The Light

Part 2

Written by Zelda

               

                Sunglasses glinted in his face, and a sneering grin just below. He could hardly see a thing, his eyes stung terribly, adding to the excruciating, throbbing pain coming from every part of his body. Speechless, feeling his own heartbeat send pulses of agony through him, Wildwing stared up as Chameleon examined him, the sunglasses glinting with a horrible white light.

                "Almost boss." he started, the sound of his voice booming in Wildwing's ears. "Almost."

                "Almost, hm?" The snarl of the Saurian Overlord was ten times more rattling to his nerves.

                Wildwing would have screamed back, if he had the ability.

                "Almost is just what I wanted to hear. Now, comes the wait. Perhaps we'll let them recover a little."

                "Love the way ya work boss, I gotta take notes on stuff like this!" Chameleon scampered out of Wildwing's blurred line of sight.

                "Torture is an art form, Chameleon." Dragaunus sneered.

                Wildwing slowly managed to turn his head, feeling as if his entire spine would crack and splinter like dry-rotted wood.

                There was a soft groan from the back of the cell he had been locked in.

                He thought he knew who it was, of course he feared the worst as he struggled to focus his eyes. Stars danced before them... he was so weak! How could this have happened? He didn't seem to remember anything… The noise came again, and this time it caused Chameleon to shift his head over as well.

                "Looks like another one of 'em's waking up too boss…" he started.

                Wildwing's eyes focused a little more, and he recognized what he saw.

                Grin was lying in the far end of the cell, propped up against the wall, shifting weakly. No, Wildwing thought. Not him too… how did this happen? What's going on?

                Leaving the leader of his enemies, Chameleon stalked over to Grin, wanting a better look, tilting his sunglasses. The light from their reflection glanced over Grin's face for a moment, and he winced and pulled back. Chameleon sneered. "What about him boss, can we kill him, pleeeeeaaaaseee?" The lizard morphed into a tiny child, clasping his hands and giving puppy-dog eyes to something which Wildwing still couldn't see. The Overlord was audible enough, however.

"Not yet, Chameleon." he started. "Where are Siege and Wraith?"

"I dunno boss." the lizard shrugged back, morphing into his normal self again. "Last I heard, ol Siegey boy went to check on the rest of the flock."

"As did Wraith." Dragaunus mumbled. "And neither have returned. I believe, Chameleon, if we are going to have a little resistance from our captive fowl, that we use these three for bait."

Three? Wildwing again strained his neck to look around. A fuzzy bit of maroon crept into the

corner of his eye as he scanned along the opposite wall, and he knew that Duke was in there with them. Three out of seven accounted for? He didn't like those numbers. What had happened to them, anyway?

"Sounds good to me boss." Chameleon continued. "But can't I at least play with 'em a little?"

                "Make sure none of them present any danger to our operation." Dragaunus nodded with a sound of curt approval in his voice. "I will be back shortly."

                "That thing need another recharge?" Chameleon looked up after him.

                "It won't take long." Dragaunus gave a swish of his tail and was off, his heavy footfalls resounding on the concrete floor as he stalked away.

                Wildwing could feel each footstep as if it were crumbling the bones in his spine.

                Chameleon took a long look at his three captives, rubbing his hands together with childish glee and bugging out his eyes. "Oooh, and I get all of you to myself! Good thing Siege and Wraith aren't around, they'd be real jealous!"

                Wildwing hadn't even noticed the pain from his dried-out throat, at least not until he had the urge to speak. "What--- what's this about--- Chameleon--?" he managed to choke out, nearly wheezing.

                The Saurian turned, flashing an opportunistic, predatory glare.

                It was unusual, Wildwing thought. He had never seen that look, at least not from Chameleon. And it scared him.

                "Sooo, you're stronger than we thought you'd be by now!" he sounded a little surprised, but not displeased. "Good. Sooner you heal, sooner I can blind the living daylights outta you. Hey… living daylights, get it?!" Chameleon bent over and slapped a hand against his knee. "Man, I'm too good! If only da boss coulda heard that."

