Face in the Mirror Chapters 1 and 2
Face In the Mirror Alpha-Centauri Chronicles Book 2 A Loonatics Unleashed Fan Fiction By Pyry Cole This is a free Fan Fiction, if you've paid to read it, you're nuts. The Characters and world do not belong to me, and are used without the permission of their creators.
Chapter One: Not so alone Duck sat at a small desk his hands running through the jet black feathers on the top of his head. The frustration on his face was evident, something many would associate to the "Game Over" screen on the handheld sitting on the table before him. However, his thoughts were elsewhere this time. He just sat there thinking about what he had seen this morning. This was a chore in itself, as he had to grit his teeth through the abhorrent sounds of Slam's snoring. The super-powered snores of the Tasmanian devil in the top bunk could probably wake Beethoven himself. He decided to leave the room, taking advantage of the soundproofing in the halls and just sat in a corner near the stairs to the upper deck. Finally alone with his thoughts, Duck began to reflect on what had happened earlier. He didn't want to believe it, that those two were together now. But the more he thought, the more apparent it had become. They were the only ones who understood each-other. So there he sat, thinking, two more team-mates hooked up, making yet another happy couple. Now he was the only one who was alone. Ace and Lexi were an item, things don't get much more obvious. Even Slam found a nice girl. In fact, she was pretty much the only thing other than food on his mind since they took off. But now, Tech and Rev. They really were quite a match, and even Duck knew that, but he didn't want to. They were both guys, which made things a bit uncomfortable for him. But that was minor compared to the fact that he now felt incredibly and undeniably alone. There was no way he was going to get much attention now. "This is great, just great, everyone else gets shacked up, and I'm out in the cold, Despicable!" He thought to himself. Sadly he hadn't even his infatuation with Misty Breeze to keep his mind hopeful. He still remembers the sting of seeing the announcement on the television, "Weather girl Misty Breeze, to be wed to the Channel Eleven superstar, Tom Twister". Things didn't look well for the prospect of a relationship with anyone he knew. Most girls found him too self-centered, even the fact that he was a superhero wasn't enough to keep them interested for long. If that didn't make things bad enough, his seventeenth birthday was coming up in a few weeks, and he was certain that everyone would be too busy with each-other to remember him. He just sighed and curled up, pulling his knees closer to his chest and letting his head droop. The young mallard drifted off to sleep, dwelling on his thoughts. He started to resent them all, having someone to care for them, even, to love them. He was stirred from his sleep by the sensation of movement. Duck had become slightly more aware as he continued to move, and could feel that he was being carried in a pair of arms. There was little else he could tell, but he was happy to have a little attention, and too tired to care. He could hear the door to his and slam's quarters opening, and was immediately disturbed by a thunderous torrent of snores. The young mallard still tried to feign sleep through the clamor. The door was quickly shut, sealing off the abysmal sound, and a familiar voice said, "Yeesh! No wonda' he went ta sleep aught here... but sleepin' on da flo' ain't good fer 'im." Ace carried the black feathered avian to his and Lexi's quarters. When the door popped open, a tired looking Lexi was sitting up in one of the beds, her tan-orange fur contrasting with the pink and baby blue pajamas she was wearing. She looked at Ace, and the tired duck in his arms. "Huh" she began "what's going on ace?" The gray furred bunny responded, "I went ta get some wata and found 'im sleepin on the flo'." "Aww... isn't that cute? But why didn't you bring him in his own room?" Lexi responded Ace's rebuttal was simple "If ya hoid slam ya'd understand." He said, tucking the "sleeping" mallard into his own bed. Lexi took note of this and spoke, "But... where will you sleep Ace?" He thought for a moment and answered, "would ya mind if you scooted ova' a little? y'know, if that'd be okay wit ya." She was filled with happiness at this statement. They hadn't slept in the same bed since the incident over a month ago. It was so nice to feel more warmth from him, because it seemed that since then he'd been colder to her, trying to pull away. She dismissed this as the "hero complex", him worrying that their relationship would "endanger her" and that as leader, he needed to be there for the rest of the team too, et cetera. Lexi eagerly made room for Ace on the bed, and he came over, situating himself beneath the covers with her. The two of them drifted off to sleep, cuddled together, apparently for the first time in a while. Duck eventually drifted out of consciousness. The thoughts in his head were made a little more pleasant by the fact that it seemed he might not be totally forgotten after all. * * *
It's a rather short chapter... and it's a bit emo, however, the upcoming chapters will be a bit better (I hope)
- * * Face In the Mirror Alpha-Centauri Chronicles Book 2 A Loonatics Unleashed Fan Fiction By Pyry Cole Hopefully I won't disappoint... make sure to send suggestions, commentary, and reviews to me. I want to make sure that the character profiles feel right, and that the statements, and language flows properly, to be easy to understand and digest for my readers.
