One Wish

Part One

    It was December in Anaheim, and the streets were filled with people doing last minute shopping or other errands. With Christmas being only a few days away, everyone seemed to be busy. Even Captain Comics seemed more crowded than usual. Nosedive sighed as he leaned with his arm on the counter.
     “Guys, what exactly is so big about this Christmas thing? I mean, I’ve heard the background story and all, but why is everyone so hyped about it?” he asked.
     Mookie responded, “Oh, Dive, It’s a magical holiday. It’s a chance for people to see family that they haven’t seen all year. People’s dreams come true on Christmas. They even say miracles can happen.”
     Dive looked at her quizzically, “What kind of miracles?”
     “Lots of kinds. People feel the magic as they fall in love or get engaged. People who are less fortunate may receive food or other donations from others who are in the spirit of giving. Sometimes, people wish for the impossible to happen, and then it does.”
     Thrash added in, “Oh, don’t listen to her. She was forced to watch to many Christmas specials as a child.”
     Nosedive smiled as Mook smacked Thrash upside his head. ”Dive, trust me. Christmas is important for a ton of people. Dreams can come true, and besides, the lights are totally cool.”
     “Well, thanks for the info. I gotta go before Wing freaks out at me for being late.”
     “Later, Dive,” Thrash called out as Dive left the shop with a stack of comics.

*****

     Dive’s thoughts kept drifting back to what Mook had said as he headed back to the pond on his Duckcycle. Did wishes really come true for Christmas? Dive had never celebrated Christmas; none of the ducks had. But something about it filled his heart with wonder. It wouldn’t hurt to wish for something that seemed impossible would it?
     All through his life, Nosedive and his brother Wildwing had faced one challenge after another. After their parents had died, both ducks had been forced to grow up rather quickly, Wing always on the constant lookout for his brother. And then after the Saurians took over Puckworld and they were sent to the camps, Dive lost his chance to be a kid. He regretted that more than anything, and he regretted that Wing had lost his youth even before he did.
     Dive glanced up at the sky as he headed into the Pond. The stars were shining brightly by now as they reflected in Dive’s eyes. It had been getting darker earlier everyday, but the stars were welcome to Dive. He looked up at them sadly.
     If only, he thought. I wish me and Wing could have had a real family with a real childhood. Then, realizing how serious he had been acting, shook his head to clear his thoughts. I wonder if Mallory found the “gift” I left in her room.
     As he walked into the Pond, Dive failed to notice a certain star shine brighter than all the others for a moment, and then die out.

*****

     Practice went very well for the ducks. Well, it went well if you didn’t count the fact that afterwards Mallory tried to kill Dive for scaring her with all of the fake spiders on her dresser. In order to save himself from her wrath, Dive had to lock himself in Wildwing’s room. Shaking his head in disbelief at his brother, Wing knocked on the door to his room.
     “Come on, Dive. It’s my room; let me in!” he said into the door.
     “Is Mallory around anywhere?” came the muffled reply.
     “No, she’s calmed down; she’s in watching a movie with Duke.”
     The door slid open so Wing walked in.
     “Lock the door back up, will ya?” Dive was lying on his stomach on his brother’s bed.
     “Sorry, but I think I’ll keep it unlocked. Mal won’t come after you as long as I’m in here.”
     “Well, then can I sleep in here with you, bro'? Please?!”
     Wing smiled at him, “Alright, I suppose.”
     “Thanks, bro'. You’re the best!”
     “Why, because I’m protecting you from your death?”
     The teen was about to protest that he could take care of himself when Wildwing attacked him, sending Nosedive into a fit of giggles. He tried defending himself from Wing’s tickling, but it was to no avail. Dive pleaded him to stop, which Wing finally did, only for Nosedive to go after him. But being bigger, Wing soon had the upper hand and their positions switched again. After several minutes of yelling for mercy, they both collapsed on the floor, out of breath.
     “We haven’t done that in a long time,” Wing commented after regaining his breath.
     “Yeah,” Dive replied, still breathing hard. “I miss spending time with you, bro.”
     “We’ll just have to try harder, that’s all. Maybe after Dragaunus is gone.”
     “Hey Wing?” Dive asked as he looked up at the ceiling.
     “Yeah?”
     “This Christmas thing that the humans keep talking about. Mook told me that Miracles can happen.”
     “Do you believe her?”
     “I’m not sure, but I guess we’ll find out. Is there anything you would wish would come true?”
     “Like what?”
     “I dunno. Like maybe we could have a real family when we go back to Puckworld.”
     Wildwing sat up slightly and looked over at his brother. “Dive, you know I’d never give you up for anything, right?”
     Nosedive shook his head, “That’s not what I meant. It’s just, even Phil’s going to leave for the holidays to spend time with his family. I just think that…”
     “Look, Dive. I know you don’t remember mom and dad very well, but we did spend time together. Is that what you mean? That you want more time with a family?”
     Dive finally looked straight into Wing’s eyes, “Yeah, I guess so.” He paused. “I’m not sure I remember what Mom and Dad used to do, but I miss the times when you would stay up with me and tell stories until I fell asleep.”
     Wing smiled at that, ”Or when you had nightmares and I stayed up all night with you, and then I had to stay home from school the next day because I was too tired to do anything?”
     “Yeah. It’s been a long time since that’s happened. You seemed to have more fun back then.”
     “I guess I just grew up. Well, you did too.”
     “That’s what I mean. I guess I wish that we had another chance to be kids again.” Nosedive sighed, and grabbed one of Wildwing’s pillows that had fallen on the floor next to him during the “fight”.
     “You know what, Dive? In a way, so do I.”
     They looked at each other for a few seconds, Nosedive finally losing eye contact as he covered his mouth from a yawn.
     “Oh, well. We can’t change the past, can we?”
     Wildwing grabbed the other that was on the floor. “Nope. If we could, we could have prevented the Saurian invasion from ever happening... or our parents would still be around.”
     “And maybe you could’ve gotten a girlfriend.”
     Wildwing glared at his brother. “Just kiddin’,” Nosedive decided that he couldn’t take anymore tickling for one night. He yawned again and closed his eyes.
     Wing reached over and shut the light off. He then took his pillow and laid down next to his brother on the floor.
     “Goodnight, baby bro'.”
     “’Night.”
     Wildwing listened as his brother’s breathing started to slow and even out, and as he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts turned towards his past. His last thoughts were in thinking that Nosedive was right; If only…

