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 7
Riko swung a sack over her right shoulder as she stood in the middle of the room that had been her temporary sleeping quarters for the last one in a half days. Riko had already put on her gear before packing up the last few items that she will need for the groups fight against Dragaunus. Riko let out a sigh after she took one last look around the room before shouldering her bag and began walking towards the door.
The door hissed open as the 18 year old took a step out into the hallway and suddenly bumped into someone. Riko almost fell backwards but was quickly steadied by a large gloved hand that grabbed her left shoulder. Riko looked up to see Wildwing standing in front of her.
Wildwing was wearing white armor over a dark green battle suite. On both of the drake's hands were large metal gauntlets with the thick gloves being a dark grey. On the right cuff of the gauntlet was a green jewel or device with gold rimming around it and on the left gauntlet was a launcher that was a half golden oval shape with a rectangle sitting behind it. There was also another rectangle on the left shoulder of Wildwing's armor. Two sets of golden stripes were mounted at the bottom of the drake's chest armor. The wide collar around the top of the chest armor was a rouge color. Around Wildwing's hips was a golden metal belt and on the drake's feet were white boots.
The armor that Wildwing was wearing looked to be strong enough to withstand any attack that might be thrown at him by the enemy that they will be facing soon.
"Sorry," echoed Wildwing and Riko together.
The two blinked in surprise as they stared at each other for a moment before they shared an embarrassing blush as Wildwing drew back his hand that he used to steady Riko. Wildwing scratched the back of his neck with his left hand.
"Okay…That was awkward," said Wildwing in a joking matter.
"I'll say," said Riko in agreement. "Anyways, are you ready to get going?"
"Yeah, I am" replied Wildwing with a nod of his head. "I was just coming to get you. Everyone is waiting for us at the Aerowing."
"Then let's get moving," said Riko with a smirk.
With that said, Riko and Wildwing started walking down the hallway together while also sharing a conversation once in a while. Even though Riko had only met Wildwing yesterday, she kind of felt as if she had known the drake all her life. They soon arrived at the hanger where they saw their team members getting ready to board the Aerowing. Kathryn was wearing her usual clothing, but there was one new added feature on her. She was now wearing a white belt with a green jewel in the middle.
Kathryn was talking with Tanya about some of the equipment that they had gathered on the Aerowing before Nosedive came up to them.
Nosedive was wearing armor that was similar to Wildwing's armor, but not as bulky. Nosedive's armor was white with grey trimmings instead of gold. Two grey stripes were imprinted on the bottom on the young drake's chest armor while on the left armored shoulder pad was a picture of a grey duck mask with two hockey sticks mounted behind it. Nosedive was wearing a short sleeved shirt underneath the chest armor and grey fingerless gloves with knuckle guards on the top. And finally, on top of the young drake's beak was a battle patch that was similar to Canard's battle patch.
Riko rolled her eyes in amusement when she saw Kathryn beginning to talk with Nosedive while trying to flirt with him. Tanya just watched the two with a smirk on her face.
"Oh brother," muttered Riko with a shake of her head. "Here we are, trying to save Puckworld from Dragaunus and Kathryn is trying to get a date with your brother."
"Ease off Riko," said Wildwing with a smile as he placed his right hand on the 18 year old girl's shoulder. "After all Kathryn's just a teenager, just like my brother."
"I guess you're right," said Riko with a small smile.
"Hey Wildwing, Riko!" shouted Duke from the Aerowing as he waved them over.
The two walked over to the ex-thief as Canard walked down the ramp that led up to the Aerowing's cockpit.
"You two certainly took your sweet time," said Canard with a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sorry we're late, I had a few things to pack," said Riko with a shrug of her shoulders.
"I'll say kid," spoke Duke as he pointed at Riko's sack. "It looks like you've barely have anything in that bag of yours."
"That's because I barely own anything, One Eye," said Riko as she playfully punched Duke in the chest.
"Well…looks like you do have some humor in you Quick Silver," teased Duke with a smirk.
Riko rolled her eyes at the thief before she suddenly frowned as she looked past Canard and Duke. Standing behind the two drakes was the fiery red head herself…Mallory. Riko and Mallory stared at each other as for a moment until Riko shouldered her sack and began to walk up the ramp as she headed for the cockpit of the Aerowing.
"Riko wait!" shouted Mallory as she called for the silver haired human to stop.
Riko did stop before she turned to look at Mallory in expectance. The female duck hesitated for a moment before she finally spoke again.
