Meanwhile, elsewhere........
Two alien ducks had just entered a faily new restaurant on
Earth, called Cedric's Bar and Grill.
"Hey, this reminds me of an old joke I once heard," one of
them mentioned to the other. This was Chase DuCaine, a tall, tan, muscular duck.
"Oh yeah?" the second duck, T.J McMallard, questioned him.
"Yeah," Chase looked at him with big brown eyes. "Two
guys walk into a bar, the third guy ducks." T.J just stared at his friend strangely, unmoving.
"Hardy har, har," he mused sarcastically. "You're right.
That is an old joke."
"Well, you're always saying I need to lighten up and have some
fun," Chase smirked.
As they continued walking, searching for a table, the humans
began to take notice and stared at them, curiously. The two ducks sensed them, but they tried their best to ignore the
gawkers. At last, they found a table right next to the dance floor and at the corner of the stage. Once they were
seated and had ordered their drinks, Chase started up another conversation.
"So, remind again why we're here?" he questioned T.J, looking
at him funny.
T.J frowned for a second before his smile returned. "To
blend in and learn more about the human culture." His friend raised an eyebrow and snorted.
"Oh yeah, and we blend in ever so well," Chase scoffed sarcastically,
trying to stop himself from laughing.
T.J just rolled his eyes and ignored him. "Besides,"
he continued on, as if nothing had happened, "I've heard this band is really good." Chase stared at him, as if waiting
for another answer. He knew T.J better than that. There was something more to this than he was letting on.
T.J could feel his friend's eyes boring right through him.
He fought hard to ignore Chase's interrogating stare, but after a few minutes of silence, he gave in. Glancing up at
the tan duck, T.J let out a sigh of frustration. "Okay, okay. So I figured we could take a night off from searching,"
he practically snapped at Chase. "My treat." At this time, the waitress brought them their drinks and the lights
started to dim.
"Thank you," Chase started, as T.J paid for the drinks, "for
the truth," he paused again, taking a sip of his beer, "and the treat." Chase smiled broadly as he raised his glass.
"Yeah, don't mention it," T.J mumbled sarcastically, waving
his friend off. The two ducks turned towards the stage as Cedric Donahue came up to the microphone and announced that
night's performing band.
"Hello everyone!" Cedric began. "Good evening and welcome
to Cedric's Bar and Grill! I'm your host and owner of this restaurant, Cedric Donahue. Tonight, I'm proud to present,
a band many of you are familiar with now. Literally a no-name band, who got their start in this very restaurant.
They already have an act, but now, they have a name! Let's give a big round of applause for Anything Goes!"
As Cedric walked off stage, the crowd erupted into sounds of
clapping and cheering. Seconds later, the curtains opened to reveal the band.
Julie looked out at the audience, from under the heat of the
spotlight, and almost lost it. Quickly, she closed her eyes and tried not to think about it. "Just do your thing,"
she kept telling herself. "Pretend there's no one even there watching." She concentrated, listening for the cue.
From somewhere behind her, Scott clicked his drumsticks together four times. That was the signal. The others soon
joined in as the song started.
Every now and then, Naiomi would glance over at Julie, as she
sang, to make sure she was alright. Because Julie was Naiomi's best friend, she worried about her whenever something
was out of the norm. Not that Julie having stage fright was abnormal, but Naiomi could sense something else. There
was something more to Julie's troubles than she was letting on, and Naiomi would have to pry it out of her.
Out in the audience, two drakes chatted, or actually, shouted
to each other over the sound of the music, shouting because that was the only way they could hear one another.
"Hey, the are pretty good, huh?!" T.J yelled out to his friend
over the blaring speakers.
"Yeah, they are!" Chase replied. He glanced over
T.J's shoulder and noticed people making their way to the dance floor. "You dance?" he asked T.J, motioning to the dance
floor with a nod of his head.
T.J turned in his seat to see the dance floor packed with people
dancing. He watched for a minute before turning back to Chase. "Nah," he shook his head.
"Good, neither do I," joked Chase. The two turned their
attention to the lead singer as the band began to play a slow song.
"She's really good," T.J commented, looking back at Chase.
"Yeah," the other drake responded non chalantly. He was
in sort of a trance, still staring dreamily at the singer. "She has the voice of an angel." T.J rolled his
eyes, chuckling in spite of his friend.
Deep inside, though, T.J had to admit there was something about
the girl that drew his attention to her. "I just can't put my finger on it," he thought to himself, trying to figure
it out.
Up on the stage, Julie sang softly and slowly, scanning her
eyes across the audience that sat and danced before her, until something caught her attention. Off to the left of the
stage, next to the dance floor, there sat two....."Ducks?!" Julie questioned in her thoughts. "And why are they staring
at me?" She checked herself as another voice in her mind reminded her. "Because you're singing, stupid."
That's exactly how she felt right then and there. "Oh yeah." Julie made eye contact with one of the strange ducks
and smiled. Then another thought crossed her mind. "He's kinda cute for an alien duck."
Chase snapped up out of his trance and checked himself.
"She can't be smiling at me," he told himself mentally. He turned about in his seat and looked around. There were
no other tables behind him. "Hey, I think she's smiling at me," he said, leaning towards T.J, while still looking at
the girl on stage.
"I think you're right," T.J replied with a sly smirk.
Chase smiled back at the girl and gave a slight wave.
Julie chuckled inwardly and looked over at the second duck.
She nearly stopped singing when she saw his face. His eyes, his smile....there was definately something strangely familiar
about him. Unfortunately, Julie couldn't figure out what that 'something' was, but it still freaked her out, none the
less. Shaking off the feeling, she looked back center as she ended the song.
To be continued..........
Disclaimer: These stories and characters are based on the original Mighty Ducks: The Animated
Series (owned & copyrighted by Disney), however these stories consist of my own characters based on the series.
And I am, in no way, whatsoever, making a profit off this. Thank You!
