Raleigh wasn't a happy camper. After talking to Wildwing, the man had felt his stomach twisting itself into knots. Was Ruby a danger to his family? Was he going to have to convince Gipsy that 'Princess Ducky' was no hero?
It hadn't taken him very long to figure out where she had called him from and it took even less time to get there since it was only about two miles from the Pond. He knew he was doing a power play by showing up at the motel she was staying at, but he didn't care. He would do whatever it took to protect his family. Even if it meant he had to face off with an alien duck that could blow out a bunch of safety windows using no discernable means.
Raleigh pushed himself off of the fender of his truck that he had been leaning against when he saw Ruby come around the corner of the building. She looked like hell. Her eyes were bloodshot, her clothes were dirty and wrinkled and her hair was slowly escaping its braid.
"Hi," Ruby softly greeted when she stepped up to him.
"Hey," Raleigh replied, displeasure evident in his voice.
"What did they tell you?" she asked, looking like she was about to drop from exhaustion.
"That you busted the windows and you took Wildwing's mask," he answered shortly.
"They're not wrong," she sighed and her shoulders sank. "Would you like to hear my side? Or have you already decided I'm a monster, too?"
"Sure, let's have your side of it," he tried not to grumble.
"Do you remember the story I told Gipsy when we went out to lunch?" she questioned and he frowned a bit.
"A bit, yeah," he responded.
"That wasn't a story I just made up," she told him as she stood up straighter. "An alien race of lizards did try and take over my world, killing my parents and destroying my home. I nearly died and I gave up my normality to become a mage to save my sister. I was taken to a secret location to learn how to control my powers. I suppose it would help if I gave you a bit of Puckworld history."
"That might be good," he agreed.
"Several hundred years ago an alien race called the Saurians tried to take over my world," she stated. "We were losing and badly. Then one day, one of the rebel leaders, Drake DuCaine, came up with an idea of a Mask to help see past the Saurian's cloak of darkness, an invisibility shield that kept their fortresses safe against the rebels. With the help of the mages, he created the Mask and defeated the Saurians, sending them into a dimensional prison. After DuCaine passed away, the mages hid the Mask to keep it safe until it was needed again."
"Do all mages have blue beaks?" he asked.
"Yes, it's a reaction to the magic," she answered.
"If the mages helped defeat the Saurians all those years ago, why are you at odds with Wildwing and his team?" he demanded. "Aren't you guys supposed to be on the same side?"
"You'd think, but times change and so do ducks," Ruby replied with a sad sigh. "The mages dwindled in number and over time, the rest of the ducks turned against them. A couple hundred years ago, they went into hiding where they are to this day."
"So the mask you took, the one Wildwing has been wearing, is the one this DuCaine guy made?" Raleigh inquired; his brow furrowing.
"It is," she confirmed.
"How did he get the mask if it was hidden?" he questioned, his frown deepening. "Why did he come here with it? Is that how they won the Stanley Cup?"
"Wildwing's friend, Canard, found the place the mages have been hiding," she explained, not bothering to tell how Canard found the mages. "In order to get to the Mask, he had to go through a Challenge, sort of a magical obstacle course that tested his heart, courage, compassion and wisdom. After he completed it, he promised me that he wouldn't give the Mask to anyone else. Wildwing and the others came here because they were following the Saurians after destroying their base of operations. Canard had originally been with them, but he sacrificed himself to save the team when their airship was attacked and gave the Mask to Wildwing before being pulled into a dimensional limbo. The other mages and I were able to get Canard out, but because of his promise to me, I had to come here and retrieve the Mask. As for Wildwing and his team cheating, I can assure you that they didn't."
"How can you be so sure?" he demanded. "You weren't here."
"The Mask isn't designed to be any use during a hockey game," she informed him with a shake of her head. "The Mighty Ducks won because they're that good."
"The game they had the other night says otherwise," he retorted. "That was after you came here and took the mask."
"They had just lost the Mask and discovered that mages are real," she pointed out. "Because mages have been in hiding so long, we're now considered nothing more than fairytales, the things that go bump in the dark. Even I didn't believe that they were real until I became one."
Raleigh didn't say anything for a while. He frowned at her as he mulled what she had said over. She waited patiently as she knew it was a lot to take in.
"Ok, saying that I believe the whole thing with these lizard people, magic isn't real," he stated. "It's just make believe."
