Stivz: The Duck with the Silver Mask
Part 3 of 4
Everyone had finished breakfast, and their morning practice was over. All the Ducks were seated in the Rec. Room.
"well?" asked Nosedive. "How did you get here, and how did you make that silver mask of yours?"
Stivz took a deep breath and looked at all the Ducks. They were all leaning on every word that was about to come out of his mouth. Wildwing sat across from him, polishing his own mask with a damp handrag.
"Well," Stivz began. "Here I go."
"A year ago, I was a citizen of PuckWorld just like you guys were. I had a degree in bioengineering, and was an expert in electronics, and I had a great job in the Capital Market Square repairing damaged technology. I had also enrolled in the PuckWolrd reserve. I would always put everything down in the call of duty. One day, long before Dragonous attacked, Lucrecia DeCoy was a local terrorist. She planted an explosive in one of the nearby federal buildings. I was the only one in the area when the building exploded, so the authorities arrested me. I was tried for treason and terrorism, and convicted by a jury of enraged Ducks who wanted to get even on anyone. Later, I was banished from PuckWorld to a nearby moon in the PuckWorld system.
"When my spacecraft was on its way to the moon, I managed to use the cellular monitor on board to tap into PuckWorld's communication satallites. I could then see everything that went on in PuckWorld, even you guys. Unfortunately, when my ship crashed on the moon, Dragonous had just decloaked and was headed towards PuckWorld. When I repaired the monitor from the crash, I saw the damage that he caused. I became enraged. I also saw on the monitor that Canard had found the mask of Drake DuCaine, which got me thinking. I could also make a mask. So, I started gathering shape metal and small electronics from my own ship and other ships that had crashed there before. With wires that I had collected, I made the electronic plate in the beak, and built the silver around it.
"The mask works exactly like yours does, Wildwing," Stivz added. "Except for one thing."
Stivz pressed a button on his WristCom, and the mask magically appeared on his beak. Stivz took off the mask. "My mask dissappears when I don't need it and appears only in battle or when I press this button for it."
The Ducks stared at the new mask.
"So," Duke cut in. "How did you get to Earth?"
Stivz smiled. "I'm glad you asked.
"You see, I worked on the mask day and night for months. During that time, Canard and his resistance were giving Dragonous problems. Finally, you all went out there and took the Master Tower by storm, and when I saw on the monitor that you were chasing Dragonous off PuckWorld, I decided to tag along as well.
"The authorities back on PuckWorld only put enough fuel in my ship to get me to the moon, but no more. I had to look for a new power source, fast. I found a power core in another wrecked shiip with Bulyerium Crystals, so I quickly installed that engine into my flyable spacecraft. I soon started up the engines and lifted off the moon, and sped off after you guys. By that time, you were already on the other side of the Dimensional Gateway Dragonous had created. But Dragonous doesn't know one thing, the Dimensional Gateway remains open for exactly one minute after the first object makes it to the other side, so I had plenty of time to make it to the other side. When I did find the other side, I found myself here in beautiful Anaheim. My ship landed in the mountains."
Mallory spoke. "So, if you followed us here, why did you wait so long to finally come and find us?"
Stivz sighed. "Well, first of all I had to finish work on the mask. It took me forever to build, and it took me even longer to make the dissappearing feature work. One thing I had to do first, was to make a weapon. I ripped off a panel from inside the ship and found two puck cannons. I dismantled the cannons and made a totally new gun. I constructed the double-barreled, rapid-fire puck rifle. The rifle needs recharging after every thirty pucks are fired. I survived off the food supply that the authority gave me. Until a few weeks ago, my rations were getting low, so I had to make a decision to either join you guys, or move to other place where I couldn't be mistaken for you all. Before I made the decision, I needed a vehicle. I payed a little visit to an illegal stolen car "ring". I made a surprise attack and chased all the cooks out of the complex. I picked out a new model truck and erased all the model numbers and identification tags. I gave it a new paint job, and a few extra "features". So, nervously, I decided to visit the Pond. That's when I met up with your manager, Phil. He told me that you all were out, but he didn't know where you were. I used the mask to follow your tire tracks, which led me to the foothills.
"After I spotted the Raptor with my mask, I entered quietly and made my way through the dark hallways and corridors. I finally came upon the entrance to the holding chamber. I stuck my head around the doorway to see right when Dragonous destroyed the mask. I choked. I turned around to see the Chameleon and Wraith returning to the holding chamber with the hunter drones. I carefully moved back into the shadows. My first instinct was to make a little noise, so a charged my puck rifle by cocking it. The sound of the puck engine warming up attracted Chameleon's attention, and right when he turned in my direction, I fired.
"Which brings me to where Dragonous and I squared off, and which brings me to the present."
The Ducks eased back into their seats and sighed.
"You went through all that trouble," Wildwing gulped. "Just to help us?"
"Well," Stivz grinned. "I really wanted to be part of the team."
"You sure made one hell of a first impression." laughed Tanya. All the Ducks laughed. Except for Wildwing, he was pondering something.
"Wait a second." he said. The Ducks fell silent. Stivz looked up at him.
"What's up?" he asked.
"About your ship."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Didn't you just say that it was powered by bulyrium crystals?"
What about Stivz's ship?? Click here to find out!
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