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The sounds of thunder shrieked over the city of Anaheim, along
with white streaks of lightning in the sky, almost black from
the dark gray storm clouds of the pounding rain. Even though
the lightning was loud, it didn't touch the city or anything near
Anaheim. Raindrops pounded almost as hard as hail upon the streets
of the city, as if they were the tears of 10,000 angels. Water
from rain puddles splashed onto the streets as people walked in
them. One of them was running, running from what or to get somewhere
on time, no one knew. The rain boots were made of a leather in
the color of white were running in the sharp coldness of the fierce
wind, feeling as tormenting as a dagger cutting at a human's flesh.
Outside of the leather boots were a pair of dark blue jeans,
underneath a gray shirt. Over the gray shirt was a white jacket
with the Mighty Ducks' logo on each side. The front side was
small, on a breast pocket on the left side of the jacket. On
the back, the logo was larger. Above the logo was the name of
the team, and on the bottom said the city they represented. The
sleeves were black and there was a back lining around the cufflinks.
The person wearing the jacket, also had a baseball-like cap on,
which had "Anaheim High" on it, imbroaded in a golden-yellow
color. There was also a black backpack on the person's back,
with blue pockets and pouches on the backpack.
Why the young boy was running, no one knew. The shoes of the
kid kept stepping in water puddles, while his clothing was becoming
soaked like the streets of the city. Running under some shelter
of a nearby building with a vacant parking lot, he let out a sneeze.
Apparently, the soaking rain and the chill of the wind somehow
managed to seep past his skin and into his bare bones. Hoping
that he wouldn't catch cold, the young boy entered the Anaheim
Pond. Two ducks noticed him entering, one of them slightly over
six feet tall with a curly white bang, the same color as the rest
of his feathers, and the other a few inches shorter than him,
with shoulder-length blond hair, peach feathers and a patch on
his beak. The boy took off his cap, having many strands of light
cinnamon brown hair, in a pony tail, fell down a bit past his
shoulders. That wasn't a boy; it was the human girl that stayed
with the ducks! The street-tough tommy, Jessica Lockheart.
"Man; it's POURING out there!" Jessie exclaimed as she
removed her backpack and peeled off her jacket.
"So I've noticed," Wildwing said. "Uhhh...Jessie...you're
getting water on the floor from your jacket."
"Huh?" Jessie asked. She then looked at her jacket,
which was dripping small droplets of rain water. The young tomboy
blushed slightly and folded her jacket up to stop the water dripping.
"Sorry about that, Wing. AcHOO!" Jessie sneezed, quickly
covering her nose and mouth with her hands. She looked up at
Wing and Dive, showing a bit of embarrassment in her emerald green
eyes.
"Man; you okay, Jess?" Dive asked. "That cold
of yours' getting worse by the day."
"I'm fine, Dive," Jessie answered. "It's only
a few sneezes anyway. Not like I'm coming down with a flu or
anything. It's probably from schoolwork overload. I can easily
fix that with the two week vacation from school."
Jessie looked a little drowsy from all of her sneezing. The
rain must have caused her cold to happen. Either that, or winter
was the time when the common colds would start to kick in.
"Jess," Wildwing started to speak to stop the brief
silence. "We just setted up the Christmas tree downstairs
in the Rec Room of the Pond. Wanna go help the others decorate
the tree? We'll let ya put the star on top."
"Are Duke and Grin singing Christmas Carols?" Jessie
asked with fear in her eyes.
"No."
"Race you two down there then!" Jessie bursted out ecstatically
as she ran down the hockey stadium and to the locker room, which
contained the elevator down to the secret headquarters of the
secret bottom of the Anaheim Pond. Nosedive laughed while he
raced Jessie to the locker room. Wildwing only rolled his chestnut
brown eyes while he shook his head at the same time. He remembered
back on Puckworld, when he was Dive's age and Nosedive was 10,
when they raced to see who get to put the star on the tree first.
Dive always somehow managed to become the winner, but Wing got
to help some by lifting Dive onto his shoulders so he could place
the star on the top. Even though Nosedive grew to big for Wildwing
to lift onto his shoulders, they used to have a grand time decorating
the Christmas tree with their parents, until the Saurian Invasion,
when all the lives of the innocent citizens of Puckworld were
changed.
He was surprised when he felt a single tear run down his left
eye. Wildwing quickly wiped away the tear and followed Nosedive
and Jessie into the Rec Room of their secret headquarters. A
song called 'Guess it must be Christmas Time', sung by a famous
boy band that Jessica was a huge fan of, *NSYNC, was being played.
A large tree, slightly taller than Grin, was shining with tinsel
and lights. Decorations covered the entire tree. Candy canes,
snowmen, tinsel, cranberry and popcorn strands, and all sorts
of ornaments were all over the Yuletide standing timber. All
of the tree was covered, except for the very top of it. Gently
searching through a box, Jessie, while humming the *NSYNC Christmas
song, uncovered the final decoration: the Christmas Star.
The star appeared to have been made of pure crystal or diamond,
but was really built of plastic. In the middle of it, was Holy
Mother Mary, carved inside the star, carrying young baby Jesus,
filled with a silver color. The star looked beautiful, but it
would look even more radiant if it was on the top of the tree.
"Jessie," Duke nudged at Jessie. "I know you like
the star and everything, but, we REALLY need to put it on the
top of the tree."
"I know," Jessie answered. She sat up and tried to
put the star on the top of the tree, but she was too small to
reach the top. She then tried to jump up, to place the star on
the top of the tree, but her plan didn't work, and she fell flat
on her bottom. Mallory and Sonica giggled a little bit, seeing
how silly Jessie's idea was. The young tommy sat up, wiping off
some dust on her jeans.
