Chapter 5: Turning the Tides

In the busy downtown of Anaheim, the populous was running around the city in a panic. Not because of any emergency or danger they were in, but simply because the lives of downtown Anaheim worked that way. Cars looking like ants from far above, moving about the city in a marching, anthill kind of decipline. The many buildings stood over the area, eclipsing the sun with some and reflecting blinding light off the windows of others. The sidewalks were crowded with those going to and fro, all wanting to get from point A to point B, and all of them mad because other people just like them were getting in the way. Just your typical Monday afternoon.

High in the sky, above the city, far above clouds and planes alike, was nothing at all. Nothing at least, to the naked eye. The world was clueless, and unknowing. For a moment, just a brief second, you could see the hint of red among the clouds. Dragonaus and his ship was there, waiting, like an owl waits over his pray before striking it down, and ravishing the remains. The many lawyers, doctors, and bums below had no idea of the beast looming above them, or what he had in store for them.

"This plan marks the end of those meddling ducks!!", a deep and harsh voice called out. The empty hollowness of the ship made the comment echo what seemed to be twenty times, each time becoming louder and more powerful.

Despite the amazing design of the exterior of the ship, the interior was nothing to look at. The ship was a tool of war, after all, and the outside had to be intimidating. The interior design did not matter. In fact, this peticular room of the ship and next to nothing in it at all. Just a few crates in the corner and a very complicated machine with several screens against the far wall. Only three of the screens were turned on at this point. All the screens showed pale overgrown lizards that really looked more comical than scary. The first screen showed a small skinny creature, with long pointy fingers. The next showed a bulking lizard trying to sit on a box without crushing it, and failing horribly. The final screen showed the oldest of the three lizards, who needed the support of his large staff to stay standing in front of the group. If it weren't for the reputation of these creatures, they would have been thought to be completely harmless.

That is not, however, true with the one standing in front of these screens. Wrapped all around him was a purple cloak, that he wore with dignity, power and majesty. Beneath this cloth was armour that is alien to this world. The gold on black decorative armour only showed in more detail his awesome power. The look in his eye suggested that he knew where he stood. He was the leader of this group, and it was very obvious why. His power is unparallel, only exceeded by his cruelty.

"You all know what you are there to do, correct?" said Dragaunus, eying each of his three subordinates quickly and carefully, still judging if they were up to the task.

One of them changed the shape of his body to match that of a bodybuilder. "We are pumped up," he said in a terminator type voice", and ready to pump them out!"

"Just be sure you get the key elements we need for this"

The eldest lizard finally stirred, ready to speak. "I'm glad you have chosen to finally harness the dark powers of our ancestors, Lord Dragaunus."

"I'm not giving up on technology however Wraith"

"As you please..." Wraith responded, with a respect only received through age.

The large saurian with the huge tail, named Siege, finally spoke. "Don't worry boss." he assured, "These new element gatherers will do the job nicely."

"So they shall," Dragaunus called back. "and then we can finish off those ducks, and return to Puckworld, to finish what we started."


"What do WE have to go to the industry district??" Nosedive complained as he stuck his head out of the bright, shiny red convertible that Duke was "borrowing". "I'm too young to get a proper job yet."

"Don't worry kiddo!" Duke called back. "There will be no manual labour taking place. Only good, clean saurian whipping!!"

"That I can live with"Nosedive commented as he pulled out his pucklauncher, polishing it. "This baby was getting a little lonely, not being used and all."

Duke drove on, ignoring the comment. "We'll be there in a few minutes, according to what Tanya told us."

The old industry district was completely empty. Graffiti on walls, broken and dusty windows. A maids worst nightmare. The largest building in the area was a long warehouse, with plenty of room to fight in. A glowing red light told the ducks that this building was the place to be.

"We're going to drive straight through the door!!" Duke shouted as he ducked his head down and prepared for impact.

Just as Duke lowered his head, the buildings on either side of the car blew up in a fiery madness. The flames flew out from the blaze, engulfing the car. With Duke's quick reflexes, he shot a line up to the building the were heading for, grabbed Nosedive, and made the biggest leap of his life. Both ducks screamed as they came closer and closer to the window of their target. The car behind them wheeled out of the explosion, it's wheels aflame along with the leather coverings of the seats.

"Man," Nosedive complained. "That was too good a car to waste!" He just got his comment out in time before he and Duke crashed through the window.

Once inside, they were able to take a quick look around. There were crates of all sizes lying around the empty storehouse. Looking out the window where they had just come in, they could only see the slightest bit of flame left from the explosion site. In the center of the long room they were in, stood what looked like a drill. It was sucking what seemed to be red light from the ground. From behind a crate came a small, squeamish little lizard.

"Awww. And I was hoping to have Duck flombay tonight!"

The two feathered heros knew right away who this villain was.

"Chameleon!!" Yelled out Nosedive, as he pulled his pucklaucher from his side and pointed at him. Duke did very much the same, preparing his saber for a fight.

"Welcome to my web," Chameleon said, as he took the form of a spider. ", said the spider to the fly!!"

No sooner after Chameleon spoke the words, did a net fly down, trapping the heros beneath it. Chameleon just laughed and went back to the task at hand.



"Why is it we need to use these...vehicles?" Grin complained.

Grin and Tanya were riding down the busiest road in Anaheim on bikes. Tanya's bike was a flashy red, with a lightning bolt streaking down the framework. Grin's bike, on the other hand, was a little pink bike that looked like it was owned by an 8 year old girl, due to the teddy bear still sitting in the bike basket. The sound of his bike tires under his weight was horrible, like the sound of rubber in a blender.

