Dragonaus teleported with Jazz and unwillingly with Nosedive into a park near the center of the city. Once they arrived he shook the mallard off his leg and tossed Jazz against a park bench.

“Alright mutant,” he pointed his mounted laser at Dive, “unless you’d like to see your new boyfriend bite the dust I suggest you agree to design a blueprint for the gateway generator.”

“Don’t do it Jazz!” Dive shouted.

“Silence you miserable whelp!” Dragonaus ordered.

Jazz looked over at Nosedive and then defiantly at Dragonaus, “And just who said he was my boyfriend?”

Dive laughed as smoke poured out the Saurian’s nostrils.

“Yeah, so we’ve slept together,” he chuckled, “so what?”

Jazz started to laugh too.

“This is no joke you brats!” Dragonaus roared and prepared to blast Dive.

“And I’m no slowpoke!” Jazz retaliated and darted over to save Dive before the blast hit home.

Nosedive opened his eyes to see himself zipping through the city back in the direction of The Pond with his feet two feet off the ground, “Whoa, this is the ONLY way to travel!” he joked.

“You said it cutie.” Jazz winked as she hauled the young drake through the city hoping she remembered how to get back to the rink.

Dragonaus was furious but at a serious speed disadvantage. Once again he had come up short and all because of the accursed Mighty Ducks! Growling he teleported himself back to the Raptor.

******

“Lucy we’re home!” Nosedive called as he and Jazz entered the Rec Room of The Pond where the team was suiting up to come after them.

“How’d you two give Dragonaus the slip so fast?” Duke inquired.

“Fast is right,” Dive chuckled, “Jazz here motored us home.”

“Well that’s good,” Wing sighed in relief, “we were about to come out looking for you.”

“Saved us a trip.” Mallory patted Jazz on the back.

“No problemo.” she smiled.

“Now back to the whole mutant issue.” Wildwing turned to Tanya and Duke bit his lower beak. “Care to explain why none of us knew about your little secret Tanya?”

Groaning Tanya crossed her arms and glared back, “Because it really wasn’t any of your business. You guys have your secrets and I have mine.”

“That’s not good enough Tanya.” Wing answered, “You know you can trust us. So why not own up to your past? Duke did and he’s better off for it.”

“Well I’m NOT Duke!” Tanya snapped shooting the gray mallard a look that could kill, “And Duke had no business blabbing to you guys about my mutation. If I wanted you to know I would’ve told you.”

“So why not just tell us?” Mallory persisted.

Shrugging Tanya replied coolly, “You never asked.”

“Well we’re asking now,” Wing continued, “Tanya, we wanna know about your past and your mutation. Everything.”

Sighing Tanya prepared herself for a long explanation, “Alright, here it is. Back on Puckworld there were all these girls from around the same generation that spontaneously discovered they were cat-duck mutants. This discovery took place anywhere from early childhood to teenage years. We basically have forms that include fur around our claws and paws (like hands and feet), cat ears, tails, and narrowing pupils in the bright light.”

“Whoa,” Nosedive muttered with a surprised whistle.

“There are 72 of us in all,” Tanya continued, “We eventually found each other and around the time there were about 13 or so of us we formed a mob known as The Pride. More and more joined and I was appointed leader. My best friend and lab partner---Ruby Dunshap---is second in command. For some odd reason there are no males with this particular mutation. We don’t know how to explain that. We are unable to pass the mutation to the next generation thankfully. Not many outside the mob know about our existence and to control the aggression that comes with our mutation we became jewel thieves.”

“Thieves?” Mallory echoed disdainfully.

“Hey, we’d rather purposefully attack trained security guards than lose control and assault innocent bystanders.” Tanya answered.

“I can see your point.” Wildwing added.

“There’s more.” Tanya moaned, “When Ruby and I were around 12 we discovered another twist to our mutations. The key being that we came across a group of alien cats called Felonians. They’re very similar to our species only these Felonians were in search of their duck mutant counterparts or ‘sisters’, that turned out to be us.”

“Freaky,” Dive whispered.

“Yeah well,” Tanya went on, “my counterpart is also the princess of Felonia, their home kingdom, Piyamari Fushya.”

“So you’re considered a royal there?” Duke asked.

“Pretty much,” Tanya answered. Producing the two crystal bracelets from beneath her black sleeves she held them up for the team to see, “I’ve been transporting there occasionally with these. Only one of Felonian blood can use them. And I can only get to Felonia and back with these.”

“Otherwise you could’ve just gone back to Puckworld,” Mallory summarized.

“Right,” Tanya answered, “and I possess a little magic which is the Felonians’ main power source. They use magic like we use electricity and such.”

“My kinda people.” Duke remarked.

“I’m still not speaking to you.” Tanya glared.

“What for?!” Duke questioned, he hated having Tanya ticked at him.

“I think that’s glaringly obvious,” Mallory smirked.

“Is this interrogation over now?” Tanya looked at Wildwing who nodded in reply.

Duke followed Tanya out into the hall struggling to catch up. “Tanya, wait!”

Spinning around she jeered at him, “What? Want some more info you can tell the others? Didn’t you think I would’ve told them on my own? And even if I didn’t, what gave you the right to blab?!”

Duke was taken aback by her sudden outburst, “Don’t ya trust us anymore sweetheart? I had to own up to my past, believe me, it’s better to have everything out in the open than a bunch of skeletons in your closet.”

“You’re nothing but a stool pigeon,” Tanya huffed.

“Hey now,” Duke stated offended, “I’m no stool pigeon kid. I just did you a favor. You’ll thank me later.”

“Yeah right,” Tanya headed for her room and sealed the door behind her.

“So I guess a date would be outta the question?!” Duke called hoping to be heard through the metal barrier.

After a few seconds he started heading back down the hall only to freeze when the door slid open…

________________________________________________________________________

*Mean place to stop? Maybe, just call me suspenseful, lol. ^_~ Hope to get some reviews!*

Part 9

Part 11