Good Intentions

Part 3

Written by Zelda

 

 

"You know, this will not be easy." Grin twisted the leather straps in his hands with a bit of nervousness.

                "At least we got Dive set up, no problem." Tanya dusted off her hands and shut the door to his cell behind her. "Everything's plugged in, and should be working fine."

                "Heh, I can't believe you thought of this Duke." Mallory smirked a little, elbowing him.

                Duke let out another grin and shrugged nonchalantly. "Too much time in the Rec. Room." he said.

                "Well this may just work." Wildwing nodded, sounding optimistic for once.

                Nosedive still lay in a deep sleep, but was slumped over a treadmill, the length of his arms strapped down to the bars on either side.

                "At least he'll get a good workout from it."

                "Now, for Zelda..." Tanya turned to the dragoness in the other cell, who still sat motionless. Apparently the Saurians were taking a gaming break, because she hadn't moved since they had left her.

                "Let's just take it quietly." Mallory nodded.

                Wildwing and Duke picked up the other treadmill as Tanya slowly opened the cell's door. They quickly maneuvered the machine in, setting it down merely feet from her.

                But Zelda didn't react.

                The others were relieved a bit as Duke plugged the machine in.

                It was now Grin's turn. He would actually have to muzzle Zelda to the machine itself, and he didn't like it. He turned the leather straps over in his hands again before finally stepping in, Duke staying with him just in case. Slowly, Grin stood behind the dragon, reaching over her head and slipping the muzzle around her snout.

                That did it.

                In a snap, the dragon's eyes blazed to panicked life again, and her body followed a split-second later. With a snort, she twisted her head, trying to back out of the muzzle before she was buckled in.

                "Aww man!" Duke reached in to try and hold her down.

                "Easy!" Tanya stood in the doorway to the cell in case she got free. "Just secure her!"

                Working herself into a frenzy, Zelda howled through the muzzle, snarling, trying to whirl around and catch her claws in either of the Ducks.

                Grin dropped the strap that was supposed to go around her middle, fastening down her wings. But the muzzle was buckled in, and the two straps leading from her head allowed Grin to reign her in like an unruly horse. Letting Duke handle her for a moment, he stepped over to the treadmill, looping a strap around each bar and yanking them tight.

                Overpowered and being pulled towards the machine, Zelda only fought harder.

                Duke stayed with her, somehow getting the last band on around her wings.

                Grin pulled the dragon onto the treadmill, making sure the ties on the straps were secure before he dared fall back. He and Duke retreated quickly from the cell, as Zelda thrashed around violently.

                "Those straps don't look like they'll hold..." Mallory started.

                "Just you watch." Tanya started, and held up a remote in her hand.

                With the push of a button, the treadmill started under the dragon, and the surprised animal had no choice but to keep pace with it. Strapped in place, she had to run, but still continued to struggle.

                Frowning, Tanya increased the speed, until Zelda was so preoccupied with running, that she couldn't afford to lift a paw in protest.

                "Well, what do you know?" Duke took a deep breath and examined a few scratches on his arm.         Wildwing rubbed his beak. "Hmm... that's a pretty fast run, a boardrunning dash for her. She can only do that for so long, it won't take much to tire her out at that pace."

                "Speaking of pace..." Grin pointed over to Nosedive's cell, where the young Duck was just beginning to wake up himself.

                "Huh, if he wakes up this time like he did last time..." Tanya started him off at a fast jog, and the groggy Duck was taken completely by surprise. His knees dragged noisily on the belt of the treadmill before his legs started to work enough for him to keep pace. In a matter of minutes, he was keeping stride with Zelda.

                Duke shook his head as he watched the two. "You know, it's lucky we have that muzzle for Zel." he noted. "She was in her right mind when she insisted we get a few of those."

                Grin cast him a sidelong glance and shook his head a little. She was right, but he wished there were another way. As the dragon started to tire, he could feel her becoming dimly aware of her surroundings. Her panic was skyrocketing again. He felt badly for doing this to her, but perhaps this would help to solve their problems.

                "At this rate," Tanya nodded. "They'll wear themselves out in no time."

                "That's the idea." Duke nodded. "Then we can keep Draguanus's control in check."

                "Good." Wildwing ruled. "I think we should see what happens from here."

                Zelda snarled in the background. She was already beginning to slow down, the Saurians knew nothing about pacing her.

                Wildwing stood back and watched.

