When Great Minds Meet:



Disclaimer:



No I don't own the Mighty Ducks. They belong to Disney. I do enjoy borrowing them from time to time. No I don't get money for this. If I did I would be able to quit my job. I can't.



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Mallory McMallard sighed as she paced back and forth in the cell. Twice she glanced over to the table where their gear was laying. How did they get into this mess? It was all too easy to remember meeting her father, General McMallard to be briefed for this mission.



There he introduced her to her partner, Canard. She had heard a lot about Canard. He seemed to have this unholy luck when it came to his missions. He was one of the most important operatives . What most civilians didn't know was why Canard appeared to be so lucky. He came from the part of Special Forces that seemed to have extrasensory gifts. As a member of Special Forces she had studied the gifted, and when she first met Canard he appeared normal enough, but now in the field, taken prisoner, he had a calmness that was positively unnerving.



They had seen another pair of ducks trying to sneak aboard the convoy. Mallory had known the type instantly. They were rank amateurs, a couple of would-be heros, with a lot of guts, no common sense, and absolutely no training.



Naturally they had gotten themselves caught by the hunter drones. And she and Canard felt obligated to try to help them. That only got them caught as well.



Now she walked back and forth in her cell restless and angry.



"This is a tactical disaster," she complained. We have to find a way to get free!" She glared at the pair of rookies who got them trapped, and then at her partner, who just leaned against the wall passively. "Canard! How can you just sit there? We have a mission to complete!"



"Relax, Mallory. We'll get out," he said evenly.



"How?" She demanded



"Someone is going to let us out," Canard explained.



Mallory sighed loudly, rolled her eyes, and turned to glare at him. "You're starting to go weird on me again, Canard," she retorted.



Out of nowhere, a strange oddly confident voice said. "Your friend may be weird, but he's essentially correct. I can get you out."



Mallory spun around to see a strange duck appear out of the shadows. He wore a dark purple outfit. A crest of grey and white feathers flopped over an electronic patch that covered one eye. He casually leaned against the bars of the cell and scrutinized the group. "You know if it wasn't for you four I'd have finished my job by now," he said with a small smile.



Mallory didn't know what to make of him. "Who are you?" she asked, astounded.



"Nobody important," the stranger replied with an air of mischief. "Now do you want a hand or not?"



Mallory wanted to tell this arrogant duck what to do with his help, but Canard got up and put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "If you don't mind," Canard said calmly.



The stranger grinned. "You want out? You got it." he said. He pulled a small piece of metal wire from a pocket and within two seconds had the lock of the prison open.



Canard looked down at the lock. Then at the lock picker. He raised his eyebrow, impressed.



"How did you do that?" Mallory asked demandingly.



"My you are just full of questions aren't you? I thought the military didn't ask questions," the stranger answered with a smirk.



Mallory glowered at him as he set the others free. He pointedly ignored her.



Once the others were free their rescuer wiped imaginary dust from his hands. "Well kiddies, it's been fun, but I have a job to do. See ya," he said.



He was about to leave when Canard said, "Wait, you're not still going after the cannon?"



"It has to be done," the stranger answered calmly. Then to reassure them he said, "Relax, they won't find me."



Mallory came forward and glared at him with a sneer on her face. "They're going to be on guard when they find us gone! We have to abort!" she insisted.



"You can abort if you want," the stranger snapped back. "I'm going to destroy that cannon. His eyes fell on the explosives that Mallory was picking up from the table along with her own weapons. "Why don't you give me the explosives? I'll take care of it while they think you've escaped."



Mallory jammed the explosives into her pack. "Thanks but no thanks! We'll take care of it ourselves."



"In two days this thing will be at the Master-tower, you'll never find it then." He reminded her.



"Then we'll find another way," Mallory snapped back.



The stranger grinned. "Sure you will." He placed his hands on their shoulders and squeezed a bit. "Now this has been very entertaining but I have a job to do." With that he opened a door, and slipped away as if he was never there.



"What a jerk," Mallory said as she and Canard slunk away, keeping the two amateurs in front of them. "He acts as if this is nothing more than a game. He's worse than these two!" she gestured at their charges.



One of the two amateur freedom fighters turned to Mallory and said snidely, "Right, that's why he had to get you pro's out of this mess too."



"You just keep going," Canard said, giving the hotshot a light shove. Then with a sigh he said, "Scaup is going to be disappointed. He wanted to see how the new mix of explosives worked on Saurian weapons."



"Well we'll just keep them for next-" Mallory stopped in the middle of the sentence and felt around in her pouch. "Hey! Where are the explosives?"



Canard stopped in his tracks. "You don't have them? But I saw you pick them up!"



"I did pick them up!" Mallory insisted! "I put them right here! What could have -"



The sound of an explosion interrupted her. They all turned and stared at the convoy that was in the process of going up in smoke.



Mallory stammered for a moment then said uncertainly, "But....but how..?"



Canard smiled, very impressed. "I think I know," he said. Then, with a glance at the others, he added, " Come on. We have to go." As they turned away Canard snickered, "At least we can tell Scaup that the explosives worked."