A/N:

Ducks fans, I am back with another Game Changers rewrite story, and this is the third one in the series overall. This story will continue my rewrite series; the last story was the summer camp storyline from season 2 of Game Changers, set in the summer of 2021. This hypothetical "season" will be what I would've wanted for a third season of the show had it not been canceled. Bear in mind, there's a time skip here, and it's set in September of 2023, because I was thinking about things realistically of when they'd start high school; 2023 was also the year the newly-formed Professional Women's Hockey League got formed, so it works out perfectly for the kind of story I'm looking to tell here. Plus, if you think about it, Teagan Burnes, Brady Noon, Luke Islam, and all those other kids are now seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen years old today, which would make them about Joshua Jackson's age when he started filming D3: The Mighty Ducks, so there's that.

The story is not only inspired by D3, but also the Amanda Bynes cult-classic film She's the Man, a story about a teenage girl who disguises herself as her twin brother to play for a boys' soccer team after the girls' soccer team for her high school gets cut due to there not being enough girls that signed up. You'll see lots of traces of that throughout this story, because if there's one thing I appreciate most about the Mighty Ducks movies, it is the camaraderie between the boys and the girls and how the girls are lifted up. If you want more of this story, be sure to leave reviews behind, and let me know what you think. Either way, I'll be updating the story consistently because, at this point, I'm writing this saga for me and anyone else who wants to read it.

Chapter 1: Minnetonka Prep

"I can't believe both of my kids are leaving me," Charlie Conway said for what had to be the hundredth time that morning. It was all he seemed to be able to say, especially at the family dinner they had last night at Goldberg's restaurant with Gordon, Casey, and Ted.

"Dad, we're going to boarding school. It's not like we're going to prison," Henry Conway laughed.

"I would feel better if you guys were going to prison. You'd be safer in prison than in dorm rooms. At least in a jail, school shooters can't get to you. They don't sneak alcohol or weed into a prison," Charlie said, his voice breaking as tears filled his eyes and spilled down his face. "When you're a parent, you'll understand." He reached for the tissues he kept in his glove compartment, wiping his eyes.

Teddi sighed, trying to swallow her own tears back. Seeing her dad get so emotional was never an easy sight. Ever since the death of her mom, Teddi never quite got used to seeing her dad cry. Ted had said that there was a chance they'd need to sedate Charlie, because the way he was getting emotional, you'd think his kids were going to college out of state.

It seemed like just yesterday that she had received her acceptance letter into Minnetonka Preparatory Academy, one of the most prestigious private schools in the state of Minnesota. While many had anticipated that Teddi Conway and her friends would get to go to Eden Hall Academy for high school due to their hockey skills, they'd gotten the opportunity of a lifetime when they all received letters in the mail telling them that they were hot commodities for Minnetonka Prep. NHL legends had graduated from this school, and the hockey team was on a real hot streak to win. It was one of the best private schools next to Eden Hall, Charlie's alma mater.

As her father drove her and her little brother Henry to campus to help them get settled into their dorms, a wave of apprehension washed over her. The reality of the situation was sinking in, and she couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach. It was hard to believe that two years ago, she and the Ducks had gone to EPIC's summer camp, gaining a temporary new flock member in Jace Cole and, as a result, went into their hockey season as seventh graders with a title to defend. They defended it, to the point where many high schools desired them for their hockey skills.

What made her heart sink, though, was the fact that her dad wouldn't be coaching her and the Ducks. They would be having a new hockey coach, former Wild player Hal Vargas. And because of this, they were expected to try out for the Barbarians hockey team. Just because they were there on an academic scholarship, that didn't mean they didn't have to fight to earn their place on the freshman hockey team.

Charlie pulled up in front of the girls' residency building, where they saw Sofi, Lauren, and Maya unloading their parents' cars of their suitcases, room décor, and other supplies.

"Are you gonna be okay, Teddi?" Charlie asked his eldest daughter as they began unpacking the car; he looked like he was about to start crying. He'd been crying all night long even though his children would be going to school a half hour away from home. Teddi knew her dad was not only proud of her but also of Henry, who'd been declared so gifted and intelligent that he'd been allowed to skip a couple of grades and go to high school at only eleven years old and would be joining the freshman hockey team. But she also knew how hard this was for him, needing to send both his children away. His eyes kept filling up and spilling over; he just couldn't seem to contain himself.

Teddi managed to smile at her dad as Gordon and Casey, her step-grandpa and grandmother, pulled up behind them. "Yeah, I am. Don't worry about me. As long as Henry and I have the Ducks with us, we'll be okay."

