So Comes Fate, Unmerciful

Written by Zelda

 

                Mallory stopped for a moment and dug into her purse. She found a penny, and tossed it into the mall fountain.

                Weighted down with bags, Nosedive snorted impatiently. "Why do you ALWAYS have to do that?" he asked.

                "To see if my wish comes true." Mallory said. She picked up a bag and shouldered it lightly.

                "Yeah right, that's just a stupid story." laughed Dive.

                "Actually Dive, it says here the fountain statue was carved out of a piece of rock from a formation believed to grant miracles." Zelda grinned, reading a sign next to the fountain.

                "Come on Dive, give it a try." Mallory snickered. Nosedive fished a quarter out of his pocket and chucked it behind him. It landed with a splash in the water.

                "Hah, just wasted my money." he said. The three picked up and continued walking.

               

                They arrived back at the Pond late that afternoon.

                "Where have you been?" Wildwing asked. "We've got practice in 45 minutes."

                "Out shopping!" Mallory replied. Wildwing rolled his eyes and grinned. As Mal ran to put her stuff away, Nosedive sat down to relax. He wanted a piece of gum. They had a gumball machine in the Rec. Room just for fun. He walked down and began fumbling through his pockets for a quarter. He knew he had one..... and then he smacked his forehead, remembering he had tossed it in the fountain. He was gonna get Mal for this one. Suddenly, he felt really light headed. He reached for the couch to sit down, but couldn't feel it. He felt cold and as light as air. He could hear himself yelling out for the others, but didn't remember moving his beak. He saw his brother run in, with the others close behind him. Suddenly, they all became blurry and smeared together, spinning around as if in some twisted hurricane. Nosedive closed his eyes in fear.

 

                And landed hard in something that cushioned his weight. The air was clammy as it struck the back of his nostrils. Nosedive opened his eyes to see he was in the midst of a forest. He shook himself and looked around. The rest of the team was with him, and started to get up.

                "Okay, who knows what just happened?" Duke asked, rubbing his head. The team stood dumbfounded.

                "Where are we?" Wildwing asked.

                Tanya tapped at her Omnitool. It had a full map of the earth and stars, and charts of time and space down to the millisecond. "Well, according to this, we're in a forest in New York." she started.

                "New York?" Nosedive asked. Why on Puckworld were they all the way across the country?

                "Whoa, wait a second, lemme check this." Tanya said, alarmed.

                "What's the matter?" asked Wildwing.

                "This is true... it seems we're in the year 9997." Tanya said slowly. The whole team gasped.

                "You're kidding, right?" Mallory said.

                "I triple-checked it. We're in the future. Thousands of years into it."

                "This is unreal." Nosedive started.

                "What do you mean?" asked Mallory.

                "That quarter I threw into the fountain at the mall... I wished that we could see the future. I guess it came true." Nosedive said slowly.

                "You have gotta be puttin' me on." Duke said, rolling his eyes.

                "Um, guys?" asked Grin.

                The team turned around to him.

                "Where's Zelda?"

                The team glanced around to realize she wasn't anywhere! They began calling for her, but to no avail.

                "Come on, let's start looking for her." said Wildwing.

                They began to search around slowly. There wasn't much to go through except brush.

                Duke reached out to part a bush and gasped in horror as his hands passed right through the leaves, as if they were air!

                "Tanya?" He called. "Time to be Ms. Exposition again." Tanya thought hard.

                "Well," she started slowly. "We could be in a parallel dimension, with a window into this one."

                "But why would that be?" Wildwing asked.

                "Hmm. Maybe we're here to prevent there being two of us in one universe. You know, like a 'rip in the time/space continuum' sorta thing."

                "Then why isn't Zelda here with us?" Nosedive asked. "Does that mean that she's...dead?" He was suddenly broken off by a loud roar that echoed through the forest. It was a dragon's roar.

                "Hey, we could very well be in Zelda's Territory!" Mallory said.

                "If it still exists." Grin said.

                "Come on team, let's see what's up." Wildwing said, and began walking in the direction of the sound.

