The minute the ducks and Crystal returned to the Pond, Tanya immediately did a scan of Anaheim to search for the Saurians and Ashebridge. Canard left with Duke to go to the building Nosedive went to, the building that held Ashebridge's supposed business. But when they got there, the tall, luxurious building was gone. Instead, a small two floor office building stood there. The two ducks went inside but it was just a simple office building for car and home insurance, and none of the employees there knew anyone named "Mansfeild Ashebridge", and said that this small building had been here for at least three years. This left Canard and Duke very confused.

When Duke and Canard got back to the Pond, they went to check on Nosedive, who was lying in a bed in the med bay. "You need to rest." Crystal had said as Duke and Canard came in.

"I'm telling you I'm fine now, lady!" Nosedive assured Crystal by flexing his arms. Nosedive tried to sit up more but Crystal put her hand on his forehead and then waved it over his face with a soft blue light. Nosedive's eyes immediately closed. He fell back onto the bed and immediately went to sleep.

Wildwing, who was standing by Nosedive in the bed, looked impressed. "You've got to teach me how to do that." He said.

Crystal giggled. "Maybe some other time, duckling."

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Wildwing asked Crystal. He was happy she helped to save him and the others. He hoped she would stay and help fight Dragaunus.

Crystal stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. "Well, there's only one thing we can do. Fight back every chance we get." She told Wildwing. "I'll be coming here from time to time. You'll need all the help you can get while fighting these monsters."

"Ain't that the truth." Wildwing smiled sheepishly. "Do you know anything about Ashebridge?" Wildwing asked. From their conversation, he could assume they had history of some kind.

The two of them walked out of the med bay with Duke and Canard as they left Nosedive to sleep.

"That'll be a story for another time." Crystal said as they walked. "I'm afraid that it'll be a bit too much for you all to handle right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duke asked.

"I'm just saying it might take a mental toll on you all." Crystal answered as she kept on walking ahead. The three male ducks looked at each other, a bit concerned. They hurried up to Crystal as they all entered the main room. Tanya, Mallory, and Grin were already there on Drake One.

"Find anything?" Wildwing asked.

"No luck." Mallory frowned.

"No signals, no nothing." Tanya typed away at the keyboard.

"It's almost like our enemy has become one with the wind." Grin said, solemnly. As Grin said that, Crystal looked away, slightly cursing under her breath.

"Crystal?" Wildwing caught sight of her doing that. Crystal looked at him. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"…Ashebridge does have control over wind magic." Crystal admitted. "But it is impossible to hide yourself in it if your enemy is using radars and such like this."

"Seriously? He has magic as well?" Mallory asked. Crystal nodded her head in response.

"Do you have any tracking spells?" Tanya asked. "Maybe if we counter his magic with your magic we could find something?" She suggested.

Crystal thought for a moment. "…Indeed I can track him and his forces. However…"

"However, what?" Canard asked.

"I don't think we should do so yet." Crystal answered. The ducks looked at her like she had lost her mind.

"What are you talking about? If you're able to track this Ashebridge down, we can take him out and the Saurians with him!" Mallory stated.

"Do you really think you can defeat him that easily?" Crystal asked. "Yes, you know the weaknesses of his Rune Soldiers, knowledge I had shared with duckling over here which he clearly passed on to you all." She motioned to Wildwing as she said this. "But he and his forces are more dangerous. If we don't play our cards right, there's a high chance you will all die."

Mallory clenched her fist. Her lower lip curled back. But ultimately she relaxed. "Perhaps you're right." Her eyes darted to the ground. It wounded her pride to admit it, but Crystal was right. Mallory recalled how helpless they were at the meet and greet until she arrived.

"So what should we do?" Grin asked.

"We train." Crystal answered. "We train as hard as we can every second we have, and learn more about our enemy in the process." Crystal as she walked over to Drake One. "But in the meantime, why don't you all introduce yourselves to me?" She looked back at everyone with a smile. "I don't think I know all your names."

-\-

The ocean waves were quiet on the coast of Anaheim. That is, until some emerged from the waters and went into the air. The Raptor's engines were boosted and the Saurian ship was flying through the sky, faster than it usually did.

Aboard the Raptor was Dragaunus and his men of course, but also Ashebridge, Ryan, and Mercury.

"We had them right where we wanted them!" Dragaunus's fist clenched, "And you insisted we leave! Perhaps working with you was a mistake!" He snarled smoke leaving his nose.

