Charyus looked around the makeshift lab looking distasteful and annoyed. Dragaunus had called on someone that helped him once, but Charyus wasn't so sure.
"This is not getting into my graces Pretorius.", Charyus said firmly.
Wally Pretorius was a scientist and geneticist who had trapped the ducks one time and tried dissecting them only to be thwarted. A large vat of bubbling clear goo churned as Wally worked some chemicals into it.
"Just trust me on this Charyus.", he assured, "Though I admit, Dragaunus didn't mention you."
Charyus' expression hardened.
"I'm new, but don't try kissing up to me. It's demeaning and what is with this vat of sludge?"
Wally smiled.
"After my previous attempts ended in...less than success, I calibrated the material to try something new."
"Just be sure it gets the ducks off my back. I don't tolerate those who don't deliver."
Wally tensed. Something about this new saurian put him on edge, but he wasn't about to roll over.
"This new creature will be most useful in your cause Charyus. Just need to add the-"
He was cut off as the bubbling goo burst splattering the walls and everyone there in a thick coating. Charyus had conjured a shield that protected him and he walked over to the vat looking annoyed.
"If you want something done right, you need to do it personally."
He waved his staff in the air and the goo magically returned to the vat. It compressed and shifted like a blob of elastic jelly. Wally watched in awe as Charyus chanted some kind of verse and the goo levitated into the air as it took shape again. It bore a human torso, long tendrils for arms and a head with two blank eyes right over a small puddle that slid over things like a snail, but didn't leave a trail. Charyus turned to Wally.
"What did you do?", Wally asked him.
Charyus' expression hardened further.
"I corrected the obvious mistake you made. Don't make me regret it."
/
Wildwing dodged as Canard held back Mallory.
"We need to get that cape.", Duke said.
Canard had detected enchantium nearby and Wildwing, Mallory and Duke assisted him while Tanya stayed behind with Nosedive and Grin. The enchantium had taken the form of a magician's cape that was black on one side and white on the other with a gem at the collar that was transparent except for it's diamond center and onyx ring a little apart from it making it look like an eye. Every time it turned in midair, it vanished for a moment and reappeared somewhere close. Duke had his saber out and Mallory had her Sword spell though Canard was hesitant to let them cut it.
"Canard, can you fire a puck at the ground?", Wildwing asked.
Canard smiled as he knew what Wildwing was getting at. He did so and the resulting dust cloud covered the cape and Duke lifted himself into the air grabbing the cape by the gem and pulling it down. It struggled for a minute before the gem started glowing and the cape vanished leaving the gem behind only to then appear in Duke's pendent.
"Well Duke, looks like you got Vanish."
Duke put his saber away and his new spell glowed followed by his legs disappearing for a minute and then reappearing. Their coms started beeping and when they checked, they detected traces of teleporter energy. They raced to the Migrator while Wildwing called the other ducks.
"Tanya, can you Dive and Grin met us up?"
"Already on the way.", Nosedive called back.
The place they were heading to happened to be an outside park where pedestrians were fleeing as skeletons rose from the ground and fire was seen flowing around. The Migrator pulled over through the flames and Siege and Chameleon were seen with Charyus searching not far off.
"Well, look who showed up.", Siege sneered.
He held out the Fire gem Charyus had given him while Chameleon rubbed the Raise Dead gem. Burning skeletons came from the ground, but the ducks easily got through just as an ominous glow near Charyus got their attention.
"Finally.", Charyus smiled.
He was standing near what looked like an opal with a blue zigzag ring around it's center. He was about to pick it up, when Duke materialized and swiped the gem.
"Oops. Too slow.", Duke said before he vanished again.
By now the other ducks showed up and Charyus felt a retreat was in order.
"Savor this while you can.", he sneered before Siege and Chameleon warped away with him.
/
Back at the cabin, the ducks observed the new piece of enchantium that had laid dormant ever since they brought it back.
"So what's this one do?", Nosedive asked, "Bend space, change looks, hypnotize?"
Canard looked deep in thought.
"Not sure. For some reason, it's not doing anything."
"Or it could just be an opal that Charyus used as a decoy.", Mallory suggested.
"It's definitely enchantium.", Canard told her, "We'll hold on to it for now. It might come in handy."
Wildwing placed the gem into a special vault Tanya had designed. It wasn't much, but it's what they had on hand. Not long afterward, the alarm went off again.
