“Echoes”
Chapter Four
“—and he wants you to join him.”
Wildwing blinked, brought back from his desperate shock. “What?”
Canard rolled over the transparent globe and tapped a few buttons on the panel underneath it. The global changed to be what appeared to be a regional map with mountains on the right side and forests and hills on the left. A mass of red soldiers appeared to march through what used to be a forest, which now seemingly disappeared in a thick line at a fast rate thanks to hovering tanks and smoke from fire. To the right rapidly moved small vehicles, ski-doos no doubt, but the number of blue forces paled in comparison to the red.
“Nosedive is moving to engage the forces now with guerilla tactics, which won’t give us much time,” Canard explained fast. “He requests that you meet him at the rendezvous point here.” A small green dot blipped on the screen at least twenty miles south. “From there, he will explain more.”
“We can’t expect us to leave now!” Mallory exclaimed, reaching for her launcher. “We can help!”
“And if you are killed, then the future, this future—or any future—might not exist.” Canard nodded pointedly to the sleeping boy in Wildwing’s arms. He met Wildwing’s eyes gravely and spoke sincerely, “You have no choice. Please. Go.”
*^*^*
Wildwing never thought one act in his life would be so hard, but yet, he found himself doing it more than he ever would’ve thought his heart could take.
Though Nosedive and he were raised by their father, Wildwing found himself, being seven years older than his baby brother, playing parent more times than not, and in association, found himself being attached to Nosedive in almost a parental way. During the Invasion of Puckworld, Wildwing felt his heart torn from his chest when Saurian soldiers pulled them apart, and he believed his brother had been killed. The same feeling of hopelessness and devastation crumbled down upon him again today, as he handed over his son to Canard to safeguard. Even though he had only learned of Crease a little over a week ago, he still found himself attached the boy, especially knowing that this was only time he actually saw his son. Though Nosedive never directly said it, Wildwing realized he died before Crease hatched.
Wildwing glanced at the electronic map Canard had given them and tried to block out the soul-wrenching pain in his chest. Nothing helped, and nothing would help until he changed the past. Then again, if he did, would Crease even exist? Then how could he live with himself if he knew of his son’s existence and had done something wrong to prevent it? Stars, now he had a heartache and a headache.
“You sure you know where you’re going, Wing?” Duke asked suddenly.
Wildwing never glanced back at him. “Yes.”
Tanya clicked her tongue against the roof of her beak. “I—I don’t know, Wildwing. Those look like ski-doo tracks over there. It seems like we’re heading straight for the battle.”
“We are.”
To his surprise, no one argued. The only reply he received came from Grin. “There is enough negative karma in this place. We must change it in order to save this time from its own implications.”
Whatever that meant, Wildwing honestly didn’t care. He was in far too much agony to give any thought to the others, and it was that pain that spurred his action. Perhaps, he thought mildly, it was not the best idea to head straight into an all-about battle, but Wildwing had just lost his child. He wouldn’t lose his brother, too, no matter how old the boy was.
As they made headway, explosions shook the snow from the tree branches, and the smell of fire and oil burned Wildwing’s nostrils. Smoke blurred the forest’s air and made it harder and harder to see as the group pressed on. Soon, shrieks of fear and pain startled the Mighty Ducks.
It sounded like Puckworld.
Wildwing had never been in all-out
battle other than the first day of the Invasion. When he joined the Strike
Force, the team only did covert operations, as was the attack upon the
The first shock came in the form of the putrid and nauseous smell of blood and burning flesh, whether it be human, Puckworlder, or Saurian. Upon the hill over looking a small valley of trees below, Wildwing saw the rushing fire from more than one tank, which quickly caught fire and spread to the surrounding trees. He watched as the other tanks turned toward the hill on the opposite side of the forest and fired. Earth erupted like a volcano shooting magma, and Wildwing winced and squeezed his eyes shut at the macabre screams of death.
He only thanked the Stars none of one of them sounded like his baby brother.
“We need to engage!” Wildwing ordered and took off down the hill. The wind gave its support to his cause, blowing the smoke away from his team and clearing their path.
Behind him, he heard Mallory huff, “What do you expect to do? Throw a rock at it! That’s pretty much our pucks are going to be!”
Wildwing came to a stop, still covered by the trees, and watched helplessly as a third tank turned toward the rebels upon the hill. He couldn’t see his brother’s forces, but he knew they were there by the firepower that bounced off the tank’s shields. Apparently, whatever tactic Nosedive used on the first tank, they ran out for the rest. Well, it was just up to them, wasn’t it?
“Explosive pucks, team! On my mark! Wildwing raised his gauntlet and waited for the rest to do the same with their puck launchers. “Now!”
A barrage of blue fire burned from the edges of their pucks as the ammo blazed toward the tank’s metal. Rather than fire blasts from the Saurian weapons, the pucks imbedded themselves in the metal. High-pitched being cut through the air only seconds before the tank’s gun barrel shot off, and fire erupted about the metal shell.
Unlike the other tanks, however, hunter drones and Saurian soldiers alike fled out an opening and pointed their blasters directly at the ducks.
“Oh, shit.”
Wildwing lifted his shield just in time to save his team from utter destruction, and they quickly spread throughout the forest to keep the hunter drones and Saurian forces from killing them all at once. Wildwing rushed forward, gauntlet blazing with pucks taking off hunter drones’ heads and sparking their chests. Mallory kept with him, shooting as well, while Tanya, Grin, and Duke stayed together. They attacked another tank, Duke cutting off its barrel ready to fire once more at the American Resistance, while Tanya worked on its mechanism. Grin simply pounded it with his fists.
Wildwing’s eyes widened suddenly at the sight of the hunter drones no longer paying attention to him and Mallory but turning toward the others. With Grin’s back to him, he never saw the blaster level.
“GRIN!” Wildwing attempted, but it was too late—until a blast blew the hunter drone to pieces.
“YE-HAH-HAH!” a wild cry came, and Wildwing saw Nosedive on the back of a ski-doo with the female from earlier—Cynthia—driving. Behind him came the cavalry, riding similarly with their blasters heated. They fired upon the hunter drones, taking them out swiftly. However, as quickly as the Resistance members’ dispatched them, more exited the tanker Grin, Tanya, and Duke took apart, and the others opened their doors as well.