Ryan glared at Dragaunus, ready to form another fireball to throw at him. However, Ashebridge spoke before anything could be done. "The witch who intervened would've killed you all. I did you a favor." Ashebridge calmly stated, looking at Dragaunus with a smile. "I assure you, Dragaunus, I have something far delightful in mind to deal with the Mighty Ducks."

"I hate to interrupt, but where are we heading?" Wraith asked as he came over. "If you haven't noticed, we're flying over the ocean towards who knows where." He said to Ashebridge.

Ashebridge walked towards the monitor of the Raptor. When they flew a couple more meters, he instructed Siege to stop the Raptor.

"Why?" Siege asked.

"Because you'll crash into my building, so stop." Ashebridge told him.

Siege looked ahead but didn't see anything ahead of them. But the looks from Ashebridge and Ryan told him he had better listen. Siege slowed the Raptor down and it was just floating there in midair.

"Why are we stopping?" Dragaunus growled at Ashebridge.

Ashebridge simply clapped his hands and seconds later, a tornado formed in front of the Raptor before it dispersed, floating there was a building. A black and yellow building that was at least seventy-five stories. "Gentlemen, welcome to my business. Welcome to the Sanctum." Ashebridge pressed a button on his watch and a lower section of the building opened up, big enough for the Raptor to fly through.

"Impressive." Dragaunus said as he folded his arms. "So, what's the new plan to get rid of those meddlesome mallards?"

"Can't we have a look around before trying to fight the ducks again?" Chameleon sighed.

Mercury whispered to Chameleon, "I'll take you to my workshop in the Sanctum. It's much bigger than the one here." Chameleon smiled at that.

The Raptor landed and parked itself in the hangar area. The Saurians and the three gentlemen got off the ship and many employees and engineers were working on different ships and aircrafts around the Raptor.

"We'll give an official tour later on." Ashebridge assured the Saurians. "For now, Ryan will escort you to a waiting room while I take care of something." He then turned to Mercury and said, "Mercury, take the Mask to your work area. Continue your work on it."

"Of course, leave it to me." Mercury said with a bow before carrying the Mask and walking off. Chameleon decided to follow him.

"What are we to do now? Lick our wounds and then throw ourselves to the ducks?" Dragaunus asked. He looked around at the aircrafts around him.

"We form a strategy." Ashebridge said as they walked out of the hangar. "I promise you that those ducks will no longer be a threat once the Mask is finished." Ashebridge smiled in Dragaunus' direction. Ryan then escorted the remaining Saurians down a hallway while Ashebridge walked down another one to attend some business.

-\-

The Pond was now quiet after introductions to Crystal. Nosedive was resting in the med bay still, but now awake, Duke and Mallory were sparring with each other, Grin went off somewhere to meditate while Tanya was in her lab. Wildwing was working at Drake One to watch for any signs of Ashebridge and Dragaunus.

Crystal was walking around the base when she ran into someone, and that someone was Phil.

"Oh sorry." Crystal apologized.

Phil immediately turned on the charm when he laid eyes on Crystal. "Oh no problem, Miss. Phil Palmfeather." He said as he reached out to shake hands.

Crystal smiled and shook his hand. "My name's Crystal. Funny…" She looked Phil up and down. "…You're not as egotistical and dimwitted as I thought you'd be for being a manager of a famous hockey team." Crystal then immediately walked past Phil, who smiled before realizing what Crystal said.

"Wait, what?" Phil looked but saw Crystal was already halfway down the hall and going towards the kitchen.

Crystal entered the kitchen to see Canard in there eating a sandwich. "Canard Thunderbeak, right?" She asked, gaining Canard's attention.

"That would be me." He bit into his sandwich. "What's up?" He asked.

"I was just looking around." Crystal replied. "Is there any water in the fridge?"

"I think there are a couple bottles." Canard answered as he motioned to the fridge. Crystal walked and opened the fridge door and grabbed a water bottle.

"Thanks." She smiled as she closed the door. She opened the water bottle and took a sip. When she finished, Crystal turned to Canard. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Canard shrugged. He had an odd feeling stir in his stomach. He thought it was just hunger pangs as he hadn't eaten until now.

Crystal stood next to him. "I remember when you introduced yourself, duckling addressed that you were the one who originally started the resistance when Dragaunus invaded Puckworld and you found DuCaine's Mask. Is this true?"

"Uh, yeah, I did." Canard replied.

"I see…What exactly did you do? Once you had the Mask I mean." Crystal specified.

