Even Nosedive wasn't so oblivious that he missed Airika's scandalized expression upon entering Captain Comics. Was it Mookie's bright Mohawk or Thrash's mullet? He didn't know. He briefly thought about asking, but his friends' greeting got him first.

"Hey Dude! Haven't seen ya around much. You forget we exist?" Thrash stretched over two precariously leaning piles of comics and magazines on the register to see him.

"We saw your near death experience on Daredevil X!" Mookie's large eyes were possibly bigger than saucers.

"Yeah, groovy, man!" Thrash said excitedly. "How'd you escape?"

Nosedive itched his head, for once a creep of embarrassment on his neck. Normally, he didn't mind giving a synopsis without divulging too much information about his and the Mighty Ducks' escapades. Airika's attention had deviated around the store. At the question, she turned back to the teenagers.

"Evasive maneuvering." Nosedive finally said. "Plus, right time… right place."

"Cool man!"

Thrash brightened at looking at Airika. "She's new?"

"She from your planet too?" Mookie asked near simultaneously.

"Yeah." Nosedive was thankful for the distraction. "Airika. This is Thrash and Mookie. My two good and only friends. Thrash and Mookie, Airika."

"Hey." Thrash was grinning. "Good to meet you. Oh dude I almost forgot." He bent down and reappeared with a stack of comics. "Your order."

"Ah, great!"

The store door opened, Duke gesturing with his head. Airika glanced back at Nosedive. The two humans and duck were enthralled in a conversation that didn't appear to end any time soon.

"He's going to be a while." The grey duck said.

She waited until they were on the sidewalk. "It's nice he has acceptance. You all do." Airika took in the many humans, all going about their day. Shopping, having lunch, driving by. "It could easily have gone a different way."

"Yeah." Duke shoved his hands into his pockets. "Kid needs it. He's seventeen. The next oldest is Mal and you, Wildwing, Tanya, Grin…"

"…and then you." Airika finished.

Duke shrugged. "Premature grey."

Airika tilted her head, keeping her eyes moving. "Your lineage is Kasperian, perhaps more distinctly Pārerani."

"I'm impressed."

"You learn a lot, working in a museum, especially one as prestigious as Ducaine. Genetics has always fascinated me."

"Careful, Tanya might latch on to you the next time she's watching one of her science shows."

"I don't mind."

Ahead, the others were sitting at a table. Food spread out.

"Should have made this to-go." Mallory waved a fly away from a sandwich. "He's not leaving that place any time soon."

"He hasn't been there recently. Let him have his fun." Wildwing stuffed it into a bag to deter any more flying insects from joining their friend.

"So, uh…" Tanya chewed her tongue, unsure of how to bring up her question. "On the mountain, you said you thought something was up with Phil?"

Airika had gotten the feeling the tech had something she wanted to say, but the human had been an unusual barnacle in the past forty-eight hours. It wasn't until Nosedive reminded Phil he was supposed to be mad at Wildwing for deflecting the practice puck into his face that the man finally buzzed off.

Airika was unsure of how to begin. She was "the last one in," to the group and could easily be the "first out." Phil was the Mighty Ducks' friend and manager. A pain in the ass, but ironically someone they could count on. She didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"That producer was pushing to end the event because of the storm. Phil almost agreed and then his phone rang, and his eyes got weird. Flashing a reddish-yellow. He hung up and he was back to his… normal self." Airika looked down. "Plan A failed and now they're going to Plan B."

"What was Plan A?"

"I wouldn't be sitting here with you if Plan A worked."

"So, an illusion in the mind, creating a cloud that calls for someone else's bidding." Grin said thoughtfully. "There would be a trigger for this I imagine."

Mallory scoffed. "How the hell do we figure out what that is? And what do we do with that information once we get it? You can't stop it."

Airika turned thoughtful. "Tanya, do you still have that bug?"

