Episode 7: Quiet Time
Friday came, it was the day for Wildwing and Pearl's 'second-first' date, but they decided to take a walk to the restaurant.
"I'm telling you, I just want to get to know her, okay?" Wildwing informed his team for the dozenth time.
"That maybe so for now, but just you wait," Grin warned, but the leader ignored him.
It was another hot day in Anaheim, so Pearl wore a white summer dress with blue polka dots and cute shoes.
Wildwing's heart skipped a beat when he saw Pearl in her dress and his cheeks turned red.
"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned about the mallard.
"I'm fine," he lied, but Pearl knew what his feelings were.
"Do you think we need umbrellas? It sounds like rain," she asked, but Wildwing shook his head.
"We'll make it to the restaurant before it starts," he said and they went on their way.
"Why do I get the feeling that Wildwing is falling for her," Subria said to herself.
The sun was bearing down on the two daters, but it was blocked by dark thunderclouds and loud booms echoed throughout the city.
"My mistake, we should've taken umbrellas," Wildwing said as rain began to fall.
"Quick over there!" Pearl exclaimed, pointing to a building.
The two rushed inside just as the heavy downpour started.
"Well, hello," a voice said from behind and they turned to see an old man in a suit.
"Ah, sorry, we came in here from the rain," Wildwing explained, but the man shook his head.
"Why don't you wait it out by looking at our display of inspiring paintings, it's Visitors Appreciation Day, everything is free of charge," the man replied and their faces lighted up.
"Maybe looking at a few paintings will not hurt, what do you say?" Pearl asked and the mallard nodded.
The two walked around, staring at beautifully detailed oil paintings from the 16th century to the present.
"Amazing, I wish I lived in Italy and paint like this," Pearl said, pointing to da Vinci's 'Lady with an Ermine'.
They then found their way to the courtyard room and saw the rain had stopped.
"Good, a break in the clouds, we may be able to make it if we go now, or we can stay, your choice," Wildwing said to Pearl.
The princess, however, noticed a young boy, holding a painters knife and he stood on a wooden briefcase, almost touching a small framed painting.
"Hey kid!" a security officer yelled out, grabbing the boy by the arm.
"Let me go! My dad made this painting! That woman isn't supposed to be there!" the boy exclaimed.
Pearl saw the painting; it had a light-purple skinned woman with a dark blue dress with a high collar in a beach house setting.
"C'mon kid, let us find your parents," the officer said, but the boy broke and charged at the painting.
"Imposter!" the boy shouted, but suddenly, a bright light surrounded him.
The painted woman moved one finger to her lips and Wildwing noticed that everything around him was silent, dead silent.
The boy stood still as the officer roughly took him by the arm and led him out.
Pearl walked up to the painting, "'The Smile' by Gregory McHenry," she read the caption.
"Doesn't look like a smile," Wildwing informed and the two decided to leave the museum.
()()()()()()()
At the restaurant, Pearl was still thinking about the incident, "Wildwing you don't suppose that painting could be?" she asked.
Wildwing's ear perked up, "A spell page?" he replied and she nodded.
"My thoughts exactly; when the boy shouted, the sound was drained from the room and I saw the woman move a finger to her lips, as if to say 'Quiet, please'," the princess said and their food arrived.
"So, its name must be 'Silent'," the mallard replied, swirling spaghetti on his fork.
"Yes, you are smart, like your friends, except for Nosedive, no offense," Pearl smiled, cutting open her chicken parmesan.
"None taken. How can we capture it? We can't waltz in there and say, 'Hey, your museum has a spell page, mind we capture it?'" Wildwing asked and Pearl began to think.
"We should go tonight, after closing, and I believe we need help from your comrades, Tanya would be good, she is good at being quiet, right?" she said.
"Actually she speaks a lot on her mind, but Duke would be better," the mallard replied.
"Yes, for being a former thief, he is still needs to be quiet as a mouse," the princess informed and they continued with their dinner.
()()()()()()()
The two daters returned to the Pond and they gathered the others at Drake 1.
"We discovered a spell page at the art museum, its name is 'Silent'," Wildwing informed them.
"'Silent'? It likes the quiet?" Nosedive asked, but they just looked at him.
"Actually, yes it does; it hates loud noises, so a museum would be the perfect place for it to reside," Pearl said.
"We're returning there tonight, so Duke, we like for you to accompany us," the leader said to his friend.
"Sounds good to me, I'll do it," the former con replied.
"Wing! Pearl!" Phil had shouted when he entered in the chamber.
"You put your date night on my credit card?! Shame on you!" he exclaimed, but Pearl gave a sneer.
"Actually, shame on you, uncle. If you had given the time on making me a credit card, we wouldn't have this conversation," she replied and Phil was taken-a-back.
"Ouch! She told on you, Phil!" Mallory joked.
"Pearl, Duke, ready to roll?" Wildwing asked and the two nodded at him.
The three spell captors arrived at the art museum just as the lights inside were turned off.
"The security guard usually comes on duty in an hour after closing, I'll set my watch to five of the hour so we can get away in time," Duke informed to them and he set his digital watch.
They crept low to the ground and crawled on all fours, looking for an open window or an unlocked door.
"Here," Pearl whispered, opening an unlocked door.
They quietly crept inside and they began their search for the courtyard room.
