Chapter 1

The Perils of the Pet Store

Nosedive pressed his beak against the glass pane of the store window. Two brown and white balls of fur tumbled through the hay before leaping up and chasing each other around the cage. One of them tripped and rolled towards the window. After shaking its head and long floppy ears, it noticed Nosedive behind the glass. A high-pitched bark greeted him, and the puppy panted with its long tongue lolling from its mouth. Two big brown eyes stared up at him from the little furry face.

"Hey Dive!"

Nosedive spun around quickly. Mookie was waving to him as she walked towards him.

"Oh, hi Mookie."

"Like what you are doing on this side of the mall, Dive?" she asked with an inquisitive expression.

"Nothin', just looking," he said quickly. "Are you going back to Captain Comics? I'll give you a ride on my duck cycle."

Mookie looked over his shoulder at the window.

"Oh, so like they finally opened up the new pet store," she said moving past him to the window. "I like had a dog once, you know, but my parents gave it away when I was a kid. Totally not cool, right?"

"Yeah," he said, relaxing a little bit when he saw her admiring the puppies in the window. He didn't want to ruin his image by showing an interest in something so cute, but if Mookie thought they were adorable too that wasn't so bad.

"Come on, let's check it out," she said moving towards the door.

Nosedive hesitated for a moment, looking around cautiously. He didn't think Wildwing would be too crazy about him going into a pet store, but what could it hurt?

The inside of the store didn't smell too great, but there was a lot to look at. Mice and guinea pigs raced through tunnels in their cages. Puppies were barking loudly. Birds were singing.

"RAWK! Pick me, pick me," a cackling voice called.

Nosedive turned around and saw a brightly colored parrot sitting on a perch watching him with its beady eyes.

"Cool, it talks," Nosedive said.

"Look who's talking, birdbeak," the parrot cackled. "Polly, want a cracker? Birdbeak! Birdbeak!"

"Hey, who you calling Polly, clown feathers?" Nosedive asked angrily.

"Polly want a cracker?" the parrot squawked again flapping its wings.

"Like don't worry about it, Dive. Parrots can only repeat what they've heard. It doesn't even know what it's saying, man," Mookie assured him.

"It sure sounds like it knows," Nosedive muttered as he turned away.

"Don't worry about it, Polly! RAWK!" the parrot squawked as Nosedive walked towards the other end of the store.

"It's official; I hate parrots."

Mookie laughed and directed his attention to some of the other pets.

"Hey, look here's some relatives of those Saurians you're always fighting."

Nosedive looked at the row of cages behind a pane of glass. A boa was sliding over a log and slowly turned its head toward him. A shiver ran down his back as it stared at him and flicked its tongue out into the air with a seemingly hungry expression. In another cage, a chameleon was standing rigidly on a branch as it turned from green to brown. It shot its tongue out towards him, the slimy pick glob stuck to the glass where his face was.

"Is it just me, or do all of these animals hate ducks?"

"They're like reptiles, man. What do you expect?" Mookie said. "Come on, let's look at the cats and dogs."

Mookie asked one of the employees if she could hold one of the gray furry kittens in the large cage in the back of the store. They opened the door in the top and pulled one out for her. The kitten purred contentedly in her hands for a few minutes before Mookie held it out to Nosedive.

"Uh, that's okay, Mook," he said backing off.

"You're not like scared, are you, Dive?"

Nosedive frowned and stuck his hands out as Mookie placed the kitten in them. The squirming ball of fur mewed in his hands.

"Hey, ow!" he said. "It's sticking me with its claws."

"You're like too tense," Mookie insisted. "Just relax, Dive. You're making it nervous."

Before he could protest, Mookie pushed his hands and the kitten to his chest. The little furball climbed out of his hands and onto his shoulder. The kitten rubbed its back against his neck and beak as it began to purr.

"Okay, I guess it's kind of cute," he relented with a smile.

Suddenly his com beeped, and Nosedive flipped it open.

"What's going on, bro?"

"Drake One reported a disturbance in the desert and….what is on your shoulder?" Wildwing asked staring at Nosedive through the communicator.