Tanya swallowed her drink, guilty. "Yeah." At Wildwing's expression, she wilted. " Sorry Wildwing, I know you said to get rid of it but I couldn't help myself….I took it apart. It doesn't transmit anything anymore so it's safe." The blonde duck scratched her head. "You know, usually I'm good at putting things together, but I can't figure out how to undo what I did."

"I can put it back together."

"You can?"

"You sure?" Mallory asked. "What's to stop it from retransmitting information to the Saurians?"

"Reprogram it and plant it on Phil." Airika was ready with a response. "It's strong enough it'll hear whatever the person on the other end of the phone is saying."

"You can do that?" Wildwing wished he could ignore the apprehension rising in his stomach. The last person, who was tech-savvy and not Tanya, nearly killed them. But Airika is not Lucretia. No sooner did he remind himself that Lucretia's words echoed in his ears. "She's a good actress, isn't she?"

"There were a lot of Saurian artifacts laying around the museum. I had a friend in the technology department…." Airika's feathers darkened. "We might have…messed around with some of the stuff after closing time."

"In between learning magic?" Mallory asked dryly. The redhead's question wasn't hostile, so Airika didn't feel she had to defend herself. On the contrary, she agreed.

"They wanted us to translate scrolls. Scrolls that were before Ducaine's time. I am versed in all three dialects, technically four if you want to count the dead phonetics. But even I got bored. The scrolls weren't meant to be translated. There was a lot of down time. I found the scrolls that could be translated easily a lot more interesting."

"So, you never figured out what they were?" Tanya asked, hushed.

Wildwing wouldn't have thought the tech genius would ever have been interested in the legends. They weren't concrete. They were abstract. And yet, the blonde duck was mesmerized.

"We did. Not the Saurian ones but the Puckworldian ones because the author was clearly learning the Saurian language."

Everyone blinked.

"A duck wrote those scrolls?" Mallory asked, stunned.

"About half of them."

"What was on them?" Tanya prompted.

"Prose."

Silence.

"Poetry?" Grin finally spoke.

"Are you kidding?" Mallory asked.

"No. That's why they no longer exist. The director ordered them burned." Airika shifted her weight, not realizing how stiff her posture had become. "But I thought it was more important to get the hell out of there than standing next to the furnace, throwing away love letters."

"Love letters to who?" Duke finally spoke.

"A female… Saurian."

"What up guys!" Nosedive plopped down between Mallory and Wildwing. "That mine?"

Mallory mindlessly pushed the brown bag his way, clearly as dumbstruck as the rest of them. Nosedive picked up on the atmosphere, blanketing the table.

"What'd I miss?"

…..

THE POND

A familiar police sedan was sitting in front of Phil's car when the ducks returned to the Pond. "Oh, what does he want?" Mallory grumbled.

"I don't know but don't glare at him." Wildwing broke away from the group, pausing for a split second. "Tanya, Airika, you think you can work on that bug?"

The two females nodded, disappearing inside.

Wildwing waited for everyone to go in before addressing the diminutive cop. "Klegghorn."

"Wildwing." The human's beady eyes shot to the Pond's closed doors. "She settling in? The new one?"

"Yeah, she is." The goalie answered pointedly. "Why?"

The cop shrugged. "Not to sound like an asshole, but…" Klegghorn glanced up at the blue sky. "Just wondering how many more of you are going to be dropping in."

"She didn't drop in. She was brought here." Wildwing surprised even himself for his short answer. He hadn't meant to be so curt. As much as he tried to ignore the occasional apprehension arising from Airika's presence, he couldn't help the automatic urge to protect her like he would anyone else on the team.

"By who?"

"The Saurians."

"Right, the overgrown lizards." Klegghorn fell silent for a moment. "So, tell me, how does a petite girl such as her wave a hand, and suddenly another female duck is thrown halfway across your lobby?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me Wildwing." The man took an unconcerned sip of his coffee. "I pulled the security footage. Phil tried to fight me on it but I came back with that great thing called a warrant. He had to comply. Imagine my astonishment to seeing that."

