The Drug, part 2

Written by Zelda

 

        Wildwing yawned and rubbed the back of his neck as he entered the Ready Room. Nosedive staggered off for the bathroom, clutching his stomach and groaning. Mallory slapped him on the back and giggled.

        "Ohh that was fun." Tanya yawned. Grin came in behind her with about ten huge stuffed animals.

        "I still say that 'knock the cans over' game is too easy." he said. Duke came in behind him and cracked his knuckles.

        "And so was that 'dunk the clown' game." he said, shaking his head.

        "Well, I think him calling you 'winky' put you into the mood." Wildwing joked. Duke snorted. Wing was about to head off for his bunk when he saw a red light flashing on the panel of Drake One. He went up and pressed it. A quick message from Zelda came out. Wildwing frowned. "Anybody seen Mal or Zelda?" he asked loudly.

        "Nope." resounded from across the room.

        "She said that she and Mal went out to check on something... this message is dated from over an hour ago." Wildwing muttered. Tanya came up beside him.

        "It's weird that they haven't contacted us...." she started. Wildwing opened his com and activated his Autotracker.

        "She's on the freeway, heading for the mountains." he reported. Tanya started scanning the area with Drake One.

        "Huh, that area's as clean as a whistle as far as Saurians go Wing." she frowned. Wildwing nodded.

        "We should follow them." he said, opening his com. "Bro?"

 

        Zelda spiraled up the mountain. She was losing Mal. What on earth was she coming up here for? Zelda had tried to yell out to Mal but got no response. She snarled and pumped harder with her wings. The wind was blowing sharp and cold against her, she couldn't fly as fast. Still, she had to catch up. She could hear the cycle roaring around the bend, sometimes the exhaust from the worked vehicle choked her. She had to find out what was going on here. Mal went faster and faster, racing up the mountainside. It was getting colder by the minute. Zelda shivered and flew on. What was Mal up to? She halted and used the winds to lift her strait up into the air. High above the mountain, she could see Mal darting in and out of the trees. Zelda dove down again, coming closer. She smacked through the branches until she got into the clear from the road. Mallory disappeared again. Zelda snorted and flew on further, finally swooping upwards again. She lifted herself into the cold air higher and higher until she spotted Mal again, running on the road. She dove down again, flying as fast as she could. Mal seemed to be heading for the mountain top. She flew until she noticed that the road had changed. In fact, there was no road at all, just gravel. Zelda looked at it queerly before the though struck her. The road wasn't finished! Fear ripped through her for a moment. Mal must know the road wasn't finished.... She called desperately out for her and darted on. She was growing really nervous. The road was going to end soon, where was Mal!? So she could fly faster, she ducked low to the road, skimming it with her wings at times. She flew and flew, constantly hearing the droning throttle of the cycle ahead of her. Suddenly, the trees cleared ahead of her. There was the end of the road about 20 feet away. Nothing but blackness and the landscape beyond. Zelda looked around. There was still the faint noise of the cycle. But where was Mal? Suddenly, a huge explosion ripped up from beyond the edge of the road. Billowing flames lit up the mountainside below, the pine trees sticking out of the hillside like thin black daggers. Zelda gasped in horror as she realized what had happened. She raced to the edge of the road and stared down at the explosion, gripped by panic.

          "MALLORY!" she screamed. No response. Something exploded again. The cycle. Zelda dove down, wings snapping open. Consumed by fear, she dove into the black.

 

          The Migrator jerked to a sudden violent halt. Duke stopped and stared out into the black as the others were thrown forward by the brake.

          "Duke!" yelled Nosedive. "What the heck are-" He was broken off sharply as he saw the flames coming up from beyond the edge.

          "I'm not getting a com signal anymore..." Tanya started, worried. The team quickly exited the Migrator and went up to the edge of the road. Standing there, they could see the mountain dropped sharply down beneath them, the ground hidden often by trees. The flames billowed out violently. Grin cupped his hands to his beak and yelled. 

          "Mallory!" he called. No answer. He tried again. Still nothing. Wildwing immediatley scanned the area. Nothing, like Tanya had said. Meanwhile, Duke had begun calling for Zelda. Amidst the noise, they heard a noise echo up from the mountainside.

          "Zelda?" Duke called again. Again the noise. A loud roar. "That's her alright." Duke said. Wildwing had already found a spot off the road where the cliff didn't drop so steeply.

          "Come on!" he yelled. "Something's up." Grin followed. He could feel that this was nothing good.

 

           Zelda roared for them again and pushed through he spiky fronds of the conifers. She neared the wreckage. The burning heat was in vast contrast to the sharp cold.

           "Mal?" she called out. Nothing. Zelda raced frantically around the burning cycle. Still nothing. She broke out and ran off to the side.

 

           Tanya peered through the brush. She stumbled and got up again quickly. she could see the burning wreck not too far off. She heard Zelda again. She was calling for them. Tanya stumbled and headed off to her left. She saw Zelda scratching at the base of a tree and ran to her as the others caught up.

