Chapter Five: Conflict of Interest
PW: I just want to say something to my fans-
N: Well, spill it already! I wanna go back to me comic books!
M: (Smacks Nosedive over the head) Will you stop moaning and let her talk! She has something to say!
D: I think it's important if Nobody wants to tell her readers something before the story.
PW: Thanks, Duke. Anyway, I want to tell everyone who reads my stories to keep in mind that I put my personal feelings into the stories I write. It's my way of escaping reality. It's like reading a book that actually PUTS me in the story. It may not be a whole lot, but if it helps one person feel better the way it helps me, then that's all I want. I actually hope to complete my story, and perhaps get it published in an actual book. Who knows? I might even be able to give the ones who created MDTAS an idea for a second season or something?
W: That's a pretty tall order, Nobody. You sure you're up to rise to the challenge?
PW: Who knows? I hope so! And I'd like to take this time to thank everyone who read and enjoyed my story! I hope you like my other two just as much as you like this one!
N: Is that all? Let's get on with this story!
PW: (turns to Duke with a polite smile) Since this story is already being put up on the web, would you do the honors?
D: (smiles and turns to the audience) Nobody owns nothing that revolves around the world of MDTAS. The only she owns is Shadow, Mr. Kemo, and any other Ocs she might put into the story. Please enjoy the story!
I'm at my best when I'm put to the test.
All the days of losing faith in myself are long gone!
Prepare for the that I'm going to throw it all back at you!
I've got your number now...
And now,
I'm coming after you...
Duke blinked his good eye to make sure he hasn't lost mind. He opened his eye once again, and saw that the little girl he thought of as a gentle fighter had transformed into a very large wolf. Nope, he wasn't losing his mind. Shadow really was a wolf now, and was now snarling wickedly at the warloards.
The wolf was as gray as Duke's feathers, with a black mask over its face; reminding him of a raccoon he saw wondering around the alley behind the pond. Its front paws looked as though they had been dipped in brown paints to the ankles, and re-dipped into black paint. Its hind legs looked as though someone had dipped them in brown paint that faded up to its knees, as it stood in attack position; ready to strike at any given chance. Least of all, its tail was pure white at the very end and always had a white blaze on its chest. Its ears were white with faded gray spots. Despite the odd color the wolf was, its eyes were the most alluring feature it owned.
The wolf's eyes were duel colored; just like Shadow's before she morphed. Unlike the human girl's left gray eye, the wolf's left eye was a pure blue color; reminding the two fighting ducks of the ocean behind her. The right eye was as red as Mallory's hair.
The two ducks stumbled backwards, and fell flat on their rears in shock. They just couldn't grasp the fact the little girl that they all grew attached to had such a big secret! It was safe to say in the least that there was a whole new side to the girl that she had been keeping from the ducks and possible the entire world as fas as they know!
"Whoa..." Nosedive said in a stunned tone, as he blinked repeatedly at the now evil-looking wolf in front of the ocean.
"You seein' what I'm seein'?" Duke asked in an equally stunned tone as he stood dumbfounded at the newly changed girl.
Mr. Kemo gasped and took a quick step towards the wolf. "No, Shadow-san!" He called out in fear. "Must not let go!"
The wolf's eyes shifted towards the Japanese man and the ducks before it turned its eyes at the saurians. Just as a large wave burst into the air, it charged for the fat red-scaled saurian; launching itself on his back.
"Ahhh!" Siege howled in agony as he began to dance around. "Get it off! Get it off!"
Just as Siege was prancing about, the rest of the team rolled up on the boardwalk. They all stared in disblief at the sight before them. They didn't know whether to laugh at Siege, or shoot the thing on his back.
"What the feathers is that?" Mallory asked in a surprised tone as she looked at the scene before her as they quickly joined the other two and Mr. Kemo on the beach, weapons and fist raised for any other surprises.
"Nosedive, what's going on here?" Wildwing asked as he kneeled down next to him.
"It's-uh-uh," Nosedive studdered in stupify as he looked pointed from Mr. Kemo, to the wolf attacking the saurians, "It's Shadow!"
"What the-?" Wildwing blinked in confusion as he looked to Duke for an explaination.
"Did that thing hurt Shadow or something?" Mallory demanded in shock as she took aim for the beast between the saurians.
