Wolf: Okay, so I took a little longer than expected in writing this chapter-
N: And posting it...
Wolf: Do you want to live to see the end of this story? Sees Nosedive nod his head And I can only assume that you want to see the sequeal "Loss of Voice", am I right? Sees Nosedive nod again. Then shut up and stop making me look bad!
N: Sorry! Runs and hides behind Grin

Wolf: Looks over at Wildwing You're not going to have a little brother by the end of this story if you don't keep him in control.

W: I know, I know. runs over towards Dive Get back in the closet, dive!
Wolf: Thanks, wing! Anyway, thanks to all my faithful readers! It sure feels good to know that you haven't lost faith in me yet! And for a special treat for all the Tanya lovers out there: Here she is to give the disclaimer!
T: Uh- uh! The Paper Wolf don't own MDTAS or anything else that might own us. She just owns the-uh-nov-nove-ugh! She just owns da story! Turns and walks off Uh- I've had it with this disclaimer stuff!
Wolf: Thank you, Tanya! You did a great job! gives Tanya a thumbs up and turns back to the audience Now, without further ado... on to the story!
N: Da-da-da-da!
Wolf: Wildwing! Get your brother before I do!

Chapter Nine: Once Bitten...

It takes a lot to always be on form...

You have to play for keeps,

if you want to play the game...

I was never good enough!

How did it come to this?

I may be scared now,

but I'm not leaving.

It's my turn to go now...

It's too late...

A few weeks went by and still not a hair nor hide of Mr. Kemo. Shadow grew was allowed to use the rink as she pleased and got to practice more and more. Though, Duke and Wildwing knew that whenever she was feeling any intense emotion, (anger, anxiety, worry, ect.) she would go up there and put every ounce of those feelings out onto the ice. Those were the only times anyone would be able to see the extent of everything The Organization had done to her over the years she's spent in their crazied hands.

Right now, Shadow was skating wildly out on the ice; jumping around and landing harshly on the ice at an alarming rate. Her eyes were glowing an evil red color that made her look more like a demonic animal than the human girl she pretends to be. It was actually rather frightening to see the girl like that.

Duke walked into the stadium with his hands in his pockets, as he went over to the front row, and leaned against the wall. He was worried about the little girl and wanted to check on her. Shadow had left the Galley rather quickly that morning with a simple hello, and asked for permission to use the rink to practice, and left with a simple busquit in hand. The ducks thought it was odd for her to leave so quickly off to practice. Shadow would normally take her time and talk with the others before she left. Duke's fatherly insticts were taking over and went up to the rink after he was finished with his meal.

He watched Shadow jump and spin around on the ice. He knew something was wrong when we saw her eyes glowing red. He had a pretty good idea of what was a part of what's bothering her.

He knew she hadn't been sleeping well these past few days. She wouldn't show it, not yet, exactly, but he could see it in her eyes when she came out of her room in the mornings, and wouldn't tell anyone why she couldn't sleep. Duke even remembered a night when she turned in early and heard a quiet hiss when he passed her room. He knew that much, but as far as knowing all the facts, he wasn't sure.

He came out of his thoughts when he heard Shadow stop suddenly, and fully relaxed her figure with her back towards him. He saw her shake her head vigorously, and push off on the ice again. This time she appeared to be more calm and tame than when he walked in on her. It looked like she was about to run out of steam soon.

She turned around on the ice, and noticed Duke was standing there with a shocked expression on his face. She skated over towards the duck with her head hung low slightly; her bangs hiding the emotions that may betray her. She stepped off the ice and began to untie her shoelaces on her white boots.

" ey, sweet'hart, what's goin' on wit ya?" Duke asked in a concerned tone, as he sat down with the girl on the bench.

Shadow looked up at Duke with a curious stare. "What do you mean?" She asked in a puzzled tone, as she took off one of her skates.

"I mean when you just left the Galley wit'out sayin' more than two words ta us!" He said in a slightly worried tone, "Ya normally wouldda sat down wit us and ya haven't stopped practicin' since then."

Shadow shrugged and took off her other skate. "I don't know what came over me, this morning, Duke. It's like I just wanted to skate right then and there. I can't really explain it, it was just a feeling I had when I woke up this morning." She said in a quiet tone; not meeting his worried eyes.

'Good lie...' Duke thought to himself as he watched Shadow put on her street shoes. "Are ya sure that's the only reason you didn't stay for breakfast?" He asked in an interogating tone, giving her a hard stare; trying to intimidate the girl into telling him what was bothering her. "Ya know ya can tell me what's bahthin' ya, right?"

