Note: Some major changes have been made to the plot and form of this story, since I have recently become more aware of the world of the X-Men. In fact, in reality and for purposes of Zelda's involvement with both teams, the Ducks and X-Men can't exist in the same plane of time :) (But that's for another fanfic!) So what can I say, but to suspend reality for this story anyway. The X-Men in this story are the X-Men we know from the animated series, at no particular point in their show's time period. As a disclaimer, I neither own or make money off of them or the Ducks. Enjoy the rewrite!

 

Magic and the Labrynth

Written by Zelda

 

                Grin rubbed his head slowly, and opened his eyes. Gravel. Pale yellow gravel covered the ground in round little pebbles. Beyond that was green. His eyes focused slowly. Bushes. A hedge. His eyes followed the branches upwards, to see that it formed a solid ceiling over his head. He heard Wildwing groan slightly as he sat up. Grin followed him.

                "You okay?" Wildwing asked.

                "I believe so." he replied. The rest of the team slowly started to get up as well.

                "Where are we?" asked Mallory.

                "From the looks of it I'd say... some sort of garden." Duke said. Zelda stood up and sniffed the air strangely. "This is weird."

                "Got that right..." Zelda seconded. "Just as importantly, how did we get here?"

                "That gateway." Tanya noted. "It wasn't Dragaunus's. It was different."

                "Then who or what created it?" Wildwing asked. He was met with empty stares from the rest of his team.

                "Dude, I just wanna find somewhere to chill." Nosedive looked around him. "Somethin' tells me we weren't brought her just to hang out. Something's goin' down."  Zelda began to sniff along the path again. Nothing seemed to have passed by here, the air smelled clean and fresh. She took a deep breath to think, when she began to feel strange. Looking at herself, she yelped to find herself growing taller!

                "Zelda!" Tanya cried, alarmed. Zelda had grown to her own height! Zelda panicked and quickly shrunk down, returning to her normal size.

                "What..... was that?" Zelda asked, standing rigid, afraid to move. Suddenly, a voice boomed out overhead.

                "So!" it cried. "You have discovered your weapons!" The Ducks looked in all directions, but couldn't see anyone through the thin hedge passageways. The branches that arched over their heads shook as the unseen figure started to laugh.      

                "Show yourself!" Wildwing demanded. "Why have you brought us here?!"

                "An ancient challenge, my prisoners." the figure announced loudly. The Ducks couldn't tell whether the voice was male or female, it was so twisted.

                "So now we're the prisoners?" Wildwing snorted.

                "Correct." the voice replied. "A creature who looked fit to be the Minotaur himself gave you to me."

                "Dragaunus!" Nosedive snarled.

                "Perceptive little one." the voice sounded amused. "You will need all of your wits about you, to face your challenge in this Labyrinth!"

                "The labyrinth..." Zelda muttered. She began to think again.

                "What challenge?" Mallory asked. "And what are these 'weapons'?"

                "An ancient tradition will be fulfilled again here." the voice boomed. "The strongest and best warriors from your world will do battle in this maze. But your challengers have great abilities, that would put your mechanical weaponry to shame. It is by the benefit of the gods that you have been fitted with similar abilities."

                "Now look here." Nosedive yelled up at the hedge above him. "We're not gonna fight anybody!"

                "Then be slaughtered, foolish ducks!" the voice laughed. "Learn your new powers well. To survive, you must not be defeated." There was a rush of wind through the hedge path, and then silence.

                "Helllooooo!" Nosedive called up. "A little more info here please!?" But there was no answer above them. Zelda sighed, lost in thought. Wildwing turned to her.

                "Okay, earth native." He started. "I hope you can explain this." Zelda looked up at him and grinned a little.

                "I told you it would be handy to have me along."

                "So you know what's goin' on here?" Duke looked down at her.

                "I have an idea... that doesn't mean I'm right though."

                "Well, it's better than nothing." Mallory nodded.

                "That voice, it mentioned that we were in a labyrinth."

