Silver haired street fighter of war
I do not own The Mighty Ducks or any of the other characters within this story, only the characters that I come up within my mind.
A young teenage/adult girl, who has been abandoned by her mother and ran away from a terrible orphanage, struggles to survive within the streets of New York City but that soon changes when she is suddenly transported to a different world. She now fights to survive a war that is taking place on a planet that isn't inhabited by humans, but by ducks. Can she survive?
The beginning and the first face off: Part 4
Canard, Riko and Tate quickly hid behind the corner of a building that was still standing after the invasion as they watched a group of Hunter Drones walk past their hiding place without a second glace over their shoulders. Canard slowly poked his head around the corner to see if the coast was clear while Tate and Riko began to quietly talk with each other.
"Man, I can't believe how many pests there are roaming around Ice City," muttered Tate with a frown on his face.
"You're telling me," whispered Riko as she turned to looked at Tate. "When I first came here to your home planet I was nearly caught by those metal headed bolt-for-brains."
"Yet you somehow managed to slip through their fingers," said Canard as he suddenly entered the conversation with a frown on his beak. "How exactly did you manage that?"
"You could say that a couple of heads rolled," Riko joked with a wink.
Tate let out a chuckle while Canard only rolled his eyes at the human's stupid joke.
"Come on, let's keep moving," said Canard in a commanding tone of voice. "I told one of my men to meet up with us in our search for any civilians that might still be wondering around the city."
"Anything we need to know about this new duck?" asked Tate before he and Riko quickly followed after Canard as the three of them shot out from their hiding place and began to run through the streets of the broken down city.
"Yeah," replied Canard as he ran with Riko running beside him. "She's hot tempered."
"She?" echoed Tate as he ran behind Canard and Riko. "You mean we'll be meeting up with a female duck?"
"Yes we are, and she happens to be part of the military," replied Canard before he glared over his shoulder to look at Tate. "Is that a problem?"
"Um…n-no sir," stuttered Tate as a nervous smile came on his face.
Riko only rolled her eyes at the two drakes before she suddenly heard the sound of fighting coming from up ahead of her. They soon came running around the corner of a broken down building and saw a pack of Hunter Drones circling around a young 20 year old female duck.
The female duck had dark red hair, emerald green eyes and peach/tan feathers. She was wearing a dark purple sleeveless body suite with light purple armor over top, a white shoulder pad sat on her left shoulder with a dark purple coming over top of it, and white boots. On the duck's right hand was a fingerless glove while on her left wrist was circular black wrist com. The duck was a petite size for she only stretched up to Canard's chest and Tate's shoulders while Riko analyzed that she might be a head higher than the female duck.
Riko was amazed at how good this female duck was fairing in fighting against those drones that surrounded her all by her-self. The red head jumped kicked a drone that came near her before she grabbed another drone and fell onto her back while flipping the robot over her. Riko watched as the female duck stood up and dusted the invisible dirt off of her hands while she looked down at the job that she had accomplished with a satisfying smile on her face.
"I hate machines," muttered the red head as she placed her hands on her hips.
Riko whistled in impression at the female duck's fighting skills while Tate only stared at the red head in shock and amazement. Canard stood with a smirk on his face as he looked towards the red head in front of him before he spoke.
"I see that you've started and finished the party without us Mallory," said Canard as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The red head turned her gaze on Canard when she heard him talking to her: "Well it was kind of hard not to when there were about 16 drones trying to attack you."
That was when the red head noticed Riko and Tate standing behind Canard: "And who're you two?"
Riko took a step forward as she began to introduce her-self: "My name is Riko Hikari, number one street fighter of New York City, planet Earth."
"Planet Earth, huh?" said the red head as she raised an eyebrow up in curiosity. "Never heard of such a planet and whose your friend?"
Riko turned her head to look over at Tate and saw that the black duck was staring at the red head in fascination. The street fighter gently nudged the 22 year old duck out of his daze with a frown forming on her face. Tate blinked for a moment before he quickly shook his head and stood ridged like a soldier.
"Um…sorry about that, my name is Tate Jetwing," he said.
The red haired duck only nodded her head at Tate before Canard suddenly stepped in: "Riko, Tate…I want to meet one of the best soldiers within the military and rebellion, Mallory McMallard. She's our top hand to hand combat fighter and weapon's specialist."
The red head, Mallory, stood to attention as she saluted the two like any soldier would when they are introduced to new members within the military. Riko nodded at Mallory while Tate stiffly saluted back at the red head before standing ridged again as he quickly lowered his hand from his head.
"I'm guessing that these are the only two that you have found to recruit for the resistance?" asked Mallory coolly as she placed her right hand on her hip.
"Actually Mallory," replied Canard as he looked at the young red head, "I found two more that are going to be joining our team. They're just picking up a few things that are at their home right now."
"Oh," said Mallory as she looked at Canard curiously. "And who exactly are these other two new recruits?"
"Does the name 'Duke L'Orange' mean anything to you?" asked Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What!" shouted Mallory in disbelief as she stared at Riko for a moment before she turned on Canard again. "Don't tell me that you've recruited the Duke L'Orange the notorious master jewel thief of Puckworld?"
"Yes, I did," replied Canard in a calm voice as he looked down at Mallory.
"Are you crazy?" hissed Mallory as she glared up at Canard. "Why should we let a thief join our rebellion?"
"Because you need stealth on the team," Riko jumped in as she took a step towards Mallory and saw that she was only a few inches taller than the red head. "Also he, along with Kathryn, is our teammate so if we join the resistance then so does he."
Mallory glared into Riko's golden eyes as her emerald green orbs blazed with fury but the two were instantly pushed apart by Canard.
"That's enough you two," said Canard as he glared at the human female and red head duck. "We don't have time to bicker between each other right now. We need to find the others before we get caught by Dragaunus's Hunter Drones."
Riko felt herself twinge when she suddenly heard Canard's controlling voice talking to both her and Mallory. Riko didn't like anyone taking control over her, but she knew that she had to keep her temper in check otherwise she would be kicked out of the rebellion. The silver haired street fighter let out a sigh as she hung her head submissively. Mallory also let out a sigh before giving one last glare at Riko.
