Tomorrow Comes Today

Part 4

Written by Zelda

 

“I’ve got our range!” Tanya announced, a ring of happiness in her voice at the completion of her task.

                “Seriously?” Mallory came up behind her, looking at a tiny map on the Aerowing’s console. “That was fast!”

                “Good thing I made those upgrades to our vehicle connection systems.” Tanya nodded. “It’s easier for the Aerowing to communicate with Drake 1, otherwise we’d still be back at the Pond instead of in the air! This is the closest I can hone in, this half a square mile area.”

                “It’s rural farmland.” Duke remarked, also peeking over her shoulder. “How could Dragaunus be hiding there?”

                “We’re about to find out.” Wildwing nodded from the pilot’s seat. “I’m altering our course now to target there, and we’ll let the Mask to the rest of the work.”

                “What’s still bothering me is this guy Dragaunus is after.” Nosedive spoke, sitting back in his seat. “I mean, why would a band have connections to someone this important?”

                “Beats me, but they do!” Duke started. “And we’ve probably seen weirder things, you know.”

                “I’d believe it.” Zelda sighed, musing over the matter herself. “I mean, with all of the strange enemies we’ve faced, that have been connected to Dragaunus in some way. The only thing they’ve had in common is that they were all dangerous. Sometimes I don’t know how we managed to keep our other foot out of the grave…”

                “Grave…” Nosedive muttered in echo. “Wait a second, that’s it!!!”

                “What’s what?” Mallory asked him.

                “I can’t believe we’ve been so stupid!” Nosedive smacked his forehead. “We forgot the one member of the band that Dragaunus doesn’t have! There’s this guy named Del, he’s this ghost dude—“

                “A ghost?” Wildwing raised an eyebrow.

                “That’s right!” Zelda snapped her claws. “How could we have forgotten?! Del does all of the rap for the group, he’s a ghost that has partial possession of Russel’s body!”

                “Can this situation get any weirder?” Mallory asked with a sigh.

                “Are you sure this is the guy Dragaunus wanted to talk to?” Tanya asked.

                “It makes sense.” Zelda spoke. “I mean, he appears of his own will, so maybe that’s what Noodle was talking about when she said she didn’t know how to contact him.”

                “But why would Dragaunus want to talk to a ghost?” Wildwing asked. “I suppose we’re answering questions only to get more given to us. What a mess.”

                “This is puzzling indeed.” Grin shook his head.

                “How close are we to our target area?” Mallory asked.

                “ETA in five.” Wildwing started. “I’m going to start scanning now…”

                “I’d give a negative on radar jamming or anything like that, Wing.” Mallory suggested. “They’re expecting us, right? If someone cuts off their radar systems, they’d know it was us.”

                “And they might kill their hostages.” Wildwing concluded. “I agree. Switching to stealth mode frequencies now, we’re going to have to stay low and do small area sweeps until we flush them out…”

                “Why don’t we have Batman on speed-dial, again?” Mallory asked rhetorically.

                “Heh, like I said before girl!” Nosedive snickered. “Ain’t got nothing on us. Besides, you’d trip on his cape anyway.”

                “Heads back in the game, Ducks.” Wildwing ordered from the console. “And keep your eyes open for incoming fire. We don’t want them surprising us, we want it the other way around.”

 

                To anyone else, the light would have brought relief. The one strip of faulty florescent lighting that hung outside the cell bars snapped back on again, filling the cell with light.

Murdoc squinted his clashing eyes for a moment, paying the change in scenery little mind before dipping his head into his chest.

Noodle, who had spent a considerable amount of time trying to squeeze her way through the bars, squinted as well for a moment before she resumed her efforts. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even get her head clean through.

But for 2D, the light was more than a mere distraction. He couldn’t shut his eyelids in time, and the sudden shock of light instead of darkness seemed to punch two beams through his skull. He let out a stifled whimper and crumpled further into himself in an attempt to find the relative comfort of darkness again. But he had been too late, the pain in his head had already multiplied tenfold, and it felt like his head was going to burst. His hands came over his closed eyes, pressing into the sockets, squishing them back into his aching head. With the throbbing and echoing bounding about in his skull like a dozen rubber balls, he was barely making out things around him. Gritting his teeth, he forced the pain to fade like he had done so many times before, bringing it slowly back to a level where it was merely tolerable. Only then did he dare to open his eyes, shaded to the light. He found that Noodle had halted her efforts to get through the bars, and was now staring into the corridor.

“Mean Godzilla.” she muttered quietly, pacing back towards the wall.

“Tell us somethin’ we don’t know, love.” Murdoc growled sarcastically, lifting his head from his chest. Apparently he had been trying to get some sleep. “Stop tryin’ to shove yer melon through the bars, ye’ll get yerself tetanus from the bloody rust.”

2D sighed inwardly, and started to search his pockets. He knew they were all empty, but maybe he had forgotten a stash of painkillers in one of them. He was disappointed to no end when he came up with nothing.

“Mean Godzilla.” Noodle stated again, her tone turning insisting.

“Yes yes,” Murdoc was now growing visibly annoyed, clenching the fist of his good hand. “We bloody well know they’re mean!” He started up, gritting his teeth and hissing lowly at the pain in his shoulder.

“Mean Godzilla!” Noodle repeated, her voice rising to a near yell.