 

                They came to a river and followed it. Dragons leapt from the trees, lions bounded past them. Eagles flapped overhead, and griffons were going any way they liked, all not noticing the six Ducks. The group followed the animals to a large rock that jutted out from the top of a mouth of a cave. Water cascaded down the rock face on both sides of the cave, and a gnarled old willow tree sprouted out of the base of the jutting stone, covering the cave partially with green tendrils. The Ducks recognized it immediately. It was the center of the Territory. That cave was the den where the leaders from each of the four clans lived together. They approached the rock from the right side, as the creatures crowded about them. But they didn't seem normal. There were no older creatures, even though everyone knew they could live for millennia. They all had beatings, scars, cuts and other various wounds somewhere on them. It was like they had all just returned from a war. Then, the Ducks looked up to the four creatures that stood atop the rock. They could identify them by sight: the mountain lion Diamond, the eagle Silver, the griffon Northstar. All were aged, and had gashes all about them, like the creatures below. But where was Zelda? They saw her, walking out to the edge of the rock. The crowd below stood silently as she did so. Wait, she wasn't walking, she was limping slightly on her left front limb. Scars ran down her sides. Her wings were shredded beyond use. There was a huge scar across her left eye, but it looked like she still had sight in it. For a moment, the Ducks were convinced that this couldn't be Zelda, but they were proved wrong upon sighting the tarnished and scraped line of gold along the edges of her torn wings. The Ducks were shocked, but stood silent as Zelda started to speak. Her voice still sounded the same, thank goodness.

                "My dear kind, we live now in a time that is very different from when I was leader centuries ago. Back then, our flesh never scarred. Our hatchlings would live in peace. Attacks and raids were impossible. And the Saurians were but a force of three."

                The Ducks gasped. Saurians?

                "But I know times have changed. Our kind now lives for war. Most of our kind my age are now dead. Those who came to control the Saurians are years gone, and our world has fallen into chaos. In this mess, we have struggled. Our hatchlings are taught from the egg how to kill. We resist the Saurians tooth and claw wherever we find them. But it's not working. We have watched ourselves be slaughtered for centuries now. Where our population was in the thousand, it is now in the hundred. There are only 50 dragons left in the world where there once were 254. Not I know that it honorable to give your life for your cause, but to give your kind, can be considered foolhardy." Zelda's tone had changed. Where she had once commanded power, she paused. Her voice grew soft and raspy, almost pleading.

                "We cannot go on and let ourselves become extinct. I know we have stood behind the humans, tried to keep the Saurians down. But their forces have multiplied a thousand fold. Over half the former human population is dead. It is based upon these facts, that the leaders and I have developed a new plan of action. From now on, we will act for the preservation of our kind, and run when attacked, to never attack again until our forces are once again sufficient." Zelda finished this with a sigh.

                "I know it is hard to turn your backs on the world. Is there anyone who would like to add anything?" The group remained silent. "Then I am done here." Zelda concluded. "Dismissed." The group dispersed slowly. The Ducks stood in shock as the creatures went their separate ways. In this dark, clouded sky, there was no music that rang through the woods. Instead of learning how to fish, the young were fighting brutally with each other to learn the art of battle.

                "Are you seeing this?" Mallory breathed.

                "So this is our future." Grin sighed.

                "But when she said 'gone' did she mean us?" Wildwing asked. "Is it possible we found a way back to Puckworld?"

                "I don't know anymore." Tanya sighed. They walked slowly towards the cave. They thought they saw Zelda go inside.

 

                Duke slid through the green fronds of willow tree as easily as if they weren't there at all. The cave was literally black, save for a small fire at the end of it. The tunnel was rather short, and slightly curved, which widened out into an ovular room in the end. In the walls, were carved out four recesses. Beds for the leaders. In the near right recess, they saw Zelda lying as if asleep. But she turned, raising her head as a little hatchling griffon bounded past the Ducks, and ran up to greet her.

                "Ahh, little Crimson." she grinned down at the creature. Zelda stood and leapt down, landing on her good right front limb. She blew the fire up, making it brighter. Now it was much easier to see. Zelda lay down on a mat of moss in the middle of the room and sighed.

                "Zelda, you said you were gonna tell me the rest of the story..." pleaded the youngster. Zelda grinned.

                "Of course I will." Zelda said. "But it's a long, sad one." The little griffon sat before her. "You know... that I am a creature trapped in the past. By Dragaunus." The little griffon cocked its head. "Oh no, not literally." Zelda chuckled. "I am trapped emotion-wise. Trapped centuries ago. Back in the year of 1997."

                "Wow, that's a long time ago." the baby breathed.

                "Yes it is." Zelda admitted. "But I remember it as if it were yesterday. Now, I've already told you about the Ducks."