"If anyone's got a latter, don't be afraid to lend it to
me," Jessie replied, huskily.
Grin then bent down and lifted Jessie onto his shoulders. She
looked down, a little bit surprised at Grin's volunteering to
help out a tomboy from Chicago.
"Hey, Grinster," Jessie started to speak. "What's
with the cheery mood all of a sudden, man?"
"When one is in trouble, one must offer his or her assistance,"
Grin spoke poetically. "Besides, little friend, it's Christmas
time. A time when all living creatures are at peace and open
their hearts to one another."
Jessie slightly giggled at Grin's remark. Even though he had
strength that not even Superman himself could compare with, he
was very calm and gentle, like a soft feather or a halcyon breeze.
Being careful with the symbol of Christmas, Jessie gently placed
the star on the top of the Christmas tree. The symbol of the
Christmas spirit now in it's rightful place, Grin gently took
Jessie off her shoulders and placed her onto the floor yet again.
"Thanks for the lift, Grinster," Jessie thanked.
"Not a problem, little friend."
"How'd you enjoy your first 'piggy-back ride', Jess?"
Wildwing asked.
"Felt...odd, yet....kinda fun. So THAT'S what it's like..."
Wildwing smiled a bit and patted Jessie behind her left shoulder.
Half of the time, she talked back and behaved so much like a
boy, you would think she WAS a boy trapped in a girl's body.
But the rest of the time, even though she was STILL boyish, Jessica
seemed like an ordinary little girl, who just needed a little
bit of care, love, and reassurance. She looked up at him, smiling
slightly.
"Anything else that you want me to do, Wing?"
"How about go upstairs to your bunk and get some sleep for
tomorrow, munchkin?" Wildiwng suggested. "Maybe then
you're cold will subside."
"Cold? What cold?" Jessie asked innocently. "I
don't have any--AcHOO!" Jessie sneezed again, covering her
face with her hands. She looked up at Wing, appearing drowsy
and sleepy.
"THAT cold, Jessie," Wildwing answered sternly. "March
up to bed, young lady."
"Yes, Wing," Jessie answered.
Reluctantly, Jessie walked out of the Rec Room, and went straight
up to her bunk. Calandra slightly shook her head.
"You SURE you're not her father, Wildwing?" the Russian
beauty asked him. "Half of the time you seem to act like
it."
"Callie," Wing started. "For the five thousandth
time; I AM NOT JESSICA'S FATHER!!!"
"Sorry, Wing," Callie replied, putting her hands up
in defense. "But even you have to admit that at times, you
DO seem to act like it. You act she's your daughter and all.
Half of the time she calls you 'dad' or 'daddy'."
Wildwing slightly blushed a bit and hung his head down so no
one could notice Wing's face, starting to turn red, like a cherry.
The red in the leader's face didn't go unnoticed by Sonica Thunderbeak,
the younger sister of Canard Thunderbeak, former leader of the
Strike Force. She looked down into Wildwing's chestnut brown
eyes, giggling slightly, her emerald green eyes dancing in the
light of the room around her.
"You don't need to be ashamed of feeling that way about Jessie,"
Sonica comforted him. "I think it's kind of cute that she
thinks of you as a father, Wing."
"You...think so, Sonica?"
"I KNOW so, Wildwing."
Wildwing felt a little bit better then, and his feathers turned
back from cherry red to sugar white. For some reason, whenever
he was around Sonica, he felt this strange feeling creeping up
him. Calandra noticed the time on her watch, and was a bit surprised
at the time on her chronometer.
"Amazing that no one's sleepy, even though it's nearly eleven
at night."
"ELEVEN?!" Tanya gawked as she looked at Callie's watch.
"You're right. Now that you mention it, I DO feel kind
of....tired."
"Ditto here, man," Dive supported as he yawned and stretched
his arms above his head.
"Okay; I think we're all a little bit tired from this Holiday
prep thing," Wildwing suggested, hiding a yawn underneath
his hand. "So let's all go to sleep right now."
"You guys go on ahead," Callie said. "There's
something that I need to take care of first with the tree."
"I'll give ya a hand, sweetheart," Duke offered, taking
her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. Callie smiled sweetly
and giggled slightly.
"I better leave before I hurl all over the Christmas tree,"
Nosedive groaned and quickly left so he wouldn't have to suffer
through anymore mush. Taking the hint, the others followed, Sonica
being the last to close the door. Callie went behind the tree
to unplug the lights around the branches and bristles. Unable
to resist the urge, Duke snuck up behind her and grabbed her by
the hips, tickling her at the very same time. Callie released
out a small shriek, then it turned into laughter. Calandra turned
around to look into the dark jade eye of her lover, and playfully
shoved him back. Realizing her game, Duke snickered and chased
after her. Cal quickly dodged him and hid behind the couch of
the Rec Room, going left to right to avoid Duke. Unfortunately
for Callie, she wasn't fast enough, and the next thing she knew,
she was flat on the couch, with Duke on top of her, his deep Keltorian(a.k.a.
Brooklyn) accent in a chuckle. Grabbing her by her bare shoulders,
he pulled her up so that her cheek rested against his right shoulder.