"Because," Tanya said in response. "We have to make sure they don't see us on any radars, so that we can sneak up on them. Plus, neither of us have really cool cars, and Wildwing took the Migrator."

"This makes sense, but it is disturbing my inner piece"

"Well, your "inner piece" would be even more disturbed if Dragaunus and his goons destroyed the Earth!"

"This is true...."

The two ducks rode down the road, passing by cars with amazing, inhuman speed, which makes sense, because they aren't human. They're ducks. As the time and road passed them by, the amount of houses and stores decreased, and large apartment buildings took their place. The 24 story monstrosities of human civilization loomed over the two ducks, covering the light and placing them in perpetual darkness.

"I can't see a thing!!" Tanya yelled.

Neither ducks having their sight, they both went crashing into the curb, crashing on the side walks. The once speedy bike became masses of metal which were almost indistinguishable from the concrete. The only light around was coming from high up in one of the apartment. The chilling green light almost oozed from the window, crawling down the walls and into the eyes of the to feathered heros standing beneath it.

"Let's go Tanya!" Grin called out, as he for the first time, took the initiative of the situation. He broke down the door of the lobby, and pressed the elevator button.

"Way to go Grin!" Tanya praised him. "Now we just have to visit every floor and see where we can see the light from!"

As the door to the elevator opened, the sound of sweet music flooded from the doors. The harmonic melody waved through the imaginations of Grin and Tanya, sending them deep into their own imaginations for a brief moment. Waking from their dreams, they stepped into the elevator. As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut, not even letting a single breath of air be taken while they were open. The elevator began to rise without the use of buttons, or even the simple pulley system that runs most elevators. It went higher and high, faster and faster, until it finally hit the point where it wanted to stop.

An image of a large, scaley lizard appeared in the middle of the elevator. It spoke quickly and rapidly, before the ducks had a chance to react.

"I see you meddling ducks have shown up after all!! I'm glad you're here!"

"So are we, Siege!" Tanya yelled back at the image. "We're here to stop you and put an end to your evil ways!"

"Prepare to be flattened against the boards!" Grin added.

"I think not, you feathered freaks. It is YOU, who will be flattened! Elevator....DOWN!!"

Just then, the elevator dropped. The two ducks screamed in shock, while Siege's laughter echoed throughout the small elevator gone deathtrap.



The noise of the Migrator whirled down the streets, barely alarming residents of their passing before the got there. Wildwing and Mallory, instead of focussing entirely on the mission, talked instead about Mallory and her condition and how Wildwing felt while she was knocked out.

"You were right there the whole time?" Mallory asked, somewhat amazed at what she was discovering.

"Well, besides the one hockey match we had, the whole time."

"I didn't know you cared so much about me"

"Neither did I. I only discovered it until recently, when I almost lost you."

Mallory blushed.

"When you first kissed me the other morning," Wildwing continued, "I didn't know what to feel. It was really confusing for me. The only thing I could do was continue eating!"

Mallory laughed. "I really didn't have much control over myself that morning, Wildwing. I'm sorry."

Wildwing grabbed her hand, gazed into her eyes and told her, "I'm not sorry"

Mallory's face went as red as her hair. She didn't know what to do! All her heart had been waiting for this moment, while her mind stayed as a soldier, telling her to fall in love with the team leader was to be court marshalled. It didn't matter while Canard was still around, since Wildwing wasn't team captain then. Her thoughts of Canard brought her back to the dream. How did I get to the dimensional limbo? Why could I talk to him? And why am I able to go there in the first place??

A loud bleeping noise from the autopilot told them that they were closing in on their target. The area was quite bleak, even in the middle of the afternoon. The whole area had been abandoned years ago, save a few homeless folks on the street. The old folks home where they were headed was a small building. It wasn't even two stories tall. Mallory and Wildwing walked out of the Migrator and over to the building and looked at the plaque that rested upon the front lawn. This is the resting place of our fore-fathers. Let it be kept untouched.

"I'm sorry," Wildwing stated after reading it, "but we can't do as you ask. The world of your fore-fathers depends on it."

The two walked up through the main door and into the empty welcoming hallway. A small dark light gleamed from the corner of the old, paint-cracked room.

"Wildwing!" Mallory exclaimed with joy, "That must be what we are looking for!!!"

"Indeed it is."

The old draconic voice filled the room like a harsh breeze, and left just as quickly. From the center of the room, grey clouds of smoke billowed forth. Upward like a tornado the smoke turned, until it showed the figure of an aged lizard.

"Wraith!!" the two now armoured ducks proclaimed.

"That is correct." He replied back. "I do hope you enjoy your rest!"

Wraith then shook his staff around himself as he pointed it at the ducks. Waves of energy fell from it and hit the ducks. Wildwing was able to put up his armour shield and protect himself, but Mallory....

"Rest? Sleep?? The DREAM!!" She screamed as she collapsed on the floor.

"Mallory!!!" Wildwing yelled frantically as he ran over to hold her in his arms.

"I did not foresee this." Wraith said to himself as he watched the events before him.

"DIE YOU MONSTER!!!" Wildwing exploded with anger, shooting Wraith with his wrist launcher repeatedly. The Saurian wasn't able to take much, and within seconds, as down on the floor.

As Wildwing moved in for the kill, the dark light being generated by the machine finally dimmed into non-existence.

"It is finished." Wraith said as he glanced over at the machine. Stretching out his arm, he pulled the device to himself, then disappeared, teleported back to the Raptor.

Wildwing no longer able to take out his fury, walked back over to Mallory and held her in his arms once again. The sight of her hand falling limp to the floor brought a tear to his eye, which fell to her cheek. It almost made her seem living again...

To be continued....