From the Egg

Written by Zelda

 

                Her sleep was broken slowly, slowly as she started to feel the cracks run down the sides, the outer hull split and fragment. She opened her eyes and blinked drowsily. There was a distinct smell in the air. She hadn't smelled it in hundreds... no thousands of years. She slowly surged upwards, looking to the cracks, sniffing delicately.

 

                Wraith backed away slowly as the light faded from the shiny, pure silver egg. The light faded from the cracks that splintered down the sides, breaking the egg's mirrored surface. As the light faded, there was a pause. Wraith frowned, then looked down at the heavy book he cradled in his arm. He fingered the page for a moment, then closed his eyes, lowering the book and raising his staff. He bent his head and concentrated. There was a light that seeped into the eye sockets of the duck skull that had been thrust onto the butt of his staff. This electric blue light built up, slowly materializing into thick, blinding beams. Suddenly the light shot out, illuminating the egg itself, blasting into the cracks. Wraith raised his head and the light faded quickly. There was another pause. Then, slowly, a bubbling sound. Wraith smiled. She emerged slowly, a thick, oily black liquid oozing from every crack of the silver. It writhed it's way down the pedestal that the egg stood upon, and onto the floor. It bubbled like crude and ran like wax, forming into one twisting puddle on the floor before him. Wraith backed away as the liquid rose up off the floor, still foaming, and slowly started to take shape, still viscous. The form paused again before the Saurian.

                "You... Saurian. It was you who released me. What is your will?"

                "You, are the great Nu." Wraith began wisely. "You are the essence of that which is rumored to have sprung all life. You are the egg."

                "Your rumors are true Saurian." The form twisted, but did not materialize fully. "What is your will?" she repeated.

                "You have created all life, and sprung it from the essential egg. Now I have a few eggs which you could crush."

                "I have lived inside this egg for millions of years." Nu rose up, oily and black. "Now you free me to destroy." She paused. Slowly she sank to the ground again, and suddenly evaporated, rising up as an oily black cloud. Wraith backed away as her wispy form spread into the room. "I understand. With life must come death. With every egg hatched are ten that are crushed. That is the way of fate. Show me your 'friends'." Wraith raised his staff and grinned.

 

                Wildwing patted his stomach as he walked slowly back from the galley. He should have known better than to try one of those triple-spicy tacos Nosedive had stashed in the freezer. Talk about heartburn! Wildwing paused to take a deep breath. Man, he'd have to try and relax for once, he'd wind up with an ulcer to go along with it. He walked through the hallway and emerged in the towering room of the quantum-fusion generator, humming efficiently as it supplied power to Drake One, and to freezing the ice on the rink above. Maybe he would practice later. Later... he assured himself, as his heartburn surged up into his chest again... after a few pills and a nap. There was an echoing in the hall behind him. Uh oh... maybe Dive had discovered Wildwing's dent into his taco stash. He paused, leaning against the generator, and turned around. Someone called his name... but it was distant... not in Nosedive's voice at all. Wildwing reached for the Mask in his hip bag, and frowned. Suddenly, he recognized the voice.

                "Wildwing... Wildwing... " it called. Wildwing's frown grew. "It's me buddy... I'm back." Wildwing's eyes grew round as the hallway suddenly started to glow with a golden light. A mist seeped in from an unknown source, slowly covering the floor in wispy tentacles. "I'm home Wing...." Wildwing stared as a shape began to emerge from the golden mist. He suddenly stood strait up and walked out from behind the generator.

                "I don't believe it...." he breathed. "How is this-?"

                "I'm sorry buddy." Canard stared warmly at his friend. "I died in limbo... just a little while ago...." Wildwing drew his breath in slowly, and then lowered his head. "Look at me Wing.... I'm free!" Canard smiled, spreading his arms. "I'm home..." Wildwing walked towards his friend as the golden light bathed him too. Canard stretched his arms out and slowly enveloped him in a hug. Not a real hug... it was cold...damp... fuzzy. Wildwing slowly felt tears of sadness well up in his eyes, he was dead.... but slowly, the feeling changed. That coldness started to seep beneath his skin, down his throat as he breathed. Wildwing slowly tensed. "Trust me buddy..." Canard started. Wildwing slowly relaxed, and felt the coldness cover him in one wave. Suddenly the light was gone. Wildwing opened his eyes to find Canard was gone too! He found himself held fast in the grip of nothing but thick, oily vapor! He struggled to no avail, and a tentacled wisp of the mist snapped around his bill before he could yell out. Wildwing wrenched about as he was lifted up clean into the air, his feet swinging in terror.

                "Trust me..." A pair of silver eyes glowed in the black. Suddenly, those eyes shot into him with a violent and painful, tearing light. Wildwing wrenched backwards and knew nothing more.

 

                Nosedive sat, visibly nervous at Wing's bedside. He stared at the monitors of the Medicom, Zelda and Tanya both flying at them.

                "You sure you found him like this?" Mallory asked, still looking her unconscious leader over.

                "Yeah man... I saw he ate one of my tacos and went to go yell at him... I found him face down by the generator... just like that..." Nosedive responded quickly, fearfully. "What, did he have a heart attack? A seizure? I should have told him not to eat that... he hates spicy foods, he knows they give him heartburn-"

                "Wildwing's got worse than heartburn kiddo." Zelda broke in by ripping a data sheet from the Medicom.

                "Like what?" Duke asked.

                "Like no electrical brain activity... at all." There was silence.

                "What?" Mallory breathed. She couldn't believe it. Did this mean...?

                "Not just that..." Tanya turned away from her console. "There's no activity of the nervous system whatsoever. He's breathing fine, his heart's still beating... but it's all mechanical. He's not responding to any stimuli... he's braindead." The team stood stock still. Nosedive shrunk in his chair.

                "It's got nothing to do with the taco... in fact it doesn't have to do with anything." Zelda shook her head. "Not even electrocution by the generator could have made him go braindead with no other physical damage." She was growing distressed as well. "What could have caused this?"

                "Is it..." Grin started.

                "Deadly?" Tanya swallowed. There was a distinct pause before she spoke further. "No... no he's alive and fine... but he has no brain functions... I wish we knew how this happened.... maybe we could reverse it. Until then... he'll stay like this." Duke shook his head. What in the world were they to do now?

                "We should search.... the whole generator room.... " Mallory started, the words coming dryly. She walked out quickly, distractedly. It was a slow process for the team to follow. Nosedive stayed behind. Zelda paused and looked back for him as she exited as well.

                "You staying?" she asked, obviously knowing the answer. Dive nodded. Zelda lowered her ears, faking a smile, and left the two alone. Nosedive put his arms up on the Medicom bed and lay his head between them.

