Magic and the Labyrinth, part 2

Written by Zelda, and a bit of help from Gretchen!

 

                Mallory was nudged again. She didn't want to be bothered, she was in such a nice sleep. But she couldn't ignore it this time. She opened her eyes, blinking to clear her vision, and yawned groggily. Suddenly, she was nearly smacked! Mallory sat up with a start and looked around. Zelda's tail was poised over her shoulder, twitching nervously. She looked up to see Zelda's face, as she nodded and motioned down the path. A moment of silence revealed it: numerous footsteps in the gravel. The X-Men would be here any moment! Mallory reached over and whacked Nosedive on the beak to wake him, alerting him silently. Zelda lifted her wing, and the sudden exposure to the light awoke the rest. But it was too late, by the time the team was on its feet, the footsteps were just around the corner! There was no time to escape!

                "Run!" Zelda whispered down to them. "I'll block them." Tanya protested.

                "We can't just leave you here--"

                "Go!" she hissed. "If I get into a fix, I'll follow you!" Suddenly, blasts snapped off of the hedges. Zelda roared and stood, growing even larger, sealing herself off. Wildwing realized that there was no use, they'd have to make a run for it while they still could.

                "Okay, come on!" he yelled, and ushered the rest of the team away. He threw a quick glance back to Zelda as he turned a bend. He wished he didn't have to leave her, but he could sense that she wasn't coming, orders or not.

 

                The field again?! Duke groaned as he half-ran, half-limped into the open plain. Why did they have to run? He would kill just to be able to sit down... But the others were too far ahead of him. It was Wildwing who lifted up his arm and slung it over his shoulder, helping him to run on.

                "You holding up?" he asked.

                "Just a little sore." Duke panted back. He wondered if he was bleeding again. That Wolverine meant business. But they quickly reached the others at the top of the hill, and stood, looking back. Unseen and off in the hedge, there was still shouting and blasting. Mallory ruffled her wings and blinked nervously.

                "We've gotta go back." she started. "What if---"

                "Look!" Tanya pointed. As she spoke, Zelda came bounding through the tunnel, still at a huge size, loping slowly, gasping for breath.

                "You okay girl?" Dive yelled to her. She galloped up beside them and snorted.

                "Never better." she wheezed. "I managed to take down a few... dunno if for good... We'd better go." She looked back, still frazzled from the encounter.

                "Good girl." Wildwing patted her flank. "We can gain some more ground now. Come on." He started off walking again with Duke, but Zelda gently nipped the injured duck by the back of his collar, and lifted him onto her shoulders. She nodded and was off in a slow gait, keeping in pace with the jogging Ducks as they looked to exit the field.

                "If I remember right, this isn't the way we came originally." Tanya said, checking her OmniTool map. "We may just be able to find a way out if---" Grin suddenly grabbed her arm. Tanya looked up to see something emerging from the hedge exit. Gambit, Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, and Storm stalked out onto the field, looking none too pleased.

                "Uh oh..." Dive winced.

                "They must have split up..." Wildwing sighed. He realized now that the only way out was to fight again. "Cyclops!" he called out, waving a hand up. "Both of our teams are tired... we've both taken injuries. Do we have to do this again?"

                "Is he crazy?" Wolverine chuckled darkly. "'Sides, I still owe that overgrown croc one for nailin' poor Jubillee back there..."

                "You're right Wolverine." Cyclops said. "But the duck's right too..."

                "What do you think Storm?" Jean looked up to the woman floating above her.

                "We must do what we must to escape this place. I think that we should trust Cyclops's decision." she said calmly.

                "But we can work together!" Mallory called out. "Fighting isn't going to make it any easier!"

                "You wrong, cher." Gambit spoke up. "'Fore he got knocked out by your lizard friend dere, Beast told us the legend of dis place. Only one of us gettin' out, and it ain’t you." To show that he meant business, he raised another handful of glowing cards.

                "Listen." Zelda interrupted them gruffly. "Someone or something brought us here to fight. What if we refuse? What can they do?"

                "Never underestimate the power of the gods." Storm cautioned regally. "They would punish us severely."

                "How do you know that?" Nosedive asked.

                "Look!" Wildwing silenced the group. "All of us are still able to fight. Your team, however, has obviously lost some members. Don't make us do this to you again. We will, but only if we must." He glowered at Cyclops. The lensed man scowled back. He didn't like being threatened, that was obvious.

                "I don't know who you are or where you've come from." he started. "But I don't like my team being hurt. You'll pay for what you did to them. And if it gets us out of here, all the better." Without further discussion, he fired an optic blast that slammed Wildwing back to the ground.

                "That's the kinda talk I like!" Wolverine celebrated by unsheathing his long, silvery claws, and charging the group.

                "Not again!" Nosedive panicked.

                "Hold your ground Ducks!" Wildwing yelled, struggling back to his feet. "Zelda, Duke! You two hang back!" He raised his ice sheild and his launcher, and started to try and shoot down the white-clad, flying woman.

                "Watch out Stormy!" Gambit yelled, and tossed out his cards to intercept the pucks. Amazingly, each one was successful. Amazed at his marksmanship, Wildwing almost didn't see the woman raise her hands in the air, and he almost didn't see two flashes of light as they raced for him. Had he not seen them at all, he wouldn't have ducked to let his armor take the blows, and had he not ducked, he would have probably been fried.

