So I've gone through a lot of life changes recently... long story short, since I kind of fell off the face of the earth there for a while, I figured I'd give you guys two chapters this Friday and then hopefully, I'll start updating regularly every Friday again. I am, however, currently looking for a place to live so my life changes aren't quite over yet. So if I randomly disappear again, it could be that I'm finally moving in somewhere and life is just happening. Either way, thanks for sticking with me on this and I hope you enjoy!
Nosedive struggled against the vines that held him.
"Oh man! This is the first time a salad ever tried to eat me!" he exclaimed.
"Well at least things can't get any worse, right?" he tried, glancing at Anna with a look of defeat.
"You're about to get eaten by a plant…" Anna muttered sarcastically.
Suddenly, a flash of green light appeared on one of the vines before it was revealed to be Siege.
"Give me the mask!" Siege growled, going toward Anna.
"Fuck off!" she hissed at him.
"Feisty!" he chuckled, "but I'm gonna get it anyway!" he said, approaching her.
She wiggled a hand free, pulling the mask off her beak.
"I'd sooner give it to the plant!" she growled, throwing the mask as high and far as she could. Siege jumped for it but missed completely, falling off the vine and hitting the ground.
A ship flew overhead, and just as it circled back, they all saw Wildwing come flying in. He grabbed the mask midair and hit the ground a few feet from Siege.
"That's one way to make an entrance." Anna muttered from her spot.
"Give me the mask!" Siege barked, firing at Wildwing. Wildwing blocked the shots, firing back at Siege, knocking him over. Siege knew he wouldn't be able to take him and teleported back to the raptor.
"Hey, Wildwing! The weed killer!" Duke yelled from his spot.
"Got it!" Wildwing said, picking up the nitrogen blocker and sticking it into the core of the plant. As immediately as Tanya had said it would, the plant turned brown and withered away, leaving only mushy vines and dead blossoms everywhere.
"Where ya been! Big bro!" Nosedive demanded, running up and hugging his brother under one arm.
"Yeah, we thought you walked out on us." Mallory added.
"Nah, just got a little side tracked." He said, glancing over at the ship that had dropped him off. It was now landing in the park and the ducks were all surprised to see two peculiar looking aliens exit the ship.
"Guys, meet Flork and Zork." Wildwing introduced as they walked over to the core of the plant. Flork opened the dead roots to find his tiny plant still intact.
"My alterion creeper!" he said happily, putting it back in its case.
"Don't tell me you're responsible for all this!" Tanya said, motioning around to the dead vines.
"Oh no. They had a little help from Dragaunus." Wildwing informed, "who's flying over the city right now in the raptor."
"What?" Duke looked taken aback, "come on, we gotta stop him!"
"Relax!" before anyone could react, Zork was stopping them.
"It is our neutronium core." Flork added, "we made it. We can disable it." He explained as Zork pressed a button.
After confirming their neutronium core was completely useless to the lizards now, Flork and Zork prepared to leave.
"Well, I hope you two get involved now. Especially when it comes to fighting evil, like Dragaunus." Wildwing said.
"You better believe it!" Zork said.
"We shall be mere bystanders, no more!" Flork added as the aliens retreated to their ship. The ship took off and Wildwing turned back to his team.
"Let's go home." He said, a smile on his face.
As they turned to walk home, Anna reached onto her belt.
"Here, I think this belongs to you." She muttered, handing Duke his saber.
"Thanks sweetheart." He murmured, putting it back on his shoulder.
"You know, if you would have just taken the mask, I never would have lost it." He tried.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"You're a good leader, Anna!" he pushed.
"Yeah, well, I thought you were too. What was that all for one, one for all crap?"
"I don't know… maybe I'm not as a good of a leader as you thought." He muttered.
"I could have told you that." Mallory shoved past, having heard that part of the conversation and shooting a glare in Duke's direction.
"You faked it." Anna realized, and Duke avoided her stare. The ducks rounded a corner, coming up on the migrator.
"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. You'll never know." He said, climbing into the vehicle.
"Ugh! Duke, that was so stupid!" she growled, running into the vehicle after him.
"What if that plant would have eaten you before we got to you!" she tried.
"I had faith. But I thought you were going to put the mask on since I tossed it to you." He tried. The others got into the migrator at that moment, causing the two to stop arguing for the time being.
Wildwing shot a look at Nosedive as he sat in the passenger seat. His brother started the migrator with no problems.
"What was that all about?" Wildwing muttered as Nosedive took off.
