Just Killing Time
Grin leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. When he was a duckling, Grin or Check as he was known then, had to compete with constant noise. The outside world was filled with noises: clattering, banging, crashing and young Check Hardwing quickly learned that in order to hear himself at all over the din his actions would have to be loud. In his desperate need to hear his own thoughts over the buzz of the world around him Check became agressive, reckless and uncontrollable. After several years and the wisdom that comes with sacrifice Check understood that in order to truly hear himself, all he needed was quiet. That was how he became Grin. But now, the noise was threatening to close in on him again.
"GIVE IT BACK!" Nose Dive pressed himself against the door nervously looking back and forth between Mallory's face, twisted with rage, and the drawn blaster she held pointed at him.
"Come on Babes," he chuckled nervously, "I mean, you've got tons of bras! What would me just taking ONE hurt?"
Mallory pointed her blaster to the red frilly bra Nose Dive desperately clutched in his right hand, "Those are NOT meant to be slingshots!" She shrieked, "And you took my favorite one!"
"Easily fixed," Nose Dive said smoothly, "Just gimmie the one you're wearing now and we'll make a trade!"
"NOSE DIVE!"
Nose Dive squealed in fear as Mallory advanced one step closer, "What?! Fair trade! Or are you not wearing one?" Mallory let out an angry howl before charging. Quickly Nose Dive leapt out of the way and resumed his fast sprint around the dining room.
"You...BASTARD!" Mallory puffed, chasing him as fast as she could. "Come...here...and I'll make...your...death...QUICK!" Grin closed his eyes and expertly directed his mind to a different place. Within seconds Mallory's screaming was nothing but a dull murmur. In a matter of moments it would be gone entirely.
"Wish I had that kind of focus." A different kind of noise broke into Grin's mind and he opened his eyes to find the source of the new voice. Mara Jade stood beside him, her eyes turned to the chase. "Didn't mean to disturb you." She continued softly, not even looking at Grin.
"I didn't even hear you come in." Grin said, trying to keep his surprise in check.
"Naturally. I thought that's why you were meditating," Mara smiled, "to keep the noise out." A brief smile flitted over Grin's face. He had greeted the arrival of these two new ducks two months ago with a little less than enthusiasm. It hadn't taken him long to sense that they would drive a wedge in the team even bigger than the one that already existed because of Wild Wing and Mallory's odd 'relationship'. Amber's aura was clouded by tragedy, death and bitter sacrifice, but she had none of the strength or knowledge to control and direct that energy positively. Grin could understand why she was such an angry teen, why hatred had consumed her so wholly...after all, he used to be that teen himself. He felt like he knew Amber very well. She was easy for him to read, because they had so much in common. Unfortunately, he had a hard time comforting her because he was at such a very different point in his life now. But his compassion for her situation didn't change the fact that she was, in general, totally unpleasant to be around. It would change: slowly but surely her hatred would smolder and die. At the moment however, it was nearly impossible to live with. Their coming had thrown the team into utter chaos, pitting Wild Wing against Mallory and his brother and Amber against just about everyone she spoke to. What folly could have possessed Wild Wing to date Amber? Why did they have break up with such animosity? All in all, the Mighty Ducks were in a tense, uncomfortable situation. Grin wondered on occasion if they wouldn't all have been better off had Amber and her older sister never come.
"Was that a smile I saw Grin? For shame...and here I thought you were impervious to sarcasm."
Grin shot a look at Mara, "I am. I was humoring you."
"A very enlightened gesture." Mara smiled wryly, taking a seat beside him to watch as Mallory gradually gained on Nose Dive. Grin's musings on the subject of the two newest additions to the Mighty Ducks always ended the same way: No, it was better that Amber and her sister were here. Amber was a passionate, dedicated fighter and hockey player despite her other temporary personality deficiencies. In his heart Grin knew she had an important part to play in their war against Dragaunus.
Mara Jade was a very different matter. She and Amber were as different as two sisters could be in appearance, thought, and deed. For the past two months Mara had been little more than a shadow; always trailing softly behind Amber trying to fix what she had broken, apologizing for her rudeness. Grin had taken an immediate liking to her driven by a burning curiosity. Mara was gentle and soft, that was all the Mighty Ducks ever saw. But Grin knew there had to be more. Before they had come to Earth Mara Jade had been the Lady Smuggler one of the most notorious and deeply feared thieves in the galaxy. In his youth Grin had heard stories spun about the Lady Smuggler involving cold-blooded murder and witchcraft of every kind. And yet here she was on Earth murmuring apologies for her 65-pound sibling, withstanding Amber's angry screams and rude put-downs without so much as twitching in anger, sitting beside Grin calmly sipping tea as she watched Mallory tackle and sit on top of Nose Dive.
"That'll leave a mark." Mara said, wincing a little in sympathy with Nose Dive. Grin just couldn't understand it...her aura was impossible to read. How could this creature and the Lady Smuggler be one and the same? The only hint of gloom he ever saw in Mara were in the sarcastic remarks she made. There was something, however funny, decidedly cold in the tone her jokes had. But it was too brief for Grin to identify with certainty. His real concern was how such a soft-spoken, delicate girl like Mara could ever face up against the Saurians. She seemed far too delicate, unlike Amber, who looked like she had the determination to withstand hurricanes if she had to.
"Do you know what laissez-faire means, Nose Dive?" Mara called to him playfully.
"Uhh...is it like French toast?" he asked. Mallory smacked him across the face.
"It means KEEP-YOUR-GRUBBY-PAWS-OFF-MY-STUFF!" Mallory growled, grinding her knees into his chest as hard as she could with each passing word she spoke. Making her way over to them, Mara said to Mallory, "I was just thinking of that time you were sick Mallory...remember that?"
