"Hold still, will ya'?"

"No! I refuse to wear a tie!" Nosedive swung around the corner, followed closely behind by Mallory.

"Nosedive! You have to! Wildwing said you have to wear a tie so you'd look acceptable!" Mallory put on a burst of speed and tackled Nosedive. He hit the floor and squirmed out of her way. Thanks to Duke's instructing, he knew how to get clean away. He did a back flip up from the floor, ran forward, and smashed into Missie, who had just turned the corner.

Missie groaned, and crumpled to the floor. Mallory stood beside Nosedive and stared.

"I didn't hit her that hard!" Nosedive protested.

"I don't think so either." Mallory nodded. "C'mon, let's get her to the infirmary."

Nosedive nodded, and hefting Missie over his shoulder, hurried to the infirmary. Tanya looked up surprised when they entered, but seeing the problem, swiftly prepared everything. As she set the computer to monitoring Missie, she asked, "What happened anyway?"

Nosedive looked sheepish. "It was an accident. She walked around the corner and I was running, and I, well, I hit her."

Tanya shook her head. "That couldn't possibly have done this. No, it had to be something else."

"You trying to say I didn't hit her? I mean, I was there, and I most certainly hit her. I have the bump on my head to prove it!"

"No, I mean it had to have more to do with it than that. Maybe she was under serious stress or something." Tanya looked up from the computer screen. "And I think I just found it."

"What?" Nosedive leaned forward, but the messages flashing by on the screen meant nothing to him.

"Why don't we let her tell us herself?" Tanya touched a small button, and Missie moaned. Her eyes fluttered open, and she tried to sit. Nosedive pushed her back, and she relaxed.

"What happened?" She whispered, her voice getting stronger as she spoke.

"We're not sure, but Tanya seems to know."

"Tanya?" Missie looked at the team scientist expectantly.

Tanya sighed. "I found some chemical traces in your blood stream. I'm not sure what they were, but they attributed to it."

Instantly, Missie sat bolt upright. She looked at Tanya with a stricken, desperate gaze. "Chemicals? Of what type?"

Tanya looked startled, then turned back to the computer. "Several. One knock-out mixture, a few that I can't identify, and one that's normally used in," she paused, "truth serums."

"Truth serums!" Missie cried out, and fell back on to the bed. "Just what I needed," she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Mallory asked, leaning over Missie to look at her.

Missie opened her eyes. "Get Wildwing to assemble the team. Immediately. I'll tell all of you at once. This is a matter of," she sat and levelled her gaze at the three other ducks. "Life and death."

***

"So what's going on?" Wildwing crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at Missie.

Missie shuddered, and said slowly, "The Negaverse has broken out."

"Broke out of where?" Duke said suspiciously.

"Out of the Negaverse of course. Well," Missie paused thoughtfully. "I'm not actually sure that they have actually broken out yet, but it must be expected."

"Why?"

"Did Tanya tell you about the chemicals in my bloodstream?" When Wildwing nodded, she continued, "That's from Misty. Misty is the Negaverse version of myself. She has Guardian powers and feels that her life is much too, well, exciting, and wants to take over mine."

"Yours!" Nosedive cried out, incredulous.

"Mine. However, I won't give her the exact dimension I'm in, so she must've decided to take drastic action."

"But if she can't get here, how'd she figure out how to take these 'drastic measures'?" Tanya asked.

"Stupidity on my part is the cause." Missie admitted sheepishly. "I often check out the Negaverse to make sure they haven't done something completely, utterly stupid and dastardly, but this time she must've sensed my coming and caught me."

"She can do that?" Mallory asked. "I thought you said that Guardians when they turn evil can almost never defeat good Guardians, and that your abilities were advanced, even for a Guardian."

"True." Missie nodded. "Unfortunately, one of me, even with my advanced abilities, can't beat seven evil, powerful ducks. Oops, make that six."

"What are you talking about?" Wildwing demanded.

"What, that Nasha isn't evil, or that the Negaverse version of you all have Guardian powers?"

At that simple question, the ducks jaws all dropped, and they stared at Missie with shock. Missie shrugged.