                "Let's push them back!" Mallory spread her wings and flapped upwards, tackling the distracted Storm and sending her into the hedge. Obediently, Zelda backpedaled slightly from the battle, knowing that Duke was with her. But she stopped as she saw Grin backing towards her as well, taking up shelter behind one of her legs. He would never run from a fight, but then Zelda saw that he wasn't running at all. Crouching in deep concentration, he was already in a tough mental match with Jean again. Zelda hoped that he would fare better this time. Looking across the field, she saw Jean cry out and fall.

                "Jean!?" Wolverine looked over his shoulder at her, and broke away from his battle with Tanya. Growling, he took off across the field for Grin, looking for revenge. Zelda howled and spun to face him, slapping a broad wing down over him. He quickly slashed up through it with his claws, and she cried out and withdrew.

                "Hang on!" she called to Duke, and reared up powerfully, slamming Wolverine down with her claws, trying to pin him. For such a small guy, he was immensely strong, and she had a hard time keeping him down. He finally managed to pry himself from her grip, and got a parting slash to her shoulder before he darted away in retreat. At this size, she didn't have the speed to follow him. Zelda chose to stay with Grin as he recovered. Cyclops and Wildwing were still in a blasting match, straining against each other to see who had the most powerful optic blasts. But Cyclops had neither armor or shield, and he was quickly tiring. Zelda was suddenly distracted as she heard Tanya yell out, and her form disappeared behind a number of explosions. When the smoke cleared, she was lying on the ground, Gambit standing over her with a wry grin.

                "Dat teach you to mess with de X-Men, petit." he tisked. Seeing her in trouble, Zelda was at a loss of what to do. With Duke on her back, she'd never be able to reach Tanya in time. Seeing Gambit take out a silvery bo staff only panicked her more.

                "Go Zel!" Duke slid down off her back. "I'll stay with Grin!" Zelda nodded and shrunk down to her normal size, raising her wings and speeding off across the field. She landed and bounced, flipping high into the air over Gambit, coming down on his shoulders. He grabbed her as the both fell, and she hit the ground beneath him, taking most of the blow. He pushed away and rolled up, drawing another handful of cards. "You los' dragon, admit it!" he yelled. "We too powerful for you!"

                "We'll both be losers if we keep fighting like this." Zelda paced backwards and spread her wings defensively over Tanya. "Do you really wanna blast me?"

                "Gambit don' wanna hurt no one petit." he said, and something in his voice sounded so genuine, it struck her. "Gambit jus' wanna go home."

                "This isn't helping!" the dragon pleaded with him. "Convince your leader not to fight, and we can work together." To this, the Cajun sneered.

                "You a lotta talk for a little dragon." he said. Zelda frowned and grew, right up to his height.

                "This better?" she asked. "I don’t want to hurt you. Don't make me." Gambit appeared almost amused by her attitude.

                "Okay then. Gambit sick of fightin' anyway." he shook his head, put his cards and his staff away, and sat on the grass. Zelda was surprised by that. Was it a trick? She didn't feel as though it were. Gambit turned around and waved to his leader.

                "Yo Cyc! I say we call dis one a draw." Cyclops was distracted just long enough to knock down, but Wildwing ceased his blasting and put away his shield.

                "Stand down Ducks!" he ordered, and a very surprised team stopped their fighting. He walked up to Cyclops and offered him a gloved hand. "The only way out of this fight, is not to fight."

                "Heh, sounds like somethin' you'd say Grin." Nosedive quipped over his shoulder. Cyclops looked at him curiously for a moment, and then shook his hand.

                "I agree. All I want to do is get my team out of here." Storm landed and shook her leader's shoulder.

                "But Cyclops, what about---" She was cut off by a loud gust of wind, as the branches of the dome ceiling seemed to buckle.

                "FOOLS!" the mysterious voice boomed out over them. The sound and the wind nearly blew everyone over. "HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME!"

                "How dare you capture us!" Mallory yelled right back. "And expect us to just fight!"

                "You WILL obey me!" the voice boomed.

                "No we won't!" Cyclops joined in. "Send us back!" There was suddenly an eerie pause in the atmosphere. Storm cringed.

                "I warned you." she said.

                "Very well." the voice replied, now much calmer. The Ducks and X-Men were both surprised. "You will all be returned to your appropriate times, and find your wounds healed. However, I will take from you the most valuable thing that you have: your memory of these events."

                "Psssh, that's nothing." Wolverine grinned. "We get a good deal."

                "Ignorant mortal!" the voice cried out. "If only you knew what the future had in store, what lessons and battles here would mean to all of you!"

                "You mean... this wasn't a chance meeting?" Tanya asked.

                "Nothing is chance, mortals. But you will never learn." There was suddenly a white light, invading the dome, bathing them all. One by one, they lost touch with the ground, and disappeared.

 

                Pavement. Zelda felt her claws in the notches of warm asphalt. She opened her eyes to find a sky of stars over her, and the parking lot of the Anaheim Pond beneath. Strangely enough, the rest of the team was lying beside her, opening their eyes and standing as well.

                "Um... wild question." Nosedive started, looking around. "But how did we get here?" The team paused for a moment.

                "Yeah... call me crazy but I can't remember." Duke rubbed his head.

                "Huh, that's weird." Wildwing looked around him.

                "Forget this, I'm starving." Mallory rubbed her stomach. "Think Weiner World is still open at this hour?"

                "Race you!" Dive bounced and took off across the parking lot.

                "Hey! No fair!" Mallory yelled after him, already in hot pursuit.

 

The End

 

                What was the real value of those memories anyway? Will Zelda, the Mighty Ducks, and the X-Men be tied together somehow in the future? Well only I know, and I'm not telling :) That is, until I can get it all typed out in story form!

 

 

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!