The Trade

Written by Zelda and Erin

 

                "Are you kidding me?" Phil asked calmly into his cel phone. "The Ducks don't need cheap advertisement on tissues! Now baby diapers, THERE'S a start." He put his feet up on his desk and sighed. Through the glass window behind him, the jumbotron hung in silence, but the Ducks practiced on the ice below. He leaned back. "Look Boobala." he started. "Have your people call my people and we'll work this whole thing out." he removed his cel phone from its usual perch on his ear, and closed it.

 

                He yawned and swiveled around in his chair, leaning down to watch the Ducks skate. Things had been so financially boring around here lately. Playing hockey every other night, fighting Dragaunus a little more sporadically. And once and a while Phil would shove them off to a publicity stunt. But what this team needed was a new moneymaker. Things were quieting down way too much around here. What Phil needed was an opportunity. Phil sighed and took a bite out of a donut.

 

                Erin snapped the puck back to Grin, who whirled around the net and got a shot on goal. But Wildwing stretched out his glove and snapped the puck up.

                "No dice this time Grin." he smiled, getting up. "But that was a good play." The Ducks looked over to see Phil walking out of the stadium, yelling into his cel phone as usual.

                "Quittin' early today Phil?" Nosedive joked. Phil didn't respond, too wrapped up in his work. The Ducks could hear the echoing of his yelling all the way out the door.

                "Huh, wonder what he's so exited about." Mallory said, bouncing a puck on the end of her hockey stick.

                "Well, back to practice." urged Zelda, and the practice continued as normal.

 

                The next day, Phil walked back into the Pond, grinning. He had made such a SWEET deal! The Ducks were gonna love this! All he had to do now was tell them. More than likely, they were down practicing, or in the locker room. Phil stepped lightly as he swung open the locker room door and walked in.

 

                "Hiya Phil." Duke greeted.

                "What made you rush out like that yesterday?" Mallory asked.

                "Awww, nothing." Phil blushed. "Except one of my greatest deals yet!"

                "Terrific." Grin smiled sarcastically, and leaned over, continuing to tie padding onto his shins.

                "So what's this deal all about?" Wildwing asked. Phil grinned. Suddenly, there was a knock on the locker room door. The group stood to see a tall figure walk in, in hockey padding, with skates on and a stick in his hand. The Ducks recognized him instantly.

                "Alex Sterner?" Mallory asked. Duke instantly growled. HE was that piece of Cincinnati Cougars filth who had tripped him up in a game earlier that season on purpose! Alex walked in.

                "Ahh, this was part of the deal I was starting to tell you about." Phil started. Alex walked up and shook Phil's hand.

                "So? Where's my jersey?" he asked. Phil reached into an empty locker and handed it to him.

                "Here ya go, #18, enjoy." he smiled.

                "Excuse me for being rude." Nosedive began. "But you are NOT telling me this guy's gonna play for us, are you?" Phil nodded.

                "Got him on a sweet trade!"

                "But if it's a trade..." Wildwing began. Phil coughed slowly.

                "Yup." he took another jersey out of another locker and handed it to Duke. "Got ya 13, your own number." Duke turned the jersey over in his hands. Cougars colors. He stood in shock. Wildwing walked up to Alex.

                "You'll have to excuse us, but could you leave us alone for a sec.?" Alex nodded. Wildwing escorted him out of the locker room, and closed it behind him.

 

                "Phil, how could you do this?" Wing asked.

                "Booby, baby! It's a sweet deal!" Phil said.

Wildwing shook his head and went out to play the hockey. Phil dragged the unhappy Duke to his car.  Erin came skating by on her roller blades and saw Phil trying to get Duke into the car.

                "Phil what are you doing?" Erin asked, in total shock.

                "Just driving to the airport," Phil answered.  "Got a ticket to Cincinnati. Come on Duke!"

                "But the guys," Duke pleaded.  "Zelda, Erin, and Olivia!"

                "Forget them!" Phil said. "The plane leaves in an hour!"