"Uh…that's Mookie's cat," Nosedive said pulling the kitten from his shoulder and handing it to Mookie, who stared at him with a quizzical look her face.

"Don't worry about it Polly!" the parrot squawked loudly, and the puppies began to bark again.

"Dive, where are all those noises coming from?" Wildwing asked. "Nevermind, I probably don't want to know. Just get out to the desert on the double."

Nosedive sighed as he closed him com.

"Dive, like, why didn't you want Wing to know you were in a pet store?" Mookie asked.

"Wing's not too keen on the idea of pets," Nosedive said. "Look, I gotta go, all right?"

"Sure, are we still up for pizza tomorrow?"

"Totally!" Nosedive said as he ran out of the store towards his duck cycle.

"I don't get it," Tanya said as she tapped the spaceship with her knuckles. "It's completely empty."

"Not to mention, it's a worthless piece of junk," Mallory said, eyeing the blackened metal exterior of the spaceship.

Nosedive rode up on his duck cycle, having followed the tracking signal on his com all the way through the desert to his teammates.

"Whaz going on, fellow ducks?"

Tanya sneezed as he walked past her.

"Ugh, Nosedive, you smell like zoo," she said as she sneezed again.

Nosedive backed away from her as her allergies kicked in.

"You wouldn't have been in a pet store, would you?" Mallory asked accusingly.

"What pet store?" Nosedive scoffed. "Anaheim doesn't…"

"The new one at the mall," Mallory clarified. "I've seen you looking at it before."

Wildwing groaned.

"Okay, okay, so Mookie just wanted to take look and I went with her," he admitted. "Big deal!"

"Nosedive, you know we can't have any pets at the Pond, and Tanya has very sensitive allergies to earth animals."

"Well, what if there was one she wasn't allergic to?" Nosedive asked.

"Like what?" Tanya sniffed.

"I don't know. You weren't allergic to Baby," he said.

All of the ducks let out a groan at the mention of Baby. It had been almost a year since the cute little alien had turned into a monster and destroyed half of Anaheim.

"Dive," Wildwing said patiently, "I know you liked taking care of Baby, but he wasn't meant to be a pet. Most alien creatures aren't. That's why there weren't any pets on Puckworld. Besides, you saw what happened with Baby. We're too busy saving the world and playing hockey to take care of another living thing. It's too much responsibility."

"I got it, okay?" Nosedive replied sullenly. "So what are we doing out here anyway?"

"This spaceship crash-landed out here, and we're trying to figure out how and why," Duke said. "But there's nothin' to find. It's just an empty shell."

"Did you scan it with the mask, bro?" Nosedive asked.

"Yeah, and Duke's right. There are no clues about where it came from or how it got here. We haven't even seen any traces of who was piloting it."

"Answers come with time," Grin said patiently.

"Well, we need to get back to the Pond for practice," Wildwing sighed. "We'll just have to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious in Anaheim."

As the ducks drove away in the Migrator, a shadow appeared on the top of a nearby sand dune.

Nosedive raced his duck cycle along the edge of town where the roads opened up into a vast expanse of land. Out here he could ride at top speeds without worrying about Klegghorn sticking him with a speeding ticket. This was how he had been spending his mornings a lot lately – riding over hills with a warm breeze in his face.

But as he turned to ride around the base of hill, Nosedive saw a strange looking trailer nestled under a few trees. Suddenly, a bizarre magenta thing with tentacles appeared on the road ahead of him. Nosedive screeched to a halt just in time to avoid hitting the alien as he pulled out his puck launcher.

"You'd better watch all nine of your arms and legs, pal. You were almost roadkill," he warned.

"Sorry," the alien said as his three black eyes surveyed Nosedive. "I was hoping you could tell me where I am."

"This is Earth. Was that your spaceship out in the desert?"

"Oh, you found it, did you?" the alien asked. His voice sounded calm and friendly.

Nosedive lowered his puck launcher slightly.

"Yeah, you could have had a proper welcoming committee if you'd stuck around by your ship yesterday. But uh, who are you, dude?"

The magenta alien smiled and his face looked similar to a human's except for his three eyes and fin-shaped ears. He had two legs and wore boots at the bottom of these, but his arms were a series of tentacles.

