The Rematch, part 3

Written by Zelda

 

                Tanya sighed loudly in relief. The less time she spent under the eye of that lizard, the better.                 Nosedive was still chuckling.

                Zelda rolled slowly to her feet and shook her head. "Sorry Ducks...." she grumbled slowly. "I blew it."

                "What did Draggy mean when he said your flesh was on fire?" Wildwing asked her.

                "I have a touch of fever." Zelda curled herself up on the floor.

                "Anything much?"

                "No."

                Grin didn't believe the dragon. He stretched his leg to rest against her flank. He felt heat even through his pants' fabric.

                "You're burning up Zel." he corrected her.

                The dragon grumbled again and blinked up at him with dry, bloodshot eyes. She curled up tighter and tucked a head beneath her wing.

                Wildwing sighed. "Anyone have anything for a plan B?" he ventured.

                Most of the team gave him a furrowed brow as a response.

                "I do." Tanya said after a few seconds. "Dig."

                "What?" Nosedive asked.

                "Just trust me. It's a long shot, but just dig with your feet."

                The team looked up and shrugged at each other. Something to pass the time, at least. They all began to scuff at the soft, red earth with their feet. All of them except Duke.

                Slowly, Zelda staggered to her feet and began to scrape at the earth as well.

                Grin grunted as he stubbed his toe on something. He kicked at it again and something in the ground refused to give.

                Instantly Tanya was interested. "You think you can get at that Grin?" she asked.

                Grin continued to kick at the earth, and some dirty, lumpy object continued to stub his toe.

                "Try and get that out Zel." Tanya suggested.

                The dragon shifted her legs, spread wide apart to hold up her weight. She stretched her chains to try and reach to the place Grin was kicking at. She scrabbled her claws in the dirt to try and scrape more away from the object in the ground. Locking a hand around it, the dragon shook it loose, and finally pulled it out. She brushed the rock off, to reveal it was actually an orange crystal. "What's that Tanya?"

                "What I hoped we'd find." Tanya was grinning from ear to ear. "A bit of solarinite."

                "You're kidding." Mallory said.

                "Not at all." Tanya smiled. "Now we just have to figure out what to do with it."

                "Tanya, what are you talking about?" Wildwing frowned at her.

                "Well can melt these shackles with the heat the solarinite will create, but it needs uh....a deal of heat to start off the crystal's reaction."

                The dragon tucked the crystal under her own body like an egg, and sealed it up with her feet. Suddenly, she yowled and rolled over.

                "Ow!" she snarled. "That's hot!"

                "Good, that triggered the reaction!" Tanya smiled. "Now we have to get it on someone's shackles."

                "Give it here." Wildwing instructed. "The heat won't burn my hands." He wiggled a glove about in his shackles.

                Zelda picked the rock up, stretching her arm as far as the chain would allow. Lip snarled from the hot object, she threw it carefully.

                Wildwing caught it.

                Zelda waved her hand in the air to cool it and sat.

                Wildwing held the hot crystal in his hand for a moment, and then it suddenly began to turn gray and melt!

                "Just hold it there and wait." Tanya told him.

                Slowly, he felt the oozing heat slip down his hand and around his shackles. He felt the metal melting and loosening. With a swing of his arm, Wildwing broke it loose from the wall.

                "Well I'll be." Nosedive said. "It actually worked!"

                Tanya huffed at him as Wildwing reached over and began to pull on his other shackle. He rubbed some of the ooze on it and finally freed himself completely.

                "Good thinking Tanya." Wildwing rubbed his hands. "Now let's all get outta here." He walked over and used the melted solarinite to free Tanya, and then his brother. Soon, everyone was out.

                Mallory lent Duke a supporting arm as he stepped away from the wall.

                "Good to be outta that situation." he coughed bluntly.

                "Now we'll need your skills to get us out of the cell Duke." Wildwing turned to him. "Think you can crack that lock?"

                Duke breathed slowly. "Just gimme something to pick it with..."               

"I've got a bobby pin." Tanya took one out of her hair.

                Duke hobbled over the cell door, leaning heavily on the bars. He quickly undid the lock and the metal door swung open with a rusty creak. He stepped out into the hall. As the team followed him silently, he stumbled a bit in the dirt and fell against the bars of the other cell. Immediately Duke gripped his right side, coughing.

                "Easy there." Wildwing lent him a shoulder to lean on. "Let's get outta here."

                The team crept up the hallway and opened another metal door, stepping outside.

 

                The hallway was not that of a cave at all. In fact it looked more like that of a house. There was nice carpet on the floor, and paintings of various animals hung on the beige walls.

                "Looks like we're in Baron's house." Mallory whispered.

