Chapter 4
Back in the lab, Tanya had graphs and images laid out on a table.
"So what did you find?" Mallory asked.
"Well, at first I thought Grace must be drawing her power from somewhere else for it to be so long lasting," Tanya said. "But this data shows that it's being generated from inside her."
Grace appeared to relax a little more as she heard Tanya speak.
"It's amazing. You can see points of origin here and here," Tanya said holding up images and then pointing to Grace's head and then to her heart. "I mean I've heard theories about our world causing humans to develop internal sources of creative energy that can have a powerful impact on us and our world, but I didn't think it could be real."
"Why is it so limitless?" Wildwing asked.
"I'm not sure about that yet, but look at these numbers! You can see that her output levels never decrease until she intentionally stopped. In fact, I think they increased a few times."
"So what was it you were going to tell us?" Grin asked Grace, turning to her.
Grace leaned back against one of the counters and studied the faces of the ducks.
"The other humans from my world would never want you to know this. And you're not going to like it, but yeah, I know why everyone in Anaheim was sick."
She paused for a moment and put her hand to her head.
"I'm glad you heard what Tanya had to say because you'll know that I'm different. But other humans, the ones with different powers, they're not like me. Maybe the reason I don't get tired is because I can generate power myself. I'm like my own battery I guess, but they have to steal their power."
"Steal it? Like from other humans?" Nosedive asked.
"No," Grace said with a sigh. "They steal energy from those in your world …and then they sell it back to you with their 'gifts.'"
"What?" Wildwing said as his expression grew cold and angry.
"They're the reason we were sick?" Mallory asked.
Grace could tell they were all becoming angry, and she shrunk back closer to the counter, but still she nodded.
"You all felt so weak because too much had been taken from you. I've never seen it as bad other places as it was here. They must have selected this area to steal a lot of energy from."
"How does no one know about this?" Duke asked. "What about that blasted Off-World Agency?"
"It's never occurred to them. They're just dumb enough to destroy any humans who can generate their own powers without stealing and blind enough to let other humans operate a sham business that supposedly meets needs."
"And you don't do this?" Wildwing asked sternly.
"No," Grace insisted. "This power is mine. Tanya just told you what she saw."
"I want to believe you," Mallory said. "But if you really can do anything, you could have changed the results. What if this data isn't real?"
"If I stole my power from your world, why would I tell you about all of this?" Grace asked.
"She has a point," Grin said to the others. "We should not take our anger out on one who tells us the truth."
"Sorry, sweetheart," Duke said apologetically. "Grin's right. You've done a lot without asking for anything in return."
"I get it," Grace said with a sigh. "That's why you're still suspicious. What's she really want? What's the catch?"
"That and I'm wondering why you didn't tell us about this before," Wildwing said, not letting the matter drop.
Grace gestured to them.
"Because of the way you're looking at me now. I know you can't help it. I'd be furious too. And I wanted to prove to you that I was different. I hate what OtherEarth, Inc. is doing, but here's the problem, if you try to take this information to the authorities, no one will listen. Some of the outsiders really knew how to buddy-up to your officials. You're going to need proof to stop this from happening. And this isn't an easy thing to prove."
"Maybe Tanya could track where they're stealing energy from," Mallory suggested.
Grace picked up the bracelets.
"You think the other humans will let you get anywhere close to them with something like this?" She turned to Wildwing. "You've met them. Can you see how difficult this is going to be?"
He drew in a deep breath and nodded.
"But they're gonna like keep stealing from us?" Nosedive said angrily. "And we can't do anything about it? I mean I don't want to get sick again."
"I might be able to stop it," Grace said, thinking out loud.
The ducks looked at her in surprise.
"Stop all of it?" Tanya asked.
"In Anaheim, at least," Grace said. "Maybe if we cut off their supply, they'll get angry and do something stupid. Something we could use as proof against them."
"How would you stop them from stealing power here?" Duke asked.
Grace held up her hands and the image of a golden dome made from strands of light like a net appeared.
"I think I could cast something like this over the city. It would block them, but it would be the largest use of my power I've ever attempted."
"Once you put it up, it would stay there?" Mallory asked.
"As long as I was alive, I think it could be maintained," Grace said. "And I can make it invisible so no one sees it. And it's not impenetrable; it won't keep people or vehicles from passing through. Just their power."
The ducks stared at the small dome of light above her hands, and then Wildwing said,
"I'd like to try it …that is, if you're willing to attempt it."
Grace nodded.
"But I can't do it from the sewers. I'll have to be on the surface to do this. Can you keep me hidden?"
