1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

the ducks, a girl, and paintball… oui!

***

this is my answer to dracana luna's challenge. i hope you find it interesting dracana. if you're all wondering about my other fic that i'm trying to finish… don't worry. i am working on it. i just needed a

eak and this was just a moment of inspiration. that and… there are just times when i *can't* pass up a challenge. ^-^

please enjoy and let me know what you think. tootles.

***

mighty ducks belong to… the penguins. no, actually they belong to disney, but they *could* belong to the penguins… but they don't. thank goodness…

***

nosedive sighed as he plopped down on the couch in the ready room and rested his head on the back of it. another boring day…

"in other news, professor thomas mcgee of anaheim scientific research facilities has been given permission to do research using the cells of animals. though many in the animals rights activists groups are clearly against this, mcgee and his colleagues feel that this work will be beneficial to all people if perfected. according to many researchers, if their theory is correct, they may find a way to re-grow lost limbs." nosedive looked up and blinked in surprise, only to realize that it was tanya who'd turned on the television and was at that moment sitting on the opposite couch watching the

oadcast intently, wildwing leaning over her from the back of her couch.

"wow. that's something i'd like to see." wildwing muttered.

"yeah right. sounds sci-fi to me." nosedive muttered, causing the two to look at him. "i can just see it now. humans going around with like five or six legs or something. maybe an extra head…" at that thought his eyes widened and lit up. "hey! now that's something *i'd* like to see!" he grinned. wildwing chuckled and shook his head.

"i bet you would." he said, pushing himself up and walking over to the stairs to drake one. "i even bet you'd offer yourself up for testing so that you could get an extra head." he called over his shoulder.

"hey, maybe then you'd actually get a

ain this time around!" tanya teased, causing nosedive to roll his eyes.

"everyone's a critic." he muttered, stretching himself out completely on the couch. "you people just don't realize real talent when you see it." he told her with a yawn.

"tired baby

o?" wildwing called from where he stood at drake one, tanya standing to go and join him.

"it's been a boring day!" nosedive whined, grabbing a pillow and throwing it into the air. "mallory's not here, so i can't prank her, grin's off meditating, and you know how he gets when he's doing *that*… and duke's, well, you know." he shrugged. "i've nothing to do."

"how about clean your room?" wildwing asked, as tanya began typing something on the keyboard.

"done that." wildwing blinked in surprise. "twice."

"you have?"

"yeah, but i messed it up again because i couldn't figure out who's room it was after i walked out to get a snack." nosedive answered casually, gaining a snort of laughter from both tanya and wildwing. "what are you two doing up there anyway?" nosedive asked, missing the laughter completely and flipping onto his stomach to look at them.

"dragaunus has been hitting the research facilities for the past week and a half. we're wondering if it has anything to do with that report we just saw on tv." wildwing told him. nosedive made a face.

"why would he want… whatever the heck it is those guys are playing with?" he asked.

"think about it." tanya told him. nosedive rolled his eyes.

"i would, but because this day has been so dull, my

ain has temporarily shut down and is now lying dormant until there's actually something to do." he told her.

"there's lots of things dragaunus could do with their research." tanya told him, stopping what she was doing and turning to look at him. "if he really can make a new limb with just a simple little cell of a living creature, then you can probably make a copy of that creature as well. a clone as they say." she told him.

"oh." was the only reply she got from him before he turned and sat up, stretching. "sounds like just another headache to me." he told them, yawning once again.

"do you ever take anything seriously?" the blonde technician asked unhappily, her hands on her hips.

"i take hockey seriously." nosedive told her, tossing her a grin. tanya rolled her eyes and wildwing shook his head.

"let's just see if we can find out anymore about this new project, and dragaunus." he said calmly.

"well, if we wanted to do that, why don't you just go by and see him?" nosedive asked. the doors to the ready room opened with a swish as he said this, duke coming in and gaining a confused look on his face.

"go by and ask whom about what?" he asked, looking around.

"some scientist doing freaky works of horror." nosedive said in a wavering voice as if he were talking about scary ghosts. duke grinned.

