Julia held Danielle's hand as the two skated together and Clyde alongside them.
"I still can't get over the fact you're a time hopper.", Danielle stated as she and Julia parted allowing them to skate on their own.
"Hey, Chroma couldn't interfere personally so he sent me on his behalf. Apparently Adam is replacing me since I'm done with my part."
"Your part?", Danielle asked getting interested.
"Chroma sent me to prevent the elemental apocalypse that would've happened on Earth when Dragaunus and Charyus tore rifts to the elemental domains in Limbo."
"And if I remember, Typhos is the domain of water, Straphys is the domain of air, and there were two others right?"
Clyde nodded.
"Yep, Inferna the domain of fire and Errax the domain of earth."
Danielle got interested.
"So these domains are all revolving around each other to make a single domain in Limbo? That's kind of weird."
"It's Dimensional Limbo.", Clyde responded, "Everything get's crazy or unbelievable after a bit. By the way, where's Adam?"
"You mean me?"
The three stopped and looked up to see Adam perched on the arm of Drake DuCaine's statue before jumping off and landing softly on the ground outside the rink.
"Any sign of Lucretia?", Julia asked as the three came over.
"I don't detect anything at the moment.", Adam answered, "But I'll keep my eyes and senses sharp to be safe."
Danielle looked Adam's way and saw some kind of look in his eyes that got her wondering.
"What's with you?", she asked.
Adam sighed.
"Servain contacted me."
"Who?", Danielle asked.
"Servain.", Adam said again, "Leader of the pantheon of Sauria the saurians home world, lord of the earth and it's natural elements and someone you don't want angry."
"Pantheon?", Danielle asked getting more interested, "Like a deity?"
"Yep.", Adam answered, "And apparently, Lucretia and I are part deity ourselves and Servain asked me to keep an eye on her to prevent trouble."
Danielle was stunned.
"Leaves you kind of speechless.", Julia stated as she closed Danielle's open beak, "Don't it?"
/
Thrash wiped a medical patch on the cut on his arm while Mookie took a look at Tanya. Duke was okay and cleaning his saber.
"Well that clearly was fun.", Duke stated as if it was obvious.
Thrash frowned.
"I just hope this gash doesn't cause poisoning or something cause I'm feeling kind of numb in the area around it."
Wildwing, Canard and Mallory came in and Canard looked impressed.
"Well you seem like you got things handled Dr. Stormfeather."
Mookie blushed.
"Hey, just doing what I can with what I got.", she stated, "Tanya and Thrash seem okay, but he says his arm's going numb. I'll have to keep him for further insight and Tanya can help too if she doesn't mind."
"Not at all.", Tanya answered, "Two minds are better than one."
Mallory looked to Duke with a concerned expression.
"Wildwing lets you lead one time and one of your own gets injured.", she said firmly, "At least I can lead with minimum casualty."
Duke looked annoyed.
"Hey, it was only a little scratch sweetheart.", he answered, "A day of rest and medical treatment and he'll be fine."
Wildwing and Canard could both feel the tension rising between the two, but at least it wasn't going into the physical part(not yet anyway) as they got inside the Migrator and headed to the Pond.
"I bet you couldn't last one whole day being on the straight and narrow.", Mallory said clearly not cooling off.
Duke crossed his arms and looked away.
"Says you.", he answered, "If you lived like I did, you'd change your point of view."
"Oh please.", Mallory countered, "Sneaking and breaking into hideouts while I have to consider who's on the team and make sure everyone's okay."
"Well if you think being on the wrong side of the law is easy, why don't you try it?", Duke said in turn.
Mallory smiled.
"My training at the Puckworld Special Forces would break you in less than a week."
/
At that moment the alarm on the dashboard lit up and Canard checked it.
"We got a rift opening right in front of us!"
It came too late cause the moment he said that, a portal opened in front of the Migrator and before Wildwing could pause, they were sucked into it. The Migrator was spun, stretched and phased while the ducks inside the thing went along with it.
"Geez, I never forget this feeling.", Canard flinched.
"Is every time we go to Dimensional Limbo going to be like this?", Duke asked.
A s if to answer him, the whole thing stopped and the Migrator hit a bump and landed on a paved road with a shady set of buildings appearing to be condemned on one side and a set of training academies for police on the other side. The Migrator paused right in the center of the road and Wildwing looked behind him to see Duke and Mallory were not there.
"Hey, where did our other ducks go?", he asked.
"They're living the other's life."
Canard and Wildwing tensed as a black feathered duck materialized in the back with blonde hair to his shoulders, hazel eyes, a dark blue shirt, a brown leather jacket and hiking boots.