"You sure it wasn't a glitch?"

The human's stony silence told the goalie he had insulted the man's intelligence, but Wildwing couldn't admit to Airika's abilities. He was barely okay with her being able to manipulate energy like that, that nagging concern she may still turn on them, but if he admitted it to an Anaheim police officer, she'd be hauled into a cell.

"It wasn't a glitch. And even if I thought it was, your brother's reaction to the whole thing cleared up any misconceptions."

As long as he didn't say anything, the cop couldn't prove anything even though there was video evidence saying otherwise. Wildwing shrugged.

"I don't know then."

Klegghorn's gaze narrowed. "Mmm. I thought so." The human cast a guarded look in the direction of the lobby doors. "Keep her on a leash Wildwing. Or I'll be forced to really get involved."

"Sure."

Wildwing waited until the cop drove away before entering the Pond. Duke was waiting for him, arms folded.

"What did you tell him?"

"How do you even know what the conversation was about?"

"Lip reading." Duke answered. "Humans are easy."

Wildwing sighed, leaning his back against the front desk, running a hand through his feathers. "Nothing. But I'm not going to stand here and say her being able to do that shit doesn't scare the shit out of me."

"She saved your brother, Wing."

"And I'm very grateful for that but she admitted right there she didn't know how she did it. It just happened. I have no doubt the outcome would have been the same had she known, but the fact she didn't tells me she has less control than she lets on."

"So, what's the plan? Throw her in the containment unit and toss the key?" Duke was calm, but Wildwing could feel the irritation rising within the older mallard. A nerve struck?

"Why are you trying to turn this into argument, Duke?" Wildwing straightened. "I didn't say that's what I want to do. But she's hiding something. And I don't know what it is."

"I don't know, she seems like she's been pretty transparent to me."

"To you?"

Something passed in Duke's face.

"Not to me, Duke." Wildwing stepped around the ex-thief. "I thought I could read you, but since her arrival, I've realized I can't. And this has nothing to do with Mallory. She's been harsh and I let her know it's not appreciated. This is coming from me. I don't know if that's just how you are or if Canard were standing here instead of me if we'd even be having this conversation."

Duke scoffed.

"You think this is about respect? You'd know if I didn't respect you."

"Then what's she hiding?"

Duke fell silent, knowing his silence was glaringly defiant. Finally, he did speak. "She's not Lucretia DeCoy, Wildwing. So, stop looking at her that way."

The two stared at each other before Wildwing broke eye contact first. "See you downstairs."

….

LATER

Something or someone needs to go…

He turned to the side door and hit the keypad without much fear. A blast of cold air swept into the plane as the door opened, nearly taking him out with the strong vortex.

"Canard! What are you doing?" Wildwing grabbed his shoulder.

"You heard Tanya, that thing needs to be shut down." He pulled the Drake Ducaine mask off and held it to his best friend. "Take it, Wildwing. Take it."

Wildwing shied back, shaking his head.

A glowing tail swung around the ship's side and grabbed onto the first thing it could reach.

Canard hit the floor hard, his boots held together with a crushing grip; before he could be yanked out, Wildwing grabbed his arm with Grin behind, holding the white mallard, ensuring two of them wouldn't wind up in Limbo. Canard felt his grip loosen from the fatigue of fighting the worm's strength. He looked up at Wildwing, willingly letting go of the duck's hand. Now, only the mask was between them. "You're team captain now."

His fingers let go, and the frigid air rushed around him. He had enough time to feel satisfaction as the worm let go of the Aerowing before it coiled itself around him and in a blinding flash, disappeared.

Colors expanded and contracted, blindingly bright and dull with no synchronized order. He tried to move. He tried to call out.

