AN: 06/06/2013 No hockey prank this time, but something inspired by a photo of snarky notes left by coworkers. I'm going to go leave a blank cup in the break room at work, just to see how long it stays there and if anybody does something about it!
It sat there, unmoving. Black handwriting on the surface proclaimed instant disaster if the cup was moved. Amazingly, this little, paper cup managed to torment all in its presence.
Tanya stared at the upside down paper cup left on the counter of the player lounge. She had no idea what was under it, nor did she want to be the one to find out.
Do not open unless you plan to kill it was scribbled on the side of the cup. Tanya knew all of her teammates handwriting and this didn't look like any of them. Maybe it was left by one of the rink rats.
The blond duck grabbed a clean cup and poured herself a cup of coffee, leaving the insidious message to itself. She proceeded through the player lounge and back to the rink medical center to work on training the new assistant.
0000
Do not open unless you plan to kill it.
Wildwing was seriously confused by the cup left on the counter. Who would catch something, but then not take it outside or kill it themselves?
He tapped the cup, hoping for some clue as to what was inside. No skittering, scratching, or screeching noises could be heard. Obviously, it wasn't something like a mouse or tarantula. Nudging it, he tried to gauge if something heavy was inside, but the cup moved easily.
The team captain decided to take care of whatever it was himself. He grabbed a copy of Illustrated Sports from the coffee table and rolled it up. Holding his weapon at the ready, he snatched the cup up, prepared to destroy whatever was under it.
What he saw left the duck doubled over he was laughing so hard. Still grinning, he put the cup back over the lethal object and replaced the magazine. He grabbed an apple and went back into the locker room, chuckling to himself.
0000
Grin walked through the player lounge on his way to the stick room. He had noticed his stock of prepared hockey sticks was getting low and wanted to modify some more before the next game.
The sinister cup called to him.
The gentle drake sighed quietly to himself. Who would capture something and leave it to suffer under the cup like that? Even worse, whoever had done it was asking someone else to murder the trapped creature. Bad karma all around.
He flipped through a slightly curled copy of Illustrated Sports and removed one of the stiff cardstock advertisements inside. Slipping it under the cup, he picked up the makeshift cage and headed outside to free whatever was in there.
Once outside, Grin walked over to a palm tree just outside of the rink. He figured whatever it was would appreciate the dirt and bark over the concrete. Removing the cardstock he'd used to trap whatever was inside, he shook the cup upside down. All that floated out was a piece of paper. The small square landed face down in the dirt. Confused, he picked it up and looked at it. A smile slowly spread across his face and he returned the cup to the player lounge for someone else to find.
0000
"Alright. Who left this here?" Duke looked around the empty room. Nobody was in sight and there was no trace of who the culprit was.
He picked up the cup, not caring what was under it and not willing to kill it. Underneath lay a photo of him from their last game.
The photo had clearly been cut out of a newspaper. He had just been checked and was sliding down the glass sideways, eye closed. A female fan on the other side had her hands perfectly placed like she was holding up his beak and giving him a big kiss. The caption read Fan Steals a Kiss.
He threw both away and walked out of the lounge, muttering to himself about crazy fans needing to stick with their own species.
AN: For the sake of the curious, Nosedive left the cup. He had Chuck, the equipment manager, write the note so his handwriting couldn't be matched. Also, Duke and I feel the same about crazy fans and their interspecies relationships ;) So, don't expect to get any crazy OC's falling for the ducks in any of my stories! No offense to those of you who do write them. It's just not my thing.