.
"His aura is clouded," Grin responded.
"No shit, Sherlock. Any one could tell that... so, what's my aura like Grinster?" Nose Dive's attention span wavered quickly.
"Goofy and loud."
"Sweet!" Wild Wing rolled his eyes.
"Finally Dive has something to be proud of. Later guys." Wild Wing walked into the elevator, leaving Grin and Nose Dive to plot an attack on the girls. He looked at the buttons on the elevator carefully.
"Where would you have gone, Duke?" he asked himself silently. Wild Wing'e eyes brightened as he quickly punched a button near the top.
Duke pushed a rock over the egde of the roof with his index finger glumly. Looking out at the horizon he sighed. "I hate my life." He muttered quietly.
"Do you mean that?" Wild Wing asked quietly. Duke looked over his shoulder to see Wild Wing standing behind him.
"Sometimes."
"Now?" Duke looked over the side of the building at the ground below.
"Yeah."
"Would you like to tell me why?" Duke shot a look at him, gracefully perching himself on the roof ledge. Wild Wing awkwardly sat down beside him moving slowly for fear of falling.
"Alright, dumb question. Will you tell me anyway?"
"Probably not." Duke replied coldly.
"Look, I'm really sorry if I offended you in any way back there... you know I didn't mean to."
"Offend me?" Duke strained to laugh, "No, no, you didn't offend me." Wild Wing relaxed with a sigh and leaned against the small roof ledge that separated them from the night sky.
"Good. I was kinda worried when you just got up and left; you don't normally do things like that." Shrugging, Duke picked up another small rock and began to play with it.
"Well, I didn't mean to worry you Wing. Sorry."
Wild Wing frowned and bit his lip. "I'm still worried. Come on Duke, what's wrong? I've never seen you this depressed before."
"You're really intent on getting it outta me, aren't you?" Duke said unhappily.
"Team leader, remember? It's my job."
"Yeah, I remember." Wild Wing put a hand on Duke's shoulder.
"So...?"
Duke sighed, defeated, "Alright fine. I'll be brief." Duke looked down at his hands. "I used to have a girlfriend and she died. You guys were talking about girlfriends and it reminded me of her, that's all. Okay? End of story." Duke tossed the rock off of the roof.
"You had a girlfriend?" Wild Wing asked gently. All of the ducks had dated at one point or another, even Duke. Wild Wing knew about that, but Duke had never mentioned a serious girlfriend before.
"What was she like?" Duke smiled faintly and closed his eyes.
"Perfect."
"You liked her a lot then?" Duke's smile immediately faded and he opened his eyes again.
"No, I loved her. And now she's gone... I'm going back inside." Duke quickly walked to the elevator, but Wild Wing pursued him. Wild Wing put a hand on the elevator door, not allowing Duke to step in.
"I'm sorry Duke. I shouldn't be prying so much... but, uh, if you don't mind telling me... how long ago was it?"
"About two weeks before you all showed up," Duke whispered quietly.
"The Saurians did it?"
"A fire." Duke continued, walking into the elevator. Wild Wing followed, listening with interest. "She was part of a small back up force that was going to be used if our mission failed. She, her little half-sister Amber, Canard, and I were out stealing supplies from a warehouse. The Saurians discovered us there and blew it up. Canard and I got out in time... she and her sister didn't."
"So, Canard knew her?"
"She was Canard's older cousin." Duke said softly.
"But Canard didn't have a cousin. Neither of his parents had any siblings." The elevator door opened and Duke stepped out.
"Canard was adopted; I'm talking about his real family."
"Adopted? But why didn't he tell me?" Duke turned to look at him as he reached his room.
"Ever thought that it might be a sensitive subject?"
Wild Wing sighed, "I'm being a jackass, aren't I?"
"No, it's okay. I'm just in a bad mood, that's all." Wild Wing looked at him carefully. Duke would slip into these dark moods on occaision being the loner on the team, so he generally worked it out on his own, but this was the worst that Wild Wing had ever seen Duke...
"Do you think about her a lot?"
"I try not to, but I dream about her." Duke murmured.
"How often?"
"Constantly."
"I'VE got a lovely bunch of coconuts, dee da lee dee, there they are all standing in a row, bum bum bum, BIG ones, SMALL ones, some as BIG AS YOUR HEAD!!!"
"Amber?"
"Oh, hi Mara. Didn't know you were awake."
"I wasn't. Why are you singing?"
"Because I'm feeling like a freak on a leeeeaaaaaassssshhhhh!" Amber sang, swinging her body as she danced around the air craft.
"I think the cabin fever's finally gotten to you." Mara said with a smile. Silently, she rested her head against the window. Amber walked over to Mara, her chipper mood immediately dissolved.
"What's wrong, Mara?"
"Oh nothing." she murmured quietly. Amber put her arms around Mara's elegant neck.
"You're my favorite sister," she said sweetly.
"Amber, you're wonderful." Mara kissed her on the forehead, "I'm fine really. Just thinking too hard, that's all." Mara's smile faded back into a frown as she leaned back against the window again.
"You were dreaming about Duke again, weren't you?" Amber asked gently. Mara closed her eyes. She didn't need to reply. "I'm so sorry Mara." Amber whispered.
"So am I." Mara replied softly.
"So," Amber said quickly, trying to distract Mara. "Where do you think we are?"
"Well, let's see... This is unchartered space we're in now. According to the readings of that odd energy trail left by that gateway portal the Saurians made...well," Mara paused looking at the screen. "This is it. This is where the dimensional gateway ended."
"So we've finally found the Saurians?"
"Yup, we found them, alright." Mara replied bitterly, clenching a fist.
"SWEEEEEEEEEET!" Amber yelled as she began to do a little victory dance around the cockpit.
"Oh Amber?" Mara said quietly. "Amber?" Mara repeated, this time louder and more agitated. Amber continued to dance around the cockpit, this time holding out her arms as if she had a partner. "AMBER!" Mara shouted.
Amber froze in the midst of a backbend then fell onto the ground.
"Yeah?"
"Look outside." Amber stared out the main window into the emptiness of space.
"This can't be right..."
"Well, now what? Shame there isn't an intergalactic gas station we could stop at for directions." Mara remarked sarcastically. "God, I can't even read a simple map. What a lousy way to die." Amber bit her lower lip before she sat in the pilot's seat. She put her hand on the gear control and closed her eyes, ignoring the letters and words that adorned the controls
"Wait a second," Amber said quietly, opening her eyes again. She slowly pulled the lever three notches to the side and turned the steering joystick to the left. Slowly, the aircraft turned 180 degrees. Amber held her breath in anticipation. A medium-sized, blue green planet moved into view. "I knew I should have installed rear-view mirrors on this thing," Amber said, trying to laugh. Mara patted her shoulder encouragingly, smiling at her.
"What a resourceful little sister I have." she beamed.
Amber smiled back at her sister and sighed, "Well, here goes nothing..."She quietly took the controls and the craft began its descent towards the land below.
Within twenty minutes, they'd entered Earth's atmosphere. "See any good place to land?"
"No, nowhere. There aren't any flat areas large enough, and I don't think we should risk landing in a public place."
"The natives may not be as friendly; remember landing on Corellia?" Amber murmured in agreement. "So, where to?"
"Your best bet's a small, sturdy building roof. I'll look around..." Right away, one building in particular showed up on the screen. "That's funny. I didn't even type in the command yet and the computer just pulled up an apartment building."
"Must be psychic. Does it look all right?"
"Yeah, perfect."
"Okay then, here goes."
Dragaunus glowered menacingly at his little rubber ducky.
"I despise ducks." He hissed, throwing the duck across the room. He jumped out of his bubble bath as he felt the Raptor shaking around him. "SIEGE!" He bellowed, pulling on his long, black robe. Siege ran into his leader's chamber, stopping to bow.
"Yes my lord?"
"Tell me Siege, does the Raptor normally shake?"
"Uh, no, my lord."
"And is it shaking now?" Dragaunus asked calmly.
"Yes, Sir. It appears to be shaking." Siege said, becoming a trifle nervous.
"WELL THEN, FIX IT DAMN YOU!" Dragaunus yelled. Siege scrambled out of the room. Dragaunus walked out of his bathroom slowly, muttering about his incompetent staff all the way to the bridge.
"Well? What is it?"
"Well Sir," Siege said nervously, looking at Wraith and Chameleon, "It would appear that a ship's just landed on us."
"Nice landing."
"Yes, thank you, thank you. Hold your applause, you can worship me later."
Mara smiled at Amber, "Cute. Think we should take a look?"
"Can we?"
"Well, according to this thing the air is breathable."
"Then let me the hell outta here!" Amber said enthusiastically. She hopped out of the pilot's seat and opened the hatch. Mara followed closely behind, somewhat more cautious. "Oh come on Mara! Don't be such a chicken!"