                "No…" Wildwing spoke dryly. "I don't get it—"

                "Course you don't!" Chameleon grinned at him. "But a joke's no fun if only one of us gets the punchline, ain't it? Well I'm gonna be real nice to you Duckies today, since you're all being so good and quiet."

                They were being quiet… Wildwing again shifted his view, his neck feeling like it was going to tear into pieces as he twisted it. Grin was still slumped against the wall, eyes locked in a wince. Duke wasn't moving… he hadn't moved at all. Wildwing couldn't see clearly enough to make out his face…

                "I'm gonna let you in on the joke." Chameleon continued, still staring straight at him, enjoying every minute. "I bet you're wondering what in Limbo's happened to ya, huh? Well I know!" He morphed into a little schoolgirl, complete with uniform, golden curly hair, and an oversized lollipop. With this, he began to skip around the cell, laughing airily. "I know something you don't know, I know something you don't know!"

                "Quit---toying with me…" the leader spat.

                Chameleon morphed back to normal again, but didn't loose his grin or his giddy eyes. "You really don't remember, do you? That Light works great. Answer to the million dollar question? The Light's what got you here. Just one flash, close range, and it fries your nerves, sautés your brain, and purees your memory!!!" With a snap of his fingers, a chef's hat appeared on his head, and he leaned in closer to sneer at Wildwing. "Try and kick that one up a notch, I dare ya!"

                "What---?" The Duck was at a loss.

                "Oh yeah, trust me, the thing is golden. Don't ask me where de boss came up with that idea, he never lets me in on that stuff, or how he built it. But hey, it works!" Chameleon shrugged again, still watching Wildwing steadily.

                If the worry and mingled fear in his clouded brain was evident on his face, Wildwing didn't have the energy to care. Right now, he wanted OUT, and he wanted to get his teammates out with him. Duke still hadn't moved… but why not? And why did Grin seem to be so debilitated? Knowing him, Wildwing expected the big Duck to back him up in a situation like this. He was still leaning against the wall, eyes locked closed, and was barely shifting about from time to time. Wildwing certainly wasn't enjoying all of this pain himself, but why did Grin appear worse off? And then, of course, Chameleon was perched over him like a wry green vulture, crookneck and all. He shifted his neck back, with the same dry pain, to watch as the lizard scampered over to Duke, to toy with him a bit. No… he thought. Leave him alone!

                "Wakey-wakey!" Chameleon taunted, nudging the Duck coldly with his foot. 

Duke's head lolled weakly against his chest, and he didn't move.

"Aww come on, wake up!" Chameleon frowned. "Da boss is gonna blame me if you're dead!"

                Wildwing struggled to lean up, to see better. He pushed up with his arms, and almost snarled out in the pain that the movement caused. Stars surged up in his eyes. What had happened to them?

                "Uh oh…" Chameleon was at a loss after another prodding with his foot failed to revive the Duck. "Heh… don't think I can pass this off on any of you guys… Ick." He leaned in closer, attempting to feel against Duke's neck for a pulse.

Wildwing strained to sit up, thinking the worst.

"Hey—!" Chameleon gave a surprised start, and suddenly Duke brought up his elbow across the lizard's lower jaw. Stumbling back, the henchman seethed. "No fair trickin' me, Duck!" Pivoting quickly, Chameleon brought a smashing kick against Duke's shoulder, and with a sharp cry he sprawled out onto the cold floor.

                "Leave him alone--!" Wildwing snarled dryly, managing to reach out a hand towards the lizard.

Chameleon kept his cold stare on Duke. "And you're gonna make me?" he sneered. "I don't think so." To demonstrate his point, Chameleon placed his foot on Duke's lower back, and slowly started to put his weight on it.

                Even under the  pressure of the featherweight henchman, Duke squirmed weakly, desperate to pull away, his hands trying to find some purchase on the smooth floor.

                Somehow, Wildwing was able to push himself up further, nearly pivoting up on his knees. A quick glance sideways revealed that Grin had his eyes opened slightly, aware of what was going on. But he still wasn't able to move much at all. What had happened to them!?