                "No! No!" Duke yelled. "I can't leave Olivia!  I can't leave the guys! I can't leave Erin and Zelda!"

                Erin just stood by while Phil finally got Duke shoved into the car. She skated to the Pond to see who replaced Duke. She walked in and also saw the Ducks with sour looks on their faces.

                "Awww man, practice BITES!" Nosedive shouted.  "I can't believe it!"

                "This is going to be the worst season of our lives!" Mallory said.  Alex walked in next.

                "This team needs to play more roughly." he said.

                "Who are you?" Erin said, glaring at Alex.

                "Move it, kid." he said, shoving Erin into the lockers. Wing caught her before she hit them.

                "I've got places to go." Wildwing growled. Zelda bounded in a few seconds later.

                "Would somebody mind explaining why Sterner's here in a Ducks jersey?" she asked.

                "Duke got traded." Mallory sighed.

                "What?" Zelda snapped. "I leave this place for one game and the place falls apart. What about Olivia?"

                "She doesn't know yet." Nosedive explained. "Duke's a Cincinnati Cougar now."

                "Yeah, and I don't wanna be around when Olivia finds this out." Erin said.

                "This is all Phil's fault." Wildwing said. "The first chance I get, I'm gonna have a big long talk with him, find out all the fine print of this deal." The team nodded. They wanted nothing to do with Sterner and his over-violent style of play. They had no intention of having him as their center player. He would sit on the bench. Erin would take Duke's place, for now. The team missed Duke already.

 

                Phil leaned back in his chair. He didn't seem to notice or mind the whole team (minus Duke of course) standing in front of his desk.

                "I don't think you've realized fully what you've done here Phil." Zelda said, very sternly.

                "You've spilt up a perfectly good team! We won't be the same!" Mallory agreed.

                "What were your reasons for trading Duke?" Wildwing asked.

                "Awwww, booby, things were getting to boring around here, I wanted to give the fans something new." Phil started.

                "You did this because you were BORED?" Nosedive snarled. "Well, you've given the fans something new all right."

                "How do you expect the fans to react Phil, wild applause?" Grin snarled.

                "Perhaps you don't understand this fully Phil. What you've done, is like splitting up a family." Zelda said.

                "Yeah, and what are we gonna do when Dragaunus attacks? Is Duke supposed to run down all the way from Cincinnati?" Tanya argued.

                "You didn't even ask him before you traded him!" Mallory snapped. The team was getting angrier and angrier at Phil. He sat, growing slightly nervous.

                "Babes, babes! Sterner's a great center! He just needs a little work and......."

                "Phil." Wildwing interrupted. "I want you to get Duke back here as soon as possible, otherwise it'll be you job." Phil sat shocked. Wildwing frowned sternly at him. For Phil, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

                "Hey, babes!" Phil said. "I'm sure you'll do better. Trust me!"

                "We will do better!" Wildwing said. "Because Sterner's going to be warming the bench and Erin's going to be taking his place!"

                "Erin? She's . . . and . . . . she watches 80's cartoons!" Phil said. "I'm never going to get why though . . ."

                "That's not the point!" Nosedive yelled. "The point is Duke's gone and there's nothing we can do about it!"

                "Hey, guys," someone called out. Duke's girlfriend, Olivia, stood halfway into the door, waving at the others, shyly. She brushed a strand of her long, raven hair out of her face.

                "Hi, Livie!" Dive called.

                "Um," Olivia said, quietly. She is very, very shy. "H-have you seen Duke? W-we were supposed to go to the movies this afternoon."

                "I hate to break the news to you Olivia," Wildwing said. "But Phil traded Duke. He's in another city all together."

                "What?" Olivia said. She felt like someone ripped out her heart and danced the cha-cha all over it. She sat down, staring into space.

                "Livie?" Erin asked. Olivia turned angrily towards Phil.

                "How could you?!" she shouted, starting to cry. "How could you do this to me?!" Olivia ran out of the room in tears. Zelda took a long look back a Phil and growled, then followed her quickly down the hall. The rest of the team started to file out.

