The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are the property of Walt Disney Corporations. No copyright infringement is intended. This story and any original characters are the products of my own twisted imagination. ________ NegaDucks Mallory McMallard dropped to the ground just in time to avoid being hit by a flying car. She was halfway back on her feet when she spotted the lamppost heading her way. She dodged a split second before the brass pole slammed into the ground where she'd been. "This isn't going according to plan," she muttered. It had started with a news report earlier that afternoon. Tanya had called them all into the Ready Room just in time to catch the end of a report about miniature dinosaurs running loose through San Francisco. "If that doesn't have 'Dragaunus' written all over it," Duke had announced, "I'll eat my sword." Wildwing had agreed and they'd taken off in the Aerowing for San Francisco in only minutes. But now, faced with four very angry Saurians and their army of four foot high dinosaurs - meat-eaters, of course - Mallory could see that this scenario also had the word 'trap' written all over it. The firefight was becoming decidedly ugly. The Mighty Ducks, hampered by the concern for pedestrians and standers-by, were unable to attack their enemies with the abandoned fervor that the Saurians were putting into their efforts. Already two humans had been shot by the Saurians energy weapons, and Mallory wasn't certain they hadn't been killed. If they couldn't get to a less populous areas, draw the Saurians fire away from the crowds, then there would be some serious casualties. Wildwing had come to the same conclusion apparently. With Duke and Tanya he was doing his best to draw Siege and Chameleon down a side street, toward an empty construction site. But Dragaunus and Wraith, the two most dangerous Saurians, were still here. Mallory flashed a signal to Nosedive and was relieved to see the boy's acknowledging nod. He fired a few shots of his puck blaster at Wraith, drawing the sorcerer's attention. That left Grin and Mallory to deal with Dragaunus. No problem. Fortunately the Saurian overlord didn't seem too anxious to face them by himself. Seeing the others fall back he too began a retreat. Mallory and Grin pressed the advantage and drove Dragaunus in the same direction as the others. Dragaunus raised his hands and let loose with one final burst of energy - 'Ancient Saurian Powers,' Mallory thought grimly - before actively retreating. "Don't let him get away!" Mallory called to Grin. Dragaunus was heading directly for the construction site, making Mallory and Grin's job that much easier; instead of forcing him that way they simply gave chase. Dragaunus reached the edge of the site and turned to face them, presenting them with a perfect target. Mallory raised her puck launcher and prepared to fire, but there was a shimmer of light and Dragaunus faded from sight, his laughter echoing even after he was gone. "Cloaking device," Grin said. "Watch your back." "For what?" Mallory asked. "We won't see him coming. Let's find the others. This is starting to feel wrong." Working carefully, back to back, keeping their eyes open for anything even remotely out of place, the two made their way through the abandoned site. They met up with the others beside a small wooden building only to learn that the same thing had happened to them. "This is very wrong," Mallory said uneasily. "It has to be a trap." "Mallory's right," Wildwing agreed. "Fall back. It's not worth falling into Dragaunus' clutches." They never got the chance. There was an explosion of sound from behind them and the wooden building suddenly disappeared, revealing the Raptor in its place. The Dimensional Gateway Generator was glowing with energy as it was carefully aimed right at them. "Oh, no," Tanya said. There was no more time for words as the Gateway opened a vortex directly before them and the pull of the dimensional flux dragged them through. *** Once Mallory was aware enough to realize that she was aware she decided she didn't want to be aware anymore. She took a few deep breaths, trying to steady the pounding in her head and the ache that ran from her shoulder through the rest of her arm. Carefully she opened her eyes, only to shut them against the harsh glare of light. A moment passed as the pain alleviated somewhat and she tried it again, squinting until her eyes adjusted enough to open them all the way. She immediately decided that this wasn't going to be good. The sky above her was a dirty gray, the sunlight that pierced its way through the clouds and smog barely enough to see by, yet more than enough to sting at her eyes and cause them to tear up. She rolled onto her left side, and propped herself on her left arm, the uninjured one. They were lying in a field of some sort, filled with dead and decaying plants and surrounded on all sides by buildings in varying states of disrepair. From the distance she heard shouting and what sounded like gunshots. Her eyes still stung a bit but she blinked away most of the tears and surveyed her surroundings. A few feet away she spotted blue and white armor; Wildwing or Nosedive. She stood, pausing a minute until the world stopped spinning around her and the renewed pounding in her head faded away once again. She knelt beside her teammate; Nosedive she saw now. The boy was still unconscious, blood coating his blond hair with a deep glistening red. A large rock lay near his head, undoubtedly the cause of his injury. Mallory sighed. "Great." She hoped it wasn't serious. They weren't in a position to take care of any grievous wounds. If Dive's injury was more than a surface wound there wouldn't be much they could do for him, especially not if this world they were in was as unfriendly as it looked and she had no desire to sit back and watch *another* teammate die. 'Getting a little ahead of yourself there, Mal,' she told herself firmly. 