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Additionally, I don't own the Mighty Ducks. Disney does own the ducks, and they're not paying me. I'm not making money off of this story in any way. So don't sue me -- There's nothing for you to take anyway. :END DISCLAIMER
THE NEXT DAY:
Duke gulped down the rest of his scotch and reached for the bottle to refill his glass. Again.
He had to hand it to the humans -- They may be behind in a lot of things, but they made some damn good drinks.
~Think I need somethin' stronger, though.~
He frowned at his ice cubes.
~This can't be happening to me....~
He started on his third glass, only to nearly soak himself with it's contents when his com beeped. He snapped the offending device open violently.
"This better be important."
"Nice to talk to you, too, Duke."
The grey drake sat up suddenly and put his glass down on the side table.
~Thank DuCaine you can't smell a person's breath over a com....~
Outloud, he said, "Heh, oh, uh, sorry, Wing."
"....Right. Moving along... we need you to get up here and join us for that public appearance Phil told us about this morning."
Duke sighed. "Wing, this ain't really a good time..."
The image of Wildwing raised an eyebrow at him. "Look, Duke, none of the rest of us want to go either. Except maybe Nosedive... but we've got to keep our fans happy, you know? Now get up here. Wildwing out." Wildwing's face dissolved into static. Duke closed his com.
"Great. Just friggin' great. I hope to hell that I have a breathmint or somethin'....
Twenty-five minutes, and an entire pot of coffee later, Duke strolled into the ready room. "Alright, I'm here. Let's get this over with already." He avoided eye contact with the others, pretending to be interested in other things -- the computer readouts, the rivets in the floor, the fuzz on his black t-shirt.
"Uh... Duke, you feeling alright?"
Duke glanced up for a split second, then looked back down. "Fine. Why?"
Nosedive frowned. "I dunno, you've just been acting kinda weird. You disappeared right after the game last night and except for practice this morning, I haven't seen you around all day. You been holed up in your room all day or what?"
"Just had some things to think about, kid." ~Like how I can't stand bein' around you 'cause of what you do to me...~
Nosedive shook his head. "Whatever you say, man."
Mallory looked on with mild interest. Duke was acting pretty strangely, even for him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm FINE!" He snapped. "Back off, will ya?!?"
Mallory blinked at his outburst. The rest of the team stared at him like he'd grown a second beak. No one quite knew how to react to that.
Wildwing cleared his throat. "Um, yeah, well, let's get going, huh? If we're late, we're gonna have to listen to Phil's whining. More so than usual." He headed towards the door. "And Duke, I don't know what your problem is, but can the attitude while we're in public okay?"
Duke didn't respond as he followed the ohers out of the room. More than once, he had to force his attention away from the recurring thoughts he'd been plagued with since the night before.
~This just ain't fair... why me? Why now? This ain't supposed to happen to a guy like me...~
He managed to get through the autograph signing without drawing anymore unwanted attention to himself. For the most part, anyway. The glaring difference in his normal way of acting was certainly something his teamates wouldn't miss.
Nosedive was flabbergasted, to say the least. He kept busy with the many, many teenaged girls crowding around him, but still watched his older friend out of the corner of his eye. What on Puckworld was going on with that guy? Duke had always been a role-model for him -- heck, a lot of what he'd learned about charming the ladies he'd learned from watching the former thief.
But Dive just couldn't figure out what could have de-railed 'Mister Charming' himself. Normally, Duke would be practically falling all over himself to charm the female fans. As it was, he barely paid them the slightest attention. He'd sign autographs and answer the occasional question, but otherwise he was being unusually withdrawn. Between this and his earlier display, it was clear that something was very wrong. But what?
It was one mystery that would have to wait. The girls were demanding the youngest duck's attention. He turned back to them with a grin. "Relax, ladies, there's plenty of the Dive-man to go around!"
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