Advanced Robotics

Part Three

Written by Zelda

 

                Duke had one hand tightly clenched around the handle of his saber, his eyes darting critically up and down the hall. Just enough of him was out of hiding to be able to get a good view. His other arm was braced across his chest, hand gripping just above the elbow to staunch the flow of blood that was still oozing from a cut there. But he’d been lucky, Mallory too. He’d managed to hold his own fighting Dragaunus one-on-one, at least for a few minutes. If the others hadn’t shown up when they did, the Saurian would probably be picking his teeth with Duke’s bone splinters at the moment. Instead, he ended up merely exhausted and cut. He’d definitely take the latter situation without complaint. He turned his head a few degrees and gave a nervous glance to the space down the hall. Behind him, he could hear muffled noises. The group had holed up in a small passage, an outlet to a storage closet that connected to one of the main corridors. It was far from safehaven, but Tanya and Zelda needed to be bandaged up, and there was no way they could get to the infirmary now. Duke glanced down to the floor and followed a trail of driplets of blood with his eyes. They couldn’t stay here for long, the Saurians would sniff them out. Duke twitched at a light clanking noise behind him.

                “Anything?” The voice was still tired. It was obvious from the dents in his armor that Wildwing had gotten his rounds in with Dragaunus alone too.

                “Nothing.” Duke snorted quietly. “But there’ll be something soon enough.”

                “Go get patched up.” Wildwing nodded. “Mal’ll be out in a second too.” The leader duck took Duke’s place as he walked back into the closet area. Leaning close to the wall, Wildwing had to stand oddly to compensate for his crumpled armor. It had been a frightening experience, having to face that concussion blast alone and at such close range. Shaking his head, he kept his eyes on the hall while he took the Mask out of his hip pocket. He let down his guard for a moment to hold it up, and examine it. Dragaunus had crushed it like a soda can. And now that he knew the Mask was no longer functioning, all he had to do was cloak himself and sneak up on them. Trapped in a dead-end storage closet, they were all literally sitting ducks. Wildwing unconsciously clenched his fists in frustration. The Mask was, when things all boiled down, the only thing that gave the Ducks an edge over the Saurians. It was the only thing that could trump their cloaks. Ultimate weapon against ultimate weapon. And now his was out of order.

                “Broken, hm?” Mallory’s voice sounded quietly.

                Wildwing was nearly startled. With all of the thinking he’d done, he’d almost forgotten about the situation at hand. “’Fraid so.” he whispered back.

                Mallory frowned and shook her head. “Great, we’re in a hole that just keeps getting deeper. At least we’re all okay, Zel and Tanya aren’t as bad as they look.” She shuddered. “I just don’t wanna be caught with that lizard again. Even with all of us fighting together on familiar ground, we got our tailfeathers handed to us. But what I really wanna know is how the Saurians got in here in the first place.” she growled. “How could they have gotten past our teleportation shields?”

                “They didn’t have to teleport.” Wildwing started, his eyes narrowing. “I know how they got in, they just walked right through the doors, and Dive and Grin saw them.”

                “Huh?”

                “Dive and Grin said that they saw the droid walking upstairs, and that it looked like Chameleon. But it really was Chameleon, he walked right in!”

                Mallory frowned. “But how could he have known?” she asked. “He couldn’t have just guessed about the droid.”

                “No, he knew because he saw it with his own eyes.”

                “The kid in the parking lot…” Mallory breathed, connecting things.

                “Exactly.” Wildwing grumbled. “This is what happens when we let our guard down. All I had to do was scan him with the Mask---“

                “Nobody would suspect a child.” Zelda broke in, nuzzling the side of her head against his shin. “I might have smelled him, from that close. But he was downwind. They’re getting too smart, those Saurians.”

                “You okay?” Wildwing glanced down.

                “Keep your eyes open.” Zelda growled. “I can’t smell anything now, over our own blood. We should get moving. We have to find Dive and Grin.”

                “I agree.” Tanya nodded, adjusting some thick bandages around her midsection as she and Duke rounded out the group. “The longer we stay down here, the worse we end up. With no coms and no autotracker, where do we go from here?”

                “They were both upstairs the last time we checked.” Duke noted. “I say we head up.”

                “Sounds good.” Wildwing nodded. “We’ll feel a lot better once we regroup. There’s a freight elevator near here, isn’t there?”

                “A few corridors over.” Tanya nodded. She patted a pouch that hung from her belt, feeling a few spare bola pucks there. At least they were all still well-armed. They had avoided a firefight in all of that darkness, and for the sake of Drake 1 Tanya was very happy. It would be much easier to regain control of the Pond if it was still operational.

