The Sophomore Chronicles: Glimpses into the life of Adam Banks
D3: The Mighty Ducks ended with the Varsity team defeated by JV for the first time in school history, the indication that the school name would be changed to the Eden Hall Ducks and Luis making out furiously with Riley's girlfriend Mindy—all around a happy ending. Unfortunately, that is not exactly how events ended up unfolding. Due to suffocating pressure from his father, Adam Banks decided to rejoin the Varsity team, playing third- line center. The Varsity team once again won the state championship, making the streak 11 years and running. The school kept its "Warriors" moniker and its red and black school colors because the school board refused to budge due to the bitterness residing from the Bombay/possible lawsuit incident. Life at Eden Hall basically returned to normal—to how it was before the Ducks came. The Ducks lived their own idyllic existence and the Warriors did the same—mostly without conflict.
The one notable exception was Adam, whose life was drastically changed after that one game. The end of that game marked the temporary conclusion of Adam's identity as a Duck, and his journey into the life of a Warrior. However, Rick Riley was right when he asserted that Adam "never really had the heart of a Warrior." So Adam lived the rest of his freshman year, stuck in this middle-existence where his Varsity teammates, at the urging of Riley and Cole, did not fully accept him, yet refused to let him be with his Duck teammates. The lone exception was Scooter, who tried his best to act as a buffer between Adam and the wrath of the two seniors.
Eventually, Riley and Cole graduated, along with several other seniors. Scooter was named captain of the team, and Adam moved into the first-line center spot. Sophomore year was a year full of new challenges and pressures for Adam, and he walked his new road mostly independent of his Duck friends. The Sophomore Chronicles provide a glimpse into some of the important moments of this unusual year—Adam's rare yet memorable escapades with the Ducks (don't worry, they didn't just disappear), the beginnings of Adam's budding relationship with his girlfriend, his adventures (or misadventures) in the Varsity locker room and Adam's life at home.
Author's Notes: As usual, I don't own any of the Ducks, Orion, Scooter, Riley, Cole, Wilson, Mindy, et al.—they belong to Disney. However, I do have some original characters, and I hope that none of them enter Mary Sue category—I've tried my best to make them as real as possible. Of course, Pilar Osario is intentionally made somewhat of a perfect Mary Sue, so I need a "Get Out of Jail" pass here.
As most of you might have noticed, my favorite Duck is Adam Banks. I don't know why, but I just have a great time writing about him. I gave some writing time to Charlie, Portman, Connie and Guy in my last story ("Afraid of Change") and that was really fun. Although they won't play a huge role in this new story, don't worry, they'll all make their own appearances. The Duck spirit will stay alive and well. I just hope that you'll all have a good time getting to know such characters as Scooter, Nick Harden, Ryan Hudson, Pilar Osario and Thomasin Logan.
When Adam entered the Eden Hall Varsity hockey locker room, Wesley "Lunch Box" Covington II and Luke Pressman were in the middle of the long-awaited rookie hazing tradition. The new juniors on the Varsity team—Ryan Hudson, Nick Harden, Jason Hughes, Barry Jensen, David Engell, Preston Marshall and Derek Martin—were all in their boxers, covered in shaving cream head to toe, waiting to be stuffed into lockers. Unadulterated laughter was the prevalent sound in the room and Scott "Scooter" Vanderbilt III watched the proceedings with a grin on his face.
All the seniors remembered their own hazing the year before, having to wear various ridiculous costumes around school for a week. Scooter had a wry smile on his face as he remembered having to wear a SpongeBob SquarePants costume to all his classes and sitting next to a flamboyant Liberace pimp and a stealthy black ninja. Scooter glanced over at the glass window that separated Coach Richard Wilson's office from the rest of the locker room. The two locked eyes and Wilson smiled his subtle approval, having seen the like for the past 20 or so years. These guys were getting off lucky, he thought. This was just a friendly tradition and tomorrow, everybody would be friends all looking toward the goal of a 12th straight state championship.
At that moment Wesley spotted Banks enter and gave Scooter a questioning glance. Wesley mouthed "Can I get this guy?" and Scooter read it loud and clear. He shook his head with an expression of menace on his face that said, "Don't think about it." Adam had always been a bit of an outsider on their Varsity team. Adam walked in, did his job, and walked out, with no significant emotional attachments to the well-being and camaraderie of the team. Scooter did not blame him, considering all the crap Riley and Cole gave him last year. It was a new year, and Scooter wanted to make sure that Adam felt more comfortable on the team. Eden Hall was going to need him if they had any chance of moving past the state championship level this year. The team this year had all the pieces required to make a run at a national championship this year, Scooter thought. The last and most important piece was getting Adam into the fold, and after all the terrorizing that he had been through last year, the last thing Scooter needed was the huge and imposing Lunch Box hazing Adam before first practice. Even though Lunch Box was undoubtedly a huge guy who could possibly beat the crap out of Scooter at a moment's notice, he respected the decision of his captain.
There was a malicious gleam in Wesley's eye as he was suddenly inspired. "Hey, Banks, take this locker over here. Riley insisted—its tradition for the last first-line center to give his locker to the new center." Wesley gestured to the locker with a flourish. Adam looked at him with a bewildered expression as he dropped his bag on the bench in front of the locker. There was something wrong with this situation, but Scooter could not exactly pinpoint what. He watched with grim consternation as Adam jerked up the metal lock and opened the door. Time seemed to slow as Scooter saw Lunch Box no longer able to hold in his laughter and Adam's face was shocked. Scooter looked over Adam's shoulder and barely held in an obscenity. The scene inside the locker was harrowing; a huge duck, the victim of taxidermy hung from the top of the locker from a rope, neck broken. Photos of all the Ducks on the JV team were plastered all over its walls with dripping red "X"s drawn creepily across their faces. In the middle of the locker was Adam's own picture untouched by the red, save for splotches splattered from the other photos.
Scooter quickly slammed the locker door shut and glared at Wesley, who quickly stopped laughing. There was a silence in the locker room as everyone stared at the scene. As Scooter jerked open the door of the next locker, he looked around the room and his anger was clear and strong. "Those bastards...Banks, don't worry about it. It was a joke."
Adam nodded his head slightly. "Yeah, whatever."
However, Scooter recognized the look on his face easily. If Adam was closed off to them before, that was nothing compared to what would follow. Scooter swore under his breath. It was going to be a long year.