"Who's Nasha?" Nosedive asked slowly.

"You." Missie sighed. "A hopeless coward that tries to hide from reality. His older brother the nega-Wildwing, named Andrin, wishes he could just kill Nasha and be done with it. Nasha hates and fears Misty, and is absolutely smitten with his, ahem, slave, nega-Mallory, Marcell."

Nosedive's jaw dropped, and he glanced at Wildwing with a touch of fear. Then all Missie's words sunk in, and Nosedive and Mallory looked at each other and screamed. They both jumped up off the couch, and stood staring at each other, at opposite ends of the room.

"Hmm." Missie mused. "Took it pretty well, actually. You should've seen how your last dimension selves reacted to that."

"You've met our other dimension selves?!?" Wildwing leaned forward.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Some were funny, actually." She smiled, remembering. "There were ones where I was married to Duke, where me and Nosedive were the leader and second-in-command, where there was no Grin, and some where Saurians didn't exist. Now That was nice. And then,"

"Then what?" Nosedive demanded when she didn't continue.

"Then the ones where I was the last Guardian, the ones where you were all dead, where Wildwing has been dead for years-even before we came to Earth, and the one where Puckworld, the whole Andromeda system, Earth, the Milky Way, and who knows how many more places were utterly destroyed by Dragaunus." She sighed as a single teardrop rolled from her eye.

The team looked at each other for support, but then, Missie sat up straight and clapped her hands. "But enough of such matters. We need to plan."

"It would help," Duke said, leaning forward, "If we knew what our nega-selves were like."

Missie nodded. "Right. Now, as I said before, Nasha hides from reality. He also isn't very evil. He has much longer hair than Nosedive, blonde with black streaks. He wears an outfit much like our Duke's, only black and the sleeves ripped off. He is also the one with the missing eye, not Duke. He also has a dagger like Duke's saber."

"Nega-Wildwing, or as he's called, Andrin, wears black, that looks like street clothes, and the mask is darker gold with blood red eyes. The right eye has a scar running through it, and Andrin's actual right eye does as well."

"Nega-Grin, Grind, is well, dangerous." Missie drew in a shaky breath. "Horribly corrupted, almost to the point of insanity. He's rather ruthless, and he doesn't look too different other than he's in black, but well, he has metal 'claws' with a hooked end on his gloves, so I'd watch them, they tear you to pieces, literally. Fortunately, he's not quite as big as Grin, and not nearly as strong."

"Nega-Mallory, Marcell, isn't really evil either, partially because she'll do anything Nasha tells her to, and he doesn't like evil. She has really long hair, only more a flame coloured shade. She wears black leather, and looks like if she had a little bronze armour and dyed her hair, she could fill in for Xena Warrior princess."

Mallory grimaced.

"Nega-Tanya, Tash, is well, kinda a ditz. She doesn't like killing, and will start giggling hysterically. She also wears black leather, you know, mid thigh black spikes, the whole works. She wears her hair down, and it's the same shade as it is now. She also still has glasses, so to get her confused, get rid of her glasses. She," Missie looked at Tanya slyly, almost secretively, "can't see without them."

"Nega-Duke, also called Duke, also wears black, has shorter hair, still has the chip, has both eyes, and doesn't use a saber. He's kinda a 'gun-for-hire' and uses a huge, absolutely HUGE puckgun."

Missie paused, then appeared to have an idea. "Wait! We could call in the Poisiverse to help!"

Wildwing sat forward. "Posiverse? What's that?"

Missie giggled. "The calvary. Actually, they're us all over again, but we can get them to help us defeat the Negavere. Can you imagine that? Three of each of us fighting?"

"Are they evil?" Tanya asked.

"No. They are, well, perfect. Hence the name 'poisi'. There's virtually no evil there, and the worst they ever get is a little shoplifting. It's rather boring, actually."

"So what's our other selves like?" Mallory leaned forward.

Missie giggled. "Seriously different than us. Nosedive is called, um, Norman."

"Norman!?!" Nosedive screeched. "I think I like Nasha better!"

