Written by Zelda

	Day 5
	Tanya looked up at the weather map, then glanced down at Zelda worredly. Nosedive sat on the couch behind her and looked up from his comics. 
	"What, the weather AGAIN Tanya? You've been listning to the same stuff for the past hour!" 
	"Weather changes constantly Dive." Tanya told him, not looking back. 
	"Well! Since when did you become the meterologist?" he giggled. 
	"Since this showed up." Zelda told him, stepping aside so Dive could see the screen better. On the radar map, a huge blot of green swirled off the coast of Baja California. 
	"Whoa... what is that thing?"
	"A hurricane Nosedive. On earth these swirling windstorms develop over warm water, sometimes moving across land. They usually start off the coast of Africa and hit around Mexico and Florida." Zelda told him.
	"Oh yeah I heard of one... Andrew it was called?"
	"Yes." said Tanya. "Humans name the hurricanes to help define them."
	"Hurricane Andrew devestated the city of Miami. Billions of dollars in damage was done. Many people were killed. It was the worst hurricane in U.S. history."
	"So what's up with this one?" Dive asked. 
	"Hurricanes rarely form around the west coast. I've never seen one this strong before." 
	"And they say it might be heading for us." Tanya said. At that moment, Wildwing and Duke entered the room after coming back from a practice. 
	"Hey you guys, what's up?" Duke asked, seeing them all standing and staring at the screen."
	"Something I think concerns us all." Tanya said, not turning around.

	Day 4
	Mallory yawned over a cup of tea. She took a spoon and put some sugar in it. Then some more, then some more. 
	"Jeez Mal, you think you got enough in there?" Wildwing asked, hidden behind a paper. 
	"I like it sweet." Mallory said. She looked up at the mute little TV that hung in a corner of the kitchen. The weather was on. It had become the default channel since yesterday. "Where's Tanya?" Wildwing lay down the paper.
	"Up watching the same thing in the Ready Room. She's trying to program Drake One to do fine-tuned weather tracking."
	"Going a little overboard, don't you think?"  she asked. 
	"Hey, I never ordered it. This could be useful. And besides, from what Zelda tells me, that storm could really be heading for us." Mallory shook her head and got up slowly. 
	"Well I've been sitting for too long. I'm going to the mall for a while."
	"Okay, catch ya later." Wildwing waved, as Mallory stepped out. 

	The mall was bustling as usual. Mallory emerged from her favorite clothes store when she remembered Dive had asked her to pick up his montly comics subsciption at Captain Comics. She sighed and shouldered her shopping bag, walking into the store. She saw a few kids milling around, but nobody at the register.
	"Thrash? Mook?" she called. Slowly, a long board of plywood stumbled out of the back room, situated on two legs in baggy dark green pants. Thrash hefted the board up and rested it against a wall, wiping his brow with the effort. 
	"Oh hiya Mallory! What can I do for ya?" he asked, hopping over to the register. 
	"Just here to pick up Dive's comics. He's too busy playing video games to do it himself." she smiled. 
	"Can't blame him." Mook said, coming out of the back room with another huge board.
	"What is all this for? Remodeling?" Mallory asked.
	"Naw, haven't you been watching the weather?" Thrash said. 
	"Yeah like, they said it might be like coming here, so like we figured we'd get some stuff before the stores like ran out." Mook said, dusting herself off. "Might need it." 
	"And even if we don't, we'll find some way to use it." Thrash said. He took out a small stack of comics and lay them on the counter. "Here ya go. Tell Dive we said hi!" Mallory picked up the stack and nodded.
	"Seeya later!" she said, and walked out. A light breeze drew her hair back as she looked about her, and walked back to the Pond.