Calandra then noticed that small green bristles were falling
on the top of her hair, black like the feathers of a raven in
the pale moonlight. When she looked up, she noticed that Duke
was holding mistletoe above her head, with a ruby red bow on top
of it. She then looked at Duke again, a look of yearning and
lust in her violet eyes. Duke's lips massaged hers, absorbing
the sweetness within them, as though it were more sugary than
pure sugar itself. Reluctantly removing his lips from hers, Duke
dangled the mistletoe above HIS head, as if asking Calandra to
kiss HIM now. Taking his hint, Callie softly pushed Duke onto
the couch and softly lowered her lips onto his, setting his heart
and hormones in a blaze of carnal fire. Without hesitation,
Duke's hands found the band that kept Callie's hair braided, and
unraveled it, the locks of her raven black thatch covering every
part of her back. His roguish hands then started moving up and
down her back, up from the edge of her hips and down the base
of her neck, while Callie's were draped over his thick neck, her
fingers running through his gray hair.
Hesitantly, Calandra broke her lips away from Duke's, for a few
seconds to catch her breath, then quickly brought them back down
on his again, the two lovebirds sharing yet another attenuated
and romantic kiss. Callie slowly released her lips and gave Duke
a couple of short busses, but they were enough to drive Duke insane
with ecstasy. But he somehow managed to control his hormones
and gently pushed Calandra off of him. Her forehead was covered
with spots of perspiration running down her head, and they were
both breathless. She rested her head on the left side of his
chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, while Duke enveloped
his around her waist, pressing her body against his, wanting her
to feel the strength his embrace.
"God; that felt SO good, love," Callie said, her voice
barely above a whisper, still feeling drowsy and breathless.
"Yeah; I know...." Duke sighed, brushing the bangs of
his girlfriend's hair out of her face. "If you want, we
can go for another, sweetheart."
"It's tempting," Calandra said, taking her head off
of his shoulder, staring deep into his dark jade eye. "But
I think I'd rather just hit the sack for the night."
"I'll tuck ya in, babe," Duke offered, hiding a chuckle.
"First of all, I told you NOT to call me babe. Second of
all, I'm capable of tucking myself in, love."
Duke sighed in depression. But then again, he would have to
turn to Callie's point of view for a change. The girl was probably
determined to stay a virgin until the day she married, which was
possibly, a LONG way off. Still, you couldn't blame a guy for
trying, in HIS point of view. Standing up, and taking Calandra's
hand, they both walked out of the Rec Room, turning off the lights
behind them.
At that very moment, within the Saurian spaceship called the
Raptor, disguised as an abandoned hotel, Dragaunus, the last of
the Saurian overlords, was spying on Anaheim through a surveillance
screen, curious about the merry happenings all over the city.
"Wraith! What's wrong with all of these people? Why are
they so happy this month?"
"Apparently, my lord," Wraith explained. "They
are celebrating a merry holiday called 'Christmas'. A time when
people unite and are treated as equals."
"Bah!" Dragaunus exclaimed while sticking out his tongue.
"Humans and their merry holidays. The only thing they should
be celebrating is my conquest of this planet. Is the ray linked
to the Dimensional gateway, Seige?"
"Yes, Lord Dragaunus."
"Then the conquest of this planet shall begin soon."
He then chuckled evily and smiled. "Here's a present for
you humans; a new world ruler. Merry Christmas, Anaheim."
The next day around the shopping area of Anaheim, even though
Christmas was still less only a week away, the shops were BUSY.
People walked past each other, each one of them wishing one another
a merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza. Jessica was holding
a bunch of gifts in her right arm. To her uncle Phil, a new tie
and suit. For Nosedive, she got the first trilogy of the JLA(the
Justice League of America), since she noticed him staring at all
of the JLA comics in the Captain Comics shop. Wildwing, she
had a hard time making a decision for him since he was really
secretive about what he wanted. However, since it was obvious
that his hockey gear was starting to wear out, she went to the
hockey store and bought some more goalie gear for the Mighty Ducks
captain. Mallory, it was pretty simple for her. Jessie bought
her a new red dress along with a small make-up kit. When she
first looked at it, she stuck out her tongue and thought Who the
heck would want something like THIS?!
Still, she realized that no one was the same as the other, and
Mallory was one of those types that liked to look pretty once
in a while. The gift bought for Tanya was a small science kit,
but it was complex enough for even the duck Einstein herself.
Duke, well, she had NO idea what the ruggedly handsome ex-jewel
thief wanted. He was OBVIOUSLY a romantic, and sometimes a little
bit vain about his looks. So, she bought him a can of hair gel,
a new type of men's cologne, and a new white long-sleeved turtleneck
with a criss-cross stitch pattern around the top and base of the
turtleneck. Grin, now HE was the REAL challenge. He was the
quietest of the bunch, giving him that mysterious feel around
himself. But she knew that he was always meditating, so she bought
him a yoga mat and CD that had music from all types of Oriental
countries: China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and all other Asian
countries. Since they were wordless and had a soothing feel,
she KNEW Grin would go for this gift. For Calandra, she got her
a new bottle of perfume and a pair of earrings that appeared to
have been made of pure diamonds, even though it was made from
a type of paste used for imitation diamonds.
Now SONICA. Jessie pondered that thought for a moment, thinking
up what Sonica would want for Christmas. She knew that she would
want Canard more than anything else in the entire world, but she
didn't know how to grant that gift towards the green-haired beauty.
