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The Invaders

"Where the hell are we?"
"I'm not sure...let's open the view screen." Amber rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. She'd been stuck on this space ship for a week now, and she was beginning to feel cramped.
"There we are...it looks like a solar system." Mara continued typing strokes into the computer's key pad, "Only one planet suitable for sustaining our life functions, and this is it." The view screen opened to reveal a large planet. It was blue with large green landmasses scattered about it, as well as various clouds. "Pretty, isn't it?" Mara said with a smile.
Amber shrugged, "I guess. Any life forms?"
Mara nodded, "Intelligent ones...I think. I say we check it out." Amber shook her head.
"I say we stay here."
Mara sighed, "Amber, we're nearly out of water AND fuel. What if we don't come across another inhabitable planet for weeks?"
Amber folded her arms across her chest, "Fine." she snapped.
"Amber," Mara asked gently, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Honey, what's wrong?" Amber pulled away from her.
"Nothing. Forget it. Let's just land."
Mara nodded, "okay, go ahead."
"Me?" Amber turned to her, "I don't know how to land...I thought YOU did."
"I told you I didn't know how to fly!" Mara exclaimed.
"Well if you can't fly then you outta be able to land!" Amber whined.
Mara shook her head, "This is gonna be one of those days."

Back on Earth...
"NOSE DIVE!!!"
Wild Wing quickly moved to the side of the hallway as Nose Dive ran past him, followed closely by Mallory.
"Get back here, you miserable little...AHHH!!" she yelled, pulling out her puck launcher. Wild Wing sighed, walking out into the rec room.
"Hey Mal." he called out. Mallory paid no attention to his call. "MAL!!!" He yelled. She continued to chase Nose Dive around the room. Wild Wing sighed in defeat, turning on his comm.
"Duke, could you come up here a minute?" Wing asked, watching Mallory and Nose Dive run in circles.
"Sure Wing, I'll be right up." Wild Wing shut his comm off, hoping Duke got there before Mallory caught Dive. Walking into the room, Duke smiled.
"Good to see Dive and Mal getting along so well, isn't it?"
Wing nodded, "Yeah, I'm thrilled. What did Nose Dive do THIS time?"
Duke thought a moment, "Let's see...ah! I remember. It was a drive by silly string attack." Wild Wing nodded, whenever Mal was out for Nose Dive's blood, Duke usually knew why.
"Can you stop them? I'm starting to get dizzy."
Duke nodded, "Ask and you shall recieve." Duke shot out his grappling hook, tripping Nose Dive. Mallory, who had been going too fast to stop effectively, tripped over him. Wild Wing helped Mallory up and held her back from Nose Dive. Duke grabbed him, preventing Dive from escaping.
"Apologize." Wing demanded.
"No way!" Nose Dive yelled, "It was funny as hell!" Duke twisted Nose Dive's arm behind his back. "Apologize, or we'll let Mallory go." Nose Dive swallowed nervously, looking over at Mallory.
"You wouldn't." Nose Dive said to Wild Wing.
"No...but I would." Grin said serenely, walking out.
Nose Dive yelled, "AHHHH! Alright, alright! I'm sorry!!!" Duke let him go and sat down, putting his head in his hands.
"Duke?" asked Wild Wing with concern, "You alright?"
Duke nodded distantly, "Yeah, just kinda dizzy..." Wild Wing nodded. A few days ago they'd had a run in with the Saurians, and Duke had recieved a slight concussion from it. He was basically fine accept for these few dizzy spells and some gaps in his memory...they got worse during the day as his medication wore off.
"Think you're alright?" Wing asked him.
Duke stood back up, "Yeah, I'm fine now." Wild Wild sighed with relief. It was only midday now so if his medication was already failing then it was a VERY bad sign. Wild Wing focused his attention back on Mallory.
"Mal?"
"What?" she demanded.
"Go on." Wild Wing said, nudging her.
"Fine." Mallory muttered, "I forgive you, Dive." Wild Wing let her go. Mallory dusted herself off, "Satisfied?" she asked Wild Wing.
Wing nodded, "For now. You know, I really outta teach you to control that temper of yours."
Mal folded her arms, "I'd like to see you try." she challenged.
"Sure." Wing said quietly, "How about over dinner?"
Mallory looked up in suprise, "Well, I dunno, I guess-" she was cut off by Drake 1's alarm. As they ran into the Ready Room, Duke patted Wing on the shoulder, "Nice try, Wing."
Wild Wing sighed, "I think it just wasn't meant to be."
"Hey, don't talk like that!" Duke replied, "Just give it some time."
Wild Wing sighed, "Come on, we've got a job to do."
"About time you guys got here." Tanya said with a smile, not bothering to look up from Drake 1.
"What is it?" Wild Wing asked.
"Seems that a ship's landed...or maybe I should say crashed... on Earth. And you'll never believe this."
"What?" asked Mallory.
"It's a Sky Bird...from Puckworld." The six ducks all looked at each other in suprise.
"Let's go."

Meanwhile...
"Well, we got it down, didn't we?"
"Oh yeah, we're naturals at this." Mara pulled Amber out from underneath the control panel.
"See Amber, THAT'S what a seat belt's for!" she said sarcastically.
Amber glared up at her, "Thanks for your support."
"That's odd." Mara murmured.
"What?" demanded Amber.
"Our time-distance gauge...it says that we've been traveling for a year."
"Probably malfunctioned in the landing." Amber snapped, rubbing her neck, looking out of the view screen, "Well, let's go look!" She ran out onto the wing before Mara had a chance to stop her.
"Amber, be careful! The crash might've loosened the-"
"Listen, I'm the pilot, you're the passenger. I built this plane, you didn't. I've been trained to fly, you haven't. I know what the fuck I'm doing!" Amber snapped angrily. Just then, the wing fell off. Amber screamed, feeling herself falling. Closing her eyes, Amber waited to hit the ground. Instead, Mara grabbed her by the arm and lowered her to the ground gently. Mara disengaged her grappling hook from a nearby tree.
