Kristy was standing in the middle of a darkened room, all senses alert. She was being stalked, she could feel his eyes on the back of her neck. Kristy moved her feet into a better stance, balancing evenly on both legs, straining to hear the slightest sound. Anything that would give her attacker away. There! A creaky floor board just behind her and to the left. Her muscles tensed in anticipation, waiting for him to make his move.

A rush of wind and a hand snaked around her neck, trapping her against his chest. As he pulled back Kristy leaned forward and kicked back, catching her assailant off guard and knocking his leg out from under him. Kristy dropped to the floor and rolled, pulling him with her, but then something went wrong and a huge weight fell on her, crushing Kristy underneath.

"Ow!" She exclaimed as the wind was knocked out of her and she bumped her elbow against the hard floor.

"Kristy, are you okay?" the weight was lifted and Kristy could breath again. Canard was standing over his sister, starring down at her with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she took Canard's hand and let him pull her to her feet.

"Good, because we need to work on that move."

Kristy winced. They'd been at this for the past hour but she wasn't getting any better.

"Hey Kriss how's the elbow?" asked Mallory, entering from the observation room where she'd been watching along with Duke.

"It's been better, but it's not broken," was the teen's reply.

"Then let's work that move out again," suggested Duke, following Mallory into the room. The grey mallard took Canard's place next to Kristy. "You need to move the instant he grabs you. Don't wait, that just gives 'im more time to get a better grip."

Kristy nodded, she knew the move in theory, but couldn't do it in reality. "I can't get him over." When Canard attacked she was supposed to roll forward, using her momentum to throw him over her head. That would stun him and give Kristy time to escape. "Why can't I just practice against Mallory?"

"Kristy, you're bigger than Mallory," pointed out Canard.

"What?" Both girls whirled to face him with their wrath.

"Did you just call me fat?" demanded Kristy, hands on her hips

"I am NOT short!" argued Mallory, glaring daggers.

Duke shook his head. "Nice goin' there Canard," he turned to Kristy, "I already know you can do the move against Mal. You've done it, now you need to do something different. You need to-"

"Be ready for anything," interrupted Kristy, rolling her eyes. "I know, I know." After everything that happened since Kristy arrived on Earth Canard decided she needed to learn some basic fighting skills. He, Mallory, and Duke were administering the lessons.

"Besides, what're you going to do against an evil villain who's stronger than you?" asked the ex-thief smugly.

"I'll get him with my puck launcher," answered Kristy, very matter-of-factly.

"Speaking of puck launchers..." Canard checked his watch, "I think it's time for weapons practice."

"Score!" Mallory pumped her fist in the air. "Now it's my turn!" She'd been playing the attacker for Duke's lessons in street fighting, but now it was time for her area of expertise - the weaponry.

"Next time, you're goin' against me kid," warned Duke as they headed for the target range, "then you'll see how a real pro does it."

"You talking about me?" asked Nosedive. He'd been practicing his aim at different distances when they entered.

"In your dreams," answered Mallory. She walked past him to where Wildwing and Tanya were conferring about a strange new weapon. "Hey Tanya, what's that?"

"It's uh my new invention," explained the blond genius, "an automatic puck launcher, or APL for short."

Wildwing handed the gun over to Mallory to examine. "What do you think?"

"I like it," she hefted it up on her shoulder, aimed for Nosedive's target at the end of the range, and fired. It shredded the plastic to ribbons.

"What the?" Dive jumped back as his target exploded. He looked over and saw Mallory grinning in his direction. "Wiiiiing! She broke my target," whined the teen.

"Real mature V," commented Kristy, patting him on the shoulder.

"Dive, there are other targets," said Wildwing, "you can cornel."

"What ever bro." Dive handed his extra puck launcher to Kristy. "Wanna learn some real skills?"

"No way." Canard snatched the gun out of her hand. "Mallory 'n I are gonna teach her the right way."

"But I'm one of the best shots on the team," argued Dive.

"Military experience," replied Canard, "we've got it, you don't."

"Let's go Dive," said Wildwing before his brother could respond, "we've gotta work on your backhand shot."

"See ya T," called Dive, already jogging for the door, "and good luck."

"Yeah. I'm gonna need it," whispered Kristy under her breath.

"So where should we start?" asked Mallory, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

"I don't know." Canard looked Kristy over thoughtfully. "Which weapon do you want to use primarily?"

