Klegghorn kept a watch on his communicator which doubled as a radar. Rosie and Derek were keeping their kids from wandering off with Phil's help.
"Are we there yet?", Benny asked.
"We get there when we get there.", Klegghorn said sharply.
Snowdrop however looked eager.
"Nothing like a good walk in the middle of nowhere to help get you into shape.", she said cheerfully.
Phil huffed a few times, but kept going.
"I hope this city of Arcadia is worth it.", he wheezed, "I'm almost ready to collapse."
"Suck it up Phil.", Derek said firmly, "You need to work out more. You look like a house."
Timmy looked confused.
"Phil is a house?", he asked.
Rosie looked to her son reassuringly.
"No sweetie, it's just an expression."
A low rumble came out making Klegghorn pause and the group did too.
"Tell me that was your stomach.", Derek said hopefully to Phil.
Phil looked embarrassed.
"Nope, that's not me.", he said before the rumbling got louder, "That is...big trouble!"
The landscape they were on rocked like a boat in the middle of a storm at sea and they almost fell off, but held on to the edges before Klegghorn looked behind them and looked a bit nervous.
"Um, how fast do you guys think you can run?", he asked.
"Why?", Rosie asked.
That was when a shadow came over them and they all turned to see a tidal wave heading right their way( I have no idea how this is happening so please don't ask). That was enough to get them running much faster than before screaming. Just before they could go any further, they saw a wall with a set of stairs leading up over it.
"What do we do now?", Timmy asked.
"First we stay calm.", Klegghorn said trying to stay calm himself.
"And then?", Benny asked.
"Then we can all scream 'Ahhh!' again.", Phil piped in as he took a look back at the approaching wave, "Ahhh!"
The team bolted up the stairs and had just gotten to the top when the wave hit the wall. The team ducked as the wall rocked with tremendous force, but held on as the rumbling went silent and the shaking steadied.
"Am I dead?", Phil whimpered.
Derek cautiously opened an eye to see that they were on a street made of yellow bricks. The others opened their eyes too to see the exact same thing.
"So this is the road to Arcadia?", Benny asked.
They all noticed a sign nearby pointing down the road with "This way to the Magical City of Arcadia" printed on it in gold ink.
"How convenient.", Snowdrop said as if it were obvious.
Benny however started a little skip and started down with everyone else following.
"Follow the yellow brick road.", he sang, "Follow, follow, follow,fallow, fallow the yellow brick road. We're off to see the city. The city call Arcadia."
/
Nosedive slipped and slid as Julia held his hand with Thrash and Mookie skating after them. Morpha had shifted into a winter coat to hold on to Julia which she was grateful for.
"Are you sure this is the right way to go?", Thrash asked.
"Pretty sure. You know, this is probably the first time I've led a team since our first season.", Nosedive answered(breaking the fourth wall as usual).
Julia chuckled.
"Oh yeah, the time that Dragaunus used that Alterian Creeper plant if I recall correctly."
Mookie smiled.
"Never thought we'd have to ice skate to get to this city of ice.", she said, "Luckily the duck side of Thrash and I came with a natural ice skating ability."
"That's just normal for us.", Nosedive said proudly, "It comes with the heritage."
Then a giant hole appeared before them and for a minute, they were above it, but Morpha reacted quick and made a swing and swung them across to the other side where they landed on the ice and were skating again gracefully.
"Nice catch Morpha.", Julia said smiling, "Thanks."
Morpha shifted it's head out for a second and shifted it into a version of Scooby-Doo.
"You're welcome.", it said before retracting it's head back in.
Finally they reached what looked like a set of stairs made of stone leading to a light above the tunnel they had been skating down for who knows how long. As they got on the stairs, the blades on their skates slid back into the shoes allowing them to stand without scrapping anything.
"Race you guys up.", Thrash said smiling.
Nosedive returned the smile.
"First one up gets an extra large burrito from the concession stand back at the Pond."
As they raced up the stairs, the light got closer and closer until they made it to the top and met with a blinding light as their eyes adjusted.
/
Duke jumped from one top of a pillar to the next with Mallory,Grin and Clyde following.
