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But suprisingly, it was quiet. Zelda panted softly. What the heck was going on? She looked up at Drake One, still humming in the silence. One word kept blinking on and off the screen in bold red:
Intruder
The Saurians were here. Zelda took a deep breath.
She knew these side halls poorly. Truth be known, there were so many twists and turns in this place it was hard to know where anyone was going! But it had been cleverly planned that way. If the Pond were ever attacked and the Ducks needed to flee, the outer tunnelways and perimeters would offer such shelter. There were plenty of outlets into sewers and air vents, and the tunnels were built to be a maze. Zelda expected to find the Ducks here. Slowly, cautiously, she kept looking. The Saurians could be around any turn. One wrong move and she'd be roasted. If they had come with enough force to cause the Ducks themselves to flee..... Zelda chose not to think of it anymore. Slowly, she started to weave her way into more familiar territory. Storage halls. The big metal doors dotted the metal hallway, each leading into its own storage chamber. Suddenly, Zelda jerked her head up as she heard a noise, a sort of scraping. Panicking, she quickly opened a storage door and flung herself into the darkness, the door closing quickly behind her. She listened silently, lying on her side and blinking in the pitch black. As her eyes started to adjust to the darkness, she could make out the edges of the storage crates. Suddenly, she heard a noise, a sort of high squeak. And it was coming from inside the room. Zelda was quickly on her feet.
"So.... you Saurians probably planned this whole thing out huh?" she growled loudly. "Well you got me here. Come on! Show your face and I'll cure all your ills." she roared into the black. "What are you waiting for?!" Zelda stopped and fell silent again. There was a high whimpering coming from the corner. It was almost like crying. Zelda stepped forwards very slowly. It was the Chameleon probably, trying to lure her into some trap. But it didn't smell like Chameleon at all.... it was someone else. She peered around a storage crate in the back of the room, to find a small figure huddled, crying in the corner. It looked like a little child. And she was almost certain it wasn't the Chameleon now.
"Duke?!" she asked incrediously. The little figure suddenly flung itself out at her, sobbing. It grabbed her by the neck and hung there tightly. Zelda jerked away slightly. It was a tiny kid! It couldn't have been more than three or four, just about her height at any rate. But it looked exactly like Duke, clothed in maroon. His beak was smaller, snub, and lighter orange. "Duke is that you?"
"Please please don't hurt me!" he cried loudly, holding his head in her neck. Zelda pulled the child away and held him to get a better look. It was Duke. His eyes were round and soft, his hair looked shorter and silkier.
"Shhhhh." she said quietly. "I'm sorry Duke, I didn't mean to scare you!" she hugged him to her slowly, the little thing still refusing to calm down. "Relax Duke, I thought you were a Saurian.... I'm so sorry!" she cooed. Slowly the child quieted and released himself from her. "Duke, what happened here?" she asked. "What happened to you?"
"I... I saw the Saurians.... they had this big yellow gun thingy and they fired and...."
"They turned you into a kid!" Zelda breathed quietly. Duke started to cry again. Zelda grabbed his shoulders firmly. "Duke listen to me. Dragaunus has done something to you, and I promise I'm gonna find out what and fix you. But I'm going to need your help. Can you help me?" Duke sniffed and nodded slowly. "Good." Zelda smiled. "First, stop crying. I won't let anything happen to you. Now tell me what you know... what happened to the others?"
"I ran away from the bad lizards.... I dunno where the others are.." he sniffed.
"Then they could still be out there." Zelda reasoned. "Or captured...." She turned back to Duke and picked him up, putting him on her back. "Come on, we've gotta go."
"What... I don't wanna go out there!" he sobbed.
"I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you! Now please Duke, we have to find the others! You have to trust me." Zelda started to walk off with him riding her. He let out a giggle for a moment as she walked to the door and opened it, slipped out into the hall. "Now you'll have to be very quiet. We don't want the Saurians finding us." Zelda told him. Duke nodded and wiped his eyes.
As Zelda walked, she was still trying to sort out what must have happened here. Had all the Ducks been turned back into kids? How could have Dragaunus possibly have done this? It couldn't have been a spell, Duke said he saw some type of yellow gun. She was concerned about the others too. She'd have to find them before the Saurians did, if it wasn't too late already. As she walked, she passed Tanya's lab. Suddenly, a bright red laser beam sheared through the wall inches before her. Zelda gasped and leapt backwards. She spun around, expecting a hunter drone, but found nothing. The beam had come from inside the lab. Cautiously, Zelda entered, to see Tanya sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, giggling and playing with the handheld hyper-laser beam she had invented a month ago. She pointed the thing to her face and was about to activate it when Zelda suddenly snatched it away from her.