"What did you call me, you little troll?" Mara said with a smile. Amber giggled. Mara might've just been putting it on for her sake, but at least she appeared to be a little less depressed. Amber just hoped it would last... "Amber, did you hear something?" Mara asked, stalling inside the craft. Amber shook her head. With a shrug, Mara hopped out of the plane, "I must be going nuts."
"Wow, it's so warm out here." Amber said in amazement. "I love it."
"Well don't get used to it, Duck, 'cause you're not gonna be here long!" Mara and Amber turned around to find themselves facing Siege, Chameleon, Wraith, and five hunter drones.
"Shit," Amber growled. She and Mara ran underneath the plane, narrowly avoiding being shot.
"No wonder it showed up on radar... we landed right on top of the Raptor! Ugh, I'm such an idiot!" Mara hissed, pulling out her saber.
"What now?" asked Amber, loading her gun.
"I dunno about you, but eight against two isn't a comforting thought, and we're on their territory."
"So we'll run for it?"
"That's the basic idea." Mara responded, deflecting two laster bolts. Mara and Amber made a dash for the edge of the building. Dragaunus materialized before them, blocking their path.
"Suprise." he said with a toothy grin. Amber walked right up to him and held up her gun menancingly.
"Well, if it isn't the son of a bitch that took over our planet."
"Charmed, I'm sure. Surrender now and your deaths will be quick."
"Fat chance, Ugly." Mara said darkly.
"Come on, you really think you can scare us?" Amber challenged him.
"Amber, don't!" Mara said in horror. Amber ignored her boldly.
"Go on, take your best shot." Dragaunus lifted his hand to hit Amber hard enough to tear her head off, but Mara pulled her out of the way just in time. Recovering quickly from this unexpected move, Dragaunus brought his hand back around and struck Mara, sending her right into the side of the plane. She slid to the ground unconcious. "Mara!" Amber shrieked, dropping her gun and running to her sister. Siege grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms behind her back.
"Well hey, look who it is, Boss, the Runt!" Siege said with a smile. "Want me to toss her over the edge of the building?"
"No, not necessary." Dragaunus said thoughtfully, "She could be of some use to us." Chameleon jumped up and down gleefully, clapping his hands together.
"Oh goody! Do you mean she can come work for us again?"
"I'd rather die!" Amber yelled.
"Suits me," Siege said, hauling her small body over to the edge of the building.
"For the last time, no!" Dragaunus snapped. Turning to Amber, he smiled, "How ironic that we should meet you again, Van Drake."
"Ironic wasn't the word I was thinking of." Amber muttered heatedly. "More like unfortunate that I didn't blast off your head when I had the chance."
"I've got a job for you."
"And I've got two words for you: Fuck You!" Amber yelled, struggling against Siege. Walking over to Mara, Dragaunus pointed to one of his robots. The robot picked Mara up, slinging her over it's shoulder.
"You have very little choice if you wish to see your friend alive again." Dragaunus said spitefully. Amber closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
"All right," she whispered, "What do you want me to do?"
"You are simply to find the Mighty Ducks and bring them here to me. If they are not here in two hours then the girl dies. Is that understood?"
"But where am I-" Amber began to protest, but the saurians teleported away, leaving Amber alone on the roof. "Wonderful." she murmured, "Where the fuck am I supposed to find the Mighty Ducks?" Amber looked over the side of the building gazing out at the city. The Mighty Ducks could be anywhere. Amber held her breath for a moment before leaping off theedge...
"I'm really sorry, Duke. Isn't there anything I could do to cheer you up?" Duke smiled weakly, shaking his head no. "Hey, come on... Nose Dive's been on my back for a while to do this, so how about I fly us to Nicola's Pizzeria in New Jersey, my treat!" Duke threw his hands up in the air in defeat.
"Alright, fine, you got me! That's some great pizza."
Amber stared up at the large sign, rubbing the back of her head in pain. She brought her hand to her face and examined it.
"Great." she muttered, "Blood." Amber sullenly decided that from now on she'd have to get used to the gravity of a planet before she started trying to hop from rooftop to rooftop. She had fallen and although she hadn't seriously hurt herself, Amber's face was still red with embarassment from injuring herself on what should have been a very easy jump... well, easy according to Jake. Jake was always right and Amber had never hurt herself before doing something like that; she hadn't even recieved a scratch until today. The injury wasn't too serious, at least she didn't think it was, but she was feeling a bit dizzy and the longer she was walking around the worse it would get...and she was running out of time. 'If Jake was here, none of this would ever happened,' she thought sadly. Giving up on making out what the sign said, she quickly walked into the square and up to a duck with no beak. "Excuse me, have you or anyone seen the 'Mighty Ducks'?"
Thrash played the cash register like a drum set as he sang, "I'm a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude, we're all dudes, hey! I'm a dude, he's a-"
"Hey Thrash!" Mookie said, staring out the window as she played with her tongue piercing. "Come look at this." Thrash walked over to the window and looked at what Mookie pointed to: a huge crowd of people gathered around a duck, who was trying without sucess to run away.
"Dude, that poor duck's drowning in like, this massive wave of humanity, Man!" Thrash exclaimed.
"We totally have to save 'em!" Mookie said, pulling two large squirt guns out from underneath the cash register.
"Right, Dude. Thrash and Mook to the rescue!" Thrash yelled as they both ran outside.
Amber was huddled on the ground covering her face, hoping the crowd would disappear. As soon as she walked in, this huge crowd of deformed beings began to form around her, asking for autographs, pictures and other things like that. She just couldn't understand it. Amber looked up as she realized the crowd was running away. They were being sprayed with thick white goo by two of the strangest looking creatures she'd ever seen. Mook walked over and helped her up.
"Hey, are you, like, okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, you were totally being opressed by those fans, Man."
"Fans?" Amber asked, "Of what?"
"Tcha! They like totally thought you were a Mighty Duck. They happen to be friends of ours."
"You know the Mighty Ducks?" Amber asked eagerly, "I need to see them! Can you take me to them?" Thrash nodded, putting his squirt gun down.
"No problem, duck babe. Follow me.".
After a few minutes Amber looked at them and said, "Hey, thanks for bailing me out back there, I appreciate it. My name's Amber, who are you two?"
Mookie smiled at her, "We're like always happy to help out. I'm Mookie, and this is Thrash. He's my bitch." Thash waved at her.
"So like, how did you get here? Puckworld's kinda far to come for a vacation." Thrash shook his bright orange mullet as he walked beside her.
"We were sucked into a dimensional gateway while following the Saurians in an attempt to blow their asses right outta the universe," Amber explained casually.
"Dude, this duck babe is cool as hell!" Thrash said happily. Mookie looked at her with concern.
"Are you okay? You are like, totally swaying on your feet."
"I think so, just a small bump on the head, that's all." She said, ignoring the dry feeling in her mouth.
"Well, here we are." Thrash said. Amber looked up at the structure then a picture of a Duck with a hockey stick.
"A hockey team?" she finally put together. "I was sent out to find a fucking hockey team?!"
"Chill duck babe." Thrash said, "They're also heroic crime fighters here to save the planet from the evil Saurians." Amber sighed hoping this wasn't as bad as it was beginning to look. To make matters worse, her vision was becomming blurry.
"Okay, thanks for all your help." Thrash and Mookie said their goodbyes and left Amber to go find the Mighty Ducks. She cautiously walked through the double doors and looked around her for the arena.
Mallory stretched and yawned. Things were so peaceful without Nose Dive around. Just then, Drake One went off.
"Dammit." Mallory muttered under her breath. Tanya peered into Drake 1's screen.
"Hey Mallory, we've got a visitor."
"What a time for Wild Wing to be out getting pizza." She said with a sigh. As second in command it was her job to take control when Wild Wing wasn't around, but she really wasn't sure she was the right one for the job. Mallory always looked to Wild Wing for support, logical thinking and that strange wisdom she had come to depend upon. 'Not to menion that cute ass of his.' Mallory thought with a smile. They had dated a while ago, but she quickly put an end to that when things got awkward between them. Still, it did no harm to look... and he sure was nice to look at.
"Can you show us who it is?" Mallory asked Tanya. Tanya nodded and the screen lit up. Mallory gasped as she saw a duck lying unconcious on the ice. "A duck! Come on Grin, let's check it out. Tanya you stay here and watch... keep the alarm system up until I give you the okay. It may be the Chameleon." Tanya nodded, turning to watch the screen. About twenty minutes later Grin and Mallory had returned with the girl and set her down on a bed in the med lab. By now they were pretty sure it wasn't Chameleon, but without the mask they had no way of knowing for sure so all three of them had their guard up. After a careful examination, Tanya had determined that the girl was fine. She'd cut the back of her head...it was bleeding quite a bit, as most head wounds do, but Tanya put a small bandage around her head and hoped it'd be just fine in a few hours. She had probably passed out from heat exhaustion, which is perfectly understandable if she'd come from Puckworld.