'He's fine. He's breathing, good pulse. Find the others.' The others weren't far away. Also unconscious, but Wildwing and Tanya were both beginning to stir. Grin's arm was cut, Mallory noticed a twisted rusted piece of metal nearby coated with blood. Good thing the INS had insisted they all get the required vaccinations back when they arrived on Earth. Something as rusted and dirty as that hunk of metal almost certainly would have caused some kind of infection. She roused them all before returning to Nosedive, who by now had awakened and managed to get himself into a sitting position. He waved aside her offer of assistance and carefully pressed a hand to the back of his head. It came away smeared with blood. "Oh just smashing," he muttered. Mallory looked up as she heard someone approach. Wildwing knelt on Dive's other side, grimacing slightly at the sight of the blood. "Tanya," he called, "when you're finished with Grin we could use you over here." "I'm fine," Dive protested ineffectually. Wildwing ignored him. "It doesn't look too bad," he said. "But let's not take any chances. We don't know what we're dealing with here." He cast a troubled glance around their surroundings. "I don't think we're going to find a lot of cooperation around here." 'Now *that's* an understatement,' Mallory thought grimly. This place reminded her of the demilitarized zones back on Puckworld after the occupation. In between the resistance's territory and the area controlled by Dragaunus, the demilitarized zones had been filled with hopeless, desperate, frightened people who had done anything and everything to survive. This place had the same feeling. Not far away, something - someone - began to scream. *** "A dimensional gateway? Are you certain, Wraith?" "Positive, milord." Wraith's expression was a combination of worry and apprehension. "The life sign readings I detected are identical to those of Canard's group." Dragaunus stared. "Are you saying that the Puckworlders have gotten their hands on a version of the Dimensional Gateway?" "I don't believe so, milord. According to my readings the teleport didn't originate within this dimension. And I'm still getting readings from the Puckworlders inside the city." "Two sets of the Ducks. Fantastic. One was bad enough." "They *are* from another dimension, milord. Perhaps they are not quite so... *troublesome* as those in our dimension." "Troublesome, Wraith?" Dragaunus allowed himself a brief smile. "You are the master of the understatement aren't you?" He sighed and leaned back in the command chair of the Raptor. "What do you think we should do?" "I would like to see just what we're dealing with here," Wraith said. "Allow me to observe these new Puckworlders, see what they're about and how they came to be here. At the very least we'll have an idea of what we'll be dealing with. And if they are allies of Canard, well, then we'll have some advance warning." Dragaunus considered the request for a moment. "All right. But take Chameleon with you, and remain cloaked at all times. Be careful, old friend." Wraith bowed his head slightly. "I should be back before nightfall; I just want to see what these new arrivals are about, not join their fan club. I'll fill you in on my findings as soon as I have something worth reporting." "Keep me apprised of your location at all times," Dragaunus added. "Agreed." Dragaunus watched his friend's retreat, his mind filled with the possibilities this situation could present him with. These other Ducks could be his downfall. Or his salvation. *** The street was lined with decrepit and burned out buildings. Garbage was piled along the street and sidewalk, rats scurried through the alleys and through the gutters and there was a foul stench that seemed to emanate from every corner of the street. Duke shook his head in disbelief as he took in his surroundings. "It looks like Anaheim," he said slowly. "Exactly like Anaheim. If I didn't know any better I'd say we were just a few blocks from the Pond." "Maybe we are," Tanya said thoughtfully. "Maybe this is some sort of parallel dimension where everything's the same, just different." "*That's* real clear," Dive said sarcastically. "You mean this is some place where everything is a twisted version of what we have in our world?" "Basically, yeah." "Going by what I've seen so far," Mallory said quietly, "I don't think I want to see the rest of it." "No kidding," Dive agreed. "Tanya, if this place is really an alternate version of our dimension, do you think there'll be alternate versions of, well *us?*" "It depends," Tanya said thoughtfully. "If there was some reason for it. We don't know anything about this world. It could be none of us ever left Puckworld, or only some of us did. Maybe the occupation never even happened in this dimension." Wildwing interrupted. "I don't like standing in the middle of the street while we're having this conversation. Let's find someplace to talk that's a little more private. And a lot more defensible." *** Wraith followed behind the six Ducks at a safe distance, but still close enough to overhear everything they said. Remarkable, the difference between this group and the one to which he'd become accustomed. Wildwing was calmly rational as he listened to Tanya's theories on where they were, Tanya herself had shown a great deal more... patience was probably the best word, than she usually did. The others had also conducted themselves with an uncanny sense of... *civilization.* It was starting to unnerve him. Chameleon apparently felt the same way. Every so often Wraith would pick up a thought or two through the mental link the Saurians all shared and each time it was surprise. Both expected Wildwing to have killed someone by now. 'Where is Canard, I wonder?' Wraith mused to himself. 'Perhaps Wildwing finally killed him? No, that's not fair, Wraith. You don't know what you're dealing with here. For all you know, these Ducks are fine, upstanding citizens.' Wraith allowed himself a moment of amusement at the thought. 'Right. And in their dimension I'm a bloodthirsty lunatic bent on world domination.' Ahead of him the Puckworlders had apparently found what they were looking for. 'The hockey rink,' Wraith noticed. 'I ought to have known. Of course they'd examine the similarities between their world and ours.' There was something bothering him about all of this though: Why hadn't Wildwing noticed the presence of the two Saurians? Never before had Wraith been able to remain hidden for so long. Did this Wildwing forget the old ways? Or perhaps it was a lost skill amongst those of this alternate dimension. A sobering thought. Wraith's powers were being utilized to their utmost levels to prevent detection. The Mask of Ducaine would see through the cloaking device as if it weren't even there, therefore a bit of telepathic interference was employed. But he was also using the power to ensure that no one could approach him unnoticed. A fortunate thing indeed because he sensed one of the Puckworlders - the ones relevant to his world - approaching. 