"Remind me why Phil has us doing this?", Canard asked.
He wasn't used to Phil putting the ducks in publicity just yet, but he was starting to get used to it. It was another photo shoot for the latest brand of designer wear and Canard was called in along with Mallory and Duke with Nosedive along.
"Something about donations for charity.", Duke answered as he adjusted his shirt collar.
Mallory didn't look too thrilled.
"This is so not my style. Only a complete idiot would wear this."
Just then, Nosedive stepped out and clearly was working the stylish vest and pants he had paired.
"I am one styling duck."
Canard rolled his eyes.
"Well, at least one of us isn't too bummed about this."
Phil came in from the dressing room door.
"Hey guys, you're on in five."
The ducks noticed Phil's bluish hair and smiled.
"Morpha, did you have to come to?", Duke asked.
Morpha shifted into it's dog form and it's blue color marks turned pink as it wagged it's tail. Phil came up and looked concerned.
"Hey, when did your pet decide to come in?", he asked.
Morpha's head shifted into an exact duplicate of Phil's head besides the hair that had turned from pink to blue as it turned to face Phil. Phil didn't look too thrilled.
"Hey, your dog's making fun of me. Tell him to shift back."
"Tell him to shift back.", Morpha mimicked sounding exactly like Phil.
The ducks couldn't help but laugh as Morpha and Phil kept going back and forth.
"Wow Phil, looks like our pet doesn't want to leave.", Nosedive said as he recovered from laughing so hard.
Phil sighed.
"Okay he can stay, but he better not mess up this photo shoot."
He left with the ducks following and Morpha back in it's dog form walking right next to Nosedive.
"Good boy.", Nosedive said stroking Morpha's head causing the dog's blue to go to white.
/
Charyus huffed as the cauldron steamed and bubbled rather fast. The next attempt was ready to be tested.
"Wool of bat, venom of cobra, tail of rat and powdered moonlight."
The cauldron's bubbling stuff changed from purple to grayish and Charyus could feel something forming inside it. He was close and he knew it.
"Add the sand of desert and the rust from an old horseshoe."
The stuff then turned a sickening brown, but Charyus didn't phase.
"And finally, the blood of newborn kittens."
The mass bubbled faster and Charyus felt the enchantium forming.
"Poor unfortunate souls", he found himself singing to himself as the cauldron continued bubbling, "in pain, in need. This one longing to be noticed, that one wants to get revenge and do I help them? Yes indeed. Those poor unfortunate souls so sad, so true. They came groveling at my office screaming "Miracles pretty please!" and I help them? Yes I do."
Charyus used a pair of tongs to reach into the stuff and pull out a dull gray gem but he wasn't disappointed. He knew there was magic.
"Now it happened more than twice. Some just didn't pay the price and I'm afraid they all fell victim to the toll. I confess without complaint, but in defense I've been a saint to those poor unfortunate souls."
He paused a moment to set the new gem on a table near him. At that moment Pretorius walked in and noticed the new product.
"What's that?", he asked coming over.
Charyus looked his way.
"Not sure. But it does something."
Charyus backed further away and Pretorius got closer. The gem started turning lighter in color so Charyus knew something was happening. Pretorius looked Charyus' way confused.
"What was I doing here again?"
Charyus smiled.
"Well, it looks like I found an enchantium recipe for Forgetfulness."
He waved a claw in the air and a glass dome formed around the new gem with Pretorius' expression becoming one that woke up from sleeping.
"What just happened?"
Charyus then looked thoughtful. This new gem had potential and he had an idea on how to use it.
/
Wildwing came in just as the shoot was getting underway.
"We got a problem."
The ducks were relieved that there was trouble cause they were more than eager to get out of this photo shoot. They changed into their battle gear and were out the door with Morpha bringing up the rear.
"So what's the emergency?", Nosedive asked eager as ever.
"We detected teleportation energy as well as enchantium somewhere downtown.", Wildwing reported.
"Has to be Charyus.", Canard said with determination, "Man I can't wait to give that lizard a piece of my mind."
The ducks filed into the Migrator and were off. Canard looked deep in thought.
"Okay, Duke has three along with Grin and Nosedive. I wonder what Fate has in store for the rest of us?"
As the Migrator got close to the destination, music began to fill the air. Faint at first and steadily it got louder.
"Hey look.", Mallory stated pointing.
Pedestrians were dancing to the beat, but they didn't look thrilled about it.
"Dancing?", Duke asked, "That's what this is about?"