Ruby sighed and gave the human a sad look. She knew exactly when her eyes changed by the man suddenly backing up into the side of his truck. She didn't like scaring him, but she wasn't in the mood to argue with him. This way was quicker.
"You're eyes…" Raleigh started with a whisper.
"Are glowing," Ruby finished. "I know. They do that when I use magic."
She lifted a hand and a ball of light appeared above the palm.
"Magic is very real, Raleigh," she told him as the ball began to change shape and became a butterfly that flapped its wings and flew around a bit. "Your world has been so long without it that no one believes any more. The magical creatures in story books are also real, but have been dormant for a very long time. They are returning. Things are going to get very interesting."
Raleigh couldn't have spoken if his life depended on it. His heart was pounding hard enough that he was sure he was going to have a heart attack. His eyes were completely transfixed on the glowing shape over Ruby's hand.
It had started as a butterfly before turning into a bird. The bird became a unicorn, then a stag and finally a dragon spouting fire. The dragon almost seemed to be staring back at him and Raleigh had the strangest urge to touch it.
He slowly reached out his hand and just as his fingers were about to come in contact with the glowing creature, it became a bird of fire. He swallowed his fear and carefully touched the being of light, ready to pull his hand back at the first sign of danger.
The thing did nothing when he came in contact with it. It was warm and sent a tingle up his arm that gave him goose bumps. He finally pulled his hand back several seconds later.
"I thought magic was supposed to be evil," he quietly stated.
"Is a hammer evil?" she asked as the fire bird slowly faded away. "Or a saw?"
"No, they're tools," he answered and he could see her eyes return to normal.
"But you could hurt or even kill someone with them," she countered. "Magic is like that. It's a tool. What you do with it is what makes it good or evil."
"The windows at the Pond…" he started.
"Were an accident," she replied as she wrapped her wings around herself. "I had a panic attack. I'm not sure why."
"A panic attack?" he questioned in disbelief, his eyebrows nearly merging with his hairline.
"You get trapped under a house for several hours after seeing your parents die and see how well you do afterwards," Ruby grumbled. "I don't have them very often, but they do happen. I just wish I knew what caused this one."
There was silence between them for a minute or so as Raleigh digested everything he had learned. He looked around at their surroundings and scowled. The duck he and his family had rescued looked so different than the one standing before him. The hotel they were standing in front of was a rather seedy place and it wasn't helping her image by being here.
"Have you been living in this hotel the whole time you've been here?" he inquired.
"Yes," she sighed tiredly. "It's cheap. I started to look into getting a job, but it seems being an alien duck isn't helping my ability to be hired. I'd accuse you humans of loving your paper work and red tape, but Puckworld isn't any different. Bureaucracy must be universal. "
"Where would you go if you could move?" he questioned.
"I don't know," she replied. "I'd really like some place with at least a kitchen and maybe a bit further away from the Mighty Ducks. But without a job, this is what I can afford. Once I've sold off the rest of my belt, I won't even be able to stay here."
"Are you sure you want to pay for these windows?" he asked worriedly. "It's not going to be cheap by any means. Those windows were tempered and tinted, plus they have to be made to order. I'm sure their insurance will cover it."
"It's my fault that they were broken," she answered. "I should pay for them. Do you have the estimate?"
"Yeah, let me get it for you," he said as he moved toward the door of his truck. "If you could get a job, what would it be?"
"A teacher," she instantly responded while he leaned into his vehicle. "Like I told you before, I love little ones and I was going to school to become a teacher. I even worked in a duckling care facility."
"Here's the estimate," he stated as he handed her the clipboard with the papers attached to it.
"Ouch," she whimpered.
"Keep in mind, that's only an estimate," he warned. "It'll probably be higher. I really suggest that you let their insurance cover it."
"Do you take payments?" she asked as she handed the clipboard back, a worried look on her face.
"Not normally, but I'm sure we can work something out," he replied. "Ruby, really, let their insurance company handle it. It's what it's there for."
"I broke their windows," she reminded him. "I can't just do nothing. It's my fault."
"Ruby, you'll be out on the street in a week if I let you pay for this," Raleigh stated unhappily. "Let the insurance company deal with this."
"Would you get the job if I did?" Ruby asked.
"No," he answered. "We don't normally work with insurance companies unless someone requests us or it's one of the buildings we've worked on. Don't worry about my company getting work. We're not hurting for jobs."
"I just feel really bad that I broke their windows," she sighed miserably. "They have enough reasons to hate me, this just adds to it."