 

                Hah! He had it! After what seemed like hours of winding and struggling, Nosedive’s hand finally clasped the edge of a puck in a pouch along the back of his belt. This was harder on his wrists than the last level of Cyber Slugs! And although the Festering-Boated-Sweaty-Slug-Queen was one tough boss, Wraith was a heck of a lot uglier. Dive hoped that he wouldn’t run into either before the day was out.  Pulling the puck out of the belt pouch, Nosedive depressed a small button on the rim and out popped a serrated blade. Grating quickly, he started sawing through the ropes, cutting through the loops one by one and feeling a greater degree of relief from his aching wrists. Finally, he swung his hands free and around. Even in the darkness, it was clear that he’d need a bandage or two on his hands thanks to his insistent wriggling. But now what? Nosedive pocketed his knife again, and leaned an ear to the closet door. Silence… It was definitely a little too quiet out there. Something big had to be up, if Wraith was hanging around in the Pond and nobody noticed. Maybe everyone had noticed, and maybe they were in the same situation he was! A hand snaking up to the handle of the door, Nosedive opened it just a crack, and peered with a squinted eye out into the hall. Again, nothing. The sunlight was coming in from the window arches in the distance, which meant that he hadn’t been stuck in here for too long. Daring to peek out just a little more, he opened the door wider, freezing when the hinges let out a squeak.

                “Don’t do this to me!” Nosedive scolded in a hiss. Feeling trapped, he swung the door open completely, scuttled outside, and quickly shut the closet behind him. He bounded across the corridor and dove behind a closed hot dog stand, seeking cover. Pausing there, he forced himself to catch his breath, and to listen. The corridor to either side of him was quiet. Sun streamed in to his left, the tiles on the floor glaring white. He couldn’t have been trapped for more than an hour. With a low sigh, he started to relax a little. Flipping up his com, he first switched on his autotracker. Maybe the others weren’t far away. But the duck’s heart sank as the screen was blurred, the autotracker wouldn’t work! Dialing in his brother’s com frequency might bring better luck though…

                “Bro.” Nosedive spoke, not daring above a whisper. “You there? Ollie ollie oxenfreid!”

                Only static replied to him

                “Great.” Nosedive snarled, shutting his com lid. This had happened before. If the coms and autotracker had both gone offline, it was either because someone had a mighty good jamming device planted nearby, or someone had gotten to Drake 1. With Saurians stalking around the building, it was pretty obvious that’s where they’d gone. He was about to let off another heavy sigh, when he felt a slight shaking beneath his feet, and the metal lids on the hot dog cart rattled.

                Siege.

                Like a dinosaur out of some B-movie, Siege came stalking out, his fat body casting a wide shadow through the white glare of the tiles under the archway. Nosedive squinted to see him, then scrunched his body behind a wheel of the cart. It was too late to try and crawl underneath, his armor would make too much noise against the floor. But crumpling up like that had taken away most of his field of vision, and the duck could only feel the rattling floor and hear the dull footfalls as Siege stomped closer. Nosedive silently hoped the big lizard was not going to go looking for him in the storage closet.

                “Okay buddy, naptime’s over.” the Saurian sneered.

                Great. That’s just what he was here for! Nosedive could only listen and cringe as Siege ripped the closet door off of its hinges, sending it clattering to the floor very close to the hot dog cart. He instinctively reached for the pucklauncher in his belt, only to find it not there. Of course, the Saurians couldn’t be that stupid as to leave him armed….

                “Hey!” Siege exclaimed angrily. “Wha—why the little----“ his insult ended in a string of snarls. Nosedive heard him open a static-laden com line. “Boss, the scrawny kid’s not here!”

                The Overlord’s reply was roared so loudly that it was hard to understand. “Not there, Wraith left him there just half an hour ago!!!”

                “Hey, blame him, I’m tellin’ ya he ain’t here now!

                “Find him then! That worthless little bag of feathers couldn’t have gotten far!”

                “And I’m gonna make sure he won’t be runnin’ next time.” Siege assured his commander with a loud whack of his tail into the tiles of the floor.

                Nosedive quickly realized that he had to move, if he stayed behind that flimsy little hot dog cart, he was as good as done for. The farther away he could get from a furious Siege, the better for his health. But there was nowhere to run! As soon as he was out from behind the wheel, he was as good as spotted. There had to be some way to take him down…

                “I ain’t lettin’ him go boss.” Siege continued his conversation. “I can still smell the lil’ twerp, he’s close, and he’s mine.” Disengaging his com, the angered lizard proceeded to kick over a trash can, stalking down the corridor towards the cart, and sniffing.

                Nosedive forgot the lizard had a good sense of smell. Probably made up for his awful vision with those beady little eyes. He had to move, and yet found himself a bit too frightened to just jump up and run for his life. This was the one henchman that the Ducks would never wanna run into in a dark alley. This was the one guy who could, more often than not, take them out in a one-on-one battle. How was he supposed to fare any better? Frozen, the duck listened as Siege calmed, his steps becoming lighter and more careful, and he neared the cart.