"Bow and Arrows," answered Kristy right away, "I could be like Legolas and-"

"Okay, no more Lord of the Rights for you," interrupted Canard.

"What? It's an awesome movie."

"It's not real," argued Duke, "there's no way one guy could take down an elephant of that size al by himself."

"But it's Legolas! He's and elf, he can do anything!"

"Are you two done?" asked Malloy, breaking up the argument. "I'd like to do this sometime today ya know."

"Let's just start with a basic puck launcher," suggest Canard. He put the gun in Kristy's hands and pointed her at the target range. "Do you remember how to work this?"

Kristy sighed and positioned herself into the correct stance. "Yes sir, Colonel sir." She gave her brother a mock salute.

"Cut it out Kriss, I'm not as bad as dad was." Canard remembered how their father, Colonel Thunderbeak, had drilled his children endlessly in everything military. It wasn't a surprise that Canard and his brother Charlie both followed in his footsteps. "Come one, I know you don't enjoy this fighting stuff, but if you're gonna be part of the team you've gotta learn it."

Kristy's face immediately brightened. "You mean I really get to join you guys?"

"Not until you pass basic training," said Mallory, "so let's get started."

An hour later Kristy was free to retreat back to her room. I think I liked it better when we were just working on self defense, she told herself, adding the weapons work is too confusing. She finally reached her room and collapsed on the bed. Kristy lay face down on her denim comforter It wouldn't be so hard if I Canard and Mallory didn't spend the whole time arguing and trying to prove the other wrong. She smiled, both older ducks had done their best to show off for the other. I wonder if Mallory knows that Canard likes her? As the weapons expert it was Mallory's job to supervise Kristy's training, but Canard kept trying to but-in and add his two cents.

Oh well, thought Kristy, using a remote to turn on her stereo, it's not my problem. She flipped over to stare up at the ceiling. I should take a shower. I stink. But she didn't move, she was too sore. The afternoon's lessons had left Kristy tired, both physically and mentally. I really hope that Canard doesn't plan to do this every day, she thought. But you said you wanted to be part of the team, argued her common sense.

A knock at the door interrupted Kristy's musings. "Come in!" she called, too lazy to get up and answer it herself.

The door slid open to reveal Tanya standing in the hall. "Hey Kristy, it's duh four thirty and you're supposed to help me in the infirmary before dinner."

"Oh yeah." Kristy had forgotten about her promise to train with Tanya as the team's new medic. She reluctantly pealed herself off the bed. "I'm coming."

"You feeling alright?" asked Tanya, noticing the teen's weary expression.

"Yeah I'm fine." Kristy followed Tanya down the hall to the infirmary. "Just a little tired from all the extra stuff Canard's having me learn."

"Okay..." Tanya decided it would be best to change the day's lesson to something less strenuous. "Do you think you have enough energy to help my fold these blankets?" Every time one of the ducks got hurt they had to use a new blanket on the med-beds, needless to say there were a lot of blankets to fold.

"Sure." Kristy grabbed one end of an extra-long blanket and Tanya grabbed the other.

"So Kristy, I've been meaning to ask you, what's with the whole T and V thing?" The girls walked closer, bringing their two ends together. Tanya took the now folded blanket and set it on the shelf.

The teen grinned foolishly. "It's just a stupid nickname thing."

"And?" prompted Tanya, trying to distract Kristy from her aching body.

"Okay!" Kristy sighed. "It's Dive's fault. When we were little and he 'n Wing came to live with the Flashblades next door he started calling me Krissy." Tanya raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going.

"I didn't like it!" exclaimed Kristy in her own defense. "I always told him it was 'T, Kris-ty' and eventually he started calling me just T. Of course I thought he was just an annoying neighbor and ignored him until like high school cause we always hung out with different crowds, but yeah...He called me T and I decided to get back at Dive by calling him V."

"But why V?" asked Tanya.

"T's the second to last letter in my name and V is the second to last letter in his name," answered Kristy, "and V sounds cooler than D or E or something."

Tanya nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. I didn't know you put so much thought into your nicknames."

Kristy smiled proudly. "Sometimes we're smarter than you think."

"Kristina! Where are you?" She cringed at Canard's bellows, waiting for the door to open.

Thinking fast, Tanya replied, "Kristy's in here working with me. She's busy right now."

"Oh, okay. Hey Tanya when she's done can you send Kristy down to the armory?" Canard called through the door.

"Sure."