“Satan’s sake, Noodle!” Murdoc nearly reared up this time in anger, snarling at her. “Keep yer bloody trap shut!”

“My goodness!” a strange voice interrupted, in a thick British accent. “All of this fuss for little old me?”

Three pairs of eyes darted into the shadows outside of the cell, and finally locked on a pair of orbs that returned their stare. They were ugly eyes, crossed in red. And revealing itself like a Cheshire cat, the eyes attached themselves to a very amused grin. Another lizard strolled out before the cell, but unlike the others this one was no taller or less skinny than Noodle.

“Wot the ‘ell you think’s so funny?” Murdoc spat. The bassist quickly lost his aggression though, and grew wide-eyed, as the spry green lizard suddenly stretched his neck and sprouted a powder-blue suit, a black cane and a top hat. He sipped casually from a cup of tea, and bit into the crumpet in his other hand.

“My dear boy, do try to be more civilized.” he sniffed. “Really, I wouldn’t expect such terrible manners from anyone other than the Yanks.”

Murdoc was on his feet now, seething with anger, clenching his fists around the bars as he tried to yell at the Saurian. “You little flimsy pile of---“

“Ahh ahh ahh!” the lizard tisked, dropping his crumpet to pull a laser blaster from his pocket. “Don’t make me blow your face off before I’ve had my tea.”

With the barrel of the gun right in his face, Murdoc had no choice but to back away with a stunned look, sinking to the floor again once he’d reached the wall. 2D managed to coordinate his brain enough to get him standing as well, still squished into his corner of the cell.

“Gentlemen.” the lizard dropped his accent and his outfit, morphing back to his original self. “You may address me as the Chameleon. And I’m here for the girl.”

“Mean Godzilla!” Noodle yelled angrily.

“Don’t sass me honey.” Chameleon smiled. “I can be a lot worse than Godzilla.”

“Wot do you wont with her?” Murdoc demanded.

“The boss is hungry.” Chameleon shrugged. “Seems the fat one’s having some trouble in doing what we ask of him, so the big guy figures giving him a front row seat to his supper would loosen the tongue, hehe. Come along, sweetheart…” Chameleon ambled over with a crooked gait to the cell door, rattling a ring of keys.

Horrified and angered at the same time, Noodle drew a few steps back into the cell, realizing she had nowhere to go. She made a rush for the bars, trying to squeeze through again. With a few modifications to her earlier technique, she managed to get her entire body out, save for her head, which got hopelessly wedged between the bars.

Chameleon nearly fell over laughing, holding his belly as he cackled and pointed.

2D suddenly pushed off of the wall and leapt forward, grabbing onto the MP3 helmet that was fastened securely around Noodle’s head. With a pop, he pulled it off, and her head slipped easily through. She was now completely outside the cell.

Chameleon went from rollicking in laughter to stock silence, his jaw drooping open.

Noodle did a back-handspring out of sheer joy, snarling out an insulting stream of Japanese at the green lizard.

“H-hey you, you come back here this instant!” he stammered.

Noodle flipped backwards again, edging down the corridor in the opposite direction from which the Saurians had always come before. With another Japanese quip, she was off like a shot, quickly disappearing into the shadows.

“Hey! I said get back here!” Chameleon scrambled to grab his blaster, nearly dropping the keys, as he stumbled after her. He too, was off quickly, shouting slowly fading to echoes, and then to silence.

His hollow eyes wide, 2D approached the bars and tried to make things out down the hall. “She’s gone, Muds.” he started. “She got out!”

“Eh,  into wot, I wonder?” Murdoc grunted, unimpressed. “How many more reptiles they got runnin’ around this zoo? Ya may have let her out the fryin’ pan and into the fire, face-ache.”

2D blinked, taking a long time to ponder that definite possibility, having the thought join hundreds that were kicking painfully around in his head. “Oi…” he spoke quietly, looping his arms through the bars and leaning against them. His eyes eventually wandered to his bandleader. Murdoc hadn’t moved in Noodle’s escape event, and now nodded his head against his chest again, eyes closed under his black flop of greasy hair. 2D’s look turned to one of concern, rather than confusion. He had never seen his bandleader really sleep before. When he had, it was because he was passed out from drinking too much, or from getting clocked on the head when Russel had enough of his attitude. “Ya okay, Muds?”

The bassist glanced up to him sharply, glaring poisonously with his red left eye. “Will ya quit askin’ me that, Muppet? I bloody ain’t okay, I got a hole through me shoulder!”

2D backed off upon being scolded, folded his arms up again, and retreated back to his corner. “’Salright Muds.” he started. “Mebbe Noodle’ll find her way outta this mess. She’ll get help, we’ll be outta this.”

“Heh.” Murdoc smirked to the cell bars. “Mebbe.”

 

The grass was high, that was good. “Single file!” Wildwing heard Mallory whisper sharply ahead of him, as she led the team through the tall grass. They were trying to sneak through the middle of a field of barley, snaking towards a stretch of fence where a tall oak tree was growing. Wildwing knew better than that. It was no oak tree, the Mask told him it was actually the Raptor. Dragaunus was getting better at disguising the ship, usually it would cloak itself as an object of comparable size and shape. The whole scene was starkly halcyon, with the setting sun behind the hills in the distance, the barley glowing in greens and golds. It would be pretty if they weren’t in the middle of a serious situation. Due to the growing tension over the hostages, the team had agreed to land the Aerowing a ways off, hidden by a stand of trees on the other side of the field. The team had come bristling with weapons, and loaded like camels with ammo refills. Now they were going to have sneak in, get the band, and sneak back out. With four innocents on hand, combat was not a desirable option. Unfortunately, getting to the Raptor itself was the biggest problem of the moment.

