Two years from Now, a ducktales fanfic

Two years from Now

By Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.

Attention America: GET YOUR KIDS ALL THEIR INNOCULATIONS! (Psst! AARP! How's about getting people old enough to remember Polio to talk sense to parents?)

I wish I could trust Disney to do right by Launchpad. Nothing would please me more than for them to Let it Go and do so.

I don't care if the "Launchpad" in the upcoming "Ducktales 2" TV show is Howard the Duck in a Launchpad mask, IF they make hime out to be a moron YET again.

Launchpad and I were relaxing watching TV, when, wouldn't ya know it...the phone rang. It was Griz of SHUSH.

"I wanted to warn you. Bruno Von Beak, who has been impersonating you as DW's sidekick has gotten restless. We have intercepted emails between Bruno and Feathers." Griz said." Bruno talking about working for Mr. McDuck while impersonating you. Since the last time Bruno did THAT, he tried to rob Mr. McDuck, we are concerned." (1)

"Bruno has been going straight for awhile now..." Launchpad began.

"Bruno thinks he is committing identity fraud. He does not know the SS number he is using as "Launchpad McQuack" isn't yours, nor does he know you don't have a middle name." Griz pointed out.

"Good thing Honker planted misinformation on DW's computers just in case." muttered Launchpad. "Fake SS numbers, fake middle names..."

"There is no way I can stop Bruno from impersonating me. We look too much alike and I'm on the move a lot. What if I let him impersonate me?" Launchpad suggested "If he robs Mr. McD, I go after him, get the money back and nail Bruno's hide to the wall. If not, I can do something else for awhile. I'm getting restless, too."

"Give him enough rope and see if he hangs himself? I suppose that is the only thing you can do. You spend so much time going hither and yon and Bruno looks almost exactly like you. If Bruno means to impersonate you and rob Mr. McDuck, there is no way to stop him. Chasing him afterwards, and catching him with the evidence would end the problem." Griz agreed.

So Launchpad and I discussed the matter.

"I've been wanting to do something else for awhile now. You know me, I get fiddle-footed. But I didn't want to leave Mr. McDuck in the lurch. IF Bruno can me trusted to take my place...I could work for a cargo co. or a rescue unit..."

"Or your Dad's air show? There are raising money for the Jr. Woodchucks putting on an air show outside Duckburg. Near Duckburg airport. If Bruno tries to rob Mr. McD, We'll be right nearby. Especially since you have to fly that way to get to France. (2)" I began.

"We could leave our kids with the Jr. Woodchucks, plenty need to earn their baby-sitting badge." I finished.

"I could bug all my planes. And give Giz the heads up, tell him about Bruno and to keep his eyes on him. Mr. McDuck, too. If Bruno tries to rob Mr. McDuck, we'll know about it." Launchpad concurred.

So Launchpad and I went to work with the Flying McQuacks. We had hardly left when Mr. McDuck warned us that "Launchpad" had showed up for work all innocence. However, Bruno behaved himself and did NOT try to steal anything.

The same could not be said of the Beagle Boys. Megabyte had come up with a robot that looked exactly like Mr. McDuck, down to his voice. A new voice recognizing lock, "keyed" to Mr. McDuck's voice had been put on the Money Bin. Megabyte believed his new robot could replicate Mr. McDuck's voice well enough to fool the lock into opening.

The Mr. McDuck robot headed for the Money Bin. Giz was on the alert for a fake Launchpad, not a fake Mr. McDuck. Giz was relieved when he saw it was Mr. McDuck and not Launchpad. Giz relaxed, was off his guard.

"Hi ya boss. Decided not to go with Launchpad, huh?" asked Giz.

Giz thought Mr. McDuck did not trust Bruno.

"Yes." robot replied "I want to check on my money. Money Bin, open."

The Bin did NOT open. The voice print did NOT match, and the code words were wrong.

Giz did not know the code words. Giz did not realize it was not Mr. McDuck but a lifelike robot. A Life Model Decoy, if you will.

"That's weird. It didn't open. Oh, wait. I forgot who invented the new lock. Old Screwloose's devices (3) always mess up, at least at first." Giz groaned.

"I can't open it. But maybe I can figure out what's wrong..." Giz said.

As Giz examined the lock and the voice recognizing system, the robot snuck up on Giz and with superhuman strength, knocked out Giz by hitting him in the back of Giz's neck. In the chink right above his armor and under his helmet.

Then the robot grabbed Giz and used his gizmos to help rip open the door of the Money Bin. But of course the alarms screamed bloody blue murder.

The Beagles rushed in and started shoveling money into carts.

However, Bomber Beagle made the mistake of using some of Launchpad's planes as getaway vehicles, having previously taught other Beagles how to fly a plane.(4) The bugs warned us that somebody was using the planes sans permission. And these were money transfer planes, and had hidden video security systems.