Mallory blinked, "The cold? Yeah, I remember, why?"
"I dunno." Mara sighed, smiling down at Nose Dive. She giggled, "Wasn't it hysterical, when Nose Dive tried on your tube dress and danced around your room to that song...what was it called?" Mallory slowly relaxed the pressure of her knees on Nose Dive, who gasped the air thankfully.
"Pretty Woman." Mallory murmured thoughtfully.
Mara continued, "Yeah, that was it...that was really funny. I still can't believe he did that."
"He was cheering me up." Mallory remembered softly, "I was so upset...I thought I was going to miss the next hockey game, so he came in and..." Standing up, Mallory extended a hand down to Nose Dive. "Well shit," she mumbled, "It's only a bra afterall...forgive and forget?"
"Sure Mal." Nose Dive sputtered in amazement. Mallory holstered her gun and picked her bra up off the floor, mumbling something about having to go wash it as she left the room. Mara watched her leave before tilting her head to regard Nose Dive. "I just want you to know you didn't deserve that." she smiled. Dusting himself off, Nose Dive stuck his tongue out at her.
Grin stood, amazed at Nose Dive, "She just saved your ass from a fate worse than death. Shouldn't you thank her?"
Nose Dive waved it off, "Ah, she only did it cause she's hot for me."
Mara raised an eyebrow at him, "Is that so?" she cooly replied. Nose Dive passed her and went out the swinging door into the kitchen, "Yep...Sorry Babes, but you're just not my type. Please, don't make a scene though, we can still be friends."
"Irksome little beast, isn't he?" Mara called to Grin, sitting back down to her tea. Nose Dive cart wheeled out of the kitchen and back into the room.
"Damn, there is NOTHING to eat! Who buys all that crap?!"
"You do." Grin sighed, recognizing the start of a very familiar conversation. Nose Dive always went out grocery shopping for the team and either ate all of the food he bought within a day or left it out for a week until it was too spoiled to eat. What Grin really found frustrating, apart from there being nothing edible in the whole Pond, was Dive's lack of any real concern for the rest of the team's eating needs. Nose Dive was a great kid, always willing to help out, anxious to prove his worth. The team's welfare really was one of his biggest concerns. What Nose Dive's problem was was that he didn't always recognize exactly what his teammate's needed. He joked solely for their benefit, to keep their spirits up. But sometimes his joking couldn't help solve what was wrong and Dive just couldn't figure out what else to do.
His relationship with Amber was a perfect example of that. As perceptive as he was, as aware as Nose Dive was of how Wild Wing's choice in a girlfriend was detrimental to the health of the team, he just couldn't express it appropriately. Rather than sitting down with his brother and calmly talking it through with him, Nose Dive's concern manifested itself as resentment, jealousy, and an irrational hatred of the girl he saw as the cause of it all. He and Amber were the bitterest of opponents while she had been seeing Wild Wing. Now that they were through Nose Dive had a new problem to cope with: Amber could no longer be the object of his animosity, so he had to decide how to feel about her. Grin had his own ideas about Nose Dive's regard for Amber, but if he was right it would probably take Nose Dive a long, long time to put aside his pride and see Amber for what she truly was: a teammate in need of his help.
"I'm a growing boy," Nose Dive whined, "I NEED good food! Why can't we ever-" Grin's long forgotten temper suddenly became in danger of flaring up for a moment as he balled up a fist, getting ready to toss Nose Dive across the room. Repeated offences like this really made his blood boil.
"I haven't been grocery shopping on Earth yet and I've always wanted to." Mara said quickly, putting a hand on Grin's fist. "I doubt Houdini over there could muster the good sense to remember where the nearest store is." Again, there was that bitter edge to the joke...what was it? "Will you take me Grin?" Mara asked him with a gentle smile. Grin nodded feeling just the slightest nervous tickle in his stomach: who wouldn't be excited by a beautiful woman showing such an interest in him?
"What, and leave me behind?!" Nose Dive moaned, "I wanna come too!"
"You may accompany us, if you don't disturb my tranquility." Grin answered readily.
"What if I do disturb it?" Nose Dive inquired.
Grin suppressed a smile, "Then I tear your arms off." Mara snickered as Nose Dive let out a howl of derision.
After he recovered, Dive said, "Hell, I'll risk it!" Grin breathed a small sigh of relief. He had yet to be totally alone with Mara and as curious as he was, didn't want to go head to head with her quite yet.
Mara took her hand from Grin's, "Good thing you agreed, Nose Dive, otherwise Grin might've suffered a fate worse than death!" She said with a soft little smile. Grin's face reddened ever-so-slightly; she must have noticed his sigh of relief. He hoped she didn't misinterpret it, she really was such a nice girl... Just then, the door to the hall opened ever-so-slightly.
"Did I miss the beating?" Nose Dive made a face at him.
"Shut up Duke!" he snapped, "There was no beating. I charmed Mallory out of it." Duke L'Orange raised a sceptical eyebrow at him from the doorway.
"So someone saved your bacon, huh?" he laughed, still not coming into the room. "You outta thank your lucky stars and give whoever bailed ya out a big old kiss...Mal Mal was out for your blood this time, no joke." Whenever something of this nature occurred between Mallory and Nose Dive Duke always knew all about it, generally because he had a hand in the prank himself.
Sensing an opportunity to both embarass Duke and save himself Nose Dive called back, "Kiss her yourself Duke, I'm sure you want to." Curious, Duke walked all the way into the room and blushed nervously upon seeing Mara sitting by the counter.
"Mara..." He faltered a little, "You saved that houligan from the death he so richly deserved?"
"I'm afraid I did, Master L'Orange." she responded serenely, "Have I committed a sin?"
"Without a doubt." He said, sitting on the countertop. "You could probably redeem yourself by killing him now."
