Longer Days Pass
Chapter 2
Thunder rumbled off in the distance as the night sky fell and the sun fell back beyond the horizon. The large omnificent buildings of St. Canard loomed over head of the streets below. The wind whipped harder the higher one went up, but this did not stop the Caped Mallard that was inching his way across the building, sprawled close to the brick so that he didn't fall.
Darkwing only had a small little ledge that he could use to walk on, insisting on going the hardest way possible to get to the toy store that was several floors below them in the next building.
"DW…." came the worried and frantic voice of Launchpad., "Do you really think this is the best way to get to the toy store?"
"Shhh! Element of surprise, LP! Element of surprise!!" hissed Darkwing gently, looking behind him to see Launchpad doing the same thing he was doing.
"I could have just flown the Thunderquack near here and dropped you off on the rooftop--"
"They'll be expecting that LP! I have to do this so that it catches them off guard!!' insisted the purple clothed duck.
"But you usually surprise them no matter what with you intro" the larger duck pointed out. Darkwing rolled his eyes, knowing he was going to lose this argument.
Darkwing was soon as the corner of the building and he took out his hook shot gun and pointed it at the building. "Okay, LP. I want you to take this and hang on. I'll hang onto you after I shoot it. Got it?"
"No problemo, DW!" grinned LP, moving closer to Darkwing. Darkwing shot the gun and made sure it was secure. He then handed the gun over to Launchpad and wrapped his arms around him, holding on tight. "Now!!" Launchpad did as he was told and they both went flying to the other building and went flying through a large open window
They both crashed to the floor. Darkwing groaned, knowing that he should more used to falls like this than he was. Launchpad sat up, rubbing the back of his head and shaking it slightly, cracking his neck. "Whew, falls like those really loosen up your backbone."
"Yeah, and kill it in the process" groaned Darkwing as he stood up and cracked his back by leaning backwards. They both froze when they heard loud, insane giggles coming from the floor below them. They looked at each other, both knowing of only one duck who was capable of such a laugh. "Quackerjack!" they whispered together.
Darkwing looked about the room, knowing that there had to be some stairs somewhere. The only thing he was able to find was an elevator. Darkwing eyed it and grinned.
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The room was dark and dimly lit, however, that didn't keep the one jubilant occupant from dancing around with glee, throwing confetti around the room for no reason at all. The room was filled with electronics and machines, which was right up his playmate's alley.
Megavolt was busy tinkering with one of the larger machines, which looked almost like an ATM. The rodent's plug hat lit up with electricity as he cackled slightly, twisting a knob that was on the machine, opening it up. He was down on his knees, kneeling so that he could get inside the machine.
"Oooooh…..Come here you beauties…..Oh, solar batteries….Oh, these are so great…"
Quackerjack was too busy whistling an offbeat tune to truly hear what his friend had said, but knew that all was still good. They needed those solar batteries to help with the big project. What was odd, though, was that they still were both unsure what the big project was. Megavolt had just mentioned that they should get solar batteries. The jester figured this was only because they were something Megavolt wanted, for they had been on his half burnt Christmas list.
Bringing out his pogo stick, Quackerjack looked over at Megavolt, his large buck teeth sticking out as usual. "Megs, are you almost done?"
Megavolt gave a grunt, having had to answer that same question several times now. "This is delicate work, I say. Delicate!! You must not rush something of this importance, otherwise you will upset the machines!!" There was a small squeak from Quackerjack, which sounded like "I see" . Megavolt continued. "And if you upset the machines, then they'll NEVER let me inside of them to get the solar batteries!!"
"The solar batteries are in your hand, Stan" piped up Mr. Banana Brain, who was now sitting on top of Quackerjack's right shoulder as he bounced.
Megavolt blinked and looked down at his blue gloved hand. He chuckled. "Oh, what do you know?"
Quackerjack rolled his eyes, now bouncing a little higher.
Suddenly there was beeping sound, which nearly made Quackerjack fall off his pogo stick. Megavolt didn't seem to have heard it, for he was busy muttering to himself about how fusion wires shouldn't be used.