"Tanya! There you are!" she sighed, letting Duke off of her back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Zelda." Tanya got up slowly. She was so cute, with her hair all frazzly and yellow. She was a bit more clumsy as she walked to Zelda and petted her on the head. "Gimme back my toy."
"This isn't a toy Tanya." Zelda sighed, and put it out of reach on a lab table. Tanya sighed. "Tanya, do you know what made you turn into a kid like this?" Tanya shrugged and started playing hopscotch with the floor tiles. Zelda shook her head. "We can play later Tanya, we have to find the others now."
"Zelda I'm tired. I wanna nap." Duke sniffed.
"You can sleep on my back." Zelda said, and both Tanya and Duke climbed on. "Uff, you guys are heavy." she grinned, as she turned around and headed out again.
Wildwing peered around the corner, his armor clunking lightly.
Duke snored softly as Zelda plodded around the corner. She was really beginning to worry. She hadn't so much as smelled the Saurians.... or the other Ducks for that matter. It was possible they could have taken the others back to the Raptor... Suddenly, a loud metallic clicking sounded from the hallway they had just come through. Zelda turned around. It could be a hunter drone! She spun about and was about to run, when she looked up, gasping to find Seige and Wraith standing about 15 feet down the hall!
Mallory yawned. This place was so big! She was tired of runnin' from those lizards.. she wanted to find Zelda... and Duke and Tanya. She also wanted some cookies, juice and a blankie, but she forgot where both the galley and her sleeping quarters were.
"C'mon Wing, where are we goin' anyway?" she whined. Wildwing looked behind him and frowned.
"Awwww, shut up Mallreee, I dunno."
"Perhaps we should seek spiritual guidance." Grin offered up in a considerably higher and less booming voice.
"Huh?" Mallory asked. "How?"
"I dunno, my meditation crystals are up on the table and I'm too small to reach them." he sniffed, and wiped his bill.
"Maybe we should go back and get my brother." Wildwing said.
"I'm tired." Mallory whined. Suddenly, there was a loud noise down the hall.
"Quick! Hide!" Wildwing ordered. A short panic ensued, which sent the three flying into different shadows and corners which they could hide in. Seige stormed throught he room, dragging a soundly sleeping Nosedive by the tiny collar. Wildwing nearly jumped out after him, but Mallory held him back.
"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed.
"But my brother!" Wildwing sniffed. Seige was already out of sight, and fading from earshot. "Aww man." Wildwing sat down and put his head in his hands.
"We'll have to find him." Grin spoke. His voice had lost nearly all of it's booming deepness, and sounded more like that of a young Oscar the Grouch. "Come on."
"Grin's right.... let's go Mal." Wing said. Slowly, the three tiptoed down the hall Seige had left through.
Zelda opened her eye very slowly. The other one was still shut. She tucked the bruised side of her skull gently under her shoulder. She was lucky Seige hadn't cracked her skull. She slowly forced her eye open, and was relived that she could still see. She used her good eye to circle around the room. Great, she was in the brig. Curiously enough, it looked like no one was guarding her. Zelda knew better. But at least she knew now that the Saurians were still here, Seige and Wraith anyway. So the Ducks must still be around. And what about Duke and Tanya? They must be so frightened.... Zelda knew she had to get out of here and find them. Slowly, she heard a soft snorting, almost a muttering. Someone was actually snoring somewhere! Zelda looked up slowly to see a tiny Nosedive, curled up benevolently on the floor, sucking on his thumb. Zelda rolled onto her feet and walked over to him. She nuzzled him gently on the shoulder and he muttered something in his sleep. Zelda nudged him harder, but he still wouldn't wake up. Finally, she lightly pinched his arm. Nosedive snorted and opened his eyes, stared up at her for a second, and then screamed in terror.
"AHHHHHHHH! Mommmyyyyyyy! I told you the thing from under my bed was REAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!" Zelda quickly snapped his bill shut gently.
"Shhhhh! Easy Dive it's me!" she whispered quickly. Nosedive recognized her and sighed.
"Whew!" he breathed.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah... oh sowwee Zelda you're not the thing from under my bed." he apoligized.
"I should hope not." she grinned. "Now, is your brother still here?" Nosedive frowned.
"Yeah... he tried to wake me up from my nappie." he snorted. "And Malwee and Grin are here too."
"Excellent. We have to find them, and Tanya and Duke as well." Zelda went to the bars and looked around. Nothing. Idiot Saurians. Zelda looped a claw outside of a space nearest to the wall, and tried to reach a control panel. She couldn't. Zelda leapt up onto the wall, digging her claws in, furrowing the metal slightly. There.... she could find the panel. She knew the code, but she was punching it in blind. Zelda closed her eyes and concentrated hard as she hesitatingly punched the keys. But the bars slid up into the ceiling.
"Cool!" Nosedive exclaimed. Zelda put him on her back and tiptoed out carefully. She reset the bars before she went out of the door, and slipped quickly down the hall.