Charlie smiled weakly, and more tears spilled from his eyes, which triggered Teddi to start crying again as she hugged her dad; she felt him kissing her on the top of the head as he buried his face into her hair before he hugged his son just as tightly, ruffling Henry's hair.

"I love you guys. And you know I'm coming to every home game," he said, wiping his eyes.

"Yeah, we know," Teddi said, smiling at him teary-eyed.

"Charlie, they'll both be all right," Casey said. "I know you hate this, but it's something they need to do."

"I know, but this sucks." Even more tears rolled down Charlie's face as he unlocked the trunk. "Really, this whole thing sucks." Turning to his kids, he said, "Okay, remember what I said: Stick together, don't cave into any peer pressure, don't feel like you gotta drink or do anything hard at parties to prove anything to people, make sure you keep your grades up . . ."

"Dad, please, stop worrying about us," Henry said. "I'm eleven. It's not like I'll be going to parties."

"I know. I know."

"Come on, Teddi, let's get your stuff in your dorm," Gordon said, wrapping an arm around her and helping her lug her suitcases out of the car while Charlie grabbed Teddi's hockey bag and several cardboard boxes, which contained her bedding, her two favorite stuffed otters Gretsky and Gordie (named after two of the greatest hockey players of all time), books, makeup case, and junk food that she was sneaking into the dorm, like Twizzlers and peanut butter cups and salt and vinegar chips. Together, they all hauled the bags and boxes inside as Teddi approached the prefect.

"Hi, I'm Theodora Conway; I'm moving in today," Teddi said.

The prefect, whose name tag read the name "Jennifer," said, "Yes, I have you right here. You'll be on floor B, room ninety-six."

Teddi's eyes lit up. Ninety-six was her jersey number; she was a firm believer in signs and felt that had to mean something.

"Your roommate will be Sofi Hanson-Bhatt," said Jennifer. "And your hall monitor will be Kaitlynne, so if you have any questions about anything, you can go to either her or me."

"Thank you." Teddi took her room key from the prefect, and they took the elevator up to floor B. Teddi was quick to find her dorm, and upon opening it, she saw Sofi unpacking her suitcase with the assistance of her parents.

"Sofi!" Teddi squealed, running toward her best friend and hugging her tightly. She felt Sofi hugging her back just as tightly, even though they'd only seen each other a day ago. There was something about knowing they would be roommates at Minnetonka Prep that had both girls exhilarated.

Sofi's mom, Amara Bhatt, turned to Charlie. "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not. I'm gonna be worried sick until her first weekend home," Charlie said, still wiping his eyes as he watched the girls unpack.

"Look, it gets easier," said Brian Hanson. "Besides, she's a half hour away from you. It's not like you have to get on a plane. And this is something she needs to do. You've got to let her go."

"I've been telling him that," said Gordon, shaking his head as he set Teddi's suitcases down.

"I bought her shoes to wear in the shower since she'll be sharing bathroom space with everyone on the whole floor," Charlie said, shaking his head.

"Why not buy her all sorts of medication while you're at it?" Amara asked, looking at him incredulously.

"You don't know how sanitary the floors are! I don't need her coming home with athlete's foot or any other diseases."

Teddi, despite crying, giggled. "You're insane."

"Take it from me: I went to a boarding school for high school. I lived on campus for my junior year. I know what's out there," Charlie argued as he began helping unzip the suitcases. He watched as Teddi spread out her blankets onto the bed; her purple-green-white plaid bedding with matching turquoise and green throw pillows went onto the bed, along with her stuffed otters. He watched as she hung up pictures of herself and the Ducks, photos from the summer they went to the EPIC camp, photos of herself, her mom, her dad, and her little brother, photos of her with Ted and Gordon, and a Minnesota Wild jersey with the last name Spurgeon (the captain of the Wild) on the back of it, which starkly contrasted with her poster of the New Jersey Devils left center Jack Hughes, whose career she idolized ever since he got drafted by the NHL, even though he played for a different team than the one she rooted for; she claimed she loved him because he played the same position she played, and like her, he shot from the left, just like his other two brothers Luke and Quinn. Plus, he came from a family of hockey royalty, much like she did.

Once everything was stored away, Charlie pulled her in for one last tight hug, still crying.

"Bye, Dad," she said.

Charlie sniffled, kissing her forehead. "I love you. Be sure to call me every single night."

"Yes, I will."

Charlie smiled at her, ruffling her hair before he ushered his family out of the dorm so that they could go across the way to the boys' residency building to get Henry settled in; Henry, much to Teddi's relief, would be rooming with her boyfriend, Logan. At least her little brother had someone she trusted looking out for him.

