Authors Note: Hey guys! I'm new to writing Mighty Ducks fanfic, but not new to writing. This story has been rattling around in my head for the past few weeks and it's time to get it out there. Currently, it sits at 34 pages in Microsoft Word. I have lots of what I want to happen later written; I just need to get the characters and events into place. For now, you get the main intro. I do plan on adding to it shortly.
Goals for this story:
1) Stay in character
2) No Slash
3) Keep it light
4) Provide a good adventure
5) Dragaunus is the proper spelling based off MIB toy and comics
Enjoy!
Edit: Thanks for the reviews! Feedback is what keeps me going. But, never fear, I won't hold this story back until I get x-number of reviews. It's going to be written because it won't leave me alone any other way!
The bit that I have added to the end of this chapter is where I really wanted to end it. I plan for this story to read more like an episode of the show and hope to have a total of three chapters. There is much, much more coming. Like I said, the Word document is nearly 40 pages long. I just have to maneuver characters into place to get to what I have already written.
Just wanted to point out: in hockey the home jerseys are the dark ones and the away are the light. However, since the cartoon clearly shows the light jerseys as home, I'm gonna stick with cartoon logic here. Whenever I mention a place by name, it exists in real life. Hockey rules I mention are also official rules from 1996, before the rule changes after the 2004 lockout. Also, keeps screwing up my formatting and getting rid of my nice tilde and asterisk visual cues. I've had to resort to those ugly 0's. If you've got a better suggestion for scene changes, I'd love to hear it!
Wildwing never wanted to see another orange in his life. Unfortunately, the fact that California was a top producer of oranges for the US didn't make this wish likely to come true. And the orange madness was apt to continue, considering it was Nosedive who was behind the random fruit assaults.
It had all started last week at breakfast...
00000
Mallory grumped a thoroughly angry sounding "Hmmph!" in response to Duke's morning greeting.
"Hey, don't take it out on me when you stay up too late," the former thief grinned. "I know you like those ridiculous crime shows and all, but we have DVR for a reason."
"You were sitting there, watching the exact same shows, L'Orange."
"Yeah, but I don't wake up ready to kill someone if I'm up past midnight."
"Unlike you, some of us actually need sleep." Mallory poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down, waiting for her toast to cook.
"Hey, uh, Wildwing, have you seen Nosedive?" Tanya looked around for the missing youth. In reality, she knew exactly where he was- still in bed. She was just trying to distract Duke and Mallory before they started reenacting the murder scene from last nights episode of Crime Show Instigators.
"I told him to get up a half hour ago." Wildwing stood, ready to head out the door when the disheveled youth entered. "Morning, baby bro. I was going to see if you were up yet."
"I'll rise, but I refuse to shine," he joked. "What's for breakfast today?" Nosedive may have been dressed, but his hair was a mess and he stumbled around, only half awake.
Mallory glared at him. "Nothing. It was your turn to cook."
"Anybody know why we keep giving him morning duties?" Duke chuckled as he drank his coffee.
"Because I make the best pancakes!"
"Only if you're up in time to make them," Wildwing sighed. "Forget it, just toss me an orange."
Nosedive picked the biggest one from the fruit bowl and tossed it in the air, catching it a few times before lobbing it at his brothers head.
Just then, Phil burst into the room, "Boobies! Have I got a deal for you!"
Distracted by Phil's entrance, and the impending plea for some stupid stunt, Wildwing failed to see the orange coming straight for him. The offending piece of fruit hit him in the side of the head.
"Ow! Nosedive! I said toss me an orange, not try to kill me." The white drake rubbed the sore spot on his temple and leaned over to pick up the orange.
"Oh, man, I can't believe you missed that!" Nosedive ducked under the counter, expecting retribution. When he heard nothing, he peeked over the ledge, only to be nailed by the same orange.
"I sense the beginning of a long battle," Grin said before taking a mouthful of cold cereal.
"You said you wanted this darn thing!" He hurled it back at Wildwing, who caught it this time. Not to be outdone, Nosedive started grabbing oranges from the bowl and throwing them at his brother as hard and fast as possible.
Years of goaltending enabled Wildwing to catch all of the oranges with ease; but, Nosedives agility helped him evade the onslaught of returned fruit projectiles. Soon, bruised fruit was covering the kitchen counters and floor.