Chapter Two: Green-Eyes Duck stirred slowly from his slumber, finding himself in Ace's bed. He was warmed by the fact that what happened last night was not a dream. They did still care, even if there wasn't much time for him. He slowly crept out from under the covers, taking note of the rabbits that were still snuggling, fast asleep on the other mattress. Once out of the room he wandered over to the small recreation room down the hall. It wasn't much, but it had a holo-vision, a few game consoles, and some recorded shows. There was only really room for a couple people, unless they were willing to be cramped, but at least there was something. He started up a game of Mummy Ninja Moon Raiders Five, finally trying to get his thoughts back to normal. Duck busied himself trying to play through the side-story of the "tragic hero" character, Degaré. The story was little more than a bother to him, but it was necessary to unlock his own incarnation that the producers had written into the game. Normally he'd skip through the story, paying little attention. However, he was looking for distractions from his mood. He pushed the start button, selecting the character and beginning the tale. The intro sequence began. In a spine chilling and eerie voice, the game's narrator spoke. "Let us begin the tale." It paused a moment before continuing, "Chapter twelve, the tale of the lost soldier Degaré. It was a warm spring day in the settlement of Archanon. However, it was cold in the heart of one inhabitant. A brave warrior had fallen victim to a cold and bitter jealousy. This soul was surrounded by friends, yet so utterly alone." Duck sighed and said quietly to himself, "Oh brother, I know how that feels." Then he proceeded to focus his attention back on the game. "Degaré, was surrounded by love, but none of that love was meant for him. Instead he would watch his comrades fall in love, and leave him frozen. It was this cold jealousy, which would turn to hatred, sealing his fate as he...." Duck turned off the game console, talking to himself again, "Okay... that was hitting just a bit too close to home for me." He tried turning on the recorded shows, but after surfing through them he was rather disappointed. More than half of them were Spanish soap operas, and the rest of the shows were just plain uninteresting. After being unable to find anything to do in the recreation room that suited his fancy, he decided to try doing whatever busy work he could think up. Unfortunately this didn't last long, as the young mallard could only find a few chores to occupy his mind. The ship was almost completely automated, so there wasn't much to do with running it. And on top of that, there weren't even many menial chores to do, like cleaning, and you really couldn't take out the garbage. Normally the thought of doing such things wouldn't even cross Duck's mind. However, he was willing to try anything to stop thinking about everyone else. As soon as he was done with what little cleaning there was to do, by which time the others started to wake up, he wandered back into his quarters and picked up a small round mirror that was in the desk across from the bed and lay down on his mattress on the bottom bunk. He began to talk to the reflection in the mirror. "Lookin' good, as usual. It's a wonder you haven't landed yourself a girlfriend yet." This comment wasn't to say that he hadn't been with anyone yet. It was true, even beyond his ego, he was decently attractive, and the fame of being a Loonatic, had indeed meant that girls DID line up to go on a date with him. However, none of these dates ever ended well. Either the girls would quickly become disenchanted with the young heartthrob, due to his audacious personality. Or he would grow bored himself, many of the girls missing an exciting panache that he had sought. Whether the former or the latter, it was beginning to seem that there just wasn't anyone out there for him. Duck continued, "Heck, I don't see what's so wrong! Even I'd date me! But what is it with these girls today? They've obviously grown immune to my... devilish good looks. I wonder what their problem is... because it's certainly not yours truly..." "Well" he yawned, "I guess since things seem so hopelessly boring here I'll take myself little nap." "Too bad you're the only one here that knows me." He said to the mirror, clenching it tightly as he readied himself for an early nap. The mornings would continue to proceed this way for the rest of the journey, and the unsavory feelings began to tick at his mind. By the last day of the travels, Duck had started to lose his bearings. He would be permeated by loveless thoughts, his mind growing colder to itself. Without attention, or someone to validate him, the feelings turned inward. On the last day, his lack of attention finally got to him. He was looking at himself in a standing mirror on the wall, he detested what he felt, and the emotions he saw on his own face. He tried to convince himself that he was stronger than that, that this sad image was untrue. Eventually he had become so angered at the portrayal of weakness in his face, a weakness he'd