Hey guess what I'm back!!!!!! Yea, I betcha you were starting to wonder about me…I've been having some terrible writer's block, so that's why it's taken me this long to get the next chapter. I'm really hoping I can finish this soon…grr…

Only Second Best

Chapter 11

Nosedive entered the door of the haunted mansion ('Didn't Draggy use this bit before?' he thought to himself) and the interior instantly turned into that of the Raptor. After contemplating whether or not to lock Canard outside, Dive let the older Duck follow him, thinking he would make good bait or a decoy or something. Canard was thinking the exact same thing about Dive at that very moment.

The two silently crept through the corridors, keeping their ears open for any of their Saurian buddies. Whenever they came to a split in the hallways, Dive would always take one without a second thought. This was really getting on Canard's nerves. It was one thing having to follow a hotheaded teenager around, but to do so without a plan, especially when this particular hotheaded teenager was one who was prone to mistakes wasn't Canard's idea of fun. He was getting a little jumpy.

After ten minutes, Canard had had enough. "Where is it exactly that we're going?" he asked. Nosedive ignored him. "Uh, hello? Do you even have a plan?" he asked impatiently.

"As a matter of fact, I do," snapped Nosedive, fiddling with his comm.

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" Canard said, crossing his arms.

"Well, if you must know, we go in, kick ol' Lizard-lip's butt, rescue the guys, and go home. Add an explosion here or there, and we'll call it good."

Just then the three henchman appeared out of nowhere.

"We've got the explosion thing covered!" Siege said happily, raising his blaster. Chameleon was about to do one of his corny impressions when Canard shot him in the foot.

"Hey!" the little lizard yelled in protest. He said down on the floor and held his foot, whimpering. Wraith started casting spells, sending fireballs flying.

Nosedive pulled out another puck launcher and started firing. Canard followed suit, and pretty soon the henchman were trapped in a corner. Chameleon, who was very angry with Canard, jumped into the middle of the room. He transformed into a Rambo army man and pulled out a bazooka. He was about to say a line to fit his character, but Wraith accidentally hit him with a fireball, not expecting a full-grown heap of muscles to instantly appear before him. Chameleon reverted back, and fainted.

"You stay here, I'll get the others!" shouted Nosedive. Before Canard could protest, Dive activated his jet blades and took off towards the throne room. Canard growled and turned back to his opponents.

Dragonus was busing fuming.

"Yea, you actually thought Nosedive would be finished that easily?" said Duke with a laugh. "Yea right!"

The Mighty Ducks were being held captive in a cell that had electrical bars (ooh, Draggy's getting creative!). The overlord was grumbling at his moronic henchman. "And how did that accursed Canard get out of Limbo? Is this some kind of trick?!?"

"Nothing gets past you, Dragonus…" Mallory said, rolling her eyes.

Smoke came out of Dragonus's nostrils.

"Really, Draggy-buns, you have to teach me how to do that!" cheered an all-too-familiar voice.

"YOU!"

"Yes, me," said Nosedive, who was leaning against the wall. He shot a puck at the panel on the wall, freeing the other ducks. They all scrambled to their feet and quickly joined their teammate.

"Ha! You're out numbered now, Dragonus!" shouted Wildwing.

"Oh poor me…" Dragonus sneered.

"Here you go, Ducks," said Duke, who had recovered the team's captured weapons. He tossed them to each Duck, who opened fire on Dragonus. Nosedive turned to leave as Dragonus activated his hunter drones.

"Dive! Where are you going?!" shouted Wildwing.

"I hafta save the pain in my butt, unfortunately…" Dive replied, jetting out on his blades.

"Follow him, Mallory!" Wing shouted, reloading his glove-launcher. Mallory nodded and sped after Dive.

"Ok, Duck, your goose is cooked!" shouted Siege, aiming his laser for Canard's head. Canard tried to fire another round of pucks, but found that his ammo supply was empty. He backed up against the wall, thinking up every possible curse word for Nosedive. Chameleon had came to and transformed into a body-builder, and Wraith was dusting his arms off.

"You won't win, Saurian Scum!" shouted Canard, hoping to sound noble and honorable.

"Sure ve vill, you puny rubbah duckie you," Chameleon said. (A/N: Ok, everyone else had Cham be Arnold, so why not me too?)

            But the pumped-up Saurian's plans were slightly altered when the foot collided with his head. He fell to the ground, turning into his normal form again. "Dang! Not again!" he yelled, glaring at Nosedive.

            "Man, twice in one episode! Geez Meely, get your act together!" Nosedive said with a chuckle. He tossed his extra launcher to Canard. Canard caught it, but kept his glare on the youth. This angered Dive mad, too. He was now so mad he didn't notice the creepy old wizard sneaking up behind him.

            Wraith started to concoct a spell to finish the duck when a puck launcher slammed into his skull, sending him flying into the wall. Nosedive whirled around to see Mallory wiping dust off her puck launcher.

            "All right Mallory!" he cheered.

            "You two keep it up and you'll be eating wiring, too," the redhead said coolly.

            "Roger that, girly-girl!" Dive said with a snicker.

            "Can we finish this later?" shouted Canard as he readied his puck launcher. Mallory and Nosedive both jumped behind the consul by the wall and got ready to fight. The henchmen picked themselves up and proceeded towards the ducks.

            "Three to three…well, these are pretty good odds!" said Mallory.

            Suddenly the Raptor started to shake. Mallory was knocked off her feet and landed on Nosedive. Canard braced himself against the wall. Dragonus's image appeared from the Saurians' coms.

            "You three get to the throne room at once!" the overlord shouted. "NOW!!!"

            The three vanished, leaving behind three green shadows. Mallory helped Dive to his feet, and Canard caught her as she was about to fall over.

            The other four Ducks came flying out of the throne room's direction on their blades. "We have to get out of here, now!!" shouted Wildwing. The remaining three followed after them as the Raptor lurched under their feet.

            Duke plopped down on the grass. "Well, that was fun…" he said sarcastically.

            "Everyone ok?" asked Wildwing. He received six groans from his worn out team. They had just skated two miles in a matter of minutes. Fatigue from the battle was heavy, and the frantic fleeing didn't help much. Tanya sat down on the ground. Mallory's feet gave out, and Grin sat down on a rock. Nosedive dunked his head into the nearby stream.

            "What happened back there?" asked Mallory between gasps for breath. Tanya was about to explain but was interrupted by an incoming teenager.

            "Nosedive! I'm not a runway!" she yelled, pushing him over. He started to laugh, but waved his hand instead.

            "Tanya blew something up, what else?" said Duke, answering Mallory's question.

            "How was I supposed to know that that was the self-destruct mechanism for the drone army? I thought it would disable the cloaking device!" Tanya protested.

            "A minor miscalculation!" snickered Nosedive. She smacked him in the head. "Ow…"

            "Well, next time we need to be a little more prepared…" said Canard, staring off into space.

            "Look," said Nosedive getting to his feet. "I told you I had a plan…"

            "Some plan! Go in, blow things up, leave teammates outnumbered and minimally armed?!?" Canard shouted back.

            "Whoa whoa time out!" said Wildwing, stepping between the two. "I think we're all a little tired cranky no, so why don't we all just head back to the Pond and take it easy," he said. Everyone nodded. "Good. Let's go."

            Everyone got up and headed in the Pond's direction. Nosedive crossed his arms and followed behind.

            "Oh no, you're not going anywhere…" said Wildwing, grabbing his brother's shoulder. "We need to talk…"