Quackerjack glanced over at the elevator door and saw that the light above it was now on. He blinked. They had made sure everyone was gone. The doors opened and at this point, Megavolt was watching as well. Purple smoke emitted from the door as it opened, making it impossible to see anyone inside, but neither villain needed to know.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night…" came the familiar voice of St. Canard's do-gooder.
Quackerjack did a face palm. "Oh, boy….just to ruin playtime…"
"I am the cat that claws at your arms…."
"Ouch….I hate cats…" mumbled Megavolt, standing up and walking up next to Quackerjack, holding the solar batteries close.
"I am Darkwi-----ing Duck!!" The smoke finally disappeared and the two villains were finally able to see Darkwing, his gas gun at the ready and Launchpad behind him.
"Ooooh, why do you always have to bug us!!" demanded Megavolt, his voice sounding annoyed.
"Because you two insist on committing crimes!" retaliated Darkwing. His eyes went wide when the door suddenly shut on them. There was silence for a moment, Megavolt and Quackerjack staring at what just happened, leaving them both baffled. The door opened again, with an annoyed and aggravated Darkwing on the other side. He and Launchpad quickly stepped out from the elevator so that wouldn't happen again.
"As I was saying!!" cried out Darkwing, his voice a little more on edge than before. "Suck gas, evil doers!!"
Megavolt sighed and Quackerjack shrugged his shoulders. "I'd really prefer not to" he spoke and threw his pogo stick at Darkwing, who's eyes went wide as he ducked. The pogo stick crashed into the wall behind him with a loud clang, dropping to the floor.
"Hey! What was that!?" demanded Darkwing, wanting to know why the jester through his pogo stick. He had never had to dodge one of those before.
"It's a toy. You know, T. O. Y. My Darkwing, you're slow!" teased Quackerjack as he and Megavolt went back over to the large machine that they were working with before.
"Almost done, Megsy?" questioned Quackerjack, watching the Masked Mallard carefully.
"Almost" grunted Megavolt, his left hand now deep inside the machine as he was reaching for something. "Keep him busy!" the rodent insisted.
Quackerjack nodded and clapped his hands together, jumping up and down. "Okay, Wingy, you wish to play?" Darkwing braced himself, he knew exactly what was coming up next. Quackerjack giggled insanely, bringing out some of his toy teeth and setting them on the floor. "It's Plaaaaaaaytiiiiiiiiime!!!!!"
Just as expected, the four toy teeth that the jester had set lose immediately started coming towards them, chomping down on their teeth.
"N-Now what, DW?" asked a nervous Launchpad as he eyed one of toy teeth that was close to his leg. He tried kicking it, but the toy teeth dodged his foot.
Darkwing, having dealt with them before, knew exactly what to do. He reached into his back pocket, knowing he had to have something he could use back there. He pulled out a rubber ball. He whistled. "Hey! Lookie here! Look what Darkwing has!!"
All four of the toy teeth suddenly looked at the ball, their full attention now on it. They chomped down on their teeth in excitement below Darkwing's hand, waiting for the ball to be thrown. Darkwing threw it clear on the other side of the large room, where the toy teeth immediately took off after it.
"Traitors!!" cried Quackerjack, stomping down on his feet and pulling down dismally on his hat.
Megavolt pulled his hand out from the machine then, calling out, "Ready. Quacky!"
Quackerjack glanced behind him and looked at his favorite rodent, beaming. Megavolt placed all the solar batteries in a small bag, making sure to hang onto it tightly. They were about to head out the window, when Darkwing cried out, "Hold it!! You're not getting away that easily!"
Quackerjack stopped, halfway through the window. Megavolt, who was beside him, blinked at him. "Move!!" the rodent hissed.
"He's right, Megsy. We can't let him off that easily!" He crawled back out from the window and looked at Darkwing and Launchpad. The jester clown pulled out some silly putty and was about to use it when an arrow shot across Quackerjack's line of sight, almost hitting him. Quackerjack looked over at the far wall, where the arrow was now stuck at. His head then spun around to look and see where the arrow had come from.
"Hold it, right there, evil doers!" cried out her punk-ish voice. "I am the nosebleed you get at the fair. I am Quiverwing Quack!!"
Everyone looked to see the silhouette of Quiverwing Quack standing in the next window. Darkwing saw her and groaned, putting his face in his hand. It seemed he couldn't do any of his crime fighting without his daughter butting in and taking the glory. He knew it wouldn't be long either before the media came rushing over here, catching every little detail while no one even remembers that it was Darkwing who was there first.