           "What happened?" she gasped, coming up to her. Zelda roared moaningly and pointed up. About sixteen feet up, Mallory's body hung limply, doubled over the thick branch of a pine tree. The team let out a collective gasp. Zelda flew up and lighted on the branch. It creaked under her weight.

           "Is she..." Wildwing started.

           "She's alive." Zelda sighed, still suffering from an attack of panic.

           "What happened?" Duke asked, as Grin went over to the base of the tree.

           "Mal just ran out of the Pond and I couldn't follow her fast enough up here and then...." Zelda broke off quickly, gathering her breath in the form of a choked off sob. Suddenly there was a loud crack. The frail branch split and broke, hanging down. Zelda crashed downwards, followed by Mallory, who both hit the ground with a thud. Zelda moaned dully and rolled up, rubbing her head. Wildwing scooped Mal up quickly, as the team wasted no time in getting back up the hill.

 

           Tanya gasped as she looked at the Medicom's data feedout. Zelda stopped bandaging Mal's several bruises, and came over to look.

           "This can't be right." Zelda said. Wildwing perked up.

           "What is it?" he asked.

           "The Medicom reads that Mallory's got a dangerously high level of crack cocaine in her system." Tanya explained slowly. Duke frowned.

           "That can't be right, Mal would never do that kind of stuff." he snorted.

           "It's not just that... depressants, heavy doses of all different kinds of stuff." she said. Nosedive shook his head disbelievingly.

           "So that's what she ran out for...." Zelda said. "She was so nuts she wanted to kill herself..."

           "Thank goodness we got her back alive..." Wildwing started. Zelda and Tanya didn't join in in that. Wildwing paused.

           "She's at a pretty bad stage Wing..." Zelda started slowly. "It'll take some time to get that stuff outta her system... and she may be facing a bigger problem than we think."

           "She may be hooked on the stuff...." Duke breathed. Zelda went back silently to Mallory's side and brushed back her hair. The duck was battered. She had bruises over a good deal of her stomach and side. She most likely would have tumbled to her death if that tree hadn't had its branch stuck out like that to snap her plummet to a halt. It was a wonder that she hadn't met her end with the explosion of the cycle. The team still couldn't believe it. Mallory on drugs? Mallory wanting to take her own life? The team hardly found the comfort of sleep about them that night.

 

          She felt absolutely awful. Pain seemed to radiate from every part of her. It forced her awake. Mallory groaned and opened her eyes. Her sight swam.

          "Mal?" a voice crept into her head somehow. She groaned again. There was something next to her. Slowly she recognized it as Tanya.

          "Don't worry Mal, you're okay...." the voice came again. Mallory didn't hear anymore. She faded back into blackness.

 

                Duke sat by Mal's bed, reading a book and yawning periodically. He paused as he thought he heard something. Yes, Mal was moving. He put his book down and leaned over her.

                "Hey kid, wake up." he said. Mallory blinked and rubbed her head. "You feeling okay?" he asked. Mallory grunted softly.

                "Whadda you think?" she said softly. Duke shook his head.

                "What got into you Mal?" he asked with a frown. Mallory closed her eyes and didn't reply. Duke leaned up. "Well, there's someone here who'd like to see ya." he said. He reached down beside him and shook Zelda, who was lying beside his chair, asleep on the floor. She awoke with a start. Duke silently motioned upwards and she smiled. She reared timidly up onto the bed and smiled.

                "Hey Mal." she said softly. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, jumping the cliff like that."

                "You... you saw me?" Mallory said, not opening her eyes. Zelda shook her head sadly.

                "Come on girl, you obviously need your rest. We can discuss this later." she said. Mallory was glad to oblige. She closed herself in with the blackness again slowly.

 

                Mal was almost afraid to get better. She slowly had that hunger coming back. It terrified her. Once she could get up and back to her room... maybe there was still a little left in that canister.... But Mal knew she was going to be in deep from the team. Already Wildwing was frowning at her. She didn't blame him. Thank goodness this stuff hadn't leaked out to the press. A member of the Ducks hooked hopelessly on crack and barely survivng a suicide attempt? Huh, slap that stat on the back of a trading card. And she had Zelda worried sick. She knew the dragon felt very guilty about not being able to stop her sooner. Mal knew she was in for it one morning when the whole team filed into the infirmary.

                "Mal, we have to talk." Wildwing said sternly. Mallory gulped and sat up slightly. "Now these Medicom readings show that you've been using crack cocaine. Is that true?" Mallory closed her eyes and nodded in shame. Zelda went over and started working at the Medicom console.

                "Why Mal?" Nosedive asked bleakly.

                "I....I just had to... I couldn't help it." she sniffed. Wildwing saw her state and sat beside her.

                "Look Mallory, we don't want to make you feel bad or anything." he said, taking her hand.

                "Yeah, we just need some answers sweetheart." Duke said. "This whole thing is just kinda hard to believe." Mallory sniffed and nodded.

                "But I mean, where'd you get the stuff from Mal?" Tanya asked. "You couldn't have gotten that off of the streets."

                "Not even I would dare do that." Duke said. The team looked at him strangely. Mallory gulped. This was going to be hard.

