Author's Notes and Disclaimer: Hello, readers and welcome to Chapter 7. Now, this chapter is completely off-book, but very necessary to the development Duck has been going through since the near beginning of the story. I only hope that I made this feel like a true, genuine heart-to-heart conversation.

As per the rules, here's the disclaimer: I do not own the movie "The Secret of NIMH" (owned by MGM/UA Entertainment Co., Aurora Productions, and Don Bluth Productions), the characters of "Loonatics Unleashed" (owned by Warner Bros), or the "Tiny Toon Adventures" character Calamity Coyote (owned by Warner Bros and Amblin). I only own one character and that's Angel the Swan.

Recap: The Loonatics and Calamity have now spent two days in the world of "The Secret of NIMH", and boy, what a ride it's been; from meeting their hostess Mrs. Brisby and learning about her sick son, to meeting Jeremy and almost getting eaten by the farmer's cat, Dragon, to almost getting themselves killed disabling Farmer Fitzgibbon's tractor, to meeting the Great Owl for advice on how to save Mrs. Brisby, her children, and her home. Along the way, though, they end up learning a lot of things…and it appears Duck is undergoing a personality change, which has not gone unnoticed by his teammates, Calamity, or Mrs. Brisby. And just recently he's become aware of it himself. The question is, how is he going to deal with this? And just what will Mrs. Brisby find out about him?

Let's read on and find out, shall we?


Chapter 7: A Duck-to-Mother Conversation

After some careful conversation, the ride back to the cement block was a lot smoother, though everyone still had to hang on tight. Rev, however, decided to opt out of a ride and demonstrated his Flight ability, which Tech explained was one of the effects of the anthro roadrunner being able to move so fast.

By the time they made it home, Mrs. Brisby had made up her mind to ask Ace or one of the others about Duck.

"Lexi?" she asked the female bunny once they were inside and Duck was out of earshot. "Tell me about Duck."

Lexi was confused by the question. What interest did Mrs. Brisby have in Duck?

"Pardon?" Lexi questioned.

"Duck. What can you tell me about him?" Mrs. Brisby asked. "You and the others have known him for a long time, so I thought…"

Lexi thought on her answer for a bit. In the time she had known Duck, he had been nothing but a selfish braggart with an ego the size of an asteroid-only Daffy outdid him in that department. He was often after Ace's leadership position, his attitude needed major adjustment, and he often became a hindrance on missions. He didn't even care to say her name on more than one occasion! True, there had been moments when he actually cared, especially when Pinkster was around before it was revealed that the pig had been a bad guy all along, or when he showed other emotions besides what everybody else saw, but that was more around Zooky than anyone else, mostly because both of them were orphans.

But, lately, ever since this adventure started, Lexi had started questioning that outlook on him. Duck was starting to act more polite and less bossy. He wasn't bragging as much and his complaints were getting less tantrum-like. He had only gone into his usual "We're doomed! Doomed!" hysterics once, and that occurred the day before. Duck had also grown very concerned about Timothy's wellbeing and was determined to do anything to help Mrs. Brisby save him.

It was like this adventure was making Duck undergo a personality change, and it was lasting longer than a few seconds or five minutes; two days and counting.

Lexi felt eyes on her and came out of her reverie to find Mrs. Brisby still waiting for her answer.

"Am I interruptin' some girl talk?" Ace's voice came out of nowhere, making the two ladies whirl around to face him.

"Oh! No, no," Mrs. Brisby said. "I was…asking Lexi about Duck."

"Whaddya wanna know?" Ace asked, curious.

"Well…I don't know. Something about who he is, what he does that makes everyone act toward him a certain way…" Mrs. Brisby paused for a bit, feeling the list of question topics coming out a bit too fast and possibly becoming too personal.

"In other words, every little thing," Ace concluded.

Mrs. Brisby smiled in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess it's mother instinct."

"Yeah," Ace agreed quietly, folding his arms in thought.

"Mother". That term seemed to be the key word in all this. Out of all six of the Loonatics, Duck was the only one who had no family at all; no mother, no father, siblings, or any other relatives to call his own (except for his ancestor Daffy, who was just slightly worse than him in the egotism department). Now it seemed more certain than ever that Mrs. Brisby, a mother of four, was the cause of the anthro mallard's puzzling transformation out-of-character.

