*****

[CH 6 Get Your Game On]Three Days Later

The stands were packed with so many people you couldn't tell where each row started. High above it all, perched on just over the scoreboard, Angela and the trio had a perfect view of the rink below them. Angela had never seen so many humans in one place before. They were all so noisy and excited for this game to start. Broadway came prepared with all sorts of snacks and drinks he'd managed to carry all the way from the castle. Brooklyn was allowed to borrow a pair of binoculars from Matt earlier and was using it to get a closer look at the moving figures. Angela and Lexington were looking down on the ice rink waiting for the team to come out.

"Isn't it time for the game to start?" asked the anxious female gargoyle.

"Ha, relax, it'll happen," replied the Lex with a smile, "Hmm? …Whoa, déjà vu."

"And now ladies and gentlemen," the announcer's voice boomed through out the arena, "Put your hands together for Manhattan's home team the Manhattan Islanders!" the fans went wild with a mixture of cheers and boos at the mention of their favorite hockey team. The gargoyles watched the routine of their adopted home's enthusiasm as a team of humans came out and were somehow gliding on the ice without slipping or falling, "And now the challengers, all the way from Anaheim California and beyond the stars, the Mighty Ducks!" fans went wild again with the same mixture as before.

"How could they scorn and cheer each team at the same time like that?" Angela only received shrugs from the trio; after all this was their first hockey game.

Through out the evening the fans were awed and dazzled by their favorite teams' hockey skills. Both teams showed an incredible display of speed, strength, endurance, agility, and every so often a little extra. The gargoyles watched them compete in what had to be the fiercest game they've even seen. The game itself seemed simple enough. 'Chase the little black things around and get it into the net. However the method used to do so and prevent it was extremely physical. One time a player from the human team, who apparently played dirty, tried hitting one of the ducks, whom in turned blocked it with his own stick like a bow. That dishonorable display with met with disgust from the human audience. Another time the biggest duck managed to ram three humans at once into the wall; even the gargoyles winched at sight. By the time the game was about to end, the score was tied; 9 to 9 and both team were determined to win.

During the game Lexington was watching Nosedive and trying to figure out what he thought of him. In the days that followed previous to the game he had been, annoyingly enough, tracking the small gargoyle and following him around trying to strike up a conversation. To which, surprisingly enough, the young web-wing would unknowingly oblige before realizing it. Lex wasn't sure how he managed to keep finding him all the time or for that matter how he avoided the rest of the clan; until just last night he found out that Bronx was mysteriously getting extra table scraps. The duck was very persistent he'll give him credit for that much. That and he was determine to learn as much about the clan as he would be allowed. Apparently he respected the clan's need of privacy enough to drop a subject when asked. He even traded stories of his home planet with Lexington in the hopes that he would do the same. Which, for the most part he did, and in all honesty the little gargoyle was starting to like having a secret person to talk to.

It was now the finale round and as a result two of the defending players and the man who had the puck tried to trip up Nosedive, Duke, and Mallory. The humans were in the flying V formation while the three ducks were planning to get at the puck when all three humans stopped right in front of them. The three alien ducks had no time to stop so they had to improvise. Duke and Mallory did a standard leapfrog over the two side guys, but Nosedive jumped a little earlier than he intended. Instinctively he threw out his arm and did a handstand right on the human's slouched back and threw himself into the air to avoid the collision.

Everything went silent as every eye in the stadium watched the duck spun around, upside down in mid-air before curling, flipping once and righted himself to land perfectly on the ice in front of the shocked humans. A move his mother would have most certainly been proud of if he'd had stayed in the performing ice capiases back home in school. As the crowd went wild with this surprise performance the blonde duck took advantage of the moment. With his hockey stick in one hand he twirled it once and made deep bow, swinging the stick downward and slapping the puck, passing it to Mallory at the sideline. Who in turn passed it to Duke near the center, who passed it to Grin at the far left, who finally passed it to Tanya in front of the goalie. She took the shot and the buzzard sound loudly followed shortly after the finale buzz thus ending the game.

"Oh like you really didn't see that one coming," stated the blonde teen to the shocked human player as he whooped and cheered with his team back on their side of the ice. "DUCKS ROCK!!"