Sighing, she plopped herself onto her bed and pulled out her copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, deciding what she needed was to read a good book. But as she started reading, she heard a knock at her door, and Lauren and Maya came in, grinning. Teddi couldn't help shaking her head in disgust at Maya's New York Rangers pride, as the girl oozed it, wearing her Trouba jersey, while Maya shot a look of disgust at Teddi's poster of Jack Hughes; they had a friendly rivalry given that Teddi liked two different hockey teams while Maya remained loyal to her Rangers.

"Can you guys believe this?" Lauren asked as she took a seat on Sofi's bed.

"No, I really can't. This is incredible," said Sofi. "Let's head down to the common room."

Teddi grinned at that, and together, the girls linked their arms around each other's shoulders as they walked down the stairs to the main floor of the building. The girls' common room was decked out in the colors of Minnetonka Prep: orange and black. There were vending machines, a flat-screen TV, an electric fireplace, and pictures lining the walls that were wallpapered in rich, deep jewel tones. The photos appeared to be of the alumni, and there were definitely some recognizable faces – Minnesota politicians, lawyers, female soccer players who played for Team USA at the Olympics, famous figure skaters. It gave Teddi and her friends a clear impression of the kind of school they were going to: one built on tradition, one that clearly valued winners and hard work ethic, but also one that valued money; she was willing to bet that many of the alumni were now donors to the school, much like Eden Hall. If Teddi were being honest, looking around the common room, she actually felt a little sick to her stomach; the place reeked of elitism that was enough to make her feel somewhat out of place, given that her shoes weren't designer brand and even though her dad was an original Duck who graduated from Eden Hall Academy, she knew that the title of the Eden Hall Academy Mighty Ducks was no more – her dad had explained to her how for years, that used to be the title of Eden Hall's hockey team, but after Theodore Orion quit coaching and settled for a physical education teacher's position nearly ten years after the Ducks graduated, the alumni group of Eden Hall voted to have the school's team name change from the Mighty Ducks to the Warriors once more – Charlie had told her he guessed it was because the alumni group was bitter that a bunch of "white trash" kids from District Five had taken over the school, and that after the Ducks graduated and went on to college, they'd been looking to push for some sort of control again over the place. Even though her dad was an original Duck, he was still viewed as a lower class because he decided to become a public school teacher rather than go pro, which in turn meant she would more than likely be treated differently at this school, too.

They found the common room occupied with a few people, mostly girls from the soccer, swim, volleyball, and cheerleading teams, as well as a couple of girls who looked like dancers; their backs were ramrod straight, and their waists were tiny. But one of the cheerleaders snickered slightly when she noticed Maya's New York Rangers hockey jersey that she'd paired with a pleated tennis skort and strappy sandals, and Teddi's Ducks jersey, which she wore with denim shorts and high-tops. She especially seemed to sneer at Lauren's warrior princess cape, which prompted Lauren to protectively tighten her hold around the furry cape, which had been used as a security blanket to hide her scoliosis when she'd been in the third grade; it would definitely be something the girls at this school would use to make fun of her for, given that the popular girls at District Five Middle School had been especially cruel; Teddi didn't want to imagine the kinds of insults and jeers Lauren would face, and she watched as Maya stiffened, moving a little closer to her best friend protectively.

"What?" Teddi asked, suddenly feeling defensive. Looking at Maya, she saw the girl's face was beet red. They were very familiar with these types of girls, the kind that were more than likely to snub them because they didn't do typical "girly" extracurricular activities, the kinds of girls that Maya used to be friends with when she hung around the popular crowd before Teddi pulled her into the flock.

"You're gonna try playing hockey?" asked one of the cheerleaders, a blonde one who had her hair tied back with a ribbon; she examined her perfectly manicured nails as she spoke, as if she didn't care at all to look them in the eye when speaking to them.

"We've always played hockey," said Sofi defensively.

"Yeah, we got accepted here on scholarship because we've played for the District Five Mighty Ducks since Peewees," Teddi added. "And my father is one of the original founding members."

The blonde giggled slightly; the only one who didn't join in with snubbing them was a red-headed, hazel-eyed one who sat there in the corner, watching them with a hint of sympathy in her gaze.

"Yeah," the blonde said, smirking. "Good luck with that here. You're gonna need it."

"Why would we need it?" Lauren demanded indignantly.

"That's for you to find out at try-outs," said the blonde. Her voice was very nasally, which added to her overall stuck-up appearance.

"And who are you to go around talking to us like that?" Teddi demanded, feeling her temper flare.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself: Donna Jane Kentinsworth, head cheerleader. My dad is Donald Kentinsworth, the headmaster, and my mom is Melissa Kentinsworth, the headmistress, something your kind might refer to as a vice principal."