So, she bought something else; a frame for her picture of her
deceased family, and a cashmere emerald green sweater, with the
collar outlined with jade green stones. Jessie's Christmas shopping
now done, she fitted all she could in the bags she had and gently
mounted them on her bicycle. She tied them down to the basket
behind her bike seat, and rode back to the Pond. She then noticed
an old man, in a Santa Clause suit, ringing a small golden bell
next to a bucket that had a sign above it, saying 'Help the Poor
Please'. Jessie then remembered her life in Chicago. During
winter time, it was always cold and covered with snow. She was
always shivering in the cold city, and so was everyone who lived
in the rotten side of the neighborhood she grew up in. Feeling
pity on the less fortunate, Jessie took a five dollar bill out
of her wallet and dropped it into the bucket.
"Thank you, young girl. And Merry Christmas."
"No probs, Santa," Jessie answered, smiling warmly.
"And ditto to you."
Picking up speed on her bike, Jessica started to ride off to
the Pond once more, passing by a foursome, who were singing Joy
to the World. Parking her bike inside the garage, Jessie took
out all the presents she bought and snuck them into Rec room,
putting them under the Christmas Tree. In doing so, she noticed
a gift under the candy cane that started with a J. Picking it
up, she noticed that it had her name on it, and it was from Wildwing
himself. She thought she would break into tears of joy; the only
person who gave her a gift was her mother, and she's long dead.
And there were eight more gifts, each one of them from the other
ducks, and her uncle. An actual Christmas was going to be taking
place for her. Hearing footsteps coming in, Jessie quickly put
the gift down and jumped onto the couch, taking out a book in
her backpack which she brought down yesterday, called The Reluctant
Swordsman(yes, fellow readers; there IS such a book, written by
Dave Duncan). Wildwing was then storming into the Rec room, with
Phil following him, carrying a Santa suit and a fake beard in
his arms.
"C'mon, Wildwing! Please?"
"For the last time, Phil: NO!"
"Hey; what's going on?" Jessie asked as she put down
her book.
"Wildwing's being stubborn again, Jessica."
"No, I'm NOT. I just don't want to dress up as Santa Clause.
I don't even LOOK the part. Can't you get Grin to do it?"
"Can't," Phil answered, shaking his head. "He
doesn't look the part right, and he'd only scare the others."
"I won't do it, Phil. End of song."
"C'MON, Wildwing! It's for a noble cause; for charity!"
"What TYPE of charity, Phil?" Wildwing asked him suspiciously.
"Yeah, Uncle Phil," Jessie asked. "What kinda
charity? And what's in it for you?"
"It's for the Anaheim Orphanage," Phil explained. "If
Wildwing dresses up as Santa Clause and the others help hand out
gifts, it'll help raise money for the orphans, and help them find
a family who'll adopt the little munchkins."
"You SWEAR this' for a good cause, Phil?"
"Yes, Wildwing. It's to help raise money for the orphans.
PLEASE?"
"Well....I don't know."
Phil only rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.
Jessie came up with an idea and tapped on Wildwing's shoulder.
"You know, Wing, Sonica LIKES people who help out the less
fortunate."
"She...she DOES?" Wildwing asked, slightly blushing.
"Yeah, so....if you do this little stunt, maybe sparks will
fly between you two," Jessie said.
Wildwing then turned to Phil and, without a second thought, took
the Santa suit.
"What time do we leave for the orphanage, Phil?"
"I KNEW I could count on ya to do the little orphans a favor!
In about...two hours."
Wildwing nodded and left the Recreation Room. Phil then turned
to Jessie and hugged her.
"How did you KNOW that would work on him, Jessie?"
"Simple, Uncle Phil. Everyone KNOWS that Wildwing has a
HUGE crush on Canard's baby sister. In convincing him that wearing
the Santa suit'll win Sonica's heart, it's a sure-fire hit. Is
it okay if I go to the basketball court and shoot some hoops with
my school friends?"
"You promise that you'll be back by curfew, young lady?"
"Yes, uncle. Aren't I ALWAYS back by my curfew?"
"You weren't last week," Phil answered, looking at her
sternly.
"Well, I had a REALLY good excuse; my bike lost air in both
tires, so I hadta walk all the way back to the Pond."
"Just make sure you're not in past your curfew THIS time,
little girl."
"Yes, Uncle Phil. May I go now before it gets dark?"
"All right, but when the rain starts to grow worse, you come
home IMMEDIATELY."
"Yes, Uncle Phil," Jessie sighed while rolling her emerald
green eyes at the same time. She was starting to get tired of
her uncle telling her how late to stay and when she should get
back. She almost wished that she was back in Chicago. Her dad
didn't care what the heck she did. Then again, her father never
really cared about her in the first place. Grabbing her jacket,
skateboard, basketball, and bag for the ball, Jessie rushed out
the Pond door. Jumping on her skateboard, she road off to the
local basketball courts.
"God, that niece of mine tries me," Phil moaned, putting
his hand to his forehead and shaking his head at the same time.
Meanwhile at the Anaheim basketball courts, Jessica Lockheart
and her new friend, Rachel Strife, who had chest-length blond
hair and sapphire blue eyes, were up against a couple of boys,
two brothers named Max and Jerry Wallace. Both were Hispanic
and had dark hair and skin. Even though Max was the older one,
Jerry was the more intelligent. He had a GPA of a four point
zero. Max, well, he was the most buff and athletic group of the
group, and had a dream to be part of a military, much like Jessie.
Except that he wanted to be commander of the entire American
army; Jessie just wanted to be an Air Force pilot.
So far, Jessie and Rachel were winning the game, of a score of
twenty-two to six. Even though Max was the buffer of the group,
and Jerry had the brains, the girls had the upper-hand: Jessie,
being the most agile of the group and had experience in the game,
growing up in Chicago, and Rachel, was captain of the Anaheim
High Girl's Basketball team. When Jessie passed the ball to Rachel,
she shot the ball, and it made it into the basket, piece of cake.
