One Last Dance
(The Nightmare Begins)
I always felt upset that one of the greatest cartoons of my life never got a "finished" ending. Darkwing Duck meant the world to me and this is my way of creating a story that concludes what happened at the end of the show's run.
This takes place after the events of "The Steerminator" and will refer to episodes like "Darkly Dawns the Duck", "Negaduck", and "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain" for those of you who want to keep track. Just for kicks, original titles for this story includes:
"Face my Frankenstein"
"Into the Night"
"One last ride"
"The End of the Terror"
Enjoy!
I feel…cold…
"It's time I met this…Darkwing duck"
My body aches, my memories scattered amongst my nightmares and dreams…
"She never told me any code"
There is no blood in my veins, only fuel, there is no warmth in my fur, only steel…
"Let's get dangerous"
I remember the glory, I remember the power, I remember the fire, and I remember the metal…
"I think it's time for the hero to make his dramatic escape"
"I underestimated you once Darkwing Duck. This time, you simply DIE"
I REMEMBER DARKWING DUCK!
The screaming echoes raged from the massive monstrosity of twisted metal and unfeeling flesh, the maniac roared and fired his cannon arm. A mirror was shattered into a thousand pieces by the force of the laser blast.
"Darkwing Duck" the cyborg grunted.
Taurus Bulba, once the most feared and brilliant criminal mastermind in the history of villainy, now reduced to a barbaric, misshapen monster of science. The bull distinctly remembers the day his empire fell at the hands of that costumed clown that has haunted his nightmares, tormenting him as he rotted away in the bowels of Hell. Bulba also remembers being reborn, awakening in a room with Steelbeak, and a trio of sinister shadows on TV.
F.O.W.L the fiendish organization for world larceny had resurrected his soul from the grave and given him new life in the form of a cyborg creature. However, Bulba remembers turning on his creators, refusing to take orders from cryptic shadows behind monitors and TV screens. He set out to destroy those who robbed him of his illustrious career, starting with Darkwing duck, whom he had originally believed had died in the same blast that took away his life.
Once Taurus Bulba had found Darkwing and Gosalyn, he tried to kill them and nearly succeeded, were it not for his faulty programming that caused his engines to overload and burn out his cybernetic circuitry. Darkwing had lived and Bulba was defeated…for now. The cybernetic bull growled silently in the dark.
Bulba approached a stonewall and growled, grinding his teeth as he crushed his metallic claws into the wall's crumbling core. "He will pay…I swear on my circuits Darkwing will pay for what he did to me, and he will pay with his own BLOOD."
"Boss, boss, we got it, we got it, just like you said" a nervous, shaky voice said from outside the cave entrance. The voice got louder and shakier as it entered the cave.
Bulba turned towards the owner of that voice; it was Hammerhead Hannigan and his flunkies, Hoof and Mouth.
Taurus Bulba frowned as he turned to face his flunkies, "My memory may not be as picture perfect as my face once was Hammerhead, but I seem to recall you having a very DISMAL success rate the last time I hired you."
Hammerhead gulped "Y-y-y-y-yeah I know b-b-b-boss but really, we got it for sure this time, j-j-j-just like you asked."
The long horned goat man flattened a piece of paper onto a desk; the dismal light of the flickering lamp above them provided little help. Ever since his defeat, Bulba has been forced to hide in dingy, dark and dank rat holes to evade police capture as well as Darkwing Duck and the S.H.U.S.H agency. No doubt F.O.W.L will be looking for him sooner or later as well. Hoof and Mouth gulped, as they feared Bulba's reaction to their success. The men quickly hid behind Hammerhead, clutching his tombstone colored suit.
Taurus Bulba clanked his metallic red feet over towards the desk, and examined the paper with his single human eye and mechanical eye. The paper was a blueprint for a device, a very special device that Bulba had been searching for quite some time. The cowering cronies sat and watched as Bulba examined the paper thoroughly with his mechanical red eye.
