It was two days after the Stanley Cup and Anaheim was still going crazy and celebrating over the Mighty Ducks' win. Newspapers and magazines were printing the news everywhere you looked. The team even made it on the cover of a couple of them. Phil took the chance and arranged a meet and greet for the Mighty Ducks to attend to after Nosedive's wrist was feeling better. The team took the Migrator to the local outdoor theater where the meet and greet was taking place.
The minute the ducks got out, the crowds of fans in line were screaming in excitement as Anaheim PD held some of the crazy ones back.
"Is this how it's gonna be from now on?" Canard said to Wildwing.
Wildwing snickered. "Hey, you're back in school!"
Canard had his share of fans in school for being the MVP of the hockey team, but that was nothing compared to the masses before him. Canard just shook his head with a smile.
Just then, Captain Klegghorn helped escort the ducks to their seats on the outdoor stage.
"Congrats on your win." Klegghorn said. "I must admit, I'm really impressed by how you played."
"We're just that good, Cap." Nosedive bragged as he got to his seat.
"How's your wrist, Nosedive?" Tanya asked as she sat down next to him.
"Oh! It's fine now. It feels a lot better." Nosedive assured her and the rest of the team. "If we duke it out with the Blackhawks again, I'll be ready for them!" Grinned Nosedive. Fans were guided over to the table in lines for which duck they wanted to meet.
Nosedive swallows nervously as he picks up a pen. "I hope I don't get carpal tunnel from this…" The young duck shook his head, thinking that he was exaggerating.
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The meet and greet went smoothly. Lots of girls were mostly in line to meet Wildwing and Duke while lots of younger teens met with Nosedive and Grin and took pictures with them. Canard got to do some autographs too while Tanya and Mallory took pictures with younger kids. The event was going on peacefully as Wildwing shook hands and signed an autograph for a young man.
"Here you go." Wildwing said as he handed the autograph to the fan.
"Thank you!" The fan smiled before hurrying off. Wildwing waved to them and watched as the next one came up to him.
As he signed away another picture of the team to this fan, he couldn't help to feel something was…off.
His neck feathers ruffled. He kept on his smile and watched as the fan hugged the picture and thanked him endlessly. He kept it together. But he was already wondering why things would feel off. Nothing happened during the game, what would happen here?
A little girl came up to Wildwing and shyly asked for an autograph, which Wildwing was happy to give her. But the sound of a laser being fired interrupted the meet and greet. A piece of the stage almost fell on top of the little girl if Wildwing didn't grab and pull her out of the way. The mom thanked Wildwing as she took back her daughter, but more lasers were fired as drones appeared to the left side of the stage. The citizens panicked and screamed at the sight of the drones and started running.
Klegghorn took out his walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "We need all available officers for emergency evacuation! All available units escort citizens to safety!" The police captain then looked back to see the ducks quickly changing to their gear and beginning to fight the drones. Klegghorn was glad they had this covered before he started helping crowds of people get to safety.
The ducks fired their weapons at the drone, but it seemed that every one they took down, two more just appeared and took its place. With the place evacuated, Wildwing yelled out, "Come on out, Dragaunus!" And Wildwing got his wish.
The smoke from some laser cleared up as the mighty Saurian Overlord stepped out among his drones, his lips curved down. Beside him was Ryan and Mercury guiding their Rune Soldier army.
"Hey creep!" Nosedive pointed his puck blaster at Mercury. "I've been looking forward to a rematch! You're going down!"
Mercury looked a little confused. "Huh?" Then he suddenly remembered. "Oh! You're that dimwit I stuck to the floor—how you doing?" He asked before laughing a little. Chameleon appeared right next to Mercury and laughed with him. That's when Siege and Wraith appeared beside Dragaunus. Wraith glared at Chameleon, who immediately hurried to their side instead of standing by Mercury.
Just as Dragaunus was about to say something, Ryan stepped forward and spoke. "I hope you've all improved since our last fight. But may I first say congratulations on winning the…Stanley Cup, as you call it." He said.