                “Come on kid.” the lizard muttered to himself. “You’re somewhere around here…”

                Nosedive shivered as Siege actually came right up to the cart, hovering over it, his stinking breath wisping down over the metal lid. And that was when Dive decided to act. Gripping the bottom of the cart on either side of the wheel that he was perched behind, Nosedive shoved hard, bracing his feet on the floor with his toes butting up against the wall. The cart wheeled up and backwards, crashing down with a very loud clatter of sheet metal and spilling tools. And as he stood, spinning around to face his aggressor, he heard Siege howl, a short surprised yelp that edged higher with a crushing pain. The cart had come down on the Saurian’s right toes, and Siege wrenched his foot free, hopping away on his good foot, holding the other one in seething pain.

                “Score one for the little guy!” Nosedive whooped, scooping up a pair of serving tongs from the floor, and beaning Siege on the side of the head. His expression quickly changed, though, when Siege put his foot down and used his free hands to pull up his laser blaster. “Yipe!” Nosedive went scrambling for the nearest cover as blasts lanced the air around him. He ducked into a recessed hall that led to the rink, only to find the doors to be locked! He was trapped if he couldn’t move fast enough and get out! Nosedive scrambled, hoping that a one-footed Saurian wouldn’t be able to catch up with him. Then again, the laser gun made up for that. As he returned to the hall, the duck found himself confronted with a volley of blasts that pelted his armor. He scurried back into the recess like a frightened mouse, and found that he was out of options. Frustrated, he tried to kick the door down. “Aww come on!” he yelled, starting to panic. “Done in by a locked door?! What kinda way is that to go?”

                “No way, in my opinion.” A low voice sounded from somewhere nearby.

                Nosedive turned back to the corridor to see a taco stand suddenly go wheeling through the air. He heard it go crashing to the ground, another roar sounded from Siege, and the hail of laser blasts promptly stopped. Bewildered he peeked out and further down the corridor, to see Grin jogging quickly up to him. “Grinster! You got some great timing man!”

                “Really?” the big duck smiled. “Aren’t you going to tell me that you had this one covered, that you were just about to surprise him and turn the tide of the fight?”

                “Ehh… I’ll make up a good story later.” Nosedive waved it off. “Let’s take care of the big orange beach ball and find the others, something is definitely up.”

                “I HATE you Ducks!” Siege snarled, reinserting himself into the conversation. Laser gun having been knocked back down the hall, the unarmed Saurian shoved the taco stand off of him and regained his feet, stalking towards them with a forced suppression to his limp. “You are gonna pay for this!”

                “Oh good.” Nosedive’s former panic was long gone, now bristling with overconfidence as he and Grin stalked right towards him. “’Cause we got a few charges of our own to collect on. What the heck’s goin’ on here Siege?”

                “Not like you can do anything about it.” the lizard spat. “You stupid Ducks fell for it hook, line, and decoy! All thanks to that robot.”

                “Robot… the holographic droid?!” Nosedive stopped, frowning. “How did you know about that?”

                “Know about it? That’s how we got in here, you moron!” Siege was now cackling. “How we rooted all the way down to your central command and stopped your dear older brother in his tracks.”

                Nosedive’s eyes darkened. “What did you do to him?”

                “Me? Nothing, unfortunately.” Siege snorted, enjoying the moment. “But ask the same question of my Overlord, I’m sure he’d love to show you.”

                “Oh, you mean him?” Grin pointed behind Siege, and the orange lizard turned to see none other than Dragaunus walking up to him!

                “Aww great, like this situation needed to get any worse!” Nosedive scrambled right back into the recessed hallway again.

But Grin stood his ground, one hand in his pocket, his eyes not looking away from the two Saurians.

“My Lord!” Siege stammered, surprised that he was able to sneak up on him. “Well, look who I found, the skinny kid and the big one. Should I leave the eviscerating to you?”

Dragaunus said nothing, stalking up until he was looming over Siege, facing Grin.

“Grinster, what are you doing?!” Nosedive hissed. “Get in here or you’ll get your bill blown off, maybe we can break down this door—“

“Umm…” Siege screwed up his face. “Do you want me to take ‘em instead?” Confused by a lack of command from Dragaunus, the lizard sniffed the air. Just as a note of realization was reflected in his eyes, Dragaunus’s fist swung around and cracked him soundly on the top of the head. Siege let out a grunt, Grin didn’t move, and Nosedive’s jaw dropped open as the Overlord pivoted, spinning around on one leg and bringing his tail around to deliver a long and powerful uppercut to his henchman. Siege toppled backwards, hit his head against a pillar, and sank to the floor with his little pink tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“He… he knocked him out?!” Nosedive was dumbfounded. “The guy’s gone nuts! Grin, get in here!”