The cyborg bull hummed "And this was the only copy you could find in Megavolt's hideout?" Hammerhead nodded "Right boss, we tried looking around for a finished model but they were all smashed or busted. Megavolt sure didn't want anyone using this tinker toy again." "No matter, his loss is our gain. You have done well Hammerhead."
The robotic bull smirked as he stomped around his lair, orange steel claw like digits grasping at his chin as he pondered his next move. The nervous, chattering buckteeth of Hammerhead soon ceased. Hoof and Mouth took a collected sight of relief.
Hammerhead said, nodding nervously "Gee thanks boss. I gotta tell you, I was real shocked to hear that you were back, I mean I thought you were toast for sure. Life hasn't been too easy since you've been gone. Crime has been as low as ever thanks to that Darkwing dweeb butting in now and then. But now that your back, were gonna own this town easy as pie, that masked meathead won't know what hit him. I always knew working for you was the smartest thing I ever did."
Bulba stood up straight and suddenly sported a rather unusual smile, his eyes wavered down to his steel claw, watching it flex and clank with glee. Hammerhead and the other goons stared oddly at their boss's back as he just stood there like a statue. Bulba slowly turned to face his men with that smile still on his face, his claws still slowly flexing.
"You're half right Hammerhead. It was the smartest thing you ever did, but you forgot to mention that it will also be the LAST thing you ever did."
Taurus Bulba turned around and fired his twin horn laser cannons, the long nosed thug, Mouth, screamed as the blast struck him down and sliced into his chest. Hammerhead screamed as Mouth lay dead on the floor.
Hoof gasped "Oh my god, I'm getting out of here, I'm getting out of here."
The pint sized goat crook ran towards the cave's exit, his tiny arms flailing wildly in the air. Bulba laughed and fired a powerful green cannonball shaped blast at Hoof from his left claw. The blast engulfed the tiny dwarf and in a flash of screaming pain and scorched fur, the criminal was vaporized into ashes. Hammerhead grabbed his head and screamed in panic.
"Boss, what are you doing? Have you gone ERK" Hammerhead's voice was suddenly silenced as he felt Bulba crush his right mechanical hand around Hammerhead's throat. Hammerhead gagged and squealed as his boss continued to squeeze the life out of him.
"B-b-b-b-b-boss I d-d-don't understand ACK, I did my j-j-job perfectly, Ugh, you said so y-y-yourself," Hammerhead cried. Bulba laughed in response, "Exactly which is precisely why I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE."
SNAP!
And with a deafening crunch of bone and flesh, Hammerhead Hannigan was no more. The twisted metallic monster tossed his former henchmen's worthless carcass out of the cave and into the river, along with Hoof and Mouth's diminutive remains. Bulba looked to the cave's ceiling, as if speaking to the heavens with his robotic arms outstretched into the air.
"The first time I met Darkwing Duck, I foolishly underestimated him and that bratty little girl of his. The second time I met Darkwing Duck I let my anger corrupt my systems and allowed him to slip through my fingers. However, this time things will be different, I will not make the same mistake a third time. No more henchmen, no more airships, no more secret codes, and no more…mercy. I will rise from the ashes again to claim ultimate vengeance against that accursed Darkwing Duck and THIS time, it will be he who dies and I who remain victorious."
Bulba raised the blueprints to his mechanical eyes and smirked, almost drooling at the design plans for Megavolt's infamous "Tron Splitter."
"And once I obtain the last piece of the puzzle, Darkwing Duck and Gosalyn Waddlemeyer will feel the wrath of Taurus Bulba HAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
FLASHBACK
The roaring engine screamed like thunderous wailing from the rocky cliffs below, Darkwing's purple masked eyes widened in indescribable horror as a figure clad in blood red metal rose from the depths of darkness. The mechanical monster, Taurus Bulba, was now staring viciously at Darkwing with his cybernetic eyes as he hovers above him on his jet plane arms.
"This is not over Darkwing duck! I will be back!" Taurus Bulba taunted.