"The crash jarred the wing loose." Mara said quietly.
Amber looked up at the ship sadly, "Jake helped me put that on." Mara looked at Amber with concern.
"Amber, it's not your fault..."
"Forget it," Amber muttered angrily, shifting right back into her irritable mood. Mara sighed, wondering what had caused the change in Amber. 'Maybe I shouldn't have let Amber come with me...' Mara wondered sadly. She turned back towards Amber who was now kneeling by the wing. Amber rested her hand on it lightly before standing up again.
"It's gonna be a while before I can fix it." Amber said quietly, "Days, weeks, could even be months..."
Just then they heard screeching tires out front. The two looked up with suprise. Mara pulled out her saber and Amber took out a gun as the two ran behind the plane to watch. They peered around the side of the Sky Bird as a large car pulled up. Amber started shaking.
"Mara, that's a Migrator!!!" Mara looked at Amber with amazement.
"You gotta be kidding Amb... you don't actually think that..." The door opened. A duck with long blond hair stepped down. Amber's eyes widened as she shrieked. Mara looked at Amber with concern.
"Amber, what's-"
The two were knocked unconscious. Siege looked down with a slight smile, putting his stun gun back in it's holster.
"Bull's eye." He teleported them away with him as he heard the ducks approach.

The ducks looked around as they heard a loud shriek. Quickly, they ran to the aircraft.
"Whoever built this did an exellent job." Tanya murmured peering at the hulk of the ship. Duke looked around cautiously.
"Well they're long gone now... very weird..." Wild Wing quickly boosted himself into the cockpit. The interior was scattered with papers and various pipes and wires that had fallen from the landing, but it looked as if it had all been kept in good order before the crash. Rows of books and notebooks were scattered everywhere. Wild Wing walked towards the pilot's seat. He rested his hand on it.
"Warm... they weren't gone long."
Wing turned around to leave, but paused, noticing a photo wedged into the corner of the navigator's seat. Wild Wing hesitantly picked it up. He gasped in shock...it was Canard.
"Wing?" Mallory walked up to him, "find anything?"
Wing looked over at her, holding up the picture, "Yeah...this."
Mallory looked at him in suprise, "Well, whoever was here must have known about our mission then." Wing nodded distantly, deep in thought.
"Back on Puckworld the night before we left...do you remember Canard debriefing us?"
Mallory nodded, "So?"
"So..." Wild Wing continued, "he told us that if we failed in our mission there was backup that would pick up where we left off."
Mal nodded, "and you think this is it?"
"It just may be. C'mon, we'd better go tell the others."

In the Raptor, Amber had just woken up...
"Ow...yeah, this is fuckin' great! Just what I needed."
"Shut up." Siege growled.
"Oh no," Amber moaned, "A SAURIAN! I knew we'd run into you scum bags again sooner or later!"
"I said be quiet!" Siege snapped. Amber leaned back in her cage, folding her arms. She sat upright, suddenly remembering Mara.
"Mara?" She poked her head out of the cage, looking around, "Where's Mara?" she demanded. Siege glared at her, "Not here. Now get back in your cage before I decide to electrify the bars on it. I HATE prison detail."
Amber sighed, "Well, you certainly don't let it show." She muttered angrily. Chameleon walked in. "Two of you? Ooh, I feel special." she said sarcastically.
"For the last time, SHUT UP!" Siege snapped.
"Awww Siege, why don't ya lighten up a bit?" Chameleon said cheerfully, "I think she's funny!"
"That's because you're an idiot!" he growled.
"Finally!" Amber said, "We agree on something!"
"If you don't keep quiet, I'll SHOOT you! To hell with orders!" Amber smiled, "I can see we're all gonna get along REAL well."
Two rooms down, Wraith paced in front of Mara who was chained to the wall. "Who sent you?" he demanded.
"I've already TOLD you! Ed's Pizza. Now did you order pepperoni or not?!" She said sarcastically. Wraith narrowed his eyes. "Listen carefully, Duck. I'm only going to tell you this once. We will release you to go find the Mighty Ducks."
Mara looked at him, confused, "What kind of a weird-ass name is that?" Wrait cut her off.
"-You are to send them back here to us. Here are the coordinates of our location." Wraith handed her a piece of paper. "If they do not arrive within two hours, the other duck dies."
Mara shook her head, "What?! Please, you can't-"
"Is that understood?" Wraith snapped. Mara nodded, "Where am I supposed to find these Mighty Ducks?"
"The Anaheim Pond."
"Wait, where's the-" Wraith teleported her out of the Raptor. Mara looked up to find herself in some kind of park. "-Anaheim Pond..." she finished. Mara stood up and dusted herself off, muttering, "People nowadays are so rude...won't even let you finish a sentence." She walked over to a paved road and walked along it until she came to a large street sign, "Anaheim Mall." She read aloud. Mara paused, noticing a large sign nearby. "Weiner World...I REALLY hope that's not the name of this planet!"
She walked into the mall area, looking around. People began to stop and stare at her, making Mara a bit uncomfortable. "Are you a new Mighty Duck?" One little boy asked eagerly, walking up to her and pulling on her long skirt. Mara smiled at him sweetly, "Sorry, I don't think so. I just got here. Do you know where the Mighty Ducks are? I really have to talk to them." The little boy nodded, "The Anaheim Pond, of course!" The boy ran off, hearing his mother call him.
Mara sighed and chose a store to walk into. It happened to be Captain Comics. Inside, Mookie was taking inventory of the comic books by the counter. "Hey Thrash," she said with a smile, "take a look." Mara was looking around the store. From the angle Thrash and Mookie were at they could tell she was a duck, but they couldn't see her face.
"Tcha! Like, Mal must think it's Halloween or something."
