Ruby sat eating her lunch and trying not to giggle like a loon. The fairies were telling her all about their antics from the night before and it was becoming increasingly more difficult not to laugh out loud. She knew that no one else could see the air Elementals, much less hear them, so she was doing her best not to draw attention to herself.
She was pretty sure the humans already thought she was a bit odd for not joining the Mighty Ducks. She didn't need them thinking she was completely crazy. Though, it was getting harder not to make a spectacle of her herself.
She had chosen this quiet little spot at the city park because it was out of the way and nicely shaded. From where she sat, she could see the kids on the playground. She was close enough to hear the laughing and shrieking that seemed to be universal with children, but far enough away that she couldn't hear the normal conversations of the adults watching over the little ones.
The fairies finished their tale and she congratulated them on their cleverness. Happy with the mage's approval, the fairies took off for more adventure. They had a whole new world to explore.
Once they were gone, Ruby turned her attention back to the children playing. She missed the ducklings she used to care for. She loved their endless enthusiasm for life and their natural inquisitiveness, though there were times it would drive her buggy. She missed the hugs, smiles, and giggles the most.
With a sad sigh, she collected her garbage and went to throw it away. The bowl of soup hadn't been much, but after several days of being sick, she was a bit hesitant to eat a large amount of food in one sitting. She had no desire of having a repeat performance by her lunch.
As she finished throwing her garbage away, she became angry. Not just upset about her situation, but so fuming mad that she wanted to haul off and hit something. She could barely think she was so furious.
With her rage barely suppressed, she stomped off. She had no idea where she was going, but heaven help anyone who got in her way. Humans all but ran to get out of the angry duck's path.
Ruby could feel the Phoenix feeding off of her anger and circulating it back to the mage. It was a dangerous cycle and there was nothing Ruby could do about it. She marched along in a barely controlled fury, unaware that dry weeds and paper litter were catching fire as she walked past them or that her steps were starting to leave scorch marks on the pavement.
When she was finally able to stop walking, she could barely believe where she was. She was in the middle of the empty parking lot at the Pond. Sweat trickled down her back and her chest heaved to get enough air as she stared at the large building in front of her.
Why was she here? Why was she so angry? What was wrong with her?
She trembled as she fought with the unexplained fury. She struggled to remain in control while the need to destroy wanted to consume her. The desire to be free, to burn, was starting to win.
Wildwing pummeled the punching bag with all of his might. He was furious. He didn't want to feel what he was feeling and that just made things worse.
Ruby was in Wraith's crosshairs and the wizard was determined to kill the mage. Why should Wildwing care? An enemy destroying another enemy would make his life easier, wouldn't it?
He continued to punch the hapless bag, anger and frustration fueling his wings. His muscles screamed in protest as sweat got into his eyes and his lungs worked overtime to supply him with enough oxygen.
Finally, after who knew how long, he couldn't keep hitting the bag. He dropped to his knees while sadness tinged with fear replaced the rage that had consumed him. He worried for Ruby's safety and the thought of losing her ate at his heart and soul.
The anger that had come on so suddenly, left just as quickly. In its place, sadness and fear filled her. She went from wanting to destroy everything in sight to the overwhelming need to hide in the space of a heartbeat. Ruby stood in the middle of that parking lot trembling like a leaf in the wind.
The memories of that fateful day came crashing in. The explosion, her parents' lifeless bodies and the screams of her sister played in front of her mind's eye. She barely managed not to scream herself and the thoughts of her last moments as a normal duck came down on her like her home had.
She could feel her stomach tie itself in knots as the world started to spin. She could barely breathe and she was shaking so hard that it made it hard to stand. Sweat poured down her face while her heart felt like it would explode.
Without thinking and in a desperate attempt to save herself from whatever was attacking her, she sent out a shock wave. Instinctively, she put a shield around herself for protection. As suddenly as the over powering emotions had come, they just as quickly left.
Ruby stood there, completely perplexed by what had happened. A cool breeze cooled the sweat and a shiver ran down her spine. She was completely befuddled by the unexpected emotions that lead to her panic attack. She wrapped her wings around herself and looked up at the large building before her.
"Oops!" she squeaked when she saw the broken windows.
She knew the Mighty Ducks weren't about to believe anything she had to say in her defense, so she turned tail and quickly walked out of there. She would have run, but her legs were still very wobbly from those crazy emotions. She felt like she was going completely mad as a slightly hysterical giggle escaped her beak. If Wildwing and his team didn't want her tail feathers before, they most certainly would now.
Wildwing would have thought they had had another earthquake if the alarm klaxon hadn't gone off just before the jolt. Ignoring his sore and tired muscles, he raced to the control room. Since the gym was farther away than the bedrooms from the command center, the others were there before him.
