Author's Note: Ok I know I said I was going to wrap up the trials in this chapter but then an Idea came to me and I decided to do it. I had to change a few things but I managed to get it done. You'll see what I did, so please Enjoy.

Chapter 7: Secondary Offer

"Man…I'm beat," Nosedive groaned in soreness as he laid in bed on the top bunk.

"I know what you mean Kid," Duke responded as he sat on his bed, rotating his right shoulder as a few pops could be heard. "I didn't think the coach could drive us this hard."

"At least the trials are coming to a close soon," Wildwing responded as he leaned against his bunk.

Four more days had passed and there were a few days left of the trials. The trials had become more strenuous as time went on, which made all the players give more than they were used to giving. By the end of the day they all were tired. This just proved how much their coach wanted from them, he wasn't kidding when he gave the impression that he was tough.

One of the most noticeable things that everyone could see is the decrease in players. Over the days the coach kept to his word and eliminated players who didn't meet his standers. It was like every day people were sent packing, and their numbers decreased. The once noisy halls of the player's dorms silent started to be reduced as the numbers dwindled. They started out with fifty-seven players and now that number was reduced to twenty-six. Luckily the ducks were a part of that number and they could almost see that light at the end of the tunnel.

"Still, that doesn't mean that there could be complications," Mallory responded from her spot on the floor.

They were having a team meeting right now, and since the boy's room is bigger it was held there. Wildwing had called this meeting after this day's session had ended. Everyone were feeling soar after what the coach had put them through.

"Still we're doing well right now," Nosedive responded as he propped himself up on his elbows and looked over the railing.

"Past experiences can never predict the future," Grin responded from his spot on his bunk.

"Anyway, we're still doing good and should feel proud to have made it this far," Canard inputted, arms folded. "Still, what do you think he'll make us do tomorrow?"

"If it's anything like the endurance course we did today then we're in for a hec…hec…hect…hard day," Tanya said from her spot on the floor.

Today's session was a mix of an endurance and obstacle course mixed together. Apparently Coach Gary liked to have all his players well rounded so he set up a course that would see how long they could go. They had to first skate five laps around the rink, then skate to one side of the rink and try to make at least ten goals stationary. Then they had to do another five laps before going from goal post to goal post and try to make five goals while moving. Then do another five laps before finishing. All of them were timed and were told that there was a limit they had to pass. That routine took a lot out of all the players as some were breathing hard once they were finished. Plus a lot of players were cut because of this course. They were all glad once it was all over.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling it could be worse than today," Wildwing sighed, which caused an uncomfortable silence from his team.

Just then the door to the room opened up and surprisingly Phil walked in, a cheerful grin on his face, "Boobies, it's good to see you all!"

"Phil, where have you been!?" Wildwing asked as everyone's eyes were on him.

"Yeah, we asked for you but no one said where you were," Mallory said as she stood up.

"I've been watching you all from the VIP box high up in the stand," Phil smiled as he put his hands in his pockets. "And believe me you all been doing excellent!"

"Yeah, but we still have a few days left," Duke said.

"I know but you all are going to do fine, I have faith in you," Their manager said, before he looked up at the blond teen. "Nosedive there's something I need to talk with you about."

"What is it?" The teen sat up in his bed. "And please tell me it's not another monkey suit."

"No, no nothing like that," he waved his hands in defense. "But I need you to come into the hall so we can talk, you too Wildwing."

"What's going on?" the leader asked.

"You'll find out."

Both brothers were hesitant on this, mainly because most of the time Phil talked to them in private it was for something they would regret later. But unfortunately curiosity had the two of them, so getting up they followed their manager outside the room, leaving everyone.

Once the door closed the two were greeted by another person. This one is a medium sized male, in a grey suit with black hair. He held a clipboard in his hands but the contents attached to it were out of their view.

"Guys I want you to meet Thomas Grant," Phil said as the two mallard shook hands.

"Hello, it's an honor to meet you two," Thomas responded with a smile.

"Yeah, so what's this about?" Wildwing asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"I'm one of the Olympic recruiters, and I wanted to talk to your brother hear," The raven haired male responded as he turned to the teen.

"What do you need with me?" Nosedive asked with a curious glance, this was a first of many times someone wanted to talk to him instead of his brother. What this guy wanted is still a mystery to the two.

"Mr. Flashblade I wanted-"

"Nosedive, please just call me that," the blond teen corrected, not liking the formality.

