DEAD
He woke up on Saturday morning with one thought in his mind: Not another day. He rolled over onto his stomach, glaring at the wall infront of him. Its grayness stared blankly back at him.
He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to talk to anyone, as they would just roll their eyes and ignore him. That was better then the alternative, however. If they knew...if someone, somehow, saw through his defences ... He hoped it would never come to that. He would just continue on existing, continue on being 'him'.
He shivered, turning and looking at the clock, thinking, 'Time to get up.'
A knock on the door made him cringe. He wasn't late for breakfast again, was he?
"Little bro?" a male voice says softly. He didn't answer, as he didn't care. So, louder, "Little bro? You awake?"
He glanced over, sneering at the door. Like his brother honestly cared. Then,
"Dive?" His brother didn't even bother to be quiet, rapping on the door again. "Come on, you can't possibly still be sleeping," he said impatiently.
Dive rolled over again, curling up to the wall. He heard the door open. SNORE.
Wildwing poked him. Dive snorted.
"Up. Or I'll tickle," Wildwing threatened.
'Big whoopde do,' Dive muttered to himself. 'The tickle monster. I ain't three no more.'
"How about I rip up your comics?"
'Comics smomics. Oh wait, I love those, don't I? I gotta move.' He inwardly growled before shifting into gear, bolting up and whining, "No man! Not the comics!"
"Then come and eat," Wildwing demanded. "We got that publicaty shot in an hour. I don't want to listen to you whine about being hungry thorugh the whole thing again."
"I'm always hungry!" Nosedive defended.
"Just get there before Tanya eats your share!" Wildwing told him as he left. Nosedive waited for the door to shut. He slumped down.
What to wear? It didn't matter. He decided to wear what he wore yesterday...and the day before that...and the day before that...they all thought it was his favourite outfit. In reality, he didn't have the will to change into something new or the careing that he was wearing the same thing for a month now.
He glanced at his closet, then picked up the clothes from the floor. Why does he bother sleeping in his boxers? Why not just sleep in the clothes? It would save time . . . time. Time for what? To do publicity shots, to play another game for the joy of aliens, to do things he didn't want ever. He just wanted to . . . he couldn't even remember anymore.
He got dressed.
HATE
The number one thing he hated was humans. They where everywhere, them and their deformedness. Is that a word? It is now. Thats what they where.
No beaks. No feathers. FOUR fingers and a thumb. And what is up with hair? And giving birth to live young? What creature did that? Everything on Puckworld - in the water, the air or on land- laid eggs. Except micro-organisms, but they split in two.
Humans also where lazey. Granted, he was lazey, but he did it to piss off everyone. Humans do it because they are stupid. Humans are too lazey to help the poor, too lazey to educate their young (Here, go to school. Bye now!) Every parent on Puckworld educated their own children. Do human parents not care?
Another thing he hated was humans and their need to party. Every month had at least two holidays, or at least it felt like it. Whats the use of a holiday if you have one every week? Back home, they had one once a year, and it was something to look forward to. Here, its like, ah well, theres another one around the corner, so what if I missed it?
Human family. That is stumping. They put so much emphasis on it, but the sociaty will not give parents the right to be with their children. Sorry, you can't be with your son, you need to be at work. Work is more important.
Money.
He paused in his thoughts. Humans loved money. That was their driving force. They seemed to need it. And its true, he suposed, the goverment made sure of it. To get money you need to work. To work you must sacrifice your time with your loved ones, and in turn no time to educate your children. No wonder they have so many holidays.
He no longer held hate, but pity. And he did wish for some snow.
SELF-DIAGNOSES
He was heading for sucide. It was lingering in the back of his mind when he wasn't at the pond, and haunted his full thoughts when he was. Mookie and Thrash helped with it alittle since they seemed to understand him on some level, but at the pond . . .
Wildwing never talked to him anymore except to scold him or remind him about horrid responcibilities that the human Phil made them do. The rest of the Ducks cared even less. He was deadwait, something that they had to drag along. All he did was eat food, and take up space, like some unwanted pet you can't get rid of. What a joy. Arf.
If he did die . . . how would they react? He sat down on the floor, pushing clutter into piles so he could sit safely. His room was a booby-trap, even to him.
Wildwing would be crushed,Dive knew that much. Tanya wouldn't even notice, he was sure, half the time she didn't even notice she wasn't eating or drinking - she just wanted to tinker with her things, to get them back home. Duke would think, 'What a waste.' Mallory...that was easy, to think of what she would think. Good ridance, like, how long did we have to wait for the little bastard to die? Grin... Grin would think something confusing, like, 'He was a leaf that needed to depart from the tree before autumn' or something. Did Grin even really think or did he overly think?
Now the big question : Did he, in all his misory, really want to die? Did he want to perish, before even trying? Would he be happy in the afterlife? Was there an afterlife? No, he didn't want to die. Not by his own hand.
He had to change. He couldn't change things that Phil did, and of course he couldn't change humans. But, he could change some things that was him. Like, maybe, a change in clothes? That wern't smelly? He could clean his room. Ug, the bed and closet. Did he have enough bravery to brave them?
