"Hey, this is better than TV!" Nosedive whispered, nudging his sister.

She nodded dreamily. "It’s so sweet! Think we’ll ever be in love with someone?"

"I dunno if I want to be! Duke’s gone all soppy. Anyway, I guess if we ever get back to Puckworld."

"Yeah." Jadestar turned and sat down, leaning against the back of the seat. She suddenly felt cold, and she shivered. Nosedive saw her goose-bumps.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, shoving his hair out of his eyes.

"I’m not sure. I’m cold all of a sudden. Let’s go back in the Pond."

Nosedive stood up, watching Duke and Mallory again. "Shesh, they’re still kissing! That has to be at least ten minutes non-stop!"

Jadestar yanked him down. "They’ll hear you and see y have at least one dead now, and instead they have one extra! This is Mercy’s doing, I’m sure. Ducks falling in love, ducks gaining sisters, this is not how this story should go!" Chaos patted the puppy absent-mindedly. "What would you say to a little game, Mischief?" Mischief wagged his tail, sending water droplets flying. Chaos laughed. "I thought you might be pleased." She stood up, holding Mischief, and turned into the whirling mist again. Chaos flew off the cloud in the direction of the Pond.

***

Nosedive turned to his twin as they walked down the hall to the Ready Room. "Why’d you stop me?"

Jadestar smiled. "Dive, you couldn’t have done anything to mist! It’s just water! It was just water on a gust of wind."

Nosedive was skeptical. "Really? Well, how come it was silver? It sparkled Jade!"

The younger duck shrugged. "I don’t know. But if you’d gotten trigger-happy, you could have hurt Duke or Mallory."

"Don’t you start. Doesn’t anyone around here trust me?"

"I trust you with my life Dive." Jadestar said softly. She suddenly laughed, and punched him playfully. "Just not somebody else’s!"

"ARGH!" Nosedive grabbed his head and pretended to bang it on the wall. "You’re all against me! I’m dooooooooomed!"

"You know it bro! And slow too! Catch me!" Jadestar took off down the hall, laughing madly. Nosedive roared his consent and followed. Jadestar ran just hard enough to keep her out of Nosedive’s grasp, but close enough to keep him running. Jadestar turned into the Ready Room, and hid behind Wildwing.

"Save me, oh elder brother! Save me from the irresponsible monster!" Jadestar twittered, hugging him tightly, consequently pinning his arms to his side. Nosedive advanced menacingly, and Wildwing shook his sister off. She shrieked, and ran behind Grin.

"You wouldn’t let a duck hit a lady would ya Grin?" she pleaded. Grin considered.

"No." He grabbed her and held her high. Jadestar screamed with laughter, and wiggled so much that Grin released her.

Nosedive grabbed her arm before she could try Tanya, and twisted it behind her back.

"Say I’m the smartest, funniest, handsomest duck on Earth, and the best fighter, best aim and fastest runner." He held her arm there, standing behind her.

"But that’d be a lie!" Jadestar told him. Nosedive twisted her arm further behind her back, and she suddenly stiffened. "OW! Dive, you’re hurting me!"

"Then say it!"

Wildwing, seeing that Jadestar really wasn’t faking, put a hand on Nosedive’s shoulder. "Dive, let her go." he said firmly in his little brothers ear. Nosedive released the girl, and she backed away towards Tanya, scowling and rubbing her shoulder.

Nosedive shrugged, and turned to Wildwing.

"So, bro, what’s the plan for tonight?"

Wildwing looked at a clock. "Well, if Duke and Mallory ever get here, I’d like to have a strategy talk for tomorrows game."

"Aww, man, we know the strategy! Get on the ice, score goals and stop them from scoring goals! We need a talk for that?!"

Wildwing ignored him, knowing that he was joking. Mallory and Duke walked in, Duke rubbing something off his cheek.

Nosedive winked at Jadestar, and she smiled, forgiving him for her sore arm. She sidled over to stand next to him.

Wildwing raised an eyebrow through the mask. "Where have you two been? Even the twins got here before you."

Duke shrugged. "Oh, we were practicing on the ice."

The two teen-age ducks had to work hard to suppress their giggles.

"Gee, should we wonder what they were practicing for?" Nosedive whispered.

"Shush, I’ll get a picture in my head!" Jadestar grinned.

"Oh well, you’re here now. I was just saying to Dive …" Wildwing was interrupted at this point by a silver mist appearing in the room. The ducks were all in battle gear, and Nosedive had his puckshooter out immediately.

"Think it’s just the weather now Star?" Nosedive yelled over the increasingly stronger wind, his hair flying upwards.

"You win." Jadestar cried back, bringing out her own weapon.

Wildwing and the others stared. Mallory put her hand to her hair, and remembered. She whispered to Duke, and he scowled, bringing out his saber.

The whirlwind stopped all of a sudden, and a tall, slim, black haired duck with strange purple eyes appeared. She wore a long, simple back dress. She smiled, but it wasn’t the kind of smile Tanya appreciated, it reminded the blond of a cat smiling just before it catches a mouse.