He was going to die there…

Vertebrae cracked from the sheer speed at which Airika jerked upright. The colors expanding and contracting had been blindingly bright and then dull with no order to it. Now, the pitch black of the room sent a wave of anxiety crashing through her chest. Everything had been so real. She fumbled for a lamp and stared at her fingers, still smarting from the grip of the Ducaine mask in her hands seconds earlier. No…. not her. Canard Thunderbeak. A tightening encircled her ankles, like something wrapped around them. She took a shuddered breath, hoping her nerves would calm soon.

Knocking on her door scared her. She glanced at the time. 1:45 AM. Getting up, she typed in the sequence to open the door. Duke was there.

"You alright?"

"Yes, why?" She hoped she hid her angst well enough.

"You were in my room a moment ago. Didn't answer me when I asked you what was wrong."

"I was?" Damn it. It had slipped out, and now Duke could see right through her. "I'm fine." She said.

The grey mallard didn't believe her. She could see it, but he ultimately decided not to push her. "Okay." He backed away. "Night then." The anxiety was coming back. Hard. Quick and near suffocating. Duke was nearly blending into the darkness when she stepped outside her room.

"I'm not."

He paused.

"I get these…dreams and I'm living as someone else. I feel everything. Smell. It's never a good dream either." She sighed. "Sorry, I'm just-"

"Don't be sorry." Duke checked the time on his Comm. "You hungry?"

….

A shiver ran up her spine as she came to slowly. The blanket fabric was different. She didn't remember changing her bed. Her room was also usually quite dark, but in the far corner, a dim outlet light. Airika turned over, stretching before shifting into a more comfortable position. Then she noticed the futon across the room, more importantly it made up. She paused. This wasn't her bed and most certainly not her room.

She bolted upright. What had happened? She was still clothed, which was a plus. She wracked her brain, trying to remember. She had sat in the galley with Duke until nearly four in the morning, at some point early on they did a couple shots. She didn't remember much after that. She glanced to her left. She was alone in bed. Also a plus. She flipped her Comm open. 8:50 AM.

"Shit." She quickly put a hoodie on and made the bed before sneaking to the door. No one in the hall. She sprinted to her room, diving inside to look more presentable before heading towards the REC.

The others were there, and Phil was having what appeared to be a breakdown. "The children!" He was wailing. Nosedive was closest to her, itching his head awkwardly. He popped his head in greeting.

"Think that puck really did a number on him."

"What's going on?"

"Phil's got some other deal, but Wing says no, and well…. here we are." Nosedive crossed his arms.

"It's school fundraiser!" The human had grappled Wildwing by the shoulders, the goalie unsure of how to proceed.

"A fundraiser?" Airika asked. "Isn't today considered a weekend day?"

"Valid point." Duke said. "Phil, I think they can handle some disappointment."

"Where is it anyways?" Tanya asked, fingers hitting keys on Drake 1.

"621 Pineview Road." Phil's theatrics momentarily ceased.

"You're sure that's the address?" The tech asked skeptically. "It's on the far edge of town. Looks like a bar I think." Tanya enlarged the map.

"Some school." Mallory snorted.

Wildwing rubbed his neck.

"Wildwing, you must! We have to. The children!"

"Is it that important, dude?" Nosedive asked. "Cripe, seems a little dramatic for the situation. I mean after that Daredevil X shitshow, we all almost became roasted." There was a flash in Phil's eyes at Nosedive's words. Airika grabbed the teenager by the shoulder, stopping him from saying anything else. It appeared that the late night in the lab with Tanya, putting that tiny saurian bug back together, was irrelevant now. What had Nosedive said? The Daredevil X… shit show…roasted?

"Roasted." Airika repeated. Nothing. "Roast."

There it was again, this time Mallory noticed. "The hell was that?"

"It's a trigger word. But there must be another word with it." Airika thought hard. This was the Saurians they were talking about. What would they have said? What have they said? Roast. Roast what? The lizards hated ducks. Well, it didn't hurt to try.