"Whatever you say…captain," said Mallory before she followed Canard as the drake began to move the team out again.
Riko and Tate walked behind the two with the black duck's head hanging down in sadness while a sigh escaped from his beak. Riko noticed this action as she looked at the drake that was walking beside her.
"What's the matter with you?" questioned the sliver haired human with an eyebrow raised up in curiosity.
"Nothing," muttered Tate as he looked at the human who was walking beside him. "It's just that…I've really messed up in impressing the first female duck that I've met and not only that, but she's part of the military. How am I supposed to compete with that when I'm noting but a street punk to her?"
Riko rolled her eyes as a sigh escaped her lips: "Now's not the time to be focusing on girl's Tate and besides falling in love with someone isn't a good thing to be doing when you're in a middle of a war here."
"Uh…right, sorry," said Tate as scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before he lightly rapped the side of his head to remind himself of the situation at hand.
Riko only shook her head at the 22 year old duck before she turned to look ahead again. The group continued to walk around the abandoned city while hiding around corners or in alleyways to avoid being spotted by the Hunter Drones. The journey around the city was quiet for a while before it was broken by a loud explosion that startled the group, except Riko, right out of their minds.
"What on Puckworld was that?" asked Tate as he looked at Canard and Mallory for answers.
"I would guess that another of my team members had just blown up a Saurian Titan," said Canard as he turned to look at Riko and Tate.
Riko frowned for a moment at what Canard had said before she took off from the group at an incredible speed.
"Riko, wait!" shouted Canard before he, Mallory and Tate chased after the human girl.
Riko quickly ran towards the spot where the explosion had occurred and soon came upon the site where she saw a huge robot that was in the form of a giant dinosaur lying dead on the ground. Riko boldly walked towards the robot before she kicked her right foot against it to see if it would move, but the metal giant didn't even twitch when the street fighter kicked it.
"Looks like this metal monster won't be moving any time soon." Riko stated as she placed her left hand on her hip.
"Scratch one oversized toaster oven," spoke a nasal voice from Riko's far right.
Riko turned her head towards the voice and saw another female duck who was sitting in a trash pile with a banana peel sitting on top of her beak. Riko quickly ran over to the female duck before stopping in front of the trash pile. The street fighter held her hand out to the duck in front of her.
"Need some help?" asked Riko as she looked down at the duck before her.
"Y-yeah, thank you," said the female duck as she took Riko's hand.
The street fighter quickly pulled the duck out of the trash pile before she got a good look at the mallard that was standing in front of her now.
The duck had long slightly dark blonde hair that stood up on her head as it was held up by a light blue headband, light blonde feathers and blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of pink shaded glasses. She was wearing a high collar purple jacket with the sleeves being rolled near the duck's elbows and purple pants that stretched down to the duck's knees. On the female duck's left shoulder was a white shoulder pad while on the duck's right arm was a metal device. On her feet were a pair of white boots and around the duck's waist was a light blue belt. Also on the female duck's left wrist was the same black communicator that Riko had seen on Canard's and Mallory's wrists.
The female duck rearranged her glasses before pulling the banana peel off of her beak as a disgusted look came over her face. Riko let out a light chuckle before speaking to the female duck.
"So I'm guessing that you were the one that took down that over grown toaster bot over there, huh?" asked Riko with a smirk while she jabbed at a thumb over her shoulder as she pointed to the dead robot behind her.
"You could say that," replied the female as she tossed the banana peel behind her. "I'm Tanya Vanderflock; I happened to be the techno wiz within the resistance."
"Then I'm guessing you're part of Canard's group huh?" said Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"She is," replied Canard's voice from behind Riko.
The street fighter turned to look behind her and saw Canard, Mallory and Tate walking up to her and the blonde duck, Tanya. Canard had an angry look on his face as he marched up to Riko before stopping in front of the human girl and glaring down at her while Riko glared right back up at him.
"While you are in the resistance you will do whatever I say, and that means you stick with this group." Canard said in an authorized voice as he jab a finger into Riko's face.
Riko bit back a growl before turning her head away from the drake in anger. Tanya looked between the two before scratching the back of her neck nervously.
"So…uh…I'm guessing that you two aren't really on track with each other, huh?" voiced the blonde duck in question.
"You hit the nail right on the head," grow Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest before she turned her back towards Canard.
"Tanya, I like to introduce you to two new members of our group." Canard began as he looked down at Riko for a moment before he turned to face the duck. "This girl here is Riko Hikari, a human from planet earth and the black duck behind me is Tate Jetwing."
Riko turned to face Tanya again before she held her hand towards the female duck: "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," replied Tanya as she took Riko's hand and shook it.
Tate looked over at the giant saurian robot before he let out a whistle: "Whoa…did you take down this oversized can opener all by yourself?"
"With a little help from the explosive that I invented myself," replied Tanya proudly.
"I hate to break up this friendly chit-chat, but shouldn't we get moving?" stepped in Mallory as she asked in an impatiently voice.
"Alright, alright we're going," replied Riko as she looked over at Mallory with a glare. "Don't start turning into a spitfire."
Mallory only frowned at Riko for a moment before she followed after Canard who began to lead the group through the city again. Riko, Tate and Tanya were walking behind the two military ducks while they began to talk between each other.
"So…Tanya," started Tate as he began to strike up a conversation. "We heard from Canard that you're a techno wiz within the rebellion, right?"
"Yeah," replied Tanya with a nod. "I help out as much as I can within the resistance by making weapons and other nifty gadgets. I'm also a medic within the resistance as well."
"Cool," voiced Tate in amazement.
Riko let out a light chuckle of amusement before she looked down at the metal device that sat on Tanya's arm.
"Tanya, what's that device attached to your arm?" asked Riko out of curiosity.
"This?" said Tanya as she raised her right arm up to show Riko and Tate the device that was attached to it. "This is a device that I've created for myself. It's called an Omnitool."
"What does it do?" asked Tate.
"Well, it can cut through wires, shoot laser beams, turn into a saw, etc." Tanya said as she told Riko and Tate about some of the functions of the Omnitool.