Before anyone could say anything else, Lexi signaled for quiet, hearing Duck approaching. The anthro water fowl walked by the three of them, looking like he was a million miles away.

"Goin' out for some night air?" Ace asked Duck as the latter started going up the stairs.

There was no reply, just the flapping footsteps of Duck's bare, webbed feet as he walked out the door.

Silence dominated until Ace sighed, turned to Mrs. Brisby, and said, "Y'know, dere's a lot of things about Duck that even we don't know. I t'ink the only way you're gonna get answers…is to talk to da duck himself. We'll see you two in de mornin'," he said, leaving with Lexi for the study.

Mrs. Brisby looked to the door Duck had exited through seconds ago. She deliberated with Ace's suggestion for a moment before making up her mind, going up the stairs.


The night was cool and quiet, with not a sound of life except for a few crickets and hooting owls. Sitting on top of the stone near the Brisby home, Duck tried to ignore the latter sound, the visit to the Great Owl still fresh in his mind. A slight breeze blew by, making him shiver and wrap his jean jacket tighter around him.

He had needed to get out for a bit; to clear his mind. To figure out what was happening to him. The old him was slipping away and being replaced with a stranger. Why? He had been happy with who he was before this stupid adventure started; he had been confident with himself, sure that he would achieve the lofty goals he had set-getting the respect he deserved and becoming a true hero, and of course becoming leader of the team over Ace and making a sizable bank account for himself didn't hurt, either.

But then he and the others met Mrs. Brisby and learned of her plight with Timmy and the farmer's plow. That was where it started. Then, when he had saved the envelope that had contained Timmy's medicine and returned it to her, the change grew when Mrs. Brisby hugged him out of gratitude. It was chance that he managed to retrieve it, and normally, when someone thanked him, Duck would, of course, humbly (sarcasm here) say it was no big deal or something like that; but when Mrs. Brisby thanked him, his response was truly humble. In fact, any change on Duck's part seemed to be because of that timid, widowed field mouse.

That was it. Mrs. Elizabeth Brisby was responsible for this. She was why he was feeling like this. What kind of power did she have to make him feel this way? From all appearances, she was an ordinary field mouse. Just an ordinary, timid field mouse whose biggest worries came in the form of stilled farmer's tractor that loomed over the premises like a monument. Just…an ordinary mouse. And a widow. With four children, at that, and one of them very ill. She was kind, motherly, not particularly confident, easily frightened, and seemed very lost without her husband. Now, all she had for help were seven strangers from another place, six of them-himself included-being time-displaced superheroes who had lost their families. No, not all of them did. Duck never had one; the team had been only thing he had close to one…but did he really think of them that way?

Duck's concentration broke when he felt a presence behind him. He turned only to find his host and the apparent cause of his personality change crisis, Mrs. Brisby.

"Oh, it'sth you," Duck said indifferently.

Mrs. Brisby now found herself lost for words. She tried to think of something to say, anything.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" she finally asked.

"No," Duck sighed.

Mrs. Brisby paused a bit, wrapping her cape around herself before saying, "It's chilly tonight. You'd better come in; you'll catch a cold."

"I'm fine," Duck mumbled.

"But-"

"Look, lady!" Duck shouted, quickly standing up. "I am fine, I don't need your pity, and I don't want any more of your influenc-th-e, I justht want to be left alone! Stho, go AWAY!"

Mrs. Brisby was stunned by Duck's outburst, maybe even a little hurt, but decided to respect his wishes.

And, there it was again; the new feeling inside Duck that told him to be nice to the widowed mother. He tried to ignore it this time, not let it overrule his mind, but there was another internal force at work pushing it forward. And, before Mrs. Brisby completely disappeared from sight, it won.

"Missthusth Bristhby! Missthusth Bristhby, wai-wait a minute!" Duck called. "I'm sthorry! Come back, pleasthe?"

Mrs. Brisby went back, wondering what he had to say.

