Author's Note:
I finally have this chapter done! It was trying, and involved a lot editing, but I think it turned out coherent and should set up some other stuff down the road. I've also been outlining, and have the next couple of chapters fairly structured. Hopefully it will make writing them a little easier.
Again, thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer:
I don't own the show, Disney does. Apparently they also own 80% of ESPN. I own none of the other 20%. I am not in any way affiliated with Disney, the NHL, its commissioner Gary Bettman, California Sate University, or ESPN.
Wildwing took a thumbtack from Tanya. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Phil?" he asked as he secured a flyer to a bulletin board.
"Trust me, booby, this is genius!" the manager responded. "Colleges are great places to find tutors!"
Wildwing, Tanya, and Phil were finishing hanging fliers Phil had printed up. After spending the majority of the day visiting various locations Phil recommended, they were now finishing an hour of wandering the California Sate University, Fullerton's Student Union. Sure enough, they had seen numerous other fliers either requesting or advertising summer tutoring services.
"I don't know, Phil. I mean, I don't think these are exactly the most intellec…intell…uh, smartest people to choose from," Tanya observed, motioning to a group of men in the arcade wearing clown wigs.
"Tanya, babe, it's summer! They're supposed to act like that," Phil argued.
Wildwing shook his head and started leading them back to Phil's car. "I still think going through a professional organization might be better."
Phil scoffed at the idea. "Professionals are for amateurs. They'll rob you blind! This way we get the best deal imaginable: a college-educated person with all the information fresh in their brains, who's also poor and desperate for any job they can get. Trust me, it's a great idea!"
"Do you ever, you know, not think about money, Phil?" Tanya asked as they turned onto the street.
"Hey, why pay for something you can get cheaper somewhere else?" Phil countered. "I've just got good business sense."
Wildwing stopped as they reached Phil's car. "Uh, Phil…did you check to see if we could park here?"
"No, why?"
"That's why," Wildwing replied, pointing to a piece of paper under one of the car's wipers.
Phil snatched the paper up and looked at it. "You've got to be kidding me! Sixty bucks for not having a parking permit?"
"Well, actually Phil, you might wanna, uh, double that," Tanya said, handing him another piece of paper under the other wiper. "Apparently you're also blocking the flow of traffic."
Phil looked at the tickets in his hands and clenched his jaw.
"You okay, Phil?" Wildwing asked as parts of their manager's face began to turn crimson.
"Just…get in the car," Phil replied through his teeth as he opened the driver's side door.
Tanya and Wildwing exchanged glances. "Um, why don't you take the front seat, Wildwing," Tanya offered, quickly climbing in the back.
"Thanks Tanya," he replied dryly, getting in as Phil started the engine.
They started the drive back to Anaheim, listening to the baseball stats on the radio.
"Now switching over to hockey, the NHL has announced the revised schedule for the Stanly Cup finals. Dallas is ready to take the suspended Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's spot against-"
Phil switched the radio to a jazz station, knuckles visibly white against the steering wheel.
Wildwing sighed and turned his head to look at Tanya. "I hope the rest of the team's having as much fun as we are."
"Dude, that's a total bummer," Thrash stated.
Nosedive had just finished filling in his two human friends on the details of the team's suspension, plus his own mandated education. He perused the shelves of Captain Comics as they shared in his suffering.
"At least you don't have to go to an actual high school," Mookie said.
"Yeah, but spending all this time studying is still going to seriously suck." Nosedive countered, leafing through the latest Zor comic. He added it to a growing stack in his arms.
"So did you have to cancel any major summer plans for this tutoring stuff?" Thrash inquired.
Nosedive carried his stack of comics to the counter, setting them down by Mookie so she could ring them up. "Weren't you listening, Thrash? We got kicked out of the finals! No Stanley Cup for us, man! Our summer plans went out the window!"
"You didn't have anything planned for after that?" Thrash asked in disbelief. "No saving the world from an alien menace? No trips to alternate universes? No dangerous adventures where you risk life and limb?"
"No lame family vacations to the middle of nowhere, with everyone stuck in a car together for days getting on each other's nerves, and the only radio station available has evangelical preachers talking nonstop about the end of the world?" Mookie added as she took Nosedive's money for the comics.
He shook his head and pocketed the change she handed back. "I don't think anyone planned something like that," he said, silently grateful for the fact.