                Unable to work himself free, Duke reached back up to try and grab Chameleon, to pull him down too. But the lizard backhanded Duke's arm away as if it were nothing, and laughed.

                "Dis is almost too easy, ya know?" he giggled. "But then again, that's a welcome thing! You guys have never made it too easy for us."

                "Leave him alone…" Wildwing repeated, trying to push off of the wall. It felt like his elbow joints would simply disconnect under the strain of his own partial body weight, and his knees were grinding themselves apart. But he had to help, the feeling of not being able to do anything was worse than the pain. Apparently his weak stumble was enough to regain Chameleon's full attention, for when the stars cleared from Wildwing's eyes, he found himself locked into the Saurian's predator-stare again.

                Chameleon picked his foot from Duke's back, leaving the Duck gasping for air. The Saurian stood again, never breaking his amused gaze from Wildwing, and stalked towards him.

                Well, at least I've got his attention… The team leader again tried to push himself up, but he knew that he was only bluffing. There was no way he could attempt to fight Chameleon off. And Chameleon knew it as well.

                Not losing his cold smirk, the Saurian reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Wildwing's feathery hair, lifting the leader's head strait up with a clean jerk.

                It felt as if his skull was being torn right off, his nerves screaming. Stars surged before his eyes again, and Wildwing felt as if his whole body had gone numb. For a terrifying split-second, he wondered if he really had been paralyzed. But his ears were still working, and he could hear Duke regaining himself, pushing off of the floor.

                "Aww another Duckie wants to play with me!" Chameleon's voice boomed painfully close. He still wasn't letting go of Wildwing's hair. "If only your overgrown friend here would join in." He jabbed a thumb in Grin's direction.

                Grin still hadn't moved much. Why not? How badly was he hurt, and what had happened to all three of them!?

                "Oh, don't you worry, the big guy'll be in dreamland for a long, long time." Chameleon kept his stare locked on. "But that's right! You still don't really know how the Light works!" he giggled darkly. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

                Wildwing was struggling to comprehend it all through the pain that was channeling itself up through his neck. He felt as if he were going to black out, as if he were just on the verge of losing it. The rest of his body was going cold and numb. It was terrifying, but he was distracted by the fact that he wasn't alone. Duke was still trying to get up again, he could hear Grin moving around as well.

                "Hands off... gecko..." the elder Duck hissed.

                Wildwing let out an anguished squeak as Chameleon tightened the grip on his hair. He had too many stars in his eyes to see strait, but he could feel the Saurian's grin crushing him further. The pain was terrible.

                "You up for another round? I'm surprised." Chameleon nyucked back at him. "Yup, I am. In fact, you shouldn't be up this fast. If I were you, I'd be a Duck that played opossum."

                Another shuffle, and Duke was trying to get up again. "I said, let him go. You'll regret it..."

                "Hah!" the lizard snorted. "'Fraid it's the other way around. See, you try and put up a fight, I'll go tattle to the boss." His grip loosened slightly on Wildwing's hair as he turned to face Duke. "And trust me, he ain't gonna be as nice."

                The only response from Duke was another loud shuffle, and the scrape of his boots on the cold floor.

                "Well, if that's what you want then..." Chameleon's sneering voice echoed in Wildwing's aching skull as he finally felt his hair being released. And just as quickly, gravity took over. He was completely unable to move his arms to brace himself as he flopped over onto the floor, head thunking dully against his armored shoulder. His body was still frozen, but the feeling slowly disappeared as the pain took over again. Still, he could hear through it.

                Chameleon stood over the fallen Duck and shook his head in mock pity. "Boy, I'd hate to be you when Draggy gets back here to finish ya off!" He sidestepped away, and there was a metallic clang as he slammed the door of their cell shut behind him. "But you guys asked for it! Nice knowin' ya." Giggling impishly, he went skipping off down the hallway.

 

                Everything seemed a blur to the team leader. The dull pain was unbearable, sounds echoed and thundered around in his head. What in Puckworld was happening to him? He heard Duke shuffle again, letting out a ragged sigh as he gave up his bid to stand.