"What now?", Mallory asked.
Tanya checked.
"Massive disturbance at the lake."
And then the cabin began to flood as water burst from the floor. The ducks hurried outside and good thing Phil wasn't around at the time. Out on the lake, Poseidon and Priscilla were seen raising waves and now had a mass of kelp at the ready. Before the ducks even got ready, a spout of water came up and launched Nosedive and Mallory into the distance leaving the other five to face the Twins. They landed not far off, but the landing was quite a bump.
"Way to launch a duck.", Nosedive complained.
Mallory dusted herself off as she got up.
"We need to recon back with the rest."
Nosedive looked confused.
"Care to say that in English please?"
Mallory groaned as she rolled her eyes.
"We need to get back to the team."
Just then, a bush nearby rustled. Both ducks tensed and armed themselves. Nosedive had the Arrow out and loaded while Mallory had Sword out. After a couple tense moments a full grown German shepherd came out of the bush looking pretty dismayed. It looked like any other except the ducks noticed something: instead of tan and black like most German shepherds were, this one was tan and...blue? Nosedive willed his spell away and cautiously took a step towards the dog. It looked up at him and sniffed his outstretched hand,and the next thing Nosedive knew, the dog tackled him to the ground and was covering his face with slobbery licks while wagging it's tail as it's blue coloring turned pink. Mallory didn't let down. Something was off about this dog, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. Nosedive on the other hand was a little tied up, but he managed to get the dog off him and wipe his face.
"Hey, it changed color.", he said as he noticed the dog again, "Can we keep him?"
Mallory didn't look too sure.
"I don't think so."
Nosedive looked her way with wide eyes.
"Please?"
The dog did the same as it's pink coloring turned blue again. Mallory sighed.
"You'll have to talk to Wildwing about it."
Nosedive then started petting the dog only to have it jiggle like a blob of jelly. The dog's tail wagged and it's blue coloring turned pink again as it looked at Nosedive.
"I think he likes me."
Mallory raised an eyebrow.
"He?"
/
Back at the cabin, Wildwing helped Grin haul the last load of water to the lake's edge. They used a trash can to hold water they collected from the flood and would then haul it to the lake to dump it. The other ducks helped tidy up and luckily the first floor and basement were the only floors affected. They had just finished up when Mallory and Nosedive came back.
"Sorry we missed the action ducks.", Nosedive said as they came in.
Wildwing looked relieved.
"Oh it was just a tussle with the Typhos Twins.", he answered, "Where did you two-"
He was interrupted by a dog's bark.
"What was that?", he asked looking concerned.
Nosedive looked nervous.
"Well, while Mal and I were out-"
The dog's bark happened again and the ducks noticed a German shepherd come up to Nosedive's leg. Canard looked confused.
"You found a dog?", Duke asked.
Mallory rolled her eyes.
"Hey, he wouldn't stop begging me to let this whatever it is come along."
Wildwing raised an eyebrow.
"Dive, we can't have a pet. Especially after what happened with Baby."
The dog looked Wildwing's way and started sniffing around as it's blue coloring turned gray. Tanya looked confused.
"Hey, what kind of dog is that?"
Nosedive shrugged.
"I'm not sure. He just showed up out of nowhere."
The dog had now sniffed a plate of waffles and was about to eat them when Canard pulled them away.
"Hey, that's my late breakfast you mutt."
The dog's coloring turned red as it bit on the edge of the plate while Canard tried holding the plate away.
"Morpha, release.", Nosedive said firmly.
The dog did and Canard went flying into a chair. Luckily it was a lounge chair so the impact wasn't too hard.
"Morpha?", Wildwing asked Nosedive, "You actually named it?"
Nosedive didn't answer, he handed Morpha a bowl of water and the dog slurped it up hardly making any mess as it's coloring changed back to blue. The ducks looked Nosedive's way.
"Why call it Morpha?", Duke asked.
Nosedive picked Morpha up and to everyone else's surprise, Nosedive squished and stretched it and it went like elastic. After a couple minutes, Nosedive now had a Siamese cat in his arms that looked okay except the color points were blue. He then did it again and now a canary was in his hand then a fish and even a lizard. Wildwing didn't let his expression up.
"We'll let Tanya have a look at it and we'll see what comes up."