Thrash shook his head, "Don't think so, Mookster, Mal Mal's shorter than that."
Mookie rolled her eyes, "I know Mal Mal when I see her, kay?"
Thrash shrugged, "Yer call, Babe." Mookie walked over to Mara and tapped her on the shoulder. Spinning around, Mara backed up against the wall.
Mookie gasped, "Oh man, you're NOT Mal!" Mara smiled a little, stepping away from the wall, "Sorry to disappoint you." Mookie looked over at Thrash,
"I told you so, Babes!" he yelled out happily. Mookie narrowed her eyes at him, "Why don't you go drink out of the toilet again?!"
"Back off, man! I TOLD you it was just a dare!" Mara snickered. Mookie looked over at her, "So there's a new duck in town...cool! Why the hell didn't Nose Dive tell me?!"
"Who?" asked Mara.
"Nose Dive...haven't you met the Mighty Ducks?" Mara shook her head, "No, but I have to, it's urgent." Thrash looked up, "Oh, trouble with those lizard guys again, huh?"
Mara nodded, "I guess you could say that." Mookie nodded, "Well you can find them at-" Mara cut her off, "-the Anaheim Pond. Yeah, I've heard, but I dunno where that is."
"Tcha! I'll be happy to take you." Mookie said with a smile, "Besides, I owe the Dive a CD. He'll bitch and whine if I don't bring it back to him."
"He ALWAYS bitches and whines!" Thrash added in happily. Mookie stuck her toungue out at him.
"Nice toungue ring!" Mara commented. Mookie took her by the hand, "I think we're gonna get along just fine! C'mon." She pulled her across the store to the front counter before releasing her hand, "By the way, I'm Mookie, and this is Thrash."
Mara waved at him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Mara." Mookie pulled her out of the store, "C'mon, I'll take you to the Pond."
"What's this planet called?" Mara asked. "Earth." Mara breathed a sigh of relief. Not the most original name in the universe, but better than Weiner World.
"Who exactly are the Mighty Ducks?"
"Our buddies! They're a hockey team of intergalactic alien ducks." Mara stopped dead in her tracks, "A hockey team? I was sent out to find a hockey team?!" Mookie smiled, patting her shoulder.
"Calm down. They also happen to be the world's greatest crime fighters. They have their own T.V. show where they play out episodes of their fight against the evil saurian overlord Dragaunus."
Mara nodded, "Well, THAT'S comforting." she murmured sarcastically.
"And here we are!" Mookie said, bringing her to a stop in front of the Pond. "Just walk right in the front, they're probably practicing on the ice. Oh, and could you give this CD to Dive? You'll recognize him quickly... he's the asshole! Bye!"
Mara laughed, "Goodbye, and thanks for your help!" She looked up at the Pond and breathed in deeply, "Well, here goes nothing." She made her way down to the hockey rink to discover that Mookie was correct...there were six ducks on the ice playing hockey, and they were pretty good!
Down on the ice, Nose Dive was laughing his head off, "C'mon, try and get the puck away from me!" Tanya checked him into the wall and took the puck. "Happy?" Everyone laughed, watching Nose Dive peel himself off the wall.
"You women are fiesty! Almost makes me wish that Lucretia DeCoy chick had stayed, huh Duke?" Duke shuddered, "Please, don't remind me of that episode! Damn writers..."
"Awww," Mal said playfully, "Now Duke, I think you made a good flirt! You should try it in real life."
Duke shook his head, "I don't date, I've got a fear of commitment."
Wild Wing nodded, "Go on, Duke, tell 'em about that last girl friend of yours." Nose Dive and Grin shuddered, "That gave me nightmares for weeks!" Nose Dive exclaimed. Tanya and Mallory laughed.
"That shouldn't stop you from flirting."
"True," Duke conceeded, "But there's no point! As far as I can see the two beautiful ducks present are already taken, or close to it, anyway." Tanya smiled, "He's a natural." Both she and Mallory skated up to him and kissed him on the cheek. Wing and Grin glared at Duke.
"What?!" exclaimed Duke, "I didn't mean to!" They all laughed.
Back up in the bleachers, Mara heard a voice behind her, "Hey! Who gave you permission to be up- oh my God, it's a duck!" Phil Pomfeather dropped his chili dog and Coke.
"I'm sorry," Mara said gently, "I didn't know I wasn't allowed in here..."
"Forget about it, Sweetheart!" Phil said smoothly, "Say, how'd you like a contract? Can you play hockey? I'll bet a pretty girl like you could-"
Mara cut him off. "Lemme guess...you're the manager." Phil nodded eagerly. Mara sighed, "Look, I have to talk with the Mighty Ducks, it's an emergency."
Phil sighed, "Oh, alright, fine. Talk to Wild Wing, he's team captain...HEY WILD WING!" Wild Wing pulled off his mask.
"Phil, whatever the deal is, the answer is no!" Phil looked back to Mara, "They've got no respect for a hard working business man, it's shameful!" Mara tried not to laugh.
"No! You've got a visitor!" Phil yelled back down, "Says it's urgent!" Wild Wing changed into his battle gear and looked up. He gasped, seeing that it was a duck. After manuvering his way carefully across the ice, Wing ran up to them. Mara smiled, "I have to admit, it's nice to see other ducks around, I was beginning to feel a bit isolated!"
Wild Wing nodded, "I know the feeling. I'm Wild Wing, team captain of the Mighty Ducks, what seems to be the problem?"
Back down on the ice, Mallory looked up, "What do you think's going on?" she asked Grin. Grin began to reply, but Mal cut him off, "And no, we're NOT going to meditate on it!"
"Damn." Grin mumbled.
"Maybe we should go check it out." Tanya suggested. Duke shook his head, pulling off his helmet, "If Wild Wing needed help he'd-" Duke paused, realizing that he was talking to a duck, "-call us..." Without a word, Duke switched into his battlegear and walked off the ice, wanting to get a closer look at her. Nose Dive folded his arms, "Okay...THAT made sense!"