tried to hide all his life. He couldn't be weak, not if he was going to make it on his own, without his parents... he didn't need anyone. However, his reflection told him otherwise. Unable to take it any longer, he lobbed an egg at mirror, trying to rid himself of such a despicable idea. Him? Weak? The glowing projectile impacted the mirror, causing a small explosion that rocked the room, making a hole that opened the room up to the hallway. The mallard was snapped out of his former thoughts at the sight of a frightened roadrunner whose hand was pinned to the far wall, embedded in it a sizable piece of shrapnel. He blinked, staring wide eyed at the bird before him. Duck quickly ran up to Rev, helping him to remove the piece of metal from his palm, apologizing. "Rev... Are you okay?! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to... Sorry, can ya forgive me?" He continued, looking at the bleeding gash in the roadrunner's hand, "This is bad. C'mon, let's go to the infirmary and get ya fixed up birdbrain." He grabbed Rev by the wrist and started trying to lead him down the halls to the sickbay. The roadrunner's reaction was less than helpful, "I-can't-believe-you-could-do-something-like-that-to-me!-Why-did-you-do-that?- and-what's-this-about-the-infirmary-I-don't-need-to-go-anywhere-it's-just-a-scratch -Duck.I-mean-come-on-does-it-really-look-that-serious,-but-you-know-that-DID-really- hurt!-and-who-are-you-calling-birdbrain?-if-anyone-is-a-birdbrain-I'd-think-it's-you- for-blowing-a-hole-in-the-wall-in-a-space-ship.-of-all-the-stupid-things-I-mean-this -was-REALLY-stuipid,-you-could've-doomed-us-all-but-I'll-forget-it-if-you-don't-make- me-go-I-really-hate-needles.-please-please-please-please-don't-make-me-go!" he protested, pulling back, trying to keep the duck from dragging him along. Duck was quick to respond, "Look, I said I'm sorry, sheesh. But I'm not letting go until you get in that room!" he said, beginning to get annoyed at Rev's drama as he had to drag the bird down the halls, holding him tightly by the wrist. It felt like a much longer trip than it should have been, probably because Rev was so adamant about resisting. For a few moments he could swear the roadrunner even tried to bite him. "Aww-come-on-it's-not-that-bad-I-don't-need-stitches-really-I-mean-come-on-I-hate- needles-and-I-can't-stand-the-smell-of-places-like-that-its-almost-like-its-too-clean -besides-my-hand-will-be-fine-don't-make-me-go-I-really-don't-want-to-go!!!" Rev shouted, struggling with all his might as Duck tried to wrestle him into the door to the sick-bay. Once Duck had finally forced Rev in there, he locked the door so it could only be opened from the outside. He then commented, "You're such a baby! If it was ME, well, I wouldn't be making such a commotion about a few little stitches buster!" He watched, to his mild entertainment, as Rev struggled to leave the room, pounding on the door, and trying everything he could think of to get out. This bit of silliness was short-lived as Tech soon came through the door and started to work on getting Rev to allow the coyote to administer treatment. Duck stayed a little while to observe quietly, but eventually the other two got on his nerves. He knew they weren't, but some illogical part of him felt like they were flaunting their love right in his face. He said snidely, "Get a room you two" The retort was countered, by Tech, saying playfully, "Already got one thanks." Duck made his response "Okay that's it, I'm outta here." Soon after, he walked out of the room. Duck wandered down the hall towards the stairs, slowly descending back to the hall that contained everyone's lodgings. He carefully treaded back to his and slam's quarters, stepping through the hole he had blown in the wall. He had certainly made a terrible mess. There were a few scraps of metal on the floor in the hall, as well as glass shards that littered the interior of the room. He sat atop the bed and sighed. He's caused trouble before, but he never did anything like this. He felt even more terrible than before, but this time he couldn't lash out, restrained by the fear that he might hurt someone else. He lay down, staring at the bunk above his. And then his fingers fumbled across something on the bed. He picked it up. The object he held before him was a simple card, reading, "Happy Birthday, a little something for you, and another something for someone you like. From Lexi and Ace." In the card was a tiny bag, with a pair of simple gem-less rings, one made of onyx, and another of pearl. Everything about the card and the rings was simple. Nothing flashy, but the gesture got through to him. He was touched by the fact that the rabbits had once again paid some attention to him. Duck had been so occupied, that he forgot his own birthday. However, he wished they hadn't chosen such words, or even that gift. Though touching, they just reminded him how alone he was. He put both of them on his left ring finger, and sighed. That being done, he went to sleep for the last time before they would land.
Chapter end: Don't worry, the lonely Emo-ness probably won't continue much longer.