"Ok, Nosedive. One of my associates and I have been watching you during these trials and we can truly say that you have an extraordinary talent on the ice. You're one of the fastest people I've ever seen move on the ice."

"Ok," Nosedive nodded, still unsure where this was going. "What does this has to do with me?"

"I know you're committed to playing hockey in the Olympics but I want you to consider competing in another event as well."

"Another event?" Wildwing intervene. "You mean we can compete in multiple events?"

"That's another thing I forgot to mention to you all," Phil just remembered.

"Nosedive I asking you to compete in speed skating."

"Speed Skating?" Nosedive question, defiantly surprised at this.

"Yes, I'm one of the main recruiters for the event. It's basically an event where you race laps around the skating rink in the fastest time possible. And believe me when I say you have the speed needed for this event."

Wildwing then looked at Phil, "Why does this feel like it's your idea?"

"It's not really," Phil held his hands out in defense. "The day I say you all were going to compete in the trials I was told that the officials were going to be watching one of you. Imagine my surprise when they told me it was the kid."

Thomas nodded in agreement with the overweight human, "Yes, exactly. The way you managed to soar passed everyone else in the first exercise on the first day amazed me and my superiors. You'd be perfect for this event."

"I…I don't know," Nosedive said with a shake of his head, clearly overwhelm by all this. "I mean we're nearly done here and I don't think I would want to go through another trials-"

"But that's the good thing," Thomas smiled at the teen's response, surprising the two instantly. "If you agree you'd be instantly on the team."

"What?" Both brothers said in shock. Clearly this was something unexpected, since they had to endure trials for hockey but now Nosedive wouldn't have to endure another set of trials. There had to be something else behind this.

"Why would he instantly be on the team?" Wildwing asked for his brother.

"Well to be honest the trials for Speed Skating ended two weeks ago, but one of our players suffered an accident. He was practicing and apparently there was a chink in the ice and he fell. Apparently he sliced his Achilles heel with one of his skates and won't be able to compete for months, heck it might be a career ending injury. Because of that we have a slot open on the team."

"Well…If there's a slot open then why didn't you get one of the runners up to take it?" Wildwing asked out of curiosity, this too got the teen mallard's interest.

"That's another problem," Thomas unfortunately sighed. "The best runner up was in transition of moving to another state, when he didn't make the team we decided not to inquire that information so we don't know where he is at the moment and we need to submit a full roster soon. Plus all the other players don't stack up to what we're looking for. That was until he saw you in one of your games and saw how fast you moved on the ice. We then decided if you did try out for the trials then we would see you on the ice and well you exceeded our expectations and want you for the team."

"Whoa…I mean…I'm not sure what to think about this," Nosedive responded, still not sure what to think about the offer that had been given to him.

"If you want my brother then why am I here?" Wildwing asked, now curious as to why his presence is required.

"Well because Nosedive is still considered a minor he needs to have these papers signed," he then unclipped some papers from the clipboard and held them out for the white mallard to take. "By either a parent or legal guardian, which is you."

The eldest brother took the forms and quickly looked them over. It was just basic forms that required his signature which granted permission for Nosedive to compete in the event. "Well, Nosedive still hasn't made a decision yet."

"Yeah I mean…I need to think about it," the teen responded.

"Sure, think about it, but please let me know before you leave," the man shook their hands. "Thank you for your time."

"Sure," the teen responded as the guy turned and walked away, leaving the two ducks and human left.

"Come on Nosedive do you know what a huge opportunity this is!" Phil tried to egg him on. "Think about with how good you are, you could win two medals!"

"Yeah, Phil two events? I'm already going to be committed to one if we make the hockey team, so how would I do two?"

"You can do it, I know you can," the manager kept on insisting.

"Well Phil this is Nosedive decision, so if he doesn't want to do it then it's fine," Wildwing backed up his brother.

"Exactly," the blond mallard responded as he turned back and headed back to the room.

"He's wasting a golden opportunity if he declines."

"It's still his choice," the white mallard responded as he followed his brother back into the room. The teen then opened the door but then hit something.

"Ow!" a few of the ducks commented as they backed away from the door.

Both brothers looked and found the whole team moving back away from the door. "Were you all eavesdropping?" Nosedive asked.

"No," they all said.

"We were just…uh…" Mallory tried to cover up but couldn't think of a good excuse.