"ooh. sounds like fun. can i be a part of it?"

"sure! maybe they can grow you a new eye!" the teen exclaimed. duke gave him an odd look.

"grow me a new eye? what are you talkin' about kid?" he asked.

"there's a group of researchers that think they can use cells of animals and grow new limbs. this is just on animals for right now, but you know how humans are." tanya said coolly. "if it doesn't kill the lab rats it's good enough for them." duke shrugged.

"new limbs, new eyes. that's just what everyone needs. an extra arm to pop out in your chest, or even a new eye in the middle of their forehead." he said. his eye widened and he grinned. "ooh! can i get one of those in the back of my head? no one could sneak up on me then!" he exclaimed. wildwing looked at him for a moment and then at nosedive, pointing at the two of them.

"you two have been hanging out together, haven't you?" he asked. duke snickered and shook his head.

"he and i share a love for sci-fi and horror movies." he said, walking away with a shrug. nosedive grinned, then a look of concentration crossed over his face.

"you know, if their idea worked it would be really cool." he said suddenly. "i know a guy that lost a leg in a biking accident." he told them, gaining attention. "it's a shame too because he has all these trophies all over his house. he used to be really big on sports and ran track, played baseball and basketball… stuff like that. i think he told me that football was a favorite, but he can't really play it anymore. i bet he'd be one of the first to try that limb re-growth thing if it really works."

"huh. how'd you meet this guy dive?" wildwing asked him as tanya got back to typing.

"he's thrash's dad." nosedive replied. he looked as if he were going to say something else when drake one suddenly went off. tanya stopped what she was doing and began typing to see what the disturbance was.

"it's dragaunus! he's attacking the anaheim research facility!" she exclaimed.

"man… does he ever take a day off?" nosedive exclaimed unhappily as he leapt up and followed his teammates out to the migrator, grin meeting them there.

"someone contact mallory, tell her the situation and tell her to get over there as fast as she can." wildwing ordered.

"already on it wildwing." duke said, looking at his comm. mallory was glaring at him and he grinned. "ya hear that sweet heart?" he asked.

"yeah, yeah. i'll meet you guys there." she muttered unhappily. "just great. my one day to go shopping and that stupid lizard has to ruin it." she growled before turning off her comm. duke snickered and looked at nosedive.

"i do believe that she is bitter." he grinned. nosedive snickered.

"i pity draggy. never get in between mallory and her quality shopping time."

"i hear ya kid."

they arrived at the research facility at the same time as mallory. they quickly hurried out of the migrator and into the gray building, only to find the saurians blasting things left and right, the human scientists hiding beneath the lab tables to keep from getting hit. the ducks immediately fired at the three saurians present, wraith, siege, and chameleon, only to dodge as shots were returned.

"get that formula of theirs and lets get outta' here!" siege yelled as wraith called in the hunter drones.

"no! it hasn't been tested yet!" one of the scientists cried, standing up.

"get down!" wildwing yelled to the human. the man didn't listen, hurrying over to a computer terminal. "somebody stop him!" wildwing cried as he began taking out drones. duke leapt up and slashed a drone in half, hurrying to the scientist with a curse. he grabbed the man by the back of his white lab coat and pulled him back and around.

"listen, if you don't…" he stopped as something hit him in the back and he fell into the man, his vision growing hazy. he heard someone cry out for him and saw the human staring at him in shock as he fell backwards onto the terminal. a shot went over their heads and hit the computer screen before them, sending glass flying. he thrust his hands in front of him to grab the counter and keep himself from falling but he missed and hit some petri dishes filled with… something. he then felt searing pain in his left arm and the darkness overtook him. neither he nor the scientist noticed his blood dripping into the liquid that was now in the metal tray that held the petri dishes.

o.o

his vision was blurry as he came to,

ight white being the only thing he saw. he blinked a few times before his vision became normal again, tanya leaning over and smiling at him.

"hey duke. how're you feeling?" she asked. he groaned and rubbed his head.