*****

     The next morning, Duke emerged out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. He frowned as he realized that he was the first one to get up. What happened to Wildwing? He’s normally the first one up, he thought. Passing by Nosedive’s room to go into the Ready Room, he noticed that the teen’s door was open and no one was inside. Ahh, must be brotherly bonding again, Duke realized. I’m surprised Wing is willing to keep him from Mallory. She almost killed him along with Dive last time.
     By the time it had reached 10:30, Duke was starting to wonder, though. All of the others were up, and Wildwing usually was up by now even if they had stayed up late. His curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to take a chance and knock on Wildwing’s door.
     “Wildwing? Nosedive? Are you in there?”
     Getting no response, he finally decided to come in anyway. He opened the door…
     …and walked in to receive the shock of his life. There, on the floor curled up next to each other, were two young ducklings.
     The slightly larger one must’ve heard Duke coming in, as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He had the same colored feathers, and the same eyes, as Wildwing. He was wearing Wildwing’s shirt, except that it was way too large for him. The young duck looked up at Duke and smiled shyly.
     The other one, that had to be Nosedive, sat up, noticing his brother’s movements, and looked up at Duke as well. With the same blond hair and the same sparkle in his eyes, even with the clothes about three times too big for him, there was no denying who the kid was.
     When Duke got over the initial shock, he opened up his comm unit. “Hey Tanya? Can you come down to Wildwing’s room? I think we have a slight problem here.”
     The young Nosedive suddenly hid behind his brother, obviously afraid of Duke. Not quite sure what to do, Duke bent down on one knee and smiled at the boys. “Hey there, guys. Don’t you know who I am?”
     Nosedive shook his head and then buried it into Wing’s side. The little Wildwing protectively moved so that he was in between Duke and his brother.
     “No, who are you?” Wildwing asked.
     Thinking quickly, he responded, “Why it’s me, your Uncle Duke.”
     Wildwing looked at him distrustfully, “We don’t have any uncles.”
     “Uncle Duke?” Nosedive perked up from behind Wing. “Aren’t you a bad guy in that gang?”
     Maybe they still have a few of their memories, or at least know of the Brotherhood. “Not anymore,” he replied. “We’ve been friends for a long time. Now we’re trying to stop that bad lizard, Dragaunus. Don’t you remember?”
     Wing and Dive shook their heads.
     “Are we at another orphanage? Is there other kids around?” Obviously Wing was the more talkative one.
     “Well, not exactly…” Duke was interrupted as Tanya came in through the doors and gasps.
     “Oh, stars…”
     “See what I mean, Tanya?”
     “But how…it’s scientifically impossible.”
     “Doesn’t look that way to me. “
     Tanya looked over at the little ducks, then back at Duke. “We’d better take them to the lab,” she said quietly, so only Duke would hear.
     Duke nodded, then turned back to the ducklings, “Okay, kids. You can come with Uncle Duke, and Aunt Tanya’s gonna check you out.” To Tanya after the look she gave him he added, “ What? I’m trying to keep from scaring them. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”
     To his surprise, he felt a small hand on his leg. Duke looked down and Nosedive was there, smiling shyly. Nosedive acting shy? he thought. That doesn’t seem right. But then again, seeing Nosedive as a young duckling wasn’t exactly right either. He decided to take a chance, so he reached down and picked up Dive. Wing looked on cautiously, as if waiting for Duke to try to do anything with his brother.
     Surprisingly, Dive didn’t protest, and seemed comfortable with Duke. “Is Aunt Tanya a doctor?” he asked.
     “Yeah, she is. Come on, Wing. You’re comin’ too.”
     He frowned slightly, but Wildwing reluctantly started to follow Tanya and Duke, with Nosedive's arms wrapped around Duke's neck, down the hallway.