                "Yeah, a big maze. We get that." Dive said.

                "In the times of ancient Greece, there was a fabled labyrinth, made out of hedges."

                "But it doesn't exist today." Grin shook his head.

                "Right... but we might be back in ancient times. We don't know what dimension we're in anymore." Tanya suggested.

                "Wonderful." Wildwing sighed. "What else of that legend do you know?"

                "Not much... this battle that voice spoke up... it has something to do with the myth, but I don't remember what."

                "Start wrackin' your brain, girly-girl." Nosedive huffed. "I don't wanna know who these challengers are." Wildwing suddenly took his Mask off, and started scratching his face.

                "Something wrong?" Grin asked.

                "Naw, my eyes just started to itch..." he muttered. He put the Mask back on, and blinked, and suddenly two beams of red light shot forth from his eyes! The Ducks yelled and scattered as the beams seared the pebbles on the path before them. Wildwing blinked again, and the beams disappeared.

                "Whoa, what the heck was that?" Duke asked.

                "I... I have no idea." Wildwing stuttered. "Hang on a second." He concentrated again, and the blasts raced up the path for a few seconds.

                "Dude... you need glasses or something." Nosedive hid behind Grin.

                "These must be the powers that voice spoke of." Grin said. "Zelda can grow in size, you can shoot lasers."

                "So what about the rest of us?" Mallory asked. As she closed her bill, she suddenly doubled over. Two feathery white wings burst from her shoulders, and sloped gracefully down her back. The duck looked up in awe at them.

                "Wow." she stretched them testingly.

                "Amazin'." Duke reached out a hand to help her up, but one became quickly engulfed in flames! He started back in shock, but quickly realized that he wasn't in any pain. He drew up a fireball and held it in the palm of his hand.

                "Guess Wraith ain't he only one who can do this anymore, eh?" he smiled a bit. "Kinda neat." Tanya was examining her arms absent-mindedly.

                "What's wrong Tanya?" Wildwing asked.

                "I dunno, my arms and legs feel real light all of a sudden...." she swung an arm about in a wide arc, and was surprised to find trails of yellowish light following them. "Wow, energy beams!" she smiled. She kicked and her legs created them as well. Spreading her fingertips caused electricity to frazzle around them. "Yipes... I'd better keep these things under control, you know..." she pushed up her glasses.

                "What about you Grin?" Zelda twisted her head like an owl to peer at him. Grin closed his eyes and thought hard. Slowly, Wildwing began to feel himself becoming lighter. He yelled out as he was actually lifted off of the ground! He was abruptly settled back down again.

                "Mind powers." Wildwing stood shakily. "Great."       

                "Telekinesis actually." Grin nodded. "Very curious."

                "Hey man, what about me?" Nosedive whined. "How come I don't have any cool powers?"

                "Well mebbe you do kid." Duke looked at him. "You feel any different?"

                "Naw, not really." Dive shrugged. "'Cept my feathers really itch. What's up with that?" Nosedive balled a fist to scratch it with his other hand, and saw the feathers on his arm standing up, as if he had just walked into a cold room. But they actually pricked him!

                "Owie!" Dive withdrew a stung finger and sucked it in his beak for a few seconds. His feathers relaxed again. "What was that!?"

                "Do that again Nosedive." Tanya suggested. "Concentrate." Dive closed his eyes and felt all of his exposed feathers spike up, even his hair! He looked more like a porcupine than anything.

                "This is my power!?" he yelped. "To be a walking pincushion!?" Mallory laughed out loud at him.

                "Not only that." Zelda sniffed. "I smell some kind of chemical... a biotoxin maybe... on your feathers now. You could actually be venomous!"

                "Sheesh, nobody touch him!" Tanya warned. Nosedive relaxed his feathers again, staring at himself curiously. Tanya plucked a few and began to examine them with her Omnitool. Huddled in the dappled sunlight on the gravel path, the whole team seemed to lean over her shoulders. "Sure enough Dive, you do have some kinda chemical in your feathers, some kind of poison!"

