"You coming or not?"

Deanna looked up from her book. "I suppose so."

She slowly rose from her chair, stuck the bookmark in, and carefully placed it on the desk. She straightened the front of her blazer, then walked to the stairs.

A few girls stood at the foot, arms crossed and tapping the floor with their toes. Deanna didn't hurry. What was the point? They'd be early anyway, and they all knew it. No one could ever be late with Miriah in their group.

Oh, it wasn't that Miriah always insisted everyone hurry and such, it was just well, rather odd. You see, time seemed to slow, even stop when she was around. She claimed it was just their perception of things, but Deanna knew better. She knew who Miriah really was.

Or, rather, she had a vague idea. Ever since herself and twelve other children were found on the doorstep of the Anaheim orphanage, their lives had been thrown into havoc. Not that she could remember anything before that, of course. She was too young. Still...

Maybe she'd know someday. It probably wasn't important. Still, that persisting silent voice that was her sub-conscioncious, told her otherwise.

"Wow!" One of the girls cried out in delight.

Deanna looked around appraisingly. She had to admit, it was pretty impressive. She never thought a fair could be this fun. Then again, she'd never been to a fair like this before.

The rides were large and plentiful, and there were various games and activities to try.

"Come on!" One girl cried. "Let's go see the animals!"

"No way!" Another called. "I want to go on the ferris wheel!"

"I think..."

"Who cares what you think?"

"We should..."

"Here!"

"There!"

Deanna sighed. The others were getting on her nerves. She glanced around, and one booth caught her eye.

"How about there?"

The others turned to look at where she was pointing. A bright, cheerful Fun House of Mirrors stood invitingly.

"You kidding?" One girl laughed. "That's for little kids!"

"Exactly as your acting. I think it'll do you good." Deanna raised her eyebrow, and looked them down. She was the tallest in the group, and though she was awfully thin, the others thought it might be wise to follow her 'suggestion'.

The others nodded, and filed in. Their opinions soon changed, though, as they saw how hilarious they looked in the concave, convex, and twisted mirrors.

Deanna walked calmly, slowly. She paused in front of one mirror, and furrowed her brows. She squinted, and when she finally made out the image of herself, her jaw dropped. The image's jaw also dropped. She ran her hands across her clothes, her reflection doing the same. She still wore the same blue pleated skirt, the same blue, short sleeved blazer with its wide collar, and the white high collared shirt with the blue strings, the same knee length socks, and the same black, silver buckled Mary Janes.

Her beret was still on her honey blonde hair, but the reflection had much longer hair. She even still had the red bow near her right temple. Odd, She thought. What was going on?

She whispered, "I don't believe it," mostly to assure herself it was just the mirror. She didn't really look like that.

Her reflection didn't whisper. Her lips had moved. She was sure of it. To make sure, she repeated herself, making sure her lips moved. They did, but her reflections' didn't move. Instead she heard the silent voice of her subconscious whisper it, underlayed with a mental cheering.

Deanna shook her head and moved closer to the mirror. The reflection did the same. The mirror image held surprise, shock, and curiosity, which was most likely on her own face.

Then, her image did something odd. It moved. Now, that in itself wouldn't be odd, except the fact it moved at a different time than Deanna. It wasn't even moving the same way.

Instead, the surface of the mirror began to shimmer as though it was water and something small had fell in. A moment later, a pair of arms followed, seized Deanna by the front of her shirt, and pulled. Deanna struggled, but her reflection was stronger. She was pulled in, and a moment later, the rippling stopped.

If someone had placed their ear against the mirror and listened hard, they would've heard a voice screaming for help, for deliverance. But why would anyone do that? It would be nonsensical. So no one noticed she was gone until time began to shift and she was erased from their memories.

Her head ached. She had no idea where she was, or who she was. She only knew her head ached. Terribly. She tried to move, but the pain racked her skull, so she remained still. She heard voices and movement beside her, but kept her eyes tightly closed.

She heard a voice say, "We're going to lose her."

Another voice gasped. "She can't!"

Who were they talking about?

"There's nothing more we can do."

"Surely there is!"

Why was the second voice so concerned about the poor person who was dying? Where they related?

"There is nothing."

"Than I will..."

"No!"

What couldn't the other do? She wanted to know. Tell me! she screamed mentally.

"I don't care what you think! She's my sister..."

Ah, that's why she was so concerned.

"It's too dangerous."

What's dangerous? How dangerous is too dangerous?

"I will!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

She heard a scream. What was wrong? There was some sounds of a struggle.

"Fool," the second voice hissed. "She knows better than to try to stop a Guardian when her system has started to run on high."

That voice, the thought. I know it. Where have I heard that voice before?

An object was ran across her stomach quickly, and it wasn't until the object was removed that she realized that it was sharp and had hurt. What was that for? she wondered, her mind still too inconherant to realize the full force of her thoughts. Is someone trying to kill me like that poor dying girl?

She had no more time for thoughts, as suddenly, a hand was placed over the area the object had run over, and a sudden fire was shot through her veins.

