Disclaimer: The show and its characters belong to its creator. I own nothing.

"You see, Frank found out the hard way
that the dark things lurking in the night
don't haunt old houses or abandoned ships.
They haunt minds."
-David Wong, John Dies at the End

PART I

CHAPTER ONE

From the dawn of time, man has looked for a reason (any reason) to kill those around him. In this day and age, the killing has become mostly metaphorical: crushing their dreams, taking their money, stealing their spouse, throwing rocks through their window...anything that could possibly ruin someone's life. Ignoring the spirituality behind the idea, the seven deadly sins do speak highly about what motivates mankind. Envious of someone? Ruin their happiness. Angry with someone? Punch them square in the face.

It all boils down to, basically, taking what someone believes rightfully belongs to them. If you stand in their way, God help you.

Nosedive Flashblade, of the famous Mighty Ducks, was reading a comic book when the sounds of Drake One began to blare. "Thank the stars!" He leapt out of bed and jogged to the Drake One chamber. It had been an extremely dull - to put it lightly - past month. There had been zero activity from Dragaunus and the most excitement Nosedive had seen was an occasional team practice and a night out with Thrash and Mookie. He was becoming stir-crazy.

"Looks like there's some, uhh, activity in the, uhh, downtown district," Tanya said, as the team gathered in front of the screen. The pulsating dot showed the estimated location of the energy source: not far, Tanya explained, from the now-shut-down movie theatre off Oak Street.

"Sweet, maybe we can take in a movie afterwards," Nosedive added with a grin.

"Shut-down theatre, bro," Wildwing said.

"Always gotta ruin the humor, don't you, bro?" he said, shaking his head.

"Maybe if the humor was a little better," Wildwing quipped, giving his younger brother a shove.

The six ducks loaded into the Migrator, off in a blaze toward Oak Street and what they assumed would be a clumsily-laid trap by Siege and Chameleon. After all, who would attempt to break into a long-deceased movie theatre? There were certainly no alternative fuels being stashed there. Wildwing could have laughed at the pathetic attempts to lure he and his team out. Nonetheless, he was certain to keep his team members on guard. While the trap was likely obvious, that did not make it any less deadly.

"Okay, team," Wildwing said, as the Migrator came to a stop outside the Mill Theatre (Now showing: "The Notebook" and "Van Helsing", in a desperate attempt to age itself). The posters themselves were in tatters, just discernible enough for Nosedive to read aloud and grimace.

"Well, I have no interest in an after-butt-kicking movie, I don't know about you guys. This is just awful." He shook his head in disapproval at the movie selections. "You'd think they'd have more choices."

"I enjoyed 'Van Helsing'," Grim said, giving Nosedive another chance to sigh and shake his head.

"Okay, Dive, enough," Wildwing said, cutting off the banter. "We need to figure out what Dragaunus is planning. Obviously, it's a trap. There's no real reason they'd be at an abandoned movie theatre. We need to be careful. No darting ahead..." Here he threw an accusing glance at Nosedive. "...and no 'being a hero'." His gaze at Nosedive grew even more stern. "Understood?"

As the other members murmured their agreement, Nosedive added, "Yeah, since that was clearly just for me, I totally get it, Wing."

"Well, you are known to blast into a fight, not thinking," Wildwing said. "I just want to make sure everyone, my baby brother included, is being cautious here, all right?"

Nosedive rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Yeah, bro, all right. Cautious: word of the day. Got it. Can we go inside now? Those reptilian scumbags are obviously up to something, trap or not."

"Right. Let's go."

The six ducks entered the building, puck blasters and puck launchers at the ready. Hushed footsteps tapped along the tiled floor of the Mill Theatre. Aside from the dust, the cobwebs, and the overall "creepy" atmosphere, Nosedive noted, the theatre looked pretty good, especially for a place that had been shut down for over seven years. Even the popcorn poppers were still there. Nosedive fought the urge to ask his brother if they could - as a heroes' payment, of course - nab one for the Pond. How good would movie-style popcorn be, though? he asked himself.

They maneuvered past the tattered rope, that had previously been the formation for the queue into the theatre, and toward the back of the building. Since there were only two films showing at a time, the odds for choosing which room the Saurians were dwelling was relatively simple.

