Episode 15: Sleepy Time
Another day had passed and evening fell upon Anaheim, but the excitement was already filling the air.
The hockey pre-trials had begun and the Mighty Ducks were playing against their strongest rival, the Dallas Stars.
The stadium was full of spectators and they were cheering and yelling their support for their teams.
"C'mon guys, only one more point," Pearl prayed aloud.
The game was tied with 4-4 and the clock was running down on the 30-minute mark and both teams were getting desperate for a goal.
"I'm telling you folks, I've never been this excited and terrified at the same time," the announcer replied over the speakers.
The crowd was crying out for the Ducks to finish the game, but suddenly, glitter began to fall and the noise began to simmer down.
One-by-one, the people began to slump in their seats, and began to snore.
"What the heck?" Phil asked, but then, he crashed to the ground and started to snore and the two princesses shut their eyes.
Then, the Ducks and the rival team struggled to stay awake and they each fell on the ice. "A little nap won't hurt," Tanya yawned and they all fell asleep.
()()()()()()
Meanwhile at the 'Raptor', Louran was able to sense the strange event going on at the hockey game.
"It seems that the Ducks have fallen victim to a spell, how stupid of them," the dark wizard said.
"Maybe it'll be the one to put them out of their misery," Dragaunus replied, still bitter over the previous failures of capturing the other spells.
"Oh, I believe it will, and I hope we will capture it before those Ducks do," Wraith had informed and Louran gave an evil grin.
()()()()()()
Back at the Pond, the sleeping crowd was rudely awakened by the buzzing of the score-board alarm.
"What just happened?" Duke asked, utterly confused of how he ended up on the icy floor.
"Did we fall asleep? Oh man, we're still tied," Nosedive complained and the announcer called out on the speakers.
"It seems that the two teams are tied and because of that, we will return to finish the game tomorrow night," he said to the groaning crowd.
In the locker room, the Ducks met with the two princesses, "That was weird, it felt like someone blasted at me with sleeping powder," Nosedive replied.
"And you're right," Pearl answered and explains, "The 'Sleep' is a mischievous spell that pleasures itself in placing others into deep slumber, usually around a tiring event like this."
"Well, thanks to that no-good, rotten spell, we lost a half-hour of game time," Mallory complained.
"And that's a good thing, because we have till tomorrow evening to capture it," Pearl informed them.
"And where can we find this 'Sleep' page?" Nosedive asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I think we can lure it out with all of you practicing," the princess replied.
"So it's settled, tomorrow we practice non-stop," Wildwing ordered and they began to settle in for the night.
"I'm sorry that you missed your chance of winning the game," Pearl said to Wildwing.
"It isn't your fault, at least we know what we're dealing with now," the mallard replied.
"There is one thing you should know," the princess said, again, "I can faintly sense another spell, one that can be useful to both us and Louran."
"That's good to know, we'll see you tomorrow," Wildwing informed and Pearl gave a goodbye wave and left the stadium with Subria and Phil.
()()()()()()
Morning came and the Ducks, including the two princesses arrived at the arena and were practicing non-stop, but nothing was happening.
"I don't get it, we've been out here for over an hour and I'm not sensing anything," Nosedive said to the group.
"I'll say, I'm already tired from all this," Tanya complained and Pearl comes forward.
"You guys take a break, I'll think of something that'll make the 'Sleep' come out of hiding," she said and sat at a bleacher.
The Ducks couldn't refuse the offer and they did what they could to regenerate their strength.
Pearl in the meantime was thinking hard about what could've brought the 'Sleep' into action the other night.
Then, something clicked in her head, "Of course, the crowd!" she said aloud and was about to stand up when her senses went wild.
"Someone is here," Subria replied and summoned her spear.
"You just don't know when to quit, princess!" a voice rang out and Louran appeared behind them.
The dark wizard threw a dark energy ball at Subria, sending her airborne and she landed hard on the ground.