Duke walked slowly up the bleachers, staring at the girl Wild Wing was talking to.
"I need your help. My pilot and I crashed on this planet around four hours ago-"
"In a Sky Bird 2416?" Asked Wild Wing. Mara nodded, "So the Migrator was yours, I take it?" Wing looked suprised, "But how did you know that? When we got to the wreckage it was deserted." Mara shrugged her shoulders, smiling.
"We have our ways." Duke walked up behind Wild Wing, staring at the duck. Mara noticed him and gazed straight into his eyes. Noticing that something caught her attention, Wing looked around and saw Duke.
"So THERE you are." he said with a smile. Duke took his eyes away from the girl and looked at him, "So what's going on?"
"You remember the Sky Bird we came across? This appears to be one of it's occupants."
Mara nodded, "I'm sorry we didn't approach you, but when we saw you coming we hid behind the plane. Then my pilot had a nervous breakdown, and we were stunned by the Saurians."
"They took you prisoner?" Duke asked. Mara nodded. "Did they hurt you at all? You're alright?" Mara nodded again with a small smile, "I appreciate the concern," she said quietly, "but I'm fine. I'm not sure about my pilot, though."
"How did you escape?" Wild Wing asked. At this point, the others had all come up from the hockey rink to find out what was going on.
"I didn't." Mara muttered angrily, "They let me go."
"These Saurians are just gettin' weirder and weirder!" Nose Dive said, "Must be something in the air that fries their brains."
Mara looked at him and laughed, "You must be Nose Dive."
"How'd you know?!" he exclaimed, "I guess I'm just everybody's favorite duck!"
"I was told that you were the asshole." She replied with a smile. Everyone laughed.
"You've been talking to Thrash and Mook." Dive muttered. Mara nodded, "Catch." she tossed him the CD Mookie had given her.
"Sweet! I've been looking for this."
"Here, we'll take you down to our base and continue questioning you down there...would you mind if we blind folded you?"
Mara folded her arms across her chest. "What? So I don't see the secret entrance through the locker room?" Wild Wing looked at her in suprise. "I walked past it on my way in. They had one of your cartoons playing in the lobby...subtlety isn't really your thing, is it?" The guys all snickered.
"Come on, let's go." Wild Wing said with a smile. They all went down to the Mighty Ducks' base.
"Wow..." she murmured, "You guys certainly have been busy."
"This is the Ready Room." explained Mal. "This is where we go when there are emergencies."
Mara nodded, "Nice computer."
Tanya blushed, "Awww, it's nothing, really." Wild Wing took out his mask and out it on. Mara looked up, "That's the mask of Drake DuCaine, what are you doing with it?!" She said in suprise. Wild Wing shrugged, "I'm the team captain, so I get to use it." He scanned her with it. Mara was definitely a duck...but the mask was acting strangely, "That's odd..." Wild Wing murmured, "The eyes turned green...that's the mask's recognition circuits kicking in. Have you come in contact with the mask before?"
Mara nodded, "As a matter of fact I have."
"Is she a duck?" asked Dive. Wild Wing nodded, "She's legit."
Nose Dive elbowed Duke, "Your line, Duke."
Duke blushed, "Shut up, Dive!" he hissed. (Editors' Note:Don't get the joke? How can you call yourself a true duck fan?! Go see 'A Traitor Among Us'.)
"But Canard was supposed to have the mask." Mara murmured.
"You know Canard?!" Wild Wing exclaimed.
Mara nodded, "We were sent as back up for storming Dragaunus' stronghold...the team went through a dimensional gateway and we followed against orders and here I am."
Wild Wing nodded, "So you ARE from the Resistance!"
Mara nodded, "But where's Canard?"
Wild Wing frowned, "He was pulled into dimensional limbo...he saved our lives." Mara went pale and sat down, obviously upset.
"Was he a friend of yours?" Mallory asked gently.
Mara nodded, "Stupid, stupid boy. It's just like him to do something crazy like that, too." Tanya patted her on the shoulder, "Did you know him well?" Mara shrugged, "I loved him." Wild Wing looked thoroughly suprised, and Duke suddenly felt extremely depressed.
Nose Dive looked very confused, "So you were his girlfriend?"
Mara shuddered, "EWWW! Are you kidding?! That's gross! Ugh! Now I'm gonna have to go take a bath!" Everyone looked very confused.
"I thought you said you loved him." countered Grin.
Mara smiled, "He was my little cousin."
Wild Wing looked at her, "I remember Canard mentioning you before..."
"Wait a sec," said Dive, "So you're not his girlfriend?"
Mara shook her head, "That's incest. Besides, I think he's annoying as hell!" Everyone laughed. "I'm single." Mara said quietly, glancing almost imperceptibly at Duke.
Duke supressed a smile, "You were telling us about why the Saurians let you go..." Duke reminded her gently.
Mara nodded, "They told me to find you and send you to them within two hours or else they'd kill her."
"Kill who?" asked Grin.
"My pilot." Mara said unhappily.
"How are we supposed to know where to go?" Tanya asked. Mara pulled out the sheet of paper Wraith had given her, "They're at these coordinates." How much longer does your friend have?"
Mara glanced at her watch, "Hour and a half." Wild Wing stood up, "Alright then, let's go!"
"But it's a trap!" Mara warned them, "It's gotta be." Wild Wing rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, do WE look like the kind of people who use the front door?" Mara smiled, "Good point, let's go."

Meanwhile...

Amber leaned across the table dealing out cards. If she was going to be a captive, she might as well get something out of it... Siege looked at his cards with a blank face. Chameleon tried to peer over his shoulder, but all he recieved for his trouble was a slap in the face.
"Mind your own cards, Punk!" Amber looked at her cards carefully placing one down. Siege dropped them down. Chameleon shook his head, "Nada". Amber smiled, dropping her cards.
