Episode 5: Grin meets his Match
Nighttime was still heavy in the air, but there was something wide awake and it walked around the outside mall with heavy foot falls.
It stopped at the fountain and crashing noises soon followed.
()()()()
Dawn arose and the Ducks were wide awake, but Phil came in with a wide expression on his face.
"Turn on the news, you have to see this!" he demanded and they turned on Drake 1.
A news woman appeared and replies, "At Anaheim's National Mall, some are asking what caused the destruction to the outdoor fountain. Police say it could have been the works of a demolition derby, but others say it could've been rowdy teenagers having a night out."
Footage appeared on the demolished fountain; it appeared that someone with incredible strength slammed their fists into the structure.
"Wow, the only person capable of doing that is…" Nosedive trailed off and everyone stared at Grin.
"I see where this is going and I'll tell you this, it wasn't me," the giant mallard informed.
Pearl and Subria stepped in, "It is a spell page, one that has the strength of a castle," Pearl explained.
Then, Drake 1 sounded the alarm; something was up at the national zoo, "A spell page at the zoo?" Mallory asked.
"These spells like to make mayhem in public," Duke said to Pearl.
"It's in their nature to create chaos when they are not under order," the princess informed and they hurried for the Migrator.
The Migrator burned rubber as it headed for the zoo.
()()()()()
People were crying out in panic as something was crushing the concrete walls and steel cages, causing the animals to escape from their prisons.
"Where in world is it?" Tanya asked, since the Ducks and the princesses couldn't see the intruder.
"Follow its footprints," Grin advised, pointing to the crater-like prints on the ground.
They followed the craters to the elephant exhibit and that's when they saw a mother elephant protecting its calf from something she could sense.
Suddenly, the mother elephant was lifted off her feet and off the ground by an invisible force.
The calf cried for his mother as the enormous creature was lifted far from the ground.
"Stop it!" Pearl shouted and the elephant landed back to Earth.
Subria checked the mother elephant, "She's okay, but shaken. What is going on?!" she asked her comrades.
Then, craters appeared in front of the Ducks and a crushing noise soon followed.
"Oh, it seems the Ducks are in a tight spot," a voice called from the trees.
Louran, Dragaunus, and their henchmen appeared. "Back off Lizard Lips! You are in a bad spot, too!" Wildwing shouted.
"Is that so? Do you know what this spell is?" Louran asked Pearl.
"I do and its name is 'Power'," the princess replied and then, the noise stopped, and the spell featured itself.
The 'Power' had the appearance of a pink-colored little girl, wearing puffy pants and had elf-like ears.
"That is the 'Power' spell?" Nosedive asked, utterly confused.
"Looks can be deceiving," Pearl warned.
Siege stepped forward towards the spell, "Doesn't look too bad. Come here you little brat," the lizard said.
"Back off, Siege," Wildwing warned, but it was too late.
The 'Power' gave a powerful push to Siege, sending him flying and he crashed into the lions' exhibit.
"Holy Mother of Ducks!" Duke cried out as the spell created a crater with its fists.
Grin stepped forward, "I sense a great power in you, young spell," he said, but the spell gave a look.
It pointed at him and then threw a rope at him, "It wants to challenge you," Pearl informed the strong duck.
"A challenge you say?" Grin asked the spell and it nodded.
"You know tug-o-war?" he asked, again, and it nodded, again.
"All right, one round of tug-o-war; if Grin wins, the spell returns to the book. If the spell wins, well, it'll be free to do whatever it wants," Wildwing commanded and both the spell and Grin nodded, "One more thing, if one opponent is struggling, extra help will come in."
Tanya drew a line on the ground using chalk and the spell and Grin took positions.
The game began, both Grin and the 'Power' tugged hard on the rope, but the spell proved to be much stronger than Grin.
"Grin, c'mon buddy!" Nosedive cried out.
The giant mallard was able to root his feet to the ground and he pulled hard, causing the spell to move forward.
Then, the mother elephant took Grin's end of the rope and joined in the fight.
"This will take too long," Louran said to his comrades and he summoned an energy ball.
"Watch out!" Subria cried out as Louran's energy force hit the 'Power' spell, causing it to lose its grip on the rope.
"Hey, you cheated!" Mallory angrily bellowed and the Ducks shot rounds of pucks at the dark wizard.
"Ah, not even a thanks?" Louran asked, but Grin stood up.
"A person is not measured by his strength, but by strength of his soul," he said, but the dark wizard shook his head.
"Oh well, you take the spell, I won't be needing it, for now," Louran informed and he and the Saurians vanished.
Pearl rushed to the 'Power's' aid, but the spell was shaking its head and it stared at the princess.
Pearl opened the book, "'Power', I command you to return to the spell book from where you came," she commanded and the spell disappeared into a vacant page.
"Too bad we didn't finish our game," Grin said, but Pearl looked at him.
"Do you want to do a rematch?" she asked, but Grin shook his head.
"In other words, maybe another time," Subria replied as she lead the mother elephant and her calf back into their home.
"Grin, since you stood up to the spell, it is yours," Pearl said to the giant mallard.
The others gave a confused look at the princess and she explains, "If anyone besides me stands up to the spell and succeeds in helping me capture it, that person has, I guess you can say 'co-ownership' of the spell."
"That's cool," Nosedive said.
Pearl handed Grin a feathered quill and he wrote his name on the 'Power' spell page.
"Little one, I'm sure we'll have fun, again," he said to the page. Grin and the others leave the zoo and head back to the Pond.