Choices

Wildwing looked out of the Migrator’s window in silence, occasionally scanning the surrounding area with the mask. He hadn’t trusted himself with driving, since his mind was racing with a huge flood of emotions, so he had allowed Tanya to drive, satisfied with sitting in the passenger’s seat.

They had been driving for what seemed like days to Wildwing, but were really only a few hours. They had checked out the park and had found no trace of the Saurians. Not knowing where to go next, they starting scanning the surrounding area and were slowly making their way outwards. Their masked leader was starting to get frustrated, and he hoped something would turn up soon.

He was still trying to figure out how all of this could’ve happened. It was clear to him that Canard had been changed against his will... Now it was simply a matter of figuring out how. If he ended up talking to Canard, would he be able to get through to him, to snap him out of whatever it was he’d fallen into..? He strongly hoped so. And if he was able to get his best friend back, it would be that much easier to get his brother back too...

Unknown to him, the others kept giving Wildwing quick, worried glances. Mallory kept fidgeting; the sitting around was starting to get to her. She felt sorry for him, for what his mind was going through, but she also knew that there wasn’t much any of them could do until they found something, anything, that would make her feel more useful than she felt at the moment.

If only they could find a clue...

Duke was fiddling around with his saber. He tried to make it look like he was adjusting something here or there, but it was actually just something for his hands to do. Still deactivated, he eventually just started switching it from hand to hand. He sighed softly. This wasn’t getting them any closer to finding Dragaunus or the kid.

The gray mallard was about to say something to Wildwing when the Migrator suddenly seemed to go spinning out of control. Tanya cried out in alarm, and Wildwing looked over at her.

“Tanya, what is it?” he asked.

“T-The Migrator just stopped responding!” she replied, trying to regain control of the vehicle.

“Is there anything you can do to fix it..?”

“I’m working on it...” Tanya said as she continued to try and figure out the problem.

“Can ya work on it any faster?!” Duke called out as his eyes became fixed on the view out the front windshield, “’Cause otherwise I’m not sure we’ll be movin’ for very long..”

The others focused their attention on the sight in front of them as well.

A couple of gasps were made and eyes widened as they saw that the Migrator was steadily approaching the side of a brick building. And unless they could turn or slow down soon, collision would quickly become inevitable. And as Wildwing was finding out, they still had next to no control on stopping or turning, so that meant...

“Hang on!” Wildwing called out as he and the others braced for impact...

...And then something strange happened. Just as fast as the Migrator had gone out of control, it quickly somehow became unlocked again. Tanya slammed down on the brakes, trying to swerve out of the way, but by then it was too late. Instead of a head-on collision with the wall, however, the wheels had turned the vehicle enough to make it spin sideways. It still slammed hard into the wall, but without nearly as much force or as much damage as it would have.

There was silence for a period of time. Then Wildwing slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked.

A few groans and complaints came as his answer, so he knew it wasn’t fatal, at least.

“What happened..?” Mallory asked. “The Migrator’s never acted like that before..”

Wildwing’s comm beeped out of nowhere before anyone could say anything else. His eyes widened a little. Maybe Nosedive had escaped and was trying to call them! Or maybe...

He activated the comm, strongly hoping to see his brother’s face. But instead, a completely different person came onto the screen.

“Did you like the little surprise I set up for you?” Canard asked, amusement in his voice. “Tanya’s machine is definitely a nice piece of work, but it didn’t take me too long to add a certain extra component to it..”

“What do you want from us?” Wildwing asked somewhat coldly.

“Actually... Just you. Alone.”

Wildwing blinked, “Me?”

“Exactly. I’m going to send you some coordinates in a minute, and I expect you to be there exactly one hour from now. And if the others come, I can promise that you won’t find out anything about your precious little brother until it’s too late, “ Canard smiled evilly again.

Wildwing remained silent for a moment. It was probably a trap that Dragaunus had set up, but he didn’t want to take the chance of something happening to Nosedive.

He finally nodded, “I’ll be there.”

“I knew you would be... Remember, in one hour, alone.”

Canard’s face disappeared from the comm, and seconds later the promised coordinates were sent.