“There is no reason to be afraid, little friend.” Grin replied, his eyes steady on Siege. The orange lizard wasn’t moving, and once it was clear that he’d been knocked out, Grin relaxed his stance and took his hand out of his pocket. In it, he held a small TV remote.

“Dude, that’s not the remote for---“ Nosedive was interrupted by the huge red Saurian now looming over his own frame. But Grin pushed a button on the remote, and Dragaunus’s image faded away to the reality of the frame of the lithe droid.

“Phew!” Nosedive almost fell over. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Grin smiled as widely as that for which he was named, and pocketed the remote again. “Sorry. Didn’t want to spoil the surprise. This helped the Saurians get into the building; I do think that it was Chameleon that we saw in the hall earlier.”

“Makes sense, that slimy little tadpole.” Nosedive growled. “But how did they know in the first place?”

“A question for another time.” Grin shook his head. “Our teammates are clearly in danger. This droid may have helped get the Saurians into the Pond, but I believe that it can also help us get them out.”

 

The team’s progress through the hallway was halted at the reverberating thunderous noise from above. Zelda perked her ears.

“Oh..kay…” Duke muttered, looking up as if he hoped to see through the ceiling. “Maybe I don’t wanna know what that was.”

“Keep moving.” Wildwing shooed them on from the rear of the group. “Whatever it is, we can’t do anything about it down here.”

“Doesn’t sound good.” Mallory noted dully.

“Come on.” Wildwing replied. If they could reach the elevator, they’d be safe if only for a moment. Their heavy armament did nothing to cover the fact that they were all hurt and moving slowly. Zelda was especially nervous, not able to smell or see much beyond the narrow corridors. Wildwing was beginning to understand; even though they were far away from the blood-dripped storeroom they had escaped to after the attack in the Ready Room, the smell followed them. The hall was now scented with dried blood and the antiseptic nuance of fresh gauze. The dragon shaded her blinded senses in a mask of aggression. They were approaching a ‘T’ junction in the corridor, coming up to hallways that branched off on either side of them. Instinctively they all slowed, then stopped. The elevator was just beyond, through the junction and down to the left. But if they stepped into a trap, there would be no escaping; they’d have to fight their way out against a full force of Saurians. Frowning heavily, Wildwing raised a gloved hand, and shifted his eyes to Duke with a questioning tilt.

The older Duck shrugged off the inquiry, assumed his orders, and followed them by inching forward as quietly as a cat. If anyone could take a peek around the corner without blowing their cover, he could. Still, his heart was in his throat, belying his cool exterior. He was terribly sore, hurting all over from the cuts and scrapes Dragaunus had given him. He’d been lucky that he hadn’t fared any worse. As he neared the edge of the hallway, he reached into his pocket and took out a small circular mirror. He sneaked in close to the left corner, sliding the hand with the mirror slowly along the wall, before barely inching it out into the hallway, angling it slightly. He then shuffled quickly across the hall and to the other corner, repeating his trick with the mirror. After a few seconds and a minor change in angles, he pocketed the mirror and held up the other hand, waving the others forward.

There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the four in the rear as they approached.

Duke afforded himself a small smile. “We’re clear.”

“Good work.” Wildwing nodded. “Let’s get upstairs.”

The five of them quickly crossed out into the junction between the corridors, skirted down one passage, and came to the elevator doors. They opened with a low hiss, and the five felt much, much safer as the doors closed behind them. The tinny elevator music didn’t help. For some reason, Phil had insisted they put that it, said it made the place more homey. Tanya leaned back against the wall and let out a slow sigh.

“So once we do find the others, how are we gonna go about flushing the Saurians out of the Pond?” Mallory asked.

“One thing at a time, sweetheart.” Duke shook his head.

“I think they’re alright.” Zelda noted distantly, her head bowed. She still wasn’t entirely used to elevators.

“I think our next step is to retake the Ready Room.” Wildwing nodded. “We can activate our defense systems and flush the Saurians out of the building with Drake 1. Unfortunately, Dragaunus knows its strategic value… But he’s still looking for us. Hopefully the henchmen will stay on patrol, and he won’t teleport any drones in for reinforcements.”

“Hopefully.” Mallory grunted. They were nearing the top floor by now, and the group was visibly stiffening, gearing up for a reentry into dangerous territory. Finally the elevator stopped, the doors slid open---

 

And the team stared into the barrels of several laser blasters.