 

                Grin was distracted, very distracted as he peered into the components of the fusion generator. There was something missing.... a gap in his head that was making him very uneasy. The fact that he knew what it was didn't help at all. He knew that it was Wildwing. It wasn't that his leader was simply unconscious, he wasn't there at all. No feeling, no soul. It was like he was dead, and it left a gap in Grin's mind. He had the ability to keep a weak, almost undetectable track of his teammates through their psyche, and now Wildwing's was gone. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Zelda sniffing the floor at the center of the room, right where Wildwing had been found. Finding nothing, she looked up again, her head swinging idly for a few moments. In frustration, she swerved her neck down and ground the top of her skull into the metal floor, snorting. Grin understood. Zelda could feel her leader's absence more than any of them. Zelda was quick to show and proud to admit that she was but an animal, as easy to start talking in snorts and roars as a human was to pick their nose or chew their fingernails. Uncivilized, unreformed. Perhaps that was why she and her kind possessed a stronger sixth sense than any creature he had ever known. It had taken him years of training and meditation under Ty Quack Do to learn how to instinctively sense vibrations in the air, to know the signatures of good and evil, to be open to premonition. For Zelda, her senses were half gained by experience and half by birthright. Her connection to the planet that bore her gave her a sense of it and its supernatural side, while her loyalty to her friends and her kind enabled her to establish a link... some kind of connection, between each one of them. And the absence of one of those connections was disorienting her. She felt Wildwing's absence keenly. Grin turned towards her as she plodded up to him slowly.

                "Find anything?" he asked hopefully.

                "Nothing left but his scent." Zelda shook her head. She hopped up on Grin's shoulder and pondered. "But there's more to this. The stories don't connect. People just don't go braindead. Someone...something was here Grin... I can feel it. Whatever it was... it did this to him." Grin knew she was right.

 

                Mallory stuck her beak into a crevice in the generator, exhaling up a cloud of dust and withdrawing, coughing violently.

                "Hey Duke, wasn't it YOU who was supposed to dust this thing last?" She growled, shaking the dust out of her hair.

                "Yeah... well.... that was the day Dragaunus tried to... sabatage that factory! Remember?"

                "Whatever." Mallory snorted. "This place is clean anyway. Nothing in the galley, nothing in the hall, nothing in the generator room. There's nothing within the possibility of logic that caused Wing to get hurt like that." She flopped her arms down in frustration.

                "Easy there." Duke sighed. "We'll get to the bottom of this sooner or later."

                "Could it have been Wraith?" Tanya asked. "Mallory's right in that nothing in the building caused this... but Wraith could have cast a spell on Wing or something."

                "Tanya could be right." Grin came up behind the three of them. "Turning to the supernatural seems to provide an easy answer to so broad an enigma."

                "So what are we supposed to do?" Mallory asked. "Follow the standard plot? Raid the Raptor and beat the counterspell outta that old snake?"

                "Most likely what they're expecting sweetheart." Duke shook his head. "Every time we set so much as a foot in the Raptor we get our tailfeathers kicked. I don't think it's worth the risk-"

                "What are you saying?!" Tanya snapped. "You're talking about Wildwing here!"

                "I mean I think we should learn more about the situation first!" Duke backed away. "What if Wraith isn't the cause? We've seen weirder stuff do worse to us."

                "Duke is right." Zelda agreed. "I think we need an expert in on this."

 

                The shadow drew apart slowly, wisping itself away before a glowing blue object in the center of its misty self. Dragaunus waited impatiently for it, Wraith standing nervously by his side. The black cloud's last shroud wisped away, revealing the glowing light suspended in the cloud itself. Dragaunus walked up to it and took it gently from the cloud, which quickly regrouped itself. Dragaunus held the object in his claws, staring at it curiously with his beady yellow eyes. It was lightweight, freezing cold, and electrical, fuzzy tingles ran through his claws as he touched it. The glowing blue inside it filled the egg-shaped container completely, but swirled inside as if it were a heavy liquid.

                "Interesting lava lamp." Dragaunus addressed the cloud. "Now tell me what it is." The cloud swirled, then spoke.

                "What you hold before you is essentially a life, a soul. This is the very entity that sets apart living creatures from assembled matter. Contained in my egg, lies the true essence of one of your enemies." Dragaunus grinned from ear to ear.

                "This is better than what I had hoped for!" He laughed, raising the egg high in his claws. "Now, finally, I can destroy that cursed Duck without so much as touching him!" He cackled, and drew his arm back to smash the egg on the floor. Suddenly, before he could hurl it down, he looked back to find it was no longer there! The glowing egg was being lifted beyond his reach by the oily cloud, and again it concealed the object in the center of its wispy form.

                "You will do no such thing Saurian Overlord." the cloud spoke forcefully. Dragaunus began to get visibly angry.

                "Why you vapory little-"

                "I am Nu, and all life has sprang from my egg. You, Overlord, are one of those creatures." Draguanus halted his verbal assault before it happened. The cloud calmed as well. "You will do things my way. Your enemies will be rendered without their souls. They will live and breathe, but no longer can act, think, or have any form of consciousness again. But their souls will not be destroyed." she ruled. "They will be contained here with me, never to be free spirits, never to journey to the afterlife. Both of their halves will be rendered immobile. Your request will be answered." Dragaunus thought for a moment. He glanced back to Wraith, who cowered behind his staff.

                "You are wise Nu." Dragaunus turned back and smiled. Wraith breathed a sigh of relief. "You have my support and alliance. Finish the task we have provided for you as you plan." Nu flattened herself in a cloudly bow, and then swished out of the room through an air vent, taking the glowing blue egg with her. Dragaunus retained his grin as he walked past Wraith, down the hall.

                "What are your plans now my Lord?" Wraith asked.

                "We'll follow along with your spirit." Draganus glanced at him before continuing. "But I would like to go ahead and start finishing the job she's started, right now."

 

                The mage waved his hands over his leader's body, eyes closed in concentration. A golden light filtered through his hands, slowly illuminating Wildwing's armor. Behind him, the whole team stood nervously.

                "Well?" Mallory asked.

                "Hey what are we running a marathon here?" Quacker Jax turned around, his concentration broken. "This takes time!" He returned to his scanning, the team waiting in silence. Finally, Jax lowered his hands. Zelda reared up beside him.

                "What do you think?" she asked.

                "Well you guys were right, definitely NOT a physical injury. This was powerful magic... some type of force that did this to him." Jax rubbed his chin in thought.

                "Any idea where it came from?" Tanya asked.

                "Dunno." Jax turned. "It could be from anywhere. You can't find many fingerprints on magic."

                "Tee-riffic." Nosedive said. "Well we got far today, now what do we do?"

                "I don't know what you'll do." Jax turned to go. "But if you need me, I'll be in my room looking through my books. There might be a few clues in there." Jax exited the room with a swish. The others looked at each other and shrugged.

                "I'll run a few more tests to see if Wing responds to any more stimuli... he might not be totally braindead...." Tanya started tapping away at the Medicom.

                "Lemme know if you find anything." Zelda nodded, trailing the others as they walked out.

 

                She found him clicking away at the keypad of his video games. Mallory knew Nosedive wouldn't appreciate her barging into his room, but he didn't seem to notice. She walked right in, picking her way across a floor littered with clothes, comic books, and hockey sticks. Finally, she found the couch, and sat down next to him. Nosedive was  pulled away from the screen.

                "Oh hey Malwee, didn't hear you come in." he said, turning back. "Too good to knock?"

                "You couldn't pull yourself away from that TV long enough to answer." Mallory retorted. There was a pause. "So how you doing?"

                "Fine." Nosedive answered, edging on annoyance.

                "Come on Dive... I know you better than that." Mallory tried to get him to look at her. He continued playing his game with frustration in his eyes. "I remember how you were when Wing got that weird disease. You were scared he would die Dive... we all were." There was a sad jingle from the screen and Dive threw down his controller.