"Hello. My name is Chaos." she said with a glint in her eye.

Nosedive surveyed the mess her breeze had created. "Figures." he muttered.

Wildwing scanned her, and frowned. "What the…? What are you? You aren’t a duck, and you aren’t a Saurian either."

Grin spoke up. "She’s an element."

"What’s that?" Mallory asked.

Chaos tossed her black hair over her shoulder. "An element is a kind of spirit. I wouldn’t bother yourself with the explanation."

"Why are you here?" Wildwing asked.

"Yeah, and what are you planning to do?" Duke held his sword out in front.

"That’s almost the same question." Tanya told the two males. They shrugged.

"I’m here to give you," she looked around the seven. "The chance you have beeou!"

Nosedive looked at her. "Yeah, right. Girl, they wouldn’t even notice if Draganus burst in!"

A swirling silver kind of mist swept out of nowhere and spun around the two ducks kissing on the ice. Mallory’s red hair swept up and waved in the wind like seaweed.

"Speak of the devil…" Nosedive morphed into his battle gear, and took aim with his pucklauncher. Jadestar copied, but held him back.

"Wait." She said softly as she stopped him.

"Why?" Nosedive lowered his voice from habit.

The two ducks didn’t make any sign they’d noticed, though Jadestar thought she saw Mallory stop for a second. The mist suddenly vanished, and Jadestar ran to the door to their underground home. Nosedive shrugged and followed.

And Mallory and Duke continued unwatched.

***

Chaos spun in her silver mist to her home in the sky. She transformed into a glowing human woman, and dangled her legs over the edge of the cloud. She cocked her head as she gazed at the Pond, and suddenly giggled like a child. She clapped her hands, and a part of the cloud suddenly raced towards her. Chaos patted the cloud-dog, and tossed it into the air a few times. She set her pup on her lap, and spoke to it.

"Oh Mischief dear, I think we’ve let the ducks alone too long. I’m losing my bet to Death, though I should never have trusted him anyway. I was sure they’dn waiting for."

"We’re listening." Wildwing was cautious.

"I’m giving you the chance," she pointed at Wildwing. "To make sure Puckworld isn’t under Canard the whole time you’re here. In fact, I’m willing to take you back in time to when his rule was just beginning. You could stop a lot of the damage he did." Chaos carefully watched as the ducks glanced at each other.

"What’s the catch?" Duke asked.

Chaos laughed. "No catch. One thing though, I bring you back her whenever I want; you can’t stay there very long."

"Any reason why?" Mallory raised her eyebrows at the black haired creature.

"Well now, I really shouldn’t be doing this! What if the other elements found out?"

"Fair enough." Wildwing was thoughtful. "Can I talk to the others for a minute?"

Chaos was amused. "Sure, but I can hear you where ever you are."

Wildwing gathered the others around him. "Maybe," he said firmly "But I’d feel more comfortable."

"Suit yourself." Chaos sat delicately in a chair. The others huddled.

"I dunno Wildwing, something about her name screams ‘don’t trust me’." Nosedive spoke first.

"I’m not sure if I *want* to kill Canard, no matter how evil he is!" Tanya put in.

"Oh, he’s evil all right." Jadestar confirmed with a sigh.

"I’m for it," Duke grinned "If Puckworld’s in trouble, than I say that’s where our first priorities lie."

"Ditto." Mallory looked to Grin. "You seem to know more than us about this ‘element’. What should we do?"

"I do not know. On one hand, stopping Canard from destroying Puckworld sounds noble. But what will the consequences be?" Grin frowned.

"Guys, what say we vote on it?" Wildwing suggested. "All those in favor of staying here, raise your hands." Nosedive and Tanya raised their hands.

"Come on bro, do I need to get you a dictionary? 'Chaos'? Parents don't name their kids that without a reason."

"I just don’t know what the effects will be. But I’ll go along with you, Wildwing." Tanya was thinking hard.

"Hey, I didn’t say to count me out! If we’re going, you aren’t leaving me behind!" Nosedive protested.

"Well, looks like we’re going. And further thoughts?" Wildwing left the air open for comments. Only Mallory and Duke looked firm in their position, but no one said anything. Wildwing led them over to Chaos.

"We’re in." he said shortly.

Chaos smiled. "I’d hoped you’d say that." She put her hands in from of her, Chinese style. Nosedive and Jadestar gripped hands with Wildwing, preparing for the former gale. But Chaos simply closed her eyes, they felt dizzy for a second, and suddenly they were in Puckworld.

***

Apart from Jadestar, the ducks were appalled at the state Puckworld was in. It looked just like when Draganus had ruled, and they’d all imagined that it would be repaired. It still looked like there was still a war going on.

Jadestar kicked a rock, not enjoying the looks on the others faces. They looked bleak, almost despairing. Jadestar realized that the thought that Puckworld was back on its feet had been what had kept them going.

"Don’t give up now guys," Jadestar muttered quietly to herself. "You can still fix it."