/
"You..let...it...leave?!", Dragaunus fumed.
Wally nervously gulped.
"I just turned around to get my sample case and it must have slipped out through the ventilation system."
Charyus and Dragaunus had called in to see how Wally was doing on his new creation and what they found was not what they had intended. Dragaunus was ready to start frying, but Charyus beat him to the punch before that got around.
"Maybe not. Not sure how this can work, but it has opportunity."
Dragaunus looked Charyus' way.
"Explain."
Charyus took a breath.
"The ducks don't have any idea what that thing is, but while Wally was busy taking notes, I added a little something of my own."
Dragaunus raised an eyebrow.
"And this will ensure that...whatever it is will do the job."
Charyus looked Wally's way.
"Hopefully. For your sake."
Wally sighed as if knowing the consequences.
"Um Charyus, if I were to say something on my behalf."
Charyus' expression darkened into a sneer.
"I'm listening."
Wally felt braver already.
"I placed a special reflex in my creature that makes it go on a terrible rampage all when it hears a certain word."
Charyus looked impressed.
"You know Dr. Pretorius, if you make good on what you say, I might reward you with an honor of your loyalty to my kind's cause."
Wally smiled wickedly.
"I'll get out and say the word right away."
"No.", Charyus stated calmly, "It would be more amusing to see the ducks discover it first hand."
Dragaunus smiled.
"Yes. That way that creature will destroy the ducks without us giving ourselves away. Finally, the ducks are finished."
/
Back with the ducks, Tanya tried getting a sample off Morpha, but it kept slipping and squishing out of her reach. Nosedive was enjoying this, but not Tanya.
"Nosedive, could you hold it still?", she asked him, "How am I going to get a sample if he won't hold still?"
She paused for a moment cause her allergies hadn't acted up, but the tone in her voice remained. Still she had a job and wasn't going to pass it by. Nosedive caught himself long enough to get Morpha to hold still so Tanya got a small sample to use in her microscope while Nosedive played with Morpha in it's dog form. At that moment, Phil came in and noticed Morpha right away.
"Hey, when did you guys get a dog?"
"We didn't.", Tanya said to him, "I'm not sure it even is a dog."
Phil started heading out.
"Oh man, a dog that isn't the normal color. I've got a major discovery on my hands here boobies."
Morpha then froze as it's blue coloring turned dark. Then it started growing and shifting causing Nosedive and Tanya to pause and gaze in awe and fear. Luckily they were outside so they didn't wreck the cabin, but that was when Morpha shifted into a massive humanoid. Or at least it was from the waist up. It's head had a set of massive razor teeth lines jaws and claws on it's humanoid fingers with large spider legs.
"Morpha?", Nosedive asked.
Morpha gave an enormous roar and the other ducks came running. They shifted into battle gear as they got close.
"Just try and not hurt him okay big bro?", Nosedive called out.
Morpha then froze again and shrank as it shifted back into it's dog form again before the other ducks showed up.
"Okay, what happened?", Mallory asked.
"Yeah. We heard a roar out here and nothing's here.", Duke stated.
Wildwing looked at Morpha suspiciously.
"Nosedive, did Morpha do something?"
Nosedive looked nervous. He knew he should tell, but then what would his team think of Morpha then?
"We did nothing.", he said, "Phil said something and then Morpha changed."
Mallory looked at Morpha who looked back at her in a submissive way dogs use.
"I say we get rid of this thing before we find out how dangerous it is.", she decided.
Canard held her back.
"Not necessarily. If Phil was here, he probably said something that caused Morpha to change, but Nosedive must have said something too which made Morpha change back."
Wildwing looked thoughtful.
"So Morpha has a trigger word that makes it go berserk and another word to calm it."
Tanya came back with her studies and looked it over.
"This is weird. According to my data, Morpha is comprised of molecular structure similar to that of an amoeba which would explain how it didn't cause my allergies to act up."
"And why it could stretch and shift the way it did earlier.", Canard put in.
Nosedive looked at Morpha and smiled.
"Ducks, we got one heck of a pet here."
Wildwing frowned.
"Hold on Dive, this could be something Dragaunus is using against us."
"Just like with Baby.", Mallory added, "I suggest we keep him away from Phil until we sort this out."
Wildwing smiled.
"Good plan."
To be continued...