                "And we're gonna have to keep our eyes open. Who knows what kind of sentries Draggy's got crawling all over the place." Wildwing shook his head.

                The team quietly snuck along the wall, their backs dragging on the textured wallpaper.

                "Man I can't wait until I can get a piece of that one-eyed chump for putting us through this." Nosedive seethed.

                "I can't wait until you shut up and we get outta here." Mallory snapped back at him.

                Wildwing halted for a moment to glare at them both before continuing. The team looked nervously about them, unfamiliar in a fearful place. But nothing seemed to be threatening at the moment. At least, that's what the Ducks thought.

 

                His ankle itched like crazy. The lizard cursed loudly at no one in particular, but all in the room flinched as he tried to sit comfortably in his chair.

                "Hey easy boss, we sympathize...." Seige grumbled, leaning against the wall with a similar wrapping of scratchy white gauze around his shoulder.

                "Yeammmph boshhh... we sphympathyzeeee." the frazzled and muffled voice came from a spry green lizard in the corner, his whole face smothered in gauze.

                "Even breaking your jaw can't shut you up, you pathetic sack of scales!" Draguanus suddenly howled, lunged at the unwary Chameleon, and hurled him across the room. Huffing, the Saurian limped back to his chair and sat with an angry sigh, itching his bandaged ankle. Out of the corner of his eye, the little green lizard scampered out of the room quickly, running down the hall.

                "I want those Ducks to pay, and I want them to pay NOW! We've let this matter beat around the bush for long enough!" the Saurian's rage continued to increase. His eyes burned a hot red, and smoke inched from his nostrils.

                A man swung a plush red chair around to face him. "Lord Dragaunus, now I know zat you are angry yes?" Baron's mechanical eye matched the redness in the shadows surrounding him. "And yet why let your victory be compromized by your haste?"

                "Get to the point Baron." the Saurian eyed him grumpily.

                "Draguanus, zhe prizoners are zafely locked avay in my dungeon. You zaw ztem yourzelf, they aren't going anyvhere." The man leaned back and rapped his fingers together. "Ve ave plenty of time to plan the demise of our collective enemiez."

                "Speaking of those "prizoners"..." Dragaunus rumbled.

                Sensing his Lord's mood, Wraith emerged from a shadowy corner and stepped to the huge monitor control console that sprawled out behind Baron's chair. The huge, gray screen flashed for a moment before it cleared, focusing to see a screen of dirt. Wraith hastily pressed buttons, shifting the shaky security camera up, panning it into the cell. All in the room had their mouths drop open as the empty cell came into full view.

                Baron, his mood now changing dramatically, glanced nervously behind him.

                "This is your island Baron." Draguanus began, obviously trying to hold his temper. "I want those Ducks found before they leave this building. If you fail me again, the next hunting accident you'll have will be your last."

                Baron scrambled to his feet. "Yes, of courze my Lord... I'll ave them caught! I'll zend out every hunting machine I own! Zhey'll tear zis izland apart if zhey ave to!" he pledged, gibbering.

                "Shut up and get going you idiot HUMAN!" the dragon Lord howled.

                Baron nearly tripped as he scrambled to his computer console and started tapping frantically at the keys.

 

                The howl had distracted them all.

                "At least we know they're behind us." Tanya gulped.

                "Let's move Ducks!" Mallory said quickly. "They're probably onto us!"

                Wildwing started off running, still looking behind him and waiting for the rest of the team. Suddenly, he slammed into something, throwing him back.

                A tiny green lizard with a head engulfed in bandages cried out in panic as he scrambled to his feet.

                "What the heck?" Wildwing yelled.

                "Oh man, not now." Nosedive groaned.

                "Boss! Wemmmph got Duckkssss in the bfuildingpph!" Chameleon stuttered over his com.

                "Snag him Ducks!" Wildwing snarled.

                The weaponless lizard yelped and ran away, the Ducks running angrily after him.

                Duke, panting with effort at a few running paces, lagged behind and slumped against the wall.                 Mallory spotted him and stopped.

                "Go on!" he coughed, sinking to his knees. "I'll be... right behind you!"

                "Catch your breath." Mallory stood over him. "I'm staying with you."

 

                The Chameleon made little attempt at struggling as Nosedive watched over him with a grin.

                "You know, I always thought you were the most sorry little lizard I've ever caught totin' a laser."

                "I'll remember thatphhm, ya big lugppphh." The Chameleon mumbled dejectedly, with a poisonous glare.

                "We need our gear back." Wildwing rubbed his beak. "We need our coms. I hope Duke's okay."

                "One will find nothing but trouble by sitting in a lion's den." Grin noted slowly.

                Wildwing took a moment to decipher Grin's phrase and then voiced agreement. "Duke and Mallory can take care of themselves. We should keep moving."