"Roast duck."

The reddish-yellow clouded the human's eyes as a blank expression fell over his chubby face. "What's your bidding, Master?"

Wildwing took a step back. "What the hell?" No one moved, unsure of what was to happen next.

"How long would he stay like that?" Nosedive asked, drawing closer, only for Wildwing to yank him back.

"Until he's told what to do." Airika said.

"Dude, we could just leave him here. No more deals and promos. Ever." Nosedive grinned evilly. "What?"

"We're not going to do that." Wildwing said. "We need to snap him out of it."

"I got it." Mallory said suddenly. She moved in front of Phil. It was hard to tell if his attention was on her at all. "You're going to ignore the phrase Roast Duck, act like it means nothing."

Silence. Then Phil blinked. "What happened? Did I get hit again by another puck? I don't remember anything."

"You were just telling us how, in light of that avalanche almost killing us, you were going to give us a week or two of peace." Duke said.

"Ooo. I like that." Mallory grinned.

"I was?"

"Yep. You did."

Phil rubbed his head. "I dunno…if you say I did."

Airika saw Duke shift away as he started down the stairs first. She backed away quietly and followed. "What happened last night?" She glanced behind them. Everyone was still standing with Phil.

"What happened?"

"I was in your…room."

"Yeah?" He didn't show any hint of emotion.

"In your bed."

Duke smirked, pushing the galley door open. "I was on the futon. Don't worry. I offered to walk you to your room. You told me it was too far."

"You should have forced me. It was three doors down."

"Force you?"

"Yes. It was inappropriate. I'm sorry for intruding."

"I'm not going to lie, I'm not."

Airika's eyes rolled. "Go figure. You're a guy."

Duke plugged the coffee maker in. "That's fair." The galley door opened, ceasing their conversation. Airika sat at the table, ignoring Duke's gaze following her as the others filed in.

…..

Wildwing thought he was alone until a soft voice called him. "You okay?" Mallory paused at the top step of Drake 1.

"Yeah."

Mallory narrowed her eyes. "You don't sound it."

The white mallard leaned against the large control panel of the computer. He shrugged. "I got into it with Duke the other day." He glanced up. Mallory was watching him intently. "Klegghorn saw the footage of Airika using telekinesis on Lucretia."

Concern washed over the redhead's face. "What did he say?"

"I denied knowing what he was talking about. Even after he hit me with knowledge of the video. Told me to keep a leash on her."

"A leash?" Mallory echoed. "Funny he didn't say a cage. Go down to the pet store and get one… oh wait, we're full sized avian aliens." She took a breath. "What happened with Duke?"

"I told him I'm not thrilled she can do that."

"The magic?"

Wildwing nodded. "Is that bad?"

Mallory was quiet for a moment. "I mean if that's how you feel. You can't help how you feel. I will say I thought I'd feel differently about her after finding out but I don't. Which is really weird by the way."

"You don't think she'll turn on us?"

Mallory sat on the stool. "I don't think she will. Like I said my feelings about her haven't changed. I'm actually glad we found her. She's an asset Wing. Regardless. I'd like to think I'm good at reading people. Lucretia irritated the shit out of me before she even opened her beak and after she started talking, I knew she was not what she seemed."

"Then what's your excuse with Duke?"

Mallory fell silent. "I don't know." She tilted her head. "Is this because of what Lucretia said, at the mall?"

"I tried to ignore it." Wildwing admitted. "But Lucretia got as far as she did because I let her."

"Lucretia got as far as she did because she's a narcissistic, manipulative asshole." Mallory retorted. "You're not to blame for that Wildwing and we're all still here. No one died."

"Yeah."

Mallory stood up. "I'm hungry. And you are too."

"Actually I'm not."

"Too bad. Remember when I got sick earlier this year. The flu or some shit and I didn't want to eat but you made me? I'm returning the favor."

….