"Well, what now?" Grin asked calmly.
Mallory sighed, "I dunno what to do except wait for her to wake up." They had called Wild Wing, and the rest of the team was on their way.
"Ooooow," The girl moaned unhappily, beginning to regain conciousness as she rolled on her side and squeezed her eyes shut. "I got a boo boo."
Grin looked up, "Wow. She must've hit her head pretty hard." Amber slowly opened her eyes and squinted as her eyes began to focus on Tanya.
Tanya smiled at her, "Hello."
Amber screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Calm down, short one, we mean you no harm." Grin said tranquilly.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Amber yelled, sitting upright and patting the side of her jumpsuit frantically looking for her gun.
"We're the Mighty Ducks." Mallory replied, "Who the hell are you?" Amber looked around.
"The Mighty Ducks? You? I NEED YOUR HELP!" Amber immediately leapt to her feet and grabbed Mallory's hand.
"Just relax!" Tanya said, "You got a bump on the head, you need to take it easy."
"You don't understand, I'm in real trouble! The Saurians got my sister, well half-sister but who's counting anyway, and they said if I didn't find the 'Mighty Ducks' and bring you guys to them in two hours they'd kill her." Mallory bit her lip, this was beginning to remind her a bit of Lucretia DeCoy. She looked over at Tanya and knew that she was thinking the same thing; how could they trust her?
Just then, Wild Wing made a timely entrance. "So where is-" he paused and looked at the small, brown haired girl, standing upright and grabbing Mallory's hand for dear life. Wild Wing stared at her for a moment, hundreds of thoughts racing through his head... strange ones.
"Wild Wing?" Mallory asked, "You okay?" Wild Wing quickly snapped out of it.
"Uh, yeah...sure." he scanned her quickly with the mask. "Well, she's a duck."
"We're wasting time." Amber said impatiently. "Can you help me or not?" Wild Wing glanced at her questioningly. Mallory quickly filled him in with the story.
"I see." He sighed, rubbing his neck. This was a tough descision. They'd been taken in by a trick just like this before, and he wasn't anxious to go through all that again. Even if she was telling the truth, it meant that the Saurians would be expecting them and whatever they had in store would probably be very unpleasant. On the other hand, he couldn't very well leave a fellow duck to die, could he? Wild Wing pushed that thought to the back of his mind and decided that the first thing they had to do was find out if she was telling the truth or not. It was then that Nose Dive and Duke walked into the room.Amber looked at Duke and went pale.
"It...it can't be." She said in shock, "He's dead!" Amber scrambled away from Mallory, not taking her eyes away from Duke. "YOU'RE DEAD!!!" She shrieked, crawling under the bed. Duke stood staring at Amber, speechless, while the others desperately tried to get her out from under the bed. Finally, Grin lifted the bed up allowing Wild Wing and Nose Dive to pull Amber, who was still kicking and yelling, to her feet. Now it was Nose Dive's turn to stare at this stranger with eerie yellow eyes.
"He's not a ghost," Wild Wing explained, trying to calm her down. "We can all see him, right guys?" Everyone nodded. Amber stopped struggling and looked over at him.
"Duke, you're alive? It's really you?" Duke nodded slowly. Amber ran over to him and tackled him, hugging Duke. "I don't believe it, it's really you! Oh Duke, I missed you so much! How did you survive? We thought you were dead!"
"Hello Shortstuff." Duke whispered hoarsely. Amber rambled but Duke wasn't paying much attention anymore. He looked up at Wild Wing, and mouthed the word 'Amber'. Wild Wing went pale, recognizing the name from Duke's story. By now Duke had managed to stand up. "Amber, Amber, slow down, Shortstuff. What are you doing here?"
"Well, we followed Canard. I know he told us not to, but after all, we thought you were dead, and you guys might need help, so we..."
Duke cut her off, "Did you say 'we'?" Amber nodded eagerly.
"That's right, Mara and I." Duke pulled away from her, a pained expression on his face. Amber paused, realizing what had upset him. "Oh Duke...you must've thought we were dead." Duke turned away from her. Amber persisted, walking over to him, "But don't be upset! I'm alive, see? So's Mara, but the Saurians took her! We have to save her!" Duke turned back to her slowly.
"I assumed you were dead too when we couldn't find you; that was stupid of me. I'm glad you're alive Shortstuff, but Amber, Honey, Mara's dead, we saw her die." Amber shook her head defiantly.
"No she's not! She took me out of the building after Siege through some sulfic chemical in my face... my eyes..." Amber paused and closed her eyes before starting over again, "She came here with me! I was with her! What, do you think I hallucinated her?!" The ducks all looked at each other.
"Well, you did hit your head you know." Tanya said gently, "It's perfectly normal for people to imagine things when that happens...especially if they have heat exhaustion."
"But...but she's been with me for months!" Amber said, beginning to get upset.
"Or at least you think she has." Mallory said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No, I know she's alive." Amber murmured softly, trying to convince herself that it was true. Amber looked up, now talking more forcefully, "If she isn't then what about the Saurians?! How did they kidnap her if she was dead? I suppose you're gonna tell me I imagined that, too?" Everyone nodded. Amber looked around, pleading with them, "But...I can prove it! I know where they are! I can lead you to them, that's what they wanted anyway. I'll bring you there and if the Saurians are still there then you'll know it's all true and if not..." Amber paused, "Well, that won't happen because I KNOW they're there!" Wild Wing sighed.
"Okay, fine. We'll check it out. Everyone, to the Migrator!" Everyone ran out leaving Duke, Wild Wing, and Amber alone. "Duke," Wild wing said gently, "I'll understand if you want to stay here." Duke shook his head.
"No...I have to know." he said, his voice much lower than usual. "Come on, Shortstuff." he said quietly, "Let's go."
Amber nodded, "You'll see Duke, I'm right...I'm always right, you know that." The three walked out to join the others.
"There." Amber said, rising from her seat to point at the building, "That's the one. Funny, they moved our plane." Wild Wing stood up and scanned the building. He looked down at the control panel.
"I'm sorry Amber. It's just a normal building." Duke closed his eyes and brought a hand to his face. Shaking her head in disbelief, Amber turned to look at Wild Wing.
"No, it can't be...I know it was there! Try it again, maybe you scanned it wrong!"
Wild Wing scanned it again and sighed, "It's no use. Nothing."
"No..." Amber whispered.
"Come on." Wild Wing said quietly, "Let's go home."
"Wait a minute." said Grin, pointing to a large piece of metal in the middle of the street, "What's that?"
Tanya peered at it through the window, "It looks like an engine... one from a Skybird." Everyone looked up.
"What would an engine be doing lying in the middle of the street?" Wild Wing asked thoughtfully.
Mallory jumped in, "Those things weigh a ton, it would've taken a truck to move it that far."
"Or a Saurian." Duke said, his eyes lighting up. Just then, the Migrator was rocked by a large laser bolt.
"Where the fuck did that come from?!" Wild Wing exclaimed.
Nose Dive pointed across the street, "Right there, Man." The ducks looked up to see the Raptor.
"They must have moved it to take us by suprise!" Wild Wing yelled. "Baby Bro, put the shield up!" Nose Dive quickly punched a button and the next shot was deflected.
"Good thing I just fixed that." Tanya said with a smile.
"We'll go through the side entrance." Wild Wing said, unbuckling his seat belt. The ducks jumped out and ran to a small vent on the side of the Raptor.
"Good thing the Saurians don't know about this yet." Mallory said with a smile.
"Enlightenment comes slowly to those with small minds." Grin replied. Amber looked up at him.
"Is this guy addicted to sedatives or something?" Duke looked over at her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he yelled.
"What's it look like?!" Amber shouted back.
"Oh no way, Shortstuff. You're injured. Go find cover!" Amber folded her arms, refusing to leave. "Go on, Wild Wing, tell her!" Duke said.
Wild Wing nodded, "I'm sorry Amber, but you're unarmed. We can't risk-"
"I'm the crazy one, remember?" Amber grinned, pulling a spare blaster out of Wild Wing's belt holster.
Mallory smiled, "She's got spirit. Come on, what the fuck? Couldn't hurt."
Wild Wing sighed, "Fine. But we're all gonna be keeping an eye on you, got that? So don't try any heroics."
Amber nodded eagerly and turned to Mallory, "Hey, thanks."
"I figure I owe you that much for calling you nuts. Mallory McMalard." Amber shook her hand.
"No harm done. I'm Amber."
"Cut the talk." Wild Wing said, "We're going in."
Mara woke to find herself chained to a wall. Her vision blurred as she raised her head.
"Where..." Mara looked down and saw Chameleon smiling up at her. "Oh yeah, I remember." Mara murmured.
