Yay! I'm so glad y'all liked number 6! Yay! I loved the reviews! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! Yay!!!!! J
I made a deal with Kaeera. She post a chapter of Help (awesomeawesomeawesomeawesomedomoremoremoremore), I post one of Second Best. Well, part 4's up, so here's 7! GO READ HER FIC HELP! OR I WILL SEND MY GUARD LION APOLLO AFTER YOU!!!!!!!! (see me webpage if you're confused about Apollo)
Only Second Best
Chapter 7
"Hi mom!" said the boy, walking into the house.
"Hey sweetie! How was your game? OH STARS!" the mom gasped as she saw her son. He had a black eye, his lip was bleeding, and he had cuts all over his face. "What happened?" She pulled him into the hygiene chamber and sat him on the counter.
"Well, Chucky was gone, so I was the goalie. I guess I got hit in the face a lot…" said the boy.
"That's why goalies wear masks. Oh my…" she pulled out the first aid kit and began to dress his wounds.
"Maybe I should get one…" said the boy.
"Well, will you be goalie a lot?" asked the mother Duck.
"Sure. It's fun. And I do it lots better than Chucky."
She smiled. "Well, you'll get a mask someday. You little Wild Wing!" she laughed.
"Hey! Maybe I should put that on my jersey! Wildwing!" the boy said. "Yea! That'd be cool!"
"Ok then, Wildwing. It does suit you…" she put a few bandages on his head.
Suddenly a drake burst into the room. Under his arm was a blonde baby duckling, laughing. The drake didn't look so good.
"What's wrong?" asked the mother.
"This little…thing…decided it would be fun to give his dad a heart attack by flying down the stairs face-first!" he said between pants.
"Stars! Is he alright?!?"
"Sure. He was laughing about it at the bottom! He thought it was fun!" the drake said. "What happened to you,
Wild-wing?"
"I was the goalie!" the boy cheered happily. The drake just nodded. He was trying to catch his breath.
"Sheesh! You look so beat up!" he said. "And then there's Nosedive over here…"
"Dear!"
"What? Don't you think that should be his name? Nosedive?"
"Cool!" the boy on the counter said.
"Wildwing and Nosedive…I swear…" said the woman, rolling her eyes.
"Nosedive can go on his jersey!" said the boy.
"He's gonna play, too?" whined the mom.
"If he wants to," said the father.
"Cool! Can I teach him how to skate?" asked the boy.
"Let's wait until he masters walking, first," said the mom, putting the first aid kit away. "Now, you need to bathe. Let's go."
*~*
"Hey mom? Do you suppose he'll play hockey someday?" asked Wildwing, crawling into his bed.
"Most likely," said his mom.
"Can we play on the same team?"
"Why not?"
"Cool! I'd like that!"
His mom pulled the blankets up over his body. "That would be nice. You and your brother…"
"Nosedive!"
She smiled. "Yes, Nosedive…" she laughed as she smoothed out the wrinkles. "Good night, sweetness. Sleep well." She turned out the light.
"'Night mom."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"This way, son," said the lady, leading the boy through the door. "Excuse me, sir?"
A drake looked up from his work. "Yes Ms.Rawing?"
"This is the one you wanted to see." Mr. McDrake put his paper down. "Ah, yes. Hello there, sonny."
The boy hid behind the woman. "It's alright. This is Mr. McDrake. He's going to help you," she said in a gentle voice.
"What's your name?" asked Mr. McDrake. He stood up and came over to the two. The boy remained in hiding.
"Here, sit here. I need to talk with Mr. McDrake." She sat him in a chair. She sat down in the other.
"What is his name?" asked Mr. McDrake. Ms. Rawing took a deep breath.
"We don't know, sir. Here's his file. All we know is that he's seven years old, likes to play hockey, and has a brother." She handed Mr. McDrake a folder. "He's been diagnosed with amnesia. He can remember some things, but not too many details. He knows his brother, he remembers some events, but he can't remember his name, or his family's."
Mr. McDrake looked through the folder. "I'll bet his P.I.F {Personal Information File}would say…"
"But the P.I.F.'s can only be accessed by parents or the ducks themselves. And he won't be able to access it until he turns twenty…" said Ms. Rawing.
"Stupid court systems…" McDrake muttered. "So, we'll just have to hope he can remember his name. If not, he'll have to be assigned one…could you bring in his brother, too? I'd like to meet him." Ms. Rawing nodded and turned to the drake outside the door. He nodded and left.
McDrake turned to the boy. "So, you're seven?" he asked in his kid-voice. "That's really neat. Say, can you remember your name?" The boy shook his head. "No? What a shame…"
"The jersey he has on says 'Wildwing'."
