Esp. 19: Double Take

It was the last week of July and the people of Anaheim were enjoying the last few weeks of summer before returning to their autumn routines.

At the mall, several stores had set up outdoor displays, promoting a few good sales.

Pearl, the young Avalon princess, was wandering around and stared at one display of jewelry and watches.

Just then, she pushed the display over and the boxes of priceless jewels fell and crashed to the floor.

"Hey kid!" the owner shouted, but the princess ran off.

Awhile later, Pearl came across a display of stuffed animals and she did the same thing and the toys fell to the ground.

"Hey, you're gonna clean that up!" the owner cried out as Pearl ran off, again.

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

At the Pond, the Ducks were practicing for the upcoming game against the San Jose Sharks.

Pearl and Subria arrived with shopping bags in hand, "I never thought shopping can be so fun," the African princess replied, showing off her new shoes.

"It's a girl's instinct, hey, those shoes are so cute," Mallory said.

Just then, Captain Kelghorn arrived, "Captain, is there something wrong?" Wildwing asked.

"I'm afraid I've received numerous complaints from shop owners saying that a young woman has been ruining public displays at the mall, costing hundreds of dollars in damages, and from the description I've received…" Kelghorn said and featured a surveillance picture of Pearl!

"What?! Is this a joke?" Subria asked, taking the photo.

"It's no joke; Miss Pearl, care to explain?" Kelghorn asked the princess.

"Captain, I was at the mall, but I was shopping with Subria, she was with me the whole time," Pearl replied, clearly upset of the ordeal.

"It's the truth, I never let milady out of my sight," Subria informed.

Kelghorn thought for a moment and replies, "The owners of the shops decided not to press charges, but they said if you, if it was you, come back and cause more destruction, I'm going to have to arrest you for damage to private property."

Pearl had to sit down; her morning just went from good to terrible.

"Captain, may I ask where this Pearl caused the damage?" Wildwing asked.

"At the Toy Crate and Jefferson's Jewelry," Kelghorn answered and Pearl shot up.

"I wasn't at those stores, we just passed by, but I didn't do anything, I swear," the princess said.

"Sorry princess, but I have to follow orders," the police captain replied.

"Mind if we hold onto this photo?" Wildwing asked and Kelghorn shook his head and left.

"Pearl!" Phil exclaimed when he joined the group, "Did you really do all that?!"

"No uncle, I didn't do any of that," Pearl replied, but Phil gave a hard look.

"I find that hard to believe, you know what, you're grounded," he said, but the princess gave a confused look.

"Phil, didn't you hear what she said?" Wildwing asked.

"Hey, I'm the one taking care of these two girls and I have to make sure they're out of trouble," Phil replied, angrily and left to his office.

"Guys, please believe me, I didn't do anything wrong," Pearl said, anxiously.

"Calm down Pearl, we believe you, but with this picture it's hard to say," Tanya said, featuring the photo.

"Oh my gosh, that girl looks like you," Duke replied.

Suddenly, Pearl's senses went haywire and she collapsed onto a bleacher.

"Pearl, are you okay?" Wildwing asked, balancing her.

"That's not me, but I believe that's a spell page," the princess informed.

"A spell page that takes the form of you?" Mallory asked.

"Not just me, but it can take the form of any of you," Pearl replied.

"All right, here's the plan, we'll split up and do a sweep across the city, if you find this doppelganger, report back to Pearl or me," Wildwing informed the group.

The Ducks changed into their civilian clothes and they each went in a different direction from the stadium.

"Pearl, you stay with me, that way if they call and say they saw the doppelganger," Wildwing informed.

"I heard it's bad luck to see your doppelganger, I heard that death will fall upon you," Nosedive said, but Pearl just looked at him.

()()()()()

An hour passed and the Ducks and the two princesses found nothing on the doppelganger.

"Maybe it got scared and ran off," Mallory said into the communicator.

"I think she may be right, my sensors can't detect anything," Subria informed the group.

"I can't detect anything either," Pearl said, "But I have that feeling that it is around here somewhere."

"Don't worry, we'll find that spell," Duke replied as he looked around the mall's square.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Pearl at the technology store window.

"Hey Pearl, is Wildwing with you?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, we're at the book store, where are you?" the princess replied.

"I see the other you at the tech store, I'm going to approach it," the ex-con whispered into the communicator.

"Be careful, it could be dangerous," Wildwing warned.