*****

     As Dive and Wing sat in Tanya’s lab, Wildwing telling Nosedive a story with the little duck’s attention focused completely on him, the others were gathered around Tanya awaiting her explanation.
     “Well, actually I’m not sure what happened to them. I examined each of them. Both physically and mentally, Nosedive is an average four year old duck, and Wildwing is around six.”
     “That doesn’t make sense,” Mallory cut in. “Wildwing is about five years older than Dive.”
     “I, uh, took that into my, um, calculations. For some reason, now there is about a two and a half year difference between them,” Tanya shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
     “It’s got Dragaunus’s name written all over it,” Duke added.
     Grin spoke up, ”I don’t believe it was him. There is good karma present, and I don’t sense any bad vibes from this, as if it is meant to be.”
     When the other ducks gave him strange looks, Grin simply shrugged.
     “Anyway,” Tanya continued, “I’m not sure how to reverse the, uh, process. I’ll work on it, but I’m not posit… pos… there aren’t any guarantees on how long it will take to fix them.”
     “So for now we have two little ducklings to keep entertained. We don’t even have any clothes here in their size,” Duke commented.
     “You and Mallory can have that job. I’d help, but the proba… prob… chances of getting them back to normal would be better if I’m not worried about a couple of, um, kids around here,” said Tayna.
     “Thanks,” Mallory remarked sarcastically.
     At that moment, Nosedive started crying, bringing everyone’s attention towards him. Wildwing frowned at his brother as Dive jumped off of the cot they were sitting on and ran straight to Duke.
     “Wildwing, what did you do to your brother?” Mallory looked at him sternly, but not angrily.
     Wing glared back at her, “I can’t help it he’s a baby and gets scared of everything.”
     By now, Duke had picked up Nosedive, and he had stopped crying.
     “That’s not very nice, Wing. Why’d you go an’ scare your brother?” Duke asked him.
     “’Cause it’s easy to do. He knows I don’t mean nothin’ by it and he’ll get over it.”
     Mallory whispered to Tanya, “He sure has a bigger mouth than the Wildwing we know.”
     “Well, I guess he’ll grow out of it, then, right?” was her reply.
     “Hey,” Duke chimed in, “What are we gonna do ‘bout tonight’s game? They won’t be able to play.” He looked down at the duck in his arms. Duke was amazed that Dive would be so willing to come to him, especially since Wing had been the only one looking out for him his whole life.
     Wildwing gained a sudden interest in their conversation, “Hockey? Are you guys playing hockey? Can I play?”
     The other ducks looked at each other.
     “Are there any kids’ skates around here, like from when the rink was open to the public?” Duke had an idea which might keep the ducklings busy for awhile.
     “Phil would know,” Tanya answered. “Duke, you’re not thinking…”
     Duke shook his head, “No, of course not. We’ll have to cancel the game, but we could still take ‘em out on the ice for a while.”
     Mallory added, “If you guys want, I can go out to the mall and buy them some clothes, maybe a few toys or something.”
     “That’s a good idea. Who knows when and if I can, you know, change them back,” Tanya commented.
     Mallory nodded and headed off to take a Duckcycle. Have we really lost Wildwing and Nosedive for good? She thought. Who would be their new leader? No, she decided, driving the thought away. We’ll get through this. Dragaunus has dished out worst things at us than this.
     Down the hall she heard Dive and Wing complaining they were hungry, and Duke agreeing to make them something. She only heard part of whatever Tanya said, but it had thrown the ducklings into a fit of giggles.
     Then again, she thought, we’ve never babysat for a couple of little ducks before, either.

