Chapter 1
Mallory walked out of the room she and Tanya were sharing, peeking out around the door to make sure that non of the other ducks were around. Looking warily both ways down the hallway, she crept silently out into the deserted hallway. She turned to the left, walking in front of the room that Wildwing and Nosedive shared, stopping quickly in front of their door, she softly put an ear to the door and listened for any sounds coming from with in the silent room. She smiled impishly to herself, all was quiet.
She continued down the hall, passing the door that led into the kitchen, not noticing the lone figure sitting in the shrouded darkness of the room. The figure slipped out of the kitchen and stealthily followed her down the hallway. Getting into the secret base's elevator she pushed a button selecting to go up to the hockey rink. Stepping out, the door shut behind her and the elevator proceeded to go back down the shaft into the heart of the base below the hockey stadium. The young woman turned around and regarded the door suspiciously. What am I doing? She wondered to herself.
She looked towards the rink and the deserted ice ring. Indeed, what am I doing? If the others knew…the thought ended mid-sentence as she heard a noise coming from the way she had just come. Did someone just come up the elevator? She wondered, slowly turning around and walking back towards the locker rooms.
A hand shot out from the shadows of the grandstands, grabbing Mallory by her shoulder and whipping her around. "What the hell!" She yelled, quickly spinning around on her left foot and planting her right foot in her assailant's stomach. The hand immediately left go of her shoulder and the man grabbed hold of his stomach and doubled-over in pain. "Phil?" Mallory asked, placing a hand on the plump agent's shoulder. "Sorry Phil, but you should know better than to sneak up on me like that." Mallory scolded. "What are you doing here this late at night?" She asked, I guess it's a good thing he didn't catch me then, isn't it? I certainly don't need him telling-
"I forgot something in my office," Phil started to say, slowly standing up straight, gently rubbing his sore belly. "I was just getting it when I heard a noise out here, I came out to see what it was-"
"In the bleachers?" Mallory asked sarcastically.
"Well, yeah." Phil said, blushing slightly. "I was gonna ambush whoever was trying to brake into the pond after hours…you know give them the scare of their lives so they never try it again. I just didn't figure on getting the shit kicked out of my by one of my own players." Phil finished. Lamely trying to cover his own ass and his lack of courage.
"I'm sure Phil, real sure." Mallory mocked. "Now shouldn't you be getting home? Want me to walk you out to your car, or do you think it's safe enough for you to walk out there all by your lonesome?" Mallory asked, placing an arm across Phil's shoulders.
Phil stuttered, "I-um, I…I'm sure…well, it…I think…it…um, yeah…no I mean…NO!" He finally managed to get out. "I certainly don't need a female protecting me! Least of all some alien female duck!" With that Phil grabbed up his envelope and papers and hurried out of the pond. Mallory watched him go, a faint smile playing across her beak.
She turned once more towards the ice rink, slowly making her way to it's edge. I'm so glad that the guys are all asleep…they'd never let me live this down. I'd never be able to look any of them in the face, it'd be to disgracing. She glanced down at what she was wearing, her bulky team jersey, the one she wears for games. Without having all the padding and gear protection on underneath the shirt looked way to big for her and hung limply on her small frame. Sometimes I hate being this small…she thought, just slightly agitated. Wildwing use to think I couldn't pull my own weight… he thought that because I'm a female that I'm not cut out for this type of work. It's not that he's biased or anything, he just didn't want to see anyone from the team get hurt and he was always so over protective, especially towards me and his little brother Nosedive…damn annoying kid anyways! Why did Canard have to allow that dumb blond along anyway? Because of Wildwing…she sighed in frustration. Then you got Grin and Duke, Grin don't really care about having a female on the team. 'Your inner peace is strong enough as long as you don't disrupt it…' he would say, what ever that means. Duke and I just really never got along, he seems to have taken a shine to Tanya, but she just can't seem to see that…but then again she's tried telling me that Wildwing has a crush on me and that I don't see that. Ha, I've looked and I certainly haven't seen anything there so she I have to admit that if Duke really does like her like I think he does, she wouldn't know it unless he came up and said it to her face! The team seems to have taken to Tanya a lot better than they did me, perhaps it's because of the fact that she'd not military oriented, she's more interested in mechanical and technology, she shivers slightly and grimaces, things…she's not as prone to go out and try to beat the living shit out of anybody the way I am…I know they think that I'm a loose cannon sometimes, but it's just who I am, I can't help it. She sighed again, looking down at the ice.