                "Remember Phil, or it's your job." Wildwing reminded. Phil sat dumbfounded as the door closed. They traded players all the time on other hockey teams, who did they think they were? Well, maybe he should have asked for Duke's permission. Phil decided to wait and see how the fans would deal with Sterner in the next game. However, he would also go over the trade contract, just in case.

 

                Zelda glanced around the ice nervously. She jogged steadily around the rim they had built on the boards for her, sort of like the pre-game skate for her. The crowd seemed quiet, tense. It wasn't normal, that was a fact. They were playing the Flapjacks tonight. She watched, grinning, as they skated out, to the loyal rain of boos from the crowd. They weren't the greatest team, a chance for Sterner to prove himself. But she wanted Sterner off that bench as soon as possible.

 

                Finally, they were skating out. The crowd went up in it's usual pomp and cheering, banging on the boards and yelling encouragement from all sides as the Ducks skated around, and started shooting pucks out at Wildwing to help him warm up. Slowly, the crowd became turned. Fans slowly began to ask. 'Where was Duke? Was he injured, late? What?' As the crowd grew quieter and people started yelling out questions at her, Zelda shrunk back, ashamed. She hopped down on the bench and fixed her eyes on the entrance door. Humph, it seemed Sterner wanted to make an entrance. He skated out and raised his stick high in the air. Zelda snorted. He received nothing back but surprised cries from the fans, and a few angry boos.

                "Ladies and gentlemen, we've just learned that #13, center Duke L'Orange has been traded to Cincinnati. Playing in his place will be # 18, center Alexander Sterner." the announcer boomed over the crowd. The Pond simply exploded. Fans were screaming angrily. Phil looked down from his office nervously. Zelda shrunk down on the bench.

                "What the heck is this, some kinda joke?" screamed a kid behind the bench. Sterner, suprised by the booing, came over to the bench.

                "What's this all about?" he smiled, taking the booing lightly.

Zelda shrugged, annoyed. "Can you blame them, we want our old centerman back." she replied. Erin skated out of the entrance, and was met by applause. The fans did NOT appreciate Sterner's presence at all. Sterner sat down on the bench. Zelda looked on. It was gonna be one of those games....

 

                The team trudged into the locker room.

                "We lost! Our first loss in 10 games! I can't believe this!" Nosedive yelled. He spiked his helmet on the bench so high it hit a light on the ceiling.

                "I TOLD you, you need to play more aggressively." Sterner simply said. "Well, I'm heading out. Got myself a room at the hotel down the block." Sterner stashed his gear and headed out. Nobody said goodbye. Mallory punched his locker after he had closed the door.

                "Who does he think he is anyway?" she snarled.

                "Guys." Zelda started. "You forget about who Sterner is. Trading isn't all that unusual. I'm sure he's been traded a few times too, and it's been no great fun for him. Maybe he's just trying to help out."

                "You may be right, but I still want Duke back." Tanya said.

                "By the way, how's Olivia?" Wildwing asked.

                "She was gonna book a flight to Cincinnati, but decided not to." Zelda replied.

                "Why not?" asked Grin.

                "Because we'll see Duke soon enough. We play the Cougars next week." Zelda sighed.

 

                Erin went out for pizza that night, Zelda coming along to chat. It seemed odd that they were going to play the Cougars the next day. At least Olivia would get something out of it. Phil was still trying to figure out what to do. If he didn't get Duke back, Wildwing would fire him and Erin would pound him into the pavement.

                The next day, the Cincinnati Cougars flew in and the Ducks, Erin, Zelda, and Olivia awaited Duke's arrival. He walked in, head down to the floor.

                "Duke!" Olivia called, rushing over. "Oh, I missed you so much!"

                "Me too!" Duke cried, hugging Olivia. "Oh it's so good to see you guys again!" Everyone exchanged hugs all around. They had a good talk, until the Cougars's coach James Dickson, grabbed Duke by the shoulders and dragged him off.