*****

     Mallory returned to the Pond with a couple of bags about an hour later. She set them down on a table in the Ready Room and went in search of her teammates. She decided to check the kitchen first, remembering the last thing she had heard before leaving. Upon entering, she burst out laughing at the scene before her.
     The kitchen was in complete and utter chaos. Contents of various items were spilled about everywhere. Dive and Wing must have decided to have a food fight, and apparently Duke had gotten stuck in the middle of it. Now, the little ducks were innocently munching on cheese and crackers.
     Duke glared at her and said, “Sure, they were hungry,” which only made Mallory laugh harder.  She had to dash behind the door, however, as she dodged the projectile Duke threw at her.
     “Well you can help me clean it up, since you think it’s so funny.”
     After making sure she was safe from getting hit, Mallory reentered the room, covering her mouth and taking deep breaths to keep from laughing again.
     Seemingly out of character for her, she smiled at the two ducklings. “When you’re done, I’ve got some new clothes for both of you on the table out there," she told them, pointing.
     “Really? Then can we go and play hockey?” Wing brightened up.
     “Sure, we can go up to the rink for a while, that is if ‘Uncle Duke’ found some skates for you.”
     Duke had already started cleaning things up and tossed a roll of paper towels to Mallory, “Actually, we decided to let Grin go and tell Phil what happened to them. He should be back with some skates any minute now.”
     “Where’s Tanya?” Mallory asked.
     “In her lab, tryin’ to find a way to get these two back to normal,” he pointed towards the two ducklings who were getting up and heading to where Mal had left the bags. He called to them as they left, “Hey, come back in here after you’ve changed; Make sure you help your brother if he needs it, Wing.”
     They nodded and left, Nosedive following right behind Wildwing.
     Mallory was finishing cleaning up the countertops. She smiled again for a moment, “Aren’t they cute?”
     Duke snorted, “Yeah, real cute. But they definitely act their age.”
     A short time later, Wing and Dive were back, both wearing smaller versions of their own jerseys. “Can we go now?” Wing asked impatiently.
     Duke looked at Mallory, “You just had to get those, didn’t you?”
     She looked back at him, “I couldn’t resist. Wait until you see what else I bought.”
     A thought suddenly came to Duke, “Hey Dive.” The little duck looked up at him. “You do know how to skate, right?”
     He nodded timidly, but Wing spoke for him, “He can skate, but someone has to hold his hand or he’ll fall down.”
     “That doesn’t sound too hard. Is that alright with you, Dive?” Duke asked.
     In response, Dive walked over next to him, already waiting for Duke to help him.
     “Let’s go find Grin before these two explode on us,” Mallory said.
     “Yeah! Hockey! Yay!” Wing was already on his way to the ice before anyone could stop him.

*****

     “Chameleon!” came a roar from down the hall of the Raptor.
     Chameleon rushed down the hall towards the main chamber. For once he didn’t mind telling Dragaunus what had happened.
     Upon entering, he morphed into Lurch from the Adams’ Family, “You rang?” he asked before returning to normal.
     “Chameleon, give your report, “ the Saurian overlord demanded.
     “Dragaunus, it’s all over the media. Something happened to Wildwing and his kid brother,” Chameleon held up a newspaper for him to see. Morphing into a news reporter, he added, “Apparently, for reasons yet to be determined, two of the Mighty Ducks were magically changed overnight into children. With the Duck’s goalie and leading scorer out of commission indefinitely, the leading team in the NHL has cancelled all of their games until further notice. More information will be given as it becomes available.”
     Dragaunus smiled evilly, “Wildwing has magically become a… child? This could be interesting…” he paused. “In fact, I think it could…Chameleon, get Wraith and Siege up here, now. Tomorrow shall be marked as the end of those accursed ducks, and the beginning of my global conquest.”
     He laughed evilly as the Chameleon turned to find the other two henchmen. I’d hate to be a duck for Christmas Eve, he thought.