“If they have motion sensors on…” Duke growled, directly behind him in line.

“Shhh!” Mallory hissed, and they all continued running, dodging through the grass.

Duke had voiced Wildwing’s concerns. The Saurians were looking, waiting for the Ducks to come and find them. Surely they’d have the ship secured, and they’d have the hostages under heavy guard as well. One slip, and they’d be killed. This mission would be a failure, and a fatal one at that. Wildwing wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle the deaths of four innocent humans on his hands. Suddenly there was a sharp snort, and Zelda bounded up the line to his left, breaking formation.

“I smell water, there’s an irrigation ditch to the left!” She pointed with a swing of her head.

“Let’s take it!” Mallory signaled, and they all suddenly were funneling off to the side, running through the barley until their boots squished in the thin mud of a weedy ditch.

“Ewww…” Nosedive sighed.

“We’ll have better cover here, and this runs pretty close to the ship.” Mallory nodded, looking down the path that the grass bowed over. “Let’s keep going!”

So they kept running, boots squish-squishing in time as the barley heads thwacked gently against their armor. Wildwing felt a chilling wave pass over his body, signaling that he’d gone through the Saurian’s cloaking shield. A glance up, and there it was; the Raptor towering over them with a presence so strong that it nearly burned his eyes. “Duke, you take the front, get us to that ventilation duct!”

“Gotcha, fearless leader…” Duke squeezed by in the irrigation ditch, and jogged to the head of the line. There was a ventilation grating on the side of the Raptor’s hull that he’d used to sneak in before, now it was simply a matter of finding it again. The grain parted before the team, and they had to skid to a stop before they nearly slammed into the ship itself.

“Whoa…” Nosedive wiped his forehead. “Why does this thing have to be so darn big?”

“Right here, guys.” Duke whispered, waving them over. Standing on tiptoe, he was already wedging his saber into the grating of the vent.

“Allow me.” Grin stepped in next to him, wedging his fingers in instead, and tearing the grating free with seemingly little effort.

“Good work, let’s go before we’re spotted.” Wildwing gripped the edge of the opening and hoisted himself in, turning to help Tanya up before the two of them scooted off through the duct. It was small, the team scrunching up onto all fours and crawling through the dusty vents. Several of the team had to stifle sneezes. They passed by several branches, some opening to more grates.

“I hope you know where you’re going in here.” Mallory whispered ahead.

“Zel and I were through here once before.” Duke nodded. “Keep going. This should take us pretty close to the cells.”

“Shh---“ Grin cut in, squished into the duct at the back of the line. The team halted in place, listening for a few seconds. But there was nothing.

“What was that, Grinster?” Nosedive turned around, getting his bill wedged between his shoulder and the duct wall.

“Shh!” Grin hissed. “Listen!”

Zelda’s ears perked, hearing something too. Having the most mobility in the duct, she wormed her way around Mallory and into a side branch, peeking through a grate and out into a corridor. Finally, the team heard something, a short squeal. Zelda was sniffing out of the grate, and curled her lip up into a growl.

“Doesn’t sound good.” Wildwing nodded, before waving the team down that branch of the duct. Zelda let Duke squeeze by enough for him to wedge his sabre underneath the grate, and pry it free. One by one, they lowered themselves from the duct to the floor.

Nosedive stretched gratefully. “So what do you think that noise was?”

Before anyone could reply, they were distracted by a violent blur that whooshed towards them from down the hall, slamming fully into Zelda. She went tumbling back with a surprised yelp, only to find an equally surprised Noodle sitting on top of her.

“Zelda-san!” Noodle cheered, hugging the dragon around the neck.

“Noodle?!” she replied incredulously. “You got out? Where are the others?”

Noodle sprung to her feet and pointed behind her. “Godzilla! Mean Godzilla!”

“Launchers up guys, company’s coming.” Mallory interpreted.

“What the---?!” Another startled yelp sounded from down the corridor, coming from Chameleon, who had just stumbled onto the scene.

“Blitz him!” Wildwing ordered. “Don’t let him get away!”

“Yeagh!” Chameleon turned tail and scrambled, running. Although the corridor was a bit too narrow for the team and tailing Noodle, they caught up to the Saurian very quickly. Mallory shot out a bola puck which roped the lizard’s legs, and the chase was over. Chameleon scrambled with his hands, pulling himself along, until he felt the sole of Nosedive’s boot plant into his curved back.

“Not so fast, short-stuff.” Nosedive sneered. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Flinging out a hand, Chameleon found his blaster, twisting his body around to get a shot up. He aimed too high, and the laser sailed over a few retreating heads.

With a swipe of his sabre, Duke had the blaster in pieces on the floor. “Tell us where the others are, now!” he demanded.

“Good luck finding them all in one piece, featherbrains!” Chameleon plugged his thumbs in his ears, and stuck out his tongue.