"Stop!" Wildwing warned and they hid behind a statue as a trail of light passed them.
"That can't be a guard, it's too early," Duke whispered and Pearl peered over.
She could see an outline of a small figure, perhaps a child and she began to think.
"Duke, can you do scary voices?" she asked, but the ex con gave a confused look.
"That can't be a burglar, must be a child, so I need you to scare him," she explained and Duke winked.
"Who goes there?!" Duke shouted in his deep voice.
"What?!" the child shrieked and turned around to see a dark figure's shadow.
"You are not allowed here after hours! Now go!" Duke replied and the child stepped forward.
"Show yourself! I am not afraid!" he called out and was about to peer over the spell captors' hiding place.
"BOO!" Duke exclaimed, showing himself in the light.
The boy cried out and hit his head on the display, knocking him out.
"Hey, this is the boy we saw earlier, the one who was at the spell's painting," Wildwing said and the boy began to moan.
"What happened?" he asked and noticed the three.
"What are you doing here?" Duke asked.
"I was going to ask you the same thing. I'm here to correct my dad's painting, someone painted a woman on it," the boy answered.
"I'm afraid we're here to prevent you from-" Pearl grabbed Duke's beak, silencing him.
"Prevent me from what? From ruining the painting? Listen, someone already ruined my dad's painting," the boy said.
"Your dad is Gregory McHenry? I never heard of him," Pearl replied.
"Of course not, he was a struggling artist, he tried his best to enter the art world, but no one liked his paintings. This museum paid him for only one, but that didn't help him, so he died trying to be like Leonardo da Vinci," the boy explained.
"We're sorry; listen, what don't we help you? I'm sure someone at your height can't reach the painting," Pearl replied and looked at the two Ducks, winking.
"I guess I need the help. All right, follow me. By the way, name's Alex," the boy said.
"I'm Pearl and I believe you know two of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim," the princess replied and Alex nodded.
"Duke L'Orange and Wildwing Flashblade, I watched some of your games before my dad died, but I don't like hockey, not to hurt your feelings," Alex said with a smile.
"No offense taken, show us the way," Duke answered and they followed him to the courtyard room.
When they arrived, Wildwing whispers to Pearl, "How can we capture the spell without Alex noticing?"
"I have no idea, but I'll try to think of something," she whispered.
"This is oil paint, it's easy to peel off," Alex said to them and was to get to work, when they noticed that the woman moved a finger to her lips.
Just then, a bright light surrounded them and they seemed to move away from the painting and found themselves outside in the courtyard.
"What the?! How did we get out here?" Duke asked, looking around in confusion.
"It did it again!" Alex said and the three looked at him. "Again?" Wildwing asked.
"Yes, every time I come here to do it, I end up here; is it magic?" Alex said.
"I believe it is, or maybe that woman hates noises, so that's why you end up here," Pearl replied.
"There's an open door, this way," Alex said and they returned inside.
They got back to the painting, when Alex dropped his artist's knife and the woman moved her finger and they were teleported outside, again.
They tried, again, and this time, Duke struggled to hold back a sneeze, but the spell page did the same thing and they were disappointed when they were teleported outside.
"This is getting annoying, we'll never catch that page," Duke said, clearly irritated.
"Well, I'm not giving up; I'm going back in," Alex replied, but Pearl cries, "Wait a minute!"
Then, Duke's alarm watch went off, "Oh no, the guard is on duty, he'll find Alex," he said.
"Pearl, I just figured out something; you can use the 'Shadow' page to capture the 'Silent'," Wildwing informed and Pearl's face lit up.
"Thank you, Wildwing," she replied and opened the spell book, "'Shadow', help me capture the spell page!" she commanded and the 'Shadow' spell took the form of Pearl's shadow.
Alex returned to the painting, when suddenly, the security guard saw him with his flashlight, "Hey! What are you doing here?!" the guard shouted and grabbed Alex's shirt.
"Let me go!" the child shouted and Pearl's shadow came to his aid.
Pearl's shadow pushed the guard and he lost his grip on Alex and his flashlight. Alex ran off and the guard went after him.
Pearl turned her attention to the 'Silent' page, "'Silent', I command you to return to the spell book from where you came!" she shouted and the 'Silent' returned to the spell book.
"Quick hide!" Wildwing warned as the guard returned to retrieve his flashlight.
Then, he turned his attention to the painting, crying out in fear and ran off.
"Haha, what a wimp," Duke said with a chuckle.
Then, Alex returned, "We better leave, the guard may be coming," he said.
"I don't think so, look," Pearl replied, pointing to the painting inside.
It now featured a young girl with long brown hair, featuring a wide smile while at the window.
Alex's face grew wide with a smile and then, his, or her hat flew off, featuring the long brown hair.
"Alex, you're a girl?" Duke asked in astonishment.
Alex didn't seem to hear him and she featured her trademark smile to them.
They left the museum and Alex went on her way home, "I don't know how to thank you," she said.
"It was nothing," Duke replied and they waved as Alex went down the street.
"She's a nice girl, maybe she'll become an artist like her father," Pearl said to her Duck friends and they walked back to the stadium.
Up on a building, a dark figure looked down on them, "Very soon, I'll have the one page that'll help me destroy those Ducks," Louran said to himself and he teleported away.