Beaks vs. B.R.A.W.N.

It's twenty seconds left on the clock for this game, and so far, everything is going great. The ducks were winning as Tanya was getting closer to the goal, and the crowd was loving it. But everyone was in surprise as a lazor was shot at the puck and made the scientist skid to a stop. 

Diana watched as a large robot came onto the ice and started firing at her team. The woman joined the others as she switched from her coach gear to her battle gear. 

"Who the heck is that guy?!" Tanya shouted as they ducked to avoid the blasts. "No idea." 

"But I think we made him mad." Diana got her sickles ready as she signaled Wishbone to go down to the base. "Innocent people might get hurt. Come on, we gotta draw him off, you guys." 

The team raced off the ice and switched to battle gear as they lured the robot away. They all made it outside and stopped across the street from the pond. "Where did that guy come from?" 

Diana kept her eyes on the door as she gripped her sickles as she got ready for a fight. "Well, he could've been sent by irate hockey fans, or on a wild guess I'd say, Draganus!" 

NoseDive was right, it had to be Draganus. 

Diana facepalmed and pinched the bridge of her beak. "Can't we just have one day where we finish a game without homicidal maniacs coming for us?!" 

Diana then shifted back to focus as the robot busted through the wall instead of the door. "It's time to take this tin head down. Explosive Pucks, team!" 

Everyone followed WildWing's order and opened fire on the bot creating a dust cloud. "Yes! That'll teach him to mess with the Ducks 'O Mighty." 

Diana gave a small smile to Dive but the victory was short lived as the robot came out of the smoke, without a scratch. "No one respects us living legends anymore." The robot opened fire again and Mallory had the good idea to fall back. "We gotta fall back!" Everyone listened as they ran and hid behind a corner of the street, but Kleghorn pulled up in his squad car. He got out and started complaining again. "Alright where's the trouble? Oh, it's you. I should've known." 

NoseDive tried to warn the officer. "Look out Cappy! We gotta kill crazed robot on our wings, man!" 

Diana tuned everything out as the robot drew closer, she tapped Wild's shoulder as it got closer. Kleghorn then yelled something about evidence as he went to get into his car, but he jumped as the robot raised its arm. "That enough evidence for you?!" 

The robot fired a rocket, and it blew up the car, throwing Kleghorn to the ducks. "Good evidence." 

They all started running again and Diana made sure they had a good distance between the team and the killer robot. The team soon stopped, and they took a minute to think and catch their breathes. "We gotta keep that thing away from populated areas until we can disable it." 

Duke came up to WildWing and mentioned a place he and Diana would use to train. "There's an abandoned construction site about a block from here." 

Duke took the lead as they rushed to the site. "This is a war, WildWing! There's always going to be collateral damage!" 

Diana looked to Mallory. "Not for us!" 

WildWing joined in. "Diana's right, if we don't hold to a higher code, we're no better than Draganus himself." 

Dive was still stressed about the situation. "Oh boy, this show's got message written all over it." 

Once at the site the ducks stopped due to a dead end. "This ally is the construction zone." 

Mal looked to the former thief with anger in her eyes. "Nice escape route there, Duke!" 

Diana got between them. "Don't pin this on him! At least we're away from any people." They all ducked down as lazors were fired at them, it was that robot again. "Oh man!" 

Diana pulled out her Puck-Pistol from her belt and started firing with the rest of the team. That didn't work as the robot came closer and fire rockets out of its wrist, making the wall behind the team start to fall. 

WildWing used his Ice Shield to provide some cover as they ran so, they wouldn't get crushed. But they didn't get out of the way fast enough as debris fell on them. But good news is they fell into the sewer, saving their lives. 

Diana helped Grin get a pipe off him before checking on the others. "Everyone okay?" 

Duke rubbed the side of his beak as he got up. "In a word, no." 

"I'd meditate on the matter, but the ringing in my head is too loud." 

Diana gave them both a field patch and checkup to make sure nothing was too serious. "Wild, we gotta get them to the infirmary." 

Next thing Diana knows she's driving the Migrator as Mallory complained. "At least they weren't badly hurt." 

Wild checked the screens as Diana kept driving. "Yeah, but now there's only four of us to bring down that robot." 

Diana chuckled a bit and kept her eyes peeled for the said robot. "Remember no unnecessary destruction." 

Tanya then gave the two a look that said, "Yeah right. When it comes to unnecessary destruction, that guy's way ahead of us." 

Mallory then bumped into the conversation. "I'm taking my shot when he's in range." 

Diana then stopped the Migrator as she saw the robot. "He's in range, Mal, now's your chance." The robot's hand turned into a hammer, and he hit the side of the Migrator making it fall on its side. The four ducks got out of their seats and got out of the vehicle. "Look at that, he's not even sticking around." 

Diana helped Tanya out of the Migrator. "Any ideas, Tanya?" 

"Well, he might have a new target." WildWing then crossed his arms. "Yeah? Who?" 

Diana rolled her eyes and started running after the bot with the others on her tail, and they all stopped when they saw the robot chasing a small man with a bag. "I think we found his new target." 

A shot was fired at the man and WildWing deflected it with his shield, Diana froze the robot's feet to try and slow it down. They ran into a store, Tanya and Mallory dragging the man with them. Diana guarded the door, just in case that bucket of bolts came back. She jumped back when the door was blown up by the robot. "Dr. Swindel, Lord Draganus wants you."