“That’s it, you little---“ Duke went in for the knockout punch, but the Saurian was faster. He clicked into his wrist com and faded into a glittering green shadow. Duke ended up punching the floor instead.

Peeking curiously from behind the shield of Zelda’s wings, Noodle looked very confused. “Nani? No Godzilla?”

The danger past, the team turned back to her. Zelda switched to Japanese, speaking in a comforting tone, then a questioning one. Noodle turned and pointed down the corridor which she came, gesturing quickly. “I think she’s saying that 2D and Murdoc are in a cell down that way. She doesn’t know where Russel is, but she agrees that the Saurians want Del, not him.”
                “Which means they’ll kill him eventually.” Wildwing shook his head. “The kid can stick with us for now, we’ve really got to move. Chameleon will alert the others, they’ll try to kill their hostages while they can!”

Grin reached down and bodily picked up the confused little girl, sitting her on his shoulder as the rest of the team took off ahead of him, running back down the corridor.

 

He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. How had he managed to fall asleep in this stinking hole? Then again, it wasn’t really that much dirtier than his good old Winnie. How he missed that right now… There--- there was the sound again. A low thump, actually more of a thud. Murdoc blinked again and looked out into the cell. It was still lit, and as far as he could see there was nothing in the hallway. “’At you dullard?” he asked aloud. With no reply, Murdoc looked over to 2D in the corner, who was sleeping as well, crumpled like a Mesoamerican mummy and shielding his face with his thin fingers. “Hey!” Murdoc snarled, leaning up. “Wake up, face-ache, I asked you something!”

The singer jolted at that, hollow eyes opening wide. “Wot? Wot is it Muds?”

“Was it you makin’ that noise?” his bandleader frowned.

“Wot noise? I don’t fink it was me, I don’t fink…” 2D started, then trailed off, wondering whether or not he could have done something in his sleep.

Both of them started as the sound came again, a heavy thud, some distance away. It came again, and again, now increasing in frequency and getting louder. 2D crunched up tighter against the wall as he started to feel vibrations in the floor.

Murdoc frowned, unhappy. “Like friggin’ ‘Jurassic Park’, it is…” he grumbled.

A low chuckle replied to him from outside the cell, as the thudding got louder. “Heh!” a gravelly voice sneered. “My great grandpa’s nothin’ compared to me.” Siege loomed into view, a laser blaster tipped over his shoulder. “Sorry boys, it’s chow time.”

“Wot ‘er you blabbing about?” Murdoc growled.

“Your little girl was an idiot, that’s what.” Siege grinned. “Lord Dragaunus no longer has any use for you, but I can still have a little fun.”

Murdoc was pushing himself to his feet slowly. “Wot ‘id you do to her?”
                Siege casually produced a set of keys from a leather pouch in his belt, and went to unlock the cell door. “I think you should be more worried about what I’m going to do to you.” The Saurian stepped into the cell, blocking the door with his massive frame, and raised his gun before slamming the door shut with his tail.

Murdoc warily inched backwards along the wall, eventually bumping into 2D.

“Where do you plan on running to?” Siege laughed. “This is gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel. Shame you’re so skinny…”

“Hold it right there Siege!” A voice called from behind the orange lizard.

The Saurian spun and nearly had his jaw drop when he was faced with a barrage of launchers from outside the cell. “Here already?” he complained. “You’re too late Ducks, they’re as good as dead!”

“Open fire!” Wildwing ordered, and suddenly the room flared in blue as pucks hailed into the cell, ricocheting off of the walls.

Murdoc dropped to the floor, dragging a seemingly frozen 2D down with him, watching as Siege whirled around above him, the perfect example of a proverbial bull in a china shop. The Saurian had turned to face the Ducks, trying to keep his head covered for protection. While he fired back with his blaster, his tail was swatting around the cell, clanging into the walls, looking for something soft to hit.

“Duke, get that door open!” Tanya started, opting for her Omnitool’s wrist laser instead of her launcher to try and snipe the blaster out of Siege’s hands.

Duke left the protection of Wildwing’s ice shield, which he had stopped firing to raise, and regarded the door for a moment. “No time for finesse.” he sighed, bringing out his sabre and starting to hack away at the metal bars. Within moments, the frame was sheared through and the door fell to the metal floor with a very loud clang. Distracted by the noise, Siege then howled as he felt his blaster get ripped from his hands. Now, Duke and Grin entered the cell, pinning Siege back into one corner as the two humans kept as still as they could in another.

“Looks like you’re the fish now, Siege.” Mallory sneered. “And you’re a fat one too.”

“Stupid Ducks.” Siege grumbled. With a whack to his wrist com, he started to disappear. Expecting that he’d pull such a stunt, the rest of the team opened fire on him, but none of the shots connected with his com, and he vanished.

“Again?!” Nosedive snorted. “I hate those teleporters, I really do.”

“Murdoc-san! 2D-sama!” Noodle burst through the clutter of Ducks to jump into the cell, and tackle 2D once again. “Okay!” she celebrated.

“Ow!” 2D protested gently. “We’re awright girl!”

“Speak for yourself.” Murdoc grumbled, holding his shoulder and wishing he hadn’t gotten so banged around in the fight. “It’s about time you birds bloody showed up, look what they did to me!”

“What now, bro?” Nosedive asked. “There’s too many to take along, and we’ve still gotta find Russel!”