Shadow stood up quickly; taking her skates with her. "There's nothing to tell you because nothing is bothering me. Someone once told me that nothing comes from nothing, so stop fussing over it." She told him in a final tone; ending the conversation.

She smiled playfully, as she watched him get up from the bench. "Now, you're too cool for that whole "worried parent" thing. It totally cramps up your style, Duke." She said in a teasing tone, as she walked towards the exit and towards the locker room to get out of the rest of her equipment.

Duke still wasn't completely convinced with Shadow's proclaimation. He knew something was bothering her. The look in her eyes when he saw her skating just then told him that much, but why wouldn't she tell him. He figured that it probably wasn't too big of a deal if she was still able to tease him about being a "worried parent".

'Dive must've rubbed off on 'er.' Duke thought in amusement.

The day went on like nothing had happened. She stopped by at the training room, and had a few spars with Mallory. Duke still kept a close eye on her and listened to her voice more carefully when she spoke. He still wasn't convinced that she was telling him the truth.

After Mallory had called it truce, and stopped for a break, the alarms went berserk, and they all ran off to the main computer room. Everyone was standing behind Tanya, as she sat at Drake 1; typing away on the keyboard.

"What is it this time, Tanya?" Wildwing asked in a worried tone, as he placed his hands on the edge of the keyboard; looking up to see if he could find something on the screen that Tanya couldn't.

"The saurians are in the cemetary..." Shadow said out loud; causing everyone to turn around to look at her with shocked expressions on their faces. "They're destroying statues and graves there." She added in a soulless tone; not looking anyone in the eyes. She stared straight ahead like a robot waiting to be programmed. "It's like they're looking for something..."

"She's right, Wildwing! Drake 1 picked up Cameleon and Sieg are in Anahiem's National Cemetary!" Tanya cried out in shock, as she turned around to face the others.

Wildwing turned to Shadow with the same shocked look that everyone else had. "How'd you know that?" He asked in a leading tone; not letting Shadow go without an explaination.

Shadow shook her head roughly and looked up at the white duck. "I've always been close to the dead, and since The Organization got their hooks on me... well, it's easier to see things that humans can't."

"She's like a living Drake 1!" Nosedive said in an excited tone, as he looked around the others.

"So, you can like- tell whenever someone does something wrong, right?"

Shadow shook her head and looked up at the others with a sad look. "I just know when someone messes with someone else's graves. And besides," she added with a flat tone, "the man with a hole in his head told me that some monsters are wrecking the cemetary." She added, as she pointed past Mallory; making everyone jump and spin around to face the military trained duck.

Duke looked over at Mallory and saw nothing behind her. He looked over towards Shadow, and noticed she was looking straight at Mallory. "Dare's nuttin' dare, sweet'eart. What are ya seein'?" He asked in a fatherly tone; watching Shadow's face for any signs of lies.

Shadow shook her head and turned towards the exit. "Do you want to stop the saurians from wrecking Anahiem's final resting place? Yes? Then let's go!" And with that, she ran off like lightining; everyone else on her heels.

The ride to the cemetary was a quick trip. They all filed out of the Migrator and began shooting off their weapons at the cold-blooded lizards; forcing them to stop in their tracks and return fire.

Shadow watched a few hunter drones sneak up on Duke, and decided that it was her time to show those saurians that she wasn't a prize that was worth the trouble, and charged towards Duke. There was a flash of white light, and the wolf part of her emmerged and jumped towards the older duck. Duke saw the wolf launch itself at him, and ducked down in time for it to crash into the two drones; sending them crashing into each other. The wolf jumped high into the air just in time for the drones to explode and landed with its tail raised straight into the air.

Duke looked over at the wolf and nodded with an impressed look on his face. He saw it nod back and look away and took off for another drone. Duke followed the wolf's example and charged for another drone; taking it out with ease and going for another one.

Wildwing managed to square off against Sieg. They were locked in a stale mate; growling and snarling at each other like animals fighting over a scrap of meat.

"What do you want with the kid, Sieg?" Wildwing asked in a dark, threatening tone; his mask glowing red with retained fury; trying his best to hold onto the large red scaled lizard in stale mate.

Sieg laughed and chuckled at his foe. "I'll neva tell, ya stinkin' featherhead!" He declared in a final tone; trying to keep his hold on Wildwing.