Wildwing had no idea what the ducks had been up to while he was MIA. He assumed Anna would take up the leader position, as she had been Canard's second in command, and he saw he must have been right since Anna was the one wearing the mask when he jumped out of Flork and Zork's ship. So, what were Anna and Duke arguing about this time?
The ducks walked into the locker room, dressing out for that night's game.
"Wildwing, you have no idea how good a leader you are." Mallory said.
"You know, I'll go one even further wing, you're a better leader than Canard ever was." Duke added.
Anna stopped in her tracks, but didn't say anything. He'd just insulted her brother, but at the same time she knew he didn't really mean anything by it. He was giving Wildwing the praise he deserved.
"You can lead us into ol' lizard's lips traps anytime you want bro." Nosedive added to the praise.
"Well that's really flattering, but uh…" Wildwing trailed off, glancing sideways at his brother.
"Guys, guys! Who won the Right wing toss up?" Phil asked, running in. "The announcers are asking for our roster!"
"What?" Wildwing asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Oh, it's okay now, Phil. Jess doesn't have to play. Wildwing's back!" Tanya announced.
Jess seemed to lower her head at Tanya's words.
"Nobody won that matchup… did they?" Duke asked, glancing between Jess and Mallory.
"Uh, what did I miss?" Wildwing asked.
"Anna tried to give my position to Jessica!" Mallory suddenly tattled.
"Grin was going to be goalie. Both of you wanted the position, so it made sense to play for it." Anna tried to explain.
"Wildwing, would you please explain to Anna how barbaric that is!" Mallory snapped.
"Well don't worry about it, Mal! You can have your stupid position! Wildwing's back!" Jess snapped, stomping out the door.
"Actually, to tell you the truth, if I was faced with that dilemma, I probably would have done the same thing." He said, meeting Anna's gaze. "Good leadership." He praised.
"And speaking of, how was being leader for a day, Anna?" he asked, giving her an innocent smile.
"What?" she asked, "I was only leader for like five minutes." She muttered. Now it was Wildwing's turn to be surprised.
"But, you were Canard's second in command." He tried.
"And? You never said I was your second in command." She suddenly argued.
"I thought it was obvious." He said, looking taken aback.
"How would it have been obvious?" she asked.
"I let you take the lead on a lot of stuff, Anna. And you're the coach. Next to the Team Captain, the coach is just as important." He explained.
"Next time, you might want to make that a little clearer." She muttered, turning and walking away. Wildwing's eyebrows creased. "and if I'm going to be your second in command, make sure Nosedive develops maybe just a hint of respect for my orders!" with that last sentence, she disappeared into the elevator.
"Was it something I said?" Wildwing asked, looking back at the others.
"Nah. She's a little stressed. From what I could see, Nosedive wasn't really listening to her orders as she was giving them." Duke explained.
"Oh?" Wildwing asked, glancing over at Duke. "and what else?" he asked, seeing Duke had something more to say.
"And, I think she thinks Dragaunus has Canard prisoner."
Anna walked into the galley, seeing Jess sitting at the table, spoon in hand as she dug ice cream out of her dish.
"Ice cream's in the freezer." Jess muttered, not meeting Anna's gaze.
"I'm good for now." Anna said, sitting across from Jess.
"Do you wanna play?" she suddenly said.
"Not like it matters, anyways." Jess muttered, "Mallory won't share the position and Wildwing's back now."
"Yeah, well, with every other hockey team we've encountered, they actually do subs. We could do subs."
"Yeah, and Mallory would just be passive aggressive about me taking her playing time."
"Yeah, and Mallory will get over it." Anna pressed. Jess sighed, dropping the spoon in the dish.
"Anna, really. I'm good. I'm there if somebody gets hurt, and I can handle that. Who wants the weight of winning on their shoulders anyways?" Jess tried.
"You're sure? Because I won't put you in unless you ask me to." Anna pressed.
"I promise, Anna. I love practicing with the guys and I will continue to do that. But I can sit the games out. Promise."
Jess and Anna got into the coach's box right as the puck was dropped. Anna peeked behind her to see Oliver in his regular seat. He saw her glance at him and gave her a smile and a wave. She smiled and waved in return before turning her attention back to the game.
The ducks were doing great and at the end of the first period, the score was 2-0. The second period started and right off the bat, Nosedive got the puck, firing it at the goal. The puck bounced off the post and hit the boards.
The opponent was moving fast, racing Mallory towards the puck. Right as she got there, the opponent hit her in the back of her knees, knocking her forward onto the ice.
The ref blew the whistle as Anna jumped over the barrier, running out to where Mallory was laying. She looked to be in pain and Anna was asking her what hurt. The ref was trying to rush Anna, but she ignored him, focused on her player.