"Now what?" yawned Nosedive.
"Shhhhhh." Zelda hissed, keeping her eyes on the corridor ahead. "We'll have to find the rest of the team and get you somewhere safe." Suddenly, Zelda halted. She felt vibrations in the metal beneath her feet. Seige. Zelda backed up quickly, sneaking into the safety of a corner. She took Nosedive down and held him by a shoulder. The stomping became louder. Seige stalked by in a usual heavy gait, shouldering a laser gun. Zelda stared hard.
"Stay in front of me, we've got to move." she warned the little duck hiding between her forepaws.
"Wha?" he asked.
"Seige is probably going to check the cell, and he'll come out looking for us." she explaned, shoving him out into the hall and nudging him sternly on. Zelda got very nervous. She heard no loud exclamation from the room down the hall. What was going on? Had Seige known of their escape the whole time? Zelda nudged Dive on faster, fearing a trap. Suddenly, Nosedive gasped loudly, and the two bumped into something small in the corridor ahead. Zelda spun around and spread her wings over the youngster, snarling loudly. But at her feet, Wildwing, Mallory and Grin cowered in suprise.
"Zelda?" Wing asked, looking up. Zelda sniffed the air carefully. Nope, it was them. Zelda collected the three up and hugged them.
"Thank goodness you're alright." she whispered. "You gave us quite a suprise."
"We thought they mighta caught ya." Mallory explained.
"Well come with me now, we have to get away from here fast. Have you seen Duke and Tanya?" she asked, shooing the four on.
"Uh uh." Grin said. "I'm hungry."
"Worry about that later." Zelda whispered. She felt the footsteps on the floor again. Seige knew. "Come on, this way." she said, and pointed to a ventilation tunnel hanging from the cieling.
"Are you CWAZY Zelda?!" Nosedive lisped in his panic. Zelda manually shut his bill.
"Shhhh... I can fly you up there myself. We have to find the other two and this is the fastest way to hide from Seige." she told them quickly. She picked up Wildwing first, holding him in one arm. "Now just relax." she said, and flew up. She hovered at the tunnel, ripping the vent cover off and shoving Wildwing through. She could hear him coughing in the dusty tunnel. Zelda flew down, landed again, and picked up Grin. He shut his eyes tightly until he was shoved into the tunnel. Mallory was next. As soon as she was lifted off the ground, she squealed in panic.
"I don't wanna go high!" she cried, at a volume that scared Zelda stiff.
"SHHHHHHHH!" she insisted. "Trust me, I won't drop you." Before Mallory could reply, she was lifted off of the ground and heaved up into the tunnel. Nosedive was the last. Zelda flew and finally squeezed herself into the thin tunnel, taking the grate and wedging it into the opening behind her. She could hear Seige, very nearby now. She nudged the others on, crawling on her belly to get along. None of them spoke a word. At the head, Wildwing suddenly froze as Seige's thunderous footsteps made the tunnel walls vibrate. He was walking directly beneath them! Zelda pushed the line, but Wildwing was frozen scared, and refused to budge. Mallory laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed ahead of him. She continued a few crawls, and then looked back, waving him on. Slowly, Wildwing followed her. Mallory took a turn in the tunnel, and Seige's footsteps were left behind them.
Zelda slowly crawled out of the vent, shaking the dust off of her. The others were glad to be out, but Zelda quickly signalled them to quiet again. They were on some kind of a long ledge. She herded the four safely from the edge, and then peered over to see that they were standing ontop of the massive screen of Drake One, looking out over the Ready Room. Grin and Mallory crawled on their bellies beside her, and Wildwing and Nosedive soon followed.
"There's no one here Zel." Mallory said.
"Shhh, we can't risk that now." Zelda reminded her. As she finished her sentance, a door suddenly opened. Suddenly, two ducks were similtaneously hurled into view, landing together on the floor with a thump. Duke and Tanya rolled up, the four perched on the monitor realizing that they were tied together around the arms and torsos, roped back to back. Zelda drew her wings over the four that flanked her. Nosedive peeked out as Seige and Wraith followed into the room, chuckling.
"Well well well, looks like we found two little lost ducklings." Wraith sneered, leaning on his staff. Seige leaned down and tickled the struggling Tanya beneath the beak.
"Awwww, ain't dey sooo cuuuuute." he hissed. Tanya leaned back and bit him in the hand. "OOOOWWWWWWWWWW!" Seige leapt up and hopped around, shaking his hand until the pain wore off. He stormed back to the two Ducks in rage, picking them up by the ropes and throwing them powerfully away. They hit the hard back of a computer chair and bounced, rolling. Duke struggled up again, and looked behind him to see Tanya slumped down.