Nosedive jumped off the ski-doo as it passed Wildwing, then scowled. “I didn’t want to engage like this, y’know. We don’t have enough manpower!”
He fired at the oncoming hunter drone, then lifted his wrist. A flash of blue light lit just for a fraction of a moment to deflect a blast, and he returned another shot, taking out the drone that fired upon him.
“Sorry to ruin your party, but I was trying to save you!” Wildwing fired back, taking a position of watching his little brother’s back while Mallory dashed toward Tanya to give her cover as she twiddled with the wires on a tank.
“Well, who says I need saving, huh?” Nosedive moved to block a shot aimed at his brother’s back. “I’m not a helpless teenager anymore, y’know. I can take care of myself.”
“Really? Because so far, all I’ve seen is you get threatened by Varkais and break half your ribs!”
It was then he noticed his brother’s clenched teeth and shallow breathing. Nosedive was definitely fighting through the pain, and he would certainly feel this mission once it was over—that was, if they lived that long. Blasts burned through the air, and though Nosedive’s forces took careful precision, only shooting when they knew they would hit, the same could not be said for the hunter drones and Saurian forces. They attacked mercilessly, and crimson coated the machines parts upon the ground. Wildwing watched as Nosedive’s face tensed, then fell into despair. His forces were losing, not just the battle but also people. They needed to end this—now.
But it only got worse.
“Having fun, Flashblade?”
Wildwing whirled, but as he brought his gauntlet to bear, a blast knocked it clear off his hand. Before even he blinked, Nosedive put up his bandaged arm in defense, and if it wasn’t broken, Wildwing knew it now would be when a boot slammed into his wrist. The momentum sent Nosedive flying before his shoulder dug painfully into the unforgiving ground. His already hurting body shook in utter agony as he raised his dirtied crown and his fierce blue eyes narrowed at a specific crimson lizard in the middle of the fray.
Wildwing snarled—He couldn’t lose his brother!—but as he lunged, Varkais did nothing more than turn and swiftly kick. Wildwing knew very little except for the sharp snap and the liquid fire racing up his arm, followed by the slam of his back into the side of tank. His lifeless body slid to his knees, and his upper body hunched over. Blinking past his sudden blurring eyesight, he saw Nosedive combating Varkais. His heart ached as Nosedive ducked, grimaced, and twisted his torso to deliver a kick to the mercenary’s abdomen. The Saurian shot backwards but caught himself before hitting the ground. Back flipping, he regained his balance and lunged again. This time, Nosedive back stepped out of Varkais’s range and blocked his kicks with his good arm, but Varkais knew his little brother’s weaknesses. He attempted to hit Nosedive’s right shoulder, making the resistance commander block with his right arm—his hurt arm, and Nosedive yelped. The momentary lack of focus allowed Varkais to kick Nosedive directly into the stomach, and the drake crashed to the ground, an arm wrapped around his ribs. Varkais didn’t care; he simply straddled Nosedive’s torso and pressed down—hard.
Wildwing heard the bloodcurdling scream over the firefight.
Despite his own pain, Wildwing forced himself to his feet, only to be stopped by a Saurian soldier. He smirked at Wildwing before raising his blaster, and defenseless, the leader could do nothing but stand and wait for the blast.
A blaster erupted—but it wasn’t the Saurian’s. The Saurian’s eyes rolled back, but his body fell forward, slamming into the dirt. Behind him stood a snot-nosed kid, barely old enough to hold a gun. She tossed Wildwing her extra blaster and smiled. “You owe me one.” Then, she launched back into the fight.
Wildwing wanted to thank her, but his eyes ricocheted to his baby brother—still alive, thank the Stars.
Varkais held one hand to Nosedive’s throat, a knife lifted into the air, but he never swiped, for a tank’s barrel remained posed just before his hand, ready to blow his chest off his body. Standing upon a tank with wires attached to her omnitool was Tanya, finger hovering over her machine.
Varkais slowly stood, then backed up off of Nosedive. Tanya, however, remained firm, allowing Wildwing to rush to his brother’s aid. He simply touched Nosedive’s shoulder, but his brother’s face contorted as if in agony, though no scream sounded. Breathing heavily, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, an arm cradling his torso. His haunted eyes, however, never left Varkais’s malevolent form.
Once more, the mercenary ducked his head in reverence and muttered, “You have won this round, Flashblade. Until the next time—”
His arm came back to throw, but Tanya pressed the button. Brotherly instincts caused Wildwing lunge at Nosedive and flatten the boy against the ground, despite the grunt of pain. After the erupted heat faded, Wildwing crawled off his little brother and wasn’t surprised when he felt the rumbling below him and the subsequent blasts. Tank after tank exploded from Tanya’s blast, and off in a distance, a black and red figure shot a human on a ski-doo and commandeering it for his escape.
The overwhelming heat stole his attention, as the tank fire spread to the forest and began to encircle them. A strong hand on his shoulder shocked him, and he whirled to see Nosedive already on his feet. Color drained rapidly from his brother’s usually bright face, and his eyes once more dulled to ice. Lines of strain aged his face within seconds, and Wildwing loathed the transition. One finger touched the side of his face, where his communication microphone lay.
“Retreat! I repeat, retreat!” Then, he thumbed to Wildwing. “Come on. Let’s get out of here, huh?”
Wildwing nodded somberly, then followed his brother to a ski-doo. “What about the Saurians?”
Nosedive never answered.
The ski-doos struggled against the very little snow that remained after the battle but gradually carried the living resistance members up to the top of the hill Nosedive and his party originally were stationed. Nosedive stood up on the ski-doo after it stopped, his eyes focused down upon the mass heaps of metal contorted upon the battlefield. The fire slowly became wild, consuming everything in its wake and spreading toward the resistance base.
Macabre howls of pain pierced the air, and Wildwing could hardly take them. Even though they were Saurians—Stars, they sounded so much like Puckworlders or humans. They were nothing more than living beings, and—
Nosedive left the ski-doo and turned a particular human, the same girl who saved Wildwing’s life not much early. The girl saluted and regarded, “Commander Flashblade?”
“Put the fire out and make sure they are all dead,” his brother—his baby brother!—commanded, then returned the salute. “Then, head down to the base.”