Mara looked up at him, "Murder is so messy. Isn't there another way?"
"Pay me ten bucks and I'll do it for you." Grin answered.
Nose Dive broke in, "Hey Duke, how about that kiss she deserves?" Duke shot Nose Dive one of his patented you're-gonna-die-a-slow-and-painful-death-by-my-hand-next-time-we're-alone looks and slid off the counter.
"Ignore the village idiot." he said dryly, "So what's your plan for the day?"
Mara leaned in a little closer, "Pillaging. Care to come?"
"Sure." he responded eagerly. As an afterthought Duke added, "What exactly do you mean by pillaging?"
"We are escorting the living vaccuum to a grocery store." Grin answered, jerking a thumb at Nose Dive.
"Still willing to join us?" asked Mara.
Duke's eyes were fixed solely on her as he replied, "Glad to." Grin frowned internally as he watched this exchange. Of all the people on the team Grin had the most respect for Duke. He was always calm and emotionally detached when he needed to be; something that Wild Wing hadn't quite grasped as a leader yet. Duke's aura was the clearest to Grin. He had made his sacrifice and left his old life of crime behind to pursue a more enlightened path. This, to Grin, was the essence of good and he saw a lot of it in Duke. But now something had changed. When Lucretia DeCoy showed up on their door Grin had felt the same lust as the rest of the boys...the girl WAS sexy. He and Duke, before the story was changed for the TV show, were able to detach themselves from that and see Lucretia for what she really was: a villain. Of all the boys Duke was the one that never got suckered into doing favors for Mallory just because she dressed in a see-through top to ask him. Even Grin was guilty of that on occaision...undoubtedly because he found Mallory so attractive when she wasn't maiming people. Duke had always berated and teased Wild Wing and Nose Dive for falling victim to her female charms. But things were different now. Duke had finally met his match in Mara Jade.
At first Grin was amused, even pleased that Duke had finally slipped up. The two of them, Mara and Duke, spent most of their time together; Duke followed her around like a puppy, anxious to do anything to please Mara. It was obvious to everyone how much he liked her, especially after he 'got lost' while showing her around Anahiem giving him an extra three hours alone with her. He didn't have anything to tease them about anymore. Grin's amusement eventually melted away as he began to realize that Duke's attachment to Mara was more than a slight infatuation. The more time they spent together the more alarmed Grin became by the look in Duke's eyes. He was in love with her. And as nice as Mara was, Grin still wasn't entirely sure she could be trusted. Afterall, why of all the girls in the universe did he happen to fall madly in love with Mara? It put him a little in mind of those stories about witchcraft he'd always heard about her...Her eyes were pretty unusual, maybe she did have him under some kind of spell. Grin quickly shrugged the idea off. There was no need for him to resort to such fanciful explanations, but one thing was certain: his poor friend Duke was in a very precarious position, being in love for the first time in his life, and, depending on Mara Jade, could get seriously hurt by her. Even more distressing was that, as far as Grin had observed, she was encouraging his attentions. Grin wasn't sure if she liked him back at all or if she was simply stringing him along, but it was impossible to suppose she didn't understand how Duke felt; hell, a blind man could see it. Just then, Duke's communicator beeped.
"L'Orange here." Duke answered.
"And Wild Wing's HERE." Wild Wing's impatient voice answered, "And HERE is where YOU should be!"
Duke rolled his eyes, "You said you didn't need my help anymore."
Wild Wing's voice whined back, "I was lying! Now hurry up, my foot's caught in the Migrator's fan belt!" Duke chuckled a little and closed him communicator.
"Well, that settles that. Have fun grocery shopping with the creature from the Id over there." Duke told Grin, pointing to Nose Dive.
"Jealous! You're ALL jealous!"
"I'll see you all later." Duke continued, never turning his eyes away from Mara. Mara waved goodbye silently and watched him leave.
"Better get going." Grin stood, anxious to get out before Duke managed to extricate Wild Wing. The more often he could get Duke out of Mara's clutches the better. Mara and Nose Dive dutifully follwed him out the door.
Before they had gotten too far out of sight of the Pond, Nose Dive had taken the lead strumming on an invisible guitar as he walked. Grin walked deliberately slowly as always, a little surprised that Mara kept pace beside him. It was always his belief that it was important to approach all things slowly and intentionally, to know what you were getting yourself into. Quite literally, most of the rest of the team couldn't slow down that much. Wild Wing and Mallory in particular were always rushing head first into things. Tanya was perhaps the other more cautious one out of the bunch being a scientist. A small smile crept to his face as he thought of her. Tanya was another duck he greatly admired; she understood the value of patience and care. She was confident, funny, level-headed, and very focused. Mallory had a great figure, but Tanya's personality was so strong and compelling it was hard for Grin to decide which one was more appealing. His thoughts generally dwelled more on Tanya as they did now.
"What are you thinking, Grin?" Grin blinked and looked over to Mara, flinching a little under her piercing gaze.
"Nothing." he answered instinctively.
Mara chuckled, "A typically male answer. I'd believe it of Nose Dive, but not of you Grin."
"Why is that?" he asked, unsure of whether to be insulted or pleased.
"He speaks so many of his thoughts out loud that there can't be many left to reside in his head. You never open your trap so I imagine that your thoughts are fairly elaborate, enough so that you keep them all to yourself." Again, Grin was at a loss as to whether to be offended or not. "Take it as a compliment." Mara suggested.
"You had no need to ask my thoughts then; you knew them well enough on your own." Grin told her uncomfortably.
"A luxury I don't usually have with you. You're very hard to read Grin." Grin bit back the urge to say 'you and me both'. "There!" Mara exclaimed playfully, "That's what I mean! You wanted to say something there and you didn't, undoubtedly depriving me of one of your more interesting thoughts. Come on Grin, give me a clue here."