"I'm Jorark, and I do apologize about the spaceship. It was rude of me to leave it out there in such a mess, but I had to take care of my cargo."

He gestured with one tentacle towards the trailer.

"What sort of cargo, are we talking about here?" Nosedive asked suspiciously.

"Nothing illegal," Jorark laughed. "You see I patrol the universe picking up lost creatures, and then I try to find them a good home. So it was imperative that I get out of the desert and transport my cargo to a less harsh location."

"So you've got real…like living things in there from around the universe?" Nosedive asked.

"Would you like to see for yourself?" Jorark asked.

Nosedive hesitated.

"I probably ought to let me teammates know that you're here," he said reaching for his com.

"Of course," Jorark said. "Maybe they could help me. I think this planet might be a good home for one of my poor misfit creatures."

"Yeah well, the last time we had a little alien dude here, it didn't turn out so great," Nosedive warned.

"Maybe you're right," Jorark sighed. "Maybe I should repair my ship and take off. But if someone could only take a look at my poor misfits. I hate for them not to be given a chance, and you probably know what kind of creature would do well here, don't you?"

Nosedive took his hand away from his com. The other ducks would no doubt tell Jorark to be on his way and forget about it, but…

"I guess I could just look real quick," Nosedive said hesitantly.

"Excellent!" Jorark said leaping toward his trailer and opening the door. "Just a quick peek then. I have so many rare and wonderful pets to show you."

Nosedive dismounted from his duck cycle and walked in the door. His vision was blinded by the sudden darkness that enveloped him. Jorark followed close behind him and pressed a button on the wall. Lights flickered on inside and Nosedive realized suddenly that the trailer was a lot bigger inside than it had look from the outside.

"This way," Jorark said, leading him down a hallway.

Pushing aside a curtain, Jorark revealed a room full of cages of various sizes with huge creatures and little ones. Nosedive started to follow the magenta alien down the narrow corridor in between the cages. One of the larger creatures snapped at him with rows of teeth and green slime dripping off its scales. A smaller creature with a shiny shell and furry legs began clawing at its cage as if it wanted to attack Nosedive.

"You know, some of these don't seem very friendly," Nosedive said. "I don't think we'd want them on Earth."

"Oh, they're just a bit grouchy after our rough landing yesterday," Jorark assured him. "Here, look at this little beauty."

He gestured with a tentacle toward a glass case in which a long, slender creature with transparent wings was curling and uncurling as it changed color. Nosedive stared at it hypnotically for a few minutes before shaking his head.

"Cool, but I don't know if it belongs on Earth."

"Well, I'm sure it would do fine under your care. It doesn't require much to survive. I'll sell it to you for 500 warbles."

"Whoa, wait one minute! I thought you were trying to find a home for these things?" Dive asked.

"I am, but you don't think I just give them away for free, do you?"

"Well, you kind of made it sound that way. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have that kind of money."

"I can exchange currency," Jorark said with an impatient sigh.

"That's not what I meant, man," Nosedive protested. "I mean that I don't have enough money to spend on some creature that I don't even know what it is."

Jorark's gaze suddenly darkened.

"I see," he said, eyeing Nosedive coldly. "Well, you know, I stick to very clear rules when it comes to those whom I do, and do not, do business with."

One of his tentacles wrapped around Dive's wrist, snapping off his com, before Nosedive could react.

"If you're not a client, then you're merchandise."

Nosedive pulled away and took off running for the door. He reached down and suddenly realized that his puck launcher was gone. The door sealed itself before he reached it, and suddenly he felt a prick in his neck. He turned around and saw Jorark behind him with a needle that had been used to inject something into his blood.

"You creep!" Nosedive shouted as he tried to launch himself towards Jorark, but suddenly his legs gave out and he was falling…falling into darkness as he lost sight of his surroundings.

Mookie looked at her watch as she and Thrash shelved the last comics from a new shipment that they had received earlier that afternoon. It was almost five-twenty, and Nosedive had promised to meet them by five for pizza.

"He's probably just late," Thrash said with a laugh. "I mean, dude, Dive isn't exactly known for being on time."

"Yeah," Mookie said with a smile.