The toast Mallory had put in the toaster popped up, momentarily distracting Nosedive enough for Wildwing to tackle him.
"You two are incorrigible," she muttered as she stepped over the wrestling brothers to fetch her breakfast. "If you guys want to fight instead of eat before practice, I'm not going to listen to you complain about being so hungry you could eat the ice." She playfully kicked Nosedive's leg as she returned to the table.
"So, I've got this great promotion at-" Phil started, thinking the orange war was over. It wasn't long before five ducks were hurling fruit at him, causing the chubby manager to make a hasty exit.
00000
Phil sat in the stands of the Pond, watching his Western Division Champions practice. They only had two days from winning the division championship before the start of the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. With such a short time between games, Wildwing made sure they all practiced to be in top form for the final battle for the Stanley Cup.
The manager was busy flipping through a tour book of Vancouver, looking for good spots for public appearances with the ducks. He wanted to get those Canadian fans geared up for the Mighty Ducks vs the Orcas, and he wanted to be sure to do it in a way that would make those Canadians cheer for the ducks.
It was amazing how much a persons life could change in a year. Just last August, the ducks had walked into his life and turned his world upside down, figuratively and literally. He prided himself on his cunning and ability to adapt to any situation and turn it into a moneymaker. After all, hadn't most of the people who initially met the ducks run in terror? Not Phil Palmfeather! He had nerves of steel and an iron will to make profits. He would capitalize on anything.
Ooh! The Empress Hotel Miniature World! That looked like a good place for an appearance. After all, who didn't like minute do-dads? Never mind that the place hadn't been updated in thirty years and was geared towards five year olds. He dog eared the page and continued to search for opportunities.
Deep below the Pacific Ocean lay the wreckage of the Raptor. Fish floated up to the red mass that had recently appeared in their world, inspecting it for edible bits. A manta ray gracefully glided past, blissfully ignorant of the maelstrom inside the drowned spaceship.
"Curse those ducks!" Dragaunus took aim and destroyed another of his hunter drones. "Blast them all!" He stormed around his command room, kicking bits of smouldering robots that lay in his path. "I'll kill them one by one and mount their heads on pikes above that revolting hockey rink."
Siege, ever short on brains, was the one to interrupt his overlords tirade. "Eehh... Boss, how you gonna do that when we're at the bottom of the ocean?"
Dragaunus glared at Siege, smoke rising from his nostrils. He swatted the heavy saurian away, throwing him against the wall.
Wraith appeared in a cloud of smoke and strode to the control panel. Pressing a gigantic red button, he turned on the viewing screen to a newscast.
"I may have found a solution to our watery problem," the mystic saurian intoned.
A short, female reporter with wavy brown hair was standing in front of a large machine. Her yellow blouse ruffled slightly in the wind. "This is Crystal Childs, with Channel 5 news. I'm here at TechnoDream Industries with Professor Marillier, who has just announced the release of his new Regenerative Energy Cells. Tell me, Professor, how do these cells work?"
The portly, bald scientist looked proudly into the camera. "These cells rely on algae to produce oxygen, which is converted into energy by holmium. A single unit is capable of powering a factory for a whole week! This will revolutionize the world of clean energy and move us away from fossil fuels."
"Yes..." Dragaunus chuckled to himself. "Siege! Chameleon! Teleport to the surface immediately and get me those energy cells!"
Chameleon morphed into a World War II era navy sailor, complete with red bandanna and white bell bottom pants.. "Aye, Aye, Captain!" Popping back to his regular form, he headed out the door.
"What about the ducks?" Siege asked. "As soon as we teleport there, they'll come running after us."
A guttural snarl emanated from the dragons throat. "Then we'll have to do it when they are at one of their accursed hockey games. They should be in Canada for a game tomorrow. When they're on the other side of the continent, we'll strike." A deep laugh escaped the overlords throat at the prospect of repowering the raptor without avian interference.
"So, you, like totally defeated Dragaunus for good?" Mookie asked.
"Yup!" Nosedive grinned as he leaned on the counter. "Old lizard lips won't be bothering Earth or Puckworld, ever again."
