Author's notes: You lucky ducks get 2 chapters in 2 days! Enjoy! Off to write the next chapter.

Wildwing stretched out on the bed in the medical ward and stared at the ceiling. He was not thinking about Ruby taking a shower in his bathroom and all that had to be done to get clean. He was NOT!

He most certainly wasn't thinking about her sleeping in his bed. He couldn't decide which mental picture was worse: her not wearing anything but her feathers or her wearing his clothes. NO! He was NOT thinking about it!

And his body was beyond a shadow of a doubt NOT responding to these non thoughts. It wasn't. It was not. It. Was. NOT!

With a sigh, he rolled over onto his side and stared across the low lit room. There was something moving near the wall by the door and at first, he was worried it was something evil come to play havoc on them again. Then he concentrated on seeing what it was and recognized that it was a brownie studiously working on cleaning Ruby's boots.

With a soft snort, he realized that the mage had been trying to sneak out without her shoes. He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes. He forced his mind to concentrate on something other than the red feathered female that was locked in his room, wearing his clothes, sleeping in his bed.

He thought back to when his life made such a drastic turn. He wondered what his life would have been like if Dragaunus had never escaped. Sleep finally claimed him and that's when the strange dream started.

Wildwing was standing in the living room of his family home arguing with his parents. Behind him was his little sister, Amber, in her hover chair. They were arguing over whether he could go out with his new friends without having to take his kid sister along. He wanted to go alone, but Amber wanted to tag along and their parents were demanding that he take her with him. He was fighting a losing battle and he knew it.

Wildwing was so angry he was in tears and had started to stomp off to his room when they heard the sound of large engines overhead. A moment later, a shadow crossed over the living room window. His parents went to the large pane of glass to see what was going on and a moment later, his world exploded.

Wildwing stared in shock at the lifeless bodies of his parents, too stunned to think, much less move. Another explosion sent him diving towards his little sister who had been knocked out of her chair. He covered her body with his own as the wall came down on top of them.

Wildwing's world slowed down to a crawl as the wall came down on them and he felt something start to painfully dig into his back. He knew, in that instant, he was going to die and his sister would too. He felt the strange energy and understood what it meant on an instinctual level.

Wildwing could accept the energy, the magic, and he and Amber would live. However, he could deny it and that broken support beam that was stabbing him in the back would continue its journey through his body and into his sister's, killing them both. He had no choice. He accepted.

Everything glowed around them. Wildwing had somehow created a protective bubble around the two of them, not quite understanding how he did it. It wasn't a very big bubble, but it was enough to keep them from being crushed by the ruined remains of their home. The beam that had nearly killed them had slid off to the side and was now helping him support the rubble off of them. He ignored the pain in his back and the blood that dripped down his side. They were alive. Then he looked down his now blue beak at his sister and saw the fear on her face.

It seemed to take a lifetime for the sounds of the ships, weapons fire and explosions to stop. Wildwing wasn't sure what was more unnerving: the sounds of battle or the silence that followed. He tried to use the new power he had to move the rubble off of them, but he couldn't do it. He told Amber this. That's when she started to scream for help and he added his own voice, allowing the magic to amplify it.

Wildwing's throat hurt from the screaming and yelling, but he could hear someone calling out to them. He assured Amber that help was coming and a moment later, light could be seen from above. Soon, an older drake with one normal eye managed to make it down to them.

The drake stared at Wildwing, at first afraid to go any closer. Wildwing begged the stranger to take his sister, to get her to safety. The drake did and Wildwing tried to maneuver himself out of the confining space. However, it wasn't until he tried to follow them out that he discovered that his foot was trapped. He wasn't hurt, but he couldn't get his foot free.

The drake returned and Wildwing turned to him to ask for help. However, the words died in his throat as he saw the drake had a sword in his hand. Before Wildwing could stop him, the stranger slashed at the post that was holding up the house, bringing all of the rubble down onto him.

Wildwing screamed as the remains of his home came down on him. The darkness seemed to swallow him up while the rubble pinned him down and the masonry dust filled his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't see and he knew that even the magic couldn't save him if he couldn't breathe.