                "Now look what you made me do!" he snorted. Finally distracted, he looked her in the face. "What did you say again?" Mallory frowned at him. Nosedive retreated and sighed.

                "You're not yourself Dive... what's wrong?"

                "Hey, I've just never been comfortable seeing my big bro. lying on a hospital bed okay?" he snapped at her. Mallory looked at him reproachfully. Dive sighed again. "You're right, I'm worried as hell about him... he seems alright. But he's got no brain.... that's the scariest thing... he's like a zombie."

                "But this is just a spell, once we lift it he'll be fine..." Mallory told him. Nosedive shot her a look.

                "That's how it always works isn't it?" he asked sarcastically. "What if this time's different? What if... whoever did this to him wants to play for keeps?" he lowered his head, the blonde hair shading his eyes. "What if Wing stays like that forever?"

                "He won't." Mallory told him firmly. She reached out and patted him on the back, knowing herself that her answer might turn out to be a lie.

 

                Zelda turned as she heard familiar, heavy footfalls on the roof beside her. Grin sat down Indian-style next to her, his shadow stretching all the way to the door in the deep twilight.

                "I knew I would find you up here, friend." Grin said in his deep tone. In the twilight, Zelda didn't answer him right away. She kept her eyes level on the horizon, snout tilted to the sky.

                "I needed to be up here...." she muttered. "I needed to concentrate."

                "On what?" Grin asked her. Zelda closed her eyes, not wanting to be disturbed. "Zelda." Grin reasoned. "You and I both have sensed that there's more to what happened to Wing than just a magic spell. Tell me what you've been thinking about." Zelda sighed and slumped over.

                "That space in my mind Grin... I've been searching to try and reach Wildwing for hours on end... I think I may have found him."

                "What?" Grin was intrigued.

                "I don't know how to describe it... he's slowly been coming back to me... faintly... from time to time... he's flickering in and out." she again turned to the horizon. Grin was puzzled. He knew what she was talking about... but Wildwing's condition hadn't improved at all, he had just come from talking to Tanya. "You can feel it, can't you Grin? He's somewhere... somewhere distant." There was desperation in her voice. "Meditate... maybe you'll feel it too." Grin placed his arms on his knees and closed his eyes... but he couldn't just meditate on the spot. He was under pressure, he felt Zelda's desperation too much. He tried to concentrate on something else, the Pond, the twilight. It didn't work. He opened his eyes and shook his head. Zelda lowered her ears and turned away.

                "Zelda... maybe-"

                "Maybe it's me Grin." Zelda snorted. "Maybe I just want to find him too much. I've done this before." she shook her head. "I'm just thinking this up... just to make myself feel better."

                "And maybe you're not." Grin said, standing up. "I'll leave you alone... maybe Quacker Jax has found something." Zelda stood too and followed him.

                "I'll come with you, maybe I could help him translate a few things. I'm not getting anywhere up here."

 

                Quacker Jax was almost annoyed to hear his door open with a hiss.

                "It's us Jax." Zelda greeted, coming up to a table he was sitting at, hidden behind a pile of books. "We thought you wouldn't want to get up."

                "Thought right." he muttered.

                "Find anything?" Grin tried to peer over a large stack of books.

                "Looking." Jax replied. "There's literally a library of info on life sappers, energy stealers, brain thieves... all sorts of things. It's a lot to look through."         

                "I'll bet, can I help?" Zelda asked.

                "Would you get me something to eat from the galley?" Jax asked over a pile of books.

                "Done and done, any preferences?"

                "Jeez.... something with lots of caffeine." he sighed. Zelda turned and trotted out of the room lightly, happy to have something to do that would take her mind off the current crisis. She closed her eyes as she trotted briskly and thought to herself. That episode back on the roof shouldn't have happened. She should have had a sixth sense honed to the abilities of the elders of her kind, those whom she respected so much. If only she had their abilities. At only 16, her senses were there, but rough, unsure. Did she really sense Wildwing calling out to her? She was doubting herself too little about such a claim. The dragon sighed, and stopped to lean against a wall. This was all so confusing. Suddenly, she heard a deep, familiar rumble before her. Zelda opened her eyes, and didn't believe what she saw. Surrounded by a cloud of gray, wispy mist, a shape was forming in the hallway before her. The dragon stood stone still. She knew what this was...

                "Great ancestors... have you come to answer my plea for help?" she breathed. A form emerged slowly from the mist, materializing before her. "I know who you are... great ancestors. It is you who have watched over my kind for centuries... you who live in the beyond... the Land of Mists... please tell me you have come to help."

                "I could not refuse you Zelda." A friendly, familiar voice smiled down at her. Zelda blinked as the form took the shape of a dragon, it's scales forming into a pure, sparkling green.

                "Emerald!" Zelda was amazed, a grin spread wide across her face. "My leader...." Emerald put a claw to his lips.

                "I know Zelda... I've watched you ever since I died... you have taken my place as leader and have made me proud. I have come to help you now. Come closer my young one... I know the answers you seek." Still shocked with disbelief, Zelda slowly approached the spirit of the former dragon leader. She kept her head bowed respectfully as the great green dragon spread his wings and grinned at her.

                "Look into my eyes young one." he smiled. "I can help you... trust me."

 

                Grin and Jax both sprung to their feet as a familiar, high-pitched roar rattled down the hallway.

                "What the-" Jax asked, tearing from his desk as Grin reached the doorframe. "We've got trouble, get down here ASAP team!" he shouted over his com. He ran out, Grin far ahead of him, and he didn't have to get far before he was suddenly amongst a cloud of oily black, freezing cold vapor. He stopped in his tracks, looking up to see Zelda floating in this cloud's grasp, struggling as two great slits of silvery light pierced into her. Grin was already swiping through the wispy smog to get to her, but something pushed him elusively back. He finally gave up and returned to a position beside Jax, pulling his puck launcher and shooting. The pucks whizzed through the cloud and had little effect. Tanya, Mallory and Duke ran up quickly behind them, Nosedive arriving seconds later.

                "Hit 'em with what you got Ducks!" Mallory commanded, and the Ducks immediately let loose a barrage of all types of pucks. Jax threw his hands back and muttered a strong, anti-magic spell he kept on the tip of his tongue. As his magic combined with the rest of the Ducks' fire, the cloud slowly started to coil back, and retreat.

                "It's working!" he yelled. "Keep it up!" The Ducks increased their fire, and suddenly, with a gush of frustration, the cloud flattened and rushed up into a ventilation duct. It was gone! And left lying in the far hall was Zelda, curled in a ball and shaking. Tanya raced up to her and stooped by her side.

                "Zelda? Zelda talk to me, what's wrong?" she asked as the others met her. The dragon clattered, shivering violently, arms wrapped about her stomach.

                "...Cold..." she finally gasped brokenly. "I'm fine... just... cold....so...cold." Tanya felt Zelda's neck.

                "No you're not, your temperature's normal Zel." Tanya frowned. But the dragon trembling beneath her was obviously suffering. "Come on, let's get her into the infirmary."

 

                Visible only as a heap of quaking blankets and hot-water bottles, Zelda was still unable to be calmed on the Medicom bed. The others tried to subdue her as Tanya was quick to scan her vital signs.

                "This is impossible." Tanya shook her head. "Her body temperature hasn't changed at all in hours... it's perfectly normal. In fact all those blankets are overheating her... we should take them off."