                "We gotta call you Spike from now on." Duke joked. Nosedive frowned in disappointment.

                "Ask a stupid question..." he lamented.

                "Well... this is certainly going to make for an interesting day." Tanya sniffled.

                "Speaking of which." Duke turned to Wildwing. "What now?" The leader frowned beneath his Mask.

                "I'm in no mood to find out who we're supposed to be fighting. Let's say we bust outta this cage?" He suddenly smiled and turned to the nearest wall of the hedge, blasting it. The branches buckled, but did nothing more. Wildwing blinked, and the hedge wasn't even burned.

                "What the...?" Mallory frowned. Tanya swung an arc of energy out, but it was simply absorbed. Duke's flames had no effect either! Zelda closed her eyes, drew in her breath, and began to grow, rising up until the hedge stretched around her frame.

                "That's it girl!" Nosedive cheered. But the branches wouldn't let Zelda through, squeezing her down until she was forced to give up, and return to normal.

                "So much for that idea!" Mallory threw up her hands.

                "We're gonna be here for a while." Zelda huffed.

                "Now what?" Duke asked again. Wildwing looked down the two paths, and started walking.

                "We'll just have to find a way out."

 

                But there was no way out. The team spent hours wandering the hedge maze, their boots crunching in the gravel. The unseen sun swung over their heads, and then set. Their watches had all gone haywire in the gateway transition, but Tanya's Omnitool seemed to function almost normally. She kept herself busy making detailed maps of their travels. The maze was dizzying, twisting and turning, branching off into hundreds of little passages. But unlike it's role in the Maze of Peril, back in Borg's Anaheim, the Mask was useless here. For some reason, it's function was compromised, perhaps by Wildwing's powers. The Ducks quickly grew frustrated with the numerous dead-ends. As sunlight was replaced by the moon, the team was fed up.

                "My feet hurt!" Dive whined.

                "My head hurts." Mallory bit back. "From listening to you complain."

                "Both of you chill out, eh?" Duke raised a hand. The two wingers relented to the bigger, older centerman, and fell silent. Wildwing stood at a fork in the maze, arms folded, tired and full of indecision.

                "I don't know what to do anymore, honestly." he shook his head.

                "If it helps, I do remember a little more of that myth..." Zelda volunteered.

                "Guess we've got the time to hear it." Wildwing nodded. "What else is there?"

                "The labryrinth was a part of some ancient Greek tradition, I'm not sure what. According to legend, there were a hundred ways in, and only one way out."

                "That's impossible." Tanya snorted.

                "Don't shoot the messenger." Zelda tipped back her wings defensively. "That's just how the story goes." The team paused as Wildwing was still contemplating which way to go.

                "Wildwing." Grin spoke. "It is late. I believe we would be able to travel better after some rest." His leader looked down both hedged walkways, before sighing.

                "You're right Grin... I just want to know that it's safe first."

                "Don't worry about that." Zelda piped up. She closed her eyes and grew to an enormous height, taller than any of them, taking up the entire passageway as she lay down. With a wing stretched over their heads like a tent, they would be relatively guarded.

                "Well, it ain't the Hilton..." Dive started. "But it beats walkin'!" He dove under the flap and snuggled against her. Tickled, Zelda squirmed and laughed.

                "Good idea girl." Wildwing nodded. The whole team settled down, Duke opting for an outermost spot, resting against one of Zelda's claws. Tired and hungry, they all quickly dropped off to sleep.

 

                Wildwing awoke slowly, to a soft noise. It was a quiet, hollow snorting, like a horse. He felt the dry scales beneath him flexing and moving, and opened his eyes to see Zelda swinging her huge head towards him, blinking drowsily. He smiled and yawned, stretching a little. He looked at the rest of his team, all still asleep. He'd let them, they'd had a late night. He turned back to Zelda and waved her down. She smiled, nodded slightly, and swung her head away. Wildwing looked around and decided to stay awake, just in case. A long time passed before he heard a shuffling in the gravel outside. Duke lifted Zelda's wing and peeked underneath.