She heard two voices screaming. Poor things...

Suddenly she realized one of the voices was her own, ripping out of her own throat, the fire in her veins fueling the screams.

Her system was run on high, near the breaking point. She was going to die, was going to die, goingtodiegoingtodiegoingtodiegoingtodie......

The feeling persisted, never letting her die, but never giving her release either. Just as she was about to give up, the pain stopped. As suddenly as it had started.

She heard a moan, and without even thinking, twisted, dropped to the ground and caught the falling body before it hit the floor.

It was only then when she realized the full force of what had just happened. She looked at the figure she held, and nearly dropped her. It was her reflection from the Fun House mirror! She stopped, confused. When had she been in a Fun House?

Carefully, she lifted the figure onto the bed she'd just vacated.

It was a Duck. That much was evident. She'd seen the Ducks, they said they came from a different planet where there were many of them. Well, she certainly believed them now. This Duck was most certainly not on that team of hockey playing Ducks.

She had long, waist length blonde hair, and Deanna suspected if her eyes were open, they would be startlingly green, just like her reflection's had been. She wore black leather, and a white t-shirt. A necklace was around her neck, and Deanna lifted it to see the pendant. It was a silver hockey mask, like the Mighty Duck's goalie Wildwing wore. This one had green eyes, that seemed to glow from some light within. She shuddered, and dropped it.

Deanna turned back from the bed, and ran her hands trough her hair. She paused, as if someone had hit a dissonant note while playing a background theme. She pulled her hands out of her hair, and stared at them. What was wrong? Fingers. Yes. That was it. Something was wrong with her fingers. What was it? Three. She stared. Three fingers and a thumb. Wasn't she supposed to have four?

She shook her head, and her hair hit her face. She paused. Since when was her hair long enough to be able to hit her face?

Afraid, she looked down at herself. She wore a black leather outfit, much like the other duck, only hers had a leather vest as oppossed to a leather jacket. Her beret and bow were still there, she had run her fingers through her hair and felt them. What's wrong with me? She thought. Snap out of it! she reprimanded herself fiercely. She turned, and looked straight into a full length mirror. Her jaw dropped, as it had in the Fun House. This time though, this was a normal mirror, and reflecting what she'd least expected to see.

Her reflection stood where she was sure she herself had stood a moment before. It was a Duck. Yes, a Duck. What was wrong? Had some laboratory experiment gone horribly wrong and turned her into a Duck?

She moaned.

"It is a jolt to the system the first time isn't it?"

She spun. The Duck in black leather stood beside the bed Deanna had left her on. She glanced at the floor, and for the first time noticed an elderly Duck laying there.

The Duck followed her gaze. "Oh, she'll be fine." She laughed rather musically. "Actually, I couldn't really hurt her, since she's only a robot."

She glared at the other duck suspiciously.

"Oh, we haven't been properly introduced. Well, not lately anyway." She added.

"I just wanted to know what you meant by the 'first time'."

"That?" She laughed again. " I meant, that simply you get used to it after the first time."

As she spoke, she began to change. The beak slowly melted into her face, another finger began to emerge from each hand, and a nose and lips began to form.

"Heather!" She gasped.

"Yep." The girl grinned. "Was that a slight jolt to your memory?"

"I'm sure I have no idea as to what your talking about."

"Still using too big of words, Joy. You're starting to sound like Albert."

Now that jolted her memory. The names began to set off alarms in her mind.

Heather's face had begun to shift again, changing back to a Duck. She looked at Deanna expectantly, then not seeing what she was expecting, shrugged and turned to examine the 'robot'.

Something began to move in her veins. Not pain like the last time, but a power, a raw, unlimited power.

"Take that back." She said it coolly.

"Pardon?" The Duck turned back with an air of innocence.

"By Drake Missie, TAKE IT BACK!!"

"Now that's more like the twin I know and love." She ginned. "Welcome back, sis."

"I can't believe he did that!"

"Of course you can." Missie rested her hand on Deanna/Joy's shoulder. She shook it off, but Missie placed it back. She spun Joy to face her, and looked her straight in the eyes. As she always had in the past, Joy squirmed inside under her sister's gaze, but showed no sign of it on the outside.

Missie sighed. "You can't hide your emotions from me, Joy. The eyes are the windows to the soul, after all. Not that anyone else would've been able to tell."

"So why can you?" Joy asked it coolly, but inside she craved the answer.

"Just can." Missie shrugged, then continued walking down the street.

Joy fumed. She always gave that answer, and unlike any other living being -including the other Guardians- she couldn't probe the answer from her twin's mind. Her barriers were too strong, and Joy had never been able to figure out why.

Missie turned to look back at her. -Coming?-

-Yes.-

It could be inconvenient for some to speak through the mind, especially if they weren't trained, or didn't have the instinct. Most Guardians couldn't hear a single thing they said to each other, and if they didn't speak directly to them, the common bystanders would never ever hear them. Unless, of course they were..

No. Joy shuddered, then raised her resolve and shoved the thought to the back of her mind. She refused to think of them unless she absolutely had to.