“Zelda, get them back to the Aerowing.” Wildwing nodded. “Do you think you’ll be okay alone?”

“You’ll need as many as you can to get Russel out.” Zelda agreed, sliding into the cell herself. “I’ll sneak them out, don’t worry.”

“Good. Tanya, leave a med kit for her. Extra arms too. We’re off.” Wildwing turned on his heels and led the charge further down the corridor, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Zelda picked up the med kit in her jaws and hopped over, quickly glancing over Murdoc and 2D for obvious wounds. “Are you two okay?”

“Didn’t I just bloody answer ‘at question?” Murdoc snarled.

“Calm down, you don’t look like it’s too serious.” Zelda opened the kit with a gentle smile. “Let me see your arm…” She took it gingerly and pulled some of his burned shirt away, causing another angry snarl from the black-haired bassist.

“Watch wot yer doin’!” he ordered. “Don’t you ‘ave a doctor or something?”

“You’re looking at her, for now.” she replied. “You’ll be fine, it’s just a surface burn…” Zelda brought out some gauze pads and antiseptic-soaked cloth. “This  might sting a little…”

“Hells no.” Murdoc refused, level-eyed.

“The more time we waste here, the less chance we have of getting out of this alive. Give me your arm.”

Grudgingly, Murdoc let her pull his wounded arm across his chest, hissing loudly as she pressed a cloth to the burn.

2D and Noodle watched quietly. Any time they had seen a member of the band injured, it was one of the other members that was responsible. This was a new situation, and both of them clearly didn’t like it.

“Russel-sama?” Noodle asked.

“He’ll be awright Noodle, I fink…” 2D answered, reaching over to give her the MP3 helmet she left behind when she had escaped the cell.

The girl squealed happily as she clapped it down on her head, and Zelda smiled lightly as she wrapped the bassist’s thin shoulder in gauze. “She seems no worse for the wear. What about you 2D?”

The singer leaned up slowly, shaking his head. “Another migraine, I always get ‘em…” He started fumbling through his pockets again, only remembering halfway through that they had been empty before.

“Let’s see…” Zelda was rummaging through the med kit. “Codeine good? We have a few of those…”

“Better than nothin’.” 2D nodded, catching a couple of pills that Zelda tossed over to him. He clomped them down, gulping a few times to get them down his throat, without any water on hand. 

“Don’t you worry,” Zelda spoke. “The guys will do their best, you can be sure, to get Russel out. Now our focus is getting you out…” As she closed the med kit, she reached behind it and pulled out two spare pucklaunchers the team had left. “One for you…” she slid one across the floor to 2D. “And one for you.” She put the other in Murdoc’s lap.

“Wha….” 2D fumbled with his. “I dunno how to shoot…”

“Let’s hope you don’t need to learn, then.” the dragon nodded solemnly. “From here on out, we stay quiet. Keep close to me and I’ll find you a good exit. If we get into a scrum, don’t run off. Getting lost in here is what gets you in trouble…”

“Come on Noodle…” 2D unfurled to his feet, gripping the launcher handle tight.

Murdoc rocked back up on his heels, grunted at the gun, and shuffled off after the dragon.  “Dun think this little pea-shooter is supposed ta stop ‘em.” he muttered. “And whatta we do after this? Ya got any spare hockey sticks ta whack em with?”

“You’re going to criticize your rescuers?” Zelda smirked back at him, humored by his attitude. “Stay behind me, you’ll be back in your Winne in no time.” With a quick glance out into the hall, Zelda bounded out of the cell, three humans following close behind.

 

Wraith scowled at the limp figure before him. Humans were horribly lazy. With the pointed end of his staff, the Saurian jabbed the human roughly in the side of the head.

“Ow!” there was a low mumble from the man’s bowed head.

“Good, you’re awake.” Wraith grinned, before he turned away from Russel and to the onlooking Dragaunus. “That is all I need, M’Lord.”

“Go ahead then.” Dragaunus nodded, stepping back a few paces.

“You have resisted all of my attempts before…” he started, not amused. “But this time shall be different.”

Russel raised his head to meet a pair of hollow eye sockets, in the duck skull impaled on the top of Wraith’s staff. His reaction of blatant surprise changed into a look of fear as the eyes began to glow red. “What do you think you’re doing?!” he asked, struggling freshly.

“What you would not agree to let us.” Wraith replied absently. He had closed his eyes in concentration, and now faded into low mumbling, none of his words decipherable. Slowly, a low red glow started to surround Russel’s body. The surprised man struggled at first, but fell slack slowly, as if he were growing increasingly tired. Finally, his head slouched down, and his body hung limp again.

“What was all that about?” Dragaunus frowned. “I thought you said that you needed him awake.”

“I did.” Wraith replied, a little irritably. “For this.” He banged the point of his staff on the floor, and suddenly the human’s frame jolted stiff, his eyes wide open and two beams of white light shooting from them. The light seemed to fill the room like a flash of electricity, disappearing again with a snap. When it did, the human hung limp again. But there was another source of light, an ethereal blue glow that surrounded a lump lying next to Russel on the floor. Slowly it unfurled itself to reveal a human form, wearing a white t-shirt, a yellow baseball cap, and a gold chain.

“Well well well.” Dragaunus smirked, a look of satisfaction on his face. “We finally get to meet our little guest.”