Riko had to admit that this female duck sounded pretty good with technology and she worried about Kathryn being useless on the team. Riko soon asked Tanya a question that suddenly popped up within her head.
"Um…Tanya, have you ever thought of taking up an apprentice to help you out in your work with making weapons and repairing vehicles?"
Tanya looked at Riko in surprise before going into thought for a moment: "Well now that you mentioned it, yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Well…" started Riko as she scratched the back of her neck. "Tate and I have this friend who's also really good at making useful gadgets and vehicles. Her name is Kathryn L'Orange; she's the little sister of Duke L'Orange."
"Duke L'Orange?" echoed Tanya in surprise. "You mean the Duke L'Orange, the famous jewel thief of Puckworld?"
"That's the one," replied Riko with a nod of her head.
Tanya blinked a few times before scratching the back of her head: "Boy, who would have known that Duke had a sister."
Tate snorted as he tried to contain a laugh that almost erupted from his throat while Riko only smiled at Tanya. The street fighter began to like this blonde duck. The walk around the ruin city was a quiet one for a while before Riko started up another conversation with Tanya.
"How long do you think we'll reach your military headquarters?"
"Hopefully soon as long as we don't run into any trouble like the last time at our original base," replied Tanya.
"Original base?" echoed Tate as he cocked an eyebrow up in confusion.
"Oops," voiced Tanya as she suddenly realized what she had just said.
"Tanya, what are you hiding from us?" questioned Riko as she frowned at the blonde beside her.
Tanya turned to look at Riko for a moment before looking ahead to see Canard and Mallory walking a few feet ahead of them. The blonde mechanic let out a sigh before she motioned for Tate and Riko in closer so that she could speak to them more privately. Riko and Tate walked a little closer to Tanya as the female mallard began to talk to them in a low voice.
"We had a base that was originally the watch tower of 'Puckworld's Special Forces'," whispered Tanya to Tate and Riko.
"You mean the tower that belonged to the military?" voiced Tate as he tried to get the facts down.
"That's the one," replied Tanya with a nod. "We were using it as a secret base to hopefully help us fight against the Dragaunus, but that soon changed after a couple of weeks ago."
"What happened?" asked Riko as she urged the mechanic on.
"Well…the ducks within the rebellion where just working and minding their own business when we were suddenly attack by the Saurian warships." Tanya replied as she continued on with her story. "We didn't know what hit us as the Saurians sent their Hunter Drones to attack us. It was like a bad nightmare as the Hunter Drones took down or captured most of the rebellion troops. Only a few of us managed to escape."
"So the Saurian slime-balls attacked you when you least expect it, huh?" Tate clarified as he sadly looked at Tanya in pity.
"Yeah," replied Tanya sadly. "But there was one thing that had bothered me after the base was attacked. The Saurian Overlords couldn't have known where the location of the tower was unless someone told them."
"You mean…someone betrayed the resistance?" voiced Riko as her eyes widened in shock.
Tanya nodded her head as an angry frown came over her face. Riko was about to open her mouth and ask Tanya who had betrayed the resistance when she suddenly sensed something to her far right. She quickly pushed Tate and Tanya to the ground with her.
"Get down!" shouted Riko as a laser suddenly flew over their heads.
Canard and Mallory quickly turned around to see what was going on. Riko quickly grabbed her saber from her belt and activated it before she jumped back up onto her feet again. Tate and Tanya quickly sat up from the ground to see what Riko had saved them from and saw a hoard of Hunter Drones standing before them. They started shooting lasers at Riko, Tanya and Tate while Riko blocked the laser shots with the blade of her saber. Canard quickly brought out a flat white gun with a flat barrel from his hip pouch before he shot at one of the drones that almost fired a laser at Tanya. The bullet that came out of the gun was actually a hockey puck.
"It's an ambush!" shouted Mallory before she went into a hand to hand combat with a drone that came near her.
"No kidding Spitfire!" shouted Riko before she slashed her saber through the first Hunter Drone that came near her.
The group soon found them-selves fighting against 30 or 40 Hunter Drones that encircled them from all sides. Riko was slashing through the drones as if they were made of butter while not missing a beat in slashing another drone that came near her. Tate slashed through a drone that came near him while not noticing a drone coming up behind him before Mallory suddenly appeared and did a jump kick to bring down the Hunter Drone. Tate quickly turned when he heard metal crunching behind him and saw Mallory standing behind him with a Hunter Drone lying on the ground, dead. Electricity was sparking around its body indicating that it was permanently out of commission.
"Uh…thanks," muttered Tate as he looked away from Mallory.
"Just watch your back rookie," said Mallory with a smirk.
Tate only nodded his head before he got back to fighting the Hunter Drones again. Tanya and Canard were faring well as they fired off lasers and hockey pucks at the drones that came within their line of vision. The group took down the saurian robots one by one before they were down to about 20 Hunter Drones.
"Ha! This is too easy!" exclaimed Riko as she sliced through her thirteenth drone.
Suddenly she was tackled to the concrete floor by a Hunter Drone as it knocked her saber out of her hand while it tried to pin the street fighter to the ground.
"Riko!" shouted Tate when he saw that the silver haired human was in trouble before he had to dodge a laser beam from the drone that he was facing by himself.
Riko grunted as she fought against the drone that pinned her to the ground: "Hey, back off buster! Haven't you ever heard of the first rule when going out with a girl? No touching on the first date!"
Riko brought her feet underneath the robot before she shoved it off of her and sent it flying into a nearby wall where it fell apart on impact. The street fighter jumped back up onto her feet while dusting the invisible dirt off of her hands.
"So much for that flimsy tin can," muttered Riko before she was suddenly grabbed from behind by another Hunter Drone.
The drone held Riko in a chocking hold with its claw hands wrapped tightly around the girl's throat as the street fighter struggled to get out of the robots grip before she was lifted right off the ground. The other's weren't able to help Riko for they were too busy with the others drones that surrounded them. The silver haired human kicked around wildly as she tried to get out of the drone's chocker hold, but her struggles soon became weaker as Riko felt her air supply running out. Riko felt herself blacking out for a moment before she suddenly felt the grip of the Hunter Drone disappear from around her neck. Riko landed on the ground before she fell onto her hands and knees. She coughed and panted for breath before she looked up to find that the drone was suddenly thrown away from her by a large duck.