We accessed the security systems via the 'net ans saw, not Bruno as we expected but...

"Bomber Beagle! He and other Beagles are robbing the Bin!" Launchpad and I shouted.

Just then, Launchpad's cell phone rang.

"Hello Launchpad? This is Bruno. Somebody just robbed Mr. McDuck! And it wasn't me or why would I be telling you about it?' Bruno asked.

"Yeah, I know! There are a cameras in my planes. The Beagles are robbing Mr. McD. How's about helping catch them so YOU don't get blamed for this? Both me and SHUSH know you have replaced me in Duckburg." Launchpad requested.

"Fine. Doing your job is easier than spying. I started spying because I'm lazy. I tried to became a crook because the collapse of Russia put spies out of work . Once I found something easier – being you- I gave up stealing or spying." Bruno replied.

"Fine. Grab a plane and help me chase them." Launchpad said.

"You mean help US chase them. I'm grabbing a plane and chasing, too." I said.

"US, too." Ripcord said. "This whole raising money for the Jr. Woodchucks was a cover for SHUSH so we could help you protect the Bin. Although we thought we'd be protecting it from Bruno, whatever."

So the Flying McQuacks (including ME) and Bruno chased the Beagles in their stolen planes. It wasn't long till we caught up with them.

"How can they fly so fast in old fashioned bi-planes?" asked Bomber.

"I took out the engines and replaced them with engines of my own design. Where am I going to find parts for an antique bi-plane on my salary?" Launchpad replied.

"And these bi-planes are lighter than modern planes!" I added.

""I have to make do with a modern plane." Bruno said. "However, since I was a spy, I have a weapon or two on my plane."

And Bruno fired powerful lasers at the Beagles. Nothing seemed to happen.

"TWO Launchpads?" the Beagles gasped. "One's not bad enough?"

"One of them got to be a fake! Let's give them our fake Mr. McDuck to play with!" Megabyte said.

And he took off the arms from the robot Mr. McDuck and put wings in their place. Then he sent the robot off flying to harass us.

However, HDL were angry seeing the robot Mr. McDuck.

"The Beagles must of used that thing to rob our Unca Scrooge in the first place!" Huey said.

"Well, let's fight a robot with remote control planes!" Dewey said.

And they sent their remote control planes up to buzz the robot Mr. McDuck.

As the toy planes approached, the robot started flying erratically.

"Hey! The signals we're sending our planes must be messing with the signals the Beagles are sending their "toy"!" Louie said.

HDL manipulated their planes as close to the flying robot as they could. The mechanical Mr. McDuck was NOT a true robot, it could not think for itself.(5) Without somebody telling it what to do, it was lifeless.

As the remote control plane zipped around it, it was receiving the control signals from the three planes as well as the signals the Beagles sent it. It was like trying to listen to several different radio signals at the same time.

The robot had no idea what to do. It crashed into a tall, dead tree and fell, just before the toy planes ran out of fuel and had to land.

"Not a bad crash for a beginner." Launchpad joked.

We caught up with the Beagles planes and started buzzing them. They kept trying to avoid us. Then, their engines sputtered and spurted.

"Remember that laser blast of mine? I hit their fuel tanks. Their fuel's been leaking out this whole time.

They finally ran out of fuel!" Bruno chuckled, with justified pride.

"WHY is it illegal for me to have any weapons?" Launchpad muttered, a tad annoyed at that restriction.

The Beagles had to land. The cops were waiting for them with open arms and open handcuffs.

After we explained things to the cops, Launchpad and Bruno shook hands.

"Think I'll go back to DW for the time being. But how's about we try this again, two years from now? I'll work for Mr. McDuck, you can do something different...whatever you like." Bruno offered.

"Deal. Just behave yourself. Or I'll go after you like we went after the Beagles." Launchpad agreed.

But of course, a LOT can happen in two years. Especially when Launchpad's around.

The End.

P.S. : Fenton's just fine. The robot Mr. McDuck hit him with the robotic equivalent of the Vulcan nerve pinch, whose effects are temporary.

(1)See my story "Double, Double O Duck"

(2)Unless I as very much mistaken, France does NOT have an extradition treaty with the USA.

(3)I'm not sure if Giz knows who invented the g-suit. Given how much trouble Giz had figuring out how to take the silly thing off, I'm not sure if knowing that would make Giz less sure UT can invent something without it going wonky at first.

(4)As the Beagles did in "Working for Scales"

(5) I'm not convinced ANY robot can think for itself, can operate without somebody telling it what to do beyond very simple tasks. Even the "robot" at the Sony Wonder Center has somebody on the mezzanine lever controlling it like a marionette with electronic signals instead of strings. I somehow suspect there is always a "man behide the curtain" someplace. I COULD BE WRONG!