At that moment the sky darkened and huge tornadoes started to form.
"And now we have a massive storm coming in.", Tanya reported.
Wildwing thought fast.
"Canard, take Grin and Tanya to see if you can halt that storm. The rest of us will deal with this dancing."
"Copy that.", Canard answered.
He flew out of the Migrator's side with a jet pack with Tanya and Grin following. Invoking his Thunder spell, Canard tried holding off the cyclones with Tanya hurling gusts of wind in opposite directions and Grin using Freeze to try and alter the temperature so the cyclones couldn't form. Tanya noticed a cloudy white gem with dark edges hovering inside a cloud. Canard saw it too and issued Tanya who flew forward avoiding until she got close enough to grab the gem. The weather seemed to get fiercer, but the duck held on.
"Got to hold on.", she told herself, "Have to gain control."
Eventually the storm dispersed and Canard caught her as the gem vanished and reappeared in her pendent.
"So Tanya now has Storm in her arsenal.", he concluded.
Tanya blushed.
"That's three elemental gems for me."
/
Meanwhile, Wildwing, Duke, Mallory and Nosedive had followed the music to a park where they noticed a glowing boom box playing tunes that came out in music staffs that flowed through the air and wrapped around people. Then they vanished an people started dancing.
"Looks like we found our music maker.", Duke said.
And then the Migrator got hit by a massive ball of fire. It didn't hurt it too bad, but it made the ducks quake. They turned to see Charyus and Wraith nearby with Pretorius alongside them.
"Well, that should get their attention.", Pretorius said wickedly.
The ducks were a little confused when they saw Pretorius in his new saurian form as they got out of the Migrator as it had been flipped.
"What happened to him?", Mallory asked.
"I think I know.", Nosedive answered, "Dragaunus."
Charyus smiled.
"Actually, this is my doing. A clever tactic on my part if I do say so. Turning corrupt human beings into monsters or in Pretorius' case, saurians."
"You monster.", Wildwing sneered.
Charyus looked complimented.
"Thank you, but I can't allow you to get this spell."
Charyus invoked Raise Dead and skeletons formed up just as more music staffs came out and flowed around them. Soon they were dancing and getting closer.
"Great, now we got to dance our way through?", Mallory asked getting a little miffed.
While the others held the skeletons at bay, Mallory headed for the boom box with Pretorius on her heels. They had just gotten within a few feet when a couple music staffs circled them and the next thing they knew, they were dancing to the beat. Mallory wasn't in the mood for this. She struggled fiercely against the spell and soon she found some of her fighting moves go off as she got close to Pretorius or a skeleton. The others couldn't help but notice.
"What's she doing?", Duke asked impressed.
"She's dancing and she's fighting.", Nosedive stated, "She's dance fighting?"
"Enough of this.", Charyus said coldly.
He hurled an energy ball at Mallory, but she avoided it while she flipped and grabbed the boom box which shifted into a purple gem with silver edges that glowed as she continued to dance fight. Charyus wasn't done yet though.
"Pretorius, the gem!"
Pretorius reached into his coat, but he didn't get the chance, because Mallory was already on him and he was send flying.
"Time to retreat.", Wraith said glumly.
Charyus frowned.
"For now.", he said.
In a flash, the three saurians were gone and the ducks were back at the Migrator just in time for the other three to show up.
/
Back at the cabin, Canard observed Mallory and Tanya's new magic.
"Tanya can now summon storms and Mallory learned dance fighting.", he stated as he observed, "Looks like she found out how to use a Dance spell as a weapon."
Wildwing was still holding the opal with blue band from a couple days back and Canard noticed.
"Still trying to figure it out?", he asked.
Wildwing nodded.
"It does something, but I'm not sure what."
"Maybe it will be revealed later on.", Duke suggested.
Nosedive was with Morpha playing fetch and Morpha proved quite the fetcher. Whenever Nosedive threw the ball, Morpha extended a tendril from it's back which opened into a net which caught the ball and Morpha would retract the tendril and toss the ball back.
"Wow, you're good.", Nosedive commented as he hurled the ball again.
Morpha's blue coloring turned pink as it caught the ball and threw it back again. Then it turned and sniffed the air. Soon, it was heading to the door with Nosedive right behind it. Inside, the ducks found dinner was being served. It was roast beef with mashed potatoes along with corn on the cob and green beans. The ducks got their shares and then reviewed what the next game will be.
"Okay, this is it.", Wildwing said firmly, "The last game of the season is this Saturday and the team we're facing will be the hardest yet."