                "You guy's plannin' to camp here any longer?" he whispered. Wildwing yawned again.

                "You're right, we should be moving on." he stood and went to wake his brother.

                "Wha...? Tacos ready yet?" Nosedive blinked drowsily. Wildwing chuckled and walked over to Tanya. "Awww." Dive stood. "I'm hungry." Mallory woke with the noise, folding her snow-white wings. Grin was awake too. As Tanya stood, Zelda withdrew her wing, blinding them all with the dappled sunlight.

                "Sorry!" she smiled, and shrunk back to her normal size.

                "So what now?" Tanya brushed a hand through her hair.

                "Now... I guess we keep walking." Wildwing shrugged.

                "Sheesh." Dive threw up a hand.

                "Wildwing is right." Grin nodded. "I see no other way out of this than to find the exit ourselves." The team reluctantly started wandering off again. Zelda's stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. She nibbled at the hedges, but the leaves wouldn't give! She should have remembered from the day before. Sighing, she trotted to catch up with Wildwing, who was in the lead.

                "If it helps to pass the time." she started. "I've remembered more of the myth."

                "Whee! Storytime!" Dive cheered sarcastically.

                "Anything important?" Tanya asked, ignoring him.

                "I'm not sure. That voice yesterday mentioned the Minotaur, that's what tipped me off. This labyrinth was located on the Grecian island of Crete. Every year, seven young men and women from Athens were brought here, as tribute, to battle the Minotaur in the center of the labyrinth."

                "What's the Minotaur?" Mallory asked.

                "Just what it sounds like." Zelda looked up at her. "Minos's bull. Minos was the king of Crete at the time, the Minotaur was a monster, half man, half bull. One boy finally managed to kill it."

                "So the bad guy's dead?" Duke frowned. "Then who are we fighting?"

                "That's the mystery." Wildwing rubbed his beak.

                "Uhh... would the Minotaur happened to have been in the center of the maze?" Tanya asked.

                "Yeah... yeah it would have." Zelda nodded. "Why?"

                "Because that's where we're going."

 

                She was right, her maps proved it. And no matter how many twists or turns the Ducks had taken, they kept moving inwards, almost in a circle. The tension grew slowly amongst them. They were still tired and hungry, sick of walking. Who were they supposed to fight? Where was this big center? And suddenly, rounding a corner, they came upon it.

 

                The clearing was a circular spanse of grass, almost half a mile wide. Roofed with hedge, there was a slight hill in the center, and the Ducks couldn't see the other side. They stood nervously, stock still at the entrance.

                "Now what?" Dive whispered.

                "There's nobody here." Tanya shrugged. "Maybe they're wandering too?"

                "We're upwind..." Zelda shook her head. "I couldn't smell them if they were here...."

                "Shhh." Wildwing silenced them all. "Let's just wait a second." Duke put a hand up as the team quieted.

                "I hear somethin'... footsteps." he whispered.

                "Me too..." Zelda backed up defensively.

                "Seven sets of footsteps..." Duke added. The team was backing towards the hedge maze. Slowly, the seven figures started to crest the hill, and the team saw them. They were human... or most of them were. One was huge, a blue, furry beast. Two women were hovering over the rest of them, flying without wings! They all wore strange costumes. Wildwing waved the team down. He alone stepped out into the field to meet the strangers.

                "Wing, you crazy?" Dive whispered harshly. Wildwing looked back and motioned for him to stay put. As he walked out, one of the seven approached him. A man, dressed in a blue jumpsuit with yellow accents, he had a visor with a red lens over his eyes.

                "Who are you?" he asked, his tone strong but not aggressive.

                "I am Wildwing, leader of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim." Wildwing continued to approach him. The man paused, as if he recognized something. "Who are you."

                "I'm Cyclops, leader of the X-Men." he replied, not changing his voice.