After a moment of thought Grin responded, "I don't know what kind of clue you wish me to give, Mara."
With a sigh, Mara ruefully shook her head, "You don't trust me." Grin raised an eyebrow at her. "I know you don't," she continued firmly, sensing his forthcoming objection, "I've seen those same glances and heard those same sighs too many times to be mistaken." The cold melancholy that had crept into her voice abruptly left again. "So how can I put you at ease?" Grin thought carefully, not certain himself. Mara didn't seem to want him to answer in a hurry so he took his time considering how exactly to put it into words...Grin never got a chance to respond because just then Nose Dive drew his gun and hollered back to them.
"Well, well, three little duckies out on a walk." Siege growled, loading his blaster. Beside him Chameleon eagerly hopped up and down. The ducks all quickly changed into their fighting gear.
"C'mon Siege, c'mon, lemme at 'em!"
"Get back here, Dive!" Mara snapped quickly, activating her communicator. After a moment she cursed to herself in a language Grin wasn't familiar with. "They've jammed the comms." she said quickly to Grin, pulling her saber out, "Try yours."
"Don't bother goslings," Wraith hissed, "No one can save you now."
"What'd that dick call me?" Nose Dive exclaimed, aiming his blaster at Wraith. Grin thought back to the little he knew about communication frequencies, knowing that there must be a small, portable jamming device nearby otherwise they would have noticed sooner that something was wrong with their comms. "So, did you come to surrender to me?" Nose Dive called to them, "If so I accept so long as you do a little dance for me!"
Siege snorted, "I'll crush your skull for that one." Grin finally saw the small metal machine that hummed quietly behind Wraith's little cloud of smoke. He pointed it out to Mara.
"See that thing? As long as it's there our comms are jammed."
"And I suppose as long as it's shielding them Drake 1 won't pick up their teleporter energy. So we shouldn't be expecting back up any time soon?" Mara asked dryly.
"Yes, that's about right. I'll do my best to destroy it if you two can distract them." Grin responded, cracking his knuckles.
"Then let's get to it!" Nose Dive whooped, charging at Chameleon. Just before he reached the lizard, a funny thing happened. Nose Dive fell back suddenly, as if he'd hit a large invisible wall.
"That sucked." he said in a muffled voice, gingerly rubbing his beak. Grin reached a hand out and felt a barrier right between him and the machine. He punched it only to recieve a jolt of pain running right through his arm.
"Well, force obviously won't do it." he said, biting back the pain in his throbbing hand. The Saurians laughed at the three trapped ducks as the all tried to break out in various ways.
"Idiot mallards, don't you understand? It's a force field, no amount of struggling will avail you." Wraith cackled.
"His voice just makes everything sound so rosy." Mara muttered.
With a menacing growl Siege approached Nose Dive, "Now what's that you were saying about surrender?"
"You wouldn't be so tough if we were fighting mano-a-lizard or whatever the hell you are!" Nose Dive retorted angrily. "Come in here and say it to my face!" Grin was about to stop Nose Dive, but Mara put a hand on his arm.
"No wait Grin." she said quietly, "This could work to our advantage." Sure enough, Seige was incensed.
"I could take you any day of the week!" he exclaimed, turning briefly to Chameleon. "You two wait here...I won't even break a sweat with this one." Grin noted the small black device on Seige's arm that Seige flipped a switch on before he walked right into the force field unscathed and approached Dive.
"If we get that from him then one of us could get out." Grin whispered back to her. Mara nodded, disengaging her saber to put it back on her belt. Grin looked Nose Dive up and down anxiously; he was in good fighting shape, but Siege weighed over three times what he did. Grin was really the only one that should reasonably be fighting him. Nose Dive charged head first at Seige who didn't even seem winded by the full force of his body hitting him. With an evil laugh Seige raised Nose Dive over his head and dropped him to the ground. Gasping in pain, Nose Dive got in two good kicks to Seige's stomach before the lizard raised a fist in anger to crush Dive's skull. Grin gasped as Siege's fist came flying down with terrifying speed. The blow came to a jerking halt before it even came close to Nose Dive.
"What-" Siege started in surprise, looking to see who had stopped him.
Mara's grip on Siege's arm remained firm as she calmly told him, "Get away from him."
"What'd you say to me, Girlie?" Siege growled in utter amazement, trying to pull himself away from her. Finally, he wrenched his arm away. "Don't tell me you're looking for a fight too." he chuckled.
"Step off, iguana." Mara hissed, crossing her arms. Siege charged her angrily. Without so much as flinching Mara hooked her right arm under his body grasping his tail in her left hand and expertly rammed her left knee into his ribs as she flipped him onto his back. In another half a second Mara's right combat boot rested comfortably embedded in his stomach. "Care to try that again?" Mara growled. All Siege could do was wheeze in response. Straightening up, Mara addressed Wraith. "If you want the rhinocerous back then I suggest we make a trade." she commanded.
"You are in no position to-" Mara cut Wraith off.
"You are no judge of what position I am in." she said in a very final tone. Grin watched this transformation with amazement. Even Wraith trembled slightly as she spoke. Gracefully Mara flexed her elbow and a well-concealed blaster slid into her hand. "If you want him alive then this force field had better be down in half a minute. Otherwise..." She smiled at them cruelly, pressing the gun to Siege's head, "I've got me a new suit of armor. Grin had to physically fight to keep his jaw from dropping. Mara was a very impressive actress; even Grin might have bought her act if not for the slight trembling of her hand...a telltale sign that she had no intention of shooting him. Wraith made his way over to the machine and slowly fiddled with some knobs.
"I don't trust him." Mara said quickly. She tossed Nose Dive, who was closest to her, a small black clip. Grin recognized it as the same one Siege had on earlier.