                "Then why is she shivering like that Tanya?" Duke asked. "What on earth was that cloud thingy, and what did it do?"

                "The Medicom isn't telling me a thing... all of her vitals are normal, nothing's happened." Mallory shrugged and pulled off the blankets, causing Zelda to panic and curl up further, her whole frame shaking violently.

                "Zel you've gotta calm down!" Jax said worriedly. "Nothing happened to you... you're fine!" Zelda squinted her eyes further and made no response. Tanya started rummaging though a cabinet on the wall.

                "We can't leave her like this... something's wrong." She handed a small glass flask with a soupy green liquid to Duke. "Hold that... we'll have to give her this."

                "What is that?" asked Mallory, as Tanya closed the cabinet and took the flask back, walking to Zelda's side.

                "A botanical tranquilizer. Diamond whipped up a few doses for us just in case. It works as well as what we use, but Zelda was never comfortable with chemicals and hypodermic needles." She gently took up Zelda's head as Mallory held the dragon's arms. "Now easy Zelda... this will make you warmer, just drink this." Tanya gently forced the shivering jaws open, and slowly tipped the flask up. Zelda gurgled on the liquid, and then snapped down, still shaking, coughing violently. Tanya tried to hold her neck still. "Come on Zelda..." she eased. Finally, the dragon gulped the liquid down, and almost immediately started to react, her shivering slowly diminishing to intermittent spasms. Tanya stepped back, satisfied that the liquid was working, and fast. The dragon was relaxing quickly, but her eyes were still open, wide with panic. She raised a claw from her side and started groping about the bed. Grin sensed her fear and took it up. Zelda recognized him instantly.

                "Grin?" she breathed. Tanya turned, surprised Zelda was still awake enough to speak.

                "Easy Zel, nothing happened, you're alright." he petted her snout.

                "No... something's wrong Grin... " she breathed, head swaying drowsily. Grin frowned. Jax was at his side.

                "What is it Zel?"

                "It... it feels like I'm not... all here Grin." she shivered. "Like half of me is.... somewhere else... cold...." She closed her eyes.

                "Talk to us Zel." Jax urged. "What does it feel like?"

                "Cold... distant.... I'm scared Grin."

                "Easy...." Her muscles started to slowly ease, the tranquilizer taking over quickly.

                "I'm scared Grin." Zelda breathed. "Where... am.... I?" The dragon's head lolled silently on the table. She was out. Grin placed her claw down again and stood, shaking his head.

                "Talk about your Twilight Zone experiences." Nosedive said. "What was all that?"

                "Valuable clues." Jax patted Zelda's sleeping flank. "She'll wake up soon enough... I think she just helped me narrow down my search field."

 

                Duke furrowed his brows as he looked at the mage, sitting next to Zelda and reading furiously through a page in one of his old books. Was he finding anything? Duke had never really liked this hocus-pocus stuff much, never understood the culture that went along with it. There were a few in the Brotherhood who used magic to help them steal, but Duke had thought it was because they were too slow or too old to get along without it. But here on Earth, there was a big difference. Wraith was no doubt a powerful wizard, able to conjure up spells not only from Saurian arsenals but this planet's as well. Until Jax came along, they were open to attack from that standpoint. Duke knew he should be grateful to have someone like that on the team... but... well something about Jax just made him.... Duke dropped the issue by shaking his head. Jax stood up, fingering a page as if he had found something.

                "Got something kiddo?" he asked, walking over.

                "Yup." Jax wasn't distracted from his reading.

                "Should I get the others?" Duke reached for his com, the two being alone in the infermary.

                "Naw it's nothing big... just a spell so Zelda can wake up and not have a fit like she was having." Jax rubbed his palms together and stretched his hands out, placing them on top of Zelda's sleeping head. Slowly, a glowing white light formed on his fingertips. He lowly started to mutter something, bowing his head. Duke looked on, interested and concerned. The white slowly seeped into Zelda's skull, flowing into it. It only took a few seconds, and then Jax broke his mumbling and withdrew his hands.

                "It's a spell from an ancient tribe in the artic." Jax snapped the leather-bound book closed. "They used it when their people were caught out in the cold too long, as a cure for hypothermia. I hope it works with Zelda."

                "You don't know?" Duke raised an eyebrow.

                "This is all I found to help her." Jax leveled his gaze. Duke didn't look away. There was a soft snorting beneath him. He glanced down to see Zelda shifting below him. "Now you'd better call the others." Jax walked away, putting his book on a table. Duke had already opened his com.

                "Hey guys, guess who's up?"

 

                Zelda looked extremely disoriented as she sat up on the bed, gazing at the group that surrounded her. Grin and Jax were seated before her, the others flanking them.

                "Now Zel, whatever you tell us is gonna be a big help as to finding out who did this to ya, so just  tell it to us straight." Jax smiled. Zelda still looked nervous.

                "I... I just feel weird..." she shook  herself.

                "But the Medicom says you're fine Zel... that cloud thingy didn't hurt you."

                "But... I feel weird... like I'm not all here..." the dragon was cautious, ears laid back.

                "Tell us..." Grin asked.

                "It's like half of me is...  far away somewhere.... I don't know. I don't understand it.... every time I try and find myself there's this wall of cold...." The dragon shook herself again, snorting in frustration.

                "Easy girl." Mallory patted her shoulder. "What did that cloud thing do to you?"

                "I don't remember all of it..." Zelda massaged her skull with a claw. "I went out into the hallway to the galley. And all of a sudden there was this fog." Zelda slowly remembered, and a frown grew on her face. She quickly became angry. "That impostor!" She tossed her head and snarled.

                "What?" Dive asked.

                "One of my ancestors came from the fog... the former leader of the dragon clan. I thought he was answering my prayers for help about Wing... he came out and I went to see what he had to show me... and then." Zelda's anger slowly faded to sadness. "It wasn't him... it was just this black cloud."

                "That's when it picked you up right?" Jax asked.

                "Yeah..." she said slowly. "I don't remember much after that... except these piercing... silver eyes... and the cold.... and all I saw in my head was an egg... slowly filling with this glowing purple light." Jax sat strait up in his chair.

                "Are you sure you saw an egg?"

                "Pretty sure." Zelda squinted, trying to remember. "Yeah... that was it... or some kind of oval thing."

                "That narrows down my search a LOT." Jax stood up. "I have to go get a book, I'll be right back." he rushed out of the infirmary, the others looking after him. Zelda sat back down on the table.

                "Do you feel okay?" Duke asked. "You're not tired are you?"

                "No." Zelda said. "Just like... just like all of me's not here." Duke shook his head. Presently, Quacker Jax came back in with another heavy book.

                "You should recognize this one Zelda... tell me if you've ever heard of something called Nu." he asked, fingering a page as he sat down. Zelda frilled her ears and looked down at him seriously.

                "Nu is a very important goddess to the ancient Egyptians." she said. "It was Nu who raised their chief god Ra, when the world was one big ocean, and all of life sprung from that egg that she was."

                "Right." Jax said pointedly. "An egg."

                "Is that the connection?" Mallory asked.

                "One of many. I think that's our deity." Jax shook his head. "According to this, Nu was responsible for creating the soul of Ra, while some other source created the body. Essentially, she gave him life, a brain, free will."

