Discovery DiscoveryWildwing dragged himself up. He didn't know what Wraith had tossed at him, but it had hurt like hell. Some type of new spell. The dust was stating to settle when Wildwing saw something that made his blood freeze. Nearby, curled into a tight ball, laid Nosedive. He wasn't moving.

"Dive!?" Scrambling over rubble, Wildwing ignored his own pain as he checked his brother. The young man was unresponsive to anything his brother did. Looking around, Wildwing spotted the others. They looked unharmed. "Tanya, over here."

The medic of the Mighty Ducks, Tanya came over as quickly as possible. She looked Dive over, trying to find the cause of his unconsciousness. "We need to get him to the infirmary. I'll be able to tell more with the Medicom."

Gently Wildwing picked up his baby brother.

***

The first thing that intruded into Nosedive's mind was the silence. If he was at the Pond there would be some type of noise. Either the everyday noise of his teammates going about their own buisness, or the nightime noise of machinery that was always present. If he had been hurt, there would be the sounds of the Medicom and someone else. No one was ever left alone in the infirmary. Never.

So he wasn' in the Pond. Still mimicing sleep, he let his senses creep out. The lessons Duke had been teaching him were put to good use. Still nothing. No animal noises, no man-made noises. The silence was eerie.

Finally, with no other clues to guide him, Nosedive cracked open one eye. What he saw startled him. Enough so that he sat up and looked all the way around. He was... nowhere.

In all directions was a flat, featureless, grey plain. It fit all the descriptions of LImbo he had ever heard of. Shivers ran down his spine.

"Well this is just great," he muttered to himself. He remembered Wraith chanting something. Maybe that had something to do with this. "I'm tossed into a weird place by magic. Man, I am so taking down that lizard when I get back." He looked around once more. "Course, that's easier said then done."

With no other choice, he started to walk.

***

By the stars, the Saurians had ambushed them again. Jathen was running. Beside him, the young duck could hear Davin panting as the dodged the golems. Why did this always happen when they tied to have a normal night of training.

Alright, so learning to be a thief by training under one of the greats wasn't normal. But it was a close as he got. And even that was hard to come by. Just one night, that was all he asked for. But noooo, that would require just a bit more good luck than he was allowed.

A bold of lightening hit a little too close, and Jathen felt himself flying through the air. Before he could constuct a shield, the outh smashed into a nearby tree. was his last conscious thought before everything went dark.

***

Nosedive froze. He would have ducked, but with nothing to hid behind, it would have been a pointless effort. There was another loud pop, and then a thud. Spinning around, Nosedive saw a bundle that had appeared out of nowhere.

Sliding closer to the still shape, Nosedive saw that it was a duck. And not just any duck. The figure laying before him was him.

Ready for anything, Nosedive checked his duplicate over carefully. No weapons, no major injuries, just unconscious. "Well, this is nice. Lost in a weird place with myself. Stars, I don't need this." Unwilling to leave the newfound duck, Nosedive settled down to wait.

***

Slowly, Jathen became more aware of his surroundings. His spacial sense told him that there was someone nearby. But when he checked the aura, he was suprised.

"You might as well open your eyes. We're the only ones here. Wherever here is."

The voice did it. His eyes snapped open, and Jathen saw someone who looked like himself. "Not another one," he groaned.

"Thanks for the welcome," said the other duck. He reached out his hand, which Jathen took. A shock traveld up both their arms. "WHOA! Cool. My name's Nosedive."

"Jathen.

"Hey, wanna explain the comment from before?"

Jathen looked around, ignoring the question for a second. He recognized the place they were at. "Great. Limbo. I hate Limbo."

Turning once more, he faced his double. "We may want to sit down. This may take a while."

***

"So you think that we're in Limbo because of spellshock, and that we are actually the same duck, just from alternate dimensions."

Jathen nodded. "Cool."

"One thing that has me confused is the shock we got when we touched. That was from our magical shields coming into contact. The only thing magical shields cover are mages."

Now Nosedive looked at Jathen as if the young duck was insane. "You think I have magic? Wake up and smell the coffee, I don't..."

