Purple Dragon Syndrome, part 2

Written by Zelda and Quacker Jax

 

                Tanya blinked sadly as she stooped down beside Zelda. She fitted her hands into the thick fabric gloves in the wall and lifted the blanket off of her. Zelda winced and curled up further, as if she was trying to hide from the light. Quacker Jax sniffed.

                "We ready to move her?" Majzq asked. Tanya nodded.

                "Just be careful with her." Quacker Jax warned. He raised his hands and began to chant something again. Again the blue sphere of light formed around Zelda. Tanya took a deep breath and entered the clean room, gently scooping Zelda up off of the floor and holding her in her arms like a baby. Zelda made no protest. She stepped quickly out of the clean room and paused in front of Majzq.

                "Okay just hurry up and give it to her." she ordered. Majzq gently pried Zelda's jaws open and uncorked the bottle of painkillers he'd made for her. He titled it slightly letting the liquid run down her throat. Zelda gagged slightly, twisting weakly in Tanya's arms. But she finally swallowed it and Tanya lay her in a small, plexiglass box. Closing the top, she reached her hands into two gloves in the side and petted Zelda gently on the snout.

                "So that's it?" Quacker Jax asked.

                "Yup, the move's over. Now that she's in our clean 'box' we can monitor her condition better. Tanya walked over and started up the Medicom, as Majzq leaned down and tried to talk to Zelda.

                "Zel, hey wake up." Majzq said gently. He reached his hand into a glove and shook her very gently.

                "She's not going to answer you." Tanya said with a sigh. QJ and Majzq spun around with a look of question on their faces.

                "She's been delirious for a few hours now. She can hear, but nothing's making any sense to her." The three stood silently for a moment.

                "She's getting worse..." Quacker Jax thought to himself sadly.

                "Hmmph, I know that." A familiar voice responded. Quacker Jax jumped about 3 feet in the air.

                "Whoa buddy, what scared you?!" Majzq asked quickly, having been alarmed himself.

                "I thought I heard Zelda talking to me!" he replied, not even believing himself.

                "But she never said a word..." Tanya started. Quacker Jax thought quickly to himself.

                "Of course!" he said. "Telepathic communication!" Tanya and Majzq scratched their heads simultaneously. Quacker Jax sighed in exasperation. "Telepathic communication involves transmitting thought from one mind to another. Grin would know what I'm talking about.... Anyway, Zelda's sick right? But her mind still functions as if she were up and running. As long as she's conscious, I can talk to her, and she can talk back."

                "Well maybe you might wanna ask how she's feeling?" Majzq asked, annoyed.

                "Fine!" QJ responded quickly. He closed his eyes again and thought.  "Zelda?"

                "Well there you are QJ." she said. "I wondered where you had gotten to. Telepathic communication eh? I never thought of it before."

                "Well thank goodness it works. How are you?" he asked.

Zelda hesitated. "Would this be a good time to be honest?" she asked with a patronizing tone.

                "Yes." the duck replied sternly.

                "Well I hate to get you guys worried, you know how I get guilty about these things...."

                "Just tell me Zel." Quacker Jax sighed.

                "Sorry, it's just that I feel like I'm rotting away from the inside out. I have no idea what's getting to me."

                "That's what we came to tell you about. It seems the Saurians cloaked that gas. You've got some major bugs in that system of yours." Quacker Jax confessed.

                "Terrific." Zelda sighed in reply. Her voice cracked a little. "And what was that stuff you guys crammed down my throat?"

                "Some of Majzq's painkillers. Taking any effect yet?"

                "A little. So that little ringtail showed up? Give him my thanks." Zelda smiled. "And tell him it was rather tasty." Quacker Jax smiled to himself. “So when you say 'we', who is that? Who's in here?"

                "Just me, Majzq and Taun." Quacker Jax replied.

                "And the others?" Zelda asked.

                "Off worrying about you most likely."