The girl nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Wildwing hardly noticed his little brother when he returned to the ski-doo and grabbed his waist. “Ready? I’ll direct you.”
“Ready?” Wildwing could hardly hold in his frustration. “Nosedive! They are living beings! How can you—”
“We have a runner!”
Mallory’s scream startled the leader of the Mighty Ducks, and when he turned toward her, he was surprised to see she had taken a Saurian rifle of some sort. Nosedive surprised him even more when he leapt from the back of the ski-doo and grabbed the barrel just before she pulled the trigger.
“Hey!”
“He’s mine,” Nosedive grated and returned the weapon. He looked back over the burning field and clenched his limp hand into a fist. “Varkais is mine.”
And like Wildwing had never seen her do with Nosedive, Mallory didn’t protest and accepted his order.
*^*^*
The warming edges of day crept across the skyline when Nosedive finally told Wildwing to pull over, and they made camp inside a little clearing the forest. Only once the fire blazed into the slowly lighting sky did Nosedive come to Wildwing’s side and touch his brother’s arm. Wildwing hissed and tugged the appendage way, never looking at Nosedive. He couldn’t. Anger, guilt, and disgust swarmed within his stomach, and he wasn’t sure who deserved the majority of his feelings—Varkais, Nosedive, or himself.
The calloused hands once more clawed at his arm, and he snapped. “Not now.”
To his utter chagrin, Nosedive muttered, “Don’t be like that. Please,” and when he turned, his brother returned to him, the little, innocent boy who wanted nothing more than the approval of the drake he admired more than anyone.
Wildwing sighed and allowed his arm to go limp. The boy took it onto his lap and began to wrap it, never looking up to his older brother’s disappointed face. Grimacing when the bandage tightened, Wildwing relaxed his face once it was sufficiently tended. Nosedive never met his eyes again, only slunk off the log and headed toward the four ski-doos at the edge of the forest. “You all better get some sleep. When dusk comes again, we’ll head out again.”
Duke poked a stick into the fire. “So, mind telling us where we’re going, kid?”
Nosedive’s answer, at least, didn’t surprise the older brother. “Yes.”
Then, after a moment of heavy silence, Tanya cracked. “Am I the only one who saw what I did?”
Nosedive flinched as he sat on the ski-doo and shook his head. “Don’t start,” he whispered. “I did what I had to do.”
And that was all the patience Wildwing had.
“Had to do? Nosedive, you slaughtered them!” Wildwing couldn’t stand to sit anymore and pivoted to see his brother, the boy’s back to him, shoulders slumped as he sat upon the ski-doo. “You ordered their deaths and allowed them to stay there! To be burned alive!”
“…yes.”
Wildwing stomped forward and when Nosedive refused to look at him, seized the boy by his shirt and tugged Nosedive off his seat. The twenty-five year old didn’t look shocked and never raised his eyes to meet Wildwing’s.
“Nosedive, look at me!”
Nosedive made no movement.
“NOSEDIVE!”
Reluctantly, he did so, and even though the eyes were bluer than blue and unfathomably sad, disappointment and uncertainty surged inside them. “Nosedive…how could you?”
Face scrunched in despair, the commander abruptly put his hands in Wildwing’s chest and detached himself with more strength than Wildwing knew he had. “How can you ask me that? You know what they’ve done, seen it first hand! How can you stand there and tell me what I did isn’t justified?”
“Slaughter is never justified.”
“They would have done it to us without a second thought.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
Nosedive clung at his head before slamming his fists into his thigh. “Stars, Wildwing! How can you defend the Saurians?”
“I’m not defended them,” Wildwing retorted. “I’m saying we shouldn’t lower ourselves to their tactics,”
“This is war, Wildwing,” Nosedive muttered, then turned his back to his brother. “I’m sorry to say that the morals do not apply, not if we want to survive. If I allowed those Saurians to survive, they would have attacked us, and as leader of the American Resistance—”
Wildwing fisted his hands and said slowly, carefully, “As leader of the American Resistance, you should hold to a higher standard than the Saurians. You should know how to—”
“How to what? Kill more humanely?” Nosedive whirled and flung his arms out, as if opening himself. “And unless you’ve forgotten, I didn’t want to engage the Saurian troops! You were the one who rushed into the fight and attacked them at close range!”
“So, now it’s my fault?” Wildwing spouted incredulously. “Well, I’m sorry that I came to my little brother’s defense!”
“I told you! I don’t need to be saved,” he fumed, his eyes burning with anger. He stalked up and thrust a hand to the side. “Look around you, Wildwing. We’re not longer stopping the Saurians from taking over the world. They have the world! And do you know how they took it? With mass graves, slaughtering families. My family!”
The world stopped for a moment, and Nosedive slowly shook his head, retreating while rubbing his neck. “Half of the planet died in the initial invasion. Of whom is left, most are enslaved, and the minority who is free enough to fight is nothing but scathed.” He looked up to his brother and raised his palms upward. “What do you want from me, Wildwing?”
The answer came out bluntly and callously before he realized he spoke it. “My baby brother back.”
“He died the moment the noose became taunt.”
Numbness startled Wildwing, but Nosedive wiped his hand and looked away. His eyes faded into ice, once more devoid of anger. “Wildwing…” His voice was tired, gutted. “I wish I was lucky enough to die…This—This…This isn’t me. I’m the guy who goofs off with his nephews, who worries about Canard and doesn’t sleep because he sees his brother’s body. I don’t like what I do—I hate killing…a—and it scares me when I do it because…I’m good at it.
“But…do you know why I do it?” he pleaded, beseeching to his brother frantically. “Every Saurian who continues to live continues to kill, and what they did to me, they can do to every single one of the people who look to me to protect them. And I have to protect them. I know what it feels like to lose and to live with the agony of being left behind. It hurts, Wildwing. It hurts more than you could ever know, and if I can spare just one person the pain that I have to live with every day, then…this is what I will do.”
“But Dive…” Wildwing placed a gentle hand upon his brother’s shoulder, and he struggled with the words he felt in his heart. “I can’t condone the slaughter, even if it is the Saurians.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Nosedive spurted, shaking his head. “I don’t condone it, but…I’m asking you to understand it.”