Wildwing tried to use the magic to get out of the ruined remains of his home, but all he could do was to keep from being crushed by the rubble. He was scared beyond words. The glow of magic kept the darkness at bay, but it did nothing to stop the dust that kept getting into his lungs. Coughing did nothing to help and in fact, it just wore him out more.

Wildwing coughed until his lungs and throat hurt. Tears cleared the dust out of his eyes, but it didn't matter since there was nothing to see. The remains of the house were pressing down on him and he knew that he'd never get out. As he lost consciousness, his only comfort was that his sister was safe.

When Wildwing came too again, he was someplace new and strange. It appeared that he was in a room with walls made of rock. A ball of light hovered near the ceiling and he wondered how it was powered as it seemed to be floating, not hanging from the ceiling. A strange, blue beaked female came into view and the reality of what happened finally hit him. He had never cried so hard in his life.

Once he was finally over the shock, Wildwing was amazed by the place he had been brought to, a hidden world. There were caverns for just about everything, miles of tunnels to explore and most amazing of all were the ducks. They were all like him. All of them had blue beaks, the ability to use magic and they had all nearly died before becoming mages.

Wildwing spent hours learning how to use his powers. Day after day, teacher after teacher, he had never worked so hard to master anything. By the time he was done, he was sure learning to play hockey as well as anyone else would have been easier.

Wildwing faced the Council of Elders. He didn't understand why he was there until one of the Elders explained that he was, to date, the weakest mage to have ever existed magically. They didn't understand how he had even survived, much less how he saved his sister. Something had to be done.

Wildwing was so furious he was in tears. So what if he wasn't as powerful as everyone else!? He was still a mage and that should count for something. But apparently, it didn't. The only thing he was good at was making shields and that was it.

All of his life he had been judged. He was too fat, he was too clumsy, he wasn't good looking enough and now he wasn't powerful enough. In his rage, he wandered through the corridors, not paying the least bit of attention to where he was going.

Wildwing found the chamber completely by accident. He had wandered aimlessly for so long, he wasn't sure where he was, but he didn't really care either. There was a strange feeling as soon as he stepped into the large room. He almost felt like he should bow his head and pray or at least kneel before the large stone box with the glowing thing on top of it that stood before him.

With reverence, Wildwing slowly crossed the room towards what, if he didn't know better, looked to be a tomb. There was something on top of it that glowed. With a pounding heart, he stopped and stared when the object became recognizable.

With a shaking hand, he gently touched the edge of the item on the box and nearly got knocked across the room from the information overload. The Mask was aware of what was going on in the world! How was that even possible?

The brief glimpse that Wildwing had gotten was all he needed to know what had happened to his world. The Saurians were back and The Mask knew it! It should have creeped him out, but instead it propelled him back to the Elders to demand answers.

He was trembling with rage! How dare they!? Not only had they dismissed his concerns for their world, but they were now demanding that he pick some magical gizmo to give his magic a boost.

Wildwing was all but shoved into the room where they kept the magical artifacts. He stood there seething, not wanting to so much as look at the things they kept in that room. If they were so unconcerned about what happened to the rest of the world, why should they care how powerful he was?

He continued to stand by the door, staring at the floor with his wings crossed over his chest. He didn't want some magical doodad to up his magic. He wanted to defeat the Saurians, but that required getting The Mask out of there. But how could he do that?

Before he could formulate a plan, he felt Her. She called to him and try as he might, he couldn't resist. Wildwing literally dragged his feet across the floor until he found himself in a dark corner.

It took him several minutes to find a small metal chest covered in dust and hidden in a small alcove, behind a tapestry with a magical suit of armor in front of that. Whatever was in there, the Elders didn't want someone to easily find. If he hadn't been pulled towards it, he would have never known it was there.

The medallion wasn't any bigger than the palm of his hand and was made of some strange golden red metal, but it pulsed, almost as if was alive. It was a stylized bird with a long neck, a wicked looking beak, her wings stretched to the sky as she emerged from the flames. He had no idea what it was supposed to be, but he knew that he was meant to have it.

If he hadn't promised to show the Elders what he had chosen, he would have put the medallion on right then and there. When he presented them with what he had picked, he was sure they were going to molt on the spot. They tried to take the object away from him, but it had other ideas.