*****

     Duke and Mallory leaned back against the couch, relaxing. They watched as Wildwing and Nosedive sat on the floor, playing with a board game Mallory had bought for them. It was a rather simple game, but they seemed to be enjoying it.
     They had found Grin, with two smaller pairs of skates and an extremely devastated Phil, and had spent most of the afternoon on the ice with the two ducklings. Nosedive was slightly intimidated by Grin, so Grin and Mallory went with Wildwing, shooting pucks easily for him so he could learn how to block them. Duke had taken Nosedive to the other end of the rink, the little duck perfectly content to practice skating around the ice. After some time, Duke was even able to let go of Nosedive’s hand without him falling over.
     Tanya had taken a short break from her work to watch from the sidelines and cheer both of them on. Except when Nosedive looked over to her and waved, he had lost his balance and went sliding across the ice. It had scared him more than anything else, but after Duke had calmed him down again, Dive had decided he’d had enough skating for one day.
     “Wing, it’s my turn to go first,” Dive whined.
     “No, it’s not. I get to go first,” Wing argued back.
     “Do not!”
     “Do too!”
     “Do not!”
     “Do too!”
     “Okay,” Mallory broke in, holding her head. “Wing, why don’t you let Dive go first this time, and then you can go first next time?”
     “’Cause I… well… oh fine,” he sighed in defeat. But then he brightened up, thinking of something, “But I get to pick what we do next.”
     “Okay, Wing.” Dive obviously adored his brother, Mallory had noticed, and it seemed that he’d agree willingly to almost anything he said.
     As they resumed their game, Mallory slumped back against the couch, Duke giving her an amused look.
     “I’ve decided that I never want to have kids,” she told him, making Duke chuckle lightly.
     “What? Don’t you think this is fun?” he asked.
     “You’re just enjoying it because Nosedive likes you," she replied.
     “Yeah, I’m not sure I understand that. From what they’ve said in the past, Wildwing was the only one who ever cared about him. It might be that’s he’s too little now to remember what happened before, but I figured he’d never willingly leave his brother’s side.”
     Mallory sighed, “It’s a mystery, I suppose.”
     “Like how this ever happened in the first place? I mean, they were both fine yesterday, and when I saw them this morning…”
     “Let’s not worry about how it happened. Hopefully Tanya will figure it out, and then she can fix them.”
     “Hey, why’d it get so quiet all of a sudden?”
     Both ducks looked over and suddenly realized that Dive and Wing were both gone.
     “Oh, no,” Mallory’s headache returned to her. “They could be anywhere in the Pond by now.”
     “Well, let’s start looking before they get too far away,” Duke suggested.
     They stood up and were about to split up when they heard a yell come from Tanya’s lab.
     “Something tells me we don’t need to,” Mallory sighed.
     A few seconds later, Tanya burst through the door, covered in silly string, one giggling little duck in each hand.
     “Now I know where Dive gets his pranks from; his brother,” Tanya huffed. “I think you two can stay in here, so I can get you back to, uh, normal.”
     “Wildwing did it?” Duke questioned her.
     “Yeah. Actually, I think he just took Nosedive along for the ride. And don’t even ask what he, uh, did.”
     She left, and Wing and Dive started laughing harder.
     “Wildwing pulling pranks?” Duke smirked.
     “Well, it proves that they’re related,” she said pointing to the ducks now rolling on the floor, enjoying themselves.
     Duke didn’t respond, lost in his own thoughts. Now what are we going to do with them?

*****

     Tanya yawned as she walked into the kitchen. She found Duke and Mallory sitting at the counter drinking sodas (Duke without coffee?) and talking quietly.
     “Aren’t you two in charge of, you know, babysitting?” she asked them.
     “Well yeah, but Nosedive fell asleep while we were watching a movie, so we just made Wildwing go to bed with him,” Duke answered her. “But we seem to have a problem.”
     “With what?” Tanya didn’t think the ducks could use any more problems.
     “It looks like some reporter found out about the real reason why we cancelled the game tonight. It’s in all the news reports,” Mallory told her. “Like we need the public getting involved with this right now.”
     “Great,” Tanya slumped down in a chair next to them.
     “Any progress?” Mallory questioned.
     “Not even slightly. I’m not sure what to do, since it’s like, um, nothing I’ve ever worked with before. But I’ll keep trying; we can’t give up yet.” Tanya yawned.
     “I think we could all use some sleep though, “ Duke noted.
     Tanya nodded, ”So what are you two doing tomorrow?”
     Mallory replied, “Well, it is Christmas Eve tomorrow, so Duke thought we could have Wing and Dive help us decorate the Pond with all of the Christmas decorations Phil brought over the other day.”
     “Yep, and hopefully we won’t run into any more problems. Like what if Dragaunus attacks or somethin’?” Duke comments.
     Mallory looked over at him, ”Don’t even mention Lizard Lips. All I can say is that hopefully he’s on a Christmas vacation or we may have some major trouble.”


Part 2

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