Wildwing did, on some level. Watching one by one your family killed—would he have mercy if the Saurians had taken—no. He wouldn’t.
Nosedive fell to a log about the fire and leaned his elbows upon his knees, his fingers knotted. Wildwing only remained standing for a moment before he fell to the ground.
“…well, he let one person live,” Duke commented with a dry laugh.
Nosedive shook his head. “No, Varkais is walking dead. I just kept him from returning to Hell a little bit sooner.” He let out another sigh. “Why don’t you all go bed? We have a long night ahead of us.”
“Depends upon where we’re going,” Tanya argued.
Nosedive shrugged. He really didn’t care anymore. “We’re going home.”
“Home?” Hope tainted Mallory’s voice. “You mean Puckworld?”
“No,
Hope swiftly shifted to disapproval. “You mean the Saurian who sent Varkais into the past?”
“Same one.” Nosedive nodded. “If anyone will know how to get you into the past, it would be she.”
With a sigh, Duke leaned over, a dangerous glint in his eye. “But isn’t she a Saurian?”
Apparently, he didn’t trust them, either. “Trust me, Duke. She’s on our side, even more so than Dreg. If she sent Varkais into the past, then she had a good reason, and since she did, we know she can send you guys back, too.”
The team trusted him and took out the supplies from the ski-doos. Tanya pestered Nosedive to rewrap his ribs and look at his injuries, but Nosedive waved her off. Instead, Wildwing patted his brother gently on the shoulder.
“Come on, little brother. You need some sleep, too.”
Nosedive shook his head and continued to stare into the fire. “No. I’m going to stay up a little while.”
Wildwing said nothing, only remained next to his brother with a hand upon Nosedive’s knee. The silence stayed the rest of the morning and into the afternoon with the macabre screams sounded between them.
*^*^*
When the ducks woke up and found Nosedive and Wildwing, the commander of the American Resistance informed them they used the ski-doos as far as they could. They would be traveling in hearing distance of Saurians and their compounds, so the rest of the journey would have to be made on foot.
The first hour or so went by in relative silence, the only noise the crunching of the snow beneath their boots. The second hour, idle chatter arose from the group, though Nosedive abstained, walking ahead of them and focusing on the sky and the snow that slowly floated toward the ground.
Around the third, Duke drew the boy’s attention. “Okay, kid, let’s get one thing straight. If you’re going to be sending us into the Saurian’s Den, then we have a right to know how you met Dreg and Syra.”
“I didn’t,” Nosedive replied, his normal tone almost returning. He absentmindedly rubbed his injured area. “At least not at first. I told you Wildwing was the one who made contact with Dreg—or vice versa. I never really found out how that went down. I just came in later.”
“All right.” Tanya walked up to him and put a hand upon his torso. He cringed and slapped away her ministration.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re obviously in pain.” Her voice left no room for argument. “I have to tend to your wounds.”
“Later,” he
promised, his tone sincere. “We’re going to make a stop at a resistance
compound before he get to the
She accepted that but refused to let the boy get away with no punishment. “If Wildwing first made contact with Dreg and Syra, how did you get dragged into the mess?”
Nosedive sighed. Did he really have to tell this?
“So,
who is this informant of yours?” Nosedive asked starkly, his voice carrying in
the dense forest. Thankfully, they were far enough away from the Saurians’
base, so he needn’t worry.
Wildwing laughed dryly. “You’ll see
when we get there.”
The younger brother snorted. “Is
that your answer to everything? Shh! Mallory, I want to be surprised.”
“Oh, come on! It’s not uncommon to
not want to know the gender of your child!”
“In this day and age, it’s freakin’
weird.”
Wildwing shook his head and smiled
fondly down at his younger brother before pushing a low branch out of their
path. The mountainous terrain impeded their swift travel, but Wildwing didn’t
seem to mind, guiding his brother along the wooded path. After all, since the
Invasion, the Flashblade brothers hadn’t spent much time alone, especially now
that Wildwing roomed with Mallory and Nosedive with Canard. It felt good to be together
for a few moments.
Wildwing ruffled Nosedive’s still
long locks. “Never change, little brother. Never change.”
“Eventually, I am going to grow up,
y’know.” Nosedive smirked and pulled his Champs jacket tighter about his body,
as the snow began to float through the ground. “And then—”
“—what? You’re going to stop pulling
pranks on me and my lifemate?”
“Oh, please. I’m going to pass down
my skills as a master prankster to my nephew. No, eventually I’m going to be
able to drink!”
Wildwing halted dead in his tracks;
Nosedive slammed into his back. His smaller frame still didn’t move his brother’s.
“Hey, Wing. What gives?”
“…nephew. Did you just say ‘nephew’?”
Nosedive’s insides flashed cold, and
he fidgeted with his fingers. “No! I mean—meant ‘kid.’ I just figured with our
parents had two boys, then you—”
Swiveling, Wildwing pointed a finger
in his brother’s face. “Mallory told you, didn’t she?”
“Ah, well…you see—”
“Damn! I told Mallory not to tell
you!” Wildwing stormed off in the opposite direction, his hands fists. “You just
can’t keep a secret from me, and I knew that! I told her that, and yet she
still—” He came out onto a rock ledge above the forest below and shook his
head. “I knew it…I just knew it…”
Nosedive wandered into the clearing
behind his brother, his head hanging. Stars, how could he have let that slip?
He knew how important it was for his brother not to know the gender of the
boy—oh, shit. He did it again. Oh, it was Mallory’s fault, anyway. She
shouldn’t have told him—
“Hey,” Mallory protested. “You’re blaming me!”
“Well.” Nosedive shrugged and sent her a plastered smile. “You shouldn’t have told me. Wildwing did tell you I would tell him.”
She narrowed her eyes dangerously at both Flashblades. “You two need to learn how to lie to one another. It’s what siblings do, y’know.”
Nosedive snorted.
—even if he had begged her for five hours
straight.
Wildwing came back over to Nosedive
and sighed before looking up at the moon. The younger brother guessed Wildwing
knew when his informant would come by the position of the celestial body. When
he crossed his arms, Nosedive knew his brother was angry and figured they had
more time to wait before the brush on the other side of the clearing rustled.
