It was sunny outside in Anaheim and everyone was enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Well, not everyone. Nosedive was currently at Captain Comics where his two human friends, Thrash and Mookie, worked and was reading the latest edition of one of his favorite comic series. It wasn't cheering him up, though. Nosedive had been feeling pretty down in the dumps ever since Mallory had accused him of letting the bad guys get away with the mini circuit board. Nosedive set the comic book down and sighed in frustration.

Mallory's words echoed in his head. He tried to tune them out, only for it to come down harder the more he tried to ignore it. Thankfully, the growl of his stomach stormed through his thoughts.

"I guess I forgot to get breakfast on my way here…" He chuckled sheepishly. Nosedive was about to walk out when he bumped into someone, who dropped some comics from under his left arm.

"Oh gosh! Sorry, dude!" Nosedive said as began to pick up the comic books.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It can happen to anyone." The stranger said, as they helped pick the books up. Nosedive got looks at all the cool comics this guy had.

"Woah! You have radical taste in comics, dude!" Nosedive smiled. He pointed to one with a man in a tiger suit, "I've been meaning to read this one. Name's Nosedive." He held out his hand to the stranger. He couldn't help but feel compelled to get to know this man, and after the rotten couple of days he's been having, perhaps some new company could clear up the grey skies for him.

"From the Mighty Ducks. I've heard a lot about you and the team." The stranger replied as he shook hands with Nosedive. This man had blonde hair and two different colored eyes. The left eye being dark blue and the right eye being a golden brownish color. Despite him being a comic book shop, he dressed like a businessman with a light brown vest and dark brown shirt underneath with a red tie. He wore darker brown pants and dress shoes to match. He smiled at Nosedive, "I'm Mansfeild."

"Nice to meet you, Mansfeild! Do you come around the comic book store often?" Nosedive asked as he watched the man consider his response.

"Actually, my business takes me to all sorts of places, but I do sometimes stop by a good comic store when I have the time." Mansfeild answered.

"Business?" Nosedive repeated.

"Yeah, I run a big traveling business." Mansfeild replied. Nosedive looked shocked by that. From the look of Mansfeild, he looked at least 28 years old.

"Woah! I mean I shoulda figured you were businessy since you dress more fashionably." He said. Nosedive decided to jump headfirst. "Would you be interested in talking some more? You seem like an interesting guy."

Mansfeild chuckled. "Of course. I have some time to kill before my car picks me." He answered. "What's your favorite comic?"

"Wonder beak." Nosedive said, "He's this teenage duck, like moi, and he goes around kickin serious butt." He punched at the air, much to the amusement of Mansfeild. "He's also not afraid to crack wise, can relate a lot to that."

"You know your stuff about him." Mansfeild smiled at Nosedive's enthusiasm. Nosedive raised his head with a small smile.

"So, where are you heading?" He asked.

"A meeting for a new product that someone wants me to fund." Mansfeild said as he leaned against a wall. "Although, I'm not a fan of the man himself."

"Why not?" Nosedive asked.

Mansfeild scoffed. "Because he's a total suck up, he's just doing everything he can to please me so I'll help him with funding."

"Seriously?" Nosedive raised a brow at this.

"Seriously." Mansfeild replied. "It annoys me to no end. People like him aren't worth the time."

"Sounds like it," Nosedive snickered, he put his hands behind his head. "As for me, I was just gonna go get some chow." He then asked, "Would you be interested in chatting some more before you go to your meeting?"

"I wouldn't mind in the slightest." Mansfeild replied. "But may I ask a question?"

"Sure, fire away." Nosedive said.

"You seemed down. I could tell by your physical movements and such." Mansfeild explained. "Is everything OK?"

Nosedive was surprised by Mansfeild's question, but didn't hide it and replied, "Well, the other day…Someone broke into the team's HQ, and stole something important. And well, I'm kind of being blamed for it." Nosedive scratched the back of his head.

"Seriously?" Mansfeild asked, shocked to hear that. But then he sighed. "I know that feeling. That happened a lot with me. I was always being blamed in my family for something that couldn't be helped."

"Glad I'm not alone," Nosedive brushed back a strand of hair, "I'm just trying to take my mind off it is all." Nosedive's eyes flickered to the comic books on the shelves. "And my usual stuff ain't cutting it." He sighed.

"Come on." Mansfeild suddenly said as he walked off and Nosedive followed him.

"Where are we going?" Nosedive asked.