Darkwing simply clutched his weary arms across his beloved daughter Gosalyn, feeling her young bones shake wildly with fear, just as his own bones did. Bulba soared into the night and vanished into the inky black sea of stars within the midnight sky. Darkwing groaned softly.
"Something tells me my life just got a WHOLE lot more complicated" Darkwing said.
END FLASH BACK
"GAH" Drake Mallard screamed.
The white duck suddenly leapt from his bed and gasped as a pillar of sweat dribbled off his snow white feathered brow. Drake groaned as he rubbed his aching temples and quickly calmed himself down, realizing he was safe and sound inside his own comfortable bed, and that he had simply had a nightmare.
"The same nightmare…again. It's been 6 weeks since Bulba came back and almost every night that maniac still haunts my dreams" Drake said.
The weary superhero groaned as his eyes stared at the neon red colored numbers on the clock next to his bed.
"3:30 in the morning? Man back in the day I remember when I used to enjoy being up that late. Fighting crime, chasing bad guys, no secret identity" Drake silently laughed.
Drake threw off his emerald green sheets and walked down the halls, his sleepless mind curious just for some late night strolling as he pondered about. Drake smirked as the loud snoring from Launch pad's room nearly cracked his ear canals in half.
"It's so weird how used to that snoring I've become. I remember when I couldn't go a winks worth of sleep without having absolute silence. That was back when I enjoyed my privacy, back when it was just me and me alone" Drake thought to himself.
The hero smiled as he continued to stroll past each doorway, the bathroom, Launch pad's room, the closet and…Gosalyn's room. Drake's coal black eyes seemed frozen in time once he started looking at Gosalyn's room, almost as if he had never seen it before in his life. He couldn't begin to explain how quiet things felt when he wrapped his fingers around that little doorknob. Drake slowly turned the knob and opened the door; he winced and prayed the door didn't creak.
A small glimmer of light bled into the little girl's room as Drake opened the door up, just a crack; a crack was all he needed to see that beautiful set of red hair on his beloved daughter. Gosalyn's hair was red as clown's nose, twice as soft and three times as fiery red. That hair was like an ocean of fire attached to a child with just as much fire in her heart and her soul.
"Mmmm Honker, quit being a baby and just hold that hockey puck steady" Gosalyn murmured in her sleep.
Drake softly laughed, such a spirited child Gosalyn was.
Spirited…
That was the word she always used, that was the word she used when she talked about her feistiness and that was the word her grandfather used too. Drake entered the room and gently sat at the foot of Gosalyn's bed, seemingly lost in the hidden eyes of that darling little girl of his.
"I know he's out there Gosalyn, I can feel it right down to my bones. I know he's after me, and after you. But I promise you…I promise you on my very soul…I won't let him get within 100 yards of you Gosalyn, I promise you with all my heart and soul kiddo" Drake whispered.
Drake gently tip toed towards Gosalyn's pillow and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead goodnight. Gosalyn mumbled a little, Drake gasped and hoped he didn't wake up his slumbering daughter. The thought of disturbing this sweet red haired angel from her peaceful sleep was too depressing to think about, Drake immediately remained silent.
"Mom…Dad…look I made this at school for you" Gosalyn said.
"Oh right her mom and dad, she's talking about her real mom and her real dad" Drake said.
The crime fighter sighed and simply returned to the doorway, Drake's wounded puppy eyes looked to Gosalyn one last time before whispering "goodnight Gosalyn" and shut the door.
The next morning…
"Gosalyn, get your tail feathers down here it's time for breakfast young lady" Drake shouted upstairs.
"Awe come on dad, just 5 more minutes, it's not like I'm missing anything big by sleeping in" Gosalyn groaned from her bedroom.
"You mean BESIDES school?" Drake asked annoyingly.
"School's overrated anyway, not enough zombies and blood sucking aliens in it" Gosalyn said.
Drake Mallard crossed his forearms over his green sweatshirt and tapped his golden webbed foot, this was the last straw.