"Yeah, man. But, what about that gateway generator?" Thrash asked as he removed his yellow and purple shutter shades.
"It was a sacrifice we had to make."
"Bummer, dude."
"Well, it's not so bad. At least we're still in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. I don't think we'd have left before finishing out the season anyway. You know Wing; we signed a contract to play for this season and he'd never leave before completing it."
Mookie reached under the counter and pulled out a comic she had special ordered for Nosedive. "I'm just, like, glad you're not going to disappear for ever!"
The young duck set down the comic he'd been flipping through and picked up his special order. He pulled out his wallet to pay. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Isn't Tanya a genius? Maybe she can build something."
"Thrash, my main man, you have an excellent point."
0000
The conversation with Thrash and Mookie kept replaying in Nosedives head. He had known that any chance of returning home to Puckworld had been destroyed along with the gateway generator. Still, he'd managed to push the thought from his mind and focus on hockey until today.
Earth wasn't so bad, but he missed his home. They'd been gone a year. Had the planet started to recover from the invasion? Were the cities being rebuilt? Had all of his friends from school survived?
Grinning to himself, Nosedive turned his thoughts to something more pleasant. If anything could pull him out of a funk, it was a good prank. Well, that and a challenging game of hockey; but, pranks were always fun to come up with.
0000
The clerks at the local Healthy Nut grocery had become accustomed to seeing giant ducks shopping there. After all, these were professional athletes who tried to eat the healthiest foods possible. Nosedive, however, appeared to be the exception. He always bought chips, candy, and soda whenever he came in.
"Hey, Kat!" Despite his rare appearances in the store, he still knew all of the employees on a first name basis.
"Hello yourself," the blond cashier returned. "We just got some of that Mexican Coke in this morning. Want me to set a case aside for you?"
"Nah, I'm not getting any pop today. I have other plans." He grinned and walked over to produce. After a few moments of price checking, he grabbed two giant bags of oranges. He didn't want to spend a lot of money on something that was most likely going to be destroyed. These oranges might end up being eaten, but it wasn't very likely.
"On second thought..." The duck grabbed a third bag before heading towards the bulk snack aisle. He shoved some of the plastic bulk bags in his pockets. Shifting the three bags of oranges to one hand, he picked up the small barrel of chocolate covered banana chips and headed to the registers. He knew they'd never sell the barrel itself, but he liked to bring random things up to the line to amuse the cashiers. He would, however, buy all of what was in the barrel; that was why he'd taken the plastic bags. Grin loved chocolate banana chips, so he'd have someone to share them with.
The entire Mighty Ducks hockey team, dressed in their purple and black away jerseys, walked through the streets of Vancouver. They had flown in earlier that morning for tonight's game. Despite Phil's best attempts, they had managed to get out of a public appearance. They were content to just explore the city a little bit and see another part of their adopted world.
Despite being so much farther north than Anaheim, there was no snow on the ground. The mid 50's temperatures were a welcome relief after the heat of California.
"I'm thinking pasta for lunch," Mallory suggested.
"Come on, Mal. Pizza all the way!"
"There's a buffet over there," Grin motioned across the street.
"Eh, I'd like to try something a little more local," Duke said.
Wildwing paused and looked around. "How about none of us pick for a change?"
Mallory laughed. "It's kind of hard to find something to eat without anybody picking!"
Wildwing grinned. Everyone could see his smile; he actually wasn't wearing the mask for a change. "I say we try the third restaurant we come to on this street."
"Not a very scientific approach," Tanya commented. "But I like it. I'm up for a surprise."
"Don't matter to me," Duke shrugged.
"Surprise is good," Grin added.
The third restaurant in their path ended up being something called the Raincity Grill. A large black awning overhung glass windows. The interior was dark and cozy, with leather upholstered booths. White tablecloths provided a bright contrast to the hardwood floors. Despite the lunch rush, the ducks were seated almost right away.
0000
"Ya know, I really miss the food on Puckworld." Duke studied the salad on his fork before taking a bite. "There's just no variety here."
"It's not all bad," Nosedive said around a mouth full of hamburger.
"Are you sure you want to eat that before a game?" Tanya asked.
Mallory gave Nosedive a disgusted glare before turning back to her scallops.
"Why not? It's good!"
