Standard disclaimer - you know the drill, I don't own 'em.

I know I need to work on my character development, and I tried my best not to make Kristy a Mary Sue, so let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is great! I really want to improve, so read, and review.

This is basically the beginning of my random little story - it was hard thinking of a way to get the new ducks to Earth, so let me know if it gets too confusing. I just thought that they needed more girls and more teenagers at the pond, so I should've made Zack or Jason a girl, but they kind'a accidentally grew from minor characters to bigger ones. I'll stop babbling now...

Enjoy!


A tan-feathered teenager took a flying leap off the school steps, landing next to her friends and skating ahead of them down the street. The seventeen-year old's shoulder length brown hair bounced against her head, confined in a high pony-tail.

"Kriss! Wait up!" called her friend Zack, skating hard to close in on her lead.

"You know she's not gonna stop," said Jason, skating along side his twin brother.

"Not unless you say please," taunted Kristy, skating backwards to face the twins. Jason and Zachary Cooper were identical opposites. Zack had brown feathers with black hair and Jason had black feathers with brown hair. They made quite a sight, unconsciously skating in unison. The boys had almost caught up to her, but not quite.

"See ya," called Jason, tugging on Zack's elbow and leading him down an alleyway.

"Ah man, cheep trick," muttered Kristy, slamming on her brakes and following them. An unseen hand dropped onto her shoulder as she rounded into the alley.

"Ah!" She exclaimed in surprise, twirling around to face her assailant, but ended up falling on her butt.

"Kristy?" Zack skated over to help her up, a look of concern on his face. "Hiya Sly," he greeted the newly arrived duck.

The older duck nodded in acknowledgment. "Cooper." He glanced down at Kristy. "You're getting skittish Thunderbeak."

"She's a medic," argued Jason, coming to her defense, "not a thief. It doesn't matter."

Kristy flashed him a smile of gratitude. Zack and Jason had been defending her for three years, ever since the invasion started and Kristy became a member of the Brotherhood Of the Blade. She wasn't accepted due to her thieving abilities, but because she was training as a medic, an important assent to covert thieves who refused to go to a public hospital.

"In the brotherhood everything matters," answered Sly.

"Yeah, well what do you want?" asked Zack. "Or were you just following us for no reason?"

"You're father sent me," explained Sly, "we spotted someone lurking around the high school. I'm to escort you back home." He turned without another word and led the way through Puckworld's back alleys.

"And I thought my dad was bad," commented Kristy. Her father was a General in the Puckworld army, and ever since her older brother, Canard, disappeared after the fight with Dragonus he'd become overprotective of his two remaining children. Unfortunately for Kristy, her oldest brother Charlie was still serving in the air force, and therefor out of their father's jurisdiction. That left her father free to devote all his attention to her. Unfortunately for him, Kristy wasn't as easy to bond with as his sons. She'd rebelled against everything military, and he gave up trying to find common ground with her.

"Well I doubt military officers need to worry about assassination attempts," said Sly.

"Ignore him," whispered Jason, "dad's probably just over reacting. Lately he's been a little..."

"Crazy," supplied Zack.

"Not a prob," replied Kristy. The invasion changed a lot of things, she thought to herself. Besides the obvious effects, it also made her father change his dedication from his job to his family. That was when the twin's father became acting leader of the brotherhood of the blade, since the brother hood's true leader, Duke L'Orange, disappeared after the same battle as Canard.

Kristy never knew him, only met him once when she was first introduced to the brotherhood, but she'd heard plenty about L'Orange. He'd been a good leader and Blade Cooper had high expectations to meet.

They soon arrived at a place known only as The Lair, the home of the Brotherhood Of the Blade.

"Back already Sly?" called the sentry, standing outside of the ancient stone doorway. Kristy often wondered just how old the brotherhood's home really was.

"Got stuck baby sitting," was his gruff reply.

"Ah..." The sentry stepped out of the shadows, revealing her identity. It was Alanna, another thief in the brotherhood. "Coopers, Thunder, how was school?" She greeted the teens. Most members of the brotherhood preferred to address Kristy as 'Thunder' so as to ignore the connection between her and one of Puckworld's military leaders. Sly was one who refused to forget, and constantly questioned her loyalty.

"Tons of fun," answered Zack. He and Jason didn't have to go to school, like most kids born into the brotherhood they were tutored by the older members, in everything from school work to blade work. The twins just went to the public school for the fun of it.

"That's good. By the way, your father's looking for you," added Alanna.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Probably wants to give us a lecture or something."

"Might as well get it over with," said Zack, "you gonna hang around awhile Kristy?"

"Sure, but I've got to get home before dinner." She loved visiting The Lair. Unfortunately her parents didn't know about her affiliation with the Brotherhood, and would probably disown me if they knew, so Kristy had to come up with excuses for where she was every time she came.