The team captain sighed as he looked back at the others, who had now all basically recovered from the collision with the building. He gave a curious glance to Tanya, who seemed to have started working on something.

“Tanya?” he asked quietly.

She didn’t answer him right away, remaining focused on what she was doing.

The others watched her curiously for a minute, hoping she had an idea to solve something.

“I-I’ve discovered the Raptor’s location!” she announced finally.

“You did?” Mallory asked.

Tanya nodded, “Canard would need the Raptor’s main system to send those coordinates, so by using his signal, I could, uh, figure out where that source was coming from. I-It must be the Raptor!”

“Way to go, Tanya,” Wildwing nodded back, looking at the information she had found. “It’s in the opposite direction of where he wants me to go..” He paused, thinking for a moment. “..Duke, I want you and Mallory to go check it out. If it’s the Raptor, and you feel comfortable enough getting in, try to see if you can find Nosedive. Otherwise, contact us for backup and stay out of sight.”

Duke and Mallory both nodded in understanding, and Wildwing turned back to Tanya, “Tanya, how bad do you think the damage is to the Migrator?”

“Not too bad,” she answered, “It shouldn’t take too long to, uh, fix it.”

“Good. Then you and Grin should stay here and see how much you can get repaired. This place looks deserted to me, so I doubt there will be any humans to question you...” He paused again, a look of determination on his face. “I’m going to see what I can do about Canard.”

*****

Creeping through the lower depths of the Raptor was something that even a former thief such as Duke L’Orange wouldn’t want to be caught doing without good reason. But he supposed that going in search of a teammate who had been locked up and suffering through who knows what was more than a good enough reason for him.

It hadn’t been too hard to find it. The Raptor had been basically in the exact spot that Tanya had said it would be... It was so nice when Tanya was right. And there hadn’t been any sign of drones outside, so Duke had used his masterful skills to get him and Mallory inside.

“I don’t know about you,” Mallory commented next to him, “but I wouldn’t mind just finding Nosedive and getting out of here.”

“I’m with ya there, sweetheart,” Duke replied. “This place is definitely not one that I’d like ta spend time in.”

Mallory nodded in return, her eyes scanning the area for anything unusual.

The corridors weren’t very well lit, showing that the Saurians probably didn’t come down there very often. The smell wasn’t exactly the greatest either, and Duke, slightly queasy, decided that he didn’t blame them for not wanting to hang around.

They had been searching this level for quite some time, and Duke was just about to suggest that they head down to the next one when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t tell what it was because of the poor lighting, but he was fairly sure it looked like the form of someone.

“Nosedive?” he called out, stopping in his tracks.

Mallory stopped as well, “Do you see him?”

“I think so,” he replied. “I’m not sure. He’s not moving if it is.”

Duke made his way to the figure on the floor, realizing that there were bars in-between the form and himself. Upon closer inspection he discovered where it was locked at, which he easily opened in a matter of seconds.

“Dive? Is that you?” he asked as he stepped through the door into the small cell, Mallory right behind him.

Getting no response, he carefully crouched down next to the still figure. He kept his one hand close to his saber, afraid that this whole set-up might be a trap. He then reached out with his other hand and touched the seemingly lifeless form. When the figure slowly lifted his head up to look back at him, Duke found himself holding back a curse of surprise.

It was Nosedive alright, but his condition was the shocking part. His eyes contained a very haunted look, as if his very soul had been pulled from him. He had some bruises here and there, probably from his encounter with Canard from before, but otherwise didn’t seem to be physically harmed. But those empty eyes would have bothered even the most dispassionate of people.

“Shit, kid, what have they done to ya?” Duke managed to say after a minute.

Nosedive didn’t reply. He just continued to look at Duke blankly, as if he didn’t even recognize the gray mallard.

“We better get him out of here,” Mallory stated quietly. “It doesn’t look like he could handle much confrontation or fighting right now.”

Duke acknowledged her with a nod, not taking his eyes off of Nosedive.

“Come on, kid,” he said gently, placing a hand on Nosedive’s shoulder. “Let’s take you back ta the Pond, okay?” He wasn’t even sure the teenager would understand his words, but he knew that he had to at least try.