Teddi narrowed her eyes. Hearing this Donna girl refer to them as their kind let her know immediately what her attitude toward them was, coming from the public school system. "Well, that sure explains it."

"Explains what?" Donna gave Teddi a disgusted look, as if she were a bug she'd love to stomp underneath her Gucci sneakers.

Teddi was about to open her mouth and fire the worst insult she could think of, but Sofi leaned a hand on her arm, silently communicating with her that it wasn't worth it. Teddi reluctantly conceded with her childhood friend and said, "Nothing."

Donna smirked. "Just what I thought."

Teddi stuck with glowering at her and suddenly decided that the TV was far more interesting; she gathered her friends up to go and sit on the sofas surrounding the television, and they flipped through the different services that were provided: Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Selecting Amazon Prime, Teddi flipped through the various movies until, finally, she settled on Heathers, the Christian Slater and Wynona Ryder drama about an average outsider who is desperate to join the popular kids and falls for the school's resident bad boy who plans to blow up the entire school on homecoming night. Casting one glance at the snobby head cheerleader who snubbed them for being hockey players, Teddi couldn't help but find the movie choice both ironic and fitting.

"Any objections?" she asked her friends.

"Not at all," said Maya, settling back on the couch as Teddi started up the movie.

"So, Nick, did you hear Jace isn't coming here for the school year?" Evan Morrow asked his best friend, Nick Ganz.

"You're kidding!" Nick balked. "I thought his dad was loaded from his time in the NHL. And didn't the school offer him some huge scholarship to join the hockey team?"

"Apparently, with his dad going from most famous youth hockey coach to teacher's aid, money's tight. Even with the scholarship, Coach Cole is convinced he won't be able to afford to send his son out here." Evan dumped his clothes from his suitcase into his drawers. "So, that means Teddi and I are gonna be without one of our best right wingmen."

"But as long as you guys have Sofi, you're gonna be fine," Nick said.

"Don't count yourself out, Nicky. You scored us that winning goal during last year's state championship, and that's what got Minnetonka Prep to notice us, man."

Nick nodded, smiling in reply. While part of Evan was bummed that Jace Cole, his long-standing pen pal from Camp EPIC and brief replacement on the Ducks, wouldn't be attending school with him and his friends, he knew as long as he had the rest of the flock, it would be a good year. When he and Alex got the letter in the mail informing him that he and all the other Mighty Ducks (Jace Cole included since he played with them every summer) got accepted into Minnetonka Prep on a full academic scholarship, neither he nor Alex could contain their excitement. But he also knew the downside of this would be Alex and Charlie no longer being their coaches. Still, even that wasn't enough to get him down. He was determined for this to be the best school year ever, and the best hockey season he and his friends would ever have, because they were coming into this school as three-time state champions from District Five.

Evan unloaded the last of his clothes before he flopped down onto his bed, hearing the springs squeak underneath him as he reached for his phone so he could send a quick text message to Jace, letting him know that he'd moved into his dorm and that tomorrow would begin orientation day as well as athletic tryouts. He was already anticipating being the "A" to Teddi Conway's "C," as he and Teddi had worked hard to earn the titles of captain and assistant captain of the Mighty Ducks; their leadership shone brightly for the past three years as they together brought forth numerous victories, as well as summers at Camp EPIC ever since the summer between sixth and seventh grade.

Once he finished texting Jace, he plugged his Air Pods into his ears and decided to put on some music. He selected "Whatever it Takes" by Imagine Dragons just as Logan and Henry entered, with Logan brandishing a deck of cards, and Evan knew that a game of Go Fish was about to begin. As he flipped through his Instagram, he saw a text from Teddi.

T. Conway: The girls at this school are what my Uncle Russ would call a bunch of cake-eaters. Told Sofi, Lauren, Maya, and I 'Good luck with that' when we said we were hockey players, whatever that's supposed to mean.

Evan: Don't pay attention to that. Besides, orientation and tryouts are tomorrow, Tee. They'll see how good you are when you make the hockey team. We'll be playing on a team full of state champs, and the coach is a former Wild player, too – his son is on the Varsity team, the dude's a legend

T. Conway: That's true

Evan: Just keep your head up

Evan grinned, setting his phone down as he closed his eyes, allowing Dan Reynolds' vocals to flood his eardrums as he nodded to the beat of the song; he was convinced at this point that everything was going to go their way, and that nothing could possibly stop them from achieving greatness, especially since he knew his team was among some of the best and brightest, given they'd spent their early years coached by a founding member of the Ducks and had Gordon Bombay and Ted Orion as trainers. And while he knew that high school hockey would be hard work and that they would just face greater expectations, he and his friends were up to the challenge and could handle just about anything, even a school full of cake-eaters.