The duck had light grey feathers, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless white muscle shirt with black armored shoulder pads and loose dark red pants that were held up by a grey belt. On top of the duck's head was a grey metal helmet while on the duck's lower right arm was a metal vambrace and on his left hand was a black fingerless glove with a knuckle guard on top of it. On the duck's right shoulder was a tattoo of a green upside down triangle with two hockey sticks crisscrossing with each other.
Riko could tell that this guy was big on muscles and knew that she shouldn't mess with a guy like him when he's angry, but she had a feeling that this duck was part of the resistance as well. Canard, Mallory and Tanya seemed happy to see him when they saw the large mallard step into the battle against the Hunter Drones.
"Good timing Grin!" called out Canard before he shot at another drone that came near him.
The giant, now known as Grin, only nodded before he turned to face another drone that came towards him. Riko observed for a moment and blinked in confusion as she watched Grin bow towards the drone like a martial artist bowing in respect for his opponent before the giant drew back his left arm and punched the drone right in the face with his fist. Riko's eyes widened when she saw that the force of the drake's punch had sent the Hunter Drone flying and crashing into a wall before it fell to pieces.
"You've got a pretty powerful punch there big guy," complemented Riko as she walked up to stand beside the giant. "But doesn't punching metal hurt you?"
Grin looked down at the silver haired human while he shook his hand: "Pain is an illusion…an illusion that really, really hurts."
Riko only raised an eyebrow at Grin as a smirk came over her face: 'Why am I not surprised?'
"Riko!" shouted Tate as he threw the hilt of Riko's saber towards her. "Think fast!"
Riko quickly caught the deactivated hilt of her saber before she reactivated it again: "Thanks Tate!"
The battle continued on as the group battle against the Hunter Drones as they took them down one by one. The fighting soon ended with Riko slashing through the last drone that stood in her way before deactivating her saber.
"Glad that's over with," muttered Riko as she attached the saber to her belt again.
"Riko!" called Tate as he ran up to the silver haired human before stopping in front of her. "You okay girl?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "But few seconds more in that drone's chocker hold then I would have blacked out right then and there."
"Or worse," stepped in Mallory as she and Canard came up to her along with Tanya. "You could have winded up dead."
Riko frowned at what Mallory had said but decided not to make a comeback on it for she knew that the red head was right. Canard soon turned to the new duck of the group.
"It's good that you came when we needed you the most, Grin," said Canard in an appreciative tone of voice.
"I've sensed that you and the others were in trouble, so I came here as fast as I could," replied Grin as he looked down at Canard.
"And it's a good thing you did," stepped in Riko as she looked up at the duck. "Otherwise I would have passed out right then and there within that Hunter Drone's chocker hold."
"It is my pleasure to help out a friend within the resistance young friend," said Grin as he looked down at Riko with a gentle smile.
"Tate, Riko; I like you to meet Grin Hardwing, the muscles of our team." Canard spoke as he introduced the giant to the two new recruits.
Grin placed the palms of his hands together as he bowed towards Riko and Tate in respect: "I am enlightened and honored to meet you."
Riko and Tate respectfully bowed back to the giant before the trio straightened up again.
"The honor is all ours," replied Riko.
The group continued forward as Canard took up the lead again with Mallory right beside him. Riko, Tate, Tanya and Grin were following behind them as they began to talk with each other again. Riko soon learned that Grin was actually a gentle giant who only fought when his peace was disturbed and was trained by one of the best hockey players on Puckworld. A duck that was known to be the hockey master on Puckworld who goes by the name of Ty Quack Do. At first Riko was lost on who this Ty Quack Do guy was until Tate and Grin filled her in with the details. Riko was soon amazed when she heard just how great this Ty Quack Do guy was. The group soon came to an old rundown warehouse. They all filed in one by one until Tanya was the last one to close the door behind them. Riko looked around and frowned when she saw how dull the place looked.
'Not much of a base if you ask me,' thought Riko as she looked over at Canard.
She saw the drake walking over to the far end of the wall within the warehouse. Riko became curious as she watched the drake stop in front of the wall. Canard raised his left hand up towards the wall as he curled into a fist before the drake started to lightly knock on the solid surface with his knuckles. Riko counted the rhythm of the taps. Two knocks, a pause and then two slow taps. Canard dropped his arm down to his side before he walked back to the group again. Everything was quiet within the warehouse. Riko tensed as she waited to see what will happen. Just then, she began to feel the ground shake underneath her feet.
"What the…" started Riko as she looked down at the floor.
Riko's eyes widened in surprise as a large section of the floor began to slide away in front of her and the group as it revealed a large gapping tunnel that led down underneath the ruin city.
"Whoa…" voice Tate in amazement as he looked down into the dark tunnel before him.
"Let's get going," commanded Canard before he jumped into the tunnel with the other ducks following right behind him.
Tanya was the last one to jump in before Tate and Riko looked at one another. Tate smile nervously at Riko before he took a few steps back away from the tunnel.
"Why don't you go first Riko?" suggested Tate with a nervously laughed. "After all, ladies first you know."
"Don't tell me that you're chicken," questioned Riko as she placed her hands on her hips.
"I'm not chicken," replied Tate before he poked his fingers together. "I'm just not a big fan of dark and enclose places."
Riko only raised an eyebrow at Tate: "You know Tate…if you let a silly little thing like claustrophobia get in the way of you battling against Dragaunus then he'll see you as a weakling. Sometimes you just have to face your fears head on and when you do that then you can do anything."
"What makes you so sure about that?" questioned Tate as he looked at the 18 year old in front of him.
"Take it from me," said Riko as she pointed to herself. "I've been on my own since I was a kid and I was afraid of everything that moved, but I knew that I had to face my fears and become stronger so that I can stand on my own two feet. And besides, your 22 years old right, so don't start acting like a baby on me now."
"I'm no baby!" exclaimed Tate as he glared at Riko in anger. "And I'll prove it to you, just watch!"