 

                "I don't believe this!" Siege yelled. "Now what?" he was glued to his keypad, pressing frantically.

                Dragaunus himself wore an angry snarl on his face, but was also concentrating on his controller. "It would seem these Ducks had a backup plan." he muttered.

                "Yeah, so now what?" Siege glanced back up at him. "We get stuck here until the batteries run out?!"

                Dragaunus tried to think. "That's essentially impossible." he started, his eyes growing dark. "Those fowl obviously have some real knowledge of these chips. But not enough. They can't run the chips out, they'll take energy from anything. So what if we lose a little control for the time being?"

                "So what!?" Siege growled. "My thumbs are gonna fall off!"

                "Shut up." Dragaunus cut in shortly, obviously on edge himself, and distracted with his controller. "Let's just wait for this to play out."

 

                "Let's just wait for this to play out." Wildwing answered, his voice getting a little nervous. His eyes shifted slowly from one teammate to another, as they ran on their treadmills, locked in their separate cells. Nosedive was keeping pace quite well. Tanya hadn't turned the speed up too high, after all, and he didn't seem to be tiring too quickly. But, as predicted, Zelda was losing her energy exponentially. She was struggling just to keep up, panting heavily, her feet dragging against the rubbery band of the treadmill. Wildwing had grown to expect something like that, watching her so often as a boardrunner. She had the stamina to run around the boards for the entirety of a game, but not all at once. The game was stop and go, and those stops were essential to her keeping her energy up. "Grin, do you think you can get through to her?"

                "I will try." the big Duck nodded down at his leader. He closed his eyes, pressed a few fingers to the sides of his head, and concentrated. It was tough, he could literally feel his teammates staring at him. But Zelda was much easier for him to find this time, she must have been able to regain some control due to all of this running she had done. But what good could she do to help them out of this mess?

 

                Mallory was the first to turn her eyes from Grin, and back to the two in the cell. She didn't trust the Saurians, not in the least. She had a terrible gut feeling that this solution of having Dive and Zelda run on treadmills would only last for so long. And then what? Those chips weren't just a problem, not to her. They scared her. She wouldn't know what she would do if one had been planted on her. The others were taking it too lightly, they hadn't seen what those chips could do. Mallory had. When she had been back on Puckworld, on patrol around the infirmary tents on some nights, she would see lines of those brought in from the newly liberated camps. The walking dead, they seemed to her. They were skinny, scrawny, with hollow eyes and the chips nearly bulging from the backs of their necks. It didn't look like they could get any worse, but they did, after the chips were simply pulled out. Their deaths were slow and quiet, as the strength drained from them, as if it oozed from the open hole along their spine. There was no way that she wanted something like that to happen to Dive and Zel... no way. She shook her head and let out a loud sigh to clear her thoughts, but as she did so a louder sound came from Grin. Looking back up at him, she could see that his eyes were still closed. But the look on his face had changed quite a bit. He looked frightened as well.

                There was another noise from the treadmill in Zelda's cell a few moments later: a violent drag of scales on rubber. She had stopped running! Gasping for violently breath, her body skidded along the treadmill's band, held on at the head by the muzzle.

                The sight brought alarm and confusion from the rest of the team as they watched.

                "Whoa, hang up Tanya, we'll hurt her if we drag her like that!" Wildwing started.

                Tanya nodded, but only slowed the treadmill to a walk. "We can't take any chances." she started. "If the Saurians are still controlling her body, this could be a trick!"

                "No." Grin spoke quietly. "For now, at least, that's her."

                "She's regained control of her body?" Duke asked.

                The look on Grin's face didn't change. "For the most part." he nodded slightly. He continued to stare at Zelda as her body dragged along the treadmill, as she struggled to regain her breath. He shook his head slightly and continued. "She's been able to hear and see a bit of what's going on."

                "Really?" Tanya asked, stepping a little closer to the bars. "Then you just hang on girl, we'll find a way out of this..."

                Grin closed his eyes again, concentrating. "Tanya." he said. "She wants to know if there really is no way to get these chips off."

                Tanya was a little surprised by the question. "Well... I can't say really. I'm sure there is some way, we just haven't found one yet..."

                From her cell, Zelda managed a low whine.

                Grin shook his head. "She says that equates out to a no." He frowned as if he disagreed with her. "I cannot prevent her from going with a worst-case scenario."

                "What is she thinking?" Duke asked.