Wildwing did nothing when a regal crimson lizard emerged from the foliage,
dressed in the royal attire of the High House of Sauria. Behind him trailed a
young Saurian girl, about Nosedive’s age, with her hair rolling off her
shoulders and gathered in a loose ponytail.
She
saw Nosedive, and he saw her.
“Duck!”
“Saurian!”
And they pulled their respective
weapons.
“No!” Wildwing threw his hand upon
Nosedive’s weapon, as Dreg grabbed Syra’s shoulder.
“Dive, Dreg’s my informant,”
Wildwing chastised.
“We need them,” Dreg informed Syra.
“But they’re…Saurians! And
Dragaunus’s children!” Nosedive scowled in disbelief.
Syra snarled toward the resistance
members. “They are our enemies!”
“No!” Dreg took a step forward,
motioning with a graceful hand. “Our father is the enemy, taking planets for
his own personal gain and not caring whom he destroys. The resistance upholds
the same beliefs we do, and it is time that we reach out to them.”
“Dreg has been gracious enough to
share information with me concerning his father.” Wildwing placed a hand on
Nosedive’s tense shoulder. “If not for him, the resistance would have been
destroyed years ago.”
Dreg smiled and let out a soft
laugh. “Hello, Flashblade. Yes, I have helped your brother as your brother has
helped me avenge my wife. You must understand. We have a symbiotic relationship.”
Wildwing’s face contorted slightly,
but he nodded nonetheless. “That is why Dreg thought it would be best for us to
choose successors, in case either of us dies.”
Nosedive immediately understood.
“Well, it was nice to meet you. Stars forbid that ever happens, I will come
here—”
“—and so will I.” Syra strode forward
and shook his hand. “Likewise.”
“And then we left.”
Tanya scoffed, “That is not what happened.”
“How would you know? Were you there? I don’t think so,” Nosedive disputed, wafting his hand about the snow. Stars, it reminded of that day way back when.
Mallory laughed. “You know when he eliminates something, then he must have done something embarrassing.”
“Hey!” he whirled and met her forthwith. “I didn’t do anything! It was all Dreg.”
“Fine. Then what did Dreg do?”
Nosedive clamped his mouth shut but not before uttering, “Nothing!”
“Nosedive,” Wildwing scolded, and the twenty-five year old exhaled exasperating before turning and continuing. Apparently, even as an adult, Wildwing had tremendous power over him.
“Actually,” Dreg interjected, the crimson
body slowly being covered with white, “that is not entirely correct, Wildwing.”
Wildwing’s eyes narrowed, and his
hand slowly lowered to rest on the blaster attached to his right leg. “What are
you talking about?”
Talking a deep breath, Dreg explained,
“Flashblade, you have to realize that no matter what we have discussed, you and
your resistance have not been able to effectively attack my father. You have
not made even a dent, let alone actually harm him. We must take drastic
measures to ensure the end of the Saurian Empire and the liberation of Earth.”
“And how does my brother and your
sister fit into your calculations?” He protectively took a step in front of
Nosedive.
“I am next in line for my father’s
throne. If he were to…die, I would step alive and let my sister rule.”
“Why couldn’t you rule?” Wildwing
pressed.
“Because I would not ever be seen as
an ally of your people. They would still see us as a threat.” The Saurian
prince put a hand to stop Wildwing from objecting and continued, “Being female,
however, my sister would not be allowed to rule by herself. If she were to have
a son, he would become the king.”
Wildwing never glanced at Syra, and
his voice only sharpened. “Your point?”
Dreg spoke with vigor, dread and
loathing making his voice curt. “We can unite our two sides under one
ruler—resistance and Saurian. Our people would accept my nephew—Saurians
because it is our loyalty, a Blood Oath, that actually binds us to our rulers;
your people because he will be a Flashblade. If my sister carries the child—”
“What!”
Syra shouted.
Dreg
glared her into silence. “—then he will be of the royal family. Not to mention,
according to Saurian tradition, the leadership of any band of forces is also
royal. Thus, if the Resistance leadership were to mate with my sister, then the
baby would be recognized as the heir—a child completely royal.”
“Dreg.” Wildwing shifted
uncomfortable and shook his head. “I—I have a child on the way with my lifemate,
and—”
Nosedive gasped. His brother
actually thought the Saurian’s insane plan would work?
“Not you, Wildwing.” Dreg nodded toward
Nosedive with a smile that made the boy’s legs weak and his body flush numb. “Your
brother.”
“What!” Nosedive yelled along with
Syra.
The Saurian princess flung her hand
out toward Nosedive in disgust. “But Dreg, he’s—”
“—a perfect choice, sister. He is
about your age, and if Wildwing is as protective of him as I am of you, then we
need not worry about STDs or—”
Wildwing instantly whirled and
pointed back into the forest. “Dive, go! Now!”
The teen drake simply stood there,
unable to move, unable to talk—
“NOSEDIVE!”
—but he knew one thing. He didn’t
want to talk about it, didn’t want to think about it, and gladly fled into the
forest. He ran at first, trying outrun the discomfort and disbelief swarming in
his gut. He then slowed to a walk and decided to amble until he didn’t feel
violated and dirty. Finally, he stopped and leaned his back against a tree to
wait for Wildwing, even though he crossed his arms and ducked his head.
He—and she? Gross.
He didn’t know how long he waited—an
hour, maybe two—before he heard the crunching of the snow and glanced over his
shoulder. Wildwing approached with a guilt-ridden cringe, then slowly draped an
arm over his brother’s shoulders to hold him close.
“I—I would never have—If I knew that
was what Dreg wanted, I would never have brought you.”
Nosedive scowled. “I know. It’s not
your fault.”
“But still—I never wanted to put you
in that position. Dreg had no right—”
“He is right, though, isn’t he?”
Nosedive glanced up at his horrified brother’s face. “If I were—and she
were—then it—”
“In theory—maybe,” Wildwing growled,
“but that is all. It probably wouldn’t work because our hatred for each other’s
race runs so deep. Anyway, let’s not think about it. I’m not sacrificing you,
and that’s it.”
Nosedive nodded and sighed, though
he never forgot the implications of that day, no matter how much Wildwing
tried. “So, what’s my son’s name?”
