The Trade, part 2

Written by Zelda and Erin

 

                Duke was just sitting in his hotel room with his back turned to the coach. He lectured him and Duke just mocked him.

                "Blah, blah, blah," he mouthed, silently. He wasn't even listening to the coach.

                "Are you listening?" he yelled.

                "Yeah, sure," Duke said. 

                "Next game, I want you in there playing as aggressive as you can get!" the coach said. "I know you want to get in there and play aggressively."

                Duke nodded. What he really wanted was Olivia and the others. The coach went into the bathroom. Duke saw an opportunity, maybe he could call them. They had to be in pit city as well as him. He picked up the phone and dialed.

                "Hello?" Mallory said, when the phone rang.

                "Mal! It's Duke!" Duke cried.

                "Hang on," Mallory said. "Hey Olivia! Phone!" Olivia ran to it.

                "Hello?" she said, quietly.

                "Hi, Livie!" Duke cried. "Oh it's so good to hear your voice!"

                "Duke! Oh Duke, I miss you so much!" Olivia shouted.

                "Me too, and I'm not even out of Anaheim yet!"

                "Oh Duke, I wish you could come back. What's it like to be a Cougar?"

                "Terrible. The coach wants me to play more aggressively. I can't do that. And it was mean of him to make you leave when I was just talking to you!"

                "Hey!" the coach yelled, grabbing the phone.  "Sorry, you have been disconnected!" He slammed the phone down onto the hook.

                "Hello? Hello?" Olivia tried. "The coach hung up on us!" She ran crying out of the room.

                "I don't ever want to hear you talking to her again!" the coach said.

                "But she's my girlfriend," Duke tried to tell the coach.

                "I don't care!" the coach yelled. "You're a Cougar now. And no more talking to Ducks. Is that clear?!" Duke nodded, tears brimming his eyes (excuse me, eye)

               

                Duke lay silently in bed. The TV was on but he wasn't listening or watching. He just felt so depressed. The Cougars hated him, the coach hated him, and he hated himself. All he wanted was to be back with his friends. Thank his feathers Dragaunus hadn't attacked yet. He'd love to try and make up an excuse to the coach after missing a game a practice to help the guys. He was going to try and get to sleep when he heard a knock at the window. He sat up rigidly and went over, opening the window. Zelda flew in and hugged him.

                "Zelda!" Duke whispered happily. "How did you get here?"

                "We tracked you with your com." Zelda smiled. "I just had to come see you. You look like your ready to sink into the earth kiddo."

                "I wish I would." Duke sighed, sitting down on the bed. "Everybody hates me here."

                "Phil's doing all he can Duke." Zelda sighed, hopping up beside him. "He sits in his office all day, he's trying to find a loophole or something in the deal." Duke nodded. "You should hear what the fans are saying. The whole town's exploding about this."

                "How's Dive?" asked Duke.

                "He's fine now. That check shook him up a bit." Duke nodded. It would have shaken him up too. He and Zelda chatted for a few more minutes, then there came a heavy knock on the door.

                "L'Orange! I wanna talk to you!" It was the coach. Duke groaned. Zelda retreated to the windowsill.

                "Keep in touch." she smiled.

                "I'll try." Duke sighed. He closed the window after she flew out, and sighed, going over to unlock the door. This was going to be a long night.

 

                The days went by and by at a grindingly slow pace. The Ducks continued to lose. They had lost 4 times in a row before the week was over. The Cougars continued to win, but the Cincinnati fans hated Duke. They all knew his loyalties were still with the Ducks, and he wasn't playing to his abilities at all. He hadn't gained a single point since being traded. Everywhere Phil went, he was met with scowls from the Anaheim fans, and hopeful glances from the Ducks. But Phil was still going over the fine print. Although the Ducks knew this wasn't easy work, they were quick to remind Phil that this was all his fault. Finally, something came up. Phil jogged happily out of his office one day, and down to the Ducks as they were practicing.

                "Got something for us today Phil?" Wildwing asked.

                "As a matter of fact, I do." he grinned. The Ducks listened intently. Sterner was shooting pucks at the goal obliviously. "See, it says in the contract that the Cougars can reverse the trade if the coach demands it."

                "What, like the coach is gonna give Duke up?" Nosedive snorted.

                "He may, with a little persuasion..." grinned Mallory.

                "What do you mean?" asked Wildwing.

                "Duke doesn't feel like playing already. We just have to catch the coach when he's really steamed, and get a clip of him saying something he'll probably regret later." she grinned back. Phil took a handheld tape recorder out of his pocket. He looped the rope attached to it around Zelda's neck.