	Grin fired a hard one on Wildwing from the right side of the net. The Duck swooped around the goalpost aand snagged the puck in the very edge of his glove, freezing it.
	"Nice shot Grin, using that new trick of yours?" Grin nodded. He had a new twist of coming around behind the net with the puck towards the side of the boards. The goalie would think that he'd pass it, but sometime's he'd spin around and shoot it. It was working too. 
	"Looks good to me." Zelda gave a thumbs up from along the boards. "Maybe a trick we'd all like to pull out of our sleeves during a game or two." Wildwing shot the puck out Mallory.
	"Okay, let's work on offense. Grin, Tanya, you're on to stop them." Mallory passed the puck to Nosedive and the three offensive players skated to the other end of the ice. They turned around, and suddenly came up and flying towards the red line. Nosedive and Mallory had incredible speed up the boards, and Duke hung just slightly behind, ready to recive the puck and fire it in on a one-timer. Tanya and Grin came out a bit to challenge them. Grin knocked Nosedive flat on the ice, and then skated over to cover Duke as Dive got up. Tanya caught the puck as Mallory tried to dump it over to Dive, and flipped it out.
	"Nice steal Tanya. I say we call it a practice." Wildwing said. He removed his mask and wiped his beak with the sleeve of his jersey. As they all trooped back into the locker room, Tanya removed her Omnitool from her bag and put the device on. She started tapping away at the screen, to reveal a weather radar map.

	Day 3
	"A warning may soon be issued for much of the Southern Califonia coastline, it is advised that residents beware of this system as it continues to develop....." Duke stared up at the huge Drake One screen with a cocked head. Tanya stood reading the paper. 
	"Hmmm, this weather system could really be a problem here." Wildwing muttered. He sat slumped on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his beak in his hands. He thought a moment and then sat up.
	"Zelda, I want you and Duke to gather up a few others and get us some basic supplies. You know, just in case." The dragon perked her ears. 
	"Well there's a lot of ground to be covered Wing. Do you mean supplies as in for us or for the Pond?" Wildwing frowned. He hated it when he didn't understand.
	"This hurricane's packin' 185 mph winds, which I don't think would do great things for the Pond asthectically." Zelda explained.
	"Yeah... let's get some of that plywood, for the glass archways and the windows for starters. Then we can get some stuff for us. Batteries, flashlights, canned food, like that." Wildwing said. Zelda nodded and Duke stood up beside her. Slowly, they both walked out. Wildwing shook his head and sat back down. 

	Nosedive picked his way through the market with Duke. It was much more crowded than usual. Mallory, Zelda, and Grin were off getting things at the hardware store, and Tanya was off at Lectric Land buying a surge protector big enough for Drake One. Nosedive darted forwards and snatched a box of Puffy O's off of the shelf, throwing it into the cart. 
	"Come on Dive, Wing said we gotta get canned stuff." Duke said. He shoved the heavy shopping cart slowly around the aisle and into the next one. This row was crammed. People were everywhere, trying to cram more things into full carts. Nosedive snatched up a can off of a nearly empty shelf. 
	"Hmmmm, corn, check. Peas.... well I guess so, check! Creamed spinach!?! I think not!" Duke looked at the other row across the isle.
	"Hmmmm, blueberries.... ahhh what the hey. Green beans, well last can. SPAM!? Ewwwww!"
	"Man, there's like, nothing left here!" Nosedive whined. 
	"Well look at all these people! The store'll be cleaned out in a day or two at this rate. We've gotta pick up something to last us just in case." Duke shoved the heavy cart along to the next aisle, to get some soda.

	Grin picked up a stack of plywood sheets as if they were cardboard. He loaded them with a tall stack of others in a huge cart, as Mallory came up, arms loaded with flashlights and batteries.
	"How much plywood do you have?" Zelda asked.	
	"Enough for the archways, I think." Grin said. 
	"That's enough for now... Wing told us just to get the basics." Mallory said, putting her load into the cart.
	"Ahh, you don't know what it's like when a hurricane rears its ugly head around humans. They fly into a panic. What's available to us now, may not be in the next day." 
	"Well I think we should get back with what we have first." Mallory thought. Zelda nodded.
	"Well I suppose we still have time. I guess I'm being a bit panicky myself. Come on, let's see if we can't find Nosedive and Duke."