'This,' he decided wryly, 'could be interesting.' *** "Someone's coming," Grin said. "From over there." Wildwing followed Grin's gaze. He caught a faint movement, still far enough away that he couldn't see anything in detail. "I don't think any of us are particularly ready for a confrontation with the locals, are we?" A chorus of 'No' was the reply. "Good. Let's keep out of sight until we get a feel for this place." They moved off the street into the alley, seeming to melt into the shadows. Mallory held back a little, waiting to see who it was that Grin had spotted. Safely enveloped in the dark seclusion of the shadows she paused, silent at the edge of the alley. She heard the footsteps approach and she held her breath, trying to press back into the shadows even further without moving. She saw the stranger as they approached the alley and continued past, not seeing her. Mallory's heart froze in her chest, seeming to skip a beat as she saw who it was. For only an instant, Mallory was staring into the face of a twisted, hate-filled version of herself. *** "I'm telling you, there was nothing good about her," Mallory said firmly. "It's like she was thinking about everyone she wanted to kill and how she was going to do it. I barely recognized myself." "It wasn't you," Duke said. "Remember that, okay? It's whole new world." Dive snickered at the pun and even Mallory managed a smile. It was disturbing, being faced with someone who was so much like her, yet so different. And she'd only gotten a quick look at her other self. Mallory hoped she'd never actually *meet* this other Mallory face to face. "Well," Mallory said off-handedly, "if a big, blue, genie shows up asking what my three wishes are, I'm going home." Duke clapped her on the shoulder. "That's better. We need to figure out what we're going to do." Wildwing was frowning, Mallory could tell even with the Mask obscuring most of his features. "I don't the look of this situation," he said. "From what Mallory saw it would seem that we're not going to be able to get help from this dimension's version of ourselves. And judging by the condition of the city, I'd say it's a pretty fair bet that no one else in this place is going to be a great help to us. We're on our own, it seems. Tanya," he turned to the older woman, "Do you have any suggestions on how to get back to our own dimension?" Tanya shook her head. "Not without a dimensional gateway of our own. Or something similar, at least. Unless one of you has suddenly developed the ability to teleport between dimensions under your own power?" "Where can we get something like that?" Wildwing asked. "Can you build one if you have the right equipment to work with?" "Your faith in me is flattering," Tanya said wryly, "but I'm no miracle worker. I might be able to work something up, but I just don't have the technical or theoretical knowledge to get us back to where we belong. We need either a dimensional gateway that already exists, or someone who knows how to build one." "Where are we going to find *that?*" Mallory asked. "I believe that I may be able to help with that aspect." From not ten feet away, Wraith watched them with a curious expression. *** The girl - Mallory - had decided it for him. She'd been absolutely horrified by the sight of her double, disgusted even, and Wraith doubted that she'd fell that way if she had anything in common with the Mallory Wraith was familiar with. He'd risked getting even closer as he eavesdropped on their discussion and when he'd realized what they were up to he'd decided to chance revealing himself. After all, they had need of assistance and he had what they needed. Besides, it was a fascinating situation. He wanted to hear what they could tell him about their reality. They apparently didn't share his fascination though, as he suddenly found himself on the business end of six puck launchers. "Not quite the reception I was hoping for," he commented wryly. He raised one hand slightly and a force shield separated him from the Ducks. "May we talk civilly?" "What do you want, Wraith?" Wildwing demanded. "Only to talk," Wraith assured him. "Nothing more. No strings attached. You want to go home and frankly, I'm not that thrilled at having you here. You need a way home, I have a dimensional gateway. You see, our interests match, for the time being. Besides," he added with an appraising glance at the group assembled before him, "I would love to learn what differences exist between our two worlds." Wildwing exchanged a glance with Duke, the older man nodded reluctantly. "It seems we don't have much choice, do we?" "I'm afraid you really don't," Wraith said. "But for what it's worth, I promise you I will do my best to get you back to your own world." Wildwing remembered Mallory's description of her double. If the Mighty Ducks could be evil in this world, then why couldn't the Saurians be the good guys? Feeling a headache coming on, Wildwing lowered his puck launcher and sighed. "It's a deal, Wraith." *** It was a bit odd, Nosedive reflected sourly, being welcomed into the Raptor, instead of being dragged in as prisoners, or tricked in to be captured. Unnerving, too. Chameleon and Wraith were leading the way inside the Raptor, neither one holding back to keep an eye on the Ducks. It was as if they were trying to prove they could be trusted. But Dive had noticed more than one carefully concealed glance being aimed at them by the Saurians. No surprise there. It seemed that no matter what reality you visited, the Ducks and the Saurians were going to be enemies. It just varied on who were the good guys. Assuming things were as simple as they seemed so far. 'Simple?' Dive thought. 