Wildwing narrowed his eyes at Ryan. "We don't need your thanks, that's for sure."
"And we've improved alright! How about a demonstration?" Duke said, sword glinting.
"Very well." Ryan said before he opened a Rune Circle in front of him, pulling out twin naval cutlasses before the circle disappeared. He flicked them down to his sides and they immediately caught on fire.
"Mercury, take on Nosedive." Ryan ordered.
"What-Why do I have to take the dimwit?" Mercury asked as he pulled out his twin Beretta 92 pistols.
"Because he said himself he wants a rematch." Ryan replied.
"Fair enough." Mercury sighed.
"Bring it, trash compactor!" Nosedive charged forward and fired.
Duke smirked and dashed toward Ryan. "Alright, pretty boy, just you and me!"
Ryan charged at Duke while Nosedive and Mercury fired their weapons at each other. Siege, wanting to fight charged at Grin and the two of them locked hands and glared at each other intensely. Tanya took on Wraith, who kept teleporting out of the way of her puck blaster and threw fire balls at her. Chameleon shapeshifted into a pro wrestler and threw himself at Mallory, who sidestepped and punched him in his side. That just left Wildwing and Dragaunus. Dragaunus smirked and fired a laser from his wrist at Wildwing, but the duck activated his ice shield to deflect it. Wildwing then charged at Dragaunus and punched him square in the face before Dragaunus retaliated by punching him in the stomach.
Ryan's two blades clashed with Duke's single blade as he spoke, "You're not bad. Maybe killing you will be more fun than killing your captain!" Ryan pushed Duke and thrusted his left sword at him, but Duke blocked it.
"You'll never get the chance, creep!" Duke growled as they continued to fight.
Nosedive dodged the oncoming bullets. Ducking behind a trash can, he shot at Mercury's ankles making the ferokinesis-user jump back with a hiss. Mercury forced the metal can aside with his power and fired at the blonde. Nosedive gritted his teeth as a bullet skittered past his arm. He dashed to a thick tree and hid behind it. He watched as Mercury approached.
Mercury slowly approached where he saw Nosedive go. When he looked around and couldn't find the duck, he slightly lowered his guard.
"Surprise!" Nosedive popped out of hiding and fired some explosive pucks at Mercury. Mercury turned around and tried to dodge the incoming pucks but didn't and got blown away onto the ground. Mercury growled before firing his pistols again at Nosedive, who yelped and hurried out of the range of fire.
Wildwing and Dragaunus were locked in combat as well as the other ducks. Wildwing kneed Dragaunus in the stomach, the armor lowered the impact but it pushed the Saurian off of him. He then socked Dragaunus across the face. He went for another punch only for the Saurian to deflect it with his gauntlet covered forearm.
Dragaunus swung his tail at Wildwing sending him back. Dragaunus swung a claw at Wildwing, the duck dodged the attack. "Hmm, I guess you are showing SOME improvement, ducky." The Saurian Overlord growled.
"I'll make you pay for what you did to Puckworld!" Wildwing said as he threw another punch.
Mercury was chasing down Nosedive and firing at him until he ran out of bullets. "Ah dammit!" Mercury cursed.
Nosedive saw his chance and stopped running and turned to aim his puck blaster at Mercury. "Eat some of this!" Nosedive was about to pull the trigger when someone's hand came up and put it on Nosedive's arm and lowered it along with the puck blaster. Nosedive was confused before he turned to see a familiar face standing next to him. "Mansfeild? What are you doing here?" Nosedive asked, shocked seeing his new friend standing there.
However, what Nosedive heard next made him confused.
When Mercury saw Mansfeild, he said, "Boss! You're here!"
Then when Ryan heard Mercury speak, he turned his head to see Mansfeild and pushed Duke away to say, "Lord Ashebridge, you've arrived."
Nosedive, stunned by what he just heard, turned to Mansfeild. Only to feel a sharp pain in his side. Nosedive stuttered in shock as he slowly looked down and saw a small dagger jabbed into his right abdomen, and Mansfeild was holding the dagger.