                "Hah, you make me feel so much better." Zelda sniffed. The two paused for a moment. "You know it's really great to hear you  again..." Zelda started. "I've been so lonely in here... it's nice to have someone that I can actually talk back to."

                "Well don't worry. I'll come back and chat. Grin too."

                "Thanks." Zelda sniffed.   

                "Look, you get your rest. I'm trying to find that spell so I can cure you. but in the meantime.."

                "I know, I know. Thanks again QJ." Zelda sighed.

Quacker Jax stopped thinking telepathically and opened his eyes.

                "Well?" asked Majzq.

                "She doesn't feel so hot, but she said that medicine was yum." said Quacker Jax.

                "Well, it should be, I mean, it's made out of cherry cola." said the raccoon.

                "We should let her rest for a little while," said Tanya.

                "Well..." Jax got up. "One of you should stay here and monitor her condition. I've gotta figure out how I'm gonna save her."

                Before Tanya or Majzq could say a word, QJ hurried out of the room.

                "We're gonna be here for a while." said Tanya.

                "I'll go get some snacks, a couple sodas, and a few magazines." said Majzq. He walked out of the room, pulling up the seat of his baggy jeans as he disappeared from sight. Tanya sighed and looked sadly at Zelda.

                "Oh, Zelda..." She rubbed the purple dragon's back with a gloved hand. "You're gonna make it through this. You have to."

                Zelda's only response was a high-pitched groan and a shifting of position.

               

 

                QJ sat in his own room peering through his spellbook. He had been doing that for the last three hours, and it was almost time for dinner. He mumbled to himself as he read through the white magic section.

                "Cure... Repel... Sunflash... hey, this might work. Extraction!" Quacker Jax changed position on his bed and read the details of the Extraction spell. "Ugh... I forgot. Extraction only works to remove poisonous substances from someone's body." A loud buzzer sounded throughout the Pond, and the wizard became annoyed. He pounded the bed. "Muffin!" he yelled. "The last thing I need right now is Dragaunus and his punks making trouble!" He slid a bookmark into the grimoire and grabbed it as he jumped out of his room. He spotted Candy scurrying down the hall. Both Ducks were intent on getting to the Ready Room. "Candy, what's the emergency?" he asked.

                "I don't know, but I'm willing to bet Dragaunus has something to do with it!" she answered. Candy and Quacker Jax ran into the Ready Room, where the rest of the team was assembled with the exception of four members: Zelda, Tanya, Gretchen and Turbulence.

                Wildwing looked up at the giant monitor of Drake 1 as he activated his battle gear, sliding the Mask into its usual home on top of his beak.

                "Siege and Wraith are making trouble. But... it's in the middle of nowhere!" Wildwing exclaimed.

                "The question is, why?" said Mallory.

                "Where is it?" asked Lindsay.

                Nosedive looked at the monitor. His brows lowered and his bill scrunched up in bewilderment.

                "Quartzsite?" he said to himself. "What the heck is Quartzsite?"

                "It's in Middle-of-nowhere, Arizona." said Duke. "It's a mine."

                "Hey, I was readin' something in the paper about a big ol' diamond being discovered there yesterday." said Candy. "I bet Dragaunus is building another one of those world-destroying laser beams."

                "Or it could be a big fat trap." said Grin.

                "Trap or not, we gotta stop 'em." said Wildwing.

                "Hold on, time out, stop the clock!" Quacker Jax yelled. "Someone has to stay here and keep an eye on Zelda, not to mention that someone should be here in case Draggy comes back!"

                "You're right." said Wing. He clicked on his com and got a hold of Tanya, who didn't look thrilled.

                "Yeah Wing?" she said.

                "Tanya, can you stay here and look after Zelda?" he asked.

                "Huh, why not? That's what I've been doing for the last few hours." she said.

Wildwing nodded. "Thanks Tanya." he said, shutting off his com.

                "Just wondering," said Matt, "But where are Turbulence and Gretchen?"

