Now on with the story…..

Puckworld… after the saurian invasion, but 1 year before the Mighty Ducks came to earth.

While Draganous enslaved the planet, there where some cities, located far away from the initial invasion, these cities had a higher military presence, and where able to hold out longer. The place: Ice Ridge City.

The young mallard wheeled his way though the dirty streets, he hated the saurians, mostly because they put him in a wheel chair for the rest of his life. Still he had his own concerns right now.. and wheeled up to a phone booth, and checked it. ‘Good,’ he thought ‘it still works.’ He then pulls up his lap top, and looked around, before attaching it to the phone, and started typing away…..

****Welcome to Freedom Chat Net****

****Private Room enter password****

****Password accepted****

<Wheels> Anyone there?

<Dark_Knight> I’m here.

<Wheels> Did the results come back?

<Dark_Knight>Yea….minor cybers only, your body rejects the larger stuff… sorry dude.

Wheels frowned at that on the screen, ‘Great stuck in this chair for the rest of my life…’

<Dark_Knight> I have a alternative.

<Wheels> ???

<Dark_Knight> Only if your willing to help the resistance, you game?

<Wheels> Of course, but the resistance? Your with them?

<Dark_Knight> Will meet at the following coordinates, 10pm. I will wait 30 minutes before leaving.

****Dark_Knight has quit chat and closed connection****

****Map coordinates received prior to disconnection****

Wheels disconnected the phone line, and looked at his lap top, ‘Not that far from here, and it’s only 3 hours till meet time…might as well get going.’

As he wheeled along the street he picked up a newspaper, and stopped at the plaza. He open the paper and decided to read while he waited.

"Hacker known as Wheels accesses Saurian factory computers… Factory leveled as a result, however 20 ducks where caught in the blast, all dead." Wheels grimaced at that, he thought the factory was fully automated, nothing alive inside. Now he wondered if this Dark Knight was trying to bring him in. It wasn’t long till he saw a tall thin duck, tapping away with a cane, and a band of silvery metal covering his eyes. The blind duck walked up to him till his cane tapped the side of his wheel chair, "You Wheels?" Wheels blinked, "How did you…?" The duck tapped the metal band with a finger tip, "Sonic range finder, still need the cane though to help get around. Come on Dark Knight is waiting.."

As they walked Wheels learned the duck called himself Duck Blind, another hacker alias. Wheels also heard of him, big time hacker, with a pre-invasion criminal record for computer crimes a mile long. DB was a true legend in the trade… He also learned that when the invasion hit, a explosion burned him, so he was really blind now.

When they reached the warehouse, DB lead him up a ramp and knocked in a pattern on the door. It opened and they walked down the hall where Wheels showed him to a empty room. It was then that a brown duck, with a cybernetic right arm walked in. "Hello Wheels, I’m Dark Knight." Wheels looked up at him, "I see… so what do you want with me? And what is this alternative?" Dark Knight sat down, "Simple, the resistance needs hackers to slow down the saurians, and weaken them. Even provide intelligence." Wheels nodded, "yea.. okay, but the alternative?" Dark Knight reached in to his pocket and pulled out a small box, with a hole where one might plug in some headphones, "This is a cyber-jack, my own design, it will let you surf the net, and hack via virtual reality, in there you will have your legs again."

Wheels nodded, a bit excited at a new way to do some hacking, "Plug it in to my lap top?" Dark Knight shook his head, "No, it’s implanted at the base of the skull in the back. You then just plug yourself in."

Wheels grinned, "Cooldelic, sign me up then." Dark Knight nodded, and gestured to the door, "This way then, buy the way after this, I’m going to help out the resistance in a more direct manner." Wheels nodded, "Okay.. my real name is Johnathan Drake…" Dark Knight grinned and wheeled Wheels in the next room, "You can call me Lucus."

The operation was very short, and Wheels rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the small metallic hole that was hidden under his feathers. He was also introduced to the other members of the team.. Duck Blind, he meet, was the firewall specialist. Fixer, a female duck with long bluish hair, the only one with out the jack, monitored there health status not to mention was a fully trained doctor. Viral, another female duck, with short black hair, and dressed all in black like something out of a gothic magazine, was the virus specialist. Neuron, a skinny duck that was quadrapldice (a condition where the body was paralyzed from the neck down), who lived totally in the net, and served as there guide and team leader. Wheels was chosen for his skill in cracking codes and identifying defenses the fastest.

True to his word Lucus, Dark Knight, left in a large van, leaving them with instructions on how to contact the resistance, and a hidden base equipped with a medical center, and a large computer mainframe which they all could use to dive in to the net and do there stuff.

It was then that the speaker on Neuron’s chair came to life, "Okay.. lets get you trained Wheels. Viral you dive in with him." Viral shrugged and sat in a chair next to the computer, "Why not.. my life sucks already…" Neuron’s chair turned so he could look at her, "Oh please stop the, I’m so depressed and want to die stuff already? It’s not good for the team." Viral grinned, "Okay then, your life sucks." She then took a cord in hand and plugged herself in. Wheels chuckled, "This is going to be interesting." He then plugged himself in and closed his eyes.

Wheels looked around, he saw he was standing on a floating piece of rock, with streams of light all around him. He then blinked, ‘Standing? I’m standing?" He looked down and moved a foot, he was standing, and looked like his old self. It was then something tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw a thin duck with a skeletal face, right out of a zombie movie, "Boo!" Wheels tried to scream but it clamped his beak shut with a hand, "Please spare me okay? It’s just me Viral. Nothing is real in here, so you can change how you look if you want." Wheels nodded, then looked disappointed, "Okay… so what are we doing first?" Viral looked over and gestured and a keyboard formed in front of them, "Well, our archetype, or current state, can be programmed with moves like a computer, yea just can’t take them in to reality with you…" She then started typing away, and some words floated up like a menu, "I know lets start with teaching you some martial arts."