"I'm sthorry I sthnapped at ya like that," Duck apologized, shifting on his feet nervously. "It'sth justht…thesthe lastht two daysth have been a bit hard for me."

"They have for me, too," Mrs. Brisby concurred. "What with Timmy, Moving Day, and the Great Owl."

"Yeah."

"You want to sit down and talk about it?" Mrs. Brisby asked after a slight pause.

The anthro, superpowered mallard and the widowed field mouse sat down, feet hanging over the edge of the stone's top, the tractor at their backs. The two sat in silence for a while, getting used to each other's presence and getting their thoughts together.

"You cold?" Duck finally spoke, noticing Mrs. Brisby moving her cape around and shivering.

"A little," she confessed.

The next thing Mrs. Brisby knew, Duck's jacket was being put on her.

"You're gonna be no usthe to Timmy if you get a cold," Duck stated, smiling a bit.

The widowed field mouse accepted the gift with a smile and nod of thanks.

"I…wanted to ask you a few things," Mrs. Brisby said.

"About what?" Duck asked.

"You," Mrs. Brisby answered.

"I already told you about my powersth," Duck said. "What elsthe do you want to know?"

"I…I want to know the duck behind the powers," Mrs. Brisby stated honestly. "I want to know what he's really like, what kind of life he's had, what makes him the way he is that makes the others treat him in such a manner."

"Why do you want to know that?" Duck asked suspiciously, not sure he understood where she was coming from.

"Because in the two days I've known you, you seem to be someone who switches between a spoiled child and a caring young man in a-" Mrs. Brisby snapped her fingers to emphasize her point.

She really thought he acted like a spoiled child at times?! That was surprising, and it hurt Duck a little; it was like she was scolding him.

"Sthorry," he apologized automatically.

"It's just…from the way some of your friends interact with you, and what happened the night before…it…" Mrs. Brisby tried to explain for her calling him a "spoiled child".

Duck smiled and rolled his eyes; that explained it. And you know what-he actually agreed with her on that.

"Stho, you want to know who I am, huh?" Duck asked.

Mrs. Brisby nodded.

"Well, I might asth well sthtart with thisth: When you asthked usth about our familiesth, if we had any sthiblingsth, and I sthaid that I didn't have any, I wasth telling the truth. What I didn't sthay wasth…I didn't have any sthiblingsth…becausthe I never had a family."

"You never…?" Mrs. Brisby gasped.

"I'm an orphan," Duck confessed.

"Do you know what happened to your parents?"

"No. I wasth found on the doorsthtep of an orphanage with no clue as to where I came from or who my parentsth were; justht my baby basthket, my baby blanket, and my name, Daniel Denz-th-el Duck, written on a piec-th-e of paper."

Mrs. Brisby moved a bit closer to Duck and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Normally, Duck would've told her to move back, but he let her stay.

"Well, I didn't have a family in the traditional sthensthe, but I had sthome friendsth. Only two of them got closthe to me, really."

"What happened to them?"

Duck sighed. This part was hard to talk about.

"After I got adopted, one of them, Pinksthter, got adopted by and fell in with a bad crowd. I didn't know about it until I sthaw Pinksthter again and Ac-th-e later told me about what he'd been up to. Nothing way too nefariousth, justht sthtealing sthtuff, that'sth all."

Mrs. Brisby was shocked.

"You must've been upset when you found out."

"I wasth sthurpristhed…and, in truth, I wasth in denial about it. That isth until I visthited him in pristhon and we talked. Sthoon I realiz-th-ed that my old friend from the orphanage wasth gone forever. That wasth when I got upsthet. The friend I thought I had had betrayed me, betrayed the friendsth he had made at the orphanage, betrayed…" Duck's voice got caught in his throat and he began to cry a bit.

"I'm very-" Mrs. Brisby began, but was cut off when Duck sniffled before speaking again.

"Angel." he gasped, still emotional.

"Who is she?" Mrs. Brisby asked gently.

Duck gasped a sob before answering, "She…wasth my other friend from the orphanage. Probably the only true friend I ever had there. She wasth a sthwan; white feathersth, golden hair, eyesth asth blue asth the ocean, very beautiful for sthomeone stho young." He suddenly felt himself blushing a little. "I, uh…ahem. I guessth I had what folksth would call a "puppy-love crush" on her; I wasth only three-to-five yearsth old at the time," he said, a bit embarrassed.