Wildwing, in returned, snorted and flipped Sieg over his shoulder, and into a nearby hunter drone.

Sieg looked over to his side, a bright flash caught his attention, and he saw Shadow phase back into her human form, and smirked. A thought crossed his mind and signalled the cameleon to snatch up the girl. The sneaky little shape-shifter nodded and snuck up on Shadow and grabbed her from behind; holding her tightly in place.

Sieg looked back at Wildwing with an evil smirk on his face. "Looks like we got what we came for, feathahead..." He said in a twisted tone, as he got to his feet and slowly backed away towards his ally with his blaster pointed at Wildwing.

"Let the kid go, Sieg..." Wildwing warned in a dark tone; taking a slow step towards his foe with his puck blaster pointed at Sieg.

Shadow struggled against cameleon's hold and looked around at the scene going on around her. She blinked and not only did she see the scene around her, but she also saw a lot of ghosts surrounding them. A lot of them looked like soldiers, and some of them were small children with evil looks on their faces as they stared at her. Shadow saw a few women screaming at the saurians, telling them to give up or threatening to kill them (even though they were ghosts). There were a lot of men shouting at the ducks; telling them to keep fighting and challenging them to defeat their enemies. Shadow closed her eyes, and snapped open with an idea forming in her mind.

"Don't do it, Wildwing!" Shadow screamed at the top of her lungs; making everyone stop dead in their tracks.

Wildwing gave Shadow a surprised stare and watched for any signs Shadow. He saw her smirk over at him, and gave him a very slight nod; telling him that she knew what she was doing. He gave her a slight nod, and relaxed his arm and backed away slowly. He looked over towards his team, and told them to back down, as well.

Shadow smirked at the scene before her. Even the ghosts eased off of the scene. There was a little girl stepping back from the scene, and stopped in front of Sieg.

"You're gonna get it now" Shadow said in a quiet tone, as she began to chuckle at the over-grown lizards holding her hostage.

Sieg looked back at the girl and gave her a disbelieving look. "Oh, yeah?" He asked in a challenging tone; pointing his gun at the girl. "I don't see you doing anything about it."

Shadow laughed wickedly at her captive and smirked evilly at him. "I won't stop you, Sieg... but they might..." She declared in a demanding tone; turning her gaze over at the empty space behind him.

Sieg looked behind him to see nothing there. He turned back to the girl with a laughing look in his eyes. "There's nothing back there! You stupid girl!" He roared in an angry tone; pointing his blaster back at the girl.

He then noticed Cameleon was starting to shake, as he stared behind his ally. With a frightened look on his face.

When Sieg looked behind him once again, he came face to face with the most scary looking woman he had ever seen. The woman was a bloody mess with a large hole in her chest. She had blood running down her face and arms, and all over her front; forming a pool of dark red blood on the ground in which she stood.

The Cameleon dropped Shadow and hid behind Sieg. Sieg was too scared to move so Cameleon press the teleportation device on his arm, and transported themselves out of the cemetary. Shadow stood up and walked over towards the spirit before her.

"I'm sorry those freaks ruined your graves. And thank you for helping us out back there." Shadow said in a grateful tone; giving the ghost a soft smile. "It's okay, you can go now."

The woman nodded and soon faded out of sight; leaving the frightened living behind her. Shadow looked up at Wildwing and smiled weakly at him. He didn't look too happy with that little stunt, but it was plain as day that he was still glad that she was alright.

"What was that all about?" Mallory demanded in an worried tone; looking around the cemetary for any other spooks that may pop out.

Shadow looked up at Wildwing with a bright smile. "I guess that was one serious angry ghost!" She said in a joking tone, showing off her fangs.

"Did you do that, kiddo?" Duke asked in a worried tone; wondering what else she was had up her sleeves.

Tanya made a noise that got everyone's attention. "Ap-appri- uh- ghosts are compressed feelings that someone has when they die. If they can turn their feelings inta energy, then they may be able to let living people see them."

"I'm surprised you all didn't see them." Shadow spoke up in a confused tone, "I mean- they were all over the place... all bloodied and messed up looking. Those were some mighty ticked off ghosts back there. Half of them yelling or screaming at the saurians and the other half screaming at you lot." She then turned around and began walking towards the Migrator with her hands behind her head.

The others looked at each other, and took off after her without another word.