Missie giggled. "Norman wears white, and uses no puckgun. He does however have karate skills, and has a black belt. He has shorter hair, and looks rather, well, innocent."

"Poisi-Wildwing, called Anagrin, wears a blue jacket, and maroon bodysuit. The mask is a lighter gold with silver eyes."

"Poisi-Grin is called Grim, and is even worse than our good old Grin. He's seriously philosophical, so much it'd drive even our Grin crazy!"

Grin raised his eyebrow, and Nosedive gave him an odd look. "Now that is scary."

"Poisi-Mallory, Magellan, has flame coloured, long, braided hair, and wears a white gymnast-style bodysuit with a ruffled white skirt."

Mallory cleared her throught. "Are Mallory and Nosedive, uh, together in that dimension?"

Missie smiled. "No. It's Missy and Norman, and Magellan and, ahem, Grim."

"Grim?!?" Mallory shrieked. "I think I like Nasha better!?!"

Nosedive grinned. "My sentiments exactly."

"Poisi-Tanya, Tõn, wears the same as Magellan. She still has her omnitool, but it has different functions. She has a very long pony-tail, glasses, and, like Tash," Missie again gave Tanya a sly look, which Tanya deliberately advoided, "can't see without them."

"Poisi-Duke, also named Duke, has no patch, and no nick in his beak. He wears a black jacket, black pants, and a maroon shirt. He has much shorter hair, that falls over his left eye."

"Missie," Wildwing observed. "You haven't said anything about yourself."

"I'd prefer not to, Wildwing." Missie sighed.

"I think it would help us defeat them if they break out," Wildwing insisted.

Reluctantly, Missie nodded. "All right. The Negaverse version of myself, Misty, is, well, utterly corrupt. She has short hair, a chip in the right side of her beak, and well, a bad demeanour. As I said before, Nasha is terrified of her, and there is cause. Misty kills anyone she considers a weakling, and Nasha's been cheating death for years. She wears a very low cut, sleeveless bodysuit with very short short bottoms. A fad there, I guess. She wears the same mask as me, on the pendant, only with blood red eyes and a chip in the beak. She also wears a cape, and looks frighteningly like Kethru."

The team murmured with surprise, and Duke nodded in sympathy.

Missie continued. "I don't know too much about my poisi self, Missy, but I do know enough. I'm not all too sure about her mental stability. She's the last Guardian there, and she took the strain oddly. She wouldn't mind taking over my life herself, but she's alot easier to beat, she has very little Guardian powers. She wears her hair tied back with three blue bands along it's length, and her bangs are a very girlish version of mine. She wears my white outfit, with the barbed wire design, the slits, the spaces near each side and the neck. She looks okay in it, I guess, but I look better."

Nosedive smiled knowingly, but didn't say anything.

"Does she have the mask too?" Mallory asked.

Missie nodded. "It poses a problem that all three of us do. All three Wildwings do too, but it's worse with three Guardians."

"So, " Wildwing leaned forward. "Let's pose strategeies."

Missie moaned, and held her head. Instantly, Nosedive was by her side. "What's wrong Missie?"

"I think one of those chemicals she put in me is reacting with the chemicals Clophine created." Missie gasped breathlessly.

"Quick!" Tanya cried. "We have to get her to the infirmary!"

Missie moaned, and thankfully, the world faded out from before her eyes, and she fell into the welcoming arms of blackness.

___________________________________________

Missie opened her eyes slowly. To her left, she could see Tanya, sleeping slumped over a computer monitor. To her right, Nosedive had his head rested on his crossed on arms on the side of her bed. He wouldn't even go to bed, she thought. How sweet.

Carefully, she shook Nosedive's shoulder, and he jolted awake. "Wh-what happened?"

"Shh!" Missie hissed. He looked at her wide-eyed, but she swung off the bed, and motioned for him to follow.

She led him down the hall, and quietly as she could, slid the door to her quarters open. She waved him inside, and he tiptoed after her. Only within the relative safety of her quarters did she speak. "We have a serious battle before us, Nosedive."

When he nodded, she continued. "That means we'll need all the help we can get."