                "Yup, all seven of them, including Canard." the griffon nodded. Wildwing cocked his head. It seemed she had kept the stories of their adventures together circulating for all this time.

                "Now. My entrapment began one day, in the offseason of the year 1997." Zelda continued slowly. "It was late in the afternoon. Dragaunus raided some battery factory, a few miles out of Anaheim. So we went to get him out. But this would be no ordinary battle. He had brought an army of drones with him. He meant business." Zelda sighed, taking long pauses. "We battled him on for close to two hours before we could break the drones and get to the henchmen. We were... of course, tired by then. We were trapped... the henchmen were calling the shots. It ended up that Tanya got locked up with Wraith." The hatchling breathed in awe. "Came out that Tanya really did a number on the old one." Zelda said. The hatchling snorted in amusement, picturing the scene. Zelda's face remained blank. "But it was no cakewalk for Tanya. She received... many deep and grievous wounds in that fight. Eventually Dragaunus retreated, and when we found her...." Zelda paused again. "We took her back to the Pond... and got her on the Medicom as soon as we could, but.." she broke off quickly. "Tanya died... soon after that battle." Zelda gathered up a fold of moss and lay her head down on it sadly. "Burns mostly, and internal bleeding." The team looked at Tanya, who was shocked, yet intrigued. So she was killed. And when she got back to her real time, it would be but a few days from then... She didn't know what to feel. It was like reading a prophecy. "I think... that that was the breaking of our team." Zelda finally continued. "We incredibly depressed. But Wraith recovered within a few days. We didn't have time to mourn dear Tanya's death long."

 

                "Dragaunus raided the Pond three days later. His henchmen busted in at one end, and a small group of hunter drones at the other. Duke and I were caught off guard... when the drones attacked us. We were both injured... slightly.... and captured. Dragaunus took us back into the Raptor, and put us in adjoining cells. There was only... one set of bars in-between us." For Zelda, it wasn't hard to remember, but hard to say. "Dragaunus... wanted information about the Pond and it's structure. We wouldn't talk. So...he took us out... Duke more often. And he beat us..." Zelda sniffed, squeezing a tear out of her left eye. It landed on the scar across it, and Zelda drew back, wincing in pain from the salt on bare flesh. "They took us out, one at a time... always where I could see Duke... or he could see me. And they would fire on us... beat us. The henchmen made quite a time of it. That's where I got most of my scars. I remember... when they... took him out for the last time. They just kept firing at him. Sooner or later he just fell down and didn't react at all. So... they threw him back in his cell. I was at the edge of mine, of course. Somehow... he managed to crawl over to me... and he died there." Duke stood, just as alarmed as Tanya. This HAD to be a bad dream or something. "The team came to rescue us about half an hour later... it was too late for Duke." Zelda started to cry again.

                "So what happened?" the young griffon asked slowly.

                "Imagine a table with 8 legs. One for each of us." Zelda said.

                "Eight?" Nosedive mouthed. Wildwing nodded. She meant Canard as the 8th.

                "Now," continued Zelda. "Imagine three legs are knocked away. The table wobbles, if it doesn't fall altogether." The griffon nodded. "And Dragaunus didn't even blink before he attacked again."

 

                "Just two days later... Dragaunus caught us off guard yet again. Wildwing had suggested that we move our operations somewhere else to hide. So we took the Migrator, and left the Pond. But Dragaunus was waiting for us... he simply crushed the Migrator. We were driven out, we had nowhere to run. There must have been at least 100 drones there. They split us up... I couldn't see the others. But Nosedive, was injured really badly during the fight. Somehow... Grin managed to stay with him. I just turned around... and he was dead. In the end... Grin gave his life, trying to save Nosedive." Grin glanced over to Dive. "But he was denied even that." Zelda choked. "They just plowed over Grin and killed Dive too. Wildwing... didn't know... until after the battle was over." She covered her head with her claw and sniffed. Wildwing stood, alarmed. "I think, at that time, Wildwing really lost his heart. I think we all did."

                "A 8-legged table, now with only 3." the griffon breathed. Zelda nodded.

                "We returned to the Pond. We didn't come out for days. All of Anaheim was crying. Seeped in bloodshed... at least to us. When Dragaunus attacked again, we didn't even fight. We ran and hid. Mallory and I... tried to make a break for it and get out on a Duckcycle. But... Siege showed up and..." Zelda sniffed. "He just grabbed Mallory. I tried... I tried to protect her, but I failed." Zelda curled up, wincing. "Mallory was shot... in the head... point blank range. She didn't even have a chance... it was all my fault." Zelda sobbed quietly. Mallory wanted more than anything to go up and tell Zelda that is was okay... but she knew that Zelda wouldn't hear her. They weren't in any separate dimension. They were here because they were all dead.