                "Right here." All the ducks spun around to see Gretchen and Turbulence enter the Ready Room.

                "Alright, we're all here, but we need a few more to stand guard. Any volunteers?" Wildwing asked.

                "Eh, I'll stay." Duke said, raising a hand.

                "Alright, let's go." Wing ordered. As the team scurried to the hanger, and more specifically, the

Aerowing, Majzq ran into the room behind them.

                "Hey, I wanna come too!" he called.

                "Majzq, we need you to stay here in case Dragaunus and Chameleon try to break in." Wildwing said.

                "But you want me at that fight. You NEED me at that fight!" the raccoon pleaded. The team walked out without answering him. Majzq rolled his eyes. "Where's the love huh?!" he called. They disappeared. He smacked his hand on his thigh. "Damn!" Majzq went into the kitchen to fetch some food for him and Tanya.

               

                Wildwing spotted a large pit inside a whole bunch of stones from the front seat of the Aerowing.

                "There. That's it." said Wildwing.

                "Take 'er down." said Coolbeak.

                "I'm in the mood for a good fight." said Nosedive. Wildwing brought down the plane, and the plethora of ducks jumped out. All except for one.

                "Well Jax, are you gonna come?" said Matt.

                "Yeah." QJ jumped into the open. "But Wraith is MINE, you got that?"

                "Sure, no prob." said Matt.

                Wildwing led the Ducks down into the huge pit at Quartzsite, where they caught Chameleon and Siege red-handed with a gigantic sapphire bigger than either lizard's head.

                "Uh-oh, somethin' tells me the jig is up!" said Chameleon.

                "I thought this place was called Quartzsite." said Coolbeak.

                "But isn't that a sapphire?" asked Turbulence.

                "I think so." said Mallory. "And a big one at that."

                "Duke would know." said Candy.

                The two Saurians put down the jewel. Siege pulled a laser rifle and Chameleon changed into a soldier with a bazooka on his shoulder. He fired a rocket out of the heavy duty weapon that Wildwing and Nosedive almost got hit by. Coolbeak and Lindsay fired pucks at Siege, but they only connected with one of ten. Turbulence took the airfoil off her shoulder and chucked it Frisbee style at Siege, knocking the laser rifle out of his hand.

                "Good move Angel!" said Nosedive.

                "But how are you gonna get that thing back?" asked Callisto. She shot a puck at Chameleon and jumped out of the way as another rocket threatened to knock her head off.

                "The easy way!" said Turbulence. She jumped high in the air and did a double flip before coming down on Siege's head foot-first. She knocked him into Chameleon before he could unload another bazooka blast and got her airfoil.

                "Damn girl!" said Matt. "Who taught you that move, Austin St. John?" Turbulence shrugged and kicked Chameleon in the mouth. He changed into a fully-armored knight with a whirling chain mace above his head.

                "Defend yourself, you foul fowl!" said Chameleon as he swung. Turbulence hit the deck and rolled as the huge spiked ball smashed into the ground where she was seconds earlier. Turbulence got up and laughed.

                "You're gonna have to do better than that to beat a DuCaine!" she challenged. She felt the back of her legs buckle, and she hit the ground. Siege had hit her in the back of the legs with his clubbed tail. She gasped as Siege got right up into her face and clamped his hands around her neck.

                "Was that good... tootsie?" he asked sarcastically as he squeezed.

                "Try a Tic-Tac." she managed.

                "Let her go Siege!" QJ ordered.

                "I'll let her go as soon as her pulse stops." said Siege.

                "I'm not takin' any crap from you Saurian. Now take this--" Quacker Jax pointed his fingers and shot a quartet of blue energy  balls that struck Siege in the ribs and knocked him aside. "And shove it." he finished.

                Chameleon finally worked his mace out of the ground, and made another swing at Turbulence. She backflipped over the first swing, a low one, and somersaulted under the next swing and took out Chameleon's legs. He hit the ground with an "Oof!" and a clank of armor.