                "That's the other team," he said. "You don't do that anymore, okay?" Duke nodded. He waved goodbye to his friends.

                "Those Cougars are the biggest creeps!" Erin shouted. Zelda snorted in agreement.

                "Well, all we can do is wait for tonight." Wildwing sighed, and walked off.

 

                The next night found the Pond absolutely crammed. The Ducks skated out as usual, with the crowd booing Sterner rabidly. Finally, the Cougars came out. Duke simply didn't look the same in a Cougars jersey. The crowd booed for Cincinnati, and cheered wildly for Duke. One fan held up a sign that said. "Welcome back to the nest!" Duke hung his head. At least the crowd knew he wasn't enjoying this.

                "Get out to center ice Duck!" yelled the Cougars captain. "Dickson wants you at the faceoff!" Duke skated to center ice, to face off against Mallory.

                "Who woulda thought this?" Duke sighed.

                "Relax, Phil's doing all he can." Mallory nodded. The puck was dropped, and Mallory got it cleanly. She passed it back to Tanya, who skated forwards and passed it up to Erin. Erin swiveled and skated up by the boards, speeding past the Cougars retreating offense. She stopped and turned in a circle, waiting for the rest of the team to catch up.

                "Erin! Over here!" yelled Nosedive. He stood in front of the goal alone, with the Cougars goalie watching. Erin slapped the puck at him, but a Cougar defensemen suddenly came flying in and rammed Nosedive hard across the back with his stick. Nosedive fell down, and the Cougar whacked the puck out to center ice. However, the ref caught it and blew his whistle shrilly. Cross checking, 2:00 penalty time. Nosedive was rolling up slowly. Duke skated over to him, but the Cougars goalie put his stick between him and Nosedive. Dive finally got up and skated away. Center ice again. The Cougar captain won the face off away from Erin and passed the puck up to his right wing. The player ducked past Grin and fired a quick shot at Wildwing, who snagged it with his glove and tossed it up to Mallory. She forwarded the pass to Erin. Tanya was waiting on the point. Erin passed hard to her, swerving away just in time to avoid being checked by a Cougar. Tanya raised her stick as the puck sped towards her. She looked like she was going for a one-timer, but suddenly faked the shot and passed gently to Nosedive. He snapped the puck up, and it snagged in the top corner of the goal net. The fans cheered. Ducks up, 1-0.

 

                Duke had the puck. The fans waited in suspense as he carried it up ice. He passed away to the Cougars left wing, and then tried to go to the net, but was blocked, gently, by Grin. Tanya recovered the puck and swooped around behind the net. There was only about a minute to go in the 1st period. The fans cheered loyally as Tanya headed up to red line, stopped, and passed off to Mallory. She headed to the left corner of the rink with Nosedive and Erin. Slowly, the three began to skate around in a circle, passing the puck between one another. Duke perked up. They were playing a variation of the cycling maneuver he himself had taught them. He watched as his Cougar 'teammates' began to follow, circling with the Ducks. It was just what the Ducks wanted. Tanya reversed direction and pounced in front of the goal, snapping the puck into the lower left corner, right underneath the sprawling goalie. 2-0. The fans went wild. But the Ducks didn't celebrate much. Duke just stood there looking lost. The Cougars coach glared at him, knowing that Duke probably knew what the Ducks had been up to. Duke slumped down and skated off to the bench. His shift was over.

 

                Duke sat on the bench. Olivia was awfully confused. She didn't know whether to remain loyal to the Ducks or to cheer Duke on. She went down to the bench

to talk to him.

                "Hi," she said quietly. "I, um . . . that is  . . ."

                "You don't know who to cheer on, right?" Duke asked. Olivia nodded. "It's okay, sweetheart. I don't care if you root for the guys and not me." Olivia flashed him a grateful smile and she and Duke hugged.  Unfortunantely, the coach saw them and stomped down. He pulled Olivia away.