                "Look." Wildwing said. "We were captured, and put here to fight... I guess against you. But we have no intention..."

                "Stow it bub." One of the X-Men snarled. He was short and grizzled, wearing a yellow and black jumpsuit with pointed ears. "I want outta here."

                "Calm down sugah." One of the flying women scolded him in a warm, southern voice. "We don't want no trouble."

                "But da voice say we gotta fight to get out." Another man with red eyes and a trenchcoat said darkly, in a thick Cajun accent. "Who 'dese fowl anyway?"

                "Stand down Gambit." Cyclops turned to look at him. "These creatures seem peaceful enough." He turned back to Wildwing. "Maybe we can work something out." Wildwing nodded.

                "We have a map of the area that we've gone through. Maybe we can find a way out of this maze."

                "Cyclops." Another lady spoke, walking up to the leader. "I sense that we're no longer in our own time. Even if we escape from the maze, how are we to return?"

                "I don't want to start a fight Jean." he said gently.

                "I say we roast these oversized turkeys." The man in the yellow suit grinned. "I am kinda hungry." The furry creature suddenly pointed at Zelda.

                "It seems that these creatures have a dragon in tow with them." He said, intriuged. "Are you Earth natives?"

                "No, we're from a different dimension, we came to earth to fight against... well, it's a long story." Wildwing shrugged. "But we've always fought for peace."

"Dat sound pretty contraditory ta Gambit." the Cajun-accented man jabbed a thumb at his chest. The furry one spoke up again. "The labyrinth was once a place of monsters. According to the legend, the only way out was to defeat them."

                "Well, if these ain't the monsters." The short one quipped. "They look like the B-team to me."

                "Hey!" Nosedive snapped back. "You don't look so normal and human yourself!"

                "That's cause we ain't, bub. You wanna make something of it?" The man balled his fists, and suddenly three long slits of metal shot out from the knuckles on each hand. The Ducks were all startled.

                "Wolverine!" The woman who had been called Jean yelled to him. But the man ignored her, and charged strait for the unsuspecting Dive, letting out a feral cry. Just as he lifted an arm back to swipe, he nearly slammed into something purple as it planted itself in his way. Zelda had grown to nearly the size of an elephant, and stood over Dive, bellowing so loudly at Wolverine that he was nearly knocked over. The fuzzy blue creature gasped.

                "Fascinating!" he breathed. "They can't do that..." But her threat didn't stop the grizzled Wolverine. He leapt up and caught the dragon across the face, claws slicing effortlessly through her scales and flesh. She reared up, howling. Wildwing spun around, realizing what was happening, and raised his puck launcher. Who were these people?! Afraid to hesitate, he fired off a round that snapped at Wolverine's feet. He was about to forget the warning shots, when there was an immense force at his back, slamming him down. He saw red light all around him, and tumbled to the grass. Cyclops was firing at him, with a beam from his eyes! As Wildwing brought up his shield and chaos broke out around him, he realized why they had been given their powers. Each one of these 'X-Men' must have similar abilities! The blasting ceased, and he stood up. Zelda had smacked Wolverine clear across the field, but the flying girl with the southern accent now approached her. She grabbed the dragon by the wings, and even at her immense size, lifted her into the air as if she were nothing! She twirled the dragon around and sent her crashing against the hedge. Nosedive had since left his cover, and now charged towards the man in the trenchcoat.

                "Cool your jets der." the man grumbled, reaching into a pocket. "Here, play some cards." He flipped out a hand of three, and they began to glow with a strange light. The man flung them at Nosedive, and he was agile enough to duck. The cards hit the ground and exploded behind him!

                "Hey!" Duke yelled. "Leave the kid alone!" He drew up a fireball in his hands, and hit the distracted man in the back. He flattened to the ground, coughing.

                "Dese fowl have mutant powers!" He choked in surprise.