"Good morning, you stinkin' duck." Siege growled.
"Hello, you ugly lizard." Mara responded. Chameleon jumped up and down, clapping his hands.
"Goody! You can talk! We were a little worried you wouldn't wake up in time to play with us. Our Lord Dragaunus really packs a punch, don't he?"
She glared at Chameleon, "What am I doing here? What do you want with me?"
"Bait." Siege said curtly. Mara sighed, resting her head gingerly against the cold metal wall.
"Wonderful."
"Any second now the Mighty Ducks are gonna come charging through the front door to rescue you, and when they do they'll be met by twenty of our hunter drones." Siege said with an evil laugh, "What do you think of that, Girlie?"
"I think I prefer 'you stinkin' duck' to 'Girlie'." Mara muttered sarcastically. Siege opened up his communicator as Dragaunus called him.
"You morons!" Dragaunus yelled, "Thanks to your stupidity the ducks have managed to sneak in through a secret entrance. Go kill them!"
"Uh, yes my Lord." Siege said quickly, shutting off his communicator.
"Oh yeah." Mara said with a smile, "I'm worried alright."
"Shut up, you stupid duck!" Siege yelled, "Come on, Chameleon." Chameleon morphed to look just like Mara and smiled.
"Let's see what those ducks think of this." he said in Mara's voice.
Mara frowned, "Whoever said imitation was the sincerest form of flattery was a lying bastard." She murmured, watching Chameleon and Siege run out.
"Man, this place wreaks of lizards. We really outta buy these guys some Pine Sol." Nose Dive whined.
"We've got other things to worry about right now, Baby Bro," Wild Wing whispered.
"Come out, come out wherever you are." they heard Siege call to them, "If you show yourselves right now I promise your deaths will be quick." The ducks remained silent. "Alright, let's try a different approach." he growled, "Come out right now or say goodbye to the girl." Duke froze as he heard Mara's voice cry out to them.
"Help! Please, help me!" Without thinking, Duke tried to run out. Grin barely managed to hold him back.
"You'd better show yourselves right now or I'll shoot her." Siege continued.
Wild Wing shook his head, "We have no choice." The ducks walked out to see Siege grinning at them. He held Mara by the arm, his blaster pointed right at her head.
"That's better. Now put down your weapons." The ducks began to put down their weapons, but Duke stopped them.
"Wait." he said quickly. Duke looked over at Mara and pulled out his blaster.
"What are you doing?" Siege growled, "I said put them down or I'll kill her!"
"Allow me." Duke replied, shooting the gun right at Mara. She shrieked and quickly ducked out of they way. "It isn't her." Duke said softly. Sure enough, Mara morphed back into Chameleon.
"Now what'd ya go and do that for?" he whined, "You spoiled all my fun."
"Get used to it." Amber yelled, opening fire on them. The rest of the ducks followed suit. Wild Wing looked over at Duke.
"How'd you know it wasn't her?" he asked.
Duke smiled slightly, "Let's just say she ain't the hostage type." Wild Wing shook his head.
"You sure do have funny taste in women." Wild Wing said with a smile. On the other side of the room, Nose Dive was desperately trying to talk to Amber.
"So, do you go to shoot-outs often?" he asked casually. Unfortunately, Amber was too busy to even take notice of him. Nose Dive gave up and went back to firing on the Saurians. Just then, Dragaunus materialized behind Amber.
"Suprise." he snarled, lifting her up into the air. Dragaunus quickly took her gun from her and crushed it with one hand.
"He must be a real big hit at parties." Nose Dive said absent mindedly. Everyone put down their guns. Amber looked over at Wild Wing and Duke.
"I didn't do it, I swear! He sneaked up on me!" she wailed. Duke nodded calmly.
"It's okay Honey, we know."
"Okay?" Dragaunus snorted with a laugh, "Everything is far from okay for you ducks. I've finally won!" He yelled triumphantly.
"Not on your life." Dragaunus turned around to address the voice that had challenged him. Mara stood defiantly in the open doorway, her puck launcher pointed right at Dragaunus' head.
"I don't understand!" Siege sputtered, "We had her locked up!"
"Put my sister down." Mara demanded.
"You're forgetting that I could kill her instantly." Dragaunus replied, holding Amber even higher in the air. Mara raised an eyebrow at him.
"Would you care to compare the speed of a gun to that of a fist?" she said calmly. Dragaunus hesitated, giving Mara just enough time to shoot his hand. Dragaunus let go of Amber in pain, letting her drop to the floor as he grasped his injured hand. Wild Wing grabbed Amber and pulled her to safety, but not before she managed to shoot Dragaunus in the foot with a nearby gun. He hopped up and down on his good foot, howling in pain.
"That's for my gun!" she yelled.
Wild Wing looked over at her and smiled in admiration, "You know, you're some girl." Amber blushed slightly in reply. She gazed at him for a moment and silently wondered what he looked like without that mask on.
By now the Saurians had retreated to another part of the Raptor to regroup. The ducks looked over at Mara who held onto the doorway to help her stand. She turned to look at them, suddenly seeing Duke. Her eyes widened.
"Duke..." Mara passed out, falling to the floor. Duke quickly ran over and lifted her up in his arms.
"Mara? Can you hear me?" He shook her gently, desperately trying to wake her. "Mara...wake up. Oh please, tell me she isn't..." he brought a hand to her neck and took her pulse. Duke sank to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. "She's alive." he murmured.
"Dude," Nose Dive said to Wild Wing, "Never seen Duke so worried...they must be close."
Wild Wing smiled slightly, "Guess so."
The rest of the ducks checked their weapons.
"Out of ammo." Tanya said.
"I sense bad vibes heading this way." Grin retorted.
"Well, let's not stick around and find out what's making them." Wing replied quickly, "Come on, let's get outta here." Duke picked Mara up and carried her out right behind the rest of the ducks.
Once in the Migrator, Tanya pulled out her omnitool.
"Here Duke, put her down here." Duke obediantly set Mara down in a chair. Tanya kneeled in front of her and began to examine her. Duke stood by and watched nervously.
"Well? Is she okay?" he asked insistently.
Tanya smiled slightly, "Calm down, Duke."
"So it isn't serious?" he persisted.
Wild Wing laughed a little, "Duke, relax, she'll be fine. Come sit down." Duke remained standing, looking down at Mara anxiously. Amber got up and took Duke by the hand, pulling him away.
"C'mon Duke, sit by me." she said, smiling up at him. "Hell, she's blood related to me and I'm not as worried as you are." Duke smiled at her weakly, sitting down.
"Well you didn't think she was dead for the past year." he said good naturedly, glancing back at Mara. Amber leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Didn't I tell you I was always right?" she chided him.
"You wish, Shortstuff." he laughed, messing up her hair. Yelling out obscenities at him, Amber elbowed Duke right in the ribs, threatening to kill him if he ever touched her again. Mallory watched them with amusement...she could tell that he really cared a lot about her. They acted a lot like brother and sister. Tanya got up and walked over to her seat.
"Well, it's a slight concussion, nothing at all serious. Not nearly as bad as that time Nose Dive was out..."
Nose Dive looked up, "I had the coolest dreams then!" he said eagerly.
"... still, I'm not sure when she'll be up." Seeing that Duke had begun to panic, she quickly added in, "It's not too serious." Duke got up and walked over to Mara, resolved to watch over her for the rest of the ride.
"Perhaps if she meditated she'd feel better." Grin said.
"Meditate? You meditate?" Amber asked.
"Are you kidding?" Tanya said with a sarcastic smile, "That's just about all he does."
Looking him up and down, Amber jumped up suddenly. "I bet I could take you down." she said eagerly. Duke rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to Amber.
"Oh gimmie a break! A light breeze would knock you over!"
"C'mon, Punk!" Amber exclaimed happily, "I'm gonna open up a can of whoop-ass on you!" Grin stood up and looked down at her, which was a long way to look considering how short Amber was. He lifted her and and began to cram her into the missile silo. Amber yelled and wriggled about as Grin said soothing things to her.
"Calm yourself, one who is short of stature...consider this a spiritual journey...it won't hurt...much."
Wild Wing smiled with satisfacton, "You know, I really think she's starting to fit in."
By the time they had reached the Pond, Mallory and Tanya had managed to extract Amber from the missile silo.
"Dude, that kicked ass!" she exclaimed, looking at Grin. "You rock my world, Man." Grin nodded.
"Yes, for some reason women say that to me all the time." Everyone laughed. Duke walked out of the Migrator carrying Mara. Amber looked down at her, her face showing some concern.
"She's been out for an awful long time."
"Perfectly natural when you have a concussion, don't worry." Tanya said kindly. Duke walked out of the garage and into the hallway with her.
"Hey!" Amber yelped, running after him, "Where are you taking her?!"
"The medlab." Duke said with a smile, "Where'd you think?" Amber shrugged, giving him an evil grin.