Nosedive groaned, “Wildwing! Come
on! I already told you the sex. Can’t you just—”
“Oh.” Wildwing ruffled his hair.
“You know you can’t keep anything from me, little brother. Come on. You know
you want to me.”
With a snort, the younger brother
divulged, “Crease, okay? Mallory wants to name him ‘Crease.’ ”
“I like it.” Wildwing smiled and
squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “You came up with it, didn’t you?”
Nosedive ducked his head and
blushed. “…yeah.”
When Nosedive finished, there was only one question on the team’s minds.
“Nosedive…” Wildwing started, then swallowed hard. “…did you…?”
The boy never answered, and the heavy silence once more reigned. Only once the ducks cleared the forest and stood upon a mountain’s ledge did he sweep a hand across the landscape.
“Guys, welcome to
Where? Wildwing at first thought until
he realized the deathscape before him was the once the proud city. Instead of
the large, glass-glistening buildings and marvelous structures stretching into
the once blue sky, abandon ghosts stood in their place, torn apart by blasts
and war. Crumbled concrete littered the city—except for the
“Come on,” Nosedive encouraged. “Let’s get to the base.”
*^*^*
Nosedive was right last year—or from his current time period, nine years ago. It was Puckworld all over again.
The streets felt like a crypt, dead and forsaken, with hunter drones and Saurian soldiers marching through and down the alleys, attempting to catch and torture those stragglers who escaped from the slave lines or camps. The ducks crept on edge, any noise or light startling them. Only Nosedive kept his cool, which didn’t surprise his older brother. After living in these conditions, Nosedive became accustomed to fear and its consequences, and he thrived in an environment in which he lived with it daily.
Wildwing’s heart sank even lower at the sights he saw less than a month ago, seeing them in such disrepair. He followed Nosedive, who took them through the mall, in which parts appeared burned while others just seemed ransacked. The superhero on top of Captain Comics lost its head and arm, while Suit Chalet, Phil’s favorite hangout, was completely empty with soot wiped across its front. Nosedive threw his pack through a broken window, then turned a bend and headed directly toward the Pond. Glancing into the store, Wildwing quickly looked away at the mother and her children so as not to draw attention to them.
“Don’t worry,” Nosedive told him later, “if they are truly ours, they will find their way to the Resistance.”
Wildwing didn’t know exactly what his brother meant, but he trusted Nosedive enough to know what he talked about.
As they came to the end of the main corridor, Wildwing realized the sign only read “HEIM ALL.” Creepy, in the nightshade.
However, what stole his breath and froze his body was the sight before him—the empty space where the hockey arena used to be. It was gone—completely and utterly—or so he thought.
Nosedive glanced at it for a mere moment, flinched, then diverted toward the street corner. He pressed his back against the decrepit building wall, looking left and right. Then, motioning for Wildwing and the others to stay, he moved to the middle of the street and propped up the sewer lid. He quickly waved them on, and Tanya, Duke, Grin—who somehow fit—Mallory, and finally Wildwing disappeared underneath the pavement.
The sewer appeared much like it had when the ducks built the entranceway into the Pond. The smell, too, remained just the same, if it hadn’t become even worse.
Nosedive followed down the stairs and joined the group. He took the lead once more, and Wildwing couldn’t imagine. After the blast, after seeing the future the first time—did their headquarters under the Pond really survive?
Nosedive hit the necessary brick, and the doorway opened once more. However, unlike before, when there was only a door and a keycode, now three humans stood guard. The female in the center, wearing the logo of the Mighty Ducks on her teal shirt, stepped forward, her blaster never lowering from Nosedive’s chest. The other men on her sides swung their blaster barrels toward the ducks.
“Paul Kariya, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Drury.”
Nosedive shook his head. “Drury was a Ranger and a Saber. Stars, Klegghorn is getting old.”
Her blaster pointed upward, and she nodded once. “Welcome, Commander Flashblade. We weren’t expecting you. Should I get the Captain?”
“Yes, please. And they’re with me.” He thumbed to the ducks, which made the men lower their blasters.
The Pond hadn’t changed much since a month ago for Wildwing, and even Drake One, bless Tanya’s skill, still stood as if nothing happened. The place looked old and definitely needed a paint job, but it stood and was armed to the teeth. Shoved in a conference off of the Ready Room, the ducks found themselves waiting, but at least Nosedive was with them this time. Apparently, being the commander of the American Resistance had perks, and one was being placed high on the priority list. The door opened within ten minutes and in walked Shawn Klegghorn, a wide smile upon the completely gray-haired man’s face.
“So, I see time has been kind to some of us.”
Nosedive smirked and shrugged. “Time travel helps, too, y’know.”
Klegghorn approached Wildwing first, and the leader felt eyes scrutinizing him before a hand was placed outward. “Perhaps this is a blessing or a gift from above.”
Wildwing accepted it. “We want to help, but—”
“There is nothing they can do,” Nosedive snapped, crossing his arms and averting his eyes. “The main base was compromised, and so might the location of yours. You probably should consider moving to your backup location for a while.”
“I’m sure you didn’t come all the way here just to tell me that—while bringing them, at least.”
Nosedive smile slightly. “I need to
speak with my informant in the Saurians. Do you know of a way into the
Klegghorn sighed and fell into a chair at the edge of the table. “Well, it’s been a little harder lately with Dragaunus deciding to eliminate us once and for all, but—”
“—we definitely will find you a way in.”
The voice hardened in the last eight years, and what once had been purple now was blonde, while green eyes no longer were those of a cat. Meanwhile, the Mohawk had grown out was tied back into a braid. Next to her, the mullet shortened to a normal haircut, though an earring still hung from a lobe.
“Thrash, Mook!” Nosedive launched himself at them and clutch on them tightly. “Man, what are you guys doing here? I thought—”
“Thrash had a feeling we needed to be here.” Mookie hit her husband on the shoulder, then smirked at Nosedive. “I didn’t know he was clairvoyant, but hey. It’s pretty kewl.”
“And apparently, I was right.” A grin formed upon Thrash’s face as he glanced at the ducks. “I’ll look at the tunnels the huge snakes created and from there, get you a way in.”
“And I’ll start the evacuation process,” Klegghorn confirmed.
