Stivz skidded to a stop on his rollerblades and saw the black cloud layer
coming towards him. He then heard a bunch of other skids behind him, as the
Second Line made their stops behind him. Stivz looked up at the sky, the clouds
were moving much too fast, and all was quiet.
"Something's not right, here." he said, worried.
The Ducks were doing an afternoon rollerblading run around the Pond
parking lots.
"Erin," Stivz said. "Try to look up the weather reports on your laptop."
Erin nodded and went right to work. She took off her backpack, pulled out
her thick laptop, and started to press buttons. She then raised an eyebrow and
tapped the cellular antenna. Nothing was coming onto her screen.
"Sorry, Stivz." Erin said. "There's too much interference. I'll try to pick up
something on my WristCom."
Stivz returned to looking at the sky. The clouds seemed to be circling over
the Pond. The wind started picking up, and the air temperature dramatically fell.
Chance started to shiver and untied her leather jacket around her waist and put it
on.
"Maybe it's El Nino." Dusty joked. James Pond simply rolled his eyes.
Erin closed her WristCom. "This is no weather pattern." she said. "I'm
getting some really strange energy readings from this 'storm'."
Stivz activated his silver mask. The silver flame revealed the shiny silver
goalie mask with cool blue eyes. Stivz scanned the storm, trying to find the energy
readings Erin reported. Through his mask, Stivz could see a strange ribbon of
energy flowing around in the clouds.
"It's electrical." Stivz growled. "But it's not lightning."
James scratched his head. "Maybe it's ball lightning." he suggested.
"No," Stivz doubted. "It's not that either. Something is very wrong here."
Suddenly, the wind started to pick up, and the Ducks looked all around them.
The storm began to become worse, and the Ducks crouched, ready for any type of
phenomenon that might occur.
Stivz continued to stare at the large cloud rotating above the Pond. Then, a
bright flash of lightning struck the roof of the Pond. The Ducks shielded their eyes
from the light. The loud clap of thunder soon followed, and the roar of the rumble
was near deafening.
The lightning and thundering continued. In the midst of the thunder Stivz
heard a man screaming from a distance. HE thought that the man might have been
struck by the lightning. He looked up and glanced around. Then, something caught
his eye. A figure was on top of the roof of the Pond. He was the one screaming. The
lightning flowed through his body and escaped from his fingertips. Stivz took a
better look and saw that the figure was a Duck! The violence of the storm finally
stopped and the Duck fell to his knees on the roof.
The Second Line relaxed and got up from where they were. They looked at
Stivz and saw him looking towards the Pond. They all looked in the direction he was
looking and saw the Duck, still on his knees.
"What the--??" Dusty stuttered. "Who is that up there??"
Betsy began to run across the parking lot towards the Pond. "C'mon!" she
cried. "We gotta help him! It could be Wildwing!"
Stivz once again activated his mask and zoomed in at the Duck. He then
scanned the face for identification. After a few seconds, the display in the mask
flashed: UNIDENTIFIED.
"Wait!" Stivz called after his team. "That Duck isn't from around here.
Even the mask can't recognize him."
The Ducks all stopped and looked back at Stivz, confused. The strange Duck
finally got up off his knees and onto his feet. The Second Line watched him as he
walked to the edge of the roof of the Pond, and jumped off the edge over the
concrete.
"My God, he jumped!" Nylessa yelled. The Ducks stared in awe at the Duck
falling towards the ground. When the strange Duck neared the ground, he stuck out
his legs at the ground and landed on both feet. He buckled a little bit, and then
staggered, but he then stood up straight and shook his head.
The Ducks stood quiet, dumbfounded. No one could survive a lightning strike,
then be able to jump off the top of a 100 foot building. Was this Duck some sort of
SuperDuck? Or maybe it was a robot with a Duck disguise. Stivz didn't know what
to do.
Finally, the stranger looked around him. He didn't notice the Second Line
though. He turned around and saw the doors of the Pond and entered the building.
Stivz flipped open his WristCom.
"Wildwing!" he called into the communicator. "We have an intruder."
The Second Line burst through the entrance doors of the Pond in their
rollerblades and stopped in the foyer.
"Dusty, James!" Stivz ordered. "Go left. Blade and Nylessa, go right. When
you find this guy, don't lose him!"
The Ducks skated off towards their objective. Stivz turned to Betsy, Chance,
and Erin. "Come with me girls."
Stivz and his three Ducks went into the main area where they could see the
ice. They looked around for any movement. Suddenly, Stivz heard the sound of the
other Mighty Ducks coming out of the elevator in the locker room. They emerged
from the tunnel and looked around .