                "And what about little worm boy here?" Nosedive planted his foot firmly in Chameleon's gut.

                "Well we can't take him along, the little guy's sure to bring more trouble than he's worth."

                "Bossssss! Bosss helpphhhh meeeeee!" the little lizard cried as Nosedive slung him over his shoulder.

                "I suggest you silence yourself my hyperactive friend." Grin snarled at him. "Before I break more than your jaw."

                Silence pervaded the hall again.

                "But we can't just let him go." Nosedive argued.

                "I had no intention of that." Wildwing grinned, gesturing over his shoulder to a brown door. He swung it open to reveal a janitor's closet.

                The others grinned as well.

 

                Target lock. It blared reassuringly over the screen again and again, in the same blood red color. Draguanus watched it carefully though his beady little yellow eyes. He did have to admit that Baron had a well-developed organization, technologically wise anyway. Those machines were a smaller equivalent to his hunter drones at any rate. The Lord found his claws rapping on his armrest, reassuring himself. There was no way those Ducks could get off this island. Even if they did trash those machines, which was unlikely without weapons, they could never get off the island, with no plane or boat that was very easily accessible. No, he'd have plenty of time. He hated relying on this nutcase of a human. He hated leaving things to others. He wanted to take those Ducks apart by himself. He wanted to rip each one from each other, render the team asunder and watch the delightful results. He wanted to watch them bleed and die and he wanted to see Wildwing finally give up. It was difficult leaving the subtleties to a human, even if they were only subtleties. He wanted to do this on his own. He grinned to himself upon thinking what he would feel upon finally getting the Ducks out of his way. He was disgusted at himself for letting them live this long, for not ridding himself of them sooner. He took over a whole planet of them in a day, and had been delayed in his conquest of another world by a mere six of them. What would his ancestors think of him, could they see? Draguanus shook his crested head and cleared his mind of such thoughts, focusing on the present. Target lock, target lock. It would all be over soon.

 

                Zelda stumbled a bit on the carpeted floor. The heat in her head was killing her. Her muscles begged her to lay down and rest. Her sight swam and her head ached. Feverish tears slipped out occasionally and dripped hotly down her scaled face. Fatigue and fever were catching up and getting the best of her. The dragon drew in a breath of cool air and kept her eyes on the heels of her leader as Wildwing's feet dropped in and lifted out of view, walking just ahead of her. She was not going to be a burden to the team, not now.

                Wildwing suddenly stopped.

                Zelda lifted her head to see the hallway had ended. The yellowish walls fell away to reveal a great, blue-walled square room, hidden in shadow and coated with the heads of stuffed animals. She shivered.

                Wildwing peered cautiously around. There was a staircase that lead up to another level, it looked like they'd have to continue upwards. It would make sense that they were below ground, coming from the dungeon. He wanted out of here, but first they had to make sure that their gear was found and the team was intact. He waved behind him and the team slowly crept out into the room.

                Zelda scanned the walls quickly for any kind of security cameras, but it looked safe enough.

                "Come on, let's get upstairs." Wildwing said. He set a hand on the deep brown wood of the thick banister and began to climb up the sprawling, red-carpeted stairs.

                "Man I'm getting the creeps." Nosedive muttered. "Baron's mansion can't be THAT big... he must know we're here."

                "Maybe he does...." Tanya looked around nervously.

                "Hey, if he knew we were here? Don't you think he would have been on us by now?" Wildwing asked.

                Suddenly, there was a low clicking from the floor above them.

                Wildwing drew his breath in sharply.

 

                The attack seemed to sweep forward in one large wave of black. Looking up, Tanya didn't catch more than a glimpse of the creatures before the attack had reached her. The bewildered Duck yelled and leapt backward, down the stairs, as a large machine landed before her, it's metal a silky black. The machine stared up at her, it's sleek head sporting a pair of yellow, triangular 'eyes'. A panther. Great. Tanya shoved herself backwards violently as the creature suddenly launched itself in the air with a metallic roar, springing at her and landing just a few feet away. Tanya suddenly felt very helpless, without her launcher or Omnitool. Her hand started to hurt again as the animal paced smartly before her, crouching and preparing to spring again. Tanya knew she couldn't go down, to be forced away from the others. As the machine leapt up again, she shoved her way forwards and sideways, her ribs slamming into the rounded banister as she slid past the creature. As it landed, the machine turned to face her as she grappled for balance on the stairs. It hissed and lunged. Tanya dropped to her knees as the animal whooshed overhead, claws barely raking through her tall hair as it leapt over the banister and fell down to the previous floor. Tanya looked down to see a sparking heap of metal on the floor. Rubbing her wrist, Tanya looked up the stairs. Seven of them.... there were seven more machines to only five Ducks. She grabbed the banister and launched herself upwards.