                "I just stayed with her. I wouldn't leave her after she died. Wildwing... eventually found us. Then the Saurians closed around. We just fought all we could... but we were worn down. Dragaunus himself was fighting. In the end... we were both really hurt. Dragaunus wanted to kill me. He himself had this big gun, aimed it strait at me and was going to fire. I couldn't get up... in a way I didn't want to. But Wildwing... leapt in front of me... he took the shot. And it just.. just decimated him. Suddenly, the Saurians just disappeared. We... were left alone." Zelda paused again, breathing slowly. "I got up, and Wildwing... I promised him that... that his sacrifice would not go in vain... and he said to me that... he was simply following Canard. And then he died."

Wildwing sighed slowly.

                "I just couldn't stay in the Pond.. and Dragaunus wouldn't let me anyway. He leveled the Pond half an hour later."

                "Seven legs gone." the griffon said.

                "And I am the last. Hanging onto something that has been long dead. A large part of me died with the team. And now Dragaunus has conquered the planet. I've dedicated my life to trying to stop him... but I haven't that long left. Now, I have to trust my hatchlings to do it for me... But that doesn't mean the memories don't haunt me. Every time I close my eyes... I can see them bleeding, dying." Zelda shook herself. The team parted slowly as the three leaders entered. Zelda leaned up and smiled faintly. Suddenly, they heard a roar outside. A lion bounded, panting, into the cave.

                "Leaders!" he called, alarmed. "The Saurians! They're attacking here!"

Zelda stood up rigidly. "Our policy is enacted as of now. Alert the others and tell them to hide. I'm going to deal with Dragaunus myself." Zelda started to walk out.

                "But Zelda..." the lion started.

                "You have you orders!" Zelda snapped. The lion nodded and bounded away. Zelda paused before the leaders and stared at them for a few seconds. Then, she turned, and bounded away into the forest. The team looked at each other, and ran after her.

 

                Zelda plowed through the leaves at a moderate speed, galloping just ahead of the Ducks. Her wings were outstreched, the ragged shreds flapping like flags of war. She bounded out of a thick grove and into a clearing, where Dragaunus, only slightly aged, stood with his henchmen, and a slew of drones. They stopped as Zelda bounded up to them, snarling.

                "Dragaunus!" she roared loudly. "You've got a lot of nerve trying to pull this stunt."         

                "What do you expect, I'm a villain you know." he grinned. "I'm going to make sure I get every one of your kind this time dragon. I can't wait until I wipe you off the face of the earth."

Zelda stood aghast. "You rotten piece of filth!" she snarled. "I am ashamed to call you my ancestor!"

                "No matter. I'm the one who's in control now." Dragaunus grinned, loading a laser. "I've already killed all of your little team centuries ago. Even Canard's lifeless carcass is still trapped in dimensional limbo!" Wildwing slumped over a bit. Tanya patted him on the shoulder. "And now." continued Dragaunus. "I'm going to destroy the last member." He raised his gun and aimed it.

Zelda stood and chuckled. "You were always afraid to face me alone." she grinned. "Hiding behind your hi-tech lasers and weapons."

                "Is this a challenge, dragon?" Dragaunus asked, lowering the laser.

                "Indeed." smiled Zelda. "If I am to die, I want to take a piece of you with me." She reared up. Dragaunus threw down his laser as his henchmen backed away from him.

                "Goodie goodie!" Chameleon said, dancing around. He morphed into a fat man in a black suit, holding a microphone that dangled from some unknown ceiling. "Let's get ready to rumble!!!!!!"

                "Yeah, take that sucker down!" Seige cheered. Wraith grinned and nodded.

                "I've waited to see that pathetic creature fall for years." he agreed. Dragaunus sneered as Zelda paced around him.

                "Now I'll finally get to kill you. Your mangled head wil be mounted on my throne, beside the the weak six others that I slay centuries ago!" he howled in laughter. Zelda roared in fury and lunged at him. She swatted at his arm, tearing down his shoulder. Nosedive grinned.

