Episode 10: Lesson Learned
It was the second day of July and Anaheim's residents began to prepare for the festivities for Independence Day.
At the Pond, it was 'Summer Cleaning Day' for the Ducks, since they neglected their duties in caring for their headquarters and Drake 1.
"C'mon bro, can't we do this after practice?" Nosedive complained, but Wildwing shook his head.
"I'd be dead tired if we do this after practice," Mallory informed, taking some cleaning chemicals.
Tanya began to dust the insides of Drake 1, "Oh, my beak, ACHOO!" she sneezed and noticed something on the ground.
She took it; it was covered in a black substance and it appeared old. "Must be old paper," she said to herself, but when she turned it over, the back featured symbols similar to those she saw on the spell pages.
"Holy Duck, this must be a spell page!" Tanya exclaimed and then noticed another piece of paper.
"Two of them! Oh boy, I am getting good at this," she replied and tucked the papers in her pocket.
The group then finished their chores, but then, they received a call from Phil, "Hey boobies! I left my documentation papers in my office and I really need them!"
"Uncle Philip, you forget everything!" Pearl said, angrily placing her hands on her hips.
"C'mon Pearl, cut your old man a break. Listen, I need those documents, can one of you guys bring them to me at the Sports Management building downtown?" Phil begged and the ducks and the princesses look at one another.
"I'll take care of it," Pearl replied with a heavy sigh.
"I'll come with you, my allergies are killing me!" Tanya exclaimed as she struggled to control her sneezing.
The poor duck went to shed her cleaning clothes and got into her regular outfit, but she didn't realize that the two spell pages were still in the pocket of her cleaning clothes.
The sun peeked through the windows and the beams shined on the two pages and then, something began to happen.
()()()()()
Pearl and Tanya rode on the Duckcycles to the Sports Management building in Anaheim.
"Ah, man this feels good, getting out of that dusty underground," Tanya said, breathing in the summer air.
"Can I ask you something?" Pearl asked her comrade and the smart duck nodded.
"What is Wildwing's favorite thing to do? I barely get to talk to him because of the crazy stuff going on," the princess replied and Tanya began to think.
"Other than saving the day, I say…actually I don't know, he likes to keep to himself," she answered, but that didn't help Pearl in what she was thinking.
Once they arrived at the Sports Management building, Phil was waiting for them outside, and he was excited when Pearl handed him the documents.
"Next time, Uncle Philip, make a mental note about what to bring," the princess said, with a sniff.
"Thanks a bunch, Your Highness," Phil replied, doing a bow.
Pearl shook her head and she and Tanya went on their way back to The Pond.
"Phil's not really your uncle, is he?" Tanya asked and Pearl looked at her.
"No, he was chosen to be my guardian. If something bad happened to my home, my parents believe I would be safe in the future, along with Subria," Pearl explained and Tanya was about to say another question, when her Omi-tool alarm went off.
"Pearl! Tanya! You have to get back to The Pond! There's something real weird going on! There's this-HELP!" Nosedive shouted into the speaker phone and it went off.
"That does not sound good! Hold on!" Tanya ordered and pressed hard on the gas pedal and they sped off.
()()()()()()()
The two friends arrived back at the stadium and hurried to the headquarters, just as a large tree branch sprouted out from the steel doors.
"Holy cow! It's like a rainforest in here!" Tanya exclaimed upon seeing the plant life growing in the Ducks' headquarters.
"Uh, excuse us," a voice said from above and they turned their heads to see the others, trapped by the branches and vines.
"My blood is rushing to my head," Duke informed as he was hung upside down and the two young females hurried to release them.
Once the others were free of the tree branches, Pearl looked at the invasive plant, "This is definitely the 'Wood' spell, but why is it acting like this?"
Tanya then gasped, but gave a look of embarrassment. "Tanya, is there something you want to share with us?" Duke asked and everyone looked at her.
"Okay, I found a spell page, two I think, but I thought it would be okay if I told you later," she answered, but Pearl shook her head in annoyance.
"You can't do that, because without a seal, the spells have the free will to roam," the princess replied, but turned her attention back to the tree.