Wildwing shook his head. "I thought you'd have learned your lesson the last time you tried beef."
"We should respect our bodies needs," Grin told Nosedive. "Eating that will only bring bad karma and indigestion."
Nosedive rolled his eyes and set the burger down..
"Duke's right," the blond youth said as he picked off the lettuce, pickle, and tomato from his burger. "Earth food's the pits." He ate the toppings in one big bite. "Hey, Tanya, think you could build a gateway generator?"
She snorted. "What do you think I've been working on in my lab for the past month?"
"Oh, I dunno. A mintier, fresher toothpaste?"
"It'd be easier if I had the plans for one, or just something to look at! I'm not even sure I can get all the components I'd need, what with how backwards the technology is here."
"What if you had a broken one to fix?" Wildwing suggested.
"That would speed things up considerably," she nodded as she thought. "But, there's still the problem of how to power it."
"Dragaunus ship!" Mallory exclaimed. "If we could recover it, we could take his gateway generator and repair it."
"Oh, man! That's some plan, Wildwing." Duke's eye lit up with hope. "We could actually go home."
"So, let's start searching!" Nosedive said a little too loudly, earning the team even more curious glances from the other restaurant patrons.
"We'll get started tomorrow," Wildwing avowed. "But, first, we have a game to win."
The Vancouver Orcas, dressed in their blue and white jerseys, were doing their best to keep up with the ducks, despite their home ice advantage. Nosedive took a shot and sent the puck flying towards the net. The buzzer sounded just before it crossed the line, denying the ducks one more point.
At the end of second period, the score stood Vancouver 2, Ducks 4.
A beeping noise from all of the ducks communicators interrupted their trek to the locker room for their seventeen minute break.
"I thought you turned off the alerts while we were at away games, Tanya," Mallory flipped open her com and looked at it, confused.
"I did! We shouldn't be getting any alarms unless it's teleportation energy."
"Which is what it looks like," Wildwing growled, thoroughly annoyed. "I thought we'd put an end to those saurian sleeze-buckets."
"If their auxiliary power is still working, they just might be able to teleport," Tanya mused as she tapped the bottom of her beak while thinking. "It's unlikely they found a power source on the sea floor, so they must be after something to refuel the Raptor."
"It's not like we have time to go after them right now anyway," Duke looked at the clock on the wall, clearly frustrated. "We only have ten minutes before the next period and it took us over an hour to get here."
"I don't like the timing of this," Wildwing mused. "We'll check it out as soon as we get back to Anaheim."
0000
Klegghorn led the ducks past the yellow police tape. The soft glow of the Anaheim city lights lit up the dark sky. A large sign proclaimed the building wreckage in front of them to be TechnoDream Industries. Lights had been set up around the gaping hole in the side of the building, illuminating the ruble and wreckage of equipment inside.
"It looks like you didn't do such a great job taking those lizards down," the officer grumbled. "They're still blowing up my town!"
"Are you sure it was them, Kappy?" Nosedive asked. "I mean, you saw their ship sinking like a rock!"
"Who else would blast a hole the size of Chicago in the side of a lab?"
"It was them all right." Wildwing was using the mask to survey the area. It clearly showed residual teleportation energy. "Any idea what they took?"
Klegghorn waved a scientist over. "This is Dr. Marillier. He can tell you exactly what's missing."
"Well?" Wildwing growled.
The balding, overweight scientist from the previous newscast gulped at Wildwings imposing figure. He picked at his frayed lab coat and paused before starting.
"Sev...Sev...Several things are missing." Suddenly, he looked quite annoyed. "My new Regenerative Energy Cells, among them!"
"Duh, yeah. That sounds like Dragaunus all right," Tanya muttered. "What else is missing?"
"Oh, just some prototype all terrain destroyer robots for the military. Those Regenerative Energy Cells were my babies! The holmium in the is very difficult to come by. They were going to make me rich!"
Nosedive snorted. "You related to Phil Palmfeather by any chance?"
"Don't worry," Duke said smoothly, "We'll get them back for you."
Just then, the dark sky lit up with the roar of powerful engines as a red space ship soared across the sky. Lasers flew from the guns mounted on the side, aimed right at the ducks! Everyone scattered, dodging the attacks.