Siege puffed out to Wraith, "Hurry! He has the disruptor!"
"Flip the switch and run!" Grin bellowed quickly to him, certain that Wraith wasn't shutting the field off. Nose Dive flipped the switch and sprinted right out of the shield. Within moments he was clear out of sight, far too far away for Chameleon to pursue. Just as Nose Dive leapt out of the shield, everything inside of it began to float.
"Zero-gravity field...that's cute." Grin said dully. Suspended in mid-air, Mara had lost her hold on the gun and on Siege and the three of them floated helplessly in the small containment area.
"Well, help me out!" Siege snarled.
"Sorry big fella," Chameleon said, lapsing into a momentary John Wayne impression, "without the disruptor yer gonna be stuck--for a while."
"It matters little." Wraith said, obviously amused by Siege's current plight. "We have two of the ducks captured, so our mission was successful, and you can be extricated once we reach the Raptor. Let us go."
"I give the orders around here!" Siege wailed, flailing around so much that he floated right to the edge of the shield, hit it, and bounced back.
"Not so long as yer in the bubble!" Chameleon cackled. Grin put his legs up and floated around cross-legged.
"What are you doing?" Mara asked him curiously.
"Thought I'd get some use out of this." he said, only half joking. Mara chuckled in amusement and left him to meditate; he needed time to clear his thoughts, release his anger and most importantly, figure a way out of this mess...meditating would be a help there. Grin had just settled himself comfortably when he heard Wraith tell Chameleon to teleport them out.
Grin's eyes had a difficult time adjusting to the darkness of the Raptor. He'd hated to be left alone in the dark as a child, and to a certain extent he'd never quite gotten over that, unless the darkness was self imposed. The idea of someone robbing him of his capacity to see was unsettling.
"So what now, my Lord?" Siege asked.
"Now we wait, you imbecile." Dragaunus pronounced, pacing back and forth in front of the force field.
Chameleon leaned over and asked Siege in a whisper: "For what?"
Grabbing him by the collar and lifting him in the air, Dragaunus snarled, "For the Mighty Ducks to come and rescue them so we can be rid of them all at once!" With that, he tossed Chameleon back to the ground. Grin remained totally unimpressed. For all of Dragaunus's talk about destroying the ducks never once had it worked. And each time he set up this trap in the Raptor The ducks found an alternate route into the ship. He glanced at Mara who sat beside him in the dark chamber.
“I always thought waiting was the hardest part,” Mara murmured quietly as the Saurian’s shouts became louder and more jarring. Grin closed his eyes tighter trying to pick up any sense of energy from Mara yet there was none. She had completely cloaked her emotions and Grin’s suspicion that she was totally unfeeling seemed justified. Grin often wondered if Mara would be part of the team’s downfall, but that was speculation.
"You're giving me that look again." She murmured, never even turning to face Grin.
With a start, Grin wondered how she had known and said as much, "Do you have eyes in the back of your head?" Mara turned back around, a picture of perfect calm.
"What do you have to accuse me of Grin? Think I'm in league with the lizards?"
"Perhaps." Grin answered truthfully. After a moment, Grin ventured to continue, deciding Mara deserved the opportunity to hear his scruples, "How is it you manage to cloak yourself so completely?"
Mara looked at him inquisitively, "What do you mean?"
"You seem kind, you seem gentle; all smiles and politeness. Then at the drop of a hat you can summon up that ferocity I saw with Seige. What am I supposed to think? I have absolutely no sense of who you are."
"Call me an actress then and be done with it. Wild Wing manages to play several parts at once: brother, lover, leader and goalie, and you trust him well enough." She retorted, sitting down to face Grin.
Grin didn't hesitate in his rebuttle, "Wild Wing's roles don't contradict each other the way yours do. All I know about you is that you either have a talent for lying, or a serious bipolar disorder. And there's more to my distrust than your two-sidedness...I have no sense of you, your aura. How is that?"
"How should I know? Auras and meditation are your field of expertise, not mine." she answered protectively. Grin's interest was piqued; there was heartfelt emotion there...she'd become defensive and drawn up some kind of barrier. Apparently Mara realized it too. She breathed a deep sigh. "I'm sorry...that was an evasive answer. I'm not a liar. It's just that I-" she paused, "I do what is necessary to get things done. It's how I was raised. Kindness or moderation wouldn't have worked with the Saurians, you know that."
"I know, and granted, you're right about that much. But it doesn't explain the fact that you never open yourself up."
"The others think I'm open enough."
"The others don't see as much as they should." Grin said firmly. He winced a little, sorry for making the thoughtless comment.
With a wry smile Mara said, "Well, I see I'm not your only cause for uneasiness."
"They have weaknesses. We all do. Why can't you let people in to find yours? What are you hiding so carefully?"
"Nothing." Mara pleaded softly, "I have nothing to hide, nothing to tell." Seeing that Grin wasn't satisfied, Mara went into more detail, slowly and deliberately saying, "I'm 24 years old, I weigh 112 pounds. I've worked as a thief since I was 6 years old after my mother decided I was too much trouble to put up with. I was taught stealth, speed, and that hardness and cruelty served you better in a fight than kindness. I learned that to open yourself up to anybody is to become vulnerable to attack. I learned that morals, ethics and real sympathetic emotion would only get in the way of my survival. You can't read me because I'm not a real person...more like a husk or an empty shell. Are you satisfied?" So that was it; there was the real Mara. It was all as clear to Grin as daylight. For all of Mara's sarcasm and the coldness of her tone just then as she tried to drive Grin away, her eyes had betrayed her...Mara hated herself. That was the big secret. She despised herself so much so that she actually believed herself incapable or unworthy of real happiness. So instead Mara's source of joy came from helping others to happiness. It all fell into place so quickly now that Grin had seen a glimpse of it. Mara's morals were so high she couldn't see her own sweetness beyond what she considered to be her own cruel nature. All of Grin's uneasiness dissolved instantly. Her clouded aura hadn't come from a lack of heart, but rather too much for her own good. His initial instincts were completely gratified; the liking he had taken to her increased tenfold.