The score was now twenty-five to six(imagine the shot Rachel
made was a three-point shot) Max molded his hands into two fists
and put them to his hips.
"I swear; you two girls are cheats!"
"Yeah!" Max's younger brother pouted. "No one
can have THAT many points in five minutes, unless they were Superman's
whelp!"
"We're NOT cheats, Jerry!" Rachel shouted, throwing
the ball at him. "It's called using what comes naturally.
Learn it, egg-head."
"Quit calling me that, blonde!" Jerry whined, barely
catching the ball in his hands.
"Will you stop calling blonde then?" Rachel asked roughly,
her hands at her hips.
"Maybe," Jerry answered, smiling innocently.
Jessie then started to laugh a little, but it started to turn
into a rough and hard cough. She covered her mouth to keep the
others from hearing, but it was of no use, because Max heard her
loud and clear. He rushed over to her to see if she was okay,
but she waved her hand to him, as if indicating that she didn't
need any assistance from anyone. She sat up right and wiped her
left hand on her light blue jeans.
"You sure you're okay, Jess?" Max asked in a worried
tone. "You didn't SOUND all right, with that cough and all."
"I'm FINE, Max," Jessie assured him, grabbing the ball
from Jerry and starting to dribble from it. "Anyone up for
a rematch? C'mon! I'm willing to take one anyone of you three!
One at time or all at once; makes no difference to me. C'mon!
Give me a challenge people!"
"Maybe you ought look behind ya, kid. Maybe you'll get a
challenge THEN," a gruff male voice growled from behind.
The four teenagers turned around, only to see Seige, Wraith,
and the Chameleon.
"Oh no!" Rachel started to scream in horror. "It's
those evil alien lizards from another universe! I heard them
on the news!"
"I'll protect you all!" Max defended, putting himself
in front of Jerry, Rachel, and Jessie.
"Move, young child," Wraith commanded. "We are
NOT after YOU; we are after your street tough tommy of a friend."
All of the teenagers' eyes turned to Jessie, who was surprised
herself. What did Dragaunus want so badly that he needed her
assistance? Was he having so much trouble conquering the world
that he needed the help of a fourteen year old girl, born in Chicago?
A giant lizard, such as himself, needing the succor of a former
street rat. Impossible! No one needs her help in THAT field!
"Then tell your leader Dino-breath that he ain't getting
my help!" Jessie spat at Wraith, her emerald green eyes glowing
in anger at him.
"I expected that from a former street rat such as yourself,
kid," Seige insulted. "GET THE LITTLE TWERP!"
Two hunter drones appeared from behind and grabbed Jessie by
both of her arms and held her up. She struggled to get free,
but it was of no use; she was still weak from her cold. Seige
knocked the other three teenagers out of the way. Before anyone
of the three could scramble onto their feet, all of the Saurians,
the Hunter Drones, and Jessie, had all disappeared, without a
trace.
"Ah man!" Jerry shouted. "We were beaten by a
buncha reptiles!"
"I won't tell if YOU won't, little bro," Max offered.
"Of course," Rachel added. "Those weren't your
EVERYDAY lizards. Those were probably, the whelps of Godzilla
himself!"
"But why would they want Jessie?"
"Simple," Rachel started to explain to them, brushing
back some of her lemon drop blond hair. "Her uncle; he's
the manager of the Mighty Ducks, those lizards' worst enemies."
"Maybe we oughta find the ducks and tell them the emergency,"
Jerry said.
Max and Rachel nodded in agreement. Jerry was surprised that
they did. Rachel Strife and Max Wallace NEVER agreed on ANYTHING.
They couldn't even decide on a group project title, much less
the subject. Half of the time they would argue with each other,
and the rest of the time, uhhh...CHALLENGING each other. Each
one of them grabbing their own skateboards, the basketball team
captain and the Wallace brothers grabbed their skating equipment.
"You have any idea where the ducks might be?" Wallace
asked while he was adjusting his yellow knee pads.
"The Pond; where else, dummy?" Rachel asked him coldly
while she strapped on her orange elbow pads.
"Don't start, you two," Jerry ordered at the same time
he was strapping together the straps on his helmet. "Jessie
said that they were doing a stunt at the Anaheim Orphanage for
the orphans."
The three laughed, when Jerry said Jessie told them that Wildwing
was dressing up as Santa Claus. Grabbing their skateboards, they
rode down the streets, covered with water and mud puddles, to
the orphan's home.
Meanwhile in the Anaheim Orphanage, all of the ducks had their
hands full with all of the orphans, all of them between the ages
of three and twelve. The younger ones were the most rowdy, since
they all wanted a turn riding on the backs of the duck elves.
Mallory and Tanya were handing out gifts to the orphans who had
their names on the tags of the gifts. Wildwing was pretending
to be Santa Claus, trying to be as cheerful as possible, and Sonica
and Calandra were reading Christmas Stories to the other orphans
who already received their presents. Grin, Nosedive, and Duke?
Well...they were trying to SURVIVE the torment of the stunt.
Dive thought it was bad enough that he had to dress up as an
elf like all of the other ducks, but now he kept having all of
those little kids climbing all over him was a major struggle for
the teenage duck. However, he managed to make sure that they
could climb on him, as long as it was only one at a time. Grin
was CONSTANTLY reminding himself that helping little children
would bring good karma. Duke, well, he didn't seem to mind much,
but the little munchkins were starting to hurt his back REALLY
bad. Right now, all he wanted for Christmas was a box of Tylenol,
or some type of aspirin. Natanya Goodhearts, the owner of the
orphanage, glanced at her wrist watch and her hazelnut brown eyes
widened in shock. She clapped her hands firmly yet softly.