"Full house." Siege cursed to himself, picking up the cards. Amber stuck her hand out of the cage, "C'mon, fork over the hat." Chameleon handed her a hat hanging nearby. Amber put it on, "Sweet!" It was just large enough to hide most of her face...and hair.
"You look like a guy!"
"I do not!" Amber snapped, "Shut up and deal again."

In the Migrator, the ducks were all talking to Mara.

"You guys have accomplished so much here!"
Duke shrugged, "What do you expect with all the time we've had?"
Mara looked at him, "Time? It's only been a week."
Grin looked at her oddly, "A week? It's been a year since we got here."
"That's impossible..." said Mara, "We were only traveling through space for a week."
Tanya smiled at her, "THAT explains it. Dimensional gateways distort time. Even though it feels like you were only traveling a week, it was really a year."
"A year...I've got a lot of catching up to do." Wild Wing turned his head, "We're almost there. What does this pilot of yours look like, Miss?"
"Very short...I'd say five feet. Brown hair, tan feathers, amber colored eyes."
Wing nodded, "Shouldn't be THAT hard to find...You know, we never did find out your name, Miss." Mara blushed a little, "I'm sorry, I guess I forgot. Mara Jade." Duke pulled out his saber quickly. Wing looked over at him, "Are you alright?"
Duke nodded slowly, putting it away. "Sorry, it's a reflex." Mara looked at him.
"You're a thief, aren't you?"
"Yes Mistress." Duke murmured, going pale. Shaking her head, Mara looked at the ground, "You don't have to call me that. The Saurian invasion put me into early retirement."
"You're a thief too?" Mal asked with suprise. Mara just nodded. Smiling, Wing turned to Mara, "Well, your past doesn't matter to us. Let me introduce everybody. This is Mallory McMallard, Tanya Vanderflock, Check Hardwing but we all call him Grin, I'm Wild Wing Flashblade, that's my baby brother Nose Dive, and this is Duke L'Orange." Mara unconciously dropped a hand to her saber, "Did you say Duke L'Orange?" she whispered. Duke nodded, "I'm retired too." he murmured. Mara put her saber away, "This day is just getting weirder and weirder."
"I take it you know each other?" Nose Dive asked.
"Guys," Duke said with a small smile, "I'd like you to meet my worst enemy, Mistress Mara Jade the Lady Smuggler." Wild Wing looked at him, "You're not planning on causing any trouble, are you?"
"Of course not, I mean, this is the first time we've ever actually met." Mara looked over at him, "And I think I've just discovered that all of those horrible rumors I've heard about him aren't all they're cracked up to be."
Duke smiled at her, "Friends?" Mara shook his hand, "Sure. I won't kill you unless you kill me." Everyone laughed, "Well that's comforting." Wild Wing stopped the Migrator a block from the building disguised as the Raptor.
"Come on guys. From here on we walk." They all hopped out of the Migrator. Wing looked over at Mara, "Maybe you should stay here, Miss, things could get pretty rough in there." Mara narrowed her eyes, "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?! I'm not little Bo Peep, you know. They took my pilot and I wanna shot at them. I'll be damned if I let you guys go and have all the fun with out me!"
Mal laughed, "Damn straight! I like you already!"
Mara smiled, "One last thing, Wild Wing."
"Yes Miss?" Wing said politely. "Mara. My name is Mara."
Wild Wing laughed, "Got it. Let's go."

"Half hour left." Siege said, looking at a clock. "We'd better start getting ready for the ducks."
"Ducks?" Amber asked, "What ducks?" They opened the cage and tied her up. By now Amber had also acquired a heavy, brown leather jacket from the Saurians in their game of poker. "The ones that are coming to rescue you, Girlie." Siege explained, picking her up. He dumped her on a conveyor belt. Amber lifted her head to see several rows of sharp knives ready to dice her into pieces.
"Oh how original!" Amber yelled, "Like I haven't seen THIS a thousand times!" Chameleon looked over at Siege.
"She's got a point. Why don't we throw her in the pit of venomous snakes?"
Amber shrieked, "AHHH!! Nevermind! This is fine! This is good! Original is so overrated, y'know." Siege nodded, "I don't feel like moving her again." Amber gave out a sigh of relief, resting her head back down on the conveyor belt. "Well, it could be worse...I think..."

"Well Wing?" asked Mallory, "How do we get in?" Wild Wing looked around, "They'll be expecting us through the front. You guys aren't gonna like this..."
Duke rolled his eyes, "Aww, you're just saying that to make us feel better."
Wild Wing pointed up, "We'll have to go through the vent shaft."
Mallory glared at him, "Gee Wild Wing, I don't not like it...I HATE IT!!"
Wing towered over her, "Got a better idea?"
Mal shook her head, "No, but if I did it would involve you and painful instruments of death!" Everyone laughed as Mal pried the cover off the vent. "We'd better shut off our comms. They may be able to detect them with their hi-tech thingamabobbers."
"Good thinking, Baby Bro." Everyone shut their comms off. Mara looked over at Grin, "Can you really fit in there?" Grin shook his head, "No, I shall stay out here and give you spiritual aid." Wild Wing nudged Tanya, "You stay too, Tanya. Try and override their security system."
"Check." Tanya said brightly. Wild Wing lifted himself up into the vent, poking his head out to face Grin and Tanya, "And guys, no hanky panky while we're gone." Tanya glared at him, "You'll pay for that one later, oh fearless leader." Wing shrugged, "What can I say? It's my job."
One by one, the ducks lifted themselves into the vent while Grin tore a panel off of the building, exposing some wiring. "Stand back now Babe, we don't want your face getting burned off." Tanya said, looking at the wiring. Grin nodded tranquilly, "Good point."
Wild Wing and the others made their way through the vent carefully, being as quiet as possible. Soon, they heard voices down below them.
"Where are they?" Wraith demanded.