                "Zelda's assuming that the chips cannot be removed." Grin explained. "She just keeps telling me about how she doesn't wish to live her life as a Saurian weapon, how she'd be a risk to all of us..." he paused and shook his head again. "She's arguing with me now." he frowned in explanation.

                "Don't be ridiculous." Mallory quipped in the dragon's direction. "We hardly know anything about these chips. Give it a little time and we'll come up with a solution to this."

                "Zelda says that the Saurians will as well." Grin spoke again. "She's sure that they're trying to figure out these treadmills right now. She can't fight them off once she recovers enough energy for them to regain control. She wants you to keep her running, Tanya."

                Tanya frowned a little. "We can give her some time, at least. She's got to be pretty tired."

                "I agree with you." Grin added. "It's affecting the way she thinks---" he winced as he received an obvious mental check from the dragon. "She's scared." he explained. "Not entirely sure what's happening, or what's going to happen. She's thinking the worst." he repeated.

                The dragon tossed her head up, still gasping. She was trying to speak, but was either too tired or still too much under Saurian control to get the words out. The muzzle wasn't helping her either.

                "She wants you to either sedate her or keep her running, Tanya..." Grin spoke.

                "Zelda, please." Wildwing tried. "I know you're worried, but we've gotta take a step back and try to figure things out first. You and Dive will be fine for the time being, let us take care of this." He cast a quick glance over to his younger brother to check on him, seeing that he was still running away. Dive could keep that up for a pretty long time. Still, he was beginning to worry about him. Grin had mentioned before that the both of them were deprived of their senses while the chip had control. Dive had to be just as confused, if not moreso, than Zelda. He had to go talk to him as well. He was about to walk over to do just that, when Zelda began to move again.

                The dragon was moving her legs, struggling, trying to stand. Slowly, she began to try and run again, only managing a shaky walk. After all, she was nearly frothing at the mouth from exhaustion, like an overrun horse.

                "The Saurians are trying something again." Duke growled.

                "No." Grin sighed. "She's doing that on her own."

                Wildwing shook his head and rolled his eyes. She certainly wasn't helping the situation, but at this point what could any of them do? She was too stubborn. He continued to walk up to his brother's cell, trying to find some sort of emotion in his blank eyes as he ran. "I don't know if you can hear me Dive." he started. "But if you can, don't worry. I know you're probably confused, trust me it's a long story. But there's nothing you can do for the moment. Just know we've got things under control. We'll get you and Zelda out of this, I promise. Just try and relax for now, okay?"

                There was no response from Nosedive, he just kept running.

                "Trust me Dive. Once you tire out enough from running, you'll begin to feel things again, you'll understand the situation we're in. Until then, hang in there."

                There was still no response.

                Wildwing folded his arms, a worried look in his eyes. He hoped that his younger brother wasn't in too bad of a shape.

                Zelda collapsed on the treadmill again, unable to make herself go any further.

                Wildwing's frowned deepened as he thought of sedating the both of them again. She'd hurt herself if she kept that up all night. Would Dive try something like that as well? He gave a quick glance up to the rest of his team, and saw they all looked rather tired. Grin was still locked in mental debate with Zelda, and wasn't too happy about it either. It was late.

                "Look you guys, it's been a long day. We should try and get some rest."

                "I'd second that." Mallory nodded. "But what are we gonna do with them?" She jabbed a thumb towards the two in the cell.

                "No problem sweetheart." Duke said. "I'll take a watch for a few hours."

                "My plan exactly." Wildwing nodded. "We'll each get a shift in, just to make sure they stay put in here."

                Tanya yawned, but shook her head. "I hate to leave them like this for a night, you know? But I don't know if there's anything we can do for them now."

                Wildwing nodded sympathetically. "Alright then, thanks for volunteering Duke, I'll take your place in about two hours."

                "Sounds good to me." Duke pulled up a chair and sat down on it, tipping back against the wall.

                "Let us know if anything goes wrong." Tanya nodded, and the rest of the group walked out of the brig.

 

                Mallory hugged her arms uncomfortably, as if she were cold. The others had all gone off to their bunks, and Mallory's was the last before Wildwing's, at the end of the hall.

                He looked over, and seemed to notice her discomfort.

                "Something wrong?"  he asked.

                "I don't like this." she frowned, not looking at him. "I don't like this at all."

                "Well, none of us do." Wildwing nodded.