"Man this fog is so think I can't see my hand in front of my beak.", Clyde griped.
"Can it Bronzefeather.", Mallory said firmly, "We must be getting close if the mist is this bad."
Duke said nothing, but the others could tell he was focused on getting through this wall of fog.
"I sense land up ahead.", Grin reported.
After the team made it over, Grin used magic to cause a slab to fall and to blow away some of the fog to reveal several paths leading to who knows where.
"Now what?", Duke asked.
Then a giggle caught their ears.
"Oh, is somebody lost?"
Mallory clenched her fist.
"Who are you?", she called out, "Show yourself."
Another giggle rang out.
"Now now, it's not nice to say nasty things."
There was a pause and Clyde took a stand.
"Look I don't know what game this-"
"Game?", the voice came again, "I like games."
Mallory looked thoughtful.
"Okay, how about we win this game and you show us the way out?"
"Oh goody.", the voice came again, "A path you must find, but which way will you wind? Ears are the key for silence isn't keen."
There was a pause and the group then caught something faint with their ears. Some kind of music that was beautiful and unlike any kind of music they heard before.
"Follow the music.", Duke said.
They got close to one path, but the music got faint. Finally, they got to one path where the music seemed a bit louder and walked into the mist. A giggle rang out.
"Well done."
The mist cleared to reveal another room with three paths this time. Using the same tactic, they found one path where the music was louder and walked that one and the mist cleared away.
"No fooling you."
/
Wildwing was firm as he walked in front of the group with Canard, Danielle and Tanya right behind him. Danielle gripped Canard's arm as the team went through a tunnel that looked carpeted by grass and flowers even though little light shone through the cracks on the ceiling.
"We must be getting close.", Adam said, "I feel it in my wings."
Wildwing's expression looked more concerned.
"Was I smart in making Dive the leader of his team?"
Canard could feel his friend's anxiety and stepped in before it took too much a hold.
"He'll be fine.", he assured, "How else is he going to learn?"
Danielle looked a bit nervous.
"Isn't he a little young for that?", she asked.
Adam flew close to her side.
"Am I too young to be a saurian patron's disciple?", he asked.
Before anyone could answer, Adam looked ahead and tensed making the group pause.
"What is it Adam?", Wildwing asked.
"I'm getting major evil vibes from ahead.", Adam reported.
Wildwing started a scan with his mask as he looked ahead too.
"Why do I get the feeling that there is a-"
He was cut off because the floor gave way to a huge hole and three started falling, but Wildwing invoked his Flight spell and made them hover.
"Nice move Wing.", Adam said flying casually beside them as they got to the other side.
That was when the ceiling gave way to large icicles that started to shake as well as the tunnel.
"Double time!", Adam yelled.
Using Aura, Canard launched them forward and they made it to the end of the tunnel just as a wall of ice formed behind them and they landed in a snowbank.
"Well, that was something.", Wildwing said getting up and brushing the snow off himself, "Everyone okay?"
The others got up, but Adam looked a bit chilled.
"Well the saurian blood in my wings are freezing, but I'm great.", Adam said trying not to look cold.
Canard smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Can't you use some spell to warm yourself up?"
Adam looked a bit embarrassed.
"Oh yeah."
With a flick of his wrist, the scales on his wings returned to their natural color and Adam looked better right away.
"Okay, now what?", Danielle asked.
At that moment, a note flew out of the air and landed in Wildwing's hands.
"A city of paradise has fallen to icy despair. For evil lurks in the ground and air.", he read, "Find the thing that must be healed. Fail and your fate is sealed."
Adam groaned.
"Oh great. Riddles."
/
Charyus buckled as he and Wraith tried regaining their strength. Chameleon and Siege were standing nearby, but Siege looked amused.
"Guess the Drux sorcerers had more bite than you anticipated.", he chuckled.
Siege always knew when to bully people, but Charyus wasn't about to roll over.
"A slight error on my part, but I hadn't anticipated they knew the one spell that could repel my power."
Wraith strained to keep himself up.
"A powerful spell indeed, but it had a price they almost paid for.", he said as he used magic to make himself hover.
Chameleon shifted his head into Curly from the Three Stooges.