Mrs. Brisby giggled. She understood; she had endured a crush on Jonathan before they decided to get married.

Duck cleared his throat again and got serious. "One day-I don't remember all the detailsth-but Angel got sthick. She got very sthick, probably sthomething closthe to Timmy's pneumonia…or worsthe. I would hang around outsthide her room, waiting for her to get better stho that we could play. But she never came out. Then…one day…the…the lady in charge a-at the orphanage…told usth…that…that…That Angel had died during the night," he finally revealed, starting to cry again. "She would never be adopted. She would never come back. I would never sthee her again…"

Duck wept for a few minutes, the pain of the memory of Angel dying hitting him as hard as it did when Calamity inadvertently stumbled upon it the night before. Mrs. Brisby gently hugged him, comforting him as if he were one of her own children.

Finally, Duck had calmed down enough to talk again. "That'sth…(sniff)…That'sth what all that commotion between me and Calamity lastht night wasth about. I thought…sthomething not very nic-th-e and he confronted me about it, and…I think it wasth both partsth me thinking about Angel at that moment and Calamity notic-th-ing it, but he found out about her and…"

"And you got angry," Mrs. Brisby finished.

"I wasth practically furiousth with the sthquirt," Duck admitted.

So that's what that was all about, Mrs. Brisby thought, remembering.

"I wasth pretty broken up insthide, stho I didn't put up much of an argument when Ac-th-e, Lex-th-i, and Sthlam took me out of the housthe."

"When I heard that Dragon had killed Jonathan, I was broken up inside, too," Mrs. Brisby confessed. "I still am, I guess. He was so brave, so strong, sure of himself. He gave me confidence. Now, he's gone…and…"

Now it was Duck's turn to comfort Mrs. Brisby. Both were silent for a while, remembering the ones close to them that they lost.

"Were you ever…taken in by another family?" Mrs. Brisby asked when she stopped crying.

Duck nodded. "There wasth one family, and me and Pinksthter left. We did a coin tossth to sthee who would get adopted; headsth, they got me, tailsth, Pinksthter. I…I usthed a double-headed coin-a coin with a fac-th-e on both sthidesth-and I…I cheated."

"You cheated?!" Mrs. Brisby gasped in shock.

"Yeah, rotten of me, I know," Duck grumbled in admittance. "But if I hadn't usthed that coin, I probably wouldn't be sthittin' here talking with you about thisth. Anyway, I wasth adopted by humansth, don't remember their namesth. Stho, I grew up, had a practically normal childhood. Then…"

Now was the part where he would put on a proud look and claim that the human couple who had adopted him slowly stopped loving him, but…that wasn't true, he realized. That story he told was a lie. He couldn't lie; not to Brisby.

"Then, I don't know if it wasth sthomething on their end or sthomething I did-no, it wasth mostht likely me-but thingsth sthtarted going downhill. I became a bit of a troublemaker, started bragging and developing an ego that's probably the sthize of the tractor behind usth. Probably a bit bigger. In short, I became the persthon that'sth the hardestht to get along with becausthe he twisthts the truth stho much and hardly thinksth of anyone elsthe but himsthelf."

Duck stopped, surprised at himself.

"Whoa," he finally uttered.

"What?" Mrs. Brisby asked.

"Sthuddenly realiz-th-ing that I've been acting like a real jerk for my whole adult life…It'sth…kinda like getting kicked by a boot to the tail-feathersth," Duck confessed. "Normally, I would sthay sthomething elsthe, try to defend my pride, or sthomethin'; but…I can't do that. Not in front of you. What isth it about you that makesth me act like thisth?" he queried.

"Hm, I don't know," Mrs. Brisby shrugged.

"Y'know, yesthterday, when you hugged me, it'sth got me thinking; when I remember getting hugged by my fosthter mom now, it felt real in the early daysth, but not truly. When you did, it…"

"Felt real to you?"

