Stray

Written by Zelda (And helped by Lindsay!)

 

 

                Tanya decided to take the back way to the Pond. She had just come from purchasing some hot dogs for lunch at Weiner World, and was bringing them back to the Pond for the rest of the guys. She walked through the alley behind the mall, stepping around the dumpsters and old boxes. Suddenly, she stepped on something soft. She heard an animal scream, and looked down to see that she had stepped on a cat's tail. Recovering from the shock and almost dropping her food, she stooped down to see two tiny blue eyes staring out from the shadows.

                "Awww, sorry little thing!" she cooed. Slowly, a tiny kitten came out of the box. It was a mottled gray, with a gold tip on it's tail and on the tips of both ears. "Well, aren't you cute?" Tanya said, setting down her food. The kitten was obviously interested in the hot dogs. "You must be hungry you poor little thing!" she said. She took a hot dog out of a bun and broke off a piece, laying it down on a stray piece of newspaper. The kitten seemed afraid to approach. "Aww, come on, I'm not going to hurt you..." she cooed. Finally, the cat stooped down and nibbled at the hot dog. In a few seconds, she had gulped down the whole piece. "There now, am I forgiven for stepping on your tail?" Tanya smiled. She stood up, picked up her food, and turned around. The tiny kitten mewed hungrily. Tanya turned around and set her food down again. "Aww, you must be hungry, huh?" she asked. She broke up all of her hot dog and set it down. The cat wolfed it down hungrily. Slowly, Tanya reached out and petted it. It purred and rubbed it's head against her hand. She had to go, but she couldn't leave this cute little thing to starve. She had and idea.

               

                "Isn't she just the sweetest? I think I'll name her... Rilla." Tanya said, petting the little kitten. Nosedive munched on his hot dog.

                "But aren't you allergic?" he asked.

                "Only to dogs." Tanya smiled.

                "I'm surprised." he joked.

                "She's so cute!" Mallory said, rubbing Rilla's fluffy head.

                "Yeah, and she's really friendly." Duke said.                 

                "Are you sure this cat's healthy?" Wildwing asked.

                "Yup, she seems fine to me, just a little too thin." Zelda said. "Surprising for an alley cat, but she's very young."

                "And nobody has any objections about adopting this cat?" Grin asked. Everyone nodded.

                "It's fine by me. You're no kid, you're responsible enough to take care of her." Wildwing seconded.

                "Thanks guys!" Tanya said, cuddling little Rilla. "Well, I'm going out to get a few, well, supplies." Tanya said. "Anyone wanna come?"

                "Sure, I'll go." Mallory smiled, getting up.

 

                Duke removed his skates and clunked them against the back of his locker. As he put his practice gear away, he heard a shuffling somewhere. Rilla was standing above him, on top of the locker, sniffing his helmet.                              

                "Well hey there." he smiled. He reached up to pet her, and she nuzzled his hand and and jumped down into his arms.

                "Awwww, ain't that SWEET!" laughed Nosedive, coming into the locker room.

                "Hey, you gotta admit Tanya made quite a find." Duke snapped back.

                "Yeah, spare me Duke." Nosedive laughed, puckering his beak up into a 'kissy face'.

                "Hey guys!" Tanya said as she and Mallory walked in. Rilla jumped down and rubbed against her legs. Tanya plunked down a shopping bag and began to dig through it. "Aha! Found it!" she said. She yanked a black collar with a bell on it out of the bag. "Isn't this great? This guy was selling them just outside of the mall! It smells like catnip, so I think she'll like it." Tanya bent down and snapped the collar around Rilla's neck. Rilla stood sniffing at it.

                "I guess she does like it." Mallory said. Rilla turned and ran out of the locker room.

                "Come back kitty!" Nosedive called.

                "It's okay, she probably wants to show it off." Tanya smiled. "I'm gonna go set up her other stuff."

 

                Zelda lay asleep in her hammock, when she was awakened by a tinkling sound. She raised her head to see Rilla sniffing around Wildwing's Mask, which he had taken off so he could go in the Rec. Room pool.

