D3 Code G

"In the castle records I found, gold represented something good, but silver was cruel like the sorceress," Mira remembered. "So let's go with gold."

She fastened the gold key to the remaining loop, and once that was done, the rest of the key ring seemed to glow. Mira quickly laid it on Wildwing's chest, and all of the keys disappeared, except for the golden one, which grew and changed shape. When the glow faded, a mask appeared where the keys had been.

Mira moved the mask to Wildwing's face, and it glowed as it settled upon his beak. The eyes lit up, and Wildwing suddenly rose up. He put a hand to his face and ran it over the mask.

"It's back. I haven't lost it," he said.

"I'm glad that worked," Mira said with relief. "I really felt stuck there for a minute."

Wildwing turned to her.

"Did you say you were going to kiss me?"

Mira's face grew slightly red.

"Uh, that was just a joke. I was just testing to see if you were really asleep."

He laughed and stood up.

"What am I, Sleeping Beauty?"

"I think it's best if I don't answer," Mira said.

The familiar glow appeared around Wildwing, but this time, Mira felt anxious as she watched it grow brighter.

"Wait, I don't want to be left alone," she said.

Wildwing tried to seize her hand, but his fingers couldn't grasp hers. He was already being pulled away. In another second, he was gone, and Mira looked around the room in confusion.

"Okay, I did it. I freed the ducks, and I would like to go home now… please?!"

The fire crackled in the hearth, but no one answered her.

"Seriously? You're just going to leave me here? Hey!"

But when magic returned to the castle, it in the form of the sorceress who appeared less than pleased.

"The ducks were mine to punish, and you took them from me," she said darkly.

Mira backed away, but she didn't try to run.

"You're probably tired of me crashing at your castle. Maybe I could use that gate to get out of here and let you have the place to yourself?"

"The gate is gone," Alastrid said with the shake of her head. "Once you began freeing those troublesome birds, I destroyed it. I couldn't have anyone trying to leave by that way when the curse was being undone."

"Of course not," Mira sighed. "But trust me, I really don't think you want me to stay here. I'm not a great houseguest."

"Make your jokes, but you can't do that forever. All it takes is a spark of fear, and my power grows strong enough to cast a curse upon you. And everyone has moments of weakness and fear. Yours will come soon enough."

Mira tried to keep up her courage, knowing that it was her only protection against this sorceress, but could she do that forever? The thought of a lifetime of lonely imprisonment in this castle was daunting just by itself.

"I can already sense your doubts," Alastrid said with a cruel smile. "Fear will follow, and then I'll make you pay for breaking my curse."

But out of the shadows in that room, a bright light began to suddenly grow. It swept over the walls and ceiling until it surrounded the sorceress and Mira.

"What magic is this?" Alastrid demanded angrily. "Who dares draw me out of my own realm?"

Mira realized that she could feel that it was pulling her away too. She would escape the castle after all!

When the light cleared, Mira felt a little unsteady and she started to lose her balance, but a firm, yet gentle grip caught her. She looked up and saw Grin holding onto her, helping her stand.

"You came back for me," she said gratefully.

"No, we brought you to us, little friend," he said.

Mira looked around and saw the other ducks gathering around her. They had their weapons drawn and were preparing to face the sorceress. A thick mist surrounded all of them, and Mira could not tell where they were supposed to be, but she guessed it was at least away from the castle.

"You could not manage this kind of magic on your own," the sorceress asked, still sounding confused.

"Aye, foul fiend, they had help!" a tenor voice shouted beside the ducks.

Mira stared in surprise at the small elf-like figure that walked out and stood in front of the ducks.

"Fool princeling!" Alastrid exclaimed angrily. "You did this!"

"Not alone," he said. "I had the help of a courageous ally. And though she knew me not, I believed she had the strength to help our friends."

He gestured to Mira, but there was no time for more questions, as the sorceress readied herself to attack them.

"To arms, good friends!" the elf-prince shouted to the ducks as he drew a sword. "Her power is almost broken."

"Ducks Rock!" Nosedive shouted as he fired his puck launcher at Alastrid.

Many of the other ducks joined him. The sorceress tried to use her magic to block their shots, and she darted to one side, but Duke was there with his sabre. When she tried to flee to the other side, Grin moved to block her path.

Finally, she used her power to fly higher into the air, but the black color was draining from her hair as the red light of her magic grew dimmer. Gray-haired and older-looking, she used the last of her magic to open a dark portal.

"Brave fools! Your courage will only protect you for so long!"

Then she fled and disappeared as the portal vanished.

The ducks put their weapons away, and Borg made a sweeping motion with his hands. The mist cleared, and Mira realized that they were standing in Anaheim Park. The ducks greeted the short stranger warmly and thanked him for his help.

"What is going on?! And who are you?" Mira asked when she found her voice. "I mean, that was awesome, but…"

"Forgive me, brave maiden," the little guy said as he walked up to her and bowed. "I am Borg, the prince of the mystical Anaheim that exists far from this place."

Mira looked over at the ducks with a confused expression.

