Disclaimer: I do not own the Mighty Ducks.

Chapter Two


A beautiful, sunny morning in September, two boys walked to their first class of their first day of their junior year. Jovially talking and laughing, the two friends basked in the warm sunshine and listened to the birds chirping cheerfully.

Until a small yet fierce blur of blondeness rushed out of nowhere and began sucking the life force out of one of the poor defenseless boys.

It was kind of like how a small thing called reality TV shows, ruined the good old nature of the sitcom.

At least, that's what Ken Wu thought as he stood watching the couple begin their greeting.

"Well, hello there, Allie." He said cheerfully, as the blonde ignored him and continued kissing her cowboy voraciously. "It's a nice day, isn't it?" She continued to ignore him. "Well, I think I'm gonna go ahead to class. Try not to be too late, Dwayne." Ken advised, before he bumped into an irate Carmen.

"Oof! Sorry, Car" He apologized before raising an eyebrow. "You look faintly aggravated. Dylan?"

Her growl was practically beastly.

"Ah." Ken murmured delicately. "Well, I'm off."

Carmen didn't even spare him a glance as she stalked to her class. Unfortunately, her passage was blocked by a certain Dwayne and Allie who were thrashing about like a couple of eels in heat. Muttering about the Howard family gene pool, she shoved past them irritably. "Christ, will you let him up for some air!"

Dwayne broke off the kiss to look at Carmen's rapidly retreating back before turning to look at his girlfriend. "Maybe you should coach Dylan on how to talk to Carmen."

He was answered with a dainty snort. "You're kidding me, right? Dylan doesn't need help talking to girls. As much as I hate to admit it, he's the epitome of suave. The only reason why he can't get Carmen is because she's too smart for him. And the fact that she's asexual."

"But he really likes her!" Dwayne protested.

"He likes the chase, not her."

"That's a bit cruel."

Allie Howard stopped powdering her nose to fully look at her boyfriend. "So what? He pisses her off." She paused. "Come to think of it, he pisses me off too."

"He's your cousin!"

"Don't remind me."

Dwayne frowned at her. "So you won't help him?"

"I'll think about it. I'll see you later, dear." Allie called over her shoulder, blowing him a kiss.


"How are you not worried?"

"Goldie, my man, I've learned to take these things in stride. And besides, what's he gonna do? Spit at us?"

Goldberg stopped eating his third enchilada enough to stare at the lounging Charlie in shock. "Dude! This guy's wanted us out of the school since we got here! Orion's coaching the JV team so he doesn't have our back anymore. It's like we have to fend for ourselves."

"Fend for ourselves? What are we talking about?" Averman asked, plopping his lunch tray down at the table.

"Hockey practice. Our first hockey practice as members of the Varsity team." Charlie said smoothly, deftly swiping an apple from a sleeping Maddie's tray.

"Oh right. Our stint with Crazy Dog Wilson." Averman muttered.

Charlie grinned. "Come on, guys. We've been through worse. Seriously though. What can this guy do to us?"

"Bench us, make us work harder than any other player on the team, single us out in front of everyone, and if all else fails, give us general hell."

His grin fading, Charlie turned to look at Adam. "Banksie, buddy. What are you talking about?"

"Yes, what are you talking about?" Carmen asked suddenly, her amber eyes narrowing as she set aside her fruit salad.

The boy pushed his fries around. "Coach Wilson doesn't like us. That much is obvious. He still thinks that we don't belong here. And usually, anything he doesn't like, he gets rid of."

Averman let out a nervous squeak.

"I don't want to worry you guys or anything but…my time with Varsity was hell. He hated me. I was pushed harder than any guy on the team and it just didn't stop. And you've seen his rather…violent…teaching methods." The other boy's eyes had taken on a haunted look.

There was a stunned silence that seemed out of place in the noisy dining hall. Goldberg and Averman looked about ready to faint and Charlie…well, Charlie looked like he'd been told that Connie was a man.

Carmen was the only person that didn't look like she was in shock. Actually, she looked rather determined. "I'm sure everyone's heard of Coach Wilson's teaching methods." She sniffed distastefully before packing her bag up. "Don't worry about Wilson. He's going to get what's coming to him."

Charlie stared after her briskly walking away. "What does she mean by that?"

Only catching the tail end of the conversation, Maddie yawned and propped her head up. "Wilson has a lot of dirty habits. And Carmen's found quite a few of them…kind of sucks to be him."

"The girl's a regular Nancy Drew, isn't she?" Averman gave a nervous chuckle as she eyed the empty space where her apple used to be.

Charlie quickly threw the half eaten core out of sight.

"Anyway, Wilson was Carmen's gym teacher freshman year. She's been out for his blood ever since."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "What for? He didn't…do anything to her, did he?"