                "Tanya can't seem to figure out a way to get those things off." Mallory continued. "She told me that she doesn't even know where to start. And I don't know anything about them to begin with! I've only seen their effects, the Special Forces never had time to figure out how to get them off. We've only got one option left in getting this problem solved, and that option is going through Dragaunus himself."

                Wildwing joined her frown as he realized that she just might be right. "We'll figure out a way." he repeated from earlier. "We just need some time..."

                "Ask Tanya yourself Wing." Mallory looked up at him. "I'm not looking for a fight with Big Red by any means. But that may be the only way."

                Wildwing sighed and looked away. "I don't want to take the team into combat down by two. And Dragaunus is expecting us on top of that. He's been planning this for a while, you know. Let's just sleep on it for one night, at least?"

                Mallory reluctantly agreed. "I guess some options might open up by tomorrow morning." she admitted. "But we do have to be ready, just in case."

                "We will be." Wildwing nodded. "Get some sleep." He left Mallory standing at her bunk, and continued on for his own.

 

                She stood in darkness for a moment, walking over to the wall and flipping on the lights. She didn't have to worry about tripping over anything, her bunk was kept neat, and Spartanly furnished anyway. Mallory knew that she should be getting sleep while she could, for all she knew she could be taking the next shift after Wildwing. But something was nagging at her. She should have known more about those chips. She had been one of the best of the Puckworld Special Forces, with briefs on almost all of the high-priority missions. Why didn't she know more about this? Closure had never been a common thing with the military, especially in the war against the Saurians. As the Forces were quickly overwhelmed, lines of command and communication were shattered. Whole units were overtaken and massed into slave camps right along with the civilians. The Saurian fleet hit them like a freight train, from a dozen different angles. And the Forces never saw anything coming. They didn't have time to coordinate anything, let alone the medical effort it would have taken to figure out those chips. The team had left the planet in such a hurry, Mallory never knew whether they found a way around those chips or not. Maybe their victims just had to live with them. They would never really affect the wearer anyway, in a normal situation. But these chips were different. Mallory hated not being able to pin down what was wrong. Frustrated, she went over to the drawer of her nightstand and opened it, revealing a spare pucklauncher that she always had there, just in case. This whole ordeal made her furious. How dare he use those chips again?! Dragaunus was playing with her teammates as if they were merely robots, as if this was simply some game. Deep inside, Mallory hoped that it would come down to a fight. She wanted to give Dragaunus a piece of her mind. He'd know just how she felt about this underhanded plot. Seething, Mallory slammed her nightstand drawer shut, and admitted defeat by trying to get herself to sleep.

 

                Grin sat backwards on the chair, crossing his arms along the top of the back, resting his beak on them. At least he had gotten a few hours of sleep before his turn for watch had come up. But he couldn't sleep well, knowing his teammates were in here, like this. It seemed almost a relief to be watching them. Almost. There was one thing that he didn't want to face, and that was sharing a link with Zelda again. He didn't want to see what she was thinking, not now. Hours ago, it had been bad enough. He hadn't even bothered to fully explain to the others what he had seen, peering into her darkened thoughts, like revealing a wound which had been festering for a long time. Locked away in a senseless prison, Zelda had spiraled downward. He'd seen it before, of course, this was simply her nature. Zelda would always seem to get this way whenever she was hurt, captured, or in some other situation which gave her no way out. Grin shook his head rather violently to clear his thoughts, and looked up. Tanya had kept both of their treadmills set on a fast walk for the night. Grin felt sorry for them not being able to sleep through a thing like this.

                Zelda wasn't walking though, she was at a slow gallop, loping weakly along on the treadmill, still retaining enough control over her body to make herself move faster than she needed to.

                Nosedive was also completely tuckered out, slumped over the console of the treadmill, still walking but desperate for rest.

                Grin felt guilt well up inside of him again as he looked at Nosedive. He'd hardly considered the little one, he'd been worried enough about Zelda. But nobody had contact with him. If things worked the same with him as they did with Zelda, then by now he could see and hear them, and sense his surroundings again. But the time that he must have spent with that total sensory deprivation must have been terrifying. Grin wished there was a way to reach him as well. He felt like going over and talking to him, but Dive was probably just trying to rest. If he had any control, he was pacing himself. Maybe he understood what was going on after all. Grin shook his head again and looked away, staring off into a space between the two cells. He was snapped back to reality as the brig door hissed open, and Tanya walked through, yawning and running a hand through her hair. Had he lost track of time that badly?