Nosedive swallowed. "So?"

Missie sighed. "Nosedive, did you ever think you were...different?"

"How so?"

"That you knew more about things than could really should, or that you could see things others couldn't, or that when you got hurt, you didn't stay hurt?"

Nosedive frowned. "Yeah, all the time. Wing says my blood's odd or something."

"Do you remember anything that he can't?"

Nosedive looked startled. "Yeah! I remember this girl named Aria Purefeather, from when I was really young. And I remember she was evil, like a Betrayer. And you know what? I used to have dreams about Dragaunus when I was little too! Only, I called him 'Daggy' 'cause I couldn't pronounce 'Dragaunus'."

Missie smiled brilliantly. "I was right. All this time, I was right. Nosedive, you are a Guardian."

His jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"No. Here, take this." She handed him a small knife. "Make a small cut on your hand."

Nosedive looked at her nervously. "Do I have to?"

She looked at him fiercly. "Look, you want to beat those guys or not?"

He sighed, and made a small cut on his hand. Missie took the blade from him, and mimmicked his action, then slammed their hands together.

The result was instantanious. Fire and pain shot through Nosedive's veins, and despite his best efforts, a scream ripped from his throat, joining Missie's. Nosedive was sure he was going to die, the fire was working it's way up his veins to his brain, and suddenly, his head felt like it would explode. He tried to ease it, but it only grew until he fell into the not-quite-welcoming darkness of unconsciousness.

____________________________________

When Nosedive opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was Missie's unconcious body beside him, her arm flung over his chest. He lifted her hand, and nearly dropped it when he saw that the cut she had made with the dagger was glowing with an unearthly light. He lifted his own right hand, and was shocked to see the same effect on his own limb. He looked at Missie, and carefully shook her shoulder. "Missie, Missie. Wake up, Miss. C'mon babe, dont' give up on me!"

Missie moved slightly, and Nosedive felt his mind flooded with relief.

He heard Missie's voice, and didn't think twice about the origan.

-Not bad, Divey. We made it.-

Without thinking, he responded the same way. -Now what?-

Missie chucked. -You'll see.-

At that presise moment, the door to Missie's quarters slid open, and Wildwing burst in, followed closely behind by the rest of the team. "What's going on? We heard screams."

-What do you mean, what's going on?- Nosedive demanded. Apparently his brother didn't notice, so he repeated the question. Wildwing still didn't hear him, and Nosedive was getting quite exasperated.

Missie noticed, and suddenly began to laugh. The other ducks looked at her oddly, and she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. -They can't hear you Nosedive,- she giggled.

It was then that Nosedive realised that he'd just been talking to Missie through his mind! Out loud, he whispered, "Weird."

"What's weird?" Mallory demanded. Nosedive took one look at her, and burst out laughing. "What?!?" Mallory demanded, and Tanya shrugged, not seeing the joke. Missie was actually the only other that noticed, and thought to him, -Now you see everything as I see it, you, the first and last ever male Guardian.-

That caught Nosedive's attention. "What!?!" He cried out loud. "I'm the first and last male Guardian?!? You mean there's never been one like me?"

The other ducks jaws dropped, and Missie smiled sheepishly. "Nope. Your the first ever."

"Oh great," Nosedive moaned. "Now you tell me."

Wildwing demanded, "You meaning to say that you just did something that makes him a Gaurdian?!?"

Missie shook her head, and wordlessly, both blond, short ducks raised their right hands to show the glowing lines. "He always was a Guardian, Wing. I just made him realise it. The glowing means he has Guardian blood. If I did that to you, nothing would happen."

Nosedive nodded. "Now we've got a new weapon, Wing. I'm more powerful now. We can defeat them."

Missie nodded. "For sure. So what do you say Wing? "

Wildwing sighed. "You're absolutely sure these powers won't do anything to Nosedive?"

Missie nodded. "He already was a Guardian, Wing. It's never done anything to him thus far, only helped."

Wildwing's eyes widened. "So that's how he did it..." His voice trailed off.

"Now, I advise we call the Poisiverse in, and..."