"All right children! Playtime's over. It's time to sing
our Christmas song for our guests," Natanya said in a thick
British accent.
The children yayed as they each ran to the stadium stairs. Natanya
was laughing when they all placed on their tree green robes, stood
in their rightful places, and smiled innocently.
"Very good darlings. Now, who wants to tell the Mighty Ducks
the name of the song we are about to sing?"
All of the orphans kept asking and begging Natanya to let them
do the honors. Everyone, including Wildwing himself, started
to break out into laughter. Well, all except for Grin, that is.
He just rolled his eyes.
"All right! All right children," Natanya laughed, getting
them all to calm down. "Michelle? Would you like to do
the honor?"
A young girl, barely five years old, with auburn hair and brown
eyes, nodded eagerly, and Natanya laughed a little bit once more.
Guiding the little girl to the front of the stage, she handed
her a small microphone to her. Michelle took it into her hands
and spoke.
"The song we are singing is called the First Noel, the story
about the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of the Lord," Michelle
answered in toddler talk.
Michelle was then returned to her place. Taking the baton, Natanya
nodded to the piano player, Mrs. Greston, an 80 year old pianist.
Few seconds after the song started, Natanya took the baton and
the children started to sing, their voices sounding analogous
a choir, instead of a bunch of orphans:
"The First Noel
The Angels did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields where they.
In fields, where they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the king of Israel.
They looked up, and saw a star,
Shining in the east, beyond them far.
And to they heard, it gave grand light
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the king of Israel.
Beside the light of that same star
Three wisemen came from country far
To seek for a king, was their intent
And to follow that star wherever it went
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the king of Israel.
Born is the king of Israel."
When the song subsided, the ducks clapped lightly. Never
in their entire lives had they heard such beautiful singing voices
from such little kids.
"Encore! Encore!" Nosedive shouted.
The little orphans started to laugh at Dive's remark. Wildiwng
playfully smacked his brother on the back of his head. The golden
haired male humored the orphans by pretending to be in constant
pain. He kneeled on the for crying for help and an ambulance
to come at his aid, claiming that Wildwing's hit was SO hard,
it started to make his head bleed. When he collapsed on the floor,
pretending to die, the orphans only laughed even more. Wildwing
and the others just found it really irritating.
"Dive, get up," Wildwing ordered, his voice grumpy again.
"Ah; c'mon, big bro," Dive pleaded. "I'm just having
a little bit of fun with them's all. Trying to raise their spirits;
you know."
He then jumped on his feet and flipped backwards to the orphans.
One of them, a girl of six years old with shoulder length curly
red hair named Alexia, jumped on his back. He turned around to
look at her, seeing her smile, a twinkle in her eyes.
"You promised me a horsy-back ride, remember?" she asked
in toddler tone.
"That I did, little munchkin," Dive answered, wiping
one of her curly bangs out of her face. He then stared at Wildwing.
"What can I say; the ladies love me!"
"Like I'D be jealous of you, little bro ," Wing answered
teasingly.
Dive only smirked more at Wing. While he was playing horsy,
Natanya shook her hand with Phil.
"Thank you for having your team come here this year,"
Natanya thanked him generously. "It means alot to the orphanage
and the little ones who live here. And the money we raised for
the home will help find homes for them all."
"It's my pleasure and theirs, Mrs. Goodhearts," Phil
answered, smiling sweetly. "It's nice to know that we helped
to do a good deed for the less fortunate."
At that very moment, Rachel, Jerry, and Max barged in. Even
though it was cold outside, there was sweat dripping all over
their faces and they were breathless. Phil knew each one of
them and was shocked.
"Where's my niece? If you three are here, how come SHE isn't?"
he asked suspiciously.
The threesome went past Phil, as if he wasn't even there. They
went to Wildwing and tugged on his Santa suit.
"Uh, Mr. Wildwing?" Jerry asked. " Don't mean
to bother you, man, but....there's something that we REALLY need
to tell you."
"All right," Wildwing groaned, bending down. "What's
the problem? And where's Jessica?"
"Man!" Max exclaimed, as if he was on the verge of breaking
out into laughter. "How did Phil talk you into doing THIS
stunt, Wing? Spiked your Pepsi with some type of drug? Held
you at a gun point?"
"Quit changing the subject," Wildwing growled at Max.
"Now tell me; where's Jessica?"
"Well," Rachel started to speak, leaning closer to Wildwing's
cheek to whisper the situation into his ear. "Your lizard
enemies appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Jessie while we were
in the middle of a basketball game."
Wildwing's chestnut brown eyes then widened in total shock.
He looked as though he would scream any minute. He stared at
the three juveniles, his eyes still in horrification.
"You three SERIOUS?!"
"Unfortunately, yes sir," Jerry muttered, his head down.
Wildwing regained control of himself and stood up and whistled
to the team.
"Ducks; battlegear time! There's an emergency downtown!"
"Finally!" Duke happily shouted. "An excuse to
get out of this ridiculous elf costume!"
With that, all of the ducks transformed from their elves and
Santa costume into their battle gear. All of their fighting uniforms
shined brightly in the light of the room. As they were about
to leave, one of the orphan toddlers named Natasha grabbed onto
Nosedive's ankle.
"Don't leave now, Mr. Nosedive," Natasha pleaded desperately.
"You promised me a piggy back ride, remember?"