"Ooooh, so the little girl wishes to play?" giggled Quackerjack. He looked back at Megavolt. "Megsy, she wants to play…, isn't that fun?"
Megavolt grinned darkly, his eyes on Quiverwing. He raised his free hand and out came several bolts of electricity. "Eat wattage, Quiverwhack!!" shouted Megavolt.
Quiverwing dodged the bolt, getting out of the window and landing on the floor. She took another one of her arrows and shot it at Quackerjack, who ducked, but his large harlequin hat was caught, making it come off and going towards the wall with the arrow.
Quackerjack looked outraged as he looked back at the smaller hero.
"You took off my hat!!" he cried out in fury. His long red bangs were now down in his eyes as the three do-gooders watched in awe. They weren't used to seeing Quackerjack without his hat. It was an interesting sight. But it didn't last long, for the jester took the arrow out of his hat and placed it back on, the jingly bells at the ends ringing loudly.
"Certain little girls need to learn some manners…" growled Megavolt, now completely angry. His plug hat shone brightly as blue electricity wrapped around him. Quiverwing kept her ground, and just when she was about to get zapped, Darkwing blocked her, getting zapped himself.
"Darkwing!!" cried Quiverwing in shock.
"DW!" cried a frantic, wide eyed Launchpad, who had still been standing in front of the elevator.
Darkwing landed on the ground, groaning. Megavolt blinked, not expecting that. He then shrugged. "Oh well, so long as someone gets hurt…" A hand then yanked him by the shoulder and he turned around, knowing it was only Quackerjack. The two made their escape while the heroes were busy.
Soon it was just the three of them. Launchpad was by Darkwing's side in a heartbeat, helping him sit up. Quiverwing was tapping her foot with her hands on her hips, glaring down at her dad.
Launchpad held Darkwing tenderly, allowing the other duck to catch himself. Darkwing panted a bit, his feathers singed from the electricity. Darkwing leaned back into the larger duck, who was now sitting on the ground. He placed a small kiss on Darkwing's purple fedora hat as Darkwing blinked, trying to make his body function.
"Was that really necessary?" came Quiverwing's rude voice. Darkwing looked up at her, shivering slightly. He glared up at her.
"Not here…" he whispered harshly.
"No, its gonna be here!!" growled Quiverwing, watching as Launchpad helped Darkwing to his feet. "You have got to--" She stopped and blinked, her eyes suddenly being blinded by purple smoke. She coughed and tried swatting at the smoke, trying to get it away from her face. When it started to clear, she could see that she was now the only person in the room.
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The sounds of metal hitting metal with an audible amount of force was what was ringing through the Audubon Bridge Tower later that night. Inside the large tower, where all of Darkwing's equipment for crime fighting was locating, not to mention his previous home, was Launchpad and Darkwing.
Launchpad was underneath the Thunderquack, a blanket underneath him so that he didn't have to be on the cement floor. He reached out from outside the Thunderquack, his hand searching for something.
"Is my wrench out there, DW?" came Launchpad's question after a moment. Darkwing glanced down from where he was resting inside the Thunderquack, his chin resting on his arms, which were resting on the side of large plane. He quickly spotted the wrench his love was referring to. "Yeah, its just below your hand." He watched as Launchpad found it.
"Thanks DW!" chuckled the pilot. Darkwing shrugged, looking away and staring off. He sighed. Most of his nights were like this. Basically quiet for the most part, save for a crime or two, like he had had earlier.
He knew Gosalyn was furious at him, but for once he honestly didn't know why. He figured it had something to do with him blocking Megavolt's electric blast, but she had never gotten that upset at him before for something like that.
"Gee, DW" commented Launchpad from below. "You're awfully quiet tonight. Is something wrong?"
It took Darkwing several minutes to answer that question, for he didn't know how. He opened his beak several times as though he was going to talk, but nothing came out. Just when he began to actually say something though, one of the blue chairs whirled to life and Gosalyn was sitting in it. She didn't look happy.
She stormed up over towards the Thunderquack. Launchpad, having heard someone else come in, scooted out from underneath the large plane and standing up.