 

The team gasped collectively and sucked themselves back to the walls as laser lights blinded them, beams slitting the air everywhere. Behind them, shadows jumped violently, reflecting off of gleaming eyes, teeth, and scales. Dragaunus, Chameleon, and Wraith were shoulder to shoulder in the doorway of the elevator, firing away. What was a sanctuary and hiding place only moments before had now become a trap, as if the Saurians were literally shooting fish in a barrel. Within seconds after the barrage had opened, a new light blazed in the elevator, bright blue, and there was a high hum of energy.

                “Behind me!” Wildwing yelled over the blasting.

                Zelda, Duke, Tanya, and Mallory, lanced and smoking with laser wounds, shoved themselves out of the corners of the elevator and clumped in a line behind Wildwing, who was tucked like an armadillo behind his ice shield.

                “Everyone okay?!” he yelled, trying not to look back.

                “Get your weapons out, fire back for Puckworld’s sake!” Mallory snarled instead of an answer, slinging launcher up in each hand, daring to edge beyond the shield’s range in order to fire. She picked a laser from Chameleon’s hands, but the reduction in incoming fire was minimal. Duke raised a shaking hand, feathers charring from a fresh laser hit, and he tossed a bola towards Wraith. A blast from a laser turned the weapon into cinders before it ever reached its target.

                Tanya yelped as she found herself being squeezed back towards the wall, and looked forward, through the others, to Wildwing at the front. His ice shield couldn’t continue to take the brunt of the blasts for long, and his armor wouldn’t protect him well either, not against an assault like this.

                “Surprised?” Dragaunus called to them over the hiss of electricity. “You shouldn’t be. From your computer I could track the opening and closing of every door in this building. Of course I saw the elevator.”

                “Clever---“ Wildwing hissed in reply, squinting behind the light of his shield. He could only watch, helplessly bracing it in place, as cracks started to form in the energy field.

                With a sneer, Dragaunus raised a hand for a moment to signal to Wraith, who then put down his launcher and held his hands out before him. He drew up a dual set of fireballs, shrugging off the puck fire that pattered him sporadically. With a bloodthirsty grin, he hurled them both for Wildwing, and the shield shattered in a sputtering explosion of raw energy and smoke upon impact. Wildwing was shoved back by the force of the blow, pushing everyone behind him back into the wall with the domino effect.

                Duke was hacking, waving an arm in front of his face to try and see as Tanya shoved him forward, trying to stand again. Within seconds of the blast, more lasers began to shoot through the smoke, pinning them down from seemingly everywhere. In front of him, Wildwing was turtled into his armor, tucking his beak into his elbows and using his wrist guards to shield his head. He hissed loudly as a laser sparked off an unprotected shin.

                “Forward NOW!” Mallory yelled. “Before we’re trapped!” She still had a pucklauncher in each hand, giving Wildwing a rough shove, and somehow finding the fingers to wrap around Duke’s arm and haul him along behind her.

                Wildwing staggered forward, bumping into something that rubbed against one of his legs. He heard a loud roar, something that seemed to rattle the elevator itself, and suddenly a blast of yellow-red light burst through the smoke. It was fire, a blast of fire from a dragon that had leapt up in mid-air to deliver it right into the faces of three Saurians. Uncovering his head, he caught a flash of blue: her eyes. And they were wide with something that seemed akin to fear. As soon as the Saurians had blocked their exit, that elevator car had become a cage. Zelda hated cages. Seeing the Saurians yowl and fall back before the flames, Wildwing found new strength in his legs, and pushed forward with her, out into the clearer air of the hallway. Zelda had already picked her target in Chameleon, who was now pressed against the wall directly ahead of him. Off to his right stood Dragaunus, shaking ash out of his eyes. Off to his left was Wraith, wheezing from the smoke. Wildwing pivoted to the right.

Zelda pushed off of the ground and dug her teeth right through the barrel of Chameleon’s blaster, wrenching it out of his hands and spitting it across the floor. In response, the lizard snarled and morphed into one of his more common guises: a bodybuilder. Seconds beforehand, the two were nearly matched in height. Now Chameleon took a meaty hand and grabbed the dragon by the scruff of her neck, easily holding her at arm’s length as she thrashed angrily. He yawned and blinked mildly at her.

“Honestly mah dearh.” he drawled in a thick German accent. “Is zis de best you can do against me?”

“Not by a longshot.” Mallory growled, emerging from the smoke with a launcher pointed straight at his head. “Well really, it’s not such a long shot after all. If you don’t want to find out how much a puck hurts at point-blank range, you’ll put her down.”

“Very well, puny girly-duck-lady.” Chameleon sighed and shook his head. Whipping his arm around, he sent Zelda flying into her, both of them spilling backwards into the elevator and disappearing into the smoke again.