                "You go girl!" he cheered. Dragaunus smacked her hard with his tail, sending her sprawling, flinging up dry leaves as she rolled. Zelda rebounded quickly and sprung at him from underneath the leaves, shooting up to the top of his head, biting onto his crest and slashing. He ripped her off and threw her down. Zelda was slower to get up. Dragaunus kicked her away. Zelda staggered up and lunged again. She flew strait at him, but Dragaunus saw it coming. He gave her a massive swat which tore down the length of her right flank. Zelda screamed and abandoned attack, falling into the leaves behind Dragaunus. She rolled up, holding her side, the dry leaves sticking to the blood. She shook herself and bounded to the right. Dragaunus turned, but Zelda suddenly stopped and leapt to the left, catching him across the back. Dragaunus yelled in pain and whipped around, the claws tearing through her back. Zelda dropped again, staggering up slowly, panting. She rammed hard into him and the two locked, rolling over and exchanging slashes. Finally, Dragaunus kicked Zelda away. She landed hard on her right side with a roar of pain. Thick red blood oozed misrably from several places. Zelda snarled and tried to get up, but collapsed in exhaustion. Dragaunus stood, with only a few gashes in his scales, and grinned.

                "You're getting soft dragon." he smiled. "Now it's going to be deadly." He stomped forth and picked her up by the back of her neck, digging his claws in. Zelda moaned in pain, the fresh blood filling the already existent scars. She hung weakly, rigid.

                "So marks the beginning of the end." he snarled. "You were foolish to have stood in my way. But, like your teammates, your irritations didn't last long." Zelda's eyes blazed with fire.

                "You have marked your name and your kind with black." she roared. "May you all be cursed with the torture of the thousands of souls, whose bodies you have slain!" Dragaunus snarled and raked Zelda across the front of the neck, letting go of her. The Ducks yelped and leapt back as Zelda landed on her back, rolling over on her right side, shivering in pain. Dragaunus grinned in bloodthirst and signaled to the others to continue on. The Saurians trooped on into the forest as Zelda lay in the leaves at the base of a tree. Wildwing fell to his knees and leaned closer to her. She lay, moaning sadly. Bleeding horribly, she curled up into a tight little ball, shivering and choking. After a few seconds, she looked up to the sky as thunder exploded through the darkening clouds. Slowly, drops of rain landed on her scales. Wincing in pain with each one that hit her, she lay her head down on the earth and shuddered. She lay still, dead. Lightning raced across the sky. Wildwing and the others leaned back in a slow horror and disbelief.

                "So comes fate, unmerciful." said a voice behind them. In a cloud of dissapating mist, Zelda walked towards them.

                "Zelda...you?" Nosedive started. Zelda waved him to silence and watched as the Saurians progressed deeper into the forest.

                "It doesn't matter now." she sighed. "My time here is done." But suddenly, they were falling. Tumbling through white, down and down and down silently. They fell....

               

                And Nosedive gasped as he hit the metal floor. His eyes flew open. Surprisingly, he was back before the gumball machine in the Rec. Room! The others were around him. Zelda was next to him, without the scars and torn wings. She shook herself and got up slowly.

                "Are...we back in real time?" she asked. Wildwing sat down in a chair and hung his head between his knees.

                "I guess we are." he said. Tanya staggered up slowly.

                "You okay?" Duke asked.

                "No." Tanya sighed. "I just learned I'm going to die in a few days..."

                "We all have." agreed Grin. "What's the use in fighting Dragaunus if we're going to lose anyway?"

                "Maybe if we stop now, we can save ourselves..." started Mallory.

                "Mallory's right." Zelda said. The team turned about, alarmed at her response. "In a way." Zelda corrected.

                "We've seen that the downward spiral of the team began with Tanya's death. So, if we're ever called to that particular battle at the battery factory, we'll make sure to keep Tanya safe..."

                "What are you saying?" Wildwing asked.

                "No two futures are the same." Zelda said slowly. "In order for the future we saw to happen, we'd have to do everything in this life as it was done in the last life. If we change things up or make sure they don't occur at all, we have nothing to fear."

                "So you're saying that if we can keep our posts covered and our team safe... Dragaunus won't conquer the planet and kill us all?"

                "Well, I can't guarantee that..." Zelda started.

                "But nobody can." Tanya agreed. "We can't tell the future."

                "So how do you explain what we just saw?" said Grin. All the change of time was confusing him.

                "I don't know." sighed Zelda. "Maybe it was what we never wanted to happen..."

 

The End (?)

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except Zelda and all those associated with the Territory) 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!