Seeing Missie hadn't paused to wait for her, Joy darted forward to walk beside her sister. They walked in silence, Joy wondering what Missie was thinking.

"I found out who our mother is, Joy." Missie refered to the fact that the twins were adopted, having come from about 15 centuries in the future.

"What's our real name?" Joy sounded choked up, as if she was about to cry. Missie knew she wouldn't. Joy was too strong, often too strong for her own good.

"Vanderflock." Missie said softly.

Joy nodded her understanding.

Missie suddenly smiled. "Enough of such serious matters. I have some friends I'd like you to meet."

"Yeah? Who?" Joy smiled despite the fact that she knew that's exactly what Missie wanted her to do.

"The Mighty Ducks."

"Wow!" Joy was breathless. She stood in the Ducks' ready room, looking at Drake1 in awe. "What did you say this was called again?"

"Drake1." Missie beamed, as if it were her who had made Drake1, not Tanya.

"And our mother built it? Apparently you didn't inherit any of her brains, Missie."

"Hey!" Missie glared at her sister's radiant grin.

"I was just kidding. You know that."

Missie glowered, but did relax somewhat. "Actually, that reminds me. I'd better introduce you to the others before the alarm decide they won't accept you here and go off."

"Right." Joy climbed down from the platform and joined Missie.

"This way." Missie motioned for her to follow her. She walked down the hall, and stepped into the rec-room.

The Ducks all looked up from whatever they were doing.

Nosedive called, "Missie...and...Missie?" He looked bewildered.

"Hello everyone. This is Joy. She's my twin sister."

"Could it be..." Tanya asked.

"It's her, Tany. My honest, to goodness, real sister."

Tanya lept up and hugged Joy tightly. "I've missed you so much," she said softly.

"Joy," Missie grinned, "This is our mother. She's the brains of the operation."

"Oh, and I'm not??? I'm insulted." Nosedive teased.

"So, Joy, this is Wildwing Flashblade and his younger brother, Nosedive."

Missie's face was radiant when she mentioned Nosedive, but Joy seemed more interested in the Flashblade.

"Wildwing's the team Captain, and goalie, and Nosedive's, uh, well..."

"The real brains of the operation and Missie's wonderful boyfriend." Nosedive grinned and wrapped his arm around Missie's shoulder.

"The brains of the operation?" Mallory joked and poked Nosedive in the side.

"That's Mallory MacMallard," Missie continued, "team second-in-command and weapons and military expert."

"Hope you like shopping." Mallory grinned.

"Oh, and you and her'll get along *just* fine, since you're both addicted to shopping." Missie added mischievously.

"Hey!" Both Mallory and Joy yelled at the same time, then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Duke muttered, "Oh, brother."

"That's Duke L'Orange. former cat thief and leader of the Brotherhood of the Blade."

"Really?" Joy's face lit up. "Well really pleased to meet you. Say, tell me, has the Brotherhood changed any from Missie and I's time? I mean to your knowledge?"

"Not that I know of," Duke said slowly.

"Good. Tradition was always important to us, so I'm glad it hasn't changed."

"Thrilled." Duke muttered.

"That's Grin." Missie pointed at the tall imposing Duck. "He's seriously into meditating and zen and stuff I don't understand, but I think I would label him the 'team enforcer'. I mean, he's huge, he's strong, and well, Joy, a word of advice. Don't ever let him check you. Ever."

"Got it." Joy glanced at Grin, who was chuckling quietly.

Wildwing spoke up. "Are you going to be staying with us long, Joy?"

"Uh, well, I really don't know."

Missie looked at Wildwing sweetly and innocently. "Pleeeeaaaasssse may she stay Wildwing? She doesn't have anywhere else to go."

Wildwing paused. "I suppose, if she stays with you, she could."

"Yay!!!!" Missie grinned. "C'mon Joy!"

She seized her twin's hand and ran down the hall. As she was pulled out the door, Joy shrugged and followed Missie.

"This is my room." Missie twirled around the centre of her quarters. "You can have the lower bunk."

"Thanks." Joy had popped a suitcase into existence, filled with all her old favourite clothes. She plunked it down on the bed, and looked around.

"So, Missie, how long have you been here?"

"Few months. Don't know how long I'll be staying. Probably for quite awhile."

Joy nodded.

"Tired?" Missie asked. Joy looked up and found herself staring into Missie's upside down face. She nearly jumped out of her skin until she realized that she was just leaning over from the bunk above her.

"You kidding? I've got enough of your adrenalin and blood in me to keep me going for days!"

"Yeah, me too, but you always need sleep the most when you think you need it the least. Right?"

"Especially after healing." Joy agreed. "O.K., let's get some sleep."

Missie nodded and disappeared up into her bunk. Joy groaned, and fell back onto the bed. Not even bothering to pull the blankets over herself, she curled up into a ball.

I like this, she thought. I really should stay. Might have some fun. Besides, Duke's cute. Probably taken though. Oh well.

These thoughts filling her mind, she dropped off into a blissful sleep.