Siege shrugged, "No sign of them anywhere."
"Lord Dragaunus will not be pleased." Wraith said gloomily. "Their time's up." Siege growled, "I'm gonna start up the conveyor belt." He pulled a lever.
"AHHH!! Come on guys, can't we be reasonable?! I'll give you back the jacket! AHHH! YOU GUYS ARE ASSHOLES!!!" Amber began to squirm. She tried to roll off of the belt, but it had sides to it, making it impossible for her to get out. The Mighty Ducks all jumped out and began firing on the Saurians. Mara and Mallory ran over to Amber and began to untie her. "So THERE you are!" Amber said angrily, "Off on a holiday I suppose?" Mara din't answer her. Helping her off of the belt, Mara took out her saber, "C'mon, we'd better find cover." Amber snatched her hand away from Mara's.
"I already told you, I know what I'm doing." she snapped, running off. Across the room, Mara saw Wraith tackle Duke. Kicking him in the face, Duke rolled so he had a good shot at his head. He punched him once in the face before Wraith tripped him. Wraith took out a gun and shot at him, but Duke deflected each one with his saber. Wraith grabbed him, throwing him into the wall. Duke dropped his saber and fell to the ground, getting another one of his dizzy spells. Seeing him helpless, Wraith aimed his gun at Duke's head and fired, but Mara pulled Duke out of the way just in time.
"I owe you." he said quickly. Mara smiled, "Forget it. C'mon, let's go." Mara helped him over to where all the other ducks were firing from.
"Is he alright?" Wing asked Mara, looking at Duke.
"I think so." Wild Wing shook his head, "No more fighting for you, not in the condition you're in." Duke shook his head, still quite dizzy, and didn't reply. Mara noticed Amber on the other side of the room.
"Amber take cover!" Mara called to her.
"Why should I?!" Amber snapped back, "I'm just fine!" Mara sighed, beginning to become frustrated.
"Might as well give up, ducks." Siege called out, "Within ten seconds fifty robots will be heading in this direction to turn you into duck pate."
"Oh yeah?" Wild Wing challenged him, "I don't see any robots."
Chameleon ran over to Siege, "Uh, Siege? Slight problem. Someone's overrode the system...the robots are all down."
"What?!" Siege yelled, "How?!"
Wild Wing smiled, "Oops." Wraith glared at them, "Why are you just standing there?! Keep firing, we've got them cornered."
"Forget it Lizard Breath! You're dead!" Nose Dive yelled happily.
"Oh really?" a voice called out of nowhere. Dragaunus materialized before them.
"Ugh," Mallory moaned, "Cover your eyes before you get turned to stone!" she yelled to the others. Dragaunus gave her a toothy grin, "Clever." Amber walked out in front of him, "Hey there Ugly, wanna piece of me?"
Mara went pale, "She can't be serious..." Dragaunus grabbed Amber by the throat and lifted her off of the ground, "One so small should pick their fights more carefully." he said with a particularily evil laugh. Wild Wing put a hand on Dive's shoulder, who was getting out a gun.
"Don't. You might hit the pilot." Dive nodded solemnly. Wild Wing then held Mara back from running out. Amber kicked him, gasping for air. In response, Dragaunus threw her into the wall. Amber got up slowly and walked right back to him.
"Please," Mara murmured, "don't..." Amber paid no attention to her. "C'mon, you wanna fight?"
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Dragaunus growled, lifting her into the air once more. Mallory drew her gun. "Put it away or I'll squash this one like a bug!" Dragaunus snapped. Mallory reluctantly put away her gun. Getting the perfect shot, Duke used his grappling hook to trip Dragaunus. Amber fell to the ground, unconcious.
Shooting broke out again as Wild Wing picked Amber up off the ground. The ducks all ran out. "Lie him down flat." Tanya instructed Wild Wing, who was now setting her down in the Migrator.
"Well? How is he?" Wing asked, starting up the Migrator. Tanya took Amber's pulse and checked her head for injuries. "Slight concussion, that's all. He'll be fine in a few hours." Mara sat quietly in the corner, looking out the window while she tugged unhappily on a lock of her hair.
"Mara, did you hear that?" Tanya called to her gently.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, I heard you."
"He's a short little guy, isn't he?" Nose Dive said with a smile. Mara turned to look at him, "GUY?!"
Wing nodded, "I'm suprised he was tall enough to pass a pilot's examination."
"HE?!" Mara repeated in amazement. Wild Wing turned to Tanya quietly, "I think you may have to check Mara out too when we get back." Mara laughed, overhearing Wild Wing's comment, "No, I'm perfectly sane, thank you, but I think you should take a closer look at your patient!" Mara walked over and pulled off Amber's hat, revealing that she was a girl.
Nose Dive blushed, "Oopsies."
"I'm so sorry!" Wild Wing stammered, "With the hat on I guess she looked like a boy!"
Mara smiled, "That's perfectly alright. I don't blame you, but it's a good thing she didn't hear it."
Mallory nodded, "Yeah, I guess being kidnapped by Saurians doesn't put her in a good mood, does it?" Frowning slightly, Mara sat beside Amber, "No, she's usually in a bad mood...even when she's not being kidnapped."
"Gosh, I'm sorry." Mara looked over at Mallory and smiled at her sweetly, "You didn't know. She wasn't always like this...she used to be so sweet. I dunno what happened." Mara murmured, stroking Amber's hair gently.
"She's a friend of yours?" Grin asked. "She's my half sister." Nose Dive looked at her in suprise, "Your sister?! How many relatives have you got?!" Mara smiled at him.
"Nose Dive...you mean Wild Wing didn't tell you about your real mother?" Nose Dive fell off his chair.
"Don't slouch, Son." Mara said calmly. Everyone laughed.
"Mara," Nose Dive said with a grin, "you and me are gonna get along juuust fine!" When they got back to the pond, Wild Wing put Amber in the medlab.