After she had gone to bed and tossed for several hours, she got up and wandered the hall. The muted color reflected off metal the closer she got to the REC room. Once again, a familiar grey duck was on the couch. "Have to be careful."

Airika paused.

"This seems to be becoming a habit."

"It seems that way." She sat, folding her legs underneath her. "So, Duke L'Orange, where'd you grow up?"

The question was sudden, the realization no one had asked anyone where they grew up, except the Flashblades through common knowledge. Canard had pulled them right out of a camp on the edge of North Ducaine City. Saurians were lazy. They built camps wherever the population was highest, preferring to corral, not shuffle around their prisoners. Everything else was bombed to shit. As far as personal stories, he was asked the least to share because ignorance was bliss. The less they knew about his involvement with the Brotherhood the more innocent they were.

"East Icling…." He waited. "That surprise you?"

"Somehow, no, it doesn't." Airika leaned back, far more comfortable than she had ever been. Perhaps it was just with him. He wasn't sure. "How does one go from East Ice to running the Brotherhood?"

Duke shrugged. "Wasn't all it was cracked up to be. East Icling. And my dad was an assassin for the Brotherhood, which put the L'Oranges pretty high on the totem pole. My mother turned a blind eye until he was caught. She played the charade of the ignorant housewife long enough until he was convicted."

"Was he executed?"

"On paper." Duke said. "Brotherhood broke him out. Too valuable. He disappeared after that. Rumor was he went off-planet. I became the troubled youth with no dad and acting out." The grey duck glanced at her. "Your turn."

"The orphanage did a blood test with every new arrival. It was deemed our DNA had Raptrin, with strong ties to the paternal side. That's probably why we were dumped off. We stayed there until we were twelve and then moved to a group home. I applied to the museum when I graduated school."

"And Lucretia?"

"I supported the house. It's nice to see Wildwing and his brother interact. No manipulation, gaslighting."

"Why'd you stay with her? Why not branch off?"

"She always threatened suicide. No one, including her own twin, loved her."

"Sounds a bit like a headcase..." Duke said. "No offense."

Airika shrugged, playing with her braid. "Can't argue with that. I finally called what I thought was her bluff. In an argument, I left. And stupidly, forgot my phone. I would have left it but she always hacked into it and fucked with my contacts. I went back, so pissed at the situation because she was going to win the moment I opened that door. She had slit her wrists. I never pulled that again."

"You know, you have to tell Wildwing about the Canard thing."

"I know." Her answer was quiet. "It's gallant of you but you're risking your image with them by not caving and telling them."

"It isn't my place to tell. Besides, I took that conversation as something you gave in confidence and I'm not the type to find the first person and tell them too."

"Well, it's appreciated."

They lapsed into a long silence, the movie finishing and turning to the next one. Airika's eyelids grew heavy. "You'll wake first right?" She asked sleepily. "Get us out of this awkward situation before someone sees?" Maybe Duke snorted in amusement, maybe he didn't. She shifted, laying her head on folded arms on the couch armrest. She thought she felt something weighted over her, but sleep came too quickly.

….

The problem with villains is they never had the decency to put evil plans together during downtime. The Pond was filling up with diehard fans arriving nearly an hour and a half early. The team had just stepped out of the elevator to the locker room when their Comms went off. Drake 1 had detected a crisis.

Airika had been reading a book when the computer sounded. She was first to the screen, studying the blip flashing.

"Tanya, what is it?" Wildwing asked.

"Looks like the local power substation." Tanya paused. "I think the power grid is failing."

"Damn it." Wildwing hissed. He checked the time. "We got forty minutes. Let's go!"

Airika watched them go, though Duke was slow to follow. "We'll be back." He said.

She gave a quick smile. "I'll guard the place."

Mallory, too, had paused, exchanging glances with the ex-thief. "Come with us."

"What?" Duke was as surprised as Airika. "She doesn't have armor Mallory."

