Quasleet observed the patrol drones near the entry door and his mind was racing.
"Okay, I need to get in and save the other ducks before Lucretia calls in the planet's doomsday and I have no weapons and about to face the race that has been haunting me since I got back home."
"This option is in."
Quasleet turned to see Adam and almost screamed if Adam hadn't grabbed him and held his beak shut.
"Now I'm going to let go of your beak and when I do, I want you to calmly hear me out. Got it?"
Quasleet nodded and Adam let go. His wings were folded up and he was on his feet by Quasleet.
"Do I know you from somewhere?", Quasleet asked.
Adam smiled.
"Adam DeCoy. Former genetic expert and bio enhancement technology tinkerer."
Quasleet snapped his fingers.
"Oh yeah, you're that gene manipulator my colleagues told me about. What in the name of DuCaine were you thinking?"
Adam shrugged.
"Long story. Danielle and the other two are in hot water. Fortunately I sensed what might come to pass using my saurian power of-"
"Saurian power?", Quasleet asked, "And how do you know Danielle Angelwing?"
"I met her a while before Dragaunus came.", Adam pointed out, "She was a good listener and after Dragaunus came and my sister Lucretia sold herself to their services, my life seriously went downhill. I managed to get a hold of saurian flesh samples hoping my genetic science would help the resistance, but then an accident in the lab cause a reaction of the samples and made me what I am now."
"Okay, we'll continue this later.", Quasleet answered, "Right now we need to get past that patrol unit."
Adam cracked his knuckles.
"Leave that to me."
He raised a hand towards the drones and his eyes started to shimmer. At once, the drones froze and shook slightly before they crumbled to the ground in heaps of twisted metal and busted wires. Quasleet came over and started examining the parts.
"I'll have a couple weapons in a few minutes.", he said, "Think you can open the door while I work?"
Adam just walked over to the door and pressed a code into the pad while Quasleet worked taking what Adam did as a "yes".
/
Thrash and Mookie huffed and barely stood as Dawnbright and Nightslash barely looked like barely anything had happened.
"Why do you delay your execution?", Dawnbright asked.
"Just accept that you're out of your league.", Nightslash added.
Thrash and Mookie both looked angry.
"No!", Thrash spat, "Dive doesn't give up."
"And neither will we.", Mookie said just as firm, "You two can kill us, but your scheme here will fail."
"And why is that?", Dawnbright asked with her voice cold as ice.
"Cause we're ducks!", Thrash answered launching himself forward.
Nightslash just shrugged and met him by catching his nunchaku with her rune blade and after a swift motion, she knocked him back.
"Finish him!", Dawnbright said fiercely as she had subdued Mookie again and was about to strike a killing blow.
Nightslash pinned Thrash down and pointed her blade at his throat.
"Farewell.", she said harshly.
"Say hello to Drake for us.", Dawnbright added.
A tear rolled down Mookie's cheek.
"At least we died fighting.", she said trying to sound brave.
Fortunately for Thrash and Mookie, before Dawnbright and Nightslash could do anything, a couple blasts of aura came out of nowhere and knocked them aside as Canard and Wildwing came on to the scene.
"You throwing an execution and didn't invite us?", Canard asked smiling.
Dawnbright and Nightslash looked annoyed.
"Stubbornness is certainly a family trait in Drake DuCaine's family tree.", Nightslash said coldly.
Wildwing didn't look unnerved.
"Tell your emperor that he won't take Earth without a fight.", he said firmly.
Dawnbright and Nightslash smiled.
"You could've died quick and painlessly.", Dawnbright stated.
"Now you'll die slow and agonizing.", Nightslash stated.
They pressed their teleporters and warped away as Thrash and Mookie got to their feet.
"Okay, we need to find the other ducks.", Wildwing said firmly, "Then we take the fight to the Raptor to close the rifts before the emperor shows up."
/
Zarel sat into his throne observing his fleet from his personal ship much larger and menacing looking than even the Raptor. Surrounding the nearby panels, saurian guards and pilots worked.
"Is everything getting ready?", Zarel asked sounding annoyed, "I don't like being kept waiting."
"The fleet will be ready shortly your excellency.", a pilot reported, "Once the rift opens and Puckworld in in range, we'll-"
Zarel stood up looking angry.
"You...you with absolutely no regard for your emperor have the nerve to say that name in my presence?!"
The pilot instantly looked shocked as in realizing his mistake, but although he fell out of his chair and to his knees, Zarel's fist flared and the pilot fell to the ground clearly in pain.
"Forgive me...your excellency.", he said trying to withstand the pain.