Nosedive blinked, as if waking up from a dream or something.

“N-No,” he stammered, his voice breaking a little from not using it in a while.

Duke’s eyes widened a little in surprise, “What?”

“N-No,” Nosedive repeated, ”L-Leave me h-here.”

“I don’t think so, kid,” Duke told him sternly. “Why would you ever want to be left here?”

“P-Please,” Nosedive whispered, “I wanna be with Wing again…”

“Nosedive, staying here won’t get ya back ta Wildwing.”

“Yes it w-will… Not too much l-longer now… Then you won’t have to w-worry about me anymore…” Nosedive started to relax, slowly closing his eyes.

Duke grabbed both of the teen’s shoulders, shaking him lightly, “No! Kid, stay with me! Don’t think like that!”

Nosedive didn’t respond, but he did open his eyes again. Then he started to tremble. He was obviously terribly upset, and it hurt the other two to see him this way.

Mallory kneeled down next to both of them, trying not to look worried. This was not the Nosedive she knew, and the sooner they got him out of there, the better.

“We could just lift him up and carry him,” she suggested. “He doesn’t seem to be in much of a condition to walk on his own.”

Duke nodded in agreement, moving closer to Nosedive, “Okay. I’ll take this side and you take that side.”

As the two ducks started to move in to pick him up, Nosedive started to struggle. He was weak from being imprisoned and from the drugs that had been given to him, however, and it wasn’t very hard for Duke and Mallory to restrain him. They started off back down the corridor, and Nosedive kicked and squirmed a little, but neither duck was willing to let go of him.

“P-Please,” Nosedive whined softly, “I wanna go back and be with Wing… Just l-leave me here…”

Duke’s heart broke to hear such things coming from the usually carefree teenager, but he said nothing, figuring that his words would be of no help, and continued onwards.

Nosedive finally gave up after a short time, going limp in their arms as he started to sob softly, even though his eyes no longer contained tears. Mallory and Duke briefly shared a sad look.

Kid, I don’t know what they did to ya, Duke thought, but whatever it was, those pathetic Saurians are gonna be sorry for this!

*****

Tanya was starting to get worried. Duke and Mallory had been gone for a long time now, and Wildwing for even longer. She hoped that everything was okay... She glanced over at Grin, who now was in what looked to be a deep meditation, but she couldn’t tell for sure. One could never really tell with Grin.

They had found that the engine had basically remained in tact even after the impact, so it hadn’t taken much work at all for the two of them to repair it. There was some damage done to the exterior where it had hit, but it had no impact on the running of the vehicle, and decided that it was best left for after they returned to the Pond.

She was just about to say something to Grin when she noticed a couple of figures half-carrying a third figure and approaching from the distance. It must be them! Standing up, she went outside and started to head towards them, wondering if they needed any help.

As they started to get closer, Tanya became certain that it was Duke and Mallory, and they had Nosedive in-between them. She was surprised when she noticed his appearance, how devastated he looked and how his head hung limply as he was pushed onward, as if...

Duke waved at her, letting her know that they had spotted her, so Tanya waved back in acknowledgement. They started heading more in a straight direction towards her as they gently encouraged Nosedive, telling him they were almost there. Tanya noticed right away that he wasn’t responding in a way that he should have been... What had happened to him?

The scientist had to keep herself from reacting to Nosedive when they reached her. He looked so different in such a short amount of time, his head hung down as he allowed himself to be moved, no emotion showing on any of his features.

“We need to bring him into the Migrator,” she said softly, not knowing if the teen had heard her or not.

Duke nodded, bringing his attention back on Nosedive, “Okay, kid, we’re gonna take ya inside, and then you can just relax, alright?”

It was then when Nosedive seemed to suddenly realize what was going on. He lifted his head up, fear suddenly evident in his eyes.

“N-No,” he whispered, his whole body starting to tremble, “T-Take me back...”

Duke tightened his grip on the teen a little, “Come on, kid, it’ll be okay... We’re just gonna have to wait ‘til Wildwing comes back, that’s all.”