"Gosalyn Mallard, if you don't come down here RIGHT this instant I'm going to have to spend the rest of the day telling you of my countless heroic deeds, and how I endlessly scowered day and night over every" Drake said.
Suddenly as he turned around Gosalyn was already at the breakfast table, her face making a sour looking scowl at her father, as she was just about to shove a spoon and a fork in her ear just to block him out. Drake smirked and winked proudly.
"Works every time" Drake said with a sly sneaky grin.
"Sheesh you didn't have to go that far. I don't see what the big deal is" Gosalyn grumbles, stuffing cereal into her mouth. "I bet Gizmo duck never had to worry about the square root of XY."
"Young lady, what have I told you about saying the G word?" Drake said, grinding his teeth.
The fiery red head girl simply rolled her leaf green eyes and shrugged, just brushing off her father's passionate hatred for the techno super hero as usual. Darkwing always had a problem with Gizmo, he always seemed to rub dad the wrong way Gosalyn thought, she even remembers how peeved he got when she dressed up as Quiverwing Quack and stole his so-called "spotlight".
"You know dad I've been thinking, how come the city never pays you any kind of tribute or thanks for all the stuff you do late at night?" Gosalyn curiously asked.
Drake paused from washing dishes to look at his daughter a bit strangely.
"No serious. I mean, you go out night after night and get your butt whooped or fried or stomped on and yet you still beat the bad guys in the end but you never get any credit for it. Guys like Giz…uh I mean you know who and Neptunia and them, they all are appreciated. Doesn't that bug you?" Gosalyn asked.
"Oh please Gosalyn, do you really think my ego is so shallow that I can't go a single day without expecting some kind of praise from the local authorities for my heroic deeds?" Drake laughed.
"In a word…yes" Gosalyn said dryly.
Drake groaned and slapped his face in annoyance, that girl sure is sharp, TOO sharp sometimes.
"Ugh. All right FINE, I admit it, it does slightly unhinge me to see those super powered hero hogs steal my spotlight from time to time. The fact they have REAL super powers always gets the attention, while I am left digesting their despicably desperate dust bunnies in the desolate pit of despair I call my dignity. But in the long run, being a hero is its own reward and upholding truth, justice, and the American way will always be more important than publicity" Drake said.
A silent pause slipped into the room as Drake finished his little speech. Gosalyn swallowed down a gulp full of cereal bites and stared blankly at her father, sweat drops tinged off Drake's head.
"It bugs you that much huh?" Gosalyn asked.
"It pisses me off like you wouldn't BELIEVE" Drake hissed.
HONK!
The sudden blaring sound of the school bus shattered the dismal moment of silent self-loathing in the kitchen as Gosalyn hopped from her seat.
"Well that's my ride calling, bye dad, see you after school" Gosalyn said.
The young girl leaned and kissed Drake on the cheek, smiling sweetly before snagging her orange and blue backpack under her arm and heading out the door. Drake's eyes closed briefly, as he sighed contently in his morning bliss. That is, until that nightmare came back again.
"I WILL BE BACK!"
"AAH" Drake screamed.
The unmasked hero quickly rushed from his seat, frantically scrambling to reach his daughter before she left. Drake swung the door open and cried out Gosalyn's name, he gasped to see she was staring at him oddly, half way up on the bus steps into the big yellow vehicle.
"Uh…dad is something wrong?" Gosalyn nervously asked.
"I just wanted to uh tell you that uh just to…be careful. Yeah that's it, be careful today okay sweetie?" Drake said.
"Dad! Please, you're embarrassing me. No need to spaz out about it. It's just school, I mean what's the worst that could happen?" Gosalyn said.
Before Drake could answer, he watched the steel doors close and saw his daughter vanish inside the yellow bus. The bus drove off with all the other students and Drake was left staring a lost like gaze at his daughter on the bus, never taking his eyes off her for a second until the bus was completely gone.
"I don't want to know Gos. I have a pretty good idea of the worst thing that could happen, and know enough to know I don't want to find out. Just be safe…my daughter" Drake said.
To be continued…