“Man--- who hadda wake me up like dat?” the ghost grumbled unhappily. He stretched and yawned, finally taking the opportunity to look around, and reacting with obvious surprise. “Whoa, who changed the digs around here?”

“Ghost.” Dragaunus ordered, striding up to face him. “Stand and address your new Overlord.”

“Say what?” The blue form shook himself, and swerved up to stand. “Who are you, and who are you?” He glanced over to Wraith and cringed. “And what did you do to him?!” His voice gained concern and anger as he spotted Russel.

“Nothing, yet.” Dragaunus started. “As long as you obey my commands, your host will not be harmed.”

“You ain’t doin’ nothin’ to him man.” the ghost backed away with a defiant shake of his dreadlocks. “I dunno who the hell you think you are, but you’re messing with big things here.”

“Not too big.” Dragaunus spoke confidently. “You, spirit, will be my connection to the world of the undead. You will act as my messenger, and you will organize and mobilize an army of undead, at my will, to attack---“

“Whoa, hold up a minute there.” the ghost interrupted. “You do realize I can’t just magically do all of this stuff, kay man? Who do you think I am?”

“You’ll be someone searching for a new host body, in a few moments.” Dragaunus spoke. Unblinkingly, he raised his wrist and pointed the laser gun mounted on it straight at Russel’s head.

The ghost seethed, his frame snapping to static with his growing anger. But there was another sound in the room, a loud yell that seemed to echo in from the corridor.

“Dragaunus!” it called, sounding just as angry as Del looked.

“Wonderful.” Wraith growled. “I thought our guests would have been taken care of by now.”

“Think again, tall, dark, and ugly!” Nosedive growled as the team of six Ducks stormed into the room. “Looks like we’re here to crash the party!”

“I don’t think so.” Dragaunus hissed, pressing the point of his laser blaster right to the unconscious Russel’s forehead. “Take a step closer, and he dies.”

At this, the mood changed dramatically, and the Ducks halted in a scramble. They assembled themselves in a flank, blocking the Saurians from escaping down the corridor, presenting a mass of arms and shielding to the lizards.

“Turn the human over, Dragaunus.” Wildwing warned, from behind his shield. “You had no right to involve them in this!”

“I’ll crush anyone I need to, duck, to wrest control of this planet.” the Overlord replied angrily. “In a way, I’m glad you’re here. You’re about to witness a new chapter in our war, you filthy, worthless birds. You’re full of quips about justice and morality, but I bet your peabrains will be quite perplexed by how to stop an endless army of the undead. Imagine it, ducks. Imagine the hoards I’ll have control over, countless hundreds of millions of them, all unable to be defeated, unable to be killed! You are powerless to stop me, now.”

“Sunk so low as to try and enslave ghosts, Lizard Lips?” Nosedive shot right back. “You think a bunch of zombies or draculas or whatever is gonna help you take over a whole planet? You got another thing coming!”

“Heh.” came a low chuckle from the ghost. The Ducks were a little startled, as if they had suddenly noticed that the spirit was there for the first time. Arms crossed, and a rather sour look on his face, Del shook his head at the entire room. “Shame on y’all.” he scolded. “Yer both underestimating me. You wanted a ghost, you overgrown anole? You got one!” His eyes blazing white with anger, Del suddenly shot outwards and upwards, his body expanding until the arch of his back was pressed against the chamber ceiling! One of his broad blue arms proceeded to squash Wraith and Dragaunus against a wall.

“Wraith!” the Overlord gargled. “Contain him!”

“We must---attack the human---!” Wraith sputtered, his throat squeezed back.

“Oh no you don’t.” Wildwing growled. “Let’s cut him down and book, guys!”

The team scuttled over to the center of the room, not taking their crosshairs off of the two Saurians. However, they seemed to be more than occupied with the huge blue ghost breathing down their necks. With a few slashes of Duke’s sabre, Russel’s limbs were freed from the cables one by one, and he was lowered to the ground.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Del asked over a glowing shoulder.

“Looks alright to me.” Tanya nodded. “Just unconscious. We’ll get him out of here.”

“Sounds good to me sister.” the ghost smirked. “And I’ll look after these two---“ Del was alarmed to turn and find his captives had disappeared! “How’d they do that, man?!”

“They can teleport!” Nosedive yelled over to him. “Which means we gotta get out of here now. If Draggy gets to the control room he’ll have this place flooded out with drones in no time!”

Grin hefted Russel up over one shoulder, and joined the rest of the team as they ran back out of the corridor, heading for the nearest exit they could remember in this towering maze. Del floated out closely behind, keeping one eye over his shoulder the entire way.

 

Zelda used a claw to slice the piece of tape away from the roll, pressing it neatly down to finish off the more formal bandage she’d applied to Murdoc’s burned shoulder.

The bassist frowned at how close those claws were to his face, growling as she hopped back to the floor. “You wanna watch them things next time? Yer gonna take someone’s eye out, little lizard.”

“You keep yourself from getting shot, and there won’t  be a next time.” Zelda smiled back at him. She was beginning to understand why Noodle seemed to put up with Murdoc’s antics so well. The self-appointed leader of the band was not about to let on that he knew he was over his head in a situation like this. He’d stay just as aggressive and grating as ever, to keep his bandmates under control. It was almost amusing, in a sense. But nothing was very amusing now. She left Murdoc in one of the passenger seats of the Aerowing, turning back towards the open hatch, where 2D was sitting and watching the field.