                "And she could take it away." Tanya said, looking at Wildwing over her shoulder.

                "Right." Zelda whined nervously.

                "But how? Why?" she asked. "Who would have the power to summon up such a powerful creature?"

                "Three guesses." Nosedive snorted.

                "I'll start scanning for the Raptor with Drake 1." Tanya headed out. "Get a head start."

                "And I'm going back to the books." Jax picked up his own book and followed her out. "Looks like I'll be studying Egyptian mythology tonight."

                "And I don't know about you guys." Mallory glanced around. "But I haven't had a bite to eat since what happened to Wildwing. I'm going for pizza. Who wants?"

                "I'll come with ya sweetheart." Duke offered.

                "Just gemme a slice." Dive waved as the two left. It was just he, Grin, and Zelda left alone with Wildwing's seemingly lifeless body. The conversation stopped. Dive cleared his throat, glancing over at his brother over shrugged shoulders. Zelda whined again and lay down slowly, shuddering.

                "You're right Zel." Grin patted her on the snout. "It is like a part of you is gone. I can feel it." The dragon nuzzled her head into her forepaws and glanced at the two Ducks. Nosedive didn't know what to make of it. Ancient Egyptian goddess coming to steal the Ducks' brains? It sounded more like one of his video games than a reality.

 

                "I've been itching for a second opinion on this, what do you make of this Nu thing?" Duke asked Mallory, leaning on the counter of the pizza place.

                "I don't know." Mallory shook her head, standing by the register. "This doesn't fall into either of our leagues." she looked at him. "This is earth stuff."

                "Weirder stuff has happened to us..." Duke started.

                "Has it?" Mallory asked. "Wraith's magic has never been strong enough to just take our lives... now he's gotten someone to do his dirty work... someone who can do that."

                "There's a lot of stuff we don't know about this situation." Duke said. "Say when we get back Tanya finds the Raptor. What are we gonna do?"

                "What we have to." Mallory stood up rigidly. "That... thing is a threat and we've got to take it out."

                "It's not as simple as that and you know it. We're going to be fighting blind here... and have to deal with Draguanus on top of it."

                "Well we can't wait..." Mallory said firmly. "I take my shots when I'm in range and follow orders when I'm told." Their pizza was placed on the counter and Mallory paid for it quickly. "Besides." she said, picking it up. "It's easier on you that way."

 

                The pitch black was broken only by the twinkling crystal stars. Grin walked out onto the roof to feel a cool breeze blow past. It was nice to be up here at night. Zelda padded strait in front of him, not stopping till she reached the very edge. She stood stone still, looking at the horizon with nervous eyes. Grin sat beside her as before. The dragon bayed instinctively.

                "What is it Zel?" he asked.

                "I don't know...." she looked up at the sky, all around her, her eyes still wide. "It's coming back to me again...." Grin was instantly curious. Zelda's experience with Nu had hurt her... but still there was a part of her mind that was with her... still in her. That part was telling her something... something serious. But she wasn't all here... she couldn't feel it all, tell what it was. It was scaring her. The information... that feeling she had could be key to getting her and Wing back to normal. He and Jax knew that. He would have to try and help her.

                "Concentrate my friend." he tried to ease her. "Whatever you feel will come to you. Clear your mind."

                "I can't Grin!" she snarled. "Something's wrong! Something besides me.... I'm not all here and still I'm feeling what I felt before... Wildwing... he's closer but yet he's so far away... I wish I could make sense of all of this!" She slammed her head into the metal roof in anger.

                "I understand friend." Grin placed his hands over her shoulders to hold her still. "But your sense, your feeling for him is stronger than anyone else's. You can help us solve this Zelda... but you need to concentrate... you need to calm down."

                "Thanks for the stress." Zelda sighed, and sat on the roof. "It's all so mixed up Grin."

                "Perhaps your leader friends can help you..."

                "No." Zelda responded quickly and seriously. "No... I'm not getting them involved in this." Grin was taken a little aback, but he understood and nodded.

                "I will help you friend, but you must calm yourself. You can find him if he is calling to you." Zelda realized he was right. She sat and closed her eyes, knowing it was going to take her a long time to regain herself.

                "He's here...." she mumbled. "The part of me that is distant can feel him... and there he's close... but it's so cold... I can't feel...." She paused again. Grin thought hard. This was confusing. Could she actually be determining his location? He stood slowly. Zelda opened her eyes, disturbed.

                "Where are you going?" she asked.

                "Inside." Grin turned as he opened the door. "To tell Tanya."

                "About what?" Zelda asked.

                "About what you just said. It does make sense." Puzzled, Zelda followed him.

 

                Tanya turned as Grin and Zelda both entered the room.

                "Still feeling okay Zel?" she asked. The dragon nodded.

                "Find anything?"

                "Not a scrap." Tanya glowered at Drake One. "I've got this thing on high alert, sensors up to max for anything even resembling teleportation energy's frequency. Nothing close, not even outside the city." Zelda shook her head and peered at the screen suspiciously.

                "They're here....." she whispered. "They can't go very far." Suddenly, the screen blazed red, alarms firing off at their highest volume.

                "Yipes!" Tanya panicked. "They've teleported nearly to our doorstep!"

                "All group in the Ready Room guys!" Duke ordered over their coms. "They're outside the main entrance."

                "Shouldn't we stop and pick up some heavy artillery?" Mallory argued.

                "This is no time to bicker, we should hit 'em before they can bust in!" Duke snapped his com shut. The whole team had assembled in the Ready Room in under a minute.

                "Let's blitz 'em Ducks, keep them outta the Pond." Nosedive stopped only to shoulder a puck cannon before he lead the rest of the team out.

                "And out of the infirmary." Zelda added under her breath, spreading her wings and flying through the hall, up to the elevator. The team charged en masse out, until they finally reached the two gray metal double-doors that led to the main entrance. They paused, huddling.

                "They're still outside.... Draggy, the henchman and about ten drones...." Tanya was flying at her Omnitool.

                "No problemo, flank out and take-em down!" Nosedive snarled.

                "But they're just standing there...." Tanya was puzzled.

                "They've got a plan.... " Duke growled. "We may be walking right into a trap." Suddenly, there was a comical rapping at the entrance's glass door. The Ducks peeked into the room to see Chameleon standing in ER scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck. The Ducks darted into the room and flanked out, presenting the lone Saurian with a arched row of puck launchers and cannons. The Chameleon didn't flinch, just rapped at the door again.

                "What do you want Saurian?" Mallory yelled.

                "Just Dr. Draggy making a housecall, we hear there are a few of your flock feeling... under the weather." Chameleon put his stethoscope up to the glass and grinned. Nosedive snarled in anger and fired right into the door, shattering the entire entranceway around it. Both Ducks and Saurians were thrown back in the clamor of the flying glass.

                "Charge!" Mallory yelled out, and half of the team leapt out into the parking lot, while the others hesitated and caught up. Zelda shook the glass off of her wings and looked up to see their plans quickly turning to chaos as the Ducks started firing at everything in sight. She bounded out of the Pond and spiraled up into the night.