"You said you found a second page, what was it?" Wildwing asked Tanya, but she shook her head.
"I don't know, it was covered in black ink," she answered.
"In the words of Tae Quack Doe, to solve any problems, you must start at the source," Grin replied in his meditated way.
"Grin, thank you," Subria said, giving the giant duck a tight squeeze.
"So Tanya, where did you put the spell pages?" Mallory asked her comrade.
"Gosh, they must be in my room, because that's where I changed my clothes," Tanya answered.
"Well, we have to start somewhere," Nosedive replied and the spell captors began their journey through the rough terrain.
Then, Wildwing stepped in something wet, "Did you hear that?" and he used his other foot to step in the substance.
Pearl looked down and noticed water on the floor. "Of course, 'Wood' only acts this way because of the 'Rain' spell," she said and she pointed to what looked like a puffy white cloud that was pouring rain water over the roots of the 'Wood'.
Then, something popped out of the cloud; it looked like a small child, clad in blue and white clothes and a pointy hat with water-drop jewels.
"Okay, little guy, play time's over," Mallory said to the spell, but it crossed its arms and gave a sniff.
"Don't pay any attention to her, she's a party-pooper," Nosedive replied and the 'Rain' spell nodded.
Just then, the spell hovered over the two Ducks and droplets of water began to fall.
"This isn't so bad," Nosedive commented, but then, the 'Rain' summoned a downpour and Mallory and Nosedive ran off.
The 'Rain' laughed and jumped up and down on its cloud.
"Hey, that's not funny!" Mallory shouted, draining the water out of her hair.
Pearl began to think about how to capture the trouble-making spell and then, it came to her.
"Guys, I need you to stand back," the princess ordered and held out the book.
The Ducks took several steps away from Pearl and the 'Rain', and the princess turned to the 'Water' page.
"'Water', I command you to trap the 'Rain'!" she summoned the spell and the 'Rain' realized it was in trouble.
The 'Water' spell emerged from its page and it summoned a sphere of water and 'Rain' became trapped in the sphere.
"'Rain', I command you to return to the book from where you came!" Pearl shouted and the spell, along with the 'Water', took residence in vacant pages.
"Now for the 'Wood'," Wildwing said, but Pearl pointed to the root of the tree.
The vines and branches disappeared and then, a small green woman-like creature with leaves for hair appeared and it floated over to Pearl.
The 'Wood' then went into a page and its picture appeared on it.
"See, she is a gentle spirit," the princess replied, closing the book.
"Oh, what a day," Nosedive complained and left Tanya's room.
"One thing's for certain, I really learned my lesson today," Tanya said and everyone looked at her.
"Care to explain to us?" Grin asked.
"It's best to give Pearl the pages, whether or not they are spells," she answered, but Pearl shook her head.
"Since you found these spell pages, they are yours to summon. Just sign them," Pearl informed and Tanya wrote her name on the 'Rain' and 'Wood' pages.
"AAAHHHHHHHH! Guys, come quick!" Nosedive cried out from outside the room.
The Ducks and the two princesses rushed into the corridor to discover that it was ten-times messier than before!
"Ah man! I just mopped here!" Mallory slumped down to the floor.
Pearl and Subria, however, picked up the brooms and mops. "Well, this place isn't going to clean itself," the African princess replied, but everyone groaned.
()()()()()()()()
Evening came and Phil arrived at the stadium to discover that no one was out practicing on the ice.
"Boobies! Where are you?" he called out.
He went down to the Ducks' headquarters, it was spotless, and he found the Ducks' asleep on the couches in the common room, including Pearl and Subria.
"Okay girls, let's go home," Phil whispered to the two princesses, waking them.
"Let me do one last thing; do you have a pen and paper?" Pearl asked and Phil searched in his pockets.
He handed over the pen and paper and wrote down the sentence:
Wildwing,
Do you mind if you come to my place at 300 Palm Tree Drive in Anaheim Hills tomorrow at noon?
I really need your help on something.
Pearl
The princess folded the piece of paper and placed it in Wildwing's opened palm and, as if he knew, he clutched it tight in his hand.
"See you soon," Pearl whispered to Wildwing and she left the sleeping Duck in peace.