                "Hey! Stop thief!" Coolbeak called.

                "Siege!" Callisto cried. "He's getting away!"

                "No he isn't." said Candy. She lined up the escaping ankylosaur with her puck launcher's sight and fired a puck that nailed him squarely in the butt, sending him end-over-end. The sapphire fell out of his arms and thunked into the ground.

                "I'll take that!" said Candy, running over to the fallen jewel. Siege tried to grab her legs and trip her, but she saw that move coming and jumped nimbly, landing on his head and vaulting off.

                "If we keep this up this show's gonna be called Mighty Ducks Turbo." said Candy as she landed.

                "Nice job Candy." said Wildwing.

                "Run!" QJ ordered.

                "Why?" asked Nosedive.

                "Remember GI Joe?" he asked.

                "Yeah." said Nosedive.

                "Chameleon just morphed into Rock 'n' Roll." said Quacker Jax. Chameleon/Rock 'n' Roll, with a Gatling gun in each hand, unleashed a spray of bullets at the Ducks, the six barrels of each gun rotating as he used up bullets. Chunks of rock flew as he chased the Ducks with lead.

                "When's that pea shooter gonna run out?!" yelled Matt.

                "The way he's shootin', I'd say in about five seconds!" said Gretchen loudly. After a few more seconds of terror, Chameleon's guns ran out of ammo and he changed back into his normal form.

                "Enough of this crap!" said Quacker Jax. He rose his arms into the air and screamed. "Comatea artameda sanalupo loricuri meteora! Guys, you might wanna cover your heads for this one!" From the sky came a rain of hundreds of bright orange incendiary materials that left a trail of smoke behind them. The small falling stars bombarded Chameleon and Siege. They shrieked in pain and rolled, covering their heads as the small stars burned through the Saurians' armor and scales.

                "No more! Stop! Please! No more!" Siege whined.

                "Mercy! Uncle! I want my mommy!" Chameleon screamed.

                "Ugh, I can't stand his voice!" Callisto yelled. She shot a puck at Chameleon that struck him in the head and knocked him out cold. Quacker Jax lowered his arms, and the shower ceased.

                "Where's Wraith?!" QJ demanded.

                "Why?" Siege asked. QJ shook his head.

                "Grin, Turbulence, come with me." he requested. Grin, Turbulence and  Quacker Jax jumped down into the bottom of the pit where Siege was. Grin  lifted him up off the ground. "Now Turbulence." said Quacker Jax, "May I borrow your dagger?"

                "Certainly," she answered, handing her special knife to Quacker Jax, who put the tip up to Siege's back.

                "Wha-wha-wha-wha-what's that?!" he stammered, hanging in mid-air.

                "Oh, so you know of this weapon." said Turbulence

                "This dagger was crafted by Drake DuCaine himself. Made of a special metal called Uphilliphysis." said Quacker Jax.

                "Don't touch me with that thing!" Siege cried.

                "You see, I know why your muscles ache, why your bones hurt, why your body trembles in fear at the very touch of this blade." Quacker Jax continued. "You see, the body of a Saurian doesn't mix well with Uphilliphysis." He tickled Siege's spine with Turbulence's knife. "They react violently when they ingest just a little bit of it. Too much..." he barely prodded Siege with the knife and the lizard screamed. "Too much, and your heart explodes." Quacker Jax finished. He got mean. "Now Siege, TELL ME WHERE WRAITH IS, OR ELSE I'LL MAKE LIKE THE SAMURAI PIZZA CATS, AND SLICE YOU INTO 12 EQUAL PIECES!"

                "ALRIGHT!" Siege cried. "JUST TAKE THAT DAMNED THING AWAY!"

                "Done." said Quacker Jax as he gave the knife back to Turbulence.