"I should stay here and keep an eye on her." Wild Wing sair thoughtfully.
"Ooh, got a little crush there, Big Bro?" Dive said, elbowing him lighty in the ribs. Wing glared at him and blushed a little, "No, but she's gonna want to know where she is when she wakes up." he muttered quickly.
"Maybe I should stay too..." Mara said, looking down at Amber.
"Wild Wing can do that." Mallory said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We wanna take you shopping!" Shrugging, Mara walked over to them, "Well, if you want to..."
"Of course we do!" Nose Dive said enthusiastically.
"As soon as we take care of Duke." Tanya said, leading him to a chair. "Time for his medication, and it looks like he needs it!"
"How can you tell?" asked Grin. Duke sat down.
"Easy," Tanya said with a smile, "He's not objecting!" The ducks all laughed. Tanya quickly gave him a shot. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"I'll answer that when I can feel my arm again." Duke mumbled.
"Come on, Mara. Let's go shopping."
"I wanna come too." Duke said eagerly, standing up. Tanya shook her head, "You need rest. Stay here."
Duke glared at her, "I'm just fine, uh..."
Tanya sighed, "Tanya, my name is Tanya. Remember?" Duke nodded, "Just slipped, that's all."
"Wild Wing, tell Duke to stay here." Wing looked over at him, "oh, I dunno. Walking might do him some good." Duke stuck his toungue out at Tanya.
"Oh fine! Come on, you big baby."
Grin smiled, "Hey, Duke's just trying to make sure that us guys aren't out numbered."
"That's right..." Mal said happily, "With you and the other one here the numbers are exactly even!" Tanya and Mallory slapped each other five. "YES!!" The six ducks walked out together, leaving Wild Wing alone with Amber. Looking down at her, Wild Wing pushed back her hair and felt her forehead. Besides a slight temperature, she was fine. Wild Wing reached to the side of the bed and pulled a warm, damp cloth out of a nearby basin of water. After wringing it out, he placed it gingerly on her head. Wing watched her sleep with intrest, looking over her face. She was thin, small, and quite beautiful. Wild Wing quickly stood up and paced around the room. The last thing he needed was another crush...
"This way!" Dive called out. He grabbed Mara by the wrist and pulled her into Captain Comics. The others followed behind, pausing at the doorway.
"What's wrong?" Mara asked them.
"Everytime we walk in here Thrash sprays us with some weird kind of goo." Duke explained.
"Different color each time." Mallory added, poking her head into the doorway. "Coast's clear, let's go." As soon as they walked in Thrash jumped out with his squirt gun and sprayed them all with pale white goo.
"White?!" Tanya exclaimed, "Thrash, you're losing your touch. You already DID white."
Thrash shook his head, "No way Taunny, this is glow in the dark!" Tanya rolled her eyes, wiping off her beak.
"Oh, well in THAT case..." Mara giggled, "That's a good look for you guys."
"You think so?" Duke said, approaching her threateningly. Mara backed up against the wall.
"Uh oh, I think he's gonna kill me." Duke looked hurt, "Me? Kill YOU?! Never!" Duke grabbed Mara and hugged her, getting white slime all over her. Mara yelled, but she was cut off by everyone else's laughter.
"Very funny!" She yelled, "You just wait, L'Orange, you'll pay for that!"
"I'm sure I will." Duke said sarcastically. Grin motioned for them all to come outside.
"Look, it's the ice cream truck."
"The ice WHAT truck?" Mara asked with confusion.
"Ice cream. Don't you know about ice cream? It existed back on Puckworld too."
"For you guys maybe, but not for us." Duke explained, "Thieves can't exactly afford those kind of luxuries. I didn't know what it was when I came here either." Mara smiled at him, "That makes me feel somewhat better...thanks."
"Here, we'll get you some. You'll like it." Dive said happily.
"You're just using that as an excuse to get yourself some!" said Mal.
Nose Dive nodded, walking to the truck, "Yeah, so?"

Wild Wing sat back down, looking at Amber. "What were you thinking, walking up to Dragaunus like that?" Amber gave no reply (Editors' note: yeah, like she would while she was asleep?!). "I wish I knew your name." Wing said regretfully. Amber opened her eyes.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Wild Wing fell backwards, shocked by the girl's scream. When he got back up, she was holding a gun up to him.
"Canard, you bastard! You scared the hell outta me! Why don't you take that stupid mask off, you asshole?" She said angrily. Wild Wing took the mask off, "I'm not Canard." He said quietly, looking into her eyes. Amber went pale, "Oh my God...who the hell are you then?" she demanded.
"My name's Wild Wing. I'm the leader of the Mighty Ducks."
"Sounds pretty stupid."
"Uh, could you put away that gun?" He asked gently. Amber glared at him.
"So you can kill me? Fat chance."
"I'm not going to kill you, I want to help you, that's all."
"I've heard that before," Amber said bitterly, "so step away from the bed." Wing did as he was told. As Amber tried to sit up she became very dizzy. Some how, she managed to hold onto her gun. "What did you do to me?!" She snapped.
"You got a nasty bump on the head from Dragaunus."
"So you work for the lizards, huh?" Amber got up and shoved him into the Ready Room.
"No, we fight the Saurians."
"Bullshit." Amber sat down. "Sit where I can see you." she demanded. Wing sat down on the floor in front of her calmly.
"This really isn't nessicary, I don't want to hurt you." Amber paid no attention to him. "I can prove it." Wild Wing continued.
"Shut up." Amber muttered, looking around.
"I'm serious." Wing persisted.
Amber glared at him, "I SAID shut up!!" She yelled, pointing the gun at his head. Wild Wing sighed, shifting his position so that Amber could see he'd had a gun on him this entire time. Instead of convincing her that he was a friend, Wild Wing only suceeded in angering her. She snatched the gun from him.
"I should kill you right now." She hissed.