"We'll meet you in the infirmary," called Jason as he and Zack headed down a side corridor. Kristy waved in affirmation and continued down the main hallway. The twins knew her well, she was going to visit Doc, the Brotherhood's resident medic, in the infirmary.

She pushed open the swinging doors quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone in there recovering, and entered the sterile white room. The beds were all empty, but Kristy spotted a grey duck sitting at the desk by the far wall.

"Doc?" she ventured, walking past the row of beds.

"Ah Kristina, how are you?" he greeted without looking up.

"Same old." Kristy plopped down onto the bed nearest his desk.

"It's been quite a while," said Doc, pushing away from his desk and turning in his chair to shake her hand.

"Sorry, I haven't had much time to stop by. My parents started getting suspicious...and, yeah..."

Doc held up a hand. "Never mind, so how's your mother?"

"She's fine," answered Kristy, "and last weekend she took me along to an emergency response seminar." Her mother was an army medic and enjoyed sharing her knowledge with her daughter, that's how Kristy had received so much training at such a young age. Doc was fascinated with her mother's work, and once told Kristy that if he hadn't been born into the brotherhood he probably would have followed the same career path.

His parents, like Jason and Zack's were both members of the Brotherhood, so their son was a member by default. Doc and the twins were what they called a hereditary thief. Kristy was considered a new thief because neither her parents were thieves nor was she raised by the brotherhood. Canard had made some sort of arrangement with Duke L'Orange shortly after the invasion began and sent Kristy to live with the Brotherhood. Of course their parents didn't know where she was in hiding but they trusted Canard that it was some place safe, and it was. It was then that Kristy started helping Doc out in the infirmary and Blade Cooper, on the advice of both Doc and his sons, offered her membership. It wasn't a full membership, but she was allowed access to the Brotherhood, The Lair, and almost all of their secrets.

"Learn anything new?" asked Doc, reaching up to put a folder away on the shelf. Kristy couldn't help noticing the saber hanging from his belt, partially hidden by his white lab coat. It was a reminder that Doc was not only a medic, but also a trained swordsman and thief.

"Not much...Oh, but there was this new technique for splinting a broken arm. It looked easy enough that I thought we could teach it to the others as part of their basic training." That got the two of them into a long discussion of bone-setting techniques, which lead them to arguing over how much first-aid a new recruit needed to learn. All member of the Brotherhood had to have a basic knowledge of first-aid, and most were required to use that knowledge at least once in their thieving career.

That's when Zack and Jason entered, interrupting the debate. Both young mallards looked tired, Kristy guessed that their father had given them a long lecture. She noticed that they'd also changed into their stealth-suits, body tight jump suits they wore when thieving.

Zack's was dark blue and he wore his equipment in a band that stretched over his right shoulder and across his chest. He preferred to keep his saber in a shoulder sheath. Kristy took a moment to admire his lean profile. Zack had a light frame, he would never be as strong or muscular as Jason, but he was the more agile or the two.

Jason's was dark green and his only accessory was an equipment belt from which his sheathed saber hung. The sleeves of his suite ended at his shoulders, showing off his biceps - and the two dark bands circling his arm just below the shoulder. Zack had identical bands tattooed on his covered arm and Kristy also had a single band tattooed on her arm, hidden by an armband bearing the resistance's logo - crossed hockey sticks over an inverted triangle. The lone band on Kristy's arm identified her as under the Brotherhood's protection. The addition of a second band symbolized a trainee, like Zack and Jason, and three bands denoted a full member.

"Hello boys," greeted Doc, "I'm supposed to tell you that your father wants a word, but it looks like he already has."

"More than just a word," grumbled Zack, taking a seat next to Kristy.

"He actually thought we tried to pull a heist by ourselves," elaborated Jason, "and it took us forever to convince him it wasn't us."

"So it wasn't about the lurker Sly mentioned?" asked Kristy.

"Oh no, he warned us about that too," said Jason.

"You two should listen to Blade," said Doc, defending his old friend, "he's a sound leader and knows what he's talking about."

"We know," answered Jason and Zack in unison.

"Hey Kristy, want an escort home?" asked Zack. "We need to get out'a here, and a little detour wont keep you too long."

"Sure, but don't you want to change first?" Kristy pointed at their conspicuous stealth-suites.

"Oh yeah, we just gotta stop by our room quick," said Jason. Kristy followed the twins up through a labyrinth of hallways to the living quarters.

"Hey Thunder, long time no see!" A girl in a red stelth-suit jumped up from her spot on the common room sofa.

"Yeah, I've been busy. What's up with you?" Kristy clasped hands with the young thief known only as Robin, for her bright red feathers and hair.

"Just hangin'," replied Robin, "where're you three off to?"

"Bringing Kristy home," answered Zack.

Robin cocked an eyebrow at him. "And she needs your protection why?"