                "Yeah, it's morning already." Tanya nodded. "How are they doing?"

                Grin glanced back into the cells before he let out a sigh. "Well, they are tired, if that is what you were hoping for."

                Tanya walked in and gave each of them a worried glance. "Hey, they're still alive, I'm happy."

                Grin looked up at her, a little alarmed at her comment.

                "I was being sarcastic, sheesh!" she rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break, I nearly pulled another all-nighter yesterday, looking over the data I got from those chips."

                "Anything helpful?"

                "Not much." she sighed. "I'm still coming up with the same dead end."

                "And that would be?" Grin asked.

                "Well, and Mallory agrees with me on this, the chips were designed to just gather data from the wearers. There's nothing in the programming that would allow them to control bodies, not to this extent."

                "So what's doing it?"

                "A remote, some kind of trigger." Tanya shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure yet. All I know is that there's some kind of conduit in the programming to allow that sort of thing."

                "But wouldn't the remote need some kind of signal to operate?" Grin scratched the back of his neck.

                "Yes, it would." she answered, actually sounding a bit irritated at the simplistic question. "And I've already checked, there's no signals anywhere around here besides those from our own equipment. Remember, the teleportation shield blocks out most of those from the outside."

                "So... there's no remote then."

                "Mhmm." Tanya nodded, readjusting her glasses. "I told you, that's where I get stuck. But lemme remind you, that's not the only issue. We could solve the whole problem if we could only just yank out those chips. Of course we can't do that, but they'll have to come out sooner or later."

                Upon that, there was new life to the slow lope in Zelda's cell. The dragon let out a loud snarl and thrashed a bit in her harness.

                Both of the Ducks looked over in surprise.

                "Is that her, doing that?" Tanya asked.

                "Or is it the Saurians?" Grin finished her question.

                Zelda snorted and thrashed again, first pulling her head up high like a tied-down horse, then bucking low and trying to back out of her muzzle.

                Tanya slowly approached the cell, with the purpose of calming her down. Maybe Zelda was just starting to realize what was going on around her, and maybe she didn't understand the muzzle. "Zel? Easy girl, I dunno if you can hear me--"

                "She can." Grin nodded. "I'd think she's been pretty conscious most of the night. Nosedive as well."

                "Really?" Tanya glanced back at him. "Then why is she acting up now?"

                The big Duck frowned at this question. He really wasn't in the mood to get into another karmic war with the dragon, she could be very difficult at times like this. "A moment, if you will." he requested. "Her mind is not in a very coherent state."

                As Grin closed his eyes to try and focus over the whirring of the treadmills, Zelda bucked again, kicking up at the machine's handlebars with her feet.

                A little worried, Tanya pulled out her controller and sped the dragon's treadmill up a little. She glanced over at Nosedive, and decided to leave him be. Looking back to Grin, she saw he was actually frowning, taking a few steps back from the cell.

                He shook his head and opened his eyes again with a grimace.

                "I take it she's not in a good mood either." Tanya sniffed.

                "An understatement." he nodded. "But I'm afraid that's not all."

                "There's more to know?" Tanya asked.

                Grin sighed and nodded. "She's growing more and more frustrated with the chip, although I think she understands why we can't just take it off..."

                Tanya frowned and walked right up to the cell's bars, kneeling down to Zelda's eye level.

                "I know this is tough on you girl." she started gently. "You must be really tired and everything. We're working as fast as we can, for both of you. Hang in with us, hm?"

                The dragon snorted in argument, kicking and nearly falling over. Her eyes had a grayish tint in them.

                Tanya's frown deepened. What was she not understanding? She hated to think that there might be a real reason behind Zelda struggling like that. Were they hurting her? Maybe she even had an idea about getting those chips off. She glanced back to Grin and saw that he was simply looking back. She stood and looked at Zelda again. "Hey, I know it's tough being stuck like this. We'll find a way, just be patient."

                The gentler tone seemed to have an effect on Zelda, and she did slow a bit, and stopped protesting.

                "Good girl." Tanya nodded. "I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

                "Hmm, I thought you were coming to take over the watch." Grin smiled a little.

                "You really have lost track of time, haven't you?" she chuckled. "I'm going back to my lab. I'll see you in half an hour." With a smirk on her beak, she walked out.