"Who are you?", Canard asked.
The duck raised an eyebrow.
"Well, between you and me, Wildwing here and I met once before.", the duck smiled as a glowing web design shimmered across his feathers.
Wildwing tensed. He recalled an anthropomorphic Labrador retriever who had similar looks and the duck clearly must have read his expression.
"Yep, it was me that time."
"You're that dog?", Wildwing asked in awe, "But how did you-"
"Change my appearance?", the duck answered, "It's simple when you're an inter dimensional entity that controls fate."
Canard then looked thoughtful.
"So you were the one who-"
"Yep.", the duck answered, "I'm the one who gave you the Aura gem when you first came here to Dimensional Limbo."
Wildwing regained his resolve.
"So this area-"
"Doesn't have a ruler.", the duck stated plainly, "Duke is now an officer of the law sworn to uphold it and Mallory is now a lowly thief often sought out to preform break-ins and heists."
"How do we get them out?", Wildwing asked.
"You can't.", the duck answered, "If you can't see the diamond in the stone through, you must walk a mile in the other's shoes."
Canard looked thoughtful.
"So Duke and Mallory take a walk in each other's life and after they learn their lesson, we all go back right?"
The duck nodded.
"Well, why not enjoy the show?"
He snapped his fingers and the inside of the Migrator shifted into a theater with the duck seated with Wildwing on his left and Canard on his right.
"Popcorn? Beverage?", the duck asked politely.
Wildwing and Canard both shrugged as a large popcorn materialized on each of their sides alongside a large soda. Wildwing then noticed a name on the duck's seat: Theo
"So your name is Theo?"
"Yes.", Theo answered, "Now let's enjoy the show."
The screen in front of them came on to reveal a split screen with Duke on one side and Mallory on the other.
/
Duke staggered into his bunker in his cadet uniform and dead on his feet.
"If I have to go through one more of those drills, I'm going to scream.", he muttered to himself, "How does Mal put up with it?"
He had just gotten to his bed and seated himself when the alarm went off.
"All units be advised, we have a serious matter on our hands! Report to field immediately!"
Duke just flopped on to his bed to worn out to do anything. Unfortunately the place didn't agree cause he started to stand and march out.
"What the?!", he asked in shock, "It's like I ant to stop, but I can't!"
As much as he struggled, Duke couldn't stop himself from showing up with the other members of this joint. Then someone who looked like a sarge marched up to the front of everyone and blew a whistle. The sound rang out and Duke's ears hurt, but his arm only gave a salute while the other remained motionless. The sarge turned to the ranks.
"Keep this in mind cadets!", he shouted, "These weeks have been grueling, they have been long, but are we going to let crime get the best of us?!"
"Sir, no sir!", the cadets and Duke(although reluctantly) shouted back.
"Are we going to let those miserable rats make off with their stealing and making us look like fools?!", the sarge shouted.
"Sir, no sir!", the cadets and Duke(though reluctantly) answered.
"Geez, I understand why Mal is so hard all the time.", Duke muttered to himself.
The sarge paused and his expression darkened as he looked out over the cadets.
"Which one of you spoke?!", he called out, "Who dares speak out of turn?!"
Duke's nerve was on edge as the cadets parted to reveal a clear path from the sarge to him. Then the sarge started marching up to him and paused right in front of Duke looking annoyed and angry.
"Did I give permission to speak?", he asked harshly.
Duke tried not to be nervous, but the sarge seemed to see through him.
"Listen very carefully. I give the order, AND YOU FOLLOW IT!"
He then pointed to the ground.
"Drop and give me fifty."
As much as Duke wanted to resist, he couldn't. Soon he was on the ground doing push ups while thinking that his hair was getting mussed.
/
Mallory was beyond a mess.
"I've been to this place for twenty minutes and I've been jumped seven times, almost robbed five and called a felon twenty five.", she groaned as she examined her new tight leather suit and utility belt filled with lock picks, smoke bombs and such, "Duke makes this look so easy."
She settled into what looked like an abandoned building and noticed a safe near the far side of the corner. She tried looking away, but her head didn't listen. Before she could stop herself, her hand reached up and threw a smoke screen which revealed lasers while her other hand shot a grappling hook to a beam overhead. She then hurled herself over and her hands then turned the safe's combination while her head was placed beside the door.
"Why can't I stop what I'm doing?", she asked herself harshly, "I'm no thief."