Diana made her sickles into her scythe as the robot advanced, and they all rushed out the back door. They hid in an alley and Diana listened as his footsteps went the opposite direction. "He's gone, for now." 

Wild intimidated Swindel as he questioned the man. "Okay, Swindel, what's this all about?" 

Swindel backed up as he stuttered and tripped over his own feet. The bag he was holding should've dropped, but it floated in the air instead. "Hey, what the heck have you got in there?" 

Swindel chuckled nervously and grabbed the bag. "Just a light lunch." 

Diana nodded to Wild, and he seemed to know what she was thinking as he scanned the bag with his mask. "Some kind of anti-gravity device." The goalie grabbed Swindel by the shirt and continued the questioning. "You don't start telling us the truth, you'll wish we fed you to that walking trash masher." 

Swindel gave in, and Diana listened as he explained. "Draganus tried to buy it from me. But I would never sell it to that monster, honest." 

WildWing put him down and Diana crossed her arms as she glared at the man. "Not when you can make big bucks on the open market." 

Swindel clutched the bag close. "Hey, this is America. I'm guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of money." 

Diana pinched the bridge of her beak. "He sounds too much like my uncle." 

A door to a store blew out and Tanya took a step towards it. "Uh, guys, we got a problem." The robot was stalking towards them. "Swindel, give us that anti-gravity device!" Both Diana and Wild turned to the man, but he was running away. "Come back! That thing will cut you to pieces!" 

Swindel didn't listen as he ran for a cowboy store, which is weird since the Mesa was raised up by a comet. 

(A/n: If you get the reference, you get a cookie.) 

Diana and the others activated their skates. "We gotta get to him before that robo-creep does." 

Diana turned to the robot and took out her sickles. "I'll buy you three time, go!" 

Wild was worried for Diana but knew better than to not listen to her when she's serious. "Be careful." 

"I make no promises." 

Diana charged and tried to slice the robot's side with her scythe, but it didn't work. She then came up with a new strategy, she circled the robot as it walked and froze its legs, this slowed it down a bit. But as she went to freeze its legs for a fourth time, the robot picked her up and threw her through the window of the store. 

WildWing caught her and helped Diana stand as the robot kept charging. The ducks took cover as the robot started to fire again. 

"You okay, Diana?!" Wild shouted above the noise of blasters. 

"I'll be fine, bruised rib or two, but I'll be okay." 

Tanya then got the idea to us a mirror to make the robot fire at himself after Mallory said something about computer brains. The four then approached the downed robot and Mallory examined the inscription on its hand. "What is this guy, some kind of cop?" 

Diana held her side as Wild helped her. "I don't care as long as he's not firing at us anymore." 

WildWing then recognized the inscription. "A B.R.A.W.N. I've heard of these guys. They're intergalactic bounty hunters." 

Tanya was working on reprogramming the bot. "Someone reprogrammed him." 

Diana raised a brow as she watched her friend work. "Well, then who was he supposed to be hunting?" 

"He can tell us himself, after I finish re-reprogramming him." Diana took a deep breath but winced as she moved. "Diana? Are you sure you're, okay?" She knew better to lie to WildWing, he could scan her with the mask and know she had broken bones. "I probably broke something when crashing through the window." 

Wild scanned her with the mask, and she was right she had two broken ribs and a minor leg fracture. "Diana, get to the infirmary. We'll handle this." 

Diana nodded and whistled, few seconds later Wishbone came in his bigger form. 

Wild and Mal helped Diana onto the dog's back, and he quickly took off towards the base. 

Once inside, the female got off Wishbone and joined Duke, Grin, and NoseDive in the med-bay. "Woah, what happened to you, Birdie?" 

Diana laid down on one of the beds and let the machines patch her up. "Two broken ribs, and a fractured leg. You know the typical Thursday night." 

Once the machines were done wrapping her leg and fixing her ribs, Diana sat up slowly so she wouldn't get any more damage. "How're you three doing?" 

Grin was meditating like he usually does, and Duke and NoseDive were playing cards. "We're fine, little bruised, but fine." 

Diana smiled as the two cards playing ducks dealed her in on the game of go fish. Soon enough, Wild, Tanya, and Mallory came back with then head of the B.R.A.W.N. "Hey guys, we're back. We even brought a new friend." 

"Heya, sorry I hurt you four. I really wasn't myself." Diana smiled with a forgiving look on her beak. "It's alright, besides I've been through worse." 

Diana hid her cards as NoseDive tried to take a peek at hers. 

Tanya took the robot head to the lab and Mallory went to her and Diana's bunk, Duke and Dive decided to watch a movie, while Grin went to his room to finish meditating. 

Wild stayed with Diana, sitting next to her on the bed and taking off his mask. "I wind up in here too much." He chuckled but held her hand. "You gotta stop scaring me like that, I don't want to see you get killed." 

Diana smiled and leaned on WildWing for some comfort. "Yeah, well I said this before. I'd take a bullet for you guys." 

Wild smile and switched from his battle gear to his casual clothes, laying Diana's head down in his lap. "I know, I just worry you'll be gone before you even get to see Puck World." 

Diana smiled and cupped his beak, so he'd look at her eyes. "Hey, I'm not that easy to kill. You know that." 

Wild smiled as he squeezed her hand tight. "Yeah, I do."

Comment