                "Aww, hello there little Rilla!" Zelda said. She got out of bed and walked up beside her. She petted Rilla on the back, but Rilla kept sniffing at the Mask. "Hehe, you like that thing, don't you?" Zelda giggled. Rilla suddenly turned around and sunk her teeth into Zelda's claw. Zelda yelped and jerked her hand away as Rilla meowed loudly and ran out of the room. Zelda held her claws gingerly and stared in curiosity at the door. She shrugged, yawned, and climbed back into bed.

 

                Wildwing wrapped his towel around him and shook his head like a dog to get all the water out of his hair. He pulled on a t-shirt and sat down on a chair next to the pool to reset the timer and swim another few laps. He heard a tiny bell ringing, and looked around to see Rilla snuffling around in his bag of stuff.

                "Hey, you shouldn't be in there." Wildwing smiled. Rilla suddenly popped up out of the bag with Wildwing's com in her mouth, and started to walk away. "Hey come back with that!" he laughed, chasing her. But Rilla darted out through the hallway with it. Wildwing stopped and went back to the pool. "I hope Tanya bought some toys for her." he muttered, smiling and shaking his head.

 

                Tanya placed a bowl of cat food on the floor.               

                "Kitty! Kitty! C'mere Rilla, come get your food!" she called. Silence responded.

                "She'll come." Mallory assured. "We've got practice."

 

                A tiny green shadow penetrated the darkness. The little cat leapt out of the light and onto the red metal, dropping the com on the floor in front of a towering, three-taloned red foot.

                "Ahhh, excellent work little one." Dragaunus smiled, bending over and picking the com up. Siege clomped up behind him, as the cat stood unflinchingly.                 

                "So, we got the com, whadda we do with it now?" he asked.

                "Tell Wraith to lift the spell and let it go. We've got more important things to do." Siege picked up the cat and nodded. "Chameleon!" Dragaunus yelled. The Chameleon came in with an identical cat. "Good, you found it." Dragaunus grinned.

                "Come on boss, why can't I do this job?" Chameleon whined.

                "Because they'd know. You do people better than animals, you know that."

                "Yeah yeah." Chameleon snorted.

                "So, show me what this little thing can do." Dragaunus ordered, as Siege and Wraith walked back into the room.

                "My pleasure." Chameleon laughed, setting the cat down. He morphed into a circus ringmaster, standing on a podium. "It looks like a normal kitty." He began. The cat rubbed affectionately against Siege's legs.

                "Get this thing AWAY FROM ME!" he snarled.                          

                "But..." continued the Chameleon. "That's thanks to our cloaking device." The cat was suddenly enveloped in a green shadow, and came out a huge, sabre-toothed lion, with dark black bat wings and a spikes embedded among the fur in the tip of the tail. The creature bellowed deeply, the blast of stale air making Siege and Wraith stumble backwards. The lion must have been a few feet taller than they were! The Chameleon came walking up from behind with a khaki outfit, a whip and a chair. "But there's a bit of a bigger beast beneath."

                "I'll say." grinned Dragaunus. "We've seen enough. With this com we can make sure the Ducks find it." The creature cloaked back into the kitten, and Dragaunus tied the com around its foot.

                "What about the Mask Lord?" Wraith asked. "They could spot it before it has a chance to attack."

                "We can worry about that later." Dragaunus said with a wave of his talons. "Let's send this kitty home."

 

 

                Tanya walked back and kneeled down to find the bowl of food empty.

                "I knew she would come." she smiled, and stood back up.

                "Speaking of Rilla, where is she?" Wildwing asked, coming in. "That cute little thing swiped my com."

                "Well, maybe she still has it." Duke said, opening his com and activating his auto tracker. Zelda trotted in as the team grouped together. "Yeah, she's near the bunks." Duke said.

                "Good. We've all gotta head that way anyway." Mallory said. "I gotta change and get to the mall!"

                "So what else is new?" Nosedive giggled as they headed down the hall. Mallory loomed over, ready to bean Dive on the head, when she nearly tripped over the cat. Rilla was running with the com tied around her foot. Tanya bent down and snatched her up.

                "Well THERE you are cutie-pie!" she said. Tanya took the com off of Rilla's foot and handed it back to Wildwing, who put it in his bag again. Zelda sniffed curiously at Wildwing's hand.