'No. Nothing about this is simple.' Wraith paused outside the doors to the command center for only a brief second. Seeing that slight hesitation, Dive wondered just how much of the current situation Wraith had told his commander. Did Dragaunus even know they were there? "Lord Dragaunus," Wraith began even as he strode through the door. "There has been a change of plans." "Obviously." Dragaunus stood at the center of the room before the command chair. He wore the same battle armor and flowing purple robe as the Dragaunus Dive knew, but the look of amused reproach he gave his second in command was something completely unexpected. "Our suspicions appear to have been correct," Wraith continued. "The differences between our world and theirs seem to be... striking." "Indeed." Dragaunus approached, halting out of arm's reach, whether for his peace of mind or their own, Dive couldn't tell. "Greetings. Dare I say 'Take me to your leader?'" "I think that's my line," Wildwing said. The two sized each other up while the respective members of their teams watched silently. Dive knew his brother well enough to know what Wildwing was thinking; he trusted this other Dragaunus. That was good enough for Dive and it would be enough for the others, too. Dragaunus apparently felt the same way as he offered an outstretched hand. Wildwing accepted the gesture. Dive could practically feel the level of tension in the room go down. "Chameleon," Dragaunus ordered. "Prepare quarters for our guests." Chameleon scampered off. "Two of your number appear to be injured, Wildwing. Shall I have Wraith take them to the infirmary?" Wildwing nodded agreement. "Tanya goes with them." Dragaunus nodded. "Of course. Wraith, escort these gentlemen to the infirmary and see that they're taken care of." Wraith led the three of them through the doorway and the hallway to an elevator shaft. Dive wasn't sure how many levels they went down, three or four, he'd guess, before they came to a stop and the doors to the elevator car slid open. "This way," Wraith said, heading to the left. The first door they came to he went through, and Dive, Grin and Tanya followed. It was similar to the infirmary at the Pond, that was the first thing Dive noticed. It surprised him, although he didn't know why. There probably wasn't that much that could be different anyway. An infirmary is an infirmary is an infirmary... He'd always just expected something more... *sinister.* No, he corrected himself. He'd expected it of the Saurians in his world. *These* guys were something else completely. Wraith had Grin and Dive take seats on the medtables. "Unless I'm mistaken," Wraith said, "you know something about medicine, don't you, Tanya? May I call you that?" "Sure," Tanya said unconcernedly. "And yeah, I know medicine." Which was why Wildwing had sent her with Grin and Nosedive, instead of Mallory or, more probably, Duke. Those two wouldn't be able to notice if Wraith gave these two something that would be harmful. Tanya, on the other hand, while a far cry from a doctor, could tell the difference between aspirin and arsenic. "There are bandages and disinfectant in that cabinet, no the next one. Excellent. Would you mind tending to Grin while I see to the young man?" Dive eyed Wraith warily, but didn't protest as the Saurian carefully cleaned and bandaged the wound on the back of his head. "Doesn't look like there will be any concussion. Take it easy." "Right," Dive said. He slid off the medtable and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of the computer monitor. Fortunately his hair covered most of the bandage. "So what should I call you?" Wraith asked as he packed away the rest of the bandages. Dive lifted an eyebrow, a little surprised, but it faded. 'Alternate dimension,' he reminded himself. "Nosedive." "You don't know him?" Tanya asked. "You certainly recognized the rest of us well enough." "I've never had the pleasure," Wraith replied. "I believe there are only six members to your team here. Canard, Wildwing, Duke, Grin, Tanya and Mallory." "Makes sense," Dive remarked. "Sense?" Tanya asked. "How do you figure?" "Think about it," Dive replied. "In our world, the only reason I'm here is because Wildwing forced Canard into it. Something tells me that in this place brotherly love ain't what it should be." "Brotherly? Wildwing is your brother?" Wraith was fascinated. "In that case, I believe you are correct. Wildwing does not seem to care much for anyone. I doubt he would risk Canard's anger for the sake of a - younger I assume? - brother. Even if he had cause to." "'Canard's anger?'" Dive repeated. "What do you mean? No. Scratch that. I don't want to know." "I do," Tanya objected. "What do you mean?" Wraith gestured for them to head out of the infirmary. "I'll tell you on the way. I warn you though; it may not be what you want to hear." *** "So let me get this straight," Wildwing said later. "Canard is a bloodthirsty dictator. I'm a homicidal lunatic. And Dive doesn't exist?" "Not on Earth anyway," Dive said. "It gets worse." "Oh, I can't wait." "For starters, the Saurians didn't conquer Puckworld. *We* conquered *them.* Drake Ducaine was a, well if he were human I'd call him a Nazi, who showed the Saurians no mercy and massacred them by the hundreds. The rest of the population wasted away in prison camps. The Saurians finally overthrew their dictators and rebuilt the civilization. Unfortunately, it didn't last. A few thousand years later, boom, the Puckworlders come back. But this time Dragaunus led a team of revolutionaries against the Puckworld invasion. The Puckworlders hadn't gained a firm foothold yet and Dragaunus' team managed to capture or kill most of them. A few escaped - the five of you and Canard - and came to Earth. Y'all stole Draggy's plans for the Dimensional Gateway, ya see." "Most of Dragaunus' team was killed in the battle," Tanya continued. "Wraith and Chameleon were the only survivors. No Siege in this world. Wraith was pretty bitter about that part." "His soul is consumed by sorrow," Grin said sadly. "Yeah," Dive agreed. "He glossed over the details, but you may want to tread carefully around that topic, Wildwing. It seems you're more than slightly responsible for Siege's death." Wildwing grimaced. "Great. What else do we know?" Dive grinned across the room at him. "Well, there's your relationship with Mallory-" "Skip that!" Dive chuckled and leaned back into the couch. Mallory and Wildwing were both blushing red enough to be seen across the room. He could enjoy this. He collected his thoughts while examining the room. It was one of the rooms Chameleon had prepared for them. Big, spacious and well-furnished it was almost as comfortable as his own room back at the Pond. 'All this place needs,' he mused thoughtfully, 'is some comic books and some computer games.' "Dragaunus followed the Puckworlders through the Dimensional Portal they'd opened," Dive continued. "They were damaged when Wildwing fired on them and they were forced to crash land on Earth. Dragaunus followed, but they managed to hide long enough to gain a foothold. Canard bought and threatened enough people to form his own little army. Get this, Thrash is one of his *lieutenants.