Siege, Wraith, and Chameleon returned to the Raptor glumly, having
been defeated once again by the Mighty Ducks. Dragaunus slammed his fist down on his chair.
"You incompetent fools!" roared Dragaunus. "Can't you three
do anything right?!" He raised his arm and shot his laser at their feet, just missing them.
"But Boss, the Ducks have managed to dodge every curveball we've thrown
at them," Chameleon whined.
"My Lord, we should be using the dark powers of our ancestors," Wraith
stated gloomily.
"Enough Wraith!" Dragaunus' voice boomed. "I haven't given up
on technology yet. Now, just what haven't I thrown at the Ducks?" Dragaunus sat thinking to himself, grinning
evilly.
***********************************************************
"Man, I can't believe they got away again!" Nosedive complained loudly.
The Ducks had just returned to the Pond from a battle with the Saurians. They arrived, red-eyed and weary, after a long
night of combat.
"If you ask me," Angelwing commented, "I'd say this is getting old."
Mallory glared at her disgracefully. "You have no right to say
that. You don't even know how old it is!" Mallory scoffed. Angelwing just stared back with a surprised
expression. "Neither you or your so-called sister, have been with us long enough to even know just how frustrating
it is."
Ariana shot a look of distaste at Mallory. "Excuse me?!" she
replied with an attitude. "Well, what this 'so-called sister' does know is that you're a-"
"Enough!" Wildwing shouted. He stepped between Mallory and the
two sisters, just as Angelwing opened her beak and was about to fill in where Ariana left off.
"But-" Angelwing snapped angrilly instead. Wildwing turned his
head instantly to look at her.
"Drop it," he replied sternly. "We've all had a rough night,"
Wildwing said with a softened expression. "So, we should all go to bed and get some rest. We'll discuss everything
in the morning." With that, Wildwing turned around and headed towards his bunk. Ariana
held her finger up and opened her beak to protest, but Duke stopped her.
"I'd be careful if I were you," warned Duke. "You're technically
still on probation. So, don't go doing anything stupid if you want to be part of the team." Mallory was heading
back to her room by now, as were Nosedive, Grin and Tanya. "Besides," Duke added, once the others were out of earshot,
"you don't want to get on Mal's bad side," he joked.
"Yeah, well she doesn't want to get on my bad side," Ariana snapped
hatefully.
Angelwing sighed as she sat down on the chair in front of Drake One.
"Welcome to my Hell," she muttered softly. Her sister cast her a look of resentment.
"You have no idea," growled Ariana, "what Hell is like.
You weren't there. You don't know what I've been through." Ariana turned her face away from Angelwing. "You
were there!" she repeated, a little more loudly, with emotion.
"You're not the one who found Mom and Dad dead, and our home destroyed!"
Angelwing retaliated.
Duke stepped back a bit, trying to stay out of the argument, and
stared at the two of them. "Whoa, that's probably more information than I should be knowing," he mumbled to himself.
"Yeah, well I'm surprised you found them at all. You never found
me!" Ariana shot back at Angelwing, whose tone of voice lightened.
"Ari, I thought we've been over this already?"
"It's not Ari, it's Ana!" Ariana snapped, as she turned back to her
older sister. Her expression was hard and cruel. "And I still have my doubts," she added, feeling hurt.
She turned around and started walking away.
"Wait! Ari," Angelwing paused, "eh, Ana?" She opened her
beak to speak again, but was interupted by her younger sibling.
"Leave me alone," ordered Ariana. "I hate you," she mumbled
as she continued walking. Angelwing was left sitting in front of Drake One, looking shocked. She stared ahead
with her beak open, watching her sister disappear. Then, Angelwing's demeanor softened and tears began to form in her
eyes.
Duke put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you okay?" he asked softly.
Before turning to face him, Angelwing wiped away her tears, trying to hold back her true feelings.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. "I think I just need to go to bed."
Duke forced a smile. "I think that sounds like a good idea.
C'mon, I'll walk you to your room." Angelwing nodded and stood up slowly. Then, the two of them walked to their
bunks in silence.
The next morning.............................
As soon as Angelwing woke up, she dressed and ran to the kitchen for
some breakfast. She hurried down the hallway, hoping to catch Wildwing before their morning practice. She wanted
to tell him of an idea that came to her mind over night.
She arrived at the kitchen to find, not only Wildiwng, but Mallory
and Ariana as well. "Oh great," Angelwing thought to herself bitterly. Wildwing was sitting at a table on the
other side of the room, reading the newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. Mallory and Ariana were sitting at opposite
end of the counter, both of whom were also drinking coffee.