                "Wing... you alright?" he asked.

                Wildwing tried in vain to speak. The pain was closing in on him like some great, blackening wave. But he did manage to open his eyes. Through the dancing stars, he could see Duke slumping back against the wall, curling in on himself, slowly recoiling from the feedback he was receiving from his own actions against Chameleon. Wildwing was totally at a loss. What was going on?! He could no longer see Grin over his own armor. The helplessness was ganging up on him.

                "Don't know--- what happened to us..." Duke mumbled, his voice cracking weakly. "Can't remember---"

                Hearing anything now was painful, but it relieved Wildwing at the same time. At least one of the others was talking, that was a start. But it was so difficult to even think. He could no longer feel his arms or legs. His vision was now fading from white to black, slowly, creeping in from the corners, pulling down his eyelids. It was agonizingly slow. He felt as though he were dying. The terror from it all was agonizingly slow, too. But then there was something, another loud noise, a surprised sort of gasp from Duke.

                "Mother of Ducks... what was that?" he muttered. More scraping, more noise. There was a hesitant pause, and then footsteps. "Wildwing, you alright?"

                Wildwing heard the steps coming closer, and suddenly felt a light pressure on his shoulder armor. Was that Duke? Was he suddenly up and walking? It was all too confusing... things were fading from him too fast. He couldn't even think! The blackness was closing in around him, preventing him from moving, from answering back. He could feel it slowing the beating of his heart. Completely lost, Wildwing was powerless.

 

                Duke frowned back to the locked wince of his leader. Something was definitely not right with this picture. He was still struggling to come to grips with what had just happened to him! Why did all of that pain just vanish into thin air? He didn't even feel the after-effects of it. But he was hoping the same thing would happen for Wildwing. "Come on fearless leader, wake up." he urged, and dared to shake his shoulder gently. He certainly hadn't forgot how much something like that might hurt himself, if it were just a few seconds ago. But Wildwing's neck hung across his arm on the floor, and his muscles gave no resistance. And this time, it's for real... Duke thought. He gave a quick glance over his shoulder to Grin, who was still crumpled against the cell's back wall. Was he going through the same thing? Crazy. This whole thing was crazy. Duke shook Wildwing's shoulder again.

                As if he were forced into it, Wildwing let out a sharp grumble. He was obviously in bad shape.

                "Stay with me Wing." Duke spoke, and shook him again. "I dunno why, the whole ordeal just clean ended for me. The same thing's gotta happen with you too, tough it out."

                This time, the only response he got was a tight jerk of Wildwing's neck, and a tighter squinting of his eyes.

                "Tough it out." Duke repeated to him. "Chameleon's gonna be back soon, and if Dragaunus is with him, we're as good as dead." He quickly looked up at the bars of the cell again, a knot tying itself in his stomach. He still had his lock picks, they could be out of this place in a second. But how were they going to get out, if both of his teammates were still down? More importantly, where on Puckworld were they going to hide? And if anything, Wildwing was getting worse instead of better. There was nothing that Duke could do. As he began to look at his options for a possible escape, he glanced back at Grin. Grin had to be up and walking for the three of them to leave this place. Duke could carry Wildwing's weight for a time, but there was no way he could move Grin by himself. Slowly, Duke stood again and walked to the back of the cell. Reaching out and shaking Grin's shoulder produced a more lively response than it had from Wildwing. "Talk to me big guy." Duke urged.

                Grin tried weakly, yet he couldn't so much as open his beak.

                Duke was starting to see a trend through all the confusion. He had heard what Chameleon had said to Wildwing earlier. But it was all happening too quickly, he didn't have time to think. "Come on Grin, I know you can hear me." he continued. "We don't have long before they come back!"

                "You're right." Wildwing's voice sounded dry and tired. "We don't..."

                Duke turned to see his leader slowly getting up off of the floor, glancing over himself as if he were in slight disbelief.

                "Toldya so." Duke nodded curtly. "Gone, just like that."