*" Dive shook his head. The idea of his friend as a member of Canard's private army was more than disturbing. He was starting to get used to it though. After what he'd heard about this world's Wildwing he'd believe anything. "Since then there's been confrontation after confrontation. Neither side's been able to strike a lasting blow against the other. Dragaunus is getting tired of the cat and mouse game." He shrugged. "Wraith didn't say much more." "It's more than enough," Duke said quietly. The others nodded. "Dragaunus was feeling talkative," Wildwing finally said. "First of all, just to clear things up, we're not in another dimension. We're in another time-line." "Difference being?" Dive asked. "An alternate dimension would be a different point in space," Wildwing explained. "Like another universe. Another time-line is where we are now. A universe exactly like your own, but irrevocably changed by differences in history." "Back to the Future." "Exactly. He's a little surprised that the Dimensional Gateway worked like this. He's got Wraith trying to adjust their gateway to get it to do the same." "So it may not work?" Mallory asked. "It'll work," Wildwing assured her. "They've got the theoretics worked out. It's just a matter of getting the actual modifications right." "Is there anything we can actually do tonight?" Duke asked. "No." "Then I vote for getting some sleep," Duke said through a yawn. "Anyone else game?" "Sounds good to me," Mallory seconded. "All right," Wildwing agreed. "Get some sleep. We can finish working this out in the morning." They split into three groups of two, Duke and Grin taking one room, Mallory and Tanya another, Dive and Wildwing the third. "Just like old times," Dive said sarcastically, pulling the blankets up until they almost covered his face. The Raptor was *cold!* "Remember Lake Wellis?" Dive couldn't see Wildwing in the darkness, but he heard the dry tone of voice. "Like I'd forget. Every summer they dragged us up there, to that horrible little cabin with the leaky roof. The nights were freezing, the bugs were horrible and there was nothing to do. And worst of all, I had to share a room with *you* for three weeks straight. Yeah, I'd say this is just like old times. No lake, no bugs and on a different planet..." "Not even the same time-line," Dive added. Wildwing's voice was tinted with laughter. "Shut up and go to sleep." His tone grew teasing. "Or I'll through you in the lake." Nosedive chuckled through the sleepiness that was threatening to claim him. "I'll tell Mom and Dad." "Now *that's* a phone call I'd love to overhear." "Go to sleep." "That's my line." "What I wouldn't give to be an only child." "If you don't shut up and let me get to sleep you'll find out. I'm about to die of exhaustion." "Starting to feel your years there, eh?" "Low blow, baby bro. I'll kill you in the morning." Dive suddenly wasn't in such a good mood. "If Wraith is right, you already have killed me." "What do you mean?" Dive yawned. "I didn't want to say in front of the others. Mallory'd never let me live it down. You ever hear of Cain and Abel? Guess who was who." "Dive..." "But tomorrow," he continued, "I want a rematch." For the longest time, Wildwing lay awake, listening as Dive's breathing slowed and evened out, and wondered how any version of himself could possibly be that evil. *** Wildwing poked at the lump beneath the blankets, not unkindly, for the third time since waking up that morning. "Come on, kiddo. Rise and shine. We've got a lot to do, bro, get a move on." There was a muffled reply and the lump moved slightly, but that was all. "Come on, Dive," Wildwing said, his patience nearing the breaking point. Dive rolled over, yawned, and gave his brother an annoyed glare. "I'm awake, okay? Lay off." Wildwing snorted. "Nothing short of a nuclear explosion could get you up." "I'm up, aren't I?" Dive demanded. "Not yet," Wildwing pointed out. "I'm working on it! Gimme a minute." "You were never able to get up on time for school either," Wildwing remembered. "It used to take all three of us to wake you up." "I may have been the last one up," Dive countered, "but you were the one who always made us late. How one person could take so long to get dressed is totally beyond me." "If there is only one difference between you and me," Wildwing said calmly, "it is that my clothes match. You, on the other hand, could get dressed in the dark with a blindfold and we'd never know the difference. Now get up. There's a shower through there and a clothes refresher. And move it, we're going to have a lot of work before we get anywhere." "Ugh," Dive muttered as he finally got up. "Work. My favorite word." "If you were half as lazy as you pretend to be you'd still be asleep. Come on!" "Orders, orders, orders," Dive grumbled good-naturedly. "See ya in twenty." "Make it ten." It was closer to fifteen when Dive finally emerged. The blue kevlar portion of his uniform had been cleaned in the clothes refresher, a lot like the ones back at the Pond. The armor sat on the bed. He pulled it on quickly; after a year the stuff was more comfortable than his usual jeans and t-shirt. Wildwing had already left. Dive caught up with the others on the upper levels of the Raptor. The Dimensional Gateway Generator was installed in the nose of the Raptor and it wasn't really the sort of thing you could just unplug and move to another room. That meant *they* had to go to *it.* Wraith and Tanya were engrossed in a pile of blueprints spread out over a table while Chameleon and the other Ducks busied themselves carting equipment and tools to where they were needed. Dive pitched in, helping Mallory with a particularly unwieldy piece of electronics. Hours passed during which Dive learned more about temporal mechanics and dimensional gateway theoretics that he'd ever wanted to know. By the time Wraith announced completion he was willing to stay in this place for the rest of his life if it meant he would never hear the words 'interdimensional time variants' again. He was laying on his back beneath one of the consoles of the computers needed to guide the Gateway's targeting systems, finishing up some minor electrical work when an alarm sounded. The piercing wail startled him and he nearly slammed his head against the floor. "What the hell is that?" he demanded. There was no answer for a minute. He finished the wiring and slid out from beneath the console. Grin offered him a hand up. "It's an attack," Grin explained. "Wraith's gone to see what's going on." Dive spotted Wraith speaking into a communicator at the far side of the room. "An attack?" Dive repeated. "Stars." "Exactly." Wildwing gestured them to come over where the other four Ducks were speaking. "We've got a choice here," Wildwing said calmly, " If this becomes serious do we aid the Saurians in fighting their