"Alright, what's up?!" asked Nosedive. Wildwing began to scan the area
with his gold mask. Nothing was happening.
"What the hell is going on here?" Wildwing looked at his mask as if it was
broken. "Something's up with my mask."
Stivz startled the Ducks when he came up behind them. "Whoever the
intruder is, he's causing some interference with our bioengineering." he reported.
Wildwing looked back up at Stivz. "And where is this guy?"
Stivz just shrugged his shoulders. All the rest of the Second Line came into
the main area and searched. "Sorry, Stivz!" Dusty called. "We can't find the guy!"
Betsy glanced up at the ceiling and saw a figure moving. It was the strange
Duck!
"Stivz!!" she yelled. "Look up in the rafters!"
All the Ducks looked up to where Betsy was pointing and saw the Duck on
top of the JumboTron. Nosedive and Mallory took out their weapons and aimed at
the Duck. Wildwing grabbed the barrel of Nosedive's puck launcher and pointed it
to the ground.
"You be careful shooting at the screen." he said worriedly. Mallory smiled.
"Don't worry, Wing." she said. "We'll pick him off like he was in a shooting
gallery."
Wildwing let go of Dive's sidearm and the two began firing at the intruder.
The stranger simply clenched his fist and the large JumboTron began to move
upwards towards the ceiling. When he came even with the steel rafters and beams,
the Duck jumped onto them. Dive and Mal stopped firing and watched to see if the
stranger could survive balancing above the ice.
"What can we do, now?" Wildwing turned to Stivz, but only to find him
missing. He was gone with no trace. Wing scratched his head and looked back up at
the Duck, who was walking towards a square door in the ceiling.
Dusty noticed this and called out to Chance. "He's going for the roof again.
Chance, girl, see what you can do!"
Chance nodded and reached into her leather jacket and pulled out her
security pad. She tried to think of some way to stop the intruder. She then snapped
her fingers and began punching buttons.
The stranger walked carefully along the beams making his way closer and
closer to the door that led to the roof. He was almost there when the roof began to
move, along with the door to the outside. He looked down below him and saw the ice
open up and the large AeroWing flip and lock into place on its launchpad. Chance
had activated the AeroWing's launch sequence, which moved the roof, the
JumboTron, and the door away from the stranger. He was now stranded on the
beams with no way down.
The intruder looked below him to see if there was a way to get down when
he heard the sound of a weapon charging and the humming of the puck engine of
Stivz's puck rifle. He looked up and saw that his eyes met with the two barrels of the
rifle. He then looked behind the gun and saw Stivz and his silver mask, the eyes
were burning.
"Who the hell are you?" Stivz growled, not moving the gun an inch. The
stranger smirked and looked casually at Stivz.
"You're just how Ice described you, Stivz." the Duck said. Stivz looked
surprised, and he was.
"What?" Stivz questioned. The stranger looked around.
"It's a long story." he said. "And I think I could tell you if we get off this
beam."
Stivz sighed and lowered his weapon. "Alright." he said, sulking. He then
called over to Chance.
"Reverse the sequence, please, Chance!" he called out to her. Chance
responded by having the launch sequence put back into the ready position. Stivz and
the new Duck came back down to the ice, where all the Mighty Ducks gathered
around. The Ducks noticed the stranger's interesting futuristic clothes, and one very
unusual thing: his eyes were glowing blue. This was no ordinary Duck.
"Let's take him to the Rec. Room." Wildwing said. "He'll probably tell us
more if he's more comfortable."
Single file, all the Mighty Ducks walked into the main Rec. Room and sat
down in their couches, sofas, and chairs. Blade put down a chair in the center for
the stranger. Stivz deactivated his mask as he sat down in his own easy chair. He
was baffled by what the Duck had told him. Who was Ice?
When all the Ducks sat down, Wildwing immediately asked the first question.
The Ducks had done this three times before, once when Stivz came, when Erin
showed up unexpectedly, and when the entire Second Line arrived from PuckWorld.
"Alright." said Wing. "Let's hear the basics: your name, where you come
from, and why are you here?"
The stranger looked back at him. "My name is Justin, but I think that the
question is, 'from WHEN do I come from?'"
Now all the Ducks were confused. The new Duck took a long breath and
began his story.
"I come from PuckWorld, but not the PuckWorld we know today, but I come
from 5 years into the future. I have come back in time to give you all a message and
a warning."
"We're listening." James said, interested.