"What have you got, Tanya?" Wildwing asked as he reached the top of the ladder, his wings screaming in protest.
"It's Ruby!" Tanya exclaimed in shock.
"Where?" Mallory demanded.
"The back parking lot!" Tanya replied.
The team didn't need orders. They changed into their battle gear and ran for the exit. Never had an elevator ride taken so long. By the time they got to the empty lot, Ruby was long gone.
"Which way did she go?" Mallory demanded of no one.
"I can't tell," Tanya responded as she checked her communicator. "There's too much residual energy to get, you know, a clear reading."
"At least we can tell from which way she came from," Duke stated as he pointed to the ground.
They could clearly see Ruby's footprints scorched into the ground.
"Wow!" Nosedive said. "Talk about having a hot foot."
The ducks quickly retrace Ruby's steps. Several blocks later, they could see that the marks were fading. By the time they got to the last of the noticeable prints, they were nearly two miles from the Pond and standing across the street from a city park.
"UHG!" Mallory yelled in frustration. "Where is she!?"
"Bet if we had the mask still we'd be able to find her," Nosedive grumbled.
"With one, we would not need the other," Grin said and Nosedive looked questioningly up at his friend. "If we had the mask, we wouldn't need to find her."
"Oh, good point," Nosedive replied.
"Next time Wraith has Ruby, I say we let him keep her," Mallory growled as she turned and started to head back to the Pond.
"A bit cold, don't you think, Mallory?" Wildwing asked as he and the others followed her.
"We saved her life and this is the thanks we get?" Mallory shot back. "Phil is going to have kittens when he sees all the glass that'll need to be replaced."
"It is kind of odd that she attacked us like that," Duke put in. "Why would she do that?"
"She's a blue beak, she's evil," Mallory pointed out.
"If she was evil, she wouldn't have made sure that the mask was found in the first place," Wildwing defended. "But, yeah, why did she attack us and then run off?"
The others didn't have an answer, so they walked on in silence. Wildwing was deeply disturbed that Ruby would intentionally attack them. He knew that, technically, they were enemies, but she had never struck him as being hostile towards them. Yes, she took the mask, but she had only defended herself when they attacked, never had she struck first.
"Who's that?" Nosedive asked, pulling Wildwing out of his musings.
They had just reached the edge of the parking lot and they could seed a full size pickup truck near the shattered windows and a man inspecting the damage. The ducks picked up the pace and crossed the expanse of asphalt in short order. Hands were on weapons as they approached the lone human. Then the man turned around and Wildwing stopped dead in his tracks.
"Raleigh?" Wildwing questioned as soon as he recognized the human.
"Isn't that the human who was helping Ruby when she first got here?" Mallory quietly asked and Wildwing nodded his confirmation as he stepped in front of his team.
"Hey, Wildwing, how's it going?" Raleigh greeted as he walked across the broken glass.
"What are you doing here?" Wildwing inquired.
"Princess Ducky called me," Raleigh answered as he turned and waved at the damage. "She said that you guys had a bit of a mishap. She asked me to come out and take a look."
"Princess Ducky?" Nosedive questioned, but went silent when his brother put a hand on his shoulder.
"And?" Wildwing prompted.
"You've had quite the mishap," Raleigh chuckled. "Must have been one heck of a party. I'll need to get a building inspector out here to be sure, but it doesn't look like there's any structural damage, just broken windows. The glass will have to be special ordered, but I know a guy who can get the job done pretty quickly. Should have you up and running in a couple weeks."
"What's this going to cost us?" Mallory asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," Raleigh said as he went back to his truck. "Ducky said she'd take care of it."
"Her name is Ruby," Wildwing told the man.
"Is it?" Raleigh laughed. "I'm so used to Gipsy going on about Princess Ducky every time she's on TV that I forgot that she has a real name."
Just then, Phil drove up. The ducks inwardly groaned at the sight of their manager, knowing he was about to have a fit. Raleigh didn't pay any attention to the other man as he got a clipboard and a measuring tape out of his truck.
"What happened!?" Phil demanded in that whining voice he had as soon as he was out of his car. "Did some vandals hit us? Who would do such a thing? Who's that?"
"We'll explain in a bit," Wildwing assured the fashion challenged human. "This is Raleigh Beckett. He's going to fix the windows for us."
"What have I told you guys about just hiring someone?" Phil demanded of his team. "You've got to get competing bids…"
"Ruby's paying for it," Wildwing explained as he grabbed the man by the arm and started to drag him inside.
"Well, that's good," Phil sighed with relief. "What a minute. Why would that evil blue beak be paying for this? I thought you guys hated each other."