"Yes Mara, I am satisfied." Now she was thoroughly puzzled.
"You shouldn't be." she objected.
Grin favored her with a smile, "Well I am satisfied, and very sorry to have doubted you at all. I like you very much Mara, I always did, and now I know why."
"Why then?"
"Because you deserve to be liked. And if you don't like yourself then the rest of us will have to to make up for it." A blush rose to Mara's cheeks and she turned her face to the floor, unable to speak for a moment.
"Well that's very foolish of you." she murmured finally.
"Yeah, I knew you'd say that." They both smiled at each other knowingly. Their moment was interrupted by Wraith's voice.
“Lord Dragaunus, the ducks have been spotted,” Wraith announced. Grin opened his eyes and watched a screen display of Nose Dive, Wild Wing, Tanya, and Duke standing outside the Raptor deep in conversation. Grin wondered how the team could be stupid enough to stand making their plans in such a targetable place when suddenly he felt something stir above him. He refused to look up for fear of drawing the Saurians' attention--after all, it was all a game of time.
As soon as the Saurians had left, indeed two female voices could be heard, muffled through layers of sheet metal. Mara looked up.
“Is it just me, or is there no vent shaft?”
“The eye is a conduit for illusion. Trust only in the tangible. I’m sure that they’re finding a way to get into the main chamber.”
“Doesn't strike me as the best idea… they seem awfully noisy up there, and the ducks are still out on the street.”
“Clearly a diversion.” At that moment, a large explosion was set off overhead, showering the two ducks with soot and charred, twisted metal scraps. Mara and Grin dug themselves out of the pile, uninjured and filthy. Through the large gaping hole in the ceiling, Mallory and Amber peered down at them.
“She did it,” Amber said, pointing to Mallory.
“Think I’d let you set off explosives?”
“I shoulda known better than to let Trigger-Happy over here handle anything tougher than a squirt gun,” Amber said sarcastically. Grin remembered how combatant the two always were, probably out of a fierce competition. Why the hell were the two of them sent to get them? Mallory had always been aggressive, being a master in Martial Arts and a top student in the Puckworld Military Academy. Typical tomboy minus her flare for the occasional mall crawl or skimpy shirt days. She had been content being the second-in-command and tough cookie of the team until Amber came along: there wasn't room for two embittered dominatrixes on the team.
“Uh, Amber, I think it’s best not to yell at the one who’s holding the TNT, don’t you think?” Mara said soothingly. Amber rolled her eyes before she began to secure a pulley on the roof. Once secure, she slowly let a rope down. Mara cast a look back at Grin before climbing up the rope. Soon afterwards, Grin followed suit.
He had always liked climbing since he was young. Grin associated the Twin Beak mountains as a place of peace and tranquility where he could spend hour upon hour meditating among the wilderness. But perhaps this wasn’t the best time time for reflections...from the top of the Raptor Grin had a good vantage point from which to see the gun fight ensuing below. Mallory and Amber moved to the edge of the building, arguing about how best to help the ducks below. Beside him, Mara seemed totally engrossed in the battle below. Grin followed her gaze a little more carefully to discover that the real object of her attention was Duke L'Orange. She'd focused on him so intently Mara didn't notice Grin observing her. Duke had taken refuge behind a mailbox to reload his blaster. He expertly hit a battle drone right in the torso causing a brilliant explosion. Ten feet away Wild Wing had just done the same. Before Duke had a chance to shout something to him, another battle drone took aim right at his head. Mara gasped as Duke narrowly avoided the bullet, hiding behind the mailbox once again.
With a smile Grin turned to Mara, "I wouldn't worry, he knows what he's doing." Mara turned to him startled and cleared her throat in an embarassed manner, like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"I dunno what you mean." she murmured calmly, trying not to glance back down at the fight.
"No?" Grin asked, growing more amused every moment, "I could have sworn I just saw you looking over at Duke."
"Not specifically, no." denied Mara.
Grin decided to test the waters a little, "Well, I wouldn't blame you if you were...I mean, I know how close you two are." A blush rose to her face.
"Yeah, we're friends." she murmured, looking back down at Duke.
"Is that all?" Grin teased her. As her blush deepened considerably, Grin tried to set her at ease. "Relax Mara, I won't make you say it." Mara muttered a short response that sounded like a 'thank you', but Grin couldn't be certain. It didn't matter much; the look on her face had told him everything he needed to know. Mara was in love with him. Of all the luck...Puckworld's two greatest thieves had met and fallen in love and didn't even know it. Now that Grin knew more about her he could basically guess her thinking on the subject: Mara was in love with Duke but totally unwilling to admit or see that he loved her back, thinking herself unworthy of him in every way. Grin shook his head happily; Duke would do her a lot of good...he practically worshipped the ground she walked on. Between the two of them Mara's self esteem may yet recover, as might Duke's good humor. They suited each other very well. Now all that remained was to wonder how long it would take them to get together. Ducks were such unruly, complicated creatures when it came to matters of the heart...without realizing it Grin's own gaze unconciously drifted over to where Tanya was standing. When he looked back over at Mara she was watching him with an amused smile.
"What?" he asked defensively. Mara simply shrugged and jerked her head back down at Tanya.
"Amber and Mallory are probably going to be fighting up here for the better half of the day." she said sarcastically, "So what say we go down and give Tanya a hand?"