Mallory suddenly swooped overhead, trying to find someone that she could pick off on the wing. The other flying lady seemed to be a proper target. She was clad in white, with white hair to match. As she darted for her, the woman raised her hands and shouted.

"Winds! Hold back our aggressors!"

Mallory thought of this as ridiculously weird, until the woman's eyes clouded with white, and suddenly gusts of wind shot out with her hands! Mallory tumbled helplessly backwards, crashing to the ground. Who were these people?! Her questions were broken by a surge of electricity. She cried out as a flash of lighting raced by her. A storm had begun to form around this woman, with clouds and everything! Mallory dove down and decided on a tactical retreat.

 

                Something was terribly wrong with Grin. He buckled over on the ground, head in his hands, wincing. Tanya ran up to him, looking for someone to defend him against, but there was nobody around!

                "Grin, what's wrong?" she knelt beside him. Grunting, he turned away. Tanya looked around to see the woman called Jean, crouched a few hundred feet away by the hedge, squinted in concentration with blue beams of light coming from her head. It must be a psychic attack! Tanya charged the woman, and swiped her back with a yellow flash of energy. Startled, Jean stood and erected a field of blue light around her. A shield? Incredible! Tanya started to smash against it, and it visibly began to shatter. Cracking through it, Tanya bodychecked Jean hard, sending her sprawling. Tanya blew her back another few feet with a crackling energy beam, and a simultaneous kick. But suddenly she was lifted up into the air! Jean was doing it! Tanya swatted helplessly out, but she was soon out of her energy's range. By this time, Grin was up to help her.

 

                There was a cuff to the jaw that send Zelda sprawling away, claws digging up the grass. How could this creature be so strong? He was truly some sort of beast. She bounced up quickly and came back for the blue-haired man, but was distracted by a scream. Mallory was enveloped in a white light, being gripped by the other flier, and she fell back to the earth. Gambit called up to her.

                "Good 'un Rouge!"

                "Ah do my best sugah." she smiled down at him, and darted away. Zelda whirled around, whipping the Beast with the end of her tail, so it would sting, sending him against the hedge. In a bound, she was off for Rouge. Flying up, she slammed into the girl, and they both went down, Rouge being crushed underneath her. She cried out, and was then silenced. Zelda stood to see that she had been knocked out cleanly.

                "Well..." she panted. "That's one down...." Suddenly there was a blinding flash before her eyes, as if fireworks had exploded right before her. Zelda bellowed and ducked.

                "Leave my friend alone!" A young girl's voice cried out, and the same bright sparks prodded Zelda backwards. With her large size, she wasn't easy to move. As she regained her vision, she saw a teenager, with pink glasses and a bright yellow coat, slinging Rouge over her shoulder and trying to run away. Zelda peered curiously at her. There was something in these people that didn't seem evil at all. This fight should never have happened. Running in the opposite direction, she gently scooped up Mallory, and placed her on her back.

 

                He had to get this guy off of his back! Wildwing's ice shield was beginning to show signs of failure underneath Cyclops's pinning optic beam. Daring to stretch his neck out, he peered above his shield and blasted the leader right back. Cyclops never expected it, and rolled on the grass. As he started to stand, Wildwing made sure to get up first. He aimed his launcher strait at Cyclops's head, just in case, but spoke more softly.

                "We didn't want to fight!" he pleaded. "Can't we end this?" But as he closed his beak, Nosedive was thrown against him, and they both toppled to the ground. Worried, Wing leaned up his younger brother, and saw three huge slashes across his armor. He wasn't hurt though, but out of breath. Wolverine stalked across the grass.

                "I warned the rookie, he still wanted to spar." he grinned savagely. "Cute little porcupine." Dive seethed and tried to struggle up again. Wolverine snarled and came charging at the both of them, when suddenly a golden sword met his claws. Duke intercepted the man, growling. "Heh." he chuckled darkly. "You think that little twig's gonna stop me? Sorry bub." Duke took a step back and slashed Wolverine right across the arm. He cried out in initial pain, but stood again quickly. The three Ducks were horrified as the flesh of his arm actually melded back together before their eyes, as if it had healed right then and there! Wolverine took advantage of the shock, grabbing the blunt of Duke's blade and dealing him a raking blow across his stomach. Duke staggered back, collapsing under the protective cover of his leader's shield. How badly had he been hurt?