Glancing quickly around the rink, making sure that no one else was around, she stripped out of her oversized jersey and skated out onto the ice. The moon was lending its pale silver light to the atmosphere that night, and the light filtered into the rink through a series of skylights at the furthest up sections of the rink. She skated out onto the ice, gently swaying her hips, a soft, romantic song playing on the personal CD player she was carrying with her. She didn't notice the pair of dark eyes that watched her from the shadows of the bleachers.
She skated silently for a while, just doing simple figure eights, once in a while quickly reversing her direction and skating backwards, the air rushing past her and ruffling her hair in it's breeze. The small, powder blue tank top she was wearing billowed around her small body, the wind whipping around the bluish-silver ice skater's skirt she had on. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the ring, looking curiously around, her eyes stopped then passed over the spot where the silent pair of eyes had been watching her previously, but were no longer there.
She skated off of the rink and toward the announcer's booth. Looking around the small and cramped compartment she found the amplifier and the PA system. Looking around for a few more seconds she found what looked like a CD player. Popping one of her CD's in, she pushed the play button, or at least she was hoping it was the play button then left and walked back towards the ice rink.
A light sound began over the speakers, carrying like the sweet song of the flute. Mallory slowly began circling around the rink, just swaying gently to the sound of the flutes. The flute crescendo and a soft female voice began to sing. Celine Dion and the theme song from the Titanic. The stranger sitting in the bleachers moved closer to the rink, trying to get a better look at the female duck skating untroubled down on the ice.
Mallory began to sing along with the lyrics to the song, her body swaying to the beat, her shoulders moving to the music. She balanced on one foot and suddenly jumped into the air, landing on the ice facing backwards, she steadied herself with her hands and continued skating backwards, propelling herself with both feet now. She brought her hands up into the air over her head and slithered down towards the ice, almost sitting on her tail feathers. She slowed, till she was almost not moving and slowly begun to spin, sticking her right leg out in front of her, the toes pointed out in front of her. She picked up the speed on the spin, almost becoming dizzy, then suddenly standing up bring her hands up over her head and snaking them down along the sides of her body.
The music suddenly switched, playing Savage Garden's Animal Song, the skater down on the ice picked up her pace slightly, quickening her pace. She moved to the music, her body gyrating to the beat, and her head bouncing to the music. She smiled, her entire being dancing to the music. She skidded to a halt and suddenly reversed direction and begun skating in a complete different direction. She did a figure eight in the middle of the rink and suddenly started to spin again, but this time she stayed up on her feet.
She started skating again, picking up speed, dodging and darting on the ice, like she was avoiding obstacles. Mal propelled herself into the air, somersaulting, her hands touching the cold ice only to flip herself up though the air again. Her feet hit the ice once again, but she repeated the move again, somersaulting into the air, but this time pulling her knees to her chest and tucking and rolling through the air then unrolling her body as she landed perfectly on the ice. She resumed skating again, this time backwards slightly turned around to watch where she was going. She spun easily on her left foot again, bringing her right leg up and gripping the blade on her skate gingerly, she let go of the blade and brought her foot up behind her back and arched her neck throwing her head back. She continued the spin, her hair whipping wildly around her face. The song ended, only to be replaced by Savage Garden's Santa Monica…a song with the same upbeat as the Animal Song.
Mallory slowed, she bent down and gripped the toes of her skates, her back facing the unknown stranger. He watched as she bent down and gently pushed herself off, skating backwards while holding onto the front of her skates. She kept her beak near her knees, her eyes focused on the ice speeding by under her feet. She didn't look up as she passed the spot he sat at, didn't even know he was there. Her mind was on other things…not her surroundings; it never crossed her mind that someone was watching her. The rest of her teammates were all asleep down in the secret base, and the hockey stadium was impenetrable. That was one thing they had made sure off, especially after the fiasco dealing with the B.R.A.W.N. Wildwing wanted to make sure that they wouldn't have to deal with anything else blasting it's way into the stadium so he'd ordered Tanya to reinforce the stadium walls. Nothing could brake into the building, so the lone female duck never thought that someone could be watching her.
She continued skating that way for a bit, the rhythm of the song her driving force, her back spasmed so she stood up, stretching her hands up over her head, shaking her tail feathers, trying to rid herself of the kink in her back. She suddenly felt someone come up behind her and wrap their hand around her mouth, effectively stifling the scream she was about to emit. She tried to throw her elbow back, trying to jab them in the stomach, but they only laughed. Their mouth was right next to her ear, she could feel their breath on her cheek. She cringed, allowing her body to go limp, hoping they would think she had fainted, instead they threw their other arm around her waste, effectively pulling her up against a hard chest.
Mallory struggled as her assailant attempted to drag her towards the edge of the rink. She couldn't allow him to get her outside of the pond, she had a much better chance if she could keep him here in the pond. If she could just get to her communicator, try to call Wildwing or Tanya, somebody.
"I don't think so," a male's voice said right next to her ear. He gripped her wrist and removed to comm unit there. "You certainly are not going to call for reinforcements." He chuckled low in his throat. "So, which one are you? Tanya or Mallory? From the description that Dragaunus has given me, I would guess the latter. Well, Mallory, His Lordship is waiting to see you." With that said, both disappeared in a brilliant green light.
Mallory walked out of the room she and Tanya were sharing, peeking out around the door to make sure that non of the other ducks were around. Looking warily both ways down the hallway, she crept silently out into the deserted hallway. She turned to the left, walking in front of the room that Wildwing and Nosedive shared, stopping quickly in front of their door, she softly put an ear to the door and listened for any sounds coming from with in the silent room. She smiled impishly to herself, all was quiet.
She continued down the hall, passing the door that led into the kitchen, not noticing the lone figure sitting in the shrouded darkness of the room. The figure slipped out of the kitchen and stealthily followed her down the hallway. Getting into the secret base's elevator she pushed a button selecting to go up to the hockey rink. Stepping out, the door shut behind her and the elevator proceeded to go back down the shaft into the heart of the base below the hockey stadium. The young woman turned around and regarded the door suspiciously. What am I doing? She wondered to herself.
She looked towards the rink and the deserted ice ring. Indeed, what am I doing? If the others knew…the thought ended mid-sentence as she heard a noise coming from the way she had just come. Did someone just come up the elevator? She wondered, slowly turning around and walking back towards the locker rooms.
A hand shot out from the shadows of the grandstands, grabbing Mallory by her shoulder and whipping her around. "What the hell!" She yelled, quickly spinning around on her left foot and planting her right foot in her assailant's stomach. The hand immediately left go of her shoulder and the man grabbed hold of his stomach and doubled-over in pain. "Phil?" Mallory asked, placing a hand on the plump agent's shoulder. "Sorry Phil, but you should know better than to sneak up on me like that." Mallory scolded. "What are you doing here this late at night?" She asked, I guess it's a good thing he didn't catch me then, isn't it? I certainly don't need him telling-
"I forgot something in my office," Phil started to say, slowly standing up straight, gently rubbing his sore belly. "I was just getting it when I heard a noise out here, I came out to see what it was-"
"In the bleachers?" Mallory asked sarcastically.
"Well, yeah." Phil said, blushing slightly. "I was gonna ambush whoever was trying to brake into the pond after hours…you know give them the scare of their lives so they never try it again. I just didn't figure on getting the shit kicked out of my by one of my own players." Phil finished. Lamely trying to cover his own ass and his lack of courage.
"I'm sure Phil, real sure." Mallory mocked. "Now shouldn't you be getting home? Want me to walk you out to your car, or do you think it's safe enough for you to walk out there all by your lonesome?" Mallory asked, placing an arm across Phil's shoulders.
Phil stuttered, "I-um, I…I'm sure…well, it…I think…it…um, yeah…no I mean…NO!" He finally managed to get out. "I certainly don't need a female protecting me! Least of all some alien female duck!" With that Phil grabbed up his envelope and papers and hurried out of the pond. Mallory watched him go, a faint smile playing across her beak.
She turned once more towards the ice rink, slowly making her way to it's edge. I'm so glad that the guys are all asleep…they'd never let me live this down. I'd never be able to look any of them in the face, it'd be to disgracing. She glanced down at what she was wearing, her bulky team jersey, the one she wears for games. Without having all the padding and gear protection on underneath the shirt looked way to big for her and hung limply on her small frame. Sometimes I hate being this small…she thought, just slightly agitated. Wildwing use to think I couldn't pull my own weight… he thought that because I'm a female that I'm not cut out for this type of work. It's not that he's biased or anything, he just didn't want to see anyone from the team get hurt and he was always so over protective, especially towards me and his little brother Nosedive…damn annoying kid anyways! Why did Canard have to allow that dumb blond along anyway? Because of Wildwing…she sighed in frustration. Then you got Grin and Duke, Grin don't really care about having a female on the team. 'Your inner peace is strong enough as long as you don't disrupt it…' he would say, what ever that means. Duke and I just really never got along, he seems to have taken a shine to Tanya, but she just can't seem to see that…but then again she's tried telling me that Wildwing has a crush on me and that I don't see that. Ha, I've looked and I certainly haven't seen anything there so she I have to admit that if Duke really does like her like I think he does, she wouldn't know it unless he came up and said it to her face! The team seems to have taken to Tanya a lot better than they did me, perhaps it's because of the fact that she'd not military oriented, she's more interested in mechanical and technology, she shivers slightly and grimaces, things…she's not as prone to go out and try to beat the living shit out of anybody the way I am…I know they think that I'm a loose cannon sometimes, but it's just who I am, I can't help it. She sighed again, looking down at the ice.
Glancing quickly around the rink, making sure that no one else was around, she stripped out of her oversized jersey and skated out onto the ice. The moon was lending its pale silver light to the atmosphere that night, and the light filtered into the rink through a series of skylights at the furthest up sections of the rink. She skated out onto the ice, gently swaying her hips, a soft, romantic song playing on the personal CD player she was carrying with her. She didn't notice the pair of dark eyes that watched her from the shadows of the bleachers.
She skated silently for a while, just doing simple figure eights, once in a while quickly reversing her direction and skating backwards, the air rushing past her and ruffling her hair in it's breeze. The small, powder blue tank top she was wearing billowed around her small body, the wind whipping around the bluish-silver ice skater's skirt she had on. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the ring, looking curiously around, her eyes stopped then passed over the spot where the silent pair of eyes had been watching her previously, but were no longer there.
She skated off of the rink and toward the announcer's booth. Looking around the small and cramped compartment she found the amplifier and the PA system. Looking around for a few more seconds she found what looked like a CD player. Popping one of her CD's in, she pushed the play button, or at least she was hoping it was the play button then left and walked back towards the ice rink.
A light sound began over the speakers, carrying like the sweet song of the flute. Mallory slowly began circling around the rink, just swaying gently to the sound of the flutes. The flute crescendo and a soft female voice began to sing. Celine Dion and the theme song from the Titanic. The stranger sitting in the bleachers moved closer to the rink, trying to get a better look at the female duck skating untroubled down on the ice.
Mallory began to sing along with the lyrics to the song, her body swaying to the beat, her shoulders moving to the music. She balanced on one foot and suddenly jumped into the air, landing on the ice facing backwards, she steadied herself with her hands and continued skating backwards, propelling herself with both feet now. She brought her hands up into the air over her head and slithered down towards the ice, almost sitting on her tail feathers. She slowed, till she was almost not moving and slowly begun to spin, sticking her right leg out in front of her, the toes pointed out in front of her. She picked up the speed on the spin, almost becoming dizzy, then suddenly standing up bring her hands up over her head and snaking them down along the sides of her body.
The music suddenly switched, playing Savage Garden's Animal Song, the skater down on the ice picked up her pace slightly, quickening her pace. She moved to the music, her body gyrating to the beat, and her head bouncing to the music. She smiled, her entire being dancing to the music. She skidded to a halt and suddenly reversed direction and begun skating in a complete different direction. She did a figure eight in the middle of the rink and suddenly started to spin again, but this time she stayed up on her feet.
She started skating again, picking up speed, dodging and darting on the ice, like she was avoiding obstacles. Mal propelled herself into the air, somersaulting, her hands touching the cold ice only to flip herself up though the air again. Her feet hit the ice once again, but she repeated the move again, somersaulting into the air, but this time pulling her knees to her chest and tucking and rolling through the air then unrolling her body as she landed perfectly on the ice. She resumed skating again, this time backwards slightly turned around to watch where she was going. She spun easily on her left foot again, bringing her right leg up and gripping the blade on her skate gingerly, she let go of the blade and brought her foot up behind her back and arched her neck throwing her head back. She continued the spin, her hair whipping wildly around her face. The song ended, only to be replaced by Savage Garden's Santa Monica…a song with the same upbeat as the Animal Song.
Mallory slowed, she bent down and gripped the toes of her skates, her back facing the unknown stranger. He watched as she bent down and gently pushed herself off, skating backwards while holding onto the front of her skates. She kept her beak near her knees, her eyes focused on the ice speeding by under her feet. She didn't look up as she passed the spot he sat at, didn't even know he was there. Her mind was on other things…not her surroundings; it never crossed her mind that someone was watching her. The rest of her teammates were all asleep down in the secret base, and the hockey stadium was impenetrable. That was one thing they had made sure off, especially after the fiasco dealing with the B.R.A.W.N. Wildwing wanted to make sure that they wouldn't have to deal with anything else blasting it's way into the stadium so he'd ordered Tanya to reinforce the stadium walls. Nothing could brake into the building, so the lone female duck never thought that someone could be watching her.
She continued skating that way for a bit, the rhythm of the song her driving force, her back spasmed so she stood up, stretching her hands up over her head, shaking her tail feathers, trying to rid herself of the kink in her back. She suddenly felt someone come up behind her and wrap their hand around her mouth, effectively stifling the scream she was about to emit. She tried to throw her elbow back, trying to jab them in the stomach, but they only laughed. Their mouth was right next to her ear, she could feel their breath on her cheek. She cringed, allowing her body to go limp, hoping they would think she had fainted, instead they threw their other arm around her waste, effectively pulling her up against a hard chest.
Mallory struggled as her assailant attempted to drag her towards the edge of the rink. She couldn't allow him to get her outside of the pond, she had a much better chance if she could keep him here in the pond. If she could just get to her communicator, try to call Wildwing or Tanya, somebody.
"I don't think so," a male's voice said right next to her ear. He gripped her wrist and removed to comm unit there. "You certainly are not going to call for reinforcements." He chuckled low in his throat. "So, which one are you? Tanya or Mallory? From the description that Dragaunus has given me, I would guess the latter. Well, Mallory, His Lordship is waiting to see you." With that said, both disappeared in a brilliant green light.