"Dive, man, you've got to find something to do! Be a shame to spend your whole summer studying," Thrash lamented.
"Looks like it's going to happen that way." Nosedive gathered the comics into his arms. "At least I've got a couple days worth of prime reading to look forward to," he said and headed towards the exit. "See you guys later," he called as he pushed the door open.
"See you Dive!" Thrash called back as he and Mookie waved to their feathered friend.
Grin stared at the crossword puzzle, thinking intently. Realizing the answer, he chuckled softly and filled in the last six across. Finally finished, he set his pen down. He arched his back and cracked his knuckles.
For the last few hours, Grin had been enjoying some quiet time at the park. He unfolded his newspaper and spread it out on the table he was sitting at. He'd already read the comics and so turned to the only other part of the newspaper that usually brought him joy: the weather section.
After confirming that it was, in fact, warm and sunny outside and would be for the next week, Grin flipped the paper back to the front page. Looking back at him was a picture of the team and the headline that had initially compelled him to buy the paper in the first place:
BIRDS OF A FEATHER SUSPENDED TOGETHER!
Despite the fact that the headline was horrendously cheesy and only worthy of a pity-laugh, if anything, Grin couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Logically, he knew that the meeting had gone as well as anyone could hope, and the decisions made were fair. However, logic didn't stop the emotional side of him from being emotional.
And having those emotions made Grin feel guilty. Wildwing had been noticeably worried about Nosedive before their meeting, and just as noticeably relieved afterwards. Certainly concern over one's sibling or other loved one is much more important than a hockey championship. Still, Grin felt how he felt, and no amount of meditation had yet eased his mind. It probably didn't help that his own aura was being clouded by those of the rest of the team. Apparently everyone at the Pond had something troublesome on their mind.
So now Grin sat in the park, feeling somewhat lighter in spirit. He casually flipped through pages of the newspaper, attempting to ignore the numerous negative headlines about world events. A page of ads in the classifieds caught his attention. He scanned it with interest, and tore the page out.
Grin got up and tossed the rest of the newspaper into a nearby recycling bin. Folding the ad and sticking it in his pocket, he walked over to his Duckcycle to head back to the Pond.
Mallory slumped onto a sofa in the rec room. Wildwing had cancelled practices for awhile, hoping to give the team a break. Mallory didn't enjoy breaks. She was used to routine training and a set schedule of activities from her commander. They gave her something to do every day and a goal to reach towards.
Sure, she could always practice or work out on her own. In fact, she had been for the last couple days. It simply didn't satisfy her desires. There was no tangible purpose to it: no enemy to fight, no team to beat, not even the element of competition between her and the other ducks. And no amount of sweat and sore muscles could hide the fact that, at the end of the day, all she'd accomplished was sweat and sore muscles.
So, admitting defeat, Mallory turned on the TV in an attempt to numb her mind. She flipped through the channels, stopping when an image of the team popped up on ESPN.
"-crazy revelation that the Ducks' center, Nosedive Flashblade, isn't eighteen yet. The NHL commissioner released a statement blaming the issue on a clerical error and miscommunication between the team and the League. Now the team's been suspended and their season essentially nullified. What are your thoughts on this, Mike?"
"Tony, I think you summed it up great. This is crazy! The commissioner can it call it a miscommunication or an error or whatever he wants, but it all boils down to this: a minor-basically a child-has been playing in a professional, adult league all season. It's insane!"
"What about you, Dan?"
"I'm with Mike on this one, Tony. I think the commissioner's story is insane. I'm not sure what sort of miscommunication could happen where you get someone's age wrong. That's a pretty easy question. I don't know if the team lied to try to make him eligible, if the NHL overlooked it and lied because they wanted the whole team to play as some sort of publicity gimmick or whatever, but someone lied at some point."
"Do you think the penalty was fair? I mean…Just to fill in our viewers, the team's getting a currently unannounced fine and is suspended for the rest of this season. Apparently if they can work out a deal with the NHL regarding the age issue, the whole team will be welcomed back in the fall. If not, they'll need to get a replacement player. So Dan, do you think that's a fair punishment?"