                "Cover your men Ducks!" she barked at them as if she were coordinating a penalty kill. "Pick off the big boys!" Slowly, the Ducks formed up, and she joined them, falling down and slamming the head of a hunter drone into its body. She swirled around and stabbed her claws deep into another. They caught, and the drone pivoted around, trying to pursue her. The dragon was swung with the drone, unhooking her claws from the metal and promptly using her jaws to shear off the drone's head. Nosedive rolled up by her side, and used explosive pucks from his cannon to blast two marauding drones into heaps of sparking rubble.

                "Where are the Saurians?" Zelda asked, seeing more drone remains scattered about.

                "We've driven them back, come on!" Dive was already running off again, into the main parking lot behind the Pond. In the dim parking lot lights, The Ducks were beating back the Saurians, who were badly outnumbered. Dive leapt into the fighting blindly as Zelda pulled up to a stop, watching in panic. Suddenly, Tanya flew past her, rolling to a stop on the black pavement. She slowly started to get up as Zelda reached her.

                "Easy!" she ordered.

                "I'm okay!" Tanya brushed her off, sitting up and reloading her launcher. "I'm shooting Wraith a new eye socket...."

                "What did he say?"

                "Nothing too helpful, you know him." Tanya snorted and stood. "But I think we can coax it outta him...." she and Zelda both bounded into the fighting, and who did the dragon come upon first but Wraith himself. He was currently trying to squirm out from beneath a hail of blows from Grin, who's punches were being held back by a magical smoke shield. Wraith faded into smoke himself, and drifted out of Grin's reach. He reformed and breathed a sigh of relief, before spinning around and staring into the glaring blue eyes of a dragon.

                "Well, fancy meeting you here." he held his staff ready in front of himself. "I thought you'd be down in the infirmary with your leader."

                "You're going to wish that I was, when I'm done with you!" she roared. "Your demon won't do your bidding forever!"

                "On the contrary lizard." Wraith drew himself up. "Nu will suck the life from each and every one of you."

                "Really?" Zelda stepped back, trying to keep him talking. "Then make her appear! Let's see how tough she really is!"

                "Be careful what you wish for dragon!" a loud voice boomed out overhead. In the blackness, a cloud floated down, hovering above Zelda's head. She yelped, ducking and rolling away to a safe distance. Seeing the cloud, the Ducks and the Saurians withdrew from each other and regrouped. Nu swirled between them, a silvery, oily black cloud oozing on the pavement in the night. Zelda jumped up on Grin's shoulder and growled.

                "So, you are the great Nu?" she spat. "Such an honorable goddess to be backstabbing her victims under a disguise!" The cloud flashed angrily, a wave of cold blew over the Ducks.

                "Zelda what are you doing?" Mallory whispered harshly.

                "I have a hunch...." the dragon whispered back.

                "HOW DARE YOU!" Nu screamed, as high as the wind itself. "YOU SHALL SUFFER FOR YOUR IMPERTANANCE, ANIMAL!" Suddenly, a harsh, freezing wind blasted the Ducks. They were all blown backwards, stumbling to try and remain in the same place. Nosedive glanced up to see the Saurians teleporting away! Cowards! He turned his head and nearly got blown over, catching a glimpse of Zelda pumping her wings, inching forwards towards the swirling cloud.

                "I think you made her mad Zel!" Dive yelled across at her. The dragon didn't respond, she was straining to try and get closer to the thing! Grin was behind her, crouched low, inching his way forward. Suddenly, there was a great arc of blue light through the air, curving downward like a scythe and slicing through the cloud. Nu instantly froze, and the wind stopped. Dive looked back to see Quacker Jax pushing up his sleeves, kneeling on the pavement.

                "Now!" he yelled. Grin and Zelda both leapt into the frozen cloud, charging strait though it and out the other side. The rest of the team stood still as they both looked up at each other, puzzled.

                "Nothing?" Grin asked quickly. Zelda shook her head. He ran though again. She followed him, and suddenly jerked to a halt right in the middle of the frozen cloud. Grin looked back.

                "What is it?" he yelled.

                "I can.... I can feel him!" she muttered, tottering, dazed.

                "Zelda...." Jax got up and came back to the group. "The spell's losing effect!"

                "He's.... he's here...." Zelda didn't hear him.

                "Zelda!" Jax yelled, breaking her trance. "Get out of there!" The dragon broke into a run and skidded out of the cloud, just before it snapped back into movement, screaming. Grin caught the dragon.

                "Your secret's out Nu!" he snarled at the cloud. Nu rumbled and flashed, but made no response. She gathered herself up, and suddenly shot up into the sky, blending in with the other clouds in the night. The team breathed a sigh of relief. Jax leaned on Duke, exhausted, as Zelda emerged from Grin's arms, shivering.

                "Okay, somebody wanna explain to me what that was there?" Tanya frowned.

                "I froze Nu with a spell." Jax sighed.

                "And we ran through her trying to find out...." Grin started.

                "Find out what?" Nosedive asked.

                "If I could find Wing." Zelda straitened her forepaws on Grin's shoulder.

                "What?" Mallory folded her arms.

                "I know it's hard to explain...." Zelda shook her head. "But... right there where I was.... I felt he was right there...." She snorted in frustration.

                "Zel... sorry to sound skeptical." Duke said. "But what are you talking about?"

                "Trust me on this one guys...." she insisted. "Nu has Wing... like a prisoner. I could feel him in there.... she's got him." Only Nosedive seemed to pay attention.

                "Let's all get back inside... it's late... let's sort this out." Tanya started walking away. Her grazed shoulder ached, and she wanted nothing else but to get back inside, and hopefully get some sleep. Slowly, the whole team shuffled back down to the infirmary, tending to minor cuts and bruises. Zelda hovered near Wildwing's body.

                Jax, still exhausted from his spell, flopped down in a chair with another heavy book on his lap, starting to turn pages monotonously. The dragon snorted, agitated.

                "Okay Zel." Mallory finished smoothing a bandage over a scratch on her forehead. "Now go through this whole thing again. You're saying that you sensed Wing in that cloud?" she spoke in a tired tone. The dragon was too distracted to notice.

                "He was there..." she mumbled, still dazed. She held her snout high, eyes closed, slowly waving her head back and forth. "I could feel him in there."

                "That's all you can tell us?" Duke asked.

                "I can still feel him... I have him now... where he is..." she mumbled.

                "Really? You mean you could find him?" Nosedive perked up. Tanya shook her head.

                "You should get some sleep Zel. I know you wanna find Wing, but we've all had a long day...." The dragon snapped out of her trance and looked at Tanya seriously. Did they not believe her? She glanced around to see Mallory glancing up at Duke, he shaking his head back at her. The dragon paced back, agitated.

                "Come on Zel... we can all sort this out in the morning." Duke patted her on the snout, and walked out, yawning. Tanya made a few adjustments to the Medicom before following Mallory out as well. Zelda glanced around, worried, at Grin, Dive, and Jax. Dive was still looking intently at her. Jax yawned and closed his book. She jumped up on a bed and put a forepaw on Grin's big arm.

                "You believe me don't you?" she asked, a panicked voice.

                "Easy Zelda." He patted her. "If you found something in there--"

                "I did!" she snapped excitedly. "I'm sure of it now!" She turned away. "I can feel him... he's distant... but there..."

                "But are you sure?" Jax asked her. The dragon paused. Grin started to thinking again. Did she really find something in there, or was it desperation again?

                "Look Zel, Tanya's right. You must rest and clear your mind." Grin insisted. "It may all make sense in the morning." The dragon snorted and backed away. They didn't believe her either!