                "Get out of here!" he yelled. "Go on! Get!" Scared, Olivia darted up to the stands.

                "Hey, what'd you do that for?" Duke shouted.

                "You just sit and watch!" the coach said.  Duke slumped. The game was very rough. The Cougars were scoring more points and practically murdering the Ducks. Erin skated forward but one of the players knocked her into the boards, causing her to crash into another Cougar.

                "YEEOUCH!" Erin yelled. "That did it!  Da da da da da da! CHARGE!"

                "Hold on, Erin," Wildwing said. "Relax. These guys sure are aggressive!"

                "And giant creeps!" Erin yelled.

                "Keep your temper." Wildwing said flatly. Erin knew he was right. The Ducks were down by a goal 3-2. And the Cougars were determined to hold the lead. For a full 8 minutes of the third period, they wouldn't even let the Ducks cross the blue line. The Ducks were getting really tweaked, especially Nosedive. Without Duke at center, the offense was shaken. Although Erin was a very good replacement, Mal and Dive simply weren't used to her in a game setting. And they were all tired out. Finally, it all came down to 4 minutes. The fans were holding their breath in suspense. The offense was giving one final shove. Nosedive and Mallory shot up opposite sides of the boards, with Erin trailing the play. Grin had the puck. He passed it up to Mallory who passed it back to Erin. She waited for an opening, and passed it up to Nosedive, who was supposed to take the shot. But a defensemen came charging out of nowhere. Nosedive was slammed into the boards and didn't get up. The whistle blew, and Zelda leapt down from the boards, beside Dive in a matter of seconds. On the Cougar bench, Duke stood up. Dive was talking to Zelda, but just didn't get up. Erin talked to Zelda for a second, then skated over to the ref to say what was going on. Apparently, Nosedive had gotten the wind knocked out of him. He finally managed to stand, and took a few seconds to shake the hit off. The crowd cheered loyally for him as the face off was signalled for center ice. 2 minutes. Nosedive had been worn out by the hit. He couldn't breathe right. He was really exausted. He let Mallory take his place on being the offense at the net, while Erin carried the puck and he would back up the play. But again, the Cougars were proving to be too much. Even Wildwing was getting frustrated. Suddenly, the last 50 seconds were up on the clock. The Ducks tried desperately to so SOMETHING but couldn't. The buzzer sounded, and the Pond filled with boos for the Cougars. Duke sighed really loudly as the team went out to congratulate themselves. He received many slaps on the back from his new team. He didn't give any back. The coach saw it.

                "Duke! I want to see you in the locker room, NOW!" he barked. Duke slicked back his hair and sighed, walking away. The Ducks were already in their locker room.

 

                Wildwing sighed. All the Ducks knew why they lost, they had a broken team.

                "Look guys, I'm sorry I let you down." Erin started.

                "Don't be sorry for anything Erin, you played great tonight." Wildwing said. "We didn't." the rest of the team nodded.

 

                Later, the team had scattered about the Pond. Zelda paced restlessly about the halls. Rounding the halls, she ran into Olivia.

                "Oh Zelda! There you are..." she started shyly.

                "I saw what that coach did to you kiddo." Zelda sighed.

                "I ... I just wanted to talk to him." she choked, looking ready to cry.

                "We all would appreciate the opportunity. But he's gone now. Probably on a flight back to Cincinnati." Zelda sighed.

                "I miss him already." Olivia sniffed.

                "We all do. Phil's trying to get him back. We will somehow."

 

                Meanwhile, the Ducks were still trying to think of what to do about Duke, and they couldn't think of anything. Nosedive bounced down into the Ready Room with a video in his hand.

                "You okay, Dive?" Erin asked.

                "Yeah," Nosedive replied. "I'm feeling a whole lot better."

                "I'm still in pit city," Erin said. "I'm no good at any sport. Except archery."

                "We'll fix that," Dive said, smiling. "Impossi-Mania!"

                "Not again!" Mallory whined.

 

 

 

To be continued....