"Let me see what I can do," he said as he tossed the clipboard back in the truck. "I'll call you when I've got a better idea of what it'll cost."
"Ok, thanks, Raleigh," she replied with a sad smile.
"Any time, Ruby," he responded as he climbed into his vehicle.
He sat there and watched the duck walk back to her room. He was no expert on ducks, but it appeared that their body language was just like humans. The man imagined that only a whipped dog could look more dejected than the female walking away from him.
He wasn't sure what he could do for her, but he was determined to at least try.
Wildwing was feeling only slightly better now that he had showered, rested and eaten. However, it was still bothering him that Ruby had attacked them earlier. Why did she do it?
He stepped into the command center and found Tanya diligently working away at Drake One. When he got to where he could properly see what she was doing, he frowned. It appeared that she was going over the security footage from Ruby's attack.
"What are you doing?" Wildwing questioned his tech.
"I'm trying to, you know, figure out why Ruby attacked us," Tanya replied as she slowly replayed the footage. "It doesn't make sense. I know she's supposed to be evil and all that, but she's never done this before. So, why did she do it?"
"Have you been able to figure anything out?" he asked as he watched the video.
"It's crazy, but I don't think she did it on purpose," she told him.
"Who didn't do what on purpose?" Mallory asked as she and Duke walked onto the platform.
"Ruby, I don't think she did a premed—premed—premed, I don't think she meant to," Tanya responded.
"You're joking, right?" Mallory scoffed.
"No, watch," Tanya said as she restarted the video.
The image started off of just the empty parking lot and a few seconds in, they could see something at the edge of the asphalt. What at first appeared to be something glowing quickly became recognizable as Ruby with a halo of fire around her. She stopped not too far from the outer wall, a look of near fury on her face.
In a heartbeat, her features went from anger to fear. Terror quickly followed and that's when her eyes started to glow. A moment later the blast hit the building, shaking the camera for a few seconds.
When the camera steadied, they could see the look of confusion of Ruby's face and the flames were gone. It was easy to tell when she spotted the damage she had done as guilt was clearly written across her features. A second later, Ruby turned on her heel and quickly walked away.
"See?" Tanya inquired as she paused the playback. "Something clearly upset her. The question is what."
Before anyone could say anything, Drake One beeped and Tanya quickly pushed a button, bringing up a live news feed.
"What was that about?" Wildwing asked.
"Oh, I have Drake One set to alert me if there are reports of anything, well, out of the ordinary," Tanya answered as she brought up the volume.
"As you can see from the video, these strange little—well, for lack of a better term—people really like to clean," the news announcer said as a grainy video showed an image of what could only be brownies in a hotel room straightening the place up. "The Anaheim Motel management wasn't able to explain what these things are and have moved the people who made the video to another room."
"Isn't the Anaheim Motel the place Ruby had been staying?" Wildwing asked, a frown wrinkling his forehead.
"Yeah, it is," Tanya confirmed. "It's still giving off a low energy reading, too."
"Hey, weren't you making a map of all the places Ruby had been spotted?" Mallory questioned.
"Yeah, I did," Tanya replied.
The tech pushed a few more buttons and a map of Anaheim came up with little red dots all over it. There was a heavy concentration in the Anaheim Mall, but there were others scattered around. There were only a couple of dots by the Pond.
The most interesting thing was the area with only one red circle in an otherwise empty area about two miles from the Mighty Duck's headquarters. The lone spot had a two block radius around it with no other markings. The others stood and stared at that lonely little dot for a few seconds.
"Isn't that where the Anaheim Motel is located?" Wildwing asked, pointing at the nearly empty area.
Before Tanya could respond, Duke started chuckling and the other three ducks turned to look at him questioningly.
"She's good," Duke sniggered.
"What do you mean?" Mallory nearly growled.
"What better place to hide than someplace we've already looked," Duke responded with a smirk. "She doubled back."
"Then why aren't there any sightings of her around the hotel?" Wildwing demanded.
"Maybe she has a way to disguise herself so nobody notices her," Duke replied. "She is a mage. You said it yourself, Wing. What can't she do?"
Wildwing didn't answer the former thief as he activated his communicator.
"Dive, Grin," Wildwing said into the small device. "Meet us at the Migrator."
"What for?" Nosedive asked.
Wildwing's stomach tied itself into a knot. He didn't want to go after Ruby, but what other choice did he have? They had to get the mask back.
"We're going after Ruby."