Tanya gasped as they went past her. She and Duke were out in the hallway by this time as well, with Duke already heading over to take on Wraith. That left her with only one target. “Seems you dropped your laser back there Chameleon.” she coughed, trying to sound as snide as possible through the allergies raging in her lungs. “But I’ve still got mine.” She raised a wrist, tapping her Omnitool to bring out the laser mounted in it. It was no match for a Saurian’s blaster, but that didn’t matter now. “Hands in the air.”

“Vhat, you vant to look at my glorious pectorals and biceps too?” Chameleon grinned. “How about I bench-press your tailfeathers?” He balled a fist and lunged for her, sending a punch into the ground that was so hard, the metal floor panels reverberated. But Tanya had leapt to the side and was rolling back up, re-aiming.

“Bench-press this!” A blue beam sparked off of the side of Chameleon’s thick shoulder, and he squealed in a surprisingly normal voice. The angry Saurian retaliated by reaching out and grabbing her by both shoulders, holding her arms in place as he growled at her. Tanya sneezed, gagging at the smell of the charred patch of flesh along his arm. She glared back and waited, seizing her moment as Chameleon started to lift her into the air. Pushing off of the floor, she wheeled her knees upward and brought them to Chameleon’s chin with a clacking blow. While the Saurian was stunned, she shoved her feet against his chest, and as she propelled herself away, spun and kicked him in the side of the head. She rolled up to her feet with a somersault, watching Chameleon hit the wall, and shake himself dazedly for a moment. He morphed back to his normal self to regain his balance, but yelped again as he was nearly buried underneath a hail of pucks. Riddled with swelling bruises from the shots, he collapsed onto his stomach with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Nice moves girl!” Mallory coughed, smiling, as she reemerged from the elevator.

Tanya stood, dusting off her hands, and gave her a thankful nod. “We’re not done here yet, c’mon!”

Zelda had already wheeled off towards Dragaunus, while Tanya and Mallory headed left towards Duke and Wraith. As Mallory parted through the smoke and saw the two fighting clearly, she noticed something odd about Duke’s stance. He was holding his sword in the wrong hand--- because the other one bore a black charred circle along the back. He’d been shot in his hand, and now Wraith had the upper hand in the fight. The two were sparring, Duke with his sabre and Wraith with that flame-sword he liked to conjure up every so often. With a parry that had surprising power for the old lizard that threw it, Wraith used his sword to shove Duke up against the side of the corridor, the cinder block wall giving off a dull thud.

“Duke!” Mallory yelled to him. “Stay!”

Spotting the pair of approaching Ducks, Wraith drew back from his prey and started slinking away into the hall, giving himself some space. That space was all the distance Mallory needed to keep Duke out of the line of fire as she charged for him, brandishing both pucklaunchers.

Wraith drew his head behind his hands, muttering something and ringing up a light blue opal-colored shield in a long oval around him, so that all of Mallory’s pucks pattered off and to the floor.

“No fair!” Mallory pouted.

“Hardly.” Wraith’s snarl suddenly turned upwards to a sickening grin. “Now this is unfair.” Throwing his arms upward and out, the three ducks staggered backwards as the shield expanded outward in the blink of an eye, shooting forward towards them, knocking Mallory and Tanya flat onto their backs, crushing Duke against the wall.

When Mallory rolled up enough to see, Wraith was gone, leaving little more behind than a wisp of smoke.

“Wraith’s MIA!” she yelled, looking around her. Chameleon was still unconscious a few dozen feet behind her. Beyond that, shadows came through the fading smoke from the elevator. Violent shadows. Wildwing, Dragaunus, and Zelda were still in the thick of a fight. It sounded like it as well. But where had Wraith gone?

“Mallory?”

She spun around, pushing herself up to sit as she looked back behind her. That was Tanya calling her. There was a note of urgency in her voice that Mallory didn’t like at all. She found Tanya by the wall to her left, kneeling next to something maroon. Duke was sitting against the wall next to her, head drooped into his chest, blood oozing from the side of his bill. Mallory gasped, forgot about Wraith, and was by Tanya’s side within moments. “Is he okay?”

“Unconscious.” Tanya noted, lifting Duke’s head to quickly check him over. “I don’t think anything’s broken—Where’s Wraith?”

“Disappeared!” Mallory growled. “Stay with Duke, I’m backing up the others.” She was up on her feet, launchers out and charging  back into the elevator smoke.

Tanya sighed heavily, concerned eyes still scanning Duke for any obvious sort of injury. She gently put a hand on each shoulder and shook him lightly. “Time to wake up Duke.” she tried. “Come on, not exactly the best place for a catnap here.”

Slowly, dazedly, Duke started to come around, his one eye wandering for a moment before the pupil focused on her. “H..eeyya sweetheart.” he drawled, his voice unsteady.