"But you said that there was a Saurian who could use it. Actually, there were two. Why couldn't a duck have magic."

Mouth open to deny he had magic, Nosedive froze. Slowly his mouth closed and his blue eyes took on a far away look. "There's something. I can't remembers..AHHHH!"

He pitched forward, curling into a tight ball. Enery crackled over him. Automatically, Jathen reached out to ground the magical overflow.

"Oh... oh man, that... that hurt." Nosedive panted, still twitching slightly. "Stars.. above... what happened?"

Shaking his stinging hands, Jathen looked closely at the duck before him. Seeing nothing, he switched to Othersight. The area around him exploded into color.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Jathen focused on Nosedive.

"You have a set of memories that are blocked. The block is set to hurt if you get too close to the truth." Jathen paused. "Stars, I sound like someone off the X-Files. Anyway, I can take the block down if you want. You'll have to help though."

For the first time, Jathen could really see what he looked like when he was mad. Blue eyes narrowed, anger flashing in them. "I don't like the fact that someone has messed with my mind. Take it down."

"Sit up." Jathen sat cross legged in front of Dive, who copied the position. Placing his hands on either side of Dive's head, Jathen probed the block. Nosedive hissed, pain flashing along his nerves. The pain flowed from on duck to the other. Gritting his teeth, Jathen pressed harder. "When I tell you, try to remember."

The pain grew, and now bolts of energy crackled over the pair. *Almost there, almost. NOW!*

Both of them pressed against the barrier. Two pairs of blue eyes snapped open and locked on one another. Pain raced along thier nerves, blood pounding in their ears. Something snapped. Everything went dark.

***

"Hey kid, you ok? Come on kiddo, Nevthis will kill me if you're hurt."

"Ooowww," Jathen groaned as he opened his eyes. The blur in front of him resolved itself into Davin. "Davin," he hissed with pain, "what happened?"

Relief flooded the ex-thief's face. "Great Mother of Ducks kiddo, you scared me." Helping the young duck stand, Davin explained. "Wraith threw a lightening bolt at ya. Didn't hit, but the force threw you into a tree. Knocked you out for a few minutes. The rest just showed up."

The blond man looked around. The rest of the Mage Ducks were nearby. Seeing his brother heading his way, Jathen sighed.

***

Wildwing jerked backwards, almost falling over when the Medicom's alarm went off. Looking up quickly, he was Nosedive stuggle with the restraints. The blond was fighting to get loose.

"Dive! DIVE!" Wildwing's voice slowly made it's way though his baby brother's panic filled mind.

Blue eyes darting around, Dive asked,"What happened?"

Wildwing shrugged, still smoothing Dive's hair in an attempt to calm him down. "Something Wraith threw at us. That lizard is getting way too good at flinging spells around."

"No kidding. Is everyone else OK?"

"They're fine. You're the one who caught the brunt of it." Wildwing took a closer look at Nosedive. "You OK bro? You're really shaky."

Flashing Wildwing a quick smile, Nosedive nodded. "Just a freaky dream before waking up. Nothing to worry about. Am I sprung, or do I have to stay the night?"

Wildwing cracked a smile. "Let's have Tanya check you out first, then we'll see."

***

Jathen laid staring at the ceiling of the infirmary. The result of the tree meeting his head was a mild concussion. Tavlina was making him stay the night.

-Hey, I don't go around calling you a hallucination.-

*Nosedive!*

-Jathen- The sarcastic tone was clear and familiar.

*Never been on the receiving end of that tone before.*

-It's a unique quality only we have.-

*Sounds good. I guess we can still 'talk' across dimensions. Remember anything?*

A shudder of horror was felt along the link. -Ya, but if you don't care, I don't really want to talk about it. Have to get used to the missing period first.-

*I can't say I understand what you're going through, but I'll leave it alone. Stuck in the infirmary?*

-Yep. You?-

*Definalty*

-This calls for drastic measures. We are going to gossip about our teams.-

*Just keep it low. Unlike your teammates, mine can talk mind-to-mind.*

The two talked into the night.

THE END

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