Wildwing glanced back at Raleigh and saw the other human had heard Phil. The construction worker didn't look pleased.
"I'll explain later," Wildwing stated as he handed the annoying man over to Grin.
Wildwing signaled his team to go inside and waited until they were gone before turning back to the man. Raleigh wasn't a happy camper if his face was anything to go by.
"What's going on?" Raleigh demanded and Wildwing could see the soldier that the man had once been in the way he held himself. "Why are you and Ruby at odds? You come from the same planet, but she said that ducks like her aren't welcome in 'polite society'. I heard about the fight that you guys had after I left and I saw the video from the fight yesterday. You were defending her. This isn't making a lot of sense."
"Ruby isn't as innocent as she appears to be," Wildwing nearly growled. "She came to this planet to take my mask and she's the one who broke the windows."
"Ok, I can see you being mad about the windows, but a hockey mask?" the human scoffed. "Come on, Wildwing, you can get a new one at any sports store."
Wildwing looked at the man with a raised eyebrow.
"Ok, so you'd have to special order one," Raleigh quickly amended when he realized his mistake. "But still, it's just a thing and things can be replaced."
"The mask had sentimental value," Wildwing grumbled and Raleigh looked at him a bit funny. "It was and is important to me and my team. We want it back, but she's not even willing to negotiate."
How could he explain how special the mask was without going into detail about what it did? If the other teams knew what the mask was capable of, they'd be crying foul in a heartbeat. He never used the mask in that way during a game, but he doubted the other teams or the NHL would care. It was best that no one outside of his team, a few humans and Ruby knew what the mask truly was.
In the end, Raleigh took the measurements and then left, not appearing the least bit amused. Wildwing sighed; pretty sure he hadn't convinced the man that Ruby was as sweet and innocent as she appeared to be. Wildwing headed back in only to be confronted with his team, a pile of plywood and a hammer.
Trying not to groan as his wings ached from his earlier work out, he helped put up the sheets of wood to protect their home from any unwanted visitors, especially those of a reptilian kind.
"I'm safe. The building isn't collapsing. Nothing is going to get me. They don't know where I am. They can't find me."
Ruby sat on her bed with her knees to her chest, her wings wrapped around her legs and rocking back and forth. She was chanting the same words over and over again. She was doing her level best not to have another panic attack.
She had managed to get back to her room and even though the room key had been turned into a twisted blob of plastic from when the Phoenix burned the last of the poison out of her, she was still able to get in. Once she had returned, she had felt a bit safer, but she knew Wildwing and his team were going to want her plucked because of what she had done. She hoped that sending them some sort of peace offering would mean that they wouldn't start trying to turn the humans against her.
It had taken her several minutes to find the business card Raleigh had given her. She had barely managed to dial the number since her hands were shaking so hard. She was rather proud of herself that she had remembered that the man didn't know her real name, so she had stuck with Princess Ducky.
As soon as she had returned the handset to the cradle, she could feel the world starting to close in on her. She barely managed to get on the bed before she fell to the ground. That's when the rocking and chanting started.
She let out a short scream and nearly jumped out of her feathers when the phone rang some time later. She stared at the thing across the room. Her heart was pounding and she could barely catch her breath.
Who could be calling her and why? No one knew where she was. She had been very careful about her comings and goings by using magic to make people not notice her. It was an easy enough spell, but it required quite a bit of energy, especially if there were a lot of people around, so she used it sparingly.
The phone kept ringing. When it appeared that whoever was calling her wasn't going to give up, she slowly crawled off of the bed. On legs that felt like they were made with toothpicks, she walked across the room and stared at the phone.
It took a couple more rings before she finally reached out and picked the phone up with a slightly shanking hand.
"Hello?" she softly greeted.
"Ruby?" a man's voice asked.
"Yes?" she replied nervously.
"Hey, it's Raleigh Beckett," Raleigh stated and she finally recognized his voice.
"Hi," she responded, still a bit shaken. "How'd you get my number?"
"You called my cell phone," he answered. "It has caller ID."
"Oh," she said, not realizing such a thing even existed. "Do you have an estimate for me?"
"Yeah, could we talk face to face?" he asked.
"Ok, sure," she replied with a little hesitation. "Where do you want to meet?"
"I'm parked in front of the hotel," he told her. "What's your room number?"
"I think it's better that I come to you," she quickly said, looking around at her less than perfectly clean room. "Hold on, I'll be there in a minute."
"Ok, sure. See you in a bit."
With that, the line went dead and Ruby frowned. Raleigh didn't sound very happy and she had a feeling that the Mighty Ducks were the reason. Obviously he talked to someone on the team since he now knew her name.
With a great deal of trepidation, she left her room and went to meet the man who, so far, had been very kind to her.