"There," Mallory whispered, pointing at Cinema Two, where a dim light shown below the crack of the double-doors. Wildwing nodded and gestured his hand toward the room. The group crept toward the doors, weapons at the ready. Wildwing opened the door carefully, and led his team into the room.

The screen was lit. The words "Please turn off or mute your cell phone prior to the start of a performance" appeared on the screen, a courtesy warning to the non-existent patrons.

Wildwing frowned and glanced up toward the projection booth above the seats. Unmistakable shadows moved too-and-fro behind the projector. "Up in the-" Wildwing began, but was cut off by a hissing noise.

Smoke began to fill the cinema. Thick, gray smoke, blinding the sight of each member of the team, save for one. Wildwing began to scan the area with the Mask, searching for the silhouettes of any of the Saurian crew. "Be alert!" he shouted to his coughing companions.

"Hello duckies!"

All heads snapped toward the voice. A tail swung, and an "oof!" resounded throughout the room.

"Duke! Are you all right?" Mallory shouted at her struck companion, pointing her voice in the direction the shout had resounded.

Duke stood, hand upon the sore spot of his abdomen. "I'm good, babe. Siege is nearby, that's for sure."

"And I was trying to be careful." Siege's eyes shown in the dissipating smoke, tail flicking back and forth. "Told you they'd come."

"Yes, I thought it'd be a bit too obvious," Wraith replied, his form now becoming visible alongside Siege. "Even for ducks, they are not without brains." He smiled, tightening his grip on his staff. "As I'm sure you are aware, this is a trap."

"Yeah? And?" Mallory's finger itched upon the trigger of her Puck Blaster.

"And? Why, we lured you here in order to obtain information," Wraith replied. "Well, it is the beginning of the process, should we say. But, you will understand soon enough." His voice dropped to a murmur as the smoke began to fill the room again. The ducks began to cough; the smoke was far thicker than it had been, and there was a definite reek of sulfur.

"What...are you slimeballs looking...for?" Wildwing asked in between coughs. As he had assumed, there was no reply, but it gave him an opportunity to scan the room once again, looking for any trace of the Saurians. The unmistakable gleam from Siege's eye came into view, and he raised his gautlet and fired. The wall exploded in reply, hitting nothing but concrete and drywall. "Damn."

In response, the room became alive with the blasts of hunter drones. The ducks scattered, protecting themselves behind the theatre's chairs. The two Saurians disappeared in the midst of the chaos. Pucks and grenades exploded; enemies were destroyed. Smoke lingered in the air. Hunter drones replied in kind, blasting at the seats, causing the Mighty Ducks to spread throughout the theatre.

"Looks like we've been led into a warzone!" Wildwing shouted over the blasts.

"Yeah, but their army is nothin' but weak drones and scared Saurians!" Duke shouted back, slicing a drone with his saber. "But..." A drone shot at him; Duke quickly dodged the blast. He brought his saber down swiftly, cutting the drone in half from head to foot. Sparks flew. "I don't get it."

Wildwing, too distracted with the destruction of his own fleet of drones, did not reply, but he knew what Duke meant. While, yes, there were a lot of enemies against them, and, yes, it was borderline challenging, what was the point? Why would Dragaunus set this whole thing in motion just to tire the ducks out a bit? The drones had never exactly been a challenge, and there was clearly nothing of value in this run-down building. What was the point? Information, Wraith had said, but where was the information from an ambush?

Clang.

The last remaining drone fell to the floor. For a moment, the room was filled with a deafening silence. The blinding smog that had filled the room was beginning to disappear, much to the ducks' relief. As it cleared, the Saurians were gone, and the cinema revealed nothing but the shattered remains of the robots that they had destroyed.

"I don't get it," Duke said again, as the smoke finally thinned.

"Me either. I-" Wildwing began, but he clamped his beak shut. "Where's Dive?"

The other four ducks glanced around the room at the question, and the silence that followed was even more deafening. "Y-You don't think..." Tanya began, too panicked to even finish the question.

The ducks scoured the building, looking for any trace of their missing comrade. "Wildwing," a soft voice said, carefully. "I-I think...this is Nosedive's." Tanya held up the fallen communicator: Nosedive's communicator.

Wildwing stalled, swallowing the lump that had somehow formed in his throat, and raised his hand to take the communicator that Tanya held before him. Information, he thought. But...he's a kid. What kind of information could they need...from him?

To be continued…