They continued working until all of the comics had been stocked and the boxes were empty. Mookie looked at the clock on the wall worriedly.

"Dive like always judges time by his stomach," she reminded Thrash. "He's never late when it comes to eating. Maybe you should like try to contact him."

Thrash walked behind the counter and pulled out the com that Nosedive had given him and Mookie to use in case of trouble.

"Hey Dive, are you there, man?"

Only static answered him.

"That's so weird, man. Okay well, I'm like going to try Wildwing," he told Mookie as he began messing with the com again. "Uh, hey, Wildwing, this is Thrash. Yeah is Dive with you?"

"No, I thought he was supposed to be eating with you," Wildwing's voice echoed from the device.

"He was, but we like don't know where he is," Thrash said.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"I saw him yesterday," Mookie interjected.

There was silence over the device for a moment.

"Uh, Wing, are you still there man?" Thrash asked.

"Yeah," replied a grim voice. "Look if you see Dive, tell him to contact me. I'm going out to look for him."

A heavy door clanged shut, and Nosedive winced as he opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, but he thought he saw Jorark standing behind some bars when he looked up.

"You might as well get some sleep, we'll be taking off soon. And we have a long intergalactic journey ahead of us."

"Ship…damaged…" Nosedive managed to groan.

"That's not my real ship," Jorark laughed. "That heap of junk in the desert was just a ploy to hide my real business of collecting unique creatures to sell on the black market. No, this is my real ship, which I keep hidden until I need a fast exit. By the time your friends realize that I've left the atmosphere, it'll be too late for them to catch up with me."

Nosedive tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but he felt so dizzy.

"Oh, and I'm sorry I couldn't find you your own cage, but I seem to be running short on space at the moment, so you'll just have to share. Play nice while I'm gone."

He disappeared from sight with a laugh, and Nosedive sat leaning over the floor, trying to stop the room from spinning. What kind of creature was he sharing a cage with?

Darkness threatened to close in on him again, and Nosedive covered his eyes as he lay back down on the floor.

Aw man, I feel like I'm going to be sick. But I gotta get out of here! Why did I listen to him? That was so stupid! Why didn't I call Wing?

Nosedive had to stop beating himself up for a minute as the dizzy sensation overwhelmed him again. Suddenly he felt something nudge his boot, and Nosedive opened his eyes. His vision was beginning to clear a little. He raised his head and saw that he was inside a cage with glowing orange bars. It was maybe just big enough for him to stand up in, but where was his roommate that Jorark had mentioned?

Pushing himself up again into a sitting position, Nosedive had to close his eyes as the room swirled again. Something brushed against him again, and his eyes snapped open.

"All right, who's there?" he demanded looking over his shoulder.

But there was nothing behind him.

Maybe Jorark was just trying to mess with me. Cause I don't see anything in here, he thought.

Nosedive sighed as he turned his head back around, but then his heart jumped and he let out a cry of surprise.

A white, furry thing with two white wings was sitting on his lap. Two bright, luminous green eyes stared into his face. Two paws stretched out on his chest, and its head leaned forward as a red tongue jutted out to lick his face.

"Okay, okay," Nosedive said as whiskers tickled his beak.

He pushed the creature back and opened his eyes. It was about the size of a small cat, and in many ways it reminded him of a lion cub with unusual white fur and startlingly bright eyes. It had two white wings like a swan's jutting from its back, though they were smaller than a swan's wings. His fingers were still resting in its fur from when he had pushed it away, and Nosedive marveled at how soft the fur seemed.

"You're kind of cute," he said. "I mean…compared to the other ugly monsters in here."

The cub stared at him, and Nosedive couldn't resist running his fingers through the soft fur. The little creature rumbled with a deep purr as it kept trying to rub its head against his hand.

"So where did you come from? I guess you can't talk, can you?"

The cub only purred as it pressed closer to Nosedive, rubbing against his chest. Suddenly a jolt knocked them both over as the room shook. The other creatures began roaring and screeching, but their complaints were drowned out by the sound of an engine revving for takeoff.

"Aw, man, so much for wanting a pet," Nosedive said looking around anxiously. "I never wanted to end up in a galactic pet store as one of the animals."