"I'm sorry Moe. We're in a situation here."
He shifted back to normal and by then Charyus had regained enough strength to keep himself up.
"At least they didn't break this.", he said running a hand over the emerald on his enchantium pendent before it vanished, "Still, a worth while experience."
Siege's com went off and Dragaunus' hologram came up.
"I trust the Drux invasion is underway?", he asked coldly.
Wraith buckled.
"My lord, Drux proves formidable and I fear the plan will fail."
Dragaunus looked Chrayus' way annoyed.
"I didn't authorize this assignment.", he said firmly, "Return to the Raptor immediately."
Charyus frowned.
"As you wish."
Siege smiled.
"Took you long enough to know your place.", he said as he activated his teleporter.
Siege and Chameleon warped away, but Wraith looked curious.
"Why are you not invoking Warp?", he asked.
Charyus looked at him with a sly smile.
"Dragaunus is foolish to pull us out at this time.", he said, "Drux has a spell that could turn the tides in our favor, and I'm not leaving without it."
Wraith looked interested.
"You're defying Dragaunus' orders and incur his wrath again?"
Charyus' smile didn't' flinch.
"When I get this spell, that fool won't even know what hit him."
Dragaunus watched this on the screen and looked thoughtful.
"So that's what he's after eh?", he said looking Siege and Chameleon's way, "Get back down there. Tell him I'm interested in this spell he's after."
Chameleon rolled his eyes.
"Warp back to the ship, warp back out. Make up your mind."
Dragaunus looked his way coldly.
"Get out there or I'll shred your scales."
/
Chroma observed the ducks through the baubles with Observer and Phage alongside him while near the fountain in Temporal Cavern.
"A promising start.", Phage said calmly.
Observer looked his way with a smile.
"Like already knew?"
Chroma didn't look so sure.
"Tempus has set in motion the next Endgame.", he said firmly, "We should be preparing for what he has and not waste it making jokes."
Phage and Observer both looked a bit miffed.
"Don't get your essence in a twist.", Observer said calm as ever, "The ducks are on the case."
Phage looked away for a second as another bauble floated from the fountain and came near him.
"Oh, another who works on our part."
The bauble showed Draco and his guardians approaching Drux before it shifted to Charyus and Wraith mixing ingredients in a cauldron.
"It would seem that Sauria faces it's near extinction yet again.", Chroma said with a sigh.
Phage didn't look worried.
"Regum Draco is more than he first appears. His guardians have already set his path."
"But it is he who walks it.", Observer objected.
"Indeed.", Phage said, "Still, at least the ducks aren't fighting alone."
"For now.", Chroma stated, "Tempus is not going to wait."
The bauble showing Draco and Charyus went blank and went back into the fountain leaving the trio with the baubles with the ducks.
"It would seem each duck's team has made it to the city in which they have been dispatched.", Observer stated.
"A kingdom in an icy despair, a city of mists locked in eternal cycles, the kingdom in the valley on the verge of being wiped out, and the kingdom of magic being visited by the beginners.", Chroma said observing each bauble, "Now the real test begins."
"Should the ducks pass this test we made, they will be ready.", Phage informed.
"We knew the risk.", Observer said waving his hand and making the baubles go away also, "Tis the fate of Limbo."
Chroma nodded.
"Yes, it was the only way to save this plane of existence."
A new massive bauble appeared and showed Tempus with his scythes at the ready with the ducks standing before him at the ready.
"Most of the disruptions caused by the destruction of Zeral's death star will heal in time.", Phage said, "The ducks played their part, now we play our own."
"As we have for eternity.", Observer said plainly.
The trio observed the bauble again before turning to each other and nodding.
"The time line is sealed.", they said in unification, "Through our combined power, what transpired before us will never be undone."
They raised their hands and their palms started glowing with unnatural light. Streams from the fountain flowed to the bauble and wrapped around it. The streams glowed for a second, but then shattered before reforming into a single time line that shrank the bauble to the size of an ordinary one as the keepers rested their arms.
"Now we wait.", Observer said calmly.
"And hope.", Phage added.
"For the final outcome.", Chroma concluded.
To be continued...