Duke shook his head and grabbed for Mallory's ankle, and pulled her down to the ground. "It is Shadow!" He shouted frantically, "Trust me!"
"Duke-san is right." Mr. Kemo spoke up in a declarative tone as he faced the ducks, "Shadow-san is wolf!"
"What are you talking about? How can that be Shadow?" Mallory asked in outrage; kicking at Duke's hands. "She's just a normal teenaged girl!"
Mr. Kemo sighed and shook his head. He looked back at the girl with pure worry. "Shadow-san never human." He answered in a frightened tone as he watched the wolf now chomp down on Wrieth's arm before he could fire a fireball at it.
"But dat's still Shadow, right?" Duke demanded once he snapped back to reality as he stood up and marched over to the old man.
"Hai, Shadow-san, Shadow-san. Same, same." He answered nervously. "But Shadow-san never human."
Duke growled in frusteration and towered over Mr. Kemo. "How is she not human?"
"Duke! Stand down!" Wildwing ordered in a firm tone; grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
Mr. Kemo gave Duke a straight face as he fixed his glasses. "Shadow-san motha was unable to give birth till fifteen year ago." He explained; trying to find the right words, "Twins died before born."
Wildwing looked over and seen the wolf latch onto Siege's arm as he tried to fire at his teammates. He looked back at the others with frantic eyes.
"But why does ol' lizard-lips want Shadow if she can just turn into a dog?" Tanya asked in a paniced tone as she cleaned her glasses and blinked over at the fight before her.
"Our main concern his getting those dino-creeps off her back!" Wildwing said as he turned to face the fight; taking aim with his arm.
Mr. Kemo grabbed Wildwing's arm. "Take care of Shadow-san, Wildwing-san." He said as threw a smoke pellet to the ground and faded into the smoke. "Be back when safe!"
"Wait! What do you mean?" Wildwing called out as he watched the old man disappear; his mind buzzing with the information he just received.
Nosedive fired a pucklauncher past his older brother's head; getting his attention quickly. "Don't slack now, bro! We gotta help Shadow!"
Wildwing shook his head and added his own pucks to the berage, forcing their enemy back.
Once Siege was finally able to throw the wolf off his arm, he looked over and seen pucks flying pass his head. Wrieth was having a similar fate as he dodged and returned fire. The larger saurian looked down at his weapon, and saw that it was damaged.
"We're gonna get creamed! Let's go!" He called out to his comrade as he teleported away.
Wrieth looked at the ducks with a hated glare. "Have a really rotten day..." He said before her followed Siege's example and disappeared.
The wolf stood up with its tail and fur raised, snarling and shaking as she stood. The ducks raied their weapons at it, ready to fire if any sudden moves occurred.
While Duke debated on what to do, he looked into the wolf's eyes and saw something different about them he hadn't noticed before. They looked almost human. It was almost like Shadow hadn't changed at all! Duke didn't know what to think.
"Shadow?" Duke asked in a worried tone as he lowered his sabre, and took a slight step forward.
The wolf looked over at the gray mallord and relaxed its body. And just like last time, there was another bright white flash, the girl took the place of the wolf. With a sudden yelp of pain, Shadow fell to the ground. She was lying on her left side with her left arm lying under her body with her palms facing upwards. Her right arm was bent close to her chest with her palms facing upwards, as well.
Duke quickly kneeled down before her, and turned her over. He pulled her upper body into his lap, and lightly tapped her face; trying to wake her up.
"Common, sweetheart," He said in a worried tone, "wake up."
Shadow gasped, and opened her eyes, like she had just come back to life. Her eyes opened up to reveal that they had returned to the pair that the ducks have known her to possess.
"Duke?" She asked in a weakened tone as she hissed in pain, and clutched her right side.
Duke looked down, and saw a bit of blood through Shadow's hand. He looked back down at her and gasped. "Oh, no!" He cried out in panic as he held her closer.
"Let's take her to a hospital!" Nosedive shouted in worry as he looked to his older brother for help.
"Or better yet, the city pound!" Mallory cried in scarcasim as she stood still in shock.
"We'll take her back to the pond!" Wildwing hollared firmly over the two younger ducks. "The saurians are after her and her guardian split on her!"