"Well," Justin said. "There's a pretty long story to this."
"Like I said." James repeated.
Justin put his hands to his face and pulled backwards. He then sighed and got
comfortable.
"About this time on PuckWorld, the Authority has completely and entirely
wiped out all of the smaller groups of revolutionaries, including the secret Street
Hockey establishment behind the square of federal buildings."
Betsy gasped. Dusty hung his head low and Chance began to tear. Justin
continued.
"The Authority took total control of PuckWorld and began to persecute all
kinds of people. The only ones that weren't touched by the new laws and restrictions
were the officers and members of the Authority. A large assembly was held at the
DuCaine University of Hockey and Academics, the Authority came in an massacred
most of the students. I was there, and I was one of the lucky ones. That's when I
decided to form a large group of Ducks and fight back against the Authority. So, I
created a small army of Ducks, and we planned to sneak into the Authority's
confiscated armory, which held all the weapons of the old military when Dragonous
attacked PuckWorld. The team of thirty Ducks broke into the armory and came out
with weapons to equip themselves and a few others. We even stole two AeroWing
fighters from their hangars.
"But thirty to forty Ducks wasn't going to be able to stop the forces of the
Authority. They had about 100,000 trained soldiers. So, we had to persuade common
citizens and others to join our resistance. At first, they weren't very enthusiastic,
but after our technicians learned to duplicate the weapons and supplies, Ducks from
all over the planet came to join. It was lucky for us that the Authority had not found
out about the little army that we had. The numbers kept rising every day, and each
soldier had a puck cannon, body armor, and three puck grenades. After two
months, the number got as high as 50,000 soldiers ready for battle.
"And they were ready. They had grown tired of struggling under the
oppression of the Authority. Most of the Ducks had lost family members by the
strong military forces. The soldiers wanted to taste blood, and they wanted to do it
soon, but we still didn't have enough resources and men to start the battle. After
another month, the number of troops was 80,000, but the Authority finally heard the
rumor of a large militaristic resistance group, and they started to organize their
forces. The time to strike was now.
"After the first month, the resistance fought well and won many of the
battles fought. However, as some of our forces weakened, small sections of our army
broke off and fought on their own. Sadly, the Authority wiped them out easily
because they lacked the supplies that we provided. The number of men was
drastically dropping, and we needed help. The Authority finally won the war, and
they became even more aggressive, killing any one on sight who might be suspected
of breaking a law. Which is why I am here.
"I found a way to travel back in time by using an Authority teleporter and a
lightning storm."
Justin held up a teleporter, it was shaped like a flat circle, almost like a coin,
but larger.
"The Authority was able to build Dimensional teleporters by that time."
Justin said. "I came back here in time to ask you to go to PuckWorld and help fight
against the Authority. You two groups are the elite Duck fighting forces I've heard
of. You have to help me save PuckWorld."
Wildwing and Stivz looked at each other with serious expressions on their
faces. They had hated to hear that PuckWorld was in danger again. Stivz got up
from his chair and walked to the wall. He punched a button and a panel came out of
the wall. They were his two Mighty Duck hockey jerseys, one white one and one
purple one. He picked up the purple one and turned it around. He saw his name and
the large numbers: 99. He flipped the jersey over again and stared at the proud logo
he always admired. He saw the triangle with the crossedover hockey sticks. He
remembered that the military once bore that logo on their uniforms, and pictured
many Ducks lying dead on a battle field, with dark dressed soldiers trampling over
them. Hatred then began to flow in his veins, and he felt heat building in his neck.
Stivz then reached down to his side and felt his puck rifle resting in its
holster. He thought about how many Authority soldiers he could take out in one
charge. He then made up his mind. He called over to the new Duck.
"Justin, in which uniform would I look better kicking Authority ass in, the
purple, or the white?"
Justin smiled as he looked at all the Ducks. They were all in their purple
hockey uniforms instead of in their battle gear. They all held their weapons in slings
and backpacks, and Erin had her laptop in its case with a shoulder strap. Stivz
smiled as he felt the logo of the Mighty Ducks on his chest. It felt good to be going
back to PuckWorld again, but this time as a hero, instead of a wanted fugitive.
"What all can we take?" Stivz asked Justin.
Justin looked at his teleporter. "I guess anything." he replied. Stivz grinned.
"Alright, let's take the vehicles." he said to his team. "Meet me out in the
parking lot, I've got a few surprises." Stivz walked off towards the Second Line's
garage, smiling all the way.
"And I guess that we'll take our vehicles, too." Wildwing added. "It's good to
be prepared."