“And maybe you could lead us to the infirmary,” Tanya asked, slapping Nosedive upon the shoulder. He flinched, causing a laugh from Klegghorn.
“Ah, so the kid hurt himself again. Figures.”
*^*^*
“It’s all falling apart, isn’t it?”
Tanya let out a soft chuckle as she gathered gauze, wrap, and antiseptic to wash out Nosedive’s various cuts. “I think your body will hold for awhile longer.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Turning, Tanya hardly contained her horrific gasp. The still younger-than-she boy had somehow maneuvered off his shirt, and she saw now the error in her words. With claw scars torn across his back, the obvious blaster wound burned through his chest, and course stab wounds and other torture he endured, she wasn’t sure his body wouldn’t rebel in the near future.
Nosedive sighed and sat straighter to allow her access to his ribs. She slowly began to wrap his torso again and give support to his broken ribs, while he simply rambled. He had always been comfortable with her, especially after Wildwing chewed him out after getting injured in battle time and time again.
“The Resistance. It’s pulling apart. I just know it.”
“So your base’s location was compromised. That does not mean—”
“It’s not just that,” he revealed. “Dreg is gone now, and Syra—She’s a female.” Tanya pulled the wrap just a little too tightly, and he hissed. “No! I didn’t mean like that! Are you kidding? She’s the one who gave me those scars on my back! No, in Saurian society, females aren’t looked upon with any great reverence. Male Saurians believe they are simply for support for their fathers and then husbands and to procreate. Dragaunus won’t allow Syra same access to battle information as he did Dreg. And not to mention you being here—I don’t know whether to take that as an omen or a blessing.”
Tanya finished wrapping his ribs and moved onto his wrist. “Nosedive, you are a capable leader. I have no doubt—”
“Doubt about what? You see what I’ve done.” His voice lowered, and she hardly heard him, even though she stood just in front of him. “Varkais is right. He made me into this war lord, and—and if we ever survive, I should be tried for crimes against humanity as well.”
“No!” She couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the boy by the beak, raising his eyes to meet hers. “I will not take stand for this type of talk. You have done nothing but try to protect those you care about from more pain. This—We have to do what is necessary, even if it doesn’t always seem like the right thing.”
“But Wildwing was right. Slaughter—It shouldn’t be tolerated. And I…I did it.” Nosedive’s voice faltered for a moment, and he pulled his beak away from her.
Tanya feared to ask what, but she knew. She hated that she knew.
“For about a year and a half, Syra and I tried, and…it was horrible and awkward, but after Wildwing…I wanted to end the war. I needed to end this war, and…”
Tanya lunched forward and tenderly drew the boy into her hands. He didn’t cry, and she didn’t expect him, too. All she knew was that if he was telling her, then he needed to tell someone, and she would give him what he needed—understanding and comfort.
They needed to survive and get back to the past, Tanya realized, if not for them or for Earth, then to save Nosedive. This—This future could not occur; their youngest member could not be forced to sacrifice himself like this.
It just couldn’t happen, and she wouldn’t let it.
*^*^*
“Well, this
should about do it,” Thrash stated as he glanced down the dark tunnel before
them. “Take the first right and stop once you reach the gates of Hell. When you
open them up, you should find the
“We would,
however, suggest you not actually enter the gates of Hell,” Mook took over.
“There is a vent unit just before then that will lead you into the
Mallory went up to them and put out her hand. “I have to admit. You two actually seemed to have…well, grown up.”
“Dudess, man, did you have go and say that?” Thrash moaned and slapped his forehead.
“Yeah, that was way harsh,” Mookie agreed, though she took Mallory’s hand. “We’ll wait for you here, Dive.”
“Totally.”
Nosedive nodded and pounded fists with Trash before leading the group down the dark hallway after each duck either slapped Thrash and Mookie on the shoulder or, in Grin’s case, bowed and muttered, “You truly have been enlightened.”
Still, Duke activated his sword. “Hey, hey, kid. What happened to the large snakes? Do we have to be on the look out for them?”.
Nosedive shook his head and whispered, “Nah. Viper was killed a little after the Invasion this time around, and well, his snakes died from heartache.”
True to
their intel, they reached the vents before hitting the gates of Hell and made
their way into the
“Lord Dragaunus made it very clear that this brat needs to be trained in the Dark Arts, Wraith!”
Siege.
Wildwing glanced through the screen showing the corridor below them, where the burly Saurian came stomping, a little Saurian in his arms. With Dragaunus’s crimson skin and facial features, the boy no doubt was related to the overlord. Yet, Wildwing’s breath stilled at the sight of golden hair shimmering upon his crown, pulled back into a ponytail falling down his back, along with the piercing blue eyes.
His brother’s hair and eyes.
Next to Siege ambled Wraith, who appeared even more ancient than he looked before. His horned head darkened to black, while his decrepit hands peeled of dead skin.
“Wait here,” Nosedive ordered, then eased open the screen and handed it to Wildwing. Then, with lithe moves that would impress Duke, from whom his brother probably learned them, he slithered through the vent and hung in air, trying to bring himself the closest he could to the ground. He finally let go and dropped with nothing more than a plop to the ground. He quickly ducked around the bend and pressed his body against the wall.
“I am not teaching this—this half-breed the Dark Arts,” Wraith protested, leaning heavily upon his staff. “He is not worthy of the talents.”
Siege put down the boy, then growled at the older Saurian. “Then you are more than welcome to tell Lord Dragaunus that because the order came from him!”
Nosedive’s blonde mop appeared around the bend, and he stuck his tongue out. The Saurian boy’s face lit with a broad smile, and he looked so cute—almost human or drake, though his fangs hung down from his top bite.
Then, Nosedive crossed his eyes and stuck his fingers in his beak, causing a giggle from the boy’s face.
“Hey, shut up, kid!” Siege commanded, pushing the boy to the ground. The boy almost let out a cry, but Nosedive psst-ed at him, then indicated with his finger for the boy to come to him. Like Crease or Reth, the boy came, lunching into Nosedive’s welcoming arms. Nosedive engulfed him a bear hug, pushing back his blonde locks and murmuring sweetly. When the boy calmed down, Nosedive motioned to the left and down another corridor.