“Sit still.” Tanya ordered. “And when you can see straight, tell me if you spot Wraith.” After a few more seconds of nervous observation, Tanya turned her eyes back to the hallway, laser out, watching for where Wraith would materialize again. With the smoke from the elevator now completely gone, she could look down and easily observe the fight that was still going on with Dragaunus. Now with three Ducks in the fray, the odds had turned back against the Saurian, he was heavily scratched and bleeding from Zelda’s sharp claws and teeth. The little dragon, with a few less cuts and scrapes, hopped angrily around his feet, leaping up to bite at his legs wherever she could find room. Wildwing had fallen back, kneeling at a shooting position, firing whenever things were clear enough to get a decent shot. And Mallory had taken over the hand-to-hand combat for him, mostly trying to make sure that Dragaunus never got free space enough to activate his own wrist laser, or unleash a concussion blast.

“Time—to leave!!” Mallory shouted at the Saurian who was trying to get out from being on the receiving end of her kicks and punches. As long as she could keep him away from his wrist com, she’d prevent him from teleporting out, or teleporting a bunch of hunter drone backup troops in. One would end the fight in their favor, the other would seal their fate. At this point, both sides were down to the wire. She let out a high squeak, her vision suddenly running red as several points of lancing pain seared into her unprotected shoulder.

Dragaunus growled in rage as he tightened his fist, his claws digging into bone. “I am never leaving---“

Pulling back desperately and trying to free her shoulder, Mallory looked frantically around, spotting Wildwing bracing one arm with another as he held up his pucklauncher, and fired. The blow spiked with a sharp thud off of the side of the Saurian’s head. His beady yellow eyes rolled for a moment before his grip on Mallory loosened, his whole body went limp, and the pair went toppling to the side and onto the floor. She rolled quickly away from him, standing up against the wall, a launcher in her good hand and aimed for him just in case. Zelda, whose teeth were now stained with blood, hovered over his exposed neck, panting with exhaustion. A few yards away, a tired Wildwing dropped his arm and bowed his head, trusting the others to hold their guard.

                “Are you guys alright?” Wheezing and waving a free hand to dissipate the smoke, Tanya staggered towards them, with the arm of a drowsy Duke looped over her shoulders.

                “Just peachy.” Mallory grunted, shifting her hand to hold her wounded shoulder.

                Dropping the anger from her features, Zelda’s ears perked with worry, and she forced her own tired legs into movement, circling around the approaching pair.

                In response, Tanya lowered Duke, allowing him to sit cross-legged on the floor and have Zelda sniff him over.

                “Wha--? Hey, I’m fine…” he protested, raising a hand to his forehead. “Point me at Wraith--- once all the birdies stop circling my head—“

                “So what’re we doing with tall, dark, and ugly here?” Mallory jabbed an elbow towards Dragaunus.

                “Leave him for now…” Wildwing heaved himself to his feet, shaking out his tired limbs as if he were in a game going into overtime. “Where are Wraith and Siege?”

                “Playing the part of the vulture—“ a ghastly voice sounded from somewhere very nearby.

                “Duck, Wing!” Mallory called out.

                The leader duck swerved violently, doubling over as he felt something swish just inches over his head. He found himself standing right next to Wraith, the Saurian’s wooden staff sailing above him, curving around for another quick swipe. Alarmed, he leapt back to a safe distance, Wraith also retreating to hood over his Overlord’s still frame.

                “You’re not getting out of here this time Wraith.” Mallory snarled, a launcher trained on him. Tanya and Zelda were on their feet also, standing like shields before Duke and Wildwing.

                “Oh, well I do believe you’re in for a terrible disappointment.” the Saurian let up a toothy grin, his staff poised horizontally in his hand before him. “You see, the fight’s not quite out of us yet. You’re forgetting that you’re missing someone…” he pointed in front of him, and the Ducks turned for just a moment, to see Siege approaching from down the hall, a cold blank gleam in his eyes. Upon being spotted, that approached turned quickly into a charge.

                Wildwing gasped, unsure as to whether or not he should order the team to split their guard and attack, or to retreat and regroup. He was beginning to seriously worry about his brother and Grin. He didn’t believe they could hold their own in another serious battle. As options went racing through his mind, his team started to act, turning to face Siege as he came rushing in.

                With a yelp, Zelda called them all to her attention, flailing her wings. “Everyone fall back, don’t attack Siege!!”

                “What?!” Mallory was incredulous, but Zelda had already bitten Duke by the collar of his jumpsuit and was hauling him out of the way of the Saurian’s thundering charge. Confused but too slow to do anything else, Tanya and Wildwing backed a few paces away as well, armaments held at the ready as the Saurian came for them.