"Nosedive…I'm sorry you had to learn this way." Mansfeild said with a calm smile as he twisted the blade slightly, making Nosedive yelp in pain. He then yanked the dagger out and kicked Nosedive to the ground. The blonde duck held his bleeding side.
Wildwing gasped. He shoved Dragaunus away with all his might. Wildwing felt his heart thudding in his ears. No. No. No! Wildwing thought frantically. His arms were clasped onto by drones. Wildwing grunted and fought against the more heavy drones to no avail. His vision blurring the more blood he saw trickle down his baby brother's side. The other ducks were pounced on by the heavy weight drones and Rune Soldiers when they also tried to run and help Nosedive.
Ryan set his swords by his sides as he bowed towards Mansfeild. Some drones of Dragaunus' took Nosedive by his arms as Mansfeild led them and Mercury back toward the main group.
"I don't get it." Wildwing said as he struggled. "You're Ashebridge? But I thought…"
"My first name is Mansfeild. My full name is Mansfeild Ashebridge."
"What made you come out here? Why are you doing all of this?!" Wildwing glowered.
"Isn't it obvious?" Mansfeild, or now Ashebridge, asked. "I've come to finish you all. With Dragaunus' help, of course." He motioned the Saurians as he said this. Ashebridge then looked at his own watch and tapped a few buttons before a small gateway appeared by his side. Ashebridge reached in and took out the Mask as the gateway closed. The Mask, so far, was now a silver color and looked like it was still under development. "You know, I wanted the Mask to be silver, but we changed the design to gold instead. Kind of brings out more of a sophisticated image, don't you think?" Ashebridge asked.
"You psycho!" Mallory shouted at him. "Give the Mask back!"
Ashebridge, without looking, threw the dagger in Mallory's direction. It missed but did cut Mallory's cheek. It wasn't a deep cut but it immediately started bleeding. Ashebridge walked over to pick up the dagger. After he did so, he looked at Mallory and smiled while saying, "Please. Speak only when spoken to." Ashebridge then slapped Mallory across her face, not hard, but it wasn't a light tap either. This made Mallory growled at him as Ashebridge walked away.
Wildwing struggled harder in the drones' hold. "You won't get away with this! Your first mistake was siding with Saurians! I find it hard to believe that you have the Mask under your control."
Ashebridge tossed the Mask from one hand to another. "Believe or not, Wildwing, I know more about this little item than you know."
Wildwing stopped struggling slightly upon hearing this as Ashebridge started walking around the ducks as he spoke, "You see, I have big plans. Marvelously BIG plans, and I just can't have heroes like you all getting in the way. Yes, the Saurians are quite…brutal, I won't lie, but I want them to share the glory with me! We'll obviously discuss things like who gets what in the universe, but for now, we must rid ourselves of any opposing threats we know of."
"Us, I take it?" Wildwing said. He had to keep him talking. Long enough to calculate a plan.
Ashebridge stopped walking and turned his gaze to Wildwing. "Correct." He then started walking towards the captain. "Although, I DO wish we could've done some more…dramatic, 'final battle' kind of thing. But I just can't risk it." Ashebridge got close enough to Wildwing and put the dagger at his very throat, making Wildwing arch his head back a bit. The Saurians watched, anxious to see this. Nosedive foundered in the hold of the drones, blood seeping out of his wound.
The ducks struggled as well, but it proved futile the more the grip of their captors tightened.
"Please don't do this!" Nosedive begged.
Ashebridge slightly looked Nosedive's way. His eyes and expression were unreadable. However, he turned his eyes back to Wildwing, a smile on his face as he pressed harder onto Wildwing's neck, breaking some skin.
"Have a pleasant afterlife, Wildwing." Ashebridge said. But just as he was about to slash Wildwing's throat, something came straight down from the sky, inches away from Ashebridge. Ashebridge turned his head slightly and saw a sword there, broken into the concrete. Ashebridge looked up quickly and jumped back, away from Wildwing as someone came down from the sky and landed perfectly on the end of the hilt of the blade.
