Mirages

Written by Zelda

 

                Siege tapped the dull cylindrical canister impatiently. He tugged at Wraith.

                "I wanna piece of 'em NOW!" he snarled with his eyes.

                Wraith waved a hand at him and turned back, staring patiently. Through the spaces provided in between the poorly built shipping crates, they peered at the warehouse beyond. Through the dust-filled air, lighted by the blazing sunlight outside, they could see the shadows of seven figures creeping through the warehouse, combing through it for them.

                Siege waited patiently, his finger closed around the pin on the canister. Suddenly, he heard yelling and explosions. Wraith grabbed him and nodded. Siege grinned and pulled the pin out.

 

                "Get him!" Wildwing yelled. The team whirled around as The Chameleon paced into the warehouse with three hunter drones in tow.

                "Come on now, don'tcha wanna play?" Chameleon grinned, holding his laser and firing haphazardly.

                "No." Grin replied, being very to the point. While he grabbed the hunter drone next to Chameleon and snapped it in two, Mallory kicked Chameleon hard in the stomach. Suddenly, they heard something bouncing metallically behind them. They had just enough time to turn around and glance in alarm at a round metal canister, before it exploded.

 

                Suddenly, Tanya found herself unable to breathe. She wheezed and dropped to her knees on the concrete floor, waving one hand about to clear the air and holding the other one over her beak. Thick smoke pervaded the air, burning her eyes. She could hear yells for the team, broken and ragged with coughing. She could hear scuffling, and saw quick glances of the Saurians through the smoke. The tips of the smoke glowed with a bluish light, and slowly it started to dissapate. Tanya quickly clapped a sample into a test tube and tucked it in her pocket.

                The team stood up, wheezing.

                "Everybody... okay?" Wildwing coughed.

                "Yeah... yeah." coughed Duke.

                Slowly, the smoke faded away, and the Ducks could breathe normally again.

                "Awww man, those Saurian creepasauri escaped again!" Nosedive snarled, stamping on the floor.

                "Worse yet..." Mallory started. "Looks like the took Zelda with them." Indeed, she was nowhere to be seen.

                There came a low snort from behind a stack of crates.

                "No she's here." said Wildwing, a little relived. "You okay?" he called.

                Nothing but the same snorting responded.

                "Zelda?" he asked again, worried. He saw her coming out from around the corner of the crate... but was alarmed to realize it wasn't her at all!

                A large creature, at least as tall as Grin, set a paw out into the open. It emerged, snarling raggedy. The creature resembled a hyena in form, with ragged locks of fur covering its eyes. The ears were curved into a 'devil's horns' shape. The teeth protruded from the bottom of the jaw like a warthog, but were sharp, serrated like a steak knife. The claws were like talons, and it had the tail of a dog. It snarled at them, jaws gaping open.

                "What the..." started Tanya.

                "Looks like the Saurians found a new pet." said Wildwing.

                The team backed slowly away from the creature, towards the door.

                The animal followed them, growling. Suddenly, it reared up on it's back legs, towering above the group, and roared loudly. It came thundering back down to all fours with a force that shook the ground a bit. Suddenly, it darted off to the side. Immensely crafty for its size, the creature whirled around and in front of the door. The Ducks had no way out. Wildwing didn't hesitate and shot a puck. It thunked dully off the back of the creature's head and exploded. The animal bellowed in rage and came charging out of the smoke, raking Wildwing across the chest with a massive paw. He fell back as the animal stepped over him, chasing Mallory and Nosedive like a cat would chase two bugs. It flailed it's claws, catching Mallory across the shoulder. Mallory cried out and fell to the ground. Tanya and Grin ran behind the creature and started firing on it as Duke and Nosedive ran in to pick Mal up. The creature roared and turned on Tanya and Grin. It tried to charge them, but was held back by a barrage of fire. Apparently, it didn't like being hit by the pucks. Duke, Dive and Mal ran behind them as Wildwing slowly stood up.

                "Come on, let's get outta here!" he yelled.

                The team turned tailfeathers and ran out of the building, jumping into the Migrator which was waiting outside. Wildwing gunned the motor and turned the vehicle around.  

                "What are you doing?" yelled Duke. "I though we were gettin' outta here?"

                "We can't just leave that thing!" Wildwing argued. He rammed the front of the Migrator into an old shipping truck, pushing it over and in front of the wide door to the warehouse. "That should stop that thing. We'll let animal control deal with this."

                The Migrator was turned around again, and it sped off for the Pond.

 

                Mallory sat contently, with her shoulder bandaged, in Tanya's Tech. Room as Tanya looked over Wildwing's chest armor. Wing stood beside her, helping her fix it. The creature had raked four huge claw marks in the armor. Thank goodness it was so strong, Wing was left with only a few scratches from the blow. But with no armor, that same blow might have sliced him clean through.

                He shivered thinking about it.