"I think it's as fair as we could expect, Tony. We've never had something like this go down before. As far as I know, there's nothing on the rulebooks about what happens if player eligibility is violated. I think suspending the team is the best choice the League could make in this situation. I will say this: they haven't released how much the fine is going to be. I think it should be substantial and make clear that this is not okay, but I don't think they can do anything more than they have except for kicking the team out of the League. I don't think would be a wise move. I guarantee you there'd be a huge fan backlash, and I'd bet that something would come out seriously implicating the NHL in some sort of cover-up. I think they've saved their own asses here."
"Mike, what do you think?"
"I think this team has gotten so much special treatment already, I don't think they deserve any more! If this was any other team, the player would be kicked out of the League along with anybody who helped cover it up. How old's this kid? Sixteen, seventeen? A normal person that age is supposed to be in school, maybe in a youth league, not out on the professional ice violating rules and laws. This is saying to any other team, any other player, that it's okay to break any rule you want as long as you make the League money! So no, I don't think it's fair!"
"Thank you guys for your input. It's definitely a weird situation that's not going to be resolved overnight. Whatever your thoughts, this is great news for Dallas, who'll be taking the Ducks' Western Conference title and their spot in the Stanley Cup finals. Dallas-"
Mallory shut of the screen. She leaned her head back and took a deep breath. Then she hurled the remote at the wall.
It shattered.
"Shit," she muttered as she went to pick up the pieces. Focusing on retrieving bits of the circuit board, she didn't pay attention as the doors swooshed open.
"Somethin the matter, sweetheart?"
Mallory jumped and turned to glare at Duke as he leaned against the doorframe, eyeing the pieces of plastic and circuitry.
"Why would you think anything's the matter?" she asked tersely, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.
Duke walked over, allowing the doors to close behind him. He bent down and picked up a jagged piece of the remote's circuit board. He turned it over in his hand and watched as loose transistors fell to the floor. "Just a guess."
Mallory grabbed the piece out of his hand. "Well you guessed wrong," she said, resuming her task of cleaning up the mess.
The older mallard resisted the urge to chuckle. "Whatever ya say, Mal," he replied, getting on his knees to help her.
They worked quietly, gathering and sorting all the tiny pieces. Once they were done, Duke collected all the circuitry and stood up.
"Gonna leave these in Tanya's lab," he said, breaking the silence. "She knows how ta get rid of this stuff."
Mallory nodded, focusing on the pile of plastic pieces in front of her.
Duke began walking towards the door.
"What do you do when you go out?"
He stopped and turned around. "Huh?"
"What do you do when you go out?" the redhead repeated.
"Out where?"
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Out to places you won't tell us about."
Duke stiffened. "Am I bein accussed of somethin?"
She cocked her head and glared at him. "We've done that bit before, Duke," she said. "You already proved yourself with Falcone."
He nodded, loosening his stance. "Stuff," he finally answered, still somewhat suspicious.
Mallory gathered the plastic pieces into her hands and walked past him. "Maybe 'stuff' is something I need to try," she murmured as the doors opened to let her past.
Duke wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. He shook his head and headed in the opposite direction.
Wildwing and Tanya walked into the kitchen that evening carrying pizzas. Duke and Grin were sitting at the table playing Rummy.
"I take it Phil won't be joining us?" Grin inquired as he lay down a run.
"Not a chance," Wildwing replied as they sat the boxes down.
"He barely said two words to us the whole drive back," Tanya added.
"How long was the drive?" Duke asked, picking up the card Grin had discarded, replacing it with one of his own.
Tanya thought briefly. "Well, with picking up the pizzas…I'd say about twenty minutes or so."
Grin looked alarmed. "Is he feeling ill?"
"Let's just say it was a rough afternoon," Wildwing said, setting out paper plates.
Duke nodded, focusing on his hand as Grin drew a card. The larger drake placed another run in front of him and discarded his final card. Duke looked at him in amazement. "Ya realize this makes twenty games in a row I've lost?"
"It happens," Grin replied as Nosedive came in.
The teenagers eyes widened at the sight of the pizza boxes. "Alright, Wing!" He helped himself to a couple of slices. "Hey, has anyone seen the remote? I looked all over the rec room and couldn't find it."
"Yeah, about that…" Duke started. "We're gonna need ta get a new one."
"Why's that?" Wildwing asked.
Duke sighed. "Like ya said, Wing, it was a rough afternoon."