                "Umm... bro?" Wildwing looked up at his brother's warning, to see four X-Men surrounding them. The Beast, Cyclops, Wolverine, and Jean. But there was a familiar roar, and Zelda came down, nearly on top of them, shading the group with her wings.

                "Let's get outta here!" Mallory called weakly from her back.

                "My thoughts exactly." Wildwing responded. "Tanya! Grin!" he yelled out.  "See you on the blue line!" He hoisted Duke up to Mallory, then his brother, and then scrambled up Zelda's forearm to sit between her shoulder blades. The dragon was snarling and snapping to keep the gathering X-Men at bay. A few leaps, and she was by Tanya's side. She was getting nowhere in her battle with Gambit, as he was too artful to be hit by any of her energy beams. Exhausted, she eagerly climbed up as well.

                "Where's Grin?" she asked. Zelda looked around and spotted him across the field, kneeling over with pain and quickly being surrounded.

                "Hang on!" she called up to those on her back, and took to the air. Sweeping the X-Men back with her wings, she scooped Grin up as well, and headed strait for the maze again, hoping that she would be able to fit in at her size! Blasts snapped around her, tailing her. Sides scraping against the hedge, she charged in, the others clinging for a handhold against her scales. Darting around a corner, they quickly became lost again.

                "Wahoo!" Dive celebrated. "We outran 'em!"

                "I'm afraid not." Grin sighed weakly. "Run, Zelda..." She peered back at him, worriedly, and quickly obeyed.

 

                "Merde!" Gambit cursed, throwing his silvery bo staff to the ground. "Dey got away!"

                "Not quite." Jean spoke softly. "Our shots will find them." She still had her eyes closed in concentration. Cyclops wasn't listening, he was kneeling by the still unconscious Rouge and Beast.

                "I don't understand." he shook his head. "Did this have to happen?"

                "Cyclops." Jubilee stood up and folded her arms. "Look at what they did!" Cyclops frowned, and nodded.

 

                Her size was a big problem. She couldn't run fast enough at her size, she couldn't shrink any without losing some of the Ducks on her back. But her panic was growing. Grin was right, there was still the presence of danger in her mind. She had to get the others far enough away. Suddenly there were yells of surprise from her back, and a beam of red light grazed the dragon's flank. Zelda cried out and stumbled in the gravel. How could they have followed her this quickly!? Scrambling up, she found her cargo was gone, and spun around in panic. Putting his hands up, Grin halted her.

                "Keep running!" he yelled. "I sense they're after you!" Panic stricken, Zelda returned to her normal size, spread her wings, and darted away. No sooner could the Ducks lose sight of her than a number of blasts came flying right past them, tailing the dragon. Mallory sprung to her feet after they had passed.

                "That's impossible!" she said. "They're curving with the maze!"

                "They're being guided." Grin stood up. "They have to be, we left them in the field..."

                "We've gotta stop them then!" Nosedive said. "Before they get to her and---" There was a crack, a howl, and somewhere ahead the distant, loud scrape of rock on scales. They were too late! Wildwing turned to the rest of his team.

                "Tanya, stay here and patch up Duke. Follow us when you can." He waved the others to follow him, and took off running down the path. His mind was still reeling with the events of the battle. What was going on here? Zelda couldn't have gotten too far, not if he could hear her. But where? There were so many twists in this maze. He came to a fork in the hedge and didn't know what to do.

                "Zelda!" Nosedive called out. "Where are ya girl?" After a pause, there came a soft rumbling, low enough to be heard clearly. It was off to their right. Wildwing turned and began to run again. He rounded a corner, and suddenly there she was, stretched out before them, grown so large that she took up the entire passageway. Crumpled between the hedge, she lay belly towards them, a wing stretched in the gravel beneath her, eyes squinted shut. Wildwing approached her, but he didn't see any major injuries. What had happened?