"Yeah. I wondered: Is thisth what it felt like…when you got hugged by your mother? I don't know if thisth isth makin' any sthensthe to either of usth," Duck said.

Mrs. Brisby thought through what had been said so far, and after a few minutes a solution seemed to fall into place.

"Well," she began, "I'm a mother, something you…you've felt like you've never had," she said, trying to choose the correct words. "Maybe…Maybe you're finding something in me that you've been looking for; a mother's hand to guide you. And make you realize what kind of choices you were making," she added, smiling.

Duck was about to say "I'm not that bad", just as Jeremy had done last evening when she talked to him like that, but then he really began to think. He was no genius and had nil understanding on psychology, but what Mrs. Brisby was saying seemed to make sense. He had managed to convince himself that he had no-one, no family to call his own, even though he had been adopted. He had never even thought of his teammates as one, no matter what Ace and Lexi had said about them being a family. He had an ancestor, and a fellow orphan who treated him like a brother, but that was it. Maybe he was starting to look at Mrs. Brisby as a mother-figure?

"Well, too bad that kind of guidanc-th-e isthn't workin' on Jeremy," Duck smirked, chuckling a little.

Mrs. Brisby started to giggle, remembering the conversation the crow tried to have with her regarding him trying to impress girls. He had been persistent about the topic, but it seemed that nothing she said would sink in for him.

"He just needs to listen a bit better," Mrs. Brisby considered.

"Mm," Duck hummed. "And be lessth annoying," he added.

"Like you were before?"

Duck looked at the widowed field mouse in surprise. Did she just make a witty comeback?

"Y'know, that wasth stho funny I forgot to laugh," Duck tried to deadpan, but he actually ended up laughing through it.

The duck and the mouse laughed for a bit before sitting in silence some more, looking up at the sky.

"Feeling better?" Mrs. Brisby asked, standing up.

"Yeah, I do, actually," Duck admitted. "Better than I've felt in a long time. 'Coursthe I'm gonna have to sthtart acting a bit like the old me again; I think I'm sthtarting to sthcare the others. I mean, they've known me a c-th-ertain way for yearsth, and…uhm…"

"They're finding it uncomfortable?"

"I've stheen a few weird looksth given in my direction," Duck revealed.

Mrs. Brisby nodded in understanding. "I hope you don't completely turn back to the old you; I kind of like this new Duck," she admitted with a smile.

"Well, who do we have to thank for that?" Duck smirked rhetorically.

Mrs. Brisby stood up, smiling, Duck's jacket trailing on the ground a bit.

"In all stheriousthnessth, thank you," Duck said sincerely.

Mrs. Brisby just stood there, smiling, as if waiting for permission to do something. Duck looked at her before realizing what she wanted to do and allowed her to. The duck and the mouse embraced each other for a minute or two, allowing Duck to relive the feeling he had when Mrs. Brisby first embraced him, now in full. He felt warm, secure, the feeling starting at his heart and spreading until he almost fell asleep.

Mrs. Brisby then returned the jean jacket to its owner and said, "We'd better get some sleep. We're going into the rosebush tomorrow."

Duck nodded, standing up and preparing to follow Mrs. Brisby back.

"Uh, Mrs. Bristhby? One more thing?" he asked, leaning toward her to whisper. "A favor-can we keep thisth between usth?"

Mrs. Brisby smiled in her motherly way and nodded in agreement. "I promise," she whispered back.

Duck and Mrs. Brisby then walked back home, hand-in-hand.


Kind of gets you right there, doesn't it? Anyway, looks like Mrs. Brisby got her answers, we learn a bit more about Angel (and that Duck had a bit of a crush on her XD), and Duck is finally examining his past actions and realizing how much of a jerk he has been. Boy, I doubt that's a piece of character development you'd barely see from his ancestor; I like Daffy, too, but with the development of Duck being an orphan, there's so many avenues to explore. Really makes me wonder who says that the Loonatics are carbon copies of the Looney Tunes; those six really have their personalities and possible character development of their own. If only the show could've lasted longer or had the writing a bit better.

Anyway, next time, Mrs. Brisby and our seven adventurers head into the rosebush to find Nicodemus, and meet the rats who live there.

As always, please read and review. Thank you.