Before anyone could stop it, the medallion flew through the air and landed on Wildwing's chest, just above his heart. It burned through his favorite shirt and the feathers on his chest before coming into contact with his skin. He let out an ear piercing scream as the metal of the medallion merged with his skin and then he blissfully passed out.

It took Wildwing a few days to come to terms with what had happened. The Phoenix was part of him now and he didn't know what to think about it. It was a strange sensation having the magic no longer be so hard to use.

Over the passing weeks, he started to integrate with the others that lived at Twin Beaks, but he was still restless. He did his chores like everyone else and then went off exploring. Somehow, he always ended up back in the room with The Mask.

He knew that mages couldn't use The Mask because of the power source it used. He couldn't just smuggle the thing out and hand it off to the first non-magical duck he found either. The duck in question would have to pass a test to prove his or her worthiness. The problem was that no one knew where The Mask was and even if they did, they wouldn't know how to find the entrance to the Challenge Chamber.

Then he got an idea. He found a willing air Elemental and started to create a map. It took weeks of studying the right texts without anyone knowing what he was doing, weaving the right spell to get the duck he wanted and then powering the thing without alerting anyone he was doing it. In the end, it was worth it.

The spell brought a young drake to Twin Beaks. He found the entrance to the Challenge Chamber, which in and of itself was part of the Challenge. It took him hours to get through the Challenges and when he finally made it to the Tomb of Drake DuCaine, Wildwing was waiting for him.

He had made sure he had looked his best, but he didn't think the drake noticed anything but The Mask Wildwing was holding. Wildwing couldn't really blame the poor drake as he looked like he was ready to drop. Then it came time to get the promise.

"What's your name?" Wildwing asked.

"Canard," the drake panted. "Canard Thunderbeak."

"Canard Thunderbeak, I will have your promise," Wildwing stated very seriously, acting older than he really was.

"What promise?" Canard demanded as he pulled himself up to his full height.

"Do you promise to only use The Mask of Drake DuCaine for the powers of good, never for self gain, and to never give The Mask to another?" Wildwing started. "Do you promise, Canard Thunderbeak, that when the Saurian threat is over, that you will return The Mask here to Twin Beaks?"

"Yeah, yeah," Canard replied as he reached for The Mask and Wildwing pulled it out of his reach.

"You're promise," Wildwing insisted.

"Fine," Canard grumbled. "I promise to only use the mask for good, never for self gain and all that other stuff."

Apparently, that was good enough for the magic for as soon as Canard's beak shut, it bound him to his promise. Wildwing felt it in the core of his being and it nearly knocked him off of his feet. The Mask turned gold before turning white again and Wildwing knew that somehow, The Mask had been bound to the promise too.

Facing the angry Elders had never been so satisfying when the doors finally opened to the Tomb. Wildwing nearly had to catch Canard when the drake realized who was waiting for them and only then did it appear that the male looked Wildwing in the face. After calming the poor drake down, Wildwing got him someplace quiet so he could eat and rest.

The Elders were having fits, but they could do nothing to stop Canard from leaving. Wildwing found himself doing the worst chores the Elders could come up with, but he didn't care. The Mask was where it belonged.

Wildwing wasn't a big fan of collecting spider silk. The spiders were monsters and had the nastiest of dispositions he had ever encountered. He was in the middle of gathering the discarded remains of the spider's meals when he felt it.

Something was wrong and Wildwing looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. He frowned at the spiders as they went about doing their own things. Then he felt it again.

The promise! Canard was about to break his promise! Wildwing couldn't stop the scream that came from his beak even if he wanted to.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Wildwing sat up with a start. His heart was pounding and he was breathing like he had just run a marathon. He could feel the sweat dripping down his back as he took in his surroundings.

Wildwing sat in the bed, not sure if he could trust his legs to hold him up. That dream was beyond weird and left him shaken to his core. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to rub the images out of his mind by rubbing his face with his hands.

How could he have had a dream like that? Was Ruby responsible for it? Was it because of that strange spark that hit him back at the hospital? What was going on? Even more worriedly, was that how Ruby became a mage and Canard got the mask?