"Ew, no! Like Carmen would ever let that happen. It's kind of funny actually." Maddie grinned slightly. "He gave her a 75. Almost ruined her GPA before she appealed."

Goldberg's jaw dropped. "She's on his case because of a grade?"

"At first, it was because of a grade. Then she started finding out a lot less savory things about him." The dancer's face grew serious. "I didn't even know what she was doing until she asked me to get his staff file for her. I still don't know most of what she's doing. What I do know is that Wilson's in some pretty deep shit and there's no way he can wriggle out of this one."

"Well. Amazing how this conversation turned out." Charlie said brightly, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta get to class. See you guys later." Maddie said as she gathered her belongings.

"Wait. I'm coming too." Adam called out after her abruptly as he shoved all his stuff into his bag with one sweep of his arm.

Goldberg took a deep breath as he watched the two of them walk out of the dining hall. "Well…I don't know about you but I am terrified to go to practice this afternoon."


"Carmen's really serious about this, isn't she?" Adam asked Maddie as they walked out of the dining hall.

She nodded. "I think her and Wilson had a confrontation last year. He just laughed at her as usual. I don't know how or why. She's kinda scary."

"He doesn't take her seriously. He thinks we're just kids."

Maddie snorted, tightening the straps around her colorful backpack. "That's such a dumb thing to think. You recruit the most talented kids in the country, bring them to one place, give them a great education, and you think they're going to stand still and let you walk all over them? Welcome to the nightmare of an elitist society."

"You're right." Adam breathed, his eyes widening.

"Of course I am. They made us and now we're smarter than them. Well, some of them." The Asian girl amended, giving an enthusiastic wave to Dr. Harrison, a brilliant biology teacher, as he passed. She then turned to look at her friend. "He really did a number on you, didn't he?"

"What?"

"Wilson. He really did a number on you, didn't he?"

"It wasn't exactly the best welcome to high school, if that's what you mean." Adam sighed bitterly. "I'll see you later, Mads."

Poor kid, Maddie thought as he walked off. So much angst in one body. I wonder if he'll go insane.


"Luis, you're a walking penis."

Luis Mendoza glared at a very pissed off Connie Moreau.

She glared at him right back.

In fact, the two glared at each other until Luis broke the silence.

"Am I a big walking penis?"

"Oh for goodness sake!" Connie yelled, forgetting that she was in her physics class at the moment.

"Miss…um…Miss! Please stay quiet! This is a classroom, after all!" Their physics teacher scolded, unable to remember Connie's last name.

"Sorry, sir." She mumbled, resolutely ignoring Luis's snickers.

"Was it something I said?" The boy asked innocently.

She refused to even look at him.


Julie Gaffney anxiously looked at her watch as she raced down the hallway towards her suite. Juggling her bag and several textbooks, she muttered a steady stream of curses as she tried to locate her key.

"Looking for this?" Carmen grinned, suddenly coming out of the suite and holding up a key in her hand. "You left it on the dresser, thought you might need it."

"Thanks." Julie said gratefully. "Where're you off to? Classes just ended."

"Prior engagement!" Her roommate called over her shoulder as she too raced down the corridor. "I won't be back until late, tell Connie that her dad called and make sure Maddie takes her vitamins! Oh and hockey practice has been moved later to 4!"

"Got it!" The other girl yelled, slipping into her room. Carmen was an organized whirlwind of activity, handling four to five things at once and somehow managing to never lose her cool. Or appear unkempt.

Sometimes it's really unfair, Julie thought with a sigh as she examined her own appearance in the mirror. Her carefully brushed hair was all over the place, her mascara smudged, and her feet felt bloated. And this was just after the first day of classes.

She broke out of her narcissistic moment when the suite door opened and Connie entered. Flashing Julie a tired smile, the small girl walked over to the couch and promptly collapsed. "What were we thinking, Jules? Three AP classes?" She moaned, pulling her shoes off.

The corners of Julie's mouth twitched upwards. "I believe we were listening to Coach Orion who wanted us to be the best we can be. And then we were given false inspiration by Carmen who I believe is enrolled in four of them. Which ones are you taking anyway?"

"Psych, chem and Spanish. You?" Her best friend ground out, burying her face in a pillow.

"English, environmental, and U.S."

Just then, the door burst open again and Maddie barged in. "Where's Carmen? Carmen! Carmen!"

"She's not here. She had a meeting." Julie spoke up, looking worriedly at the wild eyed state of her friend. "What's going on?"

Stopping to look at them somberly, she wrung her hands. "I'm in three AP classes. Problem is…I only signed up for one."

Connie sat up. "What?"

"Yeah, I know!" Maddie wailed, looking close to tears. "I only signed up for computer science but I'm in physics and Calc BC as well! And I can't get out of it! I can't handle all that work! I actually like my sleep! If I don't get sleep, I'm gonna turn into a zombie and go around eating people and have grey skin and I'll be ugly!"