"like i've been run over. what happened?" he asked.

"you were shot in the back by a hunter drone." she told him. "and you also got cut up a little from the glass that flew everywhere when they destroyed the computer. those scientists have to start from scratch now." she told him.

"so dragaunus didn't get anything?" he asked wearily. she shook her head.

"not a thing." she grinned.

"bet he's not too happy about that."

"neither are those human scientists. they've been working on that project for weeks." she suddenly stood and walked away. "i'm going to go get wildwing and tell him you're awake." she called over her shoulder. duke nodded, then sat up a little.

"hey, if i start sprouting any new appendages, we're gonna have to go have a nice little talk with those guys!" he called. "i fell in some liquid junk of theirs." he told her. she snickered as she stood in the doorway.

"yeah, but it only got on your hands and wrists. didn't get anywhere near your cuts so it didn't get into the blood stream. we made sure." she told him. she started off again, only to be stopped by him calling out to her once more.

"hey… how long have i been out?"

"just the night. you only had a laser burn and some cuts. nothing too bad." she told him. then she left duke to lie back down and sigh as he fell back asleep.

^-^

calista avery sighed as she threw her shoulder length

own hair over her right shoulder, her right hand wrapped tightly in gauze as she helped clean up the lab after the attack. at age sixteen, she was part of the clean up crew that worked to clear out any project whose funding had either been dropped or the research had been moved to a new location. for this project, all research had been moved all the way to virginia. the scientists had been frightened terribly by the attack and wanted to get as far away from this facility as they could without going out of country. virginia was the best option available for them.

"hey cal! get that tray over there will ya?" a large man in a dirty blue uniform called, his mouth full from the doughnut he was eating as he sat in a corner. calista frowned at him, her green eyes dark from anger.

"do you think maybe you could help me?" she snapped at him. he shrugged.

"i'm taking my

eak." he swallowed. "and i can't eat while messin' with chemistry junk." he told her. "sides, you told me you wanted a little extra money so…" he didn't continue and she sighed again, chucking a bag of

oken glass and ruined papers into the large garbage bin that was sitting just outside one of the windows.

"well, what do you want me to do with the tray?" she asked, stalking over to the counter holding the destroyed computer and the tray with a reddish

own liquid and petri dishes floating around in it.

"there's a bio hazard drain over there. dump all that stuff in it and leave it for those little science nerds. they'll figure out what do with it." he told her carelessly. she rolled her eyes and picked up the tray, carrying it across the room to the drain he'd told her about. she'd just gotten to the sink when she tripped on something on the floor, spilling liquid all over her right hand and dropping the tray as searing pain came from the wound. with a curse she backed away, holding her hand in the other and bending over with her eyes squeezed shut. the large janitor in the corner stood and looked at her with a frown.

"hey kid, didja hurt yourself?" he asked.

"no." she spat at him.

"then get back to work!" he told her, picking up a magazine and opening it to read. calista sighed again and looked heavenward for strength to deal with the crude man. then she went back to work, shaking her hand in hopes to relieve some of the burning pain. a few minutes later it had disappeared completely and she completely forgot about the incident as she went about her work.

o.o

calista counted the bills in her hands as she sat in a back alley near the hockey rink, the only place that nobody really hung around much since those alien ducks had moved in.

"two hundred dollars." she muttered. "this should last me a while. maybe now i can get out of this stupid town." in the distance a cat screeched and the sound of something falling reached her ears. she looked up and stuffed the money into her jean pocket, pulling her denim jacket tighter around her small frame. it was time to leave. slowly she began walking away, looking around carefully when a sudden pain ripping through her made her stop and wrap her arms around herself. she gasped from it and tried to walk away again, only to cry out as it came again and caused her body to convulse. she fell to the ground, writhing and let out another wail of pain, tears forming in her eyes as she suddenly began to itch all over, her face and mouth becoming painful. the last thing she was aware of were footsteps running on the pavement over to her and someone telling someone else to come help them. then the darkness overcame her.

o.o

mallory made a face and covered her beak with her hand as she looked at the disfigured… what ever it was in duke's arms. after leaving for a walk, he'd immediately made a call for help. wildwing and nosedive had been the first to respond and had then ordered the others to stay behind and help tanya ready a medicom bed in the infirmary. now the dark feathered mallard was rushing whatever it was he'd found in the parking lot inside with wildwing and nosedive following, the younger of the three looking mighty pale beneath his feathers.

