Summary: The Ducks learn that there's a lot more to this girl than what meets the eye, as she provides information about Dragaunus that no one else could possibly know.
Friend or Foe?
It had been over half an hour since Nosedive had returned to the Pond with his 'guest'. Once Tanya had the Medicom going Dive was bombarded with questions about his run in with Chameleon.
"Did he say what Dragaunus had planned?" Wing asked.
"I already told you, all he said was that Lizard Lips had big plans for me," said Dive exasperatedly.
"Okay, what happened after that?"
"This girl turned up and attacked Chameleon," Dive went on tiredly. "She caught fire, told me to shut my eyes, after that I don't know what happened. I heard an explosion and next thing I know she's on her back."
"What do you mean 'she caught fire'?" asked Tanya, puzzled.
"I dunno, it looked like fire," Dive threw his hands up in frustration. "And it was green."
"It can't have been fire because she's not burnt," said Tanya, reading the Medicom feedout. "In fact she's not hurt at all. Whatever happened nearly put her in a coma, though."
"Green fire. Are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" asked Mallory smartly.
"I saw what I saw," Nosedive folded his arms across his chest. "I don't care if you guys don't believe me…"
"We believe you Dive, it's just…difficult," Wing tried. "People don't just walk around the place and catch fire for no reason."
"They call it spontaneous human combustion," Duke commented. "I watched something about it on the Discovery Channel. They talked about cases where people caught fire when they weren't anywhere near an open flame. In one case someone caught fire in his house and he wasn't even slightly burnt. Nothing in the house was burnt, either."
"Get outta here," said Mallory disbelievingly.
"It's true," Duke insisted. "They had pictures and everything."
While the two argued Nosedive took a chance to get a look at their mystery guest lying on the Medicom table. She looked very young, probably not much older than himself. She had shoulder-length brownish-gold hair, her skin was tanned as though she spent at lot of time in the sun, and she wore torn jeans, a red and white flannel shirt and a blue tank top underneath. There was also something around her neck that he couldn't quite see because she was lying down. She was kinda pretty too---
"We don't know if it was spon—spo--- that catching fire thing," Tanya stuttered a little, interrupting Dive's thoughts. "She should wake up soon, we can ask her about it then."
As if on cue a soft moan emitted from the girl's mouth and she moved her head slightly.
"Looks like she's coming around," said Duke.
-----
Man! Did her head hurt! She couldn't quite remember what she'd been doing before--- whatever was happening now. Maybe she'd fallen off Ranthor again. No, that can't be right. Ranthor wasn't here. She propped herself up on one elbow, rubbing her head, and opened her eyes, but everything was a blur. She wished her head would stop hurting…
"Are you okay kid?"
"Wha—who is that? Who's there?" she asked, trying to get her eyes to focus. She could see some people standing around, but their faces were so blurry they didn't even look human, if they were human, that is.
"What's your name?" asked a different voice this time.
"Uh, I'm Laney," she answered, sitting all the way up now. These voices sounded familiar. "Who're you?"
"We're the Mighty Ducks, girly girl," Dive answered.
"The Mighty---WHAT?" She jumped up so suddenly that the Ducks took a step back. "Whoa!" she jumped off the bed and backed herself into a corner.
"Take it easy, we won't hurt you," Wing put his hands up.
"I've gotta be dreaming," Laney muttered. "If this isn't some spaced-out dream then I must be dead."
"Nope, ya ain't dead kid," Duke shook his head.
Laney actually pinched herself as though she didn't believe him. Yep, it hurt. This wasn't a dream.
"Where're you from, anyway?" asked Mallory, who'd noticed Laney's unusual accent.
"Australia," said Laney as though it was obvious. "New South Wales to be precise. What, haven't you ever met an Aussie before?"
"What're you doing all the way over here?" Dive asked.
"I'm on holiday with my uncle," Laney answered, coming out from the corner. "Only arrived last night. We're staying at a hotel not far from here."
"We'd actually like to ask you some questions of you don't mind," said Wing. "My brother was attacked this morning and he says you helped him."
"Yeah I did," Laney nodded. "Taught that green geek a thing or two about trying to kidnap people to get something they want."
"Whoa whoa whoa, back up a bit," said Duke. "What do you mean by that?"
"Didn't you know? That giant lizard friend of yours was gonna kidnap Nosedive and hold him hostage for something you guys have that he wants," said Laney, then she noticed the confused looks she was getting from the team. "You--- didn't know that?"
"How could we? We haven't had any trouble from Dragaunus in over a month," said Wing.
"Until today," Mallory added.
Laney smacked her forehead. "Oh no, not this again…"
"Why? What's the matter?" asked Tanya.