With that said, Tate jumped into the tunnel with Riko watching him. A smirk spread out on the street fighter's face as she looked down at the tunnel that Tate had jumped into.
"Now that's the kind of spirit that I like to see," stated Riko before she jumped into the tunnel herself with the secret doors of the tunnel closed behind her.
Riko soon found herself sliding down the tunnel at high speed as she rode it down towards the bottom to where the hidden base will be. Riko soon saw the light at the end of the tunnel and quickly braced for impact. She soon found herself sliding across a cool metal floor before she came to a complete stop. Tate was just getting up from the floor after Riko had slid out of the tunnel.
"Whoa, now that was some ride!" exclaimed Tate before he gave Riko a hand up.
"Yeah," replied Riko she began to dust herself down. "Reminds me of one of the carnival rides back home on earth…"
Riko's sentence completely disappeared from her mouth as she soon stared at the place that she and Tate had just winded up in. The room that they were standing in was actually a large hanger with the Aerowing that She, Tate and Kathryn had rode on when they were being attacked by the Saurian war fleet sitting in the middle of the room. Many ducks of different sizes and colors were walking around the hanger with some of them working on the Aerowing's engines. There were two doors located on the left and right walls of the hanger as a duck would either enter or leave through them. Canard and the others stood in front of Riko and Tate with their backs facing them before the leader turned around to face the new recruits.
"Riko, Tate, welcome to the resistance secret headquarters," announced Canard to the human and black duck.
"Whoa!" voiced Tate as his bottom beak hung open in amazement.
Riko stared at the base's hanger in amazement: "This is definitely not something that I would find on my home planet."
"This place is absolutely fantastic!" exclaimed Tate as he spread his arms wide out in amazement.
Mallory looked at Tate with a smirk on her face: "Glad you like it."
"General Canard!" shouted a voice that was heading towards them.
The group turned to see a dark brown drake with dark blue eyes running towards them. The duck had short dark reddish brown hair with a bang hanging over his left eye. He was wearing a black bullet proof vest over a white short sleeve T-shirt, dark brown pants and black combat boots. On his right wrist was the same black circular object that was attached to a dark green band. A large scar ran down from the drake's forehead and across his right eye. The duck looked to be around Canard's age and had the same body structure as him.
The drake quickly came to a halt in front of Canard before he stood to attention while raising his right hand up to his forehead to salute the tan mallard in front of him.
"Sir, the Captain wants to speak with you," in formed the drake.
"Thank you Agni," said Canard before he turned back to his group. "Mallory, you take Tate and Riko to the armory and help them pick out their armor and weapons. The rest of you go help the other ducks around the base."
"Yes sir!" echoed Mallory and the group, minus Riko and Tate, before Canard left with the new duck Agni.
"Come on you two," said Mallory as she began to lead Riko and Tate towards the door on the right side of the hanger.
The two companions followed Mallory through the door as she led them down a narrow hallway before stopping in front of a circular door. Mallory pressed a few buttons on the control panel before the mechanical door opened in front of the group. Riko and Tate walked into the room with Mallory and what they saw inside made their eyes go wide in astonishment.
The room was filled with weapons of every kind and armor that was made for ducks of every size.
"Whoa…talk about a walk-in closet," muttered Riko as she walked over to the armor and began to inspect it.
"Once you two had picked out your armor you can change out of your old clothes in the changing rooms." Mallory informed the Riko and Tate. "The drake's changing room is on the left side of the room and the woman's changing room is located on the right side of the room. I'll leave you two alone now."
With that, Mallory walked out of the room with the doors closing shut behind her. Tate and Riko stared at the doors for a moment before the 22 year old black duck suddenly broke the silence.
"That girl puts the cool in coolness," muttered Tate.
"Oh brother," voiced Riko as she rolled her eyes at the drake before she walked over to the armory.
Riko soon found a long sleeve and long leg fingerless glove cat-suit that was light green on the top and light blue at the bottom. The top half of the light green covered the chest and arms of the suit with two triangle strips going down the suit until they stopped near the outside of the tights with light blue beginning at the bottom. The fingerless gloves on the suite were black with a small black tear drop on the back of the gloves that was encircled by a bit of green.
"This suite looks good," voiced Riko as she took the cat-suit off from the rack before going into the woman's changing room.
About a minute later, Riko came walking out of the changing room in her new suite with only her old runners on her feet. Her hip pouch was sitting inside the changing room along with her other old stuff. Riko soon went over to the armor and found the best armor that would suite her body structure.
It was a white armor chest plate with a dark red collar. It had two brass stripes that formed a 'V' on both sides of the armor. At the bottom edge of the armor was a golden triangle that narrowed to the point where the tip met in the middle of the chest plate. Attached to the chest armor were two metal white shoulder pads with dark green edges on the side and a golden edge in the front of the green. On the left shoulder pad was the same symbol that she saw on Canard's arm and Grin's shoulder.
"These ducks sure like to use hockey sticks for this kind of symbol," muttered Riko as she raised an eyebrow at the symbol that was imprinted on the shoulder pad
Riko took the suite of armor off of the rack and was surprised at how light it was. The street fighter slipped the chest armor over her head. She brought her left arm through the hole within the armor before she got to work in attaching the clip that was on the right side of the chest plating. Her right arm was already through the hole of the armor but attaching the clip of it was a bit of a problem for Riko.
"Hey, you need some help?" asked Tate as he walked up to Riko.
Riko looked at Tate and saw that he was still wearing his old clothing, but he now had on a chestnut brown chest plate with the same triangle and two hockey sticks sitting in the middle of the armor. On his knees were black shin guards with a grey trimming around the edges. He was also wearing black combat boots, a white shoulder pad on his right shoulder and attached to his left wrist was the same black circular object that Riko had seen so many times on her journey through Puckworld.
Riko turned her head away from Tate before replying: "I can do it myself."
Tate only shrugged his shoulders at her as he watched Riko work at the clip for about a minute before the street fighter finally heard it click. A smirk of satisfaction came over the human's face as she felt the tinniest pressure of her armor compress around her chest before she turned to look at Tate again.
"Told you that I could do it," stated Riko as she held her head up proudly.