                "Hmmm..." she muttered. Rilla jumped out of Tanya's arms and ran into a corner.

                "Aww, come back here!" Tanya said, kneeling over and walking after her.

                "Back off Tanya." Zelda said calmly. The cat's ears perked up as it backed steadily away.

                "Why?" Tanya asked, surprised, still approaching the cat. Suddenly, the cat disappeared into a green shadow.

                "Because that's NOT a cat!" Zelda yelled, pulling Tanya back. The green faded away, revealing black. Suddenly, the black pulled itself away into two bat wings, to reveal a lion snarl and a burning red mane. The lion bellowed, saber teeth glistening. It took up almost all of the tunnel, nearly up to the ceiling.          "Get that thing!" Wildwing yelled. The team went into a quickchange and emerged in their gear, but it was too late. The lion swiped at Mallory, knocking her against a wall. Mallory rolled away seconds before the shimmering black claws slammed down, inches from her. She picked herself up, and backed away with the others.  

                "I knew it!" Zelda yelped. "This thing reeks of Saurians!"

                "We can't fight it here! Get back to the rink!" Wildwing yelled. The team turned, Wildwing taking the rear, firing shots behind them as they ran. The beast howled, and followed so closely they could feel the hot breath on their backs. They had to get out.

 

                The team tumbled out of the elevator, spilling into the locker room, panting for breath and laying on the floor. Behind them, the elevator door closed with a slow, calm hiss. The beast was floors below them. It was trapped.

                "Whew! What did you feed that thing Tanya?" Duke asked.

                "Relax, there's no way that thing could get up the elevator tube." Tanya panted, standing up and leaning against the gray cinder block wall. Suddenly, they heard a rhythmic, deep clanging inside the tube. Five black claws sheared through the elevator door, and the metal fell away, to reveal the creature pulling itself from the tube. The team panicked and ran through the locker room door, out onto the ice. They turned back, to see the lion trying to ram through the small doorway.

                "Split up!" Wildwing yelled. The Ducks scurried in all directions, finally having some space to maneuver.

 

                The lion burst through the door, into the black coldness of the rink, and bellowed so loudly that it shook the walls. It spread its black wings and snarled, peering around slowly. Suddenly, something stung him in the flank. The lion turned about to see Nosedive lit up in an eerie bluish glow as he fired on it. The lion roared in fury and took a bounding leap, skidding across the ice. Nosedive panicked, backing up against the boards. He took a flying leap, skidding to a stop a few feet away as the lion crashed into the boards, barely missing him. Nosedive scampered up, but it was too late. A searing pain tore down his back, as the lion whipped him with its tail. Nosedive ran and hid in the rubble of the locker room. The lion stalked towards him, when he felt the stinging again. Grin sat in the seats, and fired sporadic shots with long gaps in between. The lion was confused, but only for a moment. With a swoosh of jet black wings, the lion shot up, and dove for the seats. Grin yelped and ran, continuing to fire. The lion lighted gently on the seats of the lower deck. Grin landed hard on the steps of a row of seats, and lay still so that the lion couldn't find him. The lion picked his way through the seats carefully. Grin sighed softly as he heard the wings swoosh inches overhead. It had missed him. He opened his eyes, and gasped in horror to find his eyes meeting two huge, burning red ones. Suddenly, he saw a flash of gold above him, and heard the lion roar in frustration as Duke thumped onto his back.

                "Here kitty kitty." he snarled, preparing to stab it with his saber. But the lion shook its head violently. Duke was forced to grab onto the mane for dear life. Suddenly, he was torn off by a swoosh of black wing, and Duke was thrown hard into the seats, where he lay still. Tanya reared up from the upper deck above them, and began firing downwards. The lion ignored, picking Grin up in its massive paw. Grin snarled, and punched it on the side of the face. The lion roared with the blow, and threw Grin aside. He bounced down, rolling over the tops of the seats, before he finally hit the boards and stopped. The lion roared and flew up, lighting on the jumbotron. Zelda, who was perched in the rafters, sprung and tore, sinking her teeth deeply into one of the front paws. The lion screamed and gave her a massive smack. Zelda was snapped to a halt by one of the wires suspending the jumbotron. Looking down, she could see Wildwing, Mallory and Tanya firing on the creature. Zelda stood up, feeling the pain run up her back. She glided discreetly back down to the upper tier, lighting next to Wildwing.