"Look…I'm sorry about what I said to you yesterday and…"
"Mallory," interrupted Riko as she looked down at the red head in front of her. "Even though I'll accept your apology, it still doesn't mean that we'll be friends until we've really earned each other's trust."
Mallory stared up at Riko in surprise as the silver haired human turned and continued her way up the ramp again. Kathryn, Nosedive and Tanya walked up to the rest of the group to see what was going on.
Nosedive was the first one to speak among the ducks: "What was that all about?"
"I'm thinking that Riko and Mallory are having a hissy fit with each other," said Kathryn as she answered Nosedive's question.
"O-or they could be having, you know, an argument that we don't know about," added Tanya.
"Hey guys!" called out Tate as he and Grin walked up to the group.
"What took you two so long?" asked Kathryn.
"Sorry Kat," said Tate as he scratched the back of his head. "Grin and I had to ask around because we couldn't find the Aerowing's hanger."
"You got lost didn't you?" muttered Mallory as she gave Tate an inquisitive look.
"No, no, we didn't get lost we…"
"We'd got lost," said Grin as he admitted what Tate wouldn't say. "And I have learned that Tate has too much pride to admit that he needs a little help once in a while."
"You're not helping," muttered Tate under his breath.
"Tate does tend to have an urge in wanting to do things all by himself sometimes," said Kathryn with a smirk. "And in the end he always winds up falling flat on his face."
"You're not helping either!" snapped Tate angrily.
"Whoa, cool your jets Tate," said Duke as he tried to calm down his apprentice.
"Duke's right Tate," spoke Wildwing as he entered the conversation. "Our priority is to fight Dragaunus, not each other."
"You're right," said Tate with a sigh before he turned to look at Kathryn. "Sorry for snapping at you Kathryn."
"That's okay," said Kathryn with a smile.
"Okay everyone," spoke Canard as he cut into the conversation. "This is the chance that we've been waiting for. It is time to take down Dragaunus and to take back our home planet, so failure is not an option."
"Yes sir!" shouted the group.
In the cockpit
Riko placed her sack in one of the compartments that hung above her head before quickly shutting it close.
"There," said Riko with a satisfied smirk on her face. "That should do it."
"Looks like you're ready for our fight against Dragaunus," said Canard as he walked up to Riko.
"You could say that," said Riko as she turned to face the Team Captain.
The tan duck stopped in front of the silver haired human as he stared down into the golden/amber eyes of the 18 year old. Riko quickly began to tense under the Team Captain's gaze after about two minutes.
"What's with that look you're giving me?" asked Riko with a frown.
"What exactly is going on between you and Wildwing?" questioned Canard in a dangerous tone of voice.
Riko growled at Canard: "Nothing is going on between me and Wildwing, Hotshot."
"Oh really?" challenged Canard as he crossed his arms over chest. "Then why exactly are you two looking so chummy together after only meeting each other yesterday?"
Riko became annoyed with the questions that Canard was asking her: "What exactly is wrong with you today?!"
"What's wrong is that you still haven't told me about your connection with that other human we've encountered yesterday!" snapped Canard.
"Carlo was a guy that I once worked with on the streets of New York," said Riko as she tried to keep her cool in the conversation. "I stole things for him, that's all."
"Is it?" questioned Canard.
Riko's blood began to boil as she glared up at Canard in fury. Unknown to her or Canard, Wildwing was listening in on their conversation as he stood quietly behind the door while he watched the heated argument between his best friend and the silver haired human. Riko began to poke Canard angrily in the chest as she spoke the next words that emerged from her mouth.
"So that's it huh? You don't trust me around your friend, do you?"
"I don't trust you around my best friend, period!" exclaimed Canard as he grabbed Riko's hand in his own right hand. "So you'd better watch your step while I'm around."
Riko clenched her teeth as she felt the drake tighten his grip on her hand. Wildwing soon decided to make his presents known as he walked out from the shadows of the door's entrance.
"Canard, stop it," said Wildwing in a warning voice.
Canard and Riko were surprised to see Wildwing, but Canard quickly let go of Riko's hand while giving her one last glare before he walked passed Wildwing and out the door. Wildwing watched his friend leave before he turned to Riko and walked up to her.
"Are you okay Riko?" asked Wildwing.
"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Riko as she rubbed her hand gingerly. "But I have to say, your friend has a strong grip that could rival Grin's."
Wildwing gently frowned before he took Riko's hand into his own and began to examine it. Riko stood patiently as she let the white drake look at her hand as he lightly pressed down on her palm with two of his fingers.