Nosedive started to struggle again, panic becoming more evident in his voice, “N-No! D-Don’t..!”

Mallory blinked in surprise, not quite expecting him to struggle like this.. What was going on in his mind to make him act this way?

The teen was suddenly doing everything in his power to pull away from them, struggling and crying out with whatever energy he had left. The others weren’t quite sure how to handle him. He was obviously not thinking straight, but without Wildwing being there, could they even get through to him?

They were having trouble restraining him now, but they didn’t want to hurt him, either.

“Tanya, can’t ya do anythin’ to help him?” Duke asked.

“Not much. I don’t want to sedate him or anything s-since we don’t know what Dragaunus did to him yet,” Tanya explained.

That was when Grin stepped in, taking over for Duke and Mallory. Nosedive struggled against him, too, but with Grin’s firm, but gentle, grip, there wasn’t any way he’d be going anywhere.

“Little friend, let us help you,” Grin begged him.

“Nosedive.. “ Duke said gently, “It’s gonna be okay, I promise!”

“N-No, it’s not! I-It’s not okay! It’ll n-never be okay again..!” Somehow Nosedive had found more tears inside of him and was crying again.

“Why not?” Mallory asked him, “Wildwing’s going to be here soon.."

“N-No he’s not! Q-Quit lying! Y-You all know he’s not..!”

Duke blinked, “What makes you say that, kid?”

“H-He’s gone..! A-And you all know it by now! S-So stop pretending he’ll be back..” Hurt was even more evident on the teen’s face now.

“Oh, Nosedive.." Tanya whispered.

“Canard.. H-He.. He..” With that, Nosedive collapsed into sobs, unable to handle it anymore. Grin continued to hold him, and the others watched him sadly.

“B-Bring him in the Migrator, Grin,” Tanya said softly. “I want to see if I can figure out what happened to him.”

*****

Things were still reeling through Wildwing’s mind as the mallard headed down the street on his blades. He was going to have to face someone that had taken over his best friend, and it wasn’t going to be easy. But he knew it was what he must do, whether he was ready for it or not.

He was mostly paying attention to his surroundings, though, wanting to be able to find his way back to the Migrator again. He was definitely moving out farther from the city. It was more open here, and it appeared to be completely deserted. Wildwing wasn’t sure whether this was a good sign or not, but he strongly hoped that either way, this whole mess could be fixed soon.

Wildwing didn’t want to admit it, but on the inside he was scared, almost terrified even. Scared of the possibility of losing his brother for good, scared of never having his real best friend back after thinking that they would be together again. But he was mostly afraid of failing, of letting both of them down, knowing it would be his fault that it even happened. Deep down he knew that Dragaunus was really the one responsible for all of this, but his conscience still managed to get the better of him somewhat.

He was getting closer to reaching the specified coordinates now. It was definitely deserted, with hardly any buildings in sight. It was mostly grassy, with a few trees here and there, and one two-lane highway that obviously wasn’t traveled very much. Canard must be trying to get him out into the open, so that he wouldn’t be able to rely on much to help him.

He just hoped he’d be able to help Canard without having to do anything drastic.

Wildwing stopped in approximately the right spot, an area with several trees clustered close by. Not seeing anything, he figured that Canard wasn’t there yet. Maybe he could use that to his advantage...

“Glad you could make it,” said a voice from behind him.

Wildwing spun around, instantly on his guard, “Canard!” So much for that thought.

The tan mallard emerged from the shadows of the trees, chuckling, “It really is amazing how someone like you managed to survive against Dragaunus for so long... You’ve sort of become a pain in his side, somehow continuing to keep him from winning. But no more...”

Wildwing had tensed up considerably. He gave Canard a hard look, but on the inside his mind was spinning with possibilities of coming up with a way of helping his friend.

“Why can’t you tell me where my brother is?!” he asked. “Canard, something’s wrong! Let me help you..”

“Wrong? With me? I think you’re mistaken... I’m better than ever now.” The tan mallard smiled at him. “As I said before, I’ve seen a new way of things. The better side of things. I must have been so stupid before.."

“Of course not! Dragaunus has messed with your thinking, and if you let me help you.."