                Tanya reshaped and filled in the tempered metal, and finally fixed the whole thing.

                "Perfect. Thanks Tanya." Wildwing said, putting the armor back on.

                "We still have to figure out what the Saurians did with Zelda." Mallory sighed.

                "Yeah." Wildwing agreed. "And that animal slowed us down a lot."

                "You think that thing's been taken down yet?" Tanya asked.

                Suddenly, there was a crash outside. The three got up quickly and ran to check it out. It was actually coming from the surface floor! The others regrouped and ran with them as they took the stairs to the main floor. Heading directly for the noise, the Ducks charged out into their loading bay area. This was a place where trucks would drop off everything from hockey equipment to hot dogs. It resembled a huge garage. One of the huge blue metal doors for the trucks was dented radically in. Suddenly, something huge rammed into the door again, splitting the metal. The same creature they had battled in the warehouse burst into the Pond, and bellowed in rage at the Ducks.

                "What the heck!? Didn't we trap it in the warehouse?" Mallory yelled.

                The beast spit out the twisted muffler of a truck, and it skidded to a stop on the floor.

                "I hadda ask." Mallory sighed.

                The beast charged immediately for them. The Ducks turned and ran back into the narrow, concrete hallway they had come through. Fortunately, the beast was too large to fit through. It stayed stuffed into the entrance, scraping chunks of concrete away from the wall with its claws. Wildwing turned to the others.

                "Okay, we've gotta take this thing down! Dive, Tanya, Mal and I will go out and around to the outside and fire at it from there. Wait until we get there to start firing. When we do, give it everything you've got!" Wing yelled. He and his chosen ran with him out and down the hall.

                Duke and Grin turned back to the creature. It was now in a fit of rage, snarling and raking at the tunnel to get to the Ducks inside. Foam dripped from it's jaws, and between the locks of mottled fur, the eyes burned white.

                Grin watched the creature with a kind of distant perception. There was something about it... something he couldn't quite put his finger on... But the creature gave him no time to think. It suddenly reared back, away from the hall, screaming in pain. The others were shooting at it!

                "That's our cue!" yelled Duke. He whipped out his sword and started prodding it at the creature.      Grin loaded his launcher and aimed, trying to see the creature through the smoke of exploding pucks. The beast whirled around, away from the hall entrance, and charged head on for the others.               Through the smoke, Nosedive didn't see it coming. He was rammed into and thrown flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him. As he rolled up slowly, he felt hot blood oozing over his stomach. Slowly, the pain started to come to him.

                "Don't let it get out!" yelled Wildwing. "Keep it in the garage!" Wing and Mallory shot wildly.         The creature reared up on it's hind legs, thrashing and screaming in pain as smoke and pucks lit up the air around it.

                Nosedive stared at the animal strangely. Something about it seemed familiar. He staggered up, clutching his stomach, and continued to fire at it as he leaned against a wall for support. Now a distance from the beast, he could see it in full. There was something strange about the way it fought. Nosedive kneeled on the floor. Jeez it hurt. He wished the others would just kill the thing and get it over with.

 

                Tanya knew the creature was near its end. It was just too battered. It wasn't bleeding, but the impact of hundreds of pucks on it had bruised and beaten it down. Still, it put up a lively fight. She concerned herself with darting around the creature's front and aiming for the head. For an animal of its size, it was very agile. It could twist itself in several different directions. She had to be wary. But it was tired out now. Tanya had the feeling it was going to give up. The rest of the Ducks did too. They closed in, circling around the beast slowly. It growled, stumbling, frustrated.

                "Keep on you toes..." warned Wildwing.

                They soon stopped firing at the creature as it stood. Suddenly, it flung itself at Grin, howling. It landed flat on him.

                He punched it square in the side of the head. The creature wobbled, but slashed at him. Grin rolled out from underneath it and jumped back up. The creature tried to follow, but was thrown back in a hail of fire from the others. It disappeared in the smoke and light. It howled in a most unearthly noise. Wildwing froze. He knew that sound....

 

                Dragaunus cackled with evil glee. This was the perfect moment!

                "Siege!" he ordered. "Set the teleporters now!"

 

                Nosedive stood up as the smoke slowly cleared. He hobbled over to his brother as he stood.            Wildwing still hadn't moved. The smoke faded away from the creature. It lay on its side, breathing heavily, eyes drooping closed. Wildwing sighed with relief. It was down. Suddenly, a hideously familiar laugh broke the silence.

                "You pathetic fools!" Dragaunus roared. He and his henchmen stood on a concrete platform across the garage. The Ducks swiveled around to fire on him, but Dragaunus pointed back to the creature that lay on the floor. "Something's been bothering you about fighting this thing hasn't it?" he asked with an evil grin. "Something about this creature's just a bit too familiar..." The animal emitted a strange-sounding moan. Dragaunus grinned and turned to Wraith. "Release the cloaking spell, now!" he yelled.      Wraith waved his hands in the air. Suddenly, the outline of the creature on the ground started to fade.