Suddenly Missie was interrupted by an eerily familiar voice from behind the other ducks. "That won't be necessary."

Wildwing stepped to the side to reveal another team, identical to their own except for small details. The one that was obviously Missy stepped forward, and stood before Missie. "You wanted us?"

Missie had to smile despite herself. "Yes. The Negaverse is about to break free."

Then, Missy said something that made the ducks blood run cold. "Good. That means Misty did as was planned."

Missie held up her hands. "Woah, you trying to tell me you and Misty were both in on this thing?"

Missy laughed. "Of course. You didn't expect the Poisiverse to be completely perfect, did you?" The other Poisi team members laughed, although Norman looked at the floor nervously.

Missie suddenly raised her voice, and called out across the dimensions, "Misty! Your own Universe self calls a challenge against both you and your Poisiverse self! Join us, and admit your defeat."

Raising his own voice, and nodding to Missie for amplification, Wildwing called, "Andrin and Anagrin! You're Universe self also joins the challenge!"

Mallory set herself in a defiant pose, and yelled, "Magellan! Marcell! I, Mallory, challenge you!"

Grin set his jaw, and pounded one fist into another. "Grin calls his own challenge against Grind and Grim!"

Tanya cleared her throat. "Tanya calls upon Tash and Tõn to come, accept the challenge I offer as well as your inevitable defeat!"

Duke raised his saber and yelled, "Duke and Duke, I, Duke calls a challenge ta' ya', and if ya' don't accept, you'll be the cowards I know ya' are!"

Nosedive lifted his head, and with a roar that could be heard across the dimensions, he let his own challenge ring. "Accept your fate! Nasha! Norman! You are not the evil ones, and I, the first and last male Guardian of the Universe calls upon you to join me! Join me, your fate and destiny, and accept the inevitable, or face utter destruction!"

Norman, who had been standing awed through the whole ordeal, let out a roar of his own, and lept forward. "My pleasure." He ran to beside Nosedive, and faced Missy with a defiant glare.

Missy's jaw dropped. "You're actually going to help him?!? We were going to destroy them! You can't do this!"

Missie rose herself to her full height. "Destroy us?!? I think NOT!!!! " Missie raised her tckla, and with a sudden move, brought it down on Missy. It hit some kind of energy sheilding, and Missy laughed, until suddenly the radioactive shielding sprung around the tckla, and began to pour energy into the barrier. Missy grew visibly weaker, and fell to her knees. She looked up imploringly at Missie, who suddenly thrust her hand into the barrier.

Seemingly the energy from both her tckla and the barrier had no effect on her, and she caught hold of the silver mask on the cord around Missy's neck, and yanked. The second the cord broke, the barrier disappeared, and Missy fell to the floor, defenceless. Missie looked down at her disdainfully, then turned her back on her.

Anagrin, who had watched the whole ordeal with a fearful fascination, suddenly rallied the other poisi team members. "If that could be done to Missy, then we can do it to her!" He pointed vehemously at Missie, who turned slowly around to face him.

"Give it you're best shot." she growled. Anagrin raised his hand, and shot a fireball in her direction. Missie simply held up her hand, and seemingly absorbed the energy. Disgusted, Anagrin tried again, with a larger blast this time, but she absorbed that too. By this time, the Negaverse had slipped unnoticed into the room, and Misty, her dark eyes flashing, growled.

"Give it up weakling. You can't do anything." Anagrin glared at her, but she raised her hand, and with a massive fireball that far surpassed Anagrin's, hit him full in the chest, and he was thrown back against the wall. When his head hit, there was an audible crack, and Anagrin's unconscious form instantly disappeared.

"What the.." Mallory cried out. Magellan, who had been watching the whole thing, paused, glanced at Misty, then stammered, "It's a fail-safe. If we ever go unconscious, we're instantly transported back to the Poisiverse."

Misty raised her head. "What?!? We were never informed of this..."

Nasha interrupted her. "Yes, Misty, you were."

Misty growled, glared at the fearful duck, and hissed, "Are you calling me forgetful?!?"