                Grin wore a light smile as well, as he readjusted his chair and sat again. The two in their cells had definitely quieted. He looked over to Zelda and quipped. "Why am I the only one that you'll fight with?"

                The dragon either did not or could not smile back.

                Grin shook his head at her. "Don't think like that, you hear me? Stay calm and be patient, my friend."

                To this, Zelda offered a low snort.

                "I'm serious." he said. "The last thing we need is for you to add bad vibes to the situation. Work with us Zelda, we'll find a way to help both of you."

                Slowly, as if all of this were taking time to register and sort itself out in her head, Zelda began to quiet again, and slowed herself to the pace of the treadmill. She glanced over at him, her eyes tired and sad.

                "Good girl." Grin nodded to her. "Be patient."

 

                "Be patient." Wildwing tapped at the console, distracted. "Guess that's all we can do. Wait for them to make a move."

                "This is getting tiresome." Duke grumbled.

                "For all of us." Wing nodded back, still not looking away from the screen. "But I'm not sure what else to do anymore. They've gotten better at hiding themselves, they know when to retreat and bide their time."

                “Can’t help but think about that sometimes Wing.” Duke started, as if he’d already started the conversation somewhere in the back of his mind.

                “About what?” Wildwing broke his gaze at the screen, looking over at him.

                “About how the Saurians are playing us these days.”

                Wildwing frowned a bit at that.

                “I mean, how many years has it been since we came here?” Duke continued. “Nearly seven to my count. We outpace Dragaunus in pretty much everything. Technology, manpower, weaponry—“

                “And we still have the Mask.” Wildwing interrupted.

                “Yeah, that too. Why have those lizards been able to stay one step ahead of us, for all these years? We destroyed their ship’s power, we trashed their gateway generator. What gives?”

                “Heh.” Wildwing snorted, looking back up to Drake 1’s massive screen. “If I knew that, you think we’d still be in this fight?”

                “But it ain’t just a fight, is it Wing?” Duke asked rhetorically. “Hell no. This mess began on Puckworld as a war, before we were even hatched. The Saurians took a break in limbo for a few centuries, then they brought the war back. And they brought that war here seven years ago.”

                Wildwing sighed, and took off the Mask, staring into the fixed metallic frown with his own true eyes.

                “And I bet you’ve been thinkin’ the exact same thing.” Duke nodded. “Every moment your mind has the chance to wander.”

                “You too, huh?” he miffed sarcastically. “Look Duke, I want this thing, this war, to be over with as quickly and painlessly as the next Duck. But I…” he paused and looked at the Mask again. “I don’t have the answers. None of us do. Dragaunus keeps finding ways to get to us, to hurt us. You think I like the latest stunt he’s pulled?” his voice was now tinged with anger. “That’s my little brother he’s got on the end of a controller!” He stopped himself, and sighed again. “They’ve just got… little specialties. Stuff we’ve never been able to make up for…”

                “Or at least haven’t yet.” Duke concluded. “Otherwise, this won’t be the last time we’ll be stuck here, waiting on them to call the shots. We’re still playing their game, Wildwing. And we didn’t win at that one the first time they came to Puckworld.”

                Not answering Duke further, Wildwing donned the Mask again, and pretended to be distracted with Drake 1.

 

                “I’m not crazy, Grin.” Zelda sighed, the exasperation echoing sharply in her mind.

                “I never said you were, friend.” The big Duck tried to keep his cool.

                “But you’re not listening to me Grin, you know I’ve got a point!”

Grin rubbed his temples and shook his head at the dragon in the cell, still in a slow lope. Fighting with people mentally was ten times worse than arguing with them in voice alone. In the realm of the mind, nothing was held back. Words hurt just as much, but now emotions were wielded like weapons, double-edged swords that sometimes lashed out at unintended targets. He’d have to try and keep her calm through this. At least she was still coherent… or so he could tell. She sighed loudly again, the ragged edges seeming to tear at him.

                “You know I’ve got a point…” her mind was tired. “I’ve tried to cooperate… there’s no way out…”

                “We’ll find one, Zelda.”

                “How long?” she asked. “And what until then? Will you keep Nosedive and I on these treadmills for days? Weeks? Months?”

                “It won’t come to that.”

                “Don’t make promises that you aren’t sure you can keep.” Zelda started.

                “So what are you saying Zelda? I can understand that you don’t want to be in this position, but we have no other option. Pull those chips out, and you will die.”