"I'm sorry, Natasha. But there's an emergency downtown,"
the teenage blond answered. But he couldn't resist the little
girl's beady azure blue eyes. He felt sorry for the young kid,
but then an idea came to him. "Tell ya what, Nat. I'll
come back in a few days, and when I do, I'll give you SO many
piggy back rides that you'll be BEGGING for me to stop, okay?"
"Okay!" Natasha answered, happy again.
Giving the girl a nuggie on her copper red hair, Dive grinned
and ran to the others. Phil noticed the commotion and demanded
an explanation.
"Where the heck are you eight going? And what was so important
that Jessie's friends had to tell you instead of me?"
"It's a long story, Phil," Wildwing answered. "But
it concerns Jessie."
"WHAT?!" Phil exclaimed in shock. "What happened
to Jessie?! Where is she?!"
"Calm down, Phil," Tanya ushered him. "We're about
to find out."
Leaving Phil in confusion, all of the ducks left. .Meanwhile
within the belly of the Raptor, Jessie was having the stuffing
knocked out of her. It was bad enough that her cold was starting
to turn into a flu, but now she was starting to grow dizzy and
weak. Jessica didn't know whether or not she could hold out much
longer, but she knew she had to, because she knew that the ducks
would come to the rescue of any innocent life and protect them
from harm. With an intense struggle, Jessica pushed herself off
of the ground and looked into the eyes of the evil Saurian overlord,
who was laughing with delight.
"What are you trying to prove, Dragaunus?" Jessie answered
weakly but angrily.
"Prove? Nothing, if you count that I am superior to your
kind nothing."
"Oh yeah," Jessie mouthed off sarcastically. "You,
being nearly eight feet tall, beating up a fourteen year old girl,
barely above five feet, with an intense flu. That makes you VERY
superior, lizard-lips."
"ENOUGH!" Dragaunus shouted, giving her one more intense
punch across the face, having her fall flat on the floor. "When
the ducks arrive, believing that you are dead, they'll be too
mortified to fight well, and that will be the end of them, when
I zap their corpses into the other dimension, and this universe
will rightfully belong to me!"
Jessie thought about surrendering to him right then. It was
on the tip of her tongue to give up. Then she remembered the
others telling her their stories from when they were in the Resistance,
of their tales of nearly being beaten to death. If they could
last through the torture, then she should be able to as well.
But the pain and torment was too much for the tommy to bear,
even if it was only to last for a few more moments. Suddenly,
footsteps were to be heard. She recognized the sounds immediately
as she looked at the base of the door. Without warning, the door
was blasted open, and the eight Mighty Ducks were now within the
belly of the Raptor. Wildwing blew the smoke from his puck launcher
and growled at Dragaunus.
"This is your gift to the people of Earth, Dragaunus? A
severe beating to each innocent life?"
Dragaunus laughed evily and then ordered a mountain of Hunter
Drones to shoot the ducks until they fell over dead. Blasts were
coming from each side of the Raptor. Jessie tried to scramble
to her feet, but fell. Good thing she did, because if she hadn't,
a blast from a Hunter Drone would have blasted her brains out.
So instead of trying to run, Jessica crawled to safety instead
of running away. Suddenly, she felt something cold and metallic
against her back. Turning her back, Jessie noticed the super
computer of Dragaunus Raptor. She then remembered Wildwing telling
her about them winding up from Puckworld to Earth by chasing Dragaunus
through a dimensional gateway portal, and of Canard being swept
into Dimensional Limbo. Jessie then came up with a fabulous idea:
she could swipe the wires that activated the portal, find a major
genius besides Tanya to re-fix the wires into their own portal
maker, go into Dimensional Limbo, find Canard, and return him
to the others on Earth. Hiding a cough so no one could hear her,
Jessie frantically searched for the lever that activated the D-portal.
Finding the device that made it all possible, she opened it up
with her dad's old pocket knife. Inside, there was a mess of
wires which only Tanya herself would be able to use to her advantage.
Using her progenitor's pocket knife, she cut all of the wires
and placed them in the backpack she brought with her. When she
closed the generator device cover, one of the Hunter Drones grabbed
her from behind and held her up, her feet dangling above the ground
floor.
"What were you doing?" the Hunter Drone demanded in
a robot voice.
"Uhhhh....nothing!"
"That's not what I saw, human germ. Prepare for disintegration."
The hunter drone raised its left arm at Jessie, turning into
a deadly blaster. It then put the blaster at her head. She shutted
her emerald green eyes, fighting back her tears, trying to be
brave as her end would come. But before the drone could shoot
her brain out, a hand covered by a gray glove made a knife hand
strike at its neck, followed by a lower hook kick, knocking the
android into at least a thousand pieces. The bangs of Sonica
Thunderbeak's emerald green hair fell into her face when she caught
Jessica into her arms.
"You okay, munchkin?" she asked, her slight Australian
accent a sound of relief to the young tomboy.
"Yeah, I think so. Is the battle over, Sonica?"
"Yeah; lemme see."
Sonica turned her head around, and her emerald green eyes saw
the battle over. All of the Hunter Drones were destroyed, and
Dragaunus was knocked out cold. She then turned back to Jessica,
smiling.
"It's over, kiddo. Let's go home."
"I'd like the sound of that, except that my uncle might turn
into a raging volcano when he sees the look on my face."
"Kid," Sonica began to speak, her voice starting to
break into laughter. "If we can handle an angry Saurian
overlord that's over seven feet tall, we can handle a five foot
nine manager of ours that's chubby and a total coward."