“So where was that ship we was in?” he scratched his head.

“It’s cloaked, nobody can see it except for Wildwing.” Zelda pointed to the oak tree, looking quite far in the distance now. She couldn’t believe they had made it all the way back, with Murdoc complaining and 2D stumbling dizzily from the combination of migraine and medication. But now at least the humans could catch some rest. “That’s it out there.”

“Cor…” 2D breathed, frowning. “Where are the others?”

“They’re coming.” Zelda nodded, her own brows knitting slightly. She had decided not to call them over the com. If they were sneaking up on the Saurians to free Russel, a transmission like that would blow their cover for sure.

“Yer worried about ‘em, aren’t ya?” 2D started quietly.

Zelda nodded, her eyes scanning the field. “Just as worried as you are about Russel, I bet. Try not to let it get to you. We’ve had to rescue each other countless times from that deathtrap. It’s never easy, but---“

                The dragon was cut off by a violent explosion that suddenly appeared over the field. It was strangely one-sided, as if it were being reflected in a mirror. In fact, the other half was covered by the Raptor’s cloaking device, invisible to the outside world. The two sitting at the hatch nearly jumped, startled. Murdoc and Noodle stood as well, looking out through the Aerowing’s windshield.

                “Wot in the blazes wos ‘at?” Murdoc started.

                “Stay in the ship.” Zelda ordered. “And keep your launchers close, you’ll be safe here!” She hit a panel next to the hatch, causing it to start closing. She flew out before it did, flapping low through the trees, and out onto the open field. The smell of burning grain was strong. Somewhere, her Ducks were in that mess. With a loud roar, she plunged into the smoke blowing out over the field. The wind was carrying the plume away from the ship, which would help hide the team below from the Raptor’s sniping lasers. But more explosions thundered nearby, which meant that the Saurians were still shooting anyway! Tilting her wings and pumping fast, she launched out of the acrid smoke, into the clear air. Passing through the cold wave of the Raptor’s cloaking field, she swirled up around the ship, hoping to at least distract them and get them to shoot for her instead. Now she could risk communication, but her com crackled before she could reach it.

                “Can we go home please?!” Nosedive wailed.

                “Where’s the ship in all of this smoke?” Duke coughed.

                “Ducks! I can’t see you below the cloud, if you can see the sun the Aerowing is fifty degrees to the south!” Zelda called back, swooping over a streaking laser beam.

                “That you girl?!” Tanya yelled, her com crackling with static. “You get out with the others okay?”

                “They’re waiting in the ship---“ Zelda cut herself off to spiral around another blast, the world twisting around beneath her. She was too close to the ship, she couldn’t dodge well enough at this distance.

                “I’ve got you on the Autotracker Zel…” Wildwing coughed through the smoke. “Break off, you’re in too close! Find Grin, he’s got Russel…”

                “Got that!” Zelda folded her wings and plunged down into the smoke.

 

                Mallory had to stop listening to the com chatter as she suddenly slammed into something. Knocked off balance in all of the smoke, she rolled in the barley and landed with a squish in the muddy base of an irrigation ditch. There was a thudding nearby, and something landed on top of her with a yelp. She recognized the sound instantly.

                “Gah, Nosedive, you moron! Get offa me!”

                “Hey, you ran into me.” Nosedive rolled up, pulling Mallory after him.

                “No, you ran into me!” Mallory snorted. “Any idea where the others are?”

                “Haven’t seen ‘em---“ Nosedive started coughing.

                “This isn’t good.” Mallory started, crouching low into the ditch to get some fresher air. “Dragaunus knows he can’t pick us off in all of this smoke, it’s only a matter of time before he sends out reinforcements. Come on!” She grabbed his wrist and hauled him off into the grain. “If we can find the sun…”

                “Don’t stare too long, it’ll end up being a laser blast with our luck!” Nosedive pulled even with her, his launcher drawn. Suddenly, he stopped short as he slammed into something again, tumbling to the ground and feeling the grass buckle beneath him. “Yeesh Mal, I told you to watch where you’re go—“ He was cut off as he realized he’d hit something hard and cold. A pneumonic hissing sounded as something turned, staring at him with a single burning red eye.

                “Duck!” Mallory ordered, suddenly behind him and shooting. The aggressor went up with a squeal of metal and a plume of sparks. Mallory watched as Nosedive stood, opening her com again. “We’ve gotta regroup guys, the drones are out!”

                “Try to run ahead of the smoke!” Tanya replied, coughing. “Even the Autotrackers are having trouble in this stuff!”

                “We’ve got company girl!” Nosedive called Mallory back to the fight, waving and pointing to a line of drones advancing before them. “They’re trying to push us back to the ship!”

                “Let ‘em try.” Mallory growled, pulling a second launcher from a holster in her back. “We brought all of these pucks along, why not use ‘em?”

                Staying close through the smoke, the pair charged.

 

                Grin gritted his teeth as he saw the drones approaching. Fighting in this sort of situation was far from wise. He needed one, preferably two hands to secure Russel on his shoulder. Breathing in this acrid smoke surely wasn’t healthy for either of them. Thank DuCaine he had Tanya near him, shooting down anything that moved and wore a red metal coat. Everything was terribly confusing in the smoke. The sinking sun hit it at an angle that turned everything a burning red color. They could have been running around in circles, for all they knew.