"But that's not fair. It's not your fault!" Julie said, her brow furrowing in protest.

"They said that I should be able to handle it and that they can't do anything about it. This is why I need Car! Why'd she leave me? She's in my face when I don't need her! I don't want to be ugly!I like the way I look!" She whimpered, tears threatening to spill out.

Connie immediately rushed to the trembling girl's side. "Shhh, it's ok, sweetie. Just go lie down and close your eyes for a bit, ok? Carmen will take care of this."

Julie watched as their little darling slumped over to her room. "Poor thing."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Connie agreed before she looked at her watch. "We better get a move on, Jules. Practice starts in half an hour."

"Alright. Oh, Carmen said your dad called."

Connie started plaiting her long hair. "I'll call him when I get back. Got all your stuff?"

Julie nodded.

"Okay then." She paused for a second. "Wait, I almost forgot about Maddie."

"She's sleeping." The goalie announced, popping her head into the other room.

The brunette frowned before grabbing her hockey gear. "I don't want to leave her here just like that. Bagel! Bagel, sweetheart, where are you?"

Bagel opened his eyes from his sleeping spot on the hidden armchair next to the fireplace and sat up. Jumping down and trotting over to Connie, he obediently awaited her commands.

Connie leaned down so she was almost eye to eye with the beagle and gave him a soft rub on the head. "Go take care of Maddie, ok? Keep her company."

Understanding her words perfectly, Bagel gave an affirmative bark and scampered over to his master's bed where he immediately made himself at home.

Julie raised an eyebrow. "That dog is freakishly intelligent."


There was dead silence throughout the rink as the members of the Varsity hockey team stood in a straight line. A wiry, sandy haired man slowly made his way down all of them, inspecting each one and never making a single comment. However when he got to the end of the line, his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Why, Banks. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Coach Wilson breathed, raising an eyebrow.

Looking straight ahead, Adam didn't even bat a lash. "Yes, sir."

"Mmm…and it seems like you brought all your little friends too." He chuckled, skating away from them to look at the assembled team fully. "Listen up and you listen up good. I'm not happy that all I've got to work with is the likes of you. Four of my senior players resigned, saying that they'd rather not play with the Ducks. Incidentally, that was all I had left of the original team." He hissed, his eyes narrowed in dislike. "Thank goodness some of you know how to actually play some hockey. However, while you're on my team, all of you will learn how to play hockey. You got that?"

He glared at them as if daring any of them to contradict him. When he got no response except stony faces, he continued.

"My practices are hard. They are extremely hard. I don't have time for slackers and pansies that can't pull their own weight. My practices are designed to toughen all you up. They are designed for real men. Not women. They will train you to win and let me tell you something, I am very used to winning." Wilson stopped at this time to glare pointedly at a fuming Connie and an extremely rigid Julie.

"So are we, sir." Connie practically spat out, unable to handle his mocking eyes any longer.

He gave a sinister smirk. "Don't you dare talk back to me, girl."

"Hey! Who the hell you think you are talking to her like that?" Portman started, finally breaking out of his earlier self restraint. "We don't tolerate any disrespect here. You're on our turf."

Wilson looked at the burly defenseman and let out a small sigh of realization. "Ah, it's one of the Bash Brothers. Mmm, nothing but brute force on the ice. Like an ape. How remarkable. Alright, Portman. Laps."

Portman turned red with fury but obliged nonetheless when he felt a pleading poke from Julie.

"You, Captain boy." Wilson barked at Charlie.

"What." Charlie answered flatly, his eyes narrowed in hate and fury.

"Don't you what me. You will address me with respect at all times, you understand?"

"Respect is earned."

Wilson stared at him. "Unbelievable. Laps, Captain."

"As you wish." Charlie said with the ghost of a smirk on his face.

"I could go on for days about all of your shortcomings. However…time is running short. So in lieu of an object lesson, how about all of you join those two for laps? Now. If I'm feeling generous, then we might finish practice before eight." Wilson barked, his whole aura oozing dislike. "Well what are you waiting for? Get!"

Mechanically, the Ducks fell into line and started on their laps. There were no words spoken.


The door knob to Suite 301 trembled and twisted before there was an audible click.

"Sweet." Dylan Howard smirked as he pocketed the bobby pin and opened the door. Walking in, he was greeted by the overall deserted state of the suite.

"Maddie? Maggot!" He called, walking over to her and Connie's room. "There you are. Didn't you hear me knocking? Or yelling? Or picking the lock?"

Maddie moved slightly as she turned towards her best friend with bleary eyes.

"Bagel, my boy! Slap me some." The blond grinned, leaning down so a happy Bagel could offer him his paw.