                "The Cougars are playing Toronto tonight. It's an away game." he informed. Zelda giggled.

                "I'm on it." she grinned.

               

                That night, Zelda, Olivia, Erin, Nosedive, and Mallory went off to Toronto in the Aerowing. Erin handed Zelda her miniature tape recorder.

                "You know what to do?" she asked.

                "Yep," Zelda said. "Quote, Me, Livie, Dive, and Mal try to distract Duke from playing the game, while I record the coach. Unquote." Zelda darted to the locker room as the Cougars skated out. Duke had the feeling he was being stared at so he turned around. He saw Mallory,

Nosedive, Erin, and Olivia standing right behind him.

                "Guys! What are you doin' here?" he asked.

                "We came to see you," Mallory replied. Olivia stepped forward, shyly.

                "I missed you," she said.

                "Aww, I miss you to, Livie," Duke said. "I miss all you guys."

                "We miss you too," Nosedive said. "The team just isn't the same."

                "L' ORANGE!" the coach shouted. "GET OUT HERE!"

                "I gotta go," Duke said, as he went out. 

                "This isn't working," Erin said, with her teeth clenched.

                "It will," Mallory said. "So help me it will." Mallory bent over and took a sign out of her bag. It was large, consisting of three cardboard panels. She handed one to Erin and one to Olivia. They turned it over, to see it read "We miss you Duke!" Mallory handed another panel to Nosedive who saw his was a Mighty Ducks logo. Mallory herself held a panel that had a Cougars logo on it, with a big red crossed circle on it. Nosedive grinned.

 

                Zelda breathed slowly, claws fixed firmly around an I-beam on the ceiling. She crouched directly over a person who was cleaning up after the Cougars had left the room. Still clutching the tape recorder in her jaws, she waited for the period to end, and the team to come trampling back in.

 

                The crowd roared. Toronto was in the lead 1-0.

                "Ready guys?" Mallory said.

                "Yeah, let's go!" Erin yelled. The four flung up their signs and started yelling. They saw the fans turn their way, and the cameras in the press booths swing towards them. Olivia shivered, she wanted to put the sign down so bad, but she knew she had to do this for Duke. As he turned around and looked at the four in the stands, she waved to him. He smiled and waved back. One of the Cougar players called him sharply back to the game by hooking him around the neck with his stick. Olivia frowned and held her sign up higher. In the next minute, Toronto scored another goal. Mallory grinned. Their cheering was distracting Duke! He wasn't playing normally! And the coach knew it. Duke even turned around once and signaled to put the signs down, but the four disobeyed. By the time the period was over, the Cougars were down 3-0. The coach was furious, especially at Duke. As the team went into the locker room, the four in the stands finally lowered their signs.

                "It's action time." grinned Nosedive.

 

                "Okay, L' Orange," the coach said.  "I want to talk to you." Erin smiled and started jumping excitedly. Mallory grabbed her by the shoulders to get her to calm down.

                "Lay off the sugar." she said. The coach pulled Duke off to the sides and started shouting at him.  Not only did Zelda have a tape recorder, but Erin had a video camera hooked up to the big screen.

                "All of Anaheim should see this." Nosedive said, giving Erin the high five. The coach had Duke by the jersey collar and he was shaking him while yelling some "good" words at him. Erin and Zelda grinned.

                "You little . . . " the coach said. Duke noticed the camera and the TV hooked. He finally realized what the Ducks were doing. Stifling the urge to grin at the coach for the trick the Ducks were playing on him, he decided to play the old heartstrings of the Anaheim fans.

                "I just wanna get back to Anaheim coach...." Duke started, with puppy dog eyes.

                "You know what L'Orange? Sometimes I wish I'd never made this trade! You've been nothing but a headache to me and a bad man on the ice!" the coach yelled angrily. "You had better shape up before I scratch you for a few games. At least Sterner would score goals, we'd probably play better if you weren't on the ice and the other team had a power play!" Duke shrunk back.

                "So you want Sterner back?" Duke ventured slowly. The coach hesitated. Zelda paused.

                "Come on... come on say it!" she thought to herself.

                "We're still winning games, but I think I gave away a better player than I got back. I'm sorry for that now." the coach replied angrily. He stomped off to the locker room, dragging Duke along with him. The four in the stands started cheering instantly. Slowly, they saw Zelda creep out of the entrance to the locker room, making sure she wasn't seen. Once she was out, she leapt up and did a flip in the air. She flew up and circled around the crowds, landing beside the four and cheering with them. They got up and ran out of the arena. They had to get back to Anaheim and see what was up. As the Aerowing sped back to the Pond, the Cougars lost to Toronto, breaking a 5-game winning streak.