"Tanya?" he squeaked, righting himself. "Tanya?!" The two Saurians erupted into laughter.
"Easy Seige." Wraith chuckled. "Remember, Dragaunus wants them alive."
"I never get to have any fun." Seige growled, and turned away with a sneer. Zelda shook her head silently. Suddenly, another door opened and Dragaunus stepped through, the Chameleon toting at his heels.
"Well it's about time you caught some of them." he growled at Seige and Wraith. "A few babies running around this dump and it takes you hours to pick them up."
"What about him?!?!" Seige yelled, pointing at Chameleon. He retreated behind Dragaunus.
"Oh yea ya big mug, at least I didn't let the prisoners get away, nuk nuck nuck!" he yelled back.
"WHAT?" Draguanus demanded.
"Oh yeah.... um, that." Seige looked down at the floor.
"Idiots!" Dragaunus roared, throwing up his hands and turning away. "Uhg, no matter." he sighed. "They'll all play into my hands as long as I have this." Dragaunus went over and picked up a large, golden yellow laser gun off of Drake One's console.
"Thhhh... that's it!" Mallory whispered. "That's the gun!" Zelda nodded and stood up. Dragaunus walked over to the two Ducks on the floor. Duke stared hatefully up at him and struggled.
"Such a brave little ugly duckling." Dragaunus grinned. He pointed the gun right into Duke's face. Duke's beak quivered and he broke into tears. "Who'd of known you'd turn out to be such a nusance." He sneered. As Duke flinched, he started to squeeze the trigger, when he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. With a scream, Zelda slammed into him, grabbing for the gun. Draguanus snarled and held onto it, cuddling it close to him as he fell to the floor and rolled up. He aimed the gun, the object in his claws powering up quickly. Zelda snarled in his face and refused to budge.
"Give us the gun Dragaunus." she demanded. "And we'll let you leave in one piece."
"'We'? What do you mean 'we'? You and what army?" Draguanus sneered. His henchmen moved over, starting to surround the lone dragon. Suddenly, a large crate plummetted down from the cieling, and hit Seige on the head. The creature groaned, and fell back dumbly, unconcious on the floor. Two more smaller crates fell, breaking easially on the heads of The Chameleon and Wraith. The splinters of wood fell to the floor, and a weave of nets cloaked the two. They struggled helplessly to get out. "What the....." Draguanus began.
"We restate our position Dragaunus." Zelda grinned at him. "Give me the gun."
"Ha, I'm the one who still has the upper hand here dragon." he said, raising the gun again. "Ever hear of the 'gun-den' rule? He who has the gun makes the rules!" Suddenly he fired. Zelda shoved herself out of the way, just before the beam hit the ground behind her. She continued to dodge the blasts, trying to get close enough to attack. She had to get that gun back. Finally, she leapt high, landing on Draguanus's crest. She clawed at his leathery face, wrenching the gun out of his hands with her foot. It skittered off along the floor as the two became locked in combat. Zelda turned her concern away from the gun, and foucused more on getting away from Draguanus without being disembowled first.
"See 'em?" A little red-haired duck behind him asked.
"I don't think so." he said back. "Maybe we can go." He slowly walked out into the open, Mallory following him. Grin was next. He hadn't lost his size advantage over the other ducks, though his muscles were shrunken considerably by baby fat. Wildwing looked behind him, scratched his head and counted aloud slowly.
"One... two.... three.... where's my brother?" he asked. The three went back behind the corner and looked to see Nosedive curled up and sleeping, sucking his thumb. "Come on stupid, wake up." Wildwing said, grabbbing Dive's arm and pulling.
"I wanna nappie!" Nosedive bit Wildwing on the hand. Wildwing cried out and let go. Tears came to his eyes and he forced them back down.
"Seige, I thought you said you got them all!" Wraith yelled. "Why didn't you zap the dragon?"
"So I missed one!" he snapped in the mage's face. "I won't miss her this time." As Seige started forwards, Zelda backed away.
"Kids, get off and run." she said, shaking Duke awake quickly.
"What?!" Tanya yelped, nervous. Zelda spread a wing and tilted her body, so the two slid off onto the floor. Zelda could feel Seige's footsteps pounding the ground.
"I said run! Find the others!" Zelda ordered loudly.
"But--" Duke started. Zelda was suddenly smacked into the wall by Seige's tail. The fat orange lizard growled, holding his hands like two groping, meaty things before him, reaching out for the terrified kids.
"Com'ere you little brats... Unkie Seige'll take good care of you." he grinned, and suddenly ran at them. But he tripped and fell to the floor with a thud and an angry yell, Zelda clamped firmly onto his ankle.
"Go kids! I'll hold them off!" Zelda snarled. Duke and Tanya turned and scuttled off as Zelda continued to grip Seige like a vice. He stood again, almost calmly, and reached down for her.