	Day 2
	Wildwing walked out to the Galley table and plunked down grumpily with his cup of coffee. Grin sat down next to him and sighed. The sirens were still ringing in their ears. 
	"Lemme guess, no sleep either?" he asked Wildwing. 
	"Let's hope the girls aren't cranky." Wildwing nodded. He was whacked on the arm so hard he nearly spilled his coffee seconds later, by a rather frazzled Tanya. She humphed and sat down. 
	"Man I thought you'd be up with all these sirens! What the heck are they for anyway?" Duke asked, sitting as well.
	"Evacuation." Zelda said, perching on a countertop. "Klegghorn should be knocking on our door any moment now with a notice to get the heck out."
	"Hey, I say we stay. We're pretty well situated, below ground by several floors and all." Tanya offered.
	"I agree, I'm in no mood to move." Mallory snorted, sitting down with Dive. 
	"It would be nice if we could turn the Ready Room into some sort of a shelter." Duke said.
	"I'm sure the town has it covered. Klegghorn probably wouldn't let us anyway." sighed Tanya.
	"Well there's a suprise." Dive said sacrastically.
	"Okay Ducks, let's lay out our schedule for today. The evacuations sirens have been going off since 2:00 in the morning, as I'm sure you know." Wildwing said. "Now we have to get the Pond fixed up. I want those archways and doors covered, and all the supplies stocked here in the kitchen. I'd also like a flashlight in every bunk, the Galley, The Rec. Room, and the Ready Room and Hangar, with plenty of batteries." 
	"Sheesh, one at a time Wing." Tanya said. "We'll get started."

	Grin easially hacked a nail into it's place. Beneath him, Duke hammered at a bent nail, frustrated. Grin picked a piece of plywood off of some scaffolding and moved onto the next panel of archway glass. 
	"Jeez Grin, how do you do that so fast!?" Duke asked. 
	"The key is to being one with the hammer and nail." 
	"How did I guess?" Duke said grumpily. Grey skies and rather breezy winds prevailed the air. It was cool even for Anaheim standards. And the sky was darkening by the minute. "Bet it'll start raining soon." Duke said. He quickly picked up another board and started nailing.

	"5:00 and all the work's done!" Nosedive announced to his brother happily, rubbing his hands.
	"Excellent. Chill for a while Dive, the rain's supposed to start soon." Wing told him, and walked away. He proceeded into the elevator, and up to the catwalks, walking past Phil's office on the way. There was a fax taped to the door. Wing picked it up, and read.

	Boobies,
	
	I'm not staying as long as that hurricane is, if you need me, I'm at my brother's house in San Fransisco.

					Phil

Wildwing breathed a sigh of relief and put the paper in his pocket. At least they wouldn't have to deal with that nutty human running around during this storm. He continued to proceed out and along the catwalk. He came to a door. He opened it, revealing the skyline of Anaheim beyond. Zelda stood on the roof, nose to the sky. In her eyes was a mixture of fear, respect, and observation.
	"Watchin' the sky eh?" Wildwing asked, sitting beside her.
	"I don't understand satillite and radar and all that stuff much. Rather rely on the ol' senses." she smiled. "Ya smell the air, How thick it is even though it's cool? That's the elecricity. And it's getting thicker by the minute..." 
	"So it's coming huh?" Wildwing asked. 
	"I think so." Zelda pointed to the gray that blanketed the sky. "See the way those clouds are turing? It's like their spinning..." Wildwing nodded. He saw her point.
	"When do you think it'll hit?" he asked.
	"I don't know." she sighed. "Storms like this are very unpredicable, they can do anything. I've never been in one myself, but it's cause for concern I know." she said gravely.
	"So that's why this town's completely ghost dead and empty." Wildwing sighed.
	"Yeah. Most things that live here had the smarts to clear out." Wildwing looked down at her with a mock frown. Zelda grinned and cleared her throat.
	"Well I didn't mean us of course! We should be safe. We're several floors underground. We've just got to worry about what to do if someone's bus or a tree or something comes careening in through one of those archways." Wildwing raised his eyebrows. Zelda nodded, hurricanes could and would do that. So he went inside, with the dragon in tow.

	An hour later, it began to rain.