*****

The young gargoyles have been waiting for almost two hours for the ducks to leave. Yet every time they take so much and a step towards the door some human would beg for and autograph or pitcher, a phone number or e-mail address, once a date and so on. Xanatos wasn't kidding when he said fans would do anything to meet a celebrity.

"Why do you suppose the humans are desperate to want the ducks to write their names down from them?"

"You got me," answered Brooklyn as he studied the crowd, "Maybe its like asking for a favor or token; like they did back in Scotland."

"But weren't the human women the only ones who did that?" asked Broadway.

"Mr. Flashblade," one reporter managed to push through the crowd to reach Nosedive, "Excuses me Mr. Flashblade?"

"Whoa buddy, Mr. Flashblade is my dad," stated the young duck once the microphone was under his beak, "Call me, Nosedive."

"Nosedive, that was quite a performance out there today."

"Thanks, glad ya liked it."

"However some of the viewers might think it was a little unorthodox. Is that how hockey is played where you're from?"

"Actually you humans have all the moves down pretty tight," commented the teen, "But I must admit in some cases like the play ya saw out there today, we ducks tend to add a few new moves into the mix to get an advantage."

"And an extraordinary move it was, mixing hockey and figure-staking like that," commented the reporter, "But to be honest, one would think that with all the protective patting you wear should have made it impossible to execute it."

"Hey, what can I say," chuckled the young duck, "When you were born and raised on the ice it comes na-trol-lia!"

*****

With that comment and a few more minutes of questions and answers the ducks finally left the dome. The young gargoyles made their way to the top of the roof. Sticking to the shadows the nocturnal creatures watched as the flock began to head for the limousine that David had provided them when a slight glint of light caught Lexington's large eyes. Thanks to his sharp nocturnal vision he spotted that just across the street on the roof of the neighboring building was a human… one with a gun.

"No…"

Before he knew it, he was air-born and glided up high and around until he was right above the rooftop. From his position the little gargoyle recognized the Q one the human's black body suit. Then he went into a dive and fell straight for the assassin. The Quarryman was part of group that had attack him and Nosedive at the park. The hunter had seen and recognized the blonde alien from the news report of the team's arrival at the dome earlier and came to avenge his fallen comrades in jail. He had his sights locked; his finger squeezed the trigger, only to misfire as he was tackled hard from his side.

*****

Down in the streets Nosedive was waving and bowing to his fans as they continuously applauded and cheered. The other ducks just smiled and rolled their eyes at the display and just knew the Kid's ego was growing to the point the he'll give them trouble come bedtime. Nosedive figured he had his fill of praise and turned to join the team only to come short of getting shot. There came a bang and something right in front of him came short of hitting him dead on. He fell backwards from the sudden scare, scramble to his feet just as his team ran over to help him, and they all ran for cover as the crowd panicked and scattered.

*****

Meanwhile on the roof Lexington and the Quarryman were wrestling for the riffle and caused more shots to go off. Though each hit the gargoyle made had the force to put a dent in rock; the man was wearing armored patting and didn't sarcoma to most of the damage. The Quarryman use his large stature to force the small gargoyle into standing at an awkward arch until it lost its balance and fell over backwards. The human fell with the gargoyle, straddled it, and pined it in a way so that the rifle's body was pressing against its chest and shoulders. As Lexington struggled to free himself, only to find time to see the moon-lit glint of a hunting knife as it came down. The hunter was again tackled by an even bigger gargoyle but had the dark satisfaction of knowing his knife had at least brazed the smaller one when he heard it scream in pain before he saw a fist flying at his head and the whole world went black.

*****

Down on the streets the police have been called and Phil was trying to talk his Ducks into the limo. They were contemplating whether or not to storm the building for the assassin. Mallory was by no means happy that some trigger-happy loon had nearly gotten the drop on them and was demanding that they catch the guy before he got away. Tanya was against the idea thinking that there could be more than one up there. She thought she saw something flying towards the roof just before the shot was fired.

"If it's those Quarrymen we heard about," stated Wildwing, "Then it's us their after. We're better off leading them away from the crowd before someone gets hurt." The white mallard eyed the now silent roof top, they haven't seen anyone leave the building, then thankfully he hear sirens,

"Sounds like the police are on the way. Lets… where's Nosedive?"