Wildwing shook himself. "I ..er.. guess we better get on with it." He turned to the youngest duck. "Jade, you were probably still here now, do you think you can tell us where to look for," he choked "King Canard?"

The girl looked up and down the dirty streets. "I guess." She really didn’t appreciate being brought back here, and she was beginning to wish she’d sided with Nosedive as usual.

Tanya wrinkled her beak. "We should really find out the date. That seems like, y’know, what you’re meant to do when you time travel."

Duke whistled. "This is just like one of them sci-fi stories."

Nosedive snorted. "Yeah, Dr Who, eat your heart out."

"OK guys, we stick together. Getting separated would not be helpful." Wildwing started off down the street. The others followed, alert.

"No problem Wildwing." muttered Mallory, as she brought up the rear.

***

Wildwing’s first plan had been to find a newspaper or something like that to gain some knowledge, but he was beginning to see that it wasn’t going to be that easy. When he questioned Jadestar about gaining a paper, she laughed bitterly.

"Are you kidding? No businesses are running! That’s why the streets are so bare, that, and the fact that everyone’s keeping out of Canard’s way."

Grin pointed to an alley way across the street. "Someone’s watching us from in there." he said quietly.

"Really? OK team, let’s check it out. If it’s Canard, fire on sight." Wildwing said the last sentence in a low voice, mentally deciding not to be Canard’s killer.

The ducks crept down to the alley, and leapt to block the entrance once there.

"Who’s there?" Wildwing yelled, the narrow path full of shadows.

A small, skinny brown-haired drake, aged about 30, poked his head out from behind a skip. "I didn’t do anything! Please leave me alone! Tell Canard that he’s wasting his time with me, I don’t have anything!" the duck started to plead in a grating voice.

Wildwing lowered his gun. "Sorry if we scared you. We aren’t with Canard."

The duck frowned. "Then why are you," he waved a hand at them "Well, clean and that."

Duke strode towards him. "Were you ever told about the strike force that followed Draganus through a Dimensional Gateway?"

The duck’s eyes widened. "You’re them?"

Wildwing nodded. "It’s a long story, and we’re in a hurry. Can you please tell us the date?"

"Well, sure," the male was a little overwhelmed. "March 7th."

Jadestar drew her breath in sharply. Nosedive looked at her questioningly.

"Guys, right now Canard is about to kill the Fiveirons, our foster parents." she said quietly.

The three siblings looked at each other. Without a word, they started running, and the others followed.

***

They’d been lucky, where they had appeared on Puckworld had been quite close to the Flashblades old home. As they ran into the street, Jadestar called out, slightly breathless, but very serious.

"Prepare yourselves, brothers."

The house was completely fallen in, but a shed was visible over the rubble. Jadestar stepped expertly over the fallen bricks, and the other ducks started to realize what she had been through, and what most ducks still lived with.

Jadestar stopped suddenly. The ducks listened, and they could hear Canard’s voice.

"Up against the walls." Canard said, growling almost smugly.

"Oh!" the younger Jadestar’s voice squeaked. The ducks kicked open the shed door, and stared at the scene. Two old skinny ducks were standing with their backs to a side wall. A girl with matted blond hair stood against the back wall. All three had their mouths open with surprise, firstly with Canard’s entrance, and then the other seven ducks.

"Wildwing? Nosedive?" the old lady said dumbly.

"Hey Mary. Matthew." Wildwing smiled at the two, and to the dirty Jadestar, pained inside at how thin they were. Canard was still recovering from the shock, but Wildwing saw his eyes narrow.

"Mum! Dad!" Nosedive almost laughed. He and Mallory were at the back, but he pushed his way to the front.

Canard pulled out an evil looking weapon, and aimed it at the new arrivals.

"So, Wildwing and Nosedive Flashblade. You have friends here, I see. It’ll be a pleasure to murder you all." He started to fire at them.

The Mighty Ducks returned the fire, scoring a few hits. Canard had good aim, and there had been a few narrow misses.

Matthew and Mary managed to escape the shed, but the civilian Jadestar was trapped behind Canard.

The firefight went on for about ten minutes before Canard went down.

"You think you've won," Canard rasped "But you haven't. I'd made plans in case this happened." He sighed heavily, and lay still.

Tanya checked for a pulse. "He’s dead." she confirmed. Wildwing suddenly remembered the duck who had been behind Canard. He searched for her, and his heart stopped when he saw her lying on the ground, twisted strangely. Blood dripped the few centimetres from her forehead to the ground.

"Tanya." he croaked, pointing to the girl. Tanya rushed over, closely followed by Nosedive. Mallory, Wildwing and Grin looked over their shoulders.

"I’m sorry, but she’s dead too." Tanya said quietly. Wildwing shook as he leaned against on of the walls in the small room. Nosedive's breath caught, and he choked.

"Guys." The remaining Jadestar spoke weakly, catching their attention.

They all turned to see that Duke and Jadestar were growing transparent. Before they could do anything, Jadestar vanished with a shimmer.

"Duke!" Mallory shrieked, and tried to grab him. Her arms went straight through him.

"Oh, crud." he muttered as he too vanished.