The grey clouds dominated the sky as Duck trooped up a set of steel stairs up a grey apartment block. As he left the last step, pulled his sandy, brown mackintosh coat closer to keep himself warm from the cold breeze that blew in the air. With each step he took past the other white apartment doors, he could not shake off his nervous shivering inside his body. But keeping a straight expression on his face compressed his urge to return to HQ. It seemed that all the important things were the ones that no-one wants to do. But in the end, he knew that what he was going to do is important and it had to be done.
Finally, he stopped at a door with the number '27' on it. Slowly, he raised his arm towards the door bell at the side of the door. At first, he hesitated as he gathered some last minute thoughts on what sort of greeting he would recieve off the people who would open the door to him. He pushed his finger against the button that set off a buzzing noise that he could just hear. He took a step back and waited patiently for a reply.
"Oh. Are you a relative of the Ducks?" An elderly voice asked.
Duck turned his head to an old woman with a burgandy coat who was ready with her card to unlock her apartment door. The mallard cleared his throat.
"I'm just visiting," He replied. "Are they out at the moment?"
"Well, you're more likely to find Mrs Duck at the Acmetropolis hospital." The woman suggested. "Her husband has been seriously ill and she visits him everyday. She's been ever so worried. Do want me to take a message to her?"
Duck paused when she finished her explaination.
"He's in hopstial?" He checked.
The woman nodded her head.
"I don't know what he's suffering from, but it must have been severe enough for him to be in hospital for a while."
Duck knew that he had to get the hospital fast.
"Thanks." He shot out as he brushed past the woman and ran down the steps as fast as he could.
As he disappeared from view, the elderly woman stared into the space where the mallard vanished from.
"Could that be..." She began, only to shake her head, swipe her card down the swipe card key device, and slowly hobbled through the door way.
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"No! No! No!" Rai desperately smashed his thumbs on the game controller.
"Wow." Shell said. "Slam creamed you again."
Slam gave a chuckle as the television screen flashed his avatar as the winner of the virtual wrestling match. Rai glared at the girl.
"Well, I was just warming up." He frowned.
"So now that you've lost for the tenth time, perhaps you can finally beat him." Shell gave a mischevious grin. "You've hogged the controller when it was supposed to be winner stays on."
"You can have a go when I beat this Tasmanian devil!" Rai snarled.
Slam took another slice of cheese and tomato pizza and took a bite out of it.
"Raguh braguh stop fighting." He growled in his casual tone.
"Then let me win and then Shell can have a go!" Rai clenched his fist.
"No way!" Slam barked.
Shell giggled.
"You two are still as stubborn as you have been in the past. You never hold back, even now."
Both of the men stared at the girl.
"Well we have to try and show our masculine dominance over each other so we wouldn't be known as sissies!" Rai pointed at his yellow, sleeveless shirt as Slam nodded in agreement.
"But it's not like you two are enemies huh?" Shell smiled.
"Grah still friends." The Tasmanian devil grinned as he wrapped his arm around Rai's shoulders and rubbed his knuckles on top of his blonde, spikey hair.
Rai yelped as he managed to struggle out of Slam's grip.
"Do you mind!?" He snapped in annoyance.
Much to her amusement, Shell laughed as she detached another slice of pizza from the pizza box.
"I'm glad we're all still friends. Even when we went on our separate ways."
"Yeah." Rai agreed. "It's good that we're together again."
Slam expressed the same opinion by giving them a hug bear hug. As he squeezed his friends closer, he appreciated the warmth that spread in his body.
"Slam! We can't breathe!" Shell puffed.
Forgetting his own strength, Slam loosened his grasp on both of them. The humans laughed as they got their breath back.
"Were you trying to suffocate us?" Rai huffed.
"Blaguh bah my friends!" Slam smiled.
"Real friends don't try and kill them by squeezing them to death." Rai gave a sly smile.
"Ragh not kill you!" Slam defended in a friendly manner.
"Oh yeah?" Rai grinned. "Well we'll see about that when I take you down on the wrestling game!"
"You're going down!" Slam grabbed one of the game controllers.
"Make me!" Rai grabbed the other controller as they readied themselves for the next match.
"Hey!" Shell barked. "You said I could have a go after you! I want to play against Slam!"
But the boys ignored her complaints as they pressed frantically on the buttons of the controllers.
END OF CHAPTER 4.