Duke stood with Shadow in his arms as he quickly joined the rest of the group and they all ran after the migrator. Once inside, Tanya ordered Duke to place the girl on the gourney and quickly pushed him away so she could begin working on helping the injured girl.
After a few quick turns, they immediately took Shadow to the sick bey and with the help of Mallory, Tanya pushed and locked the rest of the team out of the infirmary. They had to help the poor girl, Duke and Nosedive wouldn't be too happy if the two females didn't help their friend...
After a few hours, the male-half of thee team were relieved when the doors finally opened to reveal Mallory walking out with slightly bloodied clothes, and all color drained from her face.
Wildwing crossed his arms over his chest. "What's wrong, Mallory?" He asked in a worried tone as he watched her close the door behind her, and leaned against it.
"Well, Wildwing," Mallory said in a disturbed tone, as she rested her left leg behind her right, "I've got some good new, bad news, and... scary news."
"Aw, man, we never get a break this early in the story!" Nosedive whined as he slammed his back against the wall across the narrow hall.
Wildwing ignored his younger brother's complaints and looked back over at the female. "What's the bad news?" He asked in a dry tone as he rubbed his eyes with his tumb.
"The bad news is she's had some major trauma to her entire body." Mallory explained in a defeated tone. "Tanya thinks that it might have something to do with that little dog thing she did."
"But she's gonna be alright?" Duke insisted firmly, eyeing the younger duck before him.
Mallory glared at Duke for a moment and nodded. "That's the good news." She answered in a bitter tone as she folded her arms over her chest.
"If that's the good 'n' bad news, I can't wait to hear the scary news!" Nosedive moaned as he slapped his head; and rolled his eyes at the female across the hall.
"The scary news is Shadow has scars all over her body." Mallory said in a displeased tone as she glared angrily at Nosedive.
"Didn't she say she wasn't the most graceful?" Wildwing asked in a thoughtful tone as he looked to the door in worry.
Mallory shook her head in reply. "Negative." She said in a robotic tone as she looked up at Wildwing straight in the face. "The scars on her body looked like a one-sided struggle."
"What do you mean?" Duke asked in a darkened tone as he stepped towards the female duck against the door.
"Uh- we have to let Shadow answer those questions." Tanya said in an awkward tone as she opened the door, quickly apologising to Mallory once she stumbled backwards.
"Is she going to be okay, Tanya?" Wildwing asked in a slightly worried tone as he looked to the blonde female joining the conversation.
Tanya snorted and nodded. "Well, it depends on how much she gets her kicks out of being hospitalized." She answered with a slight joke. "Uh-she'll be fine once she wakes up."
"How long will that be?" Wildwing asked in a curious tone as he nodded to Tanya in understanding.
"Who knows? She'll proably wake up sore and thirsty, but she'll be awake." Tanya answered in a sympathizing tone as she looked back at the room where Shadow lie sleeping. "It'd be cruel to ya know wake her up now."
"So what do we do with her now?" Mallory asked in a puzzled tone, lifting a feathered finger up to her beak.
Wildwind had also been wondering about what their next move was. Then finally, after weighing his options he came up with a plan. "She has to stay here with us. At least until Mr. Kemo comes back. He told me to protect her before he disappered."
"Sounds good ta me." Duke stated in a mind-set tone, looking at everyone with firm eyes; daring anyone to question their leader's decision...
N: Wait. You're going to leave us hanging just like that? What is in your head, girl? I'm going crazy and it's not even getting to the good part!
PW: Wildwing, you better get that little brother of yours or you won't have one by the end of this story!
S: Hey, leave Nobody alone! She's suffering writer's block right now, and besides, it's christmas!
N: (shurgs) I just wanna get to see what happens! It's driving me insane in the membrane!
PW: Sorry, but this next chapter will shead some more light on things... I hope.
N: What do you mean, "I hope"?
M: (smacks Nosedive over the head again) She means that she can't read minds, and may or may not be able to answer anyone's questions about Shadow!
PW: Thanks for embarrassing me, Mallory. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! The next one will be a better one, I promise to try and answer all your questions in the next one!
Thanks for the reviews!
It makes me happy that someone out there really likes my stories!
Please feel free to send me any ideas you might have to make my future chapters!
And remember:
Smile till you stop...