Friends within the Pond. He needed to make friends with the other Ducks. He needed more interests then comics, video games and pulling pranks. That was all he did. That and his pretend sex drive. After all, with a human! Stars, no wonder the other Ducks avoided him.
Where to start? His room.
ACK! How long has THAT been under his pillow? He was never going to sleep in his bed again.
CHANGE
He startled Tanya today. He asked if she could teach him some mechanics. She refused flatly, no serprize. Probably thinking he was going to do something to the Migrater. Well, EXCUSE me, SNOOTY.
Next was Duke, as he ran into the ex-thief next. Duke studied him suspiciuosly when asked if he would teach Dive how to use a sword. After a few seconds, his good eye narrowed and his red light blinked. Then he said, 'Ahright. If yar serious and won't fool around wit it.'
After a solome 'yes sir', Duke gave in. Unfortiontly, he wasn't available right at that moment (Now? Dive, I got a life, ya'know. Ya need ta have some advance planin'.)
Deciding that that was enough change at the moment other then keeping his room clean, he went back to his room to crash and wallow in self-pity.
FRIENDSHIP
Duke was kicking his ass. This wasn't serprizing, of course, since he had no idea how to use the damn sword. But he was learning, slowly. And Duke was serprizingly pationt. The way he talked and glared at poeple, Dive thought he'd be snapping every two moves. Instead, as long as Dive didn't make light of the art, Duke was a great teacher.
He was also becoming a friend. Dive found himself actually enjoying the workouts instead of wishing to be reading comics. While Duke taught Dive how to use the sword, Duke also taught the younger Duck life tricks. Such as, if you like a girl, do NOT pull a prank on her. Especially if it involves honey and underwear.
Did that once to Mallory - funniest thing this side of the cosmic belt.
Tanya caved after seeing how well he was doing with Duke. After a few days though, they decided he wasn't cut out for mechanics. But now he joind her when she's in there alone, reminding her to eat or drink. He's usually the one who waves a sandwich under her beak or goes "mmmmmmm. lemonaide!'
He found out some interseting things by time with the Brainiac, and they wern't formulas or equations. They wern't things he use, either, but they where interesting. Like, chocolate is healthier for your teath then a bran muffin. Reason? Chocolate melts. Muffin gets stuck in your teath.
Mallory was avoiding him. She was convinced he was planning something big, and she didn't want to be around when whatever it was went off. He snuck in her room and left a present on her bed.
Grin was trying to get him interested in meditating. After politly refusing four times, he finally gave up. It wasn't that bad. He gets an extra hour of sleep every day, now.
Wildwing was still not talking to him, though his brother did talk him out of some embaressing publicity shots. That was a good sign, right?
LONELY
Through all this change, he was still depressed. He locked himself in his room for a few days, trying to figure it out. Then it hit him - he was lonely. For the female type of companey Tanya and Mallory not only wouldn't fill, but would be disgusted if he so much as sugested it.
So, now he had identified the problem. What to do about it? He was a famous hockey player, that making it difficult to find true love in itself. How many girls would date him simply to say they did or in hopes of getting money? Then there was the Duck factor. He needed someone not weirded out by his beak and feathers. Someone who wasn't normal, but not a freak. Like him. Someone who was different in an actual different way, not just feeling like it.
Where would you get such a girl? Mookie was out of the question, majorly. She was his best friend, and he would just as soon go out with her then with Thrash. A dating servace was so out, too. Can you imagine? WANTED: GIRL WHO WOULDN'T MIND DATING A DUCK.
So . . . now what?
SHE
He was walking alone one night, kicking garbage and all around being bored. He just didn't want to be at the Pond. He wanted fresh air. Or as fresh as you could get on Earth.
It was in the allyway he saw her. She had blond hair, and she was fighting some majorly nasty dudes. A kid was in the corner of a building, crying and whimpering. The girl just beat the shit out of the men, and then he saw it. They where not human, not by a long shot. They had fangs and nasty looking foreheads.
The girl stabbed them right in the hearts, and both turned to dust. She turned to the kid and told them to run home, where it was safe.
He came forward, asking what she was doing. She freaked out, pinning him to the ground, stake raised and ready to kill. She got off him after reconizing him, and started to apoligize. He said it would be okay, as long as she went on a date with him. To his serprize, the girl said yes.
They went then and there, Dive showing her his favorite huants. She turned out to be a freak, but not a Freak. She was something called the Slayer, and she was from a place called Sunnydale, though she grew up in L.A. She was here simply because she had to dust a local vampire before he rose up to high and begins to take over the world.
So thats what they did. By the end of the night, Dive had a broken arm, the girl had dusted her vampire, and for the first time ever he walked home with someone. When it was time to part ways, he asked her name, realizing he didn't know. She said her name was Buffy Summers.
He didn't even notice Wildwing yelling at him, or Tanya fixing his arm when, later, he was in the Infirmary. He couldn't forget the girl. After saying goodnight, he went to his room and layed in his bed, staring at the ceiling.
Buffy. The human girl that made him feel something other then hurt and pain.