                Mallory stood still. Cloaking spell? No way..... The creature faded and faded until it dissapeared altogether. But wait, something was...

 

                The Ducks were floored as the last of the smoke blew away, and they realized that Zelda had never been missing. She was the creature who attacked them! She was just cloaked to look like a beast! And now... Dragaunus roared in laughter as Chameleon rolled on the ground beside him.

                "Idiots!" he snarled. "Our work is done here!" Quickly, the four disappeared in a green shadow. But nobody seemed to care. Tanya was already on the floor by Zelda's side.

                "Tanya... is she?" Nosedive started.

                "Let's get her to the infirmary." Tanya said, picking Zelda limply up off the floor.

 

                The Ducks still couldn't be brought to believe that they had shot directly at a teammate, with the intention to kill. Meanwhile, Zelda was hooked up to the Medicom. She wasn't bleeding or didn't have any broken bones, but she was battered. Her whole frame had been shaken. Her scales were blue with bruises. She might of even had some trauma to the head and spine. All Wing wanted to say to her was that he was sorry. They all were. But Zelda didn't respond to anything. Tanya stayed with her as she bandaged Nosedive's wounds across his stomach. He would be okay. The team waited about the Pond, feverishly, for some good news on Zelda's condition. She spent the next hour or so bobbing in and out on consciousness. Finally, Tanya came out of the infirmary with her hands behind her back. Wildwing was waiting to meet her in the hall.

                "So?" he asked.

                "Well, me watching her won't matter much anymore." Tanya sighed. "She's slipped into a coma."

 

                Duke kicked the chair hard.

                Grin and Mallory sat up, a little surprised.

                Duke sighed in frustration and sat down, burying his head in his hands on the tabletop before him.

                "Calm yourself my friend. We all feel the same as you do." Grin sighed.

                "I KNEW there was something about that stupid mirage! I knew something wasn't right." Duke snarled.

                "So did I." Mallory admitted. "But we're sorta programmed to fight anything Saurian... I think Zelda would understand..."

                "She won't understand if she ends up dying... because of us." Duke started.

                "She won't die." Grin interrupted. He finished the sentence off in his head. "And if she does... I don't think any of us will forgive ourselves..."

 

                Wildwing and Nosedive sat together as Tanya worked slowly away at the Medicom. She was analyzing Zelda's brain patterns. There was something strange... too controlled about them. She had to work it out.

                "Wing." she called. Wildwing perked his head up. "Go try and talk to her. I wanna see what response it gets." Wildwing got up and sat down beside Zelda as she lay on the bed.

                "Zelda." he said softly. "Come on kiddo, wake up. It's me, Wing..." Tanya looked carefully. Yes, there was something. Tanya grinned.

                "Look at that." she smiled. "Even though she's in a coma... seems as though she recognizes you."

                "Really?" said Nosedive. He walked beside his brother and took Zelda's claw. "Zelda, come on, can you hear me?" he cooed.

                Slowly, Zelda curled her claws around Nosedive's hand and squeezed it weakly.

                "Ha! Look at this!" Nosedive said.

                Wildwing got up and walked out to tell the others of the news.

 

                Hours passed and Zelda made some progress. She followed simple commands, such as wagging her tail and opening her eyes. But she couldn't see anything, she remained unconscious. Tanya still worked hard at examining her condition.

                "It's weird..." she said. "Her injuries are substantial... but really don't warrant a coma. Something else is interfering here."

                "What do you think that is?" Duke asked her.

                "I don't know..." Tanya started. Then it hit her. She dug into her pocket and fished out the small test tube of gas she had collected from the warehouse. She quickly slipped it into the Medicom. "Ha!" she said as she read the data feedout.

                Mallory came up slowly behind her.

                "What?" she asked, reading the data with mass confusion.

                "This gas was not any ordinary 'choke you so you can't get the bad guys while they make a quick getaway' gas. If I'm right, this is what may be increasing the effects of Zelda's injuries."

                Mallory cocked her head, not sure she got any of it.

Tanya smiled. She removed the test tube. "Now I just have to reverse the effects." She uncorked the test tube and bent down beside Zelda, waving it in front of her snout.

                Zelda reacted almost immediately, drawing back and wheezing. She sneezed as Tanya withdrew the test tube, and slowly opened her eyes, blinking drowsily.

                "Zelda!" Wildwing grinned, a he kneeled down beside her. She shook herself and rubbed her head.

                "Ouch.. what happened? The last thing I remember was in that warehouse..."

                "It's a long story." Duke smiled.

                "You okay?" Nosedive asked.

                "Yeah sure, a few bumps and bruises... why?"

                "Ahh, just wanted to make sure." he winked at the rest of the team.

 

The End

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except me) 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!