"Do you feel any pain when I do this?" asked Wildwing.
"No, not really," replied Riko with a shake of her head. "But I'll probably sprout a bruise there later on."
"You're pretty tough for a human," said Wildwing with a chuckle.
Riko gave Wildwing a smile before she frowned as she thought over what she and Canard had argued about a minute ago. She soon decided to ask Wildwing a question about trust.
"Wildwing…do you trust me or do you feel like I'm hiding something from you and everyone else in the group?"
Wildwing looked at Riko in surprise for a moment before he answered the 18 year old girl's question.
"That's kind of hard for me to say Riko, but I do know one thing. Despite you being a stranger to me and the others who just met you, I know that I can trust you."
Riko was surprised to hear that Wildwing trusted her, but she still wasn't sure that she could trust him yet with her past.
"Also," Wildwing continued as he let go of Riko's hand. "Even if you are keeping secrets, I can tell that they're personal ones and that you're not ready to talk about your past with anyone yet until you really trust them."
Riko stared at Wildwing for a second before she let out a snort of amusement.
"Am I really that easy to read?" questioned Riko with a smirk.
"Hmm…a little bit," answered Wildwing with a smirk of his own as he gave Riko a wink.
The two soon began to laugh and for the first time in Riko's life, she felt like she found a true friend.
5 minutes later
The team members were now all on board the Aerowing with Canard at the controls. Riko was sitting in one of the back seats of the Aerowing along with Kathryn, Tate and Nosedive. The other members of their group were at the controls as they got ready for lift off. Riko adjusted her seatbelt before looking over at Kathryn, who was looking down at her hands that were folded in her lap.
"You okay?" asked Riko in a low voice.
"Yeah," whispered Kathryn in a small voice. "I'm just a little nervous that's all."
"We all are Kathryn," said Tate as he joined in on the conversation.
"Not me," said Nosedive in a boastful voice. "I've been waiting to kick those lizards' tails for a long time."
"Get serious Rookie," muttered Riko as she gave Nosedive a dull look.
"I am serious Silver," said Nosedive. "You're just being too serious."
Riko frowned in amusement as she shook her head at the 17 year old drake. Nosedive was a one of a kind duck who always want to joke around a lot. The group soon felt the engines of the Aerowing roaring to life.
"Passengers, please make sure that your seats are in the upright position," Nosedive announced to the group before shouting out the next line of his sentence "because we're out of here!"
After he said that, the Aerowing shot forward down an underground runway as the team members hung on for the ride. The Aerowing raced down the tunnel until it started tipping upwards and, after a minute, the aircraft was flying out of a cave, which was located underneath the city, as it took to the skies at an incredible speed. Riko let out a sigh before she unbuckled her seatbelt, along with some of the other team members.
"That was extreme," voiced Tate.
"You're telling me man," said Nosedive in agreement.
Riko walked up to the front as she watched the scene of open desert before her from the Aerowing's window.
"You doing okay kid?" asked Duke as he came to stand beside Riko.
"Yeah," replied Riko with a nod of her head. "I'm just…thinking about what's going to happen next after we've defeated Dragaunus."
Duke frowned in thought before he spoke: "Who knows Sweetheart. Probably we'll just all go back to our normal lives after this."
"Not for me," said Riko with a shake of her head. "I still need to figure out how the heck I've gotten here to Puckworld."
"And then figure a way to get back to your world, right?" said Duke as he guessed what Riko was going to say next.
Riko frowned: "I'm not really sure on that part yet. I mean…I have nothing to go back too, but I can't really stay on Puckworld either, what with being the only human here and all."
"Yeah, I can see your point kid," voiced Duke.
Their conversation was cut short when Canard suddenly spoke.
"Alright team, here's the plan," started the drake. "The monitor towers are controlled by a computer in Dragaunus's headquarters, that's our target."
"That's interesting and all Captain Canard," said Tate from his seat. "But there's just one thing that I would like to point out. No one, and I mean no one, has ever seen Dragaunus's headquarters, not even me."
Canard didn't reply for a second as he placed the mask on his face and activated it to its battle form.
"I have, now prepare yourselves we're almost there."
Mallory stood up from her seat and walked up to the window as the red head leaned forward on the control panels of the Aerowing. Mallory frowned when she saw nothing out of the ordinary on the desert.
"Here?" questioned Mallory as she turned to look at Canard. "We're twenty clicks from nowhere!"
"You should always remember the saying Spitfire," spoke Riko as she looked at the red headed duck in front of her. "Looks can be deceiving."