Wild Wing simply looked down into his comm, "Guys, she's up." he said calmly. Amber was stunned as she heard Mara's voice reply, "Really?! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's just fine." Wild Wing said with a smile.
"Great! We'll be right there."
"I knew it." Amber said angrily, "You ARE a Saurian! That was Chameleon!"
Wing laughed, "That was your sister Mara."
"She's not my sister!" Amber snapped defiantly, "She's my half sister."
Wild Wing sighed, "Whatever."
"How do I know it's really her?" Amber demanded.
Wild Wing shrugged, "How should I know? I wish you'd lighten up a little."
"LIGHTEN UP?!" Amber sputtered, "You don't have any right to talk to me like that!" Wild Wing rolled his eyes as Amber yelled frantically. "That's it! I'm gonna fuckin' blast your brains out right now!" Amber held the gun out at him.
"Go on, shoot." Wild Wing said calmly. Amber put the gun down, "Damn you!" she yelled. The rest of the Mighty Ducks walked into the Ready Room. Mara looked at Amber eagerly.
"There you are! Are you alright?" Mara stepped closer to touch her, but Amber pulled away, "Yeah, no thanks to you. That guy nearly killed me! And where the hall have you been all this time?!" Mara backed up, allowing Amber to walk past her.
"Well, Wraith threatened to kill you unless I found the Mighty Ducks- that's who these people are- and so we all came back and got you, but you were knocked unconcious by Dragaunus. Then we brought you back here, and they offered to show me around Anaheim...I figured it wouldn't matter since Wild Wing had offered to look after you, and we weren't gone that long-"
"So you left me with this psycho while YOU went shopping?!" Amber exclaimed angrily, pointing to Wild Wing, "I can't believe you!"
"I'm sorry Amber, I suppose I should've known better." Mara said quietly. Amber nodded, glaring at the other ducks.
"She's the life of the party, isn't she?" Tanya said to Mara sarcastically.
Mara smiled at her, "She certainly is."
"Funny." Amber snapped. She looked at each duck carefully, pausing as she reached Nose Dive. Amber looked at him and began to stutter, her knees shaking. Mara walked over to her, "Amber? What is it." Nose Dive stepped forward to help, but Amber screamed, "Keep him away from me!" Dive quickly backed up. Tanya walked over to her and helped her to the couch along with Mara.
"What happened?" Tanya asked.
"I dunno...Amber, what is it?" Amber stuttered incoherently.
"That's my brother Nose Dive." Wild Wing explained calmly. Amber seemed to relax when Wing told her his name.
"Then he's not..."
"Amber, who did you think he was?" Mara asked.
"It doesn't matter." Amber said quickly. Mara began to sit down beside her, but she backed away as Amber glared at her heatedly.
"I don't need your help, so just stay away from me." she snapped.
Mara nodded, "I'm sorry." Amber rolled her eyes and looked back at the rest of the team.
"Mighty Ducks, huh?" Amber said coldly, "So you fight the Saurians?" Wild Wing nodded. "Well you're doing a pretty shitty job, aren't you?" The ducks all glared at her. She ignored them all, looking around the room. Noticing that Duke was swaying on his feet, Tanya walked over to him.
"Here, you'd better sit down. That medication's not working as well as I thought."
Duke looked confused, "But I haven't taken it yet, have I?"
Tanya sighed, "Yes you did, remember?" Duke shook his head. "In the med lab right before we went shopping. You don't remember?" Duke shook his head again.
"Nope." Tanya sighed, "I told you we shouldn't have brought him along, Wild Wing." Amber stared at him.
"Duke L'Orange?"
Duke nodded, "That's me." Amber's eyes lit up. Without a word she ran over and hugged him. The others all watched in amazement.
"It is! It's really you! I missed you so much..." Duke laughed.
"Hey, watch it. You're ruining my image as a jerk!" "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you with that lazer eye...what happened?"
Duke shook his head slightly, "I-I can't remember..." Amber stared at him, turning pale.
"You remember ME, don't you?" Duke looked at her weakly. "You don't." Amber said softly. She stepped away from him, her eyes filling up with tears.
"Duke's been suffering from a concussion, he's having a lot of trouble with his memory." Grin explained quickly.
"I see." Amber said coldly, "Will someone show me to my room?" Wild Wing volunteered for the job.
"She looks so familiar..." Duke said quietly, watching them walk out.
Mallory sighed, "It's not your fault, Duke. Here, come on, let's get you to your room. Mara, you can come too. You're right next to him." Mara nodded, walking over to them.
"I'm so sorry about her," Mara said gently, "She's not usually like this, really. I dunno what happened."
Tanya smiled at her, "Not at all Mara. Bumps on the head like that are bound to cause mood swings. She'll be fine in the morning. Good night guys." They all said their good nights and parted. Mallory and Mara walked into Duke's room with him.
"Thank you Florence Nightingale," he said sarcastically, "But I'm not an invalid! I THINK I can manage without you."
Mal laughed, "You're just sore because that little girl's upset."
Duke shrugged, "Well, it's bugging me! I just can't place her."
Mara nodded, "I'm sure it'll all be a lot clearer in the morning. Good night, Duke, it was nice meeting you."
Duke smiled up at her, "Good night, Mara." Mal and Mara walked out.
"This is your room." Mallory said, pointing to the door next to Duke's. "There's a cot and linens all set up for you.
Mara smiled, "Thanks Mal, but I don't suppose you've got a hammock?"
Mallory nodded, puzzled, "Yeah, we do. Why?"
Mara shrugged, "I've never slept on a bed before."
"Really? Well, we'll get you one later...come with me! Tanya and I have got a thousand things to ask you...I can't tell you how nice it is to have an even number of girls now. We usually feel completely outnumbered by those barbarians!" Mal led Mara off down the hallway.

Eight on a hockey team? Oh well, nothing's perfect...

The Invaders: Part II
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