Later that night, Angelwing tossed and turned in her
sleep, trying to rid herself of her nightmares. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fight the evil within
her.
"Is that the best they can do?" the spirit within Angelwing
chuckled evilly. "Simply lock us up in this room? Ha! Puh-lease! With my magic capabilities, nothing
can keep me locked up."
"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you try," Angelwing provoked the
spirit. "Go on, I dare ya!"
"Do you now?" the spirit replied.
"Yeah, and the minute you do, Drake One's alarms will go off
and the Ducks will find you," Angelwing warned.
"You mean, they'll find you," the spririt added ingeniously.
"You're forgetting who's in control here!"
"Not if I can help it," mumbled Angelwing.
The spirit never heard Angelwing though, it just kept on talking
to itself, trying to figure a way out. "Hmm...yes, that's it!" it exclaimed as it was reading Angelwing's mind.
"I like your idea!" the spirit said to Angelwing.
"What?! But I never said-" Angelwing was cut off by the
spirit.
"You didn't have to say. I'm controlling your mind, therefore,
I can read your thoughts," the spirit explained. "We'll just crawl through the ventillation system. That is how
you snuck out before, isn't it?" Angelwing just grumbled and cursed beneath her breath. "Well, what are you waiting
for? Wake up! We have to report back to Dragaunus."
Angelwing shook her head furiously. "No way! I
ain't going anywhere!"
The spirit grinned it's devilish grin and took hold of Angelwing.
"That's what you think."
Next, Angelwing awoke from her haunted dreams and sat up in
her bed with her eyes glowing red. "Don't worry," she told herself in a raspy voice, "no one will even know I'm gone."
Then, she stood up on her bed and once again, removed the grate from the air vent. In the next moment, she climbled
up into the vent and crawled away into the darkness.
Meanwhile.............................................
While Duke was keeping watch by Angelwing's bedroom door, Tanya
was back in the infirmary checking up on Ariana. The others were all in the Rec Room. Grin and Mallory were playing
chess, Nosedive and Karissa were still playing video games, and Wildwing was reading.
Jess had just entered the Rec Room and was debating on whether
or not to tell Wildwing about Angelwing's secret mission. She had become extemely worried about Angelwing since the
attacks on Ariana. Jess had a strong feeling that Dragaunus had something to do with her friend's strange behavior.
She also felt that the only way she could help Angelwing was by telling Wildwing the truth.
Wildwing looked up to see Jess standing in the doorway, staring
blankly at him. He lowered his book and spoke to her. "Jess, are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," her eyes focused on the male duck, "I'm
fine."
"Are you sure?" he asked her as he marked his place in his
book and put it down.. "It looks like you've got something on your mind."
Jess stared at him for a moment before looking down at the
floor. "Well, actually, there is," she started out as she held her hands behind her back, and looked back at Wildwing.
"I wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier today."
"That's okay," he assured her. "I can understand.
You care about Angelwing, and I do too. Believe me, I didn't want to do what I did, but until we find out why she-"
"Yeah, um, about that too," Jess cut in.
"About what?"
"Now that you mention it, I do have something else to tell
you," Jess said, "something very important, something I think you should know."
By now, Wildwing had stood up from his seat and folded
his arms in front of himself. "I'm listening." By the look on his face, Jess could tell that he knew it was something
serious. She looked around the room at the others. They all looked busy, but still....she didn't want to chance
them over hearing her.
"Um....not in here though." Jess glanced out into the
hallway and saw that it was clear.
"O- kay," Wildwing replied slowly.
"Out here," she gestured towards the hallway. Then, she
grabbed Wildwing by the arm and pulled him out through the door.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Wildwing
as he was taken by surprise. Once they were out, Jess closed the door behind them. "What's this all about anyway?"
the Ducks' leader asked.
"I don't want the others to hear, at least, not yet, anyway."
"So, what is it?" Wildwing stood with his arms crossed again,
looking solemnly at Jess. "What's so important that you needed to drag me out here to tell me?"
"Well," Jess began, timidly, "you remember Angelwing's idea
of going undercover, right?" Wildwing nodded in understanding. "Well," Jess continued, "in a nut shell, or maybe
perhaps, in your case, an egg shell," she joked nervously. "Basically, Angelwing went through with her plan."
Then suddenly, as Jess expected, Wildwing's eyes widened and
his jaw dropped in a look of shock. "She what?!" he exclaimed. "Even after I told her not too?!"
Jess nodded sadly. "I tried to talk her out of it, but
she was determined. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, not even you. But since she's attacked her sister,
I decided I just had to tell you. I know I've broken my promise to her now, but it's just that," she paused to look
back up at Wildwing. She was trembling by now. "I have a bad feeling Dragaunus has done something terrible to
her."
Wilwing rubbed his temples and sighed deeply. "Well,
what 's done is done now, and there's certainly no doubt in my mind that Dragaunus is behind all of this. I appreciate
you telling me the truth."
Jess looked at him apologetically. "I'm so sorry Wildwing,
I should have told you sooner."
"No, it's not your fault," he explained to her. "I just
wish she would've listened to me."
"So, what do you think Dragaunus could have done
to her anyway? Mind control?"
Wildwing scratched his beak thoughtfully. "It's not impossible.
He's done it to Phil before."
"Speaking of Phil, where's he been lately?" Jess questioned,
trying to make light of the situation. "I mean, it's been awefully quiet around here. Well, as far as promos and
publicity stunts go, anyway." She let out a slight chuckle.
Wildwing half smiled. "Oh, he's away on vacation."
"A permant one?" she asked, jokingly, but also sounding hopeful.
Wildwing just gave her a look of warning. Jess glanced down shamefully, but still managed a slight grin. "Sorry.
I was hoping."
"Heh, you and everyone else," Wildwing joked, as Jess yawned.
"Come on, we should get to bed. It's getting late." Jess nodded in agreement. Then they said their goodnights
and headed for their rooms.
Elsewhere............................at the Raptor..................
"Things aren't exactly going as well as you hoped, My Lord,"
the spirit was talking, through Angelwing, to Dragaunus.
"And why not?!" Dragaunus yelled angrilly as he slammed his
fists down on the arms on his throne.
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can right now!" the spirit shot back.
"It would be a lot easier if I didn't have this duck's spirit fighting against me," the spirit explained as she pointed to
herself. "She's stubborn and isn't giving up easily."
Dragaunus sat back in his throne, casually. "That's to
be expected. I didn't think Angelwing would go down without a fight. However, she will fall, and she will fall
hard."
The spirit grinned devilishly. "Good, because I plan
on it."
"And then no one, not even the Ducks, can stand in my way!"
Dragaunus added.
"Except for maybe, Angelwing's human friend. What was
her name again? Jess, I think it was." The spirit stood, thinking to herself, aloud. "She knows somethings
up, and she's already interferred with my plans once."
"Well then," Dragaunus told her, "get rid of her!"
The spirit smiled again. "Of course. Not a problem."
To be continued.................................................................
Disclaimer: All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney, all others
are owned by me.