"Go away, Dylan. I'm trying to die." His best friend groaned, immersing herself in her sheets.

Dylan made himself comfortable in Connie's desk chair before turning to look at her. "Oh? How's that going for you?"

"I don't know! I've never done it before."

"Hmm." There was a pause. "How long do you think you'll be at it?"

He was answered with the finger.

"Tell me what's wrong, Mads." It was more of a command than a request.

There was a sulky silence before he gave a great howl of laughter. "You're still moaning about the AP classes? HAHAHAHA!"

"Shut up, Dipshit. I can't handle all of it."

Wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes, Dylan leaned forward, his grey eyes sparkling engagingly. "You know…Emily Parker's taking three."

Maddie froze. "She is?"

"Mmhmmm. Now…do you really think you can't handle three stupid classes?"

"I never said I couldn't handle it! I can handle it just fine!" She snapped, sitting up in her bed.

"That's my girl!" Dylan grinned encouragingly. He stood up. "Now why don't you find yourself something pretty to put on and fix that rat's nest you call hair and come out with me for a bit?"

Maddie scowled at his comment about her hair. "Where are we going?"

"Christina's in town and she wants to meet up for dinner. And there's no way I'm being alone with that prick boyfriend of hers."

"When's she going back to Princeton?" The dancer mumbled, walking over to her dresser to pick up her brush.

"Tomorrow. I didn't want to go if he was going, so she told me to bring you and we'll have a nice dinner with her and Wonder Douche."

Maddie grinned at him. She had seen pictures of his sister's new boyfriend and knew Dylan hated him with a passion. She privately thought it was because he didn't want her attention focused on another boy except him.

Christina Grace Howard was a junior at Princeton University and had the dark blonde hair, steel grey eyes and overall good looks of her family. She was the first to break with tradition and attend Princeton instead of the University of St. Andrews as the rest of the Howards had done. Dylan and his father blamed Christina's transition to an Ivy League school on the influence of her mother, who also happened to be a Princeton graduate.

"Alright. It'll be nice to see her again although I don't understand why you hate Brian so much."

"Because he undresses me with his eyes." The soccer player solemnly said, his own eyes going comically wide and tilting his head back as if he was giving away a national secret.

Maddie snorted. "Right."

"What? I'm a sexy beast." Dylan sniffed, tossing his hair out of his face. "I need to shower. I'll come back at six."


Carmen Rivera slowed to a stop as she entered the third floor corridor. Or actually she was halted by a glaringly neon pink poster board sign that completely covered the actual message board.

On it, she read in big block letters:

IF YOU ARE CARMEN RIVERA, PLEASE COME TO SUITE 303. (IT'S THE ONE NEXT TO YOURS.)

IF YOU'RE NOT CARMEN RIVERA, SORRY FOR THIS DISPLAY OF OFFENDING VISUAL TACKINESS.

Carmen raised an eyebrow, and walked down to the suite. The sign was obviously Charlie's handiwork plus Luis's little note of style deference at the end, and she had a feeling she knew exactly why he wanted to see her.

"Well?" she asked, coming to a halt at the open doorway and looking around at the comatose occupants of the room.

All in varying positions of languor, the members of the hockey team were stretched out wherever there was room to be stretched out. In fact, judging by the looks of it, they had even moved into Charlie and Adam's bedroom for she could see Adam, practically unconscious, on his bed, Fulton occupying Charlie's and Dwayne stretched out on the floor.

"Practice wasn't fun, I take it?" It was a rhetorical question.

Charlie didn't even open his eyes from his place on the armchair. "Whatever you're gonna do to him, do it fast."

"He nearly killed us today." Russ ground out, as if talking was a serious effort. And if talking for Russ was a serious effort, practice certainly must have been hell.

Carmen nodded. Just once but it was enough. "I'll see what I can do."

And with that she left the boys to their pain.


Carmen is my hero.

R&R, please! Have a nice day!

Banksiesbabe99: Thanks! Apart from my dog, I think you're like the only one who thinks I'm ace. Lol.

Firexelement: Thanks so much. It's lady, lol. I'll be sure to take you up on that offer sometime.

antiIrony: Thanks a lot! It's been a blast writing this and I'm kinda glad I have so much more freedom now that the kids are older.

Sam: Thanks for your input. I'm glad you enjoyed my stories and I'll be sure to make note of your suggestions!

Babybee13: Thanks a lot! It's great hearing your thoughts. Reviews make me giggle.

RIP MuM: Lol, crazy weather you got there. Thanks for reading!

Sphinx005: You're amazing. Lol. Thanks so much!

Joshysgirl: Carmen still hates Dylan, lol. Maddie and Adam aren't hooking up either. Buuuut Fulton is gonna get him some! Shhhh! It's supposed to be a secret!

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