                "We've got this thing trapped!" He said confidently.

                "Are you kidding? That thing could rip through the roof like it did the elevator! It's staying here so it can pick us all off, the pucks aren't doing enough!" Zelda yelped. Wildwing realized she was right. Nosedive was nowhere to be seen, and he knew Duke and Grin were down. He hadn't missed that shot to Zelda either.                    

                "Zelda." he said. "We'll worry about that. Find Nosedive, and get Duke and Grin outta here."

                "You sure?" she said.

                "Go!" he yelled, loading some smoke pucks into his launcher. Zelda turned and ran up the isle, and down the stairs.

 

                Mallory crouched in a chair beside Tanya. They were directly across from Wildwing. They could see him, and he could see them.

                "Now what?" Mallory snorted. They could see the lion perching on top of the jumbotron. Wildwing motioned across the rink. "What's he doing?" Mallory asked. Wildwing waved in the air, frustrated. He made a bar shape with one hand, and 'bit' it with the other. Then both of his hands went into a frenzy of shaking. Then, he pointed up to the jumbotron.

                "What the..." Tanya started. Then it hit her. "If we can get the lion to bite one of those wires, it'll be fried with the electricity!" she hissed.

                "Great, but how are we gonna get him to bite it?" Mallory asked. Suddenly, their coms went off.

                "I got it!" Nosedive whispered through the channel. The two looked up to see Nosedive crouching on a rafter, a few feet from the lion. He lowered a small cloth mouse, and jerked it around in front of the lion's nose. The lion lunged at it and ripped it out of Nosedive's hands. Nosedive yelped and fell, grabbing a wire as he slid. The lion lunged and bit the wire. Nosedive screamed as a searing pain ripped through him. The only thing he could feel was the air rushing past him. He was falling.

 

                Duke shot up and fired. He hoped he would be in time. The grappling hook looped firmly around Nosedive's arm, and snagged him. Nosedive snapped to a violent stop just before he hit the ice. At the other end of the rope. Duke strained to retain his hold. He tied the rope to the railing of the upper tier and cut it.

                "Watch Grin, I'll get Dive." Duke snorted to Zelda. Zelda swooped down to the boards, where Grin lay unconscious on the first row of seats, as Duke ran for the stairs.

 

                The lion had disappeared in a flash of blue sparks. It let out an earthshaking roar and sunk down into the smoke. Tanya and Mallory ran for the stairs, not able to see if Nosedive had made it.

 

                Duke ran out onto the ice and up to Dive.

                "Ouch, are we there yet?" he panted.

                "Relax kiddo." Duke snarled, reaching to untie Nosedive. Suddenly, he could feel something hot blowing against the back of his neck. He turned back to see two huge red eyes glaring at him. Duke was dealt a raking blow across the middle and flung away. Nosedive hung helplessly. The cat's eyes moved back and forth to follow him as he swung to and fro. The lion raised it's paw, about to bat Dive about like the cat toy he had dropped. It could smell Nosedive's blood as it dripped onto the ice from the wounds in his back. Nosedive shivered, holding his breath at he heard the lion snarling behind him. The creature reared up on its hind legs and roared, towering above him. Suddenly, Nosedive heard explosions. With a snap, he was dropped to the hard ice, and flattened out. He choked, breathing in a sulfurous smoke. Smoke pucks. The lion roared in frustration overhead. A foot stamped down a few inches away from the tip of Nosedive's bill. Duke's foot. He heard him trying to shove the lion back. Nosedive dug his hands into the ice and started to yank himself forward with his free hands. His muscles ached and burned, still frazzled from the electric shock. But it hadn't phased the lion. Finally, Tanya lifted Dive up, and started to help him cautiously off the ice. Mallory fell in behind her, firing her launcher. Grin was up and out too, with Wildwing and Zelda right behind him. Nosedive was set down in the rubble of the locker room again.

                "You okay?" Tanya asked.