Tate smirked at Riko before taking another piece of armor off from the rack. Riko saw that Tate was holding two white metal vambraces in each of his hands. Both sides of the vambrace's edges were dark red and on top of the left vambrace was the same flat black circle, which Riko now realized was a hockey puck. Riko took the two vambraces from Tate. She placed the first vambrace with the hockey puck on her lower left arm as it snapped around her wrist while she placed the second one on her right lower arm as it attached itself to her like the first vambrace.
Riko smirked as she looked down at the vambraces that were now attached to her lower arms before nodding in approval.
"These look good," said Riko before she continued on with her search for more accessories to go with her armor.
Riko soon found a golden metal belt with a sliver buckle in the middle, a pair of white and grey boots and metal white knee pads. The street fighter soon walked back into the changing room where her hip pouch sat on the chair along with the hilt of her saber. Riko attached her saber to the left side of her belt before attaching her hip pouch to the right side of her belt. Tate was waiting for the street fighter outside of the changing room door as the 18 year old came walking out in her new gear.
"Looking sharp there Riko," commented Tate as he gave the street fighter a thumbs up.
Riko only smiled at Tate before she began to walk out of the room with the black duck following right behind her. The doors of the room slid open for the two and standing before them was Mallory. The red haired duck was leaning up against the opposite wall that faced the doors of the armory with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Took you two long enough," stated Mallory before she pushed herself off against the wall and walked up to the two as she began to inspect them.
Mallory looked at the two for a moment before nodding her head in approval: "Looks like you two picked some good armor there."
"Thanks," said Tate with a smile.
"So what's on the agenda?" questioned Riko as she placed her hand on her left hip.
"Well…Canard told me on my wrist com that I'm to show you two rookies around the base," replied Mallory. "So let's get moving while we're still young."
"Whatever you say, Spitfire," said Riko with a shrug of her shoulders.
Mallory frowned at Riko for a moment before she gently punched the human in the arm. Riko merely smirked at Mallory before she and Tate began to follow the military soldier around the base. The tour around the base was an interesting one for Riko and Tate as they got to meet the other members of the resistance while also seeing different parts of the base. Some of the ducks who worked within the resistance were a little skeptical about Riko for they had never seen a creature like her before and that made them a little wary about her being in the resistance. Mallory showed Riko and Tate the different locations and rooms of the base before coming to the security center where a female duck sat at the computer.
The duck had pale gold feathers, light brown hair that grew to her shoulders and pale blue eyes. She was wearing a light blue halter-top with a leather grey vest over top, tight blue jeans that hugged around her waist, tan brown one inch high heel boots and a violet head scarf that was tied around her forehead.
The female heard them coming in and quickly spun her chair around to face the trio.
"Hey there Mallory, how's it tripping?" asked the female duck.
"Not too bad considering that I'm showing these two new recruits around the base," replied Mallory as she, Riko and Tate walked up to the female duck.
"Oh, so these two are the new recruits that Canard told me so much about," said the female duck as she stood up from her chair and walked towards Riko and Tate who stopped just behind Mallory. "It's a pleasure to meet you two, my name is Luna Starla. I'm a security officer and a weapon arms specialist like Mallory here."
"Nice to meet you Luna," replied Tate as he held out his hand towards the female duck with her shaking it in reply before letting go. "I'm Tate Jetwing and this girl with the silver hair is Riko Hikari."
Luna turned her head to look at Riko before she walked over to the human to get a better look at the street fighter.
"So you're the human that Canard was talking about huh?" questioned Luna as she looked Riko up and down.
"Yeah, so?" said Riko as she grew suspicious of the female duck in front of her.
Luna didn't reply at first as she kept staring at Riko for a moment before pulling back with a frown on her face.
"Canard told the recruits and I that you were something special," started Luna as she glared at the human in front of her. "But after looking at you myself I can see that there is nothing special about you."
"Looks can be deceiving," stated Riko coolly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Whatever," said Luna with a huff, "But just to let you know, Canard is my boyfriend so don't get any ideas on taking him away from me!"
"No problem there," replied Riko as she turned her head away from Luna, "Because I'm not interested in dating boys who are older than me or are out of my league. Not to mention out of my species."
Luna was about to retort to what Riko had just said to her when an alarm within the room suddenly sounded. Luna quickly ran back to her chair and began typing away on the console before one of the TV screens on the far upper left corner suddenly turned on. It showed a picture of two ducks riding on hover cycles with one unoccupied cycle following behind them.
"Well, looks like we've got some unexpected visitors." Luna stated as she looked at the two ducks on the screen.
"Those two ducks are Duke and his sister Kathryn," informed Riko when she recognized the two ducks on screen.
"I didn't know Duke had a sister," spoke Mallory as she looked at Riko and Tate in befuddlement. "Why didn't you two tell me?"
"You didn't ask," replied Tate with a chuckle.
Just then, a small beeping noise was heard from the hockey pucks that were attached to Riko's and the duck's arms. Mallory quickly raised her arm up as the top lid of the hockey puck opened.
"Mallory here," said the red head as she looked down at the device on her wrist.
"So that's what these hockey puck objects on our arms are for," muttered Riko as she looked down at the black hockey puck that that was attached to her left vambrace.
"And something tells me that you don't know a hockey puck communicator when you see one," voiced Tate as he gave Riko a funny look.
"How could I?" hissed Riko in a low and angry voice. "I've never even seen a hockey game in my whole life before! Not to mention that I don't play it, much less skate!"
"Oh boy, that's going to be a problem," whispered Tate as he slapped his forehead before speaking into Riko's ear. "It's probably best that you don't tell anyone about you not being able to play hockey."
Riko looked at Tate in bemusement but decided that it was best that she didn't ask any questions about it while Mallory, Luna or any of the other ducks within the resistances are around to hear the conversation. Riko turned her eyes back on Mallory who was nearing the end of her conversation with the person on the communicator.
"Alright, got it," said Mallory and closed the lid of her communicator before she looked over at Luna. "That was Canard. He wants you to open the doors to let Duke and his sister into the base."
"What? You've got to be joking!" exclaimed Luna as she looked up at Mallory in disbelief.