"Oh, I dunno... your room." Everyone around him laughed, causing Duke to blush. He glared at her playfully.
"You're lucky my hands are full, Troll."
"Hey, Mara called me a troll today too...what, do I somehow resemble like a troll? Do I really look like a troll? What is this, some sort of practical joke on me?" Duke walked down the hallway with Mara while Amber trailed behind, blabbing on and on. The rest of the ducks in turn followed behind her.
A half hour later in the medlab...
"...I ain't playin' with you Duke, gimmie an answer! Do I or do I not look like a troll!" Amber yelled. Duke turned to look at her.
"Yes." he said curtly.
"Finally, THANK you!" Amber said, sitting down. After a moment, she looked up, "Hey wait a minute, yes I do look like one, or yes I don't?" Duke turned back to Mara, ignoring Amber. Wild Wing walked in and looked over at Duke, slightly worried.
"You know Duke, you've had a lot of emotional trauma today, maybe you should go to your room and rest for a bit. You look kinda beat."
Duke shook his head, "I have to be here when she wakes up."
Wild Wing nodded, "Yeah, that's what I thought." Mara moaned in her sleep, turning to lie flat on her back.
"Hey Tanya, I think our patient's waking up." Wild Wing said, talking into his communicator.
"Oh good, I'll be right there!" Tanya said cheerfully. Sure enough, two minutes later Tanya walked in with the rest of the ducks following her.
Wild Wing looked up at them all, "What's this?"
"Dude, we wanna meet the new chick too." Nose Dive said enthusiastically. Amber sat down on Mara's bed, positioning herself so that she was right in her face. Slowly, Mara's eyes fluttered open. She managed to focus on Amber's face for a moment, and as soon as she did so, Mara shut her eyes again.
"Hello Amber." she murmured.
"Open your eyes, Mara." Amber insisted eagerly.
"No!" Mara moaned, "Everything's all blurry." She brought a hand to her head, keeping her eyes closed. "Oh Amber, I had the strangest dream...we found the Saurians! They were on this odd little planet; sort of like ours only warmer. Anyway, we were fighting them, you and I, and I got this head injury..." she rubbed her neck gingerly, "Come to think of it, I've got a really big headache right now...must be why I dreamed of it."
Amber smiled, "You weren't dreaming Mara. We're on a planet called Earth."
"If you're going to tease me you could at least think up a more original name than that, Hun." Mara said, half in jest.
"Mara, I'm serious! Open your eyes." Mara shook her head and immeadiately felt sorry for it. She inhaled sharply.
"This...isn't a headache, is it?"
"No."
"We're not on the Sky Bird?"
"No."
"A Saurian really threw me into the side of a ship?"
"Yes." Mara tried to sit up, but Grin held her down.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tanya said, "You might have gotten a concussion." Mara opened her eyes and tried to look at Tanya, but everything was so fuzzy that she couldn't quite distinguish her from her surroundings.
"A concussion? Wonderful. Who are you?"
"My name's Tanya."
"And I'm Wild Wing." Wing added in, walking into Mara's field of vision as everything began to get clearer. "I'm the team captain of the Mighty Ducks. We're a professional hockey team and on the side we battle the Saurians in their evil conquest for the planet."
"Very rude of them considering that they haven't finished with ours yet. Nice to meet you, I'm Mara Jade."
Wild Wing turned to Amber, "Well, she's more polite than you."
Amber glared at him, "Bite me, Choir boy!" She turned back to Mara, "It's really cool here Mara, they've got all sorts of gizmos and shit." Mara rubbed her eyes, finally able to focus enough so that Amber was only a little fuzzy. She noticed for the first time that Amber had a bandage on her head.
"Your head! What happened, are you okay?" she asked anxiously, trying to sit up. Grin held her down again. "Peace." he said calmly, "The small one simply tripped and fell, that's all." Mara slowly turned her head enough to look up at him.
"Wow...aren't you a big boy." Everyone laughed.
"I am Grin."
"I'm sure you are." she said slowly. Mara turned back to Amber, "What have they got that guy on?"
Amber shrugged, "Dunno. I've been trying to figure it out since I got here."
"So you guys rescued me?" Mara asked. Mallory nodded, "That's right."
"Thanks." Mara murmured, her smile fading.
"What's wrong?" Amber asked.
"Nothing...I must have been hallucinating." Mara murmured sotfly, suddenly looking quite depressed, "It's just...I could've sworn that I saw..." she sighed, "Nevermind. It doesn't matter." Amber smiled slightly, suddenly realizing that she hadn't seen Duke yet. Amber looked over at him. Duke was sitting by Mara's side, just out of her field of vision. He sat on the edge of his seat staring at her in an amazed silence. Amber guessed he was still having trouble believing she was alive. She didn't really blame him...hell, it still felt strange to Amber seeing Duke sitting there beside Mara. She looked up at the others.
"Any of you got a stop watch?" she asked. Tanya handed her one.
"Here. Why?"
Amber smiled, "You'll see." She turned back to Mara. "Who do you think you saw?"
"Duke." Mara murmured quietly.
"Well, you weren't hallucinating." Mara looked at her in disbelief.
"Amber, I saw him die."
"So? He saw you die too and here you are."
Mara stared at her, "No...I don't believe it."
"Hello Mara." Duke said softly. Mara turned her head slowly and looked up at him, her eyes widening.
"Duke?"
"Did you miss me?" he asked with a smile. Mara wrapped her arms around Duke's neck as he leaned down and kissed her slowly. Amber started the stop watch, giggling. The rest of the ducks watched in shock with the exception of Wild Wing who sat back in his chair, smiling.
Mallory looked over at him, "You mean...Are she-and he-I mean, are they-" They all looked back and watched their passionate kiss.
"I think that's a yes." Tanya giggled. Everyone smiled, watching them with interest.
"Damn..." Dive said in awe, "how long can they go on for?"
"Three minutes so far." Amber said, not looking up from her stop watch, "But when they realize we're still in the room they'll stop." Sure enough about a minute later Duke came to his senses. By now he'd raised Mara to a sitting position. Duke sat directly behind her facing the others in order to give her back support. Mara leaned back on him, gingerly resting her head aginst him.
"Hi guys." Duke muttered, slightly embarassed.
"Something you want to tell us, Duke?" Tanya asked with a smile. He blushed slightly.
"Guys, I'd like you to meet Mara Jade...my girlfriend." Mara smiled at them all. Amber jumped on the bed and hugged them both.
"I missed seeing you two together." she said happily. Mara went pale, supressing a yelp of pain. Sensing that she'd been hurt, Duke rubbed her arm. Mara smiled up at him reassuringly, indicating that she was alright.
"Hey Shortstuff, be careful. Mara's a little delicate right now."
Amber frowned, "Sorry."
Mara looked at her happily, "No harm done...how's your head, Honey?"
"Oh, just fine...doesn't hurt at all." Amber replied, lying through her teeth. Her head was throbbing, but there was no need to worry Mara by telling her that. Besides, she looked like she had other things on her mind just then. By now the rest of the ducks were huddled together discussing what to do with their new arrivals leaving Mara and Duke by themselves to talk. They spoke together in low voices only audible to each other, but Amber could guess the basic gist of it by their body language. Duke stroked her hair gently, letting Mara take his other hand in hers. He reached down and softly kissed her forehead.
"Awwww." Amber said sweetly. Mara blushed and glared at her. "You know, you two really need to get over this fear of public displays of affection you have."
"Oh, we'll work on it." Mara said, smiling up at Duke. The rest of the ducks turned around.
"Alright, we've had a meeting, and have decided that we would be honored if you two would join the Mighty Ducks." Wild Wing said with a smile. Amber looked over at Mara and then back at the ducks.
"One condition." Amber said.
"Yes?"
"I don't suppose you'd consider changing the name, would you?" Everyone laughed.
"Sorry." Tanya said, "We didn't make it up...our manager did."
"Manager?" Amber asked. Phil burst into the room.
"Traitors! Ingrates! How could you do this to me?! After all I've done for you!"
"Something wrong Phil?" Grin asked.
"Well you outta know! Don't you remember?! You had a photoshoot today! You were supposed to pose for the Wok and Eggroll Chinese restaurant."
"We already TOLD you, Phil, they serve duck...we don't pose for any establishment that fries our distant cousins! That's cannibalism, Dude!" Nose Dive explained calmly. Phil folded his arms turning his back to the ducks. "Well, I'm sorry, but I feel betrayed!" He paused and looked up, seeing Mara and Amber for the first time. "I don't believe it...NEW DUCKS!!!" He ran over to Wild Wing and hugged him. "Oh, Boobulas! What would I ever do without you?! You brought me new ducks?! Just THINK of the publicity! The MERCHANDISING! You're all forgiven for stabbing me in the back, by the way...I need to get started and write up a contract for these two lovely young ladies! And just think...the numbers are even now; four boys four girls! I smell romance! The ratings will go through the roof!" The ducks all stared at him as he babbled on. Amber looked him up and down.