                "I'm fine! Will you quit worrying!" he snorted, pushing her away and sinking back down. Back out on the ice, the battle was heating up. The smoke swirled around, clouding out the figures and leaving only silhouettes, crashing and leaping in the smoke. But the lion clearly wasn't done yet.

 

                Zelda skidded to a stop, her claws furrowing the ice.

                "What do we do now?" she yelled to Wildwing. Before he could reply, three green shadows erupted, in a triangle formation around the lion. They fell away to reveal the henchmen, sneering, weapons drawn.

                "RUN!" yelped Wildwing, flinging himself away from the sudden burst of fire. The team turned and fled, taking up positions behind whatever cover they could find. Hiding behind the goal net, Tanya and Grin huddled for shelter.

                "Whadda we do now?!" Tanya yelped in between shots. Grin thought for a moment, then grabbed the back of the post.

                "Lure the creature over here." he snorted. Tanya nodded, and stepped away from the net.

                "Hey! Hey, over here furbrain!" she called, waving her arms. The lion, back at the red line of the ice, roared. As it charged, Siege ran too, firing. Tanya suddenly cried out and flew backwards, hitting the boards. She had been hit! Grin waited for the two to come nearer. He lifted the goal up and started to bend it in his hands. Finally, the lion stopped, snarling, before him. Siege walked around and jabbed him hard in the back with the smoking muzzle of his laser.

                "Got ya trapped now, Duck!" he laughed. Grin, balancing the straitened rod of red metal on his shoulder, snickered. He suddenly whipped around, slamming Siege on the side of the head with the end of the bar. Siege snarled and fell to the ground. Seconds later, the lion pounced. Grin was ready. He caught the net in the middle, and twisted the metal around. As the lion found it's forelimbs tied up in the metal and shards of net, it roared, and sank it's teeth into Grin's shoulder. Grin yelled out in anger as it clamped down harder. Grin shook and yelled louder. But the lion held like a vice. In desperation, Grin pulled himself away, the teeth tearing out of his flesh like a hook from a fish's mouth. Gripping his shoulder to stop the blood, he gritted his teeth until the pain started to fade away. The lion, enraged, was starting to scrape around the ice. Grin went over to Siege and tore off his com and teleporter. Grin went back up ice, to the lion. Seeing Grin again, it opened it's jaws and screamed in rage. Grin simply shoved the com down the lion's throat and stepped back. Even angrier now, the creature thrashed about, creating a howling din. Slowly, the other Ducks started to round up the henchmen and move them into one spot. Finally, Wildwing hauled Siege into the group and threw him at the two dumbfounded henchmen.

                "Let's make like a tree... and leaf!" Chameleon said, starting to program his teleporter.

                "Indeed, retreat would seem a wise option now!" Wraith yelped back, hoisting Siege up. The three disappeared into a green shadow, but Grin leapt in at the last moment. Tanya yanked him back out of the light.     

                "Grin? What were you doing?" Wildwing asked, still gasping for breath from the intensity of the fight. Grin let the scraped up piece of red metal fall to the floor.

                "Letting Dragaunus's pet off of it's leash." he smiled.

 

                Tanya sighed as she sat in the infirmary.       

                "Zelda, what do you think happened to Rilla?" she asked.

                "I honestly don't know." Zelda sighed.

                "But I may never see her again." Tanya said, sniffling a bit. Zelda could tell Tanya was going to miss Rilla a lot.

                "You did what you could, Tanya. Even if it was for a little while, that cat had a home." Tanya nodded slowly.

 

                Jeez, was Captain Comics ever boring! Tanya didn't even know why Nosedive even bothered with the place. She walked out of the store in boredom, leaving for 'Lectric Land. Now THERE was a store! It was a really nice day. People were out rollerblading, jogging, and walking their dogs. One family was even having a picnic in the park across the street. And they'd even brought their cat. Tanya smiled at them. Suddenly, she stopped for a moment. That cat looked like Rilla. Tanya slowly realized that it WAS Rilla. But Tanya kept on walking. She didn't want to disturb them. It looked too perfect a picture. She knew Rilla would be taken care of, she finally had a home.

 

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!