"It's no joke when it comes to Canard's orders," stated Mallory as she looked down at Luna with a glare. "Now you better open those doors to the hanger now before Canard comes in here and starts question your actions on not obeying his orders."
Luna cringed when she heard what Mallory said about Canard coming in here to yell at her. Luna quickly went back to work on the computer as she pressed a few buttons to open the hanger's doors.
Mallory turned back to Riko and Tate: "Come on, we'd better meet your friends in the hanger first before anyone else does."
Riko and Tate quickly followed Mallory out of the room as she led them back to the hanger.
The hanger
The trio soon arrived at the hanger where they stood in front two large doors where they waited for Duke and Kathryn to come through them. Canard and the others were also there as well with Canard standing in front of the group. The mechanical doors opened as Duke and Kathryn rode into the hanger on their hover cycles with one rider less cycle trailing behind them.
"Master Duke! Kathryn!" exclaimed Tate as he ran over to the two in excitement and relief when he saw that his master and Kathryn were safe.
Riko walked over to Duke and Kathryn as she trailed behind Tate. Duke and Kathryn turned off the hover cycles as the vehicles slowly floated down to the ground before the two riders dismounted from their bikes. Tate stopped in front of the two with a smile spread out across his face, but the smile soon faded when he saw the distraught and disheartened looks on both Duke's and Kathryn's faces. Riko also noticed the look on the duo's faces and became concerned as she walked up to them.
"What's wrong?" asked Riko when she came within range of the duo.
Kathryn was the first one to respond as she leapt towards Tate and wrapped her arms around the 22 year old duck's neck as she cried into the drake's shoulder. Tate blinked in bewilderment as he looked down at the young 16 year old girl that was hugging him. Duke slowly walked up to Riko as the young street fighter looked up into the thief's face and saw a deep sadness within his left eye.
"Duke…what's wrong?" Riko asked again as she stared long and hard into the drake's face.
Duke didn't reply at first as he only stared into Riko's golden/amber eyes, but he soon sighed as his shoulder's slumped in defeat before he answered Riko's question.
"Riko…Kathryn and I were at the hideout to get some stuff that could help us within the resistance, but when we got there…"
"When you got there…what!" exclaimed Tate as he looked at his master in expectance as he waited for the older drake to continue while he hugged Kathryn to try and comfort her.
Kathryn was the one to continue her brother's sentences as she spoke up in a small voice: "When we got there…the hideout was raided. Raided by the Hunter Drones that somehow knew where the hideout was. And the others…they're gone…all, gone."
"What!" exclaimed Tate and Riko in disbelief after they heard what Kathryn had said to them.
"It…it can't be," voiced Tate as he looked down at the young female he held in his arms.
"I'm afraid it is Tate," said Duke as he walked up to his young student and placed a hand on the drake's shoulder. "Everyone within the Brotherhood of the Blades was captured while the only ones who weren't captured were killed. There was nothing left within the hideout. The only things that we could salvage there were the hover cycles and Kathryn's tools."
Tate could only look up at his teacher as grief came over his face before his head hung down in despair while he held Kathryn tightly within his arms. Riko's eyes narrowed in anger as she clenched both of her hands into fists while her blood began to burn with rage, first Joseph now the Brotherhood of the Blades.
"Now its personal!" shouted Riko as she lifted her arms up before opening the palm of her left hand and punching her right fist into it. "That over grown lizard is going down once and for all!"
"You took the words right out of our beaks," stepped in Mallory as she came up to stand beside Riko.
Duke turned when he heard Mallory's voice and smirked when he saw the female duck.
"Hey there Sweetheart long time, no see huh?" said Duke as he looked at the red haired duck before him.
"Not long enough if you ask me," stated Mallory with a frown.
"I'm guessing that you two already know each other right?" questioned Riko as she looked between the two mallards while she lowered her arms down to her sides again.
"Unfortunately yes," replied Mallory as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been trying to capture this thief and bring him to jail for moths."
"But you were always two steps behind me," chuckled Duke as he placed his hands on his hips.
Mallory only turned her head away from Duke with a frown on her beak. Riko rolled her eyes at the two before she looked over at Tate and Kathryn. The 22 year old was trying his best to comfort the young 16 year old while also trying to hold back his emotions at the same time. Riko began to fell pity for the two ducks as she watched them from afar. Riko soon walked over to Tate and Kathryn before she stood beside them. The street fighter raised her right hand up to place it on Kathryn's left shoulder. The young female duck turned her head to look at Riko as tears still streaked down her face.
Riko gently wiped a stray tear away from Kathryn's face before she began to talk: "Kathryn…I promise you that I'll make everything right again, no matter what it takes. Until then, you have to be strong for we need you to help not only us, but the rest of your people as well. So buck up already and don't let yourself show weakness in front of your enemies."
Kathryn slowly untangled her arms from around Tate's neck before she rubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes. Kathryn soon looked up at Riko again before nodding her head at the silver haired street fighter.
"Okay," said Riko before she turned her gaze back onto Duke. "Now back to the business at hand. While you were gathering the supplies for our fight against Dragaunus, did you find any clues on whom or what might have brought the Hunter Drones to your hideout?"
"I think I have," replied Duke before he dug into the hip pouch that rested on his belt. "I found this little gadget when we were making our way to Kathryn's workshop. My little sister managed to shut it off before we came here."
Duke soon pulled out a small device that was no bigger than a beetle. It had a dull black center which indicated that it once glow a bright yellow before it died and around the dot was a red metal trimming. Riko lifted the device off of Duke's hand as she held it up between her thumb and forefinger while she inspected it.
"No doubt about it," said Riko as she glared at the device in disgusted. "It's a tracking device."
"Let me take a look," stepped in Canard as he walked up to Riko and stopped in front of her.
Riko handed the device over to the captain of the team as Canard stared at the device that he held between his thumb and forefinger before he crushed it within the palm of his hand.
"I thought as much," said Canard in an angry voice. "This tracking device is one of the Saurian's tracking devices."
"So that must mean those Saurian slime-balls could have put that tracking device on one of our team members within the Brotherhood of the Blades." Tate spoke as he rubbed the bottom of his beak in thought.