Grin nodded anxiously, trying to sound composed, "Sure, whatever." Laughing, Mara shot a grappling hook down to the ground. Grin frowned a moment as he watched her slide down. Was he really that obvious? With a shrug, Grin let it go. After all, he was only a duck himself.
Grin landed right on top of two hunter drones, crushing them both under his wake. With a satisfied smile he made his way over to Wild Wing and crouched beside him to evade the crossfire.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." He said serenely.
With a chuckle Wild Wing shook his head, "Welcome to the party, Grin." A new wave of robots teleported into the fray, this time led by the Saurians, including Dragaunus himself. "Great..." Wing muttered, handing Grin one of his guns, "more crashers." Grin looked down at the gun with a frown. In general, he disliked using guns at all. They were necessary in his current line of work, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy them. At the moment however, he was thinking of the blaster the Saurians had confiscated from him; Tanya has specially modified it just for him, making the grip on it larger, among other things. He'd hate to have to tell her he lost it. Grin put the blaster down and stood up.
"I'll be back." He told Wing.
"Where are you going?!"
"I need my gun back." he explained.
Wild Wing sputtered, "From in there?! Grin, there are twenty hunter drones and four pissed off reptiles standing between you and the door, can't this wait?!"
"I like that gun." Grin said calmly, more than a little amused at Wild Wing's horror. Wing appealed to Duke who was the closest to him.
"Duke, explain to Grin that suicide is bad Karma."
With a laugh Duke replied, "He wants to go get his gun, doesn't he?"
"Don't tell me you endorse this kind of behavior!" Wing moaned.
"C'mon, I think it'd be funny. Let's see how he tries to explain it to Dragaunus." Duke countered. Beside him Mara poked her head up.
"That's right, damn it, those bastards have my saber!" She stood up. "Jerks. I'll go with you Grin."
"The hell you will!" Duke objected shrilly. "You're stayin' right here!"
Putting her hands on her hips, Mara narrowed her eyes, "You didn't mind the idea of Grin going Master L'Orange."
"Grin's over seven times your weight, Mistress Jade." he retorted. "You'll be killed. I won't let you go."
"Should I start thinking about a diet?" Grin interjected, enjoying himself with all this bickering.
"Duke, who do you think you're talking to? I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." Just then, Wild Wing looked around.
"Now where the hell are Mallory and Amber?"
"Oh...we left them up there."
Wild Wing rolled his eyes, "Oh God...are they fighting again?"
Grin cocked his head to the side, "I prefer to think of it as bonding." Mallory and Amber slid down the rope, yelling all the way, landing right on top of Wild Wing.
"-And furthermore, you have no right to call me that!"
"The hell I don't!"
"LADIES!!!" Wild bellowed. "THAT'S ENOUGH! In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of trying to get killed, so can this wait until we get back to the Pond?" They both paused and looked down at him from where they were sitting on his chest.
"Yeah, okay." They said in unison. As they both stood up and got off him Mallory tossed Grin his gun.
"By the way, we found this in there...thought you'd want it." She tossed Mara's saber to Duke who caught it easily.
Grin nodded, "I thank you Mallory. Your spirit is as fiery as your hair."
"What's that mean?" she snorted.
"Means you need to stop PMSing." Grin finished. As Amber snickered he added in, "That goes for you too, half pint."
"HALF PINT?! You DID NOT fucking call me that!" She shrieked.
Rubbing his temples, Wing glared up at Grin, who moved back down beside him, "I can just feel a migraine coming on. Satisfied?"
"Yes." Grin said smugly, "Yes I am." Duke held Mara's saber out to she could see it.
"You want it back," he cautioned her, "Then you gotta come back here where I can keep an eye on you." Mara feigned an irritated sigh, happily taking her place beside him.
"That'd be a real shame considering you've only got one to spare." They both made faces at each other before focusing back at the incoming onslaught.
"There's gotta be a way to turn this thing around." Wing said thoughtfully. Beside him Grin looked down to his wrist where his communicator whirred and hummed as it suddenly shut itself off.
"My comm isn't working."
"Mine neither." Mallory joined in.
"No one's is..." Wild Wing said, holding his up to his ear to listen for any activity.
"They've got a jamming device." Grin explained, "a small portable thing that jams radio signals."
"Is that so?" Wild Wing asked, a smile creeping onto his face. He took in a deep breath and yelled out, "TAAAAAANNNNNNYYYYYY-" Before he had a chance to finish Tanya appeared by his other side.
"Duh, yeah, yeah, I hear ya, no need to shout."
After recovering from his shock at seeing her appear so quickly, Wild Wing pointed out to the Saurians' offensive position, "Can you find me that jamming device?"
"Sure, uh, right there on the left...just behind Wraith."
"And it controls radio signals?"
"Ah, yup."
"And what do those battle drones operate on?"
Tanya giggled mischeviously, "I gotcha. Great idea."
"So you can do it?"
"Yeah..." Tanya said, squinting at the jamming device, "If I can get close enough without being noticed."
"Then we'll need a distraction." Grin suggested. They all looked around, their eyes finally resting on Nose Dive who sat close by snickering.
"Half pint...heh heh." He laughed to himself. Grin, Tanya, and Wild Wing all looked to one another and nodded. Without so much as a word Grin grabbed Dive by the collar and hauled him over to where they all were. "What?!" he asked defensively, "What'd I do?!"
After a few moments of feverish whispering Nose Dive was forcefully shoved out into the open. He looked around, slightly bewildered, and cleared his throat.
"Ahem...Llllladies and gentlemen!!! Lllllet's get ready to CONGO!" And with that Nose Dive started to break dance. The Saurians watched for a moment, utterly confused, as Nose Dive backflipped right to them. He grabbed Chameleon in a headlock. "Let's tango, mon cherie!!!" The other Saurians just watched as the two began to wrestle.