"Oh, hiya Gos! How was your night?" he asked cheerfully, unaware of her mood. She crossed her arms. "Oh, it was fine. Sent some robbers trying to rob a jewelry store to the police station."
Launchpad nodded his approval. "That's good. Great work, Gos!!" He leaned back down to check underneath the Thunderquack once more.
Darkwing also gave a small nod from where he was still resting. Gosalyn looked at what Launchpad was doing, as though biding her time. Darkwing knew it was only a matter of time before Gosalyn would explode.
She looked up at her father, her face becoming more red with fury as the seconds went by. Then, "Okay, seriously, dad, why?"
Darkwing blinked down at her. "Why what?" he asked lazily, deciding to play innocent.
"You know perfectly what I mean! Why do you insist on butting in while I'm crime fighting!! I was there and suddenly you appear!" she yelled at him, glaring daggers at him.
Darkwing blinked, trying to make sure he was hearing right. "Wait…WHAT!?" he sat up from where he had been resting. He was now standing in the front seat of the open Thunderquack. "I was there first, not you! You were the one who butted in on MY crime fighting!!"
"You call that crime fighting!?" screeched Gosalyn. "Standing there with your gas gun pointed at a villain, then not do anything?"
That had hurt. She hit home there. But he refused to let her see how much that hurt as he masked his face with a scowl. "Listen, missy, I've been fighting crimes a lot longer than you have and just because you've learned some tricks you think you can just do it all, well I've got news for you, you're little arrows won't be enough in a real fight. You need to learn to take better care of yourself! Like when Megavolt almost zapped you. He would have it wasn't for me! You just stood there like a fool!"
That sharp pain from the night before suddenly came back, making his eyes go wide and making him clutch his chest. Gosalyn didn't seem to catch this, for she was too worked up.
"I was going to move!!" she insisted.
Darkwing tried to ignore the pain. "Yeah, after he zapped you!?"
Gosalyn growled, balling up her fist. "You're just upset because I'm getting all the glory! Haven't you noticed yet, dad? Everyone in St. Canard loves me! But when you were the only hero in town, did they gush at you? I thought not. Maybe that right there says something!" she was now screaming at this point and Launchpad came up from being underneath the Thunderquack. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his expression sad.
"That's enough, Gos. If you don't hurry….You'll miss the next episode of Truth or Scare" his voice was meek as he gently pushed her away, opening up the hatch to the Thunderquack and allowing Darkwing to get down.
Darkwing had gone silent after her last speech, the pain in his chest throbbing.
Gosalyn looked between the two, looking as though she was going to say something. After several more minutes, she said a lot more quietly, "Yeah, go ahead, boost his ego. That's exactly what he needs…" Her voice was sharp.
Gosalyn went over to the blue chair and in seconds she was gone in a whirl.
Darkwing leaned in towards Launchpad, resting his head on the taller ducks' chest as his fedora hat fell to the floor. "It's like I don't know who she is anymore, LP…" he sighed. "I don't know what happened. One minute she's my high spirited little girl and the next she's a high spirited girl who I can't be around without getting yelled at or made fun of…"
Launchpad, not knowing what else to do, simply patted his closest friend. "I know, DW, but I think this who crime fighting buzz has gone to her head…"
Darkwing nodded. "That has to be it…" He rubbed at his chest. Launchpad saw this.
"Is that hurting again?" he asked. Darkwing didn't bother trying to cover it up this time and therefore nodded. Launchpad didn't waste another second, he scooped Darkwing up off his feet and took him over to one of the blue chairs, where he placed him in one of the chairs, then sitting in the one beside him.
They whirled back to the house on Avian Way.
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The next morning was dreadful. Drake woke up, knowing that all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. He pulled at the covers, trying to bury himself in their warm. He could feel Launchpad beside him, still snoring away.
He glanced about their room. He had gotten a new bed recently, so that Launchpad could also sleep there. Launchpad was now living full time at the house, unlike before, where he was just there most of the time. He rubbed at the sore spot on his chest, feeling a headache coming on. He covered his head in the covers. He really wished he could just sleep forever.
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AN: Well, I finally managed to get another chapter of this up. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, only because I have a lot more other stories to work on. Until next time!!