The other ducks listened carefully.
"We need to get our act together and play the best we can or we lose the Stanley cup.", Wildwing continued, "Tomorrow we'll practice early and we can get our skill up to date."
Canard nodded.
"I agree. We also had quite a day with the new spells, but we can't let that get our attention distracted. Still, we must not strain ourselves too hard or we run ourselves into the ground."
"He's right.", Nosedive noted, "We need a breather now and then."
Wildwing took all this in and nodded.
"Okay, we better get some shut eye and be ready."
/
Charyus was still a little sour after that encounter, but he didn't show it.
"Clever ducks.", he muttered, "But I'm getting closer to what I'm truly seeking."
He observed the Forgetfulness spell still in it's case and rubbed a claw on it.
"Now that I have this here, I'll need to get another spell to help it out."
Wraith had warped in and looked confused.
"Charyus, I'm fearing that the ducks will soon have us out skilled and overpowered."
"Oh Wraith, do you ever lighten up?", Charyus asked annoyed by Wraith's tone of voice, "Have you lost sight of the big picture I'm aiming for?"
Wraith didn't look too thrilled.
"If you're so smart, why don't you fight instead of using your magic?"
Charyus and Wraith turned to see Siege walk in looking annoyed.
"You're so caught up in our ancestral magic that you both don't realize it's overrated."
Charyus frowned and the room grew dark.
"Do not underestimate my power Siege.", he warned.
His cauldron reappeared and Charyus started mixing again.
"Nails of fox, fur of seal, tongue of whale and feather of raven."
The cauldron's mix bubbled and frothed as it became a dark red. The room grew lighted and Siege backed away, but he wasn't buying any of this. He eventually decided to leave and was as Charyus was adding the next ingredients.
"Root of wormwood, sap of ivy, eyes of spider and wheat that burns."
The mix was now a pale white and frothing blue bubbles on the sides, but Charyus wasn't worried.
"Now, to add the one last ingredient.", he said firmly, "Scales from basilisk that has long past."
A glass jar floated from the shelf and Charyus pulled out a few dusty looking scales that looked ready to fall apart to sand which he added.
"Now, begin thy petrification spell."
The mix turned dark brown as Charyus reached in with his tongs. Wraith observed as Charyus extracted a brown gem with gray edges and set it near the Forgetfulness spell.
"And now Petrification is added.", Charyus said proudly.
Wraith didn't look as thrilled.
"And how is this different from when you froze things?"
"That was a temporary spell.", Charyus answered, "But this will encase an enemy in a shell so strong, that no weapon can ever free them."
/
Wildwing laid on his bed as Nosedive was getting into his. Morpha was curled up at the foot of Nosedive's bed and looking quite content.
"Can you believe it's nearly a year and a half since we came here?", Nosedive asked, "And we're this close to the finals?"
Wildwing smiled.
"Yeah, Charyus and Dragaunus are still out there, but we're ready for them if they ever show up."
Wildwing remembered that day alright. The day they met Phil he was down on his luck and the Pond was about to go, but then they showed up and after a game they were hit celebrities and rising Hockey stars in the sports world. He then looked at the opal he still had and then put it back inside his pants pocket. Luckily Nosedive wasn't paying attention as he was petting Morpha. Morpha then looked at Nosedive and whimpered.
"Oh yeah, I forgot Morpha's water for the day.", Nosedive said as he got out of bed.
Morpha and Nosedive left leaving Wildwing alone. He couldn't help but smile.
"A pet that only needs a bowl of water every day and doesn't shed, go to the bathroom, need a carrier, or has to be one animal. Yep, Dive sure found his perfect pet."
He then took out the opal again and looked at it as if it was about to do something. Then he noticed something on the blue band. Using the Mask of DuCaine, he made it out.
"I'm near and yet I can be everywhere. I glow bright in dark moments and restore faith when it seems lost."
Wildwing grew interested. What did it mean and why was it there? He pondered for a while and soon found his eyes growing weary. He managed to set the opal back in his pants pocket and the mask on the table next to him before he finally laid his head on his pillow. At that moment, Nosedive came back in with Morpha who looked much better than earlier and they got back into bed again.
"Well, good night big bro.", Nosedive said as he pulled his covers up.
"Good night Dive.", Wildwing answered.
Both ducks were asleep before Morpha extended a tendril and flipped the light switch and closed the door quietly. In the dark, it could still see, but it curled up and was soon asleep as well.