Wraith stood still through it all, a grin spreading on his face as he measured the odds that were growing against the tired Ducks. Perhaps they could manage a victory in this without their drones or their Overlord. He only had to stand back and let Siege do the dirty work, the henchman was more than capable of handling these fowl, and he looked bloodthirsty enough to do so. But something seemed odd, a little off, and alarm bells started to ring in Wraith’s head as Siege bypassed Tanya and Duke without so much as a glance. He didn’t have time to react as Siege passed everyone, and crashed right into him, nearly stepping on Dragaunus in the process. The frail old Saurian went sprawling several feet back, landing hard on the floor. “What are you doing?!” he howled.

Siege didn’t reply, didn’t even change his facial expression, as he turned and lifted the unconscious Dragaunus up by his neck.

It was only then that Wraith thought to use his nose. His eyes widened suddenly in shock, then narrowed in fury. “You wretched Ducks think you’re clever…”

Thoroughly confused, Wildwing blinked between the three Saurians. He barely heard a “psst!” sound from behind him, and then turned to see Nosedive and Grin running up from down the corridor. Grin waved a remote control in his hand with a rather smug grin on his face, and it all made sense to the leader duck.

“Well well well, seems that things have come full circle, haven’t they Wraith?” Tanya folded her arms.

“Only one last move to play.” The Saurian growled, staggering to his feet, leaning heavily on his staff.

“Not a move, slimeball!” Nosedive challenged, brandishing a pucklauncher while Grin was busy with the remote control.

“Do your worst, featherbrain.” Wraith snarled  back. Repeating an earlier pose, he ringed up another milky blue shield around him.

“Aww, not again.” Duke whined, dodging away from the wall and splaying out onto the floor.

The Ducks retreated backwards as Wraith flung his shield out, knocking the droid –disguised beneath Siege’s hologram- off of Dragaunus and to the floor on its back. Keeping his snarl, the lizard paced forward inside his shield, placing his staff upon the Overlord’s chest. It wasn’t until then that he reached for his com.

“Coward!” Mallory yelled. “Running away again?!”

“This is far from over, duck.” Wraith spat. He, Dragaunus, Chameleon, and the shield suddenly vanished in a glittering green light.

“…Are they gone yet?” Duke sighed loudly, his beak still to the floor.

Nerves still on the jump, Zelda stared at the spot where the Saurians had once been, where Wraith’s shield had once extended to. She glanced quickly back to Wildwing and saw a tired disappointment behind the relief in his eyes. Though they might have been outmatched in a continued fight, there was something defeating in seeing the Saurians retreat yet again, relatively unscathed while all others were left exhausted and bleeding. The team had almost come to expect it, gave their reaction a surface of non-consequence at the end. They all knew the truth at heart: this was no victory. “Easy big fella.” Zelda snorted softly to Duke. “They’re gone.”

Tanya was tapping quickly at her com. “And according to Drake 1, not just from here either. We are officially Saurian-free!”
                “That was one heck of an extermination…” Nosedive shook his head, rubbing wrists that still ached from being tied. “You okay bro?”

“Just in need of some aspirin.” Wildwing grumbled, slouching. “At least I’m not as badly off as the Mask.”

“All of you guys look like you’ve been through a meat grinder!” Nosedive remarked, glancing the team over. “Looks like Draggy needs his claws trimmed.”

“To say the least.” Tanya grunted. “But today helped bring him down a notch. I’m sorry this little droid created so many problems, guys.” She gave the robot a grudging thump with her boot.

“No fault of yours, girl.” Mallory shrugged. “I think this whole incident just reminds us of how closely Draggy’s watching us.”

“A lizard in serious need of a hobby.” Grin nodded sagely.

“I am very glad this whole mess is just over.” Nosedive shook his head.

“You wish!” Tanya grinned. “Do you know how many hours all of you have coming in the infirmary? And guess who the lucky duck is that gets to do all of the patching? And to fix up the Mask?” Tanya took it from Wildwing’s hands, turning it over lightly and inspecting it. Finally she let up a sigh, knowing it could be fixed, just with a good deal of work.

“Complain, complain…” Duke teased, slowly getting himself to his feet and wincing at the pain in his hand. “At least you can see straight—“

“I said take it easy.” Zelda chided gently, leaning on the back of his legs to partially brace him, and partially brace herself.

Grin shook his head, smiling, as he walked up and stooped enough to gather the dragon in one arm. “Come along, little one. Looks like you’ve earned most of the gauze today.”

“Go ahead, all of you, off to the infirmary.” Tanya nodded, taking a heavy sigh before she started off herself, trailing the slowly-moving team. Behind her, lying motionless on its back, the droid was left alone. Tanya made sure to take the remote with her.

 

The End

 

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except mine) are copyright and property of Disney. This story is the intellectual property of and copyrighted by Zelda.