"It's okay Robin, they just want an excuse to get out'a the Lair," explained Kristy.

An idea dawned on Jason. "You wanna come with us? We'd have an even number."

"I'm not gonna be home by dinner, am I?" asked Kristy with a grin.

"Sure you will," assured Zack, "we'll just skate really fast. Come on bro, let's hurry!" He tugged on Jason's arm and they both jogged down the hall to their room.

"Yeah, I better change too," said Robin. "Hey Jase!" she yelled, "Can ya grab me a shirt or something?"

"You're hopeless." Jason returned, followed by Zack, and tossed a sweatshirt to her.

"Thanks." Robin slipped it on and they were ready to go. The boys had both thrown on a sweatshirt and wind pants over their stealth-suits, and Kristy was good to go because she was still wearing her normal clothes - cargo pants and a blue tank top.

The little detour turned out to be a trip to the old hockey rink, located a few blocks from The Lair. All four were already wearing skates, so Jason needed only to pry out an old board to find the sticks and pucks they'd stashed there.

"Guys verses girls!" announced Robin, taking control of the puck Jason passed her. The game started out seriously, but didn't stay that way for long.

"Hey Kriss, aren't you getting cold?" teased Zack, trying to skate past her with the puck.

"Not with all this hot air around." She let him get past, then reached her stick out to hook his ankle.

"What the-" Zack tipped, and fell forward. Using quick reflexes he turned and grabbed Kristy's wrist, pulling her down with him.

"Ow!" He caught her by surprise and Kristy fell on top of Zack. "What was that for?" she asked.

"What do you mean? You fell on top of me." argued Zack.

"Ah bro, you got took down by a girl," teased Jason, skating over to help his brother.

"Oh yeah, totally." Kristy detangled herself from Zack and brushed the snow from her knees.

"You mean you didn't enjoy that?" asked Zack, sitting up with a grin on his face. Jason grabbed his hand and pulled Zack to his feet.

"Not as much as we did," answered a strange voice from behind them.

"What the?" Robin spun around, searching for the source of the voice.

"Who's there?" demanded Jason. Ten black clad ducks suddenly stood in front of them. The four teens were surrounded, trapped in the corner. "Assassins society," he muttered, recognizing the insignia on their uniforms. There was an ongoing feud between the Brotherhood and the assassins society, Puckworld's two most successful crime organizations.

"Blade Cooper's boys, out all alone." The lead duck raised a large laser blaster. "Do you surrender?"

"Never to you, assassin scum," answered Zack, taking a step forward and placing himself between Kristy and their attackers. Of all of them she was the least trained, and in his mind, probably in the most danger.

"Very well." The lead duck lowered his blaster. "Then we'll settle it now, between the two of us."

"No way," argued Jason drawing his saber and moving forward to stand beside his brother.

"The kid insulted us, either he faces me..." He stoked the large weapon. "Or you all take your chances."

Before Kristy could figure out what was happening, Zack had drawn his saber and lunged for the assassin.

"Zachary! No!" Jason was a second too slow to stop him.

The assassin moved fast, he leaned to the side as Zack thrust his blade forward and grabbed him by his wrist. The sudden action caught Zack off guard and even quick reflexes couldn't save him from the bigger duck's grip.

"Ah! Let me go!" exclaimed Zack. He dropped his saber and the assassin twisted his arm behind his back.

"Zack!" Robin drew her saber, but froze before she could take a step. The assassin had taken a small knife out of his boot and was holding it against Zack's neck.

"Not another step," ordered the assassin, "now you'll cooperate...or it's his life."

Robin looked to Jason, he gave a nod and retracted his blade. A moment later she did the same.

"Alright, you got me," he announced, dropping his weapon. Two of the assassins came forward to grab Jason by the arms and lead him towards a dark van waiting near the rink. Another picked up his and Zack's sheathed sabers.

"You tell Blade that we've got his boys," the lead duck told Robin and Kristy, his knife still at Zack's neck, "he'll know what to do." He turned to leave when one of the female assassins stopped him.

"Take the girl," she whispered.

"No!" Zack struggled against his captor, but was restrained by the knife.

"We were sent for the brotherhood brats," argued the lead duck.

"I know her, she's General Thunderbeak's daughter. We can use her," insisted a familiar voice, but Kristy couldn't remember where she'd heard the woman before.

She took a step backwards, but at a signal from the leader two more assassins approached Kristy.

"Kriss..." Robin trailed off when one of them aimed a gun at her. They grabbed Kristy and dragged her to the van, followed by the leader and Zack. Three assassins covered their retreat.

Robin didn't move until they'd all boarded the van, then watched them speed away. As soon as the van was out of sight she shook herself out of shock and skated as fast as she could back to The Lair. Robin braced herself for the certain confrontation when she arrived. Then she would have to tell her leader, Blade Cooper what just happened.