                "Yeah..." she started. "Yeah you're right. I'm... going to sleep in Dive's bunk tonight.... get some peace and quiet."

                "Good." Jax nodded. "Look Zel we're all worried, you just haveta calm down, kay?" The dragon nodded at him. Slowly, she exited, taking the left way down the hall and halting after she had turned a corner. She backed against the wall and listened as the three walked out themselves, shutting the door behind them.

                "Poor girl." She heard Jax say. "She's been through a lot." They started to walk off in the opposite direction, to the right.

                "Could she be right?" Nosedive asked, still attentive.

                "Who knows." Grin shook his head. The dragon slid from the wall and started walking again. Gradually, the walk broke into a trot, then a run, as she headed for the stairs.

 

                Nosedive awoke slowly, his throat cracked and dry, his hair matted over his eyes. He hated it when he couldn't sleep. But it had plagued him the whole night. He knew it was because he didn't have his daily dose of triple-spicy taco. He grumbled to himself and stumbled out of bed. He walked into the bathroom, littered with old towels, dug around on the floor to find his toothbrush, and swatted back his hair. Jeez he was tired. He bent down into the sink and swished a beakful of water around before spitting it out and brushing his teeth. He went through the process of brushing out his hair and getting dressed mechanically. He yawned as he started to walk towards the TV for some morning cartoons, when he remembered Zelda was sleeping in his bunk as well, because Wing had vacated his. Nosedive sighed. It was his brother that was cause for his insomnia. He yawned again and looked back to her hammock, hoping he hadn't awoken her already.... when he saw she wasn't there. He dismissed it with a shrug, thinking that she had already gone out, when he looked closer and spied a piece of paper dangling over the edge of the woven reeds. He walked over and picked it up, scanning over the top lines, and then quickly walked out.

 

                Tanya sighed as she came back into the galley. Duke followed her with his eyes as he put down his coffee.

                "Nothing?" he asked.

                "Nothing." she swept a lock of hair out of her eyes and slumped her shoulders. "Wing's condition still hasn't changed."

                "I sense no one found much rest in sleep last night." Grin sat at the table, dunking a tea bag in a mug for drowsy entertainment.

                "You sense right." Duke yawned. "I didn't catch so much as a wink last night. Feel awful."

                "It gets worse." Nosedive came in holding the paper in his hand. "Looks like Zel bolted."

                "What?" Mallory sat up. "I mean, I knew she was worn out, but she just ran off?"

                "All she left was this note:" Dive started. "Sorry Ducks, I'm sure about this. Don't worry about me."

                "Jeez, she scribbled that down too." Duke peered over his shoulder.

                "I don't get it... she'd never run out on us." Tanya blinked.

                "Desperate times..." Grin began. "I believe her now...."

                "Believe what? She could actually tell where Wing was?" Duke folded his arms. "This is getting weirder by the minute."

                "It's possible." Jax pondered. "I mean... who knows?"

                "She was stressed out as ever last night... should we go after her?" Nosedive asked.

                "Of course!" Tanya interjected. "If she's right, she's on a collision-course with the Raptor."

                "And alone, none of us would last two minutes inside Saurian Central." Mallory agreed. "But hopefully she'll just be up in a tree somewhere." She quickly drank a glass of orange juice and joined the others as they headed out.

 

                The dragon bounded headlong through the scrubby field, rain now pounding hard down on her, along her flanks, in her eyes. Thunder exploded over her head. The dragon dashed amongst the scrub, knowing she shouldn't be out in an open field, the thunder so close it shook the earth. The grass slapped her limbs as she barreled down a hill, lightning flashing ahead of her. Her head was full of thoughts, crashing like the thunder before her and as muttled as the clouds. She had to think clearly, she knew it, snorting as she ran on in frustration. She closed her eyes to concentrate, then quickly tripped over a rock and fell flat on her snout. Thunder shook the ground again and sent her scrambling to her feet. No, she'd have to keep her eyes open. The dragon whined loudly, stressed. She jerked to a halt in the slashing rain and tried to gain her bearings. She had no idea where she was, terrified of the storm, unable to fly.... her only beacon was the calling in her mind, so blotted out that she could hardly tell if it was still there! Zelda slammed her head into the muddy, grassy earth again. Slowly, she tried to calm herself. She'd never get anywhere this way... if only her friends were here. She would have to make due with their advice. She was being torn apart in too many directions.

                "Forget the storm Zel." she told herself. "Forget the morning... the Ducks back at the Pond..." This was going to take a lot. She sat in the field, snout to the sky. "Find him Zel... let yourself find him..." slowly, she stood, rain pounding her flanks. She started walking slowly forward, veering to the right. Thunder exploded overhead. Her body tensed, but didn't stop. She wavered off to the left for a few feet, then strait ahead again. Slowly, her hesitating walk became stronger, as she headed off, head level, eyes unblinking, into the rainy dawn.

               

                Tanya was tapping away at the console in the Migrator, looking up from time to time to see the rain sloshing off the windshield.

                "Getting through yet?"

                "Not totally." she sighed. "This storm is creating so much interference... " she trailed off in her work.

                "Well at least she remembered to take a com with her." Mallory said.

                "Yeah, now we know she's not totally nuts." Nosedive cracked weakly, the joke withering as it came out. It was Dive's first attempt at humor in a long time. Duke shot him a look from the driver's seat. Dive chuckled weakly and retreated into his chair.

                "I'm getting a faint reading of her due north of here." Tanya determined. "She's moving, slowly... I'm afraid we'll have to take a little, uhh... off road detour to get to her exact location."

                "Poor girl." Grin lamented with closed eyes. "She's going through a lot." He bowed his head and was lost in concentration.

                "Let's just hope we can find her and calm her down without spending a whole day in the rain." Mallory snorted. Suddenly the right side of the Migrator dipped violently, rearing level with a slosh of mud streaking the windshield.

                "Who said it was okay to give the Grator's suspension a surprise inspection?" Dive rubbed his head.

                "She warned ya." Duke peered into the beams of the headlamps as he gestured to Tanya. The Migrator rocked again as it rolled over a large rock. Lightning scrawled across the sky overhead.

                "How much farther is she?" Mallory tapped her foot on the ground.

                "About a quarter of a mile... at her speed we should catch her in a few minutes." Tanya responded, still hacking at the keyboard. And suddenly there she was, standing on a small hill. The dragon didn't react to the Migrator rumbling towards her until it was nearly on her, and then she started.

                "Easy there!" Grin called from the open hatch. "It's us. Come on inside." Zelda slowly obeyed. Wet and ragged, she made a sorry sight as she stumbled up through the hatch.

                "You look like something the Saurian dragged in Zel." Tanya shook her head.

                "Yeah." Mallory started on her. "What did you think you were doing, leaving us like that?" The dragon backed away doggedly.

                "Sorry...." she started. "I'm... sorry I went off....I couldn't ignore it anymore."

                "Ignore what Zel?" Jax leaned over the back of his seat, interested. The dragon sneezed.

                "He's here... it's here."

                "The Raptor?" Dive asked.

                "Impossible, there's no readings of it anywhere." Mallory sniffed.

                "Where Zel? Which direction?" Dive asked again. The dragon paused.