 

                "Oh yes, oh yes!" Nosedive said.

                "Shut up," Erin replied. "I don't think the coach is gonna do it." Zelda held up the tape recorder.      

"We could play that over the PA system," Olivia suggested. The others nodded and went back to Anaheim.  The others were waiting for them.

                "Did it work?" Wildwing asked.

                "Did it work?! Are you kidding?!" Erin laughed. "We don't know."

                "Eri-in!" the others whined. She shrugged and walked out of the room. No one knew what to say. Wildwing sighed and left. The others followed. It was a trying time. Did the coach know it was a trick? Was he going to send Duke back? No one knew for sure.

                "Any ideas?" Erin said to Zelda.

                "No," Zelda said. "We'll just have to wait."

                "I hate waiting this long!" Erin shouted as loud as she could. She started to yell like crazy and she also started to throw things around. Zelda looked scared to pieces. She ran out of the room to get Wildwing. Wing soon came running in. He grabbed Erin by the shoulders to stop her.

                "Erin, calm down!" he said. "I hear the coach is talking to Phil right now." Erin and Zelda grinned.

                "Does Phil know what to do?" Zelda asked.

                "Huh, you gotta be kidding me. If he blows this, it's his job." Wildwing said. "Come on, let's get outta here."

 

                Hours passed. Tanya went around and dusted off each one of the vehicles. Wildwing took all the hockey equipment out of the locker room and put it back. Nosedive alphabetized his comics. Grin went off and meditated as usual. Mallory cleaned out her closet. Zelda carved a flute out of a block of wood. Erin watched two whole tapes of the Impossibles. When they heard Phil's office door creak open, they immediately dropped everything and went to see what was up.

                "So, so what's the news?" Dive asked.

                "Well the coach is real hesitant. He won't be pushed into anything. We're both gonna break for lunch and we'll get back to it." The Ducks emitted a simultaneous sigh, then went back to doing things to pass the time. Phil went out for lunch. Another hour passed.

                "How long does it take for him to eat anyway?" Mallory asked, annoyed.

                "You know Phil." sighed Zelda. Finally, Phil's blue car pulled up in the parking lot. The Ducks still went on as usual. They knew there was still all that negotiating to go. Trades didn't happen with a snap of the fingers. So nobody stopped and looked up when Phil entered the Pond.

                "Hey?" yelled a familiar voice. "No welcome back party for me?" The Ducks came running to see that Phil had brought Duke back with him! Zelda yelped and ran into him so hard it nearly knocked Duke over.

                "You're back!" they all cried, and ran to hug him. Phil grinned.

                "But Phil, you said you hadn't made the deal yet!" Tanya said.

                "I lied. I wanted to surprise you." Phil smiled.

                "Well it worked." Wildwing said. "Welcome back to the team Duke." Duke grabbed up his old Ducks jersey and hugged it.

                "Man, does it ever feel good to be back!" he laughed. Sterner came up behind them.

                "Well, I guess this means it's back to Cincinnati, eh?" he asked Phil.       

                "Get packed. You cab comes in 15 minutes." Phil said, patting him on the shoulder. Wildwing broke away from the grouping around Duke to speak to Sterner.

                "I hope you don't think we're mean for, you know, shrugging you off." Sterner smiled.

                "Hey, I'm happy now. I'm gonna go back to where I belong. I've been through a few trades, I know how it feels. No problems here." Wildwing smiled as Sterner walked off.

                "So," Duke said. "Where's Olivia?"

                "Beats me." Erin replied. She went back to the Ready Room. Duke ran across the Pond, staring and smiling. Everyone was happy to have

him back.

                "You don't know how good this feels!" Duke shouted.

                "Someone's waiting for you upstairs, Duke." Phil winked. Duke shot upstairs. Olivia was sitting at his desk playing around with the cell phone.

                "And tell that coach he has some nerve to annoy us!" she yelled.

                "OH NO!" Phil yelled.

                "Just kidding," Olivia said. Then she ran to Duke. "Oh am I so glad to see you again!"

                "I'm here to stay!" Duke shouted. They hugged.  Then, they kissed.

                "Oh iiiiiiiick!" Erin shouted. "I'm glad the Impossibles don't have girlfriends!"

                "Erin, you have no romance!" Olivia shouted.

 

The End

 

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