"I'm five minutes late, and you ducklings start the party without me. Very rude, I must say." Crystal LeDevon said as she fixed hair, perfectly balanced on the sword.
"Boy, am I glad to see you. Wildwing smiled. The other ducks were happy to see Crystal as well.
Crystal looked back at Wildwing with a smile. "Likewise, duckling." She then hopped off the sword before it disappeared into what looked like light particles.
"Well, if it isn't the witch." Ashebridge said with a smile on his face. However, Ryan had a look of annoyance.
"It just HAD to be her…" Ryan mumbled.
"It's been a while, Ashebridge." Crystal stated as she took out her tarot cards and began shuffling them. "You look the same as you ever did."
"I could say the same to you, but your hairstyle is much different." Ashebridge replied. "It's not bad."
Crystal looked him dead in the eye with a chilling smile. "Thank you." She said, but you could tell she was just playing.
"Enough with this talk!" Siege said, itching for some more action. He charged at Crystal, who simply moved out of the way with her foot out and tripped Siege into a trash can, knocking the object over.
Crystal had tossed a coin at the drone on Wildwing's right side. The drone combusted when it made contact. Wildwing used this opportunity to fire a puck into the other drones head, freeing him from its grasp.
He fired some pucks at the back of the Rune Soldiers holding the remaining team members and set them free. "There we go, now things are a little more even!"
The only duck that wasn't free was Nosedive. Wildwing was about to rush in to save his brother, but Crystal put her arm up to stop him.
"Let the blonde duckling go, Ashebridge and leave them be for now." Crystal said in the politest way possible.
"And why would I do that?" Ashebridge asked with a raise of a brow. "Give me one good reason." He dared.
"I'll give you two reasons." Crystal replied. "You know if we fight now, there certainly will be terrible outcomes that will prevent your plans and personal agenda from progressing." That got Ashebridge to frown slightly. "And besides…don't you want to see how far the little ducklings can go?" Crystal asked.
There was pause. No one said anything before Ashebridge chuckled slightly. Ryan also cracked a smile. "Very well." Ashebridge turned to Dragaunus. "Have your drones release Nosedive." He ordered the Overlord.
Dragaunus was not happy. "Release that blithering fool." He said bitterly.
The two drones at Nosedive's side relinquished their hold on him. Immediately, Wildwing ran over to him and cradled his baby brother.
"You ok?" He asked.
Nosedive winced, "I'll be alright once I get some bandages!"
Crystal looked at Dragaunus with a curious look. Dragaunus looked at Crystal for a split second before he just turned his head away in an angry huff.
"We will leave for now, witch." Ashebridge said. "But know this, I will win this war." Using his gateway watch, Ashebridge opened a dimensional gateway for himself, Ryan, and Mercury. The trio left quickly through the portal as the Saurians and the remaining drones teleported away. Crystal paused before walked to Nosedive's side and take out a card from her satchel.
"Ace of Cups." The card Crystal held transformed into a cup and she held it for Nosedive. "Drink this." She told him. Nosedive drank from the cup hastily. He felt his strength return, his wound closing up.
Nosedive panted as he downed the last of the water. He wiped his beak, "Woah! That stuff was great! I'm feeling way better already!" He flexed his arms.
Crystal put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't over do it though." She then looked at Wildwing. "We should get back to your HQ."
"Yeah, let's get going." Wildwing said.
The ducks and Crystal made their way to the Migrator. The drive back to the Pond was long. The ducks and Crystal were silent the whole way back. Crystal helped Nosedive by bandaging his side, the wound wasn't fully closed so it still needed some attention.
Crystal looked at Wildwing, who was driving the Migrator. "We have a lot to discuss when we get back to your base." She said to him.
Wildwing nodded his head and kept his eyes on the road.
Co-Written with PurpleReign9000
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