Jessie laughed, even though she knew that it was an insult to
her uncle. Even though she knew that her uncle was a little bit
greedy at times, she still loved him and everything. Let's all
face it: he was willing to take her in after her father was arrested
for child abuse and child neglect. No one was willing to have
a street tough tomboy for a daughter, and all of the orphanages
and foster homes were filled to the max. At the Pond, Phil was
pacing the floor, wondering what was taking the others so long
in coming home. When he heard the Migrator pull into the hangar,
he sighed with relief. But the relief wasn't to last, for when
he saw the condition that niece was in, he went ballistic with
rage.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO JESSICA?!"
"Don't blame them, Uncle Phil," Jessie replied between
coughs. "It's not their fault. Dragaunus's minions appeared
at the park while the others and I were shooting hoops. It happened
so suddenly I couldn't think up a plan to escape them in time."
"God!" Phil exclaimed, bending down and hugging Jessie
tightly. "You all right, Jessica?"
"Yeah, Uncle Phil. I'm fine," she assured, him. But
her answer was followed by two coughs and a sneeze.
"That does it, then. No more going playing basketball until
your flu is gone. You need to RECOVER, young lady. That storm
outside has been making you sick. Go out there anymore, and you're
going to catch your death out there. No go to bed, little girl."
"Yes, U--aCHOO!!!" Jessie sneezed again, covering her
face with her hands again. Looking drowsy and weak again, she
walked off to her room to wash her hands. Sleep. That's what
she needed. Maybe a few hours of rest, and she'll feel better.
Walking into her room, she quickly went to the sink and washed
her hands with the bar of soap on the bathroom sink.
She looked at her reflection at it, and it scared her. Even
though her face wasn't bleeding, her face covered with marks all
over her face. Most of them bruises, from the past and present.
Her face was all dreary with the signs of her cold becoming a
flu. The bangs of her cinnamon brown hair were all over her face,
all tangled and messy from her painful torture from Dragaunus.
Grabbing two different cleansers, one for her body and one for
her face, Jessica stripped off her torn clothes and stepped into
the shower.
Turning on the warm water, she washed off the marks on her body
and washed the dirt and tangles out of her hair with the shampoo
on her bathtub, which could also serve as a shower. Even though
all of the dirt and blood marks from her body were washed off,
the scars and bruises were still visible. After her hair was
washed, Jessica grabbed a small towel hanging from the bathroom
wall and wiped her hair dry with it. Combing the tangles out,
she then separated her hair into two different parts. One of
the sections of Jessie's cinnamon brown hair was put into a mid-length
ponytail, then braided the rest of the way. The other section
of her hair was also braided, then wrapped around the band in
her hair.
Wrapping the towel around her body, Jessie stepped out of the
bathroom and took her pajamas out from underneath her bed pillows.
The top of her pajamas was a spaghetti strap tank, with clouds,
stars, and a full moon. Her pants had the same pattern. Putting
on her clothes, she then started to feel soporific. Placing the
long sleeved button-up shirt of her pajamas, she buttoned them
up and hit her head on the pillow, closing her emerald green eyes
and covering herself up with the blanket. Suddenly, she heard
a strange noise under her room. Wanting to know who was doing
the strange noises, she got out of bed and went to the middle
of the floor in her room. Kneeling down and placing her ear to
the floor, Jessie had a clearer hearing on the noise downstairs.
Removing her ear from the floor, she moved some of the carpeting
out of the way and found the trap door.
Few days after Jessie moved into the Pond, she discovered a hidden
secret door and found an alternative way into the duck's headquarters.
Climbing down the ladder in the hidden door, Jessie found her
way into the hallway that was next to the kitchen. When she peered
her head into the kitchen, she noticed Sonica sipping a mug of
something, looking bummed and depressed. The green-haired femme
fatale heard noises from the door and turned her head. Jessie
quickly hid from Sonica's vision, but the emerald-haired enchantress
couldn't have been fooled that easily.
"Who's there?"
Realizing that the game was up, Jessie peered her head in so
Sonica could get a good glimpse of her.
"Oh. Hi, Jessie. Thought it might have been Nosedive again.
I HATE it when he plays those pranks on me."
"No thanks. I'm too ill to pull a joke on anyone at the
moment," Jessie said, followed by a couple of coughs.
"You alright, little munchkin?" Sonica asked, standing
up. "Come over here and let me see."
Still feeling exhausted from the day, Jessie staggered over to
Sonica, holding onto the table for support. Sonica then kneeled
down and put her hand on Jessica's forehead, surprised at its
heat.
"My god! Jessie, you're burning up. I think you DO have
the flu. Better be sure."
Sonica then took out a thermometer and put it under the sink,
in case someone used it but forgot to wash it. Wiping it on a
clean rag, she put the thermometer into Jessie's mouth and took
the temperature. In less than a minute, the beeper on the thermometer
beeped. When Sonica took it out, she noticed that the temperature
was higher than her normal degree of heat.
"One hundred and five degrees farenhite. You really ARE
sick this time, Jessie. That would explain all of the coughing
and sneezing lately. What about your throat?"
"Well," Jessie started to say. "I never bothered
to tell anyone, but, the more I cough, the more my throat grieves.
It hurts a lot, Sonica."
"There there, Jessica," Sonica comforted, wrapping her
arms around her, letting Jessie rest her head on her shoulder.
"You'll be fine. It's probably only one of those winter
time flus around here. I've seen it a lot whenever I traveled
around the world during the winter. The flus happen the most
during the winter season. It'll probably wear off after Christmas.
I promise. In the mean time, I think I know what c