"Should we help Chameleon, my Lord?" Wraith asked Dragaunus. Nose Dive slammed his fist right into Chameleon's face.
Dragaunus snorted as he said, "No...that won't be necessary." As that went on Tanya crawled over to where the jamming device was and pulled out her omnitool.
"I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy, yeeeaaaah!" Nose Dive sang as he jumped on Chameleon. Within another moment Dive was high up in the air on the back of a giant rhinocerous. "No fair morphing mid beating!!! Nose Dive shrieked frantically as Chameleon, in rhinocerous form, charged head first towards a tree. Gripping his horn Dive pulled up with all his strength, forcing Chameleon to turn. With a whoop of delight Dive stood and waved to his brother. "Look Ma, one hand!"
"Don't get cocky you asshole!" Wild Wing yelped to him. Just then Nose Dive nearly fell as Chameleon jerked his head to the side. Nose Dive barely managed to hang on. He swung his other hand back onto Chameleon's horn and hooted.
"I'm a cooowboy!!!"
"No, just a cow!" Amber called out to him. Tanya appeared back by Wild Wing's side.
"O-o-okay Wing, it's ready." She said with a smile.
He nodded, "Good work, Tanya." He called over to Nose Dive, "You can get off now!"
"HELL NO!" Dive exclaimed, "THIS IS THE MOST FUN I'VE HAD ALL WEEK!" The others all looked at one another and shrugged. With the push of a button on Tanya's omnitool, all of the remaining hunter drones turned about and fired on the Saurians.
"What's going on?!" Dragaunus roared, putting up his own personal shield.
"I...I dunno!" Siege said, perplexed, "They must have fixed the jamming device so that it reverses our own radio signals."
Drearily Wraith added, "I knew this wouldn't turn out well.
"BE QUIET YOU MISERABLE WORM!" Dragaunus turned back to Siege, "What does that mean?"
"Well, that device we use jams radio signals and our drones operate on radio signals. They musta messed with it to make them attack us."
"I COULD GIVE A DAMN HOW THEY DID IT, JUST FIX IT!" Chameleon threw Nose Dive completely off his back and rejoined the Saurians, quickly morphing back to his original form.
"Et tu, hunter drones?" Chameleon asked dramatically, morphing into Julius Ceasar. Siege whacked him quickly with the butt of his gun, dodging a lazer blast from a nearby drone. Finally he shook his head.
"The only way to do it is to take out the signal itself."
"Hurry up and do it then!" Dragaunus roared. Siege blasted it to bits, disabling all of the remaining drones. The ducks all leapt out, their guns drawn.
"Thanks Siege." Wild Wing smiled, hoisting his puck blaster up a bit higher, "Now how about we negotiate a surrender."
"Not today, ducks." Dragaunus spat out. "You haven't seen the last of me!" He bellowed. They quickly teleported out.
Wraith was just a faint, shimmering outline when the ducks heard him croak, "Oh well, what a waste." In vain the Mighty Ducks moved a little closer to try and catch them, but they were far too late. They watched as the Raptor lifted off into the sky.
"We could follow them in the Migrator." Mallory suggested. They turned towards the vehicle just as a loud, resounding lazer blast tore into the side of it.
Tanya winced, "Well th-there goes MY weekend!"
"Is it driveable?" Wing asked, turning his face toward the sky to watch the ascent of the Raptor.
"No." Mara answered for her, "they hit one of the gas lines and the primary coolant tanks." Wing sighed as the Raptor disappeared from view.
"Oh well...until next time then." He turned to Mallory, "Call Klegghorn and tell him to send a towtruck down to pick it up. Then you and Duke take the duckcycles and head back to the base...you can pick up your cars and drive back here to take everyone back to the Pond. I'll wait for the towtruck."
"Oh, you don't need to do that Wing," said Mara, "I can wait...I wanted to go shopping anyway."
"Yeah," Grin agreed, "We never quite got to it. Mara and I can wait for the truck, go shopping and walk back. It isn't too far and it's a nice day after all." Wild Wing deliberated for a moment.
"Well, I did have something I wanted to get done before tonight...Alright then, you two stay for the truck. Did you get through, Mal?"
Mallory let out an irritated sigh, "Yeah, Klegghorn said he'd come down himself and oversee it." Wing stole a glance over to Mara.
"Can I trust you to behave yourself?" He asked her suspiciously.
"ME?!" she exclaimed playfully, "When have I ever given you any cause for uneasiness?"
"Thieves of a feather stick together." Wild Wing muttered, folding his arms, "And when Duke told that story about supergluing Klegghorn to the floor and leaving the box of doughtnuts just out of his reach, YOU were laughing the loudest."
Mara giggled, "Oh come on...you know it was funny." She paused. "I promise I'll be nice...or at least no meaner than usual."
Wing shook his head with a laugh, "I'm still worried!" Mallory opened the rear of the Migrator.
"Okay, we should be back in a few minutes. You coming Duke?"
"Uh, yeah...yeah sure." he said distantly, walking over to one of the duckcycles. Grin suppressed a smile, amused that Duke might actually be jealous of him.
Mara put a hand on his shoulder, "So I think we should just get marshmallows...tons of them. Like two pounds."
"I-I'm not sure we should let those two go on their own." Tanya laughed.
"We'll be fine," Mara grinned, "you LIKE marshmallows."
"They ARE a major part of the three food groups." Amber added in.
"Amber, there are like five." Mallory said peevishly, wheeling the duckcycle out.
"I'm sorry Mallory, when you throw it all up it just all looks the same to me."
"You fuckin' little-"
"LOOK AT THE TIME!" Wild Wing exclaimed, "Hurry up and get the cars!" Duke and Mallory promptly drove off.
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