The blonde teen was on the third floor fire escape. The moment Tanya mentioned something 'flying' towards the roof before hearing the gunfire Nosedive realized whom it must have been and managed to sneak away from the group into the ally. He wasn't about to miss the action his new friend was in. Besides he wanted to thank him personally this time for saving his life again. Then he heard the scream; and had a feeling he'll repay the dept sooner than he thought.

*****

"Lexington, are you alright?" Angela was at his side supporting him as the little male clutch at his shoulder, "You're wounded!"

"Yeah, I know," grunted the young gargoyle as he inspected the gash, "I don't think it's really deep."

"Think you'll be able to glide home?" Brooklyn asked as he and Broadway came to see after knocking out the hunter.

"I should."

"The police are here," stated Broadway when he heard the sirens and the squealing of brakes.

Brooklyn nodded, "Then let's get outta here before they swarm the place."

"You beasts aren't going anywhere." The gargoyles turned and saw the Quarryman with his weapon drawn as he struggled to his feet, "Stupid monsters should've taken me out when ya had the chance." He had the gun aimed right at them with every intention of using it, "Once you're out of the way that blasted duck and his friends are next…"

Just then something jump from behind him and landed on the edge of the roof, "Hey!" The human turned only to have the gun knocked out of his hands. His wrist was caught and his face met with a punch by a feathered hand. The gargoyles watched the human's head snap back and how the duck pulled him forward to flip him over his shoulder and sending the Quarryman flying towards the door where he landed short and hard. The combination left stunned and eventually unconscious. "Never underestimate a duck, pal! Especially a Mighty Duck!" Gloated the young alien, "Ha-ha am I right Lexie? I, ooh…" It was then did Nosedive realize that there were more of them this time. "Umm… Ooops, ah man I'm sorry Lexie I didn't ..."

"You didn't know I wasn't alone…" there was no point in denying; they all heard the duck use his name. Or rather the pet name the duck insisted on calling him by. So he took a deep breath and waited for the explosion, "It's not your fault."

"He knew about us?!" Brooklyn snapped. It was shocking enough that the duck was there and had saved them, but for him to do it on purpose? "He knew and you didn't tell us?!"

"I didn't mean to. It just…"

"How much does he know?" demanded the second in command.

"um…everything."

"Jalapeña Lex! Didn't you learn anything from the incident with the Pack?!" screeched the beaked gargoyle as he was rapidly losing points on Nosedive's personality meter, "If he told the others, Goliath will have your hide…"

Nosedive didn't mind being ignored at the moment, he did, however, couldn't stand this up tight big mouth yelling at his little friend and having his own trustworthiness being questioned. Though the young alien had no idea who 'the Pack' was, but he caught the sense that they weren't on friendly terms with Lex's family and didn't much care to be associated with them. He would have snapped off then and there if it wasn't for the fact that he knew the cops were most likely half way up the stairs of this very building. He also knew that these guys weren't allowed to bee seen and if they didn't leave now they'd be caught for sure.

"Yo!" assuming that Brooklyn was the one in charged he boldly shoved him back a step from Lex and stood between the two, "Hate ta break the 411 but if ya'll don't jet off now your gonna have serious 911 in the next five minutes."

At first neither of the gargoyles had a clue of what he meant. Angela was about to ask him to repeat, but then Broadway heard the footsteps from inside. It wasn't hard to add the two together. When he made his thoughts known Brooklyn gave the order to take to the sky with a side-glance that told his smaller brother that they were going to continue their discussion later. Lex, however, stayed long enough to stare at the duck and give an apologetic smile mix with an appreciative glint in his eyes. Nosedive watched the little gargoyle take off into the night, then turn and went over to the Quarryman. When the police busted the door a minute later they found the young Mighty Duck tying up the assassin.

*****

Castle Wyvern: three hours later

Lexington sat in the moonlit walkway of the wall, nursing his bandaged shoulder as he rested and waited for the bag of ice Broadway was getting him. He knew Brooklyn had to report what happened to Goliath and knew sooner or later he'd have to face his leader and explain how this all happened. But his thoughts weren't focused on that moment to come. Instead his thoughts were drifting to this hidden friendship that had formed between him and Nosedive. They haven't even known each other for very long and yet the alien risked his life to help him in repayment and made sure his clan was kept hidden. He even stood up to Brooklyn and was ready to pick a fight, though Lex was sure he understood that he was out match and out numbered. He recognized the look in the blonde duck's eyes; he had wanted to defend Lexington, but instead pointed out the danger that was coming.