"So? Neither do you. She stays in the Aerowing." The redhead was undeterred. "She's one of us isn't she? Don't we all go together?" Mallory turned back to Airika. "You coming?"

Duke wasn't the only one to protest. Wildwing blanched when he saw her trailing Mallory and Duke. "Whoa, you stay here." Wildwing paused to board the Aerowing.

"I told her to come." Mallory said. At his expression and stony muteness. "Cripe Wing, she's barely out of this place."

"I can stay." Airika said. "I don't want to create a problem. You have to go."

"You're not creating a problem. He is." Mallory retorted pointedly. "We going or not?"

Wildwing didn't respond as he went up the ramp. Mallory waited for Airika to enter the plane, the female surprised by the redhead's insistence on her presence. Entering the plane, Airika was hit with a heavy rock in her stomach, her intestines clenching painfully around it. She glanced at the side door.

He turned to the side door and hit the keypad surprisingly and without much fear. A blast of cold air swept into the plane as the door opened, nearly taking him out with the strong vortex.

She forced herself to look away.

Any angst about her joining them was soon forgotten when the Aerowing took flight, and the ducks could see an enormous glow shadowing the darkened Anaheim.

"The hell is that?" Nosedive asked.

"Let's find out." Wildwing steered west. "Big surprise." He said seconds later. Siege and Wraith were below them, a massive amount of energy crackling around the substation, the reason for the blackout.

"Let's move."

The Aerowing's bottom hatch opened as Wildwing, Nosedive, Grin, Tanya, and Mallory clustered around. "Siphoning off energy, eh Siege?"

Airika drifted towards the lead pilot chair, the one Duke occupied. Below, she could see the others confronting the two saurians. Siege's mouth moved. Sure as shit, some sarcastic, unwanted wit thrown the ducks' way. Then he and the machine he was sitting on began to glow green. Wildwing made a desperate jump and grab, but the saurians teleported. "I hate it when they do that." Airika grumbled. The energy calmed, the electric lines darkening until they were only steaming from the stress they were put under.

"Happens more times than not, sweetheart." Duke hit a button. "It looks like the power's comin' back on!" He sighed. "What would they need all that electricity for?"

"What wouldn't they need it for?"

"I hate it when they do that!" Nosedive's complaint was loud as the five reentered the plane.

"Well, I hate to change the subject but we got fifteen minutes until the game." Tanya said.

"We'll talk later." Wildwing nodded to Duke. "Punch it."

…

"That's who you're playing against?" Airika asked, hoping she hadn't sounded as faint as she thought she did.

"Unfortunately." Mallory buckled her helmet. "Here on Earth, it's a rite of passage apparently to pummel each other on the ice."

Airika wished she had a response.

"He's not all bad." Grin said.

"Whoa! Time out!" Nosedive quit his stretches to spin on the big duck. "Are we talking about the same guy? Stanley Strazinski? The hit squad on blades?"

"Just watch yourselves tonight." Wildwing said. As the team filed out, the goalie gathered his gloves.

"Airika-"

She was ready for him. "I know what you're going to say Wildwing. And you don't need to."

"I don't?"

"There's something you need to know. And I promise I'll tell you but I'm not doing it before your game. I know me being cryptic is going to be distraction enough." Airika shot the TV a look. "It seems you need eyes in the back of your head for that one at all times."

Wildwing smirked. "You're right about that."

Her shared smile faded. "And give Duke a break. He was only doing what he thought was right."

The white duck considered her peculiarly. "Okay." He finally said. He was almost out the door when he paused. "I meant what I said, we said, a while ago. You are one of us. It's us, not you."

"Because I look like her. I know."

Hearing her acknowledge it rose an almost overwhelming wave of guilt in the goalie's stomach. He was the team leader, and nitpicking everything about Airika DeCoy because of prejudice. Guilt by association. He hated to admit it to himself. Duke was right. Airika DeCoy was not and never would be Lucretia DeCoy. "See you after the game."