Once the team had arrived back to the pond, Shadow had grown slightly quiet. Of course, she was always the quiet one, but she was even more quiet than she was before she fought with the enemy a moment ago. Tanya probably guessed that it was because she screamed so loud that she strained her voice, but Duke had other ideas.

Once they were alone in the recreational room, they settled down on the couch in front of the large television. They watched the news for awhile, and soon fell asleep with Shadow curled up against Duke with his arm around her shoulders.

Wildwing came into the recreational room, and grinned at the sight of Duke and Shadow before him. The two looked like father and daughter on the couch like that. It was almost as though Shadow was a child that just found her long lost father. Or maybe someone to replace the one she never knew? (Ref. Ch.6) Duke looked like he didn't mind, and Wildwing had also noticed that he was growing rather attached and protective over the girl lately.

Wildwing shook his head at the question and pushed the thought to the far edges of his mind. He went over towards the old duck sitting on the couch, and gently shook his shoulder; causing him to wake up.

"Let's get you two to sleep." He said in a quiet tone; not wanting to chance anything that may wake the light sleeper beside the Center player of his team.

"What time is it?" He asked in a sleepy tone, as he used his free arms to rub the sleepiness from his eye.

Wildwing checked his watch and looked over at Duke with a slight grin on his face. "It's almost midnight, and everyone's already asleep." He replied as he ever so carefully picked the sleeping Shadow up from Duke's grasp, so he could stand up and stretch his arms for a moment.

"I'll take the kid to her bunk and you go to bed. You're going to have to be top of your game at the big game tomorrow." Wildwing offered in a hushed whisper as he adjusted Shadow in his arms. He had been out of his battle gear and made things much easier without it.

Duke didn't want to struggle right now. He had worn himself out with that fight, and wanted to get some sleep. He knew Wildwing was right about getting rest. Wildwing shifted the sleeping girl in his arms, and she mumbled something that sounded like, "Ray..." as she clutched his shirt. The two ducks looked at each other with a surprised look on their faces, and shrugged and went over towards the bunks to Shadow's room.

After Duke pressed the button to let them in, he quickly walked over towards the cot and pulled back the blankets; letting his leader carefully place Shadow in the bed before he placed the blankets around her tiny form. Shadow had rolled over after Duke covered her with the blanket. The pair watched the girl for a moment longer before they quietly left the room; leaving the girl to her dreams.

Duke looked back at the door for a moment. "That kid never ceases ta amaze me. Any other girl her age would've been too scared to do half da dings she pull taday."

"True, but she's not like any other girl her age." Wildwing chuckled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

" 'an dat's sumthin' dat no girl should have ta go through..." Duke said in a darkened after thought; giving the door beside him an evil glare.

"That's also true, but that's what makes her who she is." Wildwing reasoned; letting out a loud yawn. "I'm not gonna keep thinking about it. Like she said, "What's done is done. And there's nothing we can do to change the past." He said in a defeated tone; patting Duke on the shoulder and turning away from him to head off to turn in for the night.

Duke took one last look at the door, and went to his own bunk. He was tired and needed to get some rest.

Little did the old duck know that it was going to be night he'd never forget! And it's a long way till dawn...

Next time in Fighting Back:

… "Please... make it stop! I can't take it anymore! No-no! Ahhh!" Shadow screamed as she thrashed violently against Duke's grasp, slashing him in the shoulder.

"Whoa! Calm down, kid! I'm just tryin' ta help ya!" Duke called out, as he held his grip firmly on the violent girl's body; doing his best to keep her firmly in place. "Hurry up wit dat, Tanya! I don' know how much longer I can hold 'er!"...

Wolf: And that's the first part of two that I have so far. The next chapter will be a real good Shadow bashing that will leave your hearts breaking for her!

N: Oh, man! Turns to Shadow What did you do to make her so mad at you this time, girl?
S: I took one of her cigarettes again...

N: That's not good...
Wolf: Yeah, I know. She knows I get cranky if I don't get my smoke breaks...
Wolf: Anyway, I'd like to take this time to apologize to my readers in advance because I took so long in posting this story. I have a lot going on right now and I can't seem to find the time to write. Not to mention that writer's block had set in again, and I haven't been able to think of how the stories will go. I have my idea for my chapters, but I don't know how to put them up on the screen without it sounding something like a children's book. There's a difference between having the ideas for the story and actually being able to type them up. T.T It's gonna take me a little longer to post the second part up, but it will be worth the wait! Until then, this is The Paper Wolf; signing off for the week. And remember: Smile until you stop...