“There isn’t anything I need help with,” Canard said, annoyed.

Wildwing sighed. This might take a while.

*****

Back at the Migrator, Tanya sighed as she draped the blanket she had pulled out over Nosedive, whom she had just gotten to fall asleep. He seemed to be a little cold, but that was a very easy fix.

Fixing his mind, however...

“So what’s the diagnosis, doc?” Duke asked. He had been watching Tanya calm down Nosedive after the whole incident, and he was starting to worry about the teen even more now.

“Not too good,” she said quietly, moving away from Nosedive so she wouldn’t disturb him. “I’ll have to study the blood sample I got from him, but it looks like Dragaunus has been using something to, like, manipulate h-his mind, and make him think Wildwing is dead.”

“How could he have done that?” Mallory wondered, who had been pacing back and forth anxiously for some time now.

“Well, it’s probably the same thing they used to brainwash Canard, too. It probably involved, uh, either a form of drugs or some of Wraith’s magic, or more than likely both.”

Duke gave another look towards Nosedive, “So how do we get our Nosedive back?”

Tanya sighed, “He needs Wildwing, and soon. As long as he, you know, thinks Wildwing is gone, he isn’t going to have much of a will to live. A-And I don’t think anything we say is going to convince him otherwise.”

“So what do we do in the meantime? Just watch as he tries to tear himself apart inside?” Duke’s anger and frustration was unmistakable in his words.

“T-There’s not much we can do, Duke. Just hope that Nosedive will hang in there, and that Wildwing will, you know, get back here soon.”

*****

“Come on, Canard, think! Think about what you’re doing! This isn’t you... You’re not the best friend that I grew up with anymore, that led us to Dragaunus’s base on Puckworld to stop the Saurians from taking over...” Wildwing looked over at him with concern, hoping to find any trace of the real Canard in his features.

He thought he might have seen a brief glimpse of the old Canard at that, but it didn’t last for more than a split-second.

Maybe.. If he said the right thing at the right time...

Suddenly Wildwing’s comm beeped, so he had to look away from Canard to answer it.

“What’s happening?” he asked, seeing that Duke was the one contacting him.

“We’ve got the kid,” Duke announced, “But he’s not doing too hot right now.. Kinda freaked out on us. We think Wraith did somethin’ to him.”

Wildwing paled a little when he heard that. “Nosedive..” he whispered. “Where is he now?”

“We’re pretty sure he’s asleep for the moment, but Tanya doesn’t want to sedate him or anythin’, and if he wakes up before you get back here...” Duke shook his head. “Wildwing, he thinks you’re dead.”

“H-He does?!” The mallard’s eyes widened. “But why would he..?”

“They screwed up his mind, too,” Duke sighed. “We’ve been doin’ all we can, but without you here..”

At that moment Wildwing felt a pang of guilt. If Nosedive needed him, then he had to go to him. But he was so close to getting through to Canard, he could feel it. A few more minutes wouldn’t make that much of a difference, would it..?

Wildwing nodded after a moment, “I-I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After shutting off his comm, he looked back at Canard, who was now leaning against a tree in boredom.

“I’m sure that your planned speech is just wonderful and everything, but I’ll tell you that it’s worthless, since nothing you can say will convince me that I’m wrong.." he smirked. “So what’s it going to be? Are you going to make me listen to your pointless beliefs any longer?”

Wildwing sighed. He had a really big choice to make now, and either way would be difficult for him.

Nosedive needed him, especially if the Saurians had done something to him similar to Canard. His brother was probably scared and confused, and he had promised not to let Nosedive down ever again after what had happened in the camps on Puckworld.

But then again, he felt as though he’d already let Canard down, too. He couldn’t stop his friend from going into limbo, and he hadn’t stopped Dragaunus from getting to his mind, either. If he gave up on Canard now, what kind of a friend would he be?

But his family and duties of being a brother should come first, right?

And then again, Nosedive had all of the others with him. If he left, Canard would be completely on his own again, influence or no influence from Dragaunus.

He didn’t know what to do. Should he leave his little brother without him for a little longer, or face the possibility of turning his back and not being able to help his closest friend..?