	Day 1
	Tanya sat by Drake One and watched intently. She had purposely rigged a camera on the wall of the Pond to watch the weather outside. Behind her, the team sat and watched, eating popcorn as if they were watching a disaster movie. The sky was black from the darkness and clouds, the rain came down in hailing sheets. Outside, the street signs wavered and traffic lights spun on their wires. 
	"Whoa, this is some storm." Mallory said, trying to pick a piece of popcorn kernel out of her teeth.
	"Belive me, this is only the beginning." Zelda said, watching the screen. Suddenly it shut off, abruptly followed by the lights. Wildwing clicked his flashlight on, the beam cutting like a knife through the pitch black. 
	"Aww man, the fun just about ended right there." Dive whined.
	"Don't we have a generator?" Duke asked.
	"Yeah, but it has to be turned on from upstairs... I don't know if we should go up just about now." Wildwing said. The team got their flashlights and turned them on too. Tanya clicked her radar map onto the screen of her Omnitool.
	"The storm's really gettin' close now, the eye is only a few dozen miles away from land!" Zelda was getting visibly nervous. Suddenly, a huge crash resounded from overhead.
	"What was that?!" Duke asked.
	"Probably something crashing into the side of the Pond." Grin said. "I don't think the roof would come off..." Other, softer crashes resounded from time to time. The Ducks sat in the darkness and made a game out of guessing where the debris actually hit. They heard the wind howling outside, despite being a few floors underground. 
	"Man would I hate to be out there now..." Wildwing said. Time passed slowly. The Ducks played cards and tried to take a nap on the couch or the floor. Slowly, the wind began to cease. 
	"What's up?" Nosedive asked, as Tanya woke herself and checked her Omnitool. 
	"The storm's calmed down!" she said. 
	"It'll start up again." Zelda sighed, getting up. "The eye is passing over us. It's the calm during the storm. In a few minutes, the other half is going to hit."
	"Other half?!" Dive whimpered.
	"Maybe now we can start that generator!" Duke said. 
	"Yeah, we should have enough time." said Dive, getting up.
	"Alright." Wildwing stood. "Dive, Duke, you're with me. We'll start up that generator."
	"I'll go too." Zelda voulenteered. The four went quickly from the room, flashlight beams dancing. 

	The Pond was all pitch black. Even the emergency lights were out now. The four trotted silently along a long grey hallway, to find the generator room. Suddenly, they heard Dive give a choked yelp. Wildwing spun around.
	"Dive?" The flashlight scanned the hall quickly. There was nothing. "Dive where are you?" he asked again. Wing, Duke, and Zelda backed against each other, the two flashlights moving quickly. Suddenly, there was a huge, echoing sound.
	"BOOOOOOOO!" Nosedive screamed, leaping out at Wildwing with his flashlight positioned under his beak. 
	"AHHHH!" Wing shreiked and fell to the ground, arms over his head. Nosedive nearly fell over beside him, laughing his guts out. 
	"Nosedive!" Zelda laughed/scolded, slapping him gently with her tail. "You nearly scared us to death like that!" Duke reached down and helped Wildwing up. 
	"Yo, you okay Wing?" he asked. 
	"Yeah..." Wing said, still shaking a little. "Nosedive's done that to me since I was a kid!"
	"And I ALWAYS got ya." Dive laughed. 
	"Come on, we've can't waste any more time." his older brother frowned, and the four walked on. They passed by the front glass archway of the Pond, and decided to stop. 
	"Lemme just take a peek outside." Zelda said. She opened a plywood-coated door, and the four looked out. Clouds ringed the horizon, and lightning flashed not too far off. But they could see the stars perfectly overhead. The eye was directly above them. Down on the ground, things were a mess. Three cars lay strewn about the parking lot. The Pond's signboard was tilted at an odd angle. The palm trees had either been snapped altogether or blown back in one direction. Telephone and electric wires lay strewn about the road. Chunks of hail were everywhere. The roof of Suit Chalet had been ripped completely off, and now lay in the mall's main entrance pavillion. It looked like a total war zone. 
	"Woah." Duke summed it up. 
	"Come on, we've got to get to that generator." Wildwing said, and the four pulled away. Now jogging, they went further down the hall, and reached the generator room door. Duke opened the grey storm door and swung it lightly on its hinges, while Wildwing proceeded inside. Establishing the hulking metal generator from the rest of the room with his flashlight, he located the switch, and flipped it. The generator sprung to life, whirring in a most unearthly noise, clanking slowly. But it worked. Light filled the room. 
	"ALRIGHT!" Nosedive yelled over the din. Wildwing clapped his hands over his ears and walked out, Duke shutting the door behind him, cutting off the noise. 
	"Whew, that thing makes a racket!" he sihed.
	"Yeah. We should be getting back down now." Zelda said, looking away. They started proceeding back. Now that the noise of the generator was fading, it was being replaced by something else. Winds were picking up again. Zelda was getting more nervous by the pace. "We should be underground... the storm's really picking up..." the four started up a slow jog, coming past the glass archway again. Here they stopped, wanting another peek outside. Wildwing opened a door slowly, and was nearly blown back by the winds. The sky was pitch black. Cold rain and splinters of hail blew into the Pond. A palm tree leaf smacked wetly into Nosedive's face, covering his eyes. He yelped and pulled it angrily away, to find nobody in front of him. Nosedive glanced around to see the rest of the Ducks backing away from the door. He turned and started to run, when suddenly a ear-splitting crash resounded above and behind him. Nosedive did the only thing panic allowed. He hit the deck. He heard something hit the ground behind him, and su
ddenly something hard and long rammed into his side. As he was rolled over, he was blinded by a sweep of white light, his back now meeting the flat thing that was pushing him. He heard the others yelling, glass breaking, and metal screeching everywhere. He regained some of his vision just in time to cringe as his front was squished against the wall. He gasped as the air was squeezed out of him, and he saw stars.