"Let me guess, trying to crush a bug on the door with your ear?" Nosedive responded, eyes narrow.

"Exactly!" Duke responded.

"Anyway,"Wildwing responded as they closed the door. He then told them all what happened in the hall, and the recruiter they met. They all listened and were shocked at this.

"Speed skating?" Mallory asked.

"Yeah, and he wants me to join the team," Nosedive responded as he climbed back up to his bunk. "And no I haven't decided yet."

"How come?" Duke asked, sitting with his back against the bed.

"Come on, I'm already committed to hockey, why would I want to add on another sport?"

"Because it shows how well rounded you are," Canard said, trying to get the kid interested. "It just proves you can do more than what everyone thinks you can do."

"I can already do a lot, I don't have to compete in another event to show how good I am."

"Still if he doesn't want to he doesn't have to," Mallory responded.

"Envy is not becoming of a person," Grin automatically said.

"What?" the red head asked.

"Come on sweetheart you're only against it because you don't want the kid to gloat that he would have two medals over the one we all would have," Duke grinned big.

"No I'm not!" Mallory shouted at the thief in defense. In reality that was one of the things she would be worry about.

"You know I didn't think about that," Nosedive chuckled at the prospect.

"See now you given him ideas!" the red head shouted at Duke.

"He would have thought about it eventually," Wildwing grinned also.

"Still I said I would think about it and that's what I'm doing," the teen laid down and pulled out a comic from under his pillow.

"So…does this mean the discussion is closed?" Tanya asked.

"Pretty much."

"Alright, alright we'll drop it," Wildwing responded as he focused his attention back to the rest of the team. "Alright everyone we're almost done with the trials, let's focus on what we have left. We have to be prepared for whatever surprises that are in store. Things may have gotten harder but it's nothing we can't handle."

"Yeah, let's just hope for that," Canard responded. "So any guesses on what we could be doing next?"

There was a bit of silence after that comment was made, well except for the occasional crinkle of a page being turn from Nosedive's comic. Everyone then started to think about what could be next for them for the trials. Because chances are if they managed to find out what it is they were to do next it could be a huge advantage for them.

"Well," Duke started out, breaking the silence. "So far we have been working on individual skills based on our player positions. The one thing we all know is that a functional team can't exist without teamwork."

"So you're saying that-" Tanya because but Duke finished.

"Yeah, something tells me we're going to be headed into teamwork exercises next."

"Well that easy for us," Nosedive commented from his bunk, eyes not leaving his comic.

"Yeah, for us, not for strangers," Wildwing corrected, which made sense to everyone. "Sooner or later we're going to have to work together with these other players and get along with them."

"It may not be easy," Canard said.

"We know that, but either way we're going to need to endure," Mallory responded as she looked around at everyone else. "Or else why else are we here?" The team then agreed, because they knew that in the beginning they were going to have to work with others. It wasn't just them now, there would be others they were going to need to work with and they needed to learn to work with strangers. Or else how will they ever stand a chance in the games?

Later at night everyone is currently asleep in the dorms. Inside the girls room Tanya and Mallory slept in their beds, the whole world going by them as they slept. But then the knob on their door started to turn a bit as the lock turned. With a click the door was unlocked and it slowly opened without a creek.

A figure silently walked in and with a small dim light searched the room. The beam shined over the two ducks as they slept, their eyes squeezing shut as the light shined on them but still remained asleep. The figure then saw their bags in the back of the room and made their way over to it.

The girl's sticks, skates and pads were out but in neat placement. The figure then grabbed the skates and started to fiddle with them, along with the sticks. A few minutes later the figure then exited the room, making sure to lock the door.

In the boy's room all the male mallard were asleep, soft to loud snores could be heard as they slept. The same sounds of the knob being turned and the click of the lock being turned sounded as the door opened. The same figure as before entered in, light shining in. The beam traveled over each of the ducks faces, all of them sound asleep.

Figuring that was their best chance the figure found their equipment by their bunks. He smiled as he moved over to the first bunk, which happened to belonged to Nosedive, and Wildwing. He opened the first duffle bag and was shocked to find a weird looking mask. The same one the white mallard had been wearing. Grinning the figure then reached in to grab it.

A/N: Hope you like. The idea I had was that what would some people do in order to stand a chance? Cheat. That's the idea i'm trying to do. I hope you like what I have planned for the next chapter. I'm glad to have this chapter up sooner. Till next time.