                "Ummm... " she started. "One night... someone hooked into my com frequency and told me he had gotten a shipment..." she said.

                "Who? How did he know that you wanted it?" Wildwing pressed.

                "It was... it was Dragaunus." the team gasped. "I don't know how he knew.... I was just desperate." Mal buried her head in her hands.

                "It's okay Mal, it's okay." soothed Nosedive. "But how did you manage to use the stuff without us knowing?"

                "He put it into a liquid form, so I could carry it on me. Even Zelda wouldn't smell it..." she said.

                "Slimeball was right, I never suspected a thing on that angle." Zelda snorted from the console.

                "So that explains it all." Tanya said, shaking her head. "The impatience, the mood swings."

                "Gee, I thought it was, ya know... somethin' else." Duke said. Tanya wheeled around and smacked him hard on the back of the head. Duke retreated to the opposite corner of the room.

                "But what would make you want to end your life?" said Grin, not comprehending the connection.

                "I don't know.." Mallory sighed, feeling ashamed for her actions. "One night I went to get some more from Dragaunus and.. he told me he didn't have anymore. I didn't believe him. But I just ran inside and nobody was there... so I just ran. I didn't see Zelda." Zelda lowered her ears timidly.

                "I was asleep... I guess I didn't hear her." she said sheepishly. Duke ventured out from the corner to pat her on the head.

                "Mallory?" asked Tanya. "Do you have any more of that liquid?" Mallory thought hard.

                "There might be a drop or two left..." Mallory confessed. "In this canister in my dresser, top right drawer." Tanya went to fetch it and returned quickly. She opened the canister and shook a drop of the clear liquid onto a slide. She slid it into the Medicom and looked at the feedout.

                "What the...." she said. Zelda looked at the stats with her.

                "This isn't real crack.. it's some kind of chemical synthetic..." she started, scanning over the data quickly.

                "Yeah and look at this..." Zelda said, pointing at the sheet. "It's laced. Got all types of depressants and stuff in it. You didn't snap Mal, this stuff made you."

                "Dragaunus...." Grin muttered angrily.

                "But I don't get it. What made you crave the stuff?" Wildwing asked.     

                "Well it definitely had something to do with Draggy." Tanya said. "Maybe that last battle we were in..."

                "Anything's possible." Zelda approached Mallory with a needle. Mal shied away.

                "Just what are you planning to do with THAT?" she asked.

                "Just a blood sample, it won't hurt much Mal." Zelda eased. "The reason you're not doubled up in agony now's because you've been shot up with painkillers for days." Zelda gently slid the needle into Mallory's shoulder, and took out about 5ccs of blood. She dripped it onto another slide and let Tanya take a look at it. Tanya blinked and stared.

                "Anything?" Nosedive asked.

                "Something curious." Tanya said, adjusting the lens. "Lemme take a look." Tanya paused. "Now this is weird. Seems you've got some sort of additive in your blood Mal. I can't quite tell..."

                "Mal, when Siege attacked you last, what did he do?" Duke asked.

                "The loser knocked me out, that's what." Mallory snapped.

                "But you woke up..." he said.

                "Yeah there was this big pain in my neck... literally." Mallory said.

                "A needle stabbing?" Zelda asked.

                "Possibly." Tanya frowned. She went back to the slide.

                "Whatever this additive is, it isn't good. We have to find some way to reverse it or something." Mallory looked at the floor sheepishly.

                "Umm, Duke?" she asked.

                "Yes?"

                "Hand me that canister over there." Duke handed her the canister, and she wiped her finger around the inside and licked it. Duke snatched the canister away.

                "Mallory!" the team yelled.

                "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she choked. "It's just that I have to have it!" she was so frustrated she wanted to scream.

                "Mal, relax. Maybe it's this stuff that's making you crave the drugs." Wildwing said.

                "Well whadda ya know..." Tanya said from the microscope.

                "Tanya?" asked Duke.

                "Dragaunus is pretty clever. This additive is a chemical stimulant. It made your brain think that it had been addicted to crack for a while... so you instantly wanted more to ease the cravings." The team responded with cocked heads and raised eyebrows. "To get it out of your system safely, we need some kind of a blood cleanser..." Zelda perked up.

                "I might have something helpful." she bounded out of the room and came back with a large stringy root in her jaws. "Boil it and drink it like a tea." she advised. "It'll take a few days, but believe me that stuff is potent." Mallory took the root up and looked at it strangely.

                "There's just one last thing I don't understand Mal." Wildwing said. "Why didn't you tell us about this?" Mallory swallowed hard.

                "I thought you wouldn't understand.... you'd all get mad at me and stuff." she stopped.

                "Well we understand now." Grin said. "And this most definitely isn't your fault." Mallory nodded and yawned. Taking the signal, the Ducks slowly filed out to let her sleep.

 

                Day by day, Mallory slowly got better. She was soon able to walk about like normal. And her craving dismembered itself slowly as well. Soon, all she wanted to do was get back at Dragaunus. He would provide that opportunity all too soon no doubt. Everyone was more than happy to have her back to normal, and not lying dead.

 

The End

 

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