Knowing about Stivz's little 'surprises' in the garage, Duke was anxious to
see what Stivz had come up with. What could it be? Another speedster? Or maybe it
was finally an air-assault attack jet he was planning on. Duke followed Stivz to the
garage. The Second Line members all went to their vehicles to meet Stivz in the
parking lot. Wildwing then turned to Nosedive.
"Little bro. Take the AeroWing out of the Pond and land it in the parking
lot."
"Roger wilco!" Dive responded. He then rushed off to start up the launch
sequence.
Grin stood by himself cracking his knuckles. Mallory looked up at him
strangely, Grin had a worried look on his face.
"What's the matter, big guy?" she asked him. Grin gave out a long sigh.
"This Authority," Grin said with his deep, low voice. "may be as heartless as
the dead. Who knows how lethal and bloodthirsty they are. We may never even see
this wonderful planet again."
Mallory was shocked to hear this from Grin. "You mean you think that we
may not make it out alive?" she asked with grief. Grin just simply shrugged.
"Who knows? I just have a bad feeling that death will fall near us or upon
us."
Mallory blinked. She then began to have second thoughts about this war.
"let's go outside and get some air." she said.
Outside, Nosedive lowered the AeroWing behind the line of cars the Second
Line assembled. The weather now was perfect. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and
the temperature was back to normal. Chance leaned up against her Streak with
Betsy, and the others got out of the large DuckCruiser.
"I wonder what Stivz has now that the PowerForce was destroyed." Nylessa
commented as she looked towards the large garage doors of the Pond street hockey
facility.
"Stivz was lucky that he wasn't killed when Diablo and his goons put that
bomb under the body." James noted.
Just then, the Ducks heard the sound of electronic doors opening. Justin
wheeled around to see what was happening. Stivz slowly, and ceremoniously, drove
the new SuperVehicle out of the building. As the sunlight moved across the hood,
pushing away the shadows, the Ducks stared in awe at the new truck. It was much
larger than the PowerForce and much for smoother and sleeker.
After the truck made it out of the building, the Ducks gasped again. The
truck was towing a fighter jet attack plane. It wasn't as big as the AeroWing, but
the arsenal was astounding. So many puck tunnels came from the sides of the plane
and four missiles straddled the undersides of the wings.
"My God, Stivz." stunned James. "Where have you been hiding that?"
Stivz smiled as he got out of the truck. "Wildwing and I built the jet deep
under the Pond, we call it the SilverWing." he said. "I built the truck out of my own
time. I call it the Triton."
"Stivz," Betsy commented. "I don't know where you find all this time to do
all that you do."
"Don't be too surprised." Stivz replied. "I just work as hard as I could."
"Then what about that ring?" Blade questioned. "How exactly do you use
it?"
Stivz looked at his hand and saw the silver band around his middle finger. He
discovered the ring in a jewelry store, and had his name carved into it. A ghostlike
person came to Stivz in a dream and told him that the ring held incredible power,
but did not tell him how to use the power. Stivz was pondering it ever since. He
looked at the ring again, and saw the small diamond inside the 'I' of his name.
Maybe that was the key, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
He looked up at the rest of the Ducks, who were still waiting for an answer.
He cleared his throat.
"I just think that this ring will give me the answer on how to use it at the
proper time."
The Second Line just shrugged and looked around for something to do.
Everything was ready for the journey back to PuckWorld. The Migrator was
moved into the AeroWing and the Second Line vehicles were lined up. Stivz walked
around the new SilverWing and Triton looking to see that every weapon and utility
was in place. Justin finally made it around to where the Ducks were.
Wildwing walked up to Justin and put his hand on his shoulder, feeling the
futuristic material. "We are ready." he boldly said.
Justin smiled and raised his hands. "Let's begin."
Justin clicked his fingers and the weather immediately began to change.
Clouds rushed over the horizon towards the Pond from all directions. The wind
started to pick up and the temperature dropped. Stivz looked around and saw the
strange weather and walked to the Triton. The other Ducks then followed Stivz's
lead and got in their vehicles. The AeroWing's engines began to hum, and all the
Second Line vehicles started. Justin concentrated on the power that he put out and
the storm clouds that circled low around him.
Finally, lightning began to flash all around, and Justin controlled it with his
fingertips. He gave out a loud cry as the lightning increased and flowed from him
through all of the vehicles. The light got brighter, and all the Ducks shielded their
eyes. A loud crash was heard and the Ducks were gone. Completely gone from the
face of the Earth.