"Well boy," Lex looked down at the huge dog that kept him company, "Guess we have a new friend, huh Bronx?" The garbeast merely grunted and panted, "I know, it's weird… kinda cool, but weird. I mean I've never expected he'd actually look out for me like that." Bronx gave a slight whimper as if he didn't believe it either, "I guess I thought I could never trust a celebrity again after what happened the first time. But Nosedive… I guess because since he's a stranger in this world like us he understood how hard it was for me to trust other strangers… What do you think boy?"

"A-hem" the voice came from behind him, "I don't think Bronx will have the answer you seek Lexington."

"Goliath," the little creature slide off his perch and stood before him, "Please I can explain…"

"There is no need," stated the clan leader and he looked down on his youngest charge, "You've allowed yourself to be seen. Had revealed the secrets of our kind. And now apparently revealed the rest of the clan as well. You've put us all at a great risk."

"It's not like that, I sear," pleaded that young gargoyle, "The night he fell from the wall he spotted me a second time. That's how he found out that I was real at least." Lexington waited for Goliath to respond; when he didn't the web-wing continued, "He already knew about our stone sleep before he even confronted me. Even more so he already knew about the rest of us before hand. I'm not sure how but I think he and Bronx have made some kind of alliance," at the sound of his name and sensing his littlest master needed comfort, the huge gar-beast nudged himself under Lex's arm to be petted, "Anyway it not like it was all one sided, he told me things too."

"You mean to tell me that in return for confiding in him, he shared the secrets of his flock to you?" the web-wing nodded in response, "Lexington that is no excuse for going against…"

"I didn't go against anything," the way this was going he was sure he wouldn't be allowed to see Nosedive again, "And Nosedive isn't the type to betray a confidence. He's known about the clan for days now and hasn't even told his leader and he's Nosedive's own brother. His only family." Goliath's brow rose a little at the fact, "You said yourself that nothing was more important than family. Doesn't the fact that he would hold this from his only living sibling prove that he isn't a threat?"

"Hmm… perhaps," this was difficult choice and apparently his youngest charge had already made his, "You are certain that he can be trusted?" he received a nod, "He hasn't once asked anything of you?"

"Only for my e-mail address, since the game they came for is over he'll be going back to his pond soon. And he wanted to stay in touch. He even gave me his private chat room code so his flock wouldn't know."

Before Goliath could respond a familiar voice broke out in the courtyard, "I've fought in battles under open fire, made it through explosions, survived through being kidnapped by Lizard Lip's cronies, and lived through a shear drop off a mountain with only a concussion ta show for it, not to mention saved your tail a few times on my own. I think that proves I'm more than capable of going out for a walk around an old castle by myself!"

The two gargoyles and their dog looked down to find the blonde duck being pursued by his leader/older brother, "That also proves that you tend to be danger-prone at times. Only now you seem more so than usual." For once through out their waking stay there Wildwing actually took off the Mask and for the first time the clan could see what he really looked like, "Dive this city isn't like Anaheim. People get mugged for shoes here for crying out loud! If something serious where to happen to you here…" he trailed off to sigh as his brother glanced to the side.

By this time the rest of the clan was overhearing this from their separate hiding spots and had watched the behavior change in the teen duck. Sober, wariness, a small twinge of annoyance, but most all they saw guilt. It was clear that the white mallard didn't need his symbol of authority to get his point across with the teenager. If fact it showed that he had more of an effect without it for the younger duck sat down one the edge of the nearest stone garden box and stared at his shoes. Lex recognized that look easily. 'He doesn't trust him… His own brother doesn't trust him…' thought the web-wing as he watched the elder sibling made his way to his friend and sat down next to him.

"Its not that I don't trust you baby bro. It's just… We fought off some dangerous enemies before but these Quarrymen are very well organized. That one creep came close to putting you on ice and he was just one guy. No one even noticed him entering that building to begin with. I'm not about to take unnecessary risks with the team while those goons are running loose in this city and especially not with you. Until we leave I don't want you out of my sight. Is that clear?"

As Nosedive made it known he understood, Bronx stepped up to the pillar to see what was going on. At the sight of the blonde duck, he let out a contented bark and took off towards the stairs. In a panic Lexington ran after his pet and called for him to stop only to find that the huge hound was too excited to listen.