They heard his steps retreating back down the hall and Kristy let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Tanya, I don't think I could stand another one of Canard's 'lessons'."

"Are you sure you're okay with the huge work load?" asked Tanya.

"Yeah," answered Kristy, "why wouldn't I be? I'm part of the team. I would never make the team back home, even if my parents let me play...It's good to be here on Earth, and Canard just wants me to get caught up with you guys."

"Kristy..." Tanya noticed that the teen was babbling.

"But there's no way I'm ever gonna to keep up at this pace!" she finally admitted, sitting down hard on the infirmary bed and burying her head in her hands.

"Sh, it's alright." Tanya carefully sat down next to Kristy, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It's a lot for anyone to handle, especially someone your age."

"I was fine when it was just Duke's lessons and helping you, but now I've gotta learn how to use an entire arsenal of weapons I've never seen before, and I need to learn all your hockey plays, and according to Canard I have to get in better physical shape."

"Don't take it personally Kristy, he's been saying that we all have to get into better shape since he got here. You should tell him to lay off a little."

"But I...I....I can't disobey him! And I have to prove that I can help and-"

"You don't have anything to prove," insisted Tanya, "you were part of the team the moment you arrived on Earth."

"But I'm not doing anything!" exclaimed Kristy. "I wouldn't even be here if I wasn't Canard's kid sister."

"Of course you wouldn't," agreed Tanya logically, "Dragonus wouldn't have captured you if he weren't trying to get at Canard."

"That's not what I mean."

The older girl sighed. "I know, and even if we didn't know you we still would've helped you, just because you're a fellow duck."

"It just feels like I'm not doing a lot to help you guys." Kristy raised her head. "I just really want to help, but I can't do that until I complete what Mallory called basic training."

"But you're already helping," assured Tanya, "you've almost completed your training with me as a medic. And that makes you an important part of the team."

"Really?"

Tanya chuckled. "I'm running out of things to teach you. And don't worry about Mallory's 'basic training'. You'll do fine, just look at Dive. He was younger than you when Canard recruited him and Wing to join our strike force and he had absolutely no military training at all. Now he's one of the top shots on the team." She smiled. "If Nosedive can do it you defiantly can. It's just a matter of practice and training."

"I guess your right," admitted Kristy, "all the stress was probably just driving me nuts. I shouldn't feel so sorry for myself."

"Kristy, I'd be surprised if this wasn't driving you nuts, but you should let Canard know if it's too much..."

"Nah, it's fine." Kristy jumped to her feet. "Thank's for the pep talk Tanya. I'm gonna go see what they need me to do in the armory." She escaped from the room before Tanya could object.

That was a fast recovery, comment Tanya, watching the door close, but maybe too fast. I'm going to keep an eye on her. I might be wrong, but normally I'm not. I should ask Wing to have a talk with Canard...He grew up with the Thunderbeaks, maybe he knows how to make Canard relax.

"Tanya, you there?" Here com blazed to life and Wildwing's face appeared on the screen.

Speaking of whom...she thought."Yeah, what's up?"

"You might wanna turn on the TV," answered the team's captain.

"Sure, what channel?" Tanya reached up and turned on the TV hanging in the infirmary.

"Um...Hey Dive change that back!" There was mumbling of disappointment off screen. "Okay, it's channel seven...."

Tanya navigated to the desired channel and felt her jaw drop.

"As I was saying," repeated the reporter, "Doctor Alex Brenden has reportedly discovered an alternative energy source hidden deep in the amazon. The unearthed crystals are already on their way to the lab for testing, and if Dr. Brenden's theory is correct each crystal will posses the energy to power a NASA spaceship for over ten years. This is a momentous discovery....

"Oh my stars...Wing, are you seeing this?" asked Tanya.

"Yes, do you think it's true? Is it even possible?"

"Oh yes, it's possible," answered Tanya, "I've been reading about Dr. Brenden's theory and it's sound. I just didn't think he'd find them so fast..."

"Whoa, slow down Tanya. You're saying you knew these humans were looking for energy crystals?" asked Wildwing with disbelief.

"Well duh."

"Fine, yeah, we need to brief the team on this..." He pushed a button and was connected to everyone's comm. "Everyone report to the ready room, stat!"

Tanya sighed and headed for the door. She stopped by her room quickly to pick up a pile of papers on Dr. Brenden's research. She would need them to explain this phenomena to the other ducks.

I hope this doesn't take too long, she thought before entering the ready room.