enemies? Personally, I have no desire to fight myself, or any of you, no matter how different they may be, but Dragaunus and his Gateway are our only chances of getting home. We can't reach our own time-line without them. I think that whatever discomfort we feel is more than outweighed by the chance to get home. Anyone disagree?" No one spoke up. "Good." Dive watched as his brother spoke to Wraith. He didn't catch the words, but he could see Wraith's reaction. "This is gonna be weird," he muttered. "At least you won't be fighting yourself," Duke replied.. "For you it will be weird. For us, it will be disturbing." "More than disturbing," Mallory added. "But Wildwing's right. We need Dragaunus' Dimensional Gateway. Therefore, we need Dragaunus. And he *is* the good guy here. Now *that,*" she added caustically, "is weird." "Guys," Wildwing called. "Let's move!" *** The attackers were outside the Raptor, and Dragaunus wanted to keep it that way. "If they get inside the Raptor they'll be able to cause massive amounts of damage before we find them. In time we may be able to repair it, but if they have back-up out there, we won't get the chance." The outside of the Raptor was every bit as decrepit as the rest of Anaheim. It was surrounded by three burned out buildings, each of which showed the signs of battle, some older than others. Abandoned cars and piles of rubble littered the ground. There was no grass, and the soil and air stank of chemicals. They split up. Dive, Mallory and Grin went to the left, taking the building farthest from the Raptor. "Okay," Mallory said quietly, "life signs are coming from each of the three buildings. We can't tell just where though. So we take this floor by floor. Watch each other's backs, keep your weapons ready and your eyes open. You see anything - anything at all, even a *mouse* - say something. There are supposed to be two people in here somewhere." She took the lead, trusting Dive and Grin to keep her covered as she entered the decrepit building. They searched the main floor and found nothing. Mallory waved them toward the stairs. "Next floor," she whispered. The next two floors were also empty. On the fourth floor though, Mallory found signs that someone had been there before. The building had obviously been empty for a while, so why were the scratches around the window overlooking the Raptor still fresh? It could have been a rat, admittedly, but at the very least it served checking. Dive and Grin kept the door covered while she examined the window. Grin suddenly paused. "Did you hear that?" he asked softly. Dive shook his head. "You want to check it out?" Grin nodded. "Stay here," he whispered. "If I'm not back in five minutes-" "I'll feel sorry for the other guy," Dive finished. "Go. Shout if you run into anything." Grin slipped out the door. Dive watched until he disappeared down another hallway, a few meters down the hall. He reappeared just as his five minutes was almost up. "Find anything?" Dive inquired. Mallory had finished her examination of the scratch marks and joined them. Grin shook his head slightly. "About a thousand rats." "All I found out is that someone was here very recently," Mallory told them. "But we already knew that." She sounded frustrated. "It looks like the scratches were made intentionally, just to make sure we knew they were here." "How can you tell?" Dive asked. "What are the odds of natural marks spelling out the words 'Die weaklings'?" "Good point." "Come on, Mallory said. "Let's try the rest of the floor." They continued the systematic search, room by room. In each room, two stood guard at the door, keeping an eye on the hall in case someone made a break for the stairs, or tried to sneak up on them while the other searched the room. They found nothing more. Dive and Mallory were watching the door while Grin searched the room of the last room on the floor when Dive first noticed what he never should have missed. He grabbed Mallory's arm in a tight grip. She stared at him, a questioning look on her face. "Wha-?" she started to say, but he tightened his grip on her arm and shook his head slightly. He turned back toward Grin. Mallory followed his gaze, and while her suspicions were aroused, she didn't see what he had noticed. Dive raised a hand to the back of his head, still covered with bandaging, then looked at Grin pointedly. Mallory's eyes widened. She used her free hand to point to her arm. The same place where, had she been Grin, there would have been a similar bandage. Except Grin had no bandage. And there was no sign of the gash he'd received either. Because this wasn't Grin. Not *their* Grin. 'Oh, stars.' "Ready to move to the next floor?" Mallory asked. Her voice didn't give any indication of what she'd just found out. Grin nodded. Mallory switched on her communicator. "Just let me check in with Wildwing," she said. "It's been more than twenty minutes." Grin just nodded again and leaned against the wall. Dive, knowing perfectly well that they hadn't made arrangements to check in with each other and that this was Mallory's only way of letting Wildwing know they were in trouble without arousing the faux Grin's suspicions, did the same. But all Mallory got was a hiss of static. She cursed and closed the channel. "We're being blocked." She paused and Dive could almost see her mind racing, trying to figure out just what their next step should be. "Dive, I want you to go tell the others what we found." "No way," Dive protested. "I'm not leaving-" "Yes you are," Mallory said firmly. "Wildwing needs to know what we found. Got it?" In other words she wanted to keep an eye on Grin herself. "Got it," he said reluctantly. "Keep your eyes open." "Watch your back," Mallory told him. "And be careful." Mallory and Grin continued up the stairs but Dive turned and headed down. They'd searched the floors below them already, so unless someone had entered the building after them, it was unlikely he'd run into anyone. But then, they hadn't noticed when their Grin disappeared to be replaced by this time-line's version. He paused at the exit, before going outside. He heard nothing and carefully eased the door open. But all the wariness in the world couldn't do him any good when Wildwing stepped out from behind the husk of an abandoned jeep. *** Duke was searching when he spotted a flash of movement from beyond the window. Leaving Tanya to stand guard at the doorway he peered out the single window. What he saw caused his breath to catch in his throat. "Wildwing. We've got a problem." Wildwing came over. "What