                "Take it easy, we're here." he said as he climbed over one of her forepaws, trying to get to her face. Her breath was short, soft, coming in thin snorts from her nostrils. Something had hurt her... but what? As he reached out to touch her face, she opened her eyes, and whined softly.

                "It's okay." he said, frowning with a lack of knowledge. Tanya scrambled up beside him. "How's Duke?"

                "He was lucky. Just a few cuts across his stomach. He managed to jump back a ways." Tanya nodded. "Those claws are weird... But he'll be with us in a sec. Now as for you, young lady." she turned to Zelda and looked her over. There was nothing that she could see, and yet the other half of the dragon was obscured. Tanya gently climbed over her neck, and down the other side. Zelda winced slightly. As soon as she dropped to the gravel and turned around, Tanya could see the problem. Right in the middle of her back, there was a spot, charred black, as if all of the blasts they had seen had been pinpointed right there. Tanya rubbed a hand over it gently, scales sloughing off ash. Zelda whined again. The skin wasn't even broken, but Tanya knew better than to look at outward appearances only. With the volume of shots that had hit her in one place, and probably at the same time, her back might very well be broken. Frowning at the possibility, Tanya climbed back over her neck. If Zelda's back was really broken, she'd know about it. The trick was getting her to talk.

                "How bad is it?" Mallory asked.

                "I don't know. All those blasts we saw go by us? They hit her in one spot, right on her spine. That was no accident, they targeted her."

                "Because she was our getaway." Duke frowned, leaning against the hedge.          

                "Yeah... it's like slashing the tires on the Batmobile or something!" Dive huffed. Tanya sighed and squatted down by the dragon's lower jaw.

                "Come on girl, you've gotta talk to me." she encouraged. But Zelda blinked and wheezed back. She simply couldn't. Tanya would have to try and get her through this.

                "Zelda says not to worry." Grin suddenly spoke up. "It hurts, yes, but she thinks that nothing's broken." The whole team looked at him strangely.

                "How do you know that?" Wildwing asked.

                "Telepathy." Grin tapped his head. "With these powers, I can read her thoughts."

                "Well then." Tanya said. "Ask her why she doesn't shrink down. We could carry her..." Grin closed his eyes for a moment, and then shook his head.

                "She doesn't want to be moved." he said, as if he was looking for her reasoning as he spoke. "She blocking the path... in case of another attack." Wildwing rubbed his beak. She was either really hurt, or afraid of being left behind, or just being stubborn. They had to stay together, or else they'd lose each other in the maze. But they were still pretty close to the field... if the X-Men should find them... Wildwing stood back and took a minute to think. They all needed rest. They hadn't eaten in over a day. He sighed and spoke up.

                "Alright, we camp here again for a night. Maybe she'll feel better after that."

                "Yay." Dive celebrated in monotone. "Cause I sure didn't feel like walkin' anymore."

                "I'm hungry." Tanya muttered.

                "Me too." Mallory nodded. Zelda gently stretched a wing out over them again, the appendage shivering a little. The team was quick to settle in, but Wildwing hesitated a little. He didn't trust this place anymore, and he didn't trust the X-Men. How did they get such powers? Where were they from? He looked back to find everyone already fast asleep. Wildwing frowned. They must be exhausted, with the fight and all. With Duke and Zelda hurt, lost in this maze... he wasn't sure what to do from here on out. His stomach rumbled, annoying him. He didn't need any more problems. Wildwing sighed and nudged his back up against one of Zelda's legs. Sleep was a temporary solace, and he would take it while he could.

 

To be continued....

 

Mighty Ducks-The Animated Series, including all logos and characters (except me) are copyright and property of Disney. You may copy, print, or whatever with this document, so long as it is not altered and I (Zelda) am credited. Thanks!