HAI. Okay, well, this part of the story was sort of a crossroads and I had to pick a path. So I did. It starts out differently than the other chapters (since Duke is our most complicated duck/has the most complicated past) and will be another two-parter. I'm trying to keep it away from being a three-chapter one, but like I said, Duke's complicated so I'm gonna do my best (that and the fact that I want to do an actual origins story just on him)

So...yeah. Enjoy!

P.S. I got the idea for the beginning mainly from "Howl's Moving Castle", though that's not what the Ducks are watching. More notes at the bottom

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

Duke sat back in one of the two recliners in the Rec Room, doing a crossword puzzle as the others were watching some movie that he didn't really care for. While he didn't want to watch the movie, he hadn't wanted to leave the company of his friends.

So instead, he pulled out the giant crossword puzzle book that Tanya had bought for him as a present long ago, got some coffee, and settled down to work while the others watched…whatever it was.

"Oh man! How many aliases does this guy need?" Duke heard Nosedive exclaim. "How can someone keep up with that many names?"

"He just wants his freedom Dive," Wildwing answered. "Sometimes people need a lot of different names. Besides, I bet it's like having a nickname or being an actor."

That piqued Duke's interest. He looked up from his crossword to address the team's leader. "Why an act'ah?"

Wing looked at him. It was easier to see the expression on his face right now since the younger drake was in normal clothes and wasn't wearing the mask. "Well, don't actors have their own lives, plus whatever role they're playing for a movie or TV show?" he asked. "It'd be like not knowing who they really were."

Duke shrugged. "Guess so," he answered. "But aliases aren't just for freedom."

The movie suddenly stopped. Duke realized that Tanya must've stopped it because it went dead silent in the room.

"What are you getting at L'Orange?" Mallory asked from her seat on one of the couches.

"Oh I know!" Nosedive said excitedly, waving a hand in the air. "Your name's not real is it? It's a fake name!"

"No it's real," Duke said. "I've had it ev'ah since I can rememb'ah…at least, since I rememb'ah joining the Brotherhood."

The others just looked at him. "What do you mean?" asked Tanya.

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

The small, twelve year old grey duck looked at the kitchen table, hoping he wasn't going to find something that he thought was especially scary.

But they were there.

Two or three times a week, the small duckling would find needles on the kitchen table. They belonged to his mother, and whatever was in them, usually scared the hell out of him whenever she took what was in them.

But it had been that way for about six years now, ever since his dad had left. He had learned long ago not to mess with the needles; when they had first appeared, the small child hadn't even touched the needles when his mother saw and freaked out about touching "her stash".

It was later that he found out what she meant by "stash"…that and he saw what the female duck was like after using the stuff. The lady was scary.

Seeing the stuff on the table meant another night of surviving by being a pickpocket or scamming food from the neighbors (if they had any, that was). So the young drake set out to do what had become a somewhat routine thing.

Little did he know, as he was walking away from his front door to go do his own mission, someone else was intently watching the twelve-year old…

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

The kid sat on a bench in the park, eating a burger he had managed to buy with the small amount of money he had pick pocketed. It wasn't much, but it would fill his stomach for the evening, then he could use some more of the money he had to buy himself breakfast.

This gray drake had learned long ago how to stretch money.

Suddenly, someone sat next to him. The younger one didn't really give the other much notice, continuing to eat his sandwich.

"It's not all that fun, is it? Having to survive by yourself?"

The younger drake stopped in mid-bite.

"I've been watching for awhile kid," the adult said. "Your mother's been on drugs for some time, hasn't she?"

Stunned, the younger one just looked up at the other and nodded. "How'd ya know that?" he asked.

Mystery Man (or what the kid was going to call him for now,) just smiled. "I've had something along the lines of what's going on happen to me too," he answered. Then he turned serious. "I've seen you stealing from those ducks."

"I can explain-"

The older one raised a hand to silence the child. "S'alright kid, no need to explain," he said. Lowering his hand, he asked. "You're good at what'cha do. There's a group I know of that you might want to join."

The kid looked at him suspiciously.

"Don't worry, it's not a gang or something bad like that," Mystery Man said, waving a hand off as if it were nothing. "But first, what's your name?"

The younger one muttered something. Mystery Man smiled. "It's a nice name kid, but how about something a little more regal?"

"Like what?"

The older one thought for a minute. "Well, you're not quite a prince, though I'm sure you could reach that level. How about Duke?"

Smiling, the twelve-year old finally looked the older one in the eye. "Sure," he said. "But I don't know your name."

"How stupid of me," the older one said, laughing a bit. "I'm Baron."

RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

He woke up slowly, feeling much more refreshed than he had in a very long time. Wonder why Ma didn't come at me screamin'-

Then he realized he wasn't at the place he called home. He sat up quickly, to find himself on an actual bed in a well-sized room. At home, all he had to sleep on was an old, worn out mattress in a tiny area. Here, it was like the duckling had his own bedroom.

So he got off the bed and looked around. Not much in the room, but it was still very nice.

As he looked around, he noticed that there was a desk that held the few possessions he held dear to him on it. How'd those get here?

On the wall next to the desk was a decent sized mirror. He couldn't see himself in it (malnutrition over the years will stunt a duck's growth y'know), so he pulled out the desk chair and dragged it to the mirror to look in it.

That's when it all came back to him. He had met an older duck by the name of Baron in the park after he had bought his dinner and had been invited to come join a group that had yet to be explained.

One thing the young gray drake did know was that he had a new name.

Duke L'Orange.

Okay, the deal with "Howl's Moving Castle" that I didn't mention earlier was that in one part, Howl explains why he has as many different names as he does. "As many as I need to keep my freedom," is what I think he says. I dunno why, but I got the idea for this from that.