"Borg was with us when we defeated Asteroth, Alastrid's brother," Duke explained.

"Yeah, he's a pretty cool friend," Nosedive said. "He knows all about this magic stuff. And he showed up in one of my comic books once. But like nobody believed me."

Mallory sighed and shook her head.

"We're still not sure about that part, but the point is, Borg is the one who sent you to the castle to help us."

"I don't understand. If you have magic, then why didn't you go save the ducks?" Mira asked, looking back at Borg. "Why send me? I don't know anything about magic."

"Precisely!" Borg said excitedly. "The sorceress would never have let me enter her realm. And when the ducks were trapped under her curse, her magic was too powerful for me to fight. Only someone whom she would not suspect could help our friends."

"But what made you think I could help them?"

"I believed you cared for them as I did. And I knew that if you were led by your courage, then the sorceress would not have any power over you."

"So, whenever I acted bravely, you're saying she couldn't touch me?"

"Yes, exactly so! Courage weakens her power, while fear strengthens her vile sorcery. I could not use my magic to help the ducks until you freed them from the fear she had imprisoned them with."

"Wait, are you the one who sent me those keys and that parchment with the curse?"

"I did whatever I could to help you," Borg said with a nod. "But I did not know which of the keys you needed to use. I could only tell that both were talismans."

"Talismans?"

"Yes, they were made by the alchemist who used to live in the castle that Alastrid seized. But one of them was designed for a good purpose: to recover lost treasures, while the other was tainted by the sorceress's evil."

"So that's why the gold one helped me give the Mask to Wildwing," Mira realized.

"Yes, and now we can return to the Pond," Wildwing said, sounding relieved.

"Let's go surprise Phil," Nosedive laughed.

"It will be good to play hockey again," Grin said.

"And just get back to fightin' enemies like Dragaunus," Duke laughed.

"Yes, farewell, friends!" Borg said. "I must return to my own realm. But I am glad to see you safely returned home."

He waved goodbye and then disappeared through a small portal that opened into his Anaheim and then closed behind him.

Mira looked back at the ducks and then felt a strange reluctance well up inside of her.

"I guess I should be heading back to my apartment," she said. "It was great to get to meet all of you… even under the weird circumstances."

She started to turn away, but Mallory caught up with her and held her back.

"Hey, this doesn't have to be the end, you know."

Mira looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, tonight we could all use a good night's rest, but tomorrow's a different story, sweetheart," Duke said as he walked over and put his hand on Mira's shoulder.

Wildwing drew out a spare com and held it out to Mira.

"We're more than friends now. You've earned a place as part of this team… that is if you want it."

Mira reached out and took the com.

"Really?

"Yeah, you never know when we might need your help again," Tanya said.

"Or maybe there's like something we could do for you," Nosedive offered. "You don't have any problems with evil alien overlords, do you?"

Mira smiled.

"Not at the moment, but you'll be the first ones I'll contact if it ever comes up."

"That's right, girly-girl. Check this out!" Nosedive punched a button on his com and the Ghostbuster theme song began to play.

"Who you gonna call?" Nosedive sang, dancing around.

Grin reached over and gently took hold of Nosedive's arm as he pressed the button and turned the music off. Then he simply said,

"No."

"Aw, come on, man, it's a classic. Like us."

"No," Grin repeated as he released his friend's arm.

"We already have a theme song, Dive," Tanya groaned. "We've talked about this."

"Sure, and it's awesome, but why can't we have more than one?"

"Two words, Dive. Copyright infringement," Duke said.

"Yeah, right, like you're worried about stealing a song?"

Wildwing sighed.

"Mira, we'll see you tomorrow. I'd better get my brother out of here before he gets us into more trouble."

"Sure," she said, still smiling. "Hey, does this mean I can get into your games for free now?"

"Of course," Mallory called back as they started to walk off. "You'd be willing to referee some, right?"

"Yeah, that's not funny," Mira said. "Seriously, I'm not even that great on skates."

"We'll schedule some lessons," Wildwing said, leading his brother away and waving.

Mira waved back.

"For skating sure, not for refereeing… or you guys are kidding yourselves," she said to herself.

She stretched, feeling a little tired but rather contented at the same time. Her apartment was only a few more blocks away, and the comfort of her own bed was sounding pretty good.

As Mira walked off, a couple of figures walked out from behind a dumpster. One was lean and green, and the other was massive and moved like an armored tank.

"They'rrrre back," the little one said. "The boss is not gonna be happy about that."

"Looks like they made a new friend too," the other said. "We might have to do somethin' about that."

"Ooh, ooh, can we make a new friend too, Siege?"

The bigger one hit him over the head.

"I say that's the last time we trust some magical freak to take care of the ducks for us. Next time, we do it ourselves."

Congratulations! This is Ending #7, and hopefully the one you wanted to reach. As you can see, I left this open in case there is room for more interactive adventures with Mira and the ducks in the future. No promises right now, but I enjoyed writing this one, so I might write another if I have time.

Please leave comments, especially if you'd like me to write another interactive story. Your feedback would be very helpful!