                "That way...." she pointed slowly strait ahead. Tanya shifted into gear and the Migrator crept forwards. Mallory sighed and shook her head.

                "Look Zel, it's early. I know we can find the Raptor if we go back, maybe fine tune Drake 1's scanners and--" There was suddenly a cold wave that swept across the windshield. About twenty feet before them, loomed the burning red metal of the Raptor. Lightning flashed across the sky.

                "Well I'll be." Tanya leaned forward.

 

                The rain was no place for a spellbook as precious as his. Jax huddled in the Migrator as it parked hidden in a clump of trees.

                "Come on Jax." Tanya whispered at the hatch. "The longer we sit around here, the longer we're sitting--- well, you know."

                "Just a sec..." he muttered, annoyed. He needed to get all of this right. Finally he stood up, took a deep breath, and walked out into the rain to regroup with the others.

                "So you know what we're dealing with here." Mallory continued, swatting the wet hair out of her eyes. "The big boys are expecting us, so there's no time for recon and splitting up. We're going to have to run in, frag everything in sight, find... whatever we're looking for, and get out."

                "Mallory, that's not going to be your typical training mission. We're going to have to scour the entire Raptor. We don't even know what we're looking for here." Duke reasoned. "We don't have the duckpower or the firepower to do that."

                "Thank Puckworld we don't have to go in." Jax interrupted.

                "What?" several asked at once.

                "Leave it to me. I can draw Nu out, hopefully without drawing any attention from Big Red."

                "Great! Then what?" Dive asked.

                "Then.... we're on our own."

                "Teeee-riffic." Nosedive smacked his forehead.

                "But it's all we've got." Grin nodded.

                "Then do your stuff Jax." Tanya waved. Jax walked out into the rainy clearing that surrounded the Raptor. He pulled up his sleeves, raised his arms, and bowed his head. Slowly, he started chanting something. Slowly, it grew louder, and slowly, a faint glow surrounded his hands. Zelda perked her ears. The light grew into two beams, each scanning the surface of the Raptor like searchlights. Suddenly, they snapped to one destination, locking into bright blue beams of light. They centered on an object, slowly coming closer to Jax. It was actually two objects.... close together. Two objects, one a purple half-oval, the other a full blue one, each swirling and flowing as if they were alive. Jax looked up and chanted louder. As the objects started to be pulled through the metal walls of the Raptor, a huge, oily black cloud suddenly formed around them. Jax gasped and stopped, stumbling back on the grass. He quickly raised his hands again and chanted something different.

                "Great goddess Nu! I have come to challenge your powers, I have come to retake your conquered. Accept this ancient challenge from us or abandon those whom you have taken and flee!" The cloud sank to the ground and a hideous cackling rang from it.

                "Foolish mortals, you dare to challenge the great Nu?! I will accept, but it is you who will regret it!" She lashed out with a black wisp of vapor, and knocked Jax clean back to the end of the clearing. He tumbled to a stop and the Ducks immediately helped him up.

                "Try and reason with her before you open fire!" he grunted, legs crumpling weakly beneath him. He was exhausted from the spell. Zelda advanced slowly.

                "Stay with me on this one Jax." she called back. "Something tells me I'll need your help." Jax struggled to his knees and crouched in the grass. Zelda took a deep breath and slowly started towards the flashing cloud.

                "Remember me Nu?" she yelled. The cloud thundered with anger. Zelda cringed.

                "YOU!" it screamed. "You were lucky to escape me the first time, the second time! This time nothing will save you!"

                "Wait!" Zelda pleaded. "Let me tell you that you've been deceived!" The cloud swished over backwards, doubling with laughter.

                "I am truly amused. Deceive a goddess?"

                "Yes!" Mallory ran up beside her. "Dragaunus, and his minion who summoned you have used your great powers!"

                "Go on mortals, I'm enjoying your effort." Nu waved.

                "Don't you know what Dragaunus plans to do once you've destroyed us?" Grin pleaded. Nu paused.

                "Well no, and frankly I don't care. He summons, I obey. It's a goddess thing."

                "He's planning to destroy the planet that you created Nu!" Zelda yelled. "He's not even from this planet, neither are they!" she pointed behind her. Nu fluttered slowly.

                "The planet that you created? Destroyed by you? Why do you want that?" Jax yelled out.

                "You are a goddess." Zelda stood firmly. "Why should you be summoned and commanded against your will? Because that old lizard has a spellbook? Why should you be used?" She shut her jaws and stood, hesitating in the rain. What now? She glanced back to the Ducks. Mallory shrugged at her. Zelda backed slowly away as the cloud floated, musing, in the air up against the Raptor.

                "Used." the cloud whispered. Her silvery eyes darted across each of the Ducks as they stood cautiously on the edge of the clearing.

                "Please." Jax staggered up and walked to Zelda's side in the clearing, leaning heavily on her shoulder. "I know we should have explained this to you earlier." The cloud rumbled in the rain. "We aren't asking for punishment... just undo what you've done." The cloud mused again.

                "The Saurians called me out of my slumber. I find the world... much different... from the one I was familiar with. Perhaps you are right." The Ducks nodded. "Still, perhaps you aren't. This world is now strange to me, and disappointing. I will return to my sleep. You will have your request." They all sighed with relief. "Dragon." the cloud addressed. "Take back this delicate form which is your spirit, you are of the few who cherish it fully, I can feel it." the cloud reared back and held the purple sphere within it high. Suddenly, it burst into tiny, floating bits, that drifted softly down to Zelda below like snowflakes. Jax stepped warily back as the glowing bits drifted like purple fireflies around her, slowly attaching to her scales and fading away. The dragon sniffed curiously after each of the drifting lights until they were all gone. She bowed before the cloud.

                "My thanks--"

                "Now go, all of you. Your leader will be restored. I will have no part of the feud between you and the Saurians." Nu held up the blue, egg-shaped form and let it fade, then vanished back into the Raptor.

                "Where is she going?" Mallory asked.

                "Where she said." Jax replied. "Back to her egg, back to sleep. I don't think we'll see any more of her for a while." he stood up and smiled. The Ducks all seemed to pause in relief, ignoring the morning's cold rain.

                "Hey excuse me." Nosedive broke the stupor. "I think I've got a big bro to get home to."

                "Dive's right." Tanya said. "No telling what's happened to him. We should get back ASAP." She led the team back onto the Migrator.

 

                Dive was first out of the hatch as the Migrator parked back in the hangar.

                "Bro?" he called. Why wasn't Wing here? It had taken them a while to get back. Was he okay? Dive walked nervously towards the infirmary. He had to be okay, that cloud thingy had said it. Nosedive started to worry. He reached the infirmary door and punched in his access code. The door opened to find Wildwing on the other side, in the middle of punching his code to exit.

                "Dive?"

                "Bro!" Dive threw his arms happily around his big brother. The rest of the team filed up to the door, and in turn smiled in relief to find their leader alright.

                "You feelin' okay Wing?" Zelda peered up at him.

                "Fine." he said. "But can someone please tell me what's going on?" Duke shook his head and patted him on the shoulder.

                "Yeah, we can." he smiled. "But man, I don't think you would believe it. I still don't know if I can."

                "You don't really even have to." Jax said. "As long as everything's alright." Duke wrung out his hair and nodded. Jax was right, he didn't need to understand, as long as he was able to trust.

 

The End

 

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