"Well…I formed the team. Wildwing and Nosedive were the first ones to join before everyone else. When that part was completed, we went to Dragaunus' headquarters on Puckworld." Crystal's eyes narrowed when she heard that as Canard continued, "I left Nosedive in charge of the Aerowing to guard it. Mallory and Tanya set explosives in the Master Computer, and the rest of us went to get the jump on Dragaunus." Canard frowned. "Or…at least, that's what I thought. Wildwing went on ahead to lure him out, but the doors closed, separating him from the rest of us while we were ambushed by Dragaunus' men. Luck was on our side, though. We were able to get out before the tower exploded but that was when…I got taken to Dimensional Limbo, saving the team from an electromagnetic space worm."

There was silence as Crystal took another sip of her water. She set the bottle down and leaned on the table, looking at Canard with a look of suspicion. "Let me get this straight. You willingly sent duckling, your best friend, to lure Dragaunus out. Alone?" She questioned. "Did you even think about what could've possibly happened?"

Canard swallowed, he put a hand to his neck. "I did. And I was willing to risk it as I was confident that Wing would be ok and we would be there for him."

"Sounds to me you were willing to risk your best friend's life." Crystal pointed out with a glare.

Canard was stunned before he turned his attention to Crystal who continued speaking.

"Maybe if you had thought things through, that situation might never have happened. Did you actually stop and consider that the Saurians might be more clever than you give them credit for? That they might've had inside information on your so-called resistance?" She questioned.

Canard's jaw went slack. He took a deep breath to ease the coiling tightness in his chest. "I admit. I was overconfident. I put my faith entirely in the Mask. And I put my best friend in danger. Sorry will never be enough to make up for it. However…" He paused to narrow his eyes. "What are you getting out of reminding me I screwed up?"

"I'm simply pointing out the facts." Crystal countered. "And those facts point to you not caring about your own best friend's life, and simply choosing the Mask over actual strategy and planning. You rushed into the danger zone, head first. With only hope and overconfidence instead of thinking everything through. So tell me, are you really who you say you are, Thunderbeak?" She questioned.

Canard glared at Crystal. "I was careless. But don't you dare say I don't care about Wing." He said sternly. Canard took the remains of his sandwich and headed for the door. Crystal simply watched Canard leave. When the doors opened, Canard nearly bumped into Wildwing, who was coming into the kitchen himself.

"Canard? You ok?" Wildwing asked, noticing the frown on Canard's face.

Canard paused in his steps, his expression relaxing. "Nothing is wrong. I just need to clear my mind." He said calmly. But his drawn up brows gave way to how he really felt. Before Wildwing could press on, Canard was already down the hallway.

Wildwing turned to see Crystal, "Do you have any idea of what's bothering him?"

Crystal shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "Who knows? Perhaps your friend is a bit too easily short tempered, duckling." Crystal took her water bottle and walked out of the kitchen herself.

-\-

Dragaunus, Siege, and Wraith waited in the waiting room they were taken to for over an hour. Wraith was enjoying a cup of tea while Siege and Dragaunus were getting a bit impatient. Well, Siege was. Dragaunus was able to keep his cool.

"What's taking him so long?!" Siege growled in anger.

"Siege, patience is a virtue." Wraith sipped from the tea cup. "You should take an example from our lord here"

Siege tapped his foot against the floor. "Oh shut it you." He grumbled.

Wraith held out a second teacup. "Try some tea, it's herbal. It should soothe your nerves."

Siege didn't reach out for the tea. He just growled more. That's when the door to the room opened and Ashebridge walked in with a familiar face behind him.

"Sorry for the wait, gentlemen. There was a bit of a problem." Ashebridge said,

"What kind of problem?" Dragaunus asked.

"A bit of a…failed experiment you could say, but it was handled." Ashebridge replied before clearing his throat. "Anyways, this is Vendella Lux. She's my head scientist in the Sanctum."

"Can you tell me more about this failed experiment?" Dragaunus raised a brow.

"I'll go into more details later on, Saurian Overlord." Vendella said as she flipped her hair a bit. "But I'm certain it'll go way over your head." She said.

"Vendella, don't." Ashebridge slightly glared at Vendella, who sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

How insolent. And here I thought Wraith was bad. Dragaunus thought. "No, no. It's alright, let's move onto another topic." Dragaunus waved his hand.

"Of course." Ashebridge said as he sat down across from Dragaunus as Vendella stood next his chair. "From what Mercury has informed me, he has only been able to get twenty-five percent of the Mask done so far. Well, last I checked he had said that."