"When does he stop for air?" She asked in awe.
Mallory smiled, "Hey Phil, I'd like you to meet Amber and Mara Jade."
Phil walked over to them, "Hello there, Ladies, my name is Phil Pomfeather, manager of the Mighty Ducks. Welcome to the team!"
Wild Wing stopped him, "Now wait a minute Phil, they're not part of the team. They haven't accepted our offer yet. How about it you two?" Mara looked up at Duke.
"I accept." she said with a smile. Amber tilted her head to the side, thinking.
"Are you guys considering that name change?"
Wild Wing gave her a charming smile, "For you, we'll think about it." Amber blushed slightly before turning away.
"Well...I suppose I could stay." she said, grinning.
"Alright, congratulations! Welcome to the Mighty Ducks."
"Now then," Phil said with a sly grin, "about your contracts..."
"Forget it Phil, they're both tired and injured. I won't let you attack them until they're fully recovered." Wild Wing said authoritatively. Phil grumbled, but obediantly left the room. "Now then. We all know who you are, but I'm not sure you both know who we are. I'm Wild Wing Flashblade, team captain." He pointed to Tanya and Mallory. "These are the girls Tanya Vanderflock, our team tech, and Mallory McMallard, our weapons specialist." Mallory and Tanya smiled at Amber and Mara.
"It's so nice not to be outnumbered by these hormonally charged morons." Tanya said with a smile.
"Dude, I think she meant us." Nose Dive said to Grin.
"You know, if you guys like tomorrow night we can all crash in my room and get to know each other." Mallory offered.
Amber's eyes lit up, "Will there be orange soda?"
"Uh...sure." Mallory said, slightly confused. Without warning, Amber tackled her.
"God, I love you!" She yelled.
"Amber, stop attacking her!" Mara laughed. She tried to stand up, but her legs gave way. Duke caught her and pulled her back onto the bed.
"You'd better stay here Angel." Duke said protectively. Mara smiled at him.
"Alright." she said, curling up beside him. Mara carefully turned her head back to the girls. "Amber has this little...well, big, I guess...okay, fine, HUGE obsession with orange soda." she explained.
Mallory nodded, "We'll keep you well stocked here."
"I must be in heaven." Amber said dreamily. Everbody laughed as she pretended to faint.
"Well, since you seem to be aquainted with some of the members, I'll try to conclude the introductions quickly," Wild Wing said. "This is Check Hardwing, but we call him Grin."
"I sense that you will both bring the team good karma. Peace and remember that it is often the wisest man who perches his staff on walls of pink flamingos." Grin said.
"He says things like that every once and a while... just try to ignore it and you'll get used to it." Wild Wing explained. "And finally-"
"Oh my God." Mara cut him off, staring at Nose Dive. Amber turned to look at Mara's target and froze seeing Nose Dive for the first time. She walked over to him and tentatively poked him with her finger as her knees began to shake. Nose Dive began to ask what the hell was going on, but Amber cut him off, screaming at the top of her lungs. Nose Dive put his hands over his ears wondering what triggered her... by now, Mara was also yelling.
Duke slapped his forehead muttering, "Oh man, I knew this would happen." Amber had stopped screaming by then and stood right in front of him, trying to take in deep breaths to calm her nerves.
"A-Am I dreaming?"
"Uh, no."
"You're real?" Amber asked, stepping closer to him.
"I'm standing here so I guess so." Nose Dive replied.
"Oh Amber," Duke interupted, "I think you're making a big boo-boo." Amber paid no heed to Duke and touched Nose Dive's face with her right hand and began to let out a shy smile. "Oh Amber, reality check! It's not him." Amber spun around and looked at Duke.
"How'd I miss him this whole time? I musta been looking the other direction... did he come to this planet with you guys? How'd you ever find him?"
"Shortstuff, you're not listening to me... it's not him."
"But Duke, the resemblance is so strong..."Mara interupted, motioning towards Nose Dive. "Same height, same hair, same build, everything." Duke breathed a deep sigh.
"Uh, you guys know each other?" Wild Wing asked, very confused and feeling a slight pang of jealousy toward her obvious attraction. Amber smiled nodding her head.
"How could I forget?" Amber smiled at him wrapping her arms around his neck. Nose Dive felt the back of his neck begin to sweat; who was this girl? He quickly began recounting all of the girlfriends he had in the past but none looked remotely like her, especially with her odd yellow eyes. Duke shook his head; he'd tried to warn Amber but she obviously wasn't going to listen...she'd have to figure it out on her own. Nose Dive glanced over at Duke panicking, but all Duke could do was give him a sympathetic look. Realizing that he wasn't going to get any help, and unable to contain himself any longer, Nose Dive blurted out, "I'm really, truly sorry Miss, but I have no idea who you are!" Amber stared at him blankly before laughing.
"Real cute, Jake... There's no way you could forget me."
"I'm serious...and my name isn't Jake." Nose Dive took her hands from around his neck, "I've never seen you before in my life." Amber stared at him blankly. Duke stepped in.
"Amber, this is Nose Dive Flashblade, Wild Wing's younger brother. I'm sorry Sweetheart, but it's just a coincidence... I thought the same thing when I first saw him too." Amber took in a deep breath and began to back slowly away; she momentarily wondered if this wasn't more painful than when Jake had disappeared in the first place. Nose Dive looked to the ground, very much aware that this girl was heartbroken.
"Well, I...I'm really sorry." she said to Nose Dive, laughing nervously. "It's just that you look so much like him...my significant other."
"Oh, you're involved?" Wild Wing interrupted. Mallory looked at Wild Wing and bit her lip.
"Well... lets just say that Mara was a little luckier that me." Amber bit her lip and looked up at the above ceiling fan, trying to hold her tears. Mara squeezed Duke's arm and closed her eyes, silently wishing Amber could have been as fortunate. "You're lucky you spoke up," Amber finally said to Nose Dive, trying to act cheerful. "Otherwise I'd probably be kissing you by now." "I wouldn't mind," Nose Dive blurted out.
"Nose Dive!" Wing snapped.
"What?!" whined Dive defensively.
Wing hissed, "Be polite!"
"But I was!" Nose Dive argued. Everyone laughed except Amber wiped her hands across her yellow eyes.
"Well, maybe you'll find him but if not the Mighty Ducks are 75% single!" Dive said, a big, dopey grin on his face.
"Well," Wild Wing said, noticing his brother's smile with alarm, "I think it's time we showed you to your rooms...you've both had a long day, and tomorrow we'll test you for hockey skills." He turned to Tanya, "If it's okay with the doctor here."
Tanya shook her head, "Just to be on the safe side, I think we outta wait another day for that...we can show them around Anahiem tomorrow. As long as nothing too exciting happens on the tour, that outta be enough time for them to recuperate nicely...not to mention get used to the change in atmosphere."
Wild Wing nodded, smiling, "Well, as we all know, Tanya's word is final, so that settles that. Let's show you around the Pond tonight and then we'll all get to bed...it's already pretty late." The ducks nodded their agreement and stood up, preparing to leave. Mara cautiosly stood up on her own and noted with some satisfaction that she was walking pretty well now. Nevertheless Duke insisted on putting his arm around her to give her a little extra support. Amber grinned, pointing out that Mara wasn't raising any objection to this. In response Duke promptly threatened to ship her off to a boarding school on Corellia if she didn't start behaving like a proper young lady. Amber smiled faintly, dreamily wondering what it would have been like to have gone to school like Jake did.
"And this is the rec room." Mallory said.
"Damn it's big...look at all of this stuff!" Amber said in awe. They had two pool tables, one air hockey table, a big screen TV, a card table, another walled off section which served as a gym, and a music entertainment system.
"You guys must get really damn bored around here." Mara said sarcastically.
Laughing, Wild Wing explained, "Well, when we're not playing hockey we're basically just sitting around waiting for Dragaunus to try something, so we need something to do to keep us entertained otherwise we might end up talking and that would just have terrible consequences."
"How do you afford all this?" Amber asked.
"Well, Earth's a bit different from Puckworld." Mallory explained, "This is the only inhabited planet for light years as you probably figured out from your trip here. So we're the first aliens that Earth has ever had real, official contact with. We're celebrities...and hockey players here are well paid...very well paid."
"Define 'well paid'." Mara murmured, having a little trouble taking this all in. Grin answered that one.
"We each make about 2 million dollars a year in appearances, hockey games, and gifts from the government and communities that we've saved from various evil. We each put a chunk of that into a shared fund for the team itself which we use to give to charities, buy food, equipment, toys...you know, good karma."
"In other words, we're filthy, stinkin' rich." Nose Dive added in. Amber and Mara stood stunned. That was more money than they had ever dreamed of.