She had sat next to Phil, the announcer's voice booming over the speakers. There was something about last-minute players shuffling due to Stanley Strazinski's sudden absence. She felt an unexpected shot of relief at hearing that. Maybe she wouldn't have to worry... She started listening when the next words were yelled. "What is going on here! He picks me up; he shoots, he scores!" The voice was replaced by gravelly tones.

"Alright ducky-wuckies! I'm comin' to get cha!"

The glass of the announcer booth shattered as an enormous purple thing burst through it, sailing easily down onto the ice. "What!" Phil was much like the rest of the rink, transfixed about what would occur next. Airika felt a ripple up the stands from the force as soon as the creature landed with a gusto. The spell was broken. The smart ones couldn't evacuate fast enough.

"Hello?"

Airika glanced at Phil on the phone.

"Minimal insurance?"

Airika left the row, ignoring the human yelling for her. The announcer had managed to drag himself back to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, something horrible has happened to Stanley Strazinski!" Strazinski had pulled the goalie net loose on the ice, crumpling it easily. In response, the Mighty Ducks's hockey uniforms switched to battle mode. If the mutated human cared, he didn't show it. Instead, he broke loose the boards, hurling them. Wildwing activated his shield, knocking the piece away.

Then Grin stepped forward, trying to reason with the guy. Airika didn't know, but the proximity of the two set off alarm bells in her head. In the blink of an eye, the big duck was standing and then he was flung across the ice. "Strazinski puts Grin on the boards!" The announcer yelled. "Ohh! Through the boards!"

The ducks, still standing, took their chance, trying to tackle Strazinski, but he jumped high, landing on the jumbotron. She was almost to the ice when a cable snapped above, the creature jumping up and down until the jumbotron came loose, plummeting towards the ducks. Airika reached the ice and threw up a hand. A burst of energy hit the impromptu weapon of choice. Immediately, she felt resistance in the energy. She wasn't going to be able to stop it like she had herself and Nosedive when they crashed on the mountain. But it was enough to send it off kilt, missing the ducks by inches.

"Hey! No fair!" Strazinski whined.

"Thanks for that." Nosedive said gratefully when she was close enough.

"Anyone wonder what the hell happened to him?" Mallory asked.

"You kidding?" Wildwing scoffed. "This has Dragaunus's fingerprints all over this."

"We gotta fol-"

The electricity died, throwing the rink into darkness.

"Great!' Mallory growled. "Now what?"

A bright light clicked on, a flashlight in Tanya's hand.

"Got to be Wraith and Siege again."

The ear-splitting screech of metal was painful as it reverberated off the walls. Nighttime light filtered through a massive hole in the ceiling of the Pond as Strazinski peeled back the roof. "You want me! Come get me!"

"No problemo, jerk-weed!" Nosedive yelled back. "What's the plan?"

Wildwing turned. "Duke, you and Tanya find the source of the blackouts. The rest of us are going after Stanley… Airika, you want to go with them."

She hesitated only for a moment. "Yes."

"Okay, let's go!"

Airika ran after Duke and Tanya, entering the elevator down the headquarters. But the tech genius took a detour.

"Where you goin'?" Duke asked.

"Just get the Aerowing ready!" Tanya said. "Airika, come with me." Confliction was in her gut. Knowing time was of the essence, Airika followed the blonde duck. "I've been working on it and I think now is better than any time."

"Working on what?"

Tanya shoved open the lab doors and typed a sequence quickly into a large safe. Airika froze. She knew she had to move. They all did, but there was no turning back if she went through with this. "The first time you wear it, the Comm will link to it and you'll be able to change in and out easily, like the rest of us."

"Did Wildwing approve this?"

"I don't think he'll care at this point."

The tech genius had a point. Before she could waste any more time analyzing the situation, Airika pulled off her sweatshirt.

"Alright then."