"To lunch. Where else?" Mansfeild smiled back at him. "My client can definitely wait."

Nosedive's face brightened, "Cool! where should we eat?" His eyes darted to the left. "Originally, I was gonna go get a hot dog from Wiener World but…" He looked back to Mansfeild. "So where to?"

"I know a really nice diner within walking distance of here." Mansfeild said. "Follow me." Nosedive followed his new friend down the street.

-\-

Wildwing was lifted weights in the training room with Canard. As he set the weight down on its stand, he looked at the clock and wore a worried expression. Canard took notice and turned off the treadmill and jumped off.

"What's up, Wing?" Canard asked as he grabbed his water.

"Nosedive had been gone for a long time." Wildwing said.

"You wanna call him? He should have his communicator on him." Canard suggested.

Wildwing sighed. "I don't know. I feel like he's needs space after what happened but I'm worried about him."

Canard put his hand on Wildwing's shoulder. "He may still be a kid, but he's old enough to handle himself. I'm sure he's fine."

Wildwing smiled at Canard's statement. "Come on, let's get ready for practicing on the ice some more." As he and Canard left the room, Wildwing couldn't shake the feeling of Nosedive being some kind of danger…

-\-

At the diner, Nosedive choked on his drink. He was listening to Mansfeild's story and when he got to the climax of it, Nosedive was so surprised that his drink went down the wrong pipe.

Nosedive coughed a little before asking, "You're serious?"

"Not even lying." Mansfeild said as took a bite of his salad. "My older brothers locked me in my room on the night of my sixth birthday and I wasn't let out until after the party. My parents took pity on me so they punished my older brothers out of it. Pity, from my own parents."

"That sucks, dude…" Nosedive said.

Mansfeild shrugged his shoulders. "Some families are like that." Then he took another bite of his food.

"Yeah, being the youngest doesn't help either." Nosedive scooped some of his food onto the fork and took a bite. He was in love with the rich buttery dish. He swallowed. "Don't you just hate it when someone looks at you and thinks, 'that poor doofus can't do anything on his own'?" Nosedive made baby eyes for a moment and then scoffed.

Mansfeild scoffed as well. "My thoughts exactly. But…eh, c'est la vie—that's life. But now…now that I'm more successful than my family ever was, I like to look back on the events that happened to me and think, 'Heh, look at where I am. They can't even hold a candle to me'. Everything I had done led to this point in my life."

"Always good to look at the positive." Nosedive replied. Nosedive finished his dish and drank some more of his soda. "I was wondering," Nosedive drummed his fingers against the table. "Is it possible if I could have a way to contact you? Like if you wanna hang?"

"Well, I do have my contact information here." Mansfeild took out a simple looking business card and handed it to Nosedive. It included his number and his name, but nothing more. "However, I can't guarantee I'll always be available to hang out. I'm always quite busy with my work and business." He replied. Nosedive looked a little upset hearing that until Mansfeild said, "But I'll definitely contact you when I can hang out." He smiled.

"Awesome!" Nosedive said appreciatively. His eyes trailed over the glossy card, his mind dancing with joy at the new friend he had made.

Mansfeild smiled. That's when he felt something vibrate in his pocket. The blonde man took out a phone that looked super high tech.

"Whoa! Nice cell you got there." Nosedive complimented.

"Thanks. It's a prototype my business is working on. I'm just testing it out." Mansfeild smiled before answering the phone. "Hello?…Yes…Alright, I'll be right there…Okay." He then hung up the phone and returned it to his pocket. "My client is getting impatient and showing his true colors. I have to run." Mansfeild took out his wallet and pulled out some money. "This should pay for the check, and this should get you a ride back to wherever you live." Mansfeild handed Nosedive the money.

"A-Are you sure?" Nosedive asked as he was given the cash.

"Don't worry about it, really." Mansfeild assured the young duck. "Oh! But before I go, we are looking for part-time work at my business while we're in Anaheim. If you're interested, call me up and I'll give you a tour. See you around, Dive." Mansfeild smiled before hurrying out of the diner.

Nosedive smile grew. He looked at the card again.

Maybe if I apply for the job I can show the other ducks how mature I am! Nosedive thought as he pocketed the card and headed out the door. Cars swept the black concrete. Nosedive brushed back his hair after one car blazed by.

"Ugh. Some people don't know when to follow the speed limit." He grumbled.

Nosedive hailed a cab and waited to arrive at the base. He couldn't help to sniffle at the acidic scent pricking the seat.