"We'll do all that we can to protect you. We will owe you that at least. But maybe it would be best to do it late at night when most people are asleep."
A little more than a day later, the ducks took Grace to the top of a newly-constructed department store in the center of town. It was past one in the morning, and Anaheim seemed mostly quiet around them. As a precaution, Grace wore a jacket with a hood over her head until they reached the roof the building.
"Will this work?" Mallory asked Grace as she surveyed the view.
Grace removed the jacket and handed it to Nosedive.
"Yes, this should be perfect. But it might take some time for me to do this, and I'll have to give it my complete concentration until it's done."
"We'll keep an eye on things around you," Wildwing assured her. "Nosedive, Mallory, and I will go below and keep a watch on the street-level. Duke, Tanya, and Grin can stay up here with you."
She nodded and thanked them before walking to the center of the roof. Closing her eyes, Grace raised her hands above her and beams of light sped from them towards the sky.
Wildwing drew Nosedive and Mallory away.
"Dive, you take the eastern side of the building. And Mallory, take the southern. I'll cover the alley to the north as well as the western side. Report to me at once if you see anyone."
They separated and used ropes to rappel back to the streets below. Wildwing took his position and settled in for a long wait. The streets appeared fairly empty in this part of Anaheim, and his hope was for them to remain so.
One hour passed with little to no activity, and Wildwing was beginning to think it would be a quiet night. But then he saw a tall, dark figure appear around the corner of a building and begin to walk towards him.
Wildwing stared back at it in surprise. That profile could only belong to Dragaunus, but his com hadn't alerted him to any teleportation energy. As the Saurian overlord continued to approach, Wildwing walked out towards Dragaunus with his puck launcher raised and his shield activated.
"I don't remember inviting any Saurians to here tonight."
"Did you really think I would not notice another energy surge?" Dragaunus asked. "You ducks will tell me what that outsider is up to. I know you have one up there."
"It's for the good of this city," Wildwing said. "That's all you need to know."
"What I need to know is mine to decide. Now tell me before I blast you all into oblivion."
"Think of it as a long-term preventive measure for that sickness that had all of us on our backs."
"What makes you so sure it had an impact on me?"
"You and your goons were noticeably absent when you had plenty of opportunities to raid Anaheim without us interfering."
Dragaunus' gaze narrowed and steam rose from his nostrils.
"Look, unless you want to go back to the way things were before, we need to let her finish this."
"Even I know this isn't a typical service that outsiders perform," Dragaunus said, refusing to back down. "You will tell me what is really going on here or else."
Wildwing sighed as he deactivated his shield.
"Some of the other outsiders were stealing energy from those of us in Anaheim to increase their own power. She's going to make sure that can't happen anymore."
"And what is to stop her from stealing from us?"
"Tanya ran some tests. She doesn't need to steal to generate power. This has to stay quiet. No one else knows she's here."
"You mean she's unregistered. How interesting, an illegal alien and under your protection," Dragaunus said, seeming amused by the idea.
Wildwing glared back at him, but he kept silent as Dragaunus glanced back up at the roof.
"If you try to use her powers against me in any way, I'll inform the Off-World Agency of her presence here. But if she is only here for our mutual benefit, then they won't hear anything. Is that clear enough?"
Wildwing nodded, but asked, "Why didn't you just teleport here?"
"We have a new transport that will allow us to move through the city without alerting you constantly to our presence. And I didn't trust my henchmen to find out what was going on here without creating some kind of mess. It seems I must be the one to handle matters such as this."
"And I'm sure we'll meet again soon now that you're feeling up trying to take over the world again. But this outsider will not be a part of our fight against you," Wildwing said. "Just realize that if you betray her presence here, we will all pay a price for it."
"Just keep her out of my way," Dragaunus said, with the rise and curl of his tail and the flick of his cloak as he turned and walked back into the shadows of the opposite street.
Back up on the roof, Duke, Tanya, and Grin watched Grace as she continued to weave a net-like pattern of light over the city until it formed a complete dome. Then with one last effort, Grace caused the dome to become invisible, so that only the starry night sky appeared over them.
When she lowered her hands, her balance wavered. Duke reached out and caught her with one arm, and to his surprise, she sunk down suddenly. He used both arms to catch her and lift her up.
"Hey, you okay, sweetheart?"
"I'm sorry. It's just… I do feel tired for once. I think this took a lot of me."
"Hold on, then, let's get you back to the Pond."
Grin came over and picked her up as Duke called Wildwing to ready the Migrator.
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Next chapter coming soon!
