Episode 6: First Date

It was the day after the first day of summer and Anaheim was in the midst of preparing the season's festivities.

At the Ducks' hockey stadium, the Mighty Ducks had finished their morning practice and they gathered in the locker room.

"Hey guys, I have a question," Wildwing said and his comrades looked at him, "Would you call me crazy if I asked Pearl out on a date?"

Everyone's mouths dropped wide open, "Whoa, whoa, a date? Bro, do you have a screw loose?" Nosedive asked.

"Listen, I just want to get to know her, not start a relationship," the leader said to them.

"Then you would be crazy if you didn't ask her," Mallory replied.

"Ask me what?" Pearl asked when she entered.

Wildwing's face turned red when he saw the princess and began to stammer, "I was….wanting…to…ask…"

"Ah c'mon! Wildwing wants to-" Tanya shut Nosedive's beak before he could say anymore.

The white mallard took a deep breath and finally spills it out, "I was wondering if you like to go out with me."

"Out? You mean like a date?" Pearl asked and Wildwing nodded.

"Let me guess, you want to get to know me better," she added and he nodded, again.

Then Pearl pulled out a flyer, "It just so happens that the summer festival is happening now, what do you say?" she asked.

"Sounds good to me," Wildwing answered and the two set the time for later in the day.

Once the two human girls left, the white mallard gave an embarrassed look, "I just did that, did I?"

"I'm afraid you did, Wing," Duke replied and the others laughed as their leader's face turned red.

()()()()()()

At 3 in the afternoon, Wildwing and Pearl arrived at Anaheim's Annual Summer Festival held at the high school.

The mallard wore his casual clothing and it felt good to be out of the armor for now, while Pearl wore a sundress the color of sunflowers.

There were vendors of valuable stuff; jewelry, t-shirts, flowers, and non-organization companies asking the public for money.

"Oh, they don't have roses," Pearl said when she saw the flower stand.

"Roses?" Wildwing asked.

"They're my favorite; I have a garden full of roses back home, red, white, pink, just about every color," the princess answered and asks, "Do you have a favorite flower?"

"Uh, actually I don't, I always get an allergy attack whenever I get close to one," the mallard explained as they continued on.

The public was surprised of Wildwing's appearance with a human girl and some of the media came up to him, flashing their cameras.

"Hey, hey, back off!" a gruff voice shouted over them and Captain Kelghorn pushed people out of the way.

"All of you, back off! Can't a working Duck get some peace with his girlfriend?" he shouted and the media people walked away.

Pearl and Wildwing just gave shocked looks when Kelghorn turned to face them.

"I cannot believe you just said that," Wildwing said, hiding his face in his hands.

"Oh, you mean you are not in…oh shoot," Kelghorn slapped himself in the face.

"Let's not think of that, lets get some snow cones," Pearl advised and they nodded.

The three of them helped themselves to big, cold snow cones; Pearl got strawberry, Wildwing had cola-flavored, and Kelghorn got orange.

"Good idea Miss Pearl, I was ready to die in this heat," Kelghorn said to the princess.

"What are the summers like in Avalon?" Wildwing asked.

"Not as bad as this, but we picked fresh strawberries and kept them cool in the stream so we could have them during the hottest part of the day," Pearl answered and asks, "What about you? What were the summers like back home?"

"Actually, we have short summers, so we don't have to wait for long to play hockey, again," he answered.

"I'll leave you two alone, I have to get back to work," Kelghorn said and walked away.

"I was told Kelghorn hated you and your friends, what happened to him?" Pearl asked.

"When we first arrived, he refused to believe our situation with Dragaunus and his goons, but then, this passed spring, he happened to witness Dragaunus in action," Wildwing explained.

"Seeing is believing, as they all say," Pearl chuckled and asks, "Can I ask you about your friend, Canard? What is he like?"

Wildwing felt uncomfortable with telling information about his missing friend and Pearl could see it in his face.

"I'm sorry, I won't ask anymore," the princess said, but the mallard shook his head.

"No, I'll tell you," he replied and tells her, "Canard and I met in school. My brother started the first-grade, but he was bullied by the other ducklings and one day, Nosedive and I were caught in a tight spot with Puckworld's worst bully and his goons.

"Luckily, Canard happened to pass by and he fought with the creeps and allowed us to escape, but I couldn't leave him, so I joined in the scuffle and we won the match and he said to me 'Flashblade, you have guts of a warrior, one day I'll repay you.'

"We've been friends since that day, but Canard liked to pick on Nosedive on a regular basis, and when we started the resistance against Dragaunus, I stood by him and fought beside him.