                "Wraith is still in Anaheim!" Siege confessed. "Him and Dragaunus were gonna do somethin' in the Pond! Said something about finishing the job!" Grin looked at QJ.

                "They're going to kill Zelda!" said Grin.

                "Come on then!" said Turbulence. "We gotta get home before they get to her!"

                "Duke, Tanya and Majzq are still at home, it's OK." said Grin.

                "If Dragaunus has a Tesla Cannon and more of that weird disease, it's not OK!" said Quacker Jax.

                "Get in touch with Mother Earth." said Grin. He lifted Siege up higher and slammed him into the ground, leaving a Siege-shaped dent in the stone surface.

                "That had to hurt." said Lindsay.

                "Hulk Hogan eat your heart out." said Nosedive.

                "What did you find out?" Wildwing asked Quacker Jax.

                "I found out that unless we're back in Anaheim real soon, four members of our squad are gonna be memories!" Quacker Jax exclaimed.

 

        Duke readjusted his head on the couch. He was tired and uncomfortable, but too tired to get up and go to his bunk. He was supposed to be on watch anyway. Jeez he was bored. The others would be back soon. Tanya was still in the infirmary, the ringtail had gone off somewhere. Duke scratched his head. He picked up the remote and turned on one of the smaller screens on Drake One to watch the news. He yawned again and put his head down on the arm of the couch. Duke felt as if he had just begun to doze off when Majzq came running in. Duke leaned up, annoyed.

                "Hey hey, can't you quiet down?" he snapped.

                "Stuff it, you got some friends of yours here!" Majzq yelled. Suddenly, laser blasts ripped up through the hallway behind him. The raccoon yelped and dove forwards. Duke was up and beside him in a second. He dragged him backwards as Dragaunus and Wraith came through the door. Dragaunus had a huge gun in his hands.

                "Came back to the scene of the crime you loser?" Duke yelled angrily. Dragaunus smiled.

                "Well it's too bad the greater half of the team couldn't figure out we were going to!" he yelled back. Wraith tossed a fireball at the two. Duke and Majzq ducked and ran behind the couch to escape the flames. Dragaunus was storming off across the room and towards the door.

                "HEY!" Majzq yelled. "Just where do you think you're going?"

                "To end the suffering of your little friend." he grinned. Duke gasped and ran up to Drake One. He punched the alarm. Sirens wailed throughout the Pond. Now Tanya would know. But Duke's eyes saw only flames seconds later. The console next to him exploded. He could feel his flesh searing. Duke cried out and was blown back by the force. He landed near the couch. Majzq reached out and dragged him behind it. Duke had been burned on his arm. He crumpled in pain on the floor, gripping the seared sleeve. Majzq looked up in panic. He had to stay with Duke or get him to safety... but Dragaunus was already heading off and Wraith was in no mood to let the two get away.

 

                Tanya jumped about a foot off of her seat as she heard the alarms go off. She activated her com.

                "Guys? Anybody?" she yelled.

                "Head--- aurian---ming yo---way." the reply crackled. Tanya understood enough. She went over to Zelda and started to unlatch the box she was in from the Medicom bed. Suddenly the door opened in front of her. Dragaunus stood and aimed a huge gun at her.

                "Don't you ever knock?" Tanya sighed, leaning over. Dragaunus grinned and started to prepare to fire. Suddenly, Tanya whipped up and shot at him, using the laser on her Omnitool. Dragaunus yelled in surprise and stumbled backwards. Tanya pressed forwards, trying to force him out of the room. Dragaunus backed out and down a little ways of the corridor. Then he grinned and suddenly whipped around, catching Tanya by the legs with his tail. She cried in surprise and fell, hitting her head hard. And everything went black. Dragaunus smiled and got up, his armor smoking in places from the hits. He picked Tanya up, holding his gun with another hand. He reentered the infirmary and threw Tanya unceremoniously in a corner. He stood over Zelda's box. Inside, she shifted and whined softly. He snickered.