 

                The Duck snarled in effort as he finally wrestled the squirming, clicking machine to the ground before him. Wildwing made a vicious kick at it, his boot clunking dully off of the black metal. The animal regained it's footing again quickly, hissing. And as Wildwing braced for it's pounce, there was suddenly a burning sensation from his face. Sparks flew in his eyes. Wildwing squinted and yelled in sudden pain as the air lit up around him and shots of stinging electricity bolted through his head. The Mask. Not here! Not now! He buckled under the distracting sparks, suddenly gasping as he felt the machine slam into him. He spun dizzily through the air and felt his shoulder being dug into by a rough corner of the steps. He flailed his arms, struggling to stop himself as he and the machine tumbled down the stairs. Chaos and sparks jumbled in his head as he clanked further down, and suddenly his rolling was cut violently off. The animal was torn from him, squealing in metallic protest. There was a loud crunching of metal, and then a large hand picked him up gently. Wildwing wrenched the Mask off of his face, the sparking thing hot in his hands. He sighed, his singed eyelids finally feeling a cool rush of air.

                "You okay?" Grin's voice sounded over the din of the continuing fight.

                "I think so." Wildwing finally ventured to open his eyes, and was relieved to find that he could still see fine. "Thanks for that."

                "No trouble friend." Grin assured him with a pat on the shoulder, and started to climb the stairs quickly again.

                Returning to the concern of the robots, Wildwing hastily slipped the Mask, still sparking randomly, into a pouch at his hip. As he returned to the fight, bruises made themselves known, but he ignored them. He reached his brother, still wrestling off a panther himself. Wildwing charged into the machine with a shoulder, pushing it up the stairs. Still, the panther retained his grip on Nosedive's shoulders, pulling him with it. The two finally separated and Wildwing threw the machine over the balcony, the creature exploding on the floor below.

                Nosedive stood up and brushed back his ragged hair to reveal several cuts on his arm.

                "Ouch." Wildwing said.

                "They're not bad." Nosedive snorted at him. "Let's book before more of those things show!" He darted up the stairs as Grin and Zelda finished off the last machine, Grin tearing it's head off.

                Wildwing followed his brother and the team regrouped at the top of the stairs.

                "Let's move team!" he yelled. "Baron knows where we are, let's find the others and get outta here!"

 

                Responsibility for him alone put a huge weight on her shoulders. Mallory sighed inaudibly as she looked around her quietly, knowing he was safely at her back and against the wall. She needed to get back with the group. She didn't like being alone. She never did. Back in the Special Forces she didn't, she hated being alone hunting Saurians, long before the Forces collapsed and she was forced to run instead of hunt. Mallory shook the memories out of her head as she felt her way along the yellow wallpaper. Duke walked behind her, much less soundlessly than she was used to. He must be hurting, she thought over again with a grim face. She needed to get him out of here.

                "Wasn't... good of Wing to leave us.... behind." he breathed quietly, the first he had spoken in at least ten minutes.

                "That doesn't matter now." she whispered back to him. "We'll find the others. The hallway's ending." Mallory looked ahead of her into a giant blue room not far off.

                "Hold up." Duke said suddenly.

                Mallory turned back to see him leaning against the wall, feeling the paper carefully. "What is it?" she asked worriedly.

                "There's... a door here." Duke said. He straitened himself slowly to swing aside a picture frame on the wall. There was a small red button behind it.

                Mallory shook her head. "How do you that?"

                Duke smiled a little. "Trust me, you're... better off not knowing." He pushed the button. Suddenly a huge panel of the wallpaper swung back into the wall, to reveal a dimly-lit, gray cinderblock hall.

                "Uck." Mallory said. "Think this is worth a shot?"

                "Baron must be keeping it secret... for some reason." Duke hobbled in first.

                Mallory peered down the hall one more time before she too stepped in, closing the door behind her.

 

                Grin kept a careful eye on his teammates as they walked ahead of him. There was a sense of evil that simply pervaded this building. It sent chills down his back, each sensation giving a little stab of pain at the spot where Wraith had hit him before. Had that only been a few hours ago? Time seemed to move so slowly in this place. They were all proceeding down another hallway, a red one with a brown carpet this time. The red halls made Grin nervous. They were walking faster then they had been before. Wildwing was obviously on edge. Grin drew in a breath and shifted the dark gray pads on his shoulders. He glanced down to see Zelda trying to keep pace just ahead of him, having slipped behind her place before. Grin gently picked her up and slid her onto his shoulder.

                She gave a grateful rumble and tried to keep a careful watch on the halls.

                Grin was concerned about her. He was concerned about everyone, including himself. How on Puckworld were they to get out of this place?

 

                                                                                To be continued.....