"The Master Tower has an invisibility field around it," Canard explained to his team mate before pressing the temples of the mask with his fingers. "Which Dragaunus calls his cloak of darkness, and we're about to pass through it."
After he said it, the headquarters of the Saurian Overlord appeared before the teams' sights.
"Dragaunus's headquarters!" exclaimed Wildwing in shock and amazement.
"Talk about looking for a puck in a giant snow pile," stated Tate as he too came up to front to see the Overlord's home base.
"Or a needle in a haystack," voiced Riko to herself.
The Aerowing soon landed about ten feet away from the Master Tower. The front ramp of the Aerowing lowered to the ground as the occupants of the airship disembarked on their mission to take down the Overlord. Riko and Wildwing were the last ones down the ramp before they halted in their tracks when they heard Nosedive shouting at them.
"Hey, what about me and Kat?!" asked Nosedive as he pointed at Kathryn and himself.
Riko and Wildwing turned to look back at the 17 year old. Canard had decided to leave Kathryn and Nosedive behind on the Aerowing, which was a good idea on Riko's part, for the street fighter felt that they needed to have half of their team stay behind just in case they needed a quick get-a-way.
"Be team players little bro!" called out Wildwing as the ramp began to fold itself back up again. "Somebody's gotta guard the ship!"
"This is so not fair!" shouted Kathryn in complaint.
"I think we've just got the short end of the hockey stick!" yelled Nosedive as he shook his fist at Wildwing before the ramp door closed in front of him.
Riko shook her head while letting out a sigh before she turned and began to follow the group towards the Master Tower. The tower was gigantic as it stood 100 feet high over the group as they walked up to it.
"Whoa…this guy sure likes to think big," said Riko as she and the group stood in front of the Master Tower's door.
"Well what do, you expect from that overzealous Overlord," said Tate as he looked at the 18 year old human who stood beside him. "He likes to think big."
"Well the Big question right now is: how do we get inside?" asked Mallory.
No one answered Mallory's question as Canard turned to look at Tanya: "Think you can crack the code on this door without setting off the alarm?"
Tanya nodded before she walked up to the control panel and began to examine it. Riko patiently watched for a while before she turned her head to look at Wildwing.
"I'm betting Tanya will open that door in 10 seconds, flat," dared Riko with a smirk.
"I'm betting 8 seconds," said Wildwing with a smirk of his own.
The two quickly became quiet when they heard the doors of the Master Tower open in front of them. The group soon walked into the tower while being careful as to not let any of the Hunter Drones see them, but so far the group had only seen a few drones lurking around the base and that got Riko suspicious.
"Does anyone, besides me, feel like this is too easy?" asked Riko as the team walked down a long hallway.
"What do you mean, too easy?" said Mallory as she looked over her shoulder to glance at Riko with a frown.
"I mean that it feels like we're walking into a trap," hissed Riko in annoyance.
"Don't be ridiculous," muttered Mallory.
"Actually, I kind of have to agree with Riko here," said Tate as he tried to help the 18 year old out. "It does feel like we're walking into a trap."
"Shush!" hissed Canard as he ordered his teammates to be quiet.
The group quickly pressed up against the wall as two Hunter Drones walked past their location. Canard slowly walked up to the corner before peeking out to watch the retreating backs of the Hunter Drones before pulling back. The drake pulled out a small device from his jeans pocket. He looked down at the screen before turning to glance at Wildwing, who had walked up to stand beside him.
"According to our coordinates the main computer is heavily fortified," said Canard before he took off with his team following right behind him as he led the way to their target.
The group ran down many hallways until they finally came to their destination. They glared up at the large door that barred their way to their target. Canard turned to look at Grin as he pointed his thumb towards the door.
"Grin, you're on," said the leader.
Grin smirked as he walked up and grabbed the edges of the metal doors with his bare hands.
"Mind over metal," said Grin before he started to force the doors open.
The group watched for a while until the strongest member of their team finally opened the door for them.
"Remind me not to get on his bad side," whispered Tate to Riko.
"You got it," said Riko.
Canard walked forward as he looked at the scene in front of him. The room was huge as purple electrical tubes ran up and down through a thousand rows of generators.
"The Master Computer," voiced Canard.
"Yeah, I saw this on the cover of better homes for super villains," said Duke in sarcasm.
"This place could definitely use a makeover," muttered Tate to himself.
"Tanya," spoke Canard as he turned to face the tech master of the group. "You take Tate and Mallory and shut it down."