Angelwing walked by Mallory and, despite hard feelings agains her,
said good morning. Mallory just sat there in silence, acting as if Angelwing didn't exist. Angelwing frowned.
"Okay, fine!" she thought to herself. "If that's the way you want to be," and she continued walking.
"Good morning sis!" Angelwing said cheerfully as she approached Ariana.
But, Ariana also kept silent. She didn't reply, nor did she acknowledge her older sister. Feeling a bit angry
and hurt, Angelwing moved onward towards Wildwing.
"Tough crowd this morning, huh?" Wildwing remarked, looking over
his newspaper.
"Yeah," Angelwing sighed, as she slumped down into a chair next to
Wildwing.
Shortly after, Wildwing folded the newspaper and placed it on the
table next to his coffee. "So, did you sleep well last night?" he asked Angelwing. She looked at him strangely
and shook her hand.
"Nyeah, yes and no," she replied half-heartedly.
Wildwing raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you're leaning more
towards the 'no'." Angelwing nodded.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about an idea I have," she finally
admitted. Wildwing took another sip of his coffee and put his mug down.
"I'm listening."
"It's a way we can get to Dragaunus."
"How?" Wildwing asked curiously. Angelwing glanced away briefly,
then looked back up at Wildwing.
"Well," she paused, wondering if she should really tell Wildwing about
it. "I could go under cover," Angelwing continued.
"Huh?" Wildwing's eyes widened.
"I could go back to Dragaunus and convince him I could be a spy for
him and that I'm still on their side. All the while, I'll actually be spying on them, for you guys," Angelwing explained.
"I don't know," Wildwing replied uneasily.
"I'll report back to you to let you know where the Raptor is and what
Dragaunus' plans are."
Wildwing frowned. He thought, in a way, it was a good idea,
but in another way, he didn't trust Dragaunus. He also didn't like the idea of Angelwing going back to
him. "But he's threatened to kill you," Wildwing said in protest.
Angelwing grinned slyly. "I'm not too worried about that.
I have my ways. I'll convince him it was all an act- me joining up with the Mighty Ducks."
Wildwing thought about it once more before making up his mind.
"No. It's too risky and I don't want to risk losing a member of the team."
"What?!" shrieked Angelwing. "Come on Wildwing, I can do this.
I've done undercover work before, when I was with the PWFBI," Angelwing protested angrily.
"Oh I have no doubt you're capable of the task. It's just that
it's too dangerous. We can't afford to lose you," Wildwing spoke softly, in attempt to calm Angelwing.
"That doesn't matter." Angelwing looked away sadly. "Half
the team hates me anyways. So, there would be no loss there."
Wildwing put his hand on Angelwing's hand. Angelwing looked
up into the eyes of the Mask, trying to look past, into Wildwing's eyes. "I don't hate you Angel," Wildwing whispered,
remembering that Ariana and Mallory were still in the room. "And neither does the rest of the team," he added with his
normal voice. "That's why I don't want you to go through with it." Angelwing glared
at him angrily as she opened her beak to speak.
"But-"
"Promise me you won't do it," Wildwing pleaded with her. Angelwing
closed her eyes and thought about it. When she opened them, her expression softened.
"Oh, alright, I promise," she replied grudgingly. Wildwing smiled
in return.
In the next moment, Ariana stood up and silently left the room.
Angelwing glanced behind her. "Well, I better go see if I can patch things up with my sister," Angelwing said as
she stood up. "See you in a few." Then, she turned and ran to catch up with Ariana.
Once Angelwing left the room, Wildwing rose from his seat and headed
for the door as well. As he did, Mallory slid from her chair and approached him. "You're not actually going to
let her go through with that, are you?" she asked sharply.
"So, you overheard?" replied Wildwing, in question. Mallory
nodded. Wildwing sighed before answering Mallory's question. "No, I told her I don't want her going."
Then, Mallory spoke up, sounding concerned. "I don't know.
I still don't trust her Wildwing. What if she really is still working for Dragaunus, as one of his
spies? Maybe that's her way of getting back to report to him."
Wildwing sighed deeply once again. He really didn't want to
get into a disagreement with Mallory, not now. Yet, he felt he should at least defend.Angelwing. "I don't
feel that she's a threat to us, and I dont' believe she's working for Dragaunus any more." He paused, looking at
Mallory's angered expression. "But, if you still feel that way, then we'll keep a close eye on her, just to be sure."
Mallory smiled, feeling slightly better. "That's fine by me."
Wildwing shook her hand in agreement.
"Okay, now let's go. We don't want to be late for practice."
To be continued..........
Disclaimer: All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney,
all others are owned by me.