Mr. McDrake nodded. "Is that your name? Wildwing?" The boy thought hard for a few minutes. "Sounds more like a nick-name to me."
"Yes, I think it was," said the boy softly. McDrake glanced at Ms. Rawing.
"Would you like your name to be Wildwing? Is that alright with you?" he asked. The boy nodded. "Well then, from now on, you're Wildwing." The boy smiled. It was very familiar to him, somehow. "Now, you'll need a surname. The next one on the list is 'Flashblade'. Wildwing Flashblade. Sounds good." He stamped the paper. "Here that, Wildwing? You're a Flashbalde now. Is that ok?"
"'S ok…" Wildwing mumbled.
Ms. Rawing turned to him. "Can you remember your brother's name? You remember him, right?" she asked gently.
"Yea I remember him…" Wildwing said in an annoyed tone. "He's my brother…"
"Do you remember his name?"
Wildwing thought. "No…" he said sadly.
"Well, we'll have to pick one out then. Let's see…" McDrake stopped as the drake walked in, holding a child in his arms.
"Here's the brother, sir…"
"Stars in the cosmos! How old is he?" McDrake exclaimed.
"Roughly a year…"
"These poor ducklings…orphans at this age…how is he?" he asked. Ms. Rawing handed over another folder.
"The doctors said he'd be fine. He survived the accident with only a few minor bumps and bruises…" she said.
"He's a lucky one…whoever he is…" Mr. McDrake put the papers in the file. "Ok, let's draw him a name…"
"Nosedive!"
The three turned to look at Wildwing. "His name's Nosedive!"
"Another nick-name…" muttered Ms. Rawing.
"Are you sure?" asked Mr. McDrake.
"Positive, sir…"
McDrake looked at his collegues, then at the orphans. "Alright, Nosedive it is then. You boys are now Wildwing and Nosedive Flashblade." He stamped the papers. "Now, let's get you two settled in."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"Canard, honey! Time to come in!" shouted Mrs. Thunderbeak from the step. After a few minutes, her only son skated up. "It's about time, c'mon, dinner's ready!"
"Kay," said Canard, pulling his skates off. He trotted inside. After a few moments, the three were at the table.
"Mom, Dad,
how come I don't have any brothers or sisters?" Canard asked. His parents
hadn't expected this. Canard never questioned his position as an only-duckling.
"Well, uh…" his dad stuttered.
"…Because you're the only one we need," his mother answered sweetly. His dad nodded.
"Oh…" Canard said, looking sadly at his plate.
"Think of it this way. We can give you all our love. You haven't had to share these past ten years with anyone, have you?" his father asked. Canard shook his head. "See how good it is?"
Canard fiddled with the food on his plate. 'Why can't I have a brother or sister?' he thought to himself. 'I wouldn't mind sharing…'
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"I'm going out!" shouted Wildwing. No answer. 'Why do I even bother?' He pulled his skates on and headed up the street.
Five fourteen-year-old Ducks were playing hockey in the street. Actually, they were waiting for their goalie.
"Hurry up, Wing!" shouted Puck. Puck had been from the orphanage, along with Blade. Starz and Ken were from the neighborhood. 'But who's this guy?' Wing thought to himself, eyeing the new guy.
"Geez, can you be any later? We can't play without a goalie, y'know…" said Starz said, tapping her foot.
"I'm sorry, geez! But I couldn't find my stick. Dive borrowed it, I guess." Wing said, fixing his gloves.
"Well, now that you're here," said Ken, "you can meet Canard. He just moved in down the street. Canard, this is Wildwing, the best goalie you'll ever see."
"Not quite…" Wildwing said sheepishly.
"Canard'll be playing left wing cuz we need more offense. With Wildwing at the net, we really don't need too much defense," explained Puck.
"Ok, Wing: Canard, Canard: Wing. There, can we play now?" asked Starz impatiently.
"Let's go before Starz has a hissie," said Blade. Wing pulled his mask on. He entered the net as Blade smacked the puck.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
A young Duck hurried down the snowy street. "Hey Nosedive!" she called out. The Duck ahead of her turned around.
"Wait up!"
"Hey Drecia. 'Sup?" the blonde Duck asked.
"Nothin. You?" Drecia asked him. He shrugged. An awkward silence passed as the two skated on.
"Look," Drecia finally asked. "I need your help…"
Dive jumped. Never in his eleven years had someone asked him for help. Besides Wing, but that was when he needed the cookies down from the top of the fridge.
"With what?"
"Well…" She fiddled nervously with her jacket. "Y'know how my recital's comin up?"
"Your figure-skating one?"