"When he sacrificed himself to the worm, I swore I will not give up on bringing him back, alive."

Pearl was stunned of the story and replies, "I'm sorry for what happened to him, he must be missing you and your comrades."

"In the dream, you said you would help bring him back, but how?" Wildwing asked.

"I know of a spell that can—" Pearl was cut off when people began to scream and they saw some of the stands were on fire.

Wildwing and Pearl joined in the crowd of people who were throwing bails of water on the fire, but it seemed the fire was jumping and spreading to the other stands.

"Wildwing, that is a spell! We need to catch it!" Pearl called out to him and they hurried after it.

They followed it and had it cornered at the track's field shed and it showed its features.

It had the face of a boy with fire red and yellow colored wings and red hair.

"'Fire'," Pearl informed Wildwing.

Then, a blast of energy came from behind them, but 'Fire' dodged it and Pearl and Wildwing turned to see Louran, Chameleon, Siege, and Wraith.

"Well, we meet, again, princess and this time, I get the spell," the dark wizard said and turns to the others, "Chameleon, Wraith, hold these two off; Siege, you come with me."

Chameleon went wild on his blaster and Wraith summoned dark energy and hurled at the two.

Wildwing grabbed Pearl and they hid behind the wall, "The spell!" the princess cried and summoned the spell book.

"'Water', I summon you to help us capture 'Fire'!" she commanded and the 'Water' spell appeared.

'Fire' looked at 'Water' as it splashed walls of spray at it, but the spell had easily shielded itself from the water.

"I said, I get this spell!" Louran shouted and he shot a dark energy ball at the 'Water'.

'Water' gave a cry as it collapsed on the ground and 'Fire' seemed to notice its pain and stared at Louran.

"Now, 'Fire' spell, I command you to come to me!" the dark wizard shouted and a web of dark energy surrounded 'Fire'.

Pearl and Wildwing watched, helplessly as 'Fire's' yellowish hue became cold blue and black.

The dark spell flew over the two spell-captors, missing them by inches, and it stopped to stare at Siege.

"What are you doing?" the lizard said, nervously as 'Fire' stared at him with cold eyes.

Suddenly, the spell engulfed Siege with a wall of cold fire and the Saurian gave a shriek as his life was burned out of him and his body was nothing but burned flesh.

"What did you do?!" Chameleon cried out as he shook his friend's dead body.

"I don't know, the 'Fire' seemed to have a disliking to him," Louran replied and 'Fire' took residence in a page in his own hand.

"It seems you fail, this time," he said, featuring the page.

"One day Louran, we'll have that page," Wildwing warned and the dark wizard and the two living Saurians teleported away.

"Louran ordered the 'Fire' to kill Siege, I know he did. Spells have free-will when they are ordered to do something," Pearl said to Wildwing.

"We better tell the others," he replied and they walked back to the stadium.

()()()()()()()

At the Raptor, Dragaunus received the news of Siege's death from Louran.

"I'm sorry my lord, I tried to stop the spell, but it happened so quickly," the wizard said, but he grinned when Dragaunus didn't look.

"Siege was my muscle, but he will be remembered," the dragon ruler replied and sat at his throne.

Louran chuckled under his breath and he let his mind speak to him as he thought up a plan.

()()()()()()()

At the Pond, Wildwing and Pearl arrived to see the others gathered at the bleachers, instead of downstairs.

"Team, I have some news," Wildwing spoke and replies, "Siege is dead."

"Really?" some of the Ducks asked in an excited tone.

"Yes, and you are happy?" Pearl asked.

"Well, it is about time that one of those creeps got served," Nosedive informed.

"How did he die?" Tanya asked.

"A spell page, the 'Fire'," Pearl answered and they stared at her.

"So that's what happened at the festival, we thought someone was pulling a prank and you two take care of it," Mallory said, but Wildwing shook his head.

"Sorry Wing, we'll be more…careful next time," Duke replied and they went down below.

Pearl was about to leave, when Wildwing stopped her, "I'm sorry things turned out bad," he said and adds, "How about another date? Consider it a second-first date."

"Sounds nice; how about Italian? I know a good restaurant; my uncle's treat," Pearl replied with a wink.

The two agreed for that Friday at five in the evening and the two went their ways.

When Wildwing turned, he saw that his team was staring at him, mouths wide-open.

"I just did that, again did I?" he asked and Nosedive comments, "Yup, you have a serious screw loose."

The Ducks shared a laugh and Wildwing joined in.