"That's all for today." Tanya said, I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted." She turned and looked at Mara, a little uneasy, "I'm not sure that I shouldn't just keep you in the medlab tonight...just to keep an eye on you."
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine." Mara said sweetly, smiling gratefully at Tanya. "I don't want you waking up in the middle of the night just because I have a headache." She leaned back on Duke, putting her arm over the one he had around her waist. "My boyfriend can keep an eye on me tonight." she said with a smile.
Tanya giggled, "Oh I'm sure he will." Duke stuck his toungue out at her, making everybody laughed.
Amber walked out the door and cast a look behind her shoulder. "Come on then, let's go! I'm tired."
"Amber," Grin said, "Do you have any idea where you're going?"
Amber paused and flicked a piece of hair out of her face. "What's that got to do with anything?"
Nose Dive shook his head, supressing a smile. "Man, does she ever fit in perfectly."
A few moments later, the ducks stood in front of a door along the sleeping corridor.
"This is your room Amber. If you need anything during the night, I'm right across the hall from you and so is Mallory." Wild Wing said. Amber nodded, poking her head inside.
"Thank you very much; it looks really nice," she said, genuinely excited. It was the biggest room she'd ever seen.
"We'll bring you a cot to sleep on from the extra-"
"Oh no, don't bother." Amber said, cutting Grin off, "It's got a closet, right?"
"Well yeah, but you can't sleep in a-"
"Oh yes I can, I do it all the time...it's the only way I can sleep." Amber cut him off again. Grin peered down at her.
"You're a strange little girl."
"And you're a big weird guy but I don't rub in your face every two minutes, do I?" Amber retorted. The ducks laughed, walking on. Wild Wing pointed out everyone's room as they walked past.
"And Mara, this'll be yours. Do you sleep in closets too or should I get you a cot?"
Mara shook her head, "I usually sleep in a hammock, but you don't need to do anything for me tonight." She said.
"Oh, that's right," Wing said slyly, "you've been, uh, 'taken care of' for tonight, haven't you?" Duke and Mara blushed as the others all laughed. "Speaking of which, if you need anything in the night Grin's right across from you and your room is right next to Duke's."
"Well, I guess that ruins my shot at her, doesn't it?" Grin said. More laughter.
"Don't worry Mara, they always poke fun at me like this. I think they must be jealous."
Mara nodded, "Makes sense to me." They all said their goodnights. Mara hugged Amber warmly. "Goodnight, Sweetheart." She said gently.
As they hugged, Amber whispered to her, "See? Didn't I tell you everything would work out alright? You outta listen to me more often." Duke and Mara said goodnight to everyone one last time before walking into his room. As the door slid shut, Duke wrapped his arms around Mara and kissed her slowly.
About a half hour later, Amber fell out of the closet.
"Dammit." she muttered, "I can never get to sleep in a strange closet." Getting up and straightening herself out, she looked down at the tank top and boxers Mallory had loaned to her to sleep in; she looked like she was wearing a tent. Hearing a noise outside, she opened the door and peered out to see Wild Wing walking down the hall in his boxers and a wife beater. This was also the first time he didn't have the mask on. Amber hoped that her mouth was closed...It wasn't.
"Hey Amber, something wrong?"
"Uh, no, no, not at all. I just came out of the closet, that's all." Amber went red, suddenly realizing how badly she had worded that.
Wild Wing laughed, "Cute. Ever take acting class? You're quite comical."
"I am?" Amber asked.
"Well, you amuse me at least." Wild Wing winked at her.
"Thanks." Amber said, hoping she didn't sound as excited as she felt at recieving a compliment like that from him. She didn't understand the shivering feeling that was rushing through her body. She kept noticing her eyes running up and down his body, from his face to his wife beater and to his boxers.
"So, cant sleep?" Wild Wing asked thoughtfully. Amber shook her head.
"I'm not really used to sleeping in new places... I get alittle nervous."
"Well, if you want you could borrow my bed." Wild Wing commented. After a pause, he winked at her again. "Don't worry. I have two beds." Amber laughed at Wild Wing. Wild Wing smiled, noticing her 'pajamas'. "Funky Monkeys?"
"At least I like the design on them. I mean they're so big--" Amber paused before re-stating the sentence, "I'm alittle small to be wearing them. Most of my clothes are Mara's old, old, old, old, old hand-me-downs."
"Well, fortunately, we have plenty of different shops at the malls here on Earth catering to everyone. I'd be more than happy to drive you there sometime, unless you'd prefer to go with Mallory. She practically lives at the mall."
"I'd love to go with you!" Amber squeaked before blushing again. She hated to sound so eagar, but he was so difficult to ignore. He seemed so mysterious with the Mask before, but with it off she admired how handsome and manly his face was. It had been years since Amber's heart beat the way it did... years since she had seen either Jake or Lestat... except for the small thrill she got from Wild Wing's younger brother. Frowning, she rubbed a hand on her beak; it was a disapointment too hard to bear.
"Am I keeping you up?" Wild Wing asked concerned.
"No, no... I actually couldn't fall asleep so I was just going to prowl around for alittle bit."
"Well, if you need anything, feel free to give a knock--I'm a fairly light sleeper."
"Off to bed?" Amber asked, slightly downhearted.
"Yup. Need to catch-up on some paper work tomorrow for you to join the team. I'll need to review you and your sister's contracts... Phil has a tendency to... nevermind. But don't bother waking up early for it; I'll bring you the contract to read and review later." Amber bit her lower lip nervously and nodded her head. It was something she had kept quiet from everyone... except Jake. Even Mara didn't know that she couldn't read. Amber never learned how to read anything, except her, Jake, and Mara's names, and the last thing she wanted was for Wild Wing to frown upon her. Feeling foolish, Amber took a step into her room.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"I certainly hope to," Wild Wing said with a smile. He tipped his head to her and walked across the hallway and into his room. Amber lingered in his door until she heard the lock on his click when she turned around and walked to the cot that Grin insisted on putting in her closet. Hesistantly, she put a hand on it before immediately settling to the ground and curling up to dream.
"So, I think that if the girls get to keep 35% of the profits they make together, then they should be fairly content and it would cover their expenses for the Pond," Phil droned, pointing to the chart he made. He, along with David Faloway and Kyle Earns, his lawyers, sat in the board room at the Anaheim Pond, right next door to the mutual locker room. Wild Wing, Grin, and Duke attended the meetings: Wild Wing obviously as team captain and Duke and Grin as his advisors. However, as Phil droned on and Grin countered every statement in benefit of the girls, Wild Wing found himself with one knee resting on the other, the copies of the preliminary contracts in his laps, and his pen in his right hand drawing on them. He usually was able to focus, but it seemed so bland. Duke looked at Wild Wing and nudged his foot lightly. Wild Wing looked up and nodded his head at Duke, thankful for his timely rescue.
"Phil, I agree completely with Grin and Duke. I'm pretty sure we're all settled until our next board meeting. Thank you gentlemen," Wild Wing said, rising to his feet to shake David and Kyle's hands. Duke and Grin immediately followed suit and walked out of the board room with Wild Wing. "Thanks man," Wild Wing said to Duke, patting his friend on the shoulder. "I dunno what was with me today; usually I'm always awake when I have to dress up for these things," he said, tugging on his tie.
"Well, maybe your inner aura was clouded," Grin said thoughtfully, smoothing out his sports jacket.
"Maybe. I dunno, I thought I had a pretty good night's sleep."
"Well, the arrival of new ducks is always mind boggling," Duke said.
"I'm sure it was mind boggling last night, buddy," Wild Wing teased, elbowing Duke in the ribs.
"Eh, I think it might be a little more mind boggling for you, 'buddy'." Duke chuckled as he pulled off his jacket and threw it over his shoulder.
"For me?"
"Don't tell me you have no clue what I'm talking about," Duke said patronizingly as he opened the door for Wild Wing and Grin to the locker room.
"Care to fill me in?"
"He thinks you wanna get up on Amber; nice change from that red-headed dominatrix of yours." Grin teased, taking off his coat and tie after he opened up his locker. Wild Wing smiled and fumbled with his lock.
"Perhaps," he said quietly.
"Oh, I love this! Let me get a front row view of the confession!" Duke said dramatically as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. Wild Wing rolled his eyes.
"Well, how about not giving me a front row view of that hickie on your shoulder?" Duke looked down frantically before he glared at Wild Wing. "Made you look!" He teased.
"Bastard."
"Bitch!" Mallory shrieked, wrenching her tube top dress from Tanya. "You could've asked before you borrowed it!"
" No I couldn't, I knew you'd say no."
"THAT's because you stretched it out! Look at it! Tanya, honey, you're about three cup sizes bigger than me, REMEMBER?!"
Tanya shrugged, "Want me to buy you a padded bra?"