Duke walked casually towards the doppelganger, it appeared to be amazed by the TV that was showing her body. Just as Duke approached it, it turned around, staring at him with clear eyes.

"Take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you, kid," the Duck said. Just then, the doppelganger went into a mad dash away from Duke. "Dang it!" he cursed, "Guys, I'm going after it!"

"Tell us where it's heading!" Pearl replied back.

"Towards the exit of the square, heading east," Duke informed while running after the doppelganger.

"Turn on your tracker, we'll find you and the spell," Wildwing ordered and he and Pearl rushed back towards the Pond.

"We're coming, too!" the other Ducks said through their communicators.

Duke and the other Pearl were now running on the dirt road that lead to the high school.

"C'mon kid, I'm not going to hurt you!" Duke called after it, but it refused to stop.

The other Ducks and the two princesses returned to the Pond and got into the Migrator.

The big truck burned on the asphalt as it rushed to find Duke.

The doppelganger found itself trapped as the dirt path on the hill came to a dead end.

It turned around to face Duke, who was a few feet away.

"Listen, it's okay, I'm not gonna—" Suddenly, the dirt underneath Duke's feet gave way and he was falling towards the bottom of the hill.

The doppelganger watched helplessly as the ex-con's body hit at the side of the hill and he landed on his back.

Duke groaned in pain and the other Pearl rushed down to see if he was severely injured.

On the Migrator, they found Duke's location, "Why did he stop?" Tanya asked.

"Maybe he caught up with the spell," Wildwing said as he drove passed the high school.

Duke awoke and saw the doppelganger staring at him with its clear-gray eyes.

"You have…pretty eyes," he said, trying to hold back the pain.

The other Pearl blushed a bit as Duke adds, "But the real Pearl has brown eyes."

He then replies, "You're just a lost kid, you didn't mean to do those things, did you?"

The doppelganger didn't speak, instead it stared at him for a while, and then, Duke passed out from the pain.

The Migrator screeched to a halt at the base of the hill, "He should be over by that way," Tanya said and they hurried towards his location.

When they got to the top, they couldn't see Duke or the spell anywhere.

Then, Mallory cries out, "Down there!" and they saw him and the doppelganger at the bottom of the hill.

Instead of going back, they slid down and hurried to Duke's side.

"What did you do to him?!" Subria asked, angrily, but was surprised to see the doppelganger's resemblance to her mistress.

The other Pearl didn't speak and the Ducks were puzzled by its nature.

"I sense great confusion in this one, as if it doesn't know where it belongs," Grin said.

Pearl walked up to it, the spell book in her hands, and she began to think.

'She does look like me, but with gray eyes,' she thought and then she noticed that her other self had posed the same way as her. 'It's copying me, like a shadow,' the princess thought and then, something came to her head, 'It's like a reflection.'

"Spell page, your name is… 'Mirror'!" she said out loud.

Then, the other Pearl dissolved away to relieve a young girl, holding a mirror in its hands, and she appeared to be crying.

It walked over to the unconscious Duke and it kissed his forehead, "I'm sorry," it said to him and turned to face Pearl.

The princess then opened an empty and gives out the command, "'Mirror', I command you to return to the spell book from where you came!"

The spell's body swirled around in the air and it took vacancy in the empty page.

Tanya checked on Duke's vital signs, "He'll be fine, but I bet his pride is badly wounded," she said and Grin carried him back to the Migrator and they went back to the Pond.

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

That evening, Duke had woken up, but he still felt a throbbing pain in his head.

"Oh, my head and my dignity," the ex-con said and he realized that he was in the infirmary.

"How's the tough guy?" Subria asked, giving him a little punch to the shoulder.

"Still in pain, Subria," he replied and he looked at Pearl, "What happened to the other Pearl?"

"You mean this?" she said, turning to the 'Mirror' page.

"I knew it, she was just lost and unsure of what to do," Duke replied and Pearl handed him a pen to sign his name.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you," Wildwing said.

"Get me some pain-killers, my back is killing me," the ex-con replied.

"I got something better, I hope you like salmon," Pearl said, handing him a plate of grilled salmon.

She gave out plates of salmon to everyone and they liked it.

"Man, those cooking classes are really paying off," Mallory replied, forking up what was left of the salmon.

Duke was then taken to his room to sleep and Phil came into the headquarters.

"Pearl, I've been thinking, what if it was another trouble-maker that looked like you," he said to the princess, "So, I've decided not to punish you."

"Oh, so that's what 'grounded' meant," she replied and the Ducks chuckled.