	Duke grunted, feeling the warm flow of blood over his eyebrow. He rolled slowly up, and looked around. Broken glass was everywhere. Zelda still cowered in the darkness of a far corner, Wildwing had taken shelter behind a potted plant. A car, or what remained of a car, lay with the front end slammed into the wall. It had been blown clean through the archway! He tried to stand, and then felt a pain rip up through his left leg. He yelled out sharply and sat again. Snot, he must have had glass stuck all over him! Zelda had come out of hiding, bleeding from a few places on her wings. Those things were like sheilds. Lucky dragon. Zelda flapped precariously over the shards of glass and landed next to Duke.
	"You okay? Jeez you got one right in your eyebrow Duke!" she said, her voice making no effort to echo above the wind. Duke groaned in aggravation and slumped forwards, feeling more pains along his stomach. 
	"Where's Dive?" Wildwing suddenly asked. He stood up and walked towards the two, crunching over the glass. The two looked around the room in a sudden turn of nervousness. Something moved against the wall. 
	"He's there! By the car!" Zelda pointed. Wildwing ran over to his brother, and kneeled down. 
	"Dive! You okay?" he asked. Nosedive barely managed to cough. "Zelda, he's squishd right against the wall, help me get him out!" Wildwing ordered. Zelda flew to the other side of the car and gripped the front fender, shoving hard. The car's bright red frame inched back slowly as she and Wildwing pushed. Finally, Wing let up and immedialtly yanked his brother out. Zelda hopped over the top of the car to see him sitting on the ground, gasping for air and holding his ribs. Wildwing kneeled beside him.
	"Jeez bro, you okay?" he asked. Nosedive, now regaining his breath, nodded and stood, eyes still closed. As he straitened himself though, he suddenly gasped and lowered himself again, arms wrapped around his stomach. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting the room. Rain blew in through the gaping hole in the archway. Wildwing slowly helped his brother to his feet. 
	"Tanya, we've got injured up here!" Duke was already making the call. 
	"What?" Tanya yelped back. 
	"A car blew through the archway, we'll be down in a minute!" he said, and shut the com off, trying hard to stand again. Zelda was beside him, helping him roll up, get to his feet. The two shuffled off to Wing and Dive, who were already proceeding away, leaving the mess behind them. 

		To be continued....