is it?" Duke gestured out the window. "You. And Dive." Wildwing saw what he pointed at. "Stars," he breathed. "I'm going down there." Duke nodded. "Tanya and I'll go with you. There may be more of them waiting for you to show up." His words were wasted though. Wildwing was already down the hall heading for the stairs. *** If you wanted to get technical, it wasn't Wildwing. It was the version of Wildwing that inhabited this time-line. He looked the same, sounded the same, had the same name, and probably many of the same memories, but it wasn't really the same person Dive had grown up with. Dive wasn't in the mood to be technical. The first thing he noticed was the uniform. The kevlar body suit was a light grey, whereas his brother's was the same dark blue as his own. The armor was basically the same, only the markings were red, instead of blue and gold, and the edges were sharper, more blunt, instead of the rounded edges Dive was used to. The differences went deeper than that. It was more than disconcerting to see the glint of hatred in this other's eyes. In a hectic and disordered life, Nosedive had learned early on that there wasn't many people he could trust, but his brother had always been at the top of the very short list. To see this twisted doppelganger regarding him like the main course at an all-you-can-eat dinner was more than painful. "Well, isn't this a surprise," Wildwing said in mock pleasantness. "This is a real treat." "I'm sure," Dive muttered. He kept a wary eye on Wildwing while he searched for the best cover. Everything Duke had taught him over the last month was coming into play as he considered whether he'd be able to raise his puck launcher and fire before Wildwing blew his head off. Could he, even if he had the time? The idea of firing on his brother - even if it technically wasn't his brother - sickened him. 'To bad he doesn't have the same problem.' "After all," Wildwing continued, "how many people get the opportunity to kill someone *twice?*" That was all the warning Dive got. Wildwing lunged, ignoring his puck launcher completely, knocking Dive to the ground. Dive grunted and felt hands encircle his throat. Panic set in as his lungs began to demand air and he lashed out on instinct. One fist connected with his attacker's side in a kidney punch. Wildwing gasped in pain and his grip slackened. Dive threw him off and rolled away. He stumbled to his feet and turned to face Wildwing. The momentary lack of oxygen had lasted long enough for his head to be pounding and for spots to swim before his eyes. He took a few deep breaths to soothe the burning in his chest. Maybe shooting this guy wouldn't be so hard after all. But he'd lost his puck launcher when Wildwing tackled him... This was gonna get messy. Wildwing had caught his breath and was back on his feet. "Should have gone on for the kill when you had the chance, *bro.* Cause that was the only chance you're gonna get." "All talk," Dive mocked. "You've already killed me once, right? This should be child's play for you then." Wildwing growled and lunged again. But in his anger he wasn't as careful as he should have been and Dive was able to dodge him easily. "Gimme a break," he said. "You're putting me on, right? This is how you killed me? Stars, how old was I? Two?" "Trying to get me angry," Wildwing asked. "Hoping I'll do something stupid? Do you really think that'll work?" "Seems to be doing pretty good so far," Dive replied off-handedly. "Figured, 'what the hell?'" Wildwing laughed. It was breathless and not at all pleasant. "It's not gonna be that simple." "Isn't it?" Dive watched the other man carefully, watching for the tell- tale signs that he was going to attack again: a tensing of leg muscles, the movement of his eyes. For now, he seemed content to continue the verbal sparring. "Do you know how I killed you before?" Wildwing asked. "Did your Saurian buddy tell you that?" "'Fraid not," Dive said. "Bummer too. I'm always looking for a good horror story." "Maybe I'll tell you? Would you like that, *bro?*" Wildwing's voice was a parody of considerateness. "Let you know just what's in your *very* near future." "I don't scare easy," Dive said confidently. "Say whatever you want. Won't change anything." 'Just everything. Please, by the stars, keep your mouth shut, you twisted little lunatic.' "It was simple enough. Hell, I'd been wanting to shut your mouth - permanently - for a *very* long time by then. So one night I figured, 'What the hell? What've I got to loose? An annoyance?'" Wildwing grinned ferally. "It was a thrill, I'll tell you. To feel the last breath slip past. Talk about a trip. Tell me, *bro*-" "I'll tell you this," Dive said heatedly. "If you don't stop calling me *bro,*" he mimicked Wildwing's sarcastic tone almost perfectly, "I'm gonna shoot myself and *you'll loose out on the fun of killing me!*" "Temper, temper," Wildwing admonished. "Just like I remember." "Yeah," Dive grinned. "Perfection never changes." He saw what Wildwing planned an instant before he went through with it. Even as his brother - it's *not* your brother! - raised his weapon, Dive was twisting to the side, and bringing his puck launcher to bear. Wildwing fired, and the blast only grazed his side, instead of hitting him head on. It forced him to his knees, and he rested most of his weight against the abandoned car Wildwing had previously used as a hiding place. He took his time, teeth clenched against the pain in his side, and fired. The shot went wide, as Dive had half known it would, and Wildwing was heading for him, obviously intending to finish him off as he had his own brother, stars only knew how long ago. Dive hesitated for only a second, repulsed at the idea of what he knew he had to do. 'Stars, please, this isn't Wildwing.' He took a deep breath, and fired while he still had the nerve. The shot hit Wildwing in the chest, knocking him off his feet. He lay sprawled on his back less than ten feet from where Dive sat. The puck launcher dropped from suddenly numb fingers, and Dive didn't move to pick it up. He gave the still form before him one last look, unreasonably relieved to see that the chest still rose and fell with steady breathing, before closing his eyes and tipping his head back to rest against the car. He heard movement and opened his eyes, suddenly filled with energy as a rush of adrenaline gave him a second - or maybe eighth - wind. He saw Duke standing over the other Wildwing. "Dive?" Dive almost flinched away from the voice, but there was no hatred this time. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "For what? Not dying? Stupid thing to apologize for." Wildwing knelt at Dive's side for the second time in as many days. "You've gotta stop scaring me like this, little brother." Dive finally turned to his brother. "I didn't want to shoot him." "He wasn't me." "Thank the stars," Dive muttered. There was more relief in those three words than even he would have thought possible. "I ever tell you how glad I am that you *are* you?" Wildwing wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders and held him tightly, alarmed at the weakness in his voice, and the way he was shaking. "It's okay, Dive. Promise." Dive took a deep breath. "Is *he* okay?" Wildwing snorted. "*He* hasn't been okay a day in his life. But he'll wake up with nothing worse than a headache, if that's what you mean. Unfortunately." "Mallory wanted me to warn you," Dive said suddenly. Stars, but he'd almost forgotten! "Grin's missing. It's the other one. Our comms were being blocked-" "Uh-oh," Wildwing muttered. "Repeats." Dive smiled slightly at the bad joke, which was probably Wildwing's intention. "You up for it?" "Like the man said," Dive said resolutely. "I haven't turned down an invitation to a party yet." "No kidding," Wildwing said wryly. He stood and gave Dive a hand up. "Let's kick some dictatorial butt, get Grin and Mallory, and get out of here. I can't wait to be back in *our* Anaheim, waiting for *our* Dragaunus to try to kill us again. It'll be like a vacation." "Some vacation," Dive muttered. He watched dispassionately as Duke finished tying the wrists and ankles of Wildwing's doppelganger. "Next time, Hawaii? Okay? Or maybe skiing?" *** Mallory was getting extremely nervous. 'Where are they? Come on, Dive. Get some help.' She and 'Grin' had almost finished searching the building in the time since Nosedive had left. They were heading up to the top floor, and while 'Grin' had behaved himself so far, Mallory doubted it would last. The life sign reading had shown there to be two people in this building before they had begun searching. Grin was one. That meant there would be one more. And since they had done a relatively thorough job of searching, Mallory was convinced that whoever was left would be on either the top floor, or the roof. She wasn't in any hurry to be proven right. They made their way through the top floor quickly and Grin suggested they head up to the roof. 'Oh, boy.' If she followed, she would be giving him a perfect opportunity to kill her. All it would take was one good shove and she'd fall ten stories to the ground. But if she didn't follow, he'd just kill her now. 'Decisions, decisions.' She would play along, and hope that help arrived before things got *too* out of hand. The wind was blowing up on the roof, but not enough to do more than whip her hair around her face. She glanced out over the edge for only an instant but saw nothing. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. But she didn't take her attention of Grin for long. Good thing too. He charged her without warning, apparently intending to knock her over the edge. Mallory, not being in a particularly cooperative mood, jumped to the side, coming up on one knee and firing, just as he passed through the area where she had been standing. She fired several times, just to be sure she'd hit him and didn't stop until she saw him go down and not get up. The wind let up for only an instant, but it saved her life. In the absence of the noise she heard the soft, almost inaudible sound of a footstep, directly behind her. She didn't even look to see who it was, she just leaped to the side, once again coming up in a firing stance. "Oh, boy." The face she was looking at was her own. The same red hair, a little longer maybe, and the same green eyes. The uniform was different colors - grey and white instead of purple - but basically unchanged. The voice was the same too. "You certainly are a disappointment," 'Mallory' said disdainfully. "You didn't even kill him." "That's a bad thing?" Mallory asked. "He's your teammate." "So?" 'Mallory' gave her a scornful look. "You don't get it, do you?" "No. And thank the stars I never will." "I was right. You are a weakling." 'Mallory' took a few steps closer, ignoring Mallory's warning to stay back. "What are you going to do if I don't?" she mocked. "If you couldn't kill him, you certainly aren't going to be able to shoot yourself." "That's the easiest thing anyone's asked me to do all week," Mallory replied smoothly. 'Mallory' was still wearing the scornful smile when Mallory fired at close range. Mallory stood over the unconscious body. "Weakling, maybe. But you're the one who went down first." She heard footsteps on the stairs and turned, bringing the puck launcher up to bear. But the person who stepped out of the stairwell was more than welcome. Dive raised his hands in mock surrender. "Guess you didn't need the back-up after all, huh?" Mallory grinned. "What took you so long?" *** "It's been... interesting." "It certainly has, at that," Dragaunus agreed. He regarded the Puckworlder before him with respect. He had done well in what had to be a horribly uncomfortable and unpleasant situation. "I have enjoyed your company, Wildwing. I am only sorry that your counterparts will not be as friendly as you and your teammates have proven to be." "I have to say the same thing," Wildwing replied. "I also want to say thank you, for giving us a way home. None of us was looking forward to sticking around." "I can't blame you," Dragaunus said. "Good journey, Wildwing. May you return to your home quickly and safely." "And you," Wildwing said. "I hope you make it home soon, Dragaunus." Dragaunus watched him walk away to join his teammates. They stood together, in the same place where they had entered this reality. They had faced down their worst demons - themselves. And they had not broken. Dragaunus had not lied when he said he had enjoyed knowing them. He would miss them. On a world of corruption, it had been nice to have the company of like-minded individuals - even if they did come in the form of his worst enemies. Dragaunus afforded a brief glance behind him, where the three captured Ducks, Wildwing, Mallory and Grin, were held in energy restraints. He would never have managed to take out three members of Canard's team on his own. If nothing else, he owed these strangers that much. The had just drastically in creased his chances of survival. "Prepare the transfer, Wraith." 'And thank you,' he added silently. ________ End