"I think he caught my left knee hard. It might have hyper-extended." Mallory tried to explain. Anna held out her arms, lifting Mallory's arm over her shoulder. The audience cheered as Anna helped Mallory skate over to the bench.
"Jess, get ready." Anna hissed, setting Mallory down on the bench.
"Oh shit!" Jess said, grabbing her helmet from the bench.
"Anna, we gotta get this game going again." The ref rushed. Anna glanced up to see it was Stanley.
"Stanley, you've gotta give me a moment."
"Anna, if Mallory's injured, she's injured. She needs a sub." Stanley pushed.
"Can I look at her knee? Please?" Anna tried.
"Put the sub in, then look at her knee while the sub is playing. The game must go on." Stanley rushed.
Jess nodded, pulling her gloves on.
"I've got this, Mal." She promised, skating out onto the ice but staying next to the box as she saw the rest of the team skating over.
"Mal!" Duke exclaimed, the rest were not too far behind him.
"You alright?" Wildwing asked.
Mallory grimaced as Anna pulled her left skate off.
"I'll be alright." Mallory said. The ducks all turned their attention back to the ice as the announcer's voice came over the speakers.
"For her debut, the ducks have Jessica Reese playing for them tonight! Let's see if she can live up to Mallory's name!"
With that, the game was back on.
Anna was preoccupied, checking Mallory's knee for swelling. Phil ran down, freaking out about profits but Anna ignored him.
"Mal, your knee isn't swollen or anything. I think you might have just got the wind knocked out of you." Anna tried, hoping it wasn't as bad as Mallory had made it look. Mallory looked calmly at Anna.
"Oh, I know." She said knowingly, watching the game on the ice.
The crowd cheered as Jess scored her first goal right as the second period ended.
She skated around as Nosedive, Duke and Tanya were the first to get to her, hugging around her.
"You realize how bad of a penalty you could get for this!" Anna snapped, realizing Mallory had faked an injury to let Jess play. Mallory shrugged.
"Eh, felt like I could use a break." She murmured, flashing a cocky grin at Anna as the ducks raced back to head to the locker room for a break.
As the ducks met up in the locker room, Wildwing was the first to meet Mallory.
"Are you alright? Is your knee ok?" he asked, sounding like he might ask more questions.
"Trust me. She's fine!" Anna snapped, shoving past them. Mallory smiled at the weird look that crossed Wildwing's face.
"How was it, Jess?" Mallory asked, looking past him to look at the teenager.
"It was awesome, Mal! Although, I hope you're feeling better." Jess tried to downplay her excitement, knowing she only got to play in the first place because of Mal's injury. Mallory grinned.
"I said she's fine." Anna tried a little louder. "Mallory risked a penalty to let Jessica play." She muttered. The team all seemed to stare at Mallory.
"what, I knew she wanted to play." She tried.
"Well then you talk to me, the coach, and her about it! You don't go off faking injuries and risking penalties!" Anna snapped.
Mallory suddenly looked angry. "What, I can't even do a favor for a member of my own team?" she asked suddenly.
"Favors are fine, but we don't give away powerplays!" Anna snapped.
"And we didn't!" Mallory shot back.
"Guys! Now isn't the time! We've got another period to go!" Wildwing tried.
"Mallory, are you going back in?" Jess asked.
"If you're done, I can go back out. Let them know it must have just been the wind getting knocked out of me." Mallory tried.
"It's totally up to you. I'm having fun, but it is your position." Jess tried.
"Go have fun, kid. I'll play the next game." Mallory said. Jess smiled.
"Thanks, Mal!" she said, hugging the red head. Mallory was shocked by the physical contact, and awkwardly returned it with a one armed squeeze.
"Are you all not getting we could have been penalized?" Anna snapped.
"Anna, chill!" Duke tried.
"Duke's right, Anna. It was stupid…" Wildwing shot a hard look towards Mallory, "but the play is over and done with and we avoided the penalty." He said.
Anna stared out at the ice, watching as the ducks played hard. They were all doing great, even Jessica in her debut. The press would eat her alive after the game, but Anna had a feeling Jess would be just fine. She'd send Wildwing with her if she was completely nervous.
She heard Mallory's throat clear behind her. She looked at the redhead, and then quickly looked back at the ice.
"Anna, can we talk?" Mallory tried.
"I'm coaching." Anna said coldly.
"Oh please, Anna! It's the third period and we're 3 ahead. What could possibly happen?" Mallory asked.