Once he was sure his legs would hold him, he stood up and slowly made his way towards the door. He noticed that something was missing, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. With a shake of his head, he left the med ward and headed toward his room.

He wasn't in any rush until the alarms went off. He took off at a run and as he turned onto the corridor his room was on, he hit a wet spot on the floor. With a yell of surprise, he did the most ungraceful flip into the air before hitting the wall and then landing flat on his back.

"Ow," Wildwing muttered as he blinked the stars out of his eyes.

"WooooOOOOaaaaHHHHH!" was all the warning Wildwing got before Nosedive fell on him.

"OoooFFF!" Wildwing grunted loudly

"Did Tanya wax the floor with one of her new formulas again?" Nosedive moaned. "Thanks for breaking my fall, Wing."

"Not a problem, baby bro," Wildwing groaned as he pushed Nosedive off of him.

They both gingerly sat up, making sure nothing was broken. Wildwing could feel a bump on the back of his head and knew he was in for one heck of a headache.

"Why's the floor wet?" Nosedive asked.

"Not a clue," Wildwing replied as he carefully got to his feet. "It goes down the hall to my..."

Wildwing saw where the water stopped right in front of his bedroom door and the door was half way open.

"No," Wildwing whispered, his stomach dropping to his knees. "Please, no."

Wildwing bolted towards his room, being careful of the water on the floor. He wedged himself through the half open door and ran up to his empty bunk. He put a hand on the mattress and noted that it was still warm, but he wasn't sure if it was because he had just missed Ruby or if the dragon had slept on that spot. A quick check of the bathroom revealed that she was long gone.

"Wing, why is your door stuck half way open?" Nosedive asked as he followed Wildwing into his room.

"Ruby's escaped," Wildwing growled in frustration. "The alarm was probably her setting it off when she left."

"Are you sure she's gone?" Nosedive worriedly questioned.

Oh, she's gone all right, a new voice stated causing the two ducks to wildly look around for the owner.

They finally found him sitting on the basketball hoop.

"How did she get out?" Wildwing inquired. "I locked the door."

Oh please, like that's going to stop someone like her, the gnome retorted with a snort. You should be glad the dragon didn't decide to melt the door instead of her shorting out the power to it.

"At least we still have her things," Wildwing grumbled.

Don't count on that, the gnome laughed, not to kindly. Those miserable busybodies got all of her things for her.

"Busybodies?" Wildwing asked with a frown.

The brownies, the gnome clarified.

"Great," Wildwing groaned.

"We have brownies?" Nosedive questioned hopefully.

"Not the food, those small Elementals that were cleaning everything," Wildwing explained. "Those are brownies."

"Oh," Nosedive replied in disappointment.

"Go let the others know what's happened," Wildwing instructed as he headed toward his bathroom. "I'm going to get dressed. Meet me at the Migrator. Maybe we can get to her hotel before she does."

Wildwing didn't even bother to see if his brother followed his instructions as he shut the door behind him. He had faith in his little brother to get the team moving. It was faith in himself that he was having problems with.

"I'm sorry, sir," the clerk at the hotel said, her name badge claimed she was Carla. "She checked out about ten minutes ago."

"Any idea where she went?" Wildwing asked, hoping against hope they hadn't lost her again.

"No, I'm sorry," the lady answered. "She got into a cab, so I can't even tell you what direction she was headed."

"Ok, thank you," Wildwing sighed.

The large white duck turned and headed back outside. The sun was barely coming over the horizon when the large battle van rumbled out of the parking lot. The clerk watched them go and then went back to her paperwork for a couple of minutes. Once she was sure they weren't returning, she knocked on the office door behind the desk.

"Looks like they're gone," Carla stated.

The door cracked open and a dark eye peeked out. The red duck that finally emerged looked tired and relieved.

"Thank you," Ruby whispered.

"Not a problem," the clerk replied. "So, you want a city view room or a pool side room?"

"City view, please," Ruby rasped out. "Ground floor if you could."

"Not a problem," Carla happily replied.

The woman got a room key card ready for the alien duck and then handed it over.

"You're in room 132 now," Carla cheerfully said as Ruby headed for the door. "Enjoy your stay!"

With a grin and a wave, Ruby headed to her new room to get some much needed sleep.