Nasha shrugged. "No. But you did get all transmissions from the Poisiverse blocked for quite awhile. Funny, Missy's nothing like you, although I must admit, neither of you are very mentally stable."

Misty roared, and dove for Nasha's neck. He stepped aside, and yelled to Marcell, "Catch her!"

Marcell seized Misty's arm, and would have been instantly incinerated, had it not been for Magellan grabbing her other arm. "Need some assistance?"

Mallory paused, then, with gusto, grabbed her puck cannon, and clubbed Misty over the back of the neck with it. Misty instantly went limp, and the three Mallory's clapped a highfive. "Ducks Rock!"

Andrin, seeing the Guardian put out of commission, instantly took charge. "Everyone! Seek out the other version of yourself, and defeat them!" With that, he swung at Wildwing, who ducked and swung a sharp uppercut to Andrin's jaw.

Grin looked from Grim to Grind, and said thoughtfully, "Fighting is illogical, and someone will be injured." Grind grunted, and swung a lousy punch in Grin's general direction.

"I am one with the world, and you are one with my fist!" Grin laid a monster punch to Grind's stomach, and Grind fell, winded.

"Well put." Grim said politely. "And very true."

"Thank you." Grin nodded, as they both turned to wait for Grind to rise before they attacked again.

"Uh, guys, you wouldn't really kill me, would you?" Tanya backed against the wall, looking at the other versions of herself apprehensively.

"You kidding?" Tash giggled. "I could never kill anyone. She'll have to do it." she pointed to Tõn.

"Who, me?!?" Tõn placed her hand on her chest. "No way! You'll have to!"

"No way!"

"Well, I'm not!"

Tanya sighed, and settled in for a long wait.

Duke stood, facing both Duke and Duke, who stood, with weapons ready. "Heh heh, guys, really, what would the universe be like with out Duke L'Orange?"

The other Dukes paused, and the poisi-Duke said slowly, "Y'know, he's right."

Nega-Duke nodded. "What would any place be without Duke L'Orange?"

The other Dukes both stuck their hands out and smiled. "Pleased ta meet ya', Duke."

Bewildered, Duke shook their hands, and muttered, "Charmed, I'm sure."

Duke, Duke, and Duke stepped back to survey the damage. Grind sat on the floor, nursing a sore jaw, closely guarded by Grin and Grim. Andrin sat, sulking on the floor, muttering to himself. Misty lay in the corner, Missy sitting dejectedly near her. Both had their masks removed, and Missie was examining them as they dangled from her fingers. Tanya was still standing, listening bored to Tõn and Tash still arguing about who would kill whom. Norman, Nasha, and Nosedive chatted as if they had know each other for years. Which in essence, they had. Mallory, Marcell, and Magellan were chatting, holding their weapons ready for the instant anyone moved when they shouldn't've.

Missie suddenly stood, and addressed all ducks in the room. "We have prevailed, and once again, good defeats evil. But the battle has just begun. We must seek out all remaining evil and destroy it!" She raised her hand, and was meet with a response of cheering. "You will all go to you're own position in the Multiverse, and give the evil ones the punishment they deserve. And," she gave a pointed look in Misty's direction, "no charges of not guilty for reasons of insanity."

The ducks smiled, and with a single guesture from Missie, the Poisiverse and Negaverse both faded out to return to their own rightful places.

Wildwing wrapped his arm around Missie's shoulder and smiled. "Good job, Missie."

Missie smiled, looking very tired. "Thanks."

Duke suddenly thought of something. "If we all had powers, how come only Anagrin used 'em?"

Missie sighed. "They were only allowed to use them if first the Guardian and then the team leader have been defeated or delayed, or they are given instructions to use them."

Tanya laughed as Missie suddenly yawned. "You need some sleep, Miss. No, don't argue. I'm you're mother, and I know what's best for you."

Missie nodded, and stumbled to her room. "Don't do anything dangerous, 'kay, Dive?"

He laughed. "Naw, I'll wait till your awake so you can help!"

Missie smiled, and stepped into her room. She fell onto her bed, and yawned. "Good night, universe," she muttered as she fell into a much needed sleep.