"A coach never knows. A coach can only be prepared." Anna muttered.
"Have you been talking to Grin again?" Mallory asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's my teammate. Of course, I talk to him." She replied simply.
"Anna…" Mallory drew out. Anna sighed before finally turning back towards the red head. "can I apologize?" she asked once she had Anna's attention.
Anna was shocked. Mallory? Apologizing? Admitting she was in the wrong? Who would have thought such a thing?
"for what?" Anna asked.
"for risking a penalty." She murmured, glancing down. "I just… I didn't want to give my position to Jess so willingly."
"You're too proud." Anna stated simply. Mallory nodded in affirmation.
"Yeah. I know now. I know I should have just talked to you guys." She admitted.
"Mallory. You're forgiven. Just, next time wait for a time out and then let her play." Anna tried.
"Yeah, alright." Mallory smiled. "You know, Anna. You're a pretty good coach."
"You're only saying that because I just forgave you." Anna muttered.
"No, I'm serious. Back on Puckworld, when Canard said you were going to be his second in command, I don't know if you remember…"
"I remember, Mal." Anna said curtly. Mallory had stood up, calling Canard out on picking family over skill.
"I didn't know you then, Anna. But now? I see why you were his second in command. And why you're Wildwing's second in command. I think Duke was right, as much as it pains me to say so." She met Anna's gaze, "if you would have just taken the mask to begin with, we probably wouldn't have gotten captured by that stupid plant."
"Thanks Mal. That does mean a lot coming from you." Anna said with a smile. At that moment, the final buzzer sounded and the ducks had won the game.
Excitement electrified the air as the ducks met in the circle, hugging around each other. Wildwing skated over, shaking hands with the captain of the other team. Mallory stood up, moving towards the locker room.
"You coming?" she asked, turning back to Anna. Anna glanced up at the bleachers.
"I'll be there in a minute." She promised, moving out the other side of the box to get up to the bleachers. A lot of people had cleared, so Oliver was the only one still in the section aside from a few stragglers.
"Hey." He said, pulling her into his arms in a hug.
"Hey yourself." She murmured.
"I saw that plant shit on the news." He informed her.
"What about it?" she asked, a hostile tone leaking into her voice.
He sighed, glancing away from her. "I just get worried. I don't like seeing that crap on TV. I've been dealing with that kind of stuff for a few months now. And I act like I'm ok with it, but it just bothers me that the only time I get to hear about my girlfriend is when she's in possible peril, and it's via the news."
"I'm sorry, Oliver." She tried, "but you know sometimes we get alerts on a whim, and we have to rush out. I can't just call you before every mission, especially if we're in a rush." She tried to explain.
"I know that, I just wish I didn't have to find out with everybody else in town. I mean, I didn't know you'd gone to another dimension until a couple of days had passed and even then, it took you forever to tell me about the building crashing down on you."
"I didn't want you to worry." She tried, not meeting his gaze.
"You didn't want me to worry? I found out about the damn building crashing on top of you when I hugged you and I put you in physical pain!" he shot at her.
"I'm sorry. I'm just not good at confiding, I guess." She tried. His gaze softened as he tilted her chin to look at him.
"I'm sorry too. It's not fair of me to demand all this of you. I just worry. I know we haven't been together that long, and that there are things we haven't really told each other about ourselves yet. I just, I don't know, I'm already pretty fond of ya." He smiled. She smiled back, and leaned up, pecking his cheek.
"I'm fond of you too, Oliver. What do you say we go grab some dinner? Maybe I'll confide in you a little bit over some spaghetti at Tony's." she offered. He smiled at her.
"Spaghetti from Tony's sounds great." He said. They fell into step, walking towards the exit and Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulders. As they exited the building, Anna's com beeped.
"Anna, where are you?" Wildwing asked when she opened the com.
"Oliver and I are heading out for some dinner." She explained. "don't wait up."
"Alright. Be careful." Wildwing said.
"Aren't I always?" she asked before closing the com. She glanced back up at Oliver before leaning back into his side.
"He's overbearing." Oliver murmured as they walked down the street.
"Nah. He's just a worry wort." Anna informed.
"Does he have a crush on you or something?" Oliver asked. There was a joking tone to his voice, but beneath that, Anna almost sensed hostility.
"No. It's not like that. I've known him since I was born. He's like a brother, and nothing more." She tried. He looked skeptical. "so, when he worries like that, it's just him acting like my brother."
Oliver didn't look convinced but sighed out. "alright, whatever you say." He said.
"Trust me. You don't need to worry about a thing." She promised. "because I am all yours."