The safe door clicked open and revealed thousands of dollar bills and a tray of diamonds all cut and ready to be placed in jewelry. Mallory wanted to turn away, but her hands reached in and emptied out the safe into a bag nearby and tied it to her waist.
"Whoever is doing this must think this is one sick joke.", she muttered bitterly.
And then three more bandit looking men came in all armed.
"Nice move little kitty.", one smirked, "Now we'll take the loot and go."
Mallory felt anger as she reached for her saber(although reluctant to do so).
"Nobody steals from me buster.", she sneered before looking confused, "Why did I say that?"
As if to answer her, the three assaulted and she defended. I'll spare the details, but long story short: she prevailed.
"Geez, I manage to steal the loot and then I get jumped. No wonder Duke always tries to keep his skills hidden unless he needs them."
She looked up to the vent and an idea came to her.
"Now I know why Duke uses the vents.", she said smiling.
And in less than a minute, she undid the vent's cover and slipped inside it. She had barely gotten to the front when the bottom gave out from under her and she fell into a crate of feathers.
"Darn it.", she grumbled, "Never grow overconfident when the finish is so close."
/
Canard and Wildwing continued to watch unaware that Theo had slipped away and hovering over them.
"Well I'd say these two learned a couple things about the other.", Canard stated.
"I'd say so.", Theo agreed.
He snapped his fingers and both Mallory and Duke showed up right in front of them.
"Mal, you can have your life back.", Duke stated as he got up from his position.
"No, you can have your life back.", Mallory answered, "I had no idea that you had things just as rough as I do. Stealing is no joke."
"And that military protocol you go through is no day at the beach either.", Duke added, "I'm sorry about what I said to you."
"I'm sorry too.", Mallory added.
Canard looked complimented.
"That's Dimensional Limbo. Always has a way of getting through to someone who needs to learn a lesson."
Theo snapped his fingers again and the ducks vanished along with the Migrator. After a weird and mind boggling experience, the ducks found themselves in the Migrator and back in Anaheim right before the rift opened.
"Well that was weird.", Duke stated.
"I'll say.", Mallory added.
Even though they forgot the events that happened, the experience and feeling remained for them. Wildwing and Canard however remembered.
"You think we'll see Theo again?", Wildwing asked.
Canard smiled.
"Oh I have a feeling he's around somewhere just biding his time."
"Theo?", Duke asked, "Who's that?"
"Another saurian who opened that rift I'd guess.", Mallory stated.
"Not really.", Canard answered, "He's a friend who shows up every now and then."
/
That evening at the Pond, everyone was on edge as the game continued. Thrash had recovered so he and Tanya were able to make the game and do their parts.
"And this is it folks! The semi-finals of the first official International Hockey League is nearing the end and the Ducks are having Denmark's Markers a run for their money."
Duke managed to avoid getting checked as he made his way towards the other side. Mallory skated a little further in front of him and the glint in her eye told Duke what he had to do.
"And the Markers try to steal...and Duke passes to Mallory! Unbelievable teamwork and Mallory makes her way to the goal. Wait a minute... the Markers steal the puck! With the puck in possession, the Markers make their way to the goal."
Wildwing tensed, but then Canard showed up and stole the puck right back.
"And it's another successful save by Canard Thunderbeak! And we're down to the final thirty seconds. Can the Ducks break this zero to zero score?!"
Canard had made it halfway to the goal when a countdown started.
"Ten...nine...eight."
He passed to Nosedive before he got checked and Nosedive got to the goal.
"Five...four...three."
Nosedive took the shot and made it just as the timer went off.
"And Nosedive makes the shot! It's all over folks! The Ducks win again and will face off in the finals next month and you don't want to miss it!"
Thrash, Mookie, and Morpha all gave out the signature cheer while Phil and Klegghorn observed.
"Well, that's that.", Klegghorn stated, "The first International League and we're still on top."
Phil said nothing as the team got into the familiar circle and raised their sticks.
"Ducks Rock!"
A while later during the autograph signing, the paparazzi was in full swing.
"Wildwing, how does it feel to go up against such hockey teams all over the world?"
"What does the team have in mind for their next vacation?"
"The season's almost over and your team is still number one. How do you do it?!"
Theo observed all this from above and in his book as he settled into his chair.
"Somethings never change.", he muttered as he looked at himself in a mirror that was beside him, "Not a bad change to myself. I think I'll keep this one while I'm here. Then again, I have many forms."
He turned back to his book and saw the Mallory and Duke making amends with each other.
"Now that is what I like to see. Once bickering enemies turned friends by walking in the other's shoes. Not a bad lesson to teach if I do say so myself."