Good weather for ducks
By Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.
"Brothers" Megabyte began "We are going to rob the Duckburg Museum of the antique gold and jewels being displayed there.
"This welded on metal plate covers what used to be a coal chute decades ago. My laser will cut off the cover." Megabyte continued, using a pointer to point to a photo of the museum, a close up of a small metal plate on the side of the museum.
"Then we use my portable slide. Big Time slides down it, it's too small for anybody else. Big Time lets us in from the inside, opening the side door. "Megabyte explained.
"We swipe the jewels and the gold. We dump the loot into the slide. My portable slide closes up into an ordinary looking luggage cart. Bicep pushes it away." Megabyte finished.
Next day, Launchpad and I were supposed to take the kids on a field trip to Duckburg, but it was POURING.
So, Launchpad and me took HDL and Webby to the Museum. Meanwhile, the Beagles snuck into the museum as planned.
But while we were waiting for the museum to open, Webby dropped her ball and ran to get it back. When Webby knelt to pick up her ball, Webby saw that the metal plate instead of being attached to the wall was just leaning against the the wall.
Curious, Webby removed the metal plate. Seeing the slide behide the plate, Webby slid down the slide.
Noticing one kid was missing, Launchpad turned around just in time to see Webby sliding down the slide.
Launchpad ran to the slide but it was too small for HDL to slide down it, never mind Launchpad.
Then Launchpad saw one of those cargo elevators that go down to the basement. The Beagles had accidentally sent it up to the sidewalk when looking for the light switch.
HDL ran to join him.
"You ain't going without us!" They said in unison.
Me neither. " I added.
"Guess I'm outnumbered. OK, come on." Launchpad shrugged.
We got aboard the elevator, and pressed the "down" button.
However, WE are NOT crooks. The Beagle Boys know how to avoid burglar alarms. We don't. We set off some hidden security alarm or the other. The next thing you know, the museum's security guards were surrounding us.
Fortunately Webby heard all the ruckus and panicked and ran to us.
"Halt intruders!" the security guard.
"Relax, the kid we're babysitting ran down here because she don't know better! We just wanted to get her OUT of here before she got into trouble." Launchpad said.
"The Beagles are down here! They are trying to rob the museum! I saw them and overheard them!" Webby said.
"Kid, don't joke about things like that. We don't have time to play "let's pretend." Top Museum guard said, for he somehow assumed she was an over-imaginative kid.
Webby cried and ran away.
"I'll show you! Follow me to the Beagles!" Webby screamed.
Everybody ran after Webby. But nobody else was in sight. No Beagles nowhere, no nobody anywhere.
We did not know this, but when the security guards came down to chase us, the Beagles snuck upstairs. The Beagles were wearing museum security guard uniforms. So nobody noticed them. Worse, the security guards were downstairs dealing with us. There was nobody to stop the Beagles from stealing whatever they liked.
Meanwhile. The museum guards, seeing nobody but us, became more convinced than ever that Webby was just an over-imaginative kid and we were over-indulgence adults. The security guards started to escort us out of the museum.
Luckily, Webby saw the Beagles-disguised-as security guards and recognized them.
"Those guards are the Beagles! In disguise!" Webby yelled.
"Not that again!" One guard said.
"Er...Charlie, aren't we the only guards on duty this early? And those aren't quite our uniforms. They're close, but not quite." second guard asked.
"What?" Charlie looked closer.
The Beagles got a little nervous by this scrutiny and one dropped some loot that he had over-hastily stuffed into his pockets.
"Get him!" the guards screamed.
"RUN!" screamed the Beagles.
The Beagles ran, pushing things over as they ran, trying to block the guards' path. They shoved into "people" visiting the museum. They threw off their fake security guard jackets and did their best to disappear into the crowd of visitors.
However, the crowd of visitors had just arrived. The museum had only opened a few minutes ago. THEY weren't trying to leave the museum, the Beagles were. Launchpad and I ran for the entrance to the museum, intending to block off the Beagles escape.
Fortunately the emergency exits were right near the main entrance, one to the left, the other to the right. (1)However, the museum guards made us and everybody else leave the museum. I think they thought we were up to something. So we just left. They stood guard near the exits, waiting for the Beagles to try to leave.
Meanwhile the Beagles tried ran right back down to the basement intending to go out the way we came in. But while WE didn't think of that, the museum guards had, they had locked the stairs to the basement behide them just in case.
The Beagles couldn't open the doors to the basement stairs and didn't have the time to force the doors open. So the Beagles headed upstairs, looking for another way out.
"Kids, the Beagles aren't going to give up easy. And they aren't going to go out the exits if they can help it. Keep both eyes open for them and call out if you see anything. But DON'T try to handle they yourselves. That's a job for adults." Launchpad said. (2)
So the kids kept looking at the museum. It didn't take long before they saw the Beagles push out an air conditioner. It fell down, crashing to the floor.
"Everybody back!" screamed Launchpad, pushing the kids out of the way.
"We sorta expected something like that to happen with you around." Huey muttered.
The rest of the kids giggled and Launchpad shot them a dirty look but said nothing.
"I got an idea! Everybody, give me a hand with the ropes and banners and bunting surrounding the museum." Launchpad said.
We not only helped, but came up with some good suggestions, like using some scaffolding to help built a Beagle booby-trap.
When the Beagles tried to slide down the columns to make good their escape, they slid right into a make-shift trap made out of ropes, banners, bunting and scaffolding. It worked well enough to hold the Beagles until the museum guards finally realized the Beagles were already outside the museum and by then the cops had showed up,too.
The End.
(1)It's a small local museum.
(2)Re: "Ducky Mountain High" Flintheart knew that there was an off switch and knew where it was and could easily have sabotaged it IF he really want to "OFF" Mr. McDee. Don't tell me Disney would rather Mr. McDuck dies than have him saved by Launchpad AGAIN?
(3)I swiped this idea form "Hero for Hire". To be precise, I swiped this idea from the nasty, mean scene where Launchpad gets an advertisement banner tangled about a museum and the whole museum collapses?! Mighty tough advertisement banner, there.