"Where ya headin', kid?" The cab driver asked as Nosedive got into the cab.

-\-

The ducks were all heading out on the ice when Nosedive had just arrived back. Nosedive stepped into the Pond, the brisk air slapped the heat right off his skin. He watched the others get ready to play. He strided down to his friends with a pleased expression. Wildwing saw Nosedive step down the stairs to the stadium. Wildwing held up a hand to pause the game. He skated over to the gate Nosedive stopped at.

"Hey Dive!" Wildwing said. "Where have you been?"

"Just at Captain Comics and grabbed some lunch. Met someone new there, actually." Nosedive said to his big brother. Wildwing had the answer to why his brother had been gone for so long. He couldn't blame himself since his brother was accident prone.

"That's good, what were they like?" He asked.

"He's a pretty cool dude!" Nosedive smiled brightly. "He's got great taste in comics I'll tell you that."

"Definitely sounds like a cool guy" maybe he was worried over nothing. Nosedive seemed happier now that he's made a new friend.

"Say you wanna play some hockey?" Wildwing asked.

Nosedive smiled. "Oh totally! Let me gear up real quick!" Nosedive hurried into the locker room to change, eager to practice. Mallory and Canard took notice of this.

"What's up with him?" Mallory asked.

"He made a new friend." Wildwing said, skating up to the two.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Canard asked.

"Seems like a good thing. He seems energetic and more ready to play." Wildwing said with a smile for his little brother. That's when Phil came racing down from his office with a big smile on his face, which was usually never a good sign for the ducks.

"Hey there, Boobies! I hope you guys are ready for something big!" Phil stated. "Tomorrow night, you lucky ducks will be special guests for a big Anaheim Charity Ball."

The ducks groaned in annoyance instead of being thrilled, but Phil was already walking away when they did that. When Nosedive came out of the locker room, he saw everyone's expression and asked, "Oh no—what did Phil do?"

-\-

"Can you hand me that screwdriver?" Mercury asked Chameleon as he was working on remaking the Mask.

Chameleon handed over the screwdriver. "How much longer until the mask is ready?" Chameleon asked.

"Who knows?" Mercury replied. "This is a work of art, I'm telling you! Goddamn, the circuitry and the design of it all! Whoever made this thing knew what they were doing!" Mercury smiled as he continued to work. Chameleon shape shifted into a buck-toothed slim man with glasses.

"Nerd!" Chameleon commented.

Mercury laughed, "Shut up." He lightly punched Chameleon's arm as they laughed together. That's when Mercury looked to see Ryan walking into the room.

"Hey, uh, do you mind getting some water for you and myself?" Mercury asked Chameleon. The green Saurian looked confused but shrugged his shoulders and walked off past Ryan. Ryan looked at his watch as Mercury continued to work on the Mask.

"He's getting impatient, you know." Ryan said as he leaned on the edge of the table.

"The boss, or dino-dude?" Mercury chuckled as reached for another tool to use.

"Very funny. But I'm serious, Mercury. Lord Ashebridge is hiding it very well, but I can tell he's not going to hold back for much longer." Ryan said.

"Ah yeah. His big plans and all that." Mercury said, setting down his tool and taking off his work goggles and resting them on his forehead. "I don't get it, though. Why team up with the Saurians? I thought the boss had enough power."

"He does." Ryan replied.

"Then why?" Mercury asked again.

Ryan was silent. He didn't answer because he knew someone else was listening in on them. But finally he spoke, "Don't worry, Mercury. Just finish the Mask, please."

Mercury sighed. "Alright, alright—I'm on it." Mercury put his goggles back on and got back to work.

"In the meantime, I'd better report back to Lord Ashebridge for now. If anyone asks, tell them I've gone to speak with him about important matters." Ryan instructed. Mercury gave Ryan a thumbs up while he continued his work. Ryan opened a dimensional gateway and walked through it and immediately closed behind him.

Wraith had listened to every word of their conversation, and didn't like it one bit. Chameleon was coming back with two glasses of water for him and Mercury when he saw Wraith.

"Hey, Wraith. What's up?" He asked, unaware of what took place.

"I just came to see the progress of the mask, Lord Dragaunus is very eager about this, you know." He lied. Wraith knew something wasn't right about their new allies the moment Ryan set foot on the Raptor. He tangoed with the idea to use magic on the young man before him to gouge him for information.

Wraith only hoped that he could find out what Ryan and Mercury, and this 'Lord Ashebridge' of theirs, were really up to before it was too late.