Rolling his eyes, Wildwing moved to put down the screen, but it slipped through his fingers—and crashed to the floor below. Siege and Wraith both swiveled to the sound, then glanced up at the vent. Wildwing held his breath and pressed his back against the vent’s side, praying the darkness kept his white feathers invisible. Luckily, it must have because Siege looked down, then yelled, “Hey, where’s the kid?”
The two split directions, neither going to way Nosedive disappeared, and Wildwing heaved a sigh of relief. He started after his brother, finding Nosedive waiting for him the next corridor. The boy detached himself from the wall, then gestured for Wildwing and the team to follow him rather than he and the Saurian kid climb into the vent.
When the team reached two red doors that arched to a point, Nosedive indicated they had arrived at their destination, and like Nosedive dropped to the ground, so did the rest of the team.
“We gonna see Momma?” the Saurian boy asked Nosedive, to which the commander nuzzled the boy’s hair and replied with a nod.
He knocked once upon the door and received a curt, “Go away!”
Nosedive sighed and rolled his eyes. “Syra, I’ve got a present for you.”
The door ripped open less than a moment later, and a petite Saurian stood before them. Her curly black hair tumbled down her back and even her shoulders to her bosom, which was entrapped by a dress mimicking one from the Middle Ages of Earth with a black, tie-up girdle, a flowing, purple dress that dusted the ground and reached just to her chest. Tears welled in her amber, glowing eyes, and she dove forward, sweeping Dnias up in her pristine arms.
“Oh, my little hatchling. You’re all right.” She nuzzled his neck and squeezed him tightly. “You’re all right.”
“Momma! You’re hurting me!”
“Oh!” She loosened her hold upon him but still kissed him once, twice, three times, then looked up at Nosedive and back at the Mighty Ducks behind him. Grasping Nosedive’s shirt, she tugged him inside. “Come in. Please. Out of the hallway.”
The team entered the princess’s rather cozy quarters with a canopied bed decorated with plush red and golden pillows; a sitting area in the far corner, and another doorway leading to Dnias’s bedroom.
“Thank you!” she cried, clinging onto Nosedive and holding him tightly. “Thank you, Dive. I can never repay you for what you’ve done.”
“What do you mean, Syra? What’s going on?”
Syra sighed and fell onto her bed, holding her son close to her chest. “Ever since my father found out Dreg was a traitor, he’s been purging our ranks of anyone suspected of even talking to the Resistance.”
“And of course, you being Dreg’s sister—”
She nodded and nuzzled her son’s cheek again. The boy whined. “Exactly. They took Dnias away for my father to raise, just in case I am one.”
“Then you can’t stay here—not anymore.”
Syra looked up at him, helpless. “Where can I go? If we left, the humans would tear us apart, and the Resistance—”
“—will have to accept you,” Nosedive interjected, coming to sit next to her on the bed. “You—and Dnias—” He ruffled the boy’s hair. “—are under my protection, and it is my fault you were separated. I will not allow that to happen again.”
Tears once more glimmered in her eyes, and she touched Nosedive’s cheek before pulling him into a hug. “You have always been kind and gentle, Flashblade.”
“And you have always tried to be.”
She snorted, then shook her head. “What am I going to do with you? Even after I maim you, you still care.” Her hand trailed from Nosedive’s shoulders and down his back.
Tanya gasped, but when Wildwing turned to her, she quickly glanced away.
“First, I need something from you, though.”
“Anything.”
Wildwing tried not to feel angry, tried not to feel prejudice, but how could he not? His brother—his baby brother—seemingly had relations with a Saurian? How could that be? How could Nosedive ever—and sired her child? That was wrong on so many levels, but if she was good to him and he to her, then who was Wildwing to judge—damn! That was his little brother! He had all the right to—
Nosedive sent Wildwing a bewildered glance, then turned to Syra. “In case you haven’t noticed, there are five ducks in the room who are supposed to be dead. I need you to send them back in time.”
Syra suddenly became very fidgeted, playing with her son’s bangs. “I—I can’t.”
“But Varkais said you sent him to the past!” disputed Mallory, stepping out in front of Wildwing.
“…I did.”
“And Wraith sent us to the future,” Duke challenged, taking his saber off his shoulder.
Nosedive slowly crept off the bed but stopped when Syra grabbed his arm. “That’s different.” She sighed exasperatingly and rolled her eyes. “Non magic people—Please never try to understand the Dark Arts. You just can’t.
“Sending people into the past is different from sending them into the future. Sending them into the future doesn’t change anything. Sure, future events might be altered, but the future can still be changed back when the people return to their rightful time. Changing the past is strictly against the Laws of Enchantment. It might affect so many things that more than just skill is needed to help people travel. You need energy not equal to anything else in the world.”
When the ducks—and Nosedive—looked bewildered, Grin replied softly, “A soul.”
Syra nodded. “A sacrifice must be given in order to create the blue flames to send people into the past.”
Nosedive slowly turned toward her, shock glistening in his eyes “Then Dreg—”
“—gave his life for you. Yes.”
The resistance leader collapsed to the bed and dropped his head into his hands. All these years, he blamed Dreg for his brother’s death, and now…Dreg gave his life for him…because of that, most likely. He drove Dreg to suicide.
Wildwing rubbed his forehead. “So, who gave their life for Varkais’s fire?”
Syra shrugged indifferently. “I do not know the slave’s name.”
Silence.
“…I’ll do it.”
Everyone swiveled to Nosedive, who strengthened his resolve with a nod. “I’ll do it. Use me and send them back.”
Mallory swiftly slapped him across the back of his head. “Then who is going to raise Reth and Crease or run the Resistance?”
“Syra can do it,” Nosedive said offhandedly. “She’s good with kids and knows our strategies. It’ll be fine.”
Syra, too, slapped Nosedive across the back of the head. “What is wrong with you? She’s right. We need you, and though I want to know the little redhead and the violet top, I can’t run the Resistance like you.”
Nosedive tensed, and he whirled toward Syra, clasping his hands upon her shoulders. “What did you say?” He sounded panicked, desperate.
“What?” She blinked. “I just want to meet your neph—”
“What’d you call them?” he demanded, his shaking body shaking hers.
“T—The little redhead?”
His hands flung back as if burnt, and he found himself gasping, “It was you. You betrayed us.”
To Be Continued…