"See ya later Riko!" called Tate as he followed after Tanya and Mallory.
"Tanya, I've gotta warn ya," said Mallory as they headed into the room. "Machines and I don't get along too well."
'We're doomed,' thought Riko sarcastically.
She was quickly taken out of her thoughts when Wildwing started talking to the Team Captain.
"Canard, these guys all have special skills, but what am I doing here?"
"You know, that's a very good question," said Riko as she entered the conversation. "What exactly is his role on this team?"
"He's going to lure Dragaunus out, so we can jump him," said Canard as he answered both Riko and Wildwing's questions.
"Huh?" said Riko in shocked confusion.
"Why me?" questioned Wildwing.
"Because you're the best goalie I know. You'll be able to take on anything Dragaunus can throw at you."
Riko and Wildwing looked at Canard in disbelief before turning to look at one another with Wildwing showing a worried look on his face.
"Did I mention that I'm half chicken?" asked Wildwing as he turned to look back at his best friend, clearly showing that he didn't want to do this.
"No you didn't," muttered Riko with a deadpanned look on her face.
With that said, the five team members left the Master Computer as they headed towards the Command Chamber. They ran down a long hallway until they came to a room that had a giant statue of the Saurian Overlord himself.
'So that's Dragaunus,' thought Riko as she glared up at the statue in front of her.
"Riko!" called Duke.
Riko quickly ran over to the drakes. They were positioned on both sides of a large door entranceway. Riko quickly took her position with Grin and Duke.
"Is this the place Hotshot?" asked Riko.
"Yeah," replied Canard in a positive voice. "Down this hall is the door that leads to Dragaunus's Command Chamber."
Riko soon began to have that same feeling again: 'Something's not right here. This feels way too easy for us to just be walking into this room. It's got to be a trap, I just know it.'
With that thought in mind, Riko slowly placed her right hand over the hilt of her saber, which rested on the left side of her didn't waste any time in signaling for Wildwing to go on ahead of them. At first, the white drake was hesitant, but soon got up his nerve to go running towards the door of the Command Chamber.
"We'll give him a 30 second start," spoke Canard as he looked down at his watch. "Then we can-"
"Canard!" shouted Riko when she noticed that two metal doors were sliding forward to seal off the entrance to the Command Chamber.
The metal doors slammed shut in the team members' faces before Canard jumped forward and tried to pry the doors open with his own hands.
"Well," spoke Duke as he looked at the Team Captain with a frown "So much for your plan Canard."
"I knew it," muttered Riko to herself. "This was all just a trick to lure us here."
"Too bad you realized it too late, Riko," spoke a voice from behind the statues pedestal.
The group quickly turned their attention towards the statue and saw the one man that Riko and Canard had encountered back at the abandoned warehouse. Riko quickly drew her blade as her golden eyes glared into the brown orbs of Carlo.
"Just as I thought," growled Riko. "You are working for Dragaunus, aren't you!?"
"Why Riko, I am shocked by your bluntness in speaking to me like that. I see that you still haven't changed ever since you decided to leave my group," said Carlo in a smooth voice. "But yes, I am working for Dragaunus and I have to say that it beats living life on the streets."
"How did you get here Snake!?" demanded Riko in a harsh voice.
"Why don't you battle me and find out, traitor," said Carlo with a smirk. "Also, I would like you to meet a few friends of mine."
Suddenly, in a flash of green light, three Saurians appeared before Riko and the ducks. One Saurian was as large as a boulder with thick muscles to boot and he looked like an ankylosaurus.
The second Saurian was a tall and old looking. In the Saurian's right hand was a staff with a duck skull sitting on top.
And the last Saurian was small, green and skinny. It had red shifty looking eyes that Riko wouldn't trust her life on.
Riko quickly guessed that these three Saurians were Wraith, Siege and Chameleon. Carlo smirked as he stood close to the tree Saurian Overlords.
"I hope you boys are ready to pluck some feathers off of those ducks," said Carlo in a cool voice.
"Oh you know it," growled Siege with a smirk on his face.
"Well I have a better idea on how we should handle them," spoke Wraith. "Let's roast them."
With that said, Wraith summoned a fireball and threw it at Riko and the drakes.
"Duck!" shouted Riko as she and her team members hit the floor.
Riko rolled as the fireball flew over her head before she quickly jumped back onto her feet again. Riko raised her sword up as she got ready to fight Carlo and the three Saurians.
To be continued
Sorry for the long wait guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
White Hunter, howling out to you and the spirits!