"Subria! Someone help!" Pearl cried out as Louran stretched his hand around her mouth.
The Ducks heard the shouts and immediately went back to the arena and saw Louran with his hostage.
"Let her go, you creep!" Wildwing ordered, but Louran blasted at them with dark energy.
"You are pretty smart, princess, but I have just the thing to summon the spell," the dark wizard said and Wraith appeared.
The Saurian used some sort of magic and shadows appeared in the stands and they were clapping and cheering.
Then, the 'Sleep' flew over the crowd; the spell looked like a little blue-colored sprite wielding a wand that sprinkled the sleeping dust on the dark crowd.
"Spell page, I command you to come to me!" Louran ordered, pushing Pearl aside and they watched as blackness surrounded the 'Sleep' and it took residence in Louran's hand in the form of a page.
"The 'Sleep'? This is what you fell victim to?" Louran asked the Ducks, who featured angry faces.
"I would think that Dragaunus would have a yelling fit if you featured that to him," Wraith informed and Louran nodded.
"Take it, it's worthless to us, and a waste of time," the dark wizard said, throwing the page to Pearl.
The evil magic left the spell page and Pearl placed it in her book.
Then, the two wizards teleported away, but the princess shouts out, "You're not a wizard! You're a total creep!"
The Ducks watched as Pearl let out her anger in a tantrum and she punched the glass, resulting in a painful throb in her hand.
"Chill, chill," Duke replied, but the princess just stared at him.
"He had the guts to say that 'Sleep' is worthless, but I have something to say," Pearl said to them, "Life is not worthless."
"I want to give those goons a piece of my mind," Grin informed.
Wildwing attended to Pearl and gave a gentle rub to her hand, "I would've done the same thing, teach those morons a lesson," he said, and then, without thinking, he kissed Pearl's hand.
The princess blushed a bright pink and the others were surprised at this, and Wildwing realized what he did.
"Perhaps I went too far with that," he said in an embarrassed tone.
"No, it was fine," Pearl replied, "The pain stopped. I guess it does take a kiss to make the pain go away."
The two talked to one another, while the others shared their concerns, "What will happen if they end up as a couple?" "No idea, but I hope it doesn't last."
()()()()()()
Evening came and the spectators returned to the stadium to watch the final half of the hockey game.
5 minutes remained on the clock and no one on both teams made a successful goal.
Then, a Star player got the puck and was heading towards Wildwing and he prepared himself.
"You can do it, Wildwing," Pearl prayed with her heart-pounding.
Just as the rival player made a swing to make the goal, Grin swapped the puck away and Mallory was able to catch it.
"Go Mallory!" Nosedive shouted, blocking some other players from stealing the puck.
Mallory and Tanya each passed the puck to one another and Mallory gave a hard swing at the rival's goal net.
The Star's goalie missed the puck as it hit the net and the score changed to 5-4, the Ducks winning by one point.
"Unbelievable! The Ducks win!" the announcer called over the intercom.
The crowd exploded in claps and cheers as the clock buzzed, marking the end of the game.
Awhile later, the Ducks congratulated one another, but mostly towards Mallory.
"Oh man, I almost died, but you did it!" Nosedive said, kissing her cheek.
Subria, having witnessed the kiss, just stared at Nosedive, "Uh-oh, that ain't good," Tanya replied.
"Nosedive, how could you?!" the African princess cried out.
"It was just a kiss!" the mallard replied and the two began in envelope in a loud argument.
"You guys might want to stand back," Pearl warned, pulling out her book.
"'Sleep', these two need to rest," she said to the page and the spell flew above the two arguing figures, sprinkling its sleeping dust on them.
Subria and Nosedive stopped arguing and they slumped to the ground, snoring.
"Love, it can be a painful thing," Grin said, shaking his head.
"C'mon Dive, let's get you to bed, on time for once," Wildwing said to his brother and he hoisted him onto his shoulders.
The others had to chuckle as their leader took his sleeping brother to bed.