"Or someone could have deliberately put that tracking device on themselves to lead the Hunter Drones to your hideout," theorized Riko as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"No way!" exclaimed Tate in denial as he glared at Riko. "No one within the Brotherhood of the Blades would ever betray each other."
"Keep your feathers on Tate, I'm only theorizing here," said Riko as she looked over at the 22 year old. "But it could be possible that someone had decided to betray the Brotherhood of the Blade by changing sides to join the Saurian Overlords."
"And I think I know who," stepped in Duke as he pulled something else out from his pouch. "I found this on the floor beside the tracking device."
Duke soon held out a golden feather that sat on the palm of his hand. The sight of the feather quickly brought up a memory within Riko's head: "Duke…could this feather that you're holding in your hand belong to that sharp beak friend of yours?"
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," said Duke with a grim look on his face as anger filled up within his body. "This feather belongs to Falcone."
Tate and Kathryn's eyes widened when they heard that the feather belonged to the non-duck member of their group.
"You mean…Falcone's a traitor," voiced Kathryn in disbelief as she stared up at her brother with an upset look on her face.
Duke could only nod his head at his sister's question before he tucked the feather back into his pouch. Tate began to feel his temper grow as he clenched his hands into fists.
"How could that guy betray the Brotherhood like this?" whispered Tate in anger.
"Sometimes those who have hearts that are filled with greed or hatred would turn their backs on their friends." Riko replied as she cast her eyes down towards the ground. "I've seen gangs who live on streets of New York City betray each other, and it's never a pretty sight to see."
"Well if I ever see that Falcone guy again he's going to wish that he had never been hatched!" exclaimed Tate as he clenched his right hand tighter into a fist.
"Tate, don't let your anger get in the way of our mission," said Mallory as she walked up to Tate while placing a hand over his tightly clenched fist to comfort him. "Right now we need to focus on taking out Dragaunus first or there will be no hope for our home planet."
"Mallory's right," stepped in Canard, "Now is not the time to let our emotions get the best of us. Now, with that out of the way everyone is dismissed!"
With that, the group dispersed and went their different ways except for Canard and Tanya who stayed behind. Tanya soon walked up to Riko, Duke, Tate and Kathryn before lifting her hand up towards Duke's little sister. Kathryn blinked in surprise when she saw Tanya extending her hand towards her.
"Your name's Kathryn, right?" asked Tanya in a friendly voice.
"Yeah, that's me," replied Kathryn as she took Tanya's hand into her own.
"It's nice to finally meet you, I'm Tanya Vanderflock," said the blonde as she shook Kathryn's hand. "I've heard a lot about you from Riko and Tate."
"I hope it was good," said Kathryn as a smile appeared on her beak.
"It was," replied Tanya with a smile of her own. "I heard that you were great in technology and I was wondering if you would like to work with me when it comes to fixing or inventing stuff."
Kathryn blinked in surprise: "You mean you like to build electronics as well?"
"Sure do," replied Tanya as the two let go of each other's hands and began to walk away from the group together. "I've even invent some of the weapons myself."
"Well…looks like my little sister has finally found someone to converse techno-gizmos stuff with," stated Duke as a smile spread out across his beak.
"Not to mention finding a friend in the process," added Tate with a chuckle.
Riko watched Kathryn walk off with Tanya as they talked between each other in a deep conversation about technology as a sad smile came over her face. Kathryn was lucky that she made a quick friend within the resistance. Just then, Riko was brought out of her thoughts when she suddenly felt Canard place his hand on top of her shoulder and that made the street fighter turn to look at the team captain.
"What is it?" questioned Riko as she glared up at Canard in annoyance.
"I need to talk to you for a moment," replied Canard.
"Alright," replied Riko before she turned to look at Duke and Tate. "I'll meet up with you guys later, okay?"
"Sure, no problem," said Tate with a smile.
"See ya later kid," added Duke with a wave.
Riko nodded her head at them before she followed Canard to a different part of the base where they could talk in private. They walked out of hanger through the doors on the left side of the room. The walk down the hallway was quiet for the two as they made their way to Canard's quarters and Riko soon decided to speak after a long silence.
"So…what exactly do you want me for?" she asked in an untrusting voice.
Canard didn't answer Riko's question right away as they came to the doors of the drake's room. Riko watched as Canard punched in the codes for the lock that was sitting near the right side of his door before it opened with a hiss. The two walked into the room with the door closing behind them. Canard let out a sigh before he turned to face Riko with a serious look on his face as he answered the street fighter's question.
"What I need from you is your help with two missions that I'll be taking up tomorrow. One is for you to accompany me in finding Dragaunus and his headquarters, the second one is for you to help me in finding someone who is working within the slave camps that isn't too far from here." Canard replied as he glared down at the silver haired human before him.
"And this friend of yours is the same one you told me about when we were looking for the mask of Drake DuCaine?" questioned Riko as she leaned up against the doors of Canard's room with her hands resting behind her head.
The drake nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest: "The reason why I'm bringing you along with me is because you seem to have a knack for taking down opponents that are bigger than yourself. So I need someone to watch my back when I'm out there looking for Dragaunus's headquarters and Wildwing."
"Hmm…so you want me to be your body guard in a sense," said Riko as she scratched the bottom of her chin in thought.
Canard nodded of his head: "That's pretty much it."
Riko thought it over for a moment before a smirk spread out across her face: "Why not, besides I don't want to spend the rest of my day sitting around in this base all the time."
"Alright," said Canard with a nod of his head. "We'll head out at about 6:30 in the morning so I suggest that you get yourself some sleep until then."
Riko only nodded her head before she pushed herself off the walls of the door. She soon turned around and waited for the mechanical door to open. The door gave a hiss as it parted in front Riko before the silver haired street fighter stepped out into the hallway and made her way back to where the others were. Many thoughts kept racing through Riko's head as she kept thinking about what Canard's friend was like.
"Probably another hot shot who thinks he's all that," muttered Riko as she kept walking down the hall of the base.
How wrong Riko was, for the duck that she will be meeting soon will be the complete opposite of what she is think.
To be continued
Here's a better chapter of the story. Hope you guys like it.
White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!