                “We’ve---gotta get outta here!---“ Tanya yelled to him, hacking and wheezing in the cloud. “They’re too many--- Dragaunus isn’t just gonna let us get away!”

                “Which way is the ship?”

                “Keep behind me---!” Tanya ordered, waving him through the smoke. She stopped short, however, as a broad shape cut through the smog directly in front of her, nearly clipping her bill. She started in shock, but quickly recognized the color, and watched as the shape spun and cut back, sinking through the smoke until Zelda’s body followed it. The dragon folded her wings quickly as she landed, bellowed, and charged a group of oncoming drones.

                “This way!” she called out behind her. “I’ll draw them, you get back to the Aerowing!”

                Tanya fell back to Grin’s side, loading another clip into her launcher as the two ran, watching as they passed Zelda by. The dragon let out a plume of fire to touch off a larger explosion, sending a cloud of new smoke up and drone parts flying everywhere. She reemerged behind them, coughing loudly, galloping along and zig-zagging to flank the pair. Finally, after it seemed that they had run for miles across the field, Tanya made out the shadows of tall trees through the smoke. They were approaching the patch of forest that they’d landed the Aerowing behind. As she dodged to avoid bumping into the rough trunks, the hull of the Aerowing suddenly came into view.

                “Come on Grin, I’ll open the hatch!” Tanya popped open the lid to a number panel on the ship’s side, tapped in a code, and watched as the front ramp slid down. Tanya watched vigilantly as Grin climbed aboard, then turned back to look for Zelda. She spotted the dragon’s silhouette on the edge of the treeline, where it raised a wing to wave Tanya back into the ship. Not waiting further, Tanya ran up the ramp herself, closing it behind her to keep out the smoke. Exhausted and out of breath, she flopped into the nearest chair, coughing raggedly. In the background, she could hear the little Noodle yelping out in panic, trying to get Russel to wake up.

                “It’s alright---“ Grin assured her, coughing himself. “He’s okay, just asleep.” He had lain the drummer down on a cot in the cargo area, towards the back, and Noodle was fussing over the both of them.

                “He bloody well better be alright!” Murdoc had swiveled the chair he was sitting in to get a better look. “It’s like World War III out there!”

                “Where’s the rest of ya?” 2D started, standing nervously against a wall.

                “Still out there…” Tanya breathed, staring through the clouded windshield for a moment before she raised her com. “Alright guys, Grin and I are back in the Aerowing. Try and regroup in the forest, we’ll fly out for backup and then pick you up in three minutes!”

                “Sounds good!---“ A crackled response from Wildwing came back to her. “Watch the Raptor, they’re still firing!”

                Tanya hopped into the pilot’s seat, while Grin walked up and buckled up as the copilot. He turned to the others and nodded grimly. “I suggest you use your safety belts.”

                2D shot into an empty seat, fumbling with the belts. But Tanya didn’t wait to take off, and the ship was already rising above the treeline, shooting forward with a kick of the thrusters. “Some backup we’re going to be…” Tanya grumbled. “When we can’t even see underneath the smoke… Grin, switch us over to infrared view…”

                A minute of tapping at a keyboard and flipping switches, and suddenly the windshield of the Aerowing glowed red, white and orange shapes coming to life across it.

                “There we go…” Tanya started. “Anything looking organized and traveling in a unit, we blow out of the field, starting with this bunch.” She got hold of a joystick to aim her crosshairs into a line of advancing drones, and used a rapid-fire laser cannon to reduce them to blobs of shooting heat and debris.

                “You’re fine.” Grin spoke, double-checking his com’s autotracker. “They’re almost all to the forest by now.”

                A sudden blast of white hot light streaked dangerously close. “The Raptor’s locked onto us!” Tanya swerved quickly away from the lines of advancing drones. “I think it’s time for an early pickup…” She steered the ship back to the trees, lowering the Aerowing as close to the ground as she could without actually landing. With the push of a button, the front ramp lowered, letting wisping smoke into the ship. Through it, five figures came stumbling on board, all sounding like they were coughing up their lungs. Tanya unbuckled herself from the pilot’s chair as she recognized Wildwing’s gloved hand on the backrest.

                “Nice pickup…” he sneezed, setting himself down and closing the hatch. “We are out of here.”

                “Just like that?” Murdoc frowned from the back. “Yer just gonna run? Ya got a pretty nice bird here, why not shoot ‘em lizards down?”

                “Because we’ve got innocents on board.” Mallory turned back to him. “You guys were never supposed to be involved in this. Any other day, we’d be in the thick of this fight. But we’re not gonna risk you, we’re getting you out.”

                More lasers slashed around the ship as it lifted back up into the sky, high enough to get clear of the smoke. Below them, the field lay in ruins, the Raptor shrouded.

                “There’s gonna be one angry farmer out here tomorrow with no clue…” Nosedive smirked, as he felt the Aerowing’s engines rumble with energy beneath him, and the ship shot off for the southern horizon.

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except mine) are copyright and property of Disney. The Gorillaz are property of Jamie Hewlett, Damon Albarn, and Parlaphone Records. You may copy, print, or whatever with this document, so long as it is not altered and I (Zelda) am credited. Thanks!