And then, ever so softly, he heard her mutter something.

“At least… it would end this…”

Mental fights always hurt the worst. “What did you say?” he rounded on her instantly, unable to hide the suspicions, the fear, rising around him like shadows in the already dark and hazy corners of their minds.

“I… don’t want to be a risk. A slave.” she said, her voice gaining strength with purpose. “I don’t want to live as a slave to Dragaunus… a robot. If there’s no way… and you haven’t found one yet… pull it out.”

“You’re kidding, Zelda.”

“You know I’m not, Grin…”

And she was right, she wasn’t. He could feel it. It was awful. “We’re not going to do that Zelda. You’re jumping to conclusions.”

She responded to him with a cold silence.

“And what about Nosedive?” he asked. “Do you want us to kill him too?”

Zelda’s mind suddenly reawakened, snapping sharply.

He felt it, and Grin knew he’d brought her back again. At least he’d engaged her again. He couldn’t let her mind isolate itself. “How about it Zelda? Do you want Wildwing to come in here, and for me to tell him that the only way out of this is to kill his little brother, and you too?”

Zelda snarled back at him, the feeling of it as sharp to his mind as her own teeth were to flesh. There was an anger, a frustration, a sadness there that couldn’t be hidden in the mind’s realm. Grin got the full backlash of it from her, and it left him reeling, so much so that he had to cut the link between them. Feeling almost dizzy with the aftershock of her pain, Grin sat back on his chair emptily, his gaze drifting over to Nosedive. He wished that the younger Duck had some sort of mental abilities now, so that he might be able to try and reach him too, reassure him. If Zelda was in the state where she was contemplating suicide, then Nosedive must have been far worse. But if he couldn’t talk to him mind to mind, there was still always face to face. Nosedive could still hear him, after all. Grin was about to edge his chair closer when the door to the brig hissed open, and a very tired-looking Tanya walked in.

“How are they?” she asked.

“Same as the last time you visited.” Grin nodded. “Any progress with the chips?”

Tanya shook her head sadly. “I’ve been checking over my files, the data that I brought from Puckworld. There’s gotta be something on the technology that I haven’t found yet, but there’s just so much to go through.”

Grin nodded, his hopes falling. He hadn’t really expected Tanya to come up with a solution in just a half an hour, but he had hoped for something. And as he was thinking, there was suddenly something else in his mind, as if someone were calling him.

“Tell her Grin...” Zelda insisted weakly. “Tell her what I said... She’ll be the first to know if there’s no hope.”

“Grin?” Tanya asked, blinking at him. “What’s wrong?”

Grin paused, looked back into Zelda’s cell, and then shook his head. “Nothing, it’s nothing Tanya. Just keep an eye on them both, and try to talk to Nosedive. I didn’t get enough time, I’m afraid.”

“Can do.” Tanya yawned in response. “Go get some sleep, I’ll see you later.”

With a faint nod, Grin exited the brig, waiting until the door sealed behind him to lean against the wall and hold his head. The hopelessness of the situation was coming down on him like a ton of bricks, each one slowly falling onto his shoulders. He walked off down the hall in an exhausted, sleepy daze, trying to forget what Zelda had just told him to do.

 

 

                “That’s it...” Tanya said, the exasperation and exhaustion in her voice apparent in every syllable.

                “You can’t be serious.” Mallory started.

                “That’s it.” Tanya repeated, pulling her eyes back from the lab microscope that she was looking into. “That’s all there is. I’ve gone through every node of data, every line of code, every ounce of information that we’ve been able to recover.”

                “And nothing.” Wildwing said darkly.

                The entire team stood behind Tanya at her lab bench, minus Zelda and Nosedive of course, and were all silent for a moment.

                “I keep coming back to the same problem.” Tanya pulled a hand through her hair. “These chips were not designed to control people. They don’t have the mechanics!”

                “But according to you, there is a conduit there.” Grin stated.

                “Yes, that’s all.” Tanya nodded. “There has to be some kind of remote device that’s operating the control functions of the data from the chips. But there’s no remote! I can’t find a signal anywhere!”

                “And neither could we Wing.” Duke reminded with a sigh. “We musta tuned into every AM radio station in the country with Drake 1, but there’s nothing coming into the Pond.”

                “There has to be something...” Wildwing shook his head, almost desperately.

                “Wildwing, I don’t know how much more time we can spend going over the same old facts.” Tanya frowned. “There’s nothing. I don’t know what’s doing this!”