"oh stars…" mallory muttered as they lay the… thing… on the medicom bed. "wha… what is… is *that*?!" she exclaimed.

"it was a human a few minutes ago." duke muttered. "at least she was when i first saw her anyway."

"tanya, what's happening to her?" wildwing asked, turning to the blonde tech as she looked the girl over.

"i… i don't know! i'll have to get a blood sample." she told him quickly, turning away and hurrying over to a table near them. nosedive made a face and turned away, looking completely devoid of color save for what his feathers gave him.

"i'm gonna' leave the room." he said weakly. wildwing frowned and walked over to him, putting an arm around him.

"come on baby

o. let's go wait for tanya's analyses in the ready room." he said. nosedive could only nod in reply. mallory snorted as grin followed them out, having been standing by the door in shocked silence.

"i thought he would have been interested in something like this." she muttered.

"you weren't there when she went from having a skin and a mouth to a beak and feathers." duke told her darkly. mallory shook her head and looked at the girl on the medicom bed carefully. it was true. instead of looking human, she now looked more like one of them which dark feathers and a beak. however, the feathers were sparsely placed on her arms and face, skin still showing while several more feathers grew in steadily. she shuddered as she watched the change occur and wandered how it could have happened and if it hurt as tanya walked back over with a needle. she took the blood sample and had duke hold a piece of gauze over the wound as she turned and went straight to her computer. mallory was watching her when duke got the two females attention.

"look at this." he told them, lifting the girls right hand and showing them the gauze already wrapped around her hand. it was discolored, almost has if she'd dipped it in some kind of liquid. tanya frowned as duke showed them his discovery, then turned as her computer beeped. her eyes widened as digits began running across the screen and her jaw dropped.

"this… this looks like that project those scientists were working on at the research facility dragaunus attacked the other day!" she exclaimed. "and…" she scrolled down a little, then turned to duke in shock. "it has your dna in it." she said quietly.

"oh stars." mallory muttered as duke froze in place. "how did this happen?" she asked.

"i don't know, but *she* might." tanya said, turning to look at the girl on the medicom bed. duke merely stared at her in shock with his jaw dropped.

o.o

when she came to, she was laying on her side on a bed, curled up in a blanket and shivering. she looked around the strange room that was covered with machinery and saw one of the mighty ducks sitting in a chair with his arms folded and his head resting on his chest as he slept. he was slumped in his chair with his legs stretched out, one resting over the other. his feathers were dark in color, and he was wearing a maroon outfit. he had an eye patch over his right eye, a large bang of gray hair with a white streak going through it hanging over his face. she sniffled and went to rub her face, only to gasp when she saw her hand. it was covered with dark gray feathers.

"oh man…" she moaned. 'am i dreaming? this has to be a dream… no, a nightmare!" she thought, her hands flying to her face. she nearly cried out when she realized that she was now the owner of a duckbill. "oh gosh…" tears were coming to her eyes, her

eath quickening from fear. "what… what happened to me?!"

"that's a good question." came a new voice. she turned and saw a white mallard with a golden hockey mask on his face standing in the doorway. he nodded at her, his expression a little unfriendly. "good morning miss." he told her. "mind telling me what you were doing in our parking lot sprouting feathers?" he asked. she merely stared at him in shock with her jaw dropped as she slowly shook her head.

"i… i…" she had to stop there as no words could be formed at the moment, her mind slowing to nearly a halt as questions filled her completely. the white mallard merely shook his head and pressed something on the body armor he wore.

"tanya, the girl's awake. you might want to get down here before she passes out again." he said into his arm.