"You're never gonna believe me, no one believes me when I tell them about it," said Laney sadly, putting her head in her hands.
"About what?" asked Wing, who was starting to get more confused.
Laney took a deep breath and blew it out again hard. "I have a kind of psychic ability," she started, raising her face. "I see things right before they happen, that's how I knew Nosedive was in trouble, and it's how I know what that lizard guy had planned. You lot have something he wants and he was going to hold Nosedive hostage so that you'd hand it over to him. But believe me, he wouldn't have let Nosedive go afterwards, that reptile's as crooked as a dog's hind leg."
The Ducks all looked at each other, letting this information sink in. Was she telling the truth?
"How do we know that you're not one of Dragaunus's spies?" asked Mallory suspiciously.
Laney narrowed her eyes at her. "If I was a spy for Scale-bum would I have helped Nosedive escape from one of his lackeys? Would I have told you about his plans? I don't think so. I can show you where he's hiding his space ship if you don't believe me."
Wildwing thought for a moment. He still wasn't sure whether or not to believe Laney's story, but if, by some slim chance, what she said was true, perhaps she'd be useful to them. On the other hand, what if she was going to lead them into a trap like Lucretia did? If he followed her lead he'd be endangering his team- mates and the only family he had.
"I promise you, I'm not lying," said Laney as though she'd read his mind. "Get me a map if that'll make things easier."
"I have a better idea, let's use Drake One," said Wing. "We'll use it to scan for the Raptor first."
"Who or what is Drake One?" asked Laney as she hopped off the bed to follow them. "It sounds like a racehorse or something."
"It's our supercomputer," Dive explained as the group headed for the elevator. "It's really cool for playing video games."
"Do you have Cyber Sleazoids?" asked Laney.
"Heck yeah, it's my favourite game," said Dive happily.
"Mine too," Laney grinned broadly, showing off pearly white teeth. "I just about need a new disc for it because I play it so much. I'm getting Cyber Sleazoids 2 when it comes out."
"So am I," said Dive. "Thrash's gonna let me know the minute it hits the shelves."
This conversation continued as the elevator moved up two floors to the Ready Room. By the time the elevator stopped they were discussing a medieval game called The Round Table (knights, dragons, all that jazz) then Laney spotted Drake One's huge screen.
"Whoa, that's Drake One?"
"In person," said Dive. "Well, kinda."
"Wow, what a bloody ripper!" Laney marvelled, amazed, as they walked up to Drake One's console.
Who or what a ripper was supposed to be, no one had a clue, but it was strangely satisfying to get such a reaction from her. It seemed a shame to not be able to show it off to everybody. Tanya rapped away at the keyboard and a map of Anaheim and the surrounding areas came up on the screen. The computer sat there for a few minutes scanning it before it came up with "Target not located."
"Use the arrow keys to move around and the 'Shift' key to zoom in," Tanya instructed Laney.
Laney walked up to the console and stared at the map for a moment before she began to move around it, zooming in every few seconds.
"A bit to the right, zoom in, little to left, zoom in, up a bit," she muttered under her breath. "Down a tad, zoom in… Aha! It's right there."
She'd managed to pinpoint the Raptor's apparent location within a one-mile radius just outside of town, out in the desert.
"Drake One's scanned that area already," Tanya pointed out. "There aren't any readings coming from there."
"I'm telling you, it's there," said Laney earnestly. "I can feel the energy, its incredible, almost overwhelming," she added, shuddering. "If those buggers aren't out there then I'm Cindy Crawford."
"What d'you think guys, should we check it out?" Wing asked the rest of the team.
"There are bad vibes in that place," Grin spoke up from where he'd been meditating. "I feel we should take a look."
"Guys?" Wing looked around at the rest of the team.
"We might as well, she could be telling the truth," said Tanya. "She did mark out a space where people aren't likely to go snooping around. I think that's what Lizard Lips would want if he's planning something."
"I agree with Tanya," said Duke.
"Me too," Dive chimed in.
Everyone looked at Mal, who hadn't spoken a word since leaving the infirmary.
"Oh all right," she gave in when she noticed everyone looking at her. "Let's check it out."
"To the Areowing then," Wing gave the order. As everyone else headed for the hangar Wing turned to Laney.
"You'll have to come with us, we can't leave you here alone."
"What? Me? No I couldn't," Laney backed up a step. "I'd only get in the way. Anyway, Uncle John will be wondering where I am. He'll be mad if I get back late."
"Blame it on us," Wing insisted. "Besides, your intuition could be useful."
Laney gave a frustrated sigh. "Uncle John's gonna kill me," she muttered. "Alright, let's go."
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Ha ha! Cliffhanger! :)