Zarel only clenched his fist and the pilot burst into green flames filling the air with screams of agony and drawing the other pilots' attention. When the flames lifted, only charred bones remained as Zarel slumped into his throne again.
"Drink!"
A servant came forward with a large glass on a small tray, but Zarel looked even angrier when he looked at it.
"Did I ask for spring water?", he asked in a surprisingly calm voice.
The servant obviously sensed the danger that was brewing and shook his head.
"Then get rid of it and get me lemonade!", Zarel bellowed.
The servant ran out fast and came back a few minutes later with a glass of lemonade and lemon wedge which Zarel took a sip from.
"Thank you.", he said coldly.
The servant merely bowed and headed out. He didn't get far though cause Zarel pointed at him and snapped his fingers. A bolt of lightning hit the servant's backside and he ran out almost spilling the glass on the polished floor. A transmission came in and one of the pilots patched it through to Zarel's personal screen by his throne.
"Everything is set your grace.", Lucretia stated when the screen showed her face.
Zarel didn't look amused.
"Just don't try anything to turn this alliance in your favor, spawn of DuCaine.", he snarled bitterly swallowing the last word he said like it was something foul and unpleasant, "Malevolence better hold up her end or this deal she made is off."
"Someone mention me?"
Malevolence materialized near Zarel, but Zarel sneered making his expression even more scary.
"I'm detecting a disturbance on Dragaunus' part and Puckworld though in place is not at the ready as expected."
"Please have patience your excellency.", Lucretia said, "Soon you'll be able to level the planet whose residents imprisoned your kind."
Zarel raised an eyebrow and smiled
"Hold your end DeCoy, and you'll be rewarded for your loyalty to the saurian empire."
Lucretia hung up, but Malevolence looked Zarel's way surprised.
"You really are going to reward her?"
Zarel's smile got bigger.
"Oh it'll reward her alright. And it will provide a little amusement for myself."
He snapped his fingers and another servant came in. A vial of dark gray liquid came out of the side and Zarel handed it over.
"Send this to DeCoy and make it snappy."
/
Back on Earth, the ducks were winded and Phil was more than a nervous wreck as they regrouped at the Aerowing.
"Let me get this straight.", he said sounding nervous, "We...are going...to fight the Raptor?!"
"Either that or let Lizard Lips summon the saurian war fleet again.", Wildwing answered calmly.
"Hey, we can't have something like this so early in our new season.", Nosedive said firmly(breaking the fourth wall as usual), "And where's Morpha in all of this?"
"Probably hiding.", Mallory said firmly, "And at the time we really need him too."
Tanya nodded.
"Even my Empower spell is low on energy and the Aerowing barely has enough firepower against the Raptor."
Wildwing only looked more determined.
"Then we make the play count cause we're not going to get another chance if we fail."
The ducks filed into the Migrator, but Phil was once again trying to get out of going.
"Um Wildwing, I know that since I got feathers and a beak now I have to go on these missions, but I think that-"
"Get in the plane Palmfeather!", Klegghorn snapped.
Phil went pale.
"But I don't wanna die."
Thrash and Mookie both smiled his way.
"What are you so worried about?", Thrash asked.
"It's only the end of the world.", Mookie added.
And before Phil could say anything, a large meteor came down and cause a large crash that sent him flying and he landed right inside the Aerowing before the door closed, but he was not pleased.
"Why does this always happen to me?", he griped.
A couple tendrils came out of a nearby drawer and pulled him to his seat and fastened his seat belt as Wildwing and Canard got the Aerowing in the air.
"Hey, when did that wall have a chest of drawers near it?", Duke asked confused.
Then the drawers shifted back into Morpha who then got under Nosedive's chair and settled down.
"Oh now the dog shows up.", Klegghorn stated sounding annoyed, "The saurians are about to bring a war fleet from Dimensional Limbo, we nearly got our tail feathers kicked trying to stay alive and it chickens out until now?"
Morpha looked annoyed as it's color points turned red, but then they went to light blue as Nosedive gave it a pet.
"Okay, we're low on power and ammo.", Canard said, "But we're not going to give up."
Grin nodded.
"To flee and admit defeat will only cause pain and suffering to one's self."
Thrash and Mookie both looked equally determined.
"And we're going out with a bang.", Mookie answered.
"Not a surrender.", Thrash put in, "And this counts for some epic battle music."
Morpha looked eager as it pulled out a set of discs from a rack and placed one into the drive on the dashboard. As soon as the music started up, Thrash, Mookie and Nosedive broke into song.
"It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."
(A/N: Yes they're using R.E.M.'s version of "It's The End Of The World". I do not claim anything.)