                "Oh don't you worry you pathetic little thing you... I'm going to be nice for once and end your suffering...." He raised the gun and prepared to fire. Suddenly his com went off.

                "M'Lord, this may be a good time to be leaving..." Wraith approached cautiously. Dragaunus snarled in anger. The dimwit had spoiled all of his fun! He stormed around in a circle for a moment, but then had an idea. He grinned and walked a few paces towards the door. He leaned out and took a deep breath. Then he darted forwards and opened the lid of Zelda's box. He picked her up and held her far away from him. She squirmed helplessly. Dragaunus dropped her and she hit the floor with a light yelp. He snickered and darted out, letting the door close quickly behind him. He exhaled with a sigh. Now they could leave.

                "Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere." Suddenly, about 15 launchers were shoved in his face. It was Matt who had addressed him.

                "Making a housecall?" Nosedive asked.

                "Well the doctor is now out." Dragaunus grinned, activating his teleporter. The Ducks shot at him, but to no avail. He was gone. Wildwing came forwards with Majzq beside him, supporting Duke.

                "Not bad holding Wraith off back there." he said. Majzq grinned and spread his arms out.

                "Hey, it's a gift!" he said. Wildwing walked on.

                "Do you think it's safe to go in there?" Gretchen asked, gesturing to the infirmary door.

                "Maybe not. If Zelda's box is open it could all be contaminated..." Mallory started.

                "And Tanya might be in there...." Quacker Jax said. He broke off and started to think hard.

                "So what do we do? Get lots of Lysol?" Nosedive asked.

                "Open the doors." QJ said suddenly. Grin hesitated but did so. The others slinked a few paces back down the hall. As the doors started to open, Quacker Jax started to mumble a spell quickly. A beam of red light shot out from each hand and into the room, soon filling it and bathing it in red light. He stopped.

                "All clean." he said. The Ducks slowly approached the room to see Zelda lying on the floor and Tanya slumped in a corner. Quacker Jax quickly cast another spell, and a blue ball formed around each of them. Gretchen darted forwards and knelt beside Zelda on the floor. Quacker Jax picked his way through the room and over to Tanya.

                "Are they okay?" Wildwing asked. Gretchen picked Zelda up and lay her gently back in her box. Coolbeak went over to the Medicom.

                "Yeah Zelda looks okay." she said. Turbulance suddenly pointed to Zelda's box.

                "Umm, Gretch, was that lid open before?" she asked. Gretchen nodded and snapped it shut quickly.

                "That's bad news..." Quacker Jax began from the corner. He stood up, holding Tanya in his arms. "It means Tanya might have been contaminated."

                "Great, now she's sick too?" Duke asked. Quacker Jax opened the door to the clean room and pressed a button on the wall. A bed rose up from the floor and he lay Tanya down gently. He walked out and shut the door quickly.

                "I hope it's just a mild case..." he started.

                "Let's get the Medicom on it." Lindsay said, going up and tapping on the console. Quacker Jax sighed and walked up beside Zelda's box. He closed his eyes and thought. "Zelda? You there?" he asked.

                "QJ.... is that you?" she asked slowly.

                "Yeah it's me. You okay?"

                "What happened?" she started. Her voice was noticeably weaker.

                "Draggy broke in here for a moment. He opened your box." Zelda whined. She knew there was more trouble than that. "Tanya was in here at the time... we think she may have gotten the disease." Zelda sighed and mumbled something softly. "We think it may be just a light case...." he reproached.

                "How is she?" Zelda asked finally.

                "Out cold and in the clean room. I'm seeing her stats now. She's just got a few bumps and a whiff of that disease of yours...."

                "Take care of her QJ... there has to be some way to help her..."

                "I promise you I will." he replied. "You sure you're okay?" Zelda rumbled to indicate a yes. "You get your rest. I'll be back soon." he said, and opened his eyes. Quacker Jax sighed and headed out.

 

To be continued…