                Wildwing straightened his hair and joined the two of them. "This is too weird. Whatever that weapon is that Dragaunus is using against us, I'd rather not run into it again." He patted Grin's shoulder armor and tried to get him to respond. "Come on Grin, you're the last."

                The big Duck only coiled up further, lowering his head into his chest.

                Wildwing frowned out of concern. "We've gotta get out of here." he started. "Duke, go ahead and see if you can't open that door. I'll stay with Grin."

                "I'll have it open in a jiff." Duke nodded, and started away, searching through his belt for his picks.

                "I've been thinking this over a little." Wildwing continued speaking. "About what Chameleon said, about just what that weapon does. No external injury, that's clear, but Chameleon did say it would effect Grin more..."

                "But how?" Duke was already going to work at the crude lock. It was so dark in here, but this thing would be a cinch to open...

                "I'm not sure, we'll need some time to figure it out. And we need to find the others."

                "No kidding." Duke snorted. With a loud click, the lock gave, and the door swung open with a metallic squeak. Duke cringed at the noise as it echoed around. They must be in some kind of large hall... "That's it, we're go."

                Wildwing shook Grin again, then tried to pull on his arm. "Maybe we can both get him out of here..." he started.

                But upon being moved, Grin let out a pained snarl and pulled back weakly, trying to keep himself still.

                Wildwing looked back up at Duke and shrugged a little. "I guess he's right, it might not be safe in his condition."

                "Hey, I don't wanna hurt him either." Duke looked out into the darkness. "But I do wanna get away from here alive."

                "Keep your eyes open for trouble." Wildwing nodded to him.

                Duke sighed kept watching. He certainly couldn't see anything much beyond the cell, but if anyone could hear a Saurian coming, it would be him. Maybe he was panicking a bit. Then again, he had plenty of reason to. Whatever that weapon was that Dragaunus had used on them knocked them all for a loop, and he was worried about the others on top of that. What on Puckworld had happened to them?!

 

                He came out of it quickly, as if he were waking up from some nightmare. But the relief was instant, and Grin welcomed it. He opened his eyes and blinked them clear, quickly recognizing Wildwing looking back.

                "Feeling better?" he asked.

                "For the moment." he admitted, standing with a grunt. "What was that thing? I felt as if my aura was completely overwhelmed."

                "Dragaunus's latest weapon." Wildwing nodded back. "But before we take him out, we've got to get out of here."

                "I know." Grin was already heading for the door of the cell.

                "Let's not waste any time then, eh?" Duke was already out in the hallway, feeling along the walls.

                Wildwing nodded and motioned for them all to be quiet, and waited for Grin to exit before he did as well. Staying close in the cold, almost oppressive darkness, the trio walked with their hands along the walls for guidance.

                "This is creepy." Duke dared to whisper. "Feels like we're in a prison or something..."

                "Maybe we are..." Wildwing nodded.

                "What about the others?" Grin asked.

                "They took our coms." Wildwing shook his head. "No way for us to track each other. We're going to have to find them..." He trailed off, an obvious twinge of worry in his voice.

                "In a place like this. Wonderful." Duke muttered back.

                "And the Saurians..." Grin started. "Didn't Chameleon mention something?"

                "You're right, about Siege and Wraith being missing. Maybe the others managed to get free as well." Duke nodded.

                "And that weapon..." Wildwing shook his head. "I don't know about you, but I'm still trying to figure it all out. Chameleon gave us some pretty scant clues."

                "Still, they are clues." Grin whispered darkly. "Although I could not see clearly, I believe I may have seen that weapon."

                Wildwing glanced over at him in the darkness. "Really? Then what is it?"

                But before Grin could answer his leader, a sound came rumbling after from behind them. Terribly loud and nearly rattling the cinder block walls, it was unmistakably the furious roar of the Saurian Overlord. It seemed that the sound took forever to fade, but when it did, the three were left visibly shaken. Only then did Grin dare to speak, his voice barely audible.

                "Trouble."

 

End of Part 2

 

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except mine) 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!