/
Back on Puckworld, Lucretia pressed in a sequence in the panel and the gateway lit up and started to hum really loud. The drones stepped back as a massive power sphere formed in the center of the machine.
"Opening ceiling.", Lucretia muttered as she pressed another button.
A large hole in the ceiling opened up just as the sphere became a beam that fired upward and out of it into the sky. Julia, Danielle, and Clyde were tied up nearby and observing, though Clyde was working on the bands that bound them.
"Geez these bands are tight.", Clyde muttered.
Danielle was too fixated on the rift that was forming in the overhead sky.
"Um, guys, don't look now, but I think something's coming."
Julia and Clyde looked up and what they saw made their beaks drop open. An enormous ship was heading out of the rift and the saurian war fleet was right beside it.
"Is that?", Julia asked.
"Yep. The emperor's personal world destroyer.", Lucretia said smiling, "In ten minutes, the war fleet will be through and finally the descendants of Drake DuCaine will fall."
Danielle was shocked.
"You would slaughter your entire kind just for someone's favor?", she asked, "Even after you murdered Canard's resistance and betrayed Wildwing? What kind of duck are you?"
Julia frowned.
"The kind who only look out for themselves."
Everyone turned to see Adam walk calmly into the room. Lucretia looked into his concerned expression and looked annoyed.
"The fleet will be here soon Adam.", she said to him, "You still have a chance to join the winning side."
"And be made a slave?", Adam asked his expression darkening, "You ruin my life by siding with those monsters, decimate our home, have the hunter drones hunt me like a wild animal, and you're asking me to join you?"
Lucretia had been building up a charged blast and she fired it, but Quasleet had come out and activated a shield that only made it so Adam was knocked back. Lucretia lifted into the air and a pair of saurian wings formed from her back.
"What's the matter Adam?", she asked as if challenging him, "Afraid of me?"
Adam's wings came out as he looked her way.
"No, You're not the only one who's got saurian power on their side."
Quasleet fired a blast at the drones who fired back as Lucretia and Adam faced off. By now, Julia, Clyde and Danielle had gotten free and joined in the fray.
"Shoot the panel!", Quasleet yelled.
Overhead, Lucretia and Adam were now clutching each other with Adam gripping Lucretia's pendant and Lucretia gripping Adam's neck. A loud bang went off and both of them went flying into opposite walls just as Clyde made it to the panel and blew it apart. The rift swayed and then fizzled before closing just as the saurian fleet was about to break through. Lucretia didn't get up fast, but her form was changing. By the time she was visible, the ducks almost screamed. Now Lucretia looked more reptilian than duck, but her expression showed fury.
"What did you do to me?!"
Adam rose looking firm.
"Now everyone will see you for what you really are.", he said extending a hand, "Now begone!"
A rift opened and Lucretia went through screaming and cursing all the way.
/
Back on Earth, inside the Raptor, the ducks were in combat with Dragaunus, Charyus and the other saurians. Both sides were formidable, but then a bang rang out that rocked the ship.
"The gateway's collapsing!", Chameleon screamed, "In two minutes, it'll blow this ship sky high!"
The ducks took that as a sign to leave.
"This isn't over you know!", Charyus screamed, "We'll be back!"
"And we'll be waiting.", Canard said calmly as he ran with the ducks.
They had just got to the Aerowing when Morpha showed up and using it's tendrils got them aboard just as the ship rocked again and started going into a dive. The ducks held each other as Morpha brought them aboard.
"We can't escape the blast!", Duke yelled.
And then a loud explosion went off taking most of the Raptor and almost consumed the Aerowing too, but then, Wildwing's pendent shimmered as Hope gave off a glow encasing the Aerowing and making it fly away as if nothing was even happening. After a bit, Wildwing opened an eye and noticed the Aerowing hovering over Anaheim(or what was left of it) and the raptor was nowhere to be seen. The other ducks looked too and felt relieved.
"What happened?", Mallory asked.
Wildwing noticed Hope dim until it's light had faded and smiled.
"Hope came through.", he said smiling before calling Quasleet on the dashboard, "Hey Doc, everything okay back there?"
"Well the place is a wreck, Lucretia's now an abomination and we're a bit out of breath, but we're good.", Quasleet answered, "Almost lost this time."
Canard smiled as he came up to Wildwing's side.
"Hey, just part of the job."
"Alright ducks! We just survived like the third apocalyptic battle in our series!", Nosedive cheered(breaking the fourth wall as usual).
And the ducks(besides Phil who had fainted) laughed out loud as the Aerowing headed back to the Pond.