"No, you're buying me a new dress. You can get that one a padded bra." She jerked her head towards Amber who didn't even hear Mallory's jest, because she seemed to be totally engrossed in something.
"Hey Amber, what's that?" Mallory asked gently. She'd meant the remark to be a joke, but it was just as well that Amber hadn't heard. Who was to know how sensitive she'd be?
"Oh, uhh...just the team scrapbook." She quickly turned the page as Mallory approached, very concious that she had been staring at the same picture of Wild Wing for ten minutes. "You guys all seem pretty close."
"If you're worried about getting along then relax." Tanya said sweetly. "I've only known you a day and I can already tell you're a great girl. Besides, we desperately need more women on the team."
"Why's that?" Amber squeaked, more than a little pleased at Tanya's remark.
Mallory sat on the counter top, "It was four to two before. Now with you and your sister-"
"Half sister."
"Now with you and your half sister, it's even." Amber nodded.
"Well, happy to be of help!" she flipped the page and looked at another headshot-style photograph of Wild Wing, without the mask.
"Like what you see?" Tanya asked jokingly. Amber blushed a little.
"God, he looks so creepy in that mask...he's much handsomer without it." Mallory looked at her for a moment, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Wild Wing was looking at her strangely the other day...was it possible?
"Nah, he's not that cute. You don't think so, do you Amber?" Luckily Amber didn't have to answer her, because just then Mara entered looking totally dazed. They all looked up and smiled at her. Mara blinked and slowly smiled at each one of them. After a moment she gracefully made her way to a couch and sat silently for a moment.
"Hello Mara." they all said in unison. Mara nodded and remained silent for another moment before she looked back up at them.
"Where am I?" she asked sleepily. Everyone giggled. Mallory gently helped Mara up.
"Earth, dear. Remember?"
"Not really."
"It's been a tough night...have some breakfast."
Mara shook her head, "I can't, I feel sick." Tanya sighed and approached Mara.
"Sounds like the remnants of that concussion...I knew I should've kept you in the medlab last night."
"Wouldn't have done any good!" Amber piped up, "Duke would've stolen her away during the night." Mallory and Tanya both burst out laughing, and Mara folded her arms with mock indignity, blushing ever so slightly.
"That's right, go on and laugh!" she smiled, "You're all sick I tell you, sick!"
"Oh are we?" Mallory grinned, "You're the one who spent the whole night in a man's room."
Amber covered her ears, "I don't wanna hear this!" she squealed.
"There's nothing to hear, all we did was talk." Mara objected calmly. The girls all looked at each other incredulously.
"That so Mara?" Mallory asked, "Then why are you wearing Duke's shirt?" Mara's blush deepened four shades as the girls all burst out into peals of laughter.
"I was cold." she murmured. Just then, Wild Wing ran into the room frantically and dove behind the couch. The girls all looked on puzzled.
"Now what do you suppose that was about?" Tanya asked the others. Mallory shrugged.
"Beats the hell outta me...why do you suppose Wild Wing wasn't wearing a shirt?"
"Does it matter?" Amber said jokingly. Mallory looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but shrugged it off, smiling and giggling along with everyone else.
Bursting into the room, Duke and Grin yelled out, "Where are you, you sonofabitch?!" Tanya raised an eyebrow, looking at both of them.
"Apparently it's a trend...none of the men seem to be wearing shirts today."
"Greetings, ladies." Grin said absently, searching the room. Nose Dive poked his head in the door, and waltzed in, fully clothed and very amused.
"Well now Girly-Girls! How's it hangin'? Did you miss the Divester?" Amber shook her head in disbelief. How could someone who looked to much like Jake be the complete opposite of him?
"We sure did." Mara said, "We were all sitting here thinking to ourselves: It's far too quiet in here...if only we had a colossal pain in the ass to bother us!" They all laughed as Nose Dive patted Mara on the back.
"Yeah, two more days and you'll be right at home!"
"Now can you tell us what's with those two?" Mallory asked, jerking a thumb at Duke and Grin who were slowly making their way around the room, searching for Wild Wing.
"Gladly." Dive responded, pulling out a box of Lucky Charms. "Phil conned Wing into a deal. Something about all us guys doing a boxers ad or something. Long story short, he knew he wouldn't be able to get us to do it voluntarily so he allowed Phil's lawyers to put a hidden camera in the locker room... by the time I'd come in, the two of them had already found it. Now I think they're gonna kill my brother."
"Doesn't that bother you?" Amber asked him.
Nose Dive looked up from his Lucky Charms, "Not especially." Just then, Duke leapt over the couch and tackled Wild Wing, pinning one of Wild Wing's arms behind his back.
"Going somewhere?" Duke snapped, "Rude of you to leave without at least sayin' goodbye."
Grin approached, "I say we tear his arms off."
"Then take a picture of it and send it in to National Geographic...Good plan, Grin." Duke said cooly.
"I, uh, I may have made a little mistake here, guys..."
"MAY HAVE?!" they yelled.
"OKAY, OKAY, I DID!" Wild Wing yelled frantically, "I wasn't thinking straight this morning. But is that any reason to kill me?!" They both thought a moment.
"YES!" Nose Dive set his Lucky Charms on the counter and looked towards the girls.
"Excuse me a moment, Babes. This is a job for Nose Dive." He ambled over to where the boys were and put a hand on Grin's shoulder.
"Now, now men, let's be reasonable." Duke and Grin looked over at him. "Tear off his legs, too." Nose Dive added. Wild Wing glared at his younger brother.
"You can forget the art set I promised you for Christmas, you little bastard!"
"WAIT, WAIT, DON'T KILL HIM!" Nose Dive shrieked, "I NEED that kit!" Mara shook her head.
"I suppose this is a normal occurance?" The girls all nodded. The boys paused in their maiming as Duke noticed Mara.
"Mara?" Duke let go of Wing and walked over to her, his anger evaporating quickly. "Angel, what are you doing here? You should be asleep." He brought a hand to her face. "Feeling better? How's your head?" Mara smiled warmly at him.
"I only leave for a year and when I come back you're still just as protective as ever." she teased him. Duke pulled out a chair for her and made her sit down.
"Only a year...well, you can't be too bad, can you Smartass? Have you eaten? Is there anything I can get you?"
"Duke, Duke, please. I'm fine." Mara replied sweetly. "But this bit with Wild Wing is amusing."
"Amusing my ass," Duke muttered, gritting his teeth. Grin yanked Wild Wing to his feet and held his biceps firmly. Amber looked at Wild Wing from the couch, biting her lower lip to keep from staring at his muscles. Wild Wing looked at her and smiled.
"Yes, I know. I'm so puny next to Grin that I'm pathetic." Duke looked at Wild Wing quizzically before smiling and shaking his head. "Speaking of pathetic, I'm afraid I didn't do much good with your contracts. Thank Grin and Duke for helping out. You two should each be able to earn about 87% of proceeds after taxes, and you get benefits with that such as medical and life insurance."
"Guess they really think we'll need it with those damn lizards, eh?" Nose Dive jested, rolling his eyes. Wild Wing shook his head and gingerly took his free arm and pried himself out of Grin's grasp.
"We'll have a printed draft of the contract by early evening for you girls to review, unless that's a bad time."
"How... how does the reviewing work?" Amber asked cautiously.
"Simple. We meet in the board room and you girls get to read your contracts and discuss them with Phil and his lawyers. If you don't like anything, it can be brought to attention there. Unfortunately, Phil usually has a trick or two up his sleeve." Amber nodded his head as she barely listened to him--he was just so incredible to look at.
"Amber," Mara asked, bringing Amber back to her senses. "I'm going to be with Duke for a few hours... do you have anything to do in the time being?"
"Uh..." Amber looked at her sister and tried to think of things she could do when Wild Wing beat her to it.
"Well, yesterday I offered to show her around Anaheim, 'specially the mall. If she's interested, I'd be more than happy to take her," Wild Wing offered grandly.
"Yeah, I'm sure you would be," Duke said moodily. Wild Wing chuckled at Duke and shrugged his broad shoulders. Mallory looked at Wild Wing and frowned; when they dated he never offered to take her to the mall or show her anywhere except new hiking trails. 'Maybe it's just the new arrival thing,' she decided.
"Well Amber, that sound like fun for you?"
"Sure," she said. "I'm game."
"Great." Wild Wing walked out of the room then turned and stuck his head in. "You can wait in the lobby if you want. I'll only be a second just to grab a clean shirt."
"And some binaka if you know what I mean," Grin said quietly. Amber raised an eyebrow as Tanya snickered. What was Binaka? Shrugging her shoulders, she stood up and walked across the room and out the door. Mallory watched her go with slight discomfort.
"Babes, what's wrong?" Nose Dive asked, sitting on the couch next to her.
"Oh, nothing."
Run for your lives
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