Wheels blinked, "What?" She tapped one of the words and, he shook his head a bit. "Whoa..", Wheels moved a hand to his head, "Got dizzy for a sec there." Viral grinned slightly, "That’s the marital arts program being added to your archetype." She then tapped a few more times, and the terrain around them changed to resemble a chinese dojo. "This," said Viral, "is a sparring program, it simulates the normal reality of the net, but the buffers in place make it safer then the net." Wheels just nodded, "Yea.. sure whatever…"

Viral then assumed a basic combat stance, with Wheels doing the same. Wheels started off buy attempting a jump kick, but Viral caught his leg and flipped him over her head. Wheels managed to get his hands on to the ground and spun around catching her in the head with his feet, sending her back to the floor. Wheels then walked over and offered her a hand, "How did I do?" Viral accepted his hand and grinned, "Not bad.. for a beginner. Lets head out and get a drink." Wheels then saw it get dark, and blinked and looked around, as he reached back and removed the plug from his head.

It wasn’t long till the group started getting themselves together, then the news came. Some group of resistance fighters, managed to knock out the master control tower, and from the looks of things, Draganous with it. However the smaller towers that relayed the control signal where still up and running, his team had it’s first mission now, locate a control tower and plant a virus to spread through out Draganous’s networks, shutting down his drone army. The team dived in to the net, and began flying through the data stream of the drone control network.

Wheels looked at his comrades, out of all of them he looked the most normal. Duck Blind’s archetype made him looks like a cybernetic duck with a eyepiece that went all the way around his head. Neuron the team leader, a softly glowing ball of light. Wheels looked up, he saw something in the distance and stopped, floating there on a kind of surf board, "There to our right.. looks like some kind of fortress." Neuron pulsated as he spoke, "That’s got to be it, from what we’ve seen in out factory raids, Saurian’s aren’t that creative with the net." Viral, riding a skeletal horse, rose her sword, "Then lets get going already, I have a need to infect." Duck Blind, just hovered there, "Aye, lets get this over with." The four then touched hands, and said, "Ducks Rock!", and took off for the fortress.

Over all it looked like a old castle, around the gates, where drones, just like in the real world, as well as the walls. Wheels banked left as they approached, then flew above it, and looked it over, "Looks like they got a back door, east side." Duck Blind headed over there, as did Neuron. "It’s here…" Neuron pulsed, "Looks like one at a time." Duck Blind nodded, "Okay me first, I got the upgrades to detect defense programs." With that Duck Blind went through the thin crack in the wall, "All clear."

The halls in the castle where large, purple, and gaudy. It wasn’t long till they reached what looked like a throne room. Viral looked at the larger drone sitting on the virtual throne, "This is it, that’s got to be the central AI for this control tower." Wheels nodded, "Then plant it with a timer and lets get going." Viral nodded and placed a small black box at her feet, then waved her hand over it, "Okay it’s set, going off in 1 minute actual, plenty of time for use to get out of here." Wheels nodded, "Good, lets get going." Then as he stood and turned down the hall where they came, he bumped in to something large and looked up.

It looked like a tall thin saurian, with pinkish scales, gaudy red robes, and glowing green eyes. Wheels gulped and grinned, "Hi there… bye there.." He then dashed down another hall with Viral following close.

After a few random turns he blinked as it formed out of the floor in front of him again, "So ducks… trying to hack in to my computer system?" Viral held up a small ball, "Nah, we just want out.. here catch!" She tossed the ball at the saurian, and it exploded, turning him to stone. Viral grinned, "Medusa program, locks up any program, my own design….urk!" The saurian gripped her buy the through, "As you can see I am no program, but like you, the real thing…Computer trace and feedback now!" A voice from all sides then said, "30 seconds for trace…… 29 seconds for trace…." Wheels pulled out a puck blaster, and fired, "Let her go!" The saurian stepped back as the explosive pucks caught him off guard, he then grabbed Viral’s hand and blew a hole in the wall, "We are out of here."

Neuron shifted shape in to a flying carpet, and caught them and headed away from the fortress with Duck Blind leading the way. "Fixer!" shouted Neuron, "We got a trace in effect, put a stop on it, or do a emergency pull out!" A voice then said over there comms, "Working on it… it’s moving pretty fast, I’m downloading a booster, should let you guys catch up with that program and delete it from your end." Wheels then saw the world around him turn in to a tube of light. Duck Blind pointed ahead, "There it is!" The trace program looked like a large missile.

Wheels took careful aim with a puckzooka and fired, but his shoot went through it, "Damn, it’s got a phase buffer!" Fixer commed, "Attempting pull out on Viral… and the rest of you guys… Got it!"

Wheels coughed and panted as he woke up and looked around the dive chamber, he then saw Viral’s body shake violently, then go limp. Fixer took up some pads, "Damn didn’t get her out in time, clear!" She then shocked Viral’s body, then again, and then a 3^rd time. "Come on, I haven’t lost a patient yet." Wheels watched the monitor, then breathed a sigh of relief, "You can stop, she’s alive, but in a coma." Duck Blind punched a wall, "Damn saurian bastards!" Neuron just swiveled his chair around, "Don’t blame yourself, we didn’t know there was another Saurian on planet, and there is bound to be others.. did we at least get a name off his Archetype?" Fixer looked at her screen, "Yes.. calls himself Firous." Wheels nodded, "Then next time, we go after him."