                “But there’s gotta be a way Tanya.” Mallory spoke up. “I mean, what are we going to do about the others? Nosedive and Zel, we can’t leave them like this. Think long-term here. We can’t run them on treadmills for the rest of their life!”

                “Everyone calm down.” Wildwing commanded sternly. “We’re not gonna treat any members of this team like giant gerbils for the rest of their lives. We’re going to solve this, and get them back to normal.”

                “They are good intentions.” Grin nodded quietly. “But there is the matter of how. Without how, we cannot act. If we cannot act, the two in the brig can only stay the way they are.”

                Frustrated and feeling terribly helpless, Wildwing kneaded his forehead, and sat on one of the lab bench’s chairs.

                “There’s got to be something.” he started. “Something that we haven’t considered, something that we’ve overlooked. People just don’t magically turn into robots, guys!!”

                Again, the team fell into silence. The helpless feeling was pervading the room.

                “Wait a minute...” Duke suddenly leveled his eyes at Wildwing. “That could be it right there!”

                “What?” Wildwing blinked back at him.

                “Magic! The one thing we haven’t thought of yet, the one thing about the Saurians that keeps catching us off guard! Remember we were talkin’ back in the Ready Room, about what gives the Saurians an advantage over us every time? Magic is one of those things, Wildwing. We don’t have anything to use against it.”

                “Tanya, is it even possible for magic to be used to control technology?” Wildwing turned to her.

                “You’re asking me?” Tanya frowned. “What am I supposed to know about magic?”

                “That’s it. I’m certain.” Duke nodded emphatically. “The one thing we’ve got no resources on. There’s a big gap in what we know about how these chips work. Magic’s gotta be the trigger here.”

                “It is worth an investigation.” Grin nodded, causing the rest of the team to look up at him.

“We must face the reality that time is short. The conditions of both Nosedive and Zelda are deteriorating quickly, they are giving off terrible vibes.”

                “But we can’t turn back magic.” Mallory started. “What are we supposed to do, just storm the Raptor and tell Wraith to mutter ‘hocus-pocus’?

                “What other choice do we have?” Wildwing shrugged. “Duke makes a good point.”

                “But what kind of assault can we make without two of our teammates?” Tanya asked.

                “As big of a one as we can.” Wildwing folded his arms. “We all need to stick together on this one.”

                “So we’re doing this?” Duke asked.

                “Yes.” Wildwing replied. “And I’m gonna need a hundred and ten percent from each of you, to make up for what we’ll miss from the others. Grin, go down to the brig and tell them of the news. Mallory, I want all of our big guns loaded and ready, including the multi-puck launcher. I’m going up to the Ready Room to try and weasel out the Raptor’s location.”

                “And what do I do?” Duke asked. “Go get some strings of garlic and wooden stakes?”

                “Duke, I want you to go back to your bunk and get some sleep.”

                “WHAT?” Mallory frowned. “His job is to SLEEP? How does he get off with THAT?”

                “Relax!” Wildwing ordered. “Look, it’s been a very long day, none of us have taken a break since this whole mess started. At least one of us needs to be rested up, thinking clearly. Duke is going to be that one, and that’s my order.”

                “Well, I certainly won’t argue with that!” Duke almost let out a smirk.

                The rest of team grumbled, rolled their eyes, and walked off to do their assorted tasks.

                As Wildwing headed out along the corridor that would lead him up to the Ready Room, he knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy fight at all. Not only was the team down by two, but the remaining members were physically and mentally exhausted. They hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep, and had been wracking their brains about these chips. Wildwing steered off to the infirmary for just a moment, deciding that he needed a couple of aspirin before he started looking for the Raptor.

 

                “They’re coming.” he spoke ominously. “You’re aware of that.”

                “Completely aware.” Dragaunus answered his much older henchman with a confident air. “Believe me, we are quite prepared. All that I need of you, Wraith, is to keep that spellbook of yours very close.”

                Wraith nodded, glancing at the two unmanned controllers as they lay on the Raptor’s main console. “You have my full assurances, M’Lord. Any Duck that reaches a hand out for the solution to this crisis, won’t be getting it back.”

                “Just what I wanted to hear.” Dragaunus’s leathery lips curled into a wicked grin. “And I hope you’re hungry, because I’m sure those idiot fowl will bring plenty of finger food along with them.”

 

 

To be continued....