"Yea…that's it…"
"What about it?"
"You see…" Drecia said, "My partner Jake is going to be gone for a few weeks, and I really need to practice. But I need a partner…"
Nosedive sighed. "…And you wanna know if I'd be your partner until he gets back."
"Please?"
"Oh…alright. I guess," Dive said. Drecia threw her arms around him.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she cheered. "Thank you soooo much!"
"No problem…I think…"
*~*
"Now, you can just stand there until my part comes. Jake goes 'round in a circle afterwards, so could you do that?" asked Drecia.
"Sure. Whatever…"said Dive.
Drecia started skating and Nosedive watched. She did some jumps, some spins, so moves, then came up to him. Nosedive did Jake's part, and they continued for a while.
Wildwing and Canard skated past the lake, but stopped. "Hey Wing, isn't that your brother?"
Wildwing looked over. "Yea that's him."
Canard snickered. "Should we get him a tutu or somethin'?" Wing smacked his arm.
"What a little sissie…"
"Shut up, man, he's helping a friend." Wing snapped. Canard reeled back. After a few minutes, Drecia picked up her stuff and left. Dive grabbed his hockey stick.
"Whatever," said Canard. "Well, I gotta go. Homework, joy. See ya later."
"Bye." Canard headed up the road.
"Hey Dive," said Wing, skating up to his brother. "Didn't know you were so graceful. Could've fooled me…"
"Shut up," said Dive, tossing down a puck. "You playin'? Or are you scared?"
"Is that a threat?" asked Wing, pulling his mask down. Dive smirked. Wing took his position in the net. "Let's see whatcha got…"
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"I can't believe Puck left us!" said Ken. "We needed him! He was our main mallard!"
"Now what do we do?" asked Blade.
"Well, we'll needa center. Canard, could you do that?" asked Ken.
"Sure," said Canard. "No problem."
"But we're short a Duck!" exclaimed Starz. "The league requires six per team! We've got five Ducks!"
"We need a replacement…does anyone know anyone else who can play hockey? Preferably left wing?" asked Ken. The Ducks all thought for a moment.
"My brother Nosedive plays hockey," suggested Wildwing.
"Yea, and your brother's also twelve years old…" said Canard.
"Hey, man, don't diss the Dive," said Blade. "He's gotta mean slapshot, and he kicks butt, even for his age."
"But he's twelve years old…" said Canard.
"So? We need a left wing, and Dive plays offense. And he's really good, too," said Wildwing.
"I say we let Nosedive try out…."said Blade. "All for?"
Starz, Wing, and Ken raised their hands, as well as him. "Majority rules. Dive gets a try-out," said Blade.
Canard thought everyone went nuts.
*~*
"You're joking, right?" asked Nosedive, reaching for the toothpaste.
"No way!" said Wildwing. "We really want you to be on our team! Well, try-out, anyway…"
Dive raised an eyebrow. "I dunno…you're really serious?"
"Of course I'm serious! Why wouldn't I be?" asked Wing.
"Coth yor thithtenn yerth olwd!"
"Spit your toothpaste out. You're showering me…"
"Sowwy." Ploof Splat "Dude you guys are all sixteen years old!" Dive said.
"My birthday was last week…"
"Ok ok seventeen. Why would a bunch of seventeen-year-olds want me on their team? I'm only twelve! In Second school!" Dive shrieked.
"We need a left wing! And you're good. But, I guess if you're not interested…"
"Of course I am!" Dive shrieked. "I am! I just didn't believe you…yeah, I'll do it."
"Cool!" said Wing. "Oh, you got some toothpaste right here…"
"Ack!" Dive wiped his mouth with his fist. "When do I do this?"
"I dunno, tomorrow after school?"
"Sure. Awesome."
"See ya then. 'Night Dive."
"'Night bro."
*~*
"Ok, he's on," said Blade, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Definitely," added Ken.
"Uh…" Canard stuttered. 'Great. Now we're baby sitters. The kid's a freakin' preteen for cryin out loud!' he thought to himself. 'This is stupid.'
"Way to go, lil bro," said Wildwing, high-fiving Nosedive."
Canard glared at them both. 'Things are gonna change…I can tell ya that…' *~~~*~~~*~~~*
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Canard kicked a stone into Anaheim River. 'Well, I'd better head back and face the guys,' he thought, as he turned and headed for the Pond.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Nosedive activated his jet-blades. 'I think I know what's going on…maybe I can fix this…' he thought. He smiled as the rain began to let up.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Wildwing leaned back in his chair. He couldn't wait until Dive came back. They really needed to talk. 'Wait a sec, was that a laser-blast?'
TO BE CONTINUED…