"Still twenty five percent?" Dragaunus folded his arms. "How are we to defeat the ducks if we don't have their greatest weapon on our side yet? What are you intending to do now?"

Ashebridge sighed. "Relax, Dragaunus. Mercury will have it done in time. But while he does work on the Mask, I suggest we build up our forces."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Dragaunus asked.

"We keep the ducks distracted while we summon and recruit more help." Ashebridge then turned to Vendella. "Vendella, use your ways to keep the Mighty Ducks distracted until the Mask is finished."

Vendella didn't look pleased with this. "But my lord! I should be given a more appropriate task for a genius like myself than just fighting some aquatic animals!"

Dragaunus smirked, "Oh, do try to fight the ducks, you'll see why they make for worthy adversaries."

Vendella glared at Dragaunus and huffed. "Hmph! Well, I'll guess I'll just have to show you that a natural born genius like myself can defeat such inferior creatures." She flipped her hair slightly before turning to leave the room.

"Vendella, I expect results." Ashebridge told her.

Vendella's attitude once again changed to her smiling sweetly and saying, "Of course, Lord Ashebridge." Then she left the room.

"I too expect results." Dragaunus's smirk grew. "Now then, where do we start on recruitment?"

Ashebridge smiled brightly.

-\-

Unknown to both Ashebridge and Dragaunus, Mercury and Chameleon actually snuck out of the Sanctum to grab something to eat.

"Chameleon, relax. We're going to be fine." Mercury told his Saurian friend, who was in disguise, as they walked down the street.

"I hope you're right, then again not the first time I snuck out" Chameleon chuckled. He put his hands behind his head, feeling more relaxed. "So, where should we eat?"

Mercury smiled. "I was thinking of this cool taco place I saw a couple days ago. Heh, I always sneak out when Ryan or Vendella aren't looking. But to be honest, they don't really care where I go since I'm just a paid intern for the boss."

"Wait, you're an intern?" Chameleon asked.

"Well, yeah. I haven't officially signed on yet because I wanted to think about it and…" Mercury was interrupted by a sound coming from a nearby trash can. Being curious, Mercury walked over and opened the trash can to see an unusual sight that would've scared a normal person.

"Who are you, wretched human?!" Inside the trash can was a robotic human-like head.

Mercury smiled. "Cool, a talking head!"

"Stupid boy! I am Dr. Droid, the most powerful machine in the entire world!"

"You look more like the most powerful paperweight in the world." Mercury scoffed.

Chameleon awed at the talking head. "Is he gonna be our new pet? Can we keep him?" He began to stroke Dr. Droid's hair. "Actually it's more like those earth things — chia pets?"

"Dude, I've always wanted a chia pet." Mercury said to Chameleon before he picked up Droid's head.

"You miserable organic creatures! Unhand me at once!" Droid demanded.

"Or what? You'll bite my hands?…I mean, you can and it will hurt. But I have a high tolerance for pain." Mercury said. "But where's the rest of your body?" Mercury looked around a bit.

"My first and second body were destroyed." Droid reluctantly said. "All thanks to those wretched organisms, the Mighty Ducks." He growled.

"Wait—Did you just say the Mighty Ducks did this to you?" Mercury asked.

"Yes, and both times I was on the brink of conquering this human-infested city and world." Droid replied.

Mercury paused before and an idea formed in his head. He smirked, "I've got good news for you, Dr. Droid. I can make you a new body and get your revenge against the ducks."

"What?!" Droid looked at Mercury like he was joking. But Mercury continued to speak.

"My boss has quite the technology to make you unstoppable. But in return, we need your help to conquer the world." Mercury explained.

"You sure it's a good idea? How do we know our chia pet won't stab us in the back?" Chameleon said. "I mean it's not like we can't work something out but us saurians have had a history of others backstabbing us."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Mercury said to Chameleon. He turned his attention back to Droid. "So? What do you say?"

Dr. Droid eyed Mercury wryly. He had a small sneer. "Why not, I don't have much to lose now do I?"

Mercury smirked. "Glad to hear it." Mercury then tucked Dr. Droid under his arm and pressed a few buttons on his gateway watch, opening a gateway back to the Sanctum. Mercury turned to Chameleon, "We'll get food later. For